Useless Conversation

[Signe]

I think I must have too much anarchist in my blood or something.  All the rules for gift giving!  I don't think I could handle it.  I think it would just make me angry.

[apocrypha]

We only did it that one time because there were a few people in the family who were extremely broke at the time and it seemed a good way of not having anyone feel bad because they couldn't afford to buy lots of presents for people. It's only an issue with my girlfriend's family because they're all a bit neurotic and highly strung. My family don't give a shit, nobody minds who gets what for whom and silly presents from the £1 shop are common and much loved.

[Strazos]

I tried to skip Christmas entirely, because I am broke enough that I cannot buy people stuff like I might like. Also, I hate the process of puzzling out what someone I'm not terribly close to might want; when we did polyanna, the person who I had got gift cards, without fail. On the flip side...I hate people giving me stuff I don't need. If you want to give me something, pay off a credit card or something. Anything someone would reasonably want to get for me, I'd rather just get it myself.

So, I head to my uncle's, and he hands me something as soon as I walk in, even though I'd made it clear to everyone that I wanted Nothing. Oh well, so I open it up, and it's one of those ski hats with built-in speakers and ipod functionality. We ski together, so it's was actually a nice and apropos gift....unfortunately, I don't own an ipod, have never owned one, and would never consider buying one Just to use with this hat. Yeah, there's a lead wire I could use with any other mp3 player that I can stick in a pocket, but the only one I own is a refurbed PoS I keep at work. And even if I owned one that would fit in the hat, I'm not sure I would actually Want to listen to music when I ski; I actually Like the sound of skiing, and more importantly, I like being able to clearly hear what's going on around me.

Normally, I would just lie, smile, and says thanks...but we ski together each winter, and knowing that he would question (either me, or to himself) why I wasn't using the thing...well, I'm too damn honest some times I guess. And felt like a dick as well.

My mom was easier to deal with. We had agreed on no exchange, as she didn't want anyway, and I refused to accept anything from her. Then she tries to slip some money into my bank account....come on mom, I work for the damn bank.

At least I had 2 days off to play Persona 4.

[voodoolily]

My brother is totally broke all the time, wife doesn't work, two kids, blah blah blah. I really want to give him money, but I can't because he'll blow it on beer or cigarettes or weed (I don't condone poor people with babies having habits they can't afford). I'm thinking of just paying his bills one month or something, but I got him some fleece peejays instead, for the time being.

[Draegan]

So I might of accidentally become not-single over the holiday. 

Well it was a good run but I think I got lasso'ed into something.

Pray for me.

[schild]

So I might of accidentally become not-single over the holiday. 

Well it was a good run but I think I got lasso'ed into something.

Pray for me.

Moar liek grieve imo.

[Rasix]

I got in a near head on car crash for Christmas.  Lots of fun.

[schild]

I got in a near head on car crash for Christmas.  Lots of fun.

Ye gods, you OK?

[Samwise]

Holiday drivers are the worst drivers in the world.  I was very glad to not have to cross the bridge on Christmas this year.

[apocrypha]

So I might of accidentally become not-single over the holiday. 

Well it was a good run but I think I got lasso'ed into something.

Pray for me.

Grats 

I got in a near head on car crash for Christmas.  Lots of fun.

Erk, what happened? Anyone hurt?

[Signe]

Holiday drivers?  American drivers.  I never became nervous in Britain but even being in a car here makes me crazy.  If you're trying to pull out of a spot or change lanes or anything like that, people actually speed up to try and stop you.  It makes no sense.  Everyone is on their cell phone, too.  EVERYONE.  And most women seem to be drunk at the same time.  I swear.  And everyone is angry when they drive.  You can tell.  It's no surprise that so many people drive those huge SUVs.  They drive angry and they want to kill everyone they see.  And everyone who lives in this stupid golf club (why did we move here?  WHY?) drives smack dab in the middle of the street.  The streets are wide.  There is no reason for it. I couldn't hate them more if they were French terrorists.  I'm glad Ras is okay.  I assume he is because why would he be posting if he were not?  Don't make me roll my poor aching eyes again, please!

Also - Good luck to Draegan.  I was also accidentally married about fifteen years ago.  It's the best way to do it.  So quick you don't really comprehend what's just happened.  Unless you're some religious nutter or something, thinking about the reasons you're getting married will just give you a tummy ache.  Rituals never really make sense unless you're into some sort of religion thingy, otherwise accident or drunk is the best way to go.

[Yegolev]

I just got the Cat Party ring tone.

[MrHat]

I'm fairly certain I ate my weight in bananas and nutella.

[Rasix]

I got in a near head on car crash for Christmas.  Lots of fun.

Ye gods, you OK?

Yah, I'm fine. My wife is 4 months pregnant so they had to take her to the hospital because she got a bit panicked and her blood pressure got really high. Everything checked out OK but we're both really sore. I'm probably going to get a cold because I spent a lot of time in the cold/rain getting everything resolved.  Sucks for her because she can't really take any pain killers.

I was going through a green light and a Dodge Neon made a left turn right in front of me.  Their front right hit my front left at nearly straight on angle. Speeds weren't very high and I was breaking although the other car didn't do much to bring down it's speed.  Collision was fairly violent, however,  our airbags didn't deploy.  I think this might be something with the air bags because the interior of the car stunk like they deployed (so I'm told, I've never been in an accident where they have). 

The Neon was cited but I have a feeling (hope I'm wrong) that their insurance are going to be dicks about it because there were no witnesses.  The other driver was a teenage girl so they're likely going to believe us rather than whatever crazy story her parents can feed her (she was OK too, bit of a bloody nose).  Her Dad (her parents showed up before the cops did) was somewhat of an ass to me, so I'm not confident that they'll take being at fault gracefully.

