While most offices are very sparse beginning today and continuing until the New Year, I find it an ideal time to be at work. First, there’s hardly any traffic so getting to work is a breeze. There generally isn’t much of a workload unless there’s a huge bug in the system, thus the days are rather tame and relaxing.
Online shopping is the way to go. Trying to find a spot at the mall after Thanksgiving is harder than finding a parking spot on the street in Lincoln Park at 11 PM in the middle of a blizzard. Trust me, Atlantans, you’ll have to take my word that that is an impossible task in Chicago.
While at the mall yesterday, I saw the mall’s Santa Claus eating lunch with a family. He wasn’t wearing his jacket, just his festive vest. The sick part of me wanted him to pretend to be eating reindeer meet. This is why I’ll never be a Santa even if I get white hair.
While there’s a better chance of Georgia electing a black lesbian Wiccan as their governor than getting a White Christmas in Georgia, I still get in the holiday cheer with the holiday music being pumped throughout the building. Maybe I’m in the minority but I actually like getting out of my car in the parking garage and hearing Christmas music, assuming it’s after Thanksgiving. They also have fake rocks on the walk to the building so you get to hear the entire song. It’s even pumped into the bathrooms.
This is the time of year when we beer geeks are in absolute heaven. Most microbreweries make a holiday/winter beer and the beer drinkers of America are the clear cut winners. I always celebrate Christmas with a bomber of Sweetwater’s Festive Ale. During these months, I also purchase the following – Anchor Christmas Ale, Rogue Santa’s Private Reserve, Delirium Noel, Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout, Sam Adams Holiday 12-pack (which includes the unbelievably good Holiday Porter and Old Fezziweg Ale), Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, and Red Brick Winter Ale (a local offering that is a double chocolate stout). There are others out there that are available, both domestic and imported, that I highly recommend. Cheers!
And finally, I got a nice pre-Christmas present from Dekalb County in the mail yesterday. Nothing says “Happy Holidays” like a goddamn motherfuckin’ jury duty summons. In case you hadn’t read my old blog the last time I served on the jury, here are 4 links to bring you up to speed.
Jury Duty 1
Jury Duty 2
Jury Duty 3
Jury Duty – The Aftermath