The X-Mas Special Delivery

by | Dec 25, 2021 | Beer, Crime, Economy, Food & Drink | 207 comments

Relax its really not. Ā If you are anything like me youā€™re probably somewhere else, and not here…With other loved ones.

But you are here so Iā€™ll throw this story about Amazon at you!

This is my review of St. Bernadus Christmas Ale:

Trigger Warning: Ā This is CNN.

Tim Ball, who delivered packages for Amazon until quitting this year, said he prayed the same prayer every time he walked up to a home that felt “sketchy” in rural Texas. He said he’d see confederate flags, or signs that warned of shooting trespassers. He said he felt most fearful when delivering packages at night, sometimes working hours after Amazon’s competitors had ceased deliveries for the day.

He better keep his punk ass out of the projects.

The neighborhoods that DSP drivers deliver in aren’t consistent, so it’s difficult to develop local expertise such as where hostile residents may live, drivers and DSP owners say. Amazon delivers in a wide range of vehicles: some are branded Amazon vans, but others are unmarked. This is most noticeable during the holiday season as Amazon needs a larger fleet to meet demand. Amazon drivers often aren’t a familiar face arriving at a person’s home in a familiar vehicle.
Watch out for Inbred Jed and his moral crusade against Jeff Bezos.
For those that think the culture is dead because there arenā€™t making any new Xmas songs, I give you Corey Taylor.

 

 

How is St. Bernadus Christmas Ale: (4.2/5)? Ā So good I couldnā€™t take a decent picture of it. Ā So lets go ahead and forget that one, and review this one because I think I am better than that*.

 

This is a white girl beer. Ā Seriously, I let my daughter take a sip or two and she hated it, but is smelled nice. Ā When Two Brothers set out to make a peppermint bark porter, they certainly made sure it tasted like peppermint bark. Ā Itsā€¦okay I didnā€™t like this one at all.
Which makes for an X-mas Day miracle! Ā Because I found a porter/stout For you that I didnā€™t like. Ā Two Brothers Artisan Ale Peppermint Bark Porter: 1.9/5.
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*No, not really.
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Special Note: Christmas day GlibĀ Zoom/HappyĀ HourDay/Gathering place

About The Author

mexican sharpshooter

mexican sharpshooter

WARNING: Glibertarians.com contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. https://youtu.be/qiAyX9q4GIQ?t=2m22s

207 Comments

  1. Animal

    Tim Ball, who delivered packages for Amazon until quitting this year, said he prayed the same prayer every time he walked up to a home that felt ā€œsketchyā€ in rural Texas. He said heā€™d see confederate flags, or signs that warned of shooting trespassers.

    Insert obligatory “shit that never happened” reference here.

    • Swiss Servator

      He was killed dead, 37 times!

      Shot, lynched, etc.

    • UnCivilServant

      I believe he might have been that unhinged to feel fear. But I’m not sure what he would pray to.

    • Scruffy Nerfherder

      He might have reason to be concerned if he were delivering to a meth trailer. Everybody else? Jesus dude, they’re waiting for you because they want their stuff.

      • rhywun

        Yeah, I don’t doubt the confederate flags or the “we shoot trespassers” but I do doubt that he was in any danger 99.9% of the time.

    • EvilSheldon

      Someone on CNN being a giant pussy? All too believable.

    • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

      . . . he prayed the same prayer every time he walked up to a home that felt ā€œsketchyā€ in rural Texas.

      So, like, all of them?

    • Loveconstitution1789

      Funny. Capitol Police are the only people that I have heard shooting unarmed trespassers recently.

      If youre delivering a package to the addressee, youre literally not trespassing as you have been invited by the owner to deliver that package on the property.

      I blame Lefty schools for not teaching basic US law and customs to students. I also blame Lefties for lying about most things.

      • Loveconstitution1789

        And by Capitol ā€œtrespassersā€ I mean peaceful protesters entering a public building to protest/object/view the counting of EC votes for democrat election steal 2020.

  2. Yusef drives a Kia

    That St. Bernadus Christmas Ale looks like it should after you have had a few, yummy!
    Peppermint? Porter? kill me now, Blech.
    Merry Kringle Glibbies!

    • Enough About Palin

      I guess if you like something from the deep-dish family of beer. Seriously, if you want something that tastes like peppermint bark, eat some fucking peppermint bark. And if you want to get a good buzz while eating something that tastes like peppermint bark, wash it down with Dalmore 40.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      I needed to drive, so I only had one!

      • Chafed

        You drank it this morning? You really are a team player.

