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Christmas creep

Started by ZLoth, October 24, 2024, 09:03:14 PM

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Rothman

Quote from: SectorZ on November 02, 2024, 08:27:38 PM
Quote from: Rothman on November 02, 2024, 06:46:56 PM
Quote from: SEWIGuy on November 02, 2024, 05:25:13 PMRight. If people want to decorate and put up the lights, go right ahead. Why should I care?

Wait, for whom do people put up exterior Christmas decorations?

I love looking at my own lights. I am on a dead end road with three houses beyond mine and none of them decorate at all so I know they don't care about mine probably.

Maybe they consider your decorations theirs in a way.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.


elsmere241

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on November 02, 2024, 10:13:29 PMThere was a solid decade in there for me where Christmas and Thanksgiving were just days off.  I didn't live near family in Arizona and I only ever ended up doing nominal celebrations if I was dating someone.  I liked the peace quiet, but I would often get random phone calls from family members asking if I was okay (which was really weird).

I stayed home for a couple of years when I was in my late 20s.  (To me, driving from Raleigh, NC to Newark, DE and wasn't worth the hassle anymore.  Long story.)  The first year especially, my mother was really worried about me.

Scott5114

Quote from: Max Rockatansky on November 02, 2024, 10:13:29 PMThere was a solid decade in there for me where Christmas and Thanksgiving were just days off.

There was a solid decade where I didn't even get both of them off. Hard to be in a holiday spirit when you don't even get the day off work, just time and a half.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

GaryV

The neighbors across the street had their lights on last night.

SEWIGuy

I am grateful to get three days off at Thanksgiving, and the entire week-plus off between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day.

SectorZ

Quote from: Rothman on November 02, 2024, 11:51:39 PM
Quote from: SectorZ on November 02, 2024, 08:27:38 PM
Quote from: Rothman on November 02, 2024, 06:46:56 PM
Quote from: SEWIGuy on November 02, 2024, 05:25:13 PMRight. If people want to decorate and put up the lights, go right ahead. Why should I care?

Wait, for whom do people put up exterior Christmas decorations?

I love looking at my own lights. I am on a dead end road with three houses beyond mine and none of them decorate at all so I know they don't care about mine probably.

Maybe they consider your decorations theirs in a way.

No, they're just lazy.

1995hoo

The Christmas-themed car ads on TV have already started as of yesterday. I suppose, all things considered, that I'd rather hear those than more of the non-stop political smear ads (sometimes an entire commercial break has been nothing but attack ads this fall).
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: Scott5114 on November 03, 2024, 05:52:36 AM
Quote from: Max Rockatansky on November 02, 2024, 10:13:29 PMThere was a solid decade in there for me where Christmas and Thanksgiving were just days off.

There was a solid decade where I didn't even get both of them off. Hard to be in a holiday spirit when you don't even get the day off work, just time and a half.

Right, I get that being the long time LP Manager guy back in that era at places like Sears. I avoided actually working on Thanksgiving but given we were opening at 4 AM on Black Friday we were on the precipice.  I put in my two notice at Sears specifically to avoid working another Black Friday when I got a better job elsewhere.

english si

Quote from: vdeane on November 02, 2024, 10:05:29 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on November 02, 2024, 09:28:54 PMAlso, Christmas is a lot less fun when you don't have a lot of money.
Or when neither you nor anyone you know has any particular need or want for more stuff.  Even putting together a list of things other people could get me is a chore.
I agree with you it's a chore to come up with ideas when you don't want or need anything special. Especially problematic now that media is all ethereal and mostly subscription-based so doesn't make for good gifts to ask for (there went something that formed a large part of my list for a good 20 years).

My advice is consumables. You use them so it's not more stuff, but rather stuff you use and would otherwise get yourself anyway but you now don't have to get.

My dad's 93 year-old parents have been griping for probably 30 years about how they don't want anything and the presents they get are naff. About 20 years ago, my parents had a solution. My grandparents have jam on toast for breakfast most days, so my parents get the grandparents a couple of 'craft' jams from a farm shop. They often have soup for lunch, so they get three or four cans of fancy soup from my parents. They have a small glass of sherry once a week, so they get given a bottle that (unlike the soups and jams) lasts them months. It all goes in a hamper (the same one for the last 10 years) along with some nice biscuits and other treats for them to eat over the Christmas period. My grandparents absolutely love it.


And I'm not just talking about food and drink when I say consumables - my brother always asks for some slippers to wear around the office. Other clothes also wear out. There's always flowers in my grandparents' gardens to replace (so I tend to buy them winter hanging baskets, or gardening vouchers so they get something for their beds in spring). This year I'm going to ask for some replacement crappy headphones this Christmas as my current set is dying. And stuff like toiletries are obvious consumable presents, of course.

Max Rockatansky

I leave the shopping to my wife.  She tends to have her finger on the pulse of what people want way more than I do.  I just chip in 50% when she says that shopping is done. 

For her I usually get an assortment of old DVDs, candy and NES games. 

ZLoth

Quote from: vdeane on November 02, 2024, 10:05:29 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on November 02, 2024, 09:28:54 PMAlso, Christmas is a lot less fun when you don't have a lot of money.
Or when neither you nor anyone you know has any particular need or want for more stuff.  Even putting together a list of things other people could get me is a chore.

Which goes back to why I prefer to give a gift card rather than try and find out. For one of my friends who is struggling financially, a Walmart gift card helps them much more than trying to figure out what they need. Likewise, I'm in a smaller house, so I have to be a bit more selective in what I purchase.

