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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 14, 2015 20:07:35 GMT -6
They grow up way too fast.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 15, 2015 7:58:16 GMT -6
You guys, I have done it before, yanno. I usually forget though, and Joxie beats me to it (or else it'd be like the Christmas cards I keep meaning to send, but never get taken out of their box). And that is why exactly why I replaced Hot...Oh-So-Hot and Steamy Thanksgiving Gams and put it it's place Scrawny Thanksgiving Turkey Gams. I was tired of wiping off all that slobber. It's frustrating for sure! Little bit guilty of that myself this year; I was out shopping for other people and just happened to find a few small thinks I'd like for my stocking - most notably chocolate and socks. As far as chocoholic goes, I'm pretty particular about the kind I like (got just a small bag with a few pieces though!). Socks in stockings are a staple, but I have learned Hubs' idea of what kind of socks I'd like and my idea of what socks I'd actually wear are vastly different! I may have bought them for myself, but he wrapped them. No, it was funny - I was sixteen and had by that time plenty of practice with Dad's corny sense of humor. Honestly, I was very touched that he went to the trouble of getting me the car of my dreams (I never really thought I'd get a car, much less a yellow Corvette!). I probably still have it somewhere....unless it's with all the other stuff of mine from those years that I never found...which are probably still in a box buried in the attic! I think I know who your secret helper might be; I thought about it too, but never got around to it. Great minds think alike, you know....or in this case, frustrated minds! That's such a sweet, lovely story, Stepper; I think last year you posted a photo of the swan. I've got the table-top tree I keep just for Mom's ornaments - some of the older ones her and Dad bought when they first got married, and the cherished ones from her mother, some of them which she brought from the Old Country (whichever country that might have been). Mom's mom's are all very fragile, paper-thin by now, and a lot of the paint is worn off. There are tiny teapots, a bell, a clear glass bauble thing; there used to be a squirrel and a heart but they must have broken long ago - I never found them going through Mom's stuff. And the clowns! Even as a kid, I loved the clowns best; there were two of them - a pink one, and a cream-colored and pink one - and they always hung front and center on the tree. Making progress, but had some setbacks. LX asked for two things; I mentioned the television show DVDs already, and she wants socks - and she's as picky about her socks as I am about my chocolate; she only wears black Nike mid-calf, or white or black Nike anklets. I ordered the DVDs on-line; they all came but one, though I was charged for it. Urgh. And do you think I can find the socks in a women's or even boys' size? Apparently this year, only men...with large feet...wear Nike anklets of any color. Went to the home-improvement store with the flyer clutched in my hands, and after aimlessly wandering around for an inordinate amount of time, found someone to help me, and darn it- everything Hubs' had circled in the flyer were discontinued sale items this particular location didn't even have in the first place. Ended up getting bird food (the birds need Christmas treats too), and the cat and dog stocking stuff. Set the bags on the floor inside the door when I got home, came back not more than 10 minutes later to put everything away, and found all the contents strewn across the room. Of course, I blamed the dog....until I saw the cat laying spread eagle on his back with the catnap mouse hanging out of his mouth! Ex-sister-in-law returned my call Sunday night; kids' tastes often change, and I had just wanted to make sure my niece and nephew would still like the gift cards I usually get them - Barnes and Noble bookstore for my niece and a D!cks Sporting Goods store for my nephew. It's a go for both of them, and I set off to Walgreen's yesterday morning - they have racks and racks of gift cards, and I was sure I saw cards for both places there. The bookstore they had; the sporting goods store they didn't. We don't have D!cks Sporting Goods around here, and of course, I could order on-line and have it set directly to my nephew, but I like to send everything in one package so I can include other little trinkets too. There's a store right across the street from campus though, so I texted LX and asked if she could pick a gift card up before she came home Thursday night; she said she would. Then I changed my mind - she's sick as dog, it's finals week, and I'm sure the last thing she feels or has time to do is stand in line at a sporting goods store for a gift certificate. So I texted her back... ...are you sure you're ready for this? "Ended up doing D!cks on-line which sounds bad and is not satisfying at all. And bonus! I could use my PayPal account, so it's almost like I'm getting it for free! Which sounds even worse." Her response? "That was like the best thing you've ever said." If it was "like" the best thing I ever said, I'm afraid to ask her what the best thing I ever said was.
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Post by stepper on Dec 15, 2015 18:53:10 GMT -6
Yes you have, but it's seldom enough that it's worthy of comment. Toro Poo Poo. The Thanksgiving thing was a cartoonish drawing of a cheap serving thing with an equally cartoonish turkey leg. Between that and the fra-gee-lay (must be Italian) award, the stockinged leg wins easily. I see nothing wrong with ensuring certain items, which require specialized knowledge, being selected for the hapless but well meaning "gifter" who (if he/they are smart) will certainly appreciate the assistance. And they'll disguise it somehow so that it's still a surprise. "Honey, why is there a refrigerator/freezer box taking up space in the mud room?" 'Why, I can't imagine! But since it says "Do Not Open 'Til Christmas" maybe you'd better leave it alone until we know who it's for.' "Is there a chance it's not for me?" 'There's always Quetta. It could be full of doggie treats. Or cat treats.' "Either way, it'd be shredded by now." 'Um, what's for dinner. I'm really hungry.' Sort of the difference between sheer and cotton/wool blends? I'm still hoping for a pleasant surprise. Never can tell - it might happen. Which is probably why no one, but no one, thinks the same way I do. It might be a trick of the lighting, but the cream colored one actually looks like it's lit up. But I see why you like them. Mom and dad had 4 that they thought of as special. I have no idea what happened to them, but I remember the first time I was allowed to put one on the tree because it was one of those "okay, you're growing up" moments. They were hand blown and hand painted, fragile, and very fancy in comparison to any other ornament I remember seeing. I remember one having a scene of a matador with his red cape flowing as he dodged a charging bull. The decoration at the top of the picture - the one that's cut off. We had some exactly like that - I don't know if the one in the picture is new or old, but we had a set of them. (Cool - memories of decorating for Christmas.) I got confirmation that the last of the mailed stuff has been delivered. I need nothing but a couple local things - which I have figured out - and Steppet. The guys at work are getting a 24oz package of Pistachios and the other one let slip that he likes Tastycakes chocolate cup cakes with a white cream center. Hopefully they're still around but I saw several boxes not more than a few days ago. You just accurately described every shopping trip I've been on. Ah! But you forget how clever Quetta is! She ravaged all the goodies and at the last second, hearing you approaching the door, tossed a decoy toy over to the cat who immediately succumbed to the delights of cat-nip. I feel sorry for her - I'm also wondering if part of this is nerves. Before you ask, I remember you mentioning a similar situation before - she was unwell and had tests or some such pending. LOL! I love the text exchange - and that you actually sent it to her. But maybe in her haste she missed the punctuation and meant to say "That was, like, the best thing you've ever said." Mini MiaI know! It was just a few years ago she was asking you to do it for her, like tying her shoes for her, and now she just ups and does things on her own - without asking permission let alone help! And did you see what she said to her daughter??? When'd she start talking like that!? When did she hear that?
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Post by Phalon on Dec 18, 2015 8:51:38 GMT -6
I was still waiting for my mail-order D!cks to be delivered yesterday.
(I just couldn't resist typing that). It's the only thing that was holding up me going to the post office though; I'd just like to make one trip, and get everything sent at once.
Other than that I am done!!! Or mostly done anyway - and that still deserves a couple of exclamation points because I've never ever been this far along this early!! Ever!
I stopped in Holland on the way back from taking Xena Sis to the airport in Grand Rapids yesterday morning. There is a Kohl's there; though it was still early, I knew they'd have holiday hours, and I could finish up the few things I still wanted to get with one-stop shopping - just a plush throw blanket for BP, the softest I could find (had to pitch her old one earlier this week, because it was worn so thin there were holes in it), pajama bottoms for her too, and Nike anklet socks for both girls, which BP just informed me the day before she needed black ones.
I have to say, there is a method to their sock madness - one brand, two styles, two colors; they never have to worry about not finding a match after one gets lost in laundry, and I suspect, they "borrow" from each other without the other knowing.
