Christmas 2019 - Misc

We may not start putting up Christmas decorations over here until the start of December, but I was minded this morning to start a Christmas "to do" list (food related only!). Would this be an appropriate thread to post it on, or would it warrant a separate one?
 
epicuric said:
You are Clark Griswold, aren't you? :okay:

What's the story behind the UK car reg plate, circa 1992?
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That was the number plate from our 1992 Volvo 240. When I was in the USAF, we lived in the UK for a few years, and I was eligible to buy an American-specs European car through US Diplomat Sales and have the import duties waived, so we did.

The cool thing about that was that the price included going to Sweden, to the Volvo factory, and taking delivery of the car. That was the best thing ever.

We stayed in downtown Gothenburg at the Scandic Crown hotel, which was by far the most luxurious place a 25yo country boy had ever seen, then Volvo picked us up at the hotel, drove us to the factory, where we met a gentleman who looked like George Hamilton who showed us our car, and we got to drive it around the test track (what?!), go through the Volvo museum, and have lunch for free in the employees' canteen. It was fantastic, and all done right around Christmas, so it was cold and snowy and all decorated.

epicuric said:
We may not start putting up Christmas decorations over here until the start of December, but I was minded this morning to start a Christmas "to do" list (food related only!). Would this be an appropriate thread to post it on, or would it warrant a separate one?
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I don't mind one way or the other, though I did add the "Misc" heading because I assumed there'd be a separate food topic at some point.
 
TastyReuben said:
The cool thing about that was that the price included going to Sweden, to the Volvo factory, and taking delivery of the car. That was the best thing ever.

We stayed in downtown Gothenburg at the Scandic Crown hotel, which was by far the most luxurious place a 25yo country boy had ever seen, then Volvo picked us up at the hotel, drove us to the factory, where we met a gentleman who looked like George Hamilton who showed us our car, and we got to drive it around the test track (what?!), go through the Volvo museum, and have lunch for free in the employees' canteen. It was fantastic, and all done right around Christmas, so it was cold and snowy and all decorated.
Click to expand...

Wow! There certainly was a story to tell there.

We could start a Christmas food & drink thread but maybe its a bit soon? Oh - what the hell.. Food Network keeps telling me its 'Novembermas'.
 
epicuric said:
We may not start putting up Christmas decorations over here until the start of December, but I was minded this morning to start a Christmas "to do" list (food related only!). Would this be an appropriate thread to post it on, or would it warrant a separate one?
Click to expand...

New thread here: Christmas Food & Drink
 
I'm sitting here watching MrsTasty put greenery over the entertainment center.

I've never seen someone who loves Christmas so much complain and swear so much while decorating. :laugh:
 
These are some pictures I found. This was our second Christmas in the UK.

In this one, can you tell that my wife is sick and none to happy with my stunt?

Christmas 1993

Christmas 1993


Later that same day, after breakfast and opening gifts.

Christmas 1993

Christmas 1993


You can see that I got my very first beer brewing kit. A mere two years later, I tied for first place at my local's beer brewing competition, using just that single bucket.

Christmas 1993

Christmas 1993

 
First Christmas in Britain Part 1:

When we were transferred to the UK, military housing was tight, so I had to go over first and find a house, then send for my wife. I got there 21 Oct and she got there about three weeks later.

Household goods were another story, we didn't get those until March, so for the first few months, we lived on govt loaner furniture, and being American military, we also had the loan of an American-sized fridge, and a British washer and tumble dryer for the duration of our time there.

So our first Christmas was shaping up to be pretty bleak. Married less than two years, not a lot of ready cash, and none of our stuff.

My wife was really depressed over the whole thing. You think I like Christmas? She's nuts over it, especially then. She was sick, in a foreign country, just starting a new job, and none of our Christmas decorations were available.

I snuck out, gave myself a $100US budget, and went to the base exchange and bought a five-foot cheap-as-chips fake tree, and an assortment of the lowest-quality glass bulbs, baubles, tinsel, and lights, and a gaudy plastic tree-topper, meant to look like a stained-glass star, and came in just under $100.

Hid it all in the garage, then just like Santa, I snuck downstairs, put up and trimmed the tree.

Truth be told, it didn't look half-bad.

When MrsTasty saw that the next morning, she started bawling her eyes out, she was so happy. She was fully expecting (and I did nothing to discourage her) that we were going to have a treeless Christmas. Not on my watch, ha! 😭 🎄

We ended up using that tree for the rest of our time there, and gave it to one of the movers when we packed out a few years later. We've had (much) better trees, more trees, real trees, pre-lit trees, white trees, but never a tree that caused so much happiness by its presence.
 
TastyReuben said:
First Christmas in Britain Part 1:

When we were transferred to the UK, military housing was tight, so I had to go over first and find a house, then send for my wife. I got there 21 Oct and she got there about three weeks later.

Household goods were another story, we didn't get those until March, so for the first few months, we lived on govt loaner furniture, and being American military, we also had the loan of an American-sized fridge, and a British washer and tumble dryer for the duration of our time there.

So our first Christmas was shaping up to be pretty bleak. Married less than two years, not a lot of ready cash, and none of our stuff.

My wife was really depressed over the whole thing. You think I like Christmas? She's nuts over it, especially then. She was sick, in a foreign country, just starting a new job, and none of our Christmas decorations were available.

I snuck out, gave myself a $100US budget, and went to the base exchange and bought a five-foot cheap-as-chips fake tree, and an assortment of the lowest-quality glass bulbs, baubles, tinsel, and lights, and a gaudy plastic tree-topper, meant to look like a stained-glass star, and came in just under $100.

Hid it all in the garage, then just like Santa, I snuck downstairs, put up and trimmed the tree.

Truth be told, it didn't look half-bad.

When MrsTasty saw that the next morning, she started bawling her eyes out, she was so happy. She was fully expecting (and I did nothing to discourage her) that we were going to have a treeless Christmas. Not on my watch, ha! 😭 🎄

We ended up using that tree for the rest of our time there, and gave it to one of the movers when we packed out a few years later. We've had (much) better trees, more trees, real trees, pre-lit trees, white trees, but never a tree that caused so much happiness by its presence.
Click to expand...

When our kids were small, the tree was a day out, drive to forest , sneak down a path, and chop a pine tree down. Chuck it in the car/ truck and take it home. Then put it in a bucket and decorate. Now it's a 2 foot fake tree, as opposed to 5 foot real tree.

Russ
 
TastyReuben said:
We ended up using that tree for the rest of our time there, and gave it to one of the movers when we packed out a few years later. We've had (much) better trees, more trees, real trees, pre-lit trees, white trees, but never a tree that caused so much happiness by its presence.
Click to expand...

Great story. And you had some great two tone shoes back then, too TastyReuben.
 
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