Vacation v. 'Vacation'

I finally have a day off tomorrow. I have worked six days in a row, which is normal and that isn't the problem. The problem is that we were on vacation during the previous weekend. During my normal weekends off I do a ton of nothing more often than not. It's a nice 'vacation' from work. It gives me time to relax and gain some extra sleep from the week. I don't have too stressful of a job, but there are weeks when I am just drained by the time my days off come around.

Then there are vacations. Actual vacations. They are nice to get away for some time but by the time the vacation is done, I'm wanting a day or two off just to recuperate from the overall traveling. Take this last vacation for example. I traveled for eleven hours. Driving for five hours and flying for another six. Then, I had to turn around and get to work the next morning. I got six hours of sleep and haven't really stopped since. This will be my first day off since.....19 October. I worked eight days in a row before we left. I didn't do a ton of stuff while on vacation, but the fact remains, I didn't have a day of lazing around from waking up to going to sleep.

'Vacation' from the working world and actual vacations are two different beasts. Actual vacations are nice because you get away from your daily troubles. 'Vacations' from work are wonderful because you get fully recharged from your daily life.

Productive and lazy

With my camping trip approaching, I had a bunch of things that needed to get done. It was almost a laundry list of things. The big thing was work on the jeep. I don't know a whole lot about vehicles, but I took it over to our friend and he helped me change the oxygen sensor and the oil. It was beneficial too because I was informed last night that my driver side headlight was out, so we replaced that as well. It was a lot of fun to work on the jeep. It felt manly. I felt that I should have been grunting the entire time. Granted I didn't do the majority of the work, but it still felt......right.

After working and sweating for two and a half hours, I stopped by the DMV and picked up tags for the jeep. The cost starting to lower as the vehicle gets older, which is nice. One thing that I disapprove of is the fact that we pay property tax on the vehicle, but on the other hand as the vehicle gets older, the price lowers. It's somewhat of a fair trade, but it could be better. One risk you always run in getting tags is the long wait. Everyone has dealt with it. The best thing to do is bring a book and be patient. No one likes to wait around in that place, but everyone has to.

I came back home and grabbed some lunch and lazed around the apartment for about an hour. It was nice to just sit around for a little bit after all the running around in the first couple of hours of the day. Laziness always feels great after accomplishing something earlier on. The last thing I had on the platter of a day was a hair cut. The last great get away for men. The barber shop. There is just something about walking out of a barber shop with a fresh hair cut. You have a fresh step when you walk out to the car. It makes me a little sad that more and more places are popping up where you have to make an appointment and just walking in isn't kosher. Whatever happened to just walking in, sitting down, and waiting your turn. Most places now have a television or magazines so the sitting around and shooting the shit with other men aspect of the barber shop has disappeared, but it's okay. Why not sit around and smell the manly smells of the small building and aftershave?

After all that running around, I came back and took a nap. A massive nap. An hour and a half long. Glorious.

Busy weekends

There has been much traveling on my weekends off. It has been nice to do stuff, but it also takes away the lazy part of not having to work for two days. This weekend we drove up to Topeka to par(rrrrrrr)take in the second annual Pirate Party. A good time was had by everyone there and it is fun to do something different like that. The previous weekend off was the float trip. Once again, it was a lot of fun, but there was plenty of driving to get there. Two weeks before that was my trip to Wilson's Creek.

So the weekends I am not working have been filled with plenty of travel and plenty of friends, but I find that come Monday morning, I am dragging ass. So, come hell or high water, I am planning to do nothing two weekends from now. I want to sit around and watch a bunch of football, maybe drink some beer, and be sloth-like. There may also be some movie watching in the line up as well.

One weekend of this would be enough. I'm sure that come Sunday evening, I will complain about not doing anything all weekend. I will have to come back to this post and remind myself that this is the plan.

intellectual reading

The White Stripes are playing on itunes right, I'm Lonely (But I Ain't That Lonely Yet). 

I'm taking a few moments out of my lazy, football induced couch sitting to write a little bit about reading.  Dorky, yes.  But important.   On Art of Manliness, there was a list of the one hundred essential books for guys.  Some excellent choices, but

 some questionable ones (is it really necessary to have three biographies of Teddy Roosevelt?).  One thing that bugs me is that they list The Federalist Papers but not the Anti-Federalist Papers.  Two very separate thoughts for establishing a government, they go hand in hand.  It encompasses great minds and where they stood on the issue of their new country.  

These kind of books should be read in high

 schools and colleges throughout the country, and maybe they are, I just never had the opportunity.  The government class I took in high school was a joke.  If I had to read these books, maybe I would have had a better experience.  Even my political science class in college wasn't worth while.  So if you get the chance, support your local library and go get these two books and learn a little bit.  Not exactly the most exciting or light reading, but give it a try.  You might find something out about yourself.

As part of my boredom on my day off, I took these two pictures.  I don't know which one I like more, the black and white or the sepia.