Heading Into The Final Stretch

Its not long now until the Christmas Eve operation will be fully in swing. The days here at the North Pole are growing very hectic. It is all very well organized but with elves, reindeer, and other workers scurrying every which way through and between facilities, the average on-looker would think its total chaos.

Most everyone is working 18 hour shifts at this point, with the exception of the main reindeer team. As we enter this final week, we move to 3 overlapping 18 hour shifts. The result is that we get 54 hours of productivity out of every day instead of the normal 24. I know it sounds tiring but the excitement and anticipation of Christmas Eve is more than enough to keep everyone going. Besides, it really is a labor of love by everyone here at the North Pole.

The main reindeer team, led by Rudolph of course, are actually cutting back their schedule. They have been training an average of 12 hours a day, with some peak days approaching 18 hours, for the past 4 weeks as part of their annual fitness preparation. If you could see their training regimen, you would be awed. They fly sprints, they pull massive amounts of weights, they make long endurance flights, they fly obstacle courses, and they swim... for hours and they do all of it both individually and also reined up as a team. And when they are training, they are in the training room getting treated for minor aches & pains or in the dining room trying to replenish the enormous amount of calories they burn during the course of the training. But at this point, they are tapering down their schedule so they can be rested for Christmas Eve. They are starting to mix in stretching and yoga into their schedule, fly much shorter routes, avoid any weight training, and getting daily massages. They love this week every year! The good news is, they all look incredibly healthy and ready to go!

As for me, I'm working between 20 and 22 hours a day. Yeah... I know it sounds crazy but I feel great. And its the only way I can get out and see all you kids while still overseeing the whole North Pole operation. I just wish I had a little more time to contribute to the blog here. Please know that I am going to get to responding to some of the questions and answers early this next week, before Christmas.

Ok... that's it for now as I have to catch a flight to Asia. I'm going to inspect our outsourced China and India production facilities this evening (its morning there) before I come back for our end of day staff meeting.

Be good! Don't forget... I know if you have been naughty or nice.