Ghosts of Christmas Presents Past

    As expected, I didn't get any Christmas presents this year, and I am okay with that.  Last week, I mentioned how there's only my mother in my life right now.  I have no close friends, either emotionally or distance, so no one else to get gifts from.  It is just that my mother does not have a great track record in getting me stuff.  Two examples.  I remember helping her wrap up a gift of pajamas for an older male relative, a great-uncle or cousin or whatever, who died just before Christmas.  I swear to you, I think she regifted it to me.  Now, maybe it was just a similar pair.  She said it wasn't that original pair, but I can be quite gullible at times, and the pajamas were a little big for me.  Later, in high school, I remember shopping for clothes that fall.  I really wanted a blue sweater, but it was just too big me.  I wound up buying a red one in a wild print typical of the late 80s.  Wouldn't you know it, but my mom bought me the blue one for Christmas, thinking that I had grown into it.  I hadn't.  Even though I did grow a bit more and filled out, it wouldn't be until after college and I had started weightlifting that the sweater really started to look like it fit me.  By that time, I was turned off of sweaters, mostly because of what my mom did.  So, I mostly stopped wearing any.  Haven't worn one in years, and I only have bought one new one in the past two decades.  I mostly try to get my own things now, especially since many of my niche hobbies aren't really that appropriate for Christmas.  For instance, in the late 90s when I was unemployed and only went out of the house for long periods once a week or so, I made a quick shopping trip before Christmas.  I bought the fourth core book for a shared RPG universe that day.  Enamored, as always by that line.  I would buy two supplements for it with my Christmas money.  That latest edition of that game came out this year.  I've been reviewing it on an online forum the past few weeks.  Nowhere near as good as the previous editions, and many older fans agree with me.  The current holder of the IP just isn't doing what it could to keep the game going in a good direction.  In 2015, I would up giving myself the best Christmas present ever, and it wasn't even supposed to be for Christmas.  I had ordered a limited-edition art tarot deck from DC Comics.  I was first introduced to tarot in an issue of Justice League of America, soon after I graduated from funny-animal comics to super-heroes. I believe the art was by the late George Perez.  Anyway, I was lucky enough to get one, as supplies were probably allocated.  The deck got delayed until Christmas week, and I picked it up with my weekly comic order on the morning of Christmas Eve.  I spent much of the day with it, as last minute stragglers came by the store.  I mention the deck a little bit more in an early blogcast post here.  Earlier this year, on some of my shopping trips, I noticed that DC had licensed out their character for a mass-produced tarot.  I wound up buying one through my store in early December as an early Christmas gift to myself.  It was nowhere near as good.  Sure, it had an instruction manual, but it didn't have the usual meanings many associate with the cards.  Also, the minor arcana didn't have characters on them, just pip designs.  That meant forty fewer characters to portray.  I didn't like all of the choices for suits.  I mean, power rings for pentacles?  The suit just isn't typically that green, especially with all of those hands to portray.  Most of the pictures lacked the fine details and extra elements one would have expected for a deck to have.  Maybe I'm just showing favoritism to my older deck, but maybe not.  Still, it was a Christmas gift.  Merry Christmas to me.

