Gigabyte, Patriot, Zalman, Holiday Contests!

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My story is that I am just happy to be alive and well this Christmas. Looking forward to spending it with Family.
 

ryoven

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11 YO, got a 22/410 over under shoulder gun. Great present! Dad hocked The following March. LOL, growing up a RedNeck!
 
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Back in high school, we used to go to senior centers and sing Christmas carols. we all really couldn't sing but the seniors loved it any ways. it really is the thought and effort that counts to sheer someone up.
 

sting25

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New Year - this is my favorite holiday. We buy a large Christmas tree at home, and all along her dress up. A January 1 to us come to visit Sasha with her parents. This is my cousin and we all go for a walk and watch the city's Christmas tree. And then somewhere else. Last year we went to the circus and it was great! And we all make each other gifts and decorate them beautifully. I've grown and I do not believe in Santa Claus, but before that my parents always said that the gift carries Santa Claus when I sleep. I tried not to sleep to wait for him, but always fell asleep. But it's nothing that him Suomi does not exist. Making gifts yourself is even more interesting!
 

oasis789

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When I was little, my sister and I always strained our ears on Christmas Eve, listening for reindeer. We figured that they didn’t need snow for the sleigh. After all, everyone knew they were magical. Why would they need snow? And of course, Santa had to use his reindeer. Everyone knew that! Whenever the wind would blow a pinecone on the roof, we would swear that we had really heard reindeer. We were true believers.

Now, like any child, we knew that Santa Claus would not come while children were still awake, much less while they were out of bed. But one Christmas Eve, when I was about five years old, I lay in bed, trying to hear reindeer, and watching my sister sleep. Suddenly, I realized that I had forgotten to brush my teeth. Well, Santa Claus knows everything, and I wasn’t about to take any chances. I hurried to the bathroom. While I was busy brushing my teeth, I heard someone knock at the door. I didn’t think anything of it. After all, Santa Claus doesn’t need to knock. He comes down the chimney. But then I heard a deep, rumbling “Ho, ho, ho!”

I peeked out the door. Yes! It really was! It was Santa Claus! Red suit, white beard, round belly – there was no question about it. I was doomed! Santa Claus was here, and I was out of bed! Not even in my bedroom! I considered trying to sneak back to bed, but then my parents called me into the living room. I was caught! Santa told me that he was checking his list one last time before his deliveries, and he wanted to make certain what I wanted to get. He was also checking with my parents, to verify that I had been good, and that I deserved Christmas presents.

When Santa left, I looked out the window, and saw him drive away in a black car. (This made sense, given the lack of snow. Maybe the reindeer really did need snow after all.) My brother and I looked worriedly at each other, both obviously thinking the same thing. (He must have come in at some time while Santa was there, but I never noticed him. All I was aware of was Santa.) Together we crept into the living room, and felt the stockings. They were empty! Not even a tangerine in the toe! We looked around. The only presents under the tree were the ones that the family was giving to one another. We were certain that we weren’t getting anything for Christmas! My parents reminded us that Santa said he was just checking his list, and that he could come back. And, of course, he did. It was probably 25 years later that I found out that Santa was our next-door neighbor, stopping by on his way home from a Christmas party. I don’t remember what presents I got that year. But it was a Christmas I’ll never forget.
 

TheTerk

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I remember receiving our first computer for Christmas back in 1997. We spent the entire day installing Diablo, SimCity, and figuring out that windows 95 was so much better than Windows 3.1! Here I am, 13 years later still loving computers and still installing new games on Christmas Eve!
 
My story is a pretty simple one. When my two sisters and I were little, we always wanted to try to see Santa at our home (of course). Well, my dad set up a camera and told us he had it hooked up to a motion sensor.

Next morning he plugged the camera into the tv to see what we got - and surprisingly he had a video of Santa coming in and taking our presents out of a big red sack!

Needless to say we were delighted. Of course, Santa was just my dad in a Santa suit but he had us convinced haha.
 

xyster

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When growing up, my parents were always the type to try and convince my siblings and I that there was a Santa Claus. Laying out milk and cookies, along with a handful of candy and a written note, were common practices taught to us on New Years Eve. While I never quite believed in Santa, there were still moments over the years where my disbelief was suspended, and to this day those events add a bit of magic to the holidays for me.

