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Author Topic: The 2007 "I Hate Christmas" Thread
oldgoat
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posted 01 November 2007 06:35 AM      Profile for oldgoat     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Well, it's November first, and not a minute too soon to start this. And yes it does belong in the Labour and Consumption forum.

*sigh*...It's going to be a long two months.


From: The 10th circle | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 01 November 2007 06:40 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
It's my ten year wedding anniversary today. I've been separated for six and a half of those years. So I'm happy to think about Christmas today instead of that.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
bigcitygal
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posted 01 November 2007 07:07 AM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I hate xmas. My secular Jewish family celebrates "gift exchange" which means we do none of the Christianity, and all of the consumer consumption. I buy small and locally, and I buy gift certificates (independent music stores, bookstores, etc). I make funny cards with penguins swearing.

And last year and this year I got the fuck out of town and opted out! Sweetie and I have a tradition now of going to a B and B, saving and planning for it (I booked it 2 months ago). Okay, it's only two years, but it's still a tradition.


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Sven
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posted 01 November 2007 07:38 AM      Profile for Sven     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I used to hate Christmas. But, now, I look forward to it.

I love surprising my Sweetheart with an unusual gift (something that you just can’t run out and buy).

And, we’ve developed our own traditions that are fun to look forward to. Back when Ms. Sven was single and a secretary with very little money, she used to bake and decorate gingerbread cookies for three of her little nephews as their Christmas gifts. Now, they are all in their 30s, and two of them are married, and those cookies continue to be part of the Christmas tradition but in recent years they all come up for a long weekend at our cottage and the three boys (each with their own apron) spend an entire Saturday with their Auntie Sven baking and decorating cookies together (the girls—the two wives and me—go to antique shops, drink coffee, have lunch, or otherwise just hang out while the boys and their Auntie play in the kitchen). It’s just a great time. It’s something that they, and we, look forward to all year.


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johnpauljones
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posted 01 November 2007 07:51 AM      Profile for johnpauljones     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I make the most of it. Since many of my colleagues are Christian and our offices must be open between Christmas and New Year I usually volunteer to close on 24th and then work those days between
From: City of Toronto | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged
quelar
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posted 01 November 2007 08:03 AM      Profile for quelar     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I hate xmas too. Commercialism compounded with fake 'let's care about the world for a week' bullshit. Grating jingly music, a complete waste of energy on annoying lights. I can't go out on the streets because of the throngs of 'shoppers'.

Honestly, I can't think of a worse time of year.


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M. Spector
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posted 01 November 2007 09:17 AM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I hate to repeat myself, but...
From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
unionist
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posted 01 November 2007 09:29 AM      Profile for unionist     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I hate Christmas - but only the phoney-baloney spiritual part, the hypocrisy of "peace on earth and good will" etc., and the mistaken date of Christ's birth.

It's the commercial part I enjoy. It's good for the economy.


From: Vote QS! | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
bigcitygal
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posted 01 November 2007 09:34 AM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Damn, unionist, sometimes you are really hilarious!
From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged
unionist
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posted 01 November 2007 10:50 AM      Profile for unionist     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Bah humbug.
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Left Turn
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posted 01 November 2007 02:44 PM      Profile for Left Turn     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Our family is finally opting out of christmas presents this year. Instead We will be donating money to a charity that helps the poor. We will also be donating enough money to the Union Gospel Mission for four turkey dinners on Christmas.
From: Burnaby, BC | Registered: Mar 2005  |  IP: Logged
1234567
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posted 01 November 2007 08:55 PM      Profile for 1234567     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Bah humbug.

Ditto.


From: speak up, even if your voice shakes | Registered: Aug 2007  |  IP: Logged
Doug
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posted 01 November 2007 11:38 PM      Profile for Doug   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I like Christmas. I hate the two months preceding Christmas. I can only imagine how horrifying it is for retail workers listening to "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" for the 23847th time.
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M. Spector
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posted 09 November 2007 08:45 AM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Here is an idea whose time may have come: Stores with elaborate Christmas window displays before Nov. 25 should be fined a $1,000 a day. They can make the cheques out to the United Way or Food Bank.

I know they've probably had their holiday merchandise on hand since the boxcar arrived from China in August, but I resent having the season thrust at me. Christmas used to be such an enjoyable time of year.


-- a letter in the Globe today.

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Cueball
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posted 09 November 2007 09:29 AM      Profile for Cueball   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Lets us note of course that retailers will not be passing along savings that they are getting due to the high standing of the Canadian dollar in comparison to the US dollar.
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Michelle
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posted 09 November 2007 10:00 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Exactly.