Hhhmmm...thinking this might be a good plan for me to adopt too, especially since we all wear the same size now. I'll never have to search for a sole mate again!
But then...
...I like heavier socks, but colorful ones. I wear white cotton socks all during the work season, so (yes, this is weird) when I'm off work, the last thing I want to do is wear a solid color, blah-looking sock. Hubs did pretty good with picking out patterned socks for me last year...but he got wool - hand-wash only wool.
I'm guessing the one in the picture is probably from the sixties; we had a set too, and even when I was a little kid, I always, always remember them being on the tree. There are only two left though - the spiral stripes on each are colored differently. There's a third with a similar style that I think is much, much older, probably one of Mom's mom's; the glass is very, very thin, stripes are clear and straight, not spiraled, the bumpy part is painted gold most of which is worn off, and the hangie thing were the hook goes is a thicker metal than on the newer ornaments.
Oh!!! I love looking at Christmas decorations! We should move into the calendar thread - you show me yours, and I'll show you mine. I'm a minimalist when it comes to decorating my own house though, but this year I went "all out".
I worry about her; it seems she's continually sick the entire school year since she's was a freshman in college. It's partly a seasonal allergy/asthma thing - every fall and spring, since she was a little kid, she has sinus problems when the seasons change. Add to that, schools are breeding grounds for germs. Sinus drainage, a typical head cold - with an asthmatic, it usually ends up all in the lungs. I'm sure this is all compounded by not eating right, sleeping enough, and being generally run-down. Stress from exams doesn't help either. She's in the other room now, hacking away like she's coughing up a lung, which is typical. I'll make an appointment while she's home anyway just to make sure it hasn't developed into pneumonia or bronchitis, although we've been through this a hundred times before.
That's the best part, isn't it?! I think so anyway - picking up on little things people say, and then surprising them with it.
Hubs has wished for a Go-Pro camera for a couple of years now; I ordered one on-line for him Monday, and it came yesterday.
Pulled a slicky on him. A couple of weeks ago, he had ordered a case of turkey jerky from Walgreen's because it was on sale for half-price; they didn't have it in stock, so they gave him a rain-check. Who the heck does that?!!! An entire case?! He loves the stuff though, and apparently it lasts forever. It was supposed to come in last week, but didn't. I checked yesterday, it was there, and they gave me the sale price. I wrapped it up, put it under the tree, and told him when he got home one of those Christmas little white lies - that I'd been by the drugstore and his jerky came in, was the wrong flavor, and the correct wouldn't be in until after Christmas (I didn't want him to go there himself, and have them say "Oh, your wife already picked it up"). Have to say standing at the counter at a busy store, while having the clerk ring up an entire case of turkey jerky was somewhat embarrassing. Ah, the things we do for love.
I ordered him a cell phone too - he knows about this one, because it's more a desire of mine for him to have one than it is of his, because the girls and I all know, it'll be drag him into this decade somewhat unwillingly. He's got an old flip-phone perfectly fine for emergencies, but nothing else. So many times it'd be so much easier for me to send a quick text, "Hey, we're really busy at work; I'm going to be late. Don't worry." Especially when calling his office; so much of his time is spent on the phone, I hate to tie up a line with something simple.
I got one for me too - they were half price! My current phone is an old slider, and some of the keys stick, and one doesn't work at all. While I was at it, I had LX look at the site, and pick out the one she wanted too. This is where maturity comes into play between her and BP (who had to have an Iphone, even if it was an older model that most of which she paid for herself). LX picked out a very basic phone ("I just need a phone that works and takes a decent photo"), and I got all three for what I thought I'd pay for one! Got an e-mail that they were shipped, and should be here today.
Stopped in at the Tavern here in town yesterday, and got a gift certificate for the neighbors next door - computer guy and his family. Best burgers in town for the best neighbors in town.
Oh! And the D!cks came!!! (Oh my, that sounds way worse typed than it did even in my head!!)
I'll go to the post office this morning to mail the package. Everything else is wrapped and under the tree, except the socking stuff which I'll wrap hopefully later today. Do you do stockings? That's another of my favorite things.
I even got some cards out yesterday!
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 18, 2015 20:55:19 GMT -6
Sometimes I think I'll delete all the censored *curse* words. But then I don't. I go back and forth. It can be a pain in the a$$ sometimes. Especially since those of us who post use them sparingly. Plus, members now have the option of reporting posts to alert me of them.
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Post by stepper on Dec 18, 2015 22:27:54 GMT -6
Mini Mia Deleting words/posts is a privilege and responsibility of the site monitor. I'm wondering what's driving the question though. Unless you are aware of comments that have not been openly communicated which express consternation about "those" words, why bother with additional changes? Let me guess. They come in your choice of size and color, and you can purchase different versions to fit your mood at the time? And I quote: "(I just couldn't resist typing that). " Me too. I have one more - a friend who likes oranges. She'll get a mulberry scented candle that she likes, orange slices (candy) that she really likes, and she uses her home as a rescue for great danes so a donation for food or veterinary care would be helpful too. If you're talking about the really soft fluffy ones, I have several of those and like them a lot. Mine are mostly one color, but I have a couple Christmas ones that have snow flakes on them. I figure if my eyes are closed I won't care about decoration so they're all in use. Do you think they'd like anklets? Just asking 'cause I know a couple ladies who like those. Except for camping - which I haven't done in years - I like cotton much better than wool which, as far as I'm concerned, is only for boots. That's the ones! I remember thinking they were colorful and flashy and I put a couple of those on the tree along with the plain single color glass ones. I liked those too. We'd run multi-colored strings on the outter branches, but some went more towards the center too. The plain glass ornaments did a great job of reflecting the lights from all angles - and it's hard to have too many lights on a tree. The ornaments really dress up a tree and compensate for any defects. I noticed that happening to the one color glass ornaments too. Over the years they'd develop spots where the coating gave out. I stopped using those as they "failed". I prefer loading the tree and having some Christmas stuff out, but not so that it overwhelms the rest of the house. One thing we do that's "different" is we leave something out all year. It's usually something minor, but I liked the Nativity set on the mantle enough that we left it out all year; the five piece Peanuts band thing is/was fun too. The pieces respond to any one of the other pieces starting to play, so of course they have five different songs and you can't tell which it'll be until one starts up. Anyway, there's always a bit of Christmas happening. One of the guys at work - his girlfriend had much the same physical reaction but hers turned into a nasty nasal infection - she spiked a fever of 103 over night too. The ER put her on several different drugs one of which (as I understand it) made everything taste bad. It took her another couple days but then it cleared up and she's okay now. Yes, but listening that closely to people who won't circle the things they really want in ads from local papers isn't the easiest thing to do. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between chatting for the sake of participating in the conversation, and unintentionally letting something slip. I have to say, I think it'd be fun to have one of the quad-copters with a go-pro mounted on it. I'm certain the neighbor hood would look very different from up there. That'd be an excellent beginning line for a Christmas story that you're going to write and send out for publication. It could even start the story about the house and selling it. This happened to me in March. My Sprint phone wouldn't work properly and they claimed it was too old to fix so I had to purchase a new one or sign up for a two year deal to get a "free" one. And no one sells cell phones that are just phones. They want to talk to you and all kinds of cr@p I don't want. I do use the texting feature, but sparingly. I only know a couple people who actually bother with texting - and Steppet isn't interested in that at all. I have used the camera a few times too - it takes "okay" pictures. That's it though. Well, not quite. One other thing. I found out - you can talk and it'll translate your words to text as opposed to doing all that typing. That's handy. LOL! Didn't keep you from posting it though. We don't put things under the tree until the last minute - and the past couple years we haven't done that either. We keep them out of the way and just open them Christmas morning. Do you wait? When I was young we got to open one thing Christmas Eve and everything else waited. Our neighbors open all their stuff Christmas Eve so that Christmas day all they do is relax, cook, and eat. Their kids are grown and have families of their own, and often they (the kids) work some on Christmas Day so it fits their schedules better, but they've always done it that way. We used to, and I got in the habit of going to the stocking first when I was young. (It held my favorite yearly treasure - tangerines.) But like presents under the tree, things for the stockings seems to have become a fond memory. I have, on the top shelf of my computer table, two small ceramic Christmas boots that mom made (and signed), and next to them is a Snoopy stocking holder with a wreath across his dog house - and the wreath has blinking lights. All of that is out all year too; every so often I turn the lights on.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 18, 2015 23:12:21 GMT -6
It was the word "dick" that stirred my comment. It can be used in decent context, and it seems strange to have to censor it.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 18, 2015 23:26:38 GMT -6
Hmm ... It seems I already took 'dick' off of the list. 'Dyke' as well. I hated that no one could type "Dick Van Dyke" without it being censored to 'boy thingie Van Sapphite'. (I decided I preferred it to change to 'Sapphite' instead of their choice. Which I can't remember what it was right now.)