      • mexican sharpshooter

        No, last Saturday. I had to attend a gathering of 6 or more people.

  3. Tundra

    Feliz Navidad, SeƱor!

    • Enough About Palin

      So about those vintage CCMs…

    • mexican sharpshooter

      Merry Christmas Tundra!

      Hapy Holidays

      • Ted S.

        I like the blue counties in the Dakotas that are the reservations.

      • MikeS

        Every 4 years it’s interesting to see the counties around the reservations go 60-70% for the Rep. and the rez go 80-90% for the Dem. And then a Dem wins, absolutely nothing on the reservation changes, and they vote 80-90% for the Dem again.

      • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

        After the last election, I would be very curious about that, ah,consistancy.

      • rhywun

        You could say the same about the blue counties which represent isolated large cities.

      • Loveconstitution1789

        Just as more and more Black Americans are leaving the democrat plantation. More and more AmerIndians are leaving the democrat reservation.

        There are AmerIndians who will always live off the govt teat and never hold Democrats accountable for Andrew Jackson. Same with some Black Americans living off that teat.

  4. Sensei

    Merry Christmas!

    Been visiting in-laws and now with my family.

    Bonus video that Elon pushed out to the fleet over Christmas:
    https://youtu.be/9Micd4zrWCE

  5. The Late P Brooks

    he prayed the same prayer every time he walked up to a home that felt ā€œsketchyā€ in rural Texas. He said heā€™d see confederate flags, or signs that warned of shooting trespassers.

    Please, God, send a CNN camera crew to ask me how terrifying this is.

    • Not Adahn

      Did you hear about the time Amazon made him deliver a package containing a noose?

      • Enough About Palin

        Gold!

      • R.J.

        Was he delivering confederate flags to people who had confederate flags? Because I could see that being redundant unless the old flag was worn out.

  6. Count Potato

    MERRY CHRISTMAS!

  7. Raven Nation

    Cover pic: IMHO, Robot Santa is one of the great cartoon characters ever created.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      +1 Moral paradox crumple zones

  8. hayeksplosives

    Dang, Sharpy! A 4.2 out of 5 is high praise indeed from you! St Bernardus can do no wrong in my eyes, though Iā€™m an almost exclusively wine person these days. (HINT: any Glib passing through Pahrump Nevada should hit me up for a trip to the zOMG wonderful wineries here.)

  9. rhywun

    Who doesn’t love a good rednecks in the mist story for Christmas?

    • UnCivilServant

      If I wanted to see rednecks in the mist, I’d go visit my family.

      • robc

        I could just look in the mirror.

      • rhywun

        LOL been there

        Mom might have settled in the big city but the northern PA doesn’t go away. And my stepfather… OMG.

  10. robc

    Two Brothers is generally good, but that sounds awful.

  11. hayeksplosives

    Merry Christmas to all! I havenā€™t yet found the box of books that contains my copy of the Heliand (Saxon for ā€œSaviorā€) so Iā€™m sorry I canā€™t type out the Christmas story from it.

    Spoiler alert: heā€™s the Son of God and saves mankind from the punishment we earned by being such screw-ups. But with more Vikings and swordplay. Plus, on Christmas Eve, the angel comes bearing the news not to shepherds, but to the grooms who are tending the Germanic tribeā€™s horses.

  12. The Late P Brooks

    Prepare to muzzle!

    Researchers may be in the early stages of discovering an effective strategy for inhibiting the virus that causes COVID-19, according to the results of a recent study.

    The results of the findings from David A. Ostrov, Ph.D., of the University of Florida, were published in Pathogens in late November.

    The report suggested that combining diphenhydramine ā€” an antihistamine sold as Benadryl that is used for allergy symptoms ā€” and lactoferrin ā€” a protein found in cow and human milk ā€” reduced replication of SARS-CoV-2 by 99% in lab tests on human lung and monkey cells.

    “We found out why certain drugs are active against the virus that causes COVID-19,” Ostrov told the University of Florida Health Newsroom. “Then, we found an antiviral combination that can be effective, economical and has a long history of safety.”

    Simple? Cheap? Effective?

    BURY IT.

    • UnCivilServant

      At this time, it appears to be easier to list things that don’t work against wuhan coronavirus:

      mRNA ‘vaccines’
      masks
      lockdowns
      social distancing.

      • Enough About Palin

        During the great plague of the 14th century many cities in France burned down their business centers because they thought they were the cause of the plague’s spread. The economies in those cities recovered much more slowly If at all compared to the ones that didn’t. The study of history is first and foremost the study of human behavior.

