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Wife got me a hand cranked paper shredder that I asked for (getting paranoid about privacy these days) and a bonus gift:


Enjoying that right now. The bottle will not last the day.

Patrick says

Wife got me a hand cranked paper shredder that I asked for (getting paranoid about privacy these days) and a bonus gift:


Enjoying that right now. The bottle will not last the day.

I wonder if that wine, being from California, has a "slight smoky" flavor.

CA wine is mostly very good and often excellent, just generally overpriced. But they do make great wine here.

This boy did!

https://nypost.com/2020/12/15/nra-delivers-nerf-guns-to-boy-after-mall-santa-refuses-to/

Wife and I mainly do joke gifts for each other. We agreed early on in our relationship that if there was something we wanted, just buy it within reason. We figured no reason to be let down expecting something that you wanted and not get it. Just get it whenever.

And sure there are deals around xmas, but most of it is to just get you into the store and buy same or higher priced shit. Usually it's something stupid like a 55" tv for $99 and they only have 20 ("while supplies last) in a town of 40k people. You end up browsing the store and buying shit that is higher priced during xmas.

I did my Covid duty this year and did everything online. I should just write a check to Bezos.... dick. Although it was nice not have to deal with morons in a store. Huge pet peeve of mine is people that think they're the only person in the store, let alone aisle. xmas season is absolutely the worst to visit stores. 8am on a Tuesday in April is a much better experience.

WookieMan says

We agreed early on in our relationship that if there was something we wanted, just buy it within reason. We figured no reason to be let down expecting something that you wanted and not get it. Just get it whenever.

Us too.

We agreed to inform one another if we wanted to spend over $,1000.

WookieMan says

Wife and I mainly do joke gifts for each other. We agreed early on in our relationship that if there was something we wanted, just buy it within reason. We figured no reason to be let down expecting something that you wanted and not get it. Just get it whenever.



Sometimes though you may be able to get her something new she did not know she would like. For example, I gave my wife a Kindle Fire a few years back, and her initial reaction was "What am I going to do with this?" However, it soon turned into one of her favorite things and she made good use of it, especially on trips.

WookieMan says

Usually it's something stupid like a 55" tv for $99 and they only have 20 ("while supplies last) in a town of 40k people. You end up browsing the store and buying shit that is higher priced during xmas.

Yup, Bait and Switch:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait-and-switch

It's actually not legal to do this when selling toasters or other such things, but somehow perfectly legal to do with real estate, where the asking prices in California are usually below what the seller would actually accept. It's just to bait your attention and then to switch the price to get you into a blind bidding war with other (possibly fictitious) buyers. The asking price is pure fraud, but never prosecuted.

Still setting up the Roku Ultra.
Got this version because I wanted to connect it to my ethernet cable and it has bluetooth. None of my TV's have built in bluetooth. The remote finder might come in handy. .

The Walmart version of Roku Ultra doesn't have Bluetooth and I think at least one other feature (remote finder???).

My family is healthy and reasonably happy. What more does a guy need? A new job can wait till after the first of the year.

We paid off our mortgage on Christmas eve, based on advice / information found here just over 9 years ago. Thanks Patrick!

Woohoo! Happy if I helped @ThatGuy

Debt is slavery.

A friendly female came over for a few hours to keep me company.
I can buy the material things I want, but “no man is an island.”

Booger says

Still setting up the Roku Ultra

I cracked open the remote and snipped the microphone wires. Has been working fine for years.

Patrick says

Woohoo! Happy if I helped @ThatGuy

Debt is slavery.

Paid off or not, homeowners in US are still slaves to property taxes.

Couple weeks ago I made a stink complaining about the organic peanut butter the wife likes to buy. This stuff comes all separated into two parts: a layer of peanut oil on top that will totally slop over the jar with the least jostling and a hard brick of peanut butter underneath. The goal is to mix the two together before using the jar, thus making creamy peanut butter out of the two parts. This takes serious work for at least ten minutes and will leave your arm tired. I said I was tired of this kind of PB and didn’t want to work so hard (because nobody else will mix it ever).

She bought me a fresh jar of Skippy for Christmas.

Shaman says

The goal is to mix the two together before using the jar, thus making creamy peanut butter out of the two parts. This takes serious work for at least ten minutes and will leave your arm tired. I said I was tired of this kind of PB and didn’t want to work so hard (because nobody else will mix it ever).

The next time you get natural peanut butter, when you bring it home, leave it on the counter top or in a cupboard, upside down for 3 days at least. When the oil rises to the top, it's a hell of a lot easier to mix. You might want to flip it over a day before using it again, so you have some airspace at the top.

I would never go back to the other peanut butter again, it's filled with sugar, and that's all I can taste. Did you actually try the Skippy?

just_passing_through says

Booger says

Still setting up the Roku Ultra

I cracked open the remote and snipped the microphone wires. Has been working fine for years.

I love this! @just_passing_through

Shaman says

She bought me a fresh jar of Skippy for Christmas.

Natural/Old fashioned peanut butter is way healthier. That's the original until they found they could sell off the peanut oil and replace it with axle grease (transfat). Once mixed well I put it in the fridge and it tends to stay mixed.

Got updated mac computer to replace 2014 model. Playstation 5 is unavailable due to holiday scalpers scooping up all inventory and re-selling at massive markup, but will get one when they are available at standard prices. I have been torturing myself with 'Bloodborne' computer game. Game is horrible, it destroys your self esteem but operates on a kind of Stockholm syndrome to keep you trying to kill horribly difficult monsters.