If you have a loo that leaks, a chair that needs upholstery or even a WoF for your car that must be obtained before Christmas Day, please heed my word of warning. Soon the tradespeople/wholesalers/suppliers will be chorusing: "It can't possibly be done before Christmas."
It's always said with a sense of foreboding as if you should have known that December 25 is just around the corner and that we should expect our entire business world to grind to a standstill.
And don't you just hate these pompous people who announce somewhere around Easter that they have done all their Christmas shopping?
It's only April but those pressies are already wrapped and ready to be popped under the tree.
There is an upside to being prepared early though as it's great to be able to go to a day-time movie on December 24 (usually with a maximum of about six people in the cinema), eat a very expensive chocolate-topped icecream and think about the chaos happening outside around the roads and the malls, where people are hot and get that tense, hunted look in their eyes as they search for last minute gifts.
We also have an obsession with having the house and garden looking particularly spiffing for Christmas Day - hence the rush on tradespeople from now. I find this hard to understand as within 15 minutes of the toddlers of the family arriving, the carpets are covered in cheeseballs and chips.
Most of the rellies who turn up for the Big Day are frequent visitors anyhow and if you don't believe in housework, they will have already grasped that fact.
For four years, I lived in Cairo, where December 25 passes very quietly - or as quietly as any day can in chaotic Cairo. The majority of the Christian population are Coptic Christians who celebrate Christmas on January 7. I used to gather a few expats together, but it just wasn't the same.
And I really missed that mad build-up in the weeks before.
Robyn Yousef is an Auckland writer
