Here's the Christmas Star. Honestly I don't think this is the legendary biblical Star of Bethlehem as it's not as bright as I thought it would be so my guess is the original Star of Bethlehem was indeed a supernova that went off as those are bright enough to be seen day or night if the star is close enough to our star system.

Agreed. I ended up having to watch the streamed telecast from the Griffith Observatory; but was really glad I did because they had several scientists and astronomers discussing it = really interesting information!

Interesting.

Sweden's weather had been relatively mild and super cloudy this entire month. No sun since November, and it's usually really clear. I wanted to see the conjunction myself T.T

But it's ok.

Oh, I meant to say this before: Thank you so much for capturing the moment on film and sharing it with us! Really great shot you got of it!

Same. I couldn’t get a clear line of sight to it. That being said, I didn’t try super hard. Oh well.

That's a great picture.
It was a clear night her and we got a good view of Jupiter and Saturn's Great Conjunction. Looking through my 50X binoculars gave an even better view of the shining planets. Wow, what a sight!
I didn't even think to grab me camera with the 300mm lens for a picture. Maybe I'll try again tonight.

Time for Christmas leave! I will now spend time with family and enjoy so much Christmas food



Also; nice pic, Reaps!

Fun fact that you guys haven’t asked for: In the Philippines, Me Olde Country, Egg Nog is a brand of cookies lmaooo

I only found out that Egg Nog is actually a drink when I was like 16

Thanks . Here's a better shot.

Yeah man, it’ll getcha feelin’ good too if you make it right. The girlfriend and I made some last weekend with Fireball brand whiskey. Warm cinnamony goodness!

Really nice; and again = Awesome that you shared these with us!!!


@Everyone - I am off here for a few days, so wanted to wish you all a wonderful Christmas/Holiday!

Seeya mALX! Merry Christmas!

Nice picture there reaps!

And ew, egg nog.

Merry Christmas mALX!

mALX, enjoy your Christmas wherever it may be!

Aye, Merry Christmas mALX.

Anytime, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas

ITS TIME TO OVERDOSE ON FOOD AND DRINK, GIRLYBOIS AND BOYLYGURLS

You're right Uleni(of course he's right).

And merry Christmas bird!

Just had to share. Got an Electrolux mixer(sorely needed) and this lil fella:

https://imgur.com/a/dgiGAi2

Hey, a WoW plushie!


You gonna open and play with it or store it on the shelf as a collectible?

It's a collectable. It stays in box.

And it's so friggin adorable. It's my second game plushie, the other is a FFXIV carbuncle. Kinda looks like a squirrel almost.

Squirrel meets Pokemon.
https://store.na.square-enix-games.com/en_U...carbuncle-plush

Holy crap that thing is still on waitlist? I ended up getting mine from Mikael, he ordered on the EU store. The NA one had a wait list.

Awww.

SO CUTE.

Merry Christmas for realz!

And a Merry Christmas to you and all of Chorrol!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Feliz navidad amigos!!

Merry Christmas and a Merry New Year .

Merry Christmas guys!

Merry Christmas, Merry Xmas, Happy Holidays, Bah Humbug or whatever floats your boat!

Well, next time I am going away for the Christmas Holidays; I will def check the weather reports for the area first (not AFTER I am in the place like I did this time). I just spent five days snowed in at a small cabin lodge with a crowd of way too many people (many of whom I may wish never to see again in this lifetime, lol).

We had a really bad blizzard here; bad enough that it shut down the city's power for many residents for days. What happened was that the snow was so heavy and wet that its sheer weight took down power lines all over the city. The power line at my house is still down and draped across the porch rail; but we didn't actually lose our power despite that line being down.

The temps dropped rapidly the first night; and all that wet snow turned into huge slabs of very thick (and very heavy) ice. It was so freezing cold that car doors were frozen shut; so no one could even get in the cars to warm up if their power was off. Water lines all over the city were cracking from the water frozen in them.

Some friends of mine just got their power back on today. They had no heat source in their home except electric; and couldn't access their vehicles to warm up. They had to live on peanut butter and crackers for days; and stayed warm by cuddling under a stack of blankets with their dog.

I didn't have it as bad as they did; the power in the cabin kept flickering and was so iffy that we were afraid we'd be stuck without light or heat any moment; but thank goodness it never stayed off for long at all = and the cabin had one very small Kerosine heater.

It was just meant to be a gathering of a few female friends and one male friend who likes to hang with us; and just for a couple days and one night originally; but then everyone wanted to bring their family members and their pets; and next thing we knew the party grew to a full mob. Well, the more the merrier, right? No, not when you are snowed in together for five days and only brought enough food for one or two meals for a few people; urgh.

** And I haven't mentioned that someone's dog was not housebroken; plus it chased someone else's cat around this small cabin the whole time; usually knocking your feet out from under you as you walked anywhere.

