Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the practice
Not a pencil was stirring, for art or for justice.
The printers were quiet, and the heaters switched off
(To cut costs in this economical trough).

The drawings were nestled, all snug in their sleeves,
In great stacks of binders, in quite messy sheaves,
And models were piled next to samples and scrap,
And I, fast asleep at my desk, took a nap.

When out on the street, there arose such a clatter!
I sprang from my chair, and my dreams did all scatter.
Back into my project I flew like a flash,
Started up Microstation, but it promptly crashed.

The deadline looming, the final submission
Was due on the morrow, impossible mission.
Why, who, in their mad, ignoble delusion
Would plan out this work with such foolish ambition?

With a small painful shrug, neither lively nor quick,
I resumed my work, cursing good old Sir Nick,
Who, before taking off to sunnier parts
Had this horrible deadline, chosen to impart.

And why did he do it? Why'd an honest good man
Saddle my poor team with this terrible plan?
"Thou shalt work until Christmas. Early Break? Don't forget
I need it by Christmas, through pain or through sweat."

So it is every year, if not Nick, then it's Beatty,
Or Hovis, or Saint Hope, or Sweety and Sweety.
Every christmas some clients demand their ideas,
All packaged, delivered, drawn up, made to please...

So that they can rest, in a mailbox somewhere
Locked up in a cupboard, stuffed under the stairs
While the client enjoys a well earned vacation
Without any thought for our cruel deprivation.

Thus, then, is the life of us poor architects,
Who dream of tall towers and who knows what next
In the deep of the night, while other men quaff
The clear bubbly draught, and enjoy hearty laughs.

Thus, then, is the life, but if such is the cost
Of great architecture, should we really be cross?
When it's all said and done, and built of stone and glass,
Was it not all worth that one last midnight pass?

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the practice,
Architects were working, hard, all night, without cease.

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to our readers, our users, and everyone else, from the whole woobius team.