Some of us aren't in the mood yet! My little guy Scooter isn't looking forward to this part of it! :lmao:

If looks could kill....

:frust: Thanks for the reminder!

Maybe Santa would prefer the cat to some plain old milk-n-cookies. I hear they taste just like chicken. :mg:

Wayne

Maybe Santa would prefer the cat to some plain old milk-n-cookies. I hear they taste just like chicken. :mg:

Wayne

That's just wrong. :nope:

:frust: Thanks for the reminder!Ready?! There have been recent years I would have repealed all of the year-end holidays. When I was "young" (up through my 40's), I always managed to suck it up and smile whether I felt like it or not. Somehow I never noticed the jerks (in my own extended family or those I encountered shopping, waiting for Santa, at work, or traveling) who seemed determined to outdo pre-ghostly visit Scrooge in destroying the mood.

Lately, though, the jerks seem more numerous and obnoxious than ever before.


High on my jerk list are the managers that fire folks just before the holidays.
Next are the merchants who understaff with untrained and unknowledgeable workers, making the shopping experience pure agony.
Next are drama queen (or king) relatives who try to make their unhappiness YOUR fault, especially if you don't continually beg forgiveness, regardless if you know your crime.
Airlines, trains, buses that overbook and understaff, then blame everything that goes wrong on weather (usually weather half a continent away.) I once sat in an airport for two days just before Christmas because the airport had run completely out of de-icing fluid and grounded all outgoing flights and diverted incoming because they wouldn't have been able to de-ice and take off again. (The holiday maintenance crews had no mechanism to check and reorder inventory of weather-related equipment and supplies - those guys who could were on vacation!)
Anybody who drinks and drives!Maybe I'm just a lot crankier than I used to be!

Wes,I agree with you 100%. Just remember that the time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

Happy Holidays.:cool:

ah, scroogecat (sorry, scooter cat) is so cute!

Wes, I too have grown considerably crankier about long lines, inadequate sales staff, lay-offs in time for the holidays and drunk drivers.

That being said, I love the holidays and will embarrass my teenagers by again wearing the fuzzy santa hat from the weekend after Thanksgiving until Christmas eve every time I go grocery shopping. It is especially fitting, as I look like a jolly fat elf anyway!:lmao:

That's just wrong. :nope:

Hey, when I get home I'm gonna review my bookshelf of cookbooks and see if I can find something between "Charcuterie" and "100 Ways to Wok your Dog" just for little Scooter. :notme:

Would that be with or without fries, and how would you like that cooked?

Wayne

PS: If we weren't supposed to eat animals, God wouldn't have made them out of meat.

ah, scroogecat (sorry, scooter cat) is so cute!

Wes, I too have grown considerably crankier about long lines, inadequate sales staff, lay-offs in time for the holidays and drunk drivers.

That being said, I love the holidays and will embarrass my teenagers by again wearing the fuzzy santa hat from the weekend after Thanksgiving until Christmas eve every time I go grocery shopping. It is especially fitting, as I look like a jolly fat elf anyway!:lmao:

We need actual pix...in the grocery store!

fat chance of that happening, you'll just have to take my word. I disappear when pictures are taken, no, literally. "Where is Steel in this picture?" "I know she was here beside me when we took it." (elves are magical creatures, you know.)

Maybe I'm just a lot crankier than I used to be!


At your age there is a lot of "used to be":lmao:

Maybe Santa would prefer the cat to some plain old milk-n-cookies. I hear they taste just like chicken. :mg:

You're a close friend of Randy's, right???

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh..........to Hades with it!

I'm giving Wal-Mart gift cards this year.....

I live 2000 miles away from family, so the easiest way.....oh, and it avoids quite so much in the way of lines.............

Hershal

Oh, and as for (personal opinion only) disgusting food.....DON'T try Baluut (if I misspelled it, I apologize).....

Hershal

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh..........to Hades with it!

I'm giving Wal-Mart gift cards this year.....

I live 2000 miles away from family, so the easiest way.....oh, and it avoids quite so much in the way of lines.............

Hershal
This is a phenomenon I have never understood - gving a gift of "cash" and forcing a recipient to spend it only at one store (or kind of store) - why not just give the cash or check?

For example (I am fishing for a gift, Hershal), for reasons I explained here in the Cove several years ago, I simply do not shop at Walmart. Giving me a gift card to Walmart would be almost as bad as giving a fur coat to the president of the local PETA chapter

Giving me a gift card to Walmart would be almost as bad as giving a fur coat to the president of the local PETA chapter


Oooh...now that sounds like it make for a Kodak moment. Giving the fur coat to a PETA member that is.

Wayne

Hey, when I get home I'm gonna review my bookshelf of cookbooks and see if I can find something between "Charcuterie" and "100 Ways to Wok your Dog" just for little Scooter. :notme:

Would that be with or without fries, and how would you like that cooked?

