CHRISTMAS

[StinkerBell]

Its about 2 months away.

[MountainDon]

You're rushing it a little.  Let's get thru Halloween and Thanksgiving first.

What's on your Christmas Wish List?

[Amanda_931]

The season for retailers is now starting at Halloween.  (Used to be Thanksgiving)

Friends of mine with a store had their Christmas tree up just before Halloween.  I asked them why they didn't do Halloween decorations.  One of them explained gently that the Christmas tree was their Halloween decoration.  After all it was scary enough.    :-/

[glenn kangiser]

Darn it, Stink -- you are going to get me into the Pagan origins of the Religious holidays. Usually I only pick on Sassy with that one.  

Then of course the real reason for the season, shop until you drop-- the commercial aspect.

That should get the discussion going. :-/

[MountainDon]

Humbug!!  

[glenn kangiser]

I should probably sit back and shut up.

[StinkerBell]

Funny thing is I prefer Thanksgiving out of all the man made holidays.

Christmas is way to commercialized.

[benevolance]

I hate Christmas

[benevolance]

Well I hate spending money just for the sake of it...

I never do without all year long and neither does my wife..If we need something we buy it...We treat each other to trips and meals and gifts all year long...I find it sickening that people are nicer during the holidays and they spew forth some bs garbage message about jesus is the reason for the Season.... Well where the hell was jesus in your life the rest of the year...

Why would we only treat our fellow man decently for a few weeks of the year?

Respect and fellowship among men is not something to bandy about and to take lightly...It is not something we can use flippantly at our convenience to feel good about ourselves...

That said my wife and I talked and we agreed no gifts...we are going to spend a little money and buy a newer car in the near future... my wife wants a Jetta TDI wagon.... they are very expensive though...hard to find used...We may have to settle for something else... but she is getting tired of driving 20 year old cars I buy for a couple hundred bucks...

so santa is bringing a car for the wife on the sled this year

[MountainDon]

So Peter what do you have in mind as likely choices? Curious.

[benevolance]

Don

Has to be cheap

But the wife is tired of $200 cars.... Seriously that is all she has had for the last three years... I get one.. work on it a few hours get it running for her and she drives it for a few months starts to complain I sell it for $1000-$1500 and get her another one...

Usually cavaliers, corsicas, she has had a nissan sentra.. she is driving a Volvo right now... 86 240 DL... I usually look for cars with head gaskets gone or needing a transmission...Nobody will fix a older car needing a tranny...I can get them dirt cheap and fix them in half a day.

She can drive my Saturn while I find her something a little nicer...She used to like Saturns and now she wants a Honda Element or a Jetta Wagon... Holy crap she thinks I am made of money here!

But I want to get her something a little nicer... I looked at a 2001 Mazda protoge which is a 323 basically.. it was low mileage..I could not come to a deal with the guy and it sold the next day when I went back for it...

I like Hondas, dislike Toyotas...But both cars are overpriced... My mother in law has a new Scion hatchback thingy.. it is small and it only gives 37 miles to the gallon... Which is sad considering the thing is tiny and it is gutless to boot... why the mediocre mileage?

Gas mileage is a concern for me as we drive a insane amount... I have the Saturn that gives me awesome mileage (50+) and it has more power than stock... If I can sell a few old classic cars I have I may have to break down and spend like $10,000 on a low mileage used Honda Element... Though it is hard to get them here that are 2 wheel drive...They at least give 25 miles to the gallon which is not too bad I guess.

It just kills me to spend that kind of money on a car we are going to wear out... I prefer the routine we are in now.. I buy a car for $2-300 drive it for a while and make $500 when I sell it pocket the profit and get another car... Kind of like paying the upkeep insurance and gasoline for the year...

my wife is getting annoyed driving cars with dings dents faded paint that are 20 years old though.... She always complains that she has the ugliest car at school and all the other teachers drive new SUV and Acuras.. etc..

I just cannot spend a ridiculous amount of money or make a car payment... It goes against everything I believe in...

But I also believe in Marriage so I may have no choice here

Try to find something 2000 or newer.. between 50-70,000 miles... 4 door clean auto with cold AC... Something that has nice paint that I can add alloy wheels if needed (something she likes.. she hates hubcaps) I would like to find a car around $3-4000 that she could drive for a couple years without complaining to me about... And that would prevent me having to spend my classic car money for a transportation car...and it would prevent me having to commit to a car payment.

