The rumor mill
Half fact, half rumor and half wild speculation
Ahhhhh. The sound of wedding bells were recently heard in the Christmas decorating world. Our very own Melissa at Christmas Done Bright found her high school sweetheart from 20 years ago thanks to Facebook and they were married last month. A special congratulations to the new Mrs. Davis!
A southerner (that’s anyone living below the North Pole) mailed me a video where some guy was saying to replace all your Christmas light fuses with nails. Hook as many strings together as you want and save big money not having to buy extension cords. This guy has figured out a quick way to determine if he has enough fire insurance for his home. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I learned long ago to never mess with electricity or Mrs. Scuttlebutt. Both have a vicious bite and can easily ruin your day.
I borrowed Santa’s sleigh the other night and a few of us weary elves took a joy ride to check out some of the really big Christmas displays we’ve heard about. Quite impressive! Santa will have no problem finding those houses on Christmas morning. We did see wild new effects on some of those computerized Christmas trees using the latest generation LED technology. Lots of shimmering and twinkling in the oddest ways. One of the PlanetChristmas super-geeks told me some of the computer controllers are still having trouble making LEDs fade like the old fashioned incandescent bulbs. Seems when an LED dims below about 50% it can act differently depending on the mood of Mrs. Scuttlebutt or the closing price of the stock market… in other words it’s quite unpredictable. All the software vendors have told me they’re working the problem and will add a bit more magic to each light channel very soon. Something like if the software knows an LED channel acts weird below 50% brightness, it doesn’t allow you to dim below 50%. Now that’s what a computer is supposed to do. In the meantime, enjoy the wild looking LED light shows for 2009!
The economy must be getting better because vendors are telling me after season blowout sales will be few-and-far between. Seems sales are better than anticipated. If you see something at a good price, grab it now because it won’t be around long.
I’m getting a whiff of freshly baked cookies. Mr. and Mrs. Claus have been extra nice to the elves this year… probably because we have to crank out more products with fewer of us in the shop. Several elves retired and backfilling those positions is tough. Are you height-challenged, have pointy ears and a big nose? Send your resume to HR. We’re hiring!
So much more to say but no more room. Don’t worry. I’ll be back! From all of us at Santa’s Workshop: Merry Christmas!
This article was included in the December 2009 issue of PlanetChristmas Magazine.
By Master Elf N. B. Scuttlebutt