# Its been a while since we had a White Elephant Exchange - anyone keen? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 31, 2011, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637 "2011-03-31T15:27:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/202 "2011-06-07T14:14:48Z")
> [@gardentraveler](#): > > Mine, on the other hand, was not a false alarm. I just never made it back to say thanks to **fluidruid** for the tremendously amusing and eclectic elephant. I have to run off now, but I’ll be back to describe the contents. For now, I’ll just say that the purse reminded me of something my grandma would have bought for me at some point. It made me grin. I got that in a white elephant of sorts, too – it came in a [woot.com](http://woot.com) “Bag of Crap”. I couldn’t disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/203 "2011-06-07T17:24:00Z")
> [@gardentraveler](#): > > My outgoing elephant has been sent to someone who isn’t participating in this exchange. But whose parental unit is. 😃 Should be there Saturday or Monday. Yup! It arrived on Saturday while I was recovering in the hospital! It was addressed to my daughter with my name as a parenthetical. Of course, The Littlest Briston saw her name on the box and insisted it was for her and her alone, so it needed to be opened right away. Nope, sorry kiddo, not until daddy gets home. 🙂 Once I was feeling up to it yesterday, we cracked it open and shared the goodies inside. There’s was a convienent list in there, which I’m transcribing here and adding my own notes in **bold** : 1. Two tea tins containing no tea - but instead: bracelets & a necklace; a small pig flashlight (used to have a key ring attached), 2 boxes of French licorice breath mint thingies that have been officially declared not my thing. **TLB scooped up the jewelry and the pig (she _loves_ the pig!). The breath mints aren’t my thing either, but I’m hanging on to them simply because they look _exactly_ like mouse poop, which can be worked in as excellent prank material.** 2. Four crayons. **Always good to have in the car in case TLB needs a quick distraction.** 3. Stickers! **_Always_ a favorite for TLB.** 4. Two squishy balls - stretch ones, kinda. **TLB snagged the spiky one, I grabbed the basketball-looking one.** 5. Sunglasses (left over from a costume). **Costume?? Why from a costume? They’re completely badass!** 6. Reading glasses (just left over) **Woah…_definitely_ not my prescription!** 7. The alphabet, magnetic, possibly glow in the dark. **(I’m leaving out the chicken booger story, simply for length) Yup, they glow, and they’re on TLB’s magnetic board in her bedroom. She loves 'em!** 8. One dinner napkin accidentally taken home by one of my houseguests from I-no-longer-remember-which restaurant. \*\*Ohhhh, ok. I thought it was a handkerchief. \*\* 9. Two plastic covers w/snaps, useful for protecting Henry. Previous protectors of pillowcases, I suspect. **Henry? Who’s Henry? Henry is someone who wasn’t mentioned on the list, so I’m going to squeeze him in below:** **9B) Henry the Talking Gnome – a little Santa-looking guy with a “press me” point on him. When you hit that button, he greets TLB by name in a silly, gnomish voice…which he’s done well over a hundred times now.** 1. Wireless mouse and USB thingie (swag my brother gave me). **Heh…and I sent out a mouse in my outbound elephant…but this one is wireless, so woohoo, I traded up!** 2. Bluetooth headset – also brother’s leftover. **Well all right! My bluetooth died the other day…perfect timing!** 3. Smithsonian Magazine containing article entitled “Zombies Wanted” (or at least that’s the teaser on the cover). **It’s a tongue-in-cheek article about avoiding useless job offers on Craigslist. Also has a really good article on the malleability of memory.** 4. Other reading material **Couple of random magazines.** 5. Bubble wrap! **I’m in the middle of packing to move, so woohoo for bubble wrap!** 6. This notepad. **Notepad: check.** 7. This pen. **Pen: check.** 8. Postcard…almost forgot the postcard! **Oooo…very purdy castle…** **And, one other thing that was left off of the list:** 18) A 3M vacuum filter for Eureka 4700 and 5500 series. **You realize now that when I move in two weeks and I have to buy a vacuum, I’m going to have to try and track down one of these…because hey, free filter for my vacuum.** Thank you very much – top-notch elephant! ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/204 "2011-06-07T23:08:25Z")
Glad it arrived, **Hal**! Gotta say it felt like I won the lottery when I saw who I was sending to because I knew I had things that both you and **TLB** might like. Glad you were able to get home from the hospital so quickly; I have a mental picture of the box being dragged to the hospital to be opened if things had taken longer. I realized I’d left a couple of items off the list after I taped the box. You can change what Henry says, but I figured **TLB** would get a kick out of hearing her name, at least for a while. I’m sure you can coach her into recording “Hi Daddy” or some other thing and keep her entertained even longer. Sunglasses: on you they look badass; on me they look…silly. I used the mouse twice and then realized that I practically never use a mouse at home, even if it’s wireless, so I figured it could go to a different home. Hope that it and the bluetooth thingy work well; glad that it sounds like you might actually have a use for them. The vacuum filter was one I thought fit my vacuum, but didn’t. Didn’t get a chance to take it back in time, so I figured I’d pass it on. Didn’t even think about the moving angle. Anyhoo: glad you both enjoyed things; I tried to balance things out so that it was about 1/2 for you and 1/2 for her. Sounds like it worked out pretty well. **fluidruid** : Ha! I wondered where you (or anyone) would have scored such a… unique bag. Still owe a list, but gotta go out just now. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/205 "2011-06-08T02:30:15Z")
