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1

General / Re: Show Us Yer Black Friday Deals

« on: November 27, 2011, 03:00:37 PM »

I dont have any Black Friday deal stories, because I always stay far away from crowds if possible. Instead, I wait till the January deals come around. I do have a story of one though that I kinda mentioned offhand in another thread.

My gf is from the Philippines and we were talking to one of her other flilipina friends about that stuff. Her friend pipes up "They had electric waffle-irons at Walmart in Peoria......2.99 a piece!!! I bought 10 of them!!" My gf asked what she was gonna do with 10 waffle irons. The woman said "I'll send them back home to the Philippines to friends and family I guess." My gf kinda chuckled and I had no idea why.

Later, as we were leaving.....

gf - I was laughing because they dont eat waffles in the philippines.

me - No, really? Cmon, surely some people eat waffles over there.

gf - NOOOO!! Nobody eats waffles in the philippines. I spent the first 24 years of my life there and NEVER saw a waffle.

me - LOL

People just get caught up in the frenzy. I refuse to leave the house that day. Besides the crowds, I learned that most of the things I might want are even cheaper on Saturday. There's nothing I want this badly:

Wafflie Iron "mini" Riot

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General / Re: Show Us Yer Black Friday Deals

« on: November 25, 2011, 01:30:06 PM »

Dead Island is only $19.99 right now (on Steam).

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General / Re: What Video Games Are You Currently playing?

« on: November 23, 2011, 05:31:44 PM »

Which platform do most of you guys use?  Xbox, playstation, or pc?

I'm going to start myself but I'm asking for tips.

PC.

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General / Re: Christmas Thread

« on: November 23, 2011, 05:29:22 PM »

Not quite done yet, but got through the hardest part of the hat I'm making for my honorary nephew for giftmas:



I should be done by the weekend (trying not to put too much pressure on myself - what's left to do is about 1.5 movies-worth of knitting).

5

Serious Business / Re: Overcoming nostalgia.

« on: November 21, 2011, 05:18:05 PM »

Xmas/Giftmas is my worst nostalgia-related thing. I have such fond memories at a distance, but when I try to examine things too closely, the pain comes. I've pretty much completely reworked how I approach the holiday, but before I was honest with myself, I had all kinds of trouble. It was probably fine when I was really young, but the older I got, the weirder it got. While I was in it, it just seemed to be the way it was, but from this far away, I finally started recognizing the hurtful things for what they really were, and only started feeling the pain then instead of when it happened.

Sorry if that's too rambly. We did traditional stuff like trees and stockings, and I still have fond memories of that, but there was a long, long stretch of time when I got the impression from my family that I was kind of an afterthought. I would go out of my way to find great presents, and wrap them up nicely, but there wasn't a lot of reciprocation. I was going to write out some examples, but it's probably only interesting to me. (There was that year that I only had 1 gift to open, sitting in my own living room. My dad left my gift at home and even though I had been told that there were two presents coming from the rest of the family, there was just one - a board game.) I was relieved that Shaw saw it, when he came along, and was bothered by everyone's blasé attitude about me. Until then, I wasn't sure if I was imagining it or not, or if my expectations were too high. He had some words with my family (and told me about it later) and things started improving. Exchanging presents is one of my favorite things about the holiday. I still love finding the right gift and wrapping it up nicely, but I restrain myself. I'm not awfully materialistic, but I do try and remember how people have handled gifts to me in the past, so I don't overdo it.

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General / Re: Christmas Thread

« on: November 21, 2011, 03:48:54 PM »

For the hat edge, is it something you could do with yarn and a blanket stitch? Or even use regular yarn needle to make a chain stitch as edge?

I could. I could even do a knitted edge. But I'm going to force myself to do the crochet one - it's the only way to learn. That or I'm a masochist.

Someone sent me a box of fabric, and I doubt I could ever use it all. I can send you some.

7

General / Re: Christmas Thread

« on: November 21, 2011, 02:14:56 PM »

Knitting. I'm seriously jealous. That particular craft exceeds my coordination. And, both a cunning hat AND monster doll = awesome!

Funny, because I feel the exact same way about crochet. I have to do a crochet edging on the hat and I am SO dreading it. (Single crochet around, will take me a while.)

Did you learn how to unravel from link on pinterest? Is it tough to do and do you get pretty good lengths?

