Just got 80% of my Christmas shopping done yesterday with a single VISA charge and no shipping/handling expense or worry about the gifts not arriving on time.

I bought, among other things,
-antibiotics for Afghan refugees
-solar-powered computers for students in Central America
-several new trees for Portland
-fuel efficient stoves for Honduras
-malaria protection for people in the Congo
-family garden assistance for Bosnia

All the people I give this sort of gift to are folks who share my distaste for the Christmas-gift-buying machine and who don't really want more "stuff" unless it's a specific, well-thought-out, very personal gift.

(The kids seem to prefer pictures of dead presidents and 18th C. Postmasters-General or Secretaries Of The Treasury. They all have special projects they are saving for.)

Of course, some people will be receiving MUDCAT CDs (plug,plug) instead of or in addition to one of these "alternative gifts."

But it's a relief to have the shopping done so quickly and in keeping with my ideas about Christmas.

Genie