Octopus Overlords

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 2:34 pm**

Well its after Thanksgiving and I put the tree up today. Its lit and I got a new little ornament for my dog so it will be a memory one day. I doubt id put a tree up if my wife didn't always insist and love it so. So I do it more in her memory than for anything for me. I never put anything under it anyways. But it is pretty. Its a bear tree.

These are like it but my tree is in better shape. Theres a big bear standing and on the other side is a little cub sitting.

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:39 pm**

First time we've ever gotten a tree up before December. It's kind of nice.

I even got a neat advent calendar /display for Mrs. Kub!

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:42 pm**

Each one has a diamond?

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 5:50 pm**

stimpy wrote:Each one has a diamond?

It's actually beauty products from Rituals. Neat thing is that each building /tree is one of the boxes. If Mrs Kub doesn't destroy the boxes, they are all of a good size for future years.

Most of the advent calendars I looked at this year (I was in the mood) had absolutely puny boxes which could barely hold a Hershey's chocolate kiss. These looked like a lot more fun and didn't cost as much as diamonds, tho I did see some of those while searching, but anything remotely affordable looked like poor quality jewelry.

Assembly was a bit of a pain to wire the led light string (on the upside down of the display 'ground') the but that is a one time setup if we can get more years out of it.

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 8:20 pm**

I live on one of those streets where EVERYONE goes balls-out with their Xmas lights and other decorations. We're one of those streets people travel to see it fully lit up. Once again, we do not have the means (and I NEVER have the inclination) to do more than we've done in the past. Weather forecast says Thursday will be in the 50's, so that's likely when I'll do my lame effort to fit in. If I had a job, I'd pay a company to come and put up all the shit for me (a lot of our neighbors do that). Doing nothing isn't really an option, though, let we become the pariah of the street.

My wife volunteered us not only to host Xmas Eve, but also put up everyone inclined (seems to be 5 adults and 4 kids) for the night. Others coming live close enough we don't expect them to stay. So we have about 4 weeks to get the house in tip-top shape (something we rarely have energy to do). Started painting our son's room yesterday, it'll need I think 3 coats of primer to bury his demonic Pacmans and ghosts which he committed to posterity using Sharpies. Then we're going to replace my daughter's bed with a thing from Ikea which a normal kids bed, with a slide out bed stored underneath. That should accommodate the 4 girls.

I'm quite sure by the time the day comes, I'll be thoroughly exhausted and interested in little else aside from getting shitfaced.

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 8:30 pm**

Our cousin was a professional house painter and he swore by Kilz primer for one coat of anything.

Its hard to get in the Christmas spirit when its going to be in the mid 60s all week and 70 Friday. Least some yard yard may or may not get done.

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 9:05 pm**

The only Xmas Spirits I've had this year is Goose Island Xmas IPA (7.5% ABV), and Anchor Xmas Ale (7.0% ABV, heavily spiced with...cardamom? Delicious though...drinking it right now). Yesterday I had some Shiner Xmas Ale...that was just peachy. Literally.

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 9:15 pm**

(checks calendar)

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 9:19 pm**

We just hung a wreath on the door, but we usually wait until later in December to put up a tree.

My birthday is the 20th, so the whole two-week Bday-Xmas-NewYears is real festival season for me, especially since (because of semester deadlines) I'm off work the whole time.

Posted: **Sun Nov 28, 2021 11:24 pm**

We got our tree up today. Still plenty of other decorating to do and more presents to wrap but here's what's up for now.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:39 am**

The new house has a large open space for the tree, so we were all excited to get a BIG tree this year. Our old house didn't have a lot of room so we were always forced to get a small tree, so this was going to be the year we went full Clark Griswold.

We went to our normal tree lot, and they had quite a few 8 and 9-footers, but they all looked a little sparse. Finally we settled on a 7 1/2 foot that was perfectly shaped.

Got it home and......womp womp. It's absolutely swallowed in the space. We also thought the branches would fall down and relax after we got it inside, but no such luck. It's skinny and pathetic looking. We decorated it up as best we could, but I started calling it our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. What was supposed to be a gigantic explosion of Christmas nonsense wound up being a total dud.

It's so bad I got out my fake Christmas tree for upstairs, and it looks twice as majestic. And our fake tree is 20 years old, it's not even a good one. Oh well, maybe next year.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:42 am**

Got my tree up yesterday. Presents have been wrapped for a few weeks so they now have a home.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 10:56 am**

You folks are all about three weeks ahead of me. Wake me up in mid-December.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:30 am**

We used to start shopping in Oct too. Had some gifts already by Halloween. I still remember my wife letting me open my USRobotics 28.8 Sportster modem in mid Nov so me and my friend could play DOOM II. he'd already bought his.

