Cedar Mill Communications

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Here’s wishing everyone around the world a Happy New Year, or they say in Germany: einen guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr! That means a good slide into the new year, as opposed to say walking or running into the new year.  After new year, the saying changes to Prosit Neujahr.

When we first moved to Germany we had a hard time figuring out why people kept wishing us a good slide, but eventually we figured it out.  In the US, New Year’s eve is mostly about drinking and partying. In Germany, it was more like fourth of July. People (us included) used to hang out on hillsides and light off fireworks for a couple of hours. These were serious rockets and it made for some impressive displays.

In any case, no matter where you are and your customs, hope your 2009 gets off to a great start. For fun, here is what people around the world are saying:

English- Happy New Year .
Afgani- Saale Nao Mubbarak
Afrikaans- Gelukkige nuwe jaar
Albanian- Gezuar Vitin e Ri
Armenian- Snorhavor Nor Tari
Arabic- Kul ‘am wa antum bikhair
Assyrian- Sheta Brikhta
Azeri- Yeni Iliniz Mubarek!
Bengali- Shuvo Nabo Barsho
Breton- [Celtic Brythonic language] Bloavezh Mat
Bulgarian- ×åñòèòà Íîâà Ãîäèíà(pronounced “Chestita Nova Godina”)
Cambodian- Soursdey Chhnam Tmei
Catalan- FELIÇ ANY NOU
Chinese- Xin Nian Kuai Le
Corsican- Language Pace e Salute
Croatian- Sretna Nova godina!
Cymraeg- (Welsh)Blwyddyn Newydd Dda
Czech- Šťastný Nový rok (or Stastny Novy rok)
Denish- Godt Nytår
Dhivehi- Ufaaveri Aa Aharakah Edhen
Dutch- GELUKKIG NIEUWJAAR!
Eskimo- Kiortame pivdluaritlo
Esperanto- Felican Novan Jaron
Estonians- Head uut aastat!
Ethiopian:- MELKAM ADDIS AMET YIHUNELIWO!
Finnish- Onnellista Uutta Vuotta
French- Bonne Annee
Gaelic- Bliadhna mhath ur
Galician- [NorthWestern Spain] Bo Nadal e Feliz Aninovo
German- Prosit Neujahr
Georgian- GILOTSAVT AKHAL TSELS!
Greek- Kenourios Chronos
Gujarati- Nutan Varshbhinandan
Hawaiian- Hauoli Makahiki Hou
Hebrew- L’Shannah Tovah
Hindi- Naye Varsha Ki Shubhkamanyen
Hong kong- (Cantonese) Sun Leen Fai Lok Afgani Saale Nao Mubbarak
Hungarian- Boldog Ooy Ayvet
Indonesian- Selamat Tahun Baru
Iranian- Sal -e- no mobarak
Iraqi- Sanah Jadidah
Irish- Bliain nua fe mhaise dhuit
Italian:- Felice anno nuovo
Japan:- Akimashite Omedetto Gozaimasu
Kabyle:- Asegwas Amegaz
Kannada:- Hosa Varushadha Shubhashayagalu
Kisii:- SOMWAKA OMOYIA OMUYA
Khmer:- Sua Sdei tfnam tmei
Korea:- Saehae Bock Mani ba deu sei yo!
Kurdish:- NEWROZ PIROZBE
Latvian- Laimīgo Jauno Gadu!
Lithuanian:- Laimingu Naujuju Metu
Laotian:- Sabai dee pee mai
Macedonian- Srekjna Nova Godina
Madagascar- Tratry ny taona
Malay- Selamat Tahun Baru
Marathi :- Nveen Varshachy Shubhechcha
Malayalam :- Puthuvatsara Aashamsakal
Mizo- Kum Thar Chibai
Maltese- Is-Sena t- Tajba
Nepal- Nawa Barsha ko Shuvakamana
Norwegian- Godt Nyttår
Papua- New Guinea Nupela yia i go long yu
Pampango- (Philippines) Masaganang Bayung Banua
Pashto- Nawai Kall Mo Mubarak Shah
Persian- Sal -e- no mobarak
Philippines- Manigong Bagong Taon!
Polish:- Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Portuguese- Feliz Ano Novo
Punjabi- Nave sal di mubarak
Romanian- AN NOU FERICIT
Russian- S Novim Godom
Samoa- Manuia le Tausaga Fou
Serbo- Croatian Sretna nova godina
Sindhi- Nayou Saal Mubbarak Hoje
Singhalese- Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Siraiki- Nawan Saal Shala Mubarak Theevay
Slovak- Stastny Novy rok
Slovenian- sreèno novo leto
Somali- Iyo Sanad Cusub Oo Fiican!
Spanish- Feliz Ano ~Nuevo
Swahili- Heri Za Mwaka Mpyaº
Swedish- GOTT NYTT ÅR! /Gott nytt år!
Sudanese- Warsa Enggal
Tamil- Eniya Puthandu Nalvazhthukkal
Tibetian- Losar Tashi Delek
Telegu- Noothana samvatsara shubhakankshalu
Thai- Sawadee Pee Mai
Turkish- Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Ukrainian- Shchastlyvoho Novoho Roku
Urdu- Naya Saal Mubbarak Ho
Uzbek- Yangi Yil Bilan
Vietnamese- Chuc Mung Tan Nien
Welsh :- Blwyddyn Newydd Dda!

