News for Santa Trackers and Believcrs Everywhere

Elf Crash Murphy

Santa Tracker Plans for August

Santa Tracker Plans

Greetings, Trackers!

I feel like I’ve been waiting ages to send this message. We can finally say that all Regional Tracking Centers are open, nearly all the website work is done, and we’re now ready to begin our efforts to grow our ranks and track Santa for Santa.

After months of discussions with Santa, with Elf Roger Star of North Pole Flight Command, with Elf Wally in Logistics and Operations, with Elf Charity Pickle in the Sleigh Department, with Elf Harriet Bow in Wrapping, with Elf Hugo Slavia in the Postal Department and with Elf Victor and Elf Big Sled Ted of Reindeer Operations, we can no move forward with what we’re calling the Unified Plan.

All trackers in all Sectors will focus their efforts on these things during the month of August:

1. Chimney Inspections – the weather is good, so let’s get them out of the way. We know we will have last minute trackers signing up in November and December and they will have to deal with then. The rest of us will do it now, while it is warm and safe.

2. Weather Reports – One per week from every tracker in every sector. For now, these are more for training purposes than actual flights. For those areas that see the test flights – and that is looking more and more like Sector 5 in August – these reports might help. But more than likely what your reports will be doing is to test flow into Flight Command. A LOT of elves see your weather reports and right now, that means training at the North Pole and with the ship crews of the North Pole Navy. It doesn’t matter what do you do it – just please send them in.

3. Let’s recruit – we’re going to have late sign-ups, like we do every year. Do not point them right now to SantaTrackers.net and the Elf Community. Point them to SantaUpdate.com and get them regularly checking in for news. They will, if they are serious believers, find their way to us at SantaTrackers.net at the right time.

And that’s it, friends. Just those three things.

The goal is to be focused and deliberate in what we’re doing. I’ve asked the Elf Supervisors to focus on these things. They will be posting, but more on the Elf Wall than in the news.

We’re going to let the news teams of Elf Harold, Elf Meg, Elf Trixie, Elf Frank and the others carry the bulk of news posting (like they have been).

I am hoping each of you is focused on SantaUpdate.com as well, that you’ve got your membership set up at the North Pole Club and that you are taking advantage of what that offers.

I have it on good authority more neat stuff is coming for the North Pole Club in the next few weeks and most of that stuff is included for you because you’re a Santa Tracker. Log in there often – daily – and read up. That’s going to be the main news for us for a while and I think the new things coming forward for the North Pole Club are pretty exciting. You’re going to have greater access to Santa than ever before. Watch for the chats especially and get used to making lists of questions just for Santa. I love attending those and I greatly enjoy when you are all there.

And for those of you out there tracking Santa on your own – I see you. I appreciate your reports. You are still our biggest crowd. I want you to know I appreciate your efforts and so do the Elf Supervisors. We take your reports seriously. And we hope more of you join the Elf Community soon.

Thanks, and let’s get moving.

/by
Elf Ed Zachary

The Real Big Deal of What Santa Said

Big Deal Santa Said

Santa caused a stir in Santa Chat in the North Pole Club at SantaUpdate.com yesterday.

But what everyone is talking about isn’t the big deal.

I mean, it’s interesting. It will be a really big deal when it happens. But we don’t know that it will happen and already some trackers are speculating that they don’t see HOW it can happen while Santa is so busy delivering on Christmas Eve.

You’re missing the big news from this chat and I want to talk about it:

Santa said he’s going to test fly this new sleigh.

That’s big news. Really BIG news. BIG, big, big, big news.

Why?

Because Santa never does that. I mean EVER.

In fact, it’s kind of a rule that Santa doesn’t even SEE a new sleigh when it is testing.

He always gets in on the design discussions and he’ll see a mock-up of a sleigh before it flies for the first time but it is tradition that the first time Santa flies a new sleigh is on Christmas Eve.

And the sleigh design elves and the test flight pilots and the analysts at Flight Command really like it that way too.

They all take their jobs very seriously. And they are protective of what they do. It’s their territory. It’s not Santa’s sleigh until they make it perfect for him.

That’s why we got into the test flight business to begin with.

Back in the old days Santa just used the same old sleigh he always had. There was nothing fancy about it. It was just a sleigh. All the magic came from just the reindeer.

And for many decades it was enough.

But the world about 150 years ago started to really believe in Santa. Little by little believers grew in number and Santa started to struggle a little bit to deliver to all of them.

That’s when all the changes came to not only Santa’s sleigh but everything at the North Pole. It’s always been about getting to the people.

And it still is. That’s why they build, test and send Santa out in a new sleigh every year. They have to, just to keep up with all the believers in Santa that come on board.

But Santa has respected the space of all those elves who make his sleigh fly and make it better every year.

So for Santa to say he’s going to test fly, and “to get trained”, to fly this new sleigh is really something that crosses a line.

I shared what Santa said in the chat about taking the reins of the new sleigh.

Those dudes are territorial. They want to know when and they want to know why.

Are they unhappy that Santa will fly that sleigh before Christmas Eve?

I would not say that. He’s Santa. What are they going to do, cry about it? Who would they complain to?

