What are you doing today?

[connorlindeman]

Happy 21st birthday, @connorlindeman

Doing anything special to celebrate?

My mom and sister made spaghetti and meatballs, homemade cake, cookies, and icecream. I saved you a slice.

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Happy Bday, Connor! I fondly remember 21...Things hurt a bit less back then.

 

[jaylach]

When I was 21 I never thought I'd get to 71. Now that I'm 71 I don't know how I survived 21...

 

[GaryE]

So are you close enough to Christmas that gift receiving could be frustrating when you were a kid? My Uncle was a December baby (a bit later in the month) and used to get the old combined birthday and Christmas presents.

 

[MattW]

So are you close enough to Christmas that gift receiving could be frustrating when you were a kid? My Uncle was a December baby (a bit later in the month) and used to get the old combined birthday and Christmas presents.

31st Dec here. It killed me as a kid when they said one present for both dates.

 

[jaylach]

My sisters and myself were October babes. Older sister October 13, myself October 15 and my younger sister October 16. With birthdays being so close none of us got a lot from parents but grandma made up for it.

 

[connorlindeman]

So are you close enough to Christmas that gift receiving could be frustrating when you were a kid? My Uncle was a December baby (a bit later in the month) and used to get the old combined birthday and Christmas presents.

Yup. It was always a single present. It was a bit disappointing as a kid.

 

[Lanpenn]

Happy 21st birthday, @connorlindeman

Doing anything special to celebrate?

Happy Birthday!

It appears that my Artemia franciscana culture is thriving this time. These nauplii nowadays are now older... testing my new tripod.


There is a slight bad smell, however. It may be related to hydrogen sulfide which are produced by some bacteria... including the ones from my brine shrimp feed? Maybe. I prepared a feed mixture of freshwater, soybean extract, and brown rice flour after passing it through a cloth coffee filter. The soybean extract smell is pleasant.

 

[Back in the fold]

As of today, I am officially 21.

What ! ? ! ? You’ll never believe this but I was 21 when I was your age . This totally blows me away .
My birthday is December 24th so I am well aware of the December birthday Christmas gyp .

 

[jaylach]

I'm sort of self ranting on some television commercials and on-line offers that are total scams. For instance there is a well known bath tub/shower re-do outfit that I won't say the name. It is a total con job. In a really large font they say there are no payments or interest for a year but in a small font below it states if payed in full within 12 months. The con is that, if not fully paid in the 12 months, you are liable for the interest of the full amount with that interest building for a year along with added interest until fully paid. Not all but many will delay paying to buy other stuff. The purchaser can easily end up paying twice the actual cost.

Another thing that bugs me is free shipping for on-line orders. So many people will actually pay more for an item that has free shipping than they would at another site that charged shipping but the item price is much lower. All they see is "free shipping" so it must be a better deal even though it actually costs more.

 

[connorlindeman]

What ! ? ! ? You’ll never believe this but I was 21 when I was your age . This totally blows me away .
My birthday is December 24th so I am well aware of the December birthday Christmas gyp .

That's shocking to me! I never thought that anyone else had ever been 21 at my age!

 

[Fishmanic]

Went to a Holiday party for old fogies like myself. It was put on by the local senior council. Grand ballroom of the Sheraton hotel. About 150 showed up.
Live band, catered food, and dancing. It was just like a wedding. Good food and fun time. Even Santa showed up after a long flight on his sleigh.

 

[gimme30]

Even Santa showed up after a long flight on his sleigh.

Yes, but did you sit on his lap?

........On second thought....maybe we don't want to know.....

 

[GaryE]

@Fishmanic - it looks like they let you play all the reindeer games.

I had a year teaching Grade 9 when Rudolph the reindeer became a big symbol to the kids. I always skipped lunch and kept my classroom open as a hangout for the bullied kids. They called the room The Island of Misfit Toys. I wonder if any of them became dentists?

Today = shopping. I love giving gifts and such, but I hate shopping for them. I've delayed a bit because I have to go from store to store, hit the Mall, etc. I didn't want to freeze and slide with the ice. Today is suddenly warm, so I have no excuses. The local retail scene isn't as much of a kicked over ant hill as it was before online shopping. I do miss the days when the Mall had two aquarium stores, one at each end, back at the peak of the hobby. It was nice to take a break and scoot in.

Now every fifth store in the Mall is a papered over storefront, but the rents are so high the local pet stores can't even look there. We have five stores that sell fish, and only the corporate chain, a "TB and Glo Fish" one is central. The others are all literally on the edge of town, in all directions. Interesting patterns.

My wife and I share the online accounts, so I have to go to real stores or she sees what she's getting.

 

[anewbie]

Today I have to find a pen that ran off to a hole somewhere so I can write the date on a piece of paper so the forum gods don't arrest me and break both my legs and knock me a few times in the head.