Who gets the most (and least) vacation

[chellej Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chellej]

I currently get 13.5 days vacation and 12 days sick leave. I get a bonus sick day (that can be used for anything) for each 6 months I don't use sick leave.

I work 4 10's so every time a holiday falls on my normal day off, I get a comp day. And the best of all, we get up to 20 days of holidays per year. If the holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday - we don't get it off.

We have some of the most bizzare holidays - Confederate heroes day, LBJ's Birthday, Texas Independence day, Emancipation day..... working for the state doesn't pay great but it has good bene's

[TimeshareVon Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TimeshareVon]

Alaska - OT Still

I know this is off topic, but Yvonne, how was Alaska in March? Could you see the Northern Lights? How cold was it? Maybe you could start a thread on Alaska in the winter.

Pardon the interuption, for a brief response . . .

It was absolutely fabulous!! Beyond my expections in fact. Yes, I did see the aurora every night that I was out to photograph it (four nights, Tuesday through Friday). It's tough to schedule daytime activities, naps and then several hours in the middle of the night for the northern lights, but somehow I did and got to do everything I wanted to.

I have written travel journals on IgoUgo (link is in my sig line) and have many/most of my photos on YahooPhotos: Yahoo! Photos - timeshare_von's Photos . If you want to see the auroras in the photos, they look best in full screen slide show with the lights in the room dimmed or dark. Truly, the thumbnails posted online can't do justice to the colors of the aurora, especially the reds when visible.

As for how cold it was . . . it was very cold, below zero during the day until the last couple of days I was there, when it got up to the single digits. At night when photographing the aurora it was between -20 and -30 degrees and on one night (the one up at Chena Hot Springs Resort) it was -30 with winds in excess of 20 mph so it was rather bitter. I didn't feel uncomfortable however, as they did have a yurt up on the top of the mountain with a couple of propane gas "fireplace" type heaters. If you look at my photos, you'll see a couple of us in the yurt bundled up . . . even with the heaters, it was probably only zero or maybe +10 degrees. But heck, in comparison it sure felt good . . . and warm.

The best thing about the timing of my trip was that it was like the lining up of the planets and moon or something as the aurora was predicted to be at its peak the week I was there, plus it was the week for the North American Sled Dog Races, the three day sprint races that take place annual in Fairbanks. Add to that the opportunity to see the World Ice Sculpture Competition and artistic efforts immediately after the judging, well it was just a great trip.

I will go over to the ALASKA forum and post more . . . so back to your regularly scheduled programming

(thanks for asking!)

[odaddy Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close odaddy]

I get 15 vacation days, 2 floater vacation days, 5 sick days, and 7 holidays, until 4 years ago, I had none of anykind, life is getting better!!!