December 15, 2011
Dear Everyone:
Busy time here at
Santa’s Workshop…
I
have almost all the shopping done, thanks to being unemployed and
therefore having days free from pesky work-related stuff.
But I realized this morning that I had overlooked something very
important:
Toys for Tots.
At
work it was easy. Every
morning, as you came in; and every evening, as you left, there was a big
barrel just inside the building door to remind you of the
Food Bank and
Toys for Tots. I could just
put “peanut butter” on the weekly shopping list and pick up a couple of
those really big plastic jars (one smooth, one crunchy) and drop it in
the barrel on the way in to work.
Toys usually meant a trip to one of the discount department stores, but
that was easy, too. In fact,
a few times I gave $20 to a co-worker at lunchtime and got the receipt
afterward. Piece of cake.
And
my local chapter of ARMA used to have a food drive at each monthly
meeting. But that meant
remembering to stop and pick up those peanut butter jars before driving
up to Walnut Creek. Still,
pretty easy.
Now
I have to remember these things myself.
Of course, the grocery store has paper bags already loaded that
you can get for $10. But the
table is frequently empty when I show up.
And toys never make it onto the shopping list.
So
tomorrow, I’ll use the excuse to go to the Really Big Toy Store, which
just happens to be a block from one of my favorite lunchtime
restaurants, where I’m absolutely sure they will have Toys for Tots
barrels ready and available.
Grab the nearest Barbie Doll set and go.
Other than that, I wrapped presents on Monday, as many as were ready.
Then took them to the shipping company, which just happens to be
in the same town as one of my favorite lunchtime restaurants, and got
the
East Coast boxes packed and on their way.
Still waiting for some things that I ordered over the
Internet to arrive
so I can finish some more packages.
But so far, everything is right on schedule.
This morning I received “Frankie’s” annual Christmas Letter, this time
electronically. Instead of
leaning forward and squinting at the screen (despite it being a 24”
screen), I printed it to read.
That leaning forward is really hard on my back.
If
you find that you are “leaning forward and squinting at the screen”
while reading this, try a little Tip I recently discovered:
Hold down the Control (Ctrl) key and press the “plus” (+) key.
If you are using
Internet Explorer, the computer should
automatically jump the size of the text and pictures up a notch.
Ctrl+ makes it bigger each time, Ctrl- makes it smaller.
Just like
Alice in Wonderland with the mushroom.
Try it and see if you like it.
Don’t worry about using the “Shift” key for the “uppercase” +
key; the computer doesn’t care.
I
still have the Holiday Cards and annual
Donations to do.
Last year, I barely got the donations out before the end of the
year; the
IRS is so fussy about these things.
And I wasn’t able to use the Company’s “Matching Gifts” program,
which doubles the size of the donation, because I couldn’t get into the
office.
This year, as an official “Retiree”, I’m eligible to use the program and
even managed to get into it last month, after multiple attempts and
pleas for help. So that’s
all ready to go.
Ditto “Jeannie’s” Birthday present and card.
Hard to believe Christmas is only a little more than a week away.
I’m not sure if there will be another Letter between now and the
end of the year. So, just in
case…
Everyone have a Very
Merry Christmas and a Safe and
Happy New Year.
(Even if I do write next week.)
Love, as always,
Pete
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