Re: Going out alone on Christmas

[Guest guest]

>

> >

> > Are you in British Columbia? I'm in Seattle--it's probably the same

> > storm!

>

> Yes, I'm in , B.C. I think it probably is the same storm, and it's

> caused quite a few power failures on the mainland.

I think we might have caught an edge of it here (in Southeastern Idaho.) The

snow is much deeper than it normally is this time of year and we've had a cold

snap the last couple of days (though it hasn't been extra windy.)

[Guest guest]

<<<Yes, that would be a good benefit of living in a religious area, as long as

they don't try to convert you.>>>

They send missionaries around as a matter of routine (my partner says that he

believes that they serve a dual purpose in this area -- attempting to convert

the unconverted and " keeping an eye on " the church members (who are required to

invite them in and offer them refreshments, thus exposing their lifestyle to

scrutiny.)) The missionaries don't come to our home anymore, though. They'll

come by once when we move into a new place but then realize it's us and not come

again.

They used to come by quite often and we'd tell them to go away and then next

month there they (or another set of them) would be at the door again. Finally my

partner opened the door and nicely explained to the missionaries that we are

clergy of another religion. He didn't even have to tell them which religion --

they quit coming by. While it was rather rude of them to come by repeatedly

before, I have to say that it's very respectful of them to leave us alone now.

[Guest guest]

<<<It sounds like it. Don't you usually have at least some snow there though by

this time?>>>

Just a bit of a dusting. The serious snow doesn't usually come until January

(though I've only lived here for five years and may have come here during a warm

spell that's finally ending.) It's not unusual for there to be snow that sticks

to the ground by now, but usually only an inch or less, not the deeper drifts

we've got right now.

Several years ago I went to Austin, Texas and I left here on December 29th with

a little crust of snow on the ground and got to Austin to discover they had more

snow in Texas than here! I thought maybe the storm had come along after I'd left

town but when I got back home there was still only a bit of a crust of snow.

The thing is, the town I live in is set in a horseshoe ring of mountains that

offer a weather block -- storms tend to snow themselves out in the high

altitudes before they get to town. This area is also peppered with natural hot

springs. These and other geographical features keep this town much warmer than

our neighbors to the South or North (if I were to leave this pocket of relative

warmth and try to drive to the next town I'd be very likely to encounter high

winds and black ice.)

[Guest guest]

> "

>

> Reply-To: AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse

> Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 07:14:39 -0000

> To: AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse

> Subject: Re: Going out alone on Christmas

>

> Several years ago I went to Austin, Texas and I left here on December 29th

> with a little crust of snow on the ground and got to Austin to discover they

> had more snow in Texas than here! I thought maybe the storm had come along

> after I'd left town but when I got back home there was still only a bit of a

> crust of snow.

I always get so surprised when I talk to some of the Texas customers of the

company I work for, and they say they have snow, or that it's cold (and

often colder than it is up here in Seattle!) We sell to stores down there

who sell outdoor clothing and they rely on it getting cold, and I was really

surpised to learn how cold it can get in Texas!

>

> The thing is, the town I live in is set in a horseshoe ring of mountains that

> offer a weather block -- storms tend to snow themselves out in the high

> altitudes before they get to town. This area is also peppered with natural hot

> springs. These and other geographical features keep this town much warmer than

> our neighbors to the South or North (if I were to leave this pocket of

> relative warmth and try to drive to the next town I'd be very likely to

> encounter high winds and black ice.)

It sounds like a really nice place. Do you get a lot of tourists there?

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> "

>

> Reply-To: AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse

> Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 07:24:18 -0000

> To: AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse

> Subject: Re: Going out alone on Christmas

>

to know it was by myself, so that's a great idea!>>>

>

> If you have cats or other pets, you could even honestly say " we're having a

> quiet dinner at home. " The average acquaintance isn't going to ask who " we "

> are.

LOL! Nope, no pets. But that's a good suggestion if I ever get any!

>

> <<<I agree! I think she was afraid no one would be there. That was really

> dumb of her to say that about " lots of wiccan women " .>>>

>

> Yes, she obviously didn't think very far ahead! I do hope that she had a good

> turn-out, though!

>

> I like the woman, I just couldn't see dropping my own rituals to go to someone

> else's and I've mentioned what the drive might be like and what the weather

> where she lives might be like as well. On top of all that, I don't drive and

> wouldn't ask my partner to drop our ritual to go to the house of a total

> stranger to him to celebrate someone else's religion instead of our own! (And

> I don't like sharing a ride to go several towns away like that because then

> I'm stuck there whether I'm enjoying it or not.)

I totally agree!!! Those are all excellent reasons. She should have just

taken no for an answer and not kept after you about it! Oh well...

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

people often think you are travelling if you are alone. i usually take a good

book if i am eating out alone. its quite pleasant to have a good meal and a good

read at the same time.

