Slashdot Mirror
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?"
a dildo for Christmas. From my elderly neighbor! I'm a male!
HOW'S MY POSTING? CALL 1-800-POSTING
Personally, i got a first post! :-P
My Stack Overflow user
My friends got me a blow-up doll, complete with inflatable breasts and two holes.
I've never felt so pathetic in my life.
The weirdest gift was when I was 15, I got a $50 savings bond and a guaranteed plot at a funeral home
Did anybody get a /. subscription as a gift? Anybody?
I got a 40 gig iPod for Xmas. But the weird part is that when I looked at the diagnostics menu, it said it was only 37.1 gigs! Apple played Grinch and stole 3 gigs of music from me. :(
C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
My brother got a bottleopener that can record samples and replay them. That's pretty odd. Any suggestions of messages?
:D)
(On a side note: I got Band of brothers on DVD amongst other things - way cool
For me, the weirdest presents this year came in the form of clothes from my grandma that I wouldn't actually be embarassed to wear!!
:)
A really smart shirt from Next (clothes store in the UK, not the old UNIX company!), and a silk tie from tie rack - both of which were really smart, and totally suitable to wear to work.
I was stunned!
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
I was given (by a christian relative) an autobiography of christian golfer Bernhard Langer. A pretty poor attempt to turn me onto 'the right path'! Next year I'm going to buy them something by Richard Dawkins.
We ARE the peat bog soldiers.
Along with the usual sweaters, socks and underwear I get every year, this year I got something special..
:D
My mother in law excitedly handed me my gift this year with a big grin on her face. I opened the box and what was there?
A seagate Barricuda 7200rpm 120gig hard drive!
"Now you can download more movies and burn them to dvd (vcd)" she says.
Large capacity hard drives, the gift that keeps on giving all year long
A friend was nice enough to get me a book called "Why Be Good?" and even highlight select passages for me. One such note in the book is the highlighting of a chapter called "Ego Management." Think they're trying to tell me something?
when I find myself you'll be the first to know.
Personally, I got toothpaste, tic-tacs, deodorant, and a McDonalds coupon book in the same package.
Think they are trying to tell you something?
g8way writes "Now that Christmas is about, it's time for presents. Personally, I got toothpaste, tic-tacs, deodorant, and a McDonalds coupon book in the same package. What's your story of Christmas present mayhem?"
your gift givers think you are fat and smelly
100% Insightful
I got a combination wallet/calculator from Radio Shack. Who buys a wallet from RS? Old folks are so crazy. This is the same aunt who last year bought me a combination mouse pad/calculator. Next year I bet I get a calculator watch.
Oh well, maybe I'll get her back by giving some Metallica CDs.
I got ten shares of SCO.
I would have preferred a roll of Charmin.
Personally, I got toothpaste, tic-tacs, deodorant, and a McDonalds coupon book in the same package.
Toothpaste, breath-freshening mints, deoderant, and cheap out-of-the house food.
No pattern there.
Hmm. Unless.... Is your family trying to tell you you're spending too much time playing Everquest, and too little time playing "shower"?
Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
My Xmas:
6 pairs of black socks
1 can of mixed nuts (i hate most nuts)
A bottle of leather conditioner (presumably for my car)
A pair of cheap $20 headphones (left side doesn't work)
15 losing $1-2 lottery tickets
$10 in gift certificates to Krispy Kreme (love them, but the closest one is an HOUR away. All Dunkin' Donuts around here.)
Speaker stands for the surround sound system I don't have.
-----
I gave...
My sister a nice Capresso CoffeeTEC coffee maker because her current coffee maker broke, and this does lattes and hot cocoa to boot, which she loves. Also got her an assortment of coffee from Gevalia.
My parents to share, got them 5 classic movie DVDs (Ben-Hur, Citizen Kane, On the Waterfront, Bridge on the River Kwai, Casablanca). My mom a backyard birdwatching and project book, a pair of nice binoculars. My father I got a 10GB iPod (bring his MP3s in his car without him constantly burning CDs), and a new copy of MS Trips and Streets (to replace his 1994 Rand McNally software which he still uses regularly).
-----
I know its not what you get, but the thought that counts, but I think I put in a lot more thought than they did.
----- ----- ----- -----
Not only did I get nothing but CLOTHES for christmas.. My parents bought me a hamper to put them in. *rolls eyes*
Personally, I got toothpaste, tic-tacs, deodorant, and a McDonalds coupon book in the same package.
It was a message. Your breath stinks, you have BO, and you're too skinny.
I got a full length coat from my mom. Now I can go out in public without wearing anything underneath it. I can;t wait till New Years!! Mwahaahaha!!!!
adventure-today.com
My girlfriend got me razor-sharp shurikens that I can use to assassinate my enemies in the dark of night!
I wrote Santa and asked for a pussy. So I unwrap the box and see only a goddam alley cat.....male even.
Table-ized A.I.
I love my family. :D
it is christmas after all
...was wrapped gift wrap.
Worse part was, I didn't know when the hell to stop unwrapping.
I received a sweatshirt that's XXL and I'm a Medium.
Let's trade. I am a big human but got a medium.
Table-ized A.I.
Me and my s.o. got a Shocking Roulette game from a friend who is studying in Scotland (it's supposed to be popular around there?). It's for 2-4 players. Each puts a finger inside this machine, the lights start blinking, and as they stop the lucky winner is rewarded with an electric shock. "The more you sweat the worse it gets!"
My wife got a Caron-Monoxide detector from her secret Santa at the their holiday party.
Other people got wine, gadgets, chocolate...
Mind you we have a small house and we have two already detectors allready.
But, CO poisoning is serious stuff up here in the great northern state, so I guess the best way to look at it is that at LEAST one of her fellow employees would like her to survive the winter. (We had a family of five die this month from it.)
*A)bort, R)etry, I)nfluence with large hammer.*
I received a wonderful gift in my e-mail box from the King of Nigeria this morning. He said that if I gave him my life savings, he would give me $400,000,000. What a kind fellow, fully of holiday cheer, to make such a generous offer!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
"mom got me a bag of coffee beans per month for the rest of the year, which should be cool"
...Just *one* bag then, huh? ;)
Well, in a manner of speaking...
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 woke up and found a meter-wide disk-shaped space probe right under my tree, hot to the touch. It kept beeping this odd British pop tune. Bummer, there were no chocolates in it though.
Table-ized A.I.
My girlfriend gave toilet paper & laundry soap to her brothers and their families. Happy Holidays!
I got some crumby cologne from T.J. Maxx from my 8th grade English teacher. It was very likely the most embarassing moment of my school life. She gave it to me in class and I was the only one to receive a gift. So, so, so embarassing (primarily because i smelled bad and was too busy kernel hacking to take a shower when I was at home) Ahh, those were the days...
A good friend of mine came by and presented me with a wrapped item, about 1 meter long with bulges on each end. I tried to guess the contents, but to no avail. It turned out to be a beat-up air horn off of a large truck - which he had found in a junk yard. It didn't take long to find the fittings in the junk box to wake up the neighbothood with it.
Loud? Oh my! The 100 PSI shop air will make it sing. Now, where can I install it?
Soli Deo Gloria
I got Mod Points for Christmas! Thanks Santa!
Sorry, but it was probably written by other geeks that don't know any more about dating than we do. Besides, nobody has ever figured out the algorithm for women's preferences, although money is probably a significant factor.
Table-ized A.I.
I recently moved out on my own into an apartment in Portland with my fiancee, and this Christmas from my brother I got a $25 gift certificate from Home Depot... now, at first glance that might make sense, but if he'd checked he'd have realized that:
1) The nearest Home Depot is 50 miles away and I don't have a car.
2) You can't use them online.
3) There's hardly anything there you can buy for $25 that isn't sold by the pound anyway.
I'm selling it back to my dad for cash and thanking my brother politely for the thoughtful gift.
Why does my mother keep giving me Microsoft Games no matter how many times I tell her I don't use Windows!!! She just doesn't get it, "My son's a computer guy so I get him computer games".
-"Mom, I don't use Windows".
+"So how do you use Word?"
-"I don't".
+"Oh, Hmm, how do you use MSN?"
-"I Don't!!!!"
+"But I know you get email".
-"Yes"
+"Well that's certainly strange".
-"No, it isn't. MSN is not the Internet"
+"Oh, well here's you're Chrismas present, a copy of Freelancer". (Which is some MS game I never heard of)
Nevermind the fact that I'm 34 and don't even play computer games.
Anyone want an unopened copy of Freelancer?
My 6 year old daughter presented me with my long lost black handled phillips head screwdriver. She gave my two sons my mechanical pencils.
from my parent, i got a golden motorcycle model lighter. why weird?
1) i don't smoke
2) i don't ride a motorcycle
3) i don't collect model
and...
4) they let all the gas out because they are paranoid about the house getting burnt down.
oh, and
5) ???
6) profit
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.
My uncle, who worked for the Air Force in some sort of intelligence/communications aspect, gave us an unusually heavy small package last year. Inside was our very own gurkha knife, leather holster, display stand (which I promptly broke), and instructions. According to the care and use instructions, this knife and other fine ones like it could be found in Muhammed's Knife Emporium, blah blah street, Kathmandu. The instructions included such gems as "Be sure not leave fingers on blade from cleaning". This year's present was a carved pen-sized fish with two screws coming out the bottom of the head. We have no idea what it is, where it came from, or what it does. This seems to be a typical feature of my uncle's presents, come to think of it..
Thats what I got, no shens. But seriously what the hell am I going to use Whiskey flavored condoms for?!
Bill Gates took my pants, and I thank him for it.
Actualy, wasn't weird: it was a dress but it was the ugliest dress I could find. Of course was a joke but the funny part was to see my mother's face trying to smile (a very yellow smile!) and saying it was beautiful and thank you until I burst in laught. :-D
When my mother realized it was a joke her first words to me were "Thank Lord was a joke! I was already thinking a way to get rid o it without offend you!" Them I gave her the real present
Scientia est Potentia
I'm assuming the person who gave it to me isn't expecting me to fly anywhere after Christmas :)
I've got two younger (11 and 12) brother-in-laws. They're into collectable playing cards (such as Magic: The Gathering). One of them is quite the selfish type and quite conscious of other peoples' opinions of him; the other one is a bit more geeky and off in his own world.
:P
I got them each a Core Set deck. The one more fitting for the geeky b-in-l (Sky Slam/blue) I wrapped simply - just put it in a small box slightly larger than the deck - I also put a $5 bill in. The other one (Burn/red), I put in a large box with heavy objects (several rocks wrapped in paper). I didn't put any names on the packages.
I then let the older/less geeky b-in-l pick the present that he wanted. Being selfish, he picked the larger one. The result: a lesson hopefully learned - and if not, hopeful progress made on that lesson.
I love playing mind games with influential youngsters.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
My wife bought herself a car, I got the payments. /me scratches head..
An absurd gift, An Amish man (beard, hat etc..)puppet who's spring loaded arms can pack quite a nice hit - A completely bizarre gift from my equally bizarre sister... The company that makes it also makes a Nun punching puppet...
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.
My dad's GF got me a vibrating pen. You press the little button on the cap and it vibrates. I don't quite get it, I mean, it's not even water-resistant. Such is electroschlock, I suppose.
I got "Pirates of the Caribbean" on DVD for Xmas...
Interesting subject. Some people get really excited about the holidays, looking at it as a materialistic boon. Others loathe the idea that a social mandate dictates that they are to give items to everyone they know, and then have to make stressful decisions as to which of their friends fall into that "gift recipient" category and which don't. And then there's always the situation where someone who isn't on your list, gives you something and you feel weird about it.
i t's-something-you-like category. I used to think that I was one of those people who is very hard to buy gifts for, because I tend to get what I want, when I want and don't mull around much advertising things I'd like but don't have. But lately, I've had a few friends completely blow me away with things that I didn't even consider, but turned out to be great gifts. Anything that reflects some time, personal effort or thought is always rewarding. So I no longer buy into the idea that some people are hard to buy gifts for... it's not about money; it's about taking some time to pay attention to what they like.
I don't know what's worse. Running around trying to find something meaningful for someone as a gift, or opening presents from people you care about and wondering if you ended up with some impulse item that's devoid of any insight into who you are.
I've always tried to give things to my friends that didn't fall into that impulse or heres-the-latest-gadget-even-though-i'm-not-sure-
This year I found a number of otherwise mundane items that I could make special. For friends that are into cooking, I picked up some cookbooks by a famous chef in the area, and then tracked him down and got him to sign the books to my friends. Making things for people is also a good idea. One year I made up batches of herbed olive oil. Another year I smoked a bunch of hams and turkeys myself and gave them out. For friends that are into history or science, I'd keep my eyes open for interesting, very old artifacts on ebay. Wine also makes a good gift if you know what's good. A little research can yield some inexpensive, yet exceptional wines that are otherwise hard to find.
One of the weirdest gifts I ever got was from an ex-girlfriend (who at the time wasn't an ex). A gardenia bush. That in itself might not seem that weird, except I found a book she accidently left at my place on Voodoo spells, with a "love spell" page dog-eared that required placing Gardenia bushes around the target's house as a component!
Yeah thats right, a bright yellow jumpsuit with black stripes on the sides! I also got a Oz Quick Trip thermos, a flash lite that has a screwdriver set inside, a very nicely made photo collage of my newborn daughter, 10 pack of Maxell CD-R's, Jing: King of Bandits manga, Elf quest graphic novel, and a Gameboy Advance SP.
The past is just the present only older -me-
And the women that do drink it, tend to be the ones you didn't want to meet in the first place...
Your wife gave 'm to ya?
This space is intentionally staring blankly at you
Someone gave me 2 cans of chicken stock... I think that counts as a weird gift.
Was the McDonalds coupon book labeled as a weird gift before or after the reports of Mad Cow disease in the US?
Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war
right here! :)
Although the end result seems ok
Veni, Vidi, Velcro!
But at least it wasn't a hot cocoa sampler.
One of my friends gave me Mandrake Linux for Christmas. Cheap bastard.
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
This was about two years ago, I think. It happened near Christmas. We had just installed a new pretty lamp in the living room and were all looking at the pretty effect that light makes with the dust. Then suddenly we realized that it's not dust, it's smoke from the kitchen!
Turns out mom left a frying pan there, and the oil caught fire. Mom yells "Cover it with something!". I run and bring a big towel. Mom: "Not that one!". Anyway, we fixed that pretty quick, and other than a lot of smoke nothing happened.
A few days later a strange package for mom from dad appeared under the tree. We all wondered what was it (pretty big, very heavy...) and finally she opened it.
A fire extinguisher.
I got a puppy from my parents and a cat from my uncle... The description of any of my other gifts now includes the adjectives "urine-scented", "chewed", or "clawed to hell" ... primarily as a result of gift #1 trying to swallow gift #2.
The nice people who are suggesting that you build your own house are probably not considering life in a major urban area as desirable.
I would count it as extraordinarily difficult to save enough money for a downpayment for a house in, say, Southern California (where I live) and similar areas. For the entry level house I just bought in Woodland Hills, the price was $428,000. Woodland Hills is an upscale suburb but doesn't have the cachet of, say, Beverly Hills or Malibu, where entry-level homes start at around twice that. If you consider that typical entry-level homes in the downscale suburb of Canoga Park start at close to $350,000, I think I got a real deal.
I'm presently renting a house for $1,400 a month, which is way under market. My landlord sold it out from under me, and I checked rental options and found them all horribly expensive. So I talked to a very nice realtor, and he, together with a great mortgage broker, showed me that a good house wasn't beyond my means, despite my lack of savings other than company 401(k).
In the end, I had to withdraw money from the 401(k) just to rarise the 3% deposit needed to prove that you're serious about the house, and to pay closing costs. My lender gave me 100% financing in a first and second mortgage, with a total payment of around $2,750 a month. Property taxes add another $500-odd a month. However, virtually all of this is tax-deductible, on both federal and state returns. The bottom line is that I get about $1,000 of that from the taxman, so my net cost is $2,250 a month.
I used some extra money from the 401(k) withdrawl to pay back all my debt. With my debt paid down to zero thanks to the 401(k) withdrawl, my net cost of housing + debt - tax deductions is actually going to be a bit lower than were I was before.
A nice bit of fiscal alchemy.
If - and only if - you believe your real estate market will continue to do well, 100% financing may make sense, even though it doesn't sound like a good idea when you first look at it. The tax deductions really help hugely, taking really scary numbers and bringing them down to reality.
Here in Southern California, there are huge population pressures, and the economy is diversified enough to continue to do well. So on balance, I think home ownership here is a reasonable gamble. The fact that my home, being a tiny but beautifully made place on a hillside, is in a unique area with extremely low housing turnover also helps.
I have lots of plans for my new home, and I think it's going to be a great experience. And to be honest, I don't think I could have ever saved the amount of money needed without 100% financing.
If you want to own a home, I think it's well worth considering.
D
There was a pull-out panel with a circular cutout with a green ground glass in it with concentric circles and various tiny blobs painted on the back, and behind it, an revolving black plastic circle with a radial line cut-out. When the 60 watt bulb behind it was turned-on, it looked like a sweeping radar scope.
Some toggle switches allowed to control the light, the rotator and some other blinkenlights (which were blinking christmas lights in reality).
Altough made of plywood, the whole thing was finished in that wrinkling paint which was so popular for instruments 40 years ago and it looked awfully real.
Plus there was a crystal radio with headphones built into the thing...
My father had worked several weeks with a TV-repairman friend to make it. I suppose that this gift I got was the one that was the closest ever to the true Christmas spirit: my father made it himself - never mind it was a "radar scope" instead of a rocking horse, it rocked the same... I must have played with the thing until I was 10...
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
My folks decided not to give us presents this year, and give the money to charity instead. I think this is a good idea.
See, we're Hannukah people, not Christmas people. Most Christians think we celebrate Christmas with the serial numbers filed down, but it's really not like that. The presents we used to get were little things---some nifty pens, a t-shirt---certainly not the crap our fellow consumer-citizens are using to bury themselves in debt.
So, what am I missing? Twenty bucks---maximum---of various kitsch. What am I getting? A warm fuzzy. Not to mention that I already got one big-ticket item from my folks this year (a flat-panel monitor, at commencement) and getting stuff makes me feel obligated.
After all, isn't it really all about giving? Eh? Eh?
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
... a male friend of mine, who has a rather elderly grandmother, received a dress.
The floggings will stop when morale improves.
A co-worker of mine gave the best gift that I had heard of to date. His girlfriend is a Titanic buff and he found out that RMS Titanic, Inc., which holds the salvage rights funds some of its activities by selling the only item that they are authorized to...coal.
So guess what she got in her stocking.
2 believe || ! 2 believe
i got a digital signal processing enabled high-frequency transceiver optimized for carrier-wave communication! even more surprising, it was made in America by Americans (if you count people residing in Tennessee as Americans?) :-)
see http://www.tentec.com/tt516.htm
Wait 30 minutes to see what posts get moderated up and which post is first.
Look at the content of a highly moderated post farther down on the page and regurgitate it as a reply to a first post.
It looks like it's an original thought and it's at the top of the page!
If a post has nothing to do with the parent post, don't moderate it up. Chances are it's redundant from something posted earlier but farther down.
You should have posted to the real first post (and changed the title so it's not "re:") which is most likely moderated at a -1. Then it looks like you post is the parent post to those who don't browse at that level. Badabing! First Post. Without even trying.
Ben
Work Safe Porn
Recently I ordered 6 CDs from a CD club, completely unrelated to Christmas.
When they came in the mail, my wife intercepted them and wrapped them and put the box under the tree as a gift to me. She warned me it was a joke.
Imagine my surprise when I opened it and saw what it was!
HCG 50a = 2MASX J11170638+5455016
11h17m06.4s +54d55m02s
And did he invite you down to his basement, where he had a freezer full of popsicles for you? Or ask you to reach in his pocket to collect your tip? I'm sorry, but that creepy old male neighbor (Family Guy, 'To Live and Die in Dixie") sp00ked me but good. His voice did it, I think...
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
I got a new tire for my car, and bought a replacement pump housing so I could repair the dishwasher for my mom.
Kind of the adult equivilent of socks and underwear for Xmas.
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
At least it sounds like you got hot sauce that everyone will not make bad jokes about.
Yes, I received Hot sauce called Chit. Hot Chit, Dip Chit, Spicy Chit, Mild Chit- all in a box that looks like an Outhouse.
At least it tastes good.
Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
My best friend gave me these two extremely odd presents. The wind up sushi is a set of little plastic pieces of sushi which wind up and zoom across the floor. The set includes shrimp, three pieces of tuna, and salmon eggs.
Jesus Christ: Serial Rapist is a DVD, the front of which has pictures of crucified naked women and says, "First he nails you... then he NAILS you!" The back summarizes the movie as, "A schizophrenic thinks he is Jesus, and he wants payback! He crucifies and rapes the wives of his enemies. He films his deeds because he wants to make a new gospel - the Gospel of Blood!!!"
Should be... interesting.
On my 18th B-day my girlfriend gave me her friend.
I am the unwilling control for my Origin.
I got a legolas door-poster from MY parents. im male as well, but i told my ex-girl what i got for xmas and she said shes comin over. never know when a life-size image of orlando bloom will come in handy ;)
eBayDig 1s a typo saerch engien
Ignore the .sig; in retrospect, I was addressing myself.
Darl? Is that you?
No, he wouldn't be complaining.
Game... blouses.
I don't celebrate Christmas, you insensitive git! Ever hear of Ramadan? ;-)
I knew I was getting old when I appreciated the four tires I got and wanted *more* socks and underwear. I actually need them and don't want to buy $10 pairs of boxer shorts for myself.
Although, they could have told me before I got an oil change and tire rotation last week.
Why would that be weird? Darwin was a professing Christian till the day he died. Shocked? Then you might be interested in reading his books, like "Origin of the Species".
If you research his life and theory you may discovers some interesting facts.
But don't let that stop you from poking fun at Christians. It helps keep us on our toes.
A bible with the words inscriber "finals are coming, better get to study"
www.linux-skunkworks.com
It's bright red and has a silvery kind of screen. It has two knobs. It I turn one of them, a line moves up and down. If I turn the other, a line moves left and right. It also has a comletely variable refresh rate: any time I want to refresh it, I just turn it face down and shake it, and it's all blank again. Now I just need to get me a processor and some mass storage to round out my desktop system. I figure an abacus and a notebook & pencils will do nicely. Maybe some crayons for the graphics.
In the same package I got a remake of the old 1950's breakfast cereal surprise toy Rising And Diving Submarine, baking powder (NOT soda!) powered.
My 19 year old daughter understands me quite well.
"I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop 341-B
My 7 y.o. daughter made a container for me. It is a small sample sized plastic coffee can with a, well my guitar pick taped to the top, and a swirly painted construction paper cicle glued to the bottom. She also gave me a digital watch with a bungee cord band.
My 19 year old younger sister, in addition to a 20GB iPod (lucky devil) and music, was given a 1300 page hardback book on the one and only female former Prime Minister of the UK, by my loving Aunt. Even my dad (my Aunt's brother) was stunned and bemused. =)
I tore off the wrapping paper and looked for what could be in the center of the empty roll of bubble wrap. She says "I know how you like to pop them."
Now socks are not really that weird, however the quantity was somewhat. I receieved a total of 17 pairs of socks from my parents.
I got a supscribtion to the ZDnet newsletter! Seriously!
Really. My in-laws are disturbingly materialistic at Christmas. I made it clear there was nothing I really wanted, and with some appropriate hints via my wife, instead, they went through a charity organisation (possibly world vision, but don't have the details handy) and bought a goat for a poor family. The goat provides them with fresh milk, and can be bred with other goats to sell the kids (baby goats) for a profit. It helps break the poverty cycle.
My sister in laws were excitingly comparing their expensive new perfumes, and said "so what did you get?". The answer did put a slight damper on them.
I don't want to be mister "holier than thou". Sure, there's stuff I'd like. But that's all it is, stuff. It's nothing that's going to have any real impact on my life, not in the same way a goat will to the life of that family. And I don't want to be scrooge either. There's nothing wrong with presents. But let's keep things in perspective here.
Read reviews of shopping cart software
A few days ago, slashdot had a discussion about people's first computers. My first computer was mentioned and there was even a link to see it. Somehow seeing the picture made me miss the little fella, so I called my parents up and asked them if they might still have it in a box or drawer somewhere. My father said "No, sorry, I haven't seen that thing for years". I wasn't surprised... until on x-mas day when I went to my parents' house for dinner and found that my dad went up in his attic and found that old thing. I couldn't wait to plug it in and hook it up to an old TV to see if it still worked, and it did! The nostalgia almost brought a tear to my eye. This was the machine that I wrote my very first program on. I was 9 years old and am now 30. The only sad part of the story is that the first thing it displays when turned on is "Microsoft Corporation Copyright 1982". I didn't remember that... I must have subconsciously blocked it out of my memories. I wish I could find the book and/or other documents that came with it though. Anyway, my father also found an old TI99/4a with 2 games: football and some math learning 'game' or is it spelling, I dunno. The TI99/4a isn't that significant to me, but I'm sure it would be to someone who had one as their first computer and can no longer find it (one). So in the spirit of the holidays, I'm willing to send it to the first slashdoter that would get a kick out of seeing / using a TI99/4a again and emails me with a request for it. You'll have to pay for the shipping though. Cheers and Happy Holidays!
If you can't just be yourself, then be more like me, ok?
When my daughter was 3 3/4 my mum gave her the usual scary bag of xmas goodies. Contents included 4 tubes of superglue this time around..
My weird gift this Christmas was an ice scrapper.
I like in Florida.
But I love my parents, all the same.
-no broken link
A co-worker of mine gave the best gift that I had heard of to date. His girlfriend
Whoa...I thought that was the end of your post. I was thinking "wow, that's a pretty open relationship."
Christians present a threat to me and my family on many different levels. Religion is divisive and immoral. For people to abandon superstition for reason is a good thing.
Why does Christianity present a threat to you? The basis for Christianity is love. Is love a threat to you? And how is Christianity immoral? Give me one of the ten commandments that proclaims immorality.
Where, specifically, did I claim this? I don't trumpet "Truth" the way Christians do. Reason and reality are my guiding principles, not "truth".
I'm sorry but your previous posts have me believing otherwise. You seem quite defensive and aggresive with your own beliefs (which is fine). However stating that you don't "trumpet" your beliefs appears incorrect at this point.
Non sequitur. You argued that the founding fathers were Christians. Many of them were not.
You have given one example. Can I inquire as to how this became many?
Did you know that slavery is supported in both the OT and in the NT?
Could you provide the bible verses that you are referring to?
The only thing that will stop you from fulfilling your dreams is you. - Tom Bradley