      • UnCivilServant

        Oh,k right my list is incomplete. It should include:

        communism.
        internal passports
        prosecuting defiance of illegal orders.

      • hayeksplosives

        Why must we repeat the past???

        I had to write a longish and heavily referenced (Chicago Manual of Style) term paper in high school, and I chose the Black Death (14th century edition) as my subject. I argued that although the bacteria itself was indeed formidable, it was human behavior that made it into the devastation it was. They locked down, forced ā€œquarantinesā€ wherein people were stuck together indoors, lack of sun, masking, etc.ā€”all made it worse.

        I further posited that such a catastrophe could not happen in modern times because we know better now.

        Ah, how sweet and naive.

      • Raven Nation

        I believe there were also local cat-eradication programs because the animals were believed to be bad luck/spawn of Satan/carriers of disease. Reducing the cat population helped the rat population grow.

      • hayeksplosives

        Prior to the Great Plague, the black ratā€”also known as the roof rat (Rattus rattus)ā€”was the dominant rat species in continental Europe. The black rat tended to be an ideal host and carrier for yersinia pestis and the fleas that spread it.

        Then along came the Norway rat (brown rat or Rattus norvegicus), which are super smart and much better adapted to living with Homo sapiens (one of few species younger than Homo sapiens; the Norway rat is considered a ā€œcommensulā€ species that evolved alongside man). The Norway rat vastly outcompeted black rats and drove them, well, to the roofs and out of the houses. Modern epidemiologists credit the Norway rats with helping Europe get rid of the widespread bubonic plague.

      • hayeksplosives

        ā€¦ needed to add that the fleas that carried the plague bacteria Yersinia pestis didnā€™t like Norway rats.

        Norway rats are the ones we (well, the nerdiest of us) have as pets today.

      • Not Adahn

        *flex*

    • hayeksplosives

      Huh. Interesting.

      Iā€™ve been somewhat surprised I havenā€™t had coronavirus (or at least not badly), but every night I take 50mg of diphenhydramine without fail.

      • hayeksplosives

        Yeah primarily, but also for some allergies which have seemingly disappeared here in the desert.

        Diphenhydramine is my friend.

      • Name's BEAM. James BEAM.

        Diphenhydramine is my friend.

        **HEAVY SIGH**

        Yeah, me too.ā€‚And the Spousal Unit too.ā€‚Sleep is much harder to get a decent dose of when you’re getting older.

  13. The Late P Brooks

    The research, however, is preliminary, and Ostrov has cautioned against self-medicating with either diphenhydramine or lactoferrin for COVID-19 prevention.

    They would say that.

  14. Brochettaward

    The Bro was given the gift of clothes, but not a single piece of maternity wear. It’s a slap in the face. It’s like people don’t even appreciate what I’m doing to myself for humanity.

    • hayeksplosives

      On the day commemorating Christā€™s birth, you might want to chill the Firsting schtick a little.

    • Ted S.

      The Bro was given the gift of clothes,

      Thank god for that, because nobody wants to see you naked.

      To be fair, nobody wants to see you clothed, either.

      • UnCivilServant

        So you’re rooting for a half-naked Bro?

        I don’t understand you, Ted.

    • DEG

      I consumed lots of alcohol at Wicked Weed’s brewpub in Asheville.

      • Timeloose

        Do they do little beers or only monsters?

      • DEG

        I don’t remember.

        I did consume a lot of alcohol.

        I remember the food and booze were good.

        And I consumed a lot of booze.

    • Ted S.

      I’d rather just eat the cake, thank you very much.

      • Enough About Palin

        This guy get it.

  15. DEG

    How is St. Bernadus Christmas Ale: (4.2/5)? So good I couldnā€™t take a decent picture of it. So lets go ahead and forget that one, and review this one because I think I am better than that

    I have a four pack of this. I should open it up after I drink my Samichlaus.

    • mexican sharpshooter

      You wonā€™t regret it.

      • DEG

        I am wrong. I have a 750 mL bottle of St. Bernadus Christmas Ale. I’m going to drink the whole bottle tonight after I finish my Samichlaus. I am drinking the Samichlaus, but I didn’t look to see what vintage it is.

  16. Tres Cool

    Merry Glibmas to one and all.
    Just put the turkey in, and Jugsy got stuffed with my Yule Logā„¢.
    Now for many SmallCans and start some cookin’.

    • hayeksplosives

      Oh! Christmas tree! ?

