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Weird Presents Anyone?

Posted by michael on Thu Dec 25, 2003 03:45 PM
from the share-the-loot dept.
g8way writes "Now that Christmas is about, it's time for presents. A joyous occasion with much drinking, fruitcake, and butt-ugly sweaters. What's the weirdest gift you've gotten so far? Personally, I got toothpaste, tic-tacs, deodorant, and a McDonalds coupon book in the same package. What's your story of Christmas present mayhem?"
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  • I got (Score:5, Funny)

    by Sarojin (446404) on Thursday December 25 2003, @03:46PM (#7809229)
    a dildo for Christmas. From my elderly neighbor! I'm a male!
  • FP (Score:5, Funny)

    by Sklivvz (167003) * <.moc.liamg. .ta. .inoccec.ocram.> on Thursday December 25 2003, @03:46PM (#7809231) Homepage Journal
    Personally, i got a first post! :-P

  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 25 2003, @03:46PM (#7809233)
    My friends got me a blow-up doll, complete with inflatable breasts and two holes.

    I've never felt so pathetic in my life.
  • /. subscriptions? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by LostCluster (625375) on Thursday December 25 2003, @03:48PM (#7809247) Homepage
    Did anybody get a /. subscription as a gift? Anybody?
  • My iPod (Score:5, Funny)

    by egg troll (515396) on Thursday December 25 2003, @03:48PM (#7809248) Homepage Journal
    I got a 40 gig iPod for Xmas. But the weird part is that when I looked at the diagnostics menu, it said it was only 37.1 gigs! Apple played Grinch and stole 3 gigs of music from me. :(
        • Re:My iPod (Score:5, Informative)

          by kantai (719870) <kantai@gmail.com> on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:03PM (#7809349)
          Ummm, guess again. 1 kb = 1024 bytes or 8192 bits, 1 MB = 1024 kb, 1 GB = 1024 MB. Hard drive manufacturers advertise capacity in the decimal system ( 1 kb = 1000 bytes, 1 MB = 1000 kb, 1 bit = 1 byte ) and so the 40 GB iPod has 40,000,000,000 bytes, which in the binary system is about 37.25 GB. for more help in byte bit conversion and systems: Bit and Byte Conversion [beesky.com]
  • Bernhard Langer (Score:5, Interesting)

    by alister667 (254980) <alister667@NoSPAM.hotmail.com> on Thursday December 25 2003, @03:48PM (#7809254) Homepage
    I was given (by a christian relative) an autobiography of christian golfer Bernhard Langer. A pretty poor attempt to turn me onto 'the right path'! Next year I'm going to buy them something by Richard Dawkins.
  • Along with the usual sweaters, socks and underwear I get every year, this year I got something special..

    My mother in law excitedly handed me my gift this year with a big grin on her face. I opened the box and what was there?

    A seagate Barricuda 7200rpm 120gig hard drive!

    "Now you can download more movies and burn them to dvd (vcd)" she says.

    Large capacity hard drives, the gift that keeps on giving all year long :D
  • by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 25 2003, @03:53PM (#7809284)
    I got a combination wallet/calculator from Radio Shack. Who buys a wallet from RS? Old folks are so crazy. This is the same aunt who last year bought me a combination mouse pad/calculator. Next year I bet I get a calculator watch.

    Oh well, maybe I'll get her back by giving some Metallica CDs.
  • by orthogonal (588627) on Thursday December 25 2003, @03:53PM (#7809290) Journal
    Personally, I got toothpaste, tic-tacs, deodorant, and a McDonalds coupon book in the same package.

    Toothpaste, breath-freshening mints, deoderant, and cheap out-of-the house food.

    No pattern there.

    Hmm. Unless.... Is your family trying to tell you you're spending too much time playing Everquest, and too little time playing "shower"?
  • Ha. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Magus311X (5823) on Thursday December 25 2003, @03:54PM (#7809293)
    My Xmas:

    6 pairs of black socks
    1 can of mixed nuts (i hate most nuts)
    A bottle of leather conditioner (presumably for my car)
    A pair of cheap $20 headphones (left side doesn't work)
    15 losing $1-2 lottery tickets
    $10 in gift certificates to Krispy Kreme (love them, but the closest one is an HOUR away. All Dunkin' Donuts around here.)
    Speaker stands for the surround sound system I don't have.

    -----

    I gave...

