Furlough

Thursday, April 1, 2010
fur-lough

[fur-loh] - noun

1. Military. a vacation or leave of absence granted to an enlisted person.
2. a usually temporary layoff from work: Many plant workers have been forced to go on furlough.
3. a temporary leave of absence authorized for a prisoner from a penitentiary.
I'm taking tomorrow off. I'm going to go get a massage. I'm going to go grocery shopping. I'm going to go peruse our local craft store (because clearly - I don't have enough hobbies). I may even eat dough-nuts for breakfast.

What I won't be doing is checking my work e:mail, answering my work phone, or logging on to my work network. Because of definition number two, you see.

I'll probably also use the long weekend to make an effort to release some of my stress and find a way to get my head right when it comes to my professional choices and situation. I'm tired of insomnia, grinding my teeth when I do sleep, and snapping at the Boogie Dog when he (understandably) asks for some attention when I'm having a bad day. Something's got to give, and it seems most unlikely that corporate America is going to be the one to do so.

So I either need to adjust my attitude or reconcile myself to an involuntary committal for lighting my hair on fire and running through our neighborhood naked.

10 comments:

Eric said...

Don't light your hair on fire. It hurts and burned hair smells bad. As for naked running, check the weather first. Trust me. Frostbite is only funny when it happens to OTHER people.

(Hope you have a good day off, and sorry things have been so shitty lately.)

Nathan said...

And if you leave that superfluous hyphen out of your doughnut, you'll save yourself 75 calories!

Tom said...

Always err on the side of less stress!

And if you end up with a d'oh nut, don't smack your head too hard!

Steve Buchheit said...

Janiece, I'm so sorry to hear that. Pet the dog. Keep busy. Unclench. Explore options. It's a way of keeping busy.

nzforme said...

I hear ya. I'm on furlough one day per month. And I've actually started enjoying having a day off when everyone else doesn't -- it's a good time to schedule repairmen and medical appointments and such. I mean, sure, I'd prefer the pay, but the day off isn't ENTIRELY bad.

Matt said...

I agree with Eric. Should you choose to not follow Eric's advice, make sure film of the event exists. This can be used to generate money for things like medical bills and strong drink. Keep the faith dearie! I hope it gets better soon.

The Mechanicky Gal said...

Remember your shittiest duty station? You got there and made a countdown clock, or a chain, or something to mark the passing of time until you were on to the next assignment.
There was ALWAYS a light at the end of the tunnel (although sometimes, it was a long way off).
Hang in there, sister!

Janiece said...

MG, if I do that for my civilian career, looking at that long-ass chain really WILL lead to my lighting my hair on fire and running around naked.

So I'll just enjoy my long weekend, and come back on Monday with a smile on my face and a song in my heart.

Okay, probably not, but hopefully I'll feel somewhat better...

Warner (aka ntsc) said...

I spent Wednesday afternoon having a Doctor tell me to not let the stress get to me. That it was a stress attack not a heart attack.

And to use the g-dd-mned drugs he prescribed for stress they way he prescribed them.

Juan Federico said...

I'm with you sis. I work there too. Enjoy the run! Heh heh heh