Christmas presents

[pbj]

So, through a series of deaths and continued inability to produce offspring, I find myself in the unenviable position of being the only one around to buy presents for.  Last year was particularly embarrassing in the sheer quantity and quality of gifts I took home, and I fear this year will be a repeat.  As much as it distresses me to admit it, I do share similar tastes with many of you.  Protests of "please do not buy me anything" will continue to fall on deaf ears.

What's everyone requesting for Christmas this year?

[jennifer]

   I always ask for stuff from the radio shack, and usually got speaker wire and such....But now that they are closed, This year Im going to ask for the big red "R" sign off the side of the mall.

[pbj]

Yeah, did the Radio Shack thing once.  I believe they had some cold touch soldering iron for $5-10.  I asked for two. 

Got a lecture as I unwrapped them about how nobody needed two soldering irons.

[SavannahLion]

Unfortunately, I've pretty much alienated nearly all of my gift givers over the past 10 years and the remainder are too young (my kids) or too broke (the only cousin I haven't alienated since I was the only family member to show up at her wedding two states away). The last one I alienated is my brother in law when he purchased me a $50 (!) Gift card to a movie chain that takes about six hours to get to. So I gave it back to him the following year with a gentle explanation that I wasn't about to drive to the other side of the state to redeem said card. I guess he was offended since every year since, he asked to visit only with my spouse and has excluded me from every activity.

So I'll be buying my own gifts by pretending my kids picked them out I guess. I ordered an HDCP stripper and and a standalone HDMI recorder from China. Should get here sometime around the new year. I might give my other brother in law a 24 pack of beer so he can give me half to drink at the party.

[pbj]

$50 gift card you can't use.  That's epic.  Probably regifted it to you in the first place. 

[dkersten]

Everything on my list is too expensive for anyone to buy, so I treat myself and let them get me something I probably won't like but will smile and say thank you when I open it.  I already treated myself to my first X-Mas present.. a new GTX 980Ti graphics card.  Now I have my eye on the new Predator X-34 34" IPS widescreen QHD monitor with g-sync, but I am waffling on the $1250 pricetag.

The GF is moving in, I finally got an injection in my back that helped, my kids are all home for the holidays, my second novel will be published in the next couple days, and when it comes down to it I already have more than I could ever ask for.  Unfortunately when I tell others I already have everything I want, they don't listen.  So bring on a dvd I will never watch, a gift card for a store I never go to, and that shirt I will wear once and put in my closet.  Life is good.

[HaRuMaN]

Some random tools I need, some ps4 / xbox1 games, some vinyl, a drone with camera (a $50 one, not one of those crazy expensive ones), some books, a new turntable...

[knave]

I inevitably buy most of what I want throughout the year...sometimes I hold off on a few things that are easy for Family to get. Tools, clothes, books etc.
Technology is usually not a good option because Family will not choose exactly what I want...nor do I want to explain how to order hobby items from obscure websites.

When in doubt I ask for gift cards...Home depot, Harbor Freight, Steam, Restaurants or if they have to wrap it BBQ supplies...it is unromantic but it beats an ugly sweater that I will have to return or donate.

[SavannahLion]

$50 gift card you can't use.  That's epic.  Probably regifted it to you in the first place.

I dunno. They're from the beach, right on the coast in one of those million dollar two room houses overlooking the surf. It's more like they're probably a bit out of touch with the world around them. He's on call 24/7 at a tech job and surfs in his free time, she's a teacher who doesn't like kids. They don't imbibe, think the future is in electric cars, like seven grain bread and eat fish tacos. As far as I can tell, they fall just shy of the idea that everything North of the Grape Vine exists exclusively to support the L.A. basin.

[BadMouth]

I always ask for things that I want, but could not bring myself to buy because of the price.
Not necessarily expensive items, but too much money for what it is.
I love me some thick smartwool hiking socks, but would never pay $20 out of my own pocket for them.
Hey you're going to spend $40 regardless, so what does it matter if it's two overpriced items or a pile of cheap stuff?

My parents have always been obsessed with buying me winter coats. 

