Rant #1,506: Labor Day (?)

 
Happy pre-Labor Day to everyone!

I don't know what else to say to you about it, but as you know, I will find some words to go along with that opening statement.

Labor Day does not just honor the workforce, but it also signals the end of summer for most people.

Even though we still have a couple of weeks on the calendar before summer actually officially ends, Labor Day tells people that for all intents and purposes, the summer is over.

School begins, or has begun for most students, when Labor Day comes, so that also signifies that the fun times are over and the more studious times are here.

It also signifies to me, personally, that my most busy time of year of work is here, and I have lots to get done.

We put out a big book of a couple of hundred pages, and lots of charts and diagrams and things, and it takes a Herculean effort to get it all done.

I have been working on this for many, many weeks, but Labor Day signifies that the time has really come to get this done ...

Even though our preceding book isn't out the door yet.

And that makes for a prickly period for me at work.

Do I have Labor Day off, or do I have to work on that day?

Most years, I labor on Labor Day, and let me tell you, with most of the rest of the company having the day off--and with most everyone else having the day off, too--it is really a pain to work that day.

But I have done it numerous times.

We have not been told yet if we will have to work this coming Labor Day, so even though the holiday approaches--and the weekend is right at the doorstep--I have no idea if I am working on the holiday or not.

Yes, they do say that if we work Labor Day, we can have another day off to replace it, but since I usually use that day for Yom Kippur--the Day of Atonement for Jews, the day that I must not eat from sundown to sundown--it is like exchanging the firing squad over the electric chair.

Pick your poison.

So as I speak to you now, I have no idea where I will be on Monday--home, fast asleep, or up, ready to go.

Have a great day, but keep me in your thoughts. We won't be told anything until later in the work day, most probably, so you will have to keep me in your thoughts all day today to make the magic work.

I do not want to work on Monday!

My wife is off, many people in this country are off, why should I be different?

So, as a precursor to that, to try to get the angels on my side, I am declaring that there will be no Rant on Monday, because I am taking the day off.

I might be putting the cart before the horse, but I feel that I must do that.

So have a nice holiday, hope baseball and barbecue is great for everyone, and I will speak to you again on Tuesday.

Remember, keep me in your thoughts ...