I tend to use less vacation time during the year than I accumulate. The company I work for has said that anyone with more than 200 hours of vacation time accrued must take two weeks’ vacation before March 31, 2003.
What should I do? I don;t want to just sit around the apartment. I’d go mad. I suppose I could:
[ul]
[li]Take two weeks to take an intensive course to regain my fixed-wing currency. (I haven’t flown fixed-wing since I took up helicopters, and I have been flying helis recently due to cost and time considerations.)[/li][li]Visit a foreign country. (I’ve been wanting to re-visit England for years and years.)[/li][li]Go on a road trip.[/li][li]Work on my MGB.[/li][li]Go to northern Washington to look for a house to buy.[/li][/ul]
Flying is always a good thing. It shouldn’t be too expensive. I’m already a rated pilot. So I’d have to re-learn the ways of the fixed-wings, get used to flying them in the L.A. area (helis are easy even in this busy airspace), take some ground school, pass a biennial, etc. It would be a lot of work, but I could do it.
As I said, I’ve been wanting to get over to England. It would be a good excuse for a LonDopeFest.
A road trip? Where? Just driving around the country seems a bit pointless. I could go to Tennessee, where one of my friends from Washington is moving. I could go to New Orleans, but my friends down there will be working. I’ve been known to “just drive” to someplace I’ve never been before. But I can’t think of anyplace I’d particularly want to visit.
No mechanic, I. The MGB is in the hands of people who know what they’re doing. I’d just get in the way.
I will eventually move to Washington, and it would be nice to have a house up there. Besides, I can rent it out while I’m stuck in Los Hideous. But I’m going to try again to convince the Powers That Be that I should be able to do my job out of the Bothel office. If I buy a house in Bellingham, it will be too far away from Bothel for a reasonable commute.
When you’re in Bellingham, make sure you visit the American Museum of Radio. If you meet Jonathon Winter, the curator, tell him I said hi. I worked with him for a couple of years as a volunteer when I lived up there.
Wonderful collection of antique radios/tvs/electronic devices.
Bellingham to Bothel, is that all? I work in Renton and one of the inspectors in my shop commutes daily from Bellingham to Renton. He works lots of 10 hour days and weekends too. I couldn’t do it but he says it is no problem. I commuted from the Auburn area to Everett for almost 5 years and I hated the commute.
FWIW, the company I work for has a “use it or lose it” regulation. (You don’t have to use it all up by the end of the accrual year, but you do have to use up last year’s accrued vacation time by October of this year.) Last year I lost two day’s worth of unused vacation time - without prior notice - because I was carrying forward too much of it. Bummer.
Theoretically, I can accrue 300 hours. But they want everyone to take time off to help EBIT.
racer72: 80 miles is a bit far for me. (Although I did commute for 75 miles for two years, and 70 miles for two years.) Right now I commute 43 miles, and I wouldn at all mind commuting less.
Have you ever thought of visiting exotic southwestern Ohio, Johnny? It’s been called a “Garden Spot”. It’s also been called an upholstered midden pit, but that’s an over-statement at the very least.
Think of it, the lovely Ohio valley, free room and board, local attractions… the only minicscule flaw in the whole plan would be the two kids. Yeah, the Little Woman and I would be dumping Soupo and Katcha on ya and skippin’ town.
But you have my solemn vow whereas I definitely wouldn’t up with the Federal Witness Relocation dealy and leave you high and dry with our darling progeny. Really, a solemn vow.
Waddaya say, ol’ buddy?
-Rue. (how could you say no to these puppy-dog eues?)
Johnny, you should work on your fixed wing credentials. You can come up to Washington afterward and take a spin over the the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges.
I used to communte from Selah (South of Ellensburg) to Seattle and back every day, 142 miles one way. There was a guy in Ellensburg that did the same thing, so we took turns driving. I would leave my house at 4:00 AM and I can not count the times that I was passing through North Bend and could not really recall much about the trip other than leaving my house and passing through Ellensburg.
I did visit travelocity for airfares to London. IIRC, the least expensive was $461 for a return ticket on American Airlines. I think it was about $100 more for British Airways. A co-worker told me that American has more legroom.
I do need to run an errand in Washington (state). But I only need two days off for that. (Or less. I’ll have to figure out if it’s cheaper to drive, or to fly and then rent a car.)
How about you get current on the fixed wing thing, then fly to Washington and find the house.
On the 2nd day, you can fly to Costa Rica and land on the beach. That’ll impress the babes, no doubt!
By the morning of the 3rd day, you no doubt will have several who are willing to cross the atlantic with you as you fly to London. (I’m sure that they won’t mind if you that you told them you were the long-lost Lindbergh baby).
That leaves you with about a week and a half to buzz Buckingham Palace, visit Hogwart’s, and scrounge for those MG parts that your mechanic can’t find over here.
Okay, here’s the deal. My friend on the Peninsula has to be out of her house on the 18th. So I figured I can take off Friday night or Saturday morning and be up there on the 11th. Then I can take care of the errand I have to do up there, help her finish with her house, and then head home on the 18th.
Even better, check the airline ticket consolidators in your Sunday paper. Foreign travel is the way to go, but why stop with London? It’s great, but how about Paris? Milan? Budapest? European airfare is dirt-cheap this time of year…I flew Chicago-London last year for $350 round-trip. I would have gone somewhere else, but I wanted to see my college roomie in Kent…and you can’t beat crashing with your dear friend for free!
I can’t offer any kids of my own but I’m sure I could sure find some.
