Christmas Spirit

Christmas time appears to be here in Austin.  I went to ride my bike yesterday morning out west of the city, on 360.  It was a good day for my particular route, with a very strong wind blowing out of the South.  I made my way as far south as I could tolerate, then hit 360 and blasted north with little effort.  Loop 360 is populated by Christmas tree vendors right now.  There was even a group of folks out decorating young Cedar trees with tinsel and garland.  (For those not familiar with Central Texas ecology, a young Cedar tree grows in a very pine tree like shape.)  That, along with the Christmas decorations going up in the neighbourhoods I ventured through, really helped to renew my holiday spirit.

That, and this being the first time I’ve worked in the retail industry I get to see a different side of Christmas.  We have a very intimate connection to the gift buying process, almost as the sole facilitators of the Christmas joy.  We’ll try on clothes for customers who aren’t quite sure of the right size to get, but know we’re close to the same size as their friend or family member.  We get to be part of the quirky covert-ops when couples shop together, and one has an impulse to buy a gift at that exact moment, while their partner is still roaming in the store.  We had a couple last night…  While one was putting a bike on hold with me at one end of the store, the other was buying a hat and scarf as a gift at the other end.  It’s fun.

My new passport arrived in the mail today.  It looks good.  On my old one, issued when I was sixteen, the picture made me look like a stoned child molester.  It was also before some pretty extensive orthodontic work done on my mouth, so my smile was pretty messed up.  I always regretted that the passport would be valid for as long as it was.  I took my own pictures for the new one.  And the passport redesign looks pretty awesome too; the America themed pictures on each page look remarkable.  I can’t say I’m too ecstatic about the RFID chip in the back though; I might smash it a few times with a hammer before I travel anywhere.  It’s not that I’m afraid my information being stolen (it’d probably be easier to just steal the passport than read the chip); when paired with an RFID scanning device, the book turns into a pretty solid “yes, I’m an American” beacon.  As the tech gets more available, and as Americans become more frequently targeted (see Mumbai, India), I rather not risk it.