# And on earth: peace, goodwill towards men - a defiantly Christmas-y MMP **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** mmp\ **Created:** [December 24, 2007, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104 "2007-12-24T05:54:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/281 "2007-12-29T19:09:47Z")
I have a pot of 15 bean soup on the stove - with the leftover hambone in it from Christmas. Yum! I’ve been a little productive, but I’m still in my jammies. I think I’ll stay in them all day, so there! 😛 My excuse is, I’m doing laundry. And I’m lazy to boot. I am sitting next to my Christmas tree, which is dried out and needs to be taken down. I just can’t summon the willpower yet. Mr Rebo is in the garage cleaning it out. I guess I could help a bit, and go get the Christmas bins out of there and bring them in here. It’s a start, right? Plus he needs to build a storage box for [Cap’n Christmas.](http://s18.photobucket.com/albums/b109/rmix/xmas%202007/?action=view¤t=DSCF2636.jpg) He said it’s a _coffin_! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/282 "2007-12-29T19:54:05Z")
OK, let’s see… London… Landed Friday (12/21) noonish. Picked up the rental car (yes, we rented a car. In London. We’re suicidal that way :D) and drove into town. I let my wife off for a work meeting she had to go to (and which will comp her ticket and two days of expenses, which is why she arranged it), got set up at the hotel, picked her up and hit the nearby supermarket (it’s a weekly rental unit, and we cooked for ourselves) Saturday – Science Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum. Started shopping – Oxford Street and a nice shoe shop on Trafalgar square with \*\*huge \*\*sales all year round. Kind of like a “Show Locker” but with class. Evening – went to _Lion King_ – first of three musicals we saw during our stay. Good. Sunday – Blurf, what **did** we do on Sunday? Can’t remember any more… I’m pretty sure this was the day we went to the National Museum. Then we walked down to Westminster Abbey, but it’s closed on Sunday… Also went to a few bookshops. Went shopping for Christmas Dinner, ended up with some British meat pies of all sorts and some nice Christmas Desserts. Monday – Morning shopping in Kensington (where we were staying); went into town to see musical #2 – _Lord of the Rings_. Matinee. \*Very \*good. went on to do some book browsing along the Charing Cross Rd.'s little quaint second-hand book stores. Then the Tate Gallery. And walked around that part of London (Southwark) – saw the Golden Hinde (Drake’s ship) and the Southwark Cathedral. Also drove around London in the fog. Makes you understand where ghost stories come from! Went back to the apartment and I cooked us all a nice (if partly warm-me-up) Christmas dinner. Tuesday – Christmas day – we went [del]poisoning[/del] feeding pigeons (and squirrels. And geese and swans and…) in the park. Two parks, actually – Kensington Park and St. James Park. T’was wet. In fact, the only \*\*really \*\*rainy day we had our whole visit (which is nothing short of amazing.) Went up into Chinatown (which was mostly open) and Leicester Square (which mostly _wasn’t_, but a few restaurants were). Wednesday. Boxing Day! The ‘Black Friday’ of the British Commonwealth! Oxford Street – 70% sales and roughly 5 million people!! Fun. :rolleyes: For those shopping inclined, that is – which was the female half of the expedition. I \*will \*admit we did manage to renew some wardrobes at a fraction of what it would have cost otherwise, though. And the day ended with Musical #3 – _Billy Elliot_. Fabulous!!! The best of the three (and none were bad) Thursday – more post-Christmas shopping, but also the National Museum again, and the Charing X Rd. second-hand bookshops again. Packing. Friday – get up at 5:30 for a 9 AM flight from Stanstead. Which we figured was an hour’s drive out at that time of day… It isn’t :eek: We also got a later start than we wanted… about 6:15 instead of 6:00. We got to the airport at 7:45 :eek::eek:. Dropped the car off without refueling (which will cost us a pretty penny, but what to do?) and hurried in. There was one – ONE – passenger who checked in after us… but we did make it onto the flight. I probably should hyperlink some of the sites, but I’m lazy, so there. Look them up yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/283 "2007-12-29T20:00:17Z")
OK, now _that’s_ out of the way… **Rigs** , \*\*ems \*\*-- I hate horror movies too. I’ll take the Man-Points deduction admitting this will cost me. Also – yay for \*\*RigbyLass \*\*making it to Boston. Boo for you, **ems** , having to go back. Another boo for your throwing up, **LiLi**. Mmmm… squid. And shrimp. And other see food. **Dotty** , I though Muslims don’t eat shell-fish? 😕 Or was I wrong about that? \*\*bbs2k \*\*-- glad you got the car back. Now tell us the story, man! \*\*CutiePie \*\*-- what a mess… ☹ I hope things get sorted out there soon. Appropriate and inappropriate thoughts to all the other mumpers! ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/284 "2007-12-29T20:10:29Z")
Remember me? Hugs and laughs and tears and boos to all who need them - I haven’t read the entire MMP but wanted to let ya’ll know I’m still alive and thinking about you! When I get off work I have been at a keyboard for 8 hours and really don’t feel much like typing so I have been too absent. Christmas was meh - both Mr. SCL and I had to work. I do, however, have $95 in Bath and Body Works gift cards I am about to go spend - see ya’ll later! ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/285 "2007-12-29T20:19:17Z")
