GWJ Secret Stan 2020: Time to Yeet This Holiday!

@SillyRabbit Merry Christmas! I am so glad you like the goodies. I had fun selecting everything, too.

Merry Christmas, you lovable lunatics. I love each and every one of you.

trichy wrote:

Merry Christmas, you lovable lunatics. I love each and every one of you.

Three cheers to Trichy who once again has herded the cats and managed this mischief! Thank you Trichy!

Wayfarer wrote:
trichy wrote:

Merry Christmas, you lovable lunatics. I love each and every one of you.

Three cheers to Trichy who once again has herded the cats and managed this mischief! Thank you Trichy!

Hip hip, hooray!

Hip hip, hooray!

Hip hip, hooray!

Trichy!

Hey Thatguy42, I'm blown away and mad stalking props! Pics to follow, murderbutt needs some TLC before documentation.

EDIT: We’re all set, thank you.

A wandering package appeared! This week, as I was getting ready to travel[*], I found a package outside my door. I'm glad I did! I brought it with me on the trip, and opened it there.

[*]Safely, of course. Everybody in my family has been isolated leading up to our relatively small Christmas gathering, and the people who travel, did so by car.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/C8yhNIs.jpg?1)

Here's the package. It's a big one! For scale, next to it, you have my Kindle and the book I'm reading right now -- N.K. Jemisin's The Broken Earth.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/YvDV0Df.jpg?1)

Inside, I found a really fun grab-bag of gifts! Two bags of Utah truffles, which I can't wait to try out; rocks collected on various hikes at national parks; buffalo fur (how cool is that!) collected on another excursion; some hot licks lollipops; Guillotine, a cute and morbid card game about killing people during the French revolution (I've played once or twice, and enjoyed); and a little murderbutt which found its way inside. Not pictured: a whistle which I found nestled inside the package, after taking this picture.

My Stan included a very nice and thoughtful note outlining what was inside, and I can tell where it came from and my Stan's last name -- but not who, on the forum, sent this. Whoever you are, thank you! It was great to share in some of the things that make your home special, and in some tangible memories about what you brought you joy, this year.

P.S. To my Stantee, I'm home now -- packages away tomorrow, hopefully!

Thank you to everyone who reached out and offered to pitch in with some of the bumps we experienced this year. Just as a heads up, I’ve decided we are going to make a few changes for next year to avoid some of the bigger problems.

- Coffee grinders will not be included unless they’re recommended by a community member that’s participated for at least three years. I don’t like taking this step, but after four people ghosting their messages, I think it’s necessary.

- Next year’s participant survey will require an email address, one that you check on a regular basis. It often takes too long to get responses on the GWJ PM system, and when someone needs address verification or the like, those delays are really inconvenient.

You’re all wonderful, and dealing with these issues is much simpler with such a strong group supporting me. Thanks to each and every one of you.

Thanks for organizing this.
And thanks to Gorilla for the extra gift.

Thanks for voluntarily adding to your stress levels so that we can feel more connected to each other and by extension this forsaken planet of ours

trichy wrote:

Thank you to everyone who reached out and offered to pitch in with some of the bumps we experienced this year. Just as a heads up, I’ve decided we are going to make a few changes for next year to avoid some of the bigger problems.

- Coffee grinders will not be included unless they’re recommended by a community member that’s participated for at least three years. I don’t like taking this step, but after four people ghosting their messages, I think it’s necessary.

- Next year’s participant survey will require an email address, one that you check on a regular basis. It often takes too long to get responses on the GWJ PM system, and when someone needs address verification or the like, those delays are really inconvenient.

You’re all wonderful, and dealing with these issues is much simpler with such a strong group supporting me. Thanks to each and every one of you.

I didn't participate this year but wanted to comment on something you said. The GWJ PM system. I no longer get an Email when I get a new message. This means that unless I specifically look for that little red envelope in the top right corner, I may miss a message. I'm not saying this is why people weren't responding, but it's really inconvenient to not have the alerts sent when a new message is received.

RedJen wrote:

Hey Thatguy42, I'm blown away and mad stalking props! Pics to follow, murderbutt needs some TLC before documentation.

Merry Xmas! Not going to lie, I was really looking forward to your response! Can't wait to see photos of how the murderbutt held up. Hopefully he wasn't too banged up in shipping!