At a very young age, I recall once trying to prove once and for all that Santa did not exist. My plan was simple- to lay on guard in front of our living room's fireplace, popgun in hand, awaiting Santa with a grin on my face. When the very early morning came around, I was all to eager to wake my parents and laugh at them for not being able to sneak downstairs to deliver the presents under the tree-- believing I had forced their hand to admit that they were Santa, truly.

To my surprise however, they said with a well-rehearsed grin, that our house had more than one fireplace and to be sure Santa didn't make it in. Bounding downstairs to the basement den, to my shock and awe, Santa HAD visited with gifts o' plenty and stockings hung; and a note, with words written "better luck next year ;)"

Merry Christmas, everyone.
 

vankilu

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OK, I am going for most memorable, was mid Nov. 1977 I was 17 and just signed up to attend Arizona Automotive Institute the following fall. Shortly there after a large wrapped present(about 24"deep x 38"tall x 32"wide)appeared in the center of the garage, typically the presents were stored in the parents bedroom, behind a locked door(clue #1). We were not allowed to linger around in the garage so for the first few days I would just pass through the garage seeing the rather large present. Then I decided to see who was getting the gift, the gift was for me and it was from Santa Clause(clue #2), instantly I thought the gift was a roll around tool box from Sears. After all we had discussed what I would need for school to work on cars, had even gone to Sears and looked at all the craftsman tools and boxes. a few days went by and I decided to measure the box to see which Sears tool box it could be(back then the Sears 2"-3" thick Catalog was as common as a phone-book)the tool box I wanted would fit in the box! woo! hoo! a few weeks went by starting to doubt it could be something as good as a tool box, after all most of the Christmas gifts in our family were practical, like clothes(clue #3). I decided to further investigate. I went over to it and tried to lift one side to get some noise clues out of it, I couldn't even lift it, wouldn't budge I pushed on the side, wouldn't budge, WOW! I thought, they must of loaded it with tools too! Incredible! after all the shipping weight on the tool box was only 115 lbs, and I could easily move that! at this point I was thrilled!so I went around the rest of December knowing I knew what I was getting for Christmas, Came home Christmas eve from my job after serving fast food all day then performing my new janitorial position after it closed, they had moved the massive box inside next to the tree. Then comes Christmas morning, I was fifth in line for a gift the big one first, I peeled of the wrapping, Craftsman tool box printed box, Woo! Hoo! I carefully open the top, and just stared at the contents, sand! with 2 handles sticking out of the sand, I was clue less at this point, well it seams that the two handles were a short broom and a dust pan with a handle, My step father said "its for practicing your new position as the janitor" I was fooled and devasted, I wanted to cry but had to put up the false laugh and "you got me, my mouth is open"
 

patfactorx

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I went to the gym on Christmas day. Found out it was closed and did pull-ups outside. Then security told me to leave =0( Why no Merry Christmas for me!?
 

MrPerlishells

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Back when I first started working at the Airport as a Check Point Security Screener at the Airport working for a private agency for ten cents above minimum wage, $5.25. I bought for my brother a SEGA Dreamcast. Of course I get to play it too. It had a 56kbps modem. It was the middle of the Dot Com Bubble so I signed up for free internet service. The graphics on that thing was most advance for its time. I'd surf the web and chat at the IRC. I even bought the keyboard peripherals to make surfing and chatting easier. The VMU, Visual Memory Unit, was cool too. I can put my Chao on an adventure and duel with others by connecting two VMUs. Alas the SEGA saga ended up doing only software and Dreamcast is now only distant memory.

When I got home from work I turn on my Dreamcast and visit tech sites like this one, Tomshardware. I read their reviews and plan out my first build. The gigahertz war on. AMD, if I remember correctly, was the first to have the gigahertz CPU available on the market. Of course the top of line was a bit too expensive for me so a few megahertz down, 800 mhz, was a little more affordable. I researched all the parts to put into my computer and ordered them online on my Dreamcast using 64-bit SSL. From the CPU to motherboard to the Sound Card to the case, monitor, speaker, memory, etcetera I read the reviews. Of course it took longer than I thought to get all the parts. It was past Christmas. But I got all the parts one by one and put it together in a day. I spent about 2k on it, which reasonable for a good system back then.

I got my new system built up and on the internet at a blazing 56 kbps. Napster was big news. I got 4.1 surround, oh yeah. Total Annihilation was the game I played. Gone are the days.

