f13.net

I recently decided that I should spend Christmas with the family this year - not that big a deal to most, but I live on the other side of the Atlantic and I haven't been home for Christmas for a couple of years now. 

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone together again, but more importantly, I get to ask for loot!

I'm going to ask for this watch - probably not everyone's style, but I like it and my last watch smells like the lake I taught sailing on. 

(http://s7ondemand7.scene7.com/is/image/FossilPartners/ME1012_main?$fossil_detail$)

What are you asking for / buying for yourself this Christmas?  Books?  Cd's?  I need more ideas!

Alternatively we can make this/split this into a watch thread, because watches are nifty  :awesome_for_real:

Scotch, beer, and a decent electric razor because I'm tired of dumping money down the drain for ridiculously expensive razor blades.

Do electric razors actually work these days? I've tried one two or three times over the years and they just sucked.

We did the whole choose a family member thing this year.  Theoretically it'll only save us (my wife and I) about $50 but it'll likely end up saving us a bit more.  It's a lot easier on my single  brother. The one benefit of this is that I likely won't be returning anything. My family always gets weird notions about what they should get me for Christmas.  I think when you get a single person and you're responsible for their only gift, you tend to get them what they want instead of what you think they might like.

I've asked for a PS3 game and a BluRay (There Will be Blood or Dark Knight) or a few graphic novels.  I've asked my wife to get me nothing since she got me a PS3 and a very expensive dinner for my birthday.  She'll likely get me some clothes.  My inlaws will likely get me LittleBigPlanet since they always ask my wife for a specific game title to get me.

It'll be nothing flashy this year, but it's strange financial times, and we've got some big stuff on the horizon.


They're OK.  None I've gotten shave me terribly close, but I hate using regular razors.  I forgot my electric on a trip recently and had to spend an entire week mangling my face.

Money.


If you're used to plain mach 3 razors, they're still crap. Looks and feels like a... 2 days shadow to me, might be 5 o'clock to you.

I've told everyone that I want nothing for xmas this year. I've already accomplished most of my short and medium range goals in the span of this year, I'm broke but completely content.

I'm all good. All about giving this xmas, though I can never be as extravagant as I would like to be.

Also, my first xmas in my own house. Going to be a great one.

For "family xmas" (aka the big get-together), one aunt is having some really bad financial times, so it's going to be low-key. The key to winning the "pick a name" for the big get-together xmas is online wishlists. Since I started an amazon list (prioritized, of course), I always get good stuff for family xmas.

I asked for an import CD but that's about it.

Giving much more than receiving this year and very happy with it.

Neither giving nor asking for anything this year. I'm broke and will continue to be broke until I find new work, and I'm OK with that. As such, my want-list is a short Nothing. Except for my parents, from which I'm asking for a month of rent.

So you're asking for something.

I've been trying really hard to stimulate the economy recently.  Been a bit.....irresponsible with my money.

As such, I'm going to Paris for Christmas.

Link/Name for that watch? I used to have an old tank fossil, but someone stole it from me (yay).

Hmm... I'm asking for headphones, and a new monitor.

Fake Edit: n/m got the model number from the image name.

I think I want one of those fancy Logitech G15 keyboards.

I'd love a PS3.  Not gonna happen, but I'd love one.   :grin:

It'll be a lean Christmas this year. Collectively, my family and I have decided to do a single gift among the adults, from names drawn out of a hat, and a $50 limit. This is good news, since every Christmas has been more spendy than the last - it had to end somewhere before we all end up in the poorhouse.

I'm asking for this book (http://www.amazon.com/Self-Coached-Climber-Movement-Training-Performance/dp/0811733394/ref=pd_sim_b_title_2) from whomever (whoever? get away snake!) gets my name.

May I also suggest this website (http://nochristmasgiftsthisyear.com/) for those who aren't getting anyone anything.

Not really sure yet. 

I really really really want this:

(http://www.eagleequip.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/mtp9f_150.jpg)

But that's something I just need to buy.

I would really like an el cheapo laptop to go in the garage.  I dunno.  The wife keeps asking me what I want, and I never have an answer.

