1 December – Advent ... do nothing again

1st December has arrived so here we go again. Day 1 starts to get things into perspective: prune the Christmas Card list, make lists of what’s important rather than of gifts. Brenda has stocked up on cards so I won’t prune too much besides, relationships are important – even those we only re-establish once a year.

The gift list made me think about what is really important: friendships, working in teams, doing things together. I found some good ‘gifts for him’ in the Sunday Times last weekend. In these straitened times, it’s rather surprising that gifts like this are on anyone’s lists. So here is a list of gifts I don’t need:

A new watch: an Omega Terra XXX Small Seconds watch £13,200. If it had a full sweep second hand I may have considered it.

A new camera: a Leica M9-P £5,395. The lens is extra – and not quoted.

Underwear: Liberty Print boxer shorts £32. Not quite in the same league as the others. My friend Ian likes Liberty print shirts so he may approve of these... but probably not.




I also had an e-mail this week – I don’t think it was a spam – offering me an Aston Martin Vantage for only £699 per month. I was tempted until I saw the small print: deposit of £29,999 and last payment of £46,512. So another gift not on the list!

Does this help to put Christmas in perspective?