12:15 PM -- I've just returned from a strange midweek vacation. It's the first time in a very long time that I took days off from work and wasn't leaving town. I have to say, I hated every second of it. I can't remember being so bored. Tuesday I put out Christmas decorations, Wednesday I went to New Jersey to do Christmas shopping, and after trying to relax all day Thursday, I found myself looking forward to going back to the office. Needless to say, I don't think I'll ever take another day off if I don't have somewhere to go. New York can be a very dull place when everyone you know in town is at work.

So while I was out, it looks as if AT&T decided to extend its U-verse forecasts into the year 2010. (See AT&T Updates U-verse Forecast.) With 30 million homes now the target for the end of that year, I wonder if I get to now look forward to writing a fresh new batch of "AT&T Adjusts U-verse Forecasts" stories over the course of the next couple of years. (See AT&T Readjusts U-verse Forecast , AT&T Lowers U-verse Goals Again, and AT&T Hits Lowered U-verse Goal.)

I'll be out again on Monday, but this time I'll be traveling to the northern suburbs of NYC to set up my grandpa's Christmas tree. He is your stereotypical cranky old man who despises everything about buying, setting up, and trimming a Christmas tree. He threatened to get one of those fake trees this year that you can setup in one step. I can't allow that to happen, so I'll be up there on Monday dragging him kicking and screaming through the whole process.

— Raymond McConville, Reporter, Light Reading