Gift Quandry

My dad has a birthday coming up and he is so hard to buy for because he has no hobbies that require objects to pursue.

The gifts I've bought him in the past that he really liked are still in use. Like the giant word search puzzle book. He works on those puzzles a couple of times a week, but the book is thick and he's not finished with it yet. So no more puzzle books

I bought him a Cubs World Series polo shirt in 2016, but he only wore that a couple of times and he really doesn't need more clothes, so that's out.

And asking him what he wants? Fruitless endeavor. At Christmas, I finally told him I'd surprise him because he couldn't come up with anything. I did a search for "gifts for seniors" and ordered one item from there and I also got him a lightweight sweatshirt. He actually does need this because he wore his other one so thin you can see his T-shirts through it, but that's a gift idea that won't need to be repeated for a while.

Despite how hard he is to buy for, I want to get him something. He gets so excited about every gift he receives. Maybe because I'm pretty much the only one who buys him anything. So I will mull this over for a while longer and maybe something will come to me.

I just wish he had some kind of hobby that involved tools or materials. It would make it so much easier.

In the Doghouse

First, I found out today that In the Midnight Hour won the Barclay Gold Award for Best Paranormal! You can see a list of all the winners at the LCRW website.

Things are really busy right now--both at the Evil Day Job and at home with the writing. Right now, I'm working on edits for Edge of Dawn which will be out July 2009 and trying to write the Work In Progress (WIP). That is on the schedule for March 2010. Lots to do and not much time to do it in. So I hope y'all don't mind another entertaining video.

This is from JC Penney and it's about men who give the wrong gift. I think one of the reasons why I find it so amusing is that I worked with a woman whose husband was hopeless at gifts. When they were dating in high school, he bought her a WaterPik one year. After they were married, gifts have included moon boots, a men's sweater, and a slip about twice her size. He thought it was a night gown. We used to look forward to events like anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas so we'd have another story to laugh about. Unfortunately, their daughter grew up enough to help her father pick out presents and we lost our guess-what-he-got-her-now stories.

Anyway, the video is nearly 5 minutes long and some of it is funnier than other parts of it, but it's an interesting advertising concept.

Company Gifts

Next month I have one of those milestone anniversaries with my employer and for my years of service, I received a catalog from which to choose a gift. I don't get my commemorative pin and a gift, I had to choose one or the other. So I combed through the catalog and discounted most of the items as being things I wasn't interested in, but they had a pair of binoculars and I don't have any of those.

Yea, I thought, getting more excited, binoculars. Then I could bird watch (turkey, hawk, etc) from my house or deck and get a good view. I could also check out my garden when it's wet and rainy (like today) without getting my feet wet. Cool, I'm going to choose binoculars!

But before I made the selection, I thought, wow, I don't know much about binoculars. I should check out a few reviews and see if this pair/brand/magnification is decent. I went to Amazon first since they carry everything and so many products have reviews. Do you know what I found? The company gift was for sale for $13! Gee, thanks, NWA, but no thanks. I'll buy my own binoculars and I'll pick something that's halfway decent.

I guess I should be grateful I get anything, right? But I figure by the time they buy in bulk and get their discount, we're probably talking, what? $5? Maybe $7? I went with the commemorative pin instead. After all, there might not be an NWA after the merger mania dust settles.

I spent the evening at the hospital again. My dad looks better, but progress is slow. I want him to be better now. I'm still exhausted and I think my mom is, too.