totally off topic -- just a lot of random stuff Showing 601-650 of 1,139

[SherryRose]

LOL!

[T]

Wendy wrote: "Remembering being puzzled, confused and downright sympathetic towards my friends who believed a bunny rabbit went around giving away candy and hiding eggs. Luckily, I kept my mouth shut here. Later..."

Could have been worse, could have been the tooth fairy? :-)

[SherryRose]

LOL!

[Dave]

Wait a minute, are you telling me the tooth fairy, santa and the easter bunny aren't real? bummer!
What about Narnia, Hogwarts and Neverland?

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Dave wrote: "Wait a minute, are you telling me the tooth fairy, santa and the easter bunny aren't real? bummer!
What about Narnia, Hogwarts and Neverland?"

Hogwarts is real. I saw it at Universal Studios.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Wendy wrote: "I never cared for clowns..but not scared of them.
I am Jewish, so Santa was never part of my "mindset". Although, when I was about 7-8, I personally traumatized a younger child. Just before 'Chris..."

My husband is Jewish and tells me that when he was growing up, he hated Hanukkah because one night you might get socks, and then you might get like a pen and pencil set, and your non-Jewish friends are getting everything they wanted for Christmas.

[Carol]

Nancy wrote: "Wendy wrote: "I never cared for clowns..but not scared of them.
I am Jewish, so Santa was never part of my "mindset". Although, when I was about 7-8, I personally traumatized a younger child. Just..."

He just needed more non-Jewish friends wth parents who didn't get their kids everything they wanted, or at least had tighter budgets :)

We never suggested Santa was real so no trauma at our house over that, but my daughter was quite sad to discover the tooth fairy was fake, which is particularly funny because my husband and I are both ADD and routinely forgot to trade out the tooth for coins, or didn't have shy cash. It's amazing she ever though a tooth fairy would be as unreliable as we were.

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Carol wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Wendy wrote: "I never cared for clowns..but not scared of them.
I am Jewish, so Santa was never part of my "mindset". Although, when I was about 7-8, I personally traumatized a young..."

Carol wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Wendy wrote: "I never cared for clowns..but not scared of them.
I am Jewish, so Santa was never part of my "mindset". Although, when I was about 7-8, I personally traumatized a young..."

Well, that would have been tough. His parents put him into some private high school where one kid (and I quote) " had his own manservant." Thank goodness he turned out normal.

[Wendy]

Nancy wrote: "Wendy wrote: "I never cared for clowns..but not scared of them.
I am Jewish, so Santa was never part of my "mindset". Although, when I was about 7-8, I personally traumatized a younger child. Just..."

That's interesting. Tradition in my house was a little similar. Mum couldn't afford multiple large gifts. My sibs and I knew it was small gifts days 1-7 (money, a book, underwear, a nice outfit, specialty candy (a RARE commodity), homemade "gift certificate" to a restaurant or ice cream, school supplies, "a "pass" from the next discipline issue, etc. The 8th present was the "BIG" or most expensive gift. Unlike your husband, I did not know any better. Oh, I had ZERO Jewish friends. Something similar with our Halloween candy routine- 1. no limits with candy 2. Mom sorted it out for safety 3. likes/yuks traded among friends/sibs 4. ONE PIECE A DAY ONLY. My sister and I were the only ones in elementary school with Halloween candy PAST January! There was one exception: When my English Grandma May came to visit the States, she brought English candy like white chocolate, smarties, honeycomb, penguins, jaffa cakes etc, We got to eat it ALL! :)

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Wendy wrote: "Nancy wrote: "Wendy wrote: "I never cared for clowns..but not scared of them.
I am Jewish, so Santa was never part of my "mindset". Although, when I was about 7-8, I personally traumatized a young..."

That was the same as my husband, Wendy. 7 little presents and then the big one. I think he'd rather have had one day of many presents.