      Glad to hear Jugsy didnā€™t get stuck in the travel snarl-ups this week and that yā€™all are together.

      We had a feast yesterday so todayā€™s cooking will be pretty boring. Made delicious layered biscuits from scratch for breakfast and thatā€™s about it.

      On the other hand, Festive beverages will be happening lately. I put coconut rum, pineapple juice, cream of coconut, vodka, orange juice, sweet and sour, and cranberry in the fridge and requested that the Mr Splosives make me a pitcher of foo-foo drank to see me through the football games.

      Merry Christmas indeed!

      • R.J.

        Christmas eve was a cheese and meat plate for all the relatives, today is multiple Christmas houses where we thankfully did not have to do major cooking. Only beef and dumplings were made for today by us.

      • Timeloose

        I had my sister try to do Christmas Eve dinner last night and it went poorly. My mom knows how to entertain but my sister wanted to help her this year and made it more stressful instead.

        My wife got a migraine because we didnā€™t eat until 2 hours after we were supposed to, my niece threw up because it was hot and she was ready for bed.

        Today itā€™s my wife and MIL trying to create new traditions now that my FIL is gone. They made vegetable soup and now are making cranberry and pistachio biscotti.

        Iā€™m going to my parents for ham, Turkey, and Kielbasa later today. Potato salad, pieroggi, and coleslaw.

      • hayeksplosives

        Ugh, my sympathies on the holiday hosting drama. Thatā€™s why I donā€™t attend Christmas and Thanksgiving with the olā€™ fam. I prefer to visit on a random week in Feb or March so we can all be chill about stuff.

        I hope everyone finds some new joy even without Dad.

        Kielbasa and other Polish delights sounds ideal.

      • dbleagle

        Last night was garlic shrimp after we returned from a sail. (Nice day but skunked in the ocean fishing and whale watching goals.)

        Today is football, the last of my aged nog, and some body surfing between the games.

        The big news is that two mornings ago it was cloud free before dawn and I saw my first winter 21/22 sighting of the Southern Cross. Huzzah! In another couple of weeks Omega Centauri will join the show.

      • hayeksplosives

        When we die, if Iā€™m wrong and we do get reincarnated, please look me up.

        Have a wonderful sailing season!

      • Mojeaux

        Everyone at Chez Mojeaux gets Peter Mays kielbasa in their stocking.

        Sorry about the drama. Entertaining is an art form and people spend years perfecting it. I think it’s nice your sister at least tried.

  17. Count Potato

    So does Ted or anyone else have any good Christmas movies? Old movies are fine.

    I’d ask R.J. but I don’t think Santa Claus vs. Zombies would go over well šŸ™‚

    I’ll check back later.

    • Pat

      A Christmas Story, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Christmas Vacation, Scrooged, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and Die Hard are my go-to childhood nostalgia Christmas flicks.

    • Ted S.

      The Bishop’s Wife was on last night.

      It Happened on Fifth Avenue is on TCM later today.

      In an R.J. vein, I’d mention Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, which is hilariously awful.

    • Trigger Hippie

      Christopher Walken once starred as Puss In Boots in a cheap shitty musical that was so terrible it was almost entertaining:

      https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0177606/

      • Trigger Hippie

        I guess that’s not really a Christmas movie. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

      • Ted S.

        Not a Christmas movie either, but I recently watched Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films, which tells the story of how two Israeli cousins, Menahem Golan and Yoran Globus, came to Hollywood and wound up running a movie studio that produced rather bonkers movies since the cousins didn’t quite have their finger on the pulse of American culture.

        Some of the stories are wild. Golan had seen Romancing the Stone, and wanted to do what would become King Solomon’s Mines. He asked one of his underlings to “Get me that Stone woman”, meaning Kathleen Turner from Romancing the Stone. But the underling misunderstood, and got a young Sharon Stone, who apparently everyone else involved with King Solomon’s Mines hated.

      • Trigger Hippie

        Sounds interesting, I’ll have to check it out.

      • LCDR_Fish

        Need to watch that one. IIRC it’s the same director who did “Not Quite Hollywood” and “Machete Maidens” documentaries – both more than worth a watch.

    • KSuellington

      The Christmas Chronicles with Kurt Russell is good.

    • R.J.

      I can provide some non-Hallmark choices that are not horror films.
      Four Christmases
      The Santa Clause
      Original Jack Frost stop motion
      Christmas with the Kranks

    • PieInTheSky

      Seth rogan had a christmas themed tv show recently

    • Loveconstitution1789

      Better off dead.
      Bad santa.

