Gift Ideas!!!
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I have tons of relatives I hardly know and barely like, and I need gift ideas! Who can help me? I'm trying to avoid gift certificates, and maybe spend a little bit more than average since I'm pretty much the only person in the family with a job at this point.
1) My parents, both retired. Hobbies: ballroom dancing, their antique (1904) home. Recently introduced to Netflix streaming - I was thinking perhaps a Wii, which they could use for streaming and also the grandkids could play when they're over?
2) 37-year-old step-sister. Single mother who loves Starbucks, watches a lot of movies - No clue at all
3) Her kid - Taken care of: http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/musical-instruments/cd38/ (it was really hard not ordering one for myself as well!)
4) My brother and his wife. She's into coupon-ing, in school to me a rad tech, and likes to play board games. He's into music, and watches a lot of TV - no clue, but cookware might be obvious for her at least?
5) Their girl. Five years old, likes to color and draw - no clue, but there has to be something easy here?
6) Their other girl. Four years old, likes teddy bears and playing with cars - I was going to do build-a-bear, but my parents beat me to that idea. Maybe a good car toy?
7) 35-year-old step-brother. Career military, that's pretty much all I know about him - No idea
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2) how about a wii/netflix for her? not sure what kind of budget you were thinking about.
4) the ultimate boardgame (if you don't count chess) is Catan. If they already have that, there's also a ton of expansion packs.
5) sounds pretty much like my daughter, and they're easy to take care of usually. Give her a box of markers and a stack of A4 paper and she's happy. However, for a more xmassy kind of gift ;) there are great books for eg deisgn your own clothes, also for that age. If you want to spend more money, I got my daughter a DS "NY Fashion Model" game and she's been playing it for a month straight now.
6) I'd definitely go for Lego/Mega Bloks. There are some really cute things, eg Dora/Diego or Hello Kitty packs. My kids keep playing with those (also Cars, Thomas, and it can all be used together these days. Perfect).
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@b-redeker said:
2) how about a wii/netflix for her? not sure what kind of budget you were thinking about.
She already has a Wii, maybe a netflix subscription would be a good idea... my parents would know if she already had one or not.
@b-redeker said:
4) the ultimate boardgame (if you don't count chess) is Catan. If they already have that, there's also a ton of expansion packs.
Good idea. I already got them a few cool kitchen items from the MOMA store (note: their website is the slowest thing in the universe), so now I'm thinking more something my brother would enjoy-- he's hard to shop for. I flat-out asked him what he wanted last night after posting that, and he said a vacuum cleaner. I wonder if he needs a new wallet, or maybe a watch if I can find one about $50ish?
@b-redeker said:
5) sounds pretty much like my daughter, and they're easy to take care of usually. Give her a box of markers and a stack of A4 paper and she's happy. However, for a more xmassy kind of gift ;) there are great books for eg deisgn your own clothes, also for that age. If you want to spend more money, I got my daughter a DS "NY Fashion Model" game and she's been playing it for a month straight now.
She doesn't have a DS (that I'm aware of), but I'll look for a "design your clothes" book. Good idea, thanks!
@b-redeker said:
6) I'd definitely go for Lego/Mega Bloks. There are some really cute things, eg Dora/Diego or Hello Kitty packs. My kids keep playing with those (also Cars, Thomas, and it can all be used together these days. Perfect).
Another good idea! It's not a choking hazard or anything, though, right?
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@blakeyrat said:
@b-redeker said:
Hello Kitty
It's not a choking hazard or anything, though, right?
At age four that shouldn't be a major consideration. But don't worry, this is quality stuff, built to last, child safe, monkey proof, no problems. She should be playing with it for years if she's anything like my kids.
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@b-redeker said:
@blakeyrat said:
@b-redeker said:
Hello Kitty
It's not a choking hazard or anything, though, right?
At age four that shouldn't be a major consideration. But don't worry, this is quality stuff, built to last, child safe, monkey proof, no problems. She should be playing with it for years if she's anything like my kids.
Cool beans, I think I'll pick that up then.
