Time to Recharge Your Batteries

The Holidays are wonderful, full of joy and family, parties and fiid, song and drink.

For retail businesses, this is a time to try to pull a profit out of so-so years.
If you work in retail outlets, this is the time of year to rack up overtime. You will be exhausted but better off financially by January 2.

But, many work at jobs that slow down a bit during the Holidays.The weather is curtailing ourdoor jobs. Few are remodeling homes when guesrs are arriving and no one wants to but washers and dryers when their bust buying Christmas presents.
Those who have a slow time during the Season need to take advantage. Slow down, rest and spend time with loved ones. Don't push, don't worry, just coast for a couple of weeks
At the same time. don't be too obvious. Don't sit with your feet up on your desk at work, sipping egg nog and dozing Show some respect and hide when you goof odd. Your boss will still know your slacking off, but he doesb;t want his nise rubbed in it.

I really want all of you to goof off as much as possible for the rest of the year.. Next year figures to be a bit hectic.

Time to be Impractical

It's Christmas week and this is the only post I'll do on this site this week. You officially have my permission to be impractical this week, mostly.

This is a week of shopping and parties and feasting. Forget diets, eat, drink, and be merry. You can worry about diets next year. There are exceptions. If you have a medical issue, diabetes for instance, sorry, you must be careful.

As far as partying, please be sure that, if you are driving, if you have more than two drinks, don't drive; take a cab or Uber. You do not need all the problems that come with a drunk driving charge.

Shop. That is part of the season, but try to use some restraint. Go easy on the credit cards. You do not want to be the Grinch, nut you do not want to faint when you open your bills in January.

Other than that, have a great Holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Christmas Decorating

It's about time to drag out the Christmas decorations again. I have but one thing to say; be careful. You will not spend a happy holiday in a cast.

I see folks who have not engaged in a lot physical activity in a very long time struggling up and down ladders, trying to keep strings of lights untangled, and  attempting to drive nails. All worthy endeavors but, remember, you don't have to do it all at once. If you are not used to such activities, take your time.

If your lights are old, and there are burnt out bulbs, don't spend a lot of time replacing them. Just buy new ones. They're not that expensive and it's worth the cost to save the aggravation. Don't overdo the lights. Aesthetics aside, you don't want to overload circuits. In fact, switch to LED bulbs. They're cooler and draw  a lot less power.

Get a helper. You really want someone to steady the ladder, hand you tools and keep the lights strings from tangling. Also, remember: those warnings on ladders that say do not step on the top rung are there for a reason. It is just not safe to work from there.

There are options. I once decorated a place by using colored spot lights. Now, that is simple because you can get them with solar batteries that charge enough in the day light to last all night. Just stick them in the ground and go on with your day.

It's nice to decorate for the holidays, but there is no reason to overdo, and many reasons to be careful.