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Thanksgiving: Have you punched a relative yet?


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Thanksgiving: Have you punched a relative yet?
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2014-11-28, 00:17

No, I haven't.

But I'm sure some of you have wanted to.
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kscherer
Which way is up?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
 
2014-11-28, 00:35

No, nor did I want to. Happy T-day, anyway!
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Dave
Ninja Editor
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Bay Area, CA
 
2014-11-28, 00:58

Nope. Didn't want to, either.
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2014-11-28, 01:21

Thankfully, I didn't feel the need to either! It's been a great day and I'm off work tomorrow too to spend even more time with them. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2014-11-28, 01:37

I had a really nice day. Went to my sister's around 2:00 (with Mom and that side of the family), for about three hours. Then, afterwards, zipped across town to Dad's for another 2-3 hours (ate some more, watched "Jeopardy!" and some shows on DIY channel...I've got the total hots for Nicole Curtis ). Texting, emailing and FaceTiming a few others (friends and others who live far away), catching up with them a bit in between all the above.

Took two huge leftover plates from each location, so I've got lunch and dinner tomorrow (and additional turkey and dressing, and a few other dishes, at Mom's if I still want some come Saturday).

A good day. Very mellow, everyone was in a good mood, the kids were well-behaved, nobody brought up politics or news, etc.

Probably one of the nicer, laid back and stress-free Thanksgivings I've had in years, now that I think about it! Got back home a little before 9pm, with a full tummy and the joy of knowing I don't have to fool with all that Black Friday craziness tomorrow (speaking of which, which Walmart will the first Playstation assault take place?).
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2014-11-28, 02:17

I know that it can be frustrating when you're encouraged to celebrate things you're thankful about, in the midst of so many other of life's weights that may be pulling you down. But it's not a bad exercise to be able to hold the things in front of you and to say "At the very least, I am thankful for this" - and when you ARE blessed with many good things it's worth going through those things consciously, to recognize how blessed you are.

Did you know that to make it into the planet Earth's richest 1% you only need make around USD$54,000 annually. So many of us live like kings and we cannot even imagine how wealthy we are compared to most of the rest of our fellow humans. Even people who live half-cocked in 17th century waistcoats and cardboard breeches are like emperors compared to most of the planet.

So I'm thankful to recognize that, and feel challenged to do something about it, even as I realize that I need to find a more lucrative job.

I had a few scares with my folks this year, but everything has worked out and so I am thankful for another holiday season with them.

We all went to visit some of our relatives today and after lunch I went for a walk on their pasture land, dodging cow pies and enjoying the beautiful, chilly weather.




...

Steve Jobs ate my cat's watermelon.
Captain Drew on Twitter
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2014-11-28, 03:06

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
Probably one of the nicer, laid back and stress-free Thanksgivings I've had in years, now that I think about it! Got back home a little before 9pm, with a full tummy and the joy of knowing I don't have to fool with all that Black Friday craziness tomorrow (speaking of which, which Walmart will the first Playstation assault take place?).
My dad wanted me to take him to the Apple Store to buy an iPhone tomorrow. We ordered one online.

The Apple Store itself probably won't be too bad since Apple has never gone crazy with Black Friday but the rest of the mall is sure to be a madhouse.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2014-11-28, 11:58

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
...the joy of knowing I don't have to fool with all that Black Friday craziness tomorrow (speaking of which, which Walmart will the first Playstation assault take place?).
Okay, it was a Barbie. Even worse.

Idiots.
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709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2014-11-28, 16:24

I had a good time as well this year. No trauma besides a blown oven fuse at the turkey-cooker's house (new oven - it was a short, tense, 5-minute ordeal until I found the basement breaker box and flipped it).

Anna's mum usually makes the lion's share of sides, but this year she was unable to so I offered to take hers on as well as the ones I traditionally bring. It was a couple days of cooking but the end result was tasty bliss ("tastes just like mom's!' - Anna's brothers : Yelp 5/5) and lots of thank you mom-hugs. The kicker is that now Grey is absolutely on the hook for all the sides until, well, Thanksgiving ceases to be a thing or until our sun burns out.

