Understanding Operation Airlift

/3 Comments/in , /by

The news coming from North Pole Flight Command this week has been a little rough. It has resulted in some questions coming from tracker elves – especially our freelance tracker elves.

Everyone wants to do something to help.

Helping begins by understanding the problem and that is what I want to explain today.

~ Operation Airlift is the Problem ~

The weather at the North Pole is a known issue. It seems to affect Santa every year because the most predictable thing about the week of Christmas at the North Pole is snow and a lot of it.

That’s not the problem.

The problem is much, much more complex. The problem is Operation Airlift.

When you go to a store to buy something every item has a bar code. You can’t read the bar code because it’s a computer thing. But when you take it to the cash register and it reads the code a price comes up.

That bar code has a lot more information associated with it beyond the price. It has information you can’t see and, frankly, information you don’t need to know. It is information about the product’s making, where it came from and how many of them are in stock.

The bar code on the item is a silent, easy way for the store people to manage getting stuff to you.

We have a similar system of things here at the North Pole, only it’s not a bar code.

Embedded in every Christmas present you receive is information you don’t need to know. It contains the name of every elf who has touched it (including Santa), when it was made, where it was made, etc. The whole journey of that gift is embedded in the package.

Why?

Because Santa has a very complex job that requires precision in planning.

Operation Airlift is a big part of that planning.

You see, on the day after Christmas, every year, Santa crawls out of bed after a really long nap and he makes his way to Santa’s workshop. There he does one thing and only one thing. He resets the countdown clock.

Then he goes back to bed.

That act of resetting the clock begins the process of planning and executing Operation Merry Christmas.

For us this year at the North Pole Operation Merry Christmas was cooking along just fine. Until this week.

And why?

Because the precision planning of Operation Airlift got tossed out the window – due to the weather.

How that happened isn’t important. What is important is that it happened. And we have to adjust.

All week long North Pole Flight Command has been scrambling to adjust.

Now it’s our turn to adjust as tracker elves.

~ Why Operation Airlift is Important ~

I cannot tell you everything. Some things need to remain a secret for Santa to do his job.

But I don’t think I’m violating any security policies when I explain that Operation Airlift is a logistical procedure that’s necessary for Santa to be Santa.

We answer questions all year long about how Santa gets around the world in just one night. We tell the truth of those things.

But we steer away from the business end of those questions and answers because they are boring. Operation Airlift is boring to most people, even to tracker elves.

You see, Santa is just one man and he flies just one sleigh. Reason would suggest that because of those facts not every thing for every believer in the entire world can fit on Santa’s sleigh.

Most people don’t care about that. But as elves we have to care about that.

There are legions of elves who take care of this part of the Santa business. They coordinate Operation Airlift, which is a massive operation involving literally thousands of people and thousands of other sleighs that are not Santa’s sleigh.

First them move stuff (gifts) from the North Pole to staging locations in various parts of the world. On Christmas Eve, sleighs move the stuff (presents) from those areas, and load them on the back of Santa’s sleigh. Once Santa starts delivering his sleigh is constantly replenished by elves in sleighs moving stuff (GIFTS!) so that Santa can deliver.

Operation Airlift also moves things that aren’t going to be delivered. Mostly it’s elves who transfer to and fro to all these places around the world where Santa needs them. Many of them are warehouse elves. But there are also scouts, scientists, weather people, supervisors, and other personnel who, for whatever reason, need to be shuttled places.

All of these sleighs are coordinated through North Pole Flight Command. It is planned almost down to the minute, way back last winter. North Pole Flight Command plans Operation Airlift to deliver certain stuff to certain places at certain times. It’s that precise. Of course, things *always* get off track a little bit. They build that into the plan.

Operation Airlift actually began the day after Thanksgiving. But the real work of Operation Airlift takes place in the last five days before Christmas.

That’s right now, gang.

The precision plan that began when Santa reset the countdown clock last December 26th fell apart this week. And I mean it got thrown out the window. The ability for Flight Command to launch sleighs on the schedule they set up earlier this year just cannot be met.

We have shared some news via the North Pole websites this week about how Flight Command is adjusting to all this.

Everyone keeps asking “Are things alright?” or “Is this going to affect Santa?” or, the worst, “Is Christmas ruined?”

Well, first of all, relax.

Having a precision plan means building in wiggle room for things to go wrong. As I said, and as we have been told by elves in charge, they are adjusting.

But the plan is shot. Are we on time or are we late? Will Santa be able to deliver on time or not? Will everyone get what they want for Christmas?

Frankly, we don’t know.

I don’t say that to scare anyone or to paint a glum picture.

I’m just saying the plan has fallen apart and we’re doing the best we can to do what we set out to do last December 26th – to help Santa get around the world.

~ Here’s What Every Tracker Elf Needs to Do ~

So what do you do as an elf trying to help Santa this year?

Here’s the plan going forward for the next few days:

1. Check in here often. Some elves are complaining that their elf supervisor isn’t giving them enough to do. Be patient. They are scrambling to KNOW what to do. For right now, just come by often to see if they say anything.

