I Want to Be Underwhelmed🎄Holiday Season 2024

First post! Yay me!

Another extremely windy day in New England, it's been a gusty November.

Please finish the exiting thread

Two days until my DL subscription expires. I can't do the second Trump admin with this crowd's nasty hot takes, so it's time to end the ambivalence and give you up.

[quote] I can't do the second Trump admin with this crowd's nasty hot takes

I can't do the second Trump admin WITHOUT this crowd's nasty hot takes

R4 = Matt Gaetz

The polar opposite, r6. This place is nasty to women and other minorities, and those who aren't didn't call it out enough.

Same. Thinking of leaving this group of grumpy, old fags.

Do not hijack the Underwhelming Thread with your petty angst.

I've been watching original Melrose Place on Paramount+ all day. Heather Locklear hasn't shown up yet, but it's ok. Making me miss the 90s.

It's been very windy and in the low 40s today. Same thing for tomorrow, I miss summer.

🎶 Jingle Bells

Batman smells

Robin laid an egg

Batmobile

Broke a wheel

And Joker got away

Hey! 🎶

R12 has obviously been at the eggnog early.

Is it ever too early for eggnog?

They’ve had eggnog at the stores since August, dude, where you been?

I’m going to be in the DMV area for Christmas, maybe I’ll look for mace there.

Search Instacart for mace. Several stores in my area have it.

[quote] Two days until my DL subscription expires. I can't do the second Trump admin with this crowd's nasty hot takes, so it's time to end the ambivalence and give you up.

When disgusted with someplace you’ve paid to access, it is important to squeeze every last drop of nastiness out of your subscription before storming out. This is especially the case when large sums of money are involved.

Eggnog is one of my favorite things in the world, but I'm lactose intolerant, so I'm afraid to drink it.

It’s certainly my favorite nog.

Lactaid makes eggnog.

I cleaned my oven today and the house still smells. I should’ve done it sooner.

R21 - thanks - never considered that!

so many non-dairy milks out there. no need for lactose.

But you can't go to Dairy Queen and get a non-lactose milkshake, can you?

[quote]Two days until my DL subscription expires. I can't do the second Trump admin with this crowd's nasty hot takes, so it's time to end the ambivalence and give you up.

Whether or not you belong on DL is up to you to decide. But you don't belong on the "underwhelmed" thread, because you have obviously been whelmed and are trying to whelm others before you leave.

I broke into my bag of organic riced cauliflower. I bought it from Costco (frozen). It's made in Italy. Not bad. I spooned some "umami topping" (fried crunchy garlic in chile oil) and some soy sauce.

I haven't tried to make fried rice out of it. Fried rice is not something I normally make, though.

I do have some sun-dried tomatoes and Kalamata olives plus feta cheese. I'll try that next.

I just saw something strange. It's night and I just went out to my porch to take a look around and saw a smallish bright, light blue object falling and it disappeared before it reached the lake. It was quite close, WTF?

May the force be with you

I'm not going to worry about it, strange, unexplained shit happens. Weird though since it's extremely windy and this thing didn't even wobble.

I'll be putting up my insulated curtains this week. It's time and they do make a difference.

I’m watching Moana on ABC. It’s pretty good. But it didn’t start until 8:30 and goes to 11 pm. What time do little kids go to bed these days? I think I was in bed by 9 until high school.

To discuss my dream of losing my pants and briefs, no I haven't been feeling exposed and/or vulnerable and my stress level has been up since I've been doom scrolling the election, a possible WW3, etc.

No one laughed at me, they just stared.

From the previous Underwhelmed thread:

[quote]I wish we had a Penzey’s.

In America, everyone has Penzey's.

Sure—I can order online and wait a week and pay 100% of the cost for shipping. Lucky me.

I want a store near me.

it’s not that serious, but i guess that’s the point of this thread.

I’m went to the Memphis Penzeys last week when I was visiting that city. Bought several things to replenish stock in my spice drawer.

If you're going to restock your spice rack, this is the week to do it. All that stuff is on sale for the holidays. I just tossed my expired spices and re-alphabetized my spice rack.

