Lloyd, you are making me kind of envious with your reports of your recent "Long Trip to the Grouse Woods" and now this hunting trip with an indeterminate ending date. I had hoped that by the time I reached this stage in life, I would have a lot of vacation time to spend outdoors. But unfortunately, I have made several job changes due to corporate bankruptcies, outsourcing, and my own desire to move on to better employment. So even while most all of these moves have resulted in better pay and benefits, one downside has been starting over with entry level vacation time. My most recent job change was in 2016 thanks to a booming Donald Trump economy.
I vividly recall working with a couple Swiss Technicians on some engineering changes and modifications on one job back in 1993. The Mechanical Engineer remarked to me on his last day here that when he went back to Switzerland, he would be going on Holiday. I asked him what holiday it was, and he explained that what we call vacation, they call Holiday. When I asked him how much Holiday time he got, he replied in his heavy French accent that he got 15 weeks. I was totally blown away because he wasn't that old, and he saw my shock and surprise, and asked me how much Holiday/Vacation I got. I had just started this job several months prior, and he was equally shocked when I told him that I got 40 hours after one year. He genuinely thought I was pulling his leg, and I explained that I had just started this new job. I then asked him how much Holiday I would get if I was a new hire at his Company, and he said, "Six weeks... in Switzerland, everyone gets at least six weeks." Several years later, when I worked for General Motors, and they were beginning a massive downsizing of U.S. operations, I read a Wall Street Journal article that reported the much larger Buyout Offers that Volkswagen was offering to German employees, and also about the refusal of the I.G. Metall Union that represented Volkswagen workers to go back to a 32 hour work week, up from the 28.5 hour workweek they were on. The Union President remarked that Volkswagen workers were already over-worked. I guess someone has to work longer hours to pay for our Welfare State.
Envy is one of The Seven Deadly Sins, and complaining doesn't help. I am getting out for some hunting though, and always save some vacation time for Hunting Seasons. We actually had snow for the first few days of our deer season, which is certainly a sign of Global Warming. Yesterday, I finally put the studded snow tires on the truck, and sprayed the frame and underside with Fluid Film. I haven't seen a decent buck yet, and won't take a doe until late in Flintlock Season. So I'll be out there again tomorrow.
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