We bought a new house and have since already filled it with new furniture; which essentially was her present (of sorts).  I got a new toy ('99 Corvette) after I sold my GTO, so that's basically MY present.  Fairly well set.  May just do cards this year, except for our son.  The older I get, the harder it is to buy for me since my 'wants' keep getting more and more expensive.  And I pretty much have everything I want/need.  I would really rather just take the money we would normally spend on ourselves and add it to our yearly Christmas time donation to the Waterfront Rescue Mission homeless shelter and St Mary's Home Orphanage to go along with the hams and turkeys I give them every year that are given to me by vendors.

Bhodi, that link needs naughty options.  :drill:

I asked for a pocket HD Video Recorder: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BO7R00/

Might I suggest...

(http://www.knifecenter.com/knifecenter/dovo/images/g105.jpg)

...one of these?  You'll never have to buy a cartridge again.

I had to make my list today for the segment of the family that demands one.  On it are scotch, beer, a small stack of PS3 games I want but haven't bought for myself yet (LBP, Uncharted, Dead Space), new headphones (mine are dead in one ear), a sander, bathroom fixtures, and socks.

I'm pretty sure you're officially an old man once you have socks on your Christmas list.  But dammit, I'm tired of running out of socks first in the laundry cycle and I don't want to have to go buy them myself.

I feel ya! We've spent savings on things for ourselves recently so we're asking for money for clothes this year. We've learned the hard way that just asking for clothes ends up with us wearing clownsuits as our relatives (especially my dad) have vaguely demented ideas of what we would like  :uhrr:

Everyone in both of our families is broke this year though, so we just make sure that the young kids get presents before anyone else.

My family's been hit pretty hard as well, and I'm now on an entirely different continent, so we're keeping things pretty simple. I'm sending home some inexpensive local goodies (chocolates, sweaters and such) and asking them to chip in a little towards shipping the last of my stuff up to me.

I'm also asking the Gnomes of Zurich for a currency that doesn't suck.

We'll get the pussies something clever to play with so they'll amuse us.  That's it.  We don't do Xmas.  It's a silly holiday that makes people sad and stabby.  You can't see me but I'm making stupid faces and mocking it right now.

I'm having a zombie christmas: "Left 4 Dead" and "Dead Set".  Plus some running gear.

Mostly it'll be time off work to spend with the children and indulge them.

I know there is an in poor taste joke to make here, but for the life of me I just can't think of it.  Curses.

These days, I just can't be bothered to make Christmas lists.  If I want any games, I too damn impatient to wait all the way until Christmas.  Aside from that, I want expensive electronics.  I don't need them, I just want them.  And they're expensive.  And I don't need them.  But I want them.  I have issues with expensive electronics that I want but don't need.

I know I'm old now. Someone asked me what I need/want and I told them I needed a new iron.  :uhrr:

Replace electronics with cars/drugs/hookers. It's perfectly normal.

I'm not sure how my wife would react to seeing that on my Christmas list, but I'll give it a go.

Along with a hew house, a decorator and a whole house of new furniture that is still arriving....I asked for and already got-

For the living room
Samsung 46" 1080p 120Hz LCD
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8753645&type=product&id=1202649765246

Samsung Bluray
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8735327&type=product&id=1201913483931

Yamaha Receiver
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8734596&type=product&id=1201913281190

And for the bedroom...
Sharp 32" 720 LCD
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8849268&type=product&id=1209165527449



I think she might also be getting me some cologne or bathrobe and warm fuzzy jammies.

We are trying to do our part to stimulate the economy.

I did tell my mom to do that, actually.  Last year or the year before, my wife and I also donated goats to families in Darfur (for real) on behalf of others, which was pretty cool.

Can your wife adopt me? :awesome_for_real:

I have pretty much the fastest growing and toughest beard of anyone I know (+soft skin makes for a bad shaving experience), I finally grew tired of chewing though a $3 razor blade with each shave, here is my  electric experience:

1 - Bought a high end Braun (self cleaning station and all).  The holes in the screen are 2 big resulting in some razor burn, the cleaning cartidges are tough to find and don't last long, and it dumps powdered whiskers all over you (they fall back out the extremely large holes in the screen).  Does a good job on the bony portions of your face (chin and jaw) but will chew your neck up.  The only upside is this razor will cut through any situation involving whiskers.  Basically this is just a slightly improved version of the old remmingtons from the 80's, stopped using this (except for the odd occasion when I have a week's worth of growth to eliminate). 

