If You Think You Had a Lousy Christmas...

... it could have been worse.  According to this AP story, an Iowa man spent more than an hour stuck head-first in the opening of his septic tank on Christmas Eve.

This story helps me put my own Christmas Eve in perspective.  My 21 year old son and I made the annual Christmas pilgrimage to my mother's home in west-central Minnesota this past weekend. Since Christmas fell on a Tuesday, we celebrated the holiday a little early this year. As we were returning home on Christmas Eve, the alternator of my vehicle failed about a mile from the nearest town. I ended up having it towed to a closed automobile repair shop which would not open until the following Wednesday (today).  The rest of my Christmas Eve was spent in a hotel room. Fortunately, my good friend Mondo was willing and able (barely) to make the one hour drive on Christmas Morning and bring us back the the Twin Cities. As of this writing, it appears that I will once again be fully mobile by this time tomorrow.

While my Christmas Eve was inconvenient and rather expensive, I can honestly say that it was better than spending an hour head-first in a septic tank.