Holiday Stress and Christmas Traditions

you Hello and welcome to Geekcast Radio. This

is episode 191. I am of course TFG and Mike.

Joining me is Steve Megatron. Hello, sir. Hello.

This is not the Year in Review episode, folks.

I'm not even sure if we're doing Year in Review

this year. I honestly have no idea. We may do

it. We may not do it. Who knows? But this is

our Grinchmas show. or Christmas show, whatever

you want to call it. I gotta say, I don't know

about you, I don't know about you and the family

over there, but the wife and I are not feeling

the holiday season this year. We're under so

much stress with personal stuff going on with

life and... All year like okay, I know you know

this and hopefully others know this anyone that's

on Medicaid or Medicare or whatever you have

to recertify every six at least on Medicaid I

think you have to recertify every six months

or something I Sent the recertification paperwork

in and then on the paperwork I said, please give

me a phone interview so I don't have to go in

and into that office got the phone interview,

lady on the phone interview says everything's

fine don't worry about it get the approval letter

saying I'm good until the next time I have to

re -up it and 11 days later I get a letter saying

as of November 30th my coverage has now stopped

again what the hell happened in 11 days nothing

none of my life changes or reporting changes

or anything like that. Nothing had happened.

So now I'm fighting to get that back again. Between

my health issues and everything else. I don't

know. The way Karen and I are feeling is like

either Christmas should already be over or it

shouldn't even be here yet. Like it feels like

it's hashtag too soon for Christmas. Hmm This

is the first year since my mom died or even since

I've been podcasting The first year I have not

done any of my holiday stuff. I did not watch

It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown this year.

I did not watch Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I

have not watched any Animated Christmas stuff

yet this year Mr. Grinch, you really are a hero.

Die Hard is not a Christmas movie. Yeah, it is.

No, it's not. No, it's not. Yes, it is. No, it's

not. I don't care what 20th Century Fox says.

They're wrong. No, they're right. They own it.

It's not the greatest Christmas story ever. Yeah,

it is. So is Batman Returns. No. Yes. No. Yes.

anyway but it's just I don't know it's just I'm

just I'm very happy the wife and I are very happy

together and all that we we love the house and

everything else and it's just life is just beating

us up and beating us into a depressive submission

to the point of if it's not one thing it's another

and I know that's how life is but There are times

where I just think I need scream therapy and

I just want to go into a padded room and just

scream my lungs out because The stress is just

way too much add on top of that. Hey, let's play

Christmas music before Thanksgiving. Oh And yes,

I know I don't have to listen to the radio. That's

fine I don't have to listen to stations that

do Christmas music, but I'm sorry. I fully believe

There's an order to the holiday season you don't

do one before the other yes you do that in retail

because it's retail and that's what they do,

but I Don't know have you ever had Holidays or

just Holiday jeers instead of cheers or anything

like that Not really. I mean the only thing that's

irritating about the time of year is There's

just always a Lot of mad -dash for you know people

trying to buy gifts or just run To this house

and that but other than that. I mean, it's not

really that bad to be honest. I Mean, yeah, I

like the time of year, but then when it's over,

I'm glad it's over. So I mean it's just Yeah,

it doesn't really faze me all that much Don't

know it like I keep saying to Karen. I'm like

December 15th. I'm like you know we have ten

days till Christmas. She's like really really

it's that soon And I said today. I'm like you

know Christmas is Monday and Tuesday next week

Really, it's like I Mean I you know I'm very

grateful and thankful for everything that we

have and you know we're alive and all that and

you know every you know it's not that I'm not

trying to not be grateful about everything it's

just the closest I've come to holiday cheer this

year is my holiday Hulk and my holiday group

Funko Pops along with Clark and Eddie Funko Pops

from Christmas Vacation that's the closest I've

come to having holiday cheer this year I don't

know what it is. I don't know if it's the fact

that it's been three years since my mom's passed

or the fact that it's been 20 years or more since

I spent any time, at least at Christmas time,

any time with the family up in Massachusetts

or any of that kind of stuff. I just want it

all to be over and just start the new year and...

Move forward at this point I Don't know stress

is getting to me It just is and it's one of those

things where if I don't have eggnog Starting

December 1st like if I don't actively want to

go out and get eggnog There's something wrong

because that's the only time I drink eggnog and

most of the time. It's just like that little

Quartz of Dean's eggnog, you know the one the

You know, oh, I know what you're talking. Yeah,

eggnog's nasty. Yeah I did try the southern comfort

non -alcoholic version and that That eggnog is

nasty. The Dean's one is is creamier. It has

a little bit of a spice but not too much I don't

know. What are some traditions in the holidays

since the kids have been born that you guys are

incorporating for Christmas for the kids? Well,

they help us with decorating. We have homemade

hot chocolate and usually watch a Christmas movie.

Right now we're using our Google Home. device

to play Christmas music because we just bark

at it and tell it what to do and then it just

doesn't or it says I'm sorry we can't do that

but I can play a playlist of blah blah blah blah

blah and then when it tells us we're not allowed

to skip anymore then we just tell it to start

over and then it reshuffles but yeah we do that

and then we go around giving away like baked

goods and stuff to the neighbors and stuff like

that, so That's mostly what we do yeah cool cool

what um What kind of presents are they I mean

I know you know They're kids and they get toys

But like do you guys have a specific way of doing

the presents like if you get a toy that you like

you also have to get a piece of clothing or something

like that Not really, I mean we just they kind

of get clothing year -round anyway, so it doesn't

really matter yeah with us They just get whatever

we've kind of collectively bought whether it's

from something good from a yard sale something

we've made or Just other products in general

like Like board games Legos, you know coloring

books books because they enjoy all those things.

