We took down the Christmas decorations yesterday. The boxes are all still in the corner, because I know I'll run across odds and ends of holiday stuff for a few more days.
Next year, I'm doing a few things differently. I've been disappointed the last few Christmases, and I think I figured out part of what's behind it. We don't have any real holiday traditions, routines, or whatever you want to call them. I hung two strands of lights a couple weeks before Christmas, and pulled out the fiber-optic tree (only 28 inches tall - the only decorating it gets is a strand of metallic beads). Other than the wreath I made this year, that was the grand total of our decorating.
We went to watch a local tree-lighting. That was very anti-climactic, it took all of 10 minutes. We spent more time driving there and back than we did at the actual ceremony. (I think someone was in a hurry that night.) And there was one Christmas party, at the church.
The one thing we did this year that was new, was drive through a light display back where my parents live. The city did a lot of work on it, and it was pretty cool. I meant to drive around town here and see the lights, but between the weather and DH being a workaholic, it never happened.
That's it. No cookies, no baking, no caroling, no decent decorating. No standing in line at the mall to see Santa. Our Christmas is crap. No wonder it seemed like it was all over in two days. It really was.
So, next year, I've decided that things will be different. We're going to have a little more ceremony, and start the holiday prep sometime around Thanksgiving. By then, we'll have a house, so I can put up more than two measly strings of lights. We can get the full-size tree out of storage, and the ornaments. I'll dig out the box of Breyer Christmas horses and put them all on display, and line up my Hallmark rocking horse ornaments. Maybe I'll make holiday cookies with El Burrito - I've already got red and green sugar-sprinkles for them. Maybe we'll get a little Nativity scene. Or not - I'd probably get a better one in the after-holiday sales. I'll remember earlier to go look at the holiday lights around town. Maybe I'll get organized and we'll do some kind of countdown - Advent calendar, wall calendar, whatever.
And maybe, I hope, it'll feel more like Christmas. Because this year didn't. So much for things being "more magical" with kids. All I've experienced is a bigger headache from trying to make sure someone gets a nap in between car trips and late-night church.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Atlantis wrap-up
So. Not a bad finale, overall, but then I've watched some pretty brain-frying series finales over the years. (Angel and Forever Knight, I'm looking at you here.) No one died permanently, there were some good space battle scenes. The mention of naming the new ship for General Hammond was a nice touch. Apparently there was an "In Memory of Don S. Davis" screen at the end, but I missed it. Have to check the tape later.
But there were a few problems.
But there were a few problems.
- Did everyone with the Ancient gene go to Pegasus? Because otherwise, I'd expect O'Neill to be smart enough to keep someone with the gene ready to hop into the Chair at all times. Of course, that would have screwed up the last half of the finale.
- Killing
just to un-kill him is practically cheating. Of course, the writers learned from SG-1 on this. Heck, Daniel Jackson died how many times? It did lead to some words being said to the TV, and I wish I still had my Ping-pong ball gun. - Another kamikaze mission.
- How are they going to get Atlantis back to Pegasus? And which planet will they live on now?
- Scenes in the SGC without O'Neill?
- Who was Ronon's new girlfriend? I swear I haven't seen her before.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Farewell, Atlantis
Tonight is the final episode of Stargate: Atlantis. Only five seasons, half of what SG-1 ran, which is sad. Sci Fi has been running marathons of it every day this week. Which means I saw the depressing travesty that was "Sunday" yesterday morning, and right now the recent heat-sink episode is ending. (Which was a hoot just for seeing Bill Nye slap a guy and tell him to "Man up!" Plus a Stephen Hawking stand-in, and the guy who demoted Pluto.)
I'm still irked about last week's episode - it seemed to be a bit of a waste of time, since nothing really happened (at least in the primary universe). Plus, really confusing. I spent the first twenty minutes or so wondering if it was "just" another alternate universe, or if they'd done something new, like maybe it was all Shepard's nightmare after an intergalactic care package of CSI DVDs and extreme-take-out Chinese food that didn't travel well.
Sure, Atlantis had some iffy periods, but overall it was pretty good. I didn't agree at all with bringing the Replicators to Pegasus, and wasn't crazy about trading Weir1 for Weir2 for Carter for Woolsey. I definitely wasn't happy when Carson was killed by that cheezy exploding tumor, to make way for Keller, who looks waaaaay too young to be Chief of Medicine in another galaxy. (Don't get me wrong; absolutely loved Jewel Staite in Firefly, and as a Wraith, but her character doesn't seem to have the experience or the personality to be the best candidate for CMO of Atlantis.) On the other hand, Ronan and Teyla have been interesting, if under-used, and the Ancients have been pretty good to watch. If only they hadn't turned McKay into such an arrogant little toad along the way.
