I'm Sorry To Hear That. Congratulations!

A while ago I got a call from Kathleen informing me that to accommodate her travel plans a little (she’s leaving to visit her dad tomorrow), they accelerated the whole layoff thing in her case, making today her last day.
While she was, in many ways, glad to see the last of the place and get a chance at a fresh start, I knew that there was at least some sadness involved in leaving a company that she’s worked at for so long. Besides, whether it’s for the best or not, nobody really wants to go through being laid off.
So with that in mind I told her, “Well, congratulations and...my deepest sympathies.”
My day was a little less momentous, thankfully.
I did go for my first chiropractor appointment to try to get the whole carpal tunnel thing dealt with.
After examining me, he determined that I have a “structural problem” beyond the mere pinching of a nerve in my wrist, and while the aforementioned wrist problem is the only one I care about (The various other aches and pains I have can easily be ignored; I need to be able to use my hand to do my job and to do those few things that I actually enjoy doing. And no, I’m not talking about that, you perverts, though that is pretty much a given.), but he believes all of the problems are related and as such treating one will mean treating them all.
He seemed like a nice enough guy, and as for some of the claims he made about chiropractic techniques…well, let’s just say that I’m trying to keep an open mind and leave it at that.
While I was there Brian actually came in for some sort of adjustment, apparently, though I only heard him and didn’t actually see him.
The doctor took some X-Rays and wants to look over them to determine the course of treatment, and so I’m going back in on Monday.
We’ll see how it goes.
Once I got home I went online and finished up all of my Christmas shopping.
This year was a little unusual in that I didn’t just give money or gift certificates (though I am doing some of that).
Not that I have a lot of people to buy for anyway. In fact, I actually have one less. *Sigh*
Last year at this time I was neck-deep in dealing with the vagaries of home buying, which meant that some people normally on my list got crossed off. I’m hoping that this year will make up for it.
As for the receiving side of Christmas, I’m sure I won’t get a whole lot. I’m not complaining, just stating the fact. I imagine that the gifts I do get will be very nice, but once again we run into one of the many drawbacks of being a loveless loner: there’s no one who’s investing time and money into buying you the perfect gift(s).
After all, friends and family can only devote so much time and money to buying you something, and whatever they do get you just isn’t going to stack up to what a significant other – at least, a thoughtful significant other – will get you.
Oh well, there’s on point in dwelling on it, I guess…unless it’s for the purposes of filling out an otherwise lackluster blog entry.
So with that being said, I present the Threshold Holiday Gift Wish List, a list of things that I will not be finding stuffed in my stocking or under my tree come Christmas morning, particularly since I have neither stocking nor tree.

First up is pretty much any LCD TV as long as it’s 32” or more. The only real requirements I would have would be that it be capable of at least 1080i and have HDMI and DVI inputs.
A newer, larger graphics tablet. The Wacom Intuos3 6x8 (which I almost bought the other day at Circuit City) would be nice, though I wouldn’t have a problem with one of the larger versions, like the 12x19.
Any one of several or a combination of the various DC Comics Absolute Editions would be very nice to have. In particular I would appreciate Absolute Dark Knight, and, of course, Absolute Watchmen.
A mop to clean up the drool caused by me thinking about Absolute Dark Knight and Absolute Watchmen.
On a related note, Frank Miller’s Sin City Library I.
Another mop for the additional drool.
Justice League and Justice League Unlimited DVDs.
For a different nerdly aspect of my personality, the latest edition of The Chicago Manual of Style. Seriously, I’m enough of a geek that this would actually be an ideal present for me.
And finally I’d need an updated DVD player/home theater to complement the new TV.

I guess that’s pretty much it. Most of my wants tend to cluster around the same kinds of things. Any sort of significant other would, I can only assume, be able to figure out some sort of perfect gift that I’d never see coming and wouldn’t know that I wanted until I’d gotten it, but that’s a moot point, and obviously nothing like that can make it onto the list, since I have no idea what it would be.
Many of these things, if not all, I will no doubt eventually buy for myself, and honestly, the fact that I won’t be unwrapping them come Christmas morn pales into insignificance aside the one gift I want above all others, the one wish that I know can never come true.
More than anything, I want my dad back.
Got that in your fucking bag, Santa?
*Sigh* Sorry about that. I didn’t mean for things to take such a downturn, but being on the subject of wishes I found it impossible to avoid ending up there.
In any case, tomorrow marks the end of the non-stop thrill ride that has been my vacation, and then it’ll be back to the salt mines, or rather, the dark, cold, nerdy dungeon. I will no doubt take a day off here and there, but I probably won’t take any significant time off until my annual trip home in the summer, which will most likely mean that once December rolls around I’ll once again have accrued vacation time that I need to use or lose, and once again I will not go to New Zealand on any damn Hobbit tour, no matter how much the idea amuses Scott.
And just as my vacation is drawing to a close, so too is this unexpectedly maudlin entry.