Festivus (Uno's annual holidayish type discussions)

[Geo]

hEt, Kyle, and myself are working Christmas eve, which makes Christmas morning difficult (Kyle and hEt both night shifters)  Christmas Eve breakfast with my family cancelled as a result.  Christmas Morning breakfast with hEt's family cancelled. 

Nightshifts on Christmas? Are they working in civil services or something (hospital, fireguard,...)

At my work (food distribution center) the afternoon shifts on both Christmas Eve en New Year's Eve are always replaced with a Saturday shift earlier in the month.

[Unorthodox]

hEt works in a hospital.  I could go on about how they've changed the scheduling for holidays at length, but suffice it to say she's royally getting the shaft this year.  Not so much the xmas eve for her, we're used to that, it's the rest of the week that's killer. 

Kyle's a manager at the UPS sort facility.  UPS is delivering Christmas day...

[Geo]

Yeah, that's clear enough in HeT's case.
In Kyle's case, can't imagine many people are ready to face deliveries on Christmas morning though. And in the afternoon lots of people are probably visiting relatives.

[Unorthodox]

Yeah, that's clear enough in HeT's case.
In Kyle's case, can't imagine many people are ready to face deliveries on Christmas morning though. And in the afternoon lots of people are probably visiting relatives.

Amazon thinks otherwise. 

[E_T]

and if FedEX and UPS won't deliver it on Xmas, amazon will (and take more away from the others than they can afford to lose, but then that doesn't count the human cost from that...)

[Unorthodox]

and if FedEX and UPS won't deliver it on Xmas, amazon will (and take more away from the others than they can afford to lose, but then that doesn't count the human cost from that...)

Sundays too...

I actually think FedEx/UPS are being stupid as Amazon is using them as a stop gap while they build a better delivery fleet.  They'd be better off letting Amazon not be able to meet the ludicrous delivery schedule. 

I really wish Amazon would allow me to choose my delivery service, not just a number of days.  I'd be more likely to buy from there.

I am quite the fan of the UPS deliver to an access point service.  Nothing on my step to be stolen.  I've actually considered paying extra for one of their addresses. 

[Geo]

Ah yes, I didn't think of simply dropping a package on a clients doorstep.
Over here the deliverer needs to have deliveries signed of. Meaning neighbours are often called upon to sign.

[E_T]

You even put in that "Signature Required" thing when setting up the shipping and they still drop it on doorstep, without knocking.  I don't know now many times that I have heard them right outside the door (having not even knocked, mind you) dropping package off and leaving.  Typically, by the time I have gotten to the door, they are just getting back into truck and leaving (or are just going around the bend in the walkway).

[Unorthodox]

Story time. 

I've relayed pieces of this in the past. 

Being a child of the late 70s and early 80s, the santa 900 numbers were THE [poop] during December.

Being poor, we never got to call the 900 number, but mom would dial up Santa just the same.  He'd tell us stories and answer our questions, and even occasionally chew us out for being naughty.

Perhaps ironically, it was a 900 number that made me realize Santa wasn't real.  I remember I was over at a friends house, and there was like 10 of us there and they were calling Santa.  There was this crappy pre-recorded message on the phone, and it SURE AS HELL was NOT the Santa I'd been talking to for years. 

It was years later that I would learn Santa was actually Uncle Blaine. 

My family prior to this generation was a railroad family.  Going back to the actual creation of the railroads.  That's just what dOx's did. 

There were 2 railroads in Utah in the 80's  The Southern Pacific, and the Union Pacific.

Dad and Blaine worked for the SP. 

Grandpa and my other uncles worked for the UP. 

Without getting too technical, the railroad is GREAT money when you can work, but it takes seniority to get on a regular crew.  Thus, dad trying to earn the seniority didn't make good money because he was often out of work when I was younger. 

Blaine, however, was my grandpa's brother, and thus working regularly and making good money.  When Grandpa died, Blaine pretty much took over, and we'd go visiting each week at least. 

Where grandpa would tell us wild stories about the lone ranger riding through just before we got there (and spread 'silver' bullet casing in the garden to sell the point), Blaine was much more a poker player with his stories and he'd weave in both truth with the fiction, and leave you guessing what was real. 

Us dOx's are a long line of tale weavers it seams. 

Blaine would teach me to use his ham radio and take personal interest in my bug collecting as well as always be on hand when he was in town to help with things that would crop up around the house or if dad was going through a rough patch.   

Point is I KNEW Blaine.  I never questioned the person on the phone was Santa clause, never crossing my mind it could be Blaine. 

I got a phone call this evening. 

My niece has been questioning the Santa situation, and my brother wants to keep the magic there just a bit longer for her brother. 

I've been telling those two stories for years, they know me...but those were scary stories. 

Tonight, I remembered all those answers Blaine told me all those years ago.  I remembered the happy voice that got me radio job offers.  They KNEW they were talking to Santa. 

[E_T]

Let's see if this works...  Trying to upload a picture file, but I will likely have to reduce the file size, first.  if so, I'll try tomorrow...
[EDIT]  worked, o.k.
This is taken in the College Park Area, in Orlando (not far from Downtown).  The house is where Smith St Splits off of Princeton St and they both become one way streets (the east end of the one way split, very near to Edgewater, cross street).  The road curves such that if you missed the 2nd curve (of the split), you will end up in this house's front yard.  The people living there have these two Skeletons out, dressed up and posed in various ways, at different times.  Thought that you might like it...

[Unorthodox]

Those are an interesting enigma. 

Clearly a sunjoy ripoff due to the joints, but I'm not familiar with that skull model.  (not a particular fan of it either) 

[E_T]

Yeah, but most times, you only get to see a glance at it, as your passing by.  But when traffic is backed up, I can look at them better, and yeah, I've seen much better from you.  But still, they always have them dressed/posed for the season.  Halloween, one was dressed as a Shark, the other a Pirate (IIRC).  I kept on thinking that it would have been better if they had the one posed to look like it was "Jumping the Shark"...

[Unorthodox]

A Christmas Carol (2019) review. 

Somewhere a group of people got into a room, huddled around, and asked each other how to make this movie DIFFERENT from the umpteen million other versions.  Someone shouted from the back "We should make it R rated!" 

This is not, I realize, an utterly terribly idea on it's own merit.  However, this group of people sat round without any concept of how to actually produce a visually horrifying version that would merit an R rating on it's own merit, and seeing a merely PG-13 [poop] show, they decided to pepper the dialog with F Bombs with no other point than to achieve the desired rating.     

[E_T]

I figured as such from the Trailer

[Unorthodox]

So...Christmas Eve Breakfast...

I'm taking this tradition of mine back to it's roots, and cooking breakfast at work for those of us who have to be in. 

That's how it initially began, we'd all get together and go out to breakfast at work when we had to be there but NOTHING to do.  As I moved into jobs where I was off, I began by inviting my family out to breakfast, and eventually just started making it for them instead as it was easier on me somehow. 

So, I'm taking the show on the road to work.  There's all of 12 of us working.  Biscuits and gravy is easy to crock pot, and I'll whip up some french toast and scrambled eggs on site.  Planning on just going in late, this also allows me to cook for my kids before I go in to work so they still have the tradition at home.