Due to a really gigantic and unforeseen expense lately, I'm going to have pretty much no money for Christmas shopping. But I love Christmas itself and I'm trying to think of alternative gifts I can give instead. I'll still squeeze out one or two "commercial" toy type gifts for the munchkin (who will be with his father for Christmas this year anyhow, although of course we still celebrate after the fact when that happens) but I would really like to think of some festive alternative to giving the usual sorts of gifts to others this year.

I like Christmas, but I hate the pressure to spend, spend, spend.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
scooter
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posted 09 November 2007 10:12 AM      Profile for scooter     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I'm enjoying Christmas more and more since our family decided to reduce the number of gifts given. A few generation based "guidelines" about who needs to buy gifts for whom.

All in all its reduced the stress and pressure and we spend more time trying to spend more time together.


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jas
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posted 09 November 2007 10:25 AM      Profile for jas     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I get a bit stressed about the gift-buying, but in general I like the festive atmosphere, the coloured lights, the fact that, for a few days (after the shopping) people relax and are nicer to each other. But I have spent some lonely Xmases.

Last year I didn't go home, and was not invited anywhere here, so I mostly just stayed by myself, worked when I could. But I had had a great Xmas the year before, and I thought, once every two years is enough. Trying to do all that every year, all that maudlin sentimentality every single year is a bit too much.


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Michelle
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posted 09 November 2007 10:38 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
On one side of my family, we have the generational gift rule, which is that the adults don't buy for each other unless they're immediate family (like parent-child), and the kids don't buy for anyone, but we all buy something for the kids. That way the kids get lots of goodies, but it's not all on the parents to buy everything for the kids, and the parents don't feel like they have to buy a ton of gifts "from the kids" to everyone else. It's not as strictly enforced as it used to be, because now we're out of the habit of going nuts with Christmas gifts for each other, and a lot of the time we make gifts for each other or give pictures in pretty frames (which isn't too expensive), etc.

On the other side of my family, everyone buys something for everyone. That's a lot of fun when I have money, because I love to give gifts, and very stressful when I have no money, which was often the case when I was a lot younger, and now this year.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
pookie
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posted 09 November 2007 10:47 AM      Profile for pookie     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I've proposed to hubby that we not buy gifts and just do something fun. We'll see how far that takes us.

I don't really enjoy the day with my family - except my dad - because my mother is hard to take; but hubby's family is a bit more traditional and, yeah, it is kind of a nice experience to have an old fashioned dinner and gift exchange for the kiddies and a gorgeous tree.


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West Coast Greeny
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posted 09 November 2007 01:27 PM      Profile for West Coast Greeny     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by unionist:
I hate Christmas - but only the phoney-baloney spiritual part, the hypocrisy of "peace on earth and good will" etc., and the mistaken date of Christ's birth.

It's the commercial part I enjoy. It's good for the economy.



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West Coast Greeny
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posted 09 November 2007 01:35 PM      Profile for West Coast Greeny     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I like Christmas.... between December 20th and January 1st. (Of course, I don't protest that school holidays are a little longer than that)

I've always driven my parents a little crazy since I was thirteen, I tend not to even think about what I wan't for a gift until the 20th, and isn't THAT the perfect time to go shopping.

This year I wan't some nerdy sciency stuff for my dorm. Its totally devoid of posters, or plants, or decorations of any kind.

@ unionist


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Stargazer
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posted 09 November 2007 02:08 PM      Profile for Stargazer     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
This Christmas I'm making everyone their gifts and the kids get gift certificates for music. This is a hard time for me because while my partner is accepted by my family and always invited to all occasions, I am not invited to my partner's holiday dinners. It makes for extremely hurt feelings and resentment. I hope this year things are different.
From: Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist. | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
M. Spector
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posted 25 November 2007 06:14 PM      Profile for M. Spector   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
What's the green approach to the holidays?

If you listen to the marketers, manufacturers and retailers, it's all about buying environmentally sensitive products -- biodegradable cards, gift wrap made from wastepaper and glass objets d'art fashioned from old beer bottles.

Some critics are quick to assail the notion that you can go green by spending money, saying that this kind of eco-Christmas is more artificial than a plastic tree.

But others call the trend a way to ease consumers into a greener way of life.

