AARoads Forum

Now that Christmas is coming to an end, this is the bonus question for all of us, and I lifted the question from a song about the next holiday coming up:

What are you doing New Year's Eve?

Since the Christmas thread didn't include a poll, I'm throwing one in this time, and the same three options apply: stay home, go local, or head outta town. As mentioned in the other thread, my wife's family is going back to San Diego tomorrow, but I will entertain my daughter and her fiancé at home next week.

I'd like to go somewhere but my wife will probably want to do a midnight countdown with her friends. 

It's my In-Law's anniversary.  While my FIL passed away several years ago, we still either take my MIL out or my wife will cook a nice dinner for her mom, and we'll stay in, play games, eat, and have beverages. 

My routine for New Year's Eve day is to do some roadtripping and hiking, getting home just as it's getting dark.  Get gradually bombed while making a pot of pasta and sauce for dinner.  This year, I think we're going to assemble a lasagna from scratch.  Then just stay home and watch some TV or maybe a movie.  We'll flip to the Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's show at the last minute just to watch the ball drop, but other than that we don't watch any of the New Year's party shows.

Going to watch some fireworks from far away, then get up the next day to go see the NHL Winter Classic festivities.

Likely staying home to end off this amazing year for my traveling. I am planning to take a better version of my first photo of 2023 as my first of 2024.

I'll be working until 11 pm (and no later, selfish customers notwithstanding), and then I'm hightailing it to count down the year with my boyfriend with a charcuterie board and something bubbly.

Quote from: Henry on December 25, 2023, 10:24:49 PM
Since the Christmas thread didn't include a poll, I'm throwing one in this time

How do we see the poll results?

Probably something local, we have a few options from friends.

I'll be holed up at home as is always the case.

Vikings game will be on. I haven't decided if I'll try to go or not, depends on if ticket prices dip to an acceptable range.

Will be home in the evening, but, otherwise, I'll be out doing my annual end of year railfanning, most likely over in Decatur.

I'll be home and quite possibly asleep by the time the ball drops.

Normally I spend the time with my family. However, I will be in Milwaukee this time around, because I'm putting some hours in at an internship.

I will either find a party somewhere around here and wallflower, or drink alone and play Minecraft. I could also take the bus out to Waukesha or something and shop at Farm and Fleet for fun.

If the weather isn't horrible, maybe I'll go to the little gathering on Fountain Square in Cincinnati, even though it's a very tame event. That's what I did the past 2 years. For some reason, they canceled the event to ring in 2021, so instead I gathered with family that year. For years before that, I usually watched the Times Square stuff on TV, but it's gotten so idiotic that I try to avoid it now. There was a time years ago when I couldn't even watch that, because our local ABC affiliate decided 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' was too controversial and preempted it.

Quote from: hbelkins on December 27, 2023, 08:01:02 PM
I'll be home and quite possibly asleep by the time the ball drops.

We "celebrate" the new year on Newfoundland time (10:30 Eastern) so we can go to sleep.

Notre Dame has a tradition of having a home hockey game on NYE. We are taking the kids to the game, have late dinner reservations for after the game, and a hotel right across from campus. Only way I can stay up until midnight anymore is to keep myself busy past 11pm.

Stay home since I will be departing on a trip a few days afterward.

I have to be at my store at 5 a.m. Jan. 1 to receive a freight truck. So I will be leaving the partying to the amateurs once again. 

Arriving home from a flight at 1 AM. Then I have the rest of the day at home.

Quote from: 1 on December 28, 2023, 08:15:07 PM
Arriving home from a flight at 1 AM. Then I have the rest of the day at home.

Crossing the International Date Line?

Quote from: Big John on December 28, 2023, 08:26:29 PM

Quote from: 1 on December 28, 2023, 08:15:07 PM
Arriving home from a flight at 1 AM. Then I have the rest of the day at home.

Crossing the International Date Line?

No. My flight arrives 23 hours before the new year and has nothing to do with the new year itself; it's the end of a Christmas trip.