I need to get a little lucky and find something extra clean that is in my price range...I have been looking... if I find something the wife gets her present early I guess.

Not going to make her wait or wrap it...

any suggestions Don?

[sparks]

Hmmmm. Need to give this some thought.(kinda waiting for GK to go off on the pagan thing).

[glenn kangiser]

I could but I thought better of it since so many want to believe different, but it's there- Google it.

I do it for Sassy whenever I want to get her into a good discussion.

[benevolance]

I thought you were  into festivus for the Rest of us...

And all this time it is just about sassy

[glenn kangiser]

I like the Festivus idea.  It seems so real - no presents to deal with -- just that shiny aluminum pole and the simple airing of grievances-- telling everyone how they have disappointed you over the last year - kind of airing out the dirty laundry.  Wasn't there some wrestling involved also? :-?

[benevolance]

well a little beer and some wrestline... primative male bonding stuff... Can't be much harm in that...

Take the wrestling thing outside though...I would think the underground HQ is a bit confined for wrestling

[MountainDon]

Hey, Peter, I wasn't ignoring you, just away for a few days.

You're a man after my own heart regarding the interest payments on cars. I only had one car with payments and we paid that off in a years time. Doesn't make sense to me to pay someone else for the money, bad enough having to pay for the car.

Re: the parking lot at school full of shiny vehicles... we both know that those folks are paying the bank for the privilege. And for how long, 5 years, 6 ?  

I had thoughts of getting a used TDI VW, but they're as scarce as hens teeth on the used market around here.

What would I pick in the used car game? Not sure, but historically (personal) it would be between a Honda Civic or a Ford Escort, what I would call my "high" and "low" ends. We've had both; Honda, never spent a dime on repairs (other than maintenance and brakes/tires due to mileage,  whereas the Escorts had repairs (mostly fuel system) but were cheaper to buy.  :-/  

[benevolance]

Don

A car for personal use is a no win situation.... you buy it  and you wear it out... it gets less valuable every day you own it...

I guess that is why I drive classic cars... I use em enjoy em and then make money off em...

my wife actually understands the other teachers have debts for their cars and own nothing... She hates debt... but she hates having no ac in a 20 year old clunker when it is 100 degrees down here all summer

i guess if we can afford a honda we will go with the honda... pretty hard to argue with the track record of almost all hondas the last 20 years (passport excluded they were izuzu junk!)

[MountainDon]

Peter, I hear your wife loud and clear when it comes to the A/C. When we first moved way south tp NM I suffered and sweated through the first 2 years of summer heat before we got a vehicle with A/C. I wouldn't want to live without A/C again. There's scarcely a day through the year when it does not get ued around here. Up in the mountains it's another story; the A/C just doesn't get used as frequently.

[StinkerBell]

Although I my hubby would NEVER buy me such an item, and I would NEVER spend the amount, I would sure like some night vision goggles. I think it would be so cool to scare the neighbors cat in the middle of the night.

[MountainDon]

Way cool toy! Too bad that the cheaper ones are such junk compared to the better ones. The qualities are listed in generations; 0, 1, 2, 3, 4.  I had the good fortune (bad fortune?) to be able to try out some Gen 3  (current US military) goggles and have been forever spoiled.  :'( The ones I could justify buying (Gen 1) are so inferior. Still better than squinting in the dark, though.  :-/

Goggles are more fun than binoculars or monoculars since your hands are free, but they take some getting used to.

[benevolance]

stinkerbell

that was pretty random...

But yeah it would be cool to have night vision goggles... way cool...

[glenn kangiser]

Well, don't pick on her too much, Peter.  I like her attitude.

That could be payback for the time two tomcats were fighting and chasing each other.  The one in the lead was so scared he ran up a tree and let go a dump as he flew through the air, nearly hitting my brother (maybe it did hit him - can't remember).  At any rate - hit or not, the stench was unbearable as part of the pile sat and cooked on the hot steel he was welding on.

That would be cool --  Stink wearing a pair of night vision goggles going around scaring the crap out of the neighbors cat.  My brother would feel avenged.

[StinkerBell]

lol


Its the Christmas thread, thought it was a good idea to tell ya all what I want for Christmas....

[MountainDon]

... thought it was a good idea to tell ya all what I want for Christmas....

For certain!  I'm trying to decide what I want? Trying to keep it practical, within budget.   :-/