Skip to main content

A 5G Christmas

In this episode - A 5G Christmas . . .


Eureka! Did you know, that YouTube still archives the Norelco Santa commercials for all to enjoy during the Christmas season! What? Who cares?

Face it; there's comfort in cherished memories that make the holidays special. Was it that long ago? I remember when you could turn on the TV and catch Santa cruising down the snow-covered slopes riding his triple-head Norelco electric shaver.

Ha, ha, before your time? No problem, just say, "Hey Siri, show me Norelco Santa commercials on YouTube.

How can you help but notice, that this year, the commercials are all about 5G! "Black Friday is better with our 5G phones." Thanksgiving is now a memory, and Yes, "Christmas - is - just around the corner."

During my kid days - just around the corner - meant Main Street, and our local stores on the square – Ben Franklins, Marshall's, Coxs Corner, and of course, there was Santa Land. Walmart, no such animal.

We would step into Christmas by first mailing our letters to Santa at the local Post Office (keep in mind "uptown" was only a few blocks). Starting at $9.95, you can order a letter from Santa at Santa Claus House, North Pole, Alaska.

The days of visiting the local post office, holiday shopping on the "square," and ogle through holiday window displays are over. The toys we wanted Santa to bring are gone. Well, not completely you can still find them on e-Bay.

Beware, the toys have morphed, instead of a Daisy BB gun, Hot-Wheels track, Easy-Bake Oven, or a G.I. Joe, now it's the latest tech, a streaming subscription, underwear, airline tickets, socks, and home appliances.

And what about Christmas decorations? Thankfully, there are no more timers to mess with; just plug your Holiday lights into an automated plug controlled by your smart device.

"Shopping Online" that's such an outdated practice; 5G cellular has replaced Wi-Fi, "Who has time for the internet." Check your e-mail inbox; I'll bet it's flooded with holiday promotion ads. "Extended Black Friday: Can't-Miss Deals – Shop Now!" For deep discounts, click here.

And a tree? Order your fresh Christmas Tree from your phone and have it delivered, set up, and decorated right in your home. Don't believe me; search for TaskRabbit.

Come to think of it, how would Charles Schulz have written A Charlie Brown Christmas in 2021?

"I suggest we try your iPhone, Charlie Brown," "Hey Siri, where can we get a fresh Christmas tree?" GRABHUB!

Ok, ok, reality check, A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired - in December 1965. I'll admit, it's still one of my favorite holiday programs. With 5G, you can stream it on your tablet or phone from anywhere. Yes, things have changed a lot over the years, but not the commercialism that Schultz depicted.

Now the statement, "Christmas is just around the corner," is followed by "Get it in gear, Turkey, finish your Christmas shopping!"

So, as you step into Christmas, do yourself a favor; please take two minutes this holiday season to listen to Linus as he recites from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2 verses 8 through 14 from the Authorized King James Version:

"Lights, please. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for, behold, I bring you tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace goodwill towards men."

. . . "That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

I'm Patrick Ball; thanks for listening. See you in the next episode.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular of All Time

The Gopher Problem and the High Powered Solution

Vacationing in Maine this week, just a short drive down the coast from Freeport, it is hard not to think about the outsized impact one frustrated outdoorsman had on the gear we all use today. Bad equipment can ruin a perfectly good day on the water or the trail, but it takes a special kind of vision to turn cold feet into a century-old empire. This is the story of the company we now know as L.L.Bean, but more importantly, it is a masterclass in integrity, learning from failure, and standing behind your work. In 1912, Leon Leonwood Bean faced a persistent problem: returning from expeditions in the Maine woods with cold, wet feet. Instead of complaining, he got creative. He had a local shoemaker stitch waterproof rubber soles onto the flexible leather uppers of a hunting boot. He called it the Maine Hunting Shoe and mailed a flyer promising perfect satisfaction. Then reality arrived. Ninety of his first 100 pairs failed when the rubber separated from the leather. Not an effective product...
Post a Comment
Read more

Beyond Facts-The Deep Dive

✨ In this episode, Beyond Facts: Reimagining School–in the Age of AI . . .   This week's podcast is a bit different; it's another example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer tools to creatively enhance your analytical presentation of information. We took this week's blog and copied it into Gemini with the question, “If a story is to work, it must, on some level, create an illusion of escape and also achieve a goal simultaneously. Does this apply to my blog post that follows?” What's created is not just an analysis of the writing, but an AI-generated discussion produced “On the Fly” - Enjoy! Did you know that the word "school" comes from the ancient Greek word scholē , which originally meant "leisure"? Not a rigid schedule or droning lectures filled with "facts," but free time for thinking and conversation. To the Greeks, learning happened best when life slowed down—when you had room to reflect, to ask questions, and to wrestle ...
4 comments
Read more

Stamps and Snow

In this episode, Stamps and Snow . . .   You don’t usually walk into the local Post Office expecting a time warp . . . but here we are. All we wanted were stamps for this year's Christmas cards— yes, the old-fashioned paper ones that require licking, sticking, and hoping the Postal Service is feeling ambitious this week. But holiday errands have a talent for slowing you down, almost like the universe whispering, “Relax. You’re not getting out of this line any faster anyway.” So we waited. And while we waited, we talked (Are you surprised?). Because the Post Office is one of the few places where people still look up from their phones long enough to talk . . . Maybe it's because they're holding packages. It’s the modern town square: part civic duty, part free entertainment, part sociology experiment. The discussion began with holiday specials streaming on Netflix, Paramount+, and other services during this time of year. One gentleman who has lived in Vista since 1958 told us,...
3 comments
Read more

A Dog, a Beer . . . and the Ghost of 1912

Whenever you step into an American cathedral of our National Pastime built before modern ergonomics, municipal zoning, or crowd-flow dynamics, an unspoken understanding forms, creating a welcoming, timeless atmosphere. You trade legroom, sensible corridors, and personal space for the privilege of communing with ghosts. Last week, Lori and I made our pilgrimage to Fenway Park to watch our Chicago Cubs take on the Boston Red Sox (a taut 0–2 contest that felt spiritually tied to their 1918 World Series meeting). Staying just across the Charles River at the Courtyard Marriott in Cambridge gave us one immeasurable tactical advantage: we walked. While the automotive gridlock around Kenmore Square took on the character of the Siege of Yorktown—horns echoing across the asphalt like musket fire—we simply strolled across the Boston University Bridge, enjoying the river breeze and feeling smugly superior to everyone trapped behind a steering wheel. Fenway, built in the spring of 1912, holds rough...
Post a Comment
Read more