The Holidays are all about good food, good friends, and talking tax refunds

1.  Who the hell has a conversation about their tax return- let alone the AMOUNT of their tax refund- during a holiday dinner get-together?

2.  It gets even more cringy as the guests begin to push one of their own to tell them exactly how much he got - $3,000?  $4,000?- and he responds not with a very well-earned "this is really none of anyone's business and I seriously can't believe we are having this conversation" but with a grin and a "mmm hmmm" that suddenly makes me wonder if someone slipped something into his drink.  I mean, seriously, he sounds like he's falling asleep if not simply drowning in his own self-satisfied smarm.

3. "That's more than you got!"  Um, excuse me?  Do all the people at this table work in the same office, at the same salary?  Do they have the same number of dependents and did they make the same decisions over the course of the year?  I mean, two people making $50,000 each sitting at cubicles across from each other could have wildly different tax refunds due to a hundred different factors.  This is especially stupid even in what is already a very, very stupid commercial.

4.  "But I bet it took weeks (to get that refund,) right?"  This makes no sense.  The IRS does not mail out refunds based on amount being dispersed.  Is this guy suggesting that for such a big refund, his smarmy stoned friend must have hired a shady tax wizard who uses so many little-known tricks that the IRS goes through it with a fine-tooth comb before cutting the check?

5.  "Actually, I got it the same day" replies our favorite weird, semi-conscious lump of smarm (seriously, what is wrong with this guy?  Did he collapse into a coma five seconds after the commercial ended?)  And now we get the punchline- Mr. Valium used a "Rapid Refund" service to get his money- in other words, he surrendered a significant percentage of that refund in order to get his hands on the money a little faster.  Which makes me wonder about his finances, and convinces me that no one at that table should admire him.

Oh, one more thing  If you get a big tax refund every year, you are doing the whole payroll thing wrong.  You are giving the United States an interest-free loan with every paycheck.  A big tax refund is nothing to brag about; it's an admission that you haven't gotten your act together when it comes to properly managing deductions.  Do better in 2020, people.  And stop talking about tax refunds at the dinner table.  To borrow a phrase from the 19th century, it's downright Uncouth.

Range Rover, Mikaela Shiffrin, and a big middle finger to the rest of us

I guess that when you are a World Champion Skier you can't let things like road conditions- and nature- get in your way now, can you?  And if you aren't going to pay attention to road conditions, nature, property rights, etc., well, who the hell are police to tell you where you can and cannot go in your Range Rover?

The IMPORTANT thing is that Mikaela Shiffrin get to the top of that mountain so that she can ski some more.  Heck, it's not even the most important thing- it's the ONLY thing. 

Here's my question, though- she parks her Range Rover at the top of a mountain that she was only able to reach because she was equipped with a Range Rover and an overbearing sense of Entitlement.  Now she's going to ski down that mountain.  How does she plan to get back to her Range Rover when she reaches the bottom?

WeFixMoney Presents: The worst use of GoAnimate I've ever seen

For three years, GoAnimate For Schools was one of my favorite hobbies.  Every other week or so, I'd devote two or three hours to making a 3 or 4 minute video which I would then share with my class and on Facebook, just for fun.  Then GoAnimate changed it's name to Vyond, got super greedy, and got rid of GoAnimate For Schools and it's awesome $79-per-year subscription, replacing it with a virtually identical service with a $299 per year price tag.  Oh well, it was a fun hobby while it lasted- but I don't have $299 burning a hole in MY pocket.

Here's an awful use of the old GoAnimate software:  A GetPoorQuick instant loan "service" which promises to "match you up" with any number of stratosphere-high-interest cash advances to pay for car repairs, mortgage, whatever when your credit is in the toilet and you have no friends or family to lean on in a pinch.  Need $500?  $1000?  More?  No matter- the nice people at WeFixMoney will get that cash into your account quick, and all it will cost you is a monthly payment including interest rates approaching 2000%.  But don't worry about that- just make the minimum required monthly payment.   Forever.

How could such cutesy, friendly-looking GoAnimate characters steer you wrong?  Well, the ones I put into motion never did, and never could.  These, however, are setting up a trap for the Stupid and Desperate.  If GoAnimate was still affordable, I'd love to create an animated response to garbage like this.  Instead, I'll have to reply from my $10-per-year blog.  Better than nothing, I guess.

Not much to say about this Wayfair Ad....

...except that the little girl this guy married is truly insane.  I mean, just look at how she acted as the UPS guy kept showing up with crap from Wayfair, delivering packages by the freaking metric ton.  She looks like she's experiencing an LSD trip as she opens boxes, dancing around the tree and literally draping decorations around her neck.  What. The Actual. F--k.  Is wrong with this woman?

Whatever it is, it's apparently just fine with her husband.  Either that, he's in for a serious shock when the VISA bill arrives in January.  But I'm guessing he intentionally married a stunted child who looked fertile and just accepts the shopaholic behavior as just part of the package.  To each his own, buddy.

WeatherTec: When you're completely dead inside

How do you know that the best years of your life are far, far behind you and every trace of your youth has been vanquished by age and the grind of routine?

Well, an excellent clue will be when you find yourself with visions of cupholders, weatherproof floor mats, and Smartphone dashboard accessories dancing in your head so insistently that you spend a ridiculous amount of time working to convince your Significant Other that all you want for Christmas is stuff that any normal person would just buy over the course of the year, as needed.  When that happens- yes, you're dead.  Just arrange the funeral already.

