This is Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan of JoshiesWorld. I want to write a personal letter here to all of you and wish you a Merry Christmas, along with a few tips! I hope that all of you enjoy your Christmas this year; I know that it is not the usual Christmas that many of us accustomed to as we are in a horrible pandemic that prevents many of us from being able to be with other family members or friends, especially on this special holiday day. However, we should keep our distance from others because we do not want to be the ones that expose them to this horrible virus and risk them not seeing them again next Christmas. But the good thing is that there is a technology that allows us to celebrate with our family members or friends, which is virtually such as video chat and or making a telephone call to them. Yes, it is not good as not being there to celebrate with them in person, but we must keep them all ourselves safe to spend time together again next Christmas when this pandemic is hopefully over. The technology is there, so we should take advantage of that, at least we get to celebrate with our family members or our friends while at the same time keeping all of us safe. Even though it is Christmas, we just do it differently than what we have been doing for past decades. For example, one of us has been sending other people presents via shipping to get their presents safely and still enjoys having something for Christmas. It is a little bit like that can brighten up a person’s day on this particular day, such as Christmas.
Speaking of it is these little things that can brighten up a person’s Christmas day. There are a few ways that we can still celebrate without risking exposing every one of us to this terrible virus. If you and others are subscribed to Hulu, you all can watch a movie or television show together by using Hulu’s Watch Party feature. To use that, all you have to do is log in to Hulu on a device and then look for a watch party button right beside the play button, then click “start the party.” When you do that, it will give you a link for you to share with your family members or friends via text message or a messaging system, and from there, they click that link to open whatever it is that you want to watch then from there all of you would be watching the same thing that you see. Meaning, if you are a minute into the movie or a television show, so will they be too! If you play, pause or stop, they will do the same in others’ views as well.
For Netflix, there is a way to watch a movie or television show together, but it is a bit more complex than Hulu since Netflix does not have that feature built-in. Only the complex installs it, but the rest is easy once you have installed it, often via Google Play. But here is a how-to article by MakeUseOf for seven methods to watch Netflix together: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/watch-netflix-with-friends-far-away/
If you have an Apple device such as iPhone, iPad, MacBook, or Apple TV, you can play music or watch with your family or friends using a feature named SharePlay, which is a built-in the latest software update. Here’s a link on how to do just that: https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-use-shareplay-apple-iphone-ipad-mac/
There are many software or apps that you can use to celebrate with others which is virtual, and I know that is not celebrating in person, but at least these are here for us to have the ability to celebrate with others while keeping our distance during this pandemic! Such as Apple’s Facetime, Facebook Messenger group video chat (just create a group message on Facebook, invite your family members or friends, then click video chat), and many others.
We should take advantage of the technology offered out there to celebrate with other family members and friends, especially on a holiday day such as Christmas. It is better than nothing! But those of you who are already vaccinated and already took a booster planning to spend the time with your family members or friends in person – please be safe. We don’t want to ruin someone’s holiday by exposing them to a virus, don’t we?! It is safe, though, being vaccinated. The booster indeed enables us to spend our time with them in person. Still, we must keep in mind to try to be responsible such as not coughing directly at others, not sharing a drink or something with them, and whatnot, but at least you get to spend your time with them in person thanks to vaccines and booster. So, if anyone is unvaccinated, don’t let them visit, but at the same time, don’t keep them out, such as have an hour or a few video chats with that person so at least that person can spend a little time with someone on Christmas. They might be a bit upset that you don’t allow them (unvaccinated) to visit you for Christmas, but at least you do so knowing that you keep that person safe, so that gives you the chance to spend another Christmas with that person next year or whenever the pandemic is done which is better than exposing that person to virus then that person does not make it, and this would make it the last Christmas time you get to spend with rather than every more Christmases! I prefer more Christmases with my family members or friends than spending Christmas the last time this year. Again, as I said, every little of these things do matter, especially on Christmas or on holiday!
I know that this sounds that I am mainly focused on the vaccine, but I was not because all in my mind is that I want everyone to be safe and at least still be here for many holidays to come. This even includes you who are fans of JoshiesWorld.
My message of the day is: Merry Christmas and be safe!
Again, I hope you have a good holiday and maybe get some good presents. Merry Christmas of 2021! Don’t drink and drive either because that is dangerous too.
Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan.
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