The 10-5 Philadelphia Eagles take on the 11-4 Buffalo Bills in a game missing motivation. The Eagles clinched the NFC East and may be tempted to “rest” some of their starters for the Playoffs. The Bills clinched a Playoff berth when Art Scott’s 49ers knocked off the Colts on Monday Night Football. The Bills still have a tiny statistical chance of winning the AFC East but that would require the New England Patriots losing to the NY Jets this week or the Miami Dolphins next week. Not likely. So the Bills might be “resting” starters, too. The Bills are 1 1/2 point favorites.

How will your favorite NFL team perform today?

Diane and I traveled to Shea’s Performing Art Center to watch this holiday production. ‘Twas the Night Before… is Cirque du Soleil’s first Christmas show, based on the classic poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore.

We enjoyed the blend of thrilling acrobatics, lovable characters, and a soundtrack including holiday classics re-invented by Cirque du Soleil. Jugglers, dancers, inventive acrobatics, vibrant costumes, and semi-disco music garnered a lot of applause from the sold-out crowd. If you’re looking for a different kind of holiday event, ‘Twas the Night Before… by Cirque du Soleil fits the bill. GRADE: B

Based on a popular video game, Fallout on AMAZON PRIME Video is a wacky series about post-nuclear holocaust America (you can read my review of Season One here). In Season Two, the odd couple team-up between Lucy (Ella Purnell) and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) continues as they pursue the discredited Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), last seen heading toward Vegas in chunky power armor to enact some awful, unspecified scheme.

“Future episodes see attention-grabbing guest roles for Kumail Nanjiani and Macaulay Culkin; Nanjiani, in particular, seems to relish the chance to play a cocky heavy. But the most notable addition to the cast is Justin Theroux as the immaculately mustachioed Robert House, a reclusive Howard Hughes-esque founder of a robotics empire and would-be shaper of the future.”

 Fallout, Season 2 will have eight episodes, with one episode released each week from December 16, 2025, through the finale on February 4, 2026.  Mildly entertaining!

If you’re in the mood for a snarky critique of Capitalism, Leigh Claire La Berge’s Fake Work will tickle your Funny Bone. La Berge writes about her time working for a consulting company where the work was “fake”–like producing spreadsheets that were sent to the company archives never to be seen again. After La Berge gets a promotion, she finds herself jet-setting on the firm’s dime to thirty-minute lunch meetings in Johannesburg.

My favorite story in Fake Work was when La Berge gave impromptu lectures to Japanese executives about limiting liability at the end of the world. The end of the work world As We Know It is approaching as Artificial Intelligence is causing massive layoffs of white collar workers. I feel sorry for College Students now attempting to find work in a world where AI will be performing the tasks of an entry level worker.

Is Capitalism a joke? We’re about to find out in the next couple of years as the impact of technology transforms the workplace. I was reading about the current projects to convert New York City office space into luxury apartments because so many workers in NYC now work from home. I’m afraid “Fake Work” will soon become “No Work.” GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Prologue: The Almost End of the World — vii

Phase I: Taking Inventory — 1

Chapter 1: Millennial Transitions — 3

Chapter 2: Quality Assurance — 16

Chapter 3: “Il n’y a pas de hors-texte” — 28

Chapter 4: Write What You Know — 43

Chapter 5: Teamwork — 58

Phase II: Media and Mediations — 75

Chapter 6: My Putative Promotion — 77

Chapter 7: A Total Bitch and an Absolute Fraud — 94

Chapter 8: A Tepid Marxist and a Bubble Popped — 108

Chapter 9: My Joke of a Promotion — 123

Phase III: Contingency Planning — 143

Chapter 10: Continental Comportment — 145

Chapter 11: Frequent Fliers — 160

Chapter 12: Floods and Fires — 179

Chapter 13: The End of the End — 191

Afterward: Weeks and Decades — 203

Acknowledgements –209

NOTES — 211

The 3-11 Cleveland Browns have been eliminated from Playoff contention so they may not be motivated much in this game. Meanwhile, the 10-4 Buffalo Bills can clinch a Playoff berth with a win over the Browns this afternoon. The Bills are favored by 8 1/2 points.

How will your favorite NFL team fare today?

My Impulse Control was weak when I was at our local liquor store picking up some wine for the Holidays. I spied an end cap with Christian Brothers Egg Nog and Evan Williams Egg Nog on SALE. I’d never tasted either of them so I gave in and bought a bottle of each.

After drinking the Christian Brothers Egg Nog and Evan William Egg Nog reinforced my long standing preference for non-alcoholic Egg Nog. The first thing I tasted with the Evan Williams Egg Nog was alcohol. It overpowered the eggy flavor I enjoy. Disappointing.

The Christian Brothers Egg Nog was a travesty! It was watery and bland. Another buying mistake! Yuck!

To rectify my Egg Nog mistakes, I went to Wegmans and bought my tried and true Egg Nog favorites: Hood Golden Egg Nog and Turkey Hill Egg Nog. You can’t go wrong with either one! Are you a fan of Egg Nog? What’s your favorite brand?