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Post by stepper on Dec 19, 2015 13:05:44 GMT -6
An unfinished thought...they are out, but hold only memories. No stockings of any kind. LOL! I've already had problems with Dick Van Dyke. And you are correct - innocent words can be perverted to other purposes. I'm thinking unless you get uncomfortable with a board participant - or the direction that a series is going - I'm not sure you need to expend the effort. But if you think it's necessary - after all, some words are blatantly objectionable as opposed to being subject to the double entendre - protect the board and its "G" rating. Perhaps you can make it specific - Dick Van Dyke is okay by exception but dick and dyke aren't? Not to me it doesn't - there will always be trolls and those who do not care to censor themselves sufficiently, or don't care about who else comes here and at least reads posts, or the age of those more innocent minds. You know the true weakness of a board where posts are open to any and all - you cannot un-see the things to which you have been exposed. But the passer by cannot see what's happening here if the posts are all private to members which is a good way to never get new members. Of course, it'd be nice if the newbies hung around long enough to play too. I missed not tossing the pumpkin at Phalon at 23:59 so she'd be the last one to have it. Hoping to be able to finish the shopping today - I need only stop at the BX and being that close, I'm sure the commissary will be on the list too. Later – Done shopping! I have three deliveries to make and all of those are at work. And, all the fixin’s for Christmas dinner have been purchased. From here on, nothing but fun! (And unseasonably warm temps.)
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 19, 2015 19:47:23 GMT -6
I put the word in the box that I want to change to another word. So, all 'Dicks' would become 'boy thingie'. So:
[dick] becomes [boy thingie] [ dick ] becomes [ boy thingie ]
[dyke] becomes [Sapphite] [ dyke ] becomes [ Sapphite ]
There's no way around it. They don't have an 'exceptions' option.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 20, 2015 0:36:02 GMT -6
I don't remember what word it was or what I was even talking about, but fairly recently I was surprised that something I posted was auto-edited - the auto-edit didn't make sense in the context of the post and wasn't what I was saying at all. That's very thoughtful and sweet! Those are the ones! Her room is the coldest bedroom; it's got four huge double-hung windows, is on the northwest side and juts out farther than the rest of the house, so it gets the brunt of the bitter west wind. She's got a nice thick comforter but loves to have a couple of those fluffy soft plush throws on her bed too. I guess it depends on how sentimental you get about the ornaments whether you consider them "fails". I'd never throw away Mom's just because the paint is fading. Some of the ornaments on the big tree - the ones that Hubs and I bought our first Christmas together - are starting to get spotty. The plain silver or gold bulbs I might eventually replace, but the frosted red ones with painted gold pine trees and stars are Hubs' favorite, so those will stay. Last year we had a "light emergency" when putting up the tree - a lot of the bulbs on each strand went out - so I sent the girls out to get lights. They got exactly what they knew I'd want - antique white - but the newer LCD lights, even the ones called "antique" are way brighter than the old lights. It didn't matter last year, because I'd used all the other light strands out on the front porch. This year though, I only used three strands on the porch, and the fourth strand went on the tree. The difference in the lights is very noticeable (but it doesn't matter enough to any of us to change it this year). Are you channeling Hubs here, or have you two been talking? We use Virgin Mobile - unlimited everything, no shared data, no contract; we've had the service for years. The problem is, during the past year Virgin Mobile went completely on-line; you can't buy a phone programmed for Virgin Mobile at a store. Fine and dandy if one knows what they're doing - you just use your new phone to set up everything, but an impossible task for the likes of Hubs and me. I went to the place in town where we've always gone (it's Boost Mobile now) and talked to the Cell Phone Goddess; no problem, she said, just bring in the new phones and she'd set everything up, including transferring all saved data and contacts from the old phones to the new. The phones came yesterday, and Hubs and I went to see her today. She's my hero!!! I use a lot of features on my phone (probably more on the new phone!) but get the most use out of it with texting; most of my friends text, (except Xena Sis - who, like Hubs, finally got rid of her flip phone recently and got a new "flat" phone. Huh? That's what she thought they were called, just because it wasn't bulky like the flip phone). Texting is a great way for me to keep in touch with the girls too. I might only talk on the phone with LX once every two or three weeks, but we text often. Much less embarrassing for BP too, to send a quick 'checking in' text than to have to call home in front of her friends, and say "we're leaving the movies and going to so-and-so's now"; I require a check-in when she's going from one place to another. Hubs...it's going to take a while for him to get used to it. A note about sending a voice text - my brother's girlfriend uses that, and oh-my-god, reading a text from her is like reading a book; my phone blows up, and I know it's her because there will five texts in a row - she talks a lot in person, and apparently, texts the same way! When I was a kid, our family always waited until Christmas morning to open everything. Hubs' family did the one gift on Christmas Eve tradition though, so that's what we do...mainly, because even before we had kids, he couldn't wait! Just one gift though; the rest waits until Christmas morning. Aw, you should revive the tradition - it's such a fun one! We always open the stockings first too (it was the same when we were kids). Everyone sits around and shows off each little thing they pull out. I got all the stocking stuff wrapped this afternoon; since I pick up little things here and there throughout the season, I never really know what I've got until I gather everything from wherever I've stashed the bags, and spread it all out. LX's stocking this year, turned out like some kind of weird survival kit - a container of pepper spray and a tiny but high-powered flashlight (she's got some late classes, and I've been on the phone with her while she's walking home, and she's told me to "hang on for a couple of minutes" - she uses her phone to light the way walking through a short stretch of woods between campus and the apartments!!! "ACK!" a mother says!), a car air-freshener that reads "love you to the moon and back" which is a line from a childhood book I used to read her that I once tried a few years ago to take to Goodwill, but was accused of ripping her childhood from her; it still sits on the bookcase in the living room. There's also a candle, a gas gift card, a pack of gum, tweezers (she asked for those), an eyebrow pencil, and a handwritten note that will allow her to pick out dread beads and cuffs online because I had no idea what size to get. Yep, she should be set for any eye and hair fashion or stinky car emergency. I have very few Christmas decorations; there are a few that people have given me that BP sets out each year (she loves Christmas!), but I've never purchased any myself. There's the little tree with Mom's ornaments; I place some vintage-style small gift boxes beneath it. My brothers both insisted I be the "Keeper of the Ornaments" and I'm glad because they're the only thing I wanted out of an entire basement closet of Mom's Christmas stuff - she had a ton Christmas decorations! The ornaments and her big wooden plate that she always hung on the wall in our family room - it's brick-red, painted with a green sprig of pine, and the words in white "Christmas in the city, Christmas in the town, Christmas in our hearts, Christmas all around."; I hang in on the wall right inside the front door. The rest of her Christmas stuff we put in the estate sale - there was just so, so much of it. More than half of it sold, but there was still what amounted to two big boxes left, which I brought home in October. Half of that I donated to the Humane Society resale store, and the other half I grouped into lots and sold on eBay (it paid for a nice chunk of our Christmas this year - including the D!cks!). There were a few more things I decided to keep though - a ceramic snowman she painted (it's signed on the bottom like your boots); I thought it was cute until BP pointed out it looks like a "Creeper Snowman" with its tilted head, leering sly smile, and one hand held behind its back gripping a giant candy cane as if it's poised and ready to whack some unsuspecting kid over the head with it; Creeper or not, it looks nice next to her tree. There are four Libby glass containers too - two snowmen of the same size (those I filled with Toostie Pops for the girls in an old/new tradition; Mom used to give each of the boys a check box filled with Toostie Rolls right up until her last Christmas - it always had to be in the box checks came in, or 'it wasn't tradition' according to my brothers; just another family joke its origins nearly forgotten), and two Christmas trees - a small one and a larger one. This year though, I did way more decorating than I usually do. Most of the reason is because we moved the tree - it's always been in the living room in front of the big side window between the T.V. and loveseat. It's really the only place in the room it would fit because of the two doorways and the other furniture, but has always been a pain-in-the-butt to get around and whoever was sitting on the loveseat couldn't see the television. So I decided this year it should be in the dining room, under protest from LX who, when I mentioned it at Thanksgiving, said it would be weird to have a tree in the dining room. She