On April 11, her car broke down and had to be towed. So she called us at 10:00 that night to let us know. I took April 12 off and took Grace to school for 1/2 a day and then we did fun stuff -- like got new eyeglasses.

The nurse showed up the following Monday (April 15) in her son's car. On tuesday April 16, we got a call at 5:00 AM saying her son's car wasn't working and she'd probably be out that whole week. Grace went to school with K on that Tuesday. I took Wednesday off and spent the whole day being Grace's nurse in Kindergarten (blargh, but I have an adorbs video her playing with friends, which is heartwarming). Then Grace thankfully spent the Thursday and Friday of that week with lori's partner, Lina, doing homeschool.

On Thursday, K texted the nurse to ask if she was returning on Monday. No. Her car was still not working. And wouldn't be fixed until Wed. We have a sub nurse who showed up today and will be here tomorrow (also, why do nurse's wear perfume? It seems like such a trigger for so many people). But I don't know if sub nurses are allowed to go to school with Grace (I think not because there are all sorts of fingerprinting requirements etc).

This is an hourly employee who has missed over a week of work because of car issues? Does that seem nuts? If I had car issues, I'd work it out. It might take me a day, but then I'd either prevail upon friends, figure out public transport or, worst case, rent a car.

But neither K nor I can take any time off this week because it's state testing and we NEED to be on campus. Grace is missing a shocking amount of school because of this which pisses me off.

OMG kat. I cannot believe I missed that. She has had car issues for 11 days now? that's a lot of time.

Does she have a 2nd job or something?

Does that seem nuts?

That is bananas, Kat. You're not in a rural area with limited options!

I must confess, I would love a 3 month doggie leave without the doggie.

If working isn't enough to cover a car rental, well, one still has to think about one's reputation, and if a car rental is too expensive to preserve that...yeah, other nurses sound like a good thing to explore.

Speaking as an hourly employee, yeah, that seems nuts.

And not just my clients. I've been working off and on for the last six years to resolve a tricky question involving the proper storage and handling of archaeological material, and it's all gummed up with state law versus federal law versus tribal interests and a great deal of politics. And my state counterpart, whom I was just on the phone with, sounded quite disconsolate at the prospect of having to start from scratch with whomever I dump this on.

That's terrible. For, like, the world. Gah.

Also- yay Lee's New Dog Vacation! When we got Walter, I was able to stay home with him a lot of the time and it was very helpful in getting him acclimated.

I would love a three month leave. With or without dog. Though preferably without, so I could travel. And not feel guilty about leaving the dog when te months were up! That's still weird though. Also, why are Kat's nurses (and ita's for that matter) so bad? You'd think someone would love the routine basic schedule. And show up on time. Regularly.

omg - 3 MONTHS OFF!!!! I would like an extra week off this year, so much so.

telling people I am leaving continues to be fun.

My sister got her second doberman when she was between jobs--she had two months home with him and he really was one of the best trained dogs she ever had because she had so much time to spend training him before she started her new job. But it just worked out that way.

I definitely could see taking a week off to get get a dog settled at home but three months seems a bit...excessive.