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[Guest guest]

Re: Re: Going out alone on Christmas

> Sparrow wrote:

> >The version I'm used to hearing is, " are you ready for ____? " which

> >assumes that everyone purchases, cooks, decorates, etc. for the various

> > " standard " holidays. I usually just nod, but when I'm feeling in the

right

> >mood I'll answer something like, " I'm ready for it to be over " which gets

> >a chuckle and a nod (I assume they're assuming that I'm frazzled from all

> >that shopping, cooking, etc.) or " no, but I'm ready for my own religion's

> >holiday " which gets various responses (and I think most people then

assume

> >I'm Jewish.)

>

> At a couple different points in my life (but not currently,

> AFAIK), many people assumed I was Jewiish. I guess something

> about the way I looked (whatever that was) fit their

> stereotype of " Jewish " (whatever that was). At one point,

> and it must have been back when there first began to be a

> more noticeable grumble in the culture about the way

> everyone was assumed to celebrate Christmas, I used to get

> this a lot: Someone (e.g., bus driver, store clerk) would

> be saying " Merry Christmas! " routinely to each person until

> s/he got to me. Then, after a glance at my face, s/he would

> switch to something like " Happy Holidays " or " Have a good

> day. "

>

> Jane

>

I'm an atheist, loathe Xmas commercialism, find flashing lights positively

distracting, but " Merry Christmas or Happy Hannukah! (not common over here) "

would never offend me. I might wonder why I'm singled out for different

treatment because I don't insitinctively exchange the same nonverbal signals

as everyone else. More often than not I make a token effort to wish people

Merry Christmas, which is often only half-heartedly reciprocated if at all.

What annoys me is the assumptions people tend to make. In this neck of the

woods people just assume everyone will have a busy schedule of Xmas and

Hogmanay (New Year's Eve) parties and won't know what to do with hundreds of

Xmas cards.

Neil

[Guest guest]

<<<If it's the same religion I'm thinking of, they used to have missionaries

that came around to my apartment and probably several others in the building

years ago. They were very hard to discourage, but finally they stopped coming,

but I think the apartment manager asked them not to come around anymore.>>>

If you're talking about LDS, you can get rid of them quickly by telling them you

used to be LDS but you left the church. They're not allowed to talk to you,

then. (Possibly because you might " corrupt " them by telling them why you left.)

(To make it convincing, say " LDS, " not " Mormon. " )

[Guest guest]

<<<I always get so surprised when I talk to some of the Texas customers of the

company I work for, and they say they have snow, or that it's cold (and often

colder than it is up here in Seattle!)>>>

My big surprise was when I learned that it gets hot in Alaska in the Summertime.

:-) I had figured it was year-round igloos up there.

<<<It sounds like a really nice place. Do you get a lot of tourists there?>>>

Not for here in town much, but we get a lot of tourists passing through town for

various reasons. We're on the direct trail from the West coast to Yellowstone so

we get lots of Yellowstone tour busses passing through (we're about three to

four hours' drive from there.) We also get tourists passing through because

we're a convenient stop on your way to the Sawtooth Mountains National Park and

the Salmon River (which is often listed as the best fly fishing in the country)

and we're a few hours away from Twin Falls (Evel Kneivel's canyon jump site) and

a convenient stop for people farther North coming down to Salt Lake City (though

I didn't notice any increase in crowds during Olympics, even when the torch came

through (I sat on my front steps that day because it passed right in front of my

house and I couldn't get any work done through all that noise so I figured I

might as well go out and look.)

There's also the Caribou National Forest about ten minutes' drive from here.

This state is mostly forest and mountain. I live in the second largest city in

the state (though some claim it's the third largest -- we're neck-and-neck with

Idaho Falls for population) and we have 50,000 people. If I remember right,

there are about a million people in the entire state of Idaho.

[Guest guest]

> I don't think this was anything to do with being an Aspie in my case (I

> always keep hearing that Aspies are naive and/or gullible), but rather

> ignorance on my part about how things are done in another part of the

> world.

I don't think it's anything to do with being ASpie. I think it's just that

many people don't know what other parts of the world are like, and the

only times you see Canada in movies made in places other than Canada, it's

a movie that takes place in the frozen north with igloos and dogsleds and

heroic Mounties. A lot of people are surprised to learn that Mounties

provide routine, everyday police service and don't go around dressed in

the red serge uniform every day, because that's how they're used to seeing

them in movies.

Iris

Iris Gray, Puff, Calli and Munchkin

Proud to be Canuckistanian

Personal website: http://victoria.tc.ca/~rainbow/

Toastmasters website: http://victoria.tc.ca/Community/Bb/

[Guest guest]

I never even realized that. Do they give police service in cities as well?

Norah

>

> Reply-To: AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse

> Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 22:33:23 -0800 (PST)

> To: AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse

> Subject: Re: Going out alone on Christmas

>

> I don't think it's anything to do with being ASpie. I think it's just that

> many people don't know what other parts of the world are like, and the

> only times you see Canada in movies made in places other than Canada, it's

> a movie that takes place in the frozen north with igloos and dogsleds and

> heroic Mounties. A lot of people are surprised to learn that Mounties

> provide routine, everyday police service and don't go around dressed in

> the red serge uniform every day, because that's how they're used to seeing

> them in movies.