That being said-- what a contrast these people are to the Lexus, Audi and Buick Couples handing each other actual luxury cars for the holidays.  This guy doesn't want a new car- he wants some stuff to keep his old car looking better.  Almost makes me feel bad to snark on him, considering that he's being quite reasonable in his gift requests.  I'm assuming he doesn't live on the same block as that kid who got a $50,000 car by blackmailing Santa with an unflattering photograph or the woman whose hubby "delighted" her with a Peloton bike.  In other words, this is almost relatable.  I wonder if this guy's wife wants something equally practical?

The enduring "power" of Copper

Or "here's another product which plays off the weirdly durable myth that copper has magical pain-relieving qualities, brought to us from the finest minds of pre-Renaissance Europe!"

Seriously, in a nation where millions of people rub on, breathe in or actually consume "essential oils" when they aren't guzzling "skinny tea" in an attempt to "detox" as if they don't already have kidneys and a liver, maybe I shouldn't be surprised that Magic Healing Copper is still a thing.  I mean, the phony-as-it-gets Holistic Wellness Industry- be it the "nutrition" aisle at your local grocery store, the GNC brick and mortar cave at the local mall, or that non-friend you barely remember from High School attempting to "enlist" you to her Arbonne, Younique or Young Living downline through random, emoji-encrusted Facebook messages- brings in tens of billions of dollars to a very tiny group of people at the top of what sure looks like a pyramid every single year.  Copper socks?  What's so astonishing about that?

Still- this isn't the 9th century.  The Earth isn't flat, leeches aren't intentionally being used to suck "excessive blood," there are a  lot more than four elements, and no amount of boiling and mixing will turn base metals into gold.  So why does anyone buy the concept of copper as a pain reliever?  Especially when we already have prayer, chants, and crystals that, when placed properly, take care of that problem already in combination with plenty of water, rest, a proper diet and two Aleve tablets every four hours?

(Oh, but these are "improved"- in that, they are easier to put on than "normal" compression socks.  They don't even have 10 percent more copper healing power, what a ripoff!)

Atomic Beam SunBlast Security Light: More As Seen on TV Awesomeness!

You wouldn't think it would be possible for a commercial which features a man falling over his own trash cans and another man being killed by an outlet in the first eight seconds to be able to top such an awesome opening, but I think this commercial for SunNuclearBlastAmazingLight or whatever it is does just that.

Ah ok, it's actually called AtomicBeam.  I was pretty close.

Anyway, this is NOT just another "stick it anywhere" light like the kind we've seen advertised on tv for at least thirty years.  Nor is it yet another Only Available on TV item sold by a guy wearing a very generic sorta military outfit standing in front of a green screen featuring a very masculine looking Air Force jet for Reasons.  This sucker is SOLAR POWERED, and may I say that I'm so happy we've finally entered an era where a manly man in military gear pretending to stand in front of a genuine KillJet 440* can endorse something that does not derive its energy from fossil fuels.  Little victories!

For us nostalgia geeks, there's plenty of room for our old favorites, though- this light features "Industrial Adhesive" which allow it to stay on "almost any surface" and "Atomic Solar Panels" which charge the "Lithium Ion Battery" (if you're over 50, that might still sound impressive.)  Oh, and did I mention the "State of the Art" sensor which detects when you- or a pet, or a leaf, or a gust of wind- is nearby but probably turns off every once in a great while all the way up to the day six to eight weeks after you purchase it when it turns off permanently?  And I'm only thirty seconds in to this two minutes of Awesome!

We get to see a bunch of reasons why you NEED this light- like, despite having a substantial suburban mansion, you never got around to installing actual security lights to keep you from falling over your own garbage cans.  Plus this thing will blind those adorable white-gloved cat burglars who would like to get at your other As Seen On TV stuff. 

The LED panels "can last a lifetime without burning out."  They Can.  WILL they?  Um, kind of doubt it.  I mean, that kind of depends on how old the people who are buying it are.  I'm guessing that the average age of customers for the AtomicBeam Security Light is around 75.  So yeah, maybe.

Hey, there's Not Really Airman Whoever pretending to stand in front of that jet again.  1:17 in.  I can do this!

Ah, we're at the price- it's $19.99.  And if you jumped to the phone and started dialing as soon as you heard that price, you don't watch a lot of tv, do you?  OF COURSE you can get a SECOND ONE FREE plus the ATOMIC FLASHLIGHT FREE and OMIGOD WILL THE LITTLE LADY LOVE THIS just LOOK how THRILLED she is when you save her from the scary dark!  And you don't even have to worry if you accidentally encase it in fifty pounds of ice or cement (you know how that happens.)  Just pay a separate fee (kind of like whenever you buy anything in addition to what you were already buying.  I wonder why other companies never pull this bit- "you can get a hamburger, or a hamburger and a Coke, just pay a separate fee!") 

Ah, it turns out that this hilarity was only 1:45 long, the last 16 seconds is just the Director's Cut featuring the Best Scenes of the Commercial.  Again, for nostalgia purposes, probably.

*Not really a jet.

**I can't tell you how many times I've needed a flashlight and discovered that it's been frozen in a 50-lb block of ice, only to find that the flashlight no longer works after I rescue it using a sledgehammer.  And it's even worse when its in hardened cement, not ice.  That baby is GONE!