Dilemma: do I go to Borders today or Monday? I just don’t know. Off to take a short nap. Perhaps things will become clearer with sleep. Oh, btw–what does this mean? I had a dream last night that I was going to be married by a missionary to my current husband. I asked one of my sisters (who is now dead–this was my least favorite sister) to make my dress, which I wanted to look like a graduation gown, white, with sequins on the shoulders. She got miffed and refused when I said I was going to tell my eldest sister about the dress. She said I should get L. to do it, and I turned to The Husband (fiancee in the dream) and whispered, “I don’t have the heart to tell her that L. is dead.” :eek: What the hell does all that mean? A missionary? I’d more likely be married in an Elvis chapel (this analogy is to show how unlikely it all is–I would never be married in an Elvis chapel!). 😕 ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/286 "2007-12-29T20:36:47Z")
**rigs** my guess is lay off the fried food and pickled eggs before bedtime. What? Did I say I was _good_ at this stuff? I’ve napped. It’s still rainy out. Ima go grill some nice poke chops I picked up whilst at the burly butcher’s this mornin’. They’re smoked poke chops and thus just need a little grill time to be warm again. Scalloped **N.O.T.** , green beans and biscuits shall complete the meal. MMMMMMM… ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/287 "2007-12-29T20:40:36Z")
I think the wedding gown stuff came from that IMHO thread re wearing white to other people’s weddings. Where the dead sisters come into it, I have no idea. And marrying The Husband all over again? What is this, some kind of sick joke? I need medication–no, I need DRUGS. Psychedelic, hallucinogenic pills. Yup. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Taters](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/taters/32/2845_2.png) [@Taters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taters)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/288 "2007-12-29T20:55:38Z")
I need to start some laundry. **SpecialOne,** that sounds like a fun, if hectic trip. I’m glad you got some good deals. Scary movies don’t really bother me. It’s weird, but I just don’t become frightened when I watch them. Bloody, extremely gory movies however, just gross me out. I don’t care for them at all. I’m talking slash and gore type movies, like _Chainsaw Massacre_. I guess I should go wash some clothes, especially since I need clean jeans to wear to the movies tonight. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/289 "2007-12-29T21:07:59Z")
**Some1** , you FED the pigeons in London? :eek: They don’t need feeding! They need to be exterminated. ETA: Hm, hit enter too soon. Anyway, brother and his friend came over; I fed them chicken casserole and we melted chocolate and drowned strawberries in it. Not bad. ---
**Author:** ![bbs2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e495f1/32.png) [@bbs2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bbs2k)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/290 "2007-12-29T21:16:55Z")
All right, my car was missing when I went out to look for it the Tuesday before Christmas. I will copy and paste a message I left at my dearest Fathom earlier this week: > [@](#): > > My car was in Peabody (police found it on a dead end street and it was towed as well as reported), a half an hour away; and that was all I knew. > My Dad gave me a ride up there, on Christmas Eve, and after some initial troubles with directions we found it. My car was there. In tact. Windows and locks were fine. Ignition was in one piece. The only thing remarkable about it was some small dents, missing cash, and a lost briefcase which had nothing but some good books. > > The car was fine. > > How? I don’t know. > > Why the car was taken? I don’t know. > > Why was it left intact? I don’t know. > > It is literally like someone borrowed my car for a week without telling me. > I drove it down the highway, and it felt good. I got home, and it felt good. I didn’t have to go to bed, so I went out shopping. I wanted to go into Christmas with a couple gifts so I took the car down to a mall in Medford. I got a great gift for my brother, a nice thing for my brother’s fiancée, and a beautiful Opal necklace for my Mom. > > Although there were things taken from my car, even odder enough there was this bizarre Dora the Explorer puzzle game left in my trunk by whoever was using my car. I know in most likelihood that it was bought by whoever stole my car, but I still sort of felt bad for being responsible for taking away a toy from a child. > > After shopping for about two hours on Christmas Eve I was happily walking back to my car along with a Haitian family boarding the car beside me. After loading up my trunk I saw this puzzle game and asked the father, “Do your children like Dora the Explorer?” He didn’t know, so I asked the backseat kids and they nodded enthusiastically. > > It’s not a Christmas miracle, but I was smiling the whole way home after the Dad thanked me repeatedly. Smiling while driving. > > I would have liked to have done more for my family for this Christmas season, but we are all happy, safe, and together. And I wanted to extend good karma, well wishes, and Merry Christmas to everyone in Fathom. > Merry Christmas, and stay safe. And the well wishes extend to the mmper’s. Have a safe and happy 2008 kids! ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/291 "2007-12-29T21:18:12Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] **Some1** , you FED the pigeons in London? :eek: They don’t need feeding! They need to be exterminated. [/QUOTE] Actually, we didn’t. And I know they need extermination – I’m with you (and with **Tom Lehrer** :D) on that one… hence the [del]struckthrough[/del] word in my travelogue… For those who aren’t as ancient as me (_cough_ **Haze** _cough_)… [Poisoning Pigeons in the Park](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhuMLpdnOjY) (also, see lyrics [here](http://members.aol.com/quentncree/lehrer/pigeons.htm)) ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/292 "2007-12-29T21:19:23Z")