Quote from: Road Hog on December 28, 2023, 07:54:12 PM
I have to be at my store at 5 a.m. Jan. 1 to receive a freight truck. So I will be leaving the partying to the amateurs once again. 

Hopefully the truck driver is not one of those partying.

I will most likely be going to the somewhat local casino with a work friend, although I will assume the slots will be crowded like the other time I went on NYE.

Smoking a ton of weed.

I don't know that we'll be doing anything at all, since the friend we normally spend New Year's with has a new girlfriend and has to work, so we won't be seeing him. So I guess my plans will probably look more like

Quote from: bugo on December 29, 2023, 12:17:21 AM
Smoking a ton of weed.

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Quote from: DandyDan on December 28, 2023, 11:56:16 PM
I will most likely be going to the somewhat local casino with a work friend, although I will assume the slots will be crowded like the other time I went on NYE.

New Year's Eve is the casino equivalent to Black Friday. That's probably the place I'd want to be least on New Year's Eve.

For the first time in 5 or 6 years, I'm "volunteering" to work on New Years Day (I need the extra dough), so I hope to be asleep for the party this time around.

We finally decided what we're doing.  We'll just stay home and play games.  Maybe soup for dinner, definitely nachos later on.

Quote from: GaryV on December 26, 2023, 06:51:00 AM

Quote from: Henry on December 25, 2023, 10:24:49 PM
Since the Christmas thread didn't include a poll, I'm throwing one in this time

How do we see the poll results?

Hey, yeah, how do I see the poll results?

Might have a couple of friends over. Will likely be asleep by midnight. I am most every other night during the year, why not on December 31st?

Probably just stay up until 12AM January 1st and go right to bed. Not much there.

Staying in.

Lately, visiting friends and staying the night to avoid driving back in wee hours. But I just had to spend a couple thousand dollars to completely replace my clutch, and so I am not feeling great about driving right now. (car will be replaced [probably] during 2024)

If it was completely up to me, I take a hourlong nap sometime in the evening so I can be awake at midnight. I am usually asleep by 1. Where we go, there are a lot of college age and "just beyond that" people. They stay up until 4 or 5. Those days for me are long gone. The house where we go is big enough that they can do their thing while I sleep.

Assuming I am awake at midnight, I will have seen every NYE midnight since 1972-73, so I have that motivation to be awake at midnight. None of those were ambiguous (e.g., flying east-west on NYE and not knowing where you were) and in no cases have I ever crossed between years via dateline or time zone boundaries. At one time I thought about doing that, but now to me it would seem rather hollow, given that time zone boundaries are man-made -- but on the other hand I have still never crossed the dateline -- have been as close as Hawaii where there are flights to Guam.

Quote from: tmoore952 on December 30, 2023, 11:19:15 AM
Lately, visiting friends and staying the night to avoid driving back in wee hours. But I just had to spend a couple thousand dollars to completely replace my clutch, and so I am not feeling great about driving right now. (car will be replaced [probably] during 2024)

If it was completely up to me, I take a hourlong nap sometime in the evening so I can be awake at midnight. I am usually asleep by 1. Where we go, there are a lot of college age and "just beyond that" people. They stay up until 4 or 5. Those days for me are long gone. The house where we go is big enough that they can do their thing while I sleep.

Assuming I am awake at midnight, I will have seen every NYE midnight since 1972-73, so I have that motivation to be awake at midnight. None of those were ambiguous (e.g., flying east-west on NYE and not knowing where you were) and in no cases have I ever crossed between years via dateline or time zone boundaries. At one time I thought about doing that, but now to me it would seem rather hollow, given that time zone boundaries are man-made -- but on the other hand I have still never crossed the dateline -- have been as close as Hawaii where there are flights to Guam.

Quoting my own post, as I have another thought and didn't want said thought to get lost in old post.

My one big (actually huge) reservation about going out for NYE is catching someone else's illness, as I just got over one myself. Unfortunately though, I don't really get a vote here. Need to watch what I do with my hands wrt my face (and wash them frequently), scan the room, and keep my distance.

I just realized, I actually have a year to decide before responding to this thread.

