Merry Christmas!

This is the official Christmas post in which I send a most sincere wish for a Merry and Blessed Holiday Season to all who visit here.  Remember He who was born to us this day, even if He might not really have been born on this exact date.  I don't really care about that debate.  I don't really care if the date was chosen to help transition pagans to Christianity.  What I care about most is that...

"...I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round--apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that--as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys."

That seems to be the one truth that connects us all on this Day of Days, regardless of whether one is Christian or Jew, believer or non, and I can't help but think that might please Him.  In one way or another, there is Joy to the World, the Herald Angels will sing, and Merry Gentlemen rest without dismay.  Thus, I'm totally with Fred...

"...I believe it HAS done me good, and WILL do me good; and I say, God bless it!" 

A Chance to Breathe

I am in my second month of a new job. It has consumed my time as I often do twelve hours or more per day. This past week has slowed a bit due to the upcoming holidays, but overall I have a difficult time paying attention to what's going on in the world. More to the point, I have a difficult time getting into any one issue deeply enough to then do a post about it. That's life. I have a chance to recover from my long period of no better than part-time work in a way that my job of the previous nine months did not provide. So, it's basically work, sleep, work and then take care of personal issues on that part of the weekend through which I'm not sleeping.

Fortunately, I am now entering a four-day weekend, as this company regards Christmas Eve as a holiday also. Thus, we are given Friday off for Christmas Eve being on Saturday, and Monday off for Christmas being on Sunday. Pretty cool. Unfortunately, they also have a policy of a ninety day probationary period during which candidates for employment do not receive holiday pay. All told, I'll be out a week's pay having begun this gig on Nov. 7.

But, I'll take the time off. Always. The best part about being unemployed was the free time. I just love free time. Ever notice that with free time you can work if you want to, but if you have a job all you can do is work? Doesn't seem right.

Another downside to this gig is that I'm on a flex schedule. That's like being on call. Pretty much every day I get a call and have to be at work within two hours. The drive is forty-five minutes. I'm usually sleeping when the call comes in. Because the start time changes, I have no regular sleep pattern developing. I sometimes wake up in four or five hours for no apparent reason and will feel relatively rested. Then, if it seems like it's too early, I'll go back to sleep and when I get up to go to work, feel tired all day long. It's exhausting. And when you're pulling doubles 117 miles at five in the bloody AM, you don't want to be nodding.

Anyways, I've got this four day weekend, and then I'll work four shortened days and have a three day weekend and the work will supposedly be kinda slow for about a month or so. Yet, I'll be making more than my previous job paid. I'm not sure if I want to stay with this company for long. I may have no choice in the matter, but I'm still quite open to other opportunities, should they arise. In the meantime, I'm finally making average dough again, and the hours I'm getting mean I'm bringing home more than I've brought home before. So I've got that going for me.

But for now I have the holiday break and hope I can enjoy them AND recharge as well. Posting might still be lean (though I visit other blogs---it's easier right now), but I've got an idea for posts that will carry me, so stay tuned.