So...What Do You Want for Christmas?
 

Any fantastic idea is welcome.

We're not having a big holiday this year due to budgetary issues and other concerns, but Christmas wishes are eternal.

If I could have what I want for Christmas, I would ask for funds to travel to Norway/UK or Scotland/Iceland--or ALL of the above.


Second choice would be an all-expenses paid trip to meet up with a certain someone, far away from my daily grind.

2 250 watt solar panels. Charge controller. And a couple of AGM forklift batteries.

Every year I want books. Big budget; little budget - books!

A healthy baby and a quick recovery for mommy. :)

A Sparkfun gift card. (They sell Arduinos and things like joy sticks, LEDs, sound cards and other stuff to make stuff with them.)

Check out x robots.co.uk for a guy that makes cool shit.

I want a Robot Army Starter Kit, and a healthy baby for CJ.
I need a reliable lieutenant when my robot army takes over the world.

A jar of Cosequin DS for my dog, maybe some catnip mice, cardboard boxes and some new underwear. (New underwear and socks at Xmas are traditional.)

About a week on a rented island somewhere near Roatan island. With a set of SCUBA gear and a kayak included. Just me, nobody else. And my dogs. That would be very cool.

I asked for an air rifle (not necessarily a Daisy Red Rider) and a pair of safety glasses.

More time to get ready for Christmas.

A 2 or 3 week cruise around Australia, including magical transport there and back so I don't have to spend hours and hours on a cramped plane. OK, it might be acceptable with first-class tickets.

A day without any family drama. If that's not possible, I'll take a baby zombie.

I really don't know. Honestly. I don't really need anything, other than getting my sofa replaced.

If the budget was small what I'd really like would be for my husband to help with preparing the house for Christmas. He did do a major part of the shopping (on-line), and I appreciated that immensely. He did it without me asking too. But, it would be nice if he just had more of the spirit. I get the tree every year, I decorate it and the house, plus I clean in preparation for the big day. It's hard to be in the spirit when you feel like you're the only trying to convey it.

If there was a no-holds barred budget, I'd want a six week trip to a cozy mountain cabin with my dogs. Yeah, I'd love to see various parts of Europe and I'd love to see New Zealand, but I don't want to leave my dogs that long.

If it's fantastical, could I have my husband, healthy, back for a day? [emoji27] If not quite that fantastical, then a new fence for my backyard and some rock for the driveway. It's a booger out there and every little bit of improvement would help to (a) keep the dogs corralled better, and (b) more dust out of the house.

Burns: I won't get what I really want.
Smithers: No one does.
Cut to Burns serenading Smithers from a giant birthday cake.

In answer to your question, I don't know. Another vacation would be nice. Or a new sofa.

I want a time machine to kick someone's ass before they start to fuck up their life and hurt 5+ people for no good reason.

But you get first dibs, faithfool.

Sorry for your troubles.

Thank you, ma'am. Every day is a step forward, so there's that.

I hope your 5+ folks stay unfucked. Seriously.

a turboman doll

Me, too, but it's highly unlikely. One the things I do really well is strategize long term. It's a great skill. However, it gives me insight to the future, positive and negative to people's trajectories as well. Sometimes that sucks

I have learned you cannot save anyone from themselves. Hell, I can barely save myself.

To clarify, this is not my immediate family, and really not my problem long term. I just feel badly for all involved.

Implants. I have my two front two teeth, it's all the others that aren't worth a crap. So ... implants.

Oh, dental work! That's a relief. That post could have turned out so very wrong.

Well, my old butt's a little saggy and my chin is really weak, so a little plastic here and there would be nice.

Peace on eart A sous vide setup would be sweet.

Those moobs could use some firming up, too. . . .

I had to look up sous vide, but that looks pretty cool. Slow cooking, indeed.

One of my Xmas presents that was bought months ago is a new set of cookware.

I want so many things, I suppose what I ought to wish for is a bigger house. For that I need a winning lotto ticket, a BIG one.

I'd love for my numbers to come up on the lottery so that we don't have to worry about finances all the time. I don't need to be screw-you rich, although that would be nice. A couple of million invested well and we could have an annual income of over 100k without having to work.

Oh, well. It's a nice dream, isn't it?

Sweetie, if you hock whatever you're living in now and move to Tennessee, you could buy 10 acres with a house and a barn and a small forest.

It's a good year. I bought a late cancellation of a cabin on the Blues Cruise for January 2016 and he's buying me a roof for one of the rentals. We need big stuff.
I got him some pens with his company name and framed the damn fish picture of the shark he caught in Cozumel this summer. Poor sharkie. I photo shopped out the blood before I framed it.
All I really want is that damn roof.

But then I'd be living in Tennessee. I visited there once. It seemed like a nice place, very green, and yes; many barns. Sadly, I had zero desire to move there. I like where I am now. All my friends are here, and my job. I guess my real wish is for more affordable housing in the SF Bay area. Or if I can share Clothahump's wish; income without work.

I want almost every single thing in the new Hot Topic Doctor Who clothing collection. It's gorgeous. I'd love for us to do a Disney cruise. I'd love all the books, and for the online job I'm hoping for to come through.

Also, David Tennant (the girl would like Benedict Cumberbatch, and my husband would prefer Karen Gillan).

If you want to ease into it, an old* bigger sized slow cooker (just about free from Goodwill) and a $100 Dorkfood temp controller can get you there. Also, I think that Johnson Controls also makes a temp controller (similar approach), but it comes prepared for cooling rather than heating, so you have to reset a jumper, and the probe needs to be waterproofed. I've been using the Dorkfood for a few months, and other than the annoying relay clicking it works great. And a slow cooker always comes in handy (yeah baby, it'll soon be cold enough for stews and Stroganoff).

For me, I am getting to the age where I have too much crap, so I asked for someone to make charitable donations in my name. And, oh frabjous day, one of them was my local NPR affiliate so I can listen guilt free.

*Has to be the older manual on/off switch, not the newer electronic controller. The controller has a temp probe you put in the water bath and turns the cooker on or off at the temp you choose. If your slow cooker resets when you unplug it, that won't work.

I'm getting my first tattoo - going to see the artist for the needlework on 26th

Congratulations! Do you know what you're going to get?

I want some Tollhouse cookies. My sister always makes a big batch for Christmas and I think I usually eat about half of them. I should be ashamed, but I'm not.