OT: Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

[The little lost angel]

Being on the early side of the world, I get to steal the march on the
greetings pPpP

Merry Christmas & Blessed New Year to everybody here. Enjoy the
festivities and please don't complain if you don't believe in
Christmas and/or New Year. ;PpPpPpP

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[George Macdonald]

Being on the early side of the world, I get to steal the march on the
greetings pPpP

Merry Christmas & Blessed New Year to everybody here. Enjoy the
festivities and please don't complain if you don't believe in
Christmas and/or New Year. ;PpPpPpP

Thank you and yes: I "believe" in all the pagan festivals.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

[keith]

Thank you and yes: I "believe" in all the pagan festivals.

Like April 15th? ;-)

 

[George Macdonald]

Like April 15th? ;-)

Yeah well that one's not static after the Catholic church adopted it but
December 25 too.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

[keith]

Yeah well that one's not static after the Catholic church adopted it but
December 25 too.

Ya' got to admit though, as pagan rituals go, even more money changes
hands on 4/15 than 12/25. The big difference is that the former is
not voluntary.

 

[nobody]

Being on the early side of the world, I get to steal the march on the
greetings pPpP

Merry Christmas & Blessed New Year to everybody here. Enjoy the
festivities and please don't complain if you don't believe in
Christmas and/or New Year. ;PpPpPpP

Thanks, but I just cant enjoy them this time around cuz they bite me
in my pocket ;-(
Before, when I was a salaried employee, I loved each and every holiday
that ment a long weekend - even M.L.King Jr. day. Now that I'm a
consultant and paid by the hour, these holidays come out of my own
pocket.
But anyway, happy holidays to you and everyone else who has the means
and the spirit to enjoy them.

 

[keith]

Thanks, but I just cant enjoy them this time around cuz they bite me
in my pocket ;-(

Then get a "real" job. ;-)

Before, when I was a salaried employee, I loved each and every holiday
that ment a long weekend - even M.L.King Jr. day. Now that I'm a
consultant and paid by the hour, these holidays come out of my own
pocket.

When my employer started recognizing MLK day, it was *great* news. We
went from 11 holidays to 12, with the caveat that none of the recognized
ones were named after people (Christmas, being the exception). The
"losses" were give over as "floating" holidays. This did three things...
One is that you can have whateve holidays you wish to observe. Two, the
plants stay open four or five days more per year. Three, some people tool
advantage of "their" holidays and took 'em off anyway (and all others).
It's now management descretion wheter to give anyone "extra" days off.
The *theory* is that you manage your "floating" holidays to suit your
beliefs.

They did the same sort of thing a half-century ago regarding sick days. I
get none. I simply don't go to work when I'm sick (though a call-in is
highly suggested . This does similar things. One, I'm treated as an
adult (I've missed less then two days per year, on average). Two, I
know I'll have whatever time I need, were I to be really sick (I screwed
up an ankle in a blizard moons ago and had a week at home in pain).
Three, "sick days" aren't mine. They're not to be used for "hookey".

I like both plans.

Of course you could work for a corporation (yours, of course) and pay
yourself as you would as another employee. You could then take holidays
(and vacations) off as is intended. BTW, I know several self-employed
people who do exactly this.

But anyway, happy holidays to you and everyone else who has the means
and the spirit to enjoy them.

You too!

 

[keith]

Ok, I'm lost again. I've googled for a list of holidays and 1 April is
obvious, 8th is a Buddhist one and 22nd is Earth Day. What's on the
15th????

The day every working stiff, in the US, with an IQ above room temperature
cries.

 

[The little lost angel]

Ya' got to admit though, as pagan rituals go, even more money changes
hands on 4/15 than 12/25. The big difference is that the former is
not voluntary.

Ok, I'm lost again. I've googled for a list of holidays and 1 April is
obvious, 8th is a Buddhist one and 22nd is Earth Day. What's on the
15th????

--
L.Angel: I'm looking for web design work.
If you need basic to med complexity webpages at affordable rates, email me
Standard HTML, SHTML, MySQL + PHP or ASP, Javascript.
If you really want, FrontPage & DreamWeaver too.
But keep in mind you pay extra bandwidth for their bloated code

 

[Never anonymous Bud]

Trying to steal the thunder from Arnold, [email protected] (The little lost angel) on Mon, 27 Dec
2004 03:21:20 GMT spoke:

Ok, I'm lost again. I've googled for a list of holidays and 1 April is
obvious, 8th is a Buddhist one and 22nd is Earth Day. What's on the
15th????

