Harry Krause wrote:
I managed to spend more than I thought I would, but avoided buying *any*
products made in the Peoples' Republic of China. It's getting more
difficult to do that.

The products I bought were made or grown in:

The United States 14 items
Peru one item
Israel one item
Japan four items


I was going to buy myself a new large LCD monitor, but after spending
three hours in a MicroCenter computer store looking at the best of the
best offerings from the major vendors, I decided NONE of them were
better or in fact even as good as my trusty, aging glass tube monitor.

So, so far, I've got everyone on my list "gifted," *except* me.




Sounds like tough duty. My late-20's daughter will be home in a day or
so, and she knows my wife's taste *exactly*. Holiday shopping for me is
a process of following my daughter through various department stores,
carrying a growing pile of bags and packages, and whipping out the
credit card. Everybody should have a daughter, they come in pretty
handy. :-) My wife shops for everybody else, thankfully. I will be
surprised by my usual holiday haul from the wife and kids: a bottle of
Crown Royal, a box of chocolate covered cherries, and a new shirt. We
include gifting in our celebration, but it's been a really minor deal
since the kids got past the Santa stage.

I did drop a couple of hints for "Indulgence" this year. Air horn would
be nice. Have to see what the elf brings 'round, but I'm beginning to
get some bids for the great paint-and upgrade project I'm contemplating
for '06 and that will be gifty enough for my boat, AFAIC.

I got dragged into the mall for the first time in 3 years and felt like
I was in hell. It was all I could do to sit drinkling a cup of coffee
without running out screaming like a maniac. All the young girls are
nice to see but otherwise its hell-on-earth for me.
I do have a 19 yr old daughter who constantly rolls here eyes at my
behavior and shopping with her is embarassing for me (YOU CANT WEAR
THAT). My 15 yr old son just wants to hang out and be cool but I
forbid it so he gets mad. My 9 yr old daughter wants to try to skip
pennies across the fountain and they hit other people so I have to tell
her she is not outdoors skipping rocks. NO, NO, NO, DONT DRAG ME BACK
THERE, I'll hand over the AMEX card.