Is this a thing? (New year related)

Pawnless Endgame · 1 Jan 2019 at 20:53

Pfft. I sleep with the window open all year round in a tog 4.5, except for summer time when an air lock is fitted to my window for my air-con unit.

SexyGreyFox · 1 Jan 2019 at 22:40

Funnily enough I'm not superstitious and will gladly walk under ladders but something I always do is after midnight, so now New Years Day, I will walk out of the front door and walk through the back door. It's something my Mum had me doing as a child so I still do it for some reason.

aardvark · 1 Jan 2019 at 22:47

bainbridge said:
Hi GD

GF has just opened the window, it's freezing and when I asked why she replied: "It's to let the old year out".

What is this witchcraft?

congratulations, you got one of the mental ones - they are always much more fun.

Angilion · 2 Jan 2019 at 02:53

SexyGreyFox said:
Funnily enough I'm not superstitious and will gladly walk under ladders but something I always do is after midnight, so now New Years Day, I will walk out of the front door and walk through the back door. It's something my Mum had me doing as a child so I still do it for some reason.

In order to do that I would have to clamber through a couple of dozen gardens or break through a door, go through a garden and over a wall. I think I'll pass

Is there anything even slightly noteworthy about where the Earth is in its orbit at the moment? Or is "new" year completely arbitrary?

Participant · 2 Jan 2019 at 08:32

SexyGreyFox said:
I will walk out of the front door and walk through the back door. It's something my Mum had me doing as a child

Your mum had you going through her back door as a child?

h4rm0ny · 2 Jan 2019 at 09:48

Angilion said:
Is there anything even slightly noteworthy about where the Earth is in its orbit at the moment? Or is "new" year completely arbitrary?

Not really. It nominally aligns with the Winter Solstice which is when the Earth's axial tilt is at it's furthest away from the Sun. So for the Northern regions it's when the days begin to get longer. But we're wedded to our calendar with its twelve months and 28-31 days each so it's kind of an arbitrary outcome of our calendar system, I think.

dirtychinchilla · 2 Jan 2019 at 11:07

I heard that your house should be clean for new years day otherwise it's bad luck. Fortunately I don't believe in luck...the house needs a clean.

SexyGreyFox · 2 Jan 2019 at 18:00

Participant said:
Your mum had you going through her back door as a child?

Yes as I posted, she had me walking out of the front door and then walking through the back door.
I thought I wrote that!

Angilion · 2 Jan 2019 at 23:22

h4rm0ny said:
Not really. It nominally aligns with the Winter Solstice which is when the Earth's axial tilt is at it's furthest away from the Sun. So for the Northern regions it's when the days begin to get longer

Winter solstice would make sense, but that's a bit earlier than "new" year.

But we're wedded to our calendar with its twelve months and 28-31 days each so it's kind of an arbitrary outcome of our calendar system, I think.

I think so too. IIRC in the early years of Rome (the most immediate origin of our calendar), the first month of the year was much later anyway. Maybe the spring solstice, I'm not sure.