2012 Holiday Gift Exchange (Bah! Humbug!)

[Riki]

Parts of NYC are still without power, and the subways are still flooded.  A lot of towns and cities on the New Jersey coast were hit hard because that's where the storm made landfall.  I know the storm caused headaches in Pennsylvania, Upstate New York, and parts of Ontario and Quebec, because the storm collided with another system over the Great Lake area, but I'm not sure of what kind of damage there was there.

[bleija]

it was only a cat 1, the lowest if cats. but because of the full moon the tides were at there highest point when the storm hit land. the flooding causing a large portion of the flooding. it also hit a pressure sytem. it had all the perfect conditions for a hurricane. all this combines with the fact that these northern states almost never deal with hurricanes. yeah it was a lot of damage.
i live in florida where we have hurricanes like holidays lol.
i just am tired of them referring to this storm as a super storm, i dnt beleive it was just had all the perrect conditions.

[smcd23]

If any members were on the Jersey Shore or in NYC, there may be some delays in getting stuff to them, but most other places in the storms path are getting back to normal if they had any damage.

bleija, please don't minimize the severity and damage done to the areas hardest hit. Yes, I understand it was a category 1 storm, and yes I am well aware FL gets hit by a lot harder, a lot more often, but the places that were hit - NYC, NJ, DE and MD are not used to storms like this. Accompanied with the fact that the storm came in from the E and not from the S made it push those tides up so much higher. Over 100 people have died from the storm. I have a dear friend in NYC, she is fine but much of her family lost everything due to the storm surge/flooding and they are nowhere near the water. Some of her family has been told they won't have power until Thanksgiving, and it's going to be in the 20's the next few nights and we have a good ol' fashioned Nor'Easter heading this way.

[bleija]

im not trying to make it sound like nothing... i see the damage on the news, and i understand completely. i did mention they are not accustomed to dealing with storms like these. sandy alone without all the help she got would not haqve been this bad is all im trying to say.alone she was not a superstorm. she was a reg storm given major major doses of caffeine and steroids. this is just my opinion im not rying to upset anyone.

[Joe]

Poppy, the Postal Service will be back in business and arranging to get mail delivered well before then. The problem may be that the members in that are won't be able to go shopping for their gifts.

[Traveller1947]

Hi, Poppy!  The storm was as devastating as you heard and there is another huge one forecast for Wednesday.  So far, my local post office has remained open and I think I'll be able to make the deadline comfortably.  But we can't really know, since NY Harbor was closed to the tankers that deliver gasoline and that has caused a shortage.  We'll just have to hope for the best...

[YLGuy]

I know that my mother in Connecticut does not have power yet. I mailed her a package on Saturday.  I will let you know when she gets it.

[smcd23]

I got an email from amazon.com today saying that the delivery restrictions in my area have been lifted, whatever those were since we were not bad off, so I can imagine there are still some issues in NYC. I can ask my friend down there for info. I guess it would only be an issue if there are participants in the NYC/NJ area.

[Riki]

usually, but the time one of these storms gets as far north as New York or the New England states (or where I am in the Canadian Maritime provinces), they are no longer classified as hurricanes.  They're usually downgraded to tropical storms or even tropical depressions and cause wind and rain, but nowhere near the damage and devastation that Sandy caused.  Most of the time, they don't make landfall at all, and blow themselves out over the cold water of the North Atlantic

I'm not looking forward to this Nor'Easter either, cuz they usually mean snow.. (ick)

When I was little, I thought that hurricanes were shaped like some kind of animal, because on the news, they always said that we would be getting the tail end of the hurricane.. *G*

[Poppylicious]

Thanks lovelies ... I imagine it will all be okay ...

 

(And if any gifts are delayed because of limitations on postal services due to power failure and backlog etc. I promise not to whip out KK's stick ...)

Thanks to those who have got back to me with any messages.

 

[Poppylicious]

I posted my package! (Setting my good example *grin*)

I paid double so it could be signed for, and it still didn't cost me half as much as I thought.  Then I went into a shop and saw something delightful and kicked myself because it would have made a lovely addition to the package.  Grrr ...

14 days left to post those parcels!

