As fun as the holiday season is, it still requires a bit of discernment and common sense. For example, I learned a few years ago that the best time to take off for Thanksgiving is actually the week after the holiday. I learned this quite by accident a couple of years ago, when I was knocked out by the flu that week. Mind you, I didn’t feel like being out and about, but I couldn’t help but notice how much calmer and less crowded things were the week after Thanksgiving. Frankly, there’s too much chaotic energy out there with the crowds on the days between Thanksgiving Eve and Black Friday. No thanks. I take off the week after and get a lot more done. Plus, sales are usually still in effect the Monday and Tuesday after Thanksgiving weekend, although the stores don’t want you to know that. They may not be as deeply discounted and the selection may be a bit less, but there’s still plenty on sale.
I’ve also learned that you have to stop and think before you buy. People are still trying to make a buck. Last year, a guy tried to talk me into buying a $100 flat iron. He claimed it was “worth the investment in myself” because his iron had special ionization technology that other flat irons don’t have, so my style would last all day. What he didn’t know was that he was talking to the daughter of an electrical designer, who knows that heat itself causes ionization. That’s physics, not technology. I told him I needed to think it over, then drove up the road to Target and got one for $17. It ionizes just fine, and for a lot less than the line he tried to sell me.
The same goes for other things. Too often, we’re willing to pay more for convenience when we would do better to look elsewhere. I’ve caught myself in this a lot lately. Yesterday, I found a gift box at a craft store for $8.99. I almost got it, until I remembered that I got sturdier, bigger gift boxes last year at Dollar General. Never mind. It’s going to get tossed, so it isn’t worth the investment. Which reminds me, I need to check our packaging and wrapping supplies and make that trip to Dollar General when I go shopping next week.
I also learned that the most wonderful time of the year is also the least attentive time of the year. I can always tell when the holidays are approaching because the week before Thanksgiving is when I have to return the most stuff because it’s incomplete. It’s amazing that the holiday season can get people motivated to get things done more than any “real” deadline (because nobody in their right mind would set an actual deadline during the holiday season if they could possibly avoid it). Nearly 19 years in the workforce have taught me to slow down and pay more attention to things in November and December to make sure I don’t fall into the holiday-rush fallacy.
Speaking of split attention, I’ve also learned that it’s useless to mail Christmas cards until the week before Christmas. Fewer people are sending them anyway, so why bother until I get everything else done? What used to be the first thing I did for the holidays has shifted to the last.
And finally, I’ve learned that parrots have an intuitive sense that it’s the holidays. Perhaps they sense it because of the more frequent deliveries from Amazon, since I started that shopping just after Halloween. Maybe they’re learned to read the seasons and times, and those changing leaves outside the window are telling the tale. Or maybe it’s because I turned on the radio to Christmas songs this morning. Whichever the case they get it, and they’re about to pop. They know Santa’s on his way, and that the decorations are coming any day now.
You live and learn in this ever changing world, but that’s ok. We need to stretch the grey matter every now and then. Otherwise, we might be getting in crowds, paying too much, and submitting incomplete stuff all over the place, which is all avoidable.
That’s all today. Take care. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful week.
Bye!
I’ve also learned that you have to stop and think before you buy. People are still trying to make a buck. Last year, a guy tried to talk me into buying a $100 flat iron. He claimed it was “worth the investment in myself” because his iron had special ionization technology that other flat irons don’t have, so my style would last all day. What he didn’t know was that he was talking to the daughter of an electrical designer, who knows that heat itself causes ionization. That’s physics, not technology. I told him I needed to think it over, then drove up the road to Target and got one for $17. It ionizes just fine, and for a lot less than the line he tried to sell me.
The same goes for other things. Too often, we’re willing to pay more for convenience when we would do better to look elsewhere. I’ve caught myself in this a lot lately. Yesterday, I found a gift box at a craft store for $8.99. I almost got it, until I remembered that I got sturdier, bigger gift boxes last year at Dollar General. Never mind. It’s going to get tossed, so it isn’t worth the investment. Which reminds me, I need to check our packaging and wrapping supplies and make that trip to Dollar General when I go shopping next week.
I also learned that the most wonderful time of the year is also the least attentive time of the year. I can always tell when the holidays are approaching because the week before Thanksgiving is when I have to return the most stuff because it’s incomplete. It’s amazing that the holiday season can get people motivated to get things done more than any “real” deadline (because nobody in their right mind would set an actual deadline during the holiday season if they could possibly avoid it). Nearly 19 years in the workforce have taught me to slow down and pay more attention to things in November and December to make sure I don’t fall into the holiday-rush fallacy.
Speaking of split attention, I’ve also learned that it’s useless to mail Christmas cards until the week before Christmas. Fewer people are sending them anyway, so why bother until I get everything else done? What used to be the first thing I did for the holidays has shifted to the last.
And finally, I’ve learned that parrots have an intuitive sense that it’s the holidays. Perhaps they sense it because of the more frequent deliveries from Amazon, since I started that shopping just after Halloween. Maybe they’re learned to read the seasons and times, and those changing leaves outside the window are telling the tale. Or maybe it’s because I turned on the radio to Christmas songs this morning. Whichever the case they get it, and they’re about to pop. They know Santa’s on his way, and that the decorations are coming any day now.
You live and learn in this ever changing world, but that’s ok. We need to stretch the grey matter every now and then. Otherwise, we might be getting in crowds, paying too much, and submitting incomplete stuff all over the place, which is all avoidable.
That’s all today. Take care. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful week.
Bye!
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