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That Moma site got some great watches btw, but all pretty expensive. Which made me think: if he likes watches it's pretty hard to pick the right watch; if he doesn't, well, then it's hard too. Getting a good wallet at that price is probably easier. That's just my $.02 though.
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@b-redeker said:
That Moma site got some great watches btw, but all pretty expensive. Which made me think: if he likes watches it's pretty hard to pick the right watch; if he doesn't, well, then it's hard too. Getting a good wallet at that price is probably easier. That's just my $.02 though.
Yeah. Wallet as a gift feels pretty generic, but at the moment I don't have any better ideas... I'll order it tomorrow if I don't come up with something better.
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All my gifts are ordered and being shipped to me! Thanks for your help, single person who replied to this topic!
I look forward to seeing you all again when a spammer brings this thread to the top in 3 years!
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Yeah, not really looking forward to the Hello Kitty/MOMA porn.
What'd you get for your parents and the army guy if I may be so bold? :-)
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@blakeyrat said:
Thanks for your help, single person who replied to this topic!
I know fuck about gifts.
You don't want me replying to this.
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@dhromed said:
@blakeyrat said:
Thanks for your help, single person who replied to this topic!
I know fuck about gifts.
You don't want me replying to this.
Ditto, never even given presents myself, there is an app for that
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@b-redeker said:
Yeah, not really looking forward to the Hello Kitty/MOMA porn.
What'd you get for your parents and the army guy if I may be so bold? :-)
Parents: Roku Netflix player box thing TV plug-in thing (is there a name for those?)
Army guy: Wallet, sadly I couldn't think of anything better, but I barely know the guy anyway, so
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@serguey123 said:
Ditto, never even given presents myself, there is an app for that
Wha... bu... h... hooow?
Are you an alien?
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@blakeyrat said:
@serguey123 said:
Ditto, never even given presents myself, there is an app for that
Wha... bu... h... hooow?Are you an alien?
Depends on the definition of alien, I just don't believe in gift giving so...
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@serguey123 said:
Depends on the definition of alien, I just don't believe in gift giving so...
Under any circumstances? Weddings? Birthdays? Christmas? Easter? You don't give kids candy on Easter!? Halloween!???
No, I think "alien" is the only possible explanation.
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@blakeyrat said:
Roku Netflix player box thing TV plug-in thing (is there a name for those?)
According to the site, either a Netflixplayer or a "Netflix streaming device". So, yes, what you said ;)
What amazes me is that you now have a dedicated piece of hardware for one particular service. Great that it exists, I'd probably get one too, but still pretty amazing. Netflix probably can't offer services outside the US/Canada, right?
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@blakeyrat said:
@serguey123 said:
Depends on the definition of alien, I just don't believe in gift giving so...
Under any circumstances? Weddings? Birthdays? Christmas? Easter? You don't give kids candy on Easter!? Halloween!???No, I think "alien" is the only possible explanation.
Err, no, Halloween is an American thing, mostly, we don't celebrate neither that nor Easter, not religious so don't care about Christmas either, I don't celebrate my birthday and in exchange people that know me know not to expect presents from me. Weddings, neither, attended a few and is not customary to give presents unless you are related and the "lucky" few that are know me enough to not expect anything.
I just simply don't care, even if it was part of my culture.
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@serguey123 said:
Err, no, Halloween is an American thing, mostly, we don't celebrate neither that nor Easter, not religious so don't care about Christmas either, I don't celebrate my birthday and in exchange people that know me know not to expect presents from me. Weddings, neither, attended a few and is not customary to give presents unless you are related and the "lucky" few that are know me enough to not expect anything.
I just simply don't care, even if it was part of my culture.
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@b-redeker said:
@blakeyrat said:
Roku Netflix player box thing TV plug-in thing (is there a name for those?)
According to the site, either a Netflixplayer or a "Netflix streaming device". So, yes, what you said ;)
What amazes me is that you now have a dedicated piece of hardware for one particular service. Great that it exists, I'd probably get one too, but still pretty amazing. Netflix probably can't offer services outside the US/Canada, right?