Quote from: GaryV on December 31, 2023, 07:45:10 AM
I just realized, I actually have a year to decide before responding to this thread.

You're right!! :bigass:

As for 12/31/2023 - likely be in bed because Blaze the cat will wake me up at 5 AM as usual.

As for the topic: "What are We Doing New Year's Eve 2024"

What's this "we" shit?

You have a mouse in your pocket or you just happy to see me?  :-D :pan:

Quote from: SSOWorld on December 31, 2023, 08:12:56 AM
"What are We Doing New Year's Eve 2024"

What's this "we"

Several possibilities:

• Royalty has (have?) joined the forum
• Someone is a server in a restaurant ("Have we decided on what we are having tonight?")
• A multiple personality disorder
• The OP wants to invite everyone on the forum to join in the festivities, if they can only figure out what to do

Made a completely spontaneous trip to Jacksonville (FL) for a concert/show type thing with a friend. This is my first time in Jacksonville and my first time traveling to Florida in 14 and a half years.Will see how it goes tonight.

Quote from: DandyDan on December 28, 2023, 11:56:16 PM
I will most likely be going to the somewhat local casino with a work friend, although I will assume the slots will be crowded like the other time I went on NYE.

New Year's Eve is the casino equivalent to Black Friday. That's probably the place I'd want to be least on New Year's Eve.
[/quote]

I don't doubt you on that, but sports betting is legal here in Iowa and the Vikings play the Packers in the Sunday night game. I'll bet the Vikings, my work friend will bet the Packers, and who knows who else from work will turn up.

Staying home and making sure the dogs don't lose their minds when people irresponsibly set off fireworks.

It seems like a lot of us chose the staying in route. Most of our family/friends also did the same thing. One of those NYEs where it seemed everyone was just like "whatever" lol

I went to the Fountain Square thing, and it was as tame as ever.

Stayed home and was in bed before the ball dropped; I'm getting old. I used to enjoy First Night in Boston when I was younger, but it gets to be the same after a while.

Bandit957 would probably approve of what took place here: After we watched the ball drop on TV at midnight (accompanied by a FaceTime call from our relatives near Miami), I headed upstairs and took my first dump of the new year at 12:08 AM.

New Year's Eve is somewhat melancholy in our house anyway because my wife's younger sister, who died of cancer in 2020, was born on December 31.

Main thing was game night for about 4 hours leading up to midnight.
* Left, Center, Right (dice game) has no strategy at all, but might have been the most noisy/exciting because there was a pot of money to win.
* Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is a decent card game that also makes a drinking game.
* We played two varieties of Uno at different parties.
* Pictionary just has too many "all play" squares, and suffers from the "jackal" problem (youtube.com/watch?v=VbOPpgrTXh8)

And 2 new traditions were added for midnight (existing: must wear red, have money and grapes in hand for good health and wealth):
* eat 12 grapes in 1 minute for good luck each month of the year (from Spain and Portugal)
* eat them underneath a table for good romantic luck (from tiktok)

Quote from: kphoger on December 29, 2023, 09:43:25 AM

Quote from: GaryV on December 26, 2023, 06:51:00 AM

Quote from: Henry on December 25, 2023, 10:24:49 PM
Since the Christmas thread didn't include a poll, I'm throwing one in this time

How do we see the poll results?

Hey, yeah, how do I see the poll results?

Turns out, I set the poll to private so that the results would be kept secret for a week. And not surprisingly, the majority chose to stay home.

Quote from: SSOWorld on December 31, 2023, 08:12:56 AM

Quote from: GaryV on December 31, 2023, 07:45:10 AM
I just realized, I actually have a year to decide before responding to this thread.

You're right!! :bigass:

As for 12/31/2023 - likely be in bed because Blaze the cat will wake me up at 5 AM as usual.

As for the topic: "What are We Doing New Year's Eve 2024"

What's this "we" shit?

You have a mouse in your pocket or you just happy to see me?  :-D :pan:

:rofl:

Perhaps I should've asked about 2023 in the title, based on what you interpreted. Maybe when this year is done, I should ask something to the effect of "Where will you be when 2025 arrives?" unless someone has an even better suggestion.

