Unwanted things about Xmas.

[NHY 581]

17 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

We used t' 'ave t' lick t' cream off t' asphalt.

 

Mike.

 

asphalt.......we just 'ad earth.....

[rockershovel]

I'm not an admirer of sprouts but will eat one or two on Xmas Day to tide me over the coming year. 

 

Personally I love Xmas. Catching up with people I don't see often enough. Presents. Carols in the Cathedral and if I am free, I take Communion ... I'm not a devout man by any standards but I do find comfort in the forms of the religion of my childhood. Trees and Xmas cards. Skating on the temporary rink in Cathedral Square, this year. Gloopy American "Xmas films" on TV, my wife watches them endlessly which means a break from the soaps. 

Edited December 18, 2022 by rockershovel

[Phil Bullock]

Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross on TV…

[spikey]

3 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

Christmas itself?

 

Indeed.  No kids, no television and we're certainly not Christians, so as far as we're concerned it's entirely irrelevant.  What matters to us is the Solstice.

[Steamport Southport]

Once a year Christmas drinkers. Especially those that are virtually out of it by about 6 o'clock on Mad Friday!

 

🤮

 

I tend to take a "time out" this time of year unless I'm attending a gig or something. Too much hassle. 

 

You're trying to have a normal drink like you do everyday and then thirty tipsy office workers turn up in Xmas jumpers and try (and fail) to order rounds of drinks whilst trying to be everyone's friend!

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2022 by Steamport Southport

[Michael Hodgson]

1 hour ago, Hroth said:

 

Next they'll be pushing Marmite and salted caramel...

 

I can take it or leave it with both of them.

[TheEngineShed]

It's usually the start of the bitter cold time of the year.

 

And my wife intercepts my packages from the UK and insists on wrapping them to put under the tree...  😉

[F-UnitMad]

5 hours ago, AY Mod said:

People who assume you are working.

When I was an HGV Driver, people assuming you're NOT working!! Time off?? What was that?? The shops barely close for 2 days, the whole Supply Chain has to keep working to stock them.

I had to smile one year, when my last load on Xmas Eve was a full load of.....

 

 

.... Easter Eggs.... 🙄🙄🙄🤣🤣

[john new]

1 hour ago, NHY 581 said:

 

asphalt.......we just 'ad earth.....

You mean you had a road? You were lucky we had to machette through frozen grass 20ft high..... etc.

[tigerburnie]

Love Christmas, always have. With reference to Sprouts,(indeed all Brassicas), try them raw. Sprouts lightly cooked with bacon lardons and spices stir fried in a wok are superb.

[Hroth]

59 minutes ago, spikey said:

 

Indeed.  No kids, no television and we're certainly not Christians, so as far as we're concerned it's entirely irrelevant.  What matters to us is the Solstice.

 

Only a few more days to go...

 

 

Happy Solstice!

 

 

[Gilbert]

2 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

The season of goodwill to all (grumpy old) men, and all that. :)

Fek...

and can I just say I hate New Year even more.....

Edited December 18, 2022 by Gilbert

[The Johnster]

Another vote for 'the whole shebang', but particularly the giggling drunk officeparty secretaries clogging up the bar when you want to order a pint.  You're not here the rest of the year, so don't expect me to put up with you now, now just get out of my ferkin' way and stop ordering stupid cocktails that take ages to make up in enormous rounds in which each individual has a different type, and changes their mind halfway through the order, you stupid bints.  And stop sobbing on my xmas jumper because Cameron from Legal was in the broom cupboard with that sl*g Stephanie from Accounts instead of you, and try not to be sick on my shoes... b*gger, too late, someone call her a taxi...*  Don't have a Long Lazy Screw On The Beach if you can't handle it!

 

Cameron and Stephanie, names not changed to protect anyone, are based on a real office party incident from my brief clerical career back in the 80s, btw, and were the cause of my being awarded the title of 'supreme office bitch of the year'.  Stephanie's mum was at the front desk to collect her with the car, and somebody asked if we should 'tell her where Stephanie is', and I responded with 'no, sombody should tell her what Stephanie is'.  Ooooo, miaow...

 

*'Janice, you're a taxi'.

Edited December 18, 2022 by The Johnster

[Mallard60022]

In a few words, the whole overwhelming bollox that is the dreadful over indulgence of so many when another 'so many' have hardly got anything. Makes me puke. Bah humbug

S. Anta 

[Mallard60022]

Having just been rude about the commercial avalanche that the period has become, I notice that no one here has mentioned and separated the 'real', historic meaning of the Christmas celebration and the  avalanche just mentioned! Except for one comment about the Solstice, which I too endorse as the route to Spring and lovely long days. 

I'm probably one of the few remaining old gits that still enjoys the story of the birth of one of the first and reviled Refugees and seemingly very interesting good bloke that appears to have gone around loving and helping people over 2000 years ago.  

Cheers and have a good few days with your loved ones or whatever you call them, or doing what is right for you.

