Yes, December is lurking and will saunter in soon. I wouldn't have believed it this morning, though - it was 66 degrees at 9 a.m. It has since fallen to a rainy 45 or so.

So, yes, December. One of my things to do on my list today was to make my Christmas Card list, and it's surprisingly small. Doable, even. Anybody want a card? E-mail me with an address, and you'll get one, complete with a personal (likely silly) message.

hln

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Patriot Paradox is hosting a Blog Tournament. See this post for details. I'm judging for this one instead of writing.

hln

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Yes, a survey. According to CNN's Money section, 8 out of 10 of us want new jobs.

More than eight in 10 workers plan to look for a new job when the economy heats up, according to a survey by the Society for Human Resource Professionals. While there's a difference between looking for a new gig and actually jumping ship, that kind of number is "very, very high," says SHRP spokesman Frank Scanlon.

How did things get so bad?

To be sure, the economy hasn't helped. Cash-strapped employers have been cutting back on benefits like health care, paid vacations and retirement benefits.

Belt tightening is one thing; greed is another. In an era of Enron, mutual fund scandals and ludicrous CEO pay packages, employees know the difference, says Jeff Taylor, founder and CEO of Monster.com.

"Companies behaving badly" have been all too common during the downturn, according to Taylor.

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits plunged last week to a level not seen since before the 2001 recession, the government said on Thursday, fueling hopes a long slide in employment had ended.

The magnitude of the drop in jobless claims surprised economists, who expected only a slight drop from a week-earlier level that had been boosted by a grocery store strike in California.

A department spokesman said problems with adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations could have been a factor.

"Every week we encourage (looking at) the four-week average. This is certainly one of those weeks," he said.

The four-week average, which smoothes weekly volatility to present a clearer picture of labor-market trends, fell 10,000 to 380,000 last week, its lowest level since March 2001.

Some analysts said the latest data suggested a report on October employment the government is set to release on Friday may show even a larger gain in payrolls than the 58,000 that economists on Wall Street had been expecting.

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I found THREE marathon news items of note today, so let this heretoafter be known as the "Marathon" post. Here, a sponsor.

One: This is what you call one fast chickee. She runs about the same pace as I cycle (on a slow day where I'm yawning anyway).

NEW YORK - Kenyans again ruled the New York City Marathon on Sunday, with Margaret Okayo smashing the course record and Martin Lel winning his first marathon ever.

Okayo won the New York race for the second time, dropping to her knees and kissing the ground after crossing the line in 2 hours, 22 minutes, 31 seconds. She shattered her 2001 course record by nearly two minutes.

Reigning world champion Catherine Ndereba of Kenya was second among the women in 2:23:04, followed by Lornah Kiplagat, a native Kenyan who became a Dutch citizen this year, in 2:23:43. They also beat the previous course record.

"I didn't know I was going to break my own record, but I was just trying to do my best," Okayo said.

NEW YORK - Sunday's New York Marathon will be the seventh one in seven days — on seven continents — for two British adventurers.

Before coming to New York, explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes — cousin of actors Ralph and Joseph — and his running partner, Michael Stroud, ran an overnight marathon past Egypt's ancient pyramids and through Cairo streets.

Fiennes ran in support of the Women for Peace International, an organization chaired by Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak, and the People to People initiative, which promotes international peace, according to a press statement.

The pair had already completed marathons in London, Singapore, Chile, the Falkland Islands and Australia.

Each 26-mile run had to be completed within six hours so the pair could remain on schedule, Stroud told reporters Wednesday in Sydney, Australia.

Running on a bum right knee and just two months of training, hip-hop entrepreneur Sean "P. Diddy" Combs completed the New York City Marathon on Sunday in just under four hours and raised $2 million for children, double the amount he planned.

"Never in my life have I ever experienced anything as crazy as this," Combs said at a news conference.

The producer-rapper, formerly known as Puff Daddy (news - web sites) and Puffy, decided in September to run his first marathon.

As he crossed the finish line in Central Park in 3:58:22, Combs raised his arms in triumph. He took a few more steps, then leaned over to catch his breath. Bags of ice were placed on his neck.

Combs — known on the course simply as No. 30,792 — kept a respectable pace of an eight- to nine-minute miles for much of the race. He ran in sunglasses, his hair in a closely cropped mohawk and a breathing strip across his nose. He was accompanied by police officers and at least one of his employees.

"I feel great. I feel strong," Combs told NBC Sports during the race's first hour. "We're right on pace. I'm not going to go out too hard. I'm going to finish strong."

He was troubled by cramps that caused him to walk a few steps. He said he drew support from a TV reporter covering the race who ran with him, as well as from cheering children in Harlem.

"I definitely wanted to stop," he said. "This is definitely a life-changing experience for me because I did not stop."

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