"In a perfect world, the one we don't live in right now, there's something ironic about buying your way to green," said Deborah Barrow, founder of The Daily Green, a Hearst-owned online environmental guide. "But we live in this world, and this world has people who are heavily invested in a consumerist society and yet they're more and more interested in going green."

LA Times

See also: http://www.buylesscrap.com/

[ 25 November 2007: Message edited by: M. Spector ]


From: One millihelen: The amount of beauty required to launch one ship. | Registered: Feb 2005  |  IP: Logged
Chiana
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posted 13 December 2007 11:38 AM      Profile for Chiana     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
This may be late, but I hate Christmas for several reasons.
It's overcommercialized to the nth degree, to the point that I wince when I walk down Yonge Street in the downtown core (Yes, I live in Toronto) and see all the decorations even before Samhain (Hallowe'en) is over.
And, if we really want to be technical, Christmas was a holiday added to convert the pagans to Christianity. Since I am pagan, I guess I'm biased..but it's hard to be cheerful at this time of year when the meaning of the holiday is supposed to be something different.

K.


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Michelle
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posted 13 December 2007 01:09 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Welcome to babble, Chiana! I feel much the same way about the commercialization.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
arborman
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posted 13 December 2007 03:47 PM      Profile for arborman     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I like the toys with the kid part, and having an excuse for a big feed with members of my extended family. I don't like the rest.
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Michelle
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posted 13 December 2007 03:54 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Yeah, I like the big feed, and I like to spoil my kid a bit at Christmas. I kind of wish all us adults could just get each other small, token gifts (or even nothing at all except good food and lots of love), though.
From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Makwa
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posted 13 December 2007 04:57 PM      Profile for Makwa   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
While I will go with any excuse to overeat, Xmas tends to fill me with contradictory feelings - I hate shopping, and never go anymore, but I like giving things to my daughter. (Ma spouse 'n I never bother) I hate forced 'family rituals' but I like when my daughter comes home from university. I hate commercialized 'cheer' but Alistair Sims in 'Scrooge' always makes me cry (blush).
From: Here at the glass - all the usual problems, the habitual farce | Registered: Oct 2005  |  IP: Logged
Chiana
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posted 14 December 2007 07:03 AM      Profile for Chiana     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Thanks Michelle

I'm just sick of Christmas altogether. The over-commercialization. Of course there are emotional difficulties too with it in my case..I've lost two babies in two years at 6 months gestation. Even though I shouldn't be feeling envious, my younger brother and sister have had two children each.
I've had to undergo fertility treatment as well.. and that's another issue for a different day..the Human Reproductive Act for Canada, makes it very difficult for us infertile couples to have children, especially those who can't carry.
Christmas just opens the scars again. Bring on January and 2008, let's move on


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Doug
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posted 14 December 2007 04:17 PM      Profile for Doug   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Again, I must insist that Paul McCartney be summarily executed for this.


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Lard Tunderin' Jeezus
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posted 14 December 2007 08:12 PM      Profile for Lard Tunderin' Jeezus   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I wrote him off years before, when that 'Venus and Mars' pap came out.
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Aristotleded24
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posted 14 December 2007 08:28 PM      Profile for Aristotleded24   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Buy Nothing Christmas
From: Winnipeg | Registered: May 2005  |  IP: Logged
Sven
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posted 14 December 2007 08:30 PM      Profile for Sven     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Aristotleded24:
Buy Nothing Christmas

Aristotleded24, haven't seen you around here for a while!! Maybe we haven't been in the same thread? Good to see you again...


From: Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!!! | Registered: Jul 2005  |  IP: Logged
Red Reid
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posted 16 December 2007 05:31 AM      Profile for Red Reid   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Why is it that the most atrocious musical chestnuts always get served up this time of year? In the great and silent cavern of the Home Depot last Wednesday morning (dont ask) the only sound ringing out (not cash registers!) was the Jackson 5 doing "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus" with little Micheals shrill declaration echoing around the place:
I DID I REALLY DID!
Good thing I wasnt in the hammer aisle. I think I am still wincing at the thought. Like a hangover wince, you know?