As for what you should ask for:

Look at all the oddball tools Kreg makes (Last year I asked for big 250 count boxes of Kreg screws in various sizes)
Cheap streaming devices for spare or oddly located TVs.
Dremel cut-off wheels
I bought this indoor/outdoor thermometer and love the thing: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GLDQFPY?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00

[CCM]

So I gave it back to him the following year with a gentle explanation that I wasn't about to drive to the other side of the state to redeem said card. I guess he was offended since every year since, he asked to visit only with my spouse and has excluded me from every activity.

The gift card was a crappy gift, but it seems like you went out of your way to create unnecessary family drama.   You kept it for a year, just to give it back to him?  Why not just give it to someone else that could use it?

Anyway, back on topic...

I am asking for quad rails and a new scope for my AR.

 

[harveybirdman]

I wouldn't mind getting a rom burner for the Rayforce conversion I'd like to do someday.

[johnrt]

Peace on earth. 

[vwalbridge]

I want johnrt to give me his DK cab when he is done.

Also this...

[pbj]

This thread is depressing.  Don't any of you enjoy life?  :-P

I like the drone idea.  That's a dumb toy I can send someone loose on. 

[vwalbridge]

I want pbj to build me a bartop arcade that plays virtual pinball for a Christmas present.

[HaRuMaN]

This thread is depressing.  Don't any of you enjoy life?  :-P

I like the drone idea.  That's a dumb toy I can send someone loose on.

this is the one I have on my wish list, not too expensive, decent reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D3IN11Q/

[pbj]

I want pbj to build me a bartop arcade that plays virtual pinball for a Christmas present.

We can make this happen.  Have one of those tinker toy kits shipped my way.

[johnrt]

Ok then!

Yesterday I ordered one of these for myself:
http://www.amazon.com/PAC-MAN-Premium-LED-Desk-Clock/dp/B0161ZWIIO/

[vwalbridge]

Ok then!

Yesterday I ordered one of these for myself:
http://www.amazon.com/PAC-MAN-Premium-LED-Desk-Clock/dp/B0161ZWIIO/

For $80, does it at least play pac-man too?

[johnrt]

Ok then!

Yesterday I ordered one of these for myself:
http://www.amazon.com/PAC-MAN-Premium-LED-Desk-Clock/dp/B0161ZWIIO/

For $80, does it at least play pac-man too?

Of course not. And do you really think I got away with $80? I'm living in no man's land so I had to pay additionally 27 USD for shipping.

[knave]

I forgot about Coffee! I love to get coffee as a present...New stuff or my usual. I will brew it and appreciate it. 

Board/card games can be good too, Easy for folks to find/order and you are likely to get what you asked for.
Fluxx is popular at our house.

[pbj]

That pacman clock is pretty cool.....

[yotsuya]

I like that Pac-Man clock as opposed to the Bradford Exchange one I've seen.

[Howard_Casto]

+1 on the Kregg stuff.  I hope Santa brings me a pocket hole jig. 

The thing about asking for fun stuff is, at least in my family people can't seem to understand why a grown man would want something fun.  It's like whimsy is supposed to die at adulthood or something.  Screw that!  I'm chocked full of whimsy damn it! Chocked full!!!

Normally if I ask for something straight forward like a video game the family will get it for me, but that's about it. 

Something that I've been getting into recently because I'm a massive dork are novelty watches.  They have those watches with the hidden face, Doctor Who pocket watches, a BTTF flux capacitor watch ect..... They are cheap and easy to buy. 

I really want some flash carts for my consoles but I fear asking for one would be as complicated as asking for an unlicensed nuclear accelerator to the family.

The erector set robot that came out this year is pretty fun.  Reminds me of Johnny 5. 

Drones are awesome as well.  Or should I say rc quadcoptors as they aren't drones. That's a small pet peeve of mine. 

Oh and there is a "life sized" Yoda robot that's pretty fun and I'm not even into Star Wars that much. 

[pbj]

Good call on that robot.  All it needs is a Kathy Ireland mask and it's good to go.

[Howard_Casto]

Just as long as it's Kathy Ireland circa 1998 and not 2015. 

[Token]

My Christmas gift is the Ultimarc order I placed the other day. I-PAC Ultimate, buttons, and LEDs. I'm sure my wife will pick up a couple other small items, too.

We have five kids, so Christmas is more about them.