Wayne

PS: If we weren't supposed to eat animals, God wouldn't have made them out of meat.


Hey, come on now, get into the spirit of the season!

Personally, I m looking forward to reindeer burgers. Mmmmmm.

Even though I no longer hunt myself, I did enjoy Bambi sausage with my eggs this morning, courtesy of a relative who bags the limit every year.

He has a great deal with a local butcher - he brings the field dressed carcasses to the butcher and gets 'em back as roasts, steaks, sausage (several kinds, including a cheese, jalapeno, and garlic salami), and ground (hamburger.) The skins are tanned for mocassins, vests, gloves, etc. - very conservation-minded crew!

This is a phenomenon I have never understood - gving a gift of "cash" and forcing a recipient to spend it only at one store (or kind of store) - why not just give the cash or check?

For example (I am fishing for a gift, Hershal), for reasons I explained here in the Cove several years ago, I simply do not shop at Walmart. Giving me a gift card to Walmart would be almost as bad as giving a fur coat to the president of the local PETA chapter

You are not giving a gift of cash, you know that there is something there at that store that the person would like and would not usually buy for themselves and allowing them to get it without feeling guilty. Sometimes I even enclose the advertisement with the gift card in the case of children so the parent knows what I wanted to give. All my friends and family do that (not just for wally world, though). It saves a bundle on shipping, plus you know that person spent some time thinking about what you wanted.

Hey, come on now, get into the spirit of the season!

Personally, I m looking forward to reindeer burgers. Mmmmmm.
bar-b-q, bar-b-q, you'll get no presents this year,
Santa Claus has gone bankrupt and Q'd his own reindeer.

You are not giving a gift of cash, you know that there is something there at that store that the person would like and would not usually buy for themselves and allowing them to get it without feeling guilty. Sometimes I even enclose the advertisement with the gift card in the case of children so the parent knows what I wanted to give. All my friends and family do that (not just for wally world, though). It saves a bundle on shipping, plus you know that person spent some time thinking about what you wanted.
then why not a MasterCard or Visa "checkcard?" Why to a specific store? I recall when my kids were teenagers (now grandchildren are teenagers!), the thing they wanted could change in a heartbeat.

A gift of cash and the time and opportunity to shop ALONE was really high on their list.

Even though I no longer hunt myself, I did enjoy Bambi sausage with my eggs this morning, courtesy of a relative who bags the limit every year.

He has a great deal with a local butcher - he brings the field dressed carcasses to the butcher and gets 'em back as roasts, steaks, sausage (several kinds, including a cheese, jalapeno, and garlic salami), and ground (hamburger.) The skins are tanned for mocassins, vests, gloves, etc. - very conservation-minded crew!

Wes, that is something that we don't have here in the south that I know of, at least not around here - real game butchers. Your relative is lucky.

Sure, there are places here where you can take a deer, and they will clean it, and grind and cube it for you (for a fee, of course), but there is only one place around these parts that will do jerky and slim jims. Most of the processors will make sausage, but beware the quality. Some of it is truly awful. And they each have only one variety. No hot pepper, garlic, cheese, or anything like that.

One of the problems is the way that most of the processors make sausage and ground deer. Instead of processing one deer at a time, they will take several and grind/process them together. You don't know what you are going to get back.

We had a truck driver that made a regular run here some years ago. He was from rural Pennsylvania, where their opening day antics are legendary. This driver brought some deer summer sausage with him that was fantastic. We don't have anyone here who can do that sort of thing. And I have never heard of anyone here successfully tanning a deer hide, either.

Have I thought about going into business myself? Yep.

then why not a MasterCard or Visa "checkcard?" Why to a specific store? I recall when my kids were teenagers (now grandchildren are teenagers!), the thing they wanted could change in a heartbeat.

I was going to suggest this too, but just a point of clarification: it's a Visa (or MC) gift card (http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/prepaid/gift_card_how.html). A check card is something else--like a debit card. You don't want to be giving those to your relatives :D

You read my mind, Jim. I was beginning to think your families have mustered masterful financial discipline that I have not seen in mine! :lol:

Clark's Big book of bargains says I can be cheap at Christmas. So I will.

It's time to mention the greatest christmas movie ever....

You guessed it. Same thing you were thinking. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation!

" The little lights aren't blinking Clark. No, they're not, Art, and thank you for noticing."

"Ya know Clark, they say a cat has nine lives. I think it lost all of them right there. Ya don't mind if I fumigate the chair and put it in the RRVV?"

Talk about your root cause.. Couldn't figure out why the lights would work; not work; work...

:lmao: :lmao:

HOLIDAY'S?

I need to find the escape hatch!

