WTF PEOPLE!?! The After-Holidays Effect

We all love that time of year where we give our best to our fellow man in Christmas cheer.  That special type of feeling that we always wish would last all year.  But sadly it always seem to bite all of us in the butt when it doesn't even last a full month past.  Sooner or later we comeback to becoming Grinches and Scrooges, and all that talk about good will towards man is thrown down the way side.

Now it's not all thrown out, I mean I'm sure that we still have best wishes for all of humanity, but the whole joyous occasion is just that for most people.  AN OCCASION.  Now I'm not gonna just gripe on that, I'm gonna talk about what happens afterwards.  I just thought that that's one thing I felt during that time of year after the holidays has past and everyone's New Year Resolutions have been broken.  Call me cynical, I don't care, it's just that it always seem to happen that way.

Now I've already talked about the warm and fuzzies that turn to coal.  But another thing that gets to me is the decorations that are STILL UP mid-way though January.  It's tacky, it's ugly, and I think James Rolfe said it best in the following link.  Why advance on something more on point. 

Another thing that I see not just after the Christmas holiday, but with all holidays are the gross amount of clearance seasonal crap.  Sure it's good if you want to be in a diabetic coma with all that Christmas candy and soon to be Valentine Day candy, but all that other crap is just what now.  A big friggin' waste of space.  I swear that's just about as bad as still seeing Holloween costumes discounted on Black Friday.  I reiterate what I said about the decorations as this applies to the consumer retail end of things.


And then one final thought, which isn't really much of a bad thing until after the fact.  Some people have Christmas bonuses, other have holiday pay.  But none the less, we all resort back to regular pay as soon as February comes around and we compare what we've made from then to what we had made at that point and come up with the general consensus of "WTF?!?  No bonus cash?"  We do get spoiled at time but then the comedown happens and we're back to Earth with our 9-to-5.  Unless your like some of my colleagues and I where we're going for broke working buukuu amounts of overtime right now, it's a real sobering effect.  Especially when you're recovering from all the holiday expenses, it can be a real sobering effect.


And that's the first WTF PEOPLE!?! of 2011 people.  Figures it was an appropriate time to air that out.  Give you all a little something to think about and a lot to consider.  Until next time folks...


BootLeG sampler.. signing out...

Tis the Season

Every year for as long as I could remember I would sing to myself one verse to the 12 Days of Christmas per day until it was Christmas Day.  So that meant on December 13th I would start singing the first verse, December 14, the second, and so on and so forth.  So I decided to make a twist on this and post my favorite Christmas themed things, one a day for 12 days.

So I'll be updating this post every day from the 13th until Jolly old St. Nick fills my stocking.  So keep on coming back each day and find what's new each day on this post.  Enjoy!

December 13, The First Day of Christmas :: The music.  I have to admit, I kinda like the jingling and the fa-la-la-la-la's when it plays on the radio.  I do have a special fondness to the Charlie Brown theme playing at least once a day (even though the theme isn't even all that Christmas-sy,) it's the only time of year I get to hear it regularly.  So here's to the artists who try to put a new spin to the same old Jingle Bell Rock, keep rockin' out those sleigh bells until Jack Frost nips you in the butt to stop 2 days into the new year...

December 14, The Second Day of Christmas :: The lights.  Call me a crow, sure I'm attracted to bright shiny objects; and twinkling lights around someone's house is the flame that keeps drawing this moth to it.  From anything simple such as a string of lights across the top of a railing from a patio to Chris F'n Griswold's epic house lighting, Christmas lights are just FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!! 

December 15, The Third Day of Christmas :: The weather.  As a kid, Christmas was a time for a week or two off of school, presents, and the occasional snow storm during break.  That was great having snowball fights with my brothers and kicking their butts stuffing their shirts with the white stuff.  But than again I lived in a place with that kind of weather (feelin' homesick for Philly now.)  Now adays, Christmas is warm, sunny, and full of cacti.  Good thing is that my family eat Christmas dinner on the patio, bad thing is that rocks hurt more when thrown than snowballs.  The weather element is what you can enjoy no matter where you are.

