I generally end up with a lot of leftover vacation after working here for 8 years. We can only take a week at a time, so I'm taking quarterly vacations.

Dammit, why are naps considered unprofessional? I could be so much more professional if they let me take a 20 minute nap.

Dammit, why are naps considered unprofessional? I could be so much more professional if they let me take a 20 minute nap.

I know! There's even studies that back this up. I guess the important thing is to always appear professional, even if you could be more professional doing something else.

I have an embarrassingly large amount of PTO. To the point where I have trouble using it up. (We're only allowed 5 days of rollover so I generally wind up taking a lot of random 3-day weekends towards the end of the year and then a week in February.)

Sick days we get 6 per year, but we can roll them over indefinitely up to a maximum of 18 days/year, so it's essentially unlimited. The only time I've ever used all my available leave was when I took maternity leave.

It *almost* makes up for the crappy salary and bullshit red tape. Almost.

I guess the important thing is to always appear professional, even if you could be more professional doing something else.

I genuinely do not know what people did to look busy all the time before the internet.

I just realized that my vacation day pool is my sick day pool. If I get really sick, it can kick my vacation plans in the teeth. Fortunately, I have so much now that even with quarterly vacations I have several days left over for sickness.

edit: My department, tech support, also works on the typical company holidays because of support requirements. It makes parking easier on those days but can be a grind. I haven't had a job where holidays are actual holidays in over a decade.

I just checked, I have a day and a half of vacation left for the year. They are good in that you get free time off for dr spots, but then they look at you sideways if you have too many of those. Of course I am the only woman and only single parent.

Y'all know I hardly work, right? Every other Monday off for working an extra 45 minutes a day, and I am up to five weeks vacation leave.

I temped before the internet. Things I did: used the manual typewriter to write postcards to my friends; studied and wrote flash cards for the entirety of ancient Greek grammar; read Heart of Darkness while phone-sitting for an NPR executive (the phone did not ring once all day). (Some places wanted you to look busy; some did not give a shit.)

Writing is a great way to look busy. I wrote lots of fic in my econ classes, and I bet that helped my grade, because it looked like I was diligently taking notes. Making busy noises on a keyboard makes bosses happy, too.