December can be said to be the shortest month of the year, even though it has 31 days while a month like February has only 28. In the same vein, everybody seems to agree that January is the meanest month of the year.

And why is December actually considered a short month? It’s short for salaried workers because unlike other months, when workers have to endure a 30-day wait before pay day, December pay usually comes a little earlier, thereby making the month short and bearable for not-so-well-paid salaried workers.

In most corporate organisations, December pay usually starts trickling in from around the 17th day of the month, stretching up to 23rd. All employers and bosses worth their salt always see the sense to pay their workers before the festive season kicks in.

But there is a price to pay for December being such a short month: January. Because you received your full wages for December in the middle of the month, what this means is that the remaining half of the month will be deferred to the next –making January the longest month on the calendar.

Every New Year, salaried workers and corporate employees make resolutions in which they vow to learn from the previous year and "not play” with January ever again, but like they say, talk is cheap. It would seem that actually there are very few people out there that have mastered the art of smoothly navigating Jan.

Also this December, take some time off to reflect on the effects of new technologies and lifestyles on time-tested Christmas traditions and practices.

Before the advent of the mobile phone, people wrote letters informing relatives about their plans for Christmas. If the letter was through post, which was rare, it would be mailed as early as October, and depending on the location, would take weeks, even months to arrive at the other end.

The other option was to send the letter by bus, and hope that the bus conductor won’t get bored and simply toss the letter away.

The last and most popular option was that of simply hopping onto a bus and turning up in the village, unannounced. Usually, people would have been suspecting your visit to fall around that time, and that suspense and anxious waiting definitely added to the fun.

When the mobile phone arrived on the scene, all this had to go, as people embraced real time communication.

The mobile phone would soon sap out the novelty of Christmas travel, because what’s the big deal in travelling down to visit someone with whom you communicate with in real time, at the touch of a button?

Last year, I hopped on a big bus to Kampala and beyond, for Christmas. This time I’ll stay put, I think. After all, it’s not such a big deal around here as compared to places like Uganda and Kenya. On the contrary, here Bon Anne seems to be the real deal.