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Both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day of 2025 are on weekdays; and so people may wonder if some businesses will open, or wait it out until Thursday, January 2. Essential services like pharmacies will be open, and retailers plus grocery stores will also receive customers on these holidays as people never stop running errands. The likes of retail stores like CVS will have many of their locations working on both New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day; however, some will work for a limited number of hours just like most Walgreens outlets. Rite Aid will have their store running on both days. As for retail store shoppers, Walmart will open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s, which is the same as Target, although some stores are set to close early. Many Home Depot and Lowes locations will close at 6 PM on New Year’s Eve, and open by 9 AM the next day. Lowes is set to close by 6 PM which is two hours earlier than Home Depot plans to. Macy’s on the other hand, will do regular hours on New Year’s Day; however, for New Year’s Eve they will be open from 10 AM to 7 PM.  Are banks open on New Year’s Eve? Business/Unsplash Due to the Federal Reserve banking holiday, most banks such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo will be closed on New Year’s Day. Many are probably wondering, is New Year’s Eve a federal holiday? Or the start of the new year? The 31st is not a federal holiday, which helps inform which establishments will be open; January 1, however, is a federally-observed holiday. With this in mind, note that the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq will not be trading on New Year’s either; however, mobile banking services and ATMs are always working. Like banks, postal services like USPS will not be working on New Year’s Day. FedEx will also follow suit, however their custom critical service unit will be open. New Year’s Eve will see a bit of operation from FedEx and UPS, because recall New Year’s Eve is not a federal holiday, for which their Express Critical will be open for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Grocery stores/Unsplash As for grocery stores, Albertson companies— which include ACME, Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Randalls, Safeway, Shaws, Vons, and Tom Thumb, will be open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day but with reduced work hours. Most Kroger family stores, including Kroger City Market, Dillons, Fred Meyer, QFC, Pick and Save, and others, will do regular working hours on both days, while Costco and Sam’s Club will be closed on New Year’s Day. Aldi, Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s shoppers might need to get their groceries early as they will also follow suit and will not be in operation on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day as well. Is New Year’s Eve a federal holiday? Aldi New Year Day/Unsplash New Year’s Day is a federal holiday in the United States and is observed on the first day of January each year, but not eve. This aligns with the global tradition of marking the beginning of a new year, which means people would want to spend time with their families, hence the holiday. Designating New Year’s Day as a public holiday was also a way of ensuring that federal employees have a paid day off. Are banks open on New Year’s Eve? / Unsplash Because New Year’s Eve is not a federal holiday, while January 1 is, most businesses may resume normal operations on January 2 if New Year’s Day falls on a weekday such as in 2025. If New Year’s happens to fall on a Sunday, then the holiday is observed the next day, which is January 2 and businesses go back to normal operations from the Tuesday after. Like most businesses, healthcare professionals do not get to enjoy New Year’s Day off in general, except the day off is a part of your regular schedule. Most affected by these are the emergency room staff such as the doctors and nurses. Most healthcare facilities will offer additional compensation to their essential workers for working on New Year’s Day. Target/Unsplash Next up: ‘Full House’ Star Dave Coulier Announces Stage 3 Cancer Diagnosis The post What Businesses Are Open And Closed On New Year’s Eve And The Coming New Year’s Day? appeared first on DoYouRemember? - The Home of Nostalgia. Author, Peace A

Will Ferrell showed up at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles for Sunday’s hockey game between the Kings and the Flyers. He was accompanied by his wife Viveca Paulin, and son Alex as he stole the audience’s attention with his outfit from the holiday classic Elf. Although his character from the 2003 movie, Buddy, was full of festive cheer, Will Ferrell seemed downcast as he chugged on a beer with a fake cigarette in hand. Even his Buddy the Elf costume did not fit like it used to, but he managed to show up confidently in it regardless. FanDuel Sports Network reporter Carrlyn Bathe had a conversation with the comedy star at the hockey game, and from their conversation, she deduced that he has been having a tough holiday season with his team, the Los Angeles Kings, and is rooting for them to win. His concerns about the hockey game aside, playing Buddy the Elf took Will Ferrell’s career to the next level and is arguably his most beloved character so far. Will Ferrell spreads Christmas cheer to a hockey game dressed as Buddy the Elf, with a gritty modern twist Will Ferrell dresses up as Buddy the Elf at a Dec.29 hockey game between the Kings and Flyers. pic.twitter.com/8bUrnxmqec — non aesthetic things (@PicturesFoIder) December 30, 2024 Although his role as Buddy made him even more famous, Will Ferrell already had some acclaim as a comedian on Saturday Night Live in the ‘90s and early 2000s. He was known for his iconic impersonations of US President George W. Bush, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, United States Attorney General Janet Reno, game show host Alex Trebek, US Vice President Al Gore, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Cuban President Fidel Castro, and many more. He also did original characters, with his most memorable being office worker Dale McGrew, who made the audience go wild with laughter when he appeared in a thong at the start of the skit. ELF, Will Ferrell, 2003, (c) New Line/courtesy Everett Collection While doing Saturday Night Live shows, Will Ferrell was also on sets for productions like the Austin Powers series for International Man of Mystery