Weekend Plans Post: A Sneaky Three-Day Weekend
After one heck of a long week, I sat down and did my timecard and noticed that there was an “8” filled out for me already on the 19th. Wait, what? OH YEAH IT’S PRESIDENT’S DAY!!!
Man. That’s a relief. But then you look at the calendar and you notice that this is the last holiday for a WHILE. Like, seriously. Nothing on the calendar until Memorial Day.
I have a handful of acquaintances who live in Britain and they have something called a “Bank Holiday”. Like, you’re just tooling around the middle of the month and WHAMMO: “Early May bank holiday”.
We should do that. One three-day weekend a month. Oh, it’s March 15th? It’s, um, “The Ides of March”. On this day, we celebrate Caesar’s death. “What about next year?” “We’ll have it on the 14th. Call it ‘Ides of March (Observed)’.” Oh, it’s April 22nd? Go home. We ain’t workin’ today. It’s, um… lemme google… it’s Earth Day. Sorry. I’ll be tie-dyeing.
I mean, sure, that’s the reason that we have sick days and whatnot. But it’s the principle of the thing. We should have three-day weekends all the time. And everything should be closed. “What do you mean Starbucks is closed?” “It’s Earth Day.” “I have to make my own coffee?” “Pretty much.”
When I was a kid, we sometimes went to Grand Rapids on Sunday and, man, *EVERYTHING* was closed. Like, everything except for the occasional diner. There were *GAS STATIONS* that were closed. I thought it was the worst thing in the world. Now? Oh, we should totally do that. But not on Sunday. Just, like, bank holidays.
This weekend is the quarterly “birthday celebration”. The nephew who is usually away at college managed to come back home for this, the kiddo in his senior year will be there, and we’re going to bust out Lying Pirates and I’m going to teach the kiddos about Liar’s Dice. Sunday will be spent cooking… Maribou told me that she wants a slow-cooked strawberry rhubarb compote and I’m going to try my hand at one. And Monday, of course, is a bank holiday. Thank goodness.
So… what’s on your docket?
(Featured image is “Beans”. Photo taken by Maribou.)
LOL we get one federal holiday off per semester; in the spring it’s MLK Jr. day (though they do try to push it as a Day of Service rather than a day off. This year I had JUST sprained my knee and spent the entire morning in the ER getting it dxed).
For me, federal holidays are mainly “oh dang there’s no mail today, is there.” I mean yes I do get a couple weeks off at Christmas so I guess that’s my payback for it but sometimes it’s just nice to get a three-day weekend.
This weekend: still recuperating. Much better, and the knee pain now feels more arthritic than “oh no I tore a ligament.’ And the orthopedic doctor, after pressing all over my knee and not having me squawk in pain (and not finding inflammation anywhere) says he doesn’t think ligaments are permanently damaged. I have an MRI today to confirm that there’s no permanent damage (I really hope there is not but I’m a pessimist).
I still hurt though, and it’s supposed to briefly be wicked cold this weekend, so I guess (sigh) rather than getting out to the newly-moved-to-only-a-half-hour-away yarn shop and the new Michael’s franchise I’ve not even been to yet, I’ll stay home instead.
well, stay home after I put away the herbarium specimens from this week’s lab, if I’m not feeling up to it after the MRI. I’ve received conflicting advice; some people say it’ll be a walk in the park, others are like “yeah count on having a migraine from the noise” so I don’t know.Report
Oh, get well soon. Warm heat, warm tea, maybe with a capful of brandy, and Monk is on the Netflix, I’m just sayin’.Report
yeah not gonna do the tea until after the MRI, they said it could take up to 90 minutes for them to complete it and I have a nearly-55-year-old set of kidneys and bladder….Report
Wait, are you complaining about businesses being conveniently open on a Sunday, Jaybird?
Give the Brits and Irish credit. They have the foresight and decency to have federal holidays when the weather is nice and the days can be fully enjoyed.Report
No, it’s worse than that. I’m complaining about businesses being conveniently open on a Monday or Friday.Report
There are currently 11 federal holidays per year. Not evenly spaced, but they average out to nearly one per month. It’s been a while since I looked at it, but I believe that the fifth most popular day off isn’t a federal holiday – it’s Black Friday.
And of course all stores except for restaurants and pharmacies should be closed on Sundays, and they should feel free to close if they want to.Report
In addition to Sundays, adding this to the Solidarity Party plank:
The Third Friday of every month shall be a National Holiday… additive to the currently observed secular feast days.
However, I just checked our corporate calendar, and sadly it seems we hate the Presidents.Report
Last year I compiled a list of notable events February to May and compiled a list of possible holidays for those months to manufacture three-day weekends for each of those months. It’d be super easy to do.
I should see if I still have that list…Report
Closing on the sale of my house today! I’ve been there for 30 years, and the piles of junk told the tale. To celebrated, we’re going out for a nice fish dinner. It’ll be nice to be able to blow some money again.Report
Would it blow everyones mind to know I haven’t had Presidents Day (or MLK for that matter) off in nearly 2 decades? It is a long spell from New Years Day to Memorial, but that is what I have to live with. I hate and envy all of you at the same time.Report
When I worked on the staff of the Colorado legislature, late one Friday afternoon one of the newer members of the Joint Budget Committee asked if I was doing anything special for one of those. “Nope,” I told him. “The General Assembly meets on Tuesday. The JBC meets on Tuesday to hear a half-dozen supplemental budget bills. I’ll be here all day Monday making sure that Tuesday happens properly.”
JBC staff hours were insane during the session. Two or three weeks of comp time off in the summer was nice, though.Report
President’s Day and Veterans Day are the only two holidays in the year when my wife and I are both off and the kids are not. There’s value in that.Report