Four for Friday

(Link at left)

Q1 - Gift Cards: The National Retail Federation says that we spent $24.81 billion this past holiday season on Gift Cards, and that each one us spent more on gift card contributions last year than the year before (the average consumer, says the NRF, spent $116.51 in 2006 vs. $88.03 in 2005). Did you purchase a gift card for someone last year? If not, did you receive a gift card from someone as a holiday gift?

I have bought close to 20 gift cards over the past year, at least. And I've gotten them as gifts, too. They are wonderful!

Q2 - Email:When you open your email in-box for the first time each day, which messages do you read first? Do you read them in reverse chronological order or do you pick and choose which ones to read first based on a different priority?

I read them in the order I received them, and I read the ones from people I care about first. This is dependent on which mailbox: work, home, gmail.

Q3 - Weather:The current El Nino weather anomaly that can create atmospheric havoc around the world should continue into the spring, extending unseasonably warm temperatures in North American through March, the U.S. National Weather Service predicted yesterday. How has the weather impacted your life these last few months? If you live up north, are you receiving more or less snow; and if you in the down south, is it cooler or warmer than normal? Despite whether (no pun intended) you normally receive snow or not, are you happy, sad, or indifferent about your area's current weather?

We have received much less snow, but I think we've made it up with all the rain we had in December (which, by the way, is just WRONG--it's "White Christmas" not "Wet Christmas"). I love that it's been warmer and sunnier otherwise. I hate winter.

Q4 - National Guard Service:For the first time since President George W. Bush mobilized the National Guard and Reserve (after 9/11), the Pentagon is abandoning its limit on the time a citizen-soldier can be required to serve on active duty. Until now, the Pentagon's policy on the National Guard and Reserve was that members' cumulative time on active duty could not exceed 24 months. That cumulative limit is now lifted; the remaining limit is on the length of any single mobilization, which may not exceed 24 consecutive months. In other words, a citizen-soldier could be mobilized for a 24-month stretch in Iraq or Afghanistan, then demobilized and allowed to return to civilian life, only to be mobilized a second time for as much as 24 additional months. In your opinion, is the Pentagon's change fair, and furthermore, do you think it's called for?

I do NOT think it's fair, nor do I think it should be legal. It's not what the Guard members signed up for, and it just sucks. But it's typical of this administration. Bush should either suck it up and institute a draft or get the heck out of Iraq....and generally get a handle on how many troops we have all over the place.