 

[YLGuy]

My package has been sent! 

[Wenchie58]

My favourite colour is:    RED

My favourite animal is:

My favourite food is:  ANYTHING LOW POTASSIUM!  lol

Clothing wise I wear a size:  L

I collect:  RED GLASS

My favourite genre of book and/or film is:  COMEDY

I'm allergic to: NOTHING

I'm not ungrateful but if I were to receive this/these I would probably cry:  ONIONS?...Maybe

I REALLY LOVE: Gifts that I didnt have to buy for myself!

I so so enjoy the IHD Secret Santa every year!   

My package will go out to my Giftee this week!   wooohooo

[CebuShan]

We have a couple of things we need to find but our packages will be going out before the deadline!

[Sydnee]

sent my package today. Sense it's going overseas had to fill out a customs form. Tried to be vague and exact  at the same time.

Hope my package is not coming from overseas not sure I could keep myself from looking at the tag.

[gothiclovemonkey]

well ive finally found some stuff for my person, but im still working on it, dont worry i will have it by the deadline,
of course the day i planned on shopping to finish up, i am having a fistulagram and they arent sure i dont need a new fistula. sooo hopefully that goes smoothly and i can go shopping afterwards LOL (dedicated? yes sir)
this year has by far been a bit of a challenge for me, because of the move, i have NO clue where to find anything lol
maybe by next year ill know my way around this place lol

[Poppylicious]

sent my package today. Sense it's going overseas had to fill out a customs form. Tried to be vague and exact  at the same time.

Ha, 'vague and exact' sums it up quite nicely!  It's quite an art to be able to do it (I struggle).

I think I have confirmation of 7 packages posted and 2 received ... don't forget to let me know (by PM is fine) when you post and receive, lads and lasses!  Nine days!

 

[Riki]

Mom picked up the last pieces of my gift for me today where she works.. doubt it will go tomorrow.. so Monday at the earliest..

Sydnee, my mom picks up my packages for me at the post office, cuz most of them won't fit in the mailbox.. *G*  and she sees them first.. if she knows they're for SS, she scratches the items on the customs tag out so I can't see them

[CebuShan]

Got some more things for our people today. The store I wanted to go to was closed today so I'll have to go tomorrow. Will be posting in the next couple of days! This is so much fun!   

[willowtreewren]

I finished making my gifts today. Can't mail them tomorrow, but will send them out on Tuesday. 

I loved making these things! 

Aleta

[Darthvadar]

I finished making my gifts today. Can't mail them tomorrow, but will send them out on Tuesday. 

I loved making these things! 

Aleta

Hope you made me something REALLY nice, Aleta... Last year's gift of a Peanut Butter Sandwich although beautifully constructed, was NOT appreciated!.... 

Only 36 days to go!....

Happy Christmas, everyone!....

Darth...

[gothiclovemonkey]

i realized yesterday, that i am no good at wrapping gifts. but i am pretty good at picking out really cute paper that goes together nicely lol
now i just have to find the post office lol hopefully today or tomorrow (today if dialysis doesnt kick my butt) ill be sending out my packages!
HO HO HO!

[Darthvadar]

i realized yesterday, that i am no good at wrapping gifts. but i am pretty good at picking out really cute paper that goes together nicely lol
now i just have to find the post office lol hopefully today or tomorrow (today if dialysis doesnt kick my butt) ill be sending out my packages!
HO HO HO!

Ha Ha!!!...

Gothic, I'm dreadful at wrapping!... I blame my Ehlers-Danlos... Fine motor skills are DREADFUL!.... That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!....

Thank God for good, strong sticky tape!...

Darth...

[kitkatz]

My package was mailed as of this morning.  I hope you enjoy what you get. 

I hope everything survives the trip!

[gothiclovemonkey]

all that wrapping for nothing! i ended up having to unwrap one of them because it didnt fit in a sending box the way i had it! but everything else stayed wrapped.
btw, shipping is ridiculous this year! I think it cost me less to send out of the country a few yeras ago than it did to send in the US this time... They said it was a flat rate box, but i really dont think it was.
i really hope they like what i got them. it was kind of hard this year!