So it appears that Mur has been [laid off by her company right before the holidays](http://www.murlafferty.com/blog/?p=54). Even we non-Christmas-celebrating folks know that *that’s* not right. What a bunch of Scroogey McScroogersons!

Fortunately it sounds like Mur is doing all the right things, which almost as valuable as cold, hard cash. Even better, she has a severance package, which as it turns out is *exactly* as valuable as cold, hard cash.

Now as a [veteran of the Silicon Valley layoff scene](https://www.goer.org/2002/11/riffed.html) (seriously, there’s a scene, with red carpets and paparazzi and everything), I feel qualified to offer Mur some advice. Specifically about that severance package. See, Mur might be tempted to run off and spend that money on something irresponsible, like videogames. In particular, she might be looking at Rock Band Special Edition with guitar, drum set, and microphone. Oh sure, it *sounds* like it would be fun to have a Christmas morning jam session with your husband and daughter, where right as the final chords are fading away, you all extend a Lafferty Family upraised middle finger, “Merry Christmas, you spineless incompetent corporate bastards!”

But think about it — would that actually be *spiritually satisfying*? Would that bond you as a family? I think the question answers itself. Far better to put that money into something responsible. Like T-bills! Or wheat germ!

As an aside, Mur also suggests playing Arkham Horror over the holidays. Once again, I would argue that Cthulhu-based games are insufficiently light-hearted and family-oriented during this time of great crisis and international brou-ha-ha and so forth. To quote Joshua Falken, perhaps the best and most famous game reviewer of all time, “How about a nice game of Quirkle?”