  18. PieInTheSky

    happy secularized version of a christian holiday that may have been inspired by a pagan one glibbies.

    • hayeksplosives

      I will give you that it might have been scheduled according to a pagan one, but it was not inspired by one.

      Nevertheless, Iā€™d give you a peck on the cheek under a little mistletoe, Celtic goddess style!

      /Welsh Splosives off

      • dbleagle

        “Scrooged” is an of course. “Stalingrad” is the another. The German version and not the horrible Russian version. When you think we have it bad, this will show that it can always be worse.

      • LCDR_Fish

        I’ve heard some good things about the WWI Christmas Truce movie that came out a few years ago – name escapes me – haven’t watched it yet obviously.

      • Gender Traitor

        Didn’t Santa bring you a new avatar? ?

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Computer won’t let me change it.

      • UnCivilServant

        Friend computer knows what’s best.

        Remember, citizen, happiness is manditory.

      • DEG

        Maybe this one?

        I thought it was well done.

  19. Pat

    Hey, I don’t know if anybody around here remembers me. I think it’s been about a year since the last time I posted, which seems absolutely astonishing to me. I still recognize some old familiar names. Just wanted to wish you all a very merry Christmas. Crazy year that’s gone by at a surreally fast pace. In addition to all of the panic mongering bullshit and accompanying implosion of free society over the last year (and the one before that), some of you may recall that my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer back in August of 2020, and her prognosis was not that great. I’m extremely happy and grateful to report that she’s still among the living and her treatment is actually still going quite well, which is the greatest Christmas gift I could possibly imagine (but the vintage jump hour watch I bought myself isn’t bad either).

    To be honest, the last couple years have just about succeeded at curing me of libertarianism, or at least sapped my desire to discuss politics, but I miss seeing you lot. Hopefully I’ll find some time to come around before another year has gone by.

    I know almost none of you are religious, but there actually is more to this holiday than good booze and good food, so I’ll leave you with this:

    In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

    So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

    And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ā€œDo not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.ā€

    Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

    ā€œGlory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.ā€

    • Enough About Palin

      Fuck off, Tulpa.

    • hayeksplosives

      I know almost none of you are religious,

      Actually I think we run about 50/50, with the best part being that the believers, the agnostics, and the confirmed atheists donā€™t give each other any shit so itā€™s a great example of tolerance and occasional deep philosophical chats.

      Hang around dude!

      • rhywun

        Can confirm the above.

    • hayeksplosives

      Also, great news about your mom.

      Iā€™m curious about your ā€œcureā€ from libertarianism. Does that mean you want more government control now or less? Or something else? Hard for my pea brain to imagine thinking ā€œmind your own businessā€ is a bad philosophy, but I do get that the organized Libertarian party is a shitshow.

      • Pat

        Iā€™m curious about your ā€œcureā€ from libertarianism. Does that mean you want more government control now or less? Or something else?

        It’s probably a little too complicated for one post to the extent it’s even coherent. I used to be really hung up on ideological consistency, but I don’t care that much anymore. I’ve considered trying to jot it down into a manifesto of sorts, but I probably never will. I’m not self deluded or hubristic enough to imagine I have any novel insights into politics or society.

        Best I can put it succinctly is that I’m anti bigness. Big government (of course), but also big business, big church, big anything. Having spent my entire life from my early teens being a rabid market fundamentalist (which inspired my attraction to libertarianism), I’ve now realized that living in an oligarchy where the aristocracy derives its power from economic dominance is only distinguishable from totalitarianism in a navel gazing philosophical sense. Given the course of events the last few years, I strongly suspect that my death will be from something other than natural causes, either because I’ll get Randy Weaver’d for the crime of trying to be left the fuck alone, or kill myself because of that inevitability; I’m not so addicted to living that I will ever live like that. God bless Solzhenitsyn, I’m not that resilient. So rehashing century old debates about a pristine free market that will never exist, or the proper scope of a pristine state that will never exist, or the minutiae of this or that policy proposal has just lost its attraction. I’m certainly not going to join the revolution, but if some band of radicals (left wing or right wing) decided to go Robespierre on every billionaire and/or political authority in the country, I wouldn’t lift a finger to stop it or really give a shit. I’ve spent over half my life defending people and organizations that have made it crystal clear over the last 5 years in particular that they despise people like me and would be ecstatically happy to see me imprisoned or dead. To say nothing of my increasing discomfort with the sort of amorality that can chalk up using the labor of foreign children and concentration camp victims as a matter of mere labor cost arbitrage (or descend even further into the depths of moral dyslexia to rationlize it on the basis that they’re better off losing digits to provide the west with cheap shit to sit in a California harbor than they would have been in a rice paddy). Unfortunately, there’s no libertarian answer to bigness in any dimension other than government, and the promise that real capitalism has never been tried is no more reassuring than the same promise that real communism has never been tried. In the long run we’re all dead.