How's that for underwhelming?

I don’t have a spice rack.

Regarding the poster from the previous thread and their periodontal cleaning, I had an appointment on Friday but I was an hour early. I'd put the appointment in my phone for 9:15 am but it was actually for 10:15. I wasn't going to sit around for an hour and, with the snow we had Friday, I didn't feel like coming back. Ironically, the next available appointment is in May, which would be my normal appointment for my first cleanng in 2025.

I'm glad I switched dental practices a few years ago. At my previous practice, I was told I needed a periodontal cleaning every year. My insurance only covered it once every 24 months AND the practice was out of network for me. The periodontist was part of the practice and I now suspect they were telling me that so that he'd have patients. Since switching to my new practice, my dentist has not once mentioned a periodontal cleaning.

My gym fired the kid who was my personal trainer in mid-October. He was fun and I looked forward to our sessions. Now, I’m 7 pounds heavier because I’m pissed off and haven’t gone back there except for a few sessions with a replacement trainer.

After that, although the new trainer was fine — professional and no fun at all — I finally just quit the gym in protest and then discovered that all the other gyms offer fewer of the things I’m looking for; proximity, cost, hydrobeds.

I have no real choice except to get over myself and go back there but I won’t pay their exorbitant PT charges anymore.

r41, see if you can track down the PT who got fired and set up private training sessions. I am sure he has a social media presence that would be easy to find.

We did have a few private sessions, R41, but he ultimately decided to move back home. He’s young and has his whole life ahead of him. I miss him but it’s nice not to be paying those ridiculous fees anymore.

A friend informed me he doesn't like the way I "gut" pie when I eat it. I often eat the filling and leave most of the crust.

What kind of pie?

Any kind of pie. If the crust isn't good, I leave it, not worth wasting the calories on. I'll just eat the apple, pumpkin, cherry etc. filling part.

I do have another friend who makes his late Southern mother's recipes and I eat the crust of any pie he bakes, his crusts are excellent.

Good crusts are hard to come by and I heartily endorse gutting any pie without one.

Last night I watched the horror movie Abigail. The trailer looked dumb but curiosity got the best of me and I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I also watched The Front Room (starring Brandy) and I was thoroughly disappointed. That movie is a waste of time.

The pie filling is usually not worth the calories either. The point of pie is the combination of crust and filling.

I took my car in for an oil change and they made some mistake and my mileage indicator has disappeared!

Oh, and they changed miles to kilometers - I thought there was some big error when it said I was going 40 and I was obviously only going 20.

The King Charles Royal Variety thread is viewable on my phone (where I'm not logged in), but not on my computer (where I am). Does that mean I have the OP blocked? I certainly never blocked that thread. I only have like two people blocked.

I thought by going to the supermarket this morning I could avoid the crowds. I was wrong.

R52, I suggest you call the Help Desk.

I wandered into the Supermarket Saturday. Hell on earth. I suppose today will be better than tomorrow or Wednesday.

I went to all the stores I needed to go to early Sat and Sunday. No more stores for me till next week, hopefully.

My local bakery makes some really nice stuff, but their pie crust: hard and like cardboard.

Sometimes I have really wild and crazy thoughts.

I will watch a video about food items available at Japanese 7-Eleven stores and think "I should fly over to Japan immediately and get that".

You get the petty angst you deserve, r9, Your posting history is about as deep as a puddle after a rainstorm,

I heard a song today that I haven't heard in years - Play That Funky Music White Boy.

[quote]A friend informed me he doesn't like the way I "gut" pie when I eat it. I often eat the filling and leave most of the crust.

How unattractive to do this in front of others. Let us not even picture it.

I have to shit every time I go to Walmart.

Naomi is taking Thelma to small claims court!!

Just got back from the supermarket at 5 p.m. Few customers, most were already in line at the self-checkout. It surprised me; I'd expected a horde.

I'm still waiting for Amazon to ship a couple of small things. I see the transactions pending in my online banking account, so I think they're shipping soon. These are non-holiday items. Just stuff I needed / wanted. After this, no shopping until January. (Except for food and other necessities.)

