The Retirement Newsletter: Happy Christmas — my last one as an employee
Issue Number: -7 — Work, Christmas Parties and Closing Down
Welcome
Welcome to issue -7 — Happy Christmas — my last one as an employee.
And, a Merry Christmas to all my readers.
Last Christmas as an employee
It seems odd that this is my last Christmas as an employee.
Working
I have worked the week running up to Christmas since I was sixteen.
As a teenager, I worked in shops during the Christmas holidays.
First, it was a gents’ clothing shop, and then I moved on to a local chemist (pharmacy). At university, I worked Christmas in an off-licence (liquor store).
Of the places I worked in the run-up to Christmas, the off-licence was the best. I enjoyed putting together the Christmas drinks orders and wondering how good their party would be on the day. I got to do the occasional delivery, which we weren’t supposed to do. These deliveries were to drop off booze into the local doctors’ unlocked car boots (trunks) at the surgery and to take spirits to local pubs. It was amazing how much alcohol the doctors used to get from their patients and how much the doctors ordered. The pubs were interesting as the landlords were ’tied’ to a local supplier and had to get all their spirits from them at inflated prices. Getting some wine and spirits from us helped their profit.
Working in the off-licence was fun; you wouldn’t believe how much drink went out the door.
Christmas Parties
After university, I was in the big wide world of work and the fun of Christmas work parties. And there were some good ones.
Throughout my career, I have worked at universities in the UK, the States and Malaysia. My fondest memories of university Christmas parties are from during my PhD. The parties were a blast.
During my PhD, I lived in Glasgow, a town that knows how to party. We had the lab Christmas party, and I often gate-crashed parties in other labs. And there was the Departmental Christmas party. Plus, there would be friends’ Christmas parties. It was party, party, party for nearly a month. And in Scotland, New Year was a huge deal, and the parties were even bigger than in the run-up to Christmas.
When I was in the States, I got a hint of what was to come. Parties weren’t as fun. During my five years living in the US, we went from a pre-Christmas Christmas party to a post-Christmas Winter Celebration. The food was good, but the drink was missing. It wasn’t as much fun; it was more serious.
From the States, I returned to the UK, and it was great to see that the lab Christmas parties and the departmental Christmas parties were still a thing. But, within a few years, these were all gone. The demise of the university Christmas parties was down to reorganisation and HR.
For some reason, the university I worked at decided to destroy the tightly-knit and functional departments and replace them with institutes. That killed the Departmental Christmas Parties. The Institutes were too big for a meaningful Christmas party. They tried but they never worked.
Next, HR ruled that no more parties would be held on university property. That killed the lab parties. My theory is that HR never got invited to the good parties, and so decided to ban them.
So, that was the end of the traditional university Christmas parties. They have been replaced with a meal, and you must buy booze. The parties were a great way to meet people, do some team building, and set up new collaborations. It is a shame they have gone.
Well, last week, I went to my last “work Christmas Party”. It was a jolly affair, and it was good to spend some time with my colleagues away from campus, but it wasn’t a patch on the parties of yesteryear.
Times have changed, and that was my last work Christmas party.
Closing down for Christmas
And then we get to the last few days before Christmas and the ‘work close-down’.
As usual, half the staff take a few days before the close-down, and the rest take a few days after the university reopens. The staff will not be at full strength for nearly three weeks. And yet, the students expect us to be here.
As with every year, some people use the run-down to the Christmas break to ‘take out the trash’. That is, they send you emails with bad news that you hope you won’t see. Meanwhile, other people are scrambling to get things off their desks so they can have a relaxing break, and their solution is to dump it on you.
Then, there are the students who send you the 2,000-word draft of their 6,000-word dissertation at 4 pm on the last day. The students have been working on the report since late September and now need you to “take a quick look at my work so I can finish it over the break and get it in for the start of next term”. It happens every year.
What will I miss?
I won’t miss the ‘trash’, the last minute ‘dump’ or the late student requests.
I will miss the Christmas parties, and wishing my colleagues a Happy Christmas.
Nostalgia corner
This week in Nostalgia Corner, it still tales from Malacca, Malaysia:
Malaysia — Malacca — Wildlife in Malacca, Malaysia — Lizards in Malacca — I was surprised at how many lizards I saw around town.
Malaysia — Malacca — River Fort, Malacca, Malaysia — A quick look at the River Fort. Seeing ‘old’ stuff in Malaysia is quite a treat.
Malaysia — Malacca — Riverside Kopitiam, and Baba Low’s, Malacca, Malaysia — Eating out in Malacca. A couple of great places to eat out in Malacca, but be warned, Baba Low’s is difficult to find.
Malaysia — Malacca — Riverside, Malacca, Malaysia — Exploring Malacca — a post-lunch walk along the river. And it was a surprisingly colourful walk.
Malaysia — Malacca — Church of St Francis Xavier’s, and Little India, (Jalan Bendahara), Malacca — Some more exploration of Malacca.
Next week, I will close off my trip to Malacca.
Useful links
OK, so this week, here are some links that might be useful over the festive break.
To help you avoid poisoning yourself and your guests with a poorly cooked turkey:
If you do become ill with food poisoning, COVID-19 or the flu, you may find these health-related websites helpful:
NHS COVID-19 website — numerous links to information on COVID-19
CDC COVID-19 website — many links to information on COVID-19
And finally, the two safe travel sites I mentioned earlier:
Next week
Next week in issue -7, I will be looking back at 2023, looking at my New Year’s resolutions (and asking if I stuck to them), and wondering if 2024 was a good or a bad year.
Thanks
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Until next time,
Nick
PS, If you would like to contribute something to the newsletter — a story, advice, anything — please get in touch.