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Yesterday I got a memo from one of my grand high overbosses - I think my boss's boss's boss's boss - telling me to take a holiday, or else. Of course she put it more discreetly than that, but that was the central message.
Frankly it's a nuisance.
It's a testament to my entirely pleasant working environment that I find holidays to be more effort than they're worth. Basically I have to work twice as hard before I go away, planning for any issues that might arise, and twice as hard when I return, dealing with the backlog of problems. Or I could just stay at work, fixing things if and when they come up and before they evolve into larger issues, with plenty of time in between to drink free coffee.
There's nowhere I particularly want to go, or rather, there's nowhere I want to go that won't cost untold thousands of dollars to get there. I'm not a huge fan of solo travel, and without a Significant Other there's no one I can force into going with me. I know that if I packed myself off to some exotic and beautiful place I'd just be lonely and bored and pining for my MST3K collection, if nothing else.
Plus I must admit that having massive amounts of accrued leave appeals to the miserly hoarder in me. I can look at my balance and say, "I can take a holiday that lasts until November! Or I can take a week off every month until 2010! Or one day a week off for the next two years! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Not that I actually would, because then I wouldn't have any holidays, but I could if I wanted to. Which I don't.
Perversely enough if my employers allowed their staff to cash out spare leave, I would do it in a heartbeat. Then I could buy a new car, or give my mortgage an almighty punch in the head. But they don't, so my leave just accrues like the dustbunnies under my bed.
However at the end of the day I don't think I'm in a position to tell my boss's boss's boss's boss to bite me, so I'm resigned to doing the bare minimum (my favourite amount) and taking next week off. It will give me a chance to blitz my garden, which currently looks like the Somme circa 1916 thanks to an ill-advised landscape restructuring project.
Frankly it's a nuisance.
It's a testament to my entirely pleasant working environment that I find holidays to be more effort than they're worth. Basically I have to work twice as hard before I go away, planning for any issues that might arise, and twice as hard when I return, dealing with the backlog of problems. Or I could just stay at work, fixing things if and when they come up and before they evolve into larger issues, with plenty of time in between to drink free coffee.
There's nowhere I particularly want to go, or rather, there's nowhere I want to go that won't cost untold thousands of dollars to get there. I'm not a huge fan of solo travel, and without a Significant Other there's no one I can force into going with me. I know that if I packed myself off to some exotic and beautiful place I'd just be lonely and bored and pining for my MST3K collection, if nothing else.
Plus I must admit that having massive amounts of accrued leave appeals to the miserly hoarder in me. I can look at my balance and say, "I can take a holiday that lasts until November! Or I can take a week off every month until 2010! Or one day a week off for the next two years! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Not that I actually would, because then I wouldn't have any holidays, but I could if I wanted to. Which I don't.
Perversely enough if my employers allowed their staff to cash out spare leave, I would do it in a heartbeat. Then I could buy a new car, or give my mortgage an almighty punch in the head. But they don't, so my leave just accrues like the dustbunnies under my bed.
However at the end of the day I don't think I'm in a position to tell my boss's boss's boss's boss to bite me, so I'm resigned to doing the bare minimum (my favourite amount) and taking next week off. It will give me a chance to blitz my garden, which currently looks like the Somme circa 1916 thanks to an ill-advised landscape restructuring project.
posted by Blandwagon at 1:07 PM
8 Comments:
Maybe you could just work 4-day weeks until the end of the year. Mmm, 4-day week ...
Maybe you could get a new helmet take An9ie out on the porcelain buzzwagon?
Or approach publishers for "Postultimate"? You should approach them before the book is complete. I can supply you with a list; someone may as well get some use from my $50 splurge on the 2008 Australian Writers Guide.
Maybe you could get a new helmet take An9ie out on the porcelain buzzwagon?
Either that sentence wasn't meant to make sense, or you've just had a stroke. I'm troubled either way.
As I type this comment, I am indeed at home enjoying a day off... a regular day off, as in a 4 day week. It's great, but there are nappies to be changed and toilets to be scrubbed... that's the trade-off.
Bland, I suggest you go to Rottobloggo to seek some inspiration - the Island can be pleasant this time of year.
Ah, yes; those small words can make all the difference. Insert "and" between "helmet" and "take".
And instead of "take An9ie out", which might have unfortunate results if interpreted in a nihilistic way, perhaps, "take An9ie for a joyride" is preferable.
The "porcelain buzzwagon" - well, a wagon traditionally has four wheels; however, it perhaps should be "temporary Australian unicycle with extra safety wheel".
May your forehead grow like the mighty oak.
I know, I know - they do it here too. If we don't take a holiday every year, our holidays don't accrue, they just go back to zero. Also, we have a system of overtime pay where we can build up 'time in lieu', and then take that time off, on holiday.
Because they're miserly scrooges here at work, they sometimes force us to use that, too, when they want us to - rather than when we want to.
Bastard bosses, making us have holidays! I Blame Kevin Rudd!
Timt - what the eff? How can your holidays go back to zero? What kind of crooks do you work for?
Blanders, there's always plenty of stuff to do round the 2BarHouse if you get bored on holidays -
childminding, gardening, painting gutters. Endless fun!
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