Fifty Plus (50+) - Will Santa Be One Reindeer Short This Year?

Here's an odd occurrence that happened in my fair city last night.

www.ohio.com/news/break-news/police-officer-firefighter-rescue-reindeer-that-landed-on-busy-highway-in-norton-with-audio-1.251319

Apparently (from the article, at least) it wasn't the flying sort of Reindeer, so no worries for Santa and Co.

Rick / OCRR

Sorry but this is very apt and just shows one of the problems that Santa is having this year. Way back in March he had to lay off a few of his Elves as there were not enough orders coming in for this year’s production. Then around June he found out that two of his reindeer were pregnant and wouldn’t be able to do the Christmas run. No time to acquire and train up new staff so he would have to call in some of his recently retired staff to man the sleigh this year and you know what these 50+ers are like- cantankerous lot at the best of times.

By September he was getting worried as the supply of good quality Chromoly double butted steel for his better quality toys had dried up and he had to make do with Aluminium. Come November he started training the reindeer and he found out that the new sleigh had a couple of cracks around the runners and the repair man got a shock when he found out that Carbon Fibre does not like a welding gun. Luckily- DHL managed to supply his replacement that he got from PBK in just a few days and The chief account—Wobbly Old Geezer- was so shocked at this that he fell off his stool and broke his leg.

Then the start of December and Mrs Claus got a strop on when she found out that the January sales had started and forced Santa to take two days out to help her with the shopping. She managed to get a Trek Madone WDS in Blue but had a problem fitting a pump to the frame so Santa had to get on the internet to find the pump that would fit such a small frame and found a Topeak Mini-Morph For sale cheap- only to find it was a Taiwanese copy and didn’t work.

Still enough time to get everything sorted for the Christmas deliveries---Except Rudolph has an accident when he fell off the back of a lorry and suffered road rash and a broken antler.

Then just as he got all the toys loaded- the Christmas fairy turned up with the 20 ft tree but it was not the Non-Drop kind and asked him where she should put it.

And that is why we have a fairy on top of the Christmas tree this year

This reminds me of my youth when Dear Old Dad always used to offer us kids Rabbit Stew on Easter Sunday! :eek:

There wasn't any, of course.

Not to worry, Louis, Santa has a spare reindeer. It's a female reindeer by the name of Olive. You know the one they mention in that song. You know the line that goes, "Olive, the other reindeer". :roflmao2:

Great story, Louis!

Upon receiving the 911 call, the police dispatcher should have exclaimed "oh dear!".:p

Louis and stapfam, I suspect you two worked together on this one so as to gain "NICE" points this close to Christmas. Thanks for 2 neat posts and a great thread for our enjoyment.

Bill

This actually has cycling related content. It said in the article that the Reindeer had "road rash"!

Ha! I didn't hear about this...I'm gonna have to give Kevin a bottle of booze or something for helping to save Christmas! :lol:

Today's learning moment:
Caribou & Reindeer
Rangifer tarandus

Reindeer and Caribou look different, but they probably are the same species. Caribou are large, wild, elk-like animals which can be found above the tree-line in arctic North America and Greenland. Because they can live on lichens in the winter they are very well adapted for the harsh arctic tundra where they migrate great distances each year. Caribou cows and bulls both grow distinctive antlers and bull antlers can reach 4 feet in width! A Caribou calf can run within 90 minutes of its birth. It must do this to keep up with the migrating herds.

Reindeer are slightly smaller and were domesticated in northern Eurasia about 2000 years ago. Today, they are herded by many Arctic peoples in Europe and Asia including the Sami in Scandinavia and the Nenets, Chukchi and others in Russia. These peoples depend on the reindeer for almost everything in their economy including food, clothing and shelter. Some Nenets even keep reindeer for pets! Reindeer were introduced into Alaska and Canada last century, but most attempts failed. Native peoples in these countries still prefer to hunt caribou rather than herd reindeer.



Also... reindeer are thought to be one of the only species of animal that can see ultraviolet light.
Antlers of adult males fall off in December, so I guess Santa's reindeer are all female.
Antlers of young males fall of in early spring, and antlers of females fall off in the summer.

A man on GMA today reported that reindeer have excellent night vision, broad flat feet making it easy for them to keep upright on roofs, and their antlers are made from the same material used on the exteriors of space shuttles.:D

Update:

www.ohio.com/news/break-news/betty-the-reindeer-recovering-1.251756

I would say he will be short one based on this oldy from the aviation business..

Santa and the FAA

Santa Claus, like all pilots, gets regular visits from the Federal Aviation Administration, and the FAA examiner arrived last week for the pre-Christmas flight check. In preparation, Santa had the elves wash the sled and bathe all the reindeer. Santa got his log book out and made sure all his paperwork was in order. He knew they would examine all his equipment and truly put Santa's flying skills to the test. The examiner walked slowly around the sled. He checked the reindeer harnesses, the landing gear, and even Rudolph's nose. He painstakingly reviewed Santa's weight and balance calculations for sled's enormous payload. Finally, they were ready for the check ride. Santa got in and fastened his seat belt and shoulder harness and checked the compass. Then the examiner hopped in carrying, to Santa's surprise, a shotgun. "What's that for?!?" asked Santa incredulously. The examiner winked and said, "I'm not supposed to tell you this ahead of time," as he leaned over to whisper in Santa's ear, "but you're gonna lose an engine on takeoff."