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bigcitygal
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posted 16 December 2007 05:58 AM      Profile for bigcitygal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
So after trying to be all "get away from Xmas" it turns out that sweetie and I will be going to Ottawa a few days before our guesthouse getaway. His entire family ended up in the scary burbs of Ottawa. (Scary for us, not for them) Sweetie is an uncle with both adult and children nieces and nephews, as well as a GREAT Niece (which blows my mind). So we're getting gifts for two little nephews ( 8 and 10 ) and the great niece who's 7. And we're getting books, dammit!
From: It's difficult to work in a group when you're omnipotent - Q | Registered: Apr 2005  |  IP: Logged
The Wizard of Socialism
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posted 16 December 2007 06:18 AM      Profile for The Wizard of Socialism   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Being a childless bachelor, currently between romantic dalliances, I'll be having the traditional bachelor Christmas Dinner: microwaved leftover pizza. With the traditional bachelor Wassail: Moosehead Beer. Because I have no one to buy presents for, and because Roberts Properties are EDIT unsportsmanlike fellows END EDIT who won't let me have a cat even though I offered to pay an additional month's rent damage deposit, I have made a cash donation to the Regina Humane Society for the little kitties. Merry Christmas to all the little kitties out there, everywhere!

[ 16 December 2007: Message edited by: The Wizard of Socialism ]


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Boom Boom
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posted 16 December 2007 06:21 AM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I have a frozen TV dinner (turkey) in the freezer for the 25th. I'm broke - this has been an expensive year for me, had to unexpectedly add a new roof to the house, and other repairs, and then the TV died, so had to order a new one. I'm using all the stuff already in the fridge and freezer rather than splurge on stuff for Christmas - I simply can not afford it. Maybe I'll get invited out.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 16 December 2007 07:46 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I'm sorry to hear this, Boom Boom. Fellow broke person here due to some huge expenses in the last few months. I am, however, lucky enough to be going home to family at Christmas (they're picking me up and taking me back).

I hope you get invited out too. I'd invite you to have Christmas dinner with my family, but I think it would cost quite a bit more for you to get here than it would for you to get a turkey.

BTW, babble's staying open over Christmas. So at least we can all say Merry Christmas to each other on the day if we're around!


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 16 December 2007 08:52 AM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I don't worry about it - I'm almost 60, and I've had great Christmases in the past. I'll be happy as long as my new TV arrives by boat on the 23rd! No television until then, but I have my computer and lots of books.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Aristotleded24
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posted 16 December 2007 12:58 PM      Profile for Aristotleded24   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Sven:
Aristotleded24, haven't seen you around here for a while!! Maybe we haven't been in the same thread? Good to see you again...

Well Sven, you don't seem to have too much difficulty finding me!


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Boom Boom
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posted 17 December 2007 05:21 AM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I found some fish and hamburger in the freezer, and I have potatoes and salad fixings, so I'll fix something other than a TV dinner on the 25th. In the meantime, the blizzard landed here last night - 90 km/h winds, snowdrifts everywhere. I hope the hydro stays on - that's my main concern.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
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posted 17 December 2007 07:25 AM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Further reflecting on this, the "traditional" Christmas dinner is a bit much for one single person to try to create - simply doesn't make sense. It's a meal for family and friends - there might be profit to be made if a food producer could make single servings of the Christmas meal availble, frozen - to be heated in oven or microwave. I have a 'hungry man' frozen turkey dinner that comes close: turkey slices in gravy, dressing, mixed veggies, mashed potatoes, and cranberry dessert. It's not a high quality dish - but an enterprising food producer could step in and create something along the lines of a frozen Christmas dinner we'd be okay with paying ten bucks or so for.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
lagatta
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posted 17 December 2007 08:24 AM      Profile for lagatta     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
With your ground meat and some onions, perhaps a bit of mashed potato, and spices, you could always make a tourtière, if you know how to make a (not sweet) crust. Tourtière is often eaten with homemade ketchups.

Michelle, there are several vegetarian and vegan versions. Last New Year's, I just made one based on Yves veggie fake ground meat - I used the "chickn" kind as it has less of a meaty flavour, which my veg friends wouldn't have appreciated - and a lot of vegetables including mushrooms. I also made a stock with a bottle of St. Ambroise Stout, a good local dark beer (I'm not a beer drinker, but I love this one for cooking).