Ugh. I just found out there’s a football game on tonight. The guys said they wanted to go out to a bar; I did not realize football was going to be involved. Sneaky bastards. I really wish I could get into football, since 99% of the people I hang out with think it’s of some importance. ETA: **Some1** , that is freaking hilarious. I wonder if I can learn to play that on the guitar. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/293 "2007-12-29T21:25:02Z")
[QUOTE=Lunch] OK, let’s see… London… [/QUOTE] OK, wait. So you blew your whole. . . story in one post? Aren’t you supposed to wait for an MMP OP? And then have graphics, colors and animation. This was so short. **CP** , are you with me on this one? We waited a whole week for you and somehow I was expecting. . . more.\* 😉 \*But thanks for posting it though. . . short as it was. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/294 "2007-12-29T21:33:06Z")
Well, I did 3/4 of what I intended. The dining room, kitchen, and family room are clean/dusted/vacuumed/tidied. Third load is in the dryer, and that’ll be it for today. Sketty sauce is thawed, and I’ll be heating it up shortly, and boiling some pasta. The bread is perfuming the house - it’ll be done in about half an hour. Yum. No dessert, tho. Bummer. Lessee - tomorrow’s Sunday, huh? I should probably start thinking about the next MMP. Something profound. Something entertaining. Something enlightening. Or just something I throw together. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/295 "2007-12-29T21:35:44Z")
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee] Ugh. I just found out there’s a football game on tonight. The guys said they wanted to go out to a bar; I did not realize football was going to be involved. Sneaky bastards. I really wish I could get into football, since 99% of the people I hang out with think it’s of some importance. [/quote] Well, if it’s the Pats/Giants game, then they’re **right** – it could well be football history in the making. OK, I’ll stop salting your wounds now… > [@](#): > > ETA: **Some1** , that is freaking hilarious. I wonder if I can learn to play that on the guitar. [Ask, and you shall receive](http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/poisonin.htm) **Roo** – you know it’s not just the length of the … story… that counts! (And now you’ve drawn me into my old ways again. And people here say **I’m** the ribald one… ;)) ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/296 "2007-12-29T21:53:54Z")
I’ve had two naps today so far, and right now I’m listening to Mr. Lissar do more kitchen scrubbing. It’s very restful. 😃 **bb** , I’m so glad they found your car! **SCL** , sorry your Christmas wasn’t great. I hope you enjoy the shopping trip. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/297 "2007-12-29T21:54:02Z")
[QUOTE=Lunch] **Roo** – you know it’s not just the length of the … story… that counts! [/quote] Yeah, I know. That’s why I mentioned colors and animation. There needs to be breadth and depth as well. But don’t discount the length either. Longer stories can be very interesting indeed. 🙂 > [@Lunch](#): > > (And now you’ve drawn me into my old ways again. Oh yeah sure. Blame me. As if. :dubious: > [@Lunch](#): > > And people here say **I’m** the ribald one… ;)) What? Some helpful comments about your tales are ribald? I had to look up [ribald](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ribald) to check: > [@](#): > > 1. vulgar or indecent in speech, language, etc.; coarsely mocking, abusive, or irreverent; scurrilous. Who you calling scurrilous? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/298 "2007-12-29T22:03:47Z")
I’m going to ignore **MT** ’s threats of theft. It’s not like she’s never “borrowed” stuff either, and I did leave my stuff in her hands. :eek: I’m at work, so I’m not cleaning. And since I’m at work I don’t feel bad about it, though my bathroom could use a bit of attention. It’s not bad, but it’s not great, either. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/299 "2007-12-29T22:22:30Z")
**snowbunny** , young lady, when you get home this evenin’, you go clean that bathroom. It’s not going to clean itself you know! Don’t give me that look. I said clean that bathroom. Feel motivated? 😃 **bb** yay on gettin’ the car back and good on you for what you did with the game. That was jake! Ok, biscuits in the oven. Soon it shall be feed da bear (and ol’ y’all know who) time! Bear hungry! Later Y’all! ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2007, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104/300 "2007-12-29T22:49:02Z")
[QUOTE=swampbear] I would have **Dotty**. I would have whumped him upside the haid and said, “wassail matterchew boy! ain’t you got no manners! you want yo momma to know you act lak this!” That’d learn him a thing or two! [/QUOTE] Jeebuz, **Swampus**. You live deeper in The South than I do, and you haven’t learned the universal threat “Ima gonna slap a knot on yo haid!”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-on-earth-peace-goodwill-towards-men-a-defiantly-christmas-y-mmp/431104.md?page=16)