[pbj]

We have five kids

[Token]

Yeah. I've heard it all. We ain't Catholic. Or Mormon. We don't homeschool.

After we did our part to ensure the survival of our genetic code, we adopted three more.

[Token]

If anybody ever had a valid reason for making a four-player MAME cab, it was me.

And I didn't.

[harveybirdman]

If anybody ever had a valid reason for making a four-player MAME cab, it was me.

And I didn't.

I like your style Dude

[Slippyblade]

After we did our part to ensure the survival of our genetic code, we adopted three more.

Rep for you!  Wish there were more willing to do that.

[Howard_Casto]

Just remember to help control the pet population and please have your children spayed or neutered. 

[Generic Eric]

The erector set robot that came out this year is pretty fun.  Reminds me of Johnny 5. 

Meccano?

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah.... meccano is actually erector, they re-branded a couple of years ago.  There's a 4 foot model and a 2 foot model and from what I've seen they are extremely impressive in terms of what they can do. 

[yotsuya]

All I ever ask for are Amazon gift cards.

[thomas_surles]

I asked my wife to get me one thing from my list.

Turbo graphics 16
sega cd
3do
sega saturn
neo geo cd
or any everdrive.

so it will probably be an ebay gift card.

[Locke141]

My wife used my Amazon account to order my gift. It has to be shipped to the courier my new job uses, at a cost of $7 per LBS from my pay check. The office will sent me an email when it arrives with a description of what it is. So now I have to jump throw hoops to not find out what my gift is. Still I'm excited.

For my wife, a tanzanite  bracelet was lost in the move that I got her as a birthing gift when my son was born. I'm having a friend bring an identical one from Tanzania when she come for X-mass.

For my self, I ordered a pandoras box 3 kit, that I'll probably give away after the build is finished. 

[pbj]

Tanzanite?  Damn, son. 

[opt2not]

Wool socks and a good bottle of scotch.
Nothing beats the comfort of a warm belly and cosy feet during the long Canadian winter nights.

[lilshawn]

I have far too much disposable income, thus whenever I need or want anything i've always just gone out and got it.

When the holidays roll around and the topic of presents comes up I always just shrug my shoulders.

Quite honestly I need nothing, and want even less. althoughh the "seek thermal imaging camera" looks pretty neat and is super cheap compared to a flir camera.

http://www.amazon.ca/Seek-Thermal-Camera-for-Android/dp/B00XC774BG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1448659851&sr=8-3&keywords=seek+thermal+xr

What I really want is for it to just friggin snow a dump already so I can bust out the snowblower. Shovelling an inch here and and inch there of this crap is getting on my nerves.

[HaRuMaN]

I have far too much disposable income

Sounds like you need some bartops

[lilshawn]

I have far too much disposable income

Sounds like you need some bartops

I've been building cocktail tables for resale to other vendors in the area for the last 6 or 8 months. did just under a dozen last 2 months... got another 3 that will be 100% done by the end of today and another 5 started. I'm getting cabinet'ed out. 

[ark_ader]

I bought myself three warm sweaters and Battle Front.  All wrapped and under the tree, I made sure I took the activation card out of Battle Front 

Everyone buys me the wrong stuff.  Not this year.

[Locke141]

Tanzanite?  Damn, son.

Tanzanite only can be found in Tanzania.

[eds1275]

I want my wife to stop being crazy. She's sick in the head due to reactions to anti deppressants. I'm fed up with it.

Other than that, I'd like Alien Isolation, the story mode for The Long Dark to be released, another Xbox One controller, some vodka/whiskey/scotch/beer. Everything else I want is super expensive. But if anyone wanted to buy me a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar I would be grateful

[pbj]

Gibson?  Lol.  Not in this lifetime.  You get Yamaha.

[lcmgadgets]

Me and a bunch of fellow roller skating enthusiasts are trying to create a roller rink in our city. We have almost everything we need--a detailed business plan, a pro shop & stock, rental skates, staff (including an owner/manager of a long closed rink), even a hard wood floor (in storage). What we need is MONEY. We've come up with incentives for people to invest, & many like our ideas. My Christmas wish is that enough of them take a chance, come forward & help make the dream come true (I'm still the only investor so far).

