Christmas Eve Musings...
We stand at the threshold of Christmas day, and tomorrow, we open the door and enter the room, hoping for the very best this season can bring.
But all is not "Merry & Bright"...
**Oil prices snuck back up to over $77 a barrel due to a drop in the U.S. supply.
That's one story you might not hear, BUT will feel at the pump as you head over the river & through those woods to grandma's house.
**Another story is that our very own U.S. SENATE has given us an "early present" aka passed this clusterf$ck of a health care bill, when, in fact this nation is bleeding out JOBS faster than a hemophiliac with a ruptured artery!
Even the "Big Guy" at the North Pole isn't exempt from a recession, as evidenced HERE:
(from Jim Pawlak's blogspot blog: "Career Moves")
(( Tough times at the North Pole. With the global economy still slumping, Santa took a sleigh ride to Washington. Despite being criticized for flying in, Congress agreed that Christmas is an industry too big to fail – Santa got his TARP funding. Now he’s feeling the pressure from the government-appointed elves on his board of directors. As a result, early retirement, downsizing, and corporate restructuring will change Holiday traditions forever.
Ed Snowmaker, the board chair, issued this terse statement: "The streamlining of North Pole Enterprises is necessitated because Santa allowed the organization to get too self-indulgent. As a result, costs are out of synch with productivity. It could not respond to the market fast enough. The Board of Directors could not sit idly by and permit further erosion of the bottom line."
According to an elf with really big ears, here’s what’s really happening on Candy Cane Lane: Comet and Cupid "chose" early retirement packages. They hope their experience will transfer to jobs in the overnight delivery business. No delay in Santa’s gift distribution is anticipated because a sled equipped with a hybrid engine will offset the loss of two reindeer power.
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer will be taking Family Medical Leave in 2010. (The insider elf reports that Rudolph will fly to a rehab facility in Southern California. When he returns, his nose will not be red.)
As for further restructuring, the board says today’s global challenges require North Pole Enterprises to constantly evaluate the competitiveness of its operations and products.
Therefore, effective immediately, the following changes will be made in "The Twelve Days of Christmas" subsidiary:
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1. The partridge will be retained, but a plastic tree will replace the pear tree.
The Board cited annual maintenance costs (e.g. fertilizer, bug spray, pruning, etc.) and the fact that the pears did not meet expectations as a cash crop. The pear tree will be sold for firewood and a one-time gain will be added to the bottom line.
2. The two turtledoves represent redundancy. In addition, their on-the-job romance was a distraction to other workers. Their positions have been eliminated. Management is trying to place them in separate areas.
3. The three French hens will be donated to a soup kitchen. The donation will generate a $20 charitable contribution.
4. The four calling birds will be replaced by a CRM system using Voice Over Internet Protocol. Offshore technology consultants will determine the system configuration and choice of carriers based upon 3G coverage area.
5. The five golden rings will be auctioned on eBay because of the strong gold market.
6. Given the fluctuations in egg prices in global commodity markets, the six geese-a-laying are a luxury the North Pole can no longer afford. The three most productive geese will be retained as a market hedge. The other three will join the French hens at the soup kitchen; their donation will generate a $40 charitable contribution.
7. The seven swans-a-swimming have been terminated because of the costs associated with maintaining a heated pool at the North Pole. The swans will be sent to outplacement. They plan on relocating to a warmer climate.
8. The eight maids-a-milking have been replaced by automated milking equipment. The maids believe their employment rights have been violated; eight lawyers-a-suing filed a class action suit.
9. Nine ladies dancing and ten lords-a-leaping have been terminated because dancing and leaping do not contribute to the core business. Because the dancers and lords are under union contract, they will receive 95 percent of their pay for two years.
10. The eleven pipers piping and twelve drummers drumming is a band out of tune with current demographics. For now, a blues band from Chicago will supply the toy factory’s requisite background music.
Speculation swirls like snowflakes about additional cuts in headcount and costs. Santa may be next as Snowmaker grabs the reins of power.))
So whatever problem YOU may encounter this Christmas, know that they will pale in comparison to other folks.
As far as shopping goes...you're down to the wire, if you're still lacking all the gifts you wanted to snag.
And that means you better have some pretty sharp elbows, and a crapload of PATIENCE today, as many others in similar situations will be out there with you, trying their best to get done what you're trying to do.
It's not going to be pretty...trust me.
Then again, it's never REALLY all about the presents, is it? I mean they're just a symbolic gesture to acknowledge something MUCH greater than mere gifts, isn't it?
It's about each other, really.
It's about love...and being able to share that love.
Sure, we give and receive gifts as a "token" reminder of the greatest gift that was given to us all, and we celebrate the day by feasting, and in many ways, again offering THANKS for what we have, and how fortunate we are.
I remember times when just having one or two gifts under the tree was sufficient. A few Christmases were lean, as gifts go, but we made it through that, enjoyed a good meal, and knew that things were always going to get better.
Being an only child had it's perks. My parents didn't have to "split the bill" when it came to giving, but when your row house is heated with a COAL-fired furnace (that you, as a youngster were taught to watch over as much as mom or Dad), and you used newspapers to line the window sills to keep out drafts, and bled the air out of the radiators to keep them from banging at night, and you tend to get a unique sense of what it's like to savor those special Christmases...the ones where you're grateful to HAVE that coal furnace to keep you warm, and that roof over your head, and food on your table, even if it's not even some large ham or turkey. Chicken will do in a pinch...believe that!
Christmas is about family, and being able to enjoy the good as well as the bad.
When Christmas came to our house, it was measured by the care that went into making each one great, no matter how "lean" those times were. We measured the seasonal spirit by our level to enjoy each other.
Even if Dad's shop had a strike looming, it never got beyond our vestibule...not at Christmas.
All that nasty stuff was left on the front steps.
And for a brief time, all the angst, the trepidation, the worry took a holiday as well.
May that also be said of us THIS year at Christmas...
For ONE day...let's leave all the "bad" outside.
And let each one of us embrace Christmas in the spirit for which the season culminates.
**Lastly...tonight is the last showing of Disney's Prep & Landing on ABC (8PM), and the local station is showing my favorite version of Dickens Christmas Carol (Scrooge). We also have the 24 hours of A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, and (naturally) White Christmas.
And if you happen to watch ANY of these movies (or any of all the other great seasonal movies) take away this ONE THING from them...
Christmas...is about REDEMPTION.
And if we are to glean anything from any of these shows, it's that we might be best served if we learn to not only forgive our fellow man, but, more importantly...to forgive OURSELVES.
We're only human, and we do make mistakes.
Hopefully, we learn from that, but many times, we don't forgive ourselves...rather beat ourselves up for those mistakes.
Let THIS Christmas be the Christmas we begin anew...
Now...go spike that eggnog, and get that ham or turkey defrosted.
And wherever Christmas may find you, by all means...
Stay safe out there, America.
MERRY CHRISTMAS to each and every one of you.
And may God Bless You and yours.
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(Oh, and if you get to feeling down, here's a little something to cheer you up, because no matter how bad it might seem, it's always a tad worse elsewhere:
)http://www.moviewavs.com/php/sounds/?id=gog&media=WAVS&type=Movies&movie=National_Lampoons_Christmas_Vacation&quote=youregoing.txt&file=youregoing.wav
Catch 'ya on the flip side!