2. Be ready to answer the call – if it comes. But don’t be surprised if nothing comes. If you have been with us all year and have done your job your part in things have not really changed. Your roof has been reported, your chimney inspected, and all your other reports have been sent on time. The need for information for Santa – so far – has been met. We have some elves suggesting things based on the news that is coming out. One well-meaning elf in Pennsylvania in Sector 5 offered to have Santa drop off all the presents for people in his neighborhood at HIS house and HE would go down their chimneys himself to deliver. That was a generous idea but that’s not his job and that really isn’t the problem right now. You stay in your lane. You’re a tracker elf and that’s how the powers that be at the North Pole know you. If you’re needed, it’s going to be for tracker elf stuff. Be ready for that.

3. Ask your questions on the Elf Wall. If you are a freelance elf, ask your questions in the comments below any article here on SantaTrackers.net. You can do that.

What’s going to happen the next few days?

I don’t know. Every year is a new story and this year the story went from ordinary to something else.

Is Operation Merry Christmas in trouble?

Hardly.

We’re going to make it happen. We’re elves. That’s just what we do.

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online

Stuff We Don’t Talk About

/4 Comments/in , /by

Elf Moe has been on a tear, banning elves almost as fast as they sign up.

They get banned because they don’t really understand what it means to be an elf. We ask them to go to ElfHQ.com to learn the Elf Code and to take the Elf Oath. If they really understand those things they would be more careful here in the world of elves.

Of course, many of them are young. Some are just too excited to be an elf. Some were never meant to be elves in the first place.

To be an elf takes a special kind of person. An elf has two ears and one mouth – and uses them in that proportion.

An elf has to be really smart. They need to read, to learn and to act in a certain way to be an elf. That’s because Santa has standards. Santa didn’t get to become Santa by saying everything that just pops into his head. He had to learn how to talk, to respond and to act to get the reputation he has as Santa.

The same is true of all of us elves. We have to learn that there are things we know as elves and things we should talk about as elves. Even more true are the things we should NOT talk about as elves, too.

For example, Elf of the Shelf. I’ve talked about this plenty of times in the past and I won’t get into it again. You can read about that stuff elsewhere.

But I’ll just say here we, as elves, in this world right here on SantaTrackers.net – we don’t talk about it.

Why? Because it’s a personal matter.

Officially, Santa and the North Pole have nothing to do with personal elves known as Elf on the Shelf. We don’t know where they come from or who manages them. But that’s just one reason why we don’t talk about them.

We don’t talk about them because they are personal.

Not everyone, you see, has a personal elf or an Elf on the Shelf. So not only CAN’T we talk about them officially it’s not nice to talk about them when everyone doesn’t have one. Make sense?

Another thing we don’t talk about are things shared with us from our Elf Supervisor or North Pole Flight Command. You are shared information here because you need to know it as we track Santa for Santa. But the whole world doesn’t need that information.

Think about it. What if you know that Santa is in a certain place and we talk about it here? That’s fine. That’s good. That’s what the community is here for. But you need to be smart before you share that information with someone who hasn’t take the Elf Oath. What if that is someone who doesn’t like Santa or Christmas? What would they do with that information?

You gotta think.

And another thing we stay away from here is talking about other Santa trackers out there like Google or Norad. What’s so bad about them? They’re not bad. They’re just wrong. They don’t work for Santa. They don’t connect with North Pole Flight Command. They use the stuff of the US military and of airline technology to track Santa.

And what’s wrong with that? IT’S WRONG. They don’t have information from Santa to say where Santa is.

We don’t talk about them here because:

  1. We don’t want to give anyone wrong information.
  2. They aren’t connected with Santa.
  3. They frequently give out bad information.

That’s it. So don’t talk about them. Don’t bring them up.

Is it bad that you, as an elf working for Santa, goes to the places to see what they have to say? No, that’s your personal business. But don’t bring what they do HERE and talk like it is the truth, because it isn’t. Keep it to yourself.

What about Santa? Can we as elves talk about Santa?

Of course we can. And we should. Santa is one of the good guys. We realize that even you, an elf, are still learning about Santa. We try to give you the right information about Santa right here from the North Pole. Why wouldn’t we want everyone to know that.

So think, Elf. Think hard before you say things.

You’re an elf now. Santa expects you to be smart.

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online

Defending Elf Trixie

/1 Comment/in , /by

My friends in the news business who do not live and work at the North Pole often tell me I am lucky.

And they are probably right about that.

What they are talking about is the fact that sometimes being a newsperson of any kind can be hard. People get mad at us a lot.

Since we get to report mostly good news here at the North Pole the assumption is that people hardly ever get upset with us.

Well, that’s not true. It happens all the time.

In fact, in the last month we have received some nasty-grams aplenty. Especially Elf Frank Myrrh. And a few for Elf Crash. And just this week, a bunch for Elf Trixie.

