Checking it twice

Okay, as we all know I have a tendency of posting a Christmas list on the blog. As we also know, after the holiday we take a look back and see just how the goodies all panned out. Some end up being hits, some misses, and it usually depends on the stupidity of the request on my part. With that disclaimer out of the way, time to take a look at the list and see what did and didn't pan out this year.

　

Chistmas list 2009

My own radio show, heck even a radio gig will do at this point - No radio gig as of yet, but at least a lead about one was uncovered online just before the holiday. The only problem is that they didn't allow you to attach a resume, so I have to go in and type in all of my information into their system, which means I have to get a copy of my resume and then copy it. In this technological day and age, the idea of a major company not having a simple attach file option on their application side just seems moronic to me.

Notebooks - I got a few note pads, not the big books per se, but they will be quite functional for what I do at work.

Pens - I also got a few of these, I just hope they are the semi decent ones. I had bought some from Office Depot, because they had the cheapy ones on sale a while back, but they are a pain to get to write consistently. That being said, I lose pens so often that I am wary of making a big financial investment in them, Bics are about as far as I am willing to let my wallet go.

Boxcutters - I actually ordered these at work before the holiday, so it turns out I didn't need them. I had no idea our vendor had them, but they did and snagging a box of 12 for around $5 just meant I could bill them to my place of employment and hand them out to the entire stock crew with no complaints from management.

A massage - The first thing on the list I can say I did not get. I am getting somewhat desperate in this regard too, I may just have to plunk down some cash for one of those reach around places or something.

Light bulbs - Starting a streak here as I didn't get any light bulbs either.

Garbage bags - Lo and behold I did in fact get garbage bags, a much needed gift even if the request itself sounds a little foolish. As an added bonus they are the good Hefty bags and not some cheapy generic ones that break as soon as you put something in them. If I am going to pollute the enviroment, then I damn well want to make sure my plastic doesn't break down before its time.

Diablo 3 (if Blizzard ever gets around to releasing it) - To my knowledge this game has yet to be released, I am not even sure if they have a release date planned, I haven't checked recently so this is along the lines of an impossible gift since it doesn't exist yet.

Washington Post subscription - No and so another year will go by with me picking up the occasional WashPo at work and reading the paper online more often than not.

Money - I did get money, scratch is always good and to my own personal credit I haven't spent any of it yet. I am hoping that the cash helps to get me into the New Year, I want to go grocery shopping for some hot dogs and sauerkraut and what not, though I doubt I will be up all night New Years Eve, I have to work New Years Day. So far this year I have worked Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and coming up, New Years. I should really get myself a government job or something, where people don't work those days.

Groceries - I didn't go on one of those shopping extravaganzas like previous years, then again I was home for all of about 25 hours, not a lot of time to go shopping there, but I did get plenty of leftovers from our post Christmas Christmas dinner and my mom did throw together the requisite care package that she always does whenever I go home, bagels, cream cheese, canned veggies, Pepsi, Oreos, etc., so I got a fair amount of food.

A haircut - No but again I wasn't home long enough for this to be an option. Aren't too many places open Christmas Day cutting hair, though we did find a diner open Christmas Day and we took advantage of it. Show of hands for all of you out there who had a meatloaf sandwich, mashed potatoes and gravy in a truck stop on Christmas Day. Let me guess, I am the only one, right?

A quiet breakfast of an bagel with cream cheese and coffee - While this was an option, the coffee was made, the bagels and cream cheese were there but I opted just for the coffee and a cigarette on the back porch while contemplating my lot in the universe.

DVDs (TV - TV show, M - Movie) - Rather than bore you with details, I got nothing in this category so let's move along shall we.

Some motivation - I am not sure if I have this or not. On one hand I have a specific plan for what I want to accomplish, but after a day at work like today the idea of getting all fired up to do more work at home just isn't quite there yet.

Pogo stuff (membership, albums or gems) - No one purchased these items for me, but I did manage to accumulate enough Coke reward points through various means that I bought myself an entire year of Pogo for free.

A Philly Cheesesteak - This is almost a dream gift of mine, I know I will never get it, but I will always want it.

Books - Most of these I didn't get because my family doesn't frequent bookstores all that often. And when they do I doubt they are browsing the same sections I am. That being said, from the two gift cards listed below for Barnes & Noble and the fact their Squirrel Hill location is closing in less than a week, I was able to change the gift card money into 5 books, only one of which I paid full price for, the rest were originally discounted and further discounted by an additional half off. The four I picked up that weren't on the list were "Extra Innings Baseball: All Star Stories, Stats, Lore & Legends", "Florida Roadkill" by Tim Dorsey, "The Hardcore Diaries" by Mick Foley and "Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program" by Stephen Grey.

