It would’ve been nice if I had more advanced notice of getting the Holiday shutdown off, my first since 1997 and even that one sucked. As a contractor, I had to give up what little vacation time I accrued to keep the lights on in my apartment, good thing I worked the entire week at the movie theater.
Every year, between Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day, Apple shuts down which is normal for many businesses and I think some government agencies. Education obviously does but I think universities take too long (I was incredibly bored several days into January and registration didn’t being until mid month). However, the AppleCare (support) and Retail (the physical store) people still have to man their stations because customers receive new iPods, MacBooks, iTunes cards and iPads (the hottest gift this season) as presents. This means the recipients will need assistance: they’re new to Apple, it doesn’t work, there’s a billing problem, etc. Let’s not forget people using their holiday lucre to score the things they wanted, namely teens and college students (I remember just wanting money to buy a CD player in 1986).
Okay, I digress. Point is, ever since I returned to work for Apple in 1998, I have usually worked through the majority of the shut down. It’s worth it because Apple pays AppleCare employees extra for it. Many co-workers use it to pay off their holiday shopping debts. The other benefit was it not costing me any vacation hours should I take a couple of those days off. Either way, it’s traditionally a slow period for the Server team. Many use the lull to catch up on work-related projects while making beaucoup bucks.
This break, my co-worker Chris wanted the whole week and I couldn’t convince him to split it. He’s currently on vacation to see his children so he’ll be returning to use the slow period to tweak our team’s training materials, we have more new blood coming (always exciting). With Chris adamant about the week, I sheepishly asked my bosses to let me have the time off since the team was covered should it need a Senior Specialist in a pinch; it won’t need both of us. The bosses agreed and granted the exception.
Now I have all this free time and no really solid plans to fill it.
Obviously, the travel suggestion comes up: Houston to see Sonia and her family or Dallas to couchsurf at Hoser’s. Hell, flying to Chicago would’ve been sweet. I have yet to meet my niece Anna in person. Alas, my car isn’t capable of long-range journeys anymore. The newer wheels we bought in March are best given to Somara since she must work. I would hate to be hundreds of miles/kilometers away with the Fit and have Somara stranded at the house thanks to my Golf acting up. Maybe next year when we have our second Fit or a Yaris.
What else? Somara does get a day or two. We’ll definitely see Tron: Legacy, she missed it the first time. I have made tentative plans to hang with a couple friends for lunch, Rock Band 3 and catching up (another one who lives in Switzerland). Then there’s a slew of comic books I’m going get through before I unload them. My Stars will be on the road the entire week so I can pull off reading an entire book on the iPad!
I did start the vacation by ice skating at Northcross Mall with friends. Jeremy has been taking lessons as a part of his referee certification and he can do circles around me. How did I do after 16 years? I can still move forward adequately, turn with little difficulty and fall on my ass safely. Will I return? Sure. Somara wants to go and now I know how cold the place is, I can bulk up with the right layers under my Philly jersey.
Another project I initiated was spurred by the ongoing cat piss war. Molly and probably Nemo have taken to whizzing in the hallway for several years. I have no idea why, the three litter boxes are regularly tended. Therefore, it’s a territory thing. The carpet shampooing machine we received as a wedding present does nothing, the carpet is porous so the urine soaked into the padding underneath. The photo below demonstrates how rough it is on concrete.
The "line" on the right is glue and padding. The dark patch in the upper left is urine-based damage. A nice throw rug will be the patch for now.
I hope this will deter the alpha cat or at least make it easier to clean up. While I’m writing this, I think a trek to Lowe’s or Home Depot is going to be on the agenda.
Have a fantastic holiday season (there is more going on than just Christmas) and drop a line through the site (Comments are welcome), an e-mail or a phone call. Text messages do not count and I’m looking for a conversation, not some lame-ass couple of pleasantries.