I did some rough calculating and figured out how much vacation time I get in the next 12 months. In the words of the philosopher – Whoa.
Understand, I'm used to really crappy amounts of vacation. I fell just shy (one month) of spending seven years with Robinson-Blackmore/Optipress/Transcontinental. If I had made it, I would have gotten an extra week of vacation, bringing me up to three weeks. Granted, I normally did get more than that. Traditionally I worked all stat holidays and rolled them into one week or so of extra vacation time. Plus I could take some time off in lieu of overtime. So in the run of a year, I would probably get a little more than four weeks vacation time. But really, it was two weeks.
Unless I have my numbers wrong, and I'm told I don't, I should get a little more than five weeks off this year. That doesn't include stat holidays or any time off in lieu of overtime. Five...whole...weeks. Or about 28 days.
I'm almost giddy. Granted, it's not the 11 weeks or so that my lovely wife gets off, but that's being a teacher for you. I've learned to build that bridge and move on.
But, seriously, five weeks. I'm honestly not sure I can use it all in the next year. I'll be heading home in August, that will take care of 10 days. We're looking at going on a Panama Canal cruise over Christmas (Cathy will be celebrating a milestone birthday, so why not do it in the middle of the Panama Canal) and that will likely kill another 10 days of vacation time.
That still leaves about eight or nine days left. It's luxury, I tell you, luxury!
I'll probably not use that time, roll it into the next year, when we're looking at a month in Italy. I'm also thinking of perhaps a week in New York in April, but Cathy is not enthralled with the idea (there's a major comic convention I'd like to attend, a Yankee's game, perhaps catch a Broadway show like Spamalot or Avenue Q). But we shall see. I have time to play with.
Occasionally, I get people ask me if I regret leaving Newfoundland and moving here, where it's cold, isolated and lacks some of the amenities that you might find elsewhere. To which I can respond that I get a salary of which the mere hint of it makes former colleagues weep, that I get a wonderful experience in one of the most pristine environments on earth, get to learn about a new culture and, oh yeah, get five weeks vacation.
Do I miss working in Newfoundland?
Fuck no...
2 comments:
Is that five weeks vacation or five weeks personal leave, TB? There's a difference. "Personal leave" can include sick leave. Depending on your situation, your five weeks may include that allowance for sick leave and if you take it as vacation (which you're allowed to do) you may find yourself SOL when it comes to sick leave. Check it out with your friendly HR person.
28 days vacation time, 18 days sick leave (sick leave rolls over from year to year, another new thing for me to experience) and another seven days of special leave. I really can't use that unless it's in case of emergency (ie. Cathy got sick, death in the family, etc). Most people tend to use it to deal with kid problems, which is obviously a non-starter with us.
But it's a fair point. I know people with that kind of set up, where they get days off a year for either sickness or vacation. Which really sucks.
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