Celebrating the Winter Solstice

[serious crayons]

Got that right! Of course, my employer gives us Christmas Day off, but then this year we are also getting Decmeber 26, Thursday, as a holiday. So, what, they actually expect people to go in and work one day, Friday, and then be off again for a weekend? (Not me--I saved up enough Paid Time Off. I don't go back to work till January 2.) Weird.

I have the opposite situation. I had saved up a bunch of PTO thinking I was going to move and then not moving because the would-be buyers backed out. So I took the last half of December off, except for today (Saturday) because Saturday shifts are hard to fill but generally nicer to work, and also Dec. 26, because several other people on my team had already asked for it. Which is fine -- they're probably traveling to see family and I'm not, and hopefully it will be a quiet day.

I've been spending my PTO time downsizing, organizing, decluttering, etc. It's going very slowly. I shudder to think that if the home buyers hadn't backed out, I'd have to be out of here by Jan. 6. There's no way I'd be ready. Hopefully if I keep at it this month, and then on my days off in 2020, then whenever I actually do sell it I'll be more prepared.

[brianr]

Here it is compulsory to give employees Christmas Day off (or pay double time) also 26th and January 1 and 2. However the news is all about the traffic leaving the cities as most offices, factories closed on Friday and will not reopen until January 3rd at the earliest, more likely the 6th. Almost nothing is open on December 25, no public transport. At least there is no cruise ship in port this year. Two years ago I came out of the cathedral and there were lots of people milling around because, despite two ships in, the only thing open was Maccas. It is much the same on Good Friday.

[brianr]

However we have 3 ships in on 26th although one is the Caledonian Sky with just 57 luxury suites so I guess less than 150 passengers. The others are the Explorer Dream with 2,800 passengers and Norwegian Jewel with nearly 2,400 passengers, Then on Friday there is the Queen Elizabeth with 2,500 and Noordam with 1,900. The Ovation of the Seas comes in on New Years Day with up to 4,900 passengers. Sadly it cancelled its last visit as it was the ship carrying the people who were killed and injured in the White Island Volcanic explosion.

[Penthesilea]

Chrissi and I celebrate 12/22 with a holiday called Longerdays.

You bet!

Happy Longerdays, BetterMost!
The darkest day of the year is behind us, spring must be around the corner

[serious crayons]

Thanks, Chrissi!

HAPPY    L O N G E R D  A   Y S   to you, too!


I was just about to send you a Longerdays greeting on Facebook, but it's especially nice to see you here!

Daylight in Minneapolis today is less than one second longer than yesterday. But tomorrow will be five seconds longer, and by the end of the month my days will be 3 minutes and 41 seconds longer.

Looks like your days are about 46 minutes shorter than ours at this point (and equivalently longer in June). Only last summer did I learn that most of Europe is north of the United States, that your temperatures were milder because of ocean currents, not latitude.

Here are some interesting maps that show where European and North American cities would be if they were on each other's continents.

[CellarDweller]

Hello Bettermost!

Happy Longerdays and Solstice to you all!

Yes, with the Leap Year in 2020, next year's holidays will be long weekends for  me.  Off early Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, off Christmas Day and New Year's Day, and then no work on Saturday or Sunday.

[Sason]

Nice set of questions. Thanks for posing them!

Not directly related, but since you bring up Leap Year, I'm glad 2020 will turn this year's awkwardly mid-week Christmas and New Years Day into convenient weekend or weekend-adjacent holidays for the next four years.

2019 Wed

2020 Fri
2021 Sat
2022 Sun
2023 Mon

2024 Wed

We don't particularly like that calender. We never get a free weekday to make up for a holiday falling on a weekend. That's just a lost free day  .

OTOH, Xmas here is three days off. The 24th, which is when people celebrate; the 25th, which is when people recover, and the 26th, boxing day, which is when people start picking fights with their annoying relatives 

So this year, xmas falls on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and a lot of people are able to take Monday and/or Friday off.

The next four years we'll lose 1 or even 2 days off 

[brianr]

I am surprised that you lose holidays in Sweden. In Australia such holidays are always Mondayised if on Sunday and generally if on Saturday although next year Anzac day is on Saturday and only the state of Western Australia has declared a holiday for Monday 27th April. It is only since I moved here that NZ has begun doing the same for Anzac Day and Waitangi Day and Monday 27th April will also be a holiday in NZ next year. Australia Day was Saturday this year and the whole country had a holiday on the Monday.

[Sason]

It's always been like that, AFAIK. No compensation for lost holidays, ever. 

In fact, it was only when I started hanging out with brokies on the forums that I found out that other contries (at least some other countries) get Monday off instead of a lost holiday.

[CellarDweller]

It's always been like that, AFAIK. No compensation for lost holidays, ever. 

In fact, it was only when I started hanging out with brokies on the forums that I found out that other contries (at least some other countries) get Monday off instead of a lost holiday.

In my job, we may get the Monday, or we'll be given a "floating day". 

Next year Christmas is on Friday, so we'll get out early Thursday, be off Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

When Christmas falls on Saturday, the branches will be closed.  Back office locations (like mine) will be given a floating day, meaning an extra day off during the year to use whenever we want.

When Christmas falls on Sunday, the bank will either give everyone a floating day, or we'll be closed Monday, whichever the company decides to do.