I've managed to stay spoiler-free about this one, and I'm hoping that everyone survives the episode. I've heard that there are plans for TV movies or direct-to-DVD movies, similar to the two Stargate: SG-1 movies. Hopefully that will happen, along with the third SG-1 movie. I've also heard a bit about the next Stargate series, but honestly it sounds like a remake of Star Trek: Voyager. Yeah, I know, nothing new under the sun, but the brief description I've read seems pretty obvious. Sadly.
Anyway, I'm not sure where Sci Fi is going these days. I still haven't heard a good reason for canceling Atlantis, although I haven't hunted for it very much. It can't be money, if they can afford to run Lost for 5 hours every Monday. They're running out of original series - only 10 episodes of Battlestar left, and then they'll just have Sanctuary, Eureka, and Stargate: Universe. (Along with their reality crap.) Not sure if they'll continue getting Doctor Who from the BBC, but even if they do, there are only going to be a few TV-movies this year for DW, instead of regular episodes. I really like Eureka, but Sanctuary just isn't all that, in my opinion. I watch it, mostly to play Spot the Canadian, but so far it hasn't sucked me in.
I remember seeing advertising for Sci Fi, way back when, and wishing the university cable system would put premium channels in the dorms. That was back when SF was a premium channel, and when they seemed to show the "good stuff" all the time. Star Trek reruns hosted by Shatner & Nimoy, a sci-fi version of Entertainment Tonight (before ET went tabloid), Mystery Science Theater (I think). Now they've gone to WWE and Ghost Hunters, along with enough cheeze C-movies to keep a couple of Eastern European countries busy as shooting locations. Seriously, Sharks in Venice? It begs to be a MST3K feature. If it weren't for the occasional Sentinel marathon during the day, and the promise of Eureka, I could probably lose Sci Fi right now and not notice. I didn't think that would ever happen.
Anyway, after tonight, it'll be the first time in almost 12 years that I haven't had new Stargate to look forward to - Universe being an unknown at the moment. Sci Fi can quit running their "sign up for Stargate text messages" commercials any time now. It'll be one less time I have to mutter things under my breath at the TV.
I'm still irked about last week's episode - it seemed to be a bit of a waste of time, since nothing really happened (at least in the primary universe). Plus, really confusing. I spent the first twenty minutes or so wondering if it was "just" another alternate universe, or if they'd done something new, like maybe it was all Shepard's nightmare after an intergalactic care package of CSI DVDs and extreme-take-out Chinese food that didn't travel well.
Sure, Atlantis had some iffy periods, but overall it was pretty good. I didn't agree at all with bringing the Replicators to Pegasus, and wasn't crazy about trading Weir1 for Weir2 for Carter for Woolsey. I definitely wasn't happy when Carson was killed by that cheezy exploding tumor, to make way for Keller, who looks waaaaay too young to be Chief of Medicine in another galaxy. (Don't get me wrong; absolutely loved Jewel Staite in Firefly, and as a Wraith, but her character doesn't seem to have the experience or the personality to be the best candidate for CMO of Atlantis.) On the other hand, Ronan and Teyla have been interesting, if under-used, and the Ancients have been pretty good to watch. If only they hadn't turned McKay into such an arrogant little toad along the way.
I've managed to stay spoiler-free about this one, and I'm hoping that everyone survives the episode. I've heard that there are plans for TV movies or direct-to-DVD movies, similar to the two Stargate: SG-1 movies. Hopefully that will happen, along with the third SG-1 movie. I've also heard a bit about the next Stargate series, but honestly it sounds like a remake of Star Trek: Voyager. Yeah, I know, nothing new under the sun, but the brief description I've read seems pretty obvious. Sadly.
Anyway, I'm not sure where Sci Fi is going these days. I still haven't heard a good reason for canceling Atlantis, although I haven't hunted for it very much. It can't be money, if they can afford to run Lost for 5 hours every Monday. They're running out of original series - only 10 episodes of Battlestar left, and then they'll just have Sanctuary, Eureka, and Stargate: Universe. (Along with their reality crap.) Not sure if they'll continue getting Doctor Who from the BBC, but even if they do, there are only going to be a few TV-movies this year for DW, instead of regular episodes. I really like Eureka, but Sanctuary just isn't all that, in my opinion. I watch it, mostly to play Spot the Canadian, but so far it hasn't sucked me in.
I remember seeing advertising for Sci Fi, way back when, and wishing the university cable system would put premium channels in the dorms. That was back when SF was a premium channel, and when they seemed to show the "good stuff" all the time. Star Trek reruns hosted by Shatner & Nimoy, a sci-fi version of Entertainment Tonight (before ET went tabloid), Mystery Science Theater (I think). Now they've gone to WWE and Ghost Hunters, along with enough cheeze C-movies to keep a couple of Eastern European countries busy as shooting locations. Seriously, Sharks in Venice? It begs to be a MST3K feature. If it weren't for the occasional Sentinel marathon during the day, and the promise of Eureka, I could probably lose Sci Fi right now and not notice. I didn't think that would ever happen.
