Sandy-gram

[#1]

Here are my top 5 Wacky Gifts for the holidays.  Move over snuggies and gravy boat warmers…you’ve got some real competition this year.

1)       The Flingshot, Slingshot, Flying, Screaming Monkey. Secretly, I actually love this one. You shoot the flying money with two elastic arms. It’s perfect for the co-worker in the next cube who talks to their mom on speakerphone all the time.  Be sure to get the one with the cape. Oh, and the added bonus? It let’s out two loud monkey calls as he flies.

2)     Another Favorite...Pez for Pets. Same cool dispenser, but flavors more suited to your four-legged friends, like cheese, bacon or beef. The stinky shoe and toilet water flavors are probably backordered. Just watch out for your fingers as you’re dispensing…the treats and your pinkies look pretty similar! 

3)       Grass Charging Station. Okay, this one is just plain silly. Doesn’t a fake plant look  more visually annoying than your iPhone hooked up to a charger? And, what happens when your near-sided mother-in-law thinks this is your latest herb garden.  I'm thinking, iPad soup.

4)       The Gag GPS. Nope, it doesn’t get you where you’re going, but simply throws out annoying comments along the way. Motion-activated, this charming companion can throw insults with the best of them. There are two settings, G- and R-rated. Be careful if you choose the strong language setting, especially if grandma or little ones are in the car.   

 

5)       The Night Light Coaster. Really? As if anyone needs a lighted coaster to find that glass of water by your bedside. Of course, for Trekies, the rings do look a lot like Pegasus 3.

What's the craziest gift you've ever gotten?

[#2]

OMG The gag GPS is a terrible idea! A real GPS is annoying enough, but at least it tells us how to go where we want to go. I've played with the different possibilities on my GPS for accents. I thought maybe a British male might sound less annoying, but discovered he mispronounced all the road names. Sometimes when I don't go the way my GPS is telling me to, I feel guilty. Is that weird? I feel as if I'm giving it a complex. "Recalculating."

[#3]

I find myself talking to my GPS when it gives me directions I don't like.  Like "what do you mean -- turn right on Jasmine?  It's so much faster to turn left on Professor and then right on Malarkey St."   And when I disregard its directions, I worry that I'm going to miss a critical turn while it's recalculating....

[#4]

See, my problem is that I worry about its feelings. As if by not taking its advice, I'm going to somehow cause it emotional distress.

[#5]

Petgirl, you may be right.  After seeing Hal in 2001 A Space Odyssey and the android in one of the Aliens movies, I wouldn't be surprised if the GPS does have feelings.  Who knows, maybe if you disregard it frequently enough, it might actually try to sabotage your future trips!

[#6]

I haven't updated my GPS in about a year, and so where a highway was moved near me, the poor GPS keeps thinking I am driving through water. It is probably developing a complex.

[#7]

I didn't even know you were supposed to update the GPS.  I thought it was automatic.  So much for thinking I'm tech savvy!!

[#8]

I got one of those chicken fling toys (that you can launch across the room with its elastic cord) for a friend's dog and she told me that he plays with it constantly. When it's flung, it makes chicken noises (like, squawking and crowing and such), and he loves it. I told her that I'm glad he enjoys it but she'd better keep him away from my chickens just to be on the safe side. Haha

[#9]

Our dog loved the chicken fling toy (actually ours was a rooster), but she ended ripping it apart in her excitement.  That's the only problem if you have a big dog that likes to chew on toys.  This one's not very hardy. 

[#10]

I've gotten some pretty weird gifts over the years, usually from relatives. Things that have nothing to do with anything I'm interested in, or stuff in the wrong size. Like, hello? I have never been a size 6 thank you very much, Aunt Ruth, not like your porky daughter who's got the biggest - well, whatever. Or stuff that was just so clearly a regifting of something weird from someone else. Now I just tell my relatives if they want to give me something I would be so grateful for a check because I support a lot of charities and would like to give back to them. They think that's really sweet of me, and then I buy what I want. Well, I mean, I DO give to the charities of course, but not like, everything, you know?

[#11]

OMG, speaking of regifting, I got a wedding gift that still had the card from the original giver inside the box!  The people I got it from got married a couple of months before I did, and obviously just passed this on.  The funny thing is that I was thrilled to get it -- it was an Orresfors vase, and I love Orresfors.  I decided that they looked at it and thought, "Wow, she would love this!" and regretfully parted with it.  I love it to this day, so I'm glad they broke the regifting rule!

[#12]

Is there really a rule against regifting? I mean isn't it a kind of recycling? I understand that you wouldn't want to hurt the feelings of the people who gave you the gift, but if it really isn't your thing, or it doesn't fit, or it duplicates something you already have, why not give it to someone who might like it or be able to use it? In Blondie11's case, she benefited from this. Why couldn't others?  But it is awkward when someone gives you something for your house and it really isn't your taste and it becomes really obvious when they visit and you don't have it up or out. That's why I try to find out what someone needs before I give something big. And there's always the gift certificate so they can pick out what they want. 

[#13]

Regifting seems to be an activity that most everyone does but won't fess up to.    I regift, if it's something that I can't use or just don't like, but I do try to find a recipient who'll actually like or be able to use the darned thing. 

It just makes sense, y'know?