I'm Getting Nuttin for Christmas, and I'm Fine with That

    Well, my mom gave me a cold this past weekend, but that doesn't count.  Anyway, since there is only my mother in my life right now, I don't really have anyone to buy presents for.  My mother always says she's not expecting anything, and I really don't need anything.  No matter how much she protests.  Sure, getting stuff is always fun, but I preferred things a lot more when I was a kid.  It was my job to try and figure out what all of my gifts were, without leaving any signs that I did so.  Even better was when I would search for my gifts before they were wrapped.  I would even play with them a little beforehand, if I could make sure I would leave no traces of tampering.  That's how a got to play the first few levels of Super Mario World when I got my SNES. (For those who aren't familiar with the timeline, yes, I was in college at the time.  Some habits run deep.) As I got older, I was getting fewer presents, and I was getting harder to shop for. Even when I told my mom exactly what I wanted for Christmas, or even my birthday a month later, she would sometimes mess things up and get me the wrong thing.  She would think of something totally out-of-place for me and believe it was exactly what I needed.  Yes, I would get a little mean and tell her off, a really bad habit of mine when I don't get what I expected/wanted.  But seriously.  When you mark a catalog multiple ways and someone still manages to order the wrong thing, it gets tiring. What might be worse though is when I give a perfect gift and it isn't appreciated. I have developed the weird talent of extrapolating someone's personality from the smallest of details.  It is not infallible, but it can lead to some keen insights.  I don't like doing to much, as it is a skill that can be used for evil.  I can come up with the most thorough comeback that could ruin a person, and be perfectly distanced from any repercussions without any emotion at all.  It can be devastating, so I try not to so.  However, this skill can also be used to come up with the perfect gift for any occasion.  Back in the 90s, during a regular monthly outing from my self-imposed sulking, I drove well out of the way and found a great gift for my mom, a bonnet-style hair dryer.  She had wanted one for years, after her old one broke down.  She hated handheld dryers, but that was all she could find.  Well, I managed to find one, and bought it for her, along with a CD that had a song she really liked by a singer she didn't always care for.  I managed to hide it in my car trunk until I could bring it inside and wrap it.  She didn't even immediately realize there was an extra box under the tree.  She was amazed when she got to open it up, but that was it.  She said she liked it, but she would barely use it.  I'm guessing she thought it took too much time to waste it by just sitting there while it was running. [I rarely use hair dryers.  I have very sensitive hair as well as skin, and so much heat could cause problems.  As I usually keep my hair fairly short, it doesn't take that much time to air-dry anyway.  I haven't had to use a dryer in years.] I don't remember her using it for months before it was lost in the 2003 flood.  It hurt that I picked out a gift that was almost never used, even if was enjoyed.  So, no Christmas gifts again this year.  Although, I did get myself something.  I would mention it now, but I don't want to my surprise to myself.  Next week, then, and Merry Christmas.

No Christmas Tree, No Christmas Tree

