It’s only a couple of years ago that the shelves and window ledges in our office were covered in beautiful, colourful Christmas cards. These days, I am almost afraid to admit, that our shelves are bare, but should quickly add that this is nothing to do with our popularity. The simple truth is that they have been replaced by e-cards, or Christmas messages sent over the internetweb-thingy. I must confess that for the last couple of years we are guilty of doing the very same ourselves. My best guess is that as companies tighten their purse strings and cut costs in these difficult times, that there is a considerable saving to be made in postal charges. Even sending a single card across Europe will cost nearly one GB Pound, or one Euro, and that’s excluding the cost of the card itself.

With the aid of a bit of Photoshop it is now quite simple to put together a nice picture with a friendly seasonal greeting – press the button on our computer keyboard, and presto, it is sent!

The reason I mention Photoshop is because it is now apparent that not everybody has access to this wonderful software. Take for example the main picture in today’s posting – an e-card received from our local Xunta (government office). Now, at this festive time of year you might think that they could select a slightly more joyful picture to send out, rather than the slightly bleak picture of their offices that they used. It look’s like a prison building with a bit of holly stuck in front of it. Not even a flake of snow to be seen!

Finally, there is the poor Pulpo guy, who was made to stick his head through a poster and have his picture taken disguised as an Octopus. He certainly doesn’t look too thrilled about it, and again the Christmas spirit is not exactly shining through…..

It’s only a couple of years ago that the shelves and window ledges in our office were covered in beautiful, colourful Christmas cards. These days, I am almost afraid to admit, that our shelves are bare, but should quickly add that this is nothing to do with our popularity. The simple truth is that they have been replaced by e-cards, or Christmas messages sent over the internetweb-thingy. I must confess that for the last couple of years we are guilty of doing the very same ourselves. My best guess is that as companies tighten their purse strings and cut costs in these difficult times, that there is a considerable saving to be made in postal charges. Even sending a single card across Europe will cost nearly one GBPound, or one Euro, and that’s excluding the cost of the card itself.

With the aid of a bit of Photoshop it is now quite simple to put together a nice picture with a friendly seasonal greeting – press the button on our computer keyboard, and presto, it is sent!

The reason I mention Photoshop is because it is now apparent that not everybody has access to this wonderful software. Take for example the main picture in today’s posting – an e-card received from our local Xunta (government office). Now, at this festive time of year you might think that they could select a slightly more joyful picture to send out, rather than the slightly bleak picture of their offices that they used. It look’s like a prison building with a bit of holly stuck in front of it. Not even a flake of snow to be seen!

Finally, there is the poor Pulpo guy, who was made to stick his head through a poster and have his picture taken disguised as an Octopus. He certainly doesn’t look too thrilled about it, and again the Christmas spirit is not exactly shining through…..