I am getting several gift cards for Christmas, and I know where they are from because they came in the mail in those unmistakeable envelopes. So I am browsing the relevant web sites trying to pick things I want.
I find gift cards a little depressing, actually. I mean, if you get a present you may get bizarrely wrong things, but I don't like trying to pick out my own present. I always feel the need to buy things on sale, or practical things I actually need, and I always have to chip in some of my own cash to cover the ridiculous shipping.
Am I alone in this?
You're not alone, flea. I'm actually fine with getting a check, and don't mind picking for myself if I have some real choice, but I get weirdly anxious and cranky about the feeling of "I have to get something from *this* store" (even if it's not a store I especially like).
Am I alone in this?
Nope. Unless it's for books, which I love to shop for. And even then, I try to make the gift certificate go as far as possible, but it's kind of fun for me -- how many books can I get with X dollars?
I don't like gift cards so much. To me, it seems like, the thought is, "get your own damn gift!" If someone doesn't know what to get me and doesn't care enough about the process to find out, I'd rather they not get me anything (being gifted makes me uncomfortable anyway) or give cash.
I did get a gift card for my dad, once, for Borders, because he loooves hanging out in bookstores and doesn't really have the cash to spend on books. Also, if it's a gift card for something like Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts or someplace that someone knows I go to a lot, those are OK. So I am kind of a hypocrite.
QUESTION: Why did you skip the basic safeguards of asking courts for permission for the intercepts?
BUSH: First of all, right after September the 11th, I knew we were fighting a different kind of war. And so I asked people in my administration to analyze how best for me and our government to do the job people expect us to do, which is to detect and prevent a possible attack. That's what the American people want.
We looked at the possible scenarios. And the people responsible for helping us protect and defend came forth with the current program, because it enables us to move faster and quicker, and that's important. We've got to be fast on our feet, quick to detect and prevent.
We use FISA still. You're referring to the FISA accord in your question. Of course we use FISAs.
But FISAs is for long-term monitoring. What is needed in order to protect the American people is the ability to move quickly to detect.
And having suggested this idea, I then, obviously, went to the question, is it legal to do so? I swore to uphold the laws. Do I have the legal authority to do this? And the answer is, absolutely.
As I mentioned in my remarks, the legal authority is derived from the Constitution, as well as the authorization of force by the United States Congress.
The Constitution grants the president authority to wiretap citizens without court approval?
I like gift cards. And if they're from new/different/strange stores, it's like an adventure.
I'm currently carrying balances on Bed Bath & Beyond, TGIF, and Banana Republic. TGIF irritates because it's out of my way, but other than that, free restaurant food! And it keeps me out of Applebee's.
I mean, if you get a present you may get bizarrely wrong things, but I don't like trying to pick out my own present. I always feel the need to buy things on sale, or practical things I actually need
I
love
picking out my own present. It's so much easier than getting a wrong thing and having to handle returning it; and anyway, it is spending someone else's money.
Spending someone else's money on a thing that is
on sale
is just icing on the cake! Spending someone else's money on a thing that is practical is not spending your own money on practical things! More lattes for me!
...I will spend your gift cards, if you really can't bear to.
Am I alone in this?
No. I do not like the gift card. In my family, people end up giving each other gift cards for the same amount. Why not just keep the money and say "Merry Christmas"? Plus gift cards turn convenient money into inconvenient money and sometimes it's inconvenient money with an expiration date. My relatives keep giving me gift cards to chains that are miles away from me, and once I've driven out to the store to spend the gift card, I feel like I have to spend it there even if there isn't anything I particularly want.
My parents essentially just asked me what would be a good place for them to get a gift certificate for me. I don't mind gift certificates as they provide the treat of buying things without guilt.
I still need to get a present(s) for my parents, but unfortunately I have no money to spend. Will be tricky. I've got until the 24th, when the kids and I will get together with my family for christmas. My wife is boycotting get-togethers with my family so she's not going to come along.
