Day: November 28, 2006

Santa Claus (no E) writes:
“$341.00 for a christmas list…..I hate Christmas lists…..my my my what ever happened to .. imagination, listening, looking, making mental notes….Come on folks….. this is Christmas, time to give surprises…not things that people tell you to get….”

For once, I agree with one of the comments left on my site. Santa Claus has hit the nail on the head.

I personally do not care for wish lists. Sure, when I was a kid, they were fine because you could hint towards your parents about the things you wanted…especially the ONE gift you couldn’t do without.

But nowadays, when everyone can afford anything they want (well not EVERYTHING, but a lot of stuff that would make it onto a Christmas list at least), I would rather be surprised with my gifts. I would rather people take a step back, think about who I am and realize what I would appreciate.

Now…the reason I made the list is for the people who just aren’t around me enough to figure out what I would like. Let’s take the parents for example…living away from them, they can’t peruse what I own and say “Hey, Ryan probably needs a new hammer!”. It’s hard! Hence, the list makes things a little easier, or at the very least, gives an idea. For example, I listed a few Beatles books on my list last year. The parents didn’t get me them, but they picked up another gem of a Beatles book which I’m reading right now which is really great! It’s probably the best gift I got last year. (Vero, if you’re reading this, I’m lying…your gifts were the best! You know it’s true!) So with the list, they deduced other items that I would enjoy.

So…do I like the idea of a gift list? No…but I understand why there is sometimes a need for it. Sort of like wedding registries.

Where wish lists go wrong is when a person is DISAPPOINTED that they don’t get something off of the list. That’s just lame. Remind me to introduce you to coal next year bub.

As for the $341 comment…holy crap, I don’t expect to get anywhere near all the items on the list. It’s more of a ‘pick and choose if you can’t figure out anything else’ deal.

For those wishing to pick up yours truly a gift (Mom/Dad, I’m looking at you here..), I have created a wish list on Amazon.com

Actually, you may wish to actually order through Amazon.com (instead of Amazon.ca) to save some money. I have just received the following note from Artoo concerning his Alias boxset that he ordered through amazon.com:

“Yep.. Got it last Friday. No duties = shipped in Canada as per your blog entry. Set is beautiful. I believe they relay the shipments as the outside box is shipped from Canada. The inside plastic said an address from the US.”

Here’s the list.

I had to go to Hell and back last night to pick up my iPod from the repair shop. You send the iPod in via UPS, but they send it back via some obscure shipping company called DHL. Considering I had to sign for the package, I had to arrange to pick it up at their depot.

Their depot was in south Nepean. Krista was gracious to lend me her wheels for the adventure so we high-tailed it down to South Nepean to find this depot. Keep in mind that it’s dark, it’s rainy and it’s 5 PM. That’s right, rush hour.

Let me just say this…traffic is literally insane once you get to the junction of Hunt Club and Prince of Wales, otherwise known as the Gateway To Barrhaven. I don’t even know how people can manage getting into that cramped in spot to their community. Gak. I almost got caught in it, but didn’t make the turn quick enough but realized I can just go up another block and find the depot easily.

Anyhow, after some pains at the depot, I ripped open my package to find a brand new iPod! Yay! Now, it’s not the newest version (which I had thought for a whole two minutes as it said iPod instead of iPod photo on the back) but it is a new iPod with a colour screen (no video capabilities).