People write in and blame the newspeople for the news. Often, as is the recent case with Elf Frank, a flippant or humorous response gets taken way too seriously. But in the case this week of Elf Trixie, people have said she is lying, or was fooled by someone, or otherwise posting stuff that just can’t be true.

I feel a need to defend Elf Trixie a little bit. Not because I don’t think she can’t take it. No, that is not it at all. She’s a pro and she knows this comes with the territory. In fact, I’m not even sure if she is aware of the storm her story this week has stirred up.

No, Elf Trixie doesn’t need defending. But I’m going to defend her anyway.

She did her job right. She heard something, she asked questions, and she submitted a story. I read it and I called her to talk about it. I’m her editor. That’s my job. She answered all my questions just fine. I had no problem with her story being put out there.

Well, since Tuesday it has received a lot of attention. Elf Hugo at the North Pole Post Office said the mail started coming in within a few minutes of it being posted at SantaUpdate.com.

People are in disbelief. Some are really worried. Others are completely besides themselves. Many do not believe what Trixie wrote.

To all of this hubbub I only have one thing to say to those who are triggered by Trixie’s reporting in any way: can’t you read?

Trixie said there’s a problem with Santa’s sleigh but that she didn’t know exactly what it was. But then she explained that what she learned was based on a report submitted by a very capable test pilot and his report was so troubling the high command of test flights had a big old meeting.

That’s what she said in a nutshell. Now, why that would “trigger” anything is beyond me. Trixie said she didn’t know exactly what was wrong but she observed that something was wrong enough to get the elves she met in North Pole Flight Command talking. In other words, she broke the story that something is wrong with the sleigh and that she was on it – trying to figure out what it is and report on it again.

That’s coming. You can expect to hear from her in the next few days. She is keeping me updated and I’m telling you – as both an elf and her editor – she’s on to something here. It’s a thing. Believe her.

Now, I have some word of advice for you as a friend and as a fellow believer in Santa Claus:

Relax.

We’ve seen stories like this before that have come and gone. Sometimes they are a big deal and something they are nothing.

In a way, the response to this most recent scoop from Elf Trixie reminds me in a small way of the story about the Big Building of No Name, which was something that happened a few years back.

It was a huge story that resulted in a lot of mail. Most of it was just mail of concern and worry because all the news about that building seemed to break in the weeks before Christmas.

Elf Ernest was the reporter on that story and I can remember talking to him about it at the time. He was getting letters and notes from parents, teachers, doctors and others who were concerned that Elf Ernest was stressing kids out to the point that they didn’t think Santa was going to come that year.

Of course, he was doing nothing of the sort. He was just doing his job, which was reporting the news. He felt guilty about it. I had to tell him to pull up his big boy panties and continue to do his job. It was not his job to control the news, just to report it. Sometimes that makes you unpopular.

This story from Elf Trixie is a lot like that. And I’m asking you to please just let Elf Trixie do her job. If she gets something wrong, she’ll admit it. If some elf in North Pole Flight Command is leading her astray, she’ll admit it. If any detail that she reports gets proven wrong, she’ll say so.

In the meantime, just roll with it, okay? Let her work.

I would also remind you that it’s the first week of October. We’ve seen problems with Santa’s sleigh in the past a lot later than right now. Things always work out. Santa’s sitting on a museum full of sleighs and a whole sleigh barn full of different models of sleighs that he could select from to go around the world. There’s no way Santa is NOT coming this year.

Don’t think the worst when you read the news. Just let our reporters tell the story as it unfolds. Then you can decide if you choose to believe it.

Trust me, too. We are constantly working on how to report things correctly. I’m an old school news guy. I drill these elves on this stuff and we talk about the position we are put in by having to report the news. We find ourselves “stuck” a lot – having to report things we know will get a response.

Do we hold back?

Do we water down the news?

Do we buffer the truth? Do we embellish it?

No. Here at the North Pole we operate from standards. Who, what, when, where and why. That’s it.

Those answers, depending upon the story, will always vary. Sometime the answers will be uncomfortable or unwelcome.

That’s just the business of news.

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online

Why September is Important

/1 Comment/in , /by

I got a little note from an elf that concerns me.

She writes: “Being an elf is boring. There’s nothing going on!”

I think Elf Moe has dispatched her by now. She was stirring up some other trouble.

Besides, if she cannot see all that is going on then she’s blind and should not be an elf anyway.

There is a ton going on.

In fact, there’s SO much going on that we’re missing the point about September.

September could be our busiest month of the year.

Think about it. Your elf supervisors have been doing a very good job instructing trackers all over the world about long range reports. They changed things in this regard a couple of years ago. By doing things like roof and chimney inspections now that leaves more time for things like weather reports later.

Of course, some things will never change. Like elves reporting for duty at the last minute.

I commend those of you who are here – and have been here – all year. It speaks to your willingness to really help Santa.

Santa, you see, is a prepper. He always works in advance. That’s the only reason why Christmas ever happens. Santa is organized.

