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Cybermen Day
So, the Monday after Thanksgiving has been labeled “Cyber Monday” in reference to the online retailers’ version of Black Friday. The day is also well-known in my rural hereabouts as “First Day Of Hunting Season“. The first label is an excuse to slack at work after a long holiday weekend while the second is given as adequate reason to take off from work entirely.
Upgrade
We spoke at length about the many excellent Cyber Monday deals yesterday, so I won’t bother about that today. All you have to do is type “Cyber Monday Deals” into the search bar of your favorite browser:
The term Cyber Monday came up around 2005. The internet had gone through some iterations and increases in sophistication both technologically as well as among its users.
By 2005, kids who were born at the beginning of widespread use of the Worldwide Web were now in their teens. Running from store to store to find what they wanted was no longer going to cut it. What old school parents couldn’t find in a month of Sundays on the road, their kids could find in a matter of minutes online and could even present some pricing options.
There is an entire generation of people who have never lived without the internet at this point. As malls falter and close, internet retailers elbow them aside. It’s quite understandable but employers have kept up as well.
Back in the early days of Cyber Monday, spending a half day or even a day and a half shopping online instead of working was all the rage. With the increased sophistication of corporate firewalls, the overseers have more tools at their disposal to cut down on time lost to non-work activities. That’s fair, though. You’re being paid to work, not to anchor chairs to the floor. There’s plenty of time for shopping before and after work.
The deals are set up to target shopaholics, but a wise shopper can find deals throughout the day. Since more of the big name sites are set up to be mobile responsive, you can even shop on your smartphone during lunch break, smoke breaks (you really should quit) or even potty breaks. The sites are optimized to load quickly on any platform and facilitate fast and easy shopping.
Delete
The other version of the Monday after Thanksgiving is “First Day Of Hunting Season“. Clearly, this predates Cyber Monday by decades but a lot of people don’t even think of it this way anymore.
For those who do enjoy the age-old sport of hunting, getting out in the fields and woods for a day of relaxation and decompression from modern society is just the cure for a stressful holiday weekend. Unfortunately, no small sampling of these avid sportsfolk (yes, men and women) like to get their relaxation from a bottle of holiday cheer.
While a swig of the spirits can actually help one feel warm, the truth is that it’s not warming you at all and can actually hasten hypothermia. It’s one of the many ways in which alcohol dims your senses, so leave the booze for celebrating your adventure when you get back to camp.
Of course, being specific, today is the first day of Deer Hunting (Antlered & Antlerless) with regular firearms (rifles and handguns). There are other “hunting seasons” for turkeys and bear as well as for specific weaponry such as bows, crossbows, muzzleloaders, shotguns and so forth.
Be sure to wear your safety gear and get some quality cold weather clothing to help the day go smoothly.
Cyberman
You may have wondered about the previous section titles. These are catchwords from a classic Dr. Who adversary. The Cybermen are a race of cybernetic organisms who capture hapless humans, take them to their factories for “upgrade“.
The “upgrade” consists of sealing the victim in a metallic body and removing all emotion. Those who don’t make the grade are “deleted“. Also, when attacking an opposing force, the Cybermen chant “Delete. Delete. Delete.”
Why do I even bring these guys up? Why not? I’m a SciFi nerd way down deep at heart so I like to tie things together that seem to have no obvious relevance.
If I’ve picqued your curiousity, here’s a brief history of the Cybermen in Dr. Who lore.
The only enemies more dreadful than the Cybermen are the Daleks. This clip will show you why:
Whether you prefer celebrating today inside shopping online, outside hunting in the woods or in outer space fighting aggressive cyborgs, I hope you have a wonderful Monday.