Oh get this. I bought my memory at Crucial and ten years later I got an Antitrust Settlement Claimant in the mail about price fixing that happened between Mitsubishi, Hitachi and Toshiba. I don't have the receipt now so I don't know what price to put there or the date of purchase. The PC has long since popped it capacitor and is no longer working. The email I used was of the free internet which has long been gone, so I can't retrieve the info. How long do you keep your receipts?

Didn't think I have good story to tell but that was keyboard full. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon.
 

claudecat

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My favorite holiday story is as follows... First off, I am a divorced dad living in Maryland, three states away from my beloved daughter, whom I visit every three weeks thanks to my fabulous work schedule. Anyway, on this particular holiday weekend (2007 I believe) there was mad snow all along the trail north to Rochester, NY. What is normally a 5-6 hour drive took 14 hours to complete. My little Kia Rio struggled to climb snow covered hills dotted with stalled cars in ALL lanes at several points. Visibility was limited to the tire tracks of the last fool to have ventured in that direction. I white-knuckled it all the way and was able to salvage our usual "Dad Christmas" on the 23rd as per usual. I believe the big gift from me that year was a portable DVD player thingie (this year it was an Ipod Touch - my first dalliance into Jobs' domain). It was a drive about which I still have nightmares, but it all turned out ok. A happy little girl does much for a dad's soul.
 

vankilu

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[citation][nom]vankilu[/nom]OK, I am going for most memorable, was mid Nov. 1977 I was 17 and just signed up to attend Arizona Automotive Institute the following fall. Shortly there after a large wrapped present(about 24"deep x 38"tall x 32"wide)appeared in the center of the garage, typically the presents were stored in the parents bedroom, behind a locked door(clue #1). We were not allowed to linger around in the garage so for the first few days I would just pass through the garage seeing the rather large present. Then I decided to see who was getting the gift, the gift was for me and it was from Santa Clause(clue #2), instantly I thought the gift was a roll around tool box from Sears. After all we had discussed what I would need for school to work on cars, had even gone to Sears and looked at all the craftsman tools and boxes. a few days went by and I decided to measure the box to see which Sears tool box it could be(back then the Sears 2"-3" thick Catalog was as common as a phone-book)the tool box I wanted would fit in the box! woo! hoo! a few weeks went by starting to doubt it could be something as good as a tool box, after all most of the Christmas gifts in our family were practical, like clothes(clue #3). I decided to further investigate. I went over to it and tried to lift one side to get some noise clues out of it, I couldn't even lift it, wouldn't budge I pushed on the side, wouldn't budge, WOW! I thought, they must of loaded it with tools too! Incredible! after all the shipping weight on the tool box was only 115 lbs, and I could easily move that! at this point I was thrilled!so I went around the rest of December knowing I knew what I was getting for Christmas, Came home Christmas eve from my job after serving fast food all day then performing my new janitorial position after it closed, they had moved the massive box inside next to the tree. Then comes Christmas morning, I was fifth in line for a gift the big one first, I peeled of the wrapping, Craftsman tool box printed box, Woo! Hoo! I carefully open the top, and just stared at the contents, sand! with 2 handles sticking out of the sand, I was clue less at this point, well it seams that the two handles were a short broom and a dust pan with a handle, My step father said "its for practicing your new position as the janitor" I was fooled and devastated, I wanted to cry but had to put up the false laugh and "you got me, my mouth is open"[/citation]
 

SpecialGuy

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Dec 25, 2010
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EVERYTHING BURNT!....my sister burnt the holiday ham and then put plastic place mats in the diswasher. One slip down and was melted on the heating element. No fire...had to open up all the windows in below freezing temps to clear the smoke from the house to silence the smoke alarms!

Have a safe and prosperous 2011!
 

medgirl13

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My story?
Gonna try to build my very FIRST homebuilt PC in the next couple of weeks. I've been researching for months when I've come home from the hospital, trying to teach myself about motherboards, chipsets, overclocking, etc. I've waited until today (day after xmas) to buy some stuff that was on sale at fry's. I lucked out and got the Intel i7 950 for a good price today, and my family got me RAM for christmas. The motherboard and graphics card look most expensive at this point, so those are my concerns. I'm still teaching myself about what cases are best, that provide the best airflow, and how to install fans, etc.
I've been saving up for awhile, and on a medical student's budget, it's hard. I passed my national board exams, and now I want to build a PC and do awesome things with it, and finally get in on some online playing since I've been depriving myself for the past 7 years as I worked towards and through the first 2 years of med school. My guy pals tease me that they've never met a girl nerd that can hold her own. I think I can.
 

falcon_22

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The greatest Christmas I ever had was probably the year I discovered the “true” nature of Santa Claus.