I might finish off my grocery shopping via Instacart. I'm sick so would probably be doing everybody a favor by staying home.

I'm sorry about your cough, R66. I had a nasty case of bronchitis one Thanksgiving. I couldn't eat dinner because I had to choose between eating and breathing. Hope you feel better soon!

I'm running out today around 11 am to pick up some last minute items. I'm hoping it won't be too busy but I'm prepared for the worst. One thing I can say about my local Shop Rite stores; they make sure they are fully staffed with cashiers at all lanes and the front end manager will direct traffic to make sure eveything runs smoothly. For people with about 5 or 10 items, Customer Service will ring up those purchases to ease the lines at self-checkot. The worst part will be parking but I like to park far away and walk to and from the store.

Pie crust is out of my league but I’ve heard using some lard as part of the fat content adds flavor and texture to pie crust. Anybody?

Confirmed, R68. Lard makes everything better.

My mom used Crisco and it was an excellent pie crust that she made. Part of it is not overworking the dough and having little chunks of the solid fat in the dough, before it goes in the oven.

[quote] Lard makes everything better.

Especially belly fat.

My jalapeño peppers are turning red (from dark green).

I hate ironing tablecloths and napkins.

I had a recipe that called for lard. Goulash. I had the hardest time finding it at my supermarket. I asked for help and the clerk just said it was easier to show me. It was on the very bottom of a lonely set of shelves with unrelated products placed just next to the freezers in the frozen food aisle. There were only 2-3 boxes there.

Poor lard.

Fuck. I bought one green bell pepper when I needed two. Stupid recipe had it listed twice (one time in a list labeled “for the sofrito.”)

Back to the supermarket two days before Thanksgiving. Fortunately, there’s a lonely self-check out right by the produce.

Baby it’s cold outside

Have you ever been so tired that mentally and physically you feel like you’re being overtaken by waves that are unexceptionable and are overtaking your life?

I just opened up a package of Andes Creme de Menthe Thin Mints and ate a bunch.

They were earmarked for my Turkey Day Dessert Buffet. Now there will be too few and it will look like a paltry offering.

I'll just have to finish up the rest myself and not offer any if I can't offer sufficient.

R67 here. Shop Rite wasn't too bad. Found everything I needed and was able to go to a self-checkout with a conveyor belt. They had a cop directing traffic to let people in and out of the store. Quick, easy, and painless. Decided not to buy any pie for Thanksgiving dessert but, if the mood strikes, I'll run out to the local diner for a slice on Thanksgiving day.

I miss Jersey diners.

If you’re wife is coming along I’ll just stay home!!

Every parking space at my Shop-Rire was full and there are A LOT of them (pun intended).

So I’ve made a gingerbread cake (sans mace) a lemon ricotta cake and an orange and clove cheesecake. I still need to make the carrot cake and a special quince tart. It is so delicious.

Some of my people arrive in a few hours.

That basketball was like a basketball to me

Lemon Ricotta Cake sounds wonderful.

I want to go to r83’s house.

Come to EP, R86.

The lemon ricotta cake is actually a recipe from that loon on Insta that has a new cookbook and even a Prime documentary or show or something . It is a very good cake.

R83 don’t you worry that the cakes will be stale by Thursday?

The riced cauliflower from Costco is pretty good.

I actually forgot it was my birthday. And no, I'm not fishing for greetings.

Happy birthday anyway!

It feels like a Saturday. But it's not. It's Wednesday.

Not really, R88.

What’s a stale cake?

I refrigerated my cheesecake and the others are hanging out on the dinner table under plastic wrap.

I will frost my carrot cake tonight. The quince tart came out perfectly browned.

I will also dry brine the turkey for a few hours until tomorrow morning and prepare my Mac and cheese to be browned tomorrow.

As someone who always worked holidays, one of my traditions was a bag of Schoop’s cheeseburgers the day before - each burger could feed a gay family of four. They also had the best steak fries.