Which is fine.

So it goes.
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addabox
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: oaktown
 
2014-11-28, 17:08

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
Oh FFS. How much does a Barbie even cost? How vast could the savings possibly be? Is there some kind of nationwide Barbie shortage that makes every purchase a cage match?

OK, I checked. Barbies typically go for around $20. Which means that even with a 50%, once-in-a-lifetime Black Friday deal, you're saving $10. What if you offered to strangers $10 to duke it out, just for your amusement? They'd tell you to fuck right off. But somehow, "deals" have the power to hypnotize. Bah.

That which doesn't kill you weakens you slightly and makes you less able to cope until you're completely incapacitated
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Moogs
Hates the Infotainment
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: NSA Archives
 
2014-11-29, 14:24

I'm at the age where if I had a relative I disliked so thoroughly I wanted to punch them in the head, I would simply choose not join that particular family gathering for Thanksgiving / would join some other family members instead. I have learned to say "no" and "not this year" to relatives making plans that don't jive with the good vibe. It's quite a thing, that. Plus it makes the next get together that much better since you haven't seen them in a while.

...into the light of a dark black night.
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2020-11-25, 23:50

Look on the bright side: this year you probably won't have Thanksgiving dinner with those people!

Been waiting 6 years to say this.
...
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Matsu
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2020-11-26, 11:57

Last time I wanted to punch a relative was a wedding where we were sitting next to a Trumper... In fairness to Trump, this guy was a dick well before the Orange one encouraged his ilk, but he was particularly gleeful about his usual bigotry on this occasion and it didn't go too well for either of us. For my part, my general smart-ass-ed-ness earned me a few kicks under the table from my wife. I find a lot of big family get togethers or holidays often have an element at play where someone has to decide to tolerate a level of ideological shitiness just to keep the peace, and I'm not sure that's always the right move.

Last edited by Matsu : 2020-11-26 at 18:22.
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2020-11-26, 17:38

Yesterday I made a smoked and stuffed turkey breast, stuffing muffins and potato gratin. Best turkey I've ever made hands down.

Today I'm drinking sparkling wine and watching old Bond films. Not a bad solo holiday.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2020-11-26, 17:51

That sounds awesome, all of it.
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2020-11-26, 17:58

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
That sounds awesome, all of it.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

And here was the turkey. Cranberries soaked in port.

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Matsu
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2020-11-26, 18:23

I just realized you all celebrate thanksgiving on the wrong day. :-)
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Send a message via Skype™ to PB PM 
2020-11-26, 18:59

Quote:
Originally Posted by Matsu View Post
I just realized you all celebrate thanksgiving on the wrong day. :-)
Americans are beyond on a lot of things, not just Thanksgiving.
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kieran
@kk@pennytucker.social
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2020-11-26, 21:11

We’ve been avoiding family holidays fro a few years because both of our families are wrong politically. :-)

They all still got together, with one group flying across the country to spend time with family. I just don’t get it. I’m glad we didn’t have to come up with an excuse for not going, but damn people. Just stay the hell away from others for a few months and we’ll be good.

We usually are either traveling or out at a restaurant for the holidays, so this was a much different year for us. My wife took that chance to make a few new things and we had a completely vegan thanksgiving, which was delightful.

No more Twitter. It's Mastodon now.
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kscherer
Which way is up?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
 
2020-11-30, 12:21

Had a very nice Thanksgiving with my wife, daughter, and mom. Rented a condo for four days on the lake north of here, mostly stayed in (went out to one meal and a touch of shopping; entire community was masked up, with the usual outliers lurking). Got crabbed at by other family for not doing the "20-people in a crowded dining room" thing, and reminded them that this is an outlier year, got crabbed at more, raised a finger in salute, and went our merry way.

Was a very nice weekend, and didn't punch anyone (but maybe wanted to sock a Sunday driver or two, but only just maybe a little bit ).

