Last Thursday was my last day on set for the week. They were all long days and I was definitely looking forward to having some time “off” and seeing Sofie again!
I had a wedding way out in Orcas Island that Saturday so my parents were great enough to pay for the family to have a little mini “work-cation” over there for Friday and Saturday.

After getting home Thursday I packed and got everything ready to go because Friday was going to be a very long day.
Here’s Sofie’s photo from the day, another “deer in the headlights” look.

Whitey Whites.

Well shoppers, you caught me – headed out on vacation!

However, Mystery Shopping is one of those great jobs that you can do virtually anywhere! Whether you just don’t want to lose that income you are used to with mystery shopping while you are on vacation, or you want to pick up a job or two to duck out for a couple hours while you are on vacation to help finance the trip – mystery shopping is the perfect “get away job”.

Check out the video – and keep an eye out next month for another, brought to you by Market Viewpoint and Angela Megasko!

Here's where I want to be on my vacation. I'm pretty sure this island lacks cellular coverage

So, I’m catching up on projects around the house and working, as in “work work.”

Yes, the work I’m supposed to be off from right now.

Last week, just before we were about to launch a new video – 5 ,4, 3, 2, abort, ABORT - my manager asked for a major change  - one he and others could have caught early in the review process.

This led to a week of my time tweaking it and the programmers devoting another week to the changes. I like my manager, great guy, but the bummer of this change is that it won’t make much of a difference for the end user, and I now have to shepherd and review the project during my vacation.

Part of this is my fault. I have a hard time making a clean break from work. I have to come down slowly and wean myself off it like a junkie breaking a habit. But technology, limited resources in our department, and the economy are the pushers.

And one device stands out as the villain of my story.

Blackberry, oh Blackberry, the enemy and destroyer of vacations. Blackberry, oh Blackberry.

What a turd of a device at times and savior when I need it. I want to fling it like a rock across a glassy pond. Watch it bounce off the payment and explode into a thousand shards of plastic. But then there are days I want to marry it, be its mate. I love you, little BB.

Future generations will discover piles of these buried in landfills, plastic dinosaur bones

Blackberry, oh Blackberry, you tease. I try not to look at my email, but I can’t help it. I’m Pavlov’s dog and run when the ringer sounds or red light flashes. Email, must read now. Bark. Bark. Must read now. [Drool everywhere.] Why did I read that now? I’m such a stupid f**K. It could have waited. Where’s my bowl of food?

Now I imagine you reading this and thinking, “Why doesn’t someone else do the work while you’re gone?”

Good question, O Wise Reader. I have several answers for you.

First, no one knows the content like I do and they’re buried with their own work and planning for their own vacations. Second, we have limited resources. Over the years, we’ve been told “do more with less.” It’s all about maximizing production and working ourselves to the bone, which ties into my third answer to your question, the economy. Yes, if you don’t do more with less and work every minute of the day and beyond, there is someone unemployed who will. And if you’re thinking of getting another job, don’t.

“There ain’t none to be had, Mister,” said the imaginary hobo by the bus stop.

I guess I shouldn’t feel too sorry for myself. I have a very good job and according to this Yahoo!/CNNMoney article, $34.3 billion in vacation days to go unused this year, a good percentage of Americans don’t use many of the vacation days they earn. At least I get to take my days with some work sprinkled in.

So, bring on the holidays, Xbox madness, and day trips with my daughter to places unknown, like a lake with a smooth surface, perfect for skipping stones.

“Cutest” couple I know, Bonnie and Ryan chilling after a long hard day of conquering Chicago.

Ryan contemplating the rain drops.

Peter Rank doing what he does best…passing out.

A really neat picture of the ferris wheel on Navy Pier.

This is my favorite picture I’ve ever taken.

I randomly found these swastikas on a building right next to my hotel in Chicago.

My good friend Payam, from Iraq, having a nice laugh infront of a fountain…yeah pretty artsy.

Those last two pictures are just of Alex R trying to hard.

A 2009 Expedia poll, the Vacation Deprivation Survey, found that 34 percent of Americans did not use all their vacation days, even though Americans get fewer vacation days each year than workers in other countries.

Only 10 percent said they planned to take a full two-week vacation, according to Expedia, even though experts say this is the right medicine for work-weary business women and men.

“I mean a real [vacation], one where you didn’t do any errands or constructive tasks, turned off e-mail and gave yourself permission to do whatever you wanted to do for several days, hopefully a week or longer,” writes Dr. Susan Biali in her Psychology Today blog entry, Plan a Vacation ASAP: It Might Save Your Life!

Biali, a wellness expert and the author of Live a Life You Love: 7 Steps to a Healthier, Happier, More Passionate You, motivates overworked people with a Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine study. The study of 12,000 men concluded that taking multiple vacations, up to five in a year, resulted in 32 percent lower chance of death from all causes.

“The verdict: skipping vacations could actually kill you,” Biali tells her readers.

Reasons for Skipping Vacations

The top reasons why people do not fully use vacation days, according to the Expedia poll:

• They need to schedule vacation time in advance.
• They were too busy at work to get away.
• They get money back for unused vacation days.

The study also found differences between women and men. Men (12 percent) are slightly more likely than women (8 percent) to take two-week vacations. Women (40 percent) are also more likely than men (29 percent) to feel guilty about taking time off from work.

The United States “has long-held the dismaying distinction of being the country with the worst vacationing habits,” according to Expedia.

Blame it on the Protestant Work Ethic, writes Biali. Europeans have a legal right to take at least four weeks off a year and many take eight weeks off. Even the Chinese get three weeks off. “Why? Because they know that relaxed, well-rested employees work better and more efficiently,” she said.

Tips for Getting Away from Work

Vacations are important for renewal, writes Dulce Zamora for WebMD. “Sometimes, it’s good to give our brains a rest. Without a break, we may not be able to perform up to our potential. This can be a problem, not only for the employee, but for the employer as well.”

Zamora compiled a wonderful list of recommendations on how to get away. Here are a few:

• Plan your vacation time. Don’t stop with making travel plans in advance. Prepare co-workers for your time off as well. “Keep people in the loop on what you’re working on and try not to take on projects that will require your presence during vacation,” Zamora notes.
• Talk to your boss. “Be honest and straightforward about your need for time away from work and share how it can benefit the company.”
• Set boundaries and stick to them. “If you absolutely must work during vacation, figure out a schedule that will limit your connectivity to work.”
• Look at the bigger picture. “Will the office truly fall apart if you’re not there?”

In another WebMD article, 4 Tips for a Less Stressful Vacation, Zamora provides tips for planning a more relaxing vacation. It’s worth a read.

“While it is ideal to have a full week or two off from work,” Zamora adds, “it may not always be feasible and there’s still the rest of the year to deal with. Weekend getaways are also good for rejuvenation. So is an hour to yourself during lunchtime or a few hours on weeknights. When it comes to forming family and social bonds during your time off, it’s really about spending quality time.”

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We were provided a pile of lumber from a torn down house to recycle, and we did the best we could.  It was a little tough because when they tear down a house on the reservation, it means it is in really bad shape.   We finished the project and made some friends at the same time.

I flew to Page AZ where Mark and Ken rented an SUV (really needed it for the project), while Graeme and I continued via airplane to the airport in Tuba City.  A few days into the project I could see massive thunderstorms over the Grand Canyon and one of the locals told me that it didn’t rain much during the Arizona monsoon season, the reservation would just get dry sand storms with strong winds set off by the distant thunderstorms.  What?  Sand storms?  I paniced.  I ran down to the small hardware store and bought some masking tape and plastic, then headed for the airport, where my plane sat alone in the desert.  I taped the door cracks and all entrances to the engine compartment, and got it done about an hour before the winds hit.  I don’t think it would be wise to park a plane there permanently.

The entire work project was an incredible experience, and I’ll never forget the celebration lunch with the seniors.  We also made some Navajo friends, and I invited a couple of them on a flight.   We went out to the airport one early morning, I tore off the tape and plastic, we went up above “The Rez” for a flight.  I completely enjoyed the experience of showing them a view of the reservation they hadn’t seen before.

Pulling nails from old lumber

Then, after a week of work...

We also rebuilt the door to a ceremonial "male" hogan

Coal Mine Canyon, on the Reservation

Sweat Lodge at Sunset