154 posts tagged “qotd”

If you could only drink one beverage for the rest of your life (not including water), which one would you choose?

Realistically, I'd be sick of any one beverage for the rest of my life, but I think I'll choose peppermint herbal tea, which is nice hot or chilled.

Will you be giving out candy to trick or treaters this year? If so, what goodies can the ghosts and goblins expect to bring home?

Probably not.  Our funds are running dangerously low and we just haven't had the means to buy any.

There's a chill in the air. Show us your favorite coat.
Submitted by jacolily.

I have quite a few favorites, but don't have pictures for all of them.  So here's a recap of the wonderful greatcoat JennTheAmazon made for my Uncle Fester costume, from Halloween 2008.

Jak as Uncle Fester

Have you ever had a premonition? Did you heed it?
Submitted by aynge.

Yes and yes.  Not really going to go into too much detail unless asked since this involves spirituality/religion, and some folks can get stressed and aggressive about the topic.

Have you ever returned an item to a store for a refund after having used it?

Ah, another one of those morality questions, designed to measure your honesty.  Look, I spent some time working in retail, so I will share my perspective after quickly telling my story.

Princess Thunderstorm (Cimmy) and I went to visit a friend in Vancouver, WA (suburb of Portland, OR).  My son was very young at the time and he needed a playpen to sleep in.  We could not fit ours in the car.  Our friend helped us out by purchasing one at a local Wal-Mart and when we left, we gave it back to her so she could return it.  We used it for just one night and so there was not significant wear and tear.

She works in retail (or at the time, she did), and I have worked in retail, too.  This is how I see it:

1. Ideally, a return should be when something doesn't fit, isn't the right color, etc. but is unused.  I think, however, that some flexibility should be granted when the item has been used very little and the product is still in excellent shape.  Stores process these items accordingly-- they do not always put them right back on the regular shelves.
2. Saving receipts is a must, or allow the store to retain a little information about you-- say, if you have a credit/debit card, have a membership card, or whatever.  This helps them cut down on fraud by tracking the purchase.
3. There is a point of no return.  Generally, I like to buy clothes at a brick and mortar store.  If I have to order online, I have found that I should have precise measurements so I get the right size the first time.  Of course, if you have sweat, bled, or otherwise expelled bodily wastes on it, forget it.  If you have broken it-- forget it.
4. There are folkways against regifting and there is a certain ingratitude seen in item returns/exchanges at the holidays, but there are times when it is appropriate to loan, or donate and there are organizations to help with that.  Look into thrift shops, service organizations, Freecycle, Craigslist, Amazon Marketplace, eBay, or see if someone you know can use it.  I have, and have been thanked for it, too.  Look to those places as well if you need an item, but not for very look.  The Knights of Columbus loaned me a walker and a wheelchair after my back surgery, asking simply that I let them know when they could reclaim them for someone else in need to use.
5. Not to slam Chinese manufacturing, but because shipping overseas is so expensive, it's better to buy something used that you know is of solid construction rather than something cheap that will break.  I remember buying an Osterizer blender because it was a brand my mother trusted and I knew I could always get parts for it.  I use it as a blender and a food processor.  Although the original processor attachment bit the dust, I found other parts that would do the job.
6. I follow the Owner's Manifesto and Repair Manifesto and fix items rather than buy again.

The Repair Manifesto

When was the last time you received a hand-written letter in the mail? Who sent it?

Was meaning to answer this one, as well.

My (maternal) grandparents are old-school, so most of the time, and in this case, it was from them.  But I also have an aunt that I can't seem to get a hold of unless I or Cimmy write her a letter-- and she ALWAYS responds-- so we try to write to her regularly, too.

Do you have siblings? What's your relationship like with them? Bonus points if you share a photo!

Three younger sisters.

One is here: JennTheAmazon -- she's sister #2, the middle child, so to speak.  She lives in my hometown area, so we see a good deal of each other.  Right now we are the children that have kids, and so we often relate together as parents.  In fact, we took care of her eldest son (my nephew) for a while, so we are very close to him.

One lives a good deal further away in a nice suburb in Utah-- sister #3, the baby of the family.  She shares a birthday with me and our relationship has always been pretty tight.  I always enjoy talking to her.  She is expecting, so later down the road she will be joining the parent club, too.

One lives in Campbell, CA-- literally inside San Jose-- sister #1.  We were bosom buddies when we were very little, and then we fought like cats and dogs for most of the time afterwards.  Some of our fights were the stuff of family dysfunctional legend-- me bashing her head into the wall corner until she needed stitches, she pulling a knife on me.  We have each in turn tried to patch things but nothing has quite taken.  She is a very private person sometimes, and none of the others are faulting me too much for the lack of connection.  I did call her the other day, however, and attempted a conversation.  It was... okay.  Stiff, but okay.

For various reasons she and her husband will be cat owners, but never parents.

I'm sorry I don't have pictures.  I'm not sure which ones won't mind having pictures shown of them-- probably not the first two.  Head over to Jenn's; maybe she has a pic or two here, but probably most are at MySpace and Facebook.  Same for baby sister.

Just so my in-laws don't feel left out:

My wife's sister is here as well: Trinity

Hopefully Cimmy will do a post so she gets mentioned there.

What's the biggest frustration in your life right now?

Can i get back to you in about two days, after they cut me open and fuse those vertebrae?

What's your favorite thing about fall?

I don't know if I have just one favorite thing about the autumn season, for there are number of things I enjoy about it.  I will say, however, that I do seem them tied simply to the natural order of things, from the dying leaves losing green chlorophyll to show a brilliant variety of colors underneath, to the fact that two of our holiday seasons are simply seasonal at the core; one being about the acknowledgment of death in the cycle of nature, the other being a celebration of the bounty of the harvest.