Happy Xmas

May I be (one of) the first to wish you all a happy Xmas for 2008.

I am typing this on my shiny old computer, which my brother has kindly resurrected for me with lots of hard work from him, and a new network card which we purchased today. I'm awfully excited as it's going to make working on it next term so much easier, and it means I get to use Windows less often (although I am still using Windows XP and have avoided the dreaded "Vista" like the plague) and am currently using a version of Linux. It's shiny, fast and isn't crashing which is nice. I'm a bit of a Linux novice, so it'll be a fun adventure.

When we were at the shops buying a network card, it really struck me that the credit crunch is indeed biting. The whole high street was much less busy than expected for the Xmas period, in particular for Xmas eve.

I visited the pub with a few old school friends too this evening. The pub was also way less busy - also a victim of the credit crunch? There were four of us (each of whom go back more than half my life) and I felt a bit alienated, and got the whole "I don't belong here, I don't fit in here, and the others have moved on" feeling. It changed a little when two of them left and I chatted to the remaining friend on my own. It felt like proper communication was happening and like I was getting something out of being there instead of us just turning up to the pub out of boredom/duty/nostalgia/habit. It was good to see them all though and good to see them happy, especially the two who were having problems in their life, and the remaining one is very happy and in love.

Happy Xmas to you all

AcidCat