wasn't here when we put it up though, so HA! I didn't have to listen to her complain. The dining is more than large enough, all we had to do was move a small table next to the front door, and the tree is out of the way of traffic. Bonus, according to BP, is it's now visible through a front window (though it's a much smaller window than the side window in the living room). Only problem was the living room with just the table-top tree (which is actually on an end-table this year and not the floor), looked bare. Under BP's supervision and scrutiny, I scrounged around and came up with acceptable Christmas decor - keeping in mind a friend once said about something else I'd done - it looks like something like Martha Stewart would do if Martha smoked crack. I texted LX, ""The house looks so damned festive it's killing me. I'm astounded by my own creativity!" "I don't know whether to yell 'Yay' because you've finally decorated for Christmas, or be sad because it's killing you." The front porch is beautiful (in my opinion). White lights and (fake) evergreen boughs on the railing with white stars dangling by different lengths of twine from above. A discarded government issue gray trash can that I painted bright red and filled with greenery and berries. A wall basket of the same above the mailbox. I ended up putting the dining room table basket arrangement out there a couple of days before LX came home too; can't have fresh spruce or pine in the house because it triggers her asthma. In its place on the table, I filled a red enamel teapot with false cypress and mountain laurel leaves - two evergreens she's not allergic to. BP said I needed something for the coffee table in the living room, so I filled the Libby Christmas trees (Mom used to fill them with red and green M&Ms) with small pine cones. They didn't quite fill out the shape of the trees though. Wait! I ran upstairs and got Mom's button tin from my bedroom, dumped the buttons in the trees, and shook them. Now the trees had ornaments! BP then pointed out that the small table I moved in the dining room needed something tall to fill the corner. I had just the thing! An old metal plaid cooler I'd taken from Mom's attic that last evening; I'd used it at the Holiday Market to hold the berry bunches I sold. I had no more berries though, but I did have left-over redtwig dogwood branches. I put the button tin on the table too - it's not Christmasy, but it's red. Close enough! A few baskets that I painted red for the Holiday Market arrangements but ended up not using, I filled with pinecones, and strategically placed around the house. Voila! My Martha on Crack decorating is complete!!! Right down to the tree being off center in front of the window. I will say, once Hubs and I got it up, I wanted to center it. BP said no - it was more artistic being off-center, because it would make people outside looking in wonder why it was off-center. I'm thinking the Martha on Crack gene has been passed down.
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Post by stepper on Dec 20, 2015 15:35:14 GMT -6
I didn't realize anything I had posted had been auto edited because I don't go back and re-read something that I've posted, but for some reason the Dick Van Dyke thing was noticeable. It's entirely possible it's happened before and I didn't catch it - but I don't know exactly which words are verboten - I have a sort-of idea but that's all. It's also a bit necessary. The cops keep contacting her when they have a bad situation and a couple of the dogs have proven expensive because they arrived in such sad condition. Plus, being great danes, they eat a lot. Even when they are all healthy they're still expensive. I've been known to open a window to make it cool enough to use a couple extra of those fluffy throws - including using them in place of a pillow. The problem with that last step is that they can be quite warm - a couple times I woke up and the back of my neck was beginning to sweat because it was too warm. They're very comfortable - she's a smart kid. Absolutely! The ornaments I was talking about weren't anything "special" - just the single color glass ornaments. They add to the tree, fill in gaps, reflect the lights and make it more festive, but the ornaments themselves held no emotional value. I've noticed that too, but I still like the LCDs. The outdoor multicolored lights have such brighter, truer color to them. I've got sets of the old C9 stings and the two different styles just wouldn't work together, but I'm very tempted to switch to the new LCDs. If I didn't have so many replacement bulbs for the strings I have, I might actually do it. Last year a string went bad - maybe the next string that starts shorting out will be sufficient motivation to facilitate the swap out. We're both guys - I'm sure that explains it well enough. I'm sure it'd be great fun to combine those things together - flying a quadcopter (that platform seems much more stable than a plain "toy" copter) and photography with it - I'm sure it'd be hours of entertainment. I think that'd be a rather severe drawback allowing that there are many people who find things like that challenging. Someone would have to install and activate your SIM Card. Most phones now have a process where you set them side by side and they'll sync up, but you have to know the process - what processes to start - etc. For people to whom electronics and computers are mystic, virtual magic, that would be daunting. Or at least an additional cost since you'd have to have someone do it for you. There you go! At least give her an extra Christmas cookie. I don't. I read the license agreements for several of them and don't like what they require. For instance, it would seem that the maps and locations feature would be handy, but they require access to way too many things completely unnecessary for the functionality of the app. And, the agreement says the app can share your information without further notifying you. For instance - there's an app where you can the bar for the item and it looks for lower prices. Sounds handy huh. Then it shares your shopping habits with any retailer who pays them for the information. Khols does this - or did - so when you entered their store there systems would throw unsolicited ads at you base on previous purchases. The idea is targeted spam - ads for things you are more likely to purchase while in their store. I'm a very private person when it comes to on-line information. Where I've been (the location app), where I work (again, the location app), did I purchase beer or wine or ice cream - this is no ones business but mine. Yet the apps sell this data to spam artists for more profit - for both of them if it works. Your phone is an absolute gold mine of information and some apps are only too willing to share it. That's very tempting - but I try to limit mine. As a matter of fact, I pretty much have to. Too big a message exceeds the memory in the phone and it stops working - you lose the whole thing. I keep my texts short and to the point. But I've received a text message or two where the phone split it into multiple messages. This reminded me of another feature that I used. I've sent pictures via text message. It doesn't work with all the phones I've sent something to for some reason - probably incompatibility issues - but where it works it comes in handy. I completely agree. It's much too difficult to wait without satiating that curiosity at least a bit, and completely unnecessary. It only makes sense to pop open some trifling little thing to scratch the itch. Besides, we all know that the really "good" stuff isn't coming out from under it's hiding place until after everyone else is in bed, or before they get up in the morning. I developed an ulterior motive. I said before that mom could stretch 50 cents into a buck and a half - one of the things she did was wrap everything. Individually if necessary. If we were getting something that required batteries, the batteries got wrapped too and they'd find their way into stockings. Little clues about what other goodies might be hiding under the tree. I saw one in one of the magazines we got this year where it's a bright flashlight, but you flick a switch and it's also a 3 million volt stun gun. I double checked the ad - for some reason it's not available in your state. So when she gets married you'll give her the book with a note about reading it to her kids? I can't say that - although it was never my intent. Besides the swan, I have an old standing Santa figurine that belonged to my grandmother - another treasure mom saved - and several ceramic Christmas trees. Some of those have plastic inserts in the branches that resemble a fancy older style light. You put a bright nightlight in the bottom of the tree and the plastic inserts reflect that so that the tree looks like it's all lit up. A few are small, a couple are large enough to be the center piece of a coffee table or end table. Over the years I've acquired some things on my own too. I have three or four different sets of nativity scenes including Peanuts sets. But mostly, I have ornaments. Lots of ornaments including ceramic ones mom made and ones we purchased with the names of pets on them, and like this year. I always purchase all the Peanuts/Snoopy ornaments - two actually incase one breaks years after I purchased it because they often come in sets. But this year Hallmark had the bell from The Polar Express - the one where so long as you believe in Santa you can still hear it ring. I liked it so I got it. I'm sure that is the fate of the vast majority of my Christmas stuff. And the Snoopy collections too. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about the swan. None of us had children so there's no one to pass it too. I like the new stuff but I'm also a fan of the older "antique" stuff too. To most people, it'll be junk. Maybe someone will put it on sale on e-bay or some such. Or it'll go cheaply to someone who purchases items from estate sales for resale in a flea market. Or most likely, it'll end up in some dump, forgotten. But for now, it's mine. Wanna bet that some day that will be hers? I like that line - now I need a place to use it! I know you prefer all white lights - but for a creative person in a festive mood I'm surprised the temptation of color didn't overtake you. My neighbor has those white LCD Icicle Lights hanging across the front of his house and in the bushes, but I'm not a fan of a single color. A guy around the corner has his in all blue including much of a large tree in his front yard. I like blue but again, the one color choice doesn't work for me.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 21, 2015 8:47:31 GMT -6