And he too would be the first to tell you that September is important.

We usually know, you see, by September if we’re going to be doing things last minute as Santa takes flight.

It doesn’t look like that will be the case this year.

Santa’s workshop is way ahead. The reindeer returned early and will be holding their games next month. They are going to be super ready. Santa’s sleigh is flying well in the test flights and it’s coming off a record year. The Post Office is on top of things. The Wrapping Department is ahead. Everyone it seems is ready….and it’s only September.

Readiness is just one reason why September is important.

There are other reasons though. Tomorrow – Saturday the 21st – is the first day of fall.

That first day of fall is like a starting gun for elves. Just watch. All of a sudden people will realize it’s less than 100 days until Christmas and they come swarming back.

I was talking to Elf Ernest, my boss, and he told me that the Official North Pole websites are all seeing huge spikes in visitors.

Because it’s September.

What about you? It’s September for you too. Are you more ready this year than last year?

I asked that question of the Elf Supervisors. They all agreed that the elves they have talked to are doing very well and are prepared for what’s ahead.

And here’s a weird thing: freelance elves so far in September are signing up at a rate of 50 to 1.

That’s incredible. 50 freelance elves for every new North Pole elf sign-up here at SantaTrackers.net.

What’s that mean?

That means the elf world is exploding. And it is happening a little early.

So don’t tell me things are boring or that nothing is going on. That’s the feeling you’re going to get when everything is in control.

It’s going to be a busy season. But it will be a successful one, too.

I hope you are here for it.

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online

Getting Down to Business

/3 Comments/in , /by

Well, as you maybe have read, the stuff of getting settled on the Regional Tracking Centers is done.

Some of you might be happy.

They really took your suggestions seriously. I think a few of you might be pleasantly surprised.

As for me, well, I couldn’t care less.

I’m in the news business. Where things like this happen does not matter to me. It’s WHEN things happen that matters to me.

The Regional Tracking Centers will all be in business now very soon. Once they are, my news teams have a place to work in each sector. And that is all that is important.

We can finally get down to business.

The news department here at the North Pole, like every department, takes our duties seriously. We want you to be informed.

That’s why we’re grateful for elves like Elf Westover, who decided on his own to launch his own video news channel. That’s awesome. It gets the word of Santa and the North Pole out there.

We want to encourage elves of all kinds to do it.

Just do it like he does. He asks for news. He wants to do it right so he checks in with Elf Crash a lot. And sometimes with me too. Because he wants it to meet Santa’s expectations.

We really appreciate that. It makes the work the rest of us do a lot easier.

The Regional Tracking Center announcements, to me, are one of the biggest markers of the year. When those are done it’s like everything steps on the gas when it comes to Operation Merry Christmas.

The first half of the year while goofy committees like this one piddle around trying to make a decision the time seems to just crawl. But once they get it done it’s a like a bomb going off.

We suddenly get super busy.

And that is where we’re at right now.

What does that mean for you, a tracker elf?

It means the fun is just starting.

Now, I don’t want to take anything away from Elf Crash. He’s your leader and I don’t know anything other than the news business. So what I’m about to tell you is just advice.

Going forward your Elf Supervisor is going to be asking you to do a few things. It’s not much.

But it’s really important.

In order to do what they are asking – and in order for you to really help Santa – you need to know what’s going on.

That’s where I come in. It is our job in the news department to inform you. We do that through our Official North Pole websites.

There is SantaUpdate.com, the largest and longest running North Pole news website in the world. Everyone goes there and not just elves. You need to visit it DAILY from this point forward.

There is this site – SantaTrackers.net – which is just for tracker elves. That’s right, you guys have this one site for exclusive news that is just for elves. Occasionally you get news here that is not available to the public.

Then there is NorthPoleFlightCommand.com. That’s got news on it, yes, but it does a lot more than what you see. That site, you see, is what connects all the Regional Tracking Centers to the North Pole. It’s the mother ship. Did you know that on Christmas Eve it becomes the largest mobile network in the world? It connects not only all the regional tracking centers to the North Pole but also all the ships of the North Pole Navy and all the sleighs of the North Pole Air Force. All the news elves working remote locations on Christmas Eve use this same portal.

And nobody outside of this huge network is even aware of it. NorthPoleFlightCommand.com is the glue that holds all the moving pieces of Operation Merry Christmas together. As an elf, you should know that.

Now, we have other Official North Pole websites but those are the ones you, a tracker elf, really needs to know and to visit with regularity.

Because they are all going to get buzzing. Very soon.

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online

Regional Tracking Center Update

/1 Comment/in , /by

Why was I even worried?

I was scared witless over being assigned to the Regional Tracking Committee because it totally put me out of my elf comfort zone. I vowed to show up with a paper bag over my head.

I could have shown up with lit sparklers in my ears for all it mattered. Nobody knew I was even there.

That’s partly because this committee is huge. Dozens and dozens of elves like me were assigned to this group and most of the elves there were just like me: entirely clueless.

