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11-24-2015, 07:45 AM
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#1
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2013
Location: ATL --> Flyover Country
Posts: 6,649
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Holiday Misery
Yesterday was Monday, my new favorite day of the week. Like normal, I got up at a most reasonable time and decided I would knock off a couple of "to-do" items that necessitated my leaving the house.
BIG MISTAKE.
I assumed that most of the holiday buffoonery would wait until Wednesday, but man oh man, was I WRONG. I was out and about for about an hour and I swear, it took off about 3 years from my life. People around here tend to be a fairly friendly lot, but when the holidays are around the corner, it's every man for himself and there wasn't a friendly face to be seen ANYWHERE.
Anyway, I got home and am going to do my best to avoid the masses as best as I can for a while. I am sorry for those of you that still have to w*rk, but I can't WAIT until you go back!!! 
__________________
FIRE'd in 2014 @ 40 Years Old
Professional Retiree
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11-24-2015, 07:49 AM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 14,328
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I feel your pain. I grocery shop on Monday mornings and it was like a Saturday there. Hardly any parking and traffic sucked.
And get off my snow covered lawn! 
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11-24-2015, 08:29 AM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2013
Location: ATL --> Flyover Country
Posts: 6,649
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Ughh. I just realized that a coupon I have for a free oil change expires TOMORROW and I really want to use it. Without the coupon, it costs me about $40 to get the oil changed. I REALLY don't want to go out there...decisions, decisions!
__________________
FIRE'd in 2014 @ 40 Years Old
Professional Retiree
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11-24-2015, 09:22 AM
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#4
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 13,150
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Went Black Friday shopping a few years back and swore that I'd never do that again. No fun bumping into strangers jockeying for position. The only kind of Black Friday shopping I'd do, if any is online.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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11-24-2015, 09:47 AM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: yonder
Posts: 2,851
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 Quote:
Originally Posted by FlyBoy5
<snip>I was out and about for about an hour and I swear, it took off about 3 years from my life.
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With this new mortality information, you may want to consider re-running FIRECalc.
__________________
When the people shall have nothing more to eat, they will eat the rich--philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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11-24-2015, 11:04 AM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2013
Location: ATL --> Flyover Country
Posts: 6,649
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redduck
With this new mortality information, you may want to consider re-running FIRECalc.
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That's a good point. I shouldn't worry too much about buying the overpriced ('tis the season!) Honey Baked Ham, huh?
I also decided to just pay for the oil change tomorrow. They won't be busy (at least, I doubt it) and hey...maybe I can convince them to use my expired coupon.
__________________
FIRE'd in 2014 @ 40 Years Old
Professional Retiree
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11-24-2015, 12:44 PM
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#7
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Indianapolis
Posts: 417
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Quote:
Originally Posted by easysurfer
Went Black Friday shopping a few years back and swore that I'd never do that again. No fun bumping into strangers jockeying for position. The only kind of Black Friday shopping I'd do, if any is online.
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"All Fridays Matter"
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11-24-2015, 02:06 PM
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#8
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Chattanooga
Posts: 3,895
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From Thanksgiving until after the first of the new year I stay away from any shopping malls or like venues. All of my shopping these days is done on line.
__________________
Earning money is an action, saving money is a behavior, growing money takes a well diversified portfolio and the discipline to ignore market swings.
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11-24-2015, 02:14 PM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 12,660
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Likewise! I used to buy lots of clothes for work on the day after Christmas, but now that I don't need work clothes, we stay away from stores. Even 20 years ago, the shoppers' behavior was awful...we came out of the store to find that our little car had its side pushed in by some SUV driver who didn't even leave a note.
Quote:
Originally Posted by frayne
From Thanksgiving until after the first of the new year I stay away from any shopping malls or like venues. All of my shopping these days is done on line.
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__________________
If you understood everything I say, you'd be me ~ Miles Davis
'There is only one success – to be able to spend your life in your own way.’ Christopher Morley.
Even a blind clock finds an acorn twice a day.
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11-24-2015, 02:47 PM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 13,228
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Quote:
Originally Posted by redduck
With this new mortality information, you may want to consider re-running FIRECalc.
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And start taking SS early!
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11-24-2015, 04:53 PM
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#11
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: West of the Mississippi
Posts: 17,266
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Gosh, I enjoy all the Christmas energy.
__________________
Comparison is the thief of joy
The worst decisions are usually made in times of anger and impatience.
