Staycation '09

My 2009 vacation, such as it is, kicked off today in suitably relaxed fashion: we went off to MicroCenter to pick up a couple of USB/PS2 adaptors for the computer as I am maxed out on available ports, got the Saturn's fluids topped off and serpentine belt replaced and then spent the evening hanging out and watching DVDs (and listening to a few cuts from 5.1-enchanced classic albums) with our friends Eric and Katie down in Seven Hills. A very pleasant start indeed.

The reason for the "such as it is" qualifier is that this vacation will be marred by one work day towards the end. When setting this week up, my replacement during the week informed me that he couldn't fit Saturday the 8th work into his schedule, which for a few hours had me debating on delaying my furlough for a week or two before coming up with a secondary option that suited us both. The original plan had been for me to work the 1st, and then take off the 4th through the 8th (which, with weekends bookending, would have me off the days of August 2-10). The amended plan works out as follows: I am now off August 1-7, I'll work the 8th (which actually should allow me to get caught up enough that I don't come back to a huge pile of e-work on the 11th), then I'll still have the next two days off as a normal weekend. While this isn't exactly the ideal scenario I'd had planned, it's still a very workable option, and I get the keep the nine days off ... only with a hiccup towards the end.

Despite the onset of my first week off in exactly a year, I wasn't in a very good mood Friday night as I'd been battling a sore throat for the last 36 hours and was rather annoyed at the timing of this seeming onset of illness. Luckily, I seem to have triumphed over this cold or infection or whatever it was, having been free of symptoms since this morning, though I'm currently sucking on a Cold-Eeze and sipping on a glassful of Airborne just for good measure.

As for what comes next, there isn't much to write about right now. I'm still not 100% caught up on remaining bills that were delayed by the purchase of the Saturn, thus I plan to spend most of this year's vacation off at home. I can't presently afford to attend multiple baseball games as I did on last year's break (not that I am presently in the mood to do so following the events of the past few days ... more on that later) or doing much of anything else that involves the throwing about of moolah. The only possibility I am considering for a daytime trip right now is heading over to Geneva On The Lake and seeing how the ol' Strip looks. Beyond that, you can just call me "homebody."