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[AugustWest]

My basal nervous system wants this shovel.

[pmcd9]

When they started sawing and chopping stuff up with it I about made with the messy.

When they started cutting vegetables I got a little wet.

[Carlos del Vaca]

Thanksgiving pet peeve: family members who, rather than asking "What can I bring?", tell me what they're going to bring, without regard to whether I am already making similar items.

In particular, my mom showed up yesterday, and in addition to the things she'd told me she was bringing (which I'd already adjusted the menu to compensate for), pulled out a container of homemade cranberry sauce. Which, you know, not a bad thing per se. But I wish she'd told me that before i bought fresh cranberries and oranges. At least I hadn't assembled the stuff yet.

[pmcd9]

I'm going to Golden Corral. This is not my idea of fun. But it's what everyone else wanted so whatever. Then football.

[theinevitable]

I think I could eat Thanksgiving food every day. Vary up the spices a little, maybe different side dishes, some salad, and you're golden. Turkey is lean, only do a pie 1 day a week. Different stuffing recipes, prepare the turkey different ways, combine leftovers into new dishes. All week I've been eating a small lunch and then a big meal of leftovers, and I am into it. Filling and flavorful but not overwhelming with any one thing. Probably pretty salty.
This year all the food was perfect, no one was visiting, we just sat down and had a pleasant meal and talked. No weird formality or stress with more/less religious parts of the extended family (since they weren't here), everybody helped cook. This is a good holiday.

I also made an amazing cheesecake that no one in my family can eat. In all things, your audience is important.

[pmcd9]

I agree, Turkey is awesome. Best part is it's super cheap. For the last many years I have filled my freezer with $ .35 per pound meat. I eat it year round. I'll cook a bird, have a nice Thanksgiving dinner then separate the remainder of the bird into recipe sized portions and freeze. Seriously, I buy 5 frozen turkeys every Thanksgiving season. I cook one right away, cook the second one about a week to 10 days later and have 3 more in the freezer for the rest of the year. It's glorious!

[Carlos del Vaca]

I will buy cheap frozen turkeys this time of year as well, and then barbecue/smoke them in the summer. Good stuff.

Slate published a couple of their uber-contrarian articles about Thanksgiving last week. I tweeted about it and it was well-received.
https://twitter.com/carlosdelvaca/status/537617742862372864

I survived the holiday, despite my expectations that the oldest was going to tell Grandma to stop talking for a while (which would have been totally justified), and my own desire to tell her at one point "I do not need a play-by-play of you checking your e-mail." Either of these things would have resulted in Grandma moping and not saying anything for the remainder of her visit.

Ash, scotch is for Christmas. Thanksgiving = bourbon.

[AugustWest]

I will buy cheap frozen turkeys this time of year as well, and then barbecue/smoke them in the summer. Good stuff.

Me three.

[jaydub]

(Big Hero 6 was fun but the cartoon before the feature, Feast, well, FUCK YOU DISNEY FOR MAKING ME FEELS)

QFT.  I think they're just setting you up for the plot development in BH6 about 15mins in.  The short was so well arranged though - that's pretty much exactly what I think a dog's POV is like.

[theinevitable]

Wow, the next 7 days are gonna blow. 2 exams, big project, short paper due. Then a big paper due and another exam the week after. no thanks.

[Carlos del Vaca]

Ice-T favorited one of my tweets this morning, so I got that going for me.

[wombat]

We don't pay Marines enough to buy Christmas presents for their kids? That seems kind of fucked to me.

[pmcd9]

We don't pay Marines enough to buy Christmas presents for their kids? That seems kind of fucked to me.

They don't get paid a lot, but they get paid enough. Ever since our shame at the demonization of Vietnam veterans, and more recently the rise of the right wing it's become our national duty to elevate veterans to almost godlike status. At least superficially.

[jaydub]

http://www.militaryfactory.com/military_pay_scale.asp

$18,564 for a buck private (or equiv)
Sergeant pay tops out at $37,512 for >12years of service
Highest non-commissioned officer will be earning $91,020 after >38 years in

Fresh-faced 2nd Lieutenant gets $35,208
A captain in for >12 years earns $76380
The highest ranked, old officers have "TBD", but a general with 30 years in is earning $167,868

Combat pay adds $225 per month to your basic pay grade, which is a 20%-ish bump for the guys who are mostly in those situations.  Hopefully/presumably it doesn't go on 12 months a year.
There are other compensations as well (perks, if you will) but that appears to be the cash basics.  I think they are not far off from what a civilian might earn in comparable job complexity and seniority. 

[pmcd9]

That's decent pay.