I could not believe the first order of business. The Committee was charged with “whittling the list down to” just 2500 prospective locations.

Yes, they wanted it down to “just” 500 candidate per sector.

Somehow, they came up with more than 4000 altogether.

It’s amazing. I went to one meeting, sat in a big room with lots of other elves, I did absolutely nothing, and they already had 4000 candidate locations.

Within about two weeks of looking over these 4000 ideas, the executive level committee – I’m guessing that’s Santa, Elf Ernest, Elf Roger Star and other hot shot elves – called another meeting and told us that they had eliminated 3000 of those suggestions and asked for more.

That’s when they decided to get your ideas.

And our tracker elves responded, bless their hearts.

We had elves like little Timmy Halstrom, of Knickerbocker, Texas, home of the Sweetwater Ranch. Timmy is 11 and a four-year veteran of tracking Santa for Santa.

Timmy’s idea was to put the Sector 5 Regional Tracking Center at the Sweetwater Ranch. “We have an 85-inch big screen TV and I’m pretty sure my Dad would let you guys use it on Christmas Eve.”

Honestly, 85-inches is kind of small for a Regional Tracking Center but someone at Flight Command liked Timmy’s idea and actually contacted his father, Jared, to see if the offer was serious. Jared knew nothing about it and protested. “You can’t have my big screen on Christmas Eve! That’s when we watch Elf!”

Well, now.

Timmy’s suggestion isn’t quite off the table yet. He’s still on the list of potential sites. But there are details yet to work out.

But I’ve learned a lot from those of you who are giving this some thought.

Some of you have suggested the same location. For example, many of you think Rudolph, Wisconsin should host a regional tracking center.

I’m guessing that’s because of the name, Rudolph. It’s still on the list too.

But here’s the deal: Santa, in helping to cull the names down to just 1000, said that we need at least another 1500 new recommendations.

So keep those ideas coming in. They are ALL getting looked at.

As for me, well, I’m no longer nervous about all this. They haven’t asked me a thing and I don’t think they are going to.

A lot is supposed to happen over the next month or so. They’ve got to get this list down to the top ten in each sector (so, 50 names altogether) by Leon Day. That’s June 24th.

That means a lot more names need to be recommended, a lot more scouts need to be sent out, a lot more photos and videos need to be taken, etc etc etc.

By Leon Day we should have ten recommendations in each sector and a good idea of what’s going to happen before announcements are made for Christmas in July.

Maybe by then someone will ask me what I think.

And maybe by then I’ll actually have an opinion.

I still have no idea what I’m doing or even why this is important.

But it’s a big deal. So many elves are working on this.

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online

Over My Head

/5 Comments/in , , /by

I was recently given an assignment. I am in deep panic about it.

You see, in my life as an elf I haven’t actually done anything.

I’m not one of those elves in Santa’s workshop. Those elves have skills and can make things with their hands. I don’t know any elf over there who cannot fix things or figure things out.

I’m not like that.

I couldn’t find my way out of a paper box and the only thing I’ve ever made is fun of people. For me, I find the instructions for Pop Tarts challenging.

The same thing can be said of elves in the Sleigh Department. Those are some smart elves. They build things and do math at the same time.

They make flying sleighs that go faster than the speed of sound. I make noises that go the speed of sound. But that doesn’t speak to any real talents that I have.

You see, my job has been in the news business. My tools are a keyboard and my limited wit.

My job, on a daily basis at least, has been to deal with the letters we get from non-believers. I engage in the battle of nitwits.

I guess none of that looks good on a resume. And it’s a good thing I don’t work in the real world with a real job that requires skills and abilities. All I’m really qualified to do is “Welcome to Walmart…”

That is why I’m scared senseless by this new elf assignment.

Someone, perhaps an elf out of his mind, decided to place me on the Regional Tracking Committee.

That’s a team of elves that oversees the selection process for the Regional Tracking centers for this next year.

I have no qualifications for this.

In fact, when Elf Ernest sent me the email with this assignment I sent it back. “You must mean another Elf Ed Zachary,” I wrote in response, refusing the assignment.

He immediately called me.

“This isn’t optional, Mr. Zachary,” Ernest said. “You’re a director. You cannot refuse an assignment.”

Well.

I’m still trying to find that in my contract.

So I did the only sensible thing an elf could do: I forwarded the email to Santa and said, “If nominated I will not run, if elected I will not serve”.

(I heard that once in a movie and thought it was a cool way to say I won’t do this).

Santa didn’t say much in response. “I saw that movie, too. This isn’t a movie. You’ll do fine.”

So, here I find myself, an elf with no real knowledge, no real skills, no real idea what is needed and having never set foot in a Regional Tracking Center in my life, on the Committee in Charge of this Stuff.

I’m going to show up to our first meeting with a paper bag over my head.

I hope nobody notices I’m there and I’m hoping nobody calls on me to say anything.

What would you do if you were in my position?

Sincerely.

