Furtive Nips 2: Ghost Protocol

now onto solving the world’s problems through engineering: “you have to find a prototype that works and reproduce it!”

Perhaps only annoying to me after decades of sensitization.

Nah

I'm having a relatively good time. People seem to have slotted into roles which don't involve critique of myself and we went for a walk where we agreed about things.

It has not always been thus.

AA I can only guess what yr situation must be like. Have you got enjoyable alternatives to the family Xmas?

there are, but the problem is the incredible anger and resentment when i don’t go to something. so i really am in a lose-lose situation.

Hang on in there. How many days does it have to last before you can escape? Having the exits clearly marked can be helpful

Nah

xp yeah, i just need to work out what the exits are. there’s another family thing next week with even more of the same people and i can’t really get out of it.

Negronis at my place for everyone.

oh done, see you in 15 mins

likewise

Just let me finish the dishes, and I'll join you.

just found a parking spot

Cubed ice is ready!

Walking it off 🚶‍♀️. You can go ahead and start without me.

actually my friend Jesús made me a mojito.

I had lots of wine. I watched Spike Jones dvds with my dad.

the entire fam went to my bro's g/f's fam's house. it was a nice time.

and now some kind of literary cocktail 🍹

Jesús walks!

Indeed. My personal savior and bartender. Um Añejo Daquiri.

he’s Cuban like you, Alfred, although I think he has a girlfriend now.

he’s probably read as much as you and James Morrison combined

lol you're setting up the final b-boy battle in You Got Served only with books

My secret Santa prez was a book on Japanese Graphic Design which is insanely specific and prescient and I'm told whoever it was, they didn't get a steer from my other half, so now I'm worried someone has cameras in my house.

*phew* What I dream I had last night.

My Trumpy in-laws had a car accident on the way here - no one injured, but a hassle with paperwork, trying to get insurance estimates and find a rental car, all on Christmas Eve. Shortened their visit from three days to one and a half.

It's a strange feeling, trying to put on a somber look of disappointment when inside I was dancing with joy.

Seasonal whine:

Thanksgiving: My wife and I showed up at my parents' house to host Thanksgiving for fourteen of *their* guests. My parents refused all help, even to clear out a shelf in the fridge. They actually forbade us from using the kitchen until after they'd prepared their mid-morning snack. Because my wife and didn't get started cooking until ten-ish, I asked a cousin to drive over and assist. He agreed, as long as he could bring his LEGITIMATE THERAPY ANIMAL, and keep it dog-pen in my parents' yard since he'd be volunteering for a whole day. My parents – who have not used the pen in over a decade - refused to allow its use, because "he's so entitled for asking," and therefore my cousin could not help. During the meal, my father made fun of me for the amusement of the table. Notably, my sibling showed up ten minutes before the meal with a brand-new boyfriend. They'd been together for four weeks. However, we didn't have to spend a lot of time with them, because disappeared into the bathroom together for twenty minutes mid-meal, and left right after food was served. My wife and I spent hours cleaning and putting the house back afterward long after my parents after my parents had gone to sleep. Later, I received a brief 'thanks' email from my dad, inc. a 'did you borrow a Tupperware please return it A.S.A.P.' P.S.

Christmas: Burnt out, my wife and I spent the holiday in our own home. My sibling showed up at my parents' house with a regifted pot roast from the local food pantry, and my parents called to tell me how wonderful and thoughtful and caring a child they have. In exchange for the pot-roast, they wrote my sibling a big check, and extended the free rental agreement they're providing on their beach house.

NYE: I called to check in and see how/what my parents were doing, and my mother answered. She told me that my father, eighty, had purchased a brand new car after totaling his old one. Mom asked if we'd be around next weekend to drive them to a party at my aunt's house. I said maybe, but they should ask my sibling, who lives closer, and has done nothing for them in a year (save for regifting them a pot roast). "Oh, you know, it's you who helps us out with things," she said. I pretty much hung up the phone.

I just ... I don't understand why people who are consistently badly-behaved are rewarded when they evince even the tiniest bit of decency, and people who are consistently generous are punished for taking. breather from their responsibilities.

Yeah, funny how that works

Ugh, that sounds awful.

Being the better person is its own reward, right?

I watched Spike Jones dvds with my dad

for 3 seconds, with that spelling, i assumed it was the 1940s comedy band guy

Being the better person is its own reward, right?