Phil

[J. S. Bach]

26 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

Another vote for 'the whole shebang', but particularly the giggling drunk officeparty secretaries clogging up the bar when you want to order a pint.  You're not here the rest of the year, so don't expect me to put up with you now, now just get out of my ferkin' way and stop ordering stupid cocktails that take ages to make up in enormous rounds in which each individual has a different type, and changes their mind halfway through the order, you stupid bints.  And stop sobbing on my xmas jumper because Cameron from Legal was in the broom cupboard with that sl*g Stephanie from Accounts instead of you, and try not to be sick on my shoes... b*gger, too late, someone call her a taxi...*  Don't have a Long Lazy Screw On The Beach if you can't handle it!

 

Cameron and Stephanie, names not changed to protect anyone, are based on a real office party incident from my brief clerical career back in the 80s, btw, and were the cause of my being awarded the title of 'supreme office bitch of the year'.  Stephanie's mum was at the front desk to collect her with the car, and somebody asked if we should 'tell her where Stephanie is', and I responded with 'no, sombody should tell her what Stephanie is'.  Ooooo, miaow...

 

*'Janice, you're a taxi'.

More on that, please?? 🙀

[TheQ]

For about half of my working life I didn't get Christmas off work at all.

Covid has killed most of the Christmas party's.

Work had two, the whole factory's but that's gone, and the section doo which I'll attend for the final time next Thursday.

SWMBOs art and Weaving groups dinners have not reappeared, neither has my model railway clubs. The Sailing clubs has, but that's aimed at the children so we don't go.

 

We'd get fed up of turkey at these functions, but I might get one this year.

Sprouts I like, boiled first, then fried in butter with bacon and chestnuts.

Dislike ?

Brandy Butter..

commercialism. The 12 days of Christmas run from 25th December, not 12 weeks before

[PaulRhB]

What’s not to like, let out the Christmas Dinosaur, eat the traditional disaster film trains, have a huge Chinese takeaway and enjoy mince pie season!

 

 

Rex turned TT into tea! 

[AY Mod]

Please don't turn the topic into polarised perspectives of the season. Even if someone enjoys the season, for whatever personal reasons, please don't try and drag them down to the lowest levels of curmudgeonliness. Conversely, some may find Christmas upsetting for other personal reasons. Also I know people who may indulge in what some may view as excesses at the same time as being extraordinarily benevolent to some less fortunate, particularly at the moment.

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, john new said:

You mean you had a road? You were lucky we had to machette through frozen grass 20ft high..... etc.

Grass?

We had a primeval swamp with T-Rex and others to fend off, just to get the outside khasi (i.e. hole in the ground)

[Halvarras]

Christmas decorations. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind putting them up, and looking at them once they're up - it's finding the ones which my Other Half has instructed me to find amongst all the boxes marked "Christmas Stuff" in the loft which drives me round the bend every year, because nothing is ever where it is supposed to be. Specific labelling of boxes never works. It's like some Loft Gremlin quietly rearranges it all between January and November. It definitely doesn't help that every year she buys more new stuff but thinning out the old stuff is forbidden (they appear to have the same status as historical artefacts). After 40+ years we now have enough decorations to do Christmas three times over. When I return those we have used this year to the loft in January I'll try to keep them separate for finding more easily next year, knowing the Gremlin will have other ideas!

 

Oh, and Cadburys Creme Eggs on sale on Boxing Day - right, that's Christmas done and dusted, next stop Easter........🤨

[APOLLO]

Christmas has mostly been over the years a mixed bag for me. I've always liked the family side especially when the kids were young.

 

Many years ago at work we took turns at being on emergency standby over the season. Before I had kids I often traded New Years Eve for being on call Xmas day. I once spent the whole of Xmas day in a chemical works in Widnes, and another in a tunnel shaft under the Manchester Ship canal - both times supervising gas emergency works. Not all bad though, one Xmas week night we attended a big job outside the management HQ of ICI at Runcorn, I remember the butler (or whatever his job was) coming out to us with a nip of Brandy and a mince pie each on a large silver tray !! So spare a thought and raise a glass on Xmas day for all those who serve us and work on Christmas day, in a multitude of occupations.

 

Quiet Xmas this year for us, kids are now over 20. Twin girls are over in Bangkok with family, son came up from Poole last night for a couple of weeks. Sister can't come due to health reasons. So a bit subdued this year. The tree looks barren with no presents beneath, just giving money instead so no waste buying perhaps unwanted/unneeded things, but the magic of Christmas morning present opening will not quite be there this year.

 

Anyway, I hope you all can enjoy the next two weeks in your own way as best you can. We will.

 

Brit15

 

 

 

 

[Vistisen]

4 hours ago, woodenhead said:

Typical remark of a ready to plonk creamer - ever heard of mixing - take some cream add some brandy and hey presto brandy cream.

 

People really want their creams given to them on a plate these days, in my day we had to mix to get the exact cream we wanted.

 

But today with people like Accuracream offering all variations in one batch people are just getting lazy.  😀

Get your own cow. Buying ready made cream is not doing it properly.

 

[PhilH]

16 minutes ago, Vistisen said:

Get your own cow. 

 

That’s the easy part, it’s the shaking it up and down to make what comes out thicker is the hard bit.

Edited December 18, 2022 by PhilH

[Wheatley]

46 minutes ago, Halvarras said:

... Cadburys Creme Eggs on sale on Boxing Day - right, that's Christmas done and dusted, next stop Easter........🤨

I take it back, there is something good about it.