Christmas Vaca .. Now & Then

This is a sweet piece of time in the radio broadcasting year, the sales people and managers are all nestled, snug in their mansions, swirling 100 year old brandy in crystal goblets, the other grunts like myself are burning off use or lose days, pounding down 10 day old cans of beer. If you're one of the few in the building, it's very quiet, provided you don't go loopy like Jack Torrance in 'The Shining', the isolation and boredom of these days can be a wonderful thing. But nowhere near as wonderful as they were during childhood.

"HEY Mrs. McGillacuddy! Here's the only distance x speed x time I care about! Eat my galoshes!!"

For my 1st 12 grades, the scholastic calendar Christmas vacation began on 12/24 and the last day off was New Years Day. If you are as obsessed with inactivity as I am, you already know the following

12/24 Sunday --- 10 days off straight

12/24 Monday --- 11 days off straight

12/24 Tuesday --- 2 off, 1 on,8 off, 2 on,2 off  (this year!)

12/24 Wednesday- 12 days off straight*

12/24 Thursday ----11 days off straight

12/24 Friday ---------10 days off straight

12/24 Saturday------9 days off straight

I'd take everyone of these scenarios nowadays, but the asterisk is on the Wednesday for a reason. I have no clue who the malevolent dictator was that scheduled the Christmas vacation for Rochester, NH in the '85-'86 school year, but we had 11 days off...THEN ONE DAY ON...then the weekend. Clearly he was a sadistic super-villain.

Do you prefer working in an empty building this time of the year? Or do you burn off the old use or lose?