I also remember standing in gift wrap lines sometimes. She liked to make sure the wrap was nice if it was to other family not in the home. I can recall long lines and free coffee and cookies while in it. All those memories are great to me. She had my SNES and Genesis wrapped by Kids on the Block. My mind always wanted to say New Kids on the Block.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 11:33 am**

Brian wrote: ↑Sun Nov 28, 2021 11:24 pm We got our tree up today. Still plenty of other decorating to do and more presents to wrap but here's what's up for now.

I have one box that is about 6"x6"x3"... I am normally finished with Christmas shopping by now. I have no idea what to get anyone. The boys are 12 and 15 and want video games that they would get on Steam or pre-oprders for Switch. The wife hasn't asked for anything and I am stumped. She already got a new dog and minivan this year. Christmas morning may be a bit of a disappointment all around. Not for lack of means, I have more money saved than ever (thanks pandemic), but for lack of ideas.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 12:48 pm**

YellowKing wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 8:39 am The new house has a large open space for the tree, so we were all excited to get a BIG tree this year. Our old house didn't have a lot of room so we were always forced to get a small tree, so this was going to be the year we went full Clark Griswold.

We went to our normal tree lot, and they had quite a few 8 and 9-footers, but they all looked a little sparse. Finally we settled on a 7 1/2 foot that was perfectly shaped.

Got it home and......womp womp. It's absolutely swallowed in the space. We also thought the branches would fall down and relax after we got it inside, but no such luck. It's skinny and pathetic looking. We decorated it up as best we could, but I started calling it our Charlie Brown Christmas tree. What was supposed to be a gigantic explosion of Christmas nonsense wound up being a total dud.

It's so bad I got out my fake Christmas tree for upstairs, and it looks twice as majestic. And our fake tree is 20 years old, it's not even a good one. Oh well, maybe next year.

Our big tree adventure turned out a little better, I think. Our new house is an old-school Chicago-style bungalow, which means a large row of windows in the polygonal front similar to this:

(Not exactly the same, but just to give an idea.)

It's perfect for displaying a big tree, so I picked one up that's about 8.5" and fortunately for us, the branches did come down and fill out a bit. I also put up some lights outside (although not a ton - I don't have the desire or energy to go overboard). We've also got a set of 3 smaller fake trees in the dining room that we refer to as our Christmas tree forest. I think that's about it for the decorations this year. It's a little earlier than usual for us, but the neighbors put up their tree early and the twins were obsessed.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:26 pm**

Not to be a humbug, but we probably haven't put up our tree in the last 5 years or so. We used to always put up a tree and decorate it, then eventually we ended up just decorating it with lights instead of also with ornaments, and lately we haven't put up our tree at all, instead putting up a small tabletop-style tree that's already got built-in lights.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 3:41 pm**

Just curious if anyone else does this: Each person I buy a gift for has their own wrapping paper, that way I do not have to use name tags and have to search through all the gifts locating which gift goes to who?

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 3:57 pm**

My family is lucky the gifts get wrapped at all. And there's only 3, wife and 2 kids, so it's not that complicated. One sheet of name tags will do.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:10 pm**

Rumpy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 2:26 pm Not to be a humbug, but we probably haven't put up our tree in the last 5 years or so. We used to always put up a tree and decorate it, then eventually we ended up just decorating it with lights instead of also with ornaments, and lately we haven't put up our tree at all, instead putting up a small tabletop-style tree that's already got built-in lights.

Late 80s to around 1993 we got a real tree. usually at Lowes. Then we got a small little LED tree that rotated with lights. Around 1995 we got that Bear tree and used it since.

We used to always decorate the tree. my wife loved to do that. But she got less healthy and gave that up around 2014. After that we just stuck the tree up and plugged it in as we left the lights on it. Thats all I do still I move it from its box in the back room to the front room, sit it on the table, and plug it in. It stays lit unless I leave the home.

Come New Years it goes back to it's box.

I can remember when there was 4 of us here all the presents stacked high and all over. We'd start shopping in October and shop off and on until Xmas Even sometimes.I recall a lot of those Christmases and the gifts we got and gave. Earth Siege and its voice pack were in a couple one year...the 28.8 modem in another year's gift...always fun. Her parents would sit with her and Id give out all the gifts.

We had thanksgiving at my moms and here and Christmas at my dads and here. Of course we'd visit my mom to say hi too. So many great years and memories.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:39 pm**

Holman wrote: ↑Sun Nov 28, 2021 9:19 pm We just hung a wreath on the door, but we usually wait until later in December to put up a tree.

My birthday is the 20th, so the whole two-week Bday-Xmas-NewYears is real festival season for me, especially since (because of semester deadlines) I'm off work the whole time.

