Christmas Eve Vs New Years Eve...

Because I've been working for the same organization for almost two decades, I'm to the point where I get a lot of time off, and around the end of each year, it's a scramble for us to see which day we'll all have off. Some take the entire week between Christmas and New Years off. I don't know if I've ever done that.

But usually I have been able to take off either Christmas Eve or New Years Eve or both. This year, I worked both the days, and I didn't just work 1/2 days, I put in full-day shifts.

I've noticed some differences.

At the bus stop on Christmas Eve when I went to work, I was pretty much by myself. I think there were two of us who climbed aboard the Route 473 Express departing Farmington at 6:08am, and I think there were only six or seven people on the entire bus going into Salt Lake City. On New Years Eve morning this year there were many more cars in the parking lot and there were many twenty people on the bus.

A good rule of thumb--if there are few people on the bus, that translates to few people at work. There were fewer people working Christmas Eve than were working New Years Eve. In fact, it felt almost like a regular workday yesterday.

Working both Eves wasn't so bad. Both days were quiet and I was able to get a lot of work done. And I was able to have my own seat on the bus--both coming and going both days. But a quick check of 2016 tells me I'm going to have both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve off from work.

Because they're both on Saturdays this year.

Our Christmas Eve, 2014...In Pictures

The bus that arrives before ours pulled up this morning and opened the doors. Usually five or six riders board the big bus. Today there were none.

"Anybody on the bus?" I yelled through the door as I awaited our own bus to show up.

"Yeah," the driver said. "I've got two people!" I joked that I thought maybe his bus would be completely empty considering no one showed up at our stop. After chatting a bit, we wished each other a Merry Christmas and he drove away. When our bus finally came, there were four of us. There's usually fifteen or twenty.

That's just how it goes when one works on Christmas Eve.

The bus was nearly empty. So was our building. A few of us who either couldn't get the day off or chose not to take time off put our shoulders to the grindstone and stuck around. Several departments had treats (personally, those green and red doughnuts were very off-putting and that's a tough thing to do to a doughnut...). I even took a picture of my friend's empty chair and texted him the photo with the following message: 

“I see a vacant seat in the overly-lit cubicle, and a little keyboard without an owner. If these shadows remained unaltered by the future, the will to work will die.”

I'm sure Dickens would have written the same thing, had he lived in our day.

I did leave a few hours early so we could attend my brother's family Christmas Eve party, a tradition going back several years. We stopped off at a rock shop--not heavy metal, but gemstones--and I saw a Scooby Doo Green Machine. I just had to get a picture.

We also picked up a little pre-party food at one of the few Popeye's Chicken restaurants in Utah. If you're hungry and you happened to be near a Popeye's, I highly recommend it.

We entered the valley where my brother's family lives just as the sun was setting in the west. I wish my camera could capture just how beautiful it was.

At the gathering we ate, conversed, met new people. We even played a game or two. It was such a wonderful way to end this year's Christmas Eve. Happy Christmas everyone! I hope you all get enough sleep.