Not Pinterest, but some blog I ran across years ago. I have my own method down to a science. There probably are links on Pinterest! I do get pretty good lengths Most of the time, each sleeve yields a decent-size ball, and the body a couple more for each side. Always get some small balls as well. The key is picking out a sweater with all pieces knit flat, then sewn together (exactly like dog food or cat litter bags, if they were machine-done). If the edges were sewn together, forget it. Then picking out sweaters in colors and fibers you actually want to work with. I've only found 1 cashmere that wasn't a ton of tiny threads, plus one cotton/cashmere blend. You can usually find some merinos and other wools and tons of acrylic. GAP and J Crew sweaters are among the best.

Guessing she's in the 8-11 age group?

Almost 14, actually. She was hard-core pink only until around the age of 10 or so, then has branched out, but always still liked pink. Now, she is anti-pink.

Next year, she gets cash. I've decided to alternate years. I'm not really happy about exclusively giving gift certificates or cash, but for teens that I don't live with, it's the way it is.

Nice plan! And thanks for the link to SMASH folio - I think my daughter would like something like that. She thinks diaries are for babies, but this goes into cool journal/scrapbook territory. I've been struggling to figure out some ideas for her other than clothes and $$ for her iPod Touch savings.

The boys are so much easier:
NanoBlocks http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/games/e8ca/
Nerf http://www.etsy.com/listing/67669740/steampunk-gun-nerf-maverick-n-strike?ref=sr_gallery_6&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=steampunk+nerf&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

I got one of the Smash folios for myself. Haven't used it a lot, but it's fun. If you get her one, you can beef it up with extra pen/glue stick combos (they come in pink & blue as well as the black), Japanese Washi tape  (patterned masking tape - this place has the best prices/shipping that I've found: cutetape), etc.

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General / Re: Christmas Thread

« on: November 21, 2011, 11:15:05 AM »

I have two projects I'm knitting for Giftmas, both are about halfway done: an earflap hat I'm sort-of designing for my honorary nephew, with flames going around the hat, and a monster doll for his sister, who still plays with the one she got last year. (I usually don't craft two years in a row for people, unless they request it.) I'm mostly working on the charted part of the hat during conference calls. Another knitted gift is already done: cashmere fingerless mitts (I upcycled the yarn from a sweater I found a thrift store. It's gorgeous, but SO not my color, so I am not feeling any separation pangs in using it for someone else.)

We started buying new ornaments this year, to replace the ones I bought 15-20 years ago. I'm just sick of them, plus, we want some that are ours, that reflect our interests. So far, we found several robots, a dinosaur and a couple of flying saucers (one with an alien). And a pickle.

Shopping-wise, I'm at least done with my niece and nephew, or will be when the stuff I ordered arrives. I found out last night that one of the things I got for my niece has to be reordered, because she has recently decided that pink is evil. Fine by me -  I hate it, too - but last I heard she still loved it, so I ordered hers in pink. At least I have time! And someone else on my list that will love the pink thing. I was so happy to see books on their lists this year. I like buying books for kids, if they want them, but have found that surprising them doesn't always work out. I was able to specifically order ones they wanted, which will make us both happy!

I also decided that instead of donating to whatever my office has going on this year, I'd just find a kid who might not be getting a lot this year and buy something for him/her. A friend is going through a rough patch financially, and we've worked out something her daughter will enjoy. (A pink SMASH folio*) which is what I got for my niece, too. The leftover pink one will go to a pink-loving friend.)

*http://kandcompany.eksuccessbrands.com/Product/Pretty+Pink+SMASH+Folio.aspx

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General / Re: What Video Games Are You Currently playing?

« on: November 18, 2011, 04:02:35 PM »

I liked Mel's comment about how she bought a house, I gotta look into that.

The houses are great (I have 1 but you can have 5-7 (not sure of the number)). Being allowed to buy one is a quest reward. Since vendors are limited as to how much cash they have on hand, and don't buy everything, you can run home between gigs, dump everything in a chest, and deal with it later. Mine (in Whiterun - go see the Jarl) came with a housecarl (body guard) who goes with me on quests. She's pretty decent with a bow and one-handed/shield. She also serves as a packmule - you can make her carry up to about 300 pounds minus whatever she's equipped with.

It's an investment that can help you make more money because you can empty your packs and go back out, then deal with selling whenever. Once you upgrade the house (do it in stages, room-by-room) you get extra chests, dressers, etc., plus bookshelves, so you can sort your stuff accordingly. I'm a packrat, and this is the best thing EVER for me. I get a bunch of ingots or gems, I don't want to carry them everywhere. I want to have them when I feel like smithing. Now I have one chest that's just smithing supplies, one for apparel I'm not sure about, one for weapons, one for ingredients (you can get an alchemy room).