and The Spy Who Shagged Me, which were two years apart. He also starred in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Zoolander in 2001, after which he left Saturday Night Live to focus on his budding acting career. After he left the long-running comedy show, he landed the part of Frank “The Tank” Richard in 2003’s Old School. The Todd Phillips-directed production earned Will Ferrell an MTV Movie Awards nomination for Best Comedic Performance, and another followed for his part in Elf that same year. ‘Elf’ remains a holiday classic more than two decades later ELF, Will Ferrell, 2003, (c) New Line/courtesy Everett Collection Elf was an instant hit when it premiered in November 2003, grossing over $220 million as against its $33 million budget. So, today, Will Ferrell appearing as Buddy the Elf appearing at a hockey game is as relevant as ever. Ferrell himself took home a fat check of about $32 million on its opening weekend. The 57-year-old has acknowledged the impact of Elf in his Hollywood career, noting that he was instantly sold by the script and his character’s mix of comic relief and emotion. He was not really shocked at the movie’s performance upon release; however, the timelessness of Elf decades later is still a surprise to Will Ferrell, who recently co-starred in the Netflix documentary Will & Harper. ELF, Daniel Tay, James Caan, Will Ferrell, 2003, (c) New Line/courtesy Everett Collection Aside from acting, which Will Ferrell has done in the past three decades, he co-founded Funny Or Die, a video streaming platform that allows users to upload and watch short comedy films for peer voting and reviews, with Adam McKay, the head writer on Saturday Night Live during his active years as a cast member. They also worked together on HBO’s Eastbound & Down and ran the production company Gary Sanchez until their split due to Adam overlooking Will for a role in Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. He is a sports lover too— as evidenced by his latest appearance and having played baseball, ice hockey, and soccer in recent years. ELF, Will Ferrell, 2003, (c) New Line/courtesy Everett Collection Next up: New Earwitness Taps Robert Wagner In Natalie Wood’s Death As She ‘Screamed For Help’ The post Will Ferrell Appears At Hockey Game In Los Angeles Wearing Buddy’s Suit From ‘Elf’ appeared first on DoYouRemember? - The Home of Nostalgia. Author, Peace A

Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that Earth is constantly being bombarded by literally tons of space debris daily. The larger bits form what we know as shooting stars, and most burn up in the atmosphere. Still, throughout our planet’s history, giant versions have caused devastation unlike anything else seen on this planet. Tracking these types of objects is typically done from the Earth, but a new mission set out by researchers in Italy has a novel idea – why not try to learn more about potential impactors by watching them hit the far side of the Moon? The mission, known as the Lunar Meteoroid Impact Observer, or LUMIO, is a 12U CubeSat weighing around 22 kg. Its primary payload is the LUMIO-Cam, a visible light camera meant to detect flashes of impacts of the micrometeoroids it is intended to track. So far, so typical – plenty of asteroid and meteoroid tracking missions are already in space, so why need another one? The most interesting thing about LUMIO is its location – at the L2 Earth-Moon Lagrange point. That puts it exactly opposite the Earth on the far side of the Moon. One of LUMIO’s creators discusses how the navigation system will work. This location has advantages and disadvantages – the Moon’s disk is much smaller than the Earth’s, so LUMIO could capture the entire hemisphere and watch for any impacts on the lunar surface. It’s important to note that most of the impacts would indeed be on the surface itself, since the lunar atmosphere is negligible in terms of providing energy for a micrometeoroid to burn up before impact. That is why the Moon is pockmarked with so many craters. Also, while it’s commonly referred to as the “dark side” of the Moon, the far side is lit up half the time – and fully lit when we down on the planet experience a “new Moon.” But, when it is dark on the lunar surface, it is genuinely dark – there aren’t any lights that could be misconstrued as an asteroid strike. The L2 point has the added advantage of not suffering from “Earthshine” – reflected light from Earth that could diminish the effectiveness of the LUMIO-cam when trying to detect faint light streaks. Difficulties abound with the placement, though, including a lack of a direct line of communication and the necessity of an automated navigation and control system. Since the Moon is literally between the CubeSat and any ground receiver that could send commands or receive data, it must be bounced off a relay satellite in order to do so. Fraser discusses what is actually on the far side of the Moon LUMIO will also capture a large amount of data, not all of which will be useful. Since the flashes it’s looking for are very fast, LUMIO-Cam will capture about 15 frames per second. Then, onboard processing will use an algorithm to sort through the image to see if there are any flashes visible in it. Those interesting images will then be the ones sent back to Earth.  Estimates put the number of micrometeoroids striking the Moon’s surface at as high as 23,000 times per year for micrometeoroids as small as 30 grams. Even if LUMIO only watches half of that area, it will observe impacts multiple times every day. Each is a little look into the types of debris that still exist in our local part of the solar system and maybe into what asteroids and comets they were initially a part of. There’s a good chance the LUMIO team will be able to capture that data as well – the mission was accepted as a finalist to ESA’s Lunar CubeSat for Exploration (LUCE) SYSNOVA Competition and is currently planned for launch in 2027. Once it reaches its stable orbit, expect to see some brilliant flashes on the Lunar surface popping up new reports regularly. Learn More:ESA – LUMIO – New CubeSat Illuminating Lunar ImpactsTopputo et al. – LUMIO: A CubeSat at Earth-Moon L2UT – Astronomers are Working to Put a Radio Telescope on the Far Side of the Moon by 2025UT – Finally, an Explanation for the Moon’s Radically Different Hemispheres Lead Image:Depiction of LUMIO’s orbital path to the L2 Earth-Moon point.Credit – ESA The post A New Mission Watches Meteoroids Hit the Far Side of the Moon appeared first on Universe Today.