I’m asking for input here.

After Santa refused me I contacted Elf Ernest again and basically asked him the same question.

Elf Ernest told me to relax.

He said the reason the News Department is included in this process is that we have people who will be using the Regional Tracking Centers and will be responsible for reporting the news from each sector. We do not necessarily need to be an influence in selection but we need to know the process and the background that goes into setting up each regional center.

Well.

All that at least makes some sense. In that respect, I can go to the meetings, nod my head a lot and take a few notes.

I can put a thoughtful look on my face as other elves discuss, deliberate and decide on matters I know nothing about. It’s not much but it is one of my unique superpowers.

Stay tuned for more inspiring news from this timid elf.

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online

News You Don’t Have to Talk About

/1 Comment/in , /by

We were notified late Saturday that groups are popping up on social media for “Santa Trackers”.

This isn’t anything new. But what is new is that some of these groups on Facebook, X, Snapchat and TikTok do appear to belong to some of our legitimate tracker elves.

We want you to know that’s okay. We, in fact, encourage “spreading the word” through social media and other channels.

But there is news you don’t have to talk about.

You are elves. We have talked about this before. You know things. Things that likely the rest of the world doesn’t know.

And as we’ve discussed, there are some things the rest of the world does not need to know about the North Pole and our current situation.

All this news about hackers and trolls taking down North Pole networks and computer systems is a good example of news you do not need to share.

Why?

I mean, after all, if we’re telling you here on SantaTrackers.net what is going on isn’t that telling the world? So why not share it, right?

Well, no.

We tell you because you need to know what’s happening. Especially this week. You guys are the star of the show. You are helping Santa get around the world. This is your time to shine.

But….you need to be discretionary about the news you share.

The rest of the world doesn’t need to know we are enduring cyber attacks. They could find out, but it’s not news we really want out there.

Why?

Because the forces against Santa and Christmas are many. There are people out there presently doing nothing to stop Operation Merry Christmas who may see this news and say, “Hey, I want to do that too!”.

It’s called a copycat crime. The bad guys pile it on.

So, if you can’t or shouldn’t be spreading news of these our current troubles what news can you share?

Friends, let’s follow Santa’s lead and stay focused on our mission: spread news that is cheerful:

1. Santa is coming, he launches in just days.
2. Nothing can stop Santa from coming. Nothing.
3. Santa has delivered every Christmas without fail for several hundred years.
4. Santa has a new sleigh and it’s the fastest in history.

Please don’t take everything we share with you and share it with everyone else. Think about the message you are sending. Think about those, especially the young ones, who are struggling with their belief in Santa and Christmas. Send messages of hope and good anticipation.

This Christmas may or may not go down in history to be remembered as a rough one. Up until this latest weirdness with cyber attacks it’s been a perfect year. Don’t you think that a perfect year is better news than hackers?

Use your better judgement over the next several days elves.

 

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online

Secrets of Santa

/2 Comments/in , , /by

The real magic of Christmas is happening right now.

Everywhere people have decorated, they are singing songs and anticipation is building for the biggest day of the year – Christmas!

Santa is a very big part of it all.

He is a bringer of gifts, yes. But more importantly, he is a bringer of joy. People just feel good when they think about Santa.

How does that happen?

Lots of people think they know.

They think, “he sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake”.

If that’s true (surprise! It’s not), then Santa must know a lot about you, right?

The magic of Santa is not because he sees you, knows all your dark secrets such as being good or bad, or because for whatever reason there are people who think he can see you when you’re sleeping

(What a dumb idea that is! Who would ever want to watch anyone sleeping?).

If Santa knows you it is because you write him letters. If he knows you it is because when you see him, sit on his lap and talk to him you tell him things.

If Santa knows you it is because he asks about you from people you know – your parents, your family, your teachers and others you interact with.

Does Santa actually do that? Maybe, I don’t know, it could happen. Who cares? Is that really the point?

What is the point? Why is Santa so nice TO ME? Who am I to Santa?

These deep probing questions are at the heart of the real secrets of Santa.

There are secrets, you know.

How does Santa make reindeer fly? How is it possible for his sleigh to go so fast?

How can Santa get down a chimney – billions of times – and deliver Christmas to everyone before Christmas morning?

How is it possible to learn and know and speak so many languages?

Does he really make a list and check it twice? Can a reindeer really have a light at the end of his nose?

Santa must have a lot of secrets to pull this stuff off, right?

You’re a tracker. You already believe in Santa. That’s likely because you’ve seen the magic of Santa before.

And good for you. You’re a smart one to be where you are with all this Santa stuff.

Even still, wouldn’t it be nice to know…Santa’s secrets?

Being an elf means you’re on the path to getting those answers. In time, more and more will be revealed to you.

This is why as Elves we take oaths and have codes.

We have to prepare to be guardians of Santa’s secrets.

Why do we have to do this?

Well, it’s simple. It’s because we want Santa to forever continue being Santa.