[T]

Dave wrote: "Wait a minute, are you telling me the tooth fairy, santa and the easter bunny aren't real? bummer!
What about Narnia, Hogwarts and Neverland?"

...the Great Pumpkin, Harvey the Pooka, Mr Clean....

(Well, some of those might be U.S. figments.....)

[SherryRose]

I wish Mr Clean was real lol!

[Jan C]

Wish he'd drop by here. Save me from having to do it.

[Wendy]

SO CONFESS how many of you opened your presents that were under the tree, then rewrapped them? Another concept I did'nt "get"! LOL

[Jan C]

Never. That would never have occurred to me. As a child, I may have sought out the hiding places - but always regretted having found anything.

One year, as adults, we opened our presents on Christmas Eve - my sister and husband had to leave by midnight to drive home to Indiana to spend Christmas with grandchildren.

[Bill]

I was a bit more proactive, Wendy. I knew my parents hid the presents under their bed and used to check there... :).. They still managed to surprise me however..

[David]

My parents put Christmas presents atop the dresser in their bedroom. I spent many an hour shaking and otherwise examining the ones with my name on them, trying to guess what they were.
My success rate was about 50%.

[Wendy]

I was curious cause my best friend used to unwrap then re-wrap. The idea just flabbergasted me. She was so skilled at it she later was a gift wrapper at Macys.

[SherryRose]

Ours were hidden in a storage closet before they were wrapped. I would peek and then regret it. Curiosity caused me to peek but then Christmas wasn't a surprise.

[Jan C]

Ours were in a closet, too. Actually, I discovered it by accident. I was just flipping the door back and forth. And I saw them. Then I had to pretend that I hadn't. I don't think I ever flipped the door back and forth again.

[T]

Okay, but how many can relate to hiding presents and forgetting where they were hidden (or that they even existed!)....danged "safe" places!

[Jan C]

I can. When I moved last year I had an accident on my route. Insurance sent me a check. I put it somewhere safe. So safe I couldn't find it. Had to pay for repairs out of my pocket. Several months later my sister visits and encourages me to rearrange my furniture. In fact, she rearranged it (after discussion) while we were out and she found the check.

[SherryRose]

I have hidden things and forgotten where. I'm a squirrel LOL!

[T]

Sherry wrote: "I have hidden things and forgotten where. I'm a squirrel LOL!"

It will be Christmas if you ever move and find all your goodies!

[Bill]

I can relate to that as well. While I was stationed in Germany, we lived in an apartment building and we hid all of the presents in the storage room in the basement. I spent Xmas eve, bringing the presents upstairs. After we opened them Xmas day, there seemed to be some missing. Yup, there was still another box down in the storage room, awaiting wrapping... lol... The kids still liked them.

[SherryRose]

If you start shopping early, it's easy to look at a wrapped package and forget what's inside. I did that when my kids were little.

[T]

My out of town sister used to remind me to go look on the shelves in Mom's closet....

[Dave]

Hogwarts is real. I saw it at Universal..."
:D

[JoAnne]

I have on more than one occasion given my husband one of his Christmas presents closer to Valentines Day, after I stumbled upon it. Oops.

[SherryRose]

JoAnne wrote: "I have on more than one occasion given my husband one of his Christmas presents closer to Valentines Day, after I stumbled upon it. Oops."

So then you're set for a bday present!

[T]

OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Clowns have invaded Seattle now!

[SherryRose]

Just the other day www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/new... It seems like a pedophile ring.

[Wendy]

I am always behind with technology. I still use CDs in the car. do not have Tvo on TV, and still do not have a ipod.
My sister has given me her old Kindle. I managed to put it into my name and Amazon account. I have no clue how to go about finding ebooks, and how to get them onto my Kindle. Specifically, how do I do it via my library or get free/cheap books and on what sites? Please be kind and explain...

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

Wendy wrote: "I am always behind with technology. I still use CDs in the car. do not have Tvo on TV, and still do not have a ipod.
My sister has given me her old Kindle. I managed to put it into my name and Amaz..."