Expensive for sure! Imagine the same situation with cows; Crazy Cheryl is probably on the state police's speed dial. Every spring, very young calves not yet weaned from their mothers are brought from out-of-state (I can't remember which state) for auction. Often ones that don't sell and are literally starving without their mothers' milk, are dumped along the Interstate by the unscrupulous because it's cheaper to lose money on a starving calf than to transport livestock back across state lines. Come spring, she'll have IVs ready to go to nurse the poor things back to health. The barn is too cold that time of year, so she carries them into her house, and down the steps into her heated basement!!! Exactly! That's why Cell Phone Goddess is my hero! And sigh...a good sigh, but never-the-less a sigh from a person for whom computers are mystic, virtual magic that is daunting. Computer Guy Neighbor came over yesterday - it seems he and Hubs have been in cahoots the last few weeks; Hubs asked him to keep an eye out for sales on a new laptop for me for Christmas. He found one that will fit what I want and need, and showed me what he thought would be perfect just to make sure. We ordered it. This is a good thing, right? (and I thought Hubs was dragging his heels getting rid of his flip-phone!) I just have a hard time spending that kind of money when I already have a computer that still works. "Phalon", Computer Guys says, (actually not, because that's not my name), "I don't know how long I can keep yours running anymore." One more large Windows update and it could be the end. I'm gonna miss the old gal. That's one of the things I used on my old phone a lot, and I'm going to miss on this new phone. The old one came with a GPS navigation; on the new one I have to go to Google Maps for GPS. Blah! I use that a lot too, both for sending and receiving. It's been really fun recently because I've got a friend who is spending the winter traveling cross-country. He sends me photo "postcards" by text...beautiful mountains out west, villas, gardens, huge cactus, lizards, cows....road kill, and recently a giant California cockroach. I enjoy his weird sense of humor. Mom did the same thing! It'll be a box of books! There are 30 beloved "must saves" still on the book shelf (I just counted) that she pulled out of the Goodwill box that day, and insisted we keep lest I rip her childhood from her. Every-so-often both of the girls will grab one and read to each other, or they'll sit on either side of me on the couch, while I read to them. Kinda weird, I know, but <shrugs> it's a Mom/Daughter thing. I know exactly what you're talking about! Mom had a lot of those too - sounds like she and your Mom both did ceramics back in the day. I know Mike had a large one she did in an "antique white crackle finish"; one of his friend's wife always admired it, so I gave it to her when he died. Mom gave me a medium-sized green one the first Christmas Hubs and I spent in our first house...that was four moves ago, and I haven't seen it since we moved here 15 years ago; it's not in any of the Christmas boxes. Oh-my-god! You have to find someone who will be Keeper of the Swan!!! A second or third generation cousin maybe? If you absolutely cannot find anyone in your family, in the very least it and its history should be preserved somehow. Maybe donate it to a museum like this one: www.nationalchristmascenter.com/Home_Page.html The neighbors have the entire outside of their house done in blue LCD lights - though I can't see the house from our side window, there is a visible blue glow coming from the west! Colored lights hold no temptation for me - I'll always have white. Growing up, Dad always put colored lights - those big bulbed ones - on the outside eaves, and a huge metal star rimmed in blue lights on the chimney. The Christmas tree was most often lit with white lights, but every so often Mom and Dad would switch it up, and do colored lights; I always liked the white best. I'm a traditionalist when it comes to decorating for Christmas, as you can probably tell from the pictures I posted; I like to keep the decorations very simple. The tree is done in mostly in red, gold, silver, or white; unless it's something someone gave me there is no pink, blue, orange or any color that's not a traditional Christmas color. It's the same with the material the ornaments are made of - unless it was given to me, there's no plastic - they're all glass, or metal. I prefer to decorate with natural materials too - the fresh greens, branches, and pine cones. And candles - I love candles! A tree with white lights to me resembles Christmas trees of the past, when candles were used to light the tree. Then of course, there's our house - built in the 1800's, colored lights - especially LCD lights - just, by my way of thinking, would be out of place. The new neighbors across the street decorated their maple tree with LCD lights - the trunk is screaming bright white, and the branches are purple, with big wire spheres of white. I honestly don't get it - how is that Christmasy? They have two of those giant inflatable figures that are lit from the inside too - a snowman, and a Santa. It's just a matter of preference - they probably look across the street and think how dull and boring my greenery, stars, and white lights are, when I look over there and think WTF?! I do have to say, while I prefer white lights, Hubs absolutely hates colored lights, so much so, he actually calls them ugly - this from a man who cares nothing about home decor of any sort; I could paint the walls purple and black with neon green polka dots, and he'd just nod and say "nice, Dear". The girls too - they don't just prefer white, they dislike colored lights, which I find odd, especially from BP, who likes everything modern. Grocery shopping for Christmas dinner today, and I have no idea yet what we're having - while everyone in the household agrees on white lights, no one can make up their minds about what we should have for dinner! Not that it matters, but edited to clarify by "glass ornaments" I mean glass and glass-like, which by my way of thinking, includes porcelain, crystal, china, bisque, and the like.
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Post by stepper on Dec 21, 2015 22:06:39 GMT -6
Wow. Really - that's one heck of a commitment. Caring for calves must be work intensive and time consuming. And potentially heart breaking. What does she do with the ones she's able to save? Are we somehow distantly related? I replaced my last system when it's predecessor died. I was lucky because I was able to pull the drive and basically made it a slave through use of a USB hook up, and then copied everything from the old drive to this one. Nothing was lost. I recently backed up everything on this drive by copying it all to a USB. This was necessary because this system is nearing the end. Either it requires a serious upgrade, or it should be retired. I was stressing over doing either one, when a friend made a suggestion. I'm his computer guy - an indication that some people are truly computer illiterate - but the end of all the effort was that he is now gainfully employed as an OSHA Safety Inspector. He works a lot of hours, but now has a steady income. Yesterday he called saying he was given a new computer by the VA while he was taking classes and now wants to buy me a new computer too. It's very generous of him, and a new system would eliminate several problems such as doing the upgrade, adding more memory and processing power, etc. My needs aren't that extensive - I could get enough system for something like $400 - but I am not comfortable spending someone else’s hard earned cash - and even less anxious to part with my current system. We're "friends" - and I'm not excited to move on. I don't know about your computer guy, but the guys at work strongly suggested I make sure I had a touch screen. I'm thinking of getting a laptop instead of a tower this time, hoping that somehow it'll save space. I haven't decided which because I haven't looked all that much, but I'm probably going to want some kind of navigation app sooner or later. In this I'm with Hubs - later is better. I've taken only a few - the truth is I'm looking for reasons and failing. I have two of the kittens from this spring past, and one that I sent because I needed advice on rewiring the phone box outside; that phone box thing was really handy but so far, since Steppet is even further behind than I am, I just don't have much use for it. For me it wasn't books, but a bookshelf. Dad made it - lord only knows when because I don't remember not having it in my room, but it's still solid as a rock, and at some point in time it held every treasure I owned. Now days it's actually full of books - a few Bibles (including mom's) and a couple sets of Xena trading cards. I like having it around if for no other reason than it's always been around. Like the books - sometimes it's enough that they are there. That the girls will take turns reading stories is not all that common, but quite sweet. Aww. That's too bad. Maybe some day it'll show up in some hidden corner in the basement. Ceramics - yes it does sound like it. Mom was pretty good at it. I had a Christmas house that was really well done - must have taken a lot of time. Unfortunately, it hasn't survived. Some days I wonder - what if I try to make a few things too? I'm not artistic at all, but it doesn't 'require' significant levels of creativity. I know - and I'm looking. I'm not sure a museum would be interested in a glass swan that isn't really in great condition though. On the other hand, they'd try and take care of it. Oh my goodness - that's got to be