- AppleNova is the best Mac-users forum on the internet. We are smart, educated, capable, and helpful. We are also loaded with smart-alecks! :)
- Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Mat 5:9)
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2020-11-30, 12:47

Yeah, I had a bit of trouble on my end. I refused to attend a big gathering and was on everyone's shit-list for about three solid days, including my Mom's, which is no fun. But I'm just not willing to risk it at this point. I'm too old and I've got too many things already going on that I don't need to be lying in the hospital, hooked to a respirator. No thanks.

I told her "I'll gladly skip one gathering, after decades of not, if it means I sleep at night, knowing I wasn't taking a risk or putting others in a bad spot". My brother-in-law works at a big facility and someone there is always sick. In fact, he and my sister both got sick two days before Thanksgiving. They tested negative, apparently, but that was enough to tell me "no, I ain't doing it...".

So I put my foot down, it blew up in my face, and I spent Thanksgiving alone with Jasper, eating a sandwich and microwave chicken nuggets (and feeding him turkey-flavored Fancy Feast) until others came to their senses and I was offered a to-go plate if I wanted later that evening.

I'm such an introvert anymore, that the prospect of not going and sitting amongst a bunch of people I only see 2-3 times a year anyway had zero impact on me. I just hate how unhinged and ugly some people got about it. It's been a long time - decades upon decades - since I've honestly been able to say that my feelings were legitimately hurt. And by those I shouldn't expect it from just made it so much worse. Thursday, Thanksgiving day, was a bit bleak and depressing for me, at least until later on that afternoon/evening when I finally got over it.

It is what it is. I'm sure it built character. Or something.

But I've already, a month out, put everyone on notice that, come Christmas and things aren't any better/different (and certainly if their worse, to a) not expect me to show up for that stuff as well, and b) I don't wanna hear an ounce of shit about it it from anyone either.

So there.



I'm already the black sheep of this group, for dozens and dozens of reasons, so...
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kieran
@kk@pennytucker.social
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
 
2020-11-30, 17:48

Yeah, I completely understand that one.

The last Thanksgiving we spent with my family was right before the 2016 election. My family has been very conservative and outspoken Trump supporters for years. We got into a huge argument about it at dinner.

Finally ended with my dad saying "You two (my wife and I) need to get educated!" My response: "We're the only two here with college degrees....." That ended that argument very quickly. (Not saying a college degree means you're educated but you get my point)

I couldn't even imagine what thanksgiving would have been like this year...

No more Twitter. It's Mastodon now.

Last edited by kieran : 2020-11-30 at 20:54.
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709
¡Damned!
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Purgatory
 
2020-11-30, 20:39

We played it safe this year and begged off from any in-person gatherings. Still decided to fulfill my 'all the sides' obligation (see above ) plus the rest of it just because it felt like a good thing to do, so Wednesday I started around 10AM peeling potatoes and finished Thursday morning at 2:30AM when the rolls came out of the oven. The whole shebang including turkey and homemade gravies (mushroom for the people who don't eat drippins' gravy). Anna went out to one of the myriad 'Dollar' stores and brought home a zillion Tupperware containers of every shape and size, and we packed it all up into individual care packages.

Did our social-distancing deliveries and mang, people were so excited and grateful. Felt nice to be a good guy for once, I'll think about trying it more often.


[edit]: It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. A family member, my uncle, died from -19 two weeks ago. It was exactly one of those horror stories that you hear about; both he and my aunt caught it, he worsened and had to get a hospital bed on a ventilator, a few days after that he coughed out a goodbye to his wife, his love of 50-some years, over the phone, and died. Fucking terrifying. Imagine the grief and pain.

So yeah, we played it safe this year.

So it goes.

Last edited by 709 : 2020-12-01 at 09:19.
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turtle
Lord of the Rant.
Formerly turtle2472
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Upstate South Carolina
 
2020-12-01, 10:21

My family just chilled out for the long weekend and had the "normal" Thanksgiving meal. I took yesterday off to make it an even longer weekend. We played games, watched movies/shows and hung out.

