Merry Christmas to all!
It was a busier Christmas Eve for me than usual. It began as I concluded an 11-hour sleep, uninterrupted as far as I know, which I desperately needed after another work week of 3-4 hour nightly naps. There was a little last-minute shopping to do, including going to the Danbury Fair Mall. Lord & Taylor is the one place in New York, or in this case Connecticut, where you can buy See's Candy. It's so far superior to the expensive Godiva junk, which has never impressed me.
Then it was back to New York, first to a relative's wine store for a little visit, and to pick up a bottle of Merlot to accompany the beef roast I will be cooking for Christmas dinner. Afterward, I took a long detour to Mamaroneck to pick up dinner, and around 9 I did something filed under "Better Late Than Never": I finally put up my Christmas tree. It just isn't Christmas without one. It's become a faithful old friend, a plastic tree I bought for Christmas 2001. It's not the same as a real tree, but there's no hassle of pine needles or watering, and each year I only have to disassemble it and return it to the storage closet for next Christmas.
Midnight Christmas services have never been my thing. Instead, I went to a dance club. My friend has helped manage it for a long time, and with our schedules for the last couple of years, it's about the only place we ever get to meet. What shocked me was how dead it was, as was Tuxedo Junction across the street. In fact, Lance was tending bar tonight instead of his usual duties. There were only a dozen of us there, including him and a few other staff. But, he said as he poured me a Drambuie (one of my favorite drinks), the owner insisted on being open for Christmas Eve.
I've previously emphasized a central point of Austrian economics, that people tend to make economic decisions rationally. That doesn't mean the decisions are always correct (or more precisely, that they turn out to be the most efficient choices), but that doesn't preclude the decisions being made rationally. In this case, the club owner was likely incorrect to believe that there would be enough business to justify opening. However, because he was dealing with money, and in fact a significant quantity of his own money, he did not arrive at his decision emotionally or without thought: it was an economic calculation.
Then it was back to New York, first to a relative's wine store for a little visit, and to pick up a bottle of Merlot to accompany the beef roast I will be cooking for Christmas dinner. Afterward, I took a long detour to Mamaroneck to pick up dinner, and around 9 I did something filed under "Better Late Than Never": I finally put up my Christmas tree. It just isn't Christmas without one. It's become a faithful old friend, a plastic tree I bought for Christmas 2001. It's not the same as a real tree, but there's no hassle of pine needles or watering, and each year I only have to disassemble it and return it to the storage closet for next Christmas.
Midnight Christmas services have never been my thing. Instead, I went to a dance club. My friend has helped manage it for a long time, and with our schedules for the last couple of years, it's about the only place we ever get to meet. What shocked me was how dead it was, as was Tuxedo Junction across the street. In fact, Lance was tending bar tonight instead of his usual duties. There were only a dozen of us there, including him and a few other staff. But, he said as he poured me a Drambuie (one of my favorite drinks), the owner insisted on being open for Christmas Eve.
I've previously emphasized a central point of Austrian economics, that people tend to make economic decisions rationally. That doesn't mean the decisions are always correct (or more precisely, that they turn out to be the most efficient choices), but that doesn't preclude the decisions being made rationally. In this case, the club owner was likely incorrect to believe that there would be enough business to justify opening. However, because he was dealing with money, and in fact a significant quantity of his own money, he did not arrive at his decision emotionally or without thought: it was an economic calculation.
posted by Perry Eidelbus at
2:47 AM
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