h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Blerg. This month is going to be nuts. My direct supervisor just gave his 1 month notice, which means that: a) he's not supposed to be helping with any new cases; b) I'm competing to be his replacement with a friend of mine; and c) staff keeps coming to me with the questions they'd previously have gone to my supervisor with. (Currently exacerbated by the fact he's actually out of town at the moment).

I'm tired and cranky and I have a filing deadline today. Again, I say: Blerg.

My old corn husk angel is pretty tatty by now. I think I'll make a new one for this year's tree.

We used to do advent wreath-like candle holders for the table. One candle for each of the four Sundays. 3 purple and one pink? I don't know why I can't remember the color of the candles. My memory is seriously starting to worry me.

Then there were the Jesse trees during Advent. The custom in my parish was to make a tree out of bare branches, not evergreen, and hang one ornament each day of advent. Each ornament was to somehow represent one of the ancestors of Jesus.

There are four Advent candles lit on Advent Sundays in churches, but I think the window candle things are independent of that.

Do we know what the symbolism behind the window candles is?

We had a table decoration that had spinning angels hitting and ringing bells above a nativity scene, powered by four candles.

<BB<

Black rain on the way home today. People were walking on the lawns to avoid slipping and falling on the invisible ice.

Besides the electrical candles in the windows, there's often a more oldfashioned candle holder that's often used to decorate a table, with white moss surrounding the candles with, for some reason, tiny mushrooms in the moss. Four candles, mostly white.

http://tomtarojul.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/img_477428dff0298_22584344.gif

*Resists a four candles - handles for forks joke*

<BB<

Oh gods, George has come home for the second time in just over two weeks with his neck bitten, there must *something* attacking the poor thing.

Guess who's had to buy a litter tray and stuff? He's not going out until it's better. Warm salt-water baths for the wound, methinks. I did put Germoline on the last one (and it didn't seem to do any harm) but this one is rather massive so I'll wait awhile to do that again. He doesn't understand why we won't let him out

My tree, traditionally, did not go up until after my Birthday, which is this Saturday, but I think me and K will get it down tomorrow, we could use some Christmas cheer - I think I'll take the batteries out of Frosty (and the 'snow scene') until nearer the time. Mechanical songs are not good.

*guzzles *

I'd love a cuppa, BB -- I only have hot chocolate at night to help make me sleepy.

I got some windowsill candles at the Mighty WalMart the other year, but they are so cheap the weight of the electric cord drags them off the sill. I will decorate next week.

The bots are scheduled to bring in the goo spruce on the 14th. Apparently the trees have started holding a lottery to see who gets to come.

Lil, that's always been my experience with WalMart. Sometimes it's the only place to get what you need. But sometimes what you end up with is worse than nothing.

BB - Ose.

Lil, don't know if you can improvise this, but a little bit of tacky clay or blu-tac(?) should hold the candle in place...

I have my cards ready to go, but I have to get a few more stamps. You'd think the Post Office would get an infusion of cash this time of year, from those who still mail out their yearly Christmas letters, etc.

And, they could have designs for eCards to make up for those who won't mail cards anymore. I'd pay them happily, up to 75 cents or so each, for an eCard to help fund the institution. I'm just an old foggie, I guess -- I want the Post Office to survive!

My mother has a wreath with the "four candles, one for each Advent Sunday" setup, but with actual candles. She's also got this big sort of advent calender-box, with a compartment for each day and each box containing a little tree-ornament.

My father and stepmother have a plastic tree, because unlike my mother and stepfather, they don't live in the woods and can't really afford a proper tree every year. It's not about the exact composition of the tree, anyway.

I used masking tape to hold them down, the cheap candles.

Much warmer than yesterday here, thank bob. Landlady came to visit and I suddenly realized I hadn't seen a human being in 3 days. And I didn't notice because I was online most of the time.

J's big Christmas thing is nativity sets. She has at least half a dozen ceramic-type material sets that she puts up every year.

Car owners cursing

Carefully chipping off ice

Remains of black rain



And completey unrelated:

Are we still doing the Seuss Suits for last arrivals? If so, would the fact that I read all the backlog in this and the last conversation since midJuly qualify me for an exemption?

I see the mufflewhump basket got lost in the move... *brings in a new basket*

Weather-wise, Endor is just over there *waves vaguely southish*, though the last week has been clear and cold (for here--there was actually frost on the windshield at 8am). If anyone does want to come visit, I've given up predicting good times to do so, weather-wise, because this year has been all messed up--rain in June, chilly September and October (normally, the best 6 weeks span September and October, just to torture school kids and district employees). Thanksgiving was normal for the time of year, though--cold horizontal rain.

We've always had a plastic tree - never a real one. It's like a familiar friend. My wife's parents used to get a real tree, but they always dropped and one year that annoyed my father-in-law so much that he took the tree down on Christmas Day and chucked it in the bin when my wife was about 8. She was devastated and still says how that ruined the spirit of Christmas.

<BB<

This coming Sunday it will be exactly one year ago that a suicide bomber blew himself up in the centre of Stockholm, and some new footage from security cameras have recently been all over the TV news.

It seems that he made two attempts to trigger the explosives he was carrying while in the middle of the Christmas shopping crowd in the busiest pedestrian shopping street in all of Stockholm; Drottninggatan (Queen's Street).

Failing, he withdrew into a side street to fiddle with the mechanism and accidentally set it off, exploding the 4 kilos of explosives he carried on his chest, but left the 9 kilos he was carrying on his back intact.

He died immediately, and two people nearby were lightly injured. And that was all the damage he caused. I shudder to think of the results that might have been, had he managed according to plan.

Today's google doodle: Diego Rivera

http://www.google.se/logos/2011/Diego_Rivera-2011-hp.jpg

That's indeed a chilling thought, Ti