What I got for Christmas...

[ad4mg]

In our immediate family, by agreement, the adults don't exchange Christmas gifts. We buy gifts for the children, and celebrate by gathering at my sister's house for breakfast.

OTOH, small trinkets and gag gifts are allowed. My favorite gift was from my wife. She proudly presented me with:


*** A box of hammers ***

Seriously. A couple of years ago, I gave to my son my Rick Mears special edition Snap-On tool box, with the hang-on side cabinet, all in pristine condition, and valued conservatively at about $14k (including the tools). Every specialty tool known to man was in that box. I spent 8-1/2 years spinning wrenches at a very successful automotive repair shop and had accumulated these tools over that span.

As I grew older, I used that fine collection of tools less and less, so I though it would better serve my son, who, like myself, is an incurable tinkerer. The only thing I missed from that set of tools was a decent hammer. Oh, I bought myself a set of Cobalt wrenches, socket sets, and screwdrivers for everyday use, but the only hammer in the house was a tiny finishing hammer my wife had in her toolbox. I believe it weighed approximately .0025 ounces.

Being the curmudgeon that I am, I frequently pissed and moaned about not having a decent hammer, and I often used a Ridgid 18" pipe wrench as a hammer.

This the story ends with my wife presenting me literally with a box of hammers for Christmas. I wondered for weeks what that present contained that was so damned heavy! And yes, they were Cobalt hammers!

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas! :)

[KC2UGV]

Hahahaha That sounds like something my wife would do :)

This year, I've been complaining that none of my shirts fit anymore (I've shrunk considerably). She ended up buying me like 10 shirts :P

[NQ6U]

Maybe she was just trying to tell you something...

[N8YX]

^^^ :rofl: ^^^

I got a few inexpensive but thoughtful things from my known associates: Framed picture of the two of us from one, and a tin of Christmas cookies (in a hand painted tin) from her mother. Another got me some hiking socks, a roaster oven (they all love my cooking) and a FleaBay gift card (dangerous!).

I also decided to treat myself to something this year, along with a birthday present. Those happened to come from the same seller: An FC-902 antenna tuner which matches the '902DM I'm restoring, and a fairly rare YR-901 RTTY/CW terminal that also matches the lineup.

Best part of it all was hanging out with people who enjoy my company, instead of doing the obligation/in-law bit.

[KK4AMI]

Gives new meaning to "getting hammered over the holidays", but I guess it works!

I got two pair of Duluth "Dry on the Fly" pants for fishing. Hmm, at my age "Dry on the Fly" could serve many purposes.

[KC9ECI]

I don't want Christmas gifts, I don't want to give Christmas gifts. I give the wife money and tell her to get the kids stuff. At my company Christmas party, I drink a couple gallons of beer and whatever gift card(s) I get I give to SWMBO. If I want something, I buy it myself. This year I got in the area of 2K worth of brewing stuff. Oh, and seeing as she and I have been together for 20 years in February, I got us a trip to Italy and we're leaving the kids at home.

[KG4CGC]

Nothing quite as colorful although December has been the month of gift.
Water heater early on, Mrs. KG4CGC gifted me with as well as some plumbing supplies and plumbing accessories. I chased down leaks between the water heater and the kitchen because I believe it was December 7th that we received the blessing of a lightning strike (somewhere) which traveled through the buried water lines. Apparently I wasn't the only one receiving blessings that week. On the bright side, we got our 15 years out of that thing after it was installed and never touched again since. Apparently, you're supposed to replace the elements (electric) every 5 years. Who gnu?

Last Tuesday while doing laundry ... the dryer just came to a dead stop. I got out my trusty Fluke type 87a and traced down the lack of electron flow to an overheat sensor. This was a Whirlpool Heavy Duty blah blah blah purchased in 2005. The problem was that I couldn't just replace the sensor but I could replace the whole timer unit, of which the sensor was located inside of, if I could find one. Local parts houses were not having it. Nah uh! Not one bit. The whole timer unit could be ordered but it could take 2 weeks or longer. Now keep in mind that after cooling down the sensor it still would not allow the tricky bastard electrons to flow and even though Mrs. KG4CGC didn't know anything beyond "I was working on it" she showed up an hour later with a new dryer AND WASHER in the truck.
I will say this, today's washers are gravity compromised. I was expecting a battle moving the new washer after having moved the old one out. Having the new units installed (top load washer) they certainly don't beat the water in the tub like they did in days of yore. A couple of swishes, soak, a couple of swishes, soak and they do it with less water. After the spin cycle the clothes are so centrifugally enhanced that the dry time is reduced orders of magnitude. My hope now is that these units will pay for themselves with reduced operating costs.

The next day I was tasked with hauling off the old units to the recyclers. The dryer, well, not much to it. I just put it on the truck after reducing the cardboard the new units came in to horizontal flatness. Much like a book. The washer, with it's malbalanced motor placement was a different story. After spending perhaps 20 minutes using Isaac Newton's Laws, I still couldn't get that fat bastard loaded on the truck. What ended up happening on my part was nothing short of sheer force of will as I grasped the guilty bastard in a half squat and placed it across my thighs as though I was to commence spanking its backside. Between the forward thigh thrust and the upward force exerted by what I believe now to be my face, I was finally able to close the tailgate and roll on down the road.
Did I mention I had no help unloading it?

[KC9ECI]

Water heater is on my list. Started to occasionally trip the breaker (on the unit). Simple enough to press and reset. Contacted the MFG for a replacement. No longer made for my vintage 1979 heater. Been to Menards and looked at a few. Will probably pick one up on the 4th or 5th and get it downstairs and ready to go. Got a little surgical thing going on Friday and then a week off work in which I will do the plumbing.

[NQ6U]

I got a Christmas morning surprise of osprey shit all over my boat. Bastard likes to sit on the masthead of the boat in the next slip and crap on mine all night long. It took me an hour with deck brush, a bucket of boat wash and a garden hose to clean it up.

I have a .22 up in my storage locker, I wonder how roast osprey would taste...

[KG4CGC]

I got a Christmas morning surprise of osprey shit all over my boat. Bastard likes to sit on the masthead of the boat in the next slip and crap on mine all night long. It took me an hour with deck brush, a bucket of boat wash and a garden hose to clean it up.

I have a .22 up in my storage locker, I wonder how roast osprey would taste...