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In Russia, we have a lot of holidays. Some think we have way too many holidays, but I’m kinda used to it, so I’m not fit to judge.

Most of Russia doesn’t observe Christmas on December, 25 (the prevalent church here is the Russian Orthodox who never switched to Gregorian calendar, so Christmas is January, 7). However, the USSR legacy (they tried to make the church-related holidays obsolete by introducing the non-church-related holidays about vaguely the same dates) of celebrating The New Year on January, 1, combined with the modern Russian return-to-roots state-wide celebration of Christmas, results in the state-sanctioned holiday (think of it as “bank holiday” in Western terms) spanning most of the first half of January.

This year, we have the official holidays (again, think “bank holiday”) spanning from December, 29 (a Sunday anyway) right up until and including January, 8. A lot of people (including anyone on the state payroll) are not required to work for 11 days straight! This comes with a price, though: by the state regulation, Saturday, December, 28 is a full-scale business day.

Of course, the six-day working week is the source of all kinds of memes. People don’t like working the extra day, and the Internet is full of it. I find myself in disagreement (putting it mildly) with the populace at large.

I have plans for the Saturday. There are things that are better done before this week-and-a-half-long break starts. Of course, we don’t plan to introduce any significant changes to our systems right before the gap. Still, the systems I’m in charge of need some fine-tuning that would allow the person on duty (not necessarily myself every day) to sleep better. I’m not a workaholic, and I’m not planning to work throughout the holidays, mind you. Yet, ultimately, there’s a lot of work to make our systems work better, and I intend to do some of it tomorrow because the earlier it’s done, the happier the users — people! — will be. Tomorrow, I will gladly go work.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is: I wish you all, in the coming year, to be as happy and involved in what you’re in charge of doing as I am right now. And I wish you to enjoy doing something people at large need and are willing to pay for. If you succeed in balancing that with taking a good time caring for those you care about, you are guaranteed to be happy, and I wish you that, too, with all my heart.

Happy New Year, and may your year be a happy and enjoyable experience! Unleash you inner happy child, the world does need it.