I’m nowhere near a Schoop’s anymore, so I may just shop at a shitty SafeWay that’s incredibly near a Five Guys.

The Night Vision mode on my phone camera is flattering. I wish real life were in Night Vision mode.

My friend Julie is photoshopping herself into photos with Wendy Williams and then sending them to her in the hopes of getting into Ms. Williams will.

I hate her

I'm moving 90 miles away next week. I'm a little nervous, but I hired movers and hopefully they'll be hunky.

I ate a bag of “baby” carrots last night and I just read on Patch that this brand is source of deadly e.coli bacteria. Am I about to be dead? I cooked and glazed them first. I hope that killed it.

I neglected to pick myself up an afternoon snack at the convenience store this morning and now I have to suffer until dinner. I'm hungry!

[quote]I hired movers and hopefully they'll be hunky.

Don't get your hopes up. I passed one of those College Hunks moving trucks the other day and they were neither college-aged nor hunky.

As long as they don’t break his shit or hold the load hostage for a higher fee, they are hunky.

R97, why are you moving 90 miles away?

R102 - I'm leaving my father's farm in a small cowboy town and moving to Phoenix. I'll be just a couple of miles away from both of my brothers. I can't wait to get out of this little podunk town.

R103, well, good for you, then.

I hate moving. I would feel overwhelmed. But since it's only 90 miles, maybe it's underwhelming. But the 90 miles seems to make a big difference.

[quote] hold the load hostage

Pics please.

“I cried so hard when I moved to Phoenix that I used a whole box of Kleenex!”

“Phoenix and Kleenex don’t rhyme!”

I like Erin Moriarty on 48 Hours, even more than Keith Morrison. When she stares you down, oh boy.

[quote]What’s a stale cake?

A cake that doesn't feel fresh "down there."

LOL 🤣😂, R108.

Speaking of cake, I had a taste of the gingerbread cake and it seems the flavors have melded and concentrated beautifully. I can taste the orange and the brandy that I added.

I’m making Brown Butter Bourbon Pumkin Bread. Don’t tell anyone I more than doubled the bourbon. Why use water when you’ve got bourbon?

One wonders if there is a brown butter bourbon cornbread recipe….

There are several brown butter bourbon cornbread recipes, but most of them require real corn meal - not something I keep on hand at the moment.

Here’s one:

I swear half these breeds at the dog show are made up.

I've stripped half the turkey and I can't be arsed doing the other half.

R114, I want you to lag picking the other half of your turkey (except, get the oyster!).

I made the mistake of becoming the preferred chicken picker to feed 450 at a shelter. I had to wear triple gloves. I had to gauge everythings temperature. I became disgustingly efficient at raking piping hot meat from a dead carcass.

Poor baby dinasaurs.

Oh fuck that, R115! That was very kind of you but damn.

A lot of people are obsessed with Lucille Ball

Rickey Ricardo was subpar and a shitty performer

Robin Strasser visited by Tuc Watkins and his family at her NYC home. They brought her sunflowers.

^Oops, this was meant for the General Hospital thread although it relates to OLTL.

Sorry!

R118, your illiteracy betrays the thread, because it is (yawn) overwhelming.

Oh, dear.

So you’ll be happy to know that all the desserts I made were absolutely fabulous. The orange-Clove Basque cheesecake I made turned out delicious.

People raved about the quince tart and carrot cake, too.

I make a good carrot cake, if I may so so myself.

I'm watching Woman Of The Hour on Netflix. I don't care for Anna Kendrick but I wanted to see what all the hype was about and it does not disappoint.

It's really good if you like nail-biting, edge of your seat movies.

By a process of elimination, I have determined that aspartame containing beverages cause me to cough.

Nobody ever uses process of elimination to determine it’s the THC in their vape that causes the honking cough. I always give up the Diet Coke aspartame.

[quote] By a process of elimination, I have determined that aspartame containing beverages cause me to cough

I hope, by “process of elimination “ you mean you stopped drinking aspartame and your cough went away.

That’s not a “process of elimination.” That’s a direct experiment.

