Wednesday 12/27/23
Celebrate:
Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day
National Fruitcake Day
Visit the Zoo Day
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"What happens to unsold Christmas trees?" is a frequently asked question among customers, said Rocco Malanga, owner of Cedar Grove Christmas Trees in Cedar Grove, New Jersey.
In previous years Cedar Grove has sent unsold trees to help rebuild coastlines in the wake of storms and erosion.
Malanga said that his company is currently working with farmers to use recycled trees as feed and as mulch.
Zoos as well are recipients of trees.
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A North Carolina couple woke up on Christmas morning to what they described as a "terrifying" scene: their 3-year-old loudly requesting a pair of scissors.
Scott and Katie's Reintgen's toddler secured an early preview to Christmas by waking up at 3 a.m. to unwrap his entire family's presents.
"The 3-year-old had found his Spider-Man web shooters, and so he wanted scissors to cut them out."
Their 3-year-old son had unwrapped "literally everything, from the tiniest eraser to the biggest box." The gifts had taken hours to wrap the night before. He explained to them that he unwrapped the presents because he didn’t want his family to be confused.
“He wanted us to be able to see our presents so we knew what they were,” Scott Reintgen said. “I think he legitimately just felt that he was doing a service to everyone. He will not do it again next year, we hope.”
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Can cold weather give you a cold? Do you lose most of your body heat through your head? Is a cup of hot coffee the best way to warm up? The Old Farmers Almanac answer these questions and bust common cold weather myths!
Cold Weather Causes the Common Cold
You catch colds from viruses, not from cold temperatures. But because cold temperatures keep people indoors in close quarters, viruses spread more easily.
Cold weather can weaken your immune system, making you an easier target.
Do You Lose Most of Your Body Heat Through Your Head?
No, you don’t. Thermophysiologist Gordon Giesbrecht of the University of Manitoba says, “Where your body loses heat is closely related to surface area, and the head has only about 9 percent of the body’s surface area.” As the temperature decreases, the blood vessels in your extremities constrict. Yet only 10% of your body heat is being lost through your head.
That said, If you are all bundled up, you lose more body heat through the top of an uncovered head, so perhaps you could say, “Mom was right” after all.
Is A Cup of Coffee or a Sip of Brandy a Good Way to Warm Up?
Nope. Caffeine and alcohol may actually speed up heat loss. According to Weather.gov, caffeine can cause your blood vessels to constrict and prevent your hands and feet from warming properly, and alcohol can reduce shivering, which is something your body does to help keep you warm! In fact, skeletal muscle contractions—shivering—can triple your body’s heat production.
Instead of caffeine and alcohol, drink warm water or a warm, sweet, non-alcoholic, non-caffeinated beverage (hot chocolate, anyone?) to help warm the body.
If You’re Stranded and Thirsty, You Should Eat Snow.
Bad idea. Eating snow or sucking on ice will lower your body temperature. It can also lead to internal injuries. If you have no water, try melting ice in a plastic bag between your clothing layers (not directly against the skin). Ice melts more quickly than the same volume of snow and yields more water.
If I’m Cold, You Must Be Cold!
Nope. Age, gender, fitness level, acclimatization—these and other factors determine when you “feel” cold. It’s been proven, for example, that women generally feel cold before men do, possibly because they have less heat-generating ability but a relatively similar amount of heat-losing skin. In addition, women’s blood vessels contract sooner due to cold than men’s, so women’s skin feels colder more quickly. So next time your spouse complains about the thermostat, consider the physiological differences at play!
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Holiday sales rose this year and spending remained resilient during the shopping season even with Americans wrestling with higher prices in some areas and other financial worries, according to the latest measure.
Holiday sales from the beginning of November through Christmas Eve climbed 3.1%, a slower pace than the 7.6% increase from a year earlier, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards.
This year's sales are more in line with what is typical during the holiday season, however, after a surge in spending last year during the same period.
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Mariah Carey‘s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” single continues to break records almost 30 years after its release.
TMZ revealed that the holiday hit shattered the all-time record for the most Spotify streams in a single day — and it was all accomplished on Christmas Eve. It generated 23,701,697 streams beating her own previous record of 21,273,357 streams on the same day. The outlet also noted that “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has been making consistent gains since 2020, when the figure was over 17.2 million.
But congratulations to Brenda Lee's "Rock Around the Christmas Tree" for making #1 for a few weeks making it only the third Christmas song to hit #1. (The Christmas song by the Chipmunks was the other way back in 1958.)
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Taylor Swift‘s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” has returned to the top spot on the Billboard 200, as Nicki Minaj‘s “Pink Friday 2” drops to No. 2 in its second week out. The Swift release is spending its fourth non-consecutive week at No. 1.
This marks the 67th week that Swift has had an album in the No. 1 position on the Billboard 200, which ties her with Elvis Presley as the solo artist with the most weeks spent on top of that chart.
If we take “solo” out of the equation, the all-time record is held by the Beatles, who have placed themselves at No. 1 on the album chart for 132 weeks, roughly double the number that Swift and Presley are at right now.
Garth Brooks is next with 52 weeks, then Michael Jackson at 51.
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For the 13th straight year, the present of choice was the gift card. In 2019, Americans purchased an estimated $171B worth.
Gift cards are so popular that they account for 55% of the average shopper’s entire annual gift budget.
Most people who receive a gift card are quick to put it to use: More than 70% of all gift cards are redeemed within 6 months of purchase.
But after that first 180 days, the rate of use tends to stagnate. At the one year mark, just under 80% of cards are redeemed — and as time passes, they are less and less likely to see the light of day.
At any given time, 10% to 19% of gift card balances remain unredeemed — and around 6% of gift cards are never even used.
Why?
We simply forget we had the gift card.
We lose the gift card.
We don’t like the retailer/restaurant that issued the gift card.
We can’t access the retailer/restaurant due to location or other factors.
We buy something of lesser value and leave the leftover amount on the card.
The gift card expires and/or comes with restrictions.
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Today’s Useless Fact of the Day - What is the first place on Earth to celebrate New Year's each year? Kiribati. The International Date Line runs through the islands of Kiritimati, marking it the first place to experience the new year.
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