Tuesday, February 21, 2006

I lov the smell of spent powder charges in the morning

I was busy banging my head against my desk because Lurch and Pony Boy in the next cube over were talking about the theater.

“I’m not really a theater guy, I’d rather a good ball game, you know? Or just go home and watch some television.”

Cretins.

The subject then changed to Pony Boy’s weekend which had been consumed by a Mousetrap drinking game. This led to a brief period where the two reminisced about how difficult that game was to set up, especially “the man on the see-saw” and “all those pieces that fit together.”

The conversation didn’t make me want to go play some Mousetrap so much as it made me want to go drinking. Right then.

Then Lurch started talking about plans for the next long weekend, which doesn’t occur until Memorial Day in May. Lurch decided to get a jump on things and take Patriot’s day off in April.

Which reminded me, I usually take Patriot’s Day off, and by usually I mean:

I have not missed a reenactment of the battle of Lexington and Concord (held at 5:30AM, sharp, on Lexington Green) and the subsequent Patriot’s Day parade though Medford Square, and the subsequent viewing/cheering for the Boston Marathon on Beacon Street in Boston in thirteen years.

Last year I called in sick so I could make it to the battle, parade, and marathon. Which got me thinking to my plans for this year: take a vacation day, or call in?

So I checked the vacation calendar, because if it’s empty I’ll put in for a day now and not have to worry about it. The calendar isn’t empty, the two spots are already taken, and not only do I have to come in to work that day, I’ve been enrolled in an HR class by my manager.

So it looks like I’ll be missing that class.

Actually, after thinking about it for a little bit, I realized that calling hypermanager on April 17th and telling him I’m too sick to come to work is really a worst-case-scenario.

Because ideally, I won’t be working here in April.
-t

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is Patriot's Day? I've never heard of it. I'm from the Midwest. Does that make me unpatriotic?

Tom said...

Yes.

It's a day to celebrate/remember/etc the patriots of the revolutionary war. It's also the day the Boston Marathon is run. So we get up before the sun to watch the reenactment of the Battle of Lexington and Concord (The "shot heard round the world") then watch a parade, then watch the marathon.

However, since it's not a federal holiday we don't get the day off. Which is stupid. So I call in or take a vacation day or whatever so as not to screw with family tradition.

:)