The Caffeinated Penguin

Posted By matt on December 27, 2008

First off, 's dad woke up, which definitely made for a happy Christmas. See, we lost my grandfather on Christmas eve about 10 years ago, and I was hoping for him to not have to go through that as well. As it turns out, my Christmas wish was granted, and his dad woke up.

Redneck Life was the game most played this Christmas, as I got copies for both my father and father in law. Quite hilarious – my sides hurt from laughing so hard.

My mother also got a Wii, and we got her Mario Kart, plus controllers and other assorted accessories, so we played various Wii Sports, Mario Party, and Mario Kart.

I got a bunch of nifty stuff (and this shows the variety of my interests)

Lizzy got me a Nikon Coolpix S202, which seems to be a Nikon Coolpix S200 in a case derived from the S210. The reviews are slightly hard on it, but for what it is (a 8MP 3x optical zoom point and shoot), it's just fine. Bear in mind that it is replacing a 2.1MP camera (an Olympus D510) where my only complaint was the time it took to turn on and to auto focus. This one is vastly faster. If I wanted a really fancy camera, I'd grab some type of DSLR, likely after talking to and for suggestions. So, this likely will mean more action shots of kittens, plus there's a cool panorama mode which I want to try out by standing in the yard and spinning around.

She also got me some speakers so I can listen to music while reading in the pretty living room. Since I'm currently subscribed to magnatune, I may branch out from my usual punk and metal staples and pick up something a little more mellow – their classical and jazz selections are fairly extensive.

Finally, a pair of wireless Gamecube controllers. Since we have the Wii, we play the old Gamecube games on it.. which requires Gamecube controllers.. which normally have wires.. which the cats attack. These new ones have no wires, so the cats don't get to attack them, which makes playing Mario Kart: Double Dash, a little less likely to require shouting at cats.

My folks got me a 18″ 42cc Poulan Pro Chainsaw, which is something I needed since I seized up the other one (which, admittedly was 40 years old and we didn't know what the mix was supposed to be, so I likely had it too lean). When I told my in laws about it, they selflessly offered to let me come over and try out the saw on some trees which the ice storm took down – I can even take them back to my house for burning in the woodstove, if I like. Aren't they nice folks? Of course, I'll likely take them up on it, since I want to try out my new toy!

My brother got me a brake kit (you know, the thing that you use to turn in the piston on the caliper so you can affix the new pads). Beats the hell out of doing it with a screwdriver…

My in laws got me the first two Iron Empires graphic novels, as well as toying with my emotions by picking me up some interesting sake. Specifically Rihaku Wandering Poet and Mantensei Star-Filled Sky.

In a bit of unfortunate happenstance, I have scored myself some killer rabbit slippers. See, Liz got them for her dad, but his feet are just a tad too big. So, I get them.

I hope everyone else got their toys this Christmas, and had fun with the family.

Category: LJ Import
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