        Thank you all for the welcome back. I’m glad I wasn’t completely forgotten, even if I probably wasn’t missed that much.

      • Not Adahn

        I used to be really hung up on ideological consistency, but I donā€™t care that much anymore.

        Congratulations!

        Best I can put it succinctly is that Iā€™m anti bigness.

        I had no idea I was posting under the “Pat” handle.

    • Raven Nation

      Your avatar is/was memorable

      • MikeS

        ^ yup ^

    • UnCivilServant

      I never forget a sockpuppet.

      /lies

      But I do remember you

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Thanks, Linus! šŸ˜‰

      Worrying about relatives is tiring, innit. And I understand your politics fatigue.

    • Sean

      That’s great news about your mom.

    • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

      Good to see you Pat, and, believe it or not, I was thinking about you the other day. How is your small business doing? Did Covid kill it (it sure killed mine)?

      I am glad to hear you mother is doing well.

      • Pat

        How is your small business doing? Did Covid kill it (it sure killed mine)?

        Not quite dead yet, but definitely slower. Fortunately, I sell a really niche product for which there’s no real alternative. Unfortunately, I sell a really niche product in an industry that’s hugely susceptible to economic downturns. Frankly, I never actually expected this business to last as long as it already has. I figured the market for it would die out, and before that happened I’d move on to doing something better. One of those “You do a thing and that’s what you are. I must want to be on the night shift drivin’ somebody else’s cab” kind of things. I’m grateful for it though, it’s enabled me to have the kind of flexibility I need right now dealing with my mom’s health issues and all that.

        Thanks again for the welcome back, to you, DEG, Sean, and everybody else.

    • DEG

      Welcome back! I remember you.

      Good about your mom.

    • Loveconstitution1789

      Its pretty ballsy to say there is absolutely no God. You cant possibly know.

      With that being said humans create elaborate stories to mitigate fear of life. If there is a Heaven, Why would a God force family members to forever be reunited when they can barely stand each other but are civil on Earth?

      Maybe Earth was a rest stop for our Alien ancestors and a few ā€œhumansā€ got left here. Or our ancestors were criminals and Earth is a penal colony. Who knows.

      Merry Christmas!

      • Loveconstitution1789

        Glad to hear youre Mom is doing okay after Big C.

        I just heard from a 6 time cancer survivor who cant do chemo because the drug is currently unavailable. She will find out soon if she is a 7 time cancer survivor.

  20. The Late P Brooks

    So does Ted or anyone else have any good Christmas movies? Old movies are fine.

    I don’t know if it “technically” qualifies as a Christmas movie, but Nobody’s Fool with Paul Newman is a good movie.

    • Ted S.

      And one of Jessica Tandy’s final roles. Definitely worth watching.

    • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

      And Melanie Griffiths is quite memorable in it.

  21. commodious spittoon

    There are people who will eat Vienna sausages who won’t eat Spam.

    Strange world we live in.

    • commodious spittoon
    • Not Adahn

      Vienna sausage = Wienerwurst = hot dog.

      Although I hear that in Wien, they call hot dogs “frankfurters” and in Frankfurt they call them “wieners.” I guess nobody wants to be assosciated with filthy fat Americans.

  22. The Late P Brooks

    To be honest, the last couple years have just about succeeded at curing me of libertarianism, or at least sapped my desire to discuss politics, but I miss seeing you lot.

    Don’t give up on good sense and logic, whatever you choose to call it.

    Merry Christmas.

  23. The Late P Brooks

    There are people who will eat Vienna sausages who wonā€™t eat Spam.

    I actually ate a Slim Jim a few weeks ago. It was dreadful.

    • R C Dean

      But you finished it, didnā€™t you?

  24. PieInTheSky

    I had a bunch of wine today and it was kinda average… But anyway Jesus would drink wine not beer is what i am saying

    • commodious spittoon

      Jesus drinks cerveza.

  25. R.J.

    I wish I could join the Zoom. I will probably just assume the fetal position later tonight after all the Christmases I had to take relatives to. If any random relative touches my bourbon, I will have to bury a body later tonight.

