I sit here trying to come up with an important topic to write about.
Something that will actually draw people in so much so that they will want to leave a message that warms my heart.
Once again though, I fail!

I can only think about one thing right now.
My vacation, and how it starts tomorrow after work.
We still have all kinds of things that we have to get done before hand, and more then likely will not I might add.
I find myself again in this same spot.
Sitting here, typing away and not doing what needs to be done.

I could tell you all about our vacation … but then I will have nothing to talk about once I get back.
I know, that’s like a free topic all by itself so why waist it now?
Wait … did I … OMG (O My God for you non texting people out there) I think I just had an epiphany!
Wait let me double check … wow I did!
I was thinking it might have been gas there for a second … it has happened before … But the topic I can talk about is VACATIONS!!!

Vacations are wonderful, and important too I might add!
We all need a break from the real world.
You know that world that we are all stuck in called life.
Most of us have jobs, or kids to raise.
Some people even have both. (God have mercy on your poor souls)
Some people though never get to injoy a vacation. (Insert sad AWW sound)
Some people can’t take the time off because their jobs do not grant benefits such as vacation time.
Some people just can’t afford it.
Some poor people just don’t want to get out and injoy the world.

It’s hard for me to believe the latter.
I can understand the thought that they might not think that they deserve to have a good time.
Even how once they get back all of the work they will be behind on from leaving, so that it isn’t worth the future headache.
Or even that it is hard to justify the expenditure of the money.
How though I ask, can people honestly not want a change?
Can people really be that afraid of change?
Do so many people actually have Baracknaphobia?
(I know that doesn’t go with the topic but working that word in is a lot harder then you all might think!)

If you think about it, one of the truths though is that this is still a relatively new addition to the American culture.
Vacations that is.
My Grand Parents generation didn’t get to do things like we do.
That generation was full of blue color workers.
The kind who if they fell behind on there work, they could loose there jobs.
The kind of people who didn’t get time off unless there was a death in the family.
The kind of people who cared about and where proud of not only there jobs, but the results they produced.
Not so much anymore.
What happened to our country to change us so much in such a short time span?

Well, how about unions going on strike?
They thought that spending time with their families and things might be important …
Hum, isn’t that strange how now that people have time off, people don’t spend it with there families and children … and look what all has happened the kids …
Other then the unions, good old Henry Ford helped out a lot.
He followed in the steps of a bunch of other union groups from the late 1800’s and moved to an 8-hour day, and the 5-day work week.
This, along with a bunch of other things lead us all into making a big vote and deciding that the 40 hour work week was a good thing as a people and helped to pass the Fair Labor Standards.

So, sometime after 1865 when we decided that slavery was bad, our hearts grew 2 sizes and decided treating our workers like slaves was a bad ideal too.
O the Grinch would be so proud!
Over the years though we have added more and more things to our great labor rules other then the 40-hour week.
We got Vacation, health care and of course we got sick time!
So we can call in and say that little Timmy is not feeling well when in fact we are going to the game …

Back to some semblance of a point …
So many people don’t get vacations.
Farmers for one don’t.
They can’t leave their farms alone for a week.
Who would feed the cow babies?
Who will keep the crops in check?
Who will keep the Scottish away from the sheep?
They, like the rest of us used to, still work 7 days a week and 16-hour days.
They though, after 20 years, don’t get the O so coveted Golden Watch.
Or a retirement check.

Then again, jobs of today stopped giving out the good old watch too.
More and more don’t give retirements either.
If you are hoping to get Social Security, well, keep hoping!
If we even have it when we get to the ripe old age … La Wife and I can not collect Social Security until we are 72!
Dear God, that’s 40 years away for me!
I can keep working where I am till full retirement, then go someplace else and retire from there too!

So the point is, if I have to work until I am 72, when I will be on a super fixed budget, and only a walker if I am lucky, why not injoy my years now while I still can?
La Wife and I do little trips.
We look forward to them.
It gives us a reason to keep going in a lot of ways.
We can keep going at our jobs on the worst days with the simple thought of “In a month we will not be here!”
It helps, trust me it helps!
So the point to this story is this; if you have time, use it!
Give yourselves something to look forward towards.
If it is a long weekend to do nothing, it is still a change from work.
If it is a long weekend of doing housework, at least something was accomplished.
If it is only a day trip to the beach, don’t forget the sunscreen … because office jobs have made our skin burn so easy …

Don’t though, please don’t, think that you don’t need a change of scenery every once and awhile!
Make a plan to do something different.
Even if it is only to go try a new restaurant, it is still something a little different from the norm, and something to look forward toward through the week.
We all deserve a little happiness, take it I am sure in some way you have earned it.
I mean, most of Europe has made it mandatory for their people to take vacations.
So much so that they are forced into taking on average 3 to 6 weeks off a year.
Why do we all still live in America?
O’ yea, because we are patriotic … Please O Please, don’t offer me a job in Ireland …

So the thought now is, if a vacation makes me happier at work.
If it then makes you more productive because you are not in a constant state of wishing to commit suicide because your job is dragging you down like the sirens of the cliffs …
Can I claim a Vacation as a Tax Right Off because it is for the betterment of my job and there for a work related expense?

Talk to you all when I get back … unless I am convinced to join the Pirates!!!