    My sister a nice Capresso CoffeeTEC coffee maker because her current coffee maker broke, and this does lattes and hot cocoa to boot, which she loves. Also got her an assortment of coffee from Gevalia.

    My parents to share, got them 5 classic movie DVDs (Ben-Hur, Citizen Kane, On the Waterfront, Bridge on the River Kwai, Casablanca). My mom a backyard birdwatching and project book, a pair of nice binoculars. My father I got a 10GB iPod (bring his MP3s in his car without him constantly burning CDs), and a new copy of MS Trips and Streets (to replace his 1994 Rand McNally software which he still uses regularly).

    -----

    I know its not what you get, but the thought that counts, but I think I put in a lot more thought than they did.

    ----- ----- ----- -----
    • It's because... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by weston (16146) <westonsd@cannAAA ... inus threevowels> on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:38PM (#7809513) Homepage
      I have a theory about this. Geeks in general are interested in things that look impenetrable to others. You want an external hard drive for christmas, or music production software? Besides the fact that those things are somewhat expensive, the details the non-geek would have to become familiar with the get the gift right (heck, to figure out where to purchase such things) are a daunting barrier. So they drop back and punt on the gifts they do understand, or things they see you as needing (for example, maybe they see you wear white socks all the time)....

      My own family works pretty much this way, especially my parents, who'd rather buy another set of underwear for me than subject themselves to the fear and confusion they associate with shopping online. But on the other hand, every once in a while they get things exactly right -- like, buying me the LOTR trilogy two years ago... I wouldn't have even asked for it because I hadn't read it since high school and wasn't too into it then, but once I picked it up again I was hooked. And then there's my siblings, who actually have a great sense of style and when they buy me clothes it's great. So this isn't a "poor me" rant. :) It's just an observation. I'll probably never get great geek gifts, and I don't think most geeks will.
  • by vnolton (735440) on Thursday December 25 2003, @03:54PM (#7809296)
    Not only did I get nothing but CLOTHES for christmas.. My parents bought me a hamper to put them in. *rolls eyes*
  • by AsnFkr (545033) on Thursday December 25 2003, @03:55PM (#7809303) Homepage Journal
    I got a full length coat from my mom. Now I can go out in public without wearing anything underneath it. I can;t wait till New Years!! Mwahaahaha!!!!
    • by Dun Malg (230075) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:17PM (#7809432) Homepage
      I got a full length coat from my mom. Now I can go out in public without wearing anything underneath it.

      Be sure to cut off a pair of trouser legs at about knee height and tie the cut off pieces in place with string on your lower legs just above the calves. That way it looks like you're wearing pants as long as the coat is closed.

  • Shurikens (Score:5, Funny)

    by gorsh (75930) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:02PM (#7809340)
    My girlfriend got me razor-sharp shurikens that I can use to assassinate my enemies in the dark of night!
  • by Tablizer (95088) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:03PM (#7809344) Homepage Journal
    I wrote Santa and asked for a pussy. So I unwrap the box and see only a goddam alley cat.....male even.
  • by Juanvaldes (544895) <johnwort@@@synergistic...cc> on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:03PM (#7809350) Homepage
    I love my family. :D
  • by ILL Robinson (228744) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:09PM (#7809373)
    ...was wrapped gift wrap.

    Worse part was, I didn't know when the hell to stop unwrapping.
    • by Gubbe (705219) on Thursday December 25 2003, @05:00PM (#7809604)
      ...wrapped gift wrap.
      Yes, I had a similar experience once. I got this huge-ass box, cut the strings around it with a knife, opened the box and found another box. I opened the box and found yet another box. By the time I had opened over ten boxes and realized there's no way the last tiny box could contain anything else than possibly an even smaller box, I decided that I'm not going to let my family ridicule me any further. On a moments whim I grabbed the knife and frustratedly stabbed the small box twice.

      The high-capacity so-dimm inside didn't appreciate it.
  • by Helmut Kool (624923) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:11PM (#7809390)
    Me and my s.o. got a Shocking Roulette game from a friend who is studying in Scotland (it's supposed to be popular around there?). It's for 2-4 players. Each puts a finger inside this machine, the lights start blinking, and as they stop the lucky winner is rewarded with an electric shock. "The more you sweat the worse it gets!"
  • by AtariAmarok (451306) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:12PM (#7809398)
    I received a wonderful gift in my e-mail box from the King of Nigeria this morning. He said that if I gave him my life savings, he would give me $400,000,000. What a kind fellow, fully of holiday cheer, to make such a generous offer!
  • by WombatDeath (681651) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:15PM (#7809413)
    Well, in a manner of speaking... [drinkon.com]
  • We got out of debt (Score:5, Insightful)

    by anthonyclark (17109) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:18PM (#7809434)
    Not to sound smug here but my Wife and I got out of debt.