    I haven't been seeing much in new Christmas decorations this year, at least any that really stand out.  Mostly, it is just the same old things.  Sure, there is the giant Nutcracker head inflatable, and I've seen one or two Blueys, but no Bingos. As for me, I am so seldom at my place, which is very near the street without a fence, that it isn't too practical to leave any decorations in the very little yard space I have.  I don't have anything indoors either.  Again, lack of space.  I've just have too much other stuff to move out of the way to decorate.  Also, I rent, so I don't want a ton of needles left on the floor.  I don't like the look of artificial trees.  So, I don't have any.  I do decorate my store.  I have a very small artificial tree there, as a real one could be a fire hazard.  I use the same decorations every year, but I usually place some of the things differently.  Sometimes, we get something new to add.  This year, we have dozens of boxes of chocolate-covered cherries, in three varieties:  regular, Crown Royal, and Bourbon. There is another, unusual reason why I don't have a real Christmas tree, though, and it is quite a convoluted story.  Back in 1990, it was my first year at community college.  I didn't have a car, yet, so I was forced to ride with my mother to work, meaning I had to leave when she did, even though my first class wouldn't start for over an hour.  At least I was able to schedule it so that I only had to go two days per week, and alternate Fridays.  This meant I had at least two days at home to unwind.  During that time, I was really into trying new food products and recipes. One Tuesday, near the end of the semester, I was trying a guava and/or papaya flavored beverage.  It used real fruit juice.  I didn't really like it, but I thought "no harm, no foul."  The following morning, I was kind of itchy, over much of my body.  That actually isn't too strange for me, as I have sensitive skin and a history of rashes.  However, this one felt a little different.  During the break between two of my classes, I went to one of the men's restrooms, the one with a large, full-size mirror, and looked myself over while there was no one there.  I had a rash, in discrete patches all over the parts of my body that I could see without totally stripping down.  This was scary.  Fortunately, I was wearing long sleeves so that no one could see the rashes, but I was very concerned.  I had a break during the middle of the day, so I went straight to the library, as I typically did, and looked up skin conditions.  Big mistake.  There were so many pictures of downright gross conditions that I almost got sick.  My latent hypochondria was increasing.  Even though I decided that it was most likely hives from an allergic reaction, I still wasn't satisfied.  I went to my last two classes, still itchy and still going to the restroom to see how bad the hives were spreading.  I had to wait about one-and-a-half hours after my last class before I was picked up to go home by my mother.  However, we had shopping to do that night, including looking for a Christmas tree, at Winn-Dixie.  Yes, it was still around then.   In fact, I may have gotten my juice beverage from there the previous week. Anyway, I couldn't, and didn't, tell my mom about my rash until we got home.  My mother immediately called my dermatologist for assistance, and then some relatives to see if they had the Benadryl I needed to tame my condition.  I was fine, sleepy but fine, after that.  However, after that day, my mother was different.  I only found out a year or so ago that she thought that the Christmas trees triggered the hives, even though I told her many times that they started way before that night.  Admittedly, I had had itchy eyes and some redness from looking for trees in the past, but that was either just one type or it was due to mold or being outside, probably.  Anyway, from that point on, she never allowed me to help her look for trees.  She wouldn't even let me help her drag the tree out of the house after Christmas, even though I was finally old enough, and big enough, do help out.  (I wouldn't start weight-lifting for a few more years, so I might not have been 'strong' enough to help out much, but who can say.). She thought the reaction was from the trees, yet it wasn't, at least not that time.  How else to explain being in a room with a Christmas tree for two to three weeks almost all day and me not having another reaction?  It's weird.  I've not had hives since, or anything with guava or papaya.  I've had a few reactions around my mouth from eating new things, like bok choy or water chestnuts, not sure which, but nothing as bad as that original reaction.  Still try new things, just more cautious.