a lot of blue! I don't understand the point of wrapping a tree in strings of lights. There are some people down here who do the same thing and aside from being lit up, I don't get it. On the other hand, I'm not a fan of the laser thing that shows colors on the house. I'm sure next year they'll have them where they project scenes, and then moving scenes. I still won't like them as Christmas lights. It's just the way I am I guess. Guilty, although mine aren’t' "giant". One is a Snoopy wearing a scarf and snow hat - it sits in the yard swing. (Twin, one of the strays who stays near my house, sleeps in the swing seat next to Snoopy.) The other one is big though. It's Snoopy and Woodstock riding a red chopper (motorcycle with a long front end.) I'm the only one on my block with inflatables, but not the only one with Snoopy - there are four houses with Snoopy decorations. Or "It's not my preference, but there's a person who appreciates the old ways. As long as they're around the old feelings for Christmas will always be in style." The tree is mostly Snoopy this year - Steppet likes him too - but there are other things that go up too. I have a wooden set of craft figurines decorations that I painted (paint by number), and I prefer sparkly, but not everything has to be flashy. The weather forecast for Christmas has been revised. We'll have a cold front so the temps will only be in the upper 70s, but now all of Christmas weekend will be overcast, humid, warm, and drippy with a chance of thunderstorms. Guess I'll be spending most of that time inside eating and playing with what ever new toys Santa brings.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 22, 2015 10:56:19 GMT -6
The calves grow to maturity leading very happy lives of romping and eating their way through fields of grass, along with a couple of goats and one very cute, but unruly puppy. And then...well...last night we had spaghetti with meat sauce for dinner. You? One who works with computers? I would have thought you'd have the latest and greatest, or at least, wouldn't stress over getting rid of an old one. Wow, that is very generous!!! I wouldn't be comfortable accepting that large of a gift from a friend either, though. I'm not sure why, but computer guy skipped over the touch-screens models of the same computer I ended up choosing; he even said as he was scrolling through the choices "this is a touch-screen; you don't want that". I don't know if he thinks poorly of touch-screens, if the touch-screen of this particular model isn't up-to-par, or if he was reading my mind - the computer I use at work is a touch-screen, and I don't like it at all (maybe because I'm too heavy-handed?). I did go with a laptop though. The computer I have now, I don't think is what you'd call a tower - everything is built into the screen, except for the keyboard - but it is a desktop. I think it'll be nice to be able to escape my desk in the living room when BP has friends over watching a movie. He actually texted yesterday while the girls and I were at the grocery; he had forgotten to put a couple of things on the list. The girls and I were so proud of him! Even though he used a "wand stick" to do it. Even though he called the stylus a wand stick. I receive way more than I send. People are always sending me photos of plants and asking 'what is this?', and LX, since we don't see each other often, sends pictures. I forgot to ask Phone Goddess if she could move my saved photos to the new phone - there were only two; one LX sent of her and her boyfriend (so when people ask, I have something to show them), and a video BP took with her phone of when One Direction's motorcade drove past us coming into the stadium - the girls' reaction was absolutely hilarious. Yes, very sweet - just like they were doing yesterday, sweet, sweet, sweet (eye-roll). Since we're on the subject of cell-phones and texting, yesterday they found great joy in reading each other "my" texts to Hubs. We were running late with errands, one of which taking LX's new phone to Phone Goddess, who was extremely busy and it was taking much longer than I'd expected. While we were waiting, the girls took turns sending texts to Hubs from my phone pretending to be me....apparently my texts are very distinctive, which they find hilarious (which they later clarified to be "cute" - which deserves another eye-roll from me). "Still at the phone place; we probably won't be home for a while because we still have to go to the grocery. (OH-MY-GOD! Did you see that?! I just used an emoji!)" was a text from me, which was actually written by LX. Why they found this hilariously Mom is because 1.) I am the only person who can fit semi-colons, parenthesis, exclamation points, question marks, dashes and any other punctuation I find into one text. 2.) I am the only person in the world who calls a grocery store "the grocery". 3.) I am the only person in the world who doesn't use emoticons. I am thinking that book I got LX for Christmas, "When Parents Text", is going to be a book they sit down and read together. I like to watch them come to life when they inflate, and melt like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz when they deflate. How absolutely cute is that?!! You should take a picture - it'd make an adorable Christmas card for next year!
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Post by stepper on Dec 22, 2015 19:51:51 GMT -6
Hmm. Is the unruly puppy still around?
A.) Computers that I don't have to pay for and B.) computers - not PCs on your desk that serve no purpose other than communicating with the real computers. MY PC here at home is a Personal Computer - heavy on personal. Of course, new with tons of memory and enough processor to run everything on the block while streaming my favorite movies...that would be great. Again, paying for such is not nearly as much fun.
I'm thinking it's a bit much. I'll look for something that isn't quite so expensive, or I'll talk him into a new printer - I need one of those too.
Or perhaps you've let it slip about 24 million times that when it comes to touch screens, no-likee.
I haven't used it much, but I still have the one I got for when I had to do the Security+ course. Through work I was recently able to have it upgraded to Windows 10. Maybe I should try getting everything loaded onto that one to see how it works in the real world now that it's not Windows "I'm a dip-sh!t of a system" 8.
He's right you know. A stylus is associated with a record player. Clearly this magical device requires a separate nomenclature.
I send way more than I receive - proven by the fact that I've received none, nada, zip.
Threaten to show their baby pictures to their boyfriends! Then do it!!!
Um, why is that. I've seen you use them here, and your e-mails have the little girl on the swing, so why not on the phone? Too much to bother with?
The white Snoopy sort of melts like the wicked witch. I have to reposition it because if it's anywhere beside handing down in the front, the hat gets tangled up in the lattice work in the swing and doesn't sit up properly. Once or twice it was nearly indecent!
It'd also be nearly impossible to do - as soon as she hears me she's off the swing because she's convinced that my exiting the house = bring her fresh food. Front door or either of the side gates - doesn't matter - she's moving.
She sleeps in the swing at night, but during the day she tends to sleep in the back yard in the grass next to the big electric box, and after dinner (like now) she likes to sleep on top of the hot tub cover.
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Post by Spock on Dec 23, 2015 17:07:14 GMT -6
I have insisted for the past several years that my wife have an active OnStar account with any vehicle she owns. Recently we got her a replacement for her elderly Saturn Vue. It has OnStar but I got tired of not being able to contact her when she was away from home and not in her car. She indicated a fleeting desire for an iPad Mini, so yesterday I dragged her into the local Apple store to get one for her. I got it with Cell service with the idea that it could double as a cell phone ... more on that in a minute. We got all the way through the purchase process when she casually mentioned that the color I was purchasing for her wasn't the color she thought she had expressed an interest in. Much paperwork and sweat and tears later, we had the color she wanted. We got it home and started playing with it and one of the things I wanted to do was look up the phone number so I could call her. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to pull up the account in the iPad. I kept getting an error message. After about an hour working with a VerizonWireless tech, the tech finally said she thought the SIM card was bad ... back to the store we trekked. When we got there we learned that the iPad Mini would never work like a cell phone directly (not their fault. I made a bad "assumption" and never actually asked if it would work that way), so we decided to exchange what we had for an iPhone 6 in a color that I made sure she picked out first. We finally went home with her happy and we had a working phone for my most precious. Today I logged into my VerizonWireless account and lo and behold what to my wondering eyes do see but an active iPad Mini as an active device that I'm supposed to pay for! I've spent several hours today between VW and Apple. Finally the Apple tech I was talking to asked a manager and I was finally informed that any devices returned might take as much as 24 to 48 hours before they were officially deactivated and could be removed from my VW account. Needless to say, I will be monitoring my account to ensure this is all removed retroactively. I'm not too upset because the mix-up was my fault and everyone was under a lot of pressure to please us but I still don't want to pay for something we never even got to use! I'm posting this more as a cautionary tale than as a rant. Take your time and make sure you ask the "stupid" questions. They may be the smartest questions you ask!
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Post by stepper on Dec 23, 2015 19:49:34 GMT -6
Spock, I am impressed with your patience.