[CCM]

Me and a bunch of fellow roller skating enthusiasts are trying to create a roller rink in our city. We have almost everything we need--a detailed business plan, a pro shop & stock, rental skates, staff (including an owner/manager of a long closed rink), even a hard wood floor (in storage). What we need is MONEY. We've come up with incentives for people to invest, & many like our ideas. My Christmas wish is that enough of them take a chance, come forward & help make the dream come true (I'm still the only investor so far).

This has 'Christopher Guest movie' written all over it.

[eds1275]

This has 'Christopher Guest movie' written all over it.

pistachio nut, red pistachio nut, pine nut...

Gibson?  Lol.  Not in this lifetime.  You get Yamaha.

Yeah I don't expect people to drop that kind of coin on me. I have 3 gibson electrics but really I have had my heart set on a hummingbird for about 15 years. I actually went to buy one once, and the store couldn't find the keys to the glass display case it was in. While they were looking, I picked up a guild that was $2k cheaper and decided on that. It's a fantastic guitar, but I have regretted that ever since.

[lcmgadgets]

Omg--that just might be brilliant.

'THIS IS SKATELAND'

[pbj]

Yeah I don't expect people to drop that kind of coin on me. I have 3 gibson electrics but really I have had my heart set on a hummingbird for about 15 years. I actually went to buy one once, and the store couldn't find the keys to the glass display case it was in. While they were looking, I picked up a guild that was $2k cheaper and decided on that. It's a fantastic guitar, but I have regretted that ever since.

I went to the Gibson 'factory' at that mall in Nashville.  Figured I'd buy something for my wife.  There wasn't a single thing in there below $6k, which was about double my max on that adventure.  There also wasn't a single customer in there besides my peasant ass.

In the years since, I've heard rumblings of all kinds of financial and quality problems.

[eds1275]

Definitely. You have to try like 30 instruments before you get a good one, but the good ones are super nice. Most other people my age try to tell me that gibsons are for "rich old men with more money than sense." I admit it, I'm kind of a whore for them. They are very nice once you sift through the crap.

[Aceldamor]

a soul for pbj - so LEDs can illuminate his heart 

[Howard_Casto]

Hey he has a soul.... he showed me the Barry White album himself. 
*crickets*


....

So eds... I guess you wouldn't be a fan of my Kmart "Rok Axe" then?  Guaranteed to produce a sound of some kind when strumming the strings!

[opt2not]

[thomas_surles]

according to my paypal, my wife ordered me an everdrive 64

[BadMouth]

Hey he has a soul.... he showed me the Barry White album himself. 

I hear he collects both country AND western.
*crickets*

[SavannahLion]

Looks like it's been decided on a crazy shopping binge this past weekend.

A Wii U with Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario builder or whatever that game is.
An iPad Air
Three laptops and Minecraft for each
A new 28 inch TV for the mother unit
A guitar (Frozen)
Nerf gun
Fitbit

Notice... there's nothing there for me.

I should've guessed something when I heard my wallet scream a horrible death cry, shrivel up, and catch on fire.

[JMB]

Definitely. You have to try like 30 instruments before you get a good one, but the good ones are super nice. Most other people my age try to tell me that gibsons are for "rich old men with more money than sense." I admit it, I'm kind of a whore for them. They are very nice once you sift through the crap.

For years a "real" Les Paul was my most coveted guitar. After seeing all the issues a good friend has had with his "Made in the USA" Gibson I know I will never bother owning one now. Quality has just gone so far downhill. If I do get one it would be something older. Beyond that I would just take the Gibson cost and get something custom made. So many amazing small luthiers out there now making some great guitars.

[pbj]

So far I've gotten jewelry and cash.  Thus begins the bizarre cycle where I am given Christmas and birthday presents around Thanksgiving and the money is subsequently used to buy those people gifts with the money.

[vwalbridge]

Thus begins the bizarre cycle where I am given Christmas and birthday presents around Thanksgiving and the money is subsequently used to buy those people gifts with the money.

A couple of years ago I had an epiphany and suggested to my family we stop the madness of constantly buying each other gift cards for birthdays and holidays. At the end of the year we were all essentially trading money. We agreed to stop buying each other gifts. No exceptions.

