(((Angi)))

So, so, so tired of DW working overtime.

Pray, do tell how to make that option work. :bigear: :lol:

Next place we live needs a driveway. Or at the very least no switching sides of street parking. Because I really can't handle the stress. I hate freaking out over it, and it's not like $40 would even be a big deal - it's just that I panic before I even realize it's not a big deal.

Also, why oh why do the firefighters here have a habit of going the wrong way on a one way street to get to wherever they're going? Is there a logic to that?

I just had a panic attack about moving the car. I didn't hear the alarm on my phone, because the kids and I were watching A Christmas Prince, and then at some point I thought I heard my phone... but apparently I only imagined it, but it was 50 min after car moving time. There were only 5 min left in the movie, but I dashed across the street to move the car - luckily I didn't have a ticket yet... the one time we did get a ticket they wrote it only like 50 min after car moving time... and moved it into a snow bank on the right side of the street. So, now I'm not sure if I can get the car out (why don't they plow just before car moving time? - they like haven't plowed the street all.day, and yes, I know it didn't snow today, but it's been super windy and when you have to move the car twice a week so they can plow it, it'd be nice if they'd actually plow it, and yes, I know it's xmas, but I'm sure the ticket writer doesn't care so I don't care either). Sigh. Anyway, crisis averted - glad I won't have to send the city a $40 xmas present.

Actually, my kids have been pretty good today, thus far. That said, it's not like we have a large family gathering or anything... today is pretty much like other days, except with presents.

Btw, I've been amazed that he's really been a believer this year, since we haven't really kept it a secret. I guess he really wants to believe.

My first winter in the US we had a white xmas in Corpus Christi. That was a bit of a miracle. ETA: even better was that a few days later it was warm enough again to have our outdoor wedding in a sleeveless dress.

Yes, not much, but some. Also, LOTS of wind.

DW is the dishwasher. I'm not supposed to load her though.

Hits and misses? Lucky for whomever/whatever was the intended target?

Btw, Sinterklaas and the tooth fairy are also in the 'maybe' category, whereas the easter bunny is definitely not real according to Broccoli.

Broccoli: "Daddy, is Santa even real?" [conversation about how to figure out if Santa is real or not] So far, plans include checking for fingerprints, DNA evidence, and using hidden cameras. ETA: next year of course, since it'd be hard to do these this year, since the presents are already contaminated with our fingerprints and DNA from after unwrapping them, it'd be hard to get Santa's fingerprints and DNA at this point, and it's too late for hidden cameras.

Komt allen tezamen, I guess (I don't keep a mental list of favorite things): https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adeste_fideles

Why couldn't anyone warn me sooner? I don't think I can obtain the ingredients for a mimosa today...

I think it's nowhere near enough money to make many middle class people excited. Looks like we'll be in the 12% bracket, and will probably save less than $100/month on taxes. I doubt we'll even really notice (we don't have a budget, just spend as we go with a decent size emergency fund), so, meh (obviously, money is money... but if I think we'll probably not notice the difference, it's not enough money to pacify me). That, combined with the unfairness of it, the bad timing (quite anti-Keynesian to cut taxes and increase the deficit when the economy is doing well), the potential negative impact on social safety net things in years to come which could potentially hurt us more than we'll benefit (life with a bipolar spouse and a special needs kid can be, uh, interesting, and we've qualified for food stamps etc in the past)... nope, not easily bought off.

Yeah, I think I had a couple of international editions in NL as well that said something along those lines that I brought to the US. They were not counterfeit, but selling them in the US would have been, I don't know... not sure that they legally can ban you from selling them in the US; maybe they can? I think one was a paperback copy of Biology of the Cell, and I think in the US they only sold those as hardcover. It's like 1000 pages or something, so not sure how many people want paperback, but it was a sturdy paperback and I don't think the paper quality was different, and realistically, I don't think the cost difference was huge (actually, not even sure if it was cheaper or more expensive in NL - probably depended on the exchange rate), but it is kind of ridiculous that you can get a paperback copy in other first world countries but not in the US. So, anyway... not sure if you'd be breaking the law by buying international editions, or if the seller is breaking the law, or both, or neither.

A dead phone, and late cinnamon buns Condolences on the phone and cinnamon buns. How did they die? Did you eat them (the cinnamon buns, not the phone I presume), or did they suffer some other fate?

Looks like we have a white xmas too. Not much though. And I'm not sure if they decided they just don't need to plow the road, or if the wind just blew snow all over the road again. It's very windy. 30mph with 50mph gusts. It's sunny, but the feels like is 20 degrees colder than the actual temp. It looks so nice for a walk... but windy feels like 4F with blowing snow isn't that exciting.

Maybe humidity too. Merry xmas!

Yeah, we've tried that - it does NOT help - any air movement causes wind chill, so, in our experience it's better to leave the ceiling fans off in winter. Also, I don't agree they collect more dust - when they're spinning, they collect dust on the edge, whereas while still they collect dust on top, but, less dust makes it all the way up to where the fans are, and, you kind of only have to dust them off before using, instead of every couple of months or w/e. These things probably depend on room dimensions, amount of dust (and maybe dust particle size), maybe outside temperature, and who knows what.

This. Though, in NL, some people do a New Year's dive into the ocean, so, I guess I shouldn't be that surprised that people go surfing in really cold weather. Though it usually isn't *that* cold at the New Year's dive (1F is about as cold as it ever gets in NL, so usually the weather at the New Year's dive is closer to 32-ish, but it really varies year-to-year... also, wind chill or lack thereof makes a big difference).

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2017/12/24/de-kerstman-is-overal-van-berlijn-tot-bangkok-a1585840 The surfer and the guy in the last picture are on the Yenisey river in Siberia, where it's like 1F. I didn't know people went surfing in weather like that!

Celery seems to use the Greek alphabet as a stim, chanting it a zillion times a day if I don't make him stop. Anyway, he made a Scratch program, in which the cat says the Greek alphabet too. Just thought that was funny.