h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Mornin All

Welcome to another brand new week and guess what, ho yus, it's raining.

Is it morning? I was just finishing some herb and getting ready to toddle off to bed

Good morning, Good day, and Good night, as appropriate.


Happy Nerd

mini, I believe it'd be 3 am GMT (10 am minus 7 hours)...

Sunny start of the morning, but clouds already gathering:
http://a-picture-per-day.blogspot.com/2008/09/sun-was-shining-and-sky-was-clear-when.html

[Bagpuss]

[p]

From some quick work with timeanddate.com:

Denver: mon 10.00 * (10 am)
New York: mon 12.00 * (12 pm)
London: mon 17.00 * (5 pm)
Copenhagen: mon 18.00 * (6 pm)

The * denotes daylight saving time observed. Use it all the time when trying to figure out when to call whom where...

*slaps forehead*

PLUS 7 hours!

[k] Wading through post-hols backlog...

Got as far as this from Z:
"THough I do get a bit sick of people who turn up for a job, and have decided to get married over Christmas. On the 27th of December in India or Goa for instance.

A sure fire way to make sure that you get the time off and your childless colleagues are of course screwed. "

Not sure what people getting married has to do with childless people's holiday plans Z? Especially as there is nothing legally stopping pretty much anyone getting married to somebody these days.

for GDZ. How exciting, another wedding in the salon

10:00? I'll see you all on the third or fourth LED then.

When w*rking shifts at places that are open 24 hours per day, every day of the year, it's always the people without kids that end up w*rking during the big holidays because those with kids must of course be allowed to, say, celebrate Christmas with their kids because "it's much more important for kids than adults" or because they "can't get a baby sitter" or because they've "planned a trip with their family" which can only be done when the kids don't have to go to school and so it's their only chance of going all together.

Can you tell I spent years w*rking shifts, jealously making sure I wouldn't end up w*rking Christmas/New Year's Eve two years in a row but that those holidays were fairly shared by those of my colleagues who didn't have kids either?

And if you were newly employed, you certainly couldn't expect to get your first Christmas/New Year off - you had to 'earn' the right first. Ah, the joys of making sure no one got off too easily!

But in Z's case, the newly employed (as I assume it is) has practically forced their employer to give them their first Christmas/New Year off by making sure to choose that specific time of year to get married, probably making the decision fully aware that he/she was expected to w*rk during the holidays.

how do i find the new thread??? what happens to this one?

Right, up to date now. Random comments that have remained:

Mags, glad the boys are back but perhaps you should do something about getting arrangements formalised so that the ex can't do that to you all again.

Teuchter, hope you're having a good time in China - did J manage to change his plans or are you on your own for a bit?

Ben, I hate having to talk to the brass. Hope they are cooperating for you.

MR, any cookies left?

Sol, I hope the hot water is back on for you by now And wow, can't believe you're back at work already - if you're doing evenings does that mean you haven't had the joy of trying to find childcare?

Been to see the midwife this morning and she think's I'm having another giant baby as am measuring 4 weeks ahead of dates. *winces*

Had a lovely holiday, made all the better by the presence of my mum to wrangle T'boy so I could actually get some rest. It has done me the power of good to recharge a bit - no more resting now for another couple of years...

Now, where are my running shoes? Come to that, haven't seen my feet for a while

lml, as soon as Lil has created the new thread, she will post the link here.

But then, the most competitive of us have already chosen to be notified of new conversations belonging to the Atelier page and will (if we're awake and have online access) be sitting on edge hitting refresh every few seconds...

Ti, I understand the point about kids, just not how being childless relates to people getting married - these seem to be unrelated to me except that both inconvenience the colleagues of the newly-weds or parents. At least the 'I'm getting married' excuse can only realistically be used once (or at least no more than once a decade...).

Part of the problem in the UK for those parents who need to take holidays at specific times, which I didn't really appreciate in my childless days, is childcare during the school holidays. It either costs a *fortune* or is sometimes simply not available. For example our nursery shuts for a week plus bank holidays over easter, the same over christmas and new year, and for two weeks in august. Schools are obviously closed over those periods too and it can be difficult to cover all those days without having to take at least some of your annual leave, particularly for the xmas break when there really isn't any alternative provision - not everyone has family members nearby who are able to babysit for them. With two parent families then theoretically they could alternate which one is at home on christmas day and which one works - my parents did that.

I'd rather not take holidays at those times of year, but if I go at different times to when the schools/nurseries are closed I have to pay extortionate amounts to have the kids looked after during the breaks, then continue to pay for their childcare when we do go away and aren't using it. And of course once they are in school the local authorities can cause you all sorts of trouble if you want to take the kids away in term time.

I used to think it was families just taking advantage when I didn't have one (and did more than my fair share of holiday working), but now I have to try to deal with the complexities of having the wee ones looked after properly I can see it isn't quite so simple.

If you don't have kids then you have the entire rest of the year to choose from for holidays rather than being forced to try and make it work in a few short weeks which, not coincidentally, are the most expensive to travel in.

im excited to see what we will end up talking about this time!

mini

thank you, Titania. I appreciate the info.

*sets alarm for 5.30 and goes to sleep

see y'all in a couple of hours.

mini

*gingerly sits down*

Sun-burned and sore, but it was so worth it for the weekend. I'll type more in the new thread, after consuming caffeine.

*sips *

10 MDT, huh? So 9 am here... Half an hour after I start w*rk (though, granted, I only w*rk a whole 3.5 hours...) See you a few LEDs in, everyone!

>> If you don't have kids then you have the entire rest of the year to choose from for holidays rather than being forced to try and make it work in a few short weeks which, not coincidentally, are the most expensive to travel in. <<

And, it means you won't be pestered by a bunch of other peoples' kids while you are trying to relax on your holiday!