Pretend to be happy doing that which isn't normal for you

Pretend to be having fun doing what you don't like

Pretend to enjoy seeing everyone you try to stay away from

Pretend to talk when you are tired and only want to rest and be quiet

Pretend to be honest when you and everyone else knows you are lying

I was going to suggest this too, but just a point of clarification: it's a Visa (or MC) gift card (http://usa.visa.com/personal/cards/prepaid/gift_card_how.html). A check card is something else--like a debit card. You don't want to be giving those to your relatives :DI guess Gift card works same as a debit card. Recipient can add to it if he wants, at least the one a local bank advertises. use it in different stores in different amount up to the value first inputted [is that a word?] to the card by the donor.

I am aware of parents of college age kids who provide debit cards to students to limit amount of spending to pre-set amount per month plus give parents record of HOW money is spent. Much better than a credit card which builds up debt!

I guess Gift card works same as a debit card. Recipient can add to it if he wants, at least the one a local bank advertises. use it in different stores in different amount up to the value first inputted [is that a word?] to the card by the donor.


Well, that's not how a debit card works. Using a debit card is essentially equivalent to writing a check--the funds are deducted from your bank account, and it's not a pre-paid instrument. That's why I suggested that I suggested that it might not be a good idea to give them to relatives.

Well, that's not how a debit card works. Using a debit card is essentially equivalent to writing a check--the funds are deducted from your bank account, and it's not a pre-paid instrument. That's why I suggested that I suggested that it might not be a good idea to give them to relatives.It (a debit card) is pre-paid in the sense you have prepaid the money into your account for the debit card to draw on.

I don't have the ad in front of me, but I got the impression there was a separate account created just for the Gift card. I wonder if the recipient sets a PIN to use just like a debit card? Has to call an 800# to activate the card?

I've been sending checks for years, but I guess I will look into the cards this year. If there are any big glaring shortcomings, I will report in another thread. What I liked about the check was the sense of knowing they got it when the check cleared.

What I liked about the check was the sense of knowing they got it when the check cleared.

I'm sorry, this just struck me funny today. I have this mind film going of a very dysfunctional family that never talks to one another at all, but every year they all send checks to each other....sorry, nothing personal, it just popped into my mind and now i cannot get it out. :(

Pay attention to the fine print on the gift cards. I understand some start 'expiring' - like if you get a $50 gift card, and don't use it until July (not sure the time frame) you may find it's only worth $40 - eventually down to '0'. Seems silly because they have your money, but I know it happened to one my kids got and forgot about. I think those may be the store specific kind. Not sure about the visa cards.

Personally I like shopping for something special. Once the kids get big, the money seems more like what they need or want. Visa cards are a nice choice because they can even buy gas with them. But I still like sending something personal. And I don't like the whole 'whats the limit this year' and 'mandatory reciprical gift.' If I see something I want to give to someone, I buy it with no expectations that I am getting something.

High on my jerk list are the managers that fire folks just before the holidays.[/B]

It seems like layoffs are effecting lots of areas

Downsizing Christmas

The recent announcement that Donner and Blitzen have elected to take the early reindeer retirement package has triggered a good deal of concern about whether they will be replaced, and about other restructuring decisions at the North Pole. Streamlining is due to the North Pole’s loss of dominance of the season’s gift distribution business. Home shopping channels and Internet sales have diminished Santa’s market share. He could not sit idly by and permit further erosion of the profit picture.

As a further restructuring, today’s global challenges require the North Pole to continue to look for better, more competitive steps. Effective immediately, the following economy measures are to take place in the “Twelve Days of Christmas” subsidiary:

* The partridge will be retained, but the pear tree never turned out to be the cash crop forecasted. It will be replaced by a plastic hanging plant, providing considerable savings in maintenance;

* The two turtle doves represent a redundancy that is simply not cost effective. In addition, their romance during working hours could not be condoned. The positions are therefore eliminated;

* The three French hens will remain intact. After all, everyone loves the French.

* The four calling birds were replaced by an automated voice mail system, with a call waiting option. An analysis is underway to determine who the birds have been calling, how often and how long they talked;

* The five golden rings have been put on hold by the Board of Directors. Maintaining a portfolio based on one commodity could have negative implications for institutional investors. Diversification into other precious metals as well as a mix of T-Bills and high technology stocks appear to be in order;

* The six geese-a-laying constitutes a luxury which can no longer be afforded. It has long been felt that the production rate of one egg per goose per day is an example of the decline in productivity. Three geese will be let go, and an upgrading in the selection procedure by personnel will assure management that from now on every goose it gets will be a good one;

*The seven swans-a-swimming is obviously a number chosen in better times. The function is primarily decorative. Mechanical swans are on order. The current swans will be retrained to learn some new strokes and therefore enhance their outplacement;