Christmas Things, Things for You But Maybe Not for Me

    I usually go on a shopping trip this time of year.  Normally, I prefer to go before Thanksgiving, but this year, I went after so to avoid some wet weather.  So, instead of rain and temps in the low 50s, I had intermittent snow flurries in the morning when I woke up and temps near freezing.  Yea.  Because this would be an all day affair, I had to wake up over an hour earlier than usual to make sure I could leave by 6:30.  I was ready by 6:10, a little later than I was planning for, but still good.  Unfortunately, the person who would be going with me was nowhere near ready by then.  We wound up leaving at almost 7:00.  While this meant that the flurries were over and the sun would be mostly risen, it also meant that I would have to cut out some destinations. Still, I made good time even with stretches of road work where I had to slow way down, even after stopping for a few minutes for my passenger.  At least everything was open by the time we got to the first place, a book store.  Yes, I own one, but I'm always looking out for titles I may have missed.  Also, I don't carry magazines, and there was one I was looking for that hadn't been available locally for over six months.  The store had plenty, but done of them had the subscription cards I was looking for.  The one time I actually wanted them.  Still, I was planning on buying a copy, until I was made to notice that it was an expired issue. The current one wasn't there yet, even though it was supposed to have already been out.  I put the mag back and searched for anything else.  Unfortunately, almost every magazine I liked has either been cancelled or not carried by that store.  I then looked for  authors and subjects I like, but to no avail.  There weren't even any books on discount that caught my eye.  Then, for the first time ever at that store, I had to wait on my shopping companion as they had lost a glove somewhere and they had to backtrack to find it.  Usually, they are the one who is waiting on me.  I had never been on shopping trip where I never got any reading material, so this did not bode well for the rest of the day.  The next stop was a big box department store.  I went in alone, as my companion felt like freezing in the car and resting.  I rushed through that place as fast as I could, looking for a number of products I had been having trouble with finding locally.  Except for some office supplies, which were in a configuration I couldn't find elsewhere, as well as being cheaper, I didn't get anything.  I mean, I needed it, but I didn't think that I wouldn't be buying anything else that day.  Anyway, it was onto the real shopping.  The first place had been open for an hour, but we still had to speed through it.  See, the food court here can get really busy if yo wait to long, so lunch had to be as early as possible, but still late enough to fit into my regular schedule. After a quick run through of the first floor, with little result, it was time for the second floor for me.  But first, I had to wait in the toy section while someone was in the restroom.  The "Bluey" section was almost completely sold out.  I took a quick search in the mens' department.  I've been told that I need more vibrant colors in my outfits.  While I don't go all goth or emo dark, I do veer fairly close.  I couldn't find anything in a color and style I really liked.  There was this white/silvery shirt similar to some I got last year, but I didn't really want any more in that style.  Also, I prefer to wait until I see what all is out there before trying anything on.  Next, the bargain room.  Nothing, unless you wanted a dinosaur, ugly Christmas sweater.  After that, lunch.  A whole bevy of kids were brought in while we were eating, so maybe going early was the right idea, although the mall wasn't too crowded that day.  I managed to eat without problems swallowing for once, even though I finished way faster than my companion.  Fast enough to check out a nearby store before they finished.  Nothing.  A brief look down one wing without seeing anything before the next store, and their next restroom break.  This time, I was stuck between mens' accessories and big-and-tall.  Obviously, nothing to see there for me.  Also, nothing in the store for either of us.  One half of the mall to go.  Most of the stores were skipped to save time, although my companion decided to check out one place at the last second (found nothing to even try on), which delayed my time to check out some stores down the other wing.  How they decide how I can go on my own some times and some times not is confusing. I didn't find anything in those stores either.  Finally, the last store.  I had to wait again for them to get some free skin care stuff, about fifteen minutes.  I was stuck looking at mens' gift ideas.  I was starting to attract sales associates.  By that time, I was rushing through the mens' department looking for the things on my list.  Unfortunately, I made the huge mistake of asking for some advice.  Now, I was never going to buy a pair of pink Levi's or a seventy dollar shirt, but I was still rebuffed on some of my choices.  No, I don't have chinos that shade of blue-gray, and I actually have plenty of things to go with that orange/brown pair.  More than a light-olive green.  But I didn't try anything on, I was too dejected.  This would mark the only time I took a major shopping trip to there and didn't get anything.  After one last restroom break with me just standing in the rest area since I didn't want to sit near anyone, it was back up the mall, checking out one last store, before leaving.  We were forced to leave early as to avoid the schools letting out.  We easily made it, even after forgoing a few last stops.  The drive back was dull.  I had to stop for a snack and for a fill-up.  This time, I did have some trouble swallowing, mainly because someone begged me for some of my drink, I had to sip more than I wanted to at once.  The fuel pumps were slow, possibly due to the cold.  It took ten minutes just to get the first gallon.  They tried to reconfigure the pump, but it would take longer than we had, so it meant stopping closer to home and a detour to finish up.  (I only use a certain make for my car, so I have to look around sometimes for the right one.  At least it was noticeably cheaper closer to home.) There was a stop at the library to print off some things and to call in a takeout order.  I was able to pick up some free books they were giving away, including one I read from there a few years ago that I actually wanted for my own at one time.  I actually had to wait in the car while my companion tried to look for books to check out.  While there, I noticed a bunch of rescue vehicles going in the opposite direction where we were going.  The drive to the restaurant got dark kind of fast.  Even with the long delay getting there, the order wasn't finished yet.  I had to wait and keep moving the car around until the order was ready.  On the way out, I looked at the highway we would've gone through and noticed a traffic hold up.  At least we missed out on that.  We had to get home early because of my unusual night-driving problem.  I have great night-vision, but I acclimate so well that bright headlights and streetlights can cause me problems.  The waning full moon though kept things bright enough that I didn't have problems.  We got home around six thirty, after almost twelve hours gone.  To top off a miserable trip, there was something not as great about dinner.  While it is not my favorite, it was usually better than this.  I'm not sure if they were using a new supplier or a different amount of toppings, but it wasn't the best it could have been.  Ten dollars of office supplies, three old library books, and some condiment packets.  Worse shopping trip ever.