That's Federal Income Tax day in the U.S..

 

[Tony Hill]

Ok, I'm lost again. I've googled for a list of holidays and 1 April is
obvious, 8th is a Buddhist one and 22nd is Earth Day. What's on the
15th????

Heheh, I really couldn't figure this one out either! I figured George
was talking about Easter (not very Pagan at all), which sometimes can
occur on the 15th of April (as was the case in 2001), however it would
seem that in reality Keith considers paying his taxes to be some sort
of festival!

I'm not sure how "festive" tax day is, though I suppose it depends on
whether you're paying money or getting money back (I don't know how
often that happens in the US, but in Canada most of us working stiffs
overpay throughout the year and then get money back when we file our
taxes... though our tax deadline is the 30th of April).

Only Pagan holiday I know of in April is The Festival of Beltane, and
that actually is more on May 1. As for Christmas though, George is
quite correct that it is a bit of a Pagan festival, albeit slight
co-opted by Christianity. A lot of the traditional Christmas
festivities stem from the Pagan celebration of Yule, held on the
Winter Solstice (usually Dec. 21 or 22). Knowing this helps explain
things like decking the halls with balls of holly and decorating
evergreen trees, not to mention kissing under the mistletoe, none of
which have much of anything to do with Christianity.

Well, that's today's little bits of festival trivia.

 

[George Macdonald]

Heheh, I really couldn't figure this one out either! I figured George
was talking about Easter (not very Pagan at all), which sometimes can
occur on the 15th of April (as was the case in 2001), however it would
seem that in reality Keith considers paying his taxes to be some sort
of festival!

I'm not sure how "festive" tax day is, though I suppose it depends on
whether you're paying money or getting money back (I don't know how
often that happens in the US, but in Canada most of us working stiffs
overpay throughout the year and then get money back when we file our
taxes... though our tax deadline is the 30th of April).

Only Pagan holiday I know of in April is The Festival of Beltane, and
that actually is more on May 1. As for Christmas though, George is
quite correct that it is a bit of a Pagan festival, albeit slight
co-opted by Christianity. A lot of the traditional Christmas
festivities stem from the Pagan celebration of Yule, held on the
Winter Solstice (usually Dec. 21 or 22). Knowing this helps explain
things like decking the halls with balls of holly and decorating
evergreen trees, not to mention kissing under the mistletoe, none of
which have much of anything to do with Christianity.

Sorry but I disagree on Easter not being a pagan festival. It's all to do
with Gregory's solar, the Hebrews' lunar calendars, Passover and the Spring
equinox. The pagan ritual coincided with and was followed by planting
duties, shortly followed by the err, sacrifice of the Queen of the May
(C.F. the movie The Strawman)... and ultimately Harvest Festival (still the
name used in England) in the fall == Thanksgiving.

The name comes from Eostre which was the Anglo-Saxon name for the German
pagan festival named after Ostara, the goddess of spring, fertility, and
rebirth. When the religious authorities saw people having a ball, it
didn't take long for them to cotton on.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

[Keith R. Williams]

Heheh, I really couldn't figure this one out either! I figured George
was talking about Easter (not very Pagan at all), which sometimes can
occur on the 15th of April (as was the case in 2001), however it would
seem that in reality Keith considers paying his taxes to be some sort
of festival!

Oh, it's quite the festival. Everyone throws paper around for weeks
before and it culminates in everyone gathering at the post office at
11:59:59 on April 15. Much fun is had by all. You can tell by all the
tears of joy.

I'm not sure how "festive" tax day is, though I suppose it depends on
whether you're paying money or getting money back (I don't know how
often that happens in the US, but in Canada most of us working stiffs
overpay throughout the year and then get money back when we file our
taxes... though our tax deadline is the 30th of April).

That's the insidious thing about taxes. Whether you pay on tax day or
not, you *pay*. Some people really do think the government is giving
them something when they get *their* money back! When asked "what is
the maximum tax that people should pay", over half the people say "no
more than 10%". ...which shows how ignorant they are of the taxes they
pay.

What we should do is have tax day on the 15th (all taxes due, no
withholding) and elections on the 16th. Somehow I don't think this
one's going to fly very far in DC.