I was seven years old at the time and my little brother was five. We were waiting as patiently as a five and a seven year old can wait on Christmas Eve. I, being the genius that I was, had the brilliant idea to look into our stockings. Despite the protests of my parents, I leaped towards my stockings and looked inside. Lo and behold, there was something inside. My brother, noticing my surprise, jumped with blinding dexterity towards his to find that he too did not have an empty stocking. It was at this fateful moment that I realized the truth – Santa did not work alone. Using all my cunning and intellect, as a seven year old boy, I analyzed the situation. Recalling my parents’ protests I realized that they had known of this all along, and therefore must know these helpers. But this led to the question, who was giving the gifts?

My brother and I decided we would lay a trap to find out who this person really was. We grabbed our sleeping bags and dragged them next to the tree. We decided to stay up and wait for this imposter. However, our 8-o’clock bed time put a severe strain on our ability to stay up late, and we both promptly fell asleep. We woke in the morning to find a pile of gifts beneath the tree. We rushed to open them, oblivious to our declaration the night before. In one of the boxes was the greatest gift I had ever seen, a Game Boy, and the greatest game ever created for the system, Pokémon (the specific version eludes me).

To this day I will never understand how my young mind had developed the conclusion that Santa was not alone. My faith in the concept of Santa dwindled that year and since then, I have never received I present more greatly desired than that Game Boy. Coincidence… I think not.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
 

GarrettBar

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This Christmas story is nothing out of the ordinary, nor is it super exciting to anyone else other than me.

At this time I was only 5 years old and my parents were still together.

It was Christmas morning, the year 1997. I had just woken my brothers up so we could take on the daunting task of waking my parents. My mom and dad were not too fond of being woken up by kids at 5:00 in the morning to open presents. As with every other Christmas, they sent us back to bed until 8:00 before we could even touch our presents. Of course, as excited as we were, that would not happen. After my parents fell back asleep we went to the living room to look at the presents. I can not even begin to explain the feeling that overwhelmed me that morning. Presents were stuffed underneath the tree as far as they could go. The rest were stacked by the walls, covering the majority of the corner wall.

I was always taught that it's not about the quantity of presents, nor the presents at all. Growing up in a semi-religious household Christmas was about celebrating the birth of Christ. Not for me it wasn't. It was about who got the most presents, the best presents, the largest presents, just about presents... nothing more. Especially some character that I was forced to worship as a child.

Eight couldn't come around any sooner, so we tried again at 7:00 and this time our hard work paid off. My parents eventually got sick of us dicking around in their bedroom and got up to get coffee and cook breakfast.

I skipped out on breakfast. I just sat waiting by the tree looking at all of the presents just imagining the vast combinations of gifts that I could receive.

Long story short, I GOT A NINTENDO 64! LIFE COMPLETE.

The end. :D

Happy holidays! Everybody have a safe new year!

 

saeoh

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Nov 12, 2010
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Well since 2008, i been stuck at home installing OSs.
2008 lots snow and accident made me immobile.
2009 drank too much on 23rd (well technically early morning of 24th) and suffered from hangover. when i woke up its was 10pm of 26th Dec.
2010 Girlfriend was terribly sick so had to stay home. :p
 
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Every time December is approaching everybody in our family is excited!!!

My savings ready for a, Gigabyte X58A-UD9 SLI XL-ATX Motherboard and a Zalman GV1000 Video Card Cooler. These two items were on my wishlist last Christmas.

Relatives, friends and classmates are waiting for us. We live in the big city and we go home to our home town to meet our family just to celebrate.12/10/2007 my son's birth date and mine is 12/22/1985. We got married on 12/10/2008. for the past two years we had saved and spent our money on one big occasion. November 24, this year, my son got hospitalized due to Typhoid fever, he got real sick, and he was in the province spending his vacation. While me and my wife were a thousand miles away. Because of that a huge chunk of our savings was spent for the hospital bills. The company who handles our med card didn't do their responsibilities. Though I haven't bought the items on my wishlist, I am still very thankful to God that my son is safe, and is now moving around the house healthily!!! We still had our yearly tradition of PARTY PARTEY even ig I had to set my plans on buying my Wishlist!!! I would appreciate it greatly, if I receive any mobo or video card cooler from Zalman or Gigabyte!!! Again Happy Holidays to Everyone!!! Cheers ^_^ !!!
 
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