We have never looked back.

[pbj]

Gift cards.... they were standing in line at the gas station and remembered they needed to get you a present....

Hate the damn things.  Well, I take that back, I've randomly gotten a few over the years because it had been regifted 10 times and it eventually was randomly shoved into my hands.  I've enjoyed those.

Those aside, cash is king in my family.

[dkersten]

I will begin my shopping for others on about Dec 20th.  Amazon Prime or I'm not getting it, and I will have it all here before X-Mas day. 

I fleshed out my gifts to myself with a new AV receiver, a new 48" TV for my bedroom, and now finishing out some of the whole house audio (new volume controls for some rooms, using the old AV receiver to replace the old one I have been using to feed the whole house audio).  Might still pull the trigger on a new sub for the theater but I think the 34" widescreen G-sync is off the list.  Computer room is coming apart for a renovation anyway so my computer gaming will be curbed for a few months.

It's nice having the GF moving in (and helping with the mortgage) and a son paying rent.. between that and the books the extra income allows me a few new toys this time of year.

[Howard_Casto]

Hey he has a soul.... he showed me the Barry White album himself. 

I hear he collects both country AND western.
*crickets*

I got it man.  Let's listen to the theme from raw hide for 8 hours in memorium. 


Hey what about these fiio mp3 players? 

They look like some strange hybrid between a zune and an ipod.... you know, what apple SHOULD have released instead of going completely off the rails, dropping the ipod and releasing crippled smart phones instead.  I just don't know if they are worth the ridiculous price of 80 dollars for a mp3 player in 2015. 

[Blackfoot]

A Dillon 650

[thomas_surles]

Hey he has a soul.... he showed me the Barry White album himself. 

I hear he collects both country AND western.
*crickets*

I got it man.  Let's listen to the theme from raw hide for 8 hours in memorium. 


Hey what about these fiio mp3 players? 

They look like some strange hybrid between a zune and an ipod.... you know, what apple SHOULD have released instead of going completely off the rails, dropping the ipod and releasing crippled smart phones instead.  I just don't know if they are worth the ridiculous price of 80 dollars for a mp3 player in 2015.

well I sold an 80gb iPod classic on eBay for 90 bucks this year, but I think everyone just stores their music on a smartphone now because it's more convinent. Until some was calls you while you are listening to a song while you have your phone plugged into the aux in the car because you don't have blutooth and you have to unplug it to answer.

[Howard_Casto]

Jack of all trades, master of none.  I still keep dedicated cameras and music players. 

[lilshawn]

well, it does a pretty good job as a phone though.

[BadMouth]

I got to the point where building and maintaining a large collection of MP3s and playlists felt like too much work. 

These days I rent my music.  I pay Rhapsody $10 a month, but it's less than I spent on music before and I never have buyer's remorse over a bad album.
I can build playlists while listening at work and then bring them up on my home theater receiver, phone, other computers, etc without having to transfer any files.
It's in the cloud, but you also have the option of download the songs to the phone or some mp3 players.

[pbj]

I just stream music 95% of the time.  My tastes aren't very popular so I rely on those stations to keep me up to date anyway.

[tomstewdevine]

If anybody ever had a valid reason for making a four-player MAME cab, it was me.

And I didn't.

This is so f'n funny.

[jennifer]

I just stream music 95% of the time.  My tastes aren't very popular so I rely on those stations to keep me up to date anyway.

I just watched "Little Lover" and Coca Cola was edited out and replaced with Lemonade. What?, Bon would just die if he saw that (And Jenn is so not happy)....I refuse to be party to their anymore. 3O years after the fact, and suddenly history needs to be modified? Old school vinyl for me now and ever!

[lilshawn]

Old school vinyl for me now and ever!

hipster.

 

[pbj]

Meh, I lived in the 80s.  I remember the universal stampede to get rid of records as quickly as humanly possible.  When it comes to music, you can't even give away physical media these days.

[HaRuMaN]

Meh, I lived in the 80s.  I remember the universal stampede to get rid of records as quickly as humanly possible.  When it comes to music, you can't even give away physical media these days.

I wish that were the case with some of the albums I want to get my hands on.  Pricey, even stupidly so. 