So, here’s the poop: Santa’s secrets make it possible for him to be Santa.

The question now is, can you handle knowing the secrets of Santa?

Can you, just as a regular person, keep confidential the secrets Santa has?

This will be your big test as an elf. Knowledge is power and power needs to be used responsibly.

I’ve been an elf for nearly 90 years – yeah, I’m an old dude – and I believe after all this time I know maybe only 1% of the secrets of Santa.

If I told you that 1% it would really crack your candy cane. The stuff I know would blow you away.

So I’m telling you, right here, right now, one elf to another: brace yourself.

Knowing the secrets of Santa means having GREAT power. You have to be ready for that.

Why?

Because if you run around blabbing the secrets of Santa to everyone you’re going to ruin Christmas for people all over the place.

You don’t want to be a destroyer of Christmas, right? That would be very un-Santa like, right?

Now, I know when you saw the headline to this article about the Secrets of Santa you thought I was going to tell you something you didn’t already know about Santa.

You thought I’d tell you the power by which he makes a sleigh fly, or how he fills stockings, or what makes him get around the world so fast.

Well now…if you’re an elf and you’ve been here long you should already know the secrets to all that stuff.

But that’s not really the secret you’re looking for, is it?

No, you saw that headline about the Secrets of Santa and your heart skipped a beat because you thought I’d tell you the big one.

What is the big one? The big one is this: Is Santa real?

You know this question. It nags you. It came from countless kids at school who scoffed at you for believing in Santa. It came, maybe, from an older sibling who would say all that Santa talk was just silly stuff.

It came because of the Internet, which seems to be a fountain of continues lies, rumors and mean stuff.

The thing is, as we said at the top of this article, you cannot deny the magic. You’ve see it. You’ve felt it.

You know Santa is real.

And that’s the big one. That’s the secret of all secrets of Santa.

Enjoy the magic of these coming days, Elves.

Santa is going to do it again.

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online

The Dumb of Fake Trackers

/1 Comment/in , /by

A couple of weeks ago Elf Moe alerted me to the resignation of a new elf who had signed up just weeks before Halloween. This elf was leaving because “other Santa trackers are more fun”. She said she simply did not believe our merry little website and was leaving to a place where she could play games.

Honestly, I’m glad to be rid of her.

She dotted her i’s with little hearts, asked 9000 questions that have already been answered if she’d just go to Elf University, and she wanted special favors from Santa just because she was an elf who had not ever done anything.

We try real hard to find honest elves.

We teach them about the Elf Code and have them take the Elf Oath. We have elves who do chats and podcasts. And we supply news, direct from the North Pole, and get direction from Santa himself when it comes to our tracking duties.

But none of that was enough for this elf.

She left for the greener pastures of Norad or Google Santa Tracker.

Well, let me tell ya something: those green pastures are fake grass. Fake news. And at the end of it all our former elf friend will find a plastic taste in her mouth put there by people who don’t have a clue when it comes to tracking Santa.

I mean no disrespect to the good people at Norad or Google, or any other place that claims to track Santa.

But honestly, how dumb do you gotta be to go there?

Those guys follow Santa using the same technology that is used for the weather. You think tracking Santa is as simple as tracking a cloud? Have you ever seen how slowly a cloud moves?

But that’s all they have at Norad and Google.

Yeah, they try to make up for it by having fancy maps and flashy games and cartoonish graphics.

But at the end of it all, there’s a hollow empty feeling to everything with those guys.

It’s not really their fault.

Oh, they have money. Santa tracking with them is brought to you by big corporate sponsors who slap logos on everything. They call it all a “public service”.

But the heart and soul there is black, cold and, well, heartless and soulless.

What we do here is purpose-driven. We’re not just tracking Santa. We’re helping Santa to be Santa.

That means a lot more than just seeing all the whiz-bang by multi-national corporations or military units with nothing to do.

But to get to the heart of it all you gotta be an elf.

An elf!

Someone who works for Santa. Someone who knows what is going on at the North Pole. Someone educated in the art of Operation Merry Christmas. Someone who wants to help Santa help the world.

Why would you give that up to play games?

Not everyone is cut out to be an elf. And that’s okay. We don’t wish anything bad on old Elf Goofy Butt. May she get her jollies tracking Santa on fake trackers. At the end of the day, it changes nothing for us.

And it changes nothing for the world.

It does nothing to help Santa help others.

She’ll get her reward.

I personally hope she has a tiny stocking.

Let’s keep all expectations in line here.

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online

Understanding the Countdown

/4 Comments/in , /by

Do you know what it means to be OCD?

OCD does not mean what some think it means. Some think it means OBSESSIVE CHRISTMAS DISORDER.

That’s cute. But that’s not it.

In the world of elves, OCD means OBSESSIVE CHRISTMAS DATES.

We manifest OCD as an elf through countdowns. And we have a lot of them.

For example, over at SantaUpdate.com you will see on every daily post right now the countdown to Operation Merry Christmas.

