I like most of my family. I do not waste my time on those family members whom I do not like, their pathetic attempts to induce holiday guilt notwith­standing. Funny, I haven’t spoken to some of these people in over a dozen years and they still think they can guilt slash bribe me into calling them. Or visiting. Or even acknowl­edging their existence. They just don’t get it. I really like Christmas. I’m not going to spoil it by concerning myself with unpleasant people. On a marginally-​​​​related note, has anyone had any pleasant expe­ri­ences with any of the various gift-​​​​card exchange services on the Internets? Most [ . . . ]

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