[dkersten]

I keep enough songs on my phone to be able to cast music to a BT speaker if I find myself somewhere without internet and needing music.  Otherwise, I like Pandora - simple to use, playlists are already there, and everything plays Pandora.

My latest challenge: Tie my whole house audio into my HT and other misc BT speakers and be able to sync them all up and control from one easy source that my technologically challenged GF can operate without having to call me first.  MusicCast from Yamaha is GREAT on the AV receiver, but from what I read the BT speakers and devices to tie it together with existing stuff is sketchy and unreliable.  Sonos would work if I want to drop about $3500, but I don't.  It's looking like Chromecast Audio is the way to go, but I want to wait until the Party Mode comes out first to make sure it works.. supposed to be out any day now but I can't find ANYTHING on it yet.  The desire to have one app that can select any or all zones and cast music from DLNA/Plex server or stream from Pandora/Spotify all using one app that is simple to use is what drives me, but so far there is no working model.  Chromecast Audio units are cheap ($35 each), use Wi-Fi instead of BT (better bandwidth and less compression), have an optical out if you really insist on having the best D/A converter, and Chromecast is integrated into hundreds of apps now.  Only problem is all my devices outside my phones are Kindle Fire and I use Prime, so it doesn't make as much sense to use Chromecast for the TV's (Fire TV makes better sense).  My brother is really into using his Echo, but otherwise he is ALL about Google (all his audio, video, tv is now Google based), so he is struggling because he is starting to add to Echo with lighting and the such, but it will never cast to Chrome stuff...

Technology is getting awesome but we are still just that last step away from a complete package that all works together without costing 100 times too much and without being overcomplicated.  Some day...

[BadMouth]

About 12 years ago I listened to the 4 channel mix of Dark Side of the Moon on vinyl.
The guy who owned the setup wasn't an audiophile or anything, he'd just owned it since the 70's or whenever and never stopped using it.
It was the best sounding thing I've ever heard.

For years I tried to recreate the experience on a 5.1 home theater setup and fell short.
It turns out that the mixes I was playing weren't the same.  They had some guy remix it for 5.1 SACD and the stereo mix was also different than the 4 channel mix.
The original 4 channel mix was finally released in 2011 as part of the Immersion box set.
I've been too cheap to buy the entire box set just to get it though.

[lilshawn]

Meh, I lived in the 80s.  I remember the universal stampede to get rid of records as quickly as humanly possible.  When it comes to music, you can't even give away physical media these days.

my car doesn't even have a slot for a CD. it's AM/FM/SAT USB or Bluetooth.

physical media is done like disco. even console games these days don't even really use media except for physical copyright. you plunk the game in...oh a 2 gig update? okay.

[vwalbridge]

For now, I"ll take my physical media all day long. Why? Because if the game turns out to be a dud, I finish it, or just no longer want it then it is still worth something. Heck, just look at the frenzy for NES and SNES games on eBay. They are collected like comic books. Guys buying Mega Man 4 just so they can round out the collection even though they will never play it.

What the hell am I supposed to do with a digital download when I'm done with it?

[jennifer]

Meh, I lived in the 80s.  I remember the universal stampede to get rid of records as quickly as humanly possible.  When it comes to music, you can't even give away physical media these days.

Although I suddenly got a overwhelming urge for a giant can of hairspray (And a few other things) , I don't remember anyone ever giving away records.

[Howard_Casto]

For now, I"ll take my physical media all day long. Why? Because if the game turns out to be a dud, I finish it, or just no longer want it then it is still worth something. Heck, just look at the frenzy for NES and SNES games on eBay. They are collected like comic books. Guys buying Mega Man 4 just so they can round out the collection even though they will never play it.

What the hell am I supposed to do with a digital download when I'm done with it?

Yup.  And you should buy physical copies of stuff as often as humanly possible.  If you don't then  they'll REALLY go away (sorry, cds, game discs and other physical media are still going strong... Microsoft almost got castrated over the idea of going all digital with the xbox one) and when they do you no longer have any power as a consumer.  You can't trade it, you can't collect it, you can't copy it to something else ect....  Even if the game disc is largely symbolic at this point and nothing more than a glorified key, you should still buy it over digital downloads for the aforementioned reasons.