Jingle Bells

We had our work Xmas social today. Normally, it happens at our depot, an impersonal place at best with dirty concrete floors, trucks, fork hoists, assorted empty pallets & various assorted bits of freight that we somehow haven't managed to get out the door. It also usually happens on Xmas Eve & is a fairly protracted affair that doesn't end until the last of our Auckland trucks come straggling in, although I must admit that it will be sooner, rather than the way later that it has been for the last month. It's been a logistic nightmare getting all the freight down every night, & the boss & all the boys that do those runs have done well, sometimes not finishing till 2.00 in the morning. At least now, they don't have to unload their rigs like we used to. Now we have a 3 man night shift at the depot that does all that & our depot now functions 24 hours a day. We've come a long way.

So this year, our boss decided to hold the function at his home & hold it on a Saturday, which gives everyone a chance to be there & socialise in a very nice environment. The kids are very important too. At this time of year, they don't see their Dads as much as they would like, so todays do featured a bouncy castle, which was an instant hit, even though the boys tried their hardest to tip it on its side at one point, & a visit from Santa, with presents & sweets for all. Santa arrives ensconced in state on the back of the bosses toy, a wonderfully restored Ford Bonus pickup truck, painted white. Santa's arrival is my high point of the day. You see, for the last 3 years, since he started doing it in fact, I have played Santa. It's something I really enjoy doing & if I may say so, I do it well. Kids can be a tough audience & with something like Santa, you have to do it right or not at all, so I give it heaps & they love it.

My highlight of that, was when this drop dead gorgeous little 3 year old girl with beautiful straw blonde hair came up. I couldnt resist it & said to her, "Is it true that blondes have more fun?" Without any hesitation she replied, "Yeth!" Ohhh boy, is she gonna be a handful when she gets a bit older. Her dad is one of my special mates at work & quite often drops round for a chat on the weekend. Her mum is lovely as well. They moved down here from South Auckland 2 years ago & just love it. She earned a special place in my heart today by sitting next to Herself, listening carefully to what she had to say, looking to me for clarification if she couldn't understand & replying to her in a QUIET voice. Its all about dignity you see.

Meanwhile. Herselfs brother phoned. He is back from Japan & will be in Canada for Xmas.. The busy life of an Airline Pilot. He is going to come down to see us tomorrow afternoon. Also meanwhile, the count down is on for Mondays appointment with Neurology at Waikato. Its scary stuff.