Ok, lazy ele is finally dressed and ready to travel. I don’t have a car today or maybe tomorrow, but as soon as I can get to the PO she will be galloping to Philly. (Do elephants gallop, or is their top speed called something else?) Actually, this is an sub-ele. The original one got sent to a warehouse somewhere with the rest of the stuff from the basement. Everything was supposed to be back by now, but it’s going to be at least another 2 weeks. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/206 "2011-06-09T21:00:46Z")
My elephant is finally starting it’s cross-country (WA to NJ) trek. Sorry it was so late going out, I have been working extra hours the last two weeks and have never seemed to be in town when the post office was open. I haven’t received mine yet, hopefully he isn’t lost! ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/207 "2011-06-10T17:27:52Z")
i sent mine out a week and a half ago…hope it made it safely or it’s safely en route. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/208 "2011-06-10T19:32:59Z")
OK! ele, trembling with fear of the unknown, stepped aboard the train(or plane) to Philly this morning. It should arrive on or around June 17th. ---
**Author:** ![longPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@longPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longPath)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/209 "2011-06-11T01:17:25Z")
My parcel arrived today!! Thank you **Heraldgwena**! I will post a list of the goodies tomorrow! ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/210 "2011-06-11T01:43:37Z")
Alas, I am still elephantless. The peanuts are getting stale… ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/211 "2011-06-12T20:24:57Z")
> [@Surly\_Chick](#): > > Alas, I am still elephantless. The peanuts are getting stale… And so am I. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![longPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@longPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/longPath)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/212 "2011-06-13T00:41:21Z")
Here is what my elephant had in her trunk: A sewing kit (will go in the car) stubby #2 Philips screwdriver metallic silver Sharpie marker collar for kitty (or very small dog) manicure kit (also will go in the car) a book of Boggle puzzles a pair of cool slipper/socks with no-slip nubbies on the soles assorted colourful springy paper clips 2 battery powered faux candles (these will go to our vision impaired friend who loves candles but can’t use real ones any longer) a DVD movie a couple of nice Vietnamese folding baskets a copy of Candide in French an illuminated lanyard (great for walking at night) a few other things that have escaped my gaze. **Thanks again!!!** ---
**Author:** ![Wallflower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Wallflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallflower)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/213 "2011-06-14T21:22:39Z")
☹ Still no trace of my albino pachyderm. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/214 "2011-06-14T23:35:27Z")
My elephant arrived yesterday. I don’t know who sent it though. I got: DVD’s Perfume/lotions Hair bands ( I think ) Pens Scissors Beads Necklaces Purse I’m quite happy with the purse. I’ve been looking for one of those thin ones that you just use for a few debit/credit cards and a lip gloss, that sort of thing. Thank you to whoever sent it! ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/215 "2011-06-15T14:51:40Z")
> [@Wallflower](#): > > ☹ Still no trace of my albino pachyderm. I’m sorry. After I rescued him fromt he mailroom I got caught up in a new car purchase which took over my life for about a week and a half. I’ll get him on his way today. Mea Culpa! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/216 "2011-06-15T19:14:43Z")
Ok folks - it’s the 15th of June. Elephants should have arrived by now, or explanations should be forthcoming. As per the posts in this thread **TruCelt** and **picunurse** get a temporary pass before I start bitching at them - next week at the latest, right? Anyone else still waiting? I was tardy shipping as well but my package should have arrived on Monday or Tuesday of this week but I haven’t heard anything. Please post if you’ve received people! Or post if you haven’t and I’ll get my bitch on! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/217 "2011-06-15T19:23:26Z")
I haven’t received yet, but I hope it’s on its way. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/218 "2011-06-15T19:28:10Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > I haven’t received yet, but I hope it’s on its way. K - message sent…I’ll let you know if I hear anything. Also people, if you want to start volunteering to adopt orphans, let me know! ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/219 "2011-06-15T19:29:47Z")
I haven’t gotten one yet. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/220 "2011-06-15T19:33:42Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I haven’t gotten one yet. Message sent. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637/221 "2011-06-15T20:02:57Z")
there came a tapping… almost rapping upon my abode’s door… the postman cometh! pause while opening box\*\*\*\* a biggie bag of yarn! conversation coasters a dinosaur stamp stitch markets and a wee sock lotions and potions and a lanyard. knitting needles lots and lots of knitting needles knitting patterns a rainbow flag wine bag white material and an emerald downs lunch bag. thank you picnurse! everything is really great and arrived earlier than expected. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-been-a-while-since-we-had-a-white-elephant-exchange-anyone-keen/576637.md?page=12)