Merry Christmas, nerds. A couple of months ago we talked about Halloween vs. Christmas on the Diecast, and how it seems like Halloween is gradually moving to dethrone Christmas as the culturally dominant holiday. It hasn’t happened yet, but it could happen in the next 20 years. That’s pretty strange.
In any case: I hope you’re having a good one this year.
This has been a small Christmas for us. We used our Christmas money to arrange a visit with my oldest two kids over Thanksgiving. That was better than exchanging gifts. We were long overdue for a visit, even if it did leave us skint for a couple of months.
As an aside:
Some people balked at the idea that we were visiting with relatives in the age of COVID. To clear things up: They were tested before they made the trip, and we got tested after they left. We ONLY met with my kids, instead of having the usual gathering of the extended family. And since my kids live and work public service jobs in a tiny Texas town where nobody wears masks, the week-long visit represented a significant increase in safety for them. For one week they stopped being exposed to the reckless public.
It was a risk for us, but in a statistical sense this weeklong visit represented a very slight exposure risk – perhaps the same exposure risk my wife faces every time she goes to work – for a huge benefit. The only reason we could afford the visit was because COVID had made hotels and airfare so cheap. This was a pretty good tradeoff in terms of risk vs. reward.
So we’re having a small Christmas. That’s fine. We’ll end 2020 with a lowkey celebration. I can’t complain. I already got Something Unicorn – LED String Curtain Lights with Dimmer Switch for Teen Room, Girls Room, College Dorm, Nursery, Kids Room Décor. Perfect for Unicorn, Fairy & Rainbow Decoration. (Standard Version) for Christmas, and really that’s all anyone needs.
How about you? Having a good Christmas? Did Santa bring you anything cool?
Shamus Young is a programmer, an author, and nearly a composer. He works on this site full time. If you'd like to support him, you can do so via Patreon or PayPal.