Friday, December 23, 2011
For those who need prayers right now...
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
100-year-old Letter to Santa Found in Chimney
On Christmas Eve 1911, a brother and sister, who signed their names, "A or H Howard", penned their personally designed letter to Santa with their requests for gifts and a good luck message at their home in Oaklands Terrace, Terenure (or Terurnure, as the children spelled it) in Dublin.
They placed it in the chimney of the fireplace in the front bedroom so that Santa would see it as he made his way into the Howard household in the early hours of the morning.
A check of the 1911 census lead Byrne to believe the children were 10-year-old Hannah Howard and her seven-year-old brother Fred, who lived at the address with their parents and older sister. Link -via Metafilter
(Image credit: Eric Luke)
http://www.neatorama.com/2011/12/21/100-year-old-letter-to-santa-found-in-chimney/
Helen Keller
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Santa’s Voicemail Is Now Taking Calls, Courtesy Of Google [News]
Jane
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Yes, modern technology is responsible for some annoying holiday habits, such as texting at the table (even Mom is doing it now!) Yet it also offers some additional ways to share in holiday cheer – such as personalized calls to and from Santa.
He has a call center and if you'd like to give him a shout, you can do so by ringing 855-34-SANTA. Business keeps him from taking calls, but you can leave him a message. It's the perfect bit of holiday fantasy for those with children.
If you'd like Santa to respond, you can even create a custom phone call from Santa that can be sent to, well, anyone. There's a lot of custom options to choose from, and Santa should even be able to say the recipient's name, as long as it's a somewhat common name. Voice quality from the call is good enough to fool young children and amuse adults, so this is the perfect way to ramp up excitement for a big holiday gift.
Both the voicemail and the Santa call creation tool is provided by Google and offered free of charge to US and Canadian users. Google is hinting that Santa is conjuring up "an extra special way to spread the holiday cheer" – but they aren't unveiling what it is until we're closer to the 25th.
Source: The Official Google Blog
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Makeuseof/~3/INiUP5P7x0Y/
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Postal Service hosting public meeting on possible closure
aboessenkool@bakersfield.com (Antonie Boessenkool Californian Staff Writer) The Bakersfield Californian
Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:48:29 PST
Bakersfield post office officials will hold a public meeting Dec. 28 to hear comments on the possible closure of the local mail sorting facility.
The U.S. Postal Service plans to close about 250 processing facilities to cut costs. The closures and a proposed change in first-class mail delivery standards from one day to two or three are expected to save $2.1 billion a year. One of the facilities under review is the Bakersfield Processing and Distribution Center on Pegasus Drive.
The meeting will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 28, at the North of the River Veterans Hall, 400 Norris Road in Oildale.
An Area Mail Processing study will "determine capacity needs within the postal network in order to increase efficiency and improve productivity," according to a letter sent to major postal customers in the Bakersfield area.
It will establish whether consolidating mail processing in Bakersfield and Santa Clarita will be more efficient, according to the Postal Service's website.
Bakersfield postal service representatives will present the study results and ask for the public's response, said David Morrison, manager of processing and distribution for the Bakersfield facility.
The study won't involve a federal-level observer coming to Bakersfield, but rather will be done internally at the Bakersfield facility, Morrison said.
A private meeting is planned for this Friday to talk to "stakeholders" -- large postal service customers like mail presorting companies -- about the possible closure, Morrison said.
Dayna Nichols, CEO of Castle Print and Publication, said she has contacted city and county officials, nonprofit organizations and other mailing and printing companies encouraging people to participate in the meetings.
"Hopefully, we'll make a united stand and let the post office know how important the mail is to our businesses and community," Nichols said.
She said she and other big post office customers received notice in September that the Bakersfield facility was being considered for closure. But, she added, the opportunities to give formal input about the process have declined since a council of major postal customers in the Bakersfield area disbanded a few years ago.
Moreover, she said, there is short notice for the private meeting and timing of the public meeting just after Christmas make it difficult to organize people.
"We need to have the meeting," Nichols said. "To have four days to get the word out (for the private stakeholder meeting) is a little tough. There's a lot of people who this will affect."
Morrison said the meeting dates align with the timing of the study of the Bakersfield facility and that the time of year wasn't a factor in setting the dates.
The meeting dates closely follow the announcement from the U.S. Postal Service about the possible closures for a reason, he said.
"It (the meeting dates) is accelerated. We're losing a lot of money," he said. "For us to stay viable ... we've got to get going on this."
Morrison added that following the Dec. 28 meeting, the public will have 15 days to submit comments to the U.S. Postal Service about the Bakersfield facility's possible closing. Information on where to send those comments will be announced at the Dec. 28 meeting, he said.
Also being considered for closure are processing centers in Eureka, Long Beach, Pasadena, Redding, San Bernardino and Stockton. Closures have been approved for centers in Industry and Salinas and for mail originating from Stockton.