December 16, The Fourth Day of Christmas :: The television programs.  I'm a sucker for A Charlie Brown Christmas or those old school claymation storytellings of Rudolph and Frosty.  It was a special time for me that the TV producers and executives could remind us that "hey, were all kids inside so let all the worries of life go away for a while and marvel at poor animation and special meanings of all the good that is still in this world."

December 17, The Fifth Day of Christmas :: The mall.  Well, not the mall per say, but shopping.  I used to work retail and every year from the week before Black Friday to half way past January, the crowds of people fascinate me.  The lengths they go to complete their commercial need to find the right present or biggest gift.  It's just humorous what they do for that.  Although, the holiday season is not about gifts, it's about family, friends, and remembrance of our Lord.  I know that what I'm gonna do, how about you?!?  (There's your five golden rings for ya...)

December 18, The Sixth Day of Christmas :: The food.  I love the food.  It breaks the monotony of turkey, turkey, and turkey from the last month.  The wifie bakes cookies and other stuff non-stop while I ready myself for ham and football.  Plus, all of the Food Network shows show off their holiday flair.  And if you can't tell by this day, I do think with my stomach.  So here's to all the good food in preparation of family gathering and all that other stuff that it does for us all.


December 19, The Seventh Day of Christmas : The good will towards men.  It's a good warm and fuzzy feeling that can't be explained.  Well wishing towards our fellow man that should happen year round surrounds us all and that in among itself is a Christmas miracle.

December 20, The Eighth Day of Christmas :: The presents.  Yeah, that sounds pretty vain after what I added on for yesterday, but the presents are a good part of Christmas.  And it's not about receiving that big gift that you wanted, it's about seeing the look of someone's face as they open the presents.  As a parent, I finally can say that that joy of giving and seeing my boys faces light up brighter than the wifie's tree warms my heart.  It hurts my wallet, but it warms my heart... :p  It's a season of giving and seeing that you can give that and joy to others is a special part of the holiday.

December 21, The Ninth Day of Christmas :: The gathering.  It's always hard when a loved one or best friend is away.  Whether they're half way across the country or half way across the world.  But when Christmas time comes around, we find ways to connect with each other.  We visit those whom are fond to us, or at the very least call them on the phone if possible.  Heck, even simply emailing them or leaving them a message on your social network of choice just to say I miss ya and happy holidays is of good merit.  Just as long as we have a means of communication, we have means to gather around each other; even if you're not next to them roasting chestnuts in an open fire.

December 22, The Tenth Day of Christmas :: The days of yonder.  Just think back to the Christmases you had in the past.  How pleasant most if not all of them were.  And you sometimes catch yourself trying to relive that today.  Returning to how good that time of year was to you and what it brought to the table.  There is nothing wrong with reliving those good ol' days, and there's no better time than Christmas time to do such.

December 23, The Eleventh Day of Christmas :: The traditions.  Everyone has them, they follow though with it whether it's baking cookies or singing carols or even watching a gauntlet of Christmas themed programing, we all enjoy them and love to carry them out.  The singing the Twelve Days of Christmas one verse per day is one of mine.  The others include watching at least once A Charlie Brown Christmas and some football, I mean, who can't enjoy any of that?!?  I also try to carry out a gift for the kids to open the night before Christmas.  Usually new pajamas and we tell them they were left on our doorstep by the elves to give them a warning if they don't go to bed soon, Santa won't visit them for presents.  Whether they believe the wifie and I, who knows, but it's a tradition that we started with our boys and we'll continue to carry it out.

December 24, The Twelfth Day of Christmas :: The birth of Jesus Christ.  After all that is what the holiday is supposed to be about.  To celebrate the miraculous birth of our Lord and Savior, it is a true testament of what peace on earth, good will towards man, and miracles are all about.  Without the Lord, none of us would be where we are right now, and I am truly thankful for his birth and all that he given to us.  As Tiny Tim would end this in the most appropriate saying "God bless us, everyone"


BootLeG sampler.. signing out...

P.S. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and throw in all those other holidays in December as well, even Festivus... *lol*  Ok, maybe not that...