I’ve already had a couple of readers ask what I’d like for Christmas. And my answer is: You already gave me fabulous presents<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Last summer’s roof-raiser was all I could ask for — and more. You bestowed such bounty on me that I’m still struggling to feel worthy.<\/p>\n
Been a weird year. One thing after another went wrong, but no sooner had it gone than somebody would pop up with a helping hand. It’s been really amazing.<\/p>\n
So no. I don’t need anything for Christmas. I had Christmas already. <\/p>\n
If you’re in a giving mood may I suggest again this year that you send a little something to Joel over at TUAK<\/a>. His eyeballs are working again now, thanks to last year’s generosity. But he’s got that broken-down Jeep and … well, he just works his tail off and never has much. So think of Joel, not me.<\/p>\n Or drop a few coins into the tip jar over at Rational Review<\/a>. Or at Carl-Bear’s blog<\/a>. Or another favorite freedom site. Oh. The Zelman Partisans<\/a> has a donation button, too (and may soon be offering a few special gun-related deals to contributors). Right now, no TZP people are paid, but someday we’d like to see all the writers — and what a fine bunch they are — getting a little something.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n That said, however, you can help rescue my Amazon links<\/a> if you’re shopping online.<\/p>\n Suddenly, my Amazon commissions have cratered. Seriously. Cratered. Collapsed. Imploded. Fallen into a black hole. I’m in shock.<\/p>\n I assume my hermitting (even though it’s turned out to be only quasi-pseudo hermitting) triggered the downfall. OTOH, maybe the economy’s collapsed and the rest of the world doesn’t know it yet. Or you’re all on the outs with your relatives and not buying them anything for Christmas this year. Or you’ve all taken a no-spending pledge. (I can sympathize with that.) <\/p>\n In any case, we’re not just talking “a little bit off.” We’re talking bottomless pit.<\/p>\n November is usually very strong. This time it scraped bottom, coming in well below a typical month. December is always<\/i> a barn-burner — generally bringing in three to four times the commissions of an average month. I’ve never seen it fail. Now? Sales are below average, and I don’t mean “below average for December.” I mean … 75 to 80 percent off a normal December.<\/p>\n So no, I don’t want gifts (though thank you very much). But IF you’re buying at Amazon anyhow, please use those links.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n P.S. Before I could protest, one Santa already dropped a very welcome present down the chimney. While I was grousing in the cold, a big, beautiful kerosene heater<\/a> arrived. That thing is capable of warming the whole house! Like my smaller, less powerful, Buddy-type propane heaters<\/a>, it’ll be used only for emergencies. But it sure did warm my heart. <\/p>\n Thank you (once again), Family A. I know you just went through a long, stormy power outage and are very aware of how useful a powerful heater like that one can be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I’ve already had a couple of readers ask what I’d like for Christmas. And my answer is: You already gave me fabulous presents. Last summer’s roof-raiser was all I could ask for — and more. You bestowed such bounty on me that I’m still struggling to feel worthy. Been a weird year. One thing after another went wrong, but no sooner had it gone than somebody would pop up with a helping hand. It’s been really amazing. So no. I don’t need anything for Christmas. I had Christmas already. If you’re in a giving mood may I suggest again this…<\/p>\n