2 - Bought a high end Norelco.  This is much gentler on your face than the Braun, cuts closer and drops less powdered whisker on you.  The biggest downside I have with it, is it is extremely painful to shave with if I let 4 or 5 days growth build up.  The only other slight annoyance is that occasionally several whiskers will grow together into the megatron whisker, these are too big to fit in the Norelco screen (then again i'd probably rather tweeze these twigs anyhow).  Although my face feels smoother to the touch after a traditional shave the Norelco will still find plenty to cut even after a fresh shave, so yes it is a close shave but it isn't as clean of a cut as a traditional razor (looks as good at a glance though).

Electric shaving tips:

1 - Shave before you shower not after, they seem to work better on onsoftened whiskers.

2 - Don't try and shave when the battery is low, if the battery dies in mid shave you run the risk of the razor grabbing itself a fistful of whisker and not letting go.  This is painful.



Get the g11, the g15 is cool but you will most likely not use the LCD display (I never even open it on mine) and the number of little craplets it depends on (each it's own process in the task manager) is insane.  I love logitech webcams, mice & keyboards but it seems like every feature they add requires it's own craplet, I wish they would just all morph into a single giant logitech turdlet so I wasn't overwhelmed every time I take a peek at my running processes.

I hate electric razors. I hate razors. My beard grows in faster than anyone's legally should, I nearly never shave close. I generally use clippers with no attachment and just bring it down to a 5 oclock shadow, but if I need to shave up, I use a Mach-3 or whatever after I shave it down, generally right out of the shower.

I'm pretty much the same way, but the wife doesn't like the sandpaper.  I've often wondered if nair works on mens facial hair?  Main reason I switched to electric was to ignore my shave before shower advice and shave in the car on the way to work.

Christmas is the time of the year when I become self admittingly selfish. It's the one time in the year I actually shut the door and say "today is about me and my family".  I give my time and money to others across the rest of the year.

You'll noticed that I deleted that post.  Felt this wasn't the place for it.

You could always grow a beard. No sandpaper effect, no shaving.

I'm asking for socks, and an envelope with $2 in it from the one set of cousins that ALWAYS send me a generic xmas card with 2 lonely $1 bills in it.

Rattran beat me to it. I haven't shaved in about four years now. Nice soft beard and my fiancee loves it. Could turn out interesting, I've had the beard the entire time we've been together. And I'll shave it off at some point, it's what I do (change things up).

I used to use a norelco el cheapo when I was shaving, triple rotating head style. Before that I used bic disposables and rubbing alcohol. Well, I still finished with the alcohol even with the electric, I like the bracing clean feel.

I kinda feel like shaving now :)

My wife and I are buying a new kitchen table and chairs. Rumour has it that my family is getting together and getting me an iPod touch. I'll be totally happy if both of those things work out. We're at a spot now where if we want something, we go and buy it, within reason. Makes gift lists hard and stuff since all I can think of putting on it are big ticket items, like a new car.

When I actually shaved, that is what I did.

Now I have a beard, and I have to deal with trimming it, which SUCKS.

I'm feeling generous this year, as such everyone gets a lovely donation made in their name.

I got that from my sister a couple of years ago, but it had a different design... I use it as a bookmark!

My list this year:
 
Sharp 32" Class 720p Flat-Panel LCD HDTV
Gift Certificate to Men's Warehouse for a new suit
5 or 6 quart Dutch Oven
LEGO Castles "King's Castle Siege" set
Amazon.com gift certificates
Atlanta Braves Holiday 6-game gift pack (check Braves.com)
New Polo Shirts in solid Dark Green, Purple, and Light Blue
Simpsons Season 11 DVD
Family Guy DVDs Vol. 1 & 2
A Sleeping Bag for gameday travel
Sensations II 8-pc. Nesting Bowl Set (Target.com)
Starbucks Coffee Christmas Blend Gift Box (Regular and Decaff)
4 Large Pilsner or Ale Glassware
Cocktail Shaker Set
2 Martini Glasses, plain glass

and in picture form:

(http://www.kitchencontraptions.com/images/DutchOvenRed6Quart.jpg)
(http://designmom.com/images/castle1.png)
(http://www.ajlentransport.com/cart/images/8636675_ra.jpg)
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3155/2449299281_12b203f90e.jpg?v=0)
(http://www.greatpromotionalproducts.com/images/D/K420_DarkGreen_front_FS06-02.jpg)
(http://www.simpsoncrazy.com/product_pics/dvd11-krusty.jpg)
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51N2CR5F9CL.jpg)
(http://allsleepingbags.com/library/Fairmontfull50F.jpg)
(http://kikay.exchange.ph/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/nov102007_starbucks_christmas_blend.jpg)
(http://images.asia.ru/img/alibaba/photo/51044466/Cocktail_Shaker.jpg)

We've got a Le Creuset one of those (we call it a casserole) and it is without doubt my favourite cooking utensil ever. Cast iron, enameled, fantastic.  :heart:

I would really love one of the Sony readers for reading ebooks when I'm traveling but they're still just absolutely ridiculously expensive at 300 bucks Canadian so I probably won't tell anyone.

re: Shaving. I don't how you guys are using up Mach 3 razor blades so quickly. I've found that as long as I rinse them out properly so whiskers don't dry between the blades they each last me two or three weeks.

Lego castle = win  :grin:

I've asked for, hmmm nothing actually, I'll get surprises ! My GF supposedly bought me something quite expensive, but I have no clue really because I don't really need anything actually, We bought the Wii recently, my PC is top notch, I already have plenty games I have barely any time to play.

I could buy new needles for my turntables tho!

You are stimulating the wrong economy.

You are still single, yes?  Paris around Christmas is cold and kind of empty.  Maybe not the best idea...

Seriously, I love you.  I have been unsuccessfully looking for a straight razor for the past three months in London, Paris, Rome, Munich, Stuttgart, Geneva, Los Angeles and Brussels.  Literally actively looking and unable to find.  I click on this thread and bang, there is an image of the most beautiful straight I have seen in two years.  What do you want for Christmas man?

On shaving: I gave up on Mach3's, the cost of the cartridges was ridiculous, and got myself a nice traditional safety razor. Decent razor blade are cheap and it gives as close a shave as I want it to (from slight stubble to little drops of blood and slightly raw skin if I overdo it). Much better than cheap bics, I've also got a non-alcohol moisturising thing to keep my skin soft and fresh :drillf:

I've already bought myself that Samsung TV (46" 120Hz), a PS3, and fantastic new clothes.

Meeting the family in Paris.  Because that's how we roll.

Edit: Do we need a shaving thread? As one of those "god damn its grown again!" men, I shave pretty frequently.  Usually rock a goatee, but the beard is good for winter/lazy.  Keeping it trimmed up isn't too much effort.  The biggest thing I've found to not be sadface all day is to use one of those 'preshave' lotions.  Gets rid of the razor rash.  Of course, avoid wearing a tie that day too.

How the fuck do you shave w/ a straight razor? I get so fucking nervous.

I had a Lodge that I loved, but somebody (who shall go unnamed...ok, me) burned the fuck out of it and destroyed it. Then Wellymart wasn't carrying the Lodge enameled anymore, so I had to get a Tramonti or something, which is ok. Only thing the frenchy one might have is a more heat-resistant knob. I bought three for the price of one frenchy.

Beard trimming? Pussies.

Hmm, nope, you put an oven-glove on to lift the lid up, only way  :awesome_for_real:

I meant more temperature-resistant for the oven. Cheaper knobs might not withstand the same levels of heat. I think mine is a 400º knob.

 :oh_i_see:

lol  :awesome_for_real:

I love knob jokes!   :rofl:

Experience. And blood.
Pain makes most people very fast learners.

Now I'm scared, with all the pinching going on... :ye_gods:

I have one of those.  I didn't know it was a dutch oven.  Looks like an enameled iron pot to me.  I also don't love it, so maybe I am doing it wrong.

I don't know what I am getting this year, but it's not what I want: Nothing.  Really, I already bought all the games I want and whenever anyone buys movies for me they get a retarded format like fullscreen or something.  Probably getting shirts this year since last year was a pants year.  I'm thinking about the feasibility of asking for a time period to be left the hell alone so I can play games like Left 4 Dead, but that's just not Christmasy and likely to generate ill will.