Anyway, after tonight, it'll be the first time in almost 12 years that I haven't had new Stargate to look forward to - Universe being an unknown at the moment. Sci Fi can quit running their "sign up for Stargate text messages" commercials any time now. It'll be one less time I have to mutter things under my breath at the TV.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Customer service and shipping
Or, what I've observed from shopping online lately, among other things. :)
First of all, our local Fed Ex delivery-person smokes like a freight train. I've had three packages shipped FedEx lately, and they all reek of cigarette smoke. With the first package, I figured it could have happened anywhere along the line, but three stinky mailers seems to indicate that it's the delivery driver as the cause. Luckily the bubble mailers seal tightly enough that the things inside didn't pick up the odor.
Oh, and Freight Train is a practioner of the Knock & Run delivery method. Runs fast, too - still haven't caught sight of him/her, although I wasn't far from the door today. At least this one knocked. Whoever delivered our crib mattress didn't knock at all, just dropped it and ran.
HistoryShop.com (History & A&E's online store) has some odd shipping habits. I gave in to their 90% off Winter Sale last month and ordered 8 DVDs. Shipping was a grand total of $2.95. Those 8 DVDs will end up being shipped in 5 separate shipments - one is still on back order. One came UPS, the other 3 came FedEx, and the last one is still unknown. I think they may be losing money on this deal. They must get a pretty good bulk rate from Fed Ex, but still. I knew when I ordered that things were back ordered, and would have been happy to wait for one big box of fun.
More FedEx related tidbits: I do a bit of shopping on ShopGoodwill.com. The different stores ship by UPS, FedEx, whatever they choose individually. The things I've bought mostly came UPS, so far. I found some NASA publicity photos last week that I thought about bidding on, until I looked at the shipping charges. The auction was for 12 photos, all 8 x 10 or 11 x 14. The shipping was going to be $7.76, plus a $4 handling fee (that's right, total of almost $12), to send a flat less-than-one-pound envelope by FedEx. USPS would have taken it Priority for $6. Needless to say, I didn't bid. Neither did anyone else.
On to the Customer Service experience. I had issues with the customer service from First Alert last month (luckily, the CO alarm seems okay so far). Swingline has much better phone support, although their website "support" is crazy (and I found at least 3 typos on their site, all which spellcheck should have caught). To send an email to them, you have to have an account, which requires all sorts of information. I called their toll-free number instead. Five minutes, start to finish, and half of that was sitting on hold, being told that all reps were busy.
The reason for the call was our Swingline stapler, barely a year old. It decided recently to stop stapling. No reason, just because. It seems to be trying to shoot two staples at once, or possibly the glue that holds the staples together has gone bad. Not sure. The staples were Swingline Premium, and it was not a cheap stapler - we spent more money specifically to get one that would (should) last a while, after having issues with our last stapler. (Oddly, I think the other crappy stapler was also a Swingline, and the steady one was a cheapy, but I could be wrong.) Anyway, after trying staples from the bottom of the Premium box, and from an old box of Standards, and having no luck with their website, I called. Easy peasy. We should have our new stapler in 2-3 weeks. Gotta love a lifetime warranty and a simple replacement policy. Hopefully the new stapler works better. If not, we're going to have to find a different brand.
First of all, our local Fed Ex delivery-person smokes like a freight train. I've had three packages shipped FedEx lately, and they all reek of cigarette smoke. With the first package, I figured it could have happened anywhere along the line, but three stinky mailers seems to indicate that it's the delivery driver as the cause. Luckily the bubble mailers seal tightly enough that the things inside didn't pick up the odor.
Oh, and Freight Train is a practioner of the Knock & Run delivery method. Runs fast, too - still haven't caught sight of him/her, although I wasn't far from the door today. At least this one knocked. Whoever delivered our crib mattress didn't knock at all, just dropped it and ran.
HistoryShop.com (History & A&E's online store) has some odd shipping habits. I gave in to their 90% off Winter Sale last month and ordered 8 DVDs. Shipping was a grand total of $2.95. Those 8 DVDs will end up being shipped in 5 separate shipments - one is still on back order. One came UPS, the other 3 came FedEx, and the last one is still unknown. I think they may be losing money on this deal. They must get a pretty good bulk rate from Fed Ex, but still. I knew when I ordered that things were back ordered, and would have been happy to wait for one big box of fun.