Operation Merry Christmas is what we call Santa’s mission. It “officially” begins the day after Thanksgiving.

The truth is that we work on Operation Merry Christmas all year. It actually begins on December 26th.

But why let a little thing like the truth stand in the way of an official countdown, eh?

That’s why we’re obsessed with the dates of Christmas more than anyone else in the world.

There’s one really big thing you need to understand about the only countdown that really matters. It is NOT what the world at large thinks when it comes to counting down to Christmas.

They countdown to Christmas with all kinds of stuff. Advent calendars have been a thing, even in Churches, for centuries. In our age of the Internet entire websites and all kinds of social media posts are made each day marking off just how many days, hours, minutes and seconds remain until Christmas.

But as an elf you gotta understand this: we’re not really interested in the countdown to Christmas of the world.

In fact, if you talk as an elf about the countdown to Christmas you’re kinda sorta making yourself look a little dumb.

We don’t count down to Christmas. We count down to Santa’s launch.

And that’s what we put on all our websites.

In fact, we sometimes get clever people who are not elves who look at our countdown clocks and say, “Hey – you guys are off by a couple of days!”

And they’re right – if we were counting down to Christmas.

But we’re not counting down to Christmas.

We’re counting down to Santa’s launch.

There’s a big difference between Santa’s launch and Christmas, guys.

Why do we do this?

Because we’re elves! Because we work on getting Santa around the world and the ONLY thing that is important is that come December 23rd we get Santa in the air and on his way.

Christmas, frankly, comes only after we have done our jobs as elves.

So please understand this. Watch our clocks. You’re an elf. You need to know this stuff.

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online

Why You Don’t See Pictures of the Sleigh

/3 Comments/in , /by

North Pole Flight Command told me the other day they are getting mail from site visitors to their website requesting to see pictures of Santa’s new sleigh.

Elf Ed Zachary

That’s never going to happen.

Of course, North Pole Flight Command will not publicly comment about this. But I can talk to you elves here about that.

A few years ago I shared a number of pictures I’ve taken at the North Pole. It’s not like pictures here cannot be taken. In fact, if there is one of the test sleighs in the Sleigh Barn I could go over there any time and take a picture of it.

But that does not mean I could share it. North Pole Security would likely throw me in elf jail.

You see, sharing those pictures of the North Pole during Christmas in July a few years ago was really unusual. It took Santa’s personal approval, over the objections of North Pole Security, and a six month review before I could share those simple pictures.

What’s the problem?

After all, Santa’s sleigh flies in public. Anyone and everyone if they worked hard enough could just take a picture of Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve, whether in the sky or at their own house. Santa’s out there and he can’t stop cameras.

So why can’t we see a photo of Santa’s sleigh?

The answer is really simple: there is what they call “proprietary information” that could be exposed if a picture with too many details is shared.

What does that mean?

It means that North Pole Flight Command and especially North Pole Security don’t want you to know everything that goes into Santa’s sleigh.

Think about it. Companies that make new cars work for years to develop new vehicles with ever-improving features. They operate their own closed test tracks and set up fortress-like security to keep the public and their competitors from getting anywhere close with any kind of camera.

They do that to protect themselves.

It is very much the same way with Santa’s sleigh. We share some information with you – but not everything. A picture of the current sleigh would just expose Santa and the reindeer to all kinds of problems if details of it got in the hands of the bad guys.

Bad guys? What bad guys?

Well, if you have ever listened to North Pole Radio News on Christmas Eve you know there is no shortage of effort made to capture Santa, kidnap Santa, delay Santa or even stop Santa from the bad guys that are out there. (Click here to listen to a radio report from a few years ago)

We don’t want to talk about bad guys. They exist. No need to waste time or energy carrying on about them. But Santa’s sleigh is a legitimate concern for tracker elves like us. So I understand totally the curiosity you might have about it.

I have seen Santa’s many sleighs over the years. Last year’s was especially cool because it was a 50-year old sleigh pressed into emergency service. I remember that sleigh when it first came out and I can totally understand why Santa wanted to use it.

But I haven’t seen this year’s much-talked about new sleigh. You see, I’m something of a Santa purist. I don’t want to see Santa’s sleigh until I can see Santa in it.

So, I will be in that Sleigh Barn when Santa is scheduled to launch. And I’ll have my camera. I’ll be taking pictures. You can take that to the bank. But I won’t be sharing pictures.

I can’t. They won’t let me. And now you know why.

But, you’re elves. You deserve to know the answers to your questions.

So here is what I suggest:

I know Elf Crash is working on a chat with Santa sometime before Christmas just for you elves, right here on SantaTrackers.net. I don’t have any information yet about when that will be. But, like any chat with Santa, you won’t want to miss it.

I suggest you just make up a list of questions about the sleigh and present them to Santa.

North Pole Security can’t do anything about what Santa might share with you. He’s got the final say-so in everything.

Just ask him. Santa loves to give you guys answers.

SantaUpdate.com - Tracking Santa Online