When it comes to technology, yes, there are some differences between what you spend and what you get. Take monitors for example. There are differences between screen size, screen resolution, refresh rate, if adaptive sync is available, and even what ports are available. Even specifying the make and model of a monitor that I would prefer may result in someone's frugality coming out and a lesser monitor being purchased with only a HDMI port instead of a Displayport. Yeah, and then you are given a guilt trip if you don't set up that monitor and then try to rescue the box from the recycle bin for returning. (Yes, it bad enough when you set up monitor arms so that you have three 27" monitors on your desk. The center one is a nice GSync monitor that I purchased refurbished, while the two side ones were Acer K2 Series K272HUL 27" WQHD 2560 x 1440 (2K) monitors that came with me when I moved in early 2019 and were purchased in 2017. Yet, because they were stored in a closet, my mother thought I had purchased new monitors.)
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!

elsmere241

My wife lined up twelve gifts for me for birthday (December 5th) and Christmas this year.  She gave me the first two last night: a new mattress pad and pillows.  (She's leaning more toward the practical this year.)

1995hoo

Regarding the discussion of Christmas presents, my wife's late stepmother (her father's second wife after her mother died) used to ask people not to give her stuff because "it'll be something else I need to dust," which was a problem as she got older and less mobile.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

SSOWorld

Gifts?

I'm a selfish bastard!!! :bigass:
Scott O.

Not all who wander are lost...
Ah, the open skies, wind at my back, warm sun on my... wait, where the hell am I?!
As a matter of fact, I do own the road.
Raise your what?

Wisconsin - out-multiplexing your state since 1918.

vdeane

Quote from: english si on November 03, 2024, 10:41:14 AMI agree with you it's a chore to come up with ideas when you don't want or need anything special. Especially problematic now that media is all ethereal and mostly subscription-based so doesn't make for good gifts to ask for (there went something that formed a large part of my list for a good 20 years).
Funnily enough, my parents and I still do physical media enough that it still makes up a good chunk of our lists (in fact, right now what will ultimately make up the list consists entirely of books and DVDs related to Avatar: The Last Airbender).
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

SectorZ

One of the malls close to me, the Burlington Mall, has its mall Santa starting 11/7. Even that appearance is subject to its own creep.

LilianaUwU

The thing I ask for Christmas is always money.
"Volcano with no fire... Not volcano... Just mountain."
—Mr. Thwomp

My pronouns are she/her. Also, I'm an admin on the AARoads Wiki.

GaryV

Quote from: LilianaUwU on November 04, 2024, 11:16:24 AMalways money

New song: "All I want for Christmas is your money" (Sorry Mariah)

kkt

Three Christmas songs in a row in a store today.  Maybe more, I left after that.

Takumi

I haven't heard any Christmas music yet, thankfully, though when visiting my wife at her work the in-between-song ad now has a Christmas-themed backing sound to it. Most general/department stores have transitioned over to Christmas, though I haven't noticed any merchandise going up earlier than usual. In the companies I've worked retail for over the years, the first wave of Christmas merchandise would arrive in late August and would be not-obviously-Christmas items like toys and gifts that could be plausibly sold year-round, but were internally listed as Christmas merchandise.

When I was in South Africa a couple years ago, I was there from late October to early November, and the stores there also immediately transitioned to Christmas on November 1st. (Halloween isn't really a thing there, and thus the stores went from no real seasonal setup that I can remember into Christmas. My lone regret from that trip is not taking more photos of what inside businesses look like.) The funniest thing is that their Christmas decorations are more or less identical in nature to those in Europe and North America despite it going into summer during Christmas season there.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

LilianaUwU

I heard a store playing Christmas music outside the other day (I think it was on Monday?) on my way to order fast food. When I came back that way, the music had been turned off, probably due to complaints or something.
"Volcano with no fire... Not volcano... Just mountain."
—Mr. Thwomp

My pronouns are she/her. Also, I'm an admin on the AARoads Wiki.

1995hoo

Last night after work I was out for a walk and it appeared that a house on the next block over has Christmas lights up already. Hard to tell because I wasn't close enough to see them clearly, even with my glasses on, and there are some people who put lights up for Halloween who still have them up (I don't know whether this house was one of those because as of last week it was still light when I went out for a walk). Retailers jumping the gun has become routine, but I don't believe I've seen anyone put up Christmas decorations or lights this early with two exceptions: (1) the stereotypical redneck who leaves them up year-round and (2) a house over towards the GW Parkway whose owner used to spend the entire month of November putting up over 250,000 Christmas lights he synced to music. (I say "used to" because a year or two ago his ladder collapsed while he was standing on it. He missed  so nobody knows whether he'll be able to resume putting up lights. It's a shame because his lights were all class—just lights, no inflatable objects or the like.) But the latter guy didn't have the lights on, aside from testing them, until after Thanksgiving.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

wanderer2575

Mrs. wanderer and I put up the holiday lights sometime in mid-November but I don't turn them on until the Friday night after Thanksgiving.  I turn them off after New Year's Eve.

hbelkins

Quote from: Henry on November 01, 2024, 10:55:01 PMNow that Halloween is over, bring on the Christmas stuff!

I have some Christmas stuff to put up in my office. It won't go up until after Thanksgiving. By contrast, the receptionist already has a small Christmas tree at the front desk.

Quote from: US 89 on November 02, 2024, 04:33:45 AM
Quote from: kkt on November 01, 2024, 11:36:07 PM
Quote from: Henry on November 01, 2024, 10:55:01 PMNow that Halloween is over, bring on the Christmas stuff!

We used to have a holiday called Thanksgiving in between.


That holiday has been replaced by Black Friday, er, Christmas Shop A Month Early Day.

And we have a late Black Friday this year. Since Nov. 1 fell on a Friday, the fourth Thursday isn't until the 28th. Wonder how the shorter shopping season will affect holiday sales?
Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

1995hoo

^^^^

This year is the latest possible date for Thanksgiving and for Friday of Color under the current system for determining the date of the former.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.



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