Merry Merry

For those looking for something special, I offer this from the vaults.





From our house to yours Merry Christmas,

Toad and Mrs. T

The Best of Christmas Quotes

by We Heart it.com

I was catching up on world events traipsing English language newspapers around the globe and came across a compendium of the 30 best Christmas quotes in the Telegraph.  I think they missed a few, demonstrated by Ralphie's noticeable absence, but over all the list is pretty good.  Below are several of my favorites.  The rest can be found by following the link. Can you guess who said what?

"Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more."

One can never have enough socks. Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.

Santa Clause has the right idea. Only visit people once a year.

'Let's just say that on this day, a million years ago, a dude was born who most of us think was magic. But others don't, and that's cool. But we're probably right. Amen.'

’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house/Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.'

'And girls in slacks remember Dad/And oafish louts remember Mum/And sleepless children’s hearts are glad/And Christmas-morning bells say ‘Come!’

'The one thing women don’t want to find in their stockings on Christmas morning is their husband.'

'I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.'

'Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won’t make it white.'

'The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.'

'There ain't no Sanity Clause!'

'Always winter but never Christmas.'

'Christmas time! That man must be a misanthrope indeed, in whose breast something like a jovial feeling is not roused - in whose mind some pleasant associations are not awakened - by the recurrence of Christmas.'

'Christmas at my house is always at least six or seven times more pleasant than anywhere else. We start drinking early. And while everyone else is seeing only one Santa Claus, we'll be seeing six or seven.'

'Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart.'

Toad

My foot does not taste very good

 Have you ever had exactly the wrong response to a present? I have. It is unfun, and I feel like a bounder.

In the world of technology there is a spectrum which runs from early adapters, those who must have tomorrow's latest gadgets yesterday, to late adapters who will accept a technology when they absolutely must and then there is everywhere in between. I'm a non adapter. My car is 35 years old. I am one of the few adults on the planet that still has a home phone, albeit without voicemail or an answering machine, I do not have a cell phone, although my wife does. She had to update her bag phone when the networks went digital, and hasn't changed phones in 10+ years.  I have a laptop, but the computer at home that gets the most use runs Windows 98, and fills all our requirements. I hope it runs forever.

For Christmas I received an Ipad.  Tens of children wanted one for Christmas and were disappointed they didn't receive one.  I, on the other hand, received one, and am disappointed. I'm not mobile, I read books on paper, I rarely watch television on screens under 40". I prefer mechanical toys. Am I missing some compelling, life changing reason to have this thing?

Unfortunately, my usual aplomb abandoned me. Unwrapping the paper I must have looked like I opened a sack of eels. I know and appreciate how hard my bride works to find just the right present for everyone.  She researches, shops, knows everything about her target, and can explain its why in great detail.  This time, I was underwhelmed and showed it.  Mrs T was powerfully disappointed.  My reaction had let her down and I feel terrible. Disappointing my bride  is not a position I enjoy.

Toad

Holiday Laughter Encouraged

Happy Holidays and have a great weekend. See ya Sunday.

Toad

Before kids had rights

In my formative years kids did not have rights, so I still have trouble with the notion of parents soliciting the opinions of children. In the olden days, parents rarely gave a moments consideration to what their kids wanted, or the safety of the toys they gave their children.

One of my favorite all time gifts was received Christmas 1957, that golden age of kids toys. Plastics were just coming available. The possibilities were endless. In that glorious bygone day, Santa brought a Mattel Fanner 50 toy pistol. Young moderns watching the video below will be aghast at the gincracks found on this baby. But I swear this is true,and widely available.





Yes in fact, it did shoot real plastic bullets, at a pretty good distance. The greenie stickem caps sucked, and I still remember attempting to peel them off the backs of the cartridges.



While I can't accurately say for sure, I do believe that this gun, and the better shooting rifle which was released the next year may have had something to do with the inception of product safety laws. You might not only put your eye out, but with luck could blind your best friend too!















Toad