Sick

Husband and I are sick - blah! We probably had some bug in our systems and after spending the night sleeping in a very cold hotel room after a wedding this past weekend, I think the cold air exacerbated whatever was floating around our systems and we came down with our current affliction (we share everything...) Unfortunately, we had to leave work about six hours early Monday to go home and slip into deep, joint comas which seemed to revive us enough to head back to work the next day.

I felt pretty bad about taking the sick time because within the first three months at my new job at the Big, Fancy University, I'm not supposed to take any time off, except for emergencies...probably like having both of my hands severed at the wrists (you see, then I wouldn't be able to type or make corrections to the manuscripts and wouldn't be any use to them anyway). Fortunately, my current boss was understanding (and could probably care less at this point as he will be leaving in just two weeks for a Bigger, Fancier University).

However, I despise that my time off is dictated by "The Man," probably because I'm so used to a great degree of flexibility in the jobs I have held previously. At the Small Town Newspaper I worked for I told them when I would be in, and could change these hours at my will. At my last job at Dinky College, I could pretty much take time whenever I needed it (not that anyone would have missed me anyway...I worked in the basement where few dared tread and I wouldn't see another human being for days on end).

I'm sure as time progresses, vacation and sick time will remain a headache in an institution that actually keeps track of its employees and makes sure they fulfill their obligations to the Big, Fancy University. I don't even want to think about maternity leave and how difficult that will be to coordinate right now (for a variety of reasons, the main one being I'm not interested in any offspring just yet). Just another adjustment in my new Real Job in the Real World.

Stay in college, kids.