More FedEx related tidbits: I do a bit of shopping on ShopGoodwill.com. The different stores ship by UPS, FedEx, whatever they choose individually. The things I've bought mostly came UPS, so far. I found some NASA publicity photos last week that I thought about bidding on, until I looked at the shipping charges. The auction was for 12 photos, all 8 x 10 or 11 x 14. The shipping was going to be $7.76, plus a $4 handling fee (that's right, total of almost $12), to send a flat less-than-one-pound envelope by FedEx. USPS would have taken it Priority for $6. Needless to say, I didn't bid. Neither did anyone else.
On to the Customer Service experience. I had issues with the customer service from First Alert last month (luckily, the CO alarm seems okay so far). Swingline has much better phone support, although their website "support" is crazy (and I found at least 3 typos on their site, all which spellcheck should have caught). To send an email to them, you have to have an account, which requires all sorts of information. I called their toll-free number instead. Five minutes, start to finish, and half of that was sitting on hold, being told that all reps were busy.
The reason for the call was our Swingline stapler, barely a year old. It decided recently to stop stapling. No reason, just because. It seems to be trying to shoot two staples at once, or possibly the glue that holds the staples together has gone bad. Not sure. The staples were Swingline Premium, and it was not a cheap stapler - we spent more money specifically to get one that would (should) last a while, after having issues with our last stapler. (Oddly, I think the other crappy stapler was also a Swingline, and the steady one was a cheapy, but I could be wrong.) Anyway, after trying staples from the bottom of the Premium box, and from an old box of Standards, and having no luck with their website, I called. Easy peasy. We should have our new stapler in 2-3 weeks. Gotta love a lifetime warranty and a simple replacement policy. Hopefully the new stapler works better. If not, we're going to have to find a different brand.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Nice vacation
I'm Back!
Yeah, not much blogging over the holidays. DH had some "use it or lose it" vacation time that he used, so he was home a lot. Somehow, though, the To Do list didn't get any shorter, and the house looks worse than usual. He's got another day or two off, though, so I need to get the Must Do list ready. I can install my new mouse, but he's the Geek in Charge of Anything Inside the Case - like the Firewire card we bought months ago.
More on our Holiday Adventures later.
Yeah, not much blogging over the holidays. DH had some "use it or lose it" vacation time that he used, so he was home a lot. Somehow, though, the To Do list didn't get any shorter, and the house looks worse than usual. He's got another day or two off, though, so I need to get the Must Do list ready. I can install my new mouse, but he's the Geek in Charge of Anything Inside the Case - like the Firewire card we bought months ago.
More on our Holiday Adventures later.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Sliding to the library
We managed a trip to the library today, in spite of rain and freezing rain. El Burrito slipped twice on our sidewalk, but didn't land hard, and I successfully made it across the library parking lot on my feet. No one else was slipping, so I think my new walking shoes must just be lousy on wet pavement.
We only returned 2 DVDs, and didn't check anything out today. We did return quite a few things last week, when we made it to the library on better-weather days, so I'm down to only 35 items out, 12 on hold, and one that the library can't find. I had the new Pern novel (Dragonheart) on hold, and got a notification that it was in for me to pick up. However, when I got to the library, they couldn't find it on the shelf. That was last Friday, and as of today it was still missing. :(
Anyway, we spent $6 at the sale carts on some goodies, including some DVDs and CDs. Then we came home very carefully, because the rain was starting to freeze. Crappy weather.
We only returned 2 DVDs, and didn't check anything out today. We did return quite a few things last week, when we made it to the library on better-weather days, so I'm down to only 35 items out, 12 on hold, and one that the library can't find. I had the new Pern novel (Dragonheart) on hold, and got a notification that it was in for me to pick up. However, when I got to the library, they couldn't find it on the shelf. That was last Friday, and as of today it was still missing. :(
Anyway, we spent $6 at the sale carts on some goodies, including some DVDs and CDs. Then we came home very carefully, because the rain was starting to freeze. Crappy weather.
Another good Photo blog
The Boston Globe has a photo section called The Big Picture. Great photos, a new topic every week.
For December, they're doing a special Advent calendar, with a new Hubble space photo every day. Photos 1 and 4 are amazing, but I think 10 and 18 are my favorites. The Eagle Nebula is one of my favorites (along with the Horsehead Nebula). If I ever have unlimited wall space (and money), a gigantic print of the Eagle and/or Horsehead may end up on the wall.
For December, they're doing a special Advent calendar, with a new Hubble space photo every day. Photos 1 and 4 are amazing, but I think 10 and 18 are my favorites. The Eagle Nebula is one of my favorites (along with the Horsehead Nebula). If I ever have unlimited wall space (and money), a gigantic print of the Eagle and/or Horsehead may end up on the wall.
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