Oh my goodness, depending on what type of books you enjoy, there are freebies all over the place! This might be a good place to start:

http://www.the-ebook-reader.com/free-...

[David]

Wendy, also check out:
BookBub
Book Raider
OHFB (One Hundred Free Books)
Bargain Booksy
Early Bird Books
Robin Reads Team
Free Booksy

All of them allow you to specify the types of books you enjoy.

[David]

First, something I forgot to add to my last post: All those sites allow you to sign up for daily e-mails listing the specials of the day.

To download books, you will need to buy an Amazon gift card and set up an account with them.

When you find a book you like, turn on the WiFi connection on your Kindle then go to Amazon (clicking on a book you like in one of the websites listed usually will take you there). On the right side of the Amazon page you'll see "Buy Now With One Click" button. Click on it and the book will appear on your Kindle within a few seconds.

[Thomas]

My library uses Overdrive to lend ebooks. They have a guide explaining how it works. Some of my ebooks are lend able and I can lend you a few if you send me your email address in a pm.

[Jan C]

Wendy wrote: "I am always behind with technology. I still use CDs in the car. do not have Tvo on TV, and still do not have a ipod.
My sister has given me her old Kindle. I managed to put it into my name and Amaz..."

OverDrive. Go to your library's website and sign up. It is real easy. My brother told me about it a couple of years ago. I mainly do audio books from them.

I get most of my ebooks from Amazon. Check on the Kindle Daily deals and the monthly deals. They also have a lot of free books.

[Wendy]

thanks!

[Wendy]

I heard somewhere ones likeihood of winning a Giveaway had to do with the number of reviews one did. I've been trying since 2011 with no avail. Suggestions?if this is in the wrong place feel free to edit and move.

[Thomas]

I have won about 17 Giveaway books, mostly lesser known authors. I also get free ebooks from Bookbub.com. I have entered about 1300 Giveaways. I have also won ebooks from NetGalley.com.
Good luck. My Giveaways are in my First reads shelf.

[Jan C]

No idea how many I have entered but I have received 7. I used to enter them a lot but now I just do occasionally - like when it is a book that I have a fairly good idea that I already actually want to read the book.

[David]

Like Jan, I have no idea how many giveaways I've entered, but I've won 20 books.
Like her also, I've cut back on the giveaways I enter, only going for books or authors I really want to read.
I seemed to win more books after I first started entering but it's fallen to very few of late.

[Franky]

So, California has recently passed a “no plastic bag” law where you are now charged for each bag you need to purchase when checking out at a grocery store, unless you bring your own bag in. I seem to always forget my bags (even though I leave them in my trunk), and I can feel the checkers at Walmart and Vons and other stores roll their eyes (internally) when they see me, and know quite well I’ve forgotten my bag, so I know how this costumer feels:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX5Nf...

[Thomas]

Franky wrote: "So, California has recently passed a “no plastic bag” law where you are now charged for each bag you need to purchase when checking out at a grocery store, unless you bring your own bag in. I seem ..."

Lol

[Bill]

They do that here at most stores too. We always have some cloth bags in the bag seat for those stores.. When I remember to bring them in that is.. lol

[Desley (Cat fosterer)]

We have that in the UK, i often have to take the trolley back to the car to pack as I forgot the bags, or struggle!

[Wendy]

I am a Californian born, raised, and current resident. I personally do not like having to buy bags because someone profits by the purchases. However, it is heathier environment wise. I too forget my bags. Lol

[Jan C]

I keep my bags in the trunk. Evanston, the town I formerly lived in, banned them several years ago in stores over a certain square footage. Mom & Pop/convenience stores didn't have to comply with the rule. But the grocery store definitely did. They gave the stores 6 months or so to use up their supply of plastic bags.

[[deleted user]]

Hi :) I have just signed up for Goodreads, so am exploring the site Just testing the waters :) I am an Australian, love learning all things new . And reading . And chatting on internet forums