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The Northwest has been hit with the worst snow storm in 40 years. The snow was fun and exciting at first, but now it has degraded to yuck, as you can see in this pic:

Like many things in life, too much of something — even something good — can be too much.  Too much snow leads to yuck. Too much rain lead to floods. Too much sunshine leads to drought (but I wouldn’t mind a little about now).  Some things are bad even in small doses, for example, McDonalds. Other things can be endlessly good such as carrots or broccoli. 

Despite the snow and ice and the economic onslaught, we managed to have a merry Christmas and are looking forward to a fun New Year’s celebration.  In the gifting department, I thought gadgets would be down, but it seems that gadgets are such a part of our lives we give them without even realizing it. Two folks got spiffy digital cameras, we gave one daughter a purple ipod, the other got a pink DVD player and Mary got a high-tech squirrel-flinging bird feeder.  Look for photo/video of the latter. Should provide much entertainment.

Stay warm and dry and Happy New Year.

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Mortgage foreclosures proliferating like mushrooms in a Northwest forest didn’t do it. The meltdown of financial giants AIG, Fannie and Freddie and who-knows-who’ll-be-next didn’t do it. The stock market plunge that decimated retirement accounts and confidence didn’t even do it. It took a cold hard statistic to mark what we’ve all know for months — the R word, recession. The economy grinding to a standstill.

These are the times that try men’s (and women’s) souls. How prescient Thomas Paine was when he wrote that in 1776. He was talking about the American Revolution, but he just as easily could have been speaking about our economic crisis. The line comes from a pamphlet titled The American Crisis.

I’ve often thought that once we launched our businesses way back in 2004 that we’d be immune from the bane of the modern American worker — layoffs. Having experienced that in our younger years, once just after we bought our first house, we toasted our courage to write our own business plan, free from capricious bosses and pink slips.

Ok, sure we can’t be laid off, but business can dry up as our clients retrench, hunker down, wait it out, and as one client put it simply survive. Survival’s a good thing for all of us. It helps pay the bills and keeps the roof over our computers.

This is one time in which I’d actually like to have a group of colleagues — and some accounting whizzes — that could put together a survival plan. The best we can do is make like our Wall Street counterparts and diversify. Make sure we’ve got lots of clients so the pain of losing one doesn’t spell disaster. And, of course, keep the ones we’ve got exceedingly happy!

Paul Krugman, the Nobel laureate, guesses we’ll have to endure another year at least of the R word. A year doesn’t seem so long. Does it?

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