My mom lives on the property with us now so she was over for the meal. Heck, she cooked most of it for that matter.

I'm so glad we didn't travel. I have never liked traveling for Thanksgiving. I always volunteered for duty while I was active duty to keep me from having to travel for that matter.

Louis L'Amour, “To make democracy work, we must be a nation of participants, not simply observers. One who does not vote has no right to complain.”
Visit our archived Minecraft world! | Maybe someday I'll proof read, until then deal with it.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2020-12-01, 11:02

I traveled once for Thanksgiving, years and years ago. "Never again", I said. And I meant it.

It was the longest day of my life and, as you'd expect, nothing went smoothly or quite as planned/scheduled. It was a real-life buddy/travel comedy (minus the funny parts). It's why I'll always have a special place in my heart for Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I lived it!

Just too many people trying to get to too many places. And weather, mechanical issues, sloppy booking, etc. all coming together in a perfect storm of a miserable, crazy day. I honestly don't know what I was thinking...just trying to make a few people happy, I guess.

Mind you, this was well before the whole 9-11/TSA thing (and certainly pre-COVID, of course). I cannot imagine traveling on Thanksgiving or Christmas in 2020. There's no way. Just the thought of it makes me shiver, and want to sob in a corner. I'd rent a car and drive halfway across the country before I set foot in an airport at this particular time, especially during a holiday period.
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kscherer
Which way is up?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
 
2020-12-01, 15:01

Quote:
Originally Posted by 709 View Post
It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. A family member, my uncle, died from -19 two weeks ago. It was exactly one of those horror stories that you hear about; both he and my aunt caught it, he worsened and had to get a hospital bed on a ventilator, a few days after that he coughed out a goodbye to his wife, his love of 50-some years, over the phone, and died. Fucking terrifying. Imagine the grief and pain.
Yeah, the closer it gets to home …
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Ryan
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Promise Land of Trustafarians
 
2020-12-01, 21:31

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
I traveled once for Thanksgiving, years and years ago. "Never again", I said. And I meant it.

It was the longest day of my life and, as you'd expect, nothing went smoothly or quite as planned/scheduled. It was a real-life buddy/travel comedy (minus the funny parts). It's why I'll always have a special place in my heart for Planes, Trains and Automobiles. I lived it!

Just too many people trying to get to too many places. And weather, mechanical issues, sloppy booking, etc. all coming together in a perfect storm of a miserable, crazy day. I honestly don't know what I was thinking...just trying to make a few people happy, I guess.

Mind you, this was well before the whole 9-11/TSA thing (and certainly pre-COVID, of course). I cannot imagine traveling on Thanksgiving or Christmas in 2020. There's no way. Just the thought of it makes me shiver, and want to sob in a corner. I'd rent a car and drive halfway across the country before I set foot in an airport at this particular time, especially during a holiday period.
In pre-covid times I started to only travel on Thanksgiving day, then return the following Monday. Emptiest I've ever seen an airport.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2020-12-01, 22:02

Yeah, I did it wrong.
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2021-11-24, 15:31

El bumpo...

I'm about to do the stupidest thing I can think of, for the stupidest reason.

I'm venturing out to my local Food Lion (grocery store for those of you not in the Southeast). Only because they've got their 2-liter Dr. Peppers for .89 (down from the usual $1.99). On Thanksgiving Eve there's going to be every granny, soccer mom, aunt, Martha Stewart/Paula Deen acolyte in Hamilton County there, getting all their stuff (last-minute or otherwise). I hope they have a designated "Single Dudes NOT Buying Any Thanksgiving-Related Stuff" checkout lane. If so, I'll be out in 3-4 minutes.

I'm hoping, since it's well before 4pm, I'm beating all the afterwork rush/crowd. And all the folks who'll probably show up by the thousands after 5-6.

Wish me luck...

Long story short: if I ain't back in 3-7 hours, call the cops.
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drewprops
Space Pirate
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Atlanta
 
2021-11-24, 15:35

I'm being sent out to get aluminum foil...


...
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