Saturday the Wife and I leave for a cruise near the Caymans. Updates will be sporadic the rest of the week, and non existent between December 16-21. Although the ship offers wireless Internet access, I’m leaving the card at home. The laptop is coming along, though.

Oedipus and Electra have their own enclosure at their favorite cat inn waiting. So it’s a vacation for everyone, pet and owner alike.

By accident I discovered my benefits package includes 6 weeks of vacation. Not sure how the hell I overlooked that wondrous fine print. The catch: it must be exercised at specific times of the year. 1 week during winter break–next week, that is–1 week during spring break, which is March, and then 4 weeks during the summer. Not exactly an unreasonable restriction. Needless to say, last year while ignorant of this policy, I used a fraction of this available time.

That mistake will not occur again. Oh yes, I have learned.