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Post by Spock on Dec 23, 2015 23:07:48 GMT -6
Spock, I am impressed with your patience. No real patience involved. I looked at it as a chance to show off my beloved partner.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 24, 2015 11:56:20 GMT -6
That's gross, Step. See, that is the difference between someone who knows computers and someone who thinks they're mystical and confusing. It's why I'm so glad Hubs enlisted Computer Guy to find what I'd need...both Hubs and I would have been mystified, even though I don't need or want much. He chose a good but middle-of-the road one that will do everything I want, (which doesn't include a bunch of downloads, streaming videos or music), and one that, as he put it, "will last as long as you tend to keep computers" (which I'm sure was referring to my reluctance to give up on the Old Gal). And (this is a big bonus for me), he's going to load Office 2013 on it so I don't have to mess with "The Cloud" - the Cloud scares the crap out of me; it just sounds dark and ominous. This is what I ended up getting: www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-17-5758-laptop/pd?oc=fncwu2450hp&l=en&s=dhsIt came Tuesday; he said he'd probably be by today to do whatever he needs to do to get it up and running...though I told him no rush (I haven't even put all my files on a thumb-drive, memory-stick thingie yet). In all the billion years I've been at Whoosh, I've probably used an emoticon maybe five times or less (though I love the little girl throwing kisses). The e-mail little girl on the swing, though? Cr@p! I thought I disabled all of those; I don't see her on my end - stupid Incredimail throws them in randomly I think. I dunno why I don't use them - I guess for a couple of reasons. When I first joined Whoosh, after the Oxygen Xena ship sank, it seemed there were threads filled with nothing but emoticons, and to tell the truth (with no offense to the then-posters), it seemed kinda senseless. I've also always thought if I couldn't get my point across with words rather than smiley faces, I shouldn't be making a post (or sending a text) - 'course, this often backfires because "just joking" sometimes doesn't translate well without a face telling you what to think. BP has had a mini iPad for probably about five years now - they last forever, and do an incredibly amazing number of things (she even does homework on it via Google documents, that her teachers just pull down from wherever it is they go to). Cell service though, is not one of them; I think she had it for about a week when she first got the mini before she got frustrated with it, and we disabled the service. Didn't have a problem with any charges afterward; hope the same goes for you, Spock. That's what I think it's all about - making your loved ones happy, even if it means going a bit out of the way to do it. Winding down on the prelude to Christmas activities (we should really change the title of this thread). Hubs, Monday night, came up with a "great idea!!!" - we should open one gift per night on the week leading up to Christmas morning; we all know what he really meant was 'I'm like a little kid when it comes to presents, and I know that GoPro is under the tree somewhere!' What he received from us instead was an emphatic chorus of "No!" Tuesday night, he went to bed early, BP was at a lodge up north with a friend's family for the night, and LX was out with her high-school buddies all home for Christmas. I had the quiet house to myself!!! While I would typically be rushing to get everything wrapped during such a moment of peace, I already had it all done! Time to sit down and watch some sappy Christmas movies on T.V.!!!! I couldn't find a single one! What is up with that? Last night, everyone was home...including a couple of extras. The girls - all four of them, two from each age group, decided to make cookies....at midnight. We had all the stuff already because BP picked it out at the grocery earlier in the week - including the "shapers" (my kids are at a disadvantage when it comes to baking because I don't do it; "shapers" is what she thought cookie cutters were called!). Nikki poo-pooed the cookie from a tube idea (my girls' idea of "home-made") - she said it wouldn't work with cookie cutters. They tried anyway; she was right. So she and LX went to Walmart, which is open all night, and bought supplies to make "real" cookies; have to say I was more than impressed Nikki could whip up a batch of sugar cookies without a recipe. They also got a couple of Christmas movie classics (because again, there weren't any on television) - I'm thinking classics like "A Christmas Carol"/"Christmas in Connecticut" type movies. Their "classic" choices were "Frosty the Snowman" and "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer". <shrugs> I watched them with them until about three in the morning, while they wrapped my coffee table in plastic wrap and decorated the cookies in my living room (where our only T.V. is). <another shrug> It's only once a year. So...three dozen sugar cookies decorated with frosting, piped icing and sprinkles, another dozen chocolate chips (which turned out fine though they came from a tube), and what to my wondering eyes does appear early this morning? Crazy Cheryl with a big box of homemade fudge, and more cookies. And then, LX drove the other two girls home, and upon pulling back in the driveway, was met by new neighbor lady with a tin of more cookies (the three dozen she gave us at Thanksgiving wasn't enough?!). I've got more cookies in this house now than does the bakery downtown! Here it is Christmas Eve, and I have to say, I did pretty poorly again this year with the Christmas cards. I bought two boxes, and only got less than one box sent. I did manage to send one to the family that bought Mom's house....mainly because I found the house key at the bottom of my purse last week; I've got no idea what the key off my key ring that I gave them at closing is actually for! They sent a card in return - one of those photo cards pre-printed with their names. Very nice looking family - three cute little red-headed kids. And not a lurking Creepy-Ass Doll among them!!! Not a mention of us leaving them an attic full of stuff either! Could mean they didn't mind finding it...or they haven't even been up there yet. I wonder if the dad will get up in the attic tonight to ring sleigh bells like Dad used to do. If so, they may find they more "presents" than they bargained for! Hope everyone here has a lovely, lovely Christmas Eve!
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Post by stepper on Dec 24, 2015 14:52:04 GMT -6
Opportunities should be exploited whenever possible. But did I come close to getting you to spit coffee?? Congrats on Office 2013 - I think that's a good thing and did the same. I had forgotten about the college laptop even though it was recently updated to Windows 10. And I had Office 2013 loaded on it too. I'm going to tell the friend who offered to buy me a new system that I'd prefer a color scanner/printer. The Cloud - Think of the cloud as a cloud bank with your electronic safety deposit box in it. You put stuff in it, you look at it whenever you want, you withdrawal what you want when you want, and the only real imposition on you is to keep your key to the box safe. Those people whose personal information and pictures were recently "stolen" and sent out for all the world to peruse, failed to keep the key (their password) safe. Create a separate password for "the cloud bank", don't share it, and if you feel you must write it down, do so on a sheet of paper that only you will see, or encrypt the document where you save it. But really, in your case, the cloud would only be storage like that on a hard drive except it's across the street on someone else's hard drive. It's not something you have to fear. I went back and looked. The last few had butterflies, and before that was a monkey. Smiley icons are not the only communicative gestures - but Whoosh doesn't carry the ones I'm thinking of. Oh? Ugh! Girls can be so mean when they have a chance to conference before the great idea strikes. So, he gets to open one tonight, right? (And the GoPro isn't under the tree yet. Probably in BP's panties draw 'cause you know Hubs won't got there even if he's looking for it.) First, I'm impressed that you had a moment to relax - congrats. As for the sappy movie, Hallmark has been showing Christmas shows since Thanksgiving, and Lifetime has been at it too - although not full time - and this week several other channels are getting into the act too. I don't see how you cold not see one. We didn't make any this year - it was one of the things I didn't really have time for; and since it's just the two of us it's a lot of eating. But I've used all three of the methods - cookie cutters (I have a bit of a collection), "tube" cookies, and I have a cookie press where you load the dough in the barrel, load a design on the bottom, and then turn the big round knob at the top. It squeezes the dough through the pattern in the design and then you bake the cookies. Did the girls make icing or did they use pre-made ready-to-use icing? And it'll be days before you can make BP or LX take them to school to be liberally distributed. Steppet has been checking out the incoming packages - we seem to have more food here too. I know there's Tastykakes. My only regret is: No cookies. I'm sure the lucky recipients are appreciative. Right back at 'cha Phalon. With any luck I'll be able to swing by tomorrow so you can all brag about what a great Christmas you had.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 24, 2015 21:05:04 GMT -6
Merry Christmas, Whooshites!
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Post by Phalon on Dec 25, 2015 7:25:16 GMT -6
Shhh....the girls are still sleeping. We had a late night last night.
Was just thinking that the thread's turned into an all-around Christmas topic, instead of just shopping.