    Minimal presents to other people, no big dinner or tree and no huge tech presents for either of us. Instead we sneaked past the finish line in our "Debt Free in 2003" goal.

    This Christmas is bare by many western standards, but now we can start saving for a deposit for a house. (Yeah, more debt there but what can one do about that?).
    • by Inoshiro (71693) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:59PM (#7809599) Homepage
      If the worth of the house is more than the cost of the mortage, it's not really a debt. You could easily turn around and sell the house, pay off the mortgage, and have some money to boot.

      Rent is debt, it's a continuing eternal debt. Owning a house is owning something that's worth something, even if you have to pay a very large amount of money for it.
  • by freeio (527954) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:27PM (#7809475) Homepage
    A good friend of mine came by and presented me with a wrapped item, about 1 meter long with bulges on each end. I tried to guess the contents, but to no avail. It turned out to be a beat-up air horn off of a large truck - which he had found in a junk yard. It didn't take long to find the fittings in the junk box to wake up the neighbothood with it.

    Loud? Oh my! The 100 PSI shop air will make it sing. Now, where can I install it?
  • by Polyphemis (450226) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:32PM (#7809490)
    I recently moved out on my own into an apartment in Portland with my fiancee, and this Christmas from my brother I got a $25 gift certificate from Home Depot... now, at first glance that might make sense, but if he'd checked he'd have realized that:

    1) The nearest Home Depot is 50 miles away and I don't have a car.

    2) You can't use them online.

    3) There's hardly anything there you can buy for $25 that isn't sold by the pound anyway.

    I'm selling it back to my dad for cash and thanking my brother politely for the thoughtful gift.
  • by Mr Bone Stripper (622974) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:34PM (#7809499)
    My 6 year old daughter presented me with my long lost black handled phillips head screwdriver. She gave my two sons my mechanical pencils.
  • by Zathraskun (580270) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:39PM (#7809522)
    Thats what I got, no shens. But seriously what the hell am I going to use Whiskey flavored condoms for?!
  • by agoliveira (188870) <adilson&adilson,net> on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:39PM (#7809525)
    Actualy, wasn't weird: it was a dress but it was the ugliest dress I could find. Of course was a joke but the funny part was to see my mother's face trying to smile (a very yellow smile!) and saying it was beautiful and thank you until I burst in laught.
    When my mother realized it was a joke her first words to me were "Thank Lord was a joke! I was already thinking a way to get rid o it without offend you!" Them I gave her the real present :-D
  • what I did (Score:5, Funny)

    by CAIMLAS (41445) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:50PM (#7809565) Homepage
    I've got two younger (11 and 12) brother-in-laws. They're into collectable playing cards (such as Magic: The Gathering). One of them is quite the selfish type and quite conscious of other peoples' opinions of him; the other one is a bit more geeky and off in his own world.

    I got them each a Core Set deck. The one more fitting for the geeky b-in-l (Sky Slam/blue) I wrapped simply - just put it in a small box slightly larger than the deck - I also put a $5 bill in. The other one (Burn/red), I put in a large box with heavy objects (several rocks wrapped in paper). I didn't put any names on the packages.

    I then let the older/less geeky b-in-l pick the present that he wanted. Being selfish, he picked the larger one. The result: a lesson hopefully learned - and if not, hopeful progress made on that lesson.

    I love playing mind games with influential youngsters. :P
  • Payments. (Score:5, Funny)

    by BrookHarty (9119) on Thursday December 25 2003, @04:55PM (#7809582) Homepage Journal
    My wife bought herself a car, I got the payments. /me scratches head..

    • by |>>? (157144) on Thursday December 25 2003, @05:05PM (#7809628) Homepage
      Why does my mother keep giving me Microsoft Games no matter how many times I tell her I don't use Windows!!! She just doesn't get it, "My son's a computer guy so I get him computer games".

      Instead of seeing this as a negative experience, your mother knows that you are into computers and she is attempting to communicate with you that she relates to you - by acknowledging this. She likely knows nothing about computers, but she wants to try to connect to her son.

      In return you should not be bitter, but give your mom a big hug, that's all she's really asking for...