From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
The Wizard of Socialism
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Babbler # 2912

posted 17 December 2007 08:37 AM      Profile for The Wizard of Socialism   Author's Homepage        Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Speaking of sad Christmas tales that make me feel all cheap and shitty, I bought groceries yesterday. I couldn't fit anything in my little freezer because it was encrusted with four inches of frost all the way around and two feet worth at the bottom. I've been putting the chore of cleaning it off for awhile now. After trying to stuff some things in, I finally cracked and decided to clean the thing. The easy part was taking out the stuff already in there. Then I chipped the ice off the inside walls with a hammer and flat head screwdriver. I alternated between this and scooping buckets of freezer frost out. Occasionally I would stumble upon something from days of yore, all dry and crumbling. Near the bottom I found a 4 kg. box of Lillydale skinless, boneless chicken breasts with one or two missing. Since the box had been opened and the bag torn into, the chicken breasts had this weird, unearthly look to them. I thought they had gone bad for sure. So I was in the process of taking the box down to the garbage room when the little old lady from next door stopped me. We chatted about my freezer and whatnot, and I showed her the contents of the box. She couldn't believe I was going to throw out good chicken "just because it was a little freezer burned." I could tell she wanted the box, so I gave it to her. Good deal, right? This morning I was thanked by two other older people in the building for the chicken. It turns out the little old lady broke apart the mass of chicken breasts, wrapped them individually in saran wrap, and gave them to some of her friends in the building who were without. The idea that there are people in my own building who are so low on meat or fowl that they're fuckin' grateful for my freezer castoffs is really bugging me. I mean, I live in a nice place in a good part of town. Rent's not cheap here, believe me. I always thought you had to earn four times your rent to live in a place like this. And yet some of my neighbours are hungry?
From: A Proud Canadian! | Registered: Jul 2002  |  IP: Logged
lagatta
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2534

posted 17 December 2007 09:16 AM      Profile for lagatta     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Your older neighbours are obviously "rent-poor", spending most of what they earn in pension payments on the rent. I have worked in a tenant's association and am still an activist there; believe me, this is NOT uncommon.

It is especially common in neighbourhoods that were once more modest (or had become a bit rundown for a while) and are gentrified somewhat. It is horrible for older people to be isolated, far from their still-living friends, from merchants and services they know.


From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
pookie
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 11357

posted 17 December 2007 10:20 AM      Profile for pookie     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Wizard, that kind of things also happens with people of a certain age/upbringing who think it is just incredibly vile to EVER throw away food. Not that there isn't a poverty-based explanation in your case, but that's the kind of thing I would do that would really shock my mother. She would definitely take the chicken, too.
From: there's no "there" there | Registered: Dec 2005  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 17 December 2007 10:34 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
The other thing that can happen in expensive places is, if people have been living there for the last 20 years, their rent may be way lower than yours due to rent control. In a building where I lived, someone in a three bedroom apartment was paying about a hundred bucks less than my jr. one bedroom. Why? Because they'd lived there for 30 years so their rent was only going up 2 or 3% for years - but when I moved in the previous year, the landlord was able to start me at a much higher rent.

The other thing that can happen is that someone might have a great job when they move in, but then wind up unemployed and struggling to make rent - and then perhaps their next job pays much less but they don't want to leave their home.


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7791

posted 17 December 2007 11:03 AM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I have to pay someone to shovel the snow because I've had heart issues for years now, so I'd prefer a winter with light snow at this time of year. There's huge snowdrifts all over from the storm that hit last night, but it's supposed to clear up for a few days starting tomorrow. I have a teenager coming Tuesday morning to clear out the drifts from around the house and garage. I would have ordered a snowblower and generator this year, but I had the new roof, new hot water tank, and other repairs to pay, instead.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
Moderator
Babbler # 560

posted 17 December 2007 11:09 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Even a snowblower isn't a good idea if you have heart issues, Boom Boom, because you still have to push the thing.

I'm really paranoid about men in their late forties or higher shoveling snow. My grandfather dropped dead of a heart attack (or perhaps a stroke) doing that. And he was in decent shape, too. I keep nagging one of my dearest friends about it, but does he listen?


From: I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged
Boom Boom
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 7791

posted 17 December 2007 11:38 AM      Profile for Boom Boom     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Actually, the snowblower I wanted is self-propelled, I just have to steer the beast.
From: Make the rich pay! | Registered: Dec 2004  |  IP: Logged
oldgoat
Moderator
Babbler # 1130

posted 17 December 2007 11:44 AM      Profile for oldgoat     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Mrs. Oldgoat tried to talk me into getting a snowblower this year. Yesterday I was kind of regretting not having one. Ah well, all the various medical professionals I see seem to agree I should get more exercise.
From: The 10th circle | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
Holland
recent-rabble-rouser
Babbler # 14841

posted 20 December 2007 09:10 PM      Profile for Holland   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Here's my ultimate solution to the Santa Claus epidemic .....
http://www.redbeansgraphics.com/santachrist.html

From: PA | Registered: Dec 2007  |  IP: Logged

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