Only Pagan holiday I know of in April is The Festival of Beltane, and
that actually is more on May 1. As for Christmas though, George is
quite correct that it is a bit of a Pagan festival, albeit slight
co-opted by Christianity. A lot of the traditional Christmas
festivities stem from the Pagan celebration of Yule, held on the
Winter Solstice (usually Dec. 21 or 22). Knowing this helps explain
things like decking the halls with balls of holly and decorating
evergreen trees, not to mention kissing under the mistletoe, none of
which have much of anything to do with Christianity.

What about all the kiddies praying to the big guy?

Well, that's today's little bits of festival trivia.

Little bits? I though they were all the same size, just some
processors had more of 'em than others.

 

[nobody]

Ok, I'm lost again. I've googled for a list of holidays and 1 April is
obvious, 8th is a Buddhist one and 22nd is Earth Day. What's on the
15th????

The tax deadline, the favorite day of Big Govt worshipping Tax&Spend
liberals. If they could, they would take all the earnings of everyone
to the last penny, and then give to each as much as _they_ think
appropriate for that particular person in that particular
circumstances... Wait a moment, isn't this what Communism is supposed
to be?

 

[Tony Hill]

Oh, it's quite the festival. Everyone throws paper around for weeks
before and it culminates in everyone gathering at the post office at
11:59:59 on April 15. Much fun is had by all. You can tell by all the
tears of joy.

Whatever floats yer boat I guess! Might as well top it off with some
post-tax-filling drinking and merrymaking at the local pub :>

That's the insidious thing about taxes. Whether you pay on tax day or
not, you *pay*. Some people really do think the government is giving
them something when they get *their* money back! When asked "what is
the maximum tax that people should pay", over half the people say "no
more than 10%". ...which shows how ignorant they are of the taxes they
pay.

Either that or they just have some REALLY high ideals for the tax
system (though I'm sure they also want all the same services offered
now and then some... ohh and no government deficits either).

What we should do is have tax day on the 15th (all taxes due, no
withholding) and elections on the 16th. Somehow I don't think this
one's going to fly very far in DC.

Lol! Nope, I would guess not!

What about all the kiddies praying to the big guy?

We can at least partly thank rampant commercialism and Coca-Cola for
that one!

Little bits? I though they were all the same size, just some
processors had more of 'em than others.

Come one Keith, doncha know that this is what they're talking about
when they say things like "130nm" or "90nm" processors?! It's the
size of the bits! Of course the smaller bits have less mass and are
therefore easier to move around, allowing them to go more quickly! :>

 

[Keith R. Williams]

Whatever floats yer boat I guess! Might as well top it off with some
post-tax-filling drinking and merrymaking at the local pub :>

The sidewalks are already rolled up and put away by then.

Either that or they just have some REALLY high ideals for the tax
system (though I'm sure they also want all the same services offered
now and then some... ohh and no government deficits either).

Nope. They haven't a clue what *they* pay. They just look at the
bottom line and say "hey, the government is sending *me* money, not
realizing how much was sent the other way during the year.

Lol! Nope, I would guess not!

It's been proposed (not by any inside the beltway).

We can at least partly thank rampant commercialism and Coca-Cola for
that one!

I'd rather not thank Coca-Cola. Commercialism is good for the economy.
;-)

Come one Keith, doncha know that this is what they're talking about
when they say things like "130nm" or "90nm" processors?! It's the
size of the bits! Of course the smaller bits have less mass and are
therefore easier to move around, allowing them to go more quickly! :>

D'oh! <smack> How many bits fit on the head of a pin?

 

[chrisv]

Only Pagan holiday I know of in April is The Festival of Beltane, and
that actually is more on May 1. As for Christmas though, George is
quite correct that it is a bit of a Pagan festival, albeit slight
co-opted by Christianity. A lot of the traditional Christmas
festivities stem from the Pagan celebration of Yule, held on the
Winter Solstice (usually Dec. 21 or 22). Knowing this helps explain
things like decking the halls with balls of holly and decorating
evergreen trees, not to mention kissing under the mistletoe, none of
which have much of anything to do with Christianity.

Well, Catholicism is rife with Pagan rituals. The early Roman
Catholic Church incorporated these things to facilitate the conversion
of the Pagans.