We had hummingbirds make nests in our door wreath 2 years in a row when we lived in California! Great memories.

My birthday is the 29th. Way back in the party days that was a crazy partying week. 25th - 29th - 1st Amazing I even survived looking back.

AWS260 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 10:56 am You folks are all about three weeks ahead of me. Wake me up in mid-December.

I'm with you there!

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:46 pm**

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 12:48 pm It's perfect for displaying a big tree, so I picked one up that's about 8.5" and fortunately for us, the branches did come down and fill out a bit.

Chicago houses must be really small if an 8.5" tree filled in that front room!!

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 4:58 pm**

We like snug houses.

(Seriously, I was about to be all "What are you talking about? The ceilings are perfectly normal here!" Then I saw what I did.

)

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 5:00 pm**

Happy Hanukkah to all our Jewish friends!

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 5:18 pm**

(checks calendar)

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 5:21 pm**

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 12:48 pm

I swear, that looks like Zarathud's house. Just as a reminder: moving your family into his crawlspace doesn't give you legal ownership of said house.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 5:28 pm**

The last real tree we had was Christmas of 1998. We were in Nevada, and Michelle's family was coming out from Indiana to visit with us a couple of weeks after Christmas, so we needed to keep the tree up longer than usual. Needless to say, it got pretty dry. Once they left, we undecorated it, and I carried it out to the dumpster. As I was squeezing it through the front door, there was a rustling sound. I put the big stick by the dumpster, then came back to clean up the foot-high pile of needles by the front door.

Since we moved back to Indiana, it's been artificial only, mostly because getting a live tree is a PITA in Indiana (and relatively expensive), and getting it up our Death Stairs would be a nightmare.

This year we are four weeks into the unexpected arrival of a second pigeon in our lives. That means a second cage, and that means that the space we normally put our tree in contains a pigeon, surrounded by a massive cage. As most of you know, my house is tiny, especially for four people. I went through the entire house, brainstorming. There are two places in the entire house I could think of to put a tree. One is in the back corner of the kids' room where we store all of our boxes. It would be almost totally inaccessible, and wouldn't do much for the holiday spirit. The second is in the space where I keep my recliner, the only space left in the living room for me. I browse there, watch shows there (on my laptop or in VR), eat there, read there, relax there, get work done there.

The chair is moving into the kids room, the tree is taking my place, and I'll be spending the next month watching any show or doing any work at my desk or in the bedroom (mostly the latter, as my desk is two feet from the TV speakers on the left, and two feet from my son talking loudly on Discord on my right.) Sigh.

Lassr wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 3:41 pm Just curious if anyone else does this: Each person I buy a gift for has their own wrapping paper, that way I do not have to use name tags and have to search through all the gifts locating which gift goes to who?

That's an interesting idea, but no. I wrap for visual balance under the tree, making sure that large boxes aren't too dark or have too repetitive of a pattern, small boxes don't have patterns that are too large to see, that there are an array of bright colors, and that they don't clash too much, but without any one color overwhelming the rest.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 5:29 pm**

hepcat wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 5:21 pm
ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 12:48 pm

I swear, that looks like Zarathud's house. Just as a reminder: moving your family into his crawlspace doesn't give you legal ownership of said house.

I think I know the laws of adverse possession a little better than you, thankyouverymuch.

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 5:50 pm**

What about the members who celebrate Kwanzaa? If you're going to change the thread title it should be all inclusive, no?
(I know Lorini got run off, but still......)

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 5:51 pm**

Kwanzaa 2021 in United States will begin on Sunday, December 26

Posted: **Mon Nov 29, 2021 7:30 pm**

That's an interesting idea, but no. I wrap for visual balance under the tree, making sure that large boxes aren't too dark or have too repetitive of a pattern, small boxes don't have patterns that are too large to see, that there are an array of bright colors, and that they don't clash too much, but without any one color overwhelming the rest.

Martha is that you?

Ive always been a good gift wrapper so I was always volunteered to do it all...usually. Sometimes my wife got it done in store or at a little Kids on the Block thing. But mostly it was me.

Posted: **Sun Dec 05, 2021 1:04 pm**

One thing I can never remember is the status of the Christmas tree lights from year to year. When the trend went to LEDs promising decades of use, I cheered. Reality? They burn out in a couple of years, no better than the incandescents (minus the heat and associated hazards, of course.) But each year I pack them and make a mental note for the next year, which I then promptly forget.

This year I sorted through the multiple sets. That one's half burned out, that one's for the kids' room, what was I planning on? Ah, I have packs of 'warm white' bulbs and a packs of red. I was going to do mostly warm white with some red! No, wait... I did that last year. Something wasn't right about it... hmm...

