Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night

[Sgt. Howard]

I will be singing at the Christmas Eve service tonight-then tomorrow I go off call. The house is certified 'Grinch free', two teen terrors are currently stealing cars and killing civilians.. on their computers... such wholesome fun... Miss Annie is perusing gluten free chocolate cake recipes and I am preparing for the evening. Season's finest to all of you, remember the reason for the season...
Gregory F. (the Old Sgt.) Howard

[DinkyInky]

Happy Christmas, ya cantankerous old phart!

Hope the big guy sends ya what ya deserve(a vacation, or at least a quiet few weeks at the office).

May it be blessedly peaceful.

[GlytchMeister]

Worked an early shift today, and the store is closed tomorrow, so I get to have a good 36 hours of me time. Gonna watch some movies and eat some Chinese takeout, then do some practice drawing (I got a commission!), then do some chores, pre-cook some meals, do some reading and writing...

Oh, and sleep. I'm definitely gonna sleep at some point.

Merry Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanza/Erastide.

[Sgt. Howard]

Happy Christmas, ya cantankerous old phart!

OLD?!?... oh... yea, I guess I am... well... HARUMPH!!!

[DinkyInky]

Happy Christmas, ya cantankerous old phart!

OLD?!?... oh... yea, I guess I am... well... HARUMPH!!!

Yes, but we love ya anywaaay(even moreso after you've had coffee)!

[Warrl]

On Sunday we went to visit our granddaughter & family, along with my lady's mother, in Montana. Snoqualmie Pass was clear, 4th of July Pass was almost clear, Lookout Pass was... nasty, particularly on the Montana side all the way to St. Regis; I drove at about half normal speed, sometimes less, for about 50 miles.

Today we came home. Lookout pass was almost clear, 4th of July Pass was clear, Snoqualmie Pass was... closed. Along with Stevens Pass. Chinook Pass and Cascade Pass too, but those two are normally closed this time of year. White Pass was the short way, and would add about three hours travel time under the best of circumstances. Taking the brunt of holiday traffic on a twisty two-lane mountain highway isn't the best of circumstances. Neither is having two short sections cut down to one lane while the mountainside under the other lane is being rebuilt. A disabled semi blocking one lane in another spot doesn't improve things. (Seriously, though, there was far more traffic going east than west. The blockages may have added another half-hour to our travel time, but for folks going the other way I'd guess 4-6 hours. Simply because far more people leave Seattle and go east to visit family, than leave the eastern part of the state and go west to visit family. When the time comes for all those folks to head back to their ordinary lives...) Fortunately the road was mostly clear of ice & snow, although the white nightmare was stacked pretty high on both sides.

Anyway, after spending about 13 hours on the road Christmas Eve... on Christmas we plan to hibernate.

Then on Saturday we'll go over to Seattle (and NOT over any mountain passes at all!) to visit our daughter and son-in-law.

[GlytchMeister]

Ugh. Mountains are cool and majestic and great for hiking in the springtime, and all that jazz... But I am fervently hoping I never end up moving to the mountainous parts of the US... I don't even like Chicago traffic and weather. I don't think I could retain what little is left of my sanity while dealing with mountain roads.

Going crazy is a short trip for me...

[Just Old Al]

Went over to my daughter's place last night for Christmas Eve. Good times...

Tonight is dinner here with the immediate family. Busy, busy, busy.Got to get out the roast, start rolls proofing, and generally get a move on.

No picked carrots will be served.

Best wishes to all.

Alan

[jwhouk]

Chinook Pass... I have various vague memories of that part of Washington, but they're over 40 years old. (Grandma and Step-grandpa/great Uncle - long story - used to live in Yakima.)

Anyways - had a nice time at my former-bar-now-a-church for Christmas Eve services, then came home for a long winter's nap. Kitten got her catnip Christmas stocking, while I made a simple Christmas breakfast for me and Sarah.

Now, if you don't mind, I have a little aside I have to write.

[Sgt. Howard]

On Sunday we went to visit our granddaughter & family, along with my lady's mother, in Montana. Snoqualmie Pass was clear, 4th of July Pass was almost clear, Lookout Pass was... nasty, particularly on the Montana side all the way to St. Regis; I drove at about half normal speed, sometimes less, for about 50 miles.