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11-24-2015, 05:07 PM
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#12
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NC
Posts: 21,305
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amethyst
Likewise! I used to buy lots of clothes for work on the day after Christmas, but now that I don't need work clothes, we stay away from stores. Even 20 years ago, the shoppers' behavior was awful...we came out of the store to find that our little car had its side pushed in by some SUV driver who didn't even leave a note.
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+1. We used to take advantage of day after Christmas sales too, but it's not worth it anymore. Sadly, way too much bad behavior out there these days, I feel sorry for the folks who work retail and have to put up with all the obvious BS. Good thing you can buy most anything online now, usually at lower prices than brick-n-mortar stores too, every day of the year including after holidays...
We've never been tempted by brick-n-mortar Black Friday, and never will.
__________________
No one agrees with other people's opinions; they merely agree with their own opinions -- expressed by somebody else. Sydney Tremayne
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57
Target AA: 50% equity funds / 45% bonds / 5% cash
Target WR: Approx 1.5% Approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
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11-24-2015, 05:11 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: the prairies
Posts: 5,049
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My place of employment is located next to a popular mall and I've come to hate Decembers. It will be especially bad this year due to unfinished road construction.
Thankfully, this will be my last ever holiday season spent commuting...
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11-24-2015, 07:50 PM
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#14
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2008
Posts: 2,796
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And how many will be driven to madness by the unceasing Nat King Cole songs?
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11-24-2015, 07:53 PM
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#15
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2008
Location: No fixed abode
Posts: 8,765
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Quote:
Originally Posted by John Galt III
And how many will be driven to madness by the unceasing Nat King Cole songs?
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No one. Nat King Cole is cool.
__________________
"Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement." - Anonymous (not Will Rogers or Sam Clemens)
DW and I - FIREd at 50 (7/06), living off assets
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11-25-2015, 12:32 AM
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#16
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 6,181
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chuckanut
Gosh, I enjoy all the Christmas energy.
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+1
Both DW and I grew up in cities but we now live in a rural/suburban area, and the increased activity does not bother us. It is only for 6 weeks or so, and we can take it. The best way we find to deal with it in our area is to get out early and be back before noon. With most stores opening 1-2 hours earlier, that becomes the quiet time to shop.
We tend to get our gift shopping done early, and one of our "guilty pleasures" is going to the local malls a week or so before Christmas and just people watch. It can be quite amusing.
__________________
FIREd date: June 26, 2018 - "This Happy Feeling, Going Round and Round!" (GQ)
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11-25-2015, 12:50 AM
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#17
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 748
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I am still w*rking and in retail, I really dislike this time of year. The months of November and December are the worst as far as mean, ornery, unhappy people that are out in droves. You'd think that this time of year might be different with the holidays, people would be happy, thankful, being around family (maybe that is why they are ornery) etc. etc.
Heck no, plan on getting yelled at for the littlest thing out of your control that doesn't go their way. Uggh, can't wait for FI!
__________________
I don't want to spend my entire life at work. I deserve more. - Want2retire aka W2R
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11-25-2015, 04:04 AM
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#18
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Ventura County
Posts: 1,433
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DW and I used to absolutely dread Thanksgiving weekend. As younger children in our families we were obliged to drive hundreds of miles to have dinners with both families on different days. All that amidst the traffic, crowding and general craziness cited by the OP.
With all our parents gone now these last few years we just hunker down and hide for 5 days. When folks ask us what we're doing for Thanksgiving we both relievedly chime in: "Nothing!"
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11-25-2015, 09:40 AM
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#19
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,501
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Traffic and crowds here are just crazy. I wouldn't dare venture into a grocery store this week. I did stop at a Walgreen's and got the last parking spot, but it wasn't as crowded as I feared. I guess they had their "A Team" at the cash registers. 
We usually have Thanksgiving with his extended family, but that is pretty tiring because there are so many of them and kids running around and so on. This year our plan is to beg off and just go to a Chinese restaurant together. I'm SO done with cooking holiday dinners myself, BTDT for many years and it doesn't do much for me any more. So, I told him that no way, no how, was I going to cook! When I told him that, he said in an appropriately horrified tone, "Of course not!" I love it. We are such a great match.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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11-25-2015, 10:06 AM
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#20
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Chicago
Posts: 13,186
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frayne
From Thanksgiving until after the first of the new year I stay away from any shopping malls or like venues. All of my shopping these days is done on line.
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From New Years Day until New Years Eve, I stay away from any shopping malls or like venues.........
__________________
"I wasn't born blue blood. I was born blue-collar." John Wort Hannam
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