I also bought some original art recently that ran about $1000, so that should be my present.  Also the $3000 HDTV back in the summer.  I don't need a present unless I can convince someone with a separate bank account to get me a new graphics card.

My wife bought a bunch of junk for the boy.  My idea was a marker tray since he's been using a random pile of markers in a plastic tub, which is sad.  Now he will have a full set of markers in a toolbox-type thing.  I am thinking about getting Da Blob (Wii) for him, too.

My wife has had her eye on a GPS system but she didn't know which one, yet she expected me to research and pick one for her.  I spotted this trap from a mile away and refused to do anything until she had at least a set of hard criteria for me to go by.  This led to a session persusing Amazon in which she found the one she wanted, then she says "Are you going to order this for me?" and I say "Sure."  Then she says "Maybe I should just order it now."  "Sure."  "It's pretty sad when I have to order my own Christmas present."  "Do you want me to click the Submit button?"  "*sigh* Just go away."  "Hey... put some gift wrap on that, will ya?"  *eye roll*

I should probably get her something for real.  I just have no idea what since she took the GPS away from me.

I suppose I'm going to have to ask for/buy myself a new microwave for xmas. Had some friends over, one decided to reheat her cocoa in the microwave. In a big metal cup. She offered to replace both, but can only afford to pay for the cup.  :cry:

I'm partly to blame, as I was the one who apparently added too much rumplemintz.

Maybe you should put the rumplemintz on your shoe and add it to her ass.

I didn't know it was a Dutch Oven either, I thought that was something to do with farting in bed (thankyou Sporanos). How do you use yours? We use it for stews, soups, casseroles, risottos, pasta bakes, all sorts really. Great for slow cooking and pot roasting. You can brown stuff off in it on the hob then transfer to an oven or leave on the hob on low, etc.

They do tend to burn sometimes so you gotta be careful but a bit of a patina isn't a big problem.

Yeah, add in the fact that I am forced to shave my head, due to nature, I am always looking for a good razor.  Usually do the mach 3 in the shower.  I've always been interested in straight razor to save cost on blades, but not sure how smart it is to use one on my head...in the shower...with no mirror.  sounds like a bad idea...like darwin award bad.  maybe i'll add one to my xmas list. 

We had an early xmas at the wifes family during turkey day.  I'm happy.  got a game i wanted (Valkyria chronicles) and several good cds (Jimi Hendrix: blues, Yonder mountain string band vol 5, and the new North Mississippi Allstars).

Who knows what i'll get for real xmas (hopefully that Djembe i asked for, or some of those effect pedals/simulators, or a nice harp mic)

How's the shave though?  Better or worse than a Mach3?

I make soup in it or boil pasta, then I scrape the burned shit off the bottom before I put it into the dishwasher to rust some more.

Fuck yeah, I love Hendrix, love the blues, love that album. Some stuff is middling, like Born Under a Bad Sign (sing it, Jimi!), but the opening track is one of my favorites since I was a kid and had a VHS with him playing the 12 string. Just so humble yet mind-blowingly tasty.

Head over to the guitar thread for pedal talk :) I just plunged into pedals again for the first time in 20 years.

My wife hasn't bought me a real present since our first anniversary. She knows she sucks at it so I just buy what I want. That said, this year my brother gave me an iTouch for my birthday last month so I have no idea what to get myself. I am reading  this thread for ideas.

Either you have a cheap imitation or you have jacked up your pot. It shouldn't be rusting and the reason you have burned stuff on the bottom is because you have the heat up way too high. It takes 1/2 to 2/3 of the heat that a "normal" non-stick pot does. (We also don't dishwasher ours, but I don't know that that would hurt it).

Get one of these (http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisex/interactive/a5bf/)

Only thing that beats it is depilation. And laser shave, I guess. Always found lazors too expense.

I don't actually expect anything, except perhaps a few items my friends from home pick off my Amazon wishlist. My wife's been out of work since our second child was born in October, so we're focusing on bills and Jeremiah (who'll be four in a month -- bizarre).