  26. Gender Traitor

    Chili is simmering in the crock pot, pie is sitting out for eventual dessert, various sizes and shapes of tableware are set out in readiness. My sisters and BIL are expected 4ish US EST. As long as they don’t arrive bearing too many gifts and too much additional food, I’m looking forward to a pleasant, low-key late afternoon and early evening. Now…we wait.

    Whatever you’re up to, I wish all of you an enjoyable, drama-free day.

    • Ted S.

      Thankfully, it’s just me, Dad, and the dog, so not much drama here.

    • commodious spittoon

      Just dad, and my uncle, and me this year sharing a mutual sense of bewilderment over NFTs.

    • UnCivilServant

      It’s just me, reruns of Time Team, and Eugenics Simulator: JRPG edition (Fire Emblem games)

    • Gender Traitor

      Whew! I just remembered to set out the Beano!

  27. Mojeaux

    Promised XX I’d make a cheese “Christmas” danish (anything with vanilla AND almond flavoring tastes like Christmas) and totally forgot until about an hour ago. Oops. Cheated with canned crescent rolls instead of homemade sweet dough, but oh well.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    This is CNN

    The Covid-19 pandemic is far from over. But life in many ways has returned to something resembling normal for many. That’s in large part because there are now multiple coronavirus vaccines, including one from Pfizer.

    And that’s one of the main reasons CNN Business has named Pfizer (PFE) CEO Albert Bourla as the CEO of the year. Bourla joins previous winners Marc Benioff of Salesforce (CRM), Target (TGT) CEO Brian Cornell and Chipotle’s (CMG) Brian Niccol.

    Savvy journalisming.

    • commodious spittoon

      Would this be the same Pfizer that currently sponsors their entire lineup?

      • Ted S.

        I wouldn’t know about the sponsorship. I don’t watch CNN.

      • commodious spittoon

        Nobody does. Even Tater only watches Fox.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    But Bourla was our choice for all that Pfizer has done in a year where Covid vaccines went mainstream (vaccine was even named word of the year by Merriam-Webster) and helped stabilize America’s economy ā€” and the world’s for that matter.

    “Pfizer did a lot of good [for] humanity and we are very, very proud of it,” Bourla said in an interview with CNN Business. “Not only were we able to save so many lives … but we are enjoying high levels of corporate reputation right now. People like us.”

    It’s amazing what you can achieve when big business and big government and big media team up to make the world a better place.

  30. EvilSheldon

    2pm isn’t too early to start with the Rye, right?

    • Sean

      It’s Christmas. Have at it.

      • DEG

        Seconded.

    • MikeS

      False. Bottoms up.

      • MikeS

        Oh, I misread it as you saying that 2pm was too early. It’s probably due the beer I drank.

    • Pat

      I’ve already killed off the Buffalo Trace from thanksgiving and will be busting out the Woodford Reserve before sundown. Jesus’ first miracle was getting an entire wedding party tanked on the top shelf stuff – he’s cool with it.

  31. Sean

    Took a little spin to shoot my new gun.

    The roads are deserted.

    No one at the pistol range.

    Pew pew pew. ?

    • UnCivilServant

      So, what did you get? If you told us, I’ve forgotten.

      • Sean

        Sig P320 compact carry.

        I put on a tungsten cerakoted AXG grip.

      • EvilSheldon

        Schwanky!

      • Not Adahn

        Cerakote does not wear well on stainless. No idea about Aluminum.

    • Zwak, All dressed up in his ridiculous seersucker suit

      Yes, I plan on doing that Wednesday or Thursday. Gotta check out a new spot.

    • DEG

      šŸ™‚

      Freezing rain all day here today. No power outages, but I didn’t go outside.

  32. kinnath
    • Toxteth O'Grady

      BT Tower!

      Merci.

    • Raven Nation

      Thanks. Love the guy at 2:58.

      • MikeS

        lol!

      • Ted S.

        So you have no truck for his views?

    • Pat

      Tyson is like the concentrated personification of reddit. God what an insufferable cunt.

      • MikeS

        insufferable cunt

        Spot on.

      • Raven Nation

        Sooo…you also hate big astronomy?

        /jk

      • DEG

        concentrated personification of reddit

        Non-porn portions of reddit.

        Reddit is for porn. The rest is a dump.

    • Loveconstitution1789

      Why do people hate deGrasse tyson so much?

      For those that dont know, him pointing out that santaā€™s delivering presents is scientifically impossible is his kind of humor. Additionally, he tries to keep real science in the spotlight and make it fun/relateable.