Since many of the crowd was single and the beds were few and space way too small for that crowd that was meant to be there just for two days and one dinner/overnight; we ended up dividing everyone (including the married couples) up so all the females all shared the big bedroom, and the males all shared the common area.

** One man actually did get the small bedroom to himself; but he said that was because he owned the lodge and had also become marooned at the cabin with us (however; it could be because he did desperately need a bath at that point; since he seemed to have over-activated his sweat glands somehow; and = oh, did I not mention that the showers/water wasn't working? Urgh).

We only had enough food for the Christmas Dinner; which had to be made up early since no one could get out for restaurants or grocery shopping like we had originally planned. So for 5 days we ALL had to maul that one dinner until each side or entree in turn was gone until the only thing left was the (slightly undercooked) ham. With all those different people handling the food; and without water to wash those hands = I am a germaphobe; so that meant I stopped eating anything I saw handled at all; which didn't leave me many choices but the undercooked ham sections that no one had bothered with because they weren't pre-sliced. So ... urgh again.

Several of us started getting upset stomachs from some source by the night before yesterday; and everyone began pulling out whatever medicine they had for food poisoning symptoms and sharing it with everyone else.

The only man who had been planned to be a part of the original party of 3-4 women (no one is dating him; he just likes hanging out with us for some reason) - he always seems to travel with several bottles of tequila; and this trip was no exception. (and yes, Acadian; that was Daniel, lol). He wasn't happy at all because of our original small fun party planned turning into this crowded mess; (and also drank more because he was using it to stay warm since he had to smoke outside). Anyway; he polished off at least a full bottle solo each night we were stuck there = (which did wonders for his personality (if you know what I mean. Yeah, that is what I mean).

The Park Ranger managed to get us out of there Sunday afternoon; so I am home again now; though I only actually was able to get to my house even now because a neighbor at the bottom of the hill was kind enough to transport me up to my house in his 4 wheel drive truck = the roads up to here are still solid sheets of ice; and even with his traction on he was sliding all over. So, my stomach is still in some kind of upheaval mode; and I'm still stuck here; but at least I am stuck at home now.

So "Merry" isn't a good word to describe this Christmas; but I did end up getting a Keurig coffee maker for Christmas; so THAT was def a "WOO HOO!!!" present!

Wow that sounds terrible! Glad you got out of there safely! Hope none of those people had Covid. D:

I'm hoping the same thing, that thought def crossed my mind. (about the Covid). I did make two new female friends there through all those bad parts though; so it wasn't a total bust. (it was like how close soldiers get in a war zone or something).

We have been talking about getting T-shirts made that say, "I survived Christmas 2020!" with some funny "Mad Magazine" style drawn pics or something. (dog poo under a descending shoe; rippling vapor waves from a drawn man's armpits; a broken shower; etc).

Only thing left is stubbing your toe and wanting hot coco only to realize you ran out of hot coco. Talk about a nightmare on Christmas. Gald you made home safely.

The hot cocoa thing happened; they had plenty of milk but no cocoa to put in it, lol. Nobody stubbed their toe though; so we were really lucky on that one!

Thanks, Reaper. I'm glad to be home too!

Well, glad to see you alive and kicking, mALX

Sounds like mALX had a fitting end to a . . . below average year. I'm glad, though chilled and hungry, you survived and are back home. With luck, there might come a time when remembering your 2020 Christmas weekend adventure may bring a chuckle.

Thanks, Mirocu! I should have channeled you for Christmas; it would have made it much better!







Yeah, right? 2020 has been a real roller coaster; better good places than any previous years; but other than that = just really weird low spots too. Not a terrible year; but not a great one either. It is like one step above "Meh..."

Oh dear. That just sounds hilariously awful.

I mean, it's one of those things you'll laugh at later down the line.

And who in the world invites family and unhousebroken dogs to a getaway in a tiny cabin without a) notice, extra food, and c) deodorant??

I'd have been livid.

Right?


https://scontent-ort2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0...amp;oe=60107A65

Oh my goodness! I'm glad you're home safe, and I hope the stomach upset passes quickly. What an experience! I'm sure you will not be putting ham on any menus soon. One more day and someone might have served up the pets with a side of snow for dinner.

May your New Year celebration turn out exactly the way you want it to!

Thank you, Grits!!! I hope your Christmas was Awesome; and that your New Years brings something really special your way, something you have wanted.

And = yeah, no ham for me for a while, lol. But my stomach is better now. I ate pizza last night, that cures any illness, lol.

(lol on the "Serving up the pets," )

And now I want pizza for dinner, lol

Sorry, only one piece left,

And everyone knows leftover pizza is breakfast.

It was, lol.


*mALX avoids stepping on scales for a few days ... *

IT'S ALMOST DECEMBER AGAIN, GUYS!


Have my up and running and my Santa hat on, as you can see

But it’s not even my birthday yet!

Also, pretty sure it’s not a good thing that your tree is running.

Wow, the early crow catches the worm! Thanks for dusting this annual thread off again, mirocu.