Yule Blog

Yuletide greetings one and all.

PG's last comment set me thinking about my wish list. The twenty billion sterling we have spent on Xmas this year would make a good start. I daresay Santa would welcome a year off; the poor chap has his work cut out. 378 million children in 91.8 million homes (leaving out all the hindu, muslim, buddhist and atheist children etc). Parcel tonnage reckoned at 321,300 tons and delivery logistics requiring Rudolph and Co to travel at 650mph and allows Santa approx one thousandth of a second for each delivery (source: The Independant).

He seems to have managed the feat once again magnificently - even taking into account the re-direction notices we left in our fireplace and involving him in a 157 mile detour (sorry Santa). To be sure, we did track his progress using state of the art Pentagon military technology at www.noradsanta.org. Would that that was all it was used for!

The three wise men started it all off though they didn't have the luxury of online shopping nor of choosing the super saver delivery or gift wrap options. Do you suppose they would have wrapped the gold, frankincense and myrrh anyway? Were they in any sense 'wise' to set this consumer madness rolling into the future? Surely this is not what they intended it to become and maybe it is time for us to come up with an alternative strategy for next year. If that 20 billion could make some inroads into my wishlist, then that is a Christmas I'd be happy to sign up to.

Holiday suggestions for Santa on a postcard please.