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Weird Presents Anyone?
g8way writes "Now that Christmas is about, it's time for presents. A joyous occasion with much drinking, fruitcake, and butt-ugly sweaters. What's the weirdest gift you've gotten so far? Personally, I got toothpaste, tic-tacs, deodorant, and a McDonalds coupon book in the same package. What's your story of Christmas present mayhem?"
Ah, so he's a Unix administrator.
Not to sound smug here but my Wife and I got out of debt.
Minimal presents to other people, no big dinner or tree and no huge tech presents for either of us. Instead we sneaked past the finish line in our "Debt Free in 2003" goal.
This Christmas is bare by many western standards, but now we can start saving for a deposit for a house. (Yeah, more debt there but what can one do about that?).
----- Documentation is worth it just to be able to answer all your mail with 'RTFM' - Alan Cox.
I have a theory about this. Geeks in general are interested in things that look impenetrable to others. You want an external hard drive for christmas, or music production software? Besides the fact that those things are somewhat expensive, the details the non-geek would have to become familiar with the get the gift right (heck, to figure out where to purchase such things) are a daunting barrier. So they drop back and punt on the gifts they do understand, or things they see you as needing (for example, maybe they see you wear white socks all the time)....
:) It's just an observation. I'll probably never get great geek gifts, and I don't think most geeks will.
My own family works pretty much this way, especially my parents, who'd rather buy another set of underwear for me than subject themselves to the fear and confusion they associate with shopping online. But on the other hand, every once in a while they get things exactly right -- like, buying me the LOTR trilogy two years ago... I wouldn't have even asked for it because I hadn't read it since high school and wasn't too into it then, but once I picked it up again I was hooked. And then there's my siblings, who actually have a great sense of style and when they buy me clothes it's great. So this isn't a "poor me" rant.
Tweet, tweet.
If the worth of the house is more than the cost of the mortage, it's not really a debt. You could easily turn around and sell the house, pay off the mortgage, and have some money to boot.
Rent is debt, it's a continuing eternal debt. Owning a house is owning something that's worth something, even if you have to pay a very large amount of money for it.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
Instead of seeing this as a negative experience, your mother knows that you are into computers and she is attempting to communicate with you that she relates to you - by acknowledging this. She likely knows nothing about computers, but she wants to try to connect to her son.
In return you should not be bitter, but give your mom a big hug, that's all she's really asking for...
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I would ask somebody to inflate your doll with helium. Then I would release the beast in some dignified public place with very high celing - like bank or opera house
:-) Merry Christmas!
They'll get someone to shoot it down sooner rather than later. Of course, what you could do is to coat it with moderately-fast-drying glue (on both sides just to be sure), let it float up there, and *then* let them shoot it.
Sure, it'll deflate- but it won't come down
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He finds that choice wierd but perhaps his friends are sending a message?
Maybe the kid who got the small present will share the five bucks with his brother and teach you something, sensei.
Please donate your spare CPU cycles to help fight cancer and other diseases
But seriously what the hell am I going to use Whiskey flavored condoms for?!
Well this is just a long shot, but how about having safe sex?
Needless to say, I'd do anything to get a chance to play badminton with her now. For all of you with mothers, even if they drive you nuts, I envy you greatly. Now go do something that will make her happy and show her you still love her.
Very cute. She knew the gift was your pleasure in her ;)
I know how you feel. This has been the third Christmas I've had without my mom, and my second without my dad, and I'm only 20 years old.
For all you geeks out there taking your parents for granted, quit it. Its one thing to have processes without parents on your *nix box but completely different without real parents.
My mother left me with one thing in this life, the knowledge of ballroom dancing (she's a pro dance instructor, and no matter how queer it may sound, dude it gets chicks, no lie. The ability to put on some old music she used to play around the house and dance around the apartment is a depressing blessing all in one. I feel weave's pain, I've been there. I would do anything for one last dance with my mom but instead I'm left with an empty apartment i can just afford, a cat, and a girlfriend I can teach all the dance steps I want.
some days i feel like there isnt a light at the end of the tunnel, some days i try to emmerse myself with techie shit to keep from reality, but this christmas I've been able to face facts and though the family I once had is gone I'm happy knowing that shes in those steps.
ps; my dad kicked ass too.
Im dreaming ofa big bndwdth, That can resist the
I was 20 when my mother died. I'm now 44. There's the old cliche about she's never really gone if you keep her alive in your memories. While on some level that's a bunch of bullshit, on others it's not. Our minds are like DRAM. Each memory needs to be refreshed regularly or it fades and is eventually lost or at least unreachable. It sucks that I dream about her less now too.
Anyway, I'm really touched by the replies here. It's inevitable that if you care about people in your life, you're going to face these kinds of losses. It's part of life unfortunately.
But, like the great philosopher Butters said in Southpark episode 714, "I love life. Yeah, I'm sad, but at the same time I'm happy that something can make me feel that sad. It's like, it makes me feel alive, it makes me feel human. The only way I can feel this sad now is if I felt something really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good. So it's a beautiful sadness."
Damn that was a great episode! Merry Christmas all. You know, I learned something very important today. Even among the trolls on slashdot, there's goodness in each and every one and you all touched my heart today. Best wishes to all this holiday season. Thanks!