>

> Iris

[Guest guest]

At 10:22 PM 12/26/02 -0800, Norah Willett wrote:

>I don't think this was anything to do with being an Aspie in my case (I

>always keep hearing that Aspies are naive and/or gullible), but rather

>ignorance on my part about how things are done in another part of the world.

Some mail in Alaska is delayed because it has to be carried by bush pilots

and in the winter it can be delayed due to storms, but anyplace where

there's a large business the mail is pretty much like ours.

Still, even knowing that, there's a high chance that I would have fallen

for his joke, too. When I was reading along, it seemed perfectly reasonable

to me that the mail might take longer because it was carried by dog sled!

[Guest guest]

" Iris M. Gray " wrote:

> My big surprise was when I learned that it gets hot in Alaska in the

> Summertime. :-) I had figured it was year-round igloos up there.

People think that all of Canada is like that all year round. They think

that as soon as they cross the border, they'll see igloos and Eskimos.

Iris

------------Not me, I expect to see that town on that show...oh dang, I forget

the name of it... the one with Rob Morrow as the jewish dr.,the opening credits

had the moose walking down main street.... the town was founded by a lesbian

couple and everyone in it was eccentric? Oh shoot....

Nanne

Iris Gray, Puff, Calli and Munchkin

Proud to be Canuckistanian

Personal website: http://victoria.tc.ca/~rainbow/

Toastmasters website: http://victoria.tc.ca/Community/Bb/

[Guest guest]

At 11:01 PM 12/26/02 -0800, Cerulean wrote:

<<<------------Not me, I expect to see that town on that show...oh dang, I

forget the name of it... the one with Rob Morrow as the jewish dr.,the

opening credits had the moose walking down main street.... the town was

founded by a lesbian couple and everyone in it was eccentric? Oh

shoot....>>>'

That's " Northern Exposure " and the town they filmed in is Roslyn,

Washington. One of these days I want to visit Roslyn and have my picture

taken in front of the big wall with a camel painted on it!

[Guest guest]

At 11:39 PM 12/26/02 -0800, Cerulean wrote:

<<<-----------------Thank You, that was driving me insane, and I used to

love that show and watched it all the time! Gad, my memory.....>>>

I keep wishing they'd put it out on DVD. I've seen every episode, most of

them twice and soem of them more than that and would love to be able to

watch my favorite episodes over and over. I love the sense of small, quiet

community on that show. People always have their problems with each other

but in the end they're like a family (and despite everyone being neurotic,

a much less dysfunctional family than most people grow up with!)

[Guest guest]

LOL!! I like that one! Of course they probably would misread my pitying

look....

Norah

>

> Reply-To: AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse

> Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 11:49:12 -0500

> To: <AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse >

> Subject: Re: Going out alone on Christmas

>

> Don't forget the part about returning pitying looks with pitying looks of

> your own...for the poor people who are incapable of enjoying their own

> company ;o).

>

>

[Guest guest]

LOL!! Especially in the winter!!

Norah

>

> Reply-To: AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse

> Date: Thu, 26 Dec 2002 23:58:09 -0700

> To: AutisticSpectrumTreeHouse

> Subject: Re: Going out alone on Christmas

>

> Still, even knowing that, there's a high chance that I would have fallen

> for his joke, too. When I was reading along, it seemed perfectly reasonable

> to me that the mail might take longer because it was carried by dog sled!

>

[Guest guest]

Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 11:41 AM

> Rakus wrote:

>

>

> > Don't forget the part about returning pitying looks with pitying looks

of

> > your own...for the poor people who are incapable of enjoying their own

> > company ;o).

>

> How do you do a pitying look? I am not sure I would recognize one, and I

am pretty sure I

> could not do one on demand.

>

>

That's a very good question, and I really have no idea. I'm sitting here

trying to come up with one, but I don't know how successful I am because I'm

currently the only human awake in the house, and the only " people " I can get

opinions from are my dog and my cat. I probably just look like I need to go

to the bathroom...or at least that's how I would probably perceive my

expression if I saw it on someone else ;o).

[Guest guest]

Sent: Friday, December 27, 2002 1:28 PM

> At 09:41 AM 12/27/02 -0700, Klein wrote:

>

> >How do you do a pitying look? I am not sure I would recognize one, and I

> am pretty sure I

> >could not do one on demand.

>

> I'm not sure, either. I made my best attempt in the mirror just now and

> came up with:

> tilt your head down just a fraction, raise your eyebrows to wrinkle up

your

> forehead, slightly purse your lips, shake your head slightly back and

forth.

>

> But I probably look more ridiculous than pitying doing it. *sigh*

>

Oh! That sounds like it has all the correct parts that when put together

would convey a sense of pity. I wonder if I would recognize it if I saw

it...