*plugs in the warm white LEDs and shields eyes from the intense pure white glare that cuts into his retinas like phosphorescent daggers*

Oh. Yeah. That. The mental note from last year was that I got stuck using all red lights and needed to go to a real store (not Walmart) and pick up some warm white lights that were actually warm toned.

I only wish there was some variant of the 'mental note' that didn't rely entirely on my memory.

Posted: **Sun Dec 05, 2021 1:32 pm**

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sun Dec 05, 2021 1:04 pm I only wish there was some variant of the 'mental note' that didn't rely entirely on my memory.

I will set a note in my Google Calendar about something I need to remember to do - like change the filter for the HVAC or septic system. It sends me an email and dings my phone.

The trick will be setting the timing for purchasing new lights. I'd assume 11/1/22 as the Halloween flair will be removed from retail outlets and the Xmas stuff should be up.

Posted: **Sun Dec 05, 2021 2:24 pm**

Smoove_B wrote: ↑Sun Dec 05, 2021 1:32 pm
Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sun Dec 05, 2021 1:04 pm I only wish there was some variant of the 'mental note' that didn't rely entirely on my memory.
I will set a note in my Google Calendar about something I need to remember to do - like change the filter for the HVAC or septic system. It sends me an email and dings my phone.

The trick will be setting the timing for purchasing new lights. I'd assume 11/1/22 as the Halloween flair will be removed from retail outlets and the Xmas stuff should be up.

Actually, the best time for Christmas lights is January, assuming you don't mind hitting a few places to find what you need. I always grab multiple rolls of wrapping paper in the weeks right after Christmas, usually at 75%+ off.

And yeah, I use Google Calendar to remember pretty much everything. Appointments, remembering Michelle's schedule, dates to change the stored water, reminders to freeze the cold packs for shopping, daily reminders to wear pants. And I use OneNote for the stuff that doesn't have a date tied to it (and for shopping lists.) The real problem is likely that by the time Christmas is over, I want nothing more to do with Christmas, and just tell myself, "Handle it next year."

Posted: **Sun Dec 05, 2021 3:46 pm**

Chaos Life gets me....

I could really use that good night's sleep.

Posted: **Sun Dec 05, 2021 4:27 pm**

Posted: **Sun Dec 05, 2021 6:22 pm**

This is the most dreaded week of the year.

I waited for temperate weather to put up the outside decorations. About half the strands of lights from last year failed to survive until this year. Since I'm not working, that translates into 50% less lights. Not good on a street that goes all out to be one of those that people travel to see. We are not competitive, and I resolved to hire a 3rd party lighting company (which most neighbors do) to deal with this next year should I manage to find a job.

Our fake shrub is up...4th year in a row for it. My wife is pondering how to send it to the Philippines (probably would cost several hundred $$$, for something that cost us $300 new) because such things are unreasonably expensive there. We just painted my son's room (the demonic Pacmen are no more) and now he wants me to put up Xmas lights in his room.

I want to punch myself. Bah, humbug.

Furthermore, my wife talked the kids out of expecting Xmas gifts this year in lieu of visiting the rat this summer. Now she's reneging on that, plotting to take them to the Philippines instead, which is, quite frankly, crappier than the "Crappiest Place on Earth." Meanwhile, every day between now and Xmas day is going to be spent trying to get the house ready not only to host a super-spreader event on Xmas Eve, but also host people overnight on Xmas Eve and Presents Day. The main difference between Filipino and American culture is that the latter, Xmas is all about family, while the former is all about friends.

Posted: **Tue Dec 07, 2021 12:27 pm**

Well, the tree is up and decorated. I usually have it done a day or two after Thanksgiving, but we were a week and a half late this year. A couple of days of that was the lights issue. I ended up having to go to four different places to find basic soft white tree lights. Everywhere else we went - including WalMart - just had empty shelves where the lights were supposed to be. Whether people are hoarding them or the supply line issues are in play I don't know, but Menard's was the only place that had any.

But part of it is that with the money issues plus the social issues plus the political issues, plus the quarantining... I'm just having trouble getting into the spirit of it this year. Which is a shame, as my usual Christmas spirit would be a nice change about now.

Posted: **Tue Dec 07, 2021 2:12 pm**

Did you put it where your chair was ? So now you're tv/computer area is somewhere else?

Posted: **Tue Dec 07, 2021 6:01 pm**

Daehawk wrote: ↑Tue Dec 07, 2021 2:12 pm Did you put it where your chair was ? So now you're tv/computer area is somewhere else?

My laptop/reading/TV area is now the bed. My regular computer (desk) was unaffected.

Octopus Overlords

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah 2021 & Happy New Year!!

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah 2021 & Happy New Year!!

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