R121 smells like moth balls

[quote]That’s not a “process of elimination.” That’s a direct experiment.

I stand corrected, oh wise one.

*bows in deference*

I just got done reading Brothers by Alex Van Halen. I enjoyed it. Now I'm reading Ask Not: The Kennedys And The Women They Destroyed.

Earlier this year an airport in Japan shut down and 30 flights were cancelled and over 200 flights delayed because a pair of scissors went missing in a retail airport shop.

The scissors were found after a few hours as someone had just put them back in the wrong spot but it took several more hours before flights resumed as they had to first confirm that the scissors found were the same scissors that had gone missing.

[quote] Now I'm reading Ask Not: The Kennedys And The Women They Destroyed.

Wow. The Kennedys have had a nice, long run with this romanticized "Camelot" narrative. When I saw "Ask Not," I thought it was going to be a book about public service. Tide has turned, finally.

Hope this is still underwhelming.

I just listened to a woman read Ask Not on youtube. They are all awful. The Kennedy whose vehicle accident paralyzed the passenger in his jeep, WTF.

Ive been searching for this thread .

r133 It's [italic]under[/italic]whelmed. Can't you read?

Who is "that loon on Insta that has a new cookbook and even a Prime documentary or show or something" mentioned in r87?

I’ve got my Xmas list made out. You may buy me anything on it or two

NJ prohibits single use shopping bags so people carry re-useable bags. My Whole Foods has a sign requesting that shoppers not use their shopping bags to hold items while shopping. We are asked to use their carts or baskets.

People must be shoplifting. At Whole Foods! Can you imagine?

I'm not in Jersey but I carry my reusable bag through Aldi to place my items in as I shop since I only get a few things there. When I get to checkout (mine doesn't have self checkout), I unload my items on to counter and then place my bag in the cart the cashier has at their side. My reusable bags stand up so the cashier just tosses my few items straight into my standing bag, then I Just grab and go. I never get a cart.

I love that my reusable bags stand up, come in handy for curbside pickup also. They are the Veno bags on amazon.

I use these. They’ll last forever if you don’t lose ‘em.

R139 if you conceal an item, it is technically shoplifting.

No it's not, at least not in my state. You have to walk out the door without paying.

Tammy Wynette's final husband (George Richey, the one nobody liked) looked like he was gay.

I just ordered WeatherTech floor and cargo liners for my car.

I’ve had it five years. Probably should have done it sooner.

I'm still on the fence about those WeatherTech liners.

There are cheaper Chinese options on Amazon, but I have a soft spot for Madison WI.

Auto liner fabricators sprouted up throughout Illinois ten years ago, R144.

Off-topic, but fabricators then started providing foldable bed covers for pick-em-up jeeps. I grew up with the vinyl tarp or ugly porno-cab option for the bed; these covers are awesome.

I just watched the Veal Prince Orloff episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

I like to overwhelm little kids by asking them if they are aware that their epidermis is showing.

She’s the Pasta Queen. Nadia Munno. She has 4.9 million followers, R136.

She has cooking videos with positive affirmations for her viewers.

She parlayed that into a cookbook and a Prime series about her travels in Italy.

She actually is pretty fabulous.

Thank you, r150. Since you used the word "queen," I figured it was a guy. I would never have guessed...

I had to clear ice off of my car today. Thanksgiving started with rain which turned to snow and then it froze overnight.

Time for a haircut - a young woman tried to block the front door of my apartment building as I entered. I used my card and she was shocked.

I wore Lanvin shoes. She was wearing some Amazon bullshit on her feet and she was shaped like a duck.

My hair scares ugly children. Yay me!!!!!

[quote]I wore Lanvin shoes.

Aren't you special!

Why are Dr. Scholls sneakers so expensive?! Don’t people remember the decades of cheap padded insoles? It’s not like there is a real doctor there anymore.

A disheveled appearance cannot be cured by Lanvin footwear. Nobody's eyes will reach the feet if the top half looks dreadful.

Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart haven’t been on in my area for decades. The problem now on classic TV stations is they are afraid to change the schedules and put different shows on because there is drop in viewing and lots of complaints.

The Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving are the only days that pie for breakfast is justified.

Why does pie for breakfast need to be justified?

Chex Mix Muddy Buddies Peanut Butter and Chocolate are good. Never had these before.

I just discovered that I left half the butter out of the Brown Butter Bourbon Pumpkin Bread I made for Thanksgiving.

No wonder it didn't look like the picture in the recipe.

In South Africa, KFC offers soft serve vanilla ice cream topped with fried Oreos.

I made cookies with the English toffee chunks from Heath bars in them, but they turned out kind of flat. Still pretty good, though.

Mmm. I love Heath and Skor bars. Plus Hershey Symphony with the toffee chunks.

I just heard the first sounds of the lake freezing. There was a layer of ice on it today with one section still open which some Mergansers were enjoying. I hope they left or they'll be stuck!

I saw a couple of leaves on my wind shield. They were yellow.

I ate half of the stocking stuffers I bought for others last night. This is the only time of the year I bring these kinds of things into my house.

I have Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo stuck in my head.

I read Laurence Leamer’s The Kennedy Women years ago and thought it was well done. I don’t really need to read any more books about them personally really. We know. But the assassination is an ongoing exploration.

Put 66 AA batteries in 33 candles in windows and around house tonight. Christmas is here!

I looked at some items to order from Amazon and was surprised that the arrival date is four to five days. Usually, I receive stuff in one to two days. 'Tis the season I guess.

[quote] Put 66 AA batteries in 33 candles

Jesus Christ.

R160, we call that Puppy Chow where I'm from.

If someone asks you if you like tacos it is code for do you eat ass?

I shut off the outside water today. Winter is coming.

R175 I did that weeks ago

Fond though I am of David Attenborough, I kind of wish his new BBC series was narrated by the honey badger guy instead.

I am annoyed by everyone and everything lately

I can smell your pussy

R168 Well, truck on our and spread the news, because now it's in my head, too.

My phone updated last night and changed the way everything looks in Safari. I hate change for change’s sake.

So far I'm the only one around me with outdoor Christmas lights on, the old farts.

Enough time has passed that I can enjoy Forensic Files, again.

I prefer to refer to them as Philistines.

Christmas decorations are OPTIONAL, not mandatory. R182, are you the same person who just used 66 AA batteries to decorate the inside of your house?

The top drawer of my nightstand contains Systane dry eye drops, Rolaids, lip balm, box of kleenex, tin of Altoids, a comb, Tylenol, a small 8 oz bottle of Zephyrhills spring water that fits upright, flashlight, reading glasses, pen and small pad of paper, spare phone charger although I don't do my charging in the bedroom.

My niece made me some chocolate chip cookies that had a sprinkle of kosher salt on top baked in. I can’t decide if I liked that or not. Well, they’re gone so I guess I liked them enough.

R176 Ordinarily I'd have done it weeks ago as well but I forgot all about it until Alexa told me it was going to be 25 degrees tonight.

It's been a tough year.

I just remembered to pay my bills. I hate when the first of the month falls on the weekend.

Tomorrow I'm going to make a Russian dish called Shuba: potato, carrots, beets, mayo, herring, and egg layered together.

Got punched in the chin - apparently, I’m stalking someone living in her car whenever I step outside to smoke. She complained to another resident and he socked me.

Now, I’m looking for her car. I will be snipping air nipples at some point this week unless I make myself behave like a human. I don’t have to torture sick people.

I need to swallow this one and it’s difficult.

I got Wendy's today because I thought the McRib wasn't back yet, then I saw a Facebook friend posting a pic of one he just got.

R185 Hell no, that wasn't me. I know the lights are optional but people need to LIGHTEN UP.

I'm "saving" $10 per month on my Verizon phone bill by using auto-pay.

R192, behold!

Why are there no McRibs in my county? It doesn’t seem fair.

Fedex left my 40 lb. package on top of my a/c unit. Not on my front porch, not in front of the garage, not by the side door but on top of my a/c unit by the back gate.