I have a lot of ideas on what to get the kid, but my nostalgia argues for a stocking full of toy cars. One of my best Christmas memories was when my parents filled my big Christmas stocking to overflowing with Matchbox cars. Those were the days when they still came in little cardboard boxes, not plastic blisters.

If BioWare gives out Best Buy gift cards again this year, I'll use it (and the unused one from last year) to get a PS3. We don't have an HDTV, but our nine year-old DVD player has started choking on newer discs.

That's another bizarre thought, actually. I got the DVD player in December of 1999, when I was a bachelor and working at Turbine. I've been doing this a while.

 :heart:My younger brother to see the light and to not marry the girl he has been dating for 3 months on December 29th... and wait a little bit for the magic fairy dust of a new romance to wear off, wait a year or so and then see how he feels about it. :heart:


bah humbug

Seems like a reasonable wish to me.

It is a green Le Creuset and I have jacked it up.  I had a real heat problem when I moved to the new stovetop.  I don't have any excuse for the dishwasher bit except that I thought it was a normal enameled iron pot.  Turns out it wasn't enameled on the bottom.  Meh... I have a carbon steel wok now.

I forgot about something I got for my wife: MySims Kingdom. :oh_i_see:  I think I am also getting a game since I remembered she said I wasn't supposed to buy mumblemumble... wish I had been paying attention because now I am afraid to buy any games at all until after Fire Hazard Day.

Maybe I can give her a gift of helping her do the Bone Man quest in LotRO.  I love being a geek.

A) Make sure its a Garmin. The Magellan Triton's have all been sent back to the manufacturer by the big outdoor retailers like REI and EMS due to bugs in both the releases.
B) She will need software. Most GPS's come with a shitty base map (is this for geocaching or backpacking?) so she will in all likelihood need some better maping software.

Now that Im an outdoor gear guru feel free to ask me if you need some other suggestions. If this is a GPS for driving....then I got nothing.

What the hell happened to a good compass and a plastic covered topo map?  Damn spoiled kids these days!

LAWLZ!

She wants to be able to find out where <store> is on a whim when she is in her automobile. I think the practical application will be finding a particular restaurant while we are on a road trip, since she wants what she wants right away... or something. Personally I get decent results from Google Maps on my Curve, but she's got some different ideas than me and she has zero sense of direction and spatial relation.  I can't see how anything could live up to her ideals, which comes from Movies in which people can track locations in real time.  That explains why I was trying to ten-foot-pole this one.

Yeah I was going to recommend the BB Curve with google. My wife uses that.
But if yours wants something a little more advanced I would look at the Garmin Nuvi 500 or 550.
Touch screen.
Voice prompts.
North America road maps and topos come pre-loaded.
High sensitivity antenna
FM traffic data uploads
High speed reroutes


And since its hand held in size and waterproof you could actually use it while out walking through a city (say you were visiting Seattle or something) or for geocaching or even camping.


I agree.

I just put on a jumper and go out wandering on the mountains. Of course I always remember to take my mobile phone, don't want to take any chances!

If I don't have my phone on me, either I'm on Vacation (contrast to just vacation) or something is badong.

I think she finally decided on one of the Nuvis but I can't be sure.  Damn memory.

I'm getting my wife the Nuvi 260W - not too expensive and speaks the street names, though if you are looking at Amazon be careful because they sell discontinued units there. Check the Garmin site first.

Still use them a lot in orienteering and adventure races - GPSs are banned. It's not a dead art yet! :)

Speaking of: I just got hold of a new waist pack (http://www.theomm.com/products/packs/UltraWaistPouch.html) for outdoorsy stuff. Holds 7L worth of gear and only weighs 200g. Haven't checked to see what whether it's got convenient compass attachment points yet though.  :awesome_for_real:

Watches:   http://www.nitewatches.com/

You can't go wrong with this hardcore monster.

(http://www.nitewatches.com/images_products/133.jpg)

For everyone with a daughter...

http://www.wakeupfrankie.com/Products/347/767/Great+Gifts+Under+25/Boob+Job+Money+Jar (http://www.wakeupfrankie.com/Products/347/767/Great+Gifts+Under+25/Boob+Job+Money+Jar)

I feel content and in need of nothing. My official religion for this Christmas is Buddhism.

