The Retirement Newsletter: Merry Christmas!
Issue Number: -109 — Planning for the Christmas Break
Welcome and Merry Christmas
Welcome to issue -109.
This week is the last newsletter before Christmas. So it is back to planning for the Christmas break and thinking about the next newsletter due out on Boxing Day. (And if you don't know what Boxing Day is, I will explain next week on Boxing Day).
Again this week, I would like to welcome some new subscribers. Plus, I would like to thank the kind readers who bought me a coffee. Thank you!
Planning
My planning for the festive period is going OK.
Christmas cards posted — check
Local Christmas cards delivered by hand — no
Christmas presents posted — check
And now I am going to have a little moan.
Before the UK voted to leave the European Union (aka Brexit), sending cards and gifts to my friends in Europe was relatively cheap and easy. Thanks to Brexit, it now costs the same to send a Christmas card to Europe as it does to Australia. And gifts to friends in Germany and France need a customs declaration form. Madness.
Right, back to the checklist:
Christmas meat ordered (see Issue -110: Ramping up for Christmas) — check
Christmas meat picked up — not yet
All Christmas presents purchased — No! (I'm male. Males do not complete their Christmas shopping until 5:29 pm on Christmas Eve.)
And then there are those Christmas traditions and plans that we inherit from our parents.
Fill the car up with petrol and check the oil and tyres. My parents did all the car stuff in case we needed to make an emergency journey over the Christmas period. My parents never explained why we might need to make a 300 – 400 mile (ca. 644 km) round trip at Christmas. Thanks to my parents, I fill my car with petrol and check the oil and tyres before Christmas Eve.
Buy enough food and drink to last until March. My parents did it, and so do I.
And finally, some Christmas plans and traditions have fallen away over the years.
Booking your slot with the local baker for him to cook your turkey. When I was a kid, that was a thing we did in the UK. Domestic ovens weren't big enough to handle large turkeys, so you got the local baker to cook your turkey in his large bread ovens. True story — one Christmas, the local baker lost our turkey. He apologised, gave us a bottle of sherry and what we have always suspected his family's turkey. However, the big question here is — how did he lose our turkey?
Around to aunts and uncles, and grandparents, for big family Christmas meals and parties. The years have thinned out the local family. The big family Christmas parties with grandparents singing old music-hall numbers have long gone. Shame.
So, overall, I think my plans are on track, and I hope yours are also moving in the right direction.
If you have any old family stories or traditions you would like to share, then please leave them in a comment below.
Health
As I said last week — watch out, watch out, there's COVID-19 about. Or as it now is, watch out, watch out, there's the Omicron variant about.
If you are a regular reader of this newsletter, you will know that I am not medically trained, but I hold a biochemistry PhD.
I find the new COVID-19 variant scary and fascinating from a professional perspective.
Early data on the variant suggests that it infects higher up in the respiratory tract (Omicron thrives in airways, not lungs; new data on asymptomatic cases), and also replicates faster in cells (Omicron found to grow 70 times faster than Delta in bronchial tissue). This is not good news, as it means the virus has the potential to make you sicker quicker and spread more quickly. Upper airway infection and faster replication do not make a good combination.
So, over the Christmas period. Avoid travel and mixing. Wear a mask and keep rooms well ventilated. And if you have not already done so, get a COVID-19 jab or booster (and a flu shot). After all, the last thing you want Santa to bring you this Christmas is Omicron.
Travel
If you are travelling over the holiday period, I hope it all goes to plan, and you don't pick up any nasty viruses along the way. You may also like to take a look at the UK Government — Coronavirus (COVID-19): safer travel guidance for passengers website or the CDC — Safer Ways to Celebrate Holidays site on safe travelling during the festive period.
Nostalgia corner
I always find Christmas a very nostalgic time of year. I often think back to Christmases with my parents when I was a kid. I know it's cliché, but things seemed easier then. I do miss those Christmases.
Useful links
OK, so this week, 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 useful:
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, I will be looking back on 2021 and explaining what Boxing Day is in the UK.
Thanks
Thanks for taking the time to read this newsletter. Please don't hesitate to share it with your friends or on social media using the buttons below.
If you would like to say 'thanks' for the newsletter, why not buy me a cup of tea?
Until next time,
Nick
PS, If you have something you would like to contribute to the newsletter — a story, advice, anything — please get in touch.