* As you know, the eight maids-a-milking concept has been under heavy scrutiny by the EEOC. A male/female balance in the workforce is being sought. The more militant maids consider this a dead-end job with no upward mobility. Automation of the process may permit the maids to try a-mending, a-mentoring or a-mulching;

* Nine ladies dancing has always been an odd number. This function will be phased out as these individuals grow older and can no longer do the steps;

* Ten Lords-a-leaping is overkill. The high cost of Lords plus the expense of international air travel prompted the Compensation Committee to suggest replacing this group with ten out-of-work congressmen. While leaping ability may be somewhat sacrificed, the savings are significant because we expect an oversupply of unemployed congressmen this year;

*Eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming is a simple case of the band getting to big. A substitution with a string quartet, a cutback on new music and no uniforms will produce savings which will drop right down to the bottom line;

We can expect a substantial reduction in assorted people, fowl, animals and other expenses. Though incomplete, studies indicate that stretching deliveries over twelve days is inefficient. If we can drop ship in one day, service levels will be improved. Regarding the lawsuit filed by the attorney’s association seeking expansion to include the legal profession (thirteen lawyers-a-suing) action is pending. Lastly, it is not beyond consideration that deeper cuts may be necessary in the future to stay competitive. Should that happen, the Board will request management to scrutinize the Snow White Division to see if seven dwarfs is the right number.

Bill Pflanz

Bill, excellent! I'm chuckling through my lunch...nothing like a little hot off the Q, NC barbecue and a good laugh.

Well, gotta run buy those gift cards!:lmao:

It seems like layoffs are effecting lots of areas

Downsizing Christmas

Effective immediately, the following economy measures are to take place in the “Twelve Days of Christmas” subsidiary:

* The partridge
* The two turtle doves
* The four calling birds
* The five golden rings
* The six geese-a-laying
* The seven swans-a-swimming
* the eight maids-a-milking
* Nine ladies dancing
* Ten Lords-a-leaping
* Eleven pipers piping
* twelve drummers drumming
(thirteen lawyers-a-suing) action is pending. Lastly, it is not beyond consideration that deeper cuts may be necessary in the future to stay competitive. Should that happen, the Board will request management to scrutinize the Snow White Division to see if seven dwarfs is the right number.

Bill PflanzApparently the cost cutter is a Francophile, else why leave the Three French Hens out of the "slaughter?":notme:

Ever heard this one? Composed by Frederick Silver The first day after Christmas
My true love and I had a fight
And so I chopped the pear tree down
And burnt it, just for spite
Then with a single cartridge
I shot that blasted partridge
My true love, my true love,
my true love gave to me.

The second day after Christmas
I pulled on the old rubber gloves
And very gently wrung the necks
Of both the turtle doves
My true love, my true love,
my true love gave to me.

On the third day after Christmas
My mother caught the croup
I had to use the three French hens
To make some chicken soup

The four calling birds were a big mistake
For their language was obscene

The five golden rings were completely fake
and turned my fingers green.

The sixth day after Christmas
The six laying geese wouldn't lay
So I sent the whole darn gaggle to the
A.S.P.C.A.

On the seventh day, what a mess I found
The seven swans-a-swimming all had drowned
My true love, my true love,
my true love gave to me.

The eighth day after Christmas
Before they could suspect
I bundled up the
Eight maids-a-milking
Nine ladies dancing
Ten lords-a-leaping
Eleven pipers piping
Twelve drummers drumming - well, actually I kept one of the dancing ladies -
And sent them back collect
I wrote my true love
"We are through, love!"
And I said in so many words
"Furthermore your Christmas gifts were for the Birds!" You can hear how the tune goes by clicking on its name (on the left) here (http://cdbaby.com/cd/calibanquartet3).

It (a debit card) is pre-paid in the sense you have prepaid the money into your account for the debit card to draw on.

A debit card can be overdrawn, causing huge overdraft fees. Happened to my daughter.

Apparently the cost cutter is a Francophile, else why leave the Three French Hens out of the "slaughter?":notme:

Must have been a Freudian slip. I edited my original posting with the following:

* The three French hens will remain intact. After all, everyone loves the French.

That should get me off the hook with any of our French friends.

Bill Pflanz

That should get me off the hook with any of our French friends.

Bill Pflanz

What French friends?

Have the Germans invaded again?

High on my jerk list are the managers that fire folks just before the holidays.
I'm with you, Wes! Check this out.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20694093-661,00.html

:mad:

My wife has the ads for the stores for the day after Thanksgiving. We are having Thanksgiving at our house for some of her family and 3 are staying overnight so they can head out at 4 in the morning. For those in the mood you can go to (I think this is correct) BlackFridayAds.com and see what all the Door Buster Specials are, so you can make your plans!!:D .