Today we came home. Lookout pass was almost clear, 4th of July Pass was clear, Snoqualmie Pass was... closed. Along with Stevens Pass. Chinook Pass and Cascade Pass too, but those two are normally closed this time of year. White Pass was the short way, and would add about three hours travel time under the best of circumstances. Taking the brunt of holiday traffic on a twisty two-lane mountain highway isn't the best of circumstances. Neither is having two short sections cut down to one lane while the mountainside under the other lane is being rebuilt. A disabled semi blocking one lane in another spot doesn't improve things. (Seriously, though, there was far more traffic going east than west. The blockages may have added another half-hour to our travel time, but for folks going the other way I'd guess 4-6 hours. Simply because far more people leave Seattle and go east to visit family, than leave the eastern part of the state and go west to visit family. When the time comes for all those folks to head back to their ordinary lives...) Fortunately the road was mostly clear of ice & snow, although the white nightmare was stacked pretty high on both sides.

Anyway, after spending about 13 hours on the road Christmas Eve... on Christmas we plan to hibernate.

Had I but known- you COULD have bunked here in the Okanogan without difficulty, much cheaper than any motel and delighted to biscuits & gravy, scrambled eggs and hashbrowns as well as coffee that rivals Tina's best efforts- you took 90 through Wenatchee, right? 1.5 hours north on 97 would have put you at my doorstep. Next year, maybe...

Then on Saturday we'll go over to Seattle (and NOT over any mountain passes at all!) to visit our daughter and son-in-law.

[Catawampus]

Wesolych Noël, Freunde!

I didn't really go much of anywhere, as I prefer to avoid the crazy people on the roads during the holidays. Cleared a couple of landslides off of the highway, had lunch with a bear who had bad etiquette, watched Die Hard (that movie is filled to the brim with Christmasy spirit, after all), worked with some stained glass and wire, delivered some meals, and now I'm getting ready to settle down with some fresh tamales and a book for a quiet rainy evening. Though first I might do something about that large spider that just wandered out in the the middle of the floor. I wonder if I can somehow attach reindeer antlers and a red nose to it?

[Warrl]

Had I but known- you COULD have bunked here in the Okanogan without difficulty, much cheaper than any motel and delighted to biscuits & gravy, scrambled eggs and hashbrowns as well as coffee that rivals Tina's best efforts- you took 90 through Wenatchee, right? 1.5 hours north on 97 would have put you at my doorstep. Next year, maybe...

I-90 goes through Ellensburg. US 2 goes through Wenatchee. Okanogan is 3 hours north of Ellensburg on 97, a portion of it (the first bit after Wenatchee) on US 2 - and I will NEVER AGAIN EVER EVER EVER travel on US 2 between Wenatchee and Coulee City.

Although for people who are interested in geology and are absolutely sure they have no fear of heights whatsoever, I highly recommend that stretch of road. There are some canyons through there that seem much different from those you'll find practically anywhere else, and expose rock formations (that the canyons were cut through) in ways you rarely find them exposed elsewhere.

We would have taken I-90 through Ellensburg if Snoqualmie Pass had been open. Instead we turned south a bit east of Ellensburg and went down I-82 to US 12.

[TazManiac]

Merry Christmas All & remember we've gotten over the hump of too short days and ever-long nightimes.

So rejoice in anyway you see fit, take care of one another, and if at all possible; three months from now, half a year hence, do someone a kindness and chalk it up the Holiday Spirit...

[Jabberwonky]

Wesolych Noël, Freunde!

I didn't really go much of anywhere, as I prefer to avoid the crazy people on the roads during the holidays. Cleared a couple of landslides off of the highway, had lunch with a bear who had bad etiquette, watched Die Hard (that movie is filled to the brim with Christmasy spirit, after all), worked with some stained glass and wire, delivered some meals, and now I'm getting ready to settle down with some fresh tamales and a book for a quiet rainy evening. Though first I might do something about that large spider that just wandered out in the the middle of the floor. I wonder if I can somehow attach reindeer antlers and a red nose to it?

Merry Christmas.jpg (71.49 KiB) Viewed 8700 times

[Alkarii]

Wasn't it right after that incident that he got the job at Hogwarts?

[Catawampus]

. . .and if at all possible; three months from now, half a year hence, do someone a kindness and chalk it up the Holiday Spirit...

Does refraining from murdering people in the grocery store count?

[DinkyInky]

. . .and if at all possible; three months from now, half a year hence, do someone a kindness and chalk it up the Holiday Spirit...

Does refraining from murdering people in the grocery store count?

Yes, especially if they came and bought up all the stinky "greens"...and boil them far, far away.

[TazManiac]

Yes, it counts- and be sure to tell them to rather lightly sauté those stinky greens with butter and garlic...

(I've run out of commercial egg nog, but it's not too late to use up the remaining eggs and milk... wait, I think I need Heavy Wate... er Cream for this.)