Get to Know Big Stupid Tommy (Christmas Edition)...Hey folks. Just want to drop a Happy Thanksgiving on you fine folks. I hope yours is going as well as mine. Worked a hella-bunch this week...but it paid off. Best results for a Thanksgiving week I've had in my time in the business.
Bothered though, by a backhanded comment I got from a former co-worker this morning. We work in different stores, and his response to my having put in the hours that I do..."I'd hate to tell you how many hours I didn't." The implication being we didn't go in as prepared as he did.
Your pal Tommy really does hate people, sometimes. Fact is, I worked hard this week, and it paid off. My job grinds my gears, from time to time. But this week was one of the ones where the hard work was justified.
Especially since the results show a marked increase against the work of that same person this time last year...in an economy that's down the shitter.
But...enough work talk.
It's Thanksgiving. We did it small over in this neck of the woods. Just immediate family. Some turkey. Some stuffing (yeah...I like the junk what was jammed up inside the bird...call me crazy...). Yams. Cranberry Sauce.
Did I mention the pies?
A quick list of the types of pies consumed:
1. Blueberry (a first--I'd never had blueberry pie).
2. Pumpkin
3. Chocolate (and this despite chocolate making me break out--courage, friends)
4. Pecan
Anyway....I hope yours is a good one.
Spent a little time this morning doing some Christmas shopping. Normally I'm a large fraction done for the season. Working in retail leaves me with little enthusiasm for wandering out among the masses. Indeed, it'll be a rare sight to catch me out anywhere but work during the day. You can't even hit the Wal (hyphen) Mart after midnight and expect to stand in line for less than 15 minutes.
Thank Superman, Dusty Rhodes and even Al Gore if it means I can get the bulk of my shopping done without leaving the relative warmth and safety of Casa de Big Stupid Tommy....
Thank heavens that most of my friends and family read, too...
Anyway. This little meme's been floating around the interweb. I've gotten on e-mail, on Facebook, on Myspace...I even think I've probably gotten one via Pony Express messenger...
I'll play around with it, and Hope you guys have a Happy Thanksgiving, and move easily and thankfully into the rest of the Holiday Season...
Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay,
here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just
copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that
you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this
to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it
to you......Tis the Season to be NICE! 1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?You know, the odd perfectionist part of me wants to wrap things. This despite that when I do it, the initial attempts look like I'm fighting the D.T.'s....usually, with three or four packages under my belt, they actually come out pretty decent.
Still, time being the elusive critter that it is, gift bags are actually a large part of the wrapping process for me. It's just easy.
2. Real tree or Artificial? Real. A very wise man once said to me Artificial Trees are for Artificial People.
Still...I had an artificial tree that I bought from Goodwill. It was between two and three feet tall, and looked like an artificial Cedar, if you can imagine. When it wasn't in use, I put a trashbag over it, decorations and all, and kept it on top of the fridge....
4. When do you take the tree down?I don't know where Number 3 went. I got this off Diane's e-mail. Does she have something against Threes? I thought about putting in my own question, but a wise man once said to me Artificial Threes are for Artificial People.
As toward the question at hand? Generally around New Years.
5. Do you like eggnog? The taste is okay, I guess. I generally try to cut it with milk, now. Or bourbon.
The texture of plain egg nog is offputting. It's like drinking a tall frothy glass of snot.
As an addendum, a worker from the local dairy told me this story...when the eggnog gets bottled, the workers on the line will occasionally pull a bottle for quality. Not full, or the bottle itself has a defect.
The workers will then have contests surrounding this eggnog (which is often still warm from its preparation).
One contest is simply to see who can drink the most before calling uncle or upchucking.
Another involves contestants drinking the same quantity (a quart, let's say). Then, over the course of the evening, he who can go without running for the toilet longest, wins.
Yeah. Egg nog's not really my thing.
6. Favorite gift received as a child?Socks
7. Hardest person to buy for? My sister
8. Easiest person to buy for? My brother-in-law. I just buy something I'd like. If it revolves around Kevin Smith, pro wrestling or giant-sized movie posters, he's all about it.
9. Do you have a nativity scene? I don't, but
I desperately would like somebody to make one based on the Simpsons nativity scene pictured when you scroll down a bit here....10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Socks, but not because they're socks. Socks are tremendous. But, when they're disguised as a G.I. Joe Motorcycle? F That.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie?A Christmas Story
13. When do you start shopping?Usually pretty early. Like I said, I'm usually a sizable portion done by this point.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No, not that I can recall.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Sausage Balls. Somehow, they don't taste right any other time of the year.
16. Lights on the tree? Ye Gods, yes.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Little Drummer Boy.
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? We used to travel up to New Jersey as a pretty annual thing. I asked last year why we didn't do that, thinking it would be funny to ask.
"Because Grandmom and Grandpop are dead," came the reply.
No laughing.
Everybody's a critic.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? I think Santa needs to ask me to that. I don't go around naming other people's pets.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?My folks have both....
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People just rush and rush and rush. I'm not exempt. My personal goal is to try to take it easy, this year.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? For some reason, it amuses me very much that there is a Darth Vader ornament on my tree.
4. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? You know...I could do with a new pair of boots, and my cell phone's beaten to crap. But other than that, life's good....