Rather than go through the list and say which books I did and didn't get on the list, since there weren't many, I will save some time and just deal with the three off of the list I did get.

Another Life by Andrew Vachss - This technically wasn't a Christmas present, unless I consider it a gift to myself. Instead it was a purchase from Amazon with my collection of Swagbucks and E certificates that I had saved up on Amazon. It wiped out almost half of my online cash at $16, but since it was the last in the series I thought it was worth it.

I, Alex Cross by James Patterson - This is the only book on the list that anyone got me, which is courtesy of my mom. I will admit the commercials of the book are a bit off putting, with Mr. Patterson telling people to buy his book otherwise he will kill off the main character, Alex Cross. First, most poeple haven't read his book, therefore really wouldn't give a flying fuck if he killed off a character they don't even remotely care about and second, if that is the best pitch you can make for your book, a buy it or else proclamation, it doesn't speak well for the story inside the book. Still, I have read enough of the series that if someone were going to buy it for me, I wasn't going to complain.

More Than a Game: The Glorious Present and the Uncertain Future of the NFL by Brian Billick - This would be the one book I got with the B&N cards that I actually paid full price for. When I got to the store and saw all of the half off goodies, I couldn't help but start rummaging through the stacks and after having four books in my hands decided I better go and see if I can find something that was on my list to begin with. All told I spent a little over $40 of the $50 I had and got 4 hardbacks and one paperback for my efforts, so I am not complaining in the least.

Pants (38X30) - Yes and no. I did get two pair of jeans, whcih is well and good, but one of which the Asain kid that stitched them together has some explaining to do. I was getting ready for work Monday morning and I had put away my socks and underwear I got for Christmas the night before but I left the drawer slightly open. As luck would have it, in my hurried pace to get to work on time I ended up running into the handle on said drawer and rip, a hole appeared in said jeans right around the pocket. Thinking that I am only going to work and the hole wasn't that bad I went ahead and wore them anyway. But through the course of the day the hole got bigger and bigger and while I would like to attribute it to my Hulk-like leg muscles bulging through my jeans more than likely it was just poor quality craftsmanship. This is what happens when you don't keep you eyes on those kids that are working 20 hours in the sweatshop, shoddy stuff just gets through.

Socks - I did get a pack of tube socks, which is clutch because it means I get to toss out some rather questionable socks that I currently own and some that I can't find the match to.

Shirts (including T shirts, sweatshirts and turtlenecks, preferably XL or larger, I like them droopy) - I did get a couple of shirts (none of which I have ripped yet) and a pack of T shirts which currently reside in my clothes destroying dresser.

Sleep - I didn't get much sleep at home, being home for only a day was tough enough, but I was up semi late watching TV on the satellite dish and then ended up falling asleep in a chair in the living room. If the choice is sleep in a chair or get up early and have coffee, coffee ends up winning out, so I was back up by 8am the day after Christmas.

PAT bus pass - No, I had to trek out and get me one of these Sunday morning. Oh well, I managed to get in a breakfast and some book shopping while I was at it, so it wasn't a wasted trip.

A maid - As I look around at my ever more cluttered apartment all I can say is "Nope."

A pliable female - Move along, nothing to see here.

Gift cards (Barnes & Noble, Target, Walmart, Giant Eagle, Amazon) - A couple of gift cards, 2 $25 gift cards for Barnes & Noble from my cousin Brandi, who had my name in the family grab gift exchange this year and a $100 gift card for WalMart from my mom, which I plan on putting to use here shortly to get some of the fixins for New Years Eve, and maybe a present or two for myself while I am at it.

Chad Vader DVD - Since I already answered this in the DVD section I have little need to repeat myself here.

Hockey tickets - No new tickets so I will have to settle for the pair of freebies I got at work for the time being.

A homemade pie - I didn't get any homemade pie, but part of the leftovers that were sent home with me included half of an apple pie and half of a pumpkin pie (with Cool Whip in a separate container) though I believe both pies were store bought.

Better results for my fantasy hockey team and a playoff spot for my fantasy football team - Well the fantasy hockey team just stinks, no other way to describe it right now. The football team is in the playoffs, I won my semi final game by three points, 100-97, so I will have a chance to defend the league title I won last year.

Postage stamps - I did get some of these and I am already planning on using a few of them. I need to use them before my stamps I do have because these are regular old stmaps, not the forever stamps I usually purchase, so I have to make sure I use them before the Post Office, in their infinite wisdom, decides to raise the psotal rate again. I'll be honest, other than stamp collectors, I can't see why everyone doesn't just buy forever stamps, they cost the same amount and are good forever. What is not to like about that?

And that is a wrap. Maybe later I will add a real Christmas blog, given the brief amount of time I was home it shouldn't be all that long, and I do have a picture or two from Christmas that I have to add to the page as well but for now this is all anyone gets.