But they are surprised. And some are a little worried. Suspicious even.

I think Santa will address it with them. That’s just his way. He does not want any elf feeling uncomfortable with what they do. So he will talk with them, you can take that to the bank.

In the meantime, I’m sure sooner or later North Pole Flight Command will tell us the plans for Santa and his test flights.

And I’m sure in future chats Santa will share some more details about this new sleigh that is commanding all the headlines and, really, all the energy at the North Pole.

As I write this, it’s July.

July is not like this usually. It’s kind of slow time for us at the North Pole, if you want to know the truth. It’s been a time where we rally the troops and try to get everyone’s mind on Christmas.

Well, everyone’s mind IS on Christmas this year.

This sleigh thing has taken over everything at the North Pole. Elves are working. Energy for Christmas is high. And there is some hesitation, if I’m being truthful.

It comes from not knowing how things are going to go. It comes from doing things outside of tradition and routine.

Everyone’s excited for the new thing…and everyone is nervous about it too because nobody knows for sure how it’s going to work out.

It’s different than what happened last year with the crisis in Santa’s Workshop. That was a train wreck in slow motion. It made Christmas eve kind of wild.

Everyone is feeling – and some are even saying – that this Christmas Eve is going to be wild again. Heck, even Santa said so in the chat.

But this is not a scary thing.

It’s like watching a guy pitch a no-hitter in the 8th inning. Everyone is looking at the scoreboard and hanging on every pitch.

Everyone wants what COULD happen. As every batter comes up and every batter goes down they hold their breath. Every foul ball, every time the hitter makes contact they worry and pray for the ball to get caught.

That’s the feeling right now. Everywhere at the North Pole. There’s a feeling that something special is happening. That we could be witnessing history. But any little thing could stop it from happening and we’ve got more than 150 days to go until Santa launches.

Maybe that’s why there’s kind of a tense response with unspoken things being thought but not said about Santa test flying the sleigh.

Is it the thing that will derail history?

Or is it part of the magic in the making?

Nobody knows.

/by
Elf Z

Important Test Flight Plans

Test Flight Plans

The test flights of Santa’s Sleigh are heading to Greenland for a few days. How the sleigh performs there will determine where the test flights go next.

Progress is being made at the Regional Tracking Centers in both Sector 3 and Sector 5. Either or both could go online in the next week or so.

So flight planners are uncertain at the moment whether the test flights will stay in Sector 4 or move on to Sectors 3 or 5.

It is unusual to have this kind of uncertainty with the test flight plan.

Like most things at the North Pole there is a good amount of long range planning to the test flights. They have a long checklist of things they want to accomplish with the sleigh and they customarily know at least two months in advance where the flights are headed.

I’ve never seen uncertainty like this before.

What seems to be driving it is the fact that the sleigh is not where it needs to be at this time on the schedule. In other words, the sleigh should be hitting marks that it just isn’t hitting.

Speed is the critical issue.

The sleigh needs to meet certain speed thresholds – both fast speeds and slow speeds – in order to move to different kinds of test.

For example, if the sleigh is fully loaded and can land with a cross wind of 5 miles per hour within a certain zone then they can move to conditions that are more extreme in nature. But if they CANNOT land accurately in that zone there’s no need to test the sleigh against different conditions.

It is not unusual during the months of June, July and August to basically see small setbacks in the test flight schedule because a missed mark has required changes in the sleigh and they wait for the next version of the sleigh before moving forward. But to see so many missed marks and these quick orders for new versions of the sleigh is not normal.

Version #3, called Clara, is coming this week. Some think they waited too long to make that version of the sleigh, and they need to move faster before Version #4 is ordered.

That’s right. Version #3 isn’t even here yet and some are already calling for Version #4.

That means the sleigh is not developing as fast as it should.

The North Pole Prediction Market, where sugar cookies are bet on North Pole futures, is going crazy. Elf Angelina, who runs the official North Pole prediction office which is part of the Accounting Department, says her office is getting slammed with requests for information.

I have a feeling you’re going to get to know Elf Angelina a bit in the months ahead. Her predictions are watched closely not only by elves who casually bet sugar cookies but also department heads. She does serious work and elves, like for example those in charge of the Wrapping Department, depend on her predictions to make their operational plans.

What I’m saying here is that Santa’s Sleigh and it’s test flights – even they continue to go poorly – could slow down everything else at the North Pole and we could end up in a crisis with Operation Merry Christmas.

Can the Prediction Office affect the work of Tracker Elves?

What do you think?

Elf Z

/by
Elf Tubby Ryder

Regional Tracking Center Now Operational

RTC is Live

It’s official – North Pole Flight Command confirms all the tests have been passed and we’re now official and live in Costa Rica.

We have some touch up paint to apply and a few more chairs to move in but all systems are go.

We do NOT have any reporting requirements at this time. Santa’s test flights of the new sleigh continue for now in our sector. So we COULD be asked at any time to provide some kind of information.

But given the fact the weather is so tame from one end of the sector to the other I would be surprised if a report would be needed from us.

I will, however, let you know should that change.

So, like all the others, we await word from Elf Crash about our first steps of tracking Santa for Santa in Sector 4 this year.

We’re ready!

/by