And "Elf" - for some reason "Elf" seemed to be playing on one channel or another every night; BP turned it on once, and even she couldn't stomach more than 15 minutes. I should have clarified "good" Christmas movies - the classics, like "A Christmas Carol", which is my all-time favorite; the only version I saw was one of the newer ones, which whatever channel I watched it on, horribly cut it to pieces. And "Elf" I admit to watching a few of the Lifetime and Hallmark ones last week, but I got bored because they all have the same theme - successful business woman meets or reconnects with small town guy who runs an inn, a coffee shop, or bookstore; their different lifestyles and personalities clash, but in the end love wins. Sometimes there's a child involved, usually the guy's, to brings the reluctant couple together.
They seemed to save the good ones for yesterday - "Christmas in Connecticut", "Holiday Affair", and "Meet Me in St. Louis" all showed on TMC back-to-back. With all the activities happening yesterday, I only caught snatches of each, though we all watched the mandatory "A Christmas Story" last night - a family favorite.
Got the last minute stuff all done just a bit ago - stockings and coffee pot filled to the brim. Just in time, it seems - I hear footsteps upstairs!
Later, Sweet Tators. Merry, Merry Christmas to All!
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Post by stepper on Dec 25, 2015 15:06:12 GMT -6
I'll be quiet, but be careful - making coffee might stir things up. You've taught them that the smell of coffee means mom's up and about.
That's true enough, but there aren't many threads where we don't wander into what ever semi-related conversation fits in too.
Not a fan of Elf. The George C. Scott version was shown here a couple times - not my favorite but watchable. Then they showed the Patrick Stewart version - which I found as an excuse to got channel chasing. This led me to the regrettable Disney's A Christmas Carol with Jim Carry - an equally valid reason to turn off the TV. Sadly, I've seen none of the good versions this year and there's more than one that I like.
Yes, I noticed that too, and for some of them it seemed like they were running out of time so they didn't work on the ending very much - generically they went "Oh, we need to hurry and wrap this up so, the sister tells X she's wrong and X realizes that's right so she's okay with Mr. Y now - and let's have them kiss in front of family - that's always good for a laugh."
Oh man! Missed it! I did get "A Christmas Story" today - it was on more than one channel and one of those has it on repeat all day. It has some pretty funny scenes in it - Fra-gee-lay being among my favorites - and Ralphie repeatedly reaching to touch the leg - and mom trying to keep it out of the front window.
See?! Told ya! Coffee = mom's awake. It's just that today it means even more – goodies to unwrap too!
We opened stuff this morning - and both of us decided we wanted to nap. This is not the easiest thing when relatives keep calling, and in the middle of that one of the neighbors brought over a Christmas 'Thank You' 'cause I've been mowing the yard and helping out. Steppet is back to napping so it looks like I have clean up and dinner duty. The coffee is on and I have a phone call to make yet so – I hope you all have a great day with your families.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 27, 2015 9:11:39 GMT -6
Sounds like you and Steppette had a nice Christmas, Step. We did too. All the excitement and fun leading up to it continued throughout the day, with just one damper - LX's Sjogren's Syndrome acted up (too much sweet and salty stuff the past week, and she woke up at 4am Christmas morning with her cheek as big and hard as a baseball...well, maybe a golf ball, but to her I'm sure it felt as painful as having a softball in her mouth), and after we opened presents, I spent 45 minutes driving around town looking for a pharmacy that was opened to refill an antibiotic prescription - no luck, even the hospital pharmacy was closed. Did the biggest no-no ever - I knew the neighbors would have antibiotics hanging around (three kids; one of them always has some kind of medical thing going on), and borrowed a couple of a similar kind from them to start her on, until I could get LX's prescription filled yesterday. Getting her started on antibiotics as soon as the swelling starts seems to be key to preventing a raging infection that requires oral steroids.
Though still swollen, she felt much better yesterday morning, and she and the boyfriend took BP, who had Christmas money burning a hole in her pocket after only a day, to the mall - they were gone until evening, leaving Hubs and I to graze on Christmas dinner leftovers throughout the day! We don't have honey-baked ham often, and neither of us could seem to walk by the fridge without taking a snibble.
And so, (except for the left-over ham), it's all done for another year. Thanks for sharing your traditions and festivities in this thread - it's part of what makes my holiday special too.
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Post by stepper on Dec 27, 2015 18:38:23 GMT -6
Geez - that's not a fun way to spend Christmas at all. Does she have some other immune disorders? And it's started young in her hasn't it? Although, this is probably time to move to the Everything thread.
I got in a post Christmas present - my sister sent a card loaded with pictures. I have no idea where her kids came from though - they are way too good looking to actually be relatives.
(Not picking on you here.) To me this really is the saddest part - that so quickly after the big day, people have so completely moved on. The 24 hour Christmas radio was back to their normal programming before I got up, the Christmas shows are gone, and life moves on apace leaving me alone in an afterglow that can't last when I'm the only one who feels it passes too soon. I've written the 'Thank You' notes - they're ready to be mailed out tomorrow which I'll do on the way as I go back to work; and that is the end of this year's Christmas for me.
Not that it matters, but one of the things I gave out as presents this year was puzzles - not the picture kind - a solid barrel that has many parts and you have to take it apart and then get it back together - linked pieces of wire that only come apart one way and you have to figure it out - and for my sister a ball in a jar with a stick stuck in the middle where you have to figure out this complicated process to extract the ball from the jar. I'm told they went over well. Except maybe the ball in the jar as that one was difficult. It might be nothing more than a broken piece of glass by now.
And Phalon, while you are thinking about the other half of the cards you didn't get mailed - I've already ordered the beginning of next year's presents. Support Your Local Sheriff and Support Your Local Gunfighter DVDs are already ordered - they'll go to NJ. No reason to wait since Christmas is (as of today and allowing for a leap year) only three hundred and sixty three days away.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 12, 2016 7:49:20 GMT -6
I've finally gotten into the spirit this year - a bit later than normal, it seems. Although the Holiday Market weekends have come and gone, the Christmas tree has been up since Thanksgiving - the same time BP started playing Christmas CDs nonstop; the house is decorated, and I've done a bit of shopping here and there, it didn't seem like the Christmas season was actually here until this weekend. I think a lot of it had to do with the weather being so atypically mild; it was more like fall than winter.
It was so, so beautifully Christmasy coming out of the restaurant downtown Saturday night with everything covered in snow. The street lamps and trees were lit up with Christmas lights, shoppers with packages slowly strolling on the sidewalks, and the music and kids' laughter from the ice-rink could be heard a block away. This time of year is one of the best to live in a small town, I think - it's that whole Currier and Ives vibe.
The Christmas party too put me in the mood. It's such a wonderful gathering that my friend puts together every year; it's something our group all looks forward to during the season. She is very much into the environment and natural world, and I usually get her a hostess's gift revolving around nature - artwork, a print, cards, or a book. This year I gave her a card - due to the upcoming administration's views on climate change, I made a donation in her name to the Sierra Club; she had tears in her eyes when she read it. I did the same for the nursery owners, who are environmentalists - and shoot, I have to remember to get that in the mail.
I'm not sure I'll be mailing many Christmas cards this year; maybe just a few to family and friends I don't see often, instead of doing a mass mailing type thing to everyone on my typical Christmas card list. It seems every year the cards I receive and send dwindles.
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 12, 2016 19:55:52 GMT -6
I sent a Christmas card to the dialysis center. Never thought to do that when Mom was alive. Sometimes I think of stopping in, but they're busy doing their jobs, so I figure they got no time for visitors.
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Post by Phalon on Dec 15, 2016 8:04:15 GMT -6
That's sweet of you, Joxie; I'm sure they'll appreciate you thinking of them. Since you're thinking of stopping in, maybe just take them a batch of Christmas cookies - they may not have time to chat, but I'd bet they'd love getting cookies....and it'll give you a chance to practice your newfound driving freedom.
I'm mostly done with shopping, except for a few things here and there - mostly stocking stuff. Now I just have to sit back and wait...anxiously hoping everything I mail-ordered the last few days gets here in time!
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Post by Mini Mia on Dec 15, 2016 22:21:54 GMT -6
Uh. That's like 3 interstates ... with four lanes ... I'd have to drive on and across. Ain't gonna happen.
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