It is Christmas shopping season again and Christmas shopping is abundant. Therefore this week’s topic is “holiday Shopping.” I really want to support local business and retail, but sweet gravy stores are not making it easy. Full length plush robe retailers! You are going to make me go to Amazon.
This week I went ahead and asked my Facebook and Twitter peeps for an assist on coming up with questions for me to answer. It worked fairly well… so this week, it is 20 Questions about “Holiday Shopping” as brought to you my my social graph. Thanks to my Wife, Sandy, AAR, Lsig, ElSilverio, A-AR, and Rob B.
Onto the Questions:
1. What is your strategy for holiday shopping?
Umm… let my wife do most of it and then step in at the last moment for the last minute stuff when she looks at me exasperatedly and asks if I am doing ANYTHING this year.
2. What holidays are worth shopping for?
Christmas, and family birthdays.
3. "Holiday shopping" makes it sounds like you are actually shopping for a holiday...what holiday is the best value? What holidays are just luxury items that we don't really need? What holidays would be in the bulk bin?
Oooh, like we are doing Fantasy Holiday League. Who is the moneymaker, who should I bench, who should I trade high and buy low? I love it…. and go!
If you can get Christmas on your team, you should, but that is a draft pick that is always the first to go. I think it is time to bench St Patrick’s Day. While large quantities of booze will be consumed not much durable goods will accompany that holiday. Bench it. Sell High? That is Easter. The springtime rebirth festivals are waning due to recovering from the winter solsticine holidays, but its name recognition alone will get some high value, but completely lack the payout you’d expect. Sell High! Buy Low? Arbor Day, with the resurgence of Earth Day, Arbor Day is it’s cheaper cousin. Everyone likes trees and with Earth Day on April 22, Arbor Day on April 24th allows the people who forgot Earth Day to plant a tree. Buy Low. This is Scott Ryan-Hart with the weekly Fantasy Holiday League Report.
4. Do you like to shop with someone else or alone? why?
When getting gifts for difficult people I find it best to have a wingman, but if it is a slam dunk easy decision, I like to fly solo.
5. Does the individuals likability affect how much time and money you spend?
Certainly.
6. List or gift from the heart? Or whatever you deem worthy?
A list is a good thing, but the kids are getting rather savvy with their lists… the lists they give right now tend to be skeletal in depth and breadth. So for those lists, I like to go off-book. For people with bajillions of things on their list, I will gladly choose from something on their list.
7. Do you like going to the mall?
Nope
8. Do you buy people things they "need" and practical, or something they might "want" but would be a bit of a luxury?
I feel that a gift should consist of something that the recipient would not typically get for themselves. Sometimes this is something they need that is practical that they are unwilling to shell out the money for, and sometimes this is an extravagance that is luxurious.
9. What gift (for which you shopped) did you get the best reaction from the recipient?
Hmmm… It wasn’t for a holiday, but the reaction of my girlfriend becoming my fiancée
was pretty cool.
10. Last minute deal finder or early bird gets great worms or a little of both?
I am a middle of the road shopper. I like to get to places before they are completely picked over, but not when the outrageous mobs are present.
11. What the bleep is Green Monday?
It is an eBay flavored version of Cyber Monday. It is the day of the year in the mid 00’s that eBay had their most sales and eBay’s logo is green.
12. Opinion of black Friday shenanigans
People are sheep
13. If a loved one's birthday is close to Christmas, do you go all in for one gift or painstakingly try to find two?
I think you should strive for 2 gifts that should not be related.
14. Which store do you least like to enter, but feel compelled because that special somebody wants something from it?
Toys to the freaking R' freaking Us
15. So is Holiday Shopping a woodworking break from a job in the UK?
Yes, I suppose it could be.
16. Close to done?
Kind of?
17. Do you get the gifts wrapped at the store or wrap them at home?
My Wife actually likes wrapping gifts (to my knowledge) and will wrap most the gifts until she gets fed up with the tape on her paper-cut fingers and asks if I am doing ANYTHING this year.
18. Do you ever try to top gifts from year to year?
Nope, that way leads only to financial ruin.
19. What gift are you looking forward to giving this year?
Nice try.
20. Shouldn’t there be a summer gift giving holiday to balance this shit out? I mean seriously, wouldn’t two retail holidays help our GDP?
June 21st, the Summer Solstice should be a holiday… for well… reasons.
To recap:
One of my best friends and uncle to my kids’s mom passed away earlier this week
I knew this time was coming
All of the people I grew up with are in their 40’s now, so their parents are in their 60’s, 70’s and 80’s
It makes sense that it is time
But it is never the time
My heart goes out to him
Just finished watching Agents of SHIELD
That is how you do a mid-season finale
Wow… Just wow
I need to get this published and play a little of my Marvel Heroes 2015 it's a Diablo clone… so. much. fun.
Have a great week everyone