Quote from: kurumi on January 01, 2024, 01:28:11 PM
* Left, Center, Right (dice game) has no strategy at all, but might have been the most noisy/exciting because there was a pot of money to win.

Got it.  Love it.  Seem to have lost it.

Quote from: kurumi on January 01, 2024, 01:28:11 PM
* Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is a decent card game that also makes a drinking game.

Just got it this year (Christmas present).  Haven't played it yet.

Quote from: kurumi on January 01, 2024, 01:28:11 PM
* We played two varieties of Uno at different parties.

There is only one Uno.  The rules that came in the box.  (Yes, I know there's a loophole or two in the rules.)  All other varieties are evil.

Quote from: kurumi on January 01, 2024, 01:28:11 PM
* Pictionary just has too many "all play" squares

We just use a whiteboard easel, and let a website generate words to draw.  No board game required.

Quote from: kphoger on January 03, 2024, 02:33:10 PM
We just use a whiteboard easel, and let a website generate words to draw.  No board game required.

I would think it would be pretty hard to make out what you were drawing on the whiteboard easel. Might be easier to just draw on the whiteboard next year.

Having a good random word/phrase generator in your pocket can come in handy for a number of different games. (My favorite is watchout4snakes (http://watchout4snakes.com/Random/RandomPhrase).) I've managed to come up with entire D&D games off the cuff with that—sometimes a few bizarre rolls are all it takes to get the creative juices flowing.

Quote from: Scott5114 on January 03, 2024, 03:08:19 PM

Quote from: kphoger on January 03, 2024, 02:33:10 PM
We just use a whiteboard easel, and let a website generate words to draw.  No board game required.

I would think it would be pretty hard to make out what you were drawing on the whiteboard easel. Might be easier to just draw on the whiteboard next year.

shut up

Seriously, though, I wasn't quite sure what to call a whiteboard that has a built-in easel.  What would you call it?  I see one by Pegasus whose product description includes the term "Dry Erase Whiteboard Easel".

(https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61H62gv9bKL._AC_SX466_.jpg)

I would probably just call it a whiteboard, since most of the time whether it was on an easel or mounted to a wall would be immaterial to what I was using it for. For what it's worth, I've never used a whiteboard like that before. When I was a kid, I had a whiteboard on a tripod easel, but it just rested on a couple of hooks, and could be removed if I ever theoretically wanted to put something else on the easel.

Quote from: Scott5114 on January 03, 2024, 03:22:12 PM
I would probably just call it a whiteboard, since most of the time whether it was on an easel or mounted to a wall would be immaterial to what I was using it for. For what it's worth, I've never used a whiteboard like that before. When I was a kid, I had a whiteboard on a tripod easel, but it just rested on a couple of hooks, and could be removed if I ever theoretically wanted to put something else on the easel.

I called it a "whiteboard easel" specifically to point out the size of the drawing space, and also that it's easily portable from one room to another and set up wherever is convenient.  I just assumed people would know what I was talking about.

By the way, it's not only handy for games and for homeschooling, but it also has a paper-grabby-thingy along the top.  We have a big spool of paper that we were given years ago by a Xerox tech, so I can rip off a few feet of that, draw something with marker, and clip it up on the whiteboard easel for easy viewing.

That sounds pretty useful. The "training" department at the casino had gigantic Post-It notes they used to do something similar. But I imagine the spool of paper is a lot cheaper and more versatile. (I just got a spool of paper to use as packing material; it was about $13.)

Quote from: Scott5114 on January 03, 2024, 03:52:41 PM
That sounds pretty useful. The "training" department at the casino had gigantic Post-It notes they used to do something similar. But I imagine the spool of paper is a lot cheaper and more versatile. (I just got a spool of paper to use as packing material; it was about $13.)

Yeah.  We have three sons, and my wife operates a home daycare as well.  It's really handy to rip off a huge length of paper, tape it to the dinner table, and get out the markers or watercolor paints or whatever.