      Lefties hate him because he really wont bend to Lefty attempts to corrupt science for political gain. Ars Technica and their commie commenters blasted him for like 3 months straight one year.

      America needs some light shown on science, real science, right now.

  33. Not Adahn

    I see the entire Rebuild of Evangelion series is on Amazon prime. I never saw the last one. Should probably rewatch 3.33 first since I remember that one being a bit bonkers and a completely new storyline.

    • UnCivilServant

      Bonkers storyline is pretty much all I know about the whole franchise.

      • Not Adahn

        At the original tvtropes.com, there used to be a note on the “I am not making this up” tag that said it was only for the most out-there things. Paraphrasing from memory “‘The hero dies at the end’ doesn’t get the tag. ‘She hugs everyone in the world and turns them into Tang(R)’ does. This tag can be safely used for most thing concerning Evangelion.”

      • EvilSheldon

        This is accurate. I don’t understand a single thing that happened in that entire 8-hour period.

    • LCDR_Fish

      All 4 on Amazon is a pretty good deal and the 4th one finally fave the series some closure with a mostly-coherent conclusion. 8/10.

      I’ll pick up a 4 pack on bluray when it comes out. I still have the original TV series on DVD and the 1.01 movie (before they did a 1.11 (or 1.21) update).

  34. hayeksplosives

    HOLY CRAP.

    Iā€™m watching the Packers/Browns game on our ā€œChristmas presentā€ TV.

    Itā€™s kind of scary. 86ā€ might have been too big.

    Vision impaired hubby approves though.

    • kinnath

      I picked up a new 75″ TV a month ago. Still getting used to it. Definitely not going back though.

      • hayeksplosives

        Soooo good for hockey

    • MikeS

      86″!? Wow. In our little living room I’d look like I was watching a tennis match just watching TV. haha

      • hayeksplosives

        Yeah, I never get the front seats in a movie theater either. Donā€™t want to move my neck that much!

        But now that I am a fat cat monocle wearing Glib,
        I do enjoy a big screen in the house.

        I even hired a dude from Vegas to mount it, based on his ā€œthumbtackā€ reviews. He was good at his job, friendly, sang loudly to my husbandā€™s playing of soul gospel.

        He looked like Predator before he took his mask off, but he was cool.

      • UnCivilServant

        Did he also look like the Predator after taking the mask off?

      • hayeksplosives

        Nah, but he had a couple of sweet gold teeth.

        Sang gospel like an angel from God and did his job well.

        Got bless ā€˜em.

      • MikeS

        If you hadn’t linked to that scene I would have been severely disappointed.

    • Sean

      Porn must be nightmare inducing.

    • rhywun

      I recently upgraded from 42″ to 50″. Baby steps.

      But I can’t really go much larger than that here.

    • Ted S.

      Baker Mayfield doing a nice job so far.

    • DEG

      86ā€ might have been too big.

      Euphemisms?

  35. Not Adahn

    34 degrees and raining. Perfect Scotch weather.

    • Not Adahn

      Heavy cloud cover means it’s already dark. Lily is out back, I think she’s flushed an Unciv’s Bane.

      • MikeS

        Uncivā€™s Bane

        Sunburnt fingers?

      • UnCivilServant

        I don’t think dogs can flush those. I think Not Adahn is talking mice.

        Thankfully, since I found and plugged the point of entry, I’ve had none.

      • Ted S.

        I don’t think dogs can flush toilets.

      • UnCivilServant

        If they can operate door handles, which some can, they can flush a toilet.

  36. hayeksplosives

    Santa brought me a GI Joe brand US Grant figure, unopened box.

    I havenā€™t received an ā€œaction figure/ dollā€ for decades.

    This one warms my heart.

  37. The Late P Brooks

    General Grant, or President Grant?

    • Ted S.

      Cary Grant.

      • hayeksplosives

        Cary Grant and Sean Connery are the only dudes I can think of readily who were panty droppingly good looking in their 80s.

      • Ted S.

        Joel McCrea also looked distinguished at the end of his career, but I don’t know if there are pictures of him in his 80s.

      • hayeksplosives

        Iā€™d have spent all night with McCrea just to listen to him.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Paul Newman!

      • hayeksplosives

        Iā€™ll allow itā€¦:)

  38. hayeksplosives

    ā€¦.wait

    Thereā€™s a new thread isnā€™t there?

    (I miss the arrows)

    • Ted S.

      Nope.

    • DEG

      Not yet.

      6 PM Eastern/5 PM Central according to the calendar.