I didn't expect two day shipping to work, but this is the worst. Currently stuck in the Mos Eisley of Florida.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/RD06CzH.jpg)

Yeah, currently 2-day is closer to 9. They need something better than "in transit". I don’t care if it’s sitting in a sorting facility, as long as I know it’s there, and not that some mail truck got in an accident, and it's sitting in a ditch somewhere.

If it's in a ditch somewhere, it ain't bein' scanned.

Unfortunately, it probably also isn't being scanned upon arrival to an overwhelmed sorting facilty. I would assume "in transit" to mean it's moving through. Now, I have a lot of trust in mail delivery because I know a lot of mail carriers and delivery drivers from my job, but I have seen things go wrong, and occasionally things get lost. But, not often, and I oversee a large volume of mailed-in documents.

So, let's raise a glass and hope all the murderbutts have enough air holes!

I'm totally not going to consider it being lost right now. A one of a kind thing made by yours truly over many hours out of material that there is no more of (anywhere). That would fit with the year I have had, but it's too much to think of.

Edit: Even this was about enough.

I hope my message came off as hopeful, that was my intent. I've seen some delays, but very few no-shows over the years.

DeThroned wrote:
trichy wrote:

Thank you to everyone who reached out and offered to pitch in with some of the bumps we experienced this year. Just as a heads up, I’ve decided we are going to make a few changes for next year to avoid some of the bigger problems.

- Coffee grinders will not be included unless they’re recommended by a community member that’s participated for at least three years. I don’t like taking this step, but after four people ghosting their messages, I think it’s necessary.

- Next year’s participant survey will require an email address, one that you check on a regular basis. It often takes too long to get responses on the GWJ PM system, and when someone needs address verification or the like, those delays are really inconvenient.

You’re all wonderful, and dealing with these issues is much simpler with such a strong group supporting me. Thanks to each and every one of you.

I didn't participate this year but wanted to comment on something you said. The GWJ PM system. I no longer get an Email when I get a new message. This means that unless I specifically look for that little red envelope in the top right corner, I may miss a message. I'm not saying this is why people weren't responding, but it's really inconvenient to not have the alerts sent when a new message is received.

Thank you, I wasn't aware of this issue with the email, I thought it was just affecting our web forms. I'll look into it.

In the meantime, Trichy, I would be happy to share any processes or info that could possibly be helpful for planning and organizing. If someone isn't responding in the future, please let me know and I can look into connecting you with that person. Please reach out I want to help!

I'm sorry I didn't check in on this thread sooner. If I don't participate, I usually wait until after Christmas to looky-lou giftee pics.

SillyRabbit wrote:

I hope my message came off as hopeful, that was my intent. I've seen some delays, but very few no-shows over the years.

No worries. Your intent was clear. That lead-in dropped like a rock though. Hehe

Ugh, sorry again, Lou.

Hmm do we have to announce our Stan or can we keep it secret?

Dear Stanta, no mystery package has arrived. I am hoping it is stuck in transit

Hope my Stantee likes their presents - they show delivered on the 24th. Also my Santa never named themselves, so I hope they know how much i liked my gifts. Those glasses have gotten A LOT of use already.

SallyNasty wrote:

Hope my Stantee likes their presents - they show delivered on the 24th. Also my Santa never named themselves, so I hope they know how much i liked my gifts. Those glasses have gotten A LOT of use already.

Ok, it was me. I'm glad you are enjoying the use of the glasses. I hope the kids are enjoying the books.

Thanks so much! Everyone loves everything:)

Kiri says: "A wild Goodjer box has appeared!" More to follow.

I hope my Stantee liked their presents - they show that they were delivered around Halloween.

Dear Stan! Awesomeness arrived at my door after a rough day. What a delight! I bet I am the only Goodjer who has a Pink Quaggan Stocking! Pics to follow. I am not to good at that and will work on it tomorrow. Tea, how did you know I LOVE tea. I love coffee to, tea is my fav. Gamey goodness to arrive via emails.....Will pm you the addy. I did answer Trichy when he asked for it. Not sure what happened. It was probably the day all electronics hated me. When your electronic medical records device crashes and then does a factory reset, it is not a good day. Thank you so much!

In case my Stanta is wondering, no presents have appeared or the Grinch has stolen them. I will post again when they show up.

I've had a minor snafu and have not yet been able to send off my Stantee's package. I'm hoping that all of the shipping delays will have been sorted out and that when I get the package in the mail it will make its way swiftly. Hang tight Stantee!