I have two hours between the start of my abbreviated Thursday night shift and the annual Holiday Party (not Christmas, Holiday). This'll give me two hours away from the office before returning to answer calls from angry coaches. Of course, there's not one drop of alcohol in this equation, which will make the two hours at the party nearly impossible to get through.
So, here's a few more examples of the good life some people have on this glorious December day:

• A Holy Cow:



(AP/MSNBC) The month: December. The place: A humble farm. The setting: Just perfect for an auspicious event.
On a cold, dark night in the wee hours of the morning, a baby calf was born. His nurturing mother, Fuzzy, welcomed him into the world by licking and licking his head — an act that obscured a special detail about the little guy that would soon generate headlines all over the planet.
“When we first saw the calf ... the mother had licked the hair and it was all sideways and we thought it was a regular calf,” recalled Connecticut dairy farmer Brad Davis. “Then a little later on in the morning we went in and there it was, standing right out. It was really quite a sight.”
“It” was none other than the distinctive markings of a white cross on the newborn calf’s forehead. The image had quite an effect on Davis, Davis’ relatives and friends and families all around the dairy farm.
“The first night that he was here, when we shut the lights out that night late at night, the only thing you could see in here was that cross showing in the dark,” Davis told the local Norwich Bulletin newspaper. “It was really quite a feeling. It made the hair stand up on the back of my neck, actually.”
Davis’ 70-year-old father, Andrew Gallup Davis, told the Bulletin that he’s never seen a pattern like this on any of the thousands of calves he’s encountered in his lifetime.
“It’s not one you look at and you try to make something out of it,” he said. “It’s pronounced.”
Editor's Note: I'm still waiting for the pot of gold from that leprechaun that was in a tree a few years ago. Also, divine signs are best when they're on food products or messy spills you can't get Bounty to pick up for you.

• AOL starts first day as an independent company: (CNET) NEW YORK - The line on Wednesday night snaked outside the New York Stock Exchange building as a swarm of marketing, advertising, and other media types waited to get into the party that AOL was throwing on the trading floor to mark its spin-off from Time Warner. Onlookers weren't really sure what the big deal was.
An evening commuter walked past, craning his neck up at the massive AOL-logo banner--yes, the one with the fuzzy blue monster on it--and asking a few of the people in line, "Why's AOL having a party?"
"Spinning off from Time Warner."
"Oh, finally," the commuter replied, and sauntered off into the night.
Approximately 10 minutes later, security stalled a pack of party guests between the coat check and the entrance to the trading floor so that they wouldn't get in the way of AOL CEO Tim Armstrong's photo op on the red carpet with publishing industry dame Anna Wintour. There were waitresses carrying massive bourbon-infused cocktails called "The Ticker," sushi chefs chopping up spicy salmon rolls, and a photographer snapping pictures of guests posing with the iconic NYSE gavel. Oh, and there was a DJ booth where rap legend Sean "Diddy" Combs was calling the shots.
The next morning, long after that had all been cleared out, trading of the new AOL stock commenced: it fell in the first hour, hovered around $23 for most of the day, and climbing a few notches to close at $23.52. It looked less like the refreshed, shiny AOL that had turned the NYSE trading floor into a celebration of its vision of 21st-century publishing, and more like the AOL that, in preparation for the spin-off, cut 2,500 employees and began to explore selling off peripheral businesses like ICQ and MapQuest.
Editor's Note: It took me 90 minutes to discontinue AOL nearly 17 years ago and they still charged me for three more months before I got the bank to cut them off and get a refund. But I'm not bitter... I didn't even realize they were still around, even as AOL Time-Warner, until about a month ago when rumors started about the breakup between the two companies. Good luck with that, AOL. Coming back from irrelevancy is a tough road to travel, especially when people's images of your company starts and ends with stuff like this —

• Obama wins some friends during Nobel Peace Prize speech: (AP) WASHINGTON - By using his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech Thursday to justify expanding the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama won over some Republican critics at home, even as he preached messages of multilateralism, diplomacy and civil disobedience that resonate in anti-war circles around the world.
In a 36-minute speech in Oslo, Obama defended last week's announcement that he'll send 30,000 to 35,000 more troops to Afghanistan. He discouraged other nations' "reflexive suspicion of America," recalling how Europe survived thanks to U.S. intervention in World War II. He spoke of "just war."
The president even invoked one of the favorite qualifiers of his predecessor, George W. Bush, whose legacy he campaigned against last year. Obama said, "Evil does exist in the world."
While accepting an international honor that in the short term also has been somewhat of a political albatross, Obama sought to convey sufficient humility. He acknowledged "the considerable controversy" over receiving the peace prize after less than a year on the job.
Given the stature of some past winners, and the ordeals faced by humanitarian leaders who've never won, the president said, "I cannot argue with those who find these men and women, some known, some obscure to all but those they help, to be far more deserving of this honor than I."
Obama called on other nations to step up their commitments to U.N. peacekeeping efforts, nuclear disarmament and imposing serious sanctions on regimes that pose a threat to world stability.
"It is also incumbent upon all of us to insist that nations like Iran and North Korea do not game the system," he said. "Those who seek peace cannot stand idly by as nations arm themselves for nuclear war."
Editor's Note: Liberals love the fact he got the award and conservatives have everything he does, but in one speech, Obama pleased both of them. You have to hand it to the guy, he's good. Really, really good. Now, get home and finish this health care reform policy...

• Facebook privacy settings get revamped: PC World story
Editor's Note: This was too good to just clip and paste. I don't particularly care to do this type of format too often - cut, paste, witty retort - but it works sometimes. As for Facebook, the new settings will allow you to avoid those awkward and sometimes annoying status updates from friends you know somewhat well, but not well enough to bask in their glow as a farmer, mob boss or poker player. So irritating.