Getting in the Xmas Spirit

[cranefly]

You might wanna crank up them speakers before clicking the start button.

http://www.thesneeze.com/mt-archives/000570.php

--cranefly

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

He does know about his place, doesn't he?

Shock Coffee

[cranefly]

Have a great day and week.

Cranefly and the Lady.

[Drunk Monk]

officially on break until the 26th.  

tara is home with her friend bri.  stacy took them to yoga, leaving me with billy, who's being oddly needy right now. 

what to do? what to do?

well, here i am online.

just like work.



actually, i probably will log on just to do my kfm social media.  so it's not like a real break.

[Drunk Monk]

i am having the worst xma prep ever.  losing last weekend shopping put me way behind.  i struggled to pick up some items i saw earlier - all sold out.  and i just broke one of the gifts - a coffee mug which i bumped lightly against a dumbbell as i was trying to hide it, just enough to crack it.  bah humbug.

[thatguy]

—tg

[Drunk Monk]

i just broke one of the gifts - a coffee mug which i bumped lightly against a dumbbell as i was trying to hide it, just enough to crack it.  bah humbug.

That was a Central Perk mug for Tara. She was a fan of Friends and a barista. I found another one and saw it lives in her cupboard along with lots of other coffee mugs.

The cracked one still had integrity as a planter and I got a little coffee plant for it and named it Phoebe. It was part of my campaign to get more plants at my office desk at TC. It died during the pandemic and I tossed dead Phoebe and broken mug away when I was cleaning out my workspace. Only one plant survives - Siu Lung (little dragon), a dragon tree plant, that is in my home office now.

it saddens me to think about it now. Phoebe is a ghost of Xmas plant...

[King Bob]

I notice that the young folks like Friends. I've seen a couple of sweatshirts on campus and saw a mention of it in an article somewhere. Perhaps it's a bit like us watching Happy Days - it seems like a simpler time to them.

Bringing home one of my office plants during the break but hopefully the other two will be fine. My old office had better light for plants.

Watching some Christmas films to get in the mood. Last night was "Rise of the Guardians" and tonight maybe "Office Christmas Party." Although I'm a bit of a skinflint I'll pay for the rental.

[Greg]

The Christmas tree is up. The outside lights are on. I also hooked both strings of lights to smart plugs so I can operate them from my phone. These are currently my only smart devices.

[King Bob]

I used a multi plug extension cord with a remote for the outside lights and the lawn tree (no inside tree this year since we're leaving). When we're out of town I'll use the "on at dusk for 5 (I think) hours" setting.

Our only app controlled device is the WiFi extender (so we get WiFi in the garage and the yard) and that's just set it and forget it. We do have the Galaxy Projector, but I never downloaded the app; the basic settings are fine. Christina turns it on when she gets up (always before 5); I don't get up until 5:45. On days I don't work out, I keep it on while she's out walking. It's very nice. I recommend it to you insomniacs.

[Greg]

Before the move to the Lair, I had a bunch outlet timers. I couldn't find them and the smart plugs were the cheapest alternative. I want the lights to switch on while I'm not here at Christmas. The smart plugs will soon be joined by a smart thermostat so I can program temperature times for heating and cooling the house. At this time, that is as far as I am going with smart devices.

[King Bob]

If we could make an app-controlled device to put on your faucet when you're gone, so you can set it dripping to keep the pipes from freezing, we would make $$$

[thatguy]

If we could make an app-controlled device to put on your faucet when you're gone, so you can set it dripping to keep the pipes from freezing, we would make $$$

I think that's already a thing.

https://www.amazon.com/YoLink-Controller...B08YN1S1K1

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

I put up our old skool lights. Like really old skool. I'm slowly replacing the conventional lead-toxic bulbs with LEDs as the burn out, but only a few burnt out this year, so I'm not bothering. Stacy did a lot of indoor decor, put up stockings, xmas books in our built-in glass doored cabinet, xmas mugs are out, etc.

No tree this year. Thought about it but we don't really have the space.

[Greg]

I bought a fake tree when I moved to the lair. It was a good investment. Although I do miss the smell of a real tree. To that end I bought some fragrant sticks to simulate that smell. Another one of those mighty mistakes. The sticks did not smell like a Christmas tree. The scent filled the whole house. And the scent did not go away for weeks.