The AM Forum

Electronics and automation at its best.

http://www.ct.com/entertainment/photos/wtxx-awesome-christmas-light-displays-set-to-music-20111212,0,5546959.photogallery

"Hey. I've got a couple of hours. Want to go to the mall?" Ever hear a guy say that? Of course not. Guys hate shopping."

Well, most malls do have adult beverage places. I once sped up my XYLs shopping by stopping into the mall "Hooters."  Like the Duke said, "a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do."


klc

Real Men shop online ;D

Or, if they do go to the mall, they know precisely which store they plan to visit, walk in, pick up the item they intend to purchase, pay for it, then make like a hockey player and get the puck out of the place.

If the mall has a Bass Pro Shop, men will be there in droves.

I do a bunch of scouting (and buying) on line, but as we approach the 'it won't get here in time' period, then the purchases have to be local. As Don says, I know where I'm going, and what I'm going to get. And I go at dinner time when the crowds are at a minimum.

That said, I was in the local mall the other day a bit past the dinner hour, and I was amazed at how empty it was. Felt like a ghost town in there. Ran into another ham and compared notes and he thought the same thing. I guess it's either the down economy, or maybe online shopping is having more of an impact this year. 

Real men don't shop........ we buy!

There's a major difference.

real men are checking out the babes

Why I like Christmas:

One word: Family

Forget the crazy commercialization.  We celebrate family by getting together and having a great meal.  Gift exchanges do occur but they are not central to our holiday, of course there are no more small children, the youngest are in high school. 

At the Bass Pro Shop? I don't think so.

We need more of these:

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t2#/video/living/2011/12/17/dnt-mall-man-cave.cbc-news

If I get dragged to the mall, I just usually hang around in the car and play radio on the mobile rig.  I especially enjoy handing out outrageously high QSO numbers when they are part of a CW contest exchange, if the bands are full of corntesters on the weekends.  Usually will go back with one at least 100 more than the number I receive from a hotshot big gun...

Solved my problem today.  I took my wife, who wanted to finish her shopping, to a botique owned by a bipolar (for old timers read, manic depressive) owner.  She was wonderful and had a shop full of unique items and clothes.  After an hour and $500 we left with what she wanted for the daughter and herself and was happy to have fun shopping.

Go with the flow but scope out where you go first.

I was glad to get by this year (probably because I haven't frequented amateur radio message boards so much lately), without having to endure someone's feeble attempt at humour in the form of a "ham radio variation" of T'was the Night Before Christmas.

Malls suck.

Shopping centers suck too.  What's there?  Clothes.  Yeah I need more sweaters; I wear them out every six months.  ::)

If D&D Surplus were in the mall I'd go.

Great Christmas:  I buy a New York Times, go to Corfu, order a skillet breakfast and coffee, sit there eating, drinking coffee and reading the paper, then go home and take a two hour nap.   My present this year was the Centurion inrush burning up.  Now it's all apart while I make it even more AM bulletproof.  Then back to the K4KYV sequencer project.

I had a nice Christmas.  I received something I never expected, a scale model oscillating steam engine kit. 

http://www.midwestproducts.com/store/product/e7bfe44f-694b-45aa-b3a2-a9486dec74fe/Model_VI_Steam_Engine.aspx