I know you've already read the reviews, but I'd like to reiterate that this book is fantastic.  I've only been climbing/bouldering for a short time, but I've found that it's really helped me to understand balance and to focus on moving efficiently on the wall.

That she'll say, "yes".

I have a garmin nuvi 650 I use inthe car. Fantastic, but it won't find you a restaurant on the fly, just addresses/points of interest.

And not only does it tell you where to go, you can make it do it in an Australian accent. Or any of about 50 different languages/voice modes. Someone even wrote a Glados version, which kinda sucked.

Awww.  I hope so too!   :heart: :heart: :heart:

Same thing as every year;  that next year Christmas is cancelled and replaced with a holiday in France or Italy.

Fucking family.

You might be better off in West Virginia for that.

Just got to convince them to go with you.


Oh wait, did I miss something important?

We don't really do Christmas.  We don't exchange presents, get a tree, decorate or anything like that.  We never have.  The only thing we do is go to my sister's annual open house gig on Christmas day.  When we live in Britain, we go to his parents in Dunoon.  My husband does send his folks and his sisters a wee something from Amazon.  Sometimes I give pressies to my nephews but it's not a consistent sort of thing.  They don't mind.  They're old enough to know I'm mostly stoned.

Having said all that crap just now, this year I decided to get Righ a gift.  I've difficulties the last two or three months (surgery on my hand, dad died, sick black pussy, and some other medical thingies) and he's been really amazing.  In other words, he didn't knock me on the head with a fireplace poker and bury me behind the bike shed after one of my "moments"!  I don't know if I would have been so kind.

So I got him THIS (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/nikon/d90-review/index_pfv.shtml).  It'll probably be delivered today so it's not technically a Christmas present, but it's as close as I get!  I don't expect a gift from him, but I DO expect a really Really REALLY big hug!  Mostly because I thought of doing something and didn't forget to actually do it.  (sometimes I think I've done something when I've actually only THOUGHT of doing it and then I get creeped out when nothing happens!)

Nice camera.

I put up a tree each year for the cats. I see no reason to decorate it, as it has at least 1 yellow cat in it from the time it goes up until the time Oscar breaks it (Jan 2 or so)

I thought about getting a live tree for the pussies.  I don't want to deal with the needles from a cut tree.  I'm sure at almost 17 lbs, Lister would make short work of any sort of cut tree.  And he'd eat the needles, too, probably.  Which might make his lion-sized poops smell marginally better, no?

I do Christmas so hard that I have a tree for my house in LotRO.

I do all the holidays in MMOs I'm playing. 

Your avatard needs a Santa hat, by the way.

He is gay for Jesus.

Merry Christmas, Signe.  Here's your present.
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My mum & step-dad have just told us that they're giving us £1000 for christmas so we're getting a new mattress :heart:

I would pay rent. For like, 6 months. Heh.

Your priorities seem to have come off track somewhere along the line.  Do you realize the myriad kinds of consumer electronics that one could obtain with that kind of bank?  I know you just bought the PS3 and the TV, but come on man. 

Or is it for your back, and I'm just a douche?

Having bought an insanely nice matress a few months ago, I have to say it's more than worth it to spend for a good one. I got a Sealy Posturpedic pillow top and added a cushy pad on top of that. We have a rule in the house: don't lay down if you don't want to sleep. It's now known as the magic bed. You get in it, you sleep. Fucking amazing, worth every penny.

Get the mattress!

I agree.  Absolutely.  We bought a Tempur-pedic Rhapsody mattress or whatever it was called last year.  I can't put in words how much it helped Righ's back issues.  So comfy, too.

I must have some soft whiskers because I can literally use a mach 3 for an entire season, truly like 3 months or more. I always without fail shave in the shower and i use shampoo instead of shaving cream, is that wierd? I wont even talk about shaving the unmentionables...wait i just did  ;D

A good mattress will let you compress your sleep schedule and thereby play more games.

I think "douche" is being a tad harsh on yourself, but yeah, it's for my back  :grin:

Going to ask advice from my physio after christmas, it's so impossible to tell from all the marketing blurb what's a good mattress and what isn't.


Haha! Your ideas intrigue me, I would like to subscribe to your newsletter and/or pamphlet  :why_so_serious: