Bragging thread
4Christmas has come and gone and you couldn't be happier with how it went. You may have gotten really amazing gifts that were tailor-made just for you with all of the care in the world. Or maybe you simply just got exactly what you wanted or needed. And maybe, just maybe you're one of those people that got realllllllly expensive, nice things.
Are you one of those people? Well then this thread is for you to tell/show us all what you got and brag all about it. Gloat on.
And then some of you got crap. Go over here if you're one of those folks. This thread is all about bragging. So don't bring us down.
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My wife bought me a Lego set for Chanukah. Pickings were slim because I already have a bunch of good ones & most of the force awakens sets weren't out yet, but she bought me the imperial shuttle, which has a lot of complex parts and is pretty awesome.
Plus, with Lego now being a better investment than gold, I can cash it in a few years from now for a drone or something.
@MrGlass
I'm at that middle stage where if i want ANYTHING for חנוכה, then i have to buy it for myself. Sigh...
@FroodyFrog Did you get the CAH שמונה מתנות הגיונית לחנוכה? Great way to give yourself a gift while not feeling like your giving yourself a gift.
@MrGlass
I was on the order page, and i had everything filed out, sadly though, i didn't go through with it.
@MrGlass I love Legos. My wife thinks I already have too many. Plus we have a house full of other shit. Maybe when I clear some of that other shit out it'll be okay to get more Legos. Sigh.
@joelmw
Tradeoff sounds completely worth it.
After all, Lego collecting is more important than keeping junk.
@joelmw I have most of my sets on a bookcase in my home office. Sadly, I don't have space to display a giant collection, but I have a few choice models I purchased in the last couple years. Actually, my favorite model (UCS X-Wing) is currently in a box while I try to find a new home for it.
Not sure what I'm going to do in 5-10 years time as the collection grows. May actually sell to keep funding my hobby - I have a friend who built a huge transformers collection that way.
@MrGlass I'm one of those old fashioned legacy types who can find no appreciation for the prefab build-a-model-of-__ sets.
Was raised on the basic block sets where a large thin flat piece, a window, or a roof piece was a treasure to behold. Closest I got to prefab was the rail road set that included blue rails and a blue wired remote engine/motor box.
Creativity required.. Excellent spacial thinking toy.
I'm in the mid-century realm and still have my original collection. Sometimes I let my kids play with them. Will be handed down to my grand kids.
@RedOak I lost all my old kits due to some earthquakes in Cali, but even when I was a kid it was 'PlaySets' and not just a set of kits.
These days, theres actually a move back toward more creativity based kits for kids. Theres the 'creator' series, which come with instructions for multiple models for the same set of bricks. Theres even the new minecraft 'Crafting Box' set, which doesn't have an overall model - instead they have instructions for a bunch of little set pieces (a house, a tree, etc) that you can use to build your own scene. These kits are all working toward the goal your talking about - to encourage kids to think creatively & make their own stuff - while helping kids who aren't up to the task yet build something and get some practice at it.
As an adult collector, though, I much prefer the models. I keep it the the fancy/expensive sets, which are designed as display pieces. They have a beautiful design aesthetic & often have innovative engineering solutions that I find fascinating. If I want to do creative thinking, I have my day job. Sometimes its wonderful to put together a great engineering work made by someone else.
@MrGlass My 15 year old got the Detective Office for Christmas- 2262 pieces.
i got 3 lbs of beef jerky. three. glorious. pounds. fuck yeah!
@carl669 2 lbs of venison jerky here!
I was very noncommittal regarding what I wanted so that resulted in $850 from the power-gifting matriarchs of the family in addition to actual physical gifts from them
I got the Crayola Ultimate Crayon collection (some coloring books, and other awesome stuff... You'd think I was 3, not 30)! My in-laws are awesome, and go all out for Christmas!
My daughters each got piles of gifts that were about 3 times the size of them (and that's just from my in-laws...my family doesn't do much for Christmas)... Including the 2-week old!
I got a generator...because the power went out on christmas eve (until Saturday afternoon) and that's what I got to spend my christmas money on....yay???
@zdunklee a genset is a good thing. Much more exciting than a washing machine.
@RedOak Considering it's possible with the half inch of ice we are getting today that I lose power again, it might quickly turn into an excellent gift.
Did small family gift exchange this year got exactly stuff I wanted: slow cooker, cutlery set and a cast iron skillet from my dad. Bluetooth headphones, Hank Camouflage Sauce (plus some their Swag) and socks in my stocking. Oooo bitchen monogrammed shaving kit from grandparents.
@exoduswm Cook well with that skillet. And if you don't have a good slow cooker cookbook, I strongly recommend the America's Test Kitchen Slow Cooker Revolution. We've had some amazing meals out of that book's recipes.
@duodec - made some tuna steaks in the skillet last couple of days. It worked out swimmingly.
Chicken caccitore is in slow cooker now, I can't wait to get home. I grabbed my mom's cook book but I'll try and check out the one you recommended too at some point. Thanks!
I got a Jack Sparrow action figure/doll thingy and a ginormous, wall covering print, of a black horse.
And oh yeah.......I got a fucking cold from the grandkids!!! Those little shits!!!
I got... to pay for pretty much everything everyone else got. So why is this in the bragging thread? Because it truly is about giving and I'm happy I'm at a point in my life where I'm able to do so.
Though I did get a 20" Christmas Story leg lamp and a hefty gift certificate to a restaurant I've really been wanting to try. So there's that!
Guess I should brag a little since I made the thread and all. So you remember how I somehow got really lucky and got to marry that smokin' hot @asgriffin girl earlier this year? That was Christmas gift enough but it turns out she's also kind of a badass and may or may not have gotten me tickets to go to the NCAA Tournament National Championship Game in April. I'm doing so much winning right now.
@MEHcus That's so cool that you will get to see The University of Kansas win the tournament.
@Barney Wait. You love Kansas but are a purple fan? Shouldn't you be a K State person? This doesn't compute.
@MEHcus Very little that I do computes. I am a loyal fan of KU and have been following them since 1985. However, I love and respect K State's football coach, Bill Snyder. He is a class act and I will miss him when he decides to retire.
@Barney Same here. I'm a diehard UT guy. But damn if I don't respect Bill Snyder.
@MEHcus I wish I had more stars to give you on your Bill Snyder remark.
I got tickets to Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway for the show on the day before my birthday. I've never been to a Broadway show - very excited!
@looseneck I love Fiddler on the Roof. Never been to a Broadway play. I'm envious-- no, make that very jealous.
@Barney I am very impressed with my husband for remembering. My best friend and I have been singing 'Tradition!' for months since we found out about the show :)
A goat was donated to a needy family in my name.
Anyone you know, @TaRDy?
@KDemo Uncle Billy??? I hope he was donated as a pet.
@TaRDy aunt billy probably has a better shot at survival tbh
@TaRDy - Give a man a goat, he will eat for a day. Teach a man to goat - well, you oughta know.
Srsly - http://www.heifer.org/gift-catalog/animals-nutrition/index.html
I enjoyed giving away all those CHEERSON CX-10C VIDEO CAM QUADCOPTERs I bought. I bought two the first time around with plans to give them to my son and my daughter's boyfriend. When they popped up again, I bought one more with the intent of keeping it for myself. When my daughter saw the two boys receive the copters, I could tell she felt left out. So, I gladly parted with the remaining unopened quadcopter when her birthday came a few days later. The enjoyment of seeing her receive that toy was well worth it. The lesson learned (yet one more time): giving is truly better than receiving. (Mrs. Santa did give me the Bose headset I was hinting about; thank you Santa!)
I received a Go Pro type camera that I am very excited about from my stepdaughter and her family. Ammo, an ammo box and a laser sight for my pistol, along with some other littler things from my husband. I'm a happy camper.
In October, my son rescued an LGBT friend from a bad family situation. After a few days and a group visit with a family counsellor, the bad family allowed the friend to go back until his 18th birthday.
On November 3rd we had a combination birthday party and welcome to your new home party. He has been part of our family ever since. We missed diaper changes, potty training, and all the bad report cards. We started by teaching him to drive.
Over Christmas, we went on our annual road trip to visit my mother and the rest of my extended family in Buffalo. Everyone had a good time.
We got a new son. Top that.
@hamjudo proud of you, buckaroo
@hamjudo Better than any material gift! I'm glad you could help make someones life better.
@hamjudo Is this part of the whole "giving is better than receiving" thing??
But you received a new person, due to your giving spirit. Or something.
I am confused.
(:thumbs-up!)
@G1 There are benefits. This increases the odds by 50%, that one of the kids will take care of me when I am too decrepit to take care of myself. The odds of grandchildren increased very slightly. While all of my children can cook, the new son offers to cook without being nagged first.
He gained weight, because he is eating better. I lost weight because I am eating better.
@hamjudo You are a good person.
@hamjudo I wouldn't even want to try to top that because what you and your incredible son have done is wonderful . What a beautiful example of what the Christmas season is truly about!
@hamjudo You're really an amazing person!
My daughter was here (from Colorado to Texas) for Christmas. Everything else is icing.
We celebrated Christmas in three cities. First we did Cincinnati with the in-laws, then home with just the nuclear family, then Buffalo with my side of the extended family.
After the fundamentalists left from the Cincinnati gathering, we played Taboo, a card game from 1989. It is a team game, one player tries to get the rest of their team to guess a word without saying any of a list of related taboo words. It is at most PG13. My sister in law got the word "adultery". This would have been easy for the fundamentalists. They would just reference the commandments. They had already left. My sister in law went down another path, so her 73 year old mother made the obvious guess of "whore" and other things along that line. Nobody could stop laughing for several minutes after that turn.
At home we spent a lot of time flying our CX10s. We charged them with pink power bricks from Meh. We also played with our 3doodlers (not from Meh).
In Buffalo, the most popular games were Jenga Extreme, Suspend, and Wonky. Wonky was new this year, the other two were gifts from Christmases past. My mother lives at a large campus for old people. We reserved a large meeting room with a full kitchen for the four days of the gathering.
My mother has six children, nine grandchildren, one great grandchild, and most of the adults have spouses or significant others. It is a huge gathering.
One of my sisters married a man of Italian descent, he lives to make food for large groups. He had fun cooking, and coordinating the other cooks, and we got great food. Some of us are vegetarians, one of us has Celiac's. Not only did he have food for everyone, it was all ready at the same time. Us vegetarians even had low carb options. He is a master of kitchen logistics.
My mother was doing much better than last year. She went into Hospice in January. She got kicked out of Hospice in the spring and has been doing well since. The Hospice nurses made life worth living for my mother. I think she would be doing even better now, if they were still coordinating her care. When quality of life is the first concern, quantity of life is a pleasant side effect. It helps that my mother could afford physical therapy long after she reached the maximum for insurance. She needs a lot of help learning how to move while her bones are dissolving away, and Parkinson's is making muscle control ever harder.
I would like to brag about how I finally got my family to not do gifts for Christmas (at least until someone has kids I imagine). We have much less stressful Decembers now. And Christmas was still fun!
@katylava - This! It's all about the 3-yr-old now, and some charity giving.
@katylava My family does the same thing pretty much. The young'uns get presents until they are 16 and can work. The adults buy girl or boy gifts, generic and we do girl and boy White Elephant games. A lot of fun is had and we don't spend too much money.
Roommate was out of town visiting his family. I was home alone with the dogs on Christmas Eve when I realized... I hadn't gone to the grocery store and they were all closed. And I was HUNGRY!
Suddenly... internal-dialog: "hey, the casino sent me a Christmas Eve offer for $20 in free food and $40 in free slot play!"
Nothing says Christmas spirit like greasy onion rings and a crappy chicken philly, amiright? So off to the casino I go to get some grub.
I figured I'd blast through my free play, then get over to the snack bar before they closed at 10PM. It was about 9:50, so I started pounding the "Max Bet" button on the penny machine I was playing. Dang I was hungry!
To be honest, I was really watching the clock more than I was watching the slot machine's credit counter. I was HONGREE! and had less than 10 minutes to get some chow.
The machine started making all sorts of a ruckus. I looked down and saw...
Merry freakin' Christmas to ME!
Good: That was one HUGE pile of $100 bills!
Bad: It took them almost 30 minutes to generate the 1099 forms and pay me, so I missed out on onion rings and chicken philly!
Best. Christmas. Ever.
Oh, PS: Stopped by a gas station on the way home and got some $4 frozen burritos and a $6 bag of chips. :-)
Oh ya, best of all... I didn't put a single red cent into that machine. It was all on THEIR DIME from the free comp play offer!
@ruouttaurmind sooo... new year's eve party at your house then?
@ruouttaurmind Thank goodness they didn't pay you in sacks of pennies! Nice score!
@djslack Uh... DJI Inspire maybe? LOL!
@carl669 Definitely, Carl! :-)
Whooo who.. We received a new pellet stove for Christmas..it is installed and burning first batch of pellets.. My knees and back will groan tomorrow from helping my husband get this monster into the house...BUT I WILL BE WARM!!
@mikibell To make tings even better for you, you will be able to complain about the pain while being warmed by the object which led to the pain.
That's kind of like spiting the pellet stove.
@mikibell Mom & her husband installed a pellet stove a couple of years ago & still insist it was the best home improvement they've ever made.
Enjoy!
@ruouttaurmind This is our second stove..first one lasted 10 years..blower motor finally died. It needed new gaskets, temperature guages, etc. We decided to bite the bullet and buy a new one. Parents wanted to get something extraordinary for Christmas, so here it is!
@mikibell Oooohhhhh... toasty fire... mmmm.
I bought myself a mechanical keyboard on black Friday (half off) and wrapped it for Xmas. Wife surprised me with a roku 4!
I got a vacuum and a carpet cleaner for christmas! That may sound boring but I really, really needed them so it was awesome. They were sent straight to me so when I went to visit my family downstate they wanted to give me presents to open so I got a candle, a chocolate bar, earrings, cat toys and christmas lights. My mom also scavenged some yard sales and got me a bunch of gorgeous gorgeous bits of costume jewelry and one bracelet that's probably real. I'm a total magpie so I loved it all. I spent Christmas relaxing with my family and watching old musicals with my dad (On the Town, Swing Time, Top Hat and the Nutcracker). We went to an arboretum that had a christmas light show. My mama took me shoe shopping. I only get to see my family 1-2 times each year so the best present was getting to see them.
@HELLOALICE What brand of vaccum?
My lovely wife got me handles for our kegerator to replace the boring black ones that came with the kit. We've gotten really into hockey lately and I grew up in Colorado, so as much as I love the Stars, the Avs are my number 1 team. The orange and blue is not for the Broncos (or any other team). I just like the color orange and blue goes well with it.
I'm also using this post to brag about having a kegerator. I gain like five pounds every month now though : [
@Moose Did I hear that you're looking for more friends (who are really just using you for your kegerator) ?