December meme: The End. And the end of 2020.
And so 2020 is almost over. Just a few hours to go. I don't think anybody will be sorry to see the back of this year. Rarely has a New Year's promise been so longed for and welcomed. The first half of 2021 is likely to be as hard as the past 9 months, but there is hope that it will end eventually.
Without me noticing this week has flitted past and it is the last day of the year, so before it actually is 2021 for real, I thought I should catch-up with the yearly meme.
26 It’s Thank You Note Day/Boxing Day. Do you write hand-written thank-you notes or do you thank people for gifts in some other way?
Not really, because I tend to give presents in person and we open them immediately, so thanks can be given on the spot. This Christmas has been different, of course. Mostly we did doorstep present swaps, so were still able to do the opening and thanking in person, but a couple of presents were passed on second-hand and in those cases I did write to the originator.
27 No matter what holidays you do (or do not) celebrate, do you have a good recipe for leftovers? Post it!
Since I did not cook a Christmas dinner this year, I didn't have any leftovers. When I was a child the traditional Boxing Day dinner was turkey rissoles. According to Wikipedia a rissole "is a small patty enclosed in pastry, or rolled in breadcrumbs, usually baked or deep fried. ... In Australia and New Zealand, a rissole is patty of minced meat and other ingredients, without a pastry covering."
My family make them in the antipodean way and one of the treats on Boxing Day morning was getting to turn the handle on the meat mincer and pick at the minced bread that is put through after the meat to clean it.
28 Do you usually make a special effort to thank someone who does you a favour? How do you react when you aren't thanked for going out of your way for someone?
Yes; it would be rude not to.
As for people who don't thank, I suppose it depends how well I know them and how big a favour it was, meaning how much effort I had to put into it.
A stranger, I doubt the big favour thing has ever come up, so if there is a lack of thanks I will shrug and forget about it.
If it was a friend or a member of my family and a small favour, again I would put it down to momentary forgetfulness, or preoccupation and again I would shrug.
If I had put a lot of effort in to doing the favour and the person were a close friend or family, I would probably make a sarcastic statement like "Oh, don't mention it; you're very welcome." If that wasn't appropriate, I would try and ignore it and give them the benefit of the doubt, as above. But I will admit that if I'm stressed for whatever reason I am less tolerant. In that case I may be resentful and say something less sarcastic and therefore more cutting. I do try not to do that, but hey, sometimes we all get stressed.
29 Would you rather your life have a rewind button or a pause button?
Neither. A rewind implies a loss of the memories and learning acquired with time and I wouldn't want that, because it would just mean doing everything the same again and who would want to be caught in that time loop. It is tantamount to deleting your future.
A pause button would similarly gain me nothing. What is the point of freezing yourself? Again it is a negation of the possibility of the future.
30 If you could change one bad habit you have, what would it be?
*g* I'm not admitting to that in public
31 Do you prefer beginnings or endings?
Beginnings.
Endings are often melancholy. And even if they are not melancholy, preferring them involves thinking about them and that is all about looking backwards.
Beginnings are where the promise is. They are the unknown. They have possibilities. They are exciting.
Without me noticing this week has flitted past and it is the last day of the year, so before it actually is 2021 for real, I thought I should catch-up with the yearly meme.
26 It’s Thank You Note Day/Boxing Day. Do you write hand-written thank-you notes or do you thank people for gifts in some other way?
Not really, because I tend to give presents in person and we open them immediately, so thanks can be given on the spot. This Christmas has been different, of course. Mostly we did doorstep present swaps, so were still able to do the opening and thanking in person, but a couple of presents were passed on second-hand and in those cases I did write to the originator.
27 No matter what holidays you do (or do not) celebrate, do you have a good recipe for leftovers? Post it!
Since I did not cook a Christmas dinner this year, I didn't have any leftovers. When I was a child the traditional Boxing Day dinner was turkey rissoles. According to Wikipedia a rissole "is a small patty enclosed in pastry, or rolled in breadcrumbs, usually baked or deep fried. ... In Australia and New Zealand, a rissole is patty of minced meat and other ingredients, without a pastry covering."
My family make them in the antipodean way and one of the treats on Boxing Day morning was getting to turn the handle on the meat mincer and pick at the minced bread that is put through after the meat to clean it.
28 Do you usually make a special effort to thank someone who does you a favour? How do you react when you aren't thanked for going out of your way for someone?
Yes; it would be rude not to.
As for people who don't thank, I suppose it depends how well I know them and how big a favour it was, meaning how much effort I had to put into it.
A stranger, I doubt the big favour thing has ever come up, so if there is a lack of thanks I will shrug and forget about it.
If it was a friend or a member of my family and a small favour, again I would put it down to momentary forgetfulness, or preoccupation and again I would shrug.
If I had put a lot of effort in to doing the favour and the person were a close friend or family, I would probably make a sarcastic statement like "Oh, don't mention it; you're very welcome." If that wasn't appropriate, I would try and ignore it and give them the benefit of the doubt, as above. But I will admit that if I'm stressed for whatever reason I am less tolerant. In that case I may be resentful and say something less sarcastic and therefore more cutting. I do try not to do that, but hey, sometimes we all get stressed.
29 Would you rather your life have a rewind button or a pause button?
Neither. A rewind implies a loss of the memories and learning acquired with time and I wouldn't want that, because it would just mean doing everything the same again and who would want to be caught in that time loop. It is tantamount to deleting your future.
A pause button would similarly gain me nothing. What is the point of freezing yourself? Again it is a negation of the possibility of the future.
30 If you could change one bad habit you have, what would it be?
*g* I'm not admitting to that in public
31 Do you prefer beginnings or endings?
Beginnings.
Endings are often melancholy. And even if they are not melancholy, preferring them involves thinking about them and that is all about looking backwards.
Beginnings are where the promise is. They are the unknown. They have possibilities. They are exciting.