New year

It's a new year and I have 42 vacation days + 9 holidays. That's almost 2.5 months!!  Do still you wonder why I moved to England?

To be fair, 7 of those were carried over from last year, as I'd planned to spend a couple of weeks in California.  Unfortunately, due to project commitments, I only got to spend 3 days there.  (4 if you count the fact that I missed my plane...again.)

And 10 of those I'm 'buying' as part of 'flex' -- which is kind of like unpaid leave, except I don't pay tax, so somehow I come out ahead.  (I still haven't figured out the tax system here, obviously.)

And 1 of those holidays is for the Royal Wedding, April 29.  Still, 8 holidays isn't bad -- you yanks only get 6, unless you work in government.

Plus 5 weeks vacation here isn't just normal, it's the law!  The basic calculation is 5.6 days x the number of days you work per week, so 5 days per week = 28 days per year.  (That includes public holidays, though.)

So enjoy your 2 week holiday this year, and I'll understand if I get over to see you more than you come over to see me. :-)