This all occurred about half a mile from my house after driving back from spending Christmas with my family in Phoenix. It sucks. 

[Strazos]

That sucks. Was there a car in front of you that obscured her vision or something? If you had green and she just tried to cut through, fuck that noise. Go pwn her in court.

[apocrypha]

American drivers.  I never became nervous in Britain but even being in a car here makes me crazy. 

OK you've just made me really worried about ever driving in America because I think British drivers are brainmeltingly fucking terrible. Too fast, too close, too distracted, utterly selfish and ignorant of the rules of the road to an unbelievable degree.

Anyway, glad you & your missus are ok Rasix.

[Signe]

That was pretty scary!  Some teenage girl's mean old bastard father needs a brick through is window!  I know it's illegal and there is a risk of getting caught, but that's how I solve most of my disputes.  Bricks through windows if I don't know them, hard pinches under the arm if I do know them. 

[Cheddar]

Glad you guys are fine.  That has got to be scary (pregnant wife and all). 

[Ironwood]

I like Signe.

[schild]

Ping Pong and Densha Otoko just got released in America on DVD. The latter is the movie, not the fantastic TV series. Both are worth owning. Ping Pong actually went out of print for about 4 years (in every region, except America, where it was never in print to begin with) and it's probably one of the best friendship/sports stories I've ever seen put on film.

[Draegan]

So I might of accidentally become not-single over the holiday. 

Well it was a good run but I think I got lasso'ed into something.

Pray for me.

Phew, false alarm.  Carry on. 

[Salamok]

Looks like it is refi time again.  Rates are ultra low but the window to qualify is smaller than ever.

If you have 20% equity in your home, 740+ credit you should be able to get a 0 point loan around 4.75%, time to call your banker/broker.

[voodoolily]

So I might of accidentally become not-single over the holiday. 

Well it was a good run but I think I got lasso'ed into something.

Pray for me.

Phew, false alarm.  Carry on. 

Wha, did you wake up in a Vegas motel room or sommat?

[SuperPopTart]

So I might of accidentally become not-single over the holiday. 

Well it was a good run but I think I got lasso'ed into something.

Pray for me.

Phew, false alarm.  Carry on. 

Stop drinking?
 

[Draegan]

So I might of accidentally become not-single over the holiday. 

Well it was a good run but I think I got lasso'ed into something.

Pray for me.

Phew, false alarm.  Carry on. 

Wha, did you wake up in a Vegas motel room or sommat?

It's not that exciting.  And yes I should stop drinking.  I should take up recreational drugs.

[Signe]

I have never woken up married to someone whilst on recreational drugs.  True story.

[Sky]

I concur! If you mean legal marriage, not some crazy earth lady or voodoo priestess or shaman.

[voodoolily]

I concur! If you mean legal marriage, not some crazy earth lady or voodoo priestess or shaman.

Hey, leave me out of this.

[Endie]

I have never woken up married to someone whilst on recreational drugs.  True story.

I cannot, in all good faith, say this.  However, I cling to the fact that Scots law wouldn't have recognised it, so I just ignore the entire, blurry incident.

[Draegan]

Personal Bailout?

I got a letter from my student loans saying that I stopped all my debits for my account.  Which is strange since I just re-requested that my loans be paid by auto-debit since I had switched bank accounts.  Confused I called up the gov'ment and they stated that it stopped as of Dec 4 (they received my payment for Nov).  I asked how do I fix this?  Go onto our website and work the online account page.

Ok I say and I go to do so.  I log onto the website and what do I see?

If you are logging in to view your account, our records indicate that your XXXX accounts that have been 'paid in full' have been archived. You do not currently have a XXXX account that is being serviced by us.

They have my correct date of birth and SSN associated with this since you have to enter all your personal data to get to this page (wrong info brings you to a failed login  page).  Did I just get a bailout?

Obviously something is wrong, but I thought it was funny.  Now I get to sit on hold for 15 more minutes to get on the phone with folks in the loan dept.

[Cheddar]

Personal Bailout?

I got a letter from my student loans saying that I stopped all my debits for my account.  Which is strange since I just re-requested that my loans be paid by auto-debit since I had switched bank accounts.  Confused I called up the gov'ment and they stated that it stopped as of Dec 4 (they received my payment for Nov).  I asked how do I fix this?  Go onto our website and work the online account page.

Ok I say and I go to do so.  I log onto the website and what do I see?

If you are logging in to view your account, our records indicate that your XXXX accounts that have been 'paid in full' have been archived. You do not currently have a XXXX account that is being serviced by us.

They have my correct date of birth and SSN associated with this since you have to enter all your personal data to get to this page (wrong info brings you to a failed login  page).  Did I just get a bailout?

Obviously something is wrong, but I thought it was funny.  Now I get to sit on hold for 15 more minutes to get on the phone with folks in the loan dept.

I am kinda confused also.  I was supposed to resume student payments this month (December) and am showing a zero balance.  I am kinda scared to call and find out whats up.

[Viin]

Well shit, you mean I missed out on the 'zero out all student loans' bailout? Damn, and I need a new loan in a couple months!!!

[Merusk]

Draegan and Ched; Who's servicing your loans? I want to transfer mine over to them!

[Cheddar]

I really doubt they paid off a ton of student loads without a media blitz on how the guberment is taking care of things.  I will call next week and find out whats up.

[Draegan]

I really doubt they paid off a ton of student loads without a media blitz on how the guberment is taking care of things.  I will call next week and find out whats up.

Yeah but the thing is, I havn't gotten a bill from them either for this month. Hmmmm