I threw my back out last week.  I'm feeling better, thank you.  But it means that i'm behind on my shopping and am running around like a chicken with my head cut off the week before christmas, which is something i try to avoid.  I find it's bad for my personality--back notwithstanding.  Everywhere I've been in the last three days, I have been surrounded by the sounds of the holidays.

JESUS CHRIST!!! WILL YOU HURRY UP?!?

CHRIST ALMIGHTY!  IS THAT REALLY WHAT IT COSTS?

GET THE F*** OUT OF MY G*D D**M PARKING SPACE!! CHRIST YOU'RE IGNORANT!

All with Perry Como or some other rat pack weirdo singing about brotherly love in the background, while the malls seem to be testing world records about how many losers they can cram in a small space at once. I guess it makes sense, since Jesus was reportedly once a red faced squalling baby too.

This is a twisted time of the year.  I tell my kids that it's Christmas, they have to come out to the stores and suffer like the rest of us.  They'd rather build snowmen than pick out ugly tropical printed shirts and boxers for their father, and they have a point.  but tough shit. Christmas defies logic and common sense.

But let's take the Christ out of Christmas.  It won't solve all the problems, but it's a start.

Forget Christmas and have a New Year's bash.

Why is it my experience in the malls and stores is so different a Christmas time.  Parking's a chore but I don't see people fighting over it other than the normal irritation over the guy plants himself in the middle of an aisle blocking all the traffic because he sees someone coming who might be going to a car that just might, if he waits long enough, give him a parking place two places closer to the doors than if he went a bit further.  Saw that last night.  I turned into an aisle and there was a guy with his flasher on watching some woman unloading a whole herd of groceries and kids out of a cart and into her car.  Fortunately he wasn't blocking the whole lane so I went by and parked in one of the multitude of spots about half way up the aisle, got out of my car and walked back to the store.  He was strill sittiing there blinking away.

In the stores I find it's crowded but most people are in a good mood and, for a change, there are lots of staff to help out - even in Wal-Mart.  People chat in the line-ups and even volunteer advice on which is the best brand of some kind of gadget to buy.  I hate shopping at the best of times but, if I have to do it, I'd rather go at Christmas than any other time.

WTF is christmas?????

A pagan debt dance.

ROFL

Thanks for cheering me up.

Except for Jim.  You should never counter good sarcasm with norman rockwell images.  haha  jk--i'm glad you're doing well.

It may depend on what you're shopping for. I have not had to fight anyone over furnace filters or spray paint. The old dudes like myself, walking up and down the hardware store aisles looking at crescent wrenches, are as happy as ever.

I love it gramps! Hard to find those local hardware stores these days.

It's kids toys that seem to be the worst.  I wonder what that says parenthood does to people's personalities?  Also, any discount place.  everyone's short of money.  and there's nothing worse than the feeling that you can't make the christmas you wish you could for your kids.  I get why there are so many stressed out people out there.  But good LORD don't feel the need to take it out on ME!

I have a counter thought.  Maybe it is time to put  alleged Christ back into Christmas. 

I tried writing more, but I can't.  I don't think there is anyone on this board, be they believer or non believer who isn't aware of the wrongness of this festivital of greed and competition.  It should not even be suggested that it is related to the Man called Jesus.

It's not... so why bother with it at all? Just my own humble opinion.

Sid, you're in that place in life where you can opt out of mainstream society if you want to.  I have kids, I can't.  And, to be fair, I kinda like Christmas.  I just wish it was cheaper, less stressful, and involved less diet overload.  And i wish i didn't have to listen to so many people yelling "Jesus Christ" this and "Christ almighty" that.  But I'm almost done shopping, so I can stay at home, wrap presents, and watch tv shows where the only people shouting Jesus Christ at the top of their lungs are evangalists and republican nomanees.  and they're really funny when you're full of baileys and christmas cookies.  haha

I'm not saying anyone should follow along on a path I have chosen for myself, but just so ya know: I put up a string of lights in my window this year for the first time - ever. I kinda like the ambiance of the light. It also makes it a bit easier to watch internet TV - so I just have to hope there isn't some freak storm over the holidays that knocks out my internet. I, for one, am not dreaming of a white christmas... I need my connection to the main stream.

Leave 'em up year round.

Actually I have plans for them. I want to wire them into a geodesic dome. They're LED so they'll last a long time.

You have a dome?
We're looking building at a zero energy house

Perry Como was never in the rat pack and was  not even close to their kind of behavior. How could you be so wrong?

I built a small model of a 3V geodesic dome and now I want to light it up. If you want more information on geodesic domes, this site has a lot of info on everything from how to calculate strut lengths to number of hubs and number of the various struts needed for each type of dome.

DESERT DOMES

I'm familiar with domes. I've been interested in them since Expo 67 when I saw the US pavillion. It is now (or was) a huge aviary.
How big is your dome?

Isn't that a very personal question?

  

Size matters... if you're gonna live in it. [img]/domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/wink.gif[/img]