I don't know which way to turn with perks right now. I want to enchant, because I made a soul trap sword and it kicks ass and I want to do serious enchantments, but I want to smith and be able to improve already-enhanced weapons and armor. I also like lockpicking a lot.

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General / Re: What Video Games Are You Currently playing?

« on: November 17, 2011, 10:18:08 PM »

What kind of characters are yall running on skyrim? I usually play a 2 handed sword wielding battle mage, But doesn't work too well on skyrim since i cant cast while using a 2 handed weapon.

Skyrim seems geared towards mages due to dual wield magic, so i think im going to restart character all mage

I don't think this stuff through too much in advance. Sometimes it works and sometimes it bites me in the ass. I like rogue-type stuff (picking locks, sneaking) but also like magic, so I'm combining the two. Means I won't get all-powerful in anything, but I'm more versatile.

I'm almost to level 11, bought a horse (waste of money if you travel with companions, since they have to walk, but yay - horse!) and a house, which was worth every dime. Spent one entire "day" (in-game), rearranging my house, then came back to find shit thrown everywhere, like it had been tossed. Hopefully the new video driver (specifically for Skyrim) I installed will take care of that. I'm about to go back in, so I'll find out if that fixed the problem. I'm taking every book I can get without stealing, and am filling the shelves like mad. (Best part of the house, IMO, after the chests where you can store tons of stuff.)

11

General / Re: What Video Games Are You Currently playing?

« on: November 15, 2011, 09:57:04 PM »

Skyrim.

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General / Re: What Video Games Are You Currently playing?

« on: November 07, 2011, 01:19:04 PM »

Also, I get lost and I can't drive (in-game), so Shaw does all the driving and navigating. But it is quite a lot of fun.

You're just like an IRL woman!

KIDDING! 

I do fit that stereotype here, especially in-game. IRL, I'm a little navigation-challenged, but have more time to work out where I am and where I need to go, without a zombie horde descending. But, I'm also fairly new to this. It's my first FSP and the first with this kind of action. WoW could get like it occasionally, but there were so many quests to choose from that you could have a break.

13

General / Re: What Video Games Are You Currently playing?

« on: November 07, 2011, 01:15:17 PM »

Just watched the promo video for Dead Island: http://content.deepsilver.com/kochmedia/deep-silver/deadisland/us/deadisland-all-us-release-trailer-esrb.mp4

This game looks SICK!  I am going to get it soon.

It's wild! I'd go so far as to say "realistic" - as far as an imagined zombie apocalypse anyway. Except for the people begging you to go find their jewelry, or booze, while they're standing next to someone who just asked you to find a lost family member or life-saving medication. Well, maybe people would still do that...

My real intro. to gaming was World of Warcraft, so I'm a tad bit annoyed by the fact that my character in this game is stuck in her skirt and high-heeled pumps while running around beaches, cities (jumping from roof-to-roof) and - soon - the jungle. Her clothes are shredded. If she has time to root through stranger's luggage for money and butane, etc., couldn't she find a pair of tennies?

14

General / Re: What Video Games Are You Currently playing?

« on: November 07, 2011, 11:37:19 AM »

Still playing Dead Island. M now has a copy and we play coop together. It's her first success with an FPS type game. Waiting for Arkham City for PC and Skyrim.

I am, indeed playing Dead Island. Had some issues getting started, but now that I've got all the logistics worked out (controls, FoV, etc.), I'm kicking ass. Could NOT play this game solo, though. My fighting style is to whip around wildly, hacking and slashing at whatever moves. Also, I get lost and I can't drive (in-game), so Shaw does all the driving and navigating. But it is quite a lot of fun.

Just before that I ran through Costume Quest, which was funny and appropriately-timed (Halloween). Dragon Age is waiting for me to care again. I started over once I got Steam and finished Origins, then thought I'd do the DLC before I went to Awakenings (which is kind of lame). Finally, I have Sherlock Holmes - Awakening (Remastered) waiting. Going to have to be in the mood for that one.

15

General / Re: Wildlife living around you...

« on: October 29, 2011, 10:39:00 PM »

On our run into "town" today, we passed a large group of about 20 (domestic) turkeys and 4-5 chickens. Looked like someone's gate had been left open. Turkeys are stupid; you don't want them running around in the road. One just stood in the middle of the road for a full minute, before just moving on.

Dale, I was so excited driving through NH, after I saw the Moose crossing signs, then I was torn because it was foggy and I certainly didn't want to run into an actual moose unawares (esp. you know, with the car). Ended up not seeing any.