So we get a lot of that stuff. So that's mostly

what we get them, like their grandparents get

them toys galore. So it's not even we don't really

worry about that side of it as much because they're

going to get it from both sides. So it does.

Yeah, we we kind of gear more towards the educational

side of things. Well, you know, there's a bunch

of educational toys I've seen ads for like leapfrog

and and all this and all that Which is fine.

But yeah, we just we don't do it because the

kids don't They care more about turning it on

turning it off turning it on Because then you

can hear the funny sound but We're I mean we're

we have late learning board games and stuff that

because Ian's getting to the age where he's kind

of picked that up. And it kind of helps build

them up for the board games we play, too, in

a sense, because it builds that logic area of

the brain. And then he likes books. He's been

interested in a lot of that. But this year, the

grandparents are getting them both their own

tablet. Kindle Fire. And so we're going to put

a bunch of learning games on it and stuff for

that. Because we figured out Ian is a visual

learner. So he doesn't necessarily do as well

when somebody tells him how to do something or

explains it. If he sees it, he can commit it

to memory easier, which is kind of my boat. So

he'll pick up. words or numbers or colors or

shapes or stuff just from seeing it and then

having it repeated or having to figure it out

in a game atmosphere as opposed to necessarily

sitting him at a table and telling him, okay,

you have to learn. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I was

always like, show me how to do it or point me

in the right direction kind of person, whatever.

I don't know. When I was a kid, I was classified

as learning disabled. So I learn in all kinds

of various ways. But for me, lately, I find that

memory retention is less and less these days.

I'm a month away from turning 39, or a month

and a half, I should say. Yeah, I don't know

I can still remember all my old phone numbers

from when I was a kid, but ask me what happened

two hours ago Couldn't tell you It's it's crazy

Are you guys doing any kind of? Like you said

you haven't watched a Christmas movie or whatever

are there any of the Christmas children's movies

that are not on your list for them to like because

I know you guys do the educational thing and

you do more that than anything else but are there

and I know you specifically you're like my kids

not watching that it's not you know I don't want

him learning that kind of thing like you know

how everyone got so offended that apparently

Rudolph is is teaching bullies how to bully people

now oh really you didn't see that story No, but

it doesn't surprise me. It goes along with the

whole baby -it's -cold -outside thing. I love

William Shatner's, you know, not to get overly

political or anything on it, because William

Shatner just blatantly put everybody in their

place like, yeah, if you would just take it at

its context from when it was written, you know,

it's really funny. So this is from the Boston

Globe December 3rd of 2018 Some people are upset

about Rudolph the red -nosed reindeer. Here's

why As its tradition from Christmas nears, the

1964 classic Rudolph the Red -Nosed Reindeer

returned to American television screens. But

this time around, the once -heralded stop -motion

film has made the news for all the wrong reasons.

Viewers may recall its simple plot. The reindeer

is mocked and cast away by the majority of his

peers when they discover his glowing red nose.

Even though Rudolph ultimately returns to save

the day, using his glimmering snout to guide

Santa through the poor west. There's no denying

the verbal attacks Rudolph endures early on.

Hey fire snout one year young reindeer says mocking

him another teases with rainbow puss and stop

calling me names but was the red -nosed reindeer

marginalized that this premise of The Huffington

Post video or whatever Let's see here the video

father verbally abuses him okay, so tried my

best to look at things in the context that they

were originally meant for in 1964 you know kind

of thing mm -hmm he's not verbally abusing him

like this whole thing technical difficulties

let's move on shall we it's just crazy it really

really is and I want to say that this year 2018

has been the most offender of offending of offended

people at this point it feels like everybody

has a stick up their butt for this year I don't

know that's every year anymore well true but

uh you know i hope everyone has a great christmas

and happy new year and all that and i'm sure

i'll get out of my funk at some point um i don't

know i just i'm just not feeling the christmas

season this year i don't know like i'm sorry

if i like Okay, Christmas traditions for me Rudolph

the red -nosed reindeer frosty the snowman the

Santa Claus movies Obviously national lampoon

Christmas vacation not die -hard because it's

not a Christmas movie. It's a movie that takes

place at Christmas time And you know all of that

Along with getting red and green M &M bags and

things like that We went out and I got a red

and green M &M Christmas bag move of the M &M's

and I haven't even opened that yet We're we're

recording this five days before Christmas Day

So, you know, it's some something wrong when

the guy who eats like a human garbage disposal

doesn't even open up the bag of M &Ms I Don't

know dude, it's just I Don't know anymore We

have a problem Like I said, I hope everyone had

a great year in 2018 here. I hope that everyone's

2019 is even better If your 2018 sucked It can

only go up from here. I guess I Don't know everyone

has ups and downs and mood swings that swing

that way or swing that way or whatever Any parting

words before we get out of here? Live long and

prosper. You could play my ridiculously bad sounding

12 Days of Geekmas. There you go. I think we'll

close out with that. We'll close out with Steve

doing his 12 Days of Geekmas. We will catch you

in the new year here on the Geekcast Radio Network.

Unleash the geek in you and we will see you later.

technical difficulties let's move on shall we

yes folks the joker is right there were technical

difficulties in getting the 12 days of geekmas

online i know this episode was a bit of a downer

i'm recording this after christmas i didn't even

watch christmas vacation this year I'm looking

forward to the new year, hoping everything is

a heck of a lot brighter in 2019 than it was

in 2018. Thank you for listening, if you did.

Join us next time for the year -end review. Or

the year -in review, I should say. Wow, I can't

even talk right now. I'm so Christmas tongue

-tied. It's like I have hot burning Christmas

lights on my tongue and I can't talk. Anyway

folks, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, here's

to 2019 and 10 years of GeekCast Radio Network.