It does Hulu, Google Video, YouTube, and a bunch of other stuff too. (Some also can read USB/network drives and play from those, but Roku brand ones don't.) Netflix is just the main draw. My parents sometimes watch Hulu, so they might use the box for that, too.
Anyway, why would that be so amazing? There have been dedicated pieces of hardware for one particular service for centuries. Or do you think that gas boilers should multi-task? Or land-line telephones also played Tetris?
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@blakeyrat said:
@serguey123 said:
Err, no, Halloween is an American thing, mostly, we don't celebrate neither that nor Easter, not religious so don't care about Christmas either, I don't celebrate my birthday and in exchange people that know me know not to expect presents from me. Weddings, neither, attended a few and is not customary to give presents unless you are related and the "lucky" few that are know me enough to not expect anything.
I just simply don't care, even if it was part of my culture.
Granted, my spelling for a language I don't speak is not perfect, I would like you to try and do the same
Sheldon Cooper is character on this show
Like it btw, very nerdy
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@serguey123 said:
Granted, my spelling for a language I don't speak is not perfect,
I don't speak any languages, I'm an AI designed for snark.
@serguey123 said:
Sheldon Cooper is character on this show
Like it btw, very nerdy
I don't watch TV. My only inputs are my Internet connection and a webcam aimed at a fishtank.
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@blakeyrat said:
... and a webcam aimed at a fishtank.
Is that by any chance what I would call a "screensaver"?
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@blakeyrat said:
@serguey123 said:
Granted, my spelling for a language I don't speak is not perfect,
I don't speak any languages, I'm an AI designed for snark. @serguey123 said:
I don't watch TV. My only inputs are my Internet connection and a webcam aimed at a fishtank.Sheldon Cooper is character on this show
Like it btw, very nerdy
I can relate to that, I don't watch TV either.
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@blakeyrat said:
All my gifts are ordered and being shipped to me! Thanks for your help, single person who replied to this topic!
I look forward to seeing you all again when a spammer brings this thread to the top in 3 years!
It's maybe a bit early, but any update on how it went down? :-)
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I think people were happy. The otamotone (the Japanese musical instrument thing) was hugely popular, but I figured it would be. My sister-in-law complained that the wall stickers wouldn't work because they have textured walls, but she's impossible to please. (I told her to use the doors.) My parents use their Roku all the time, but that was kind of cheating as they specifically asked me for it. (Since I'm the only kid of theirs with enough disposable income to afford it.) Also, people liked the keychains I gave out. (Seriously, these are the best keychains ever!)
For co-workers, my work situation is so confused right now that I don't really know who my boss is or what team I'm on, so I decided to go all-out and basically gift half the floor-- I made *20*! gift packages! To keep it affordable, I made Chex mix (nuts and bolts as our family recipe goes) and put them in nice gift bags and felt buckets I picked up cheap at Target. I think most people appreciated that, but it also turns out that due to the confused work situation, nobody else brought in gifts... so I guess I went really above and beyond on that one.
So I call it a success. People happy, except those impossible to please. And I didn't give a single gift card. But I have some gift cards to use-- what do you buy for $25 at Best Buy?
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@blakeyrat said:
gift cards to use-- what do you buy for $25 at Best Buy?
- extended warranty
- unwanted magazine subscription
- gift cards
If they're not dated, just keep them and give them to somebody you really don't like.
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@b-redeker said:
@blakeyrat said:
gift cards to use-- what do you buy for $25 at Best Buy?
- extended warranty
- unwanted magazine subscription
- gift cards
If they're not dated, just keep them and give them to somebody you really don't like.
But I already dislike Best Buy more than any person I know!
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@blakeyrat said:
7) 35-year-old step-brother. Career military, that's pretty much all I know about him - No idea
Okay, I know I'm late to the party, but here we go:
Original comic starts here: http://terminallance.com/2010/12/21/terminal-lance-90-the-gift-of-giving-part-i/
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@blakeyrat said:
I look forward to seeing you all again when a spammer brings this thread to the top in 3 years!
2, not three.
The Big Bang Theory - Wikipedia
