Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

As of today, I'm officially on "winter layoff". Since Colonial Williamsburg isn't busy during January and February, and some of the major sites close down for two weeks or more for maintenance, they don't need as many people working; and I'm one of the so-called "regular part-time", or "10-month", employees. Apart from a training class I've got scheduled in February, I don't have to work for close to two and a half months. Of course, this also means I'm not getting paid; while I can go on unemployment (and CW's deal with the VEC means I don't have to prove I'm looking for a new job), I'm still not paying into my Social Security or health insurance during the layoff. So a big chunk will get taken out of my first paycheck when I return to work.

All the same, it's nice to have some time away from dealing with the public. It should also give me time to get some repairs done-- there are several things that need to be fixed around the house, and my car could use a checkup soon. I've put off a lot of these errands because I was too busy; but now I'll actually have time to wait around for repairmen to arrive, and to get pissed off when they don't come at the scheduled time.

Today wasn't that different from a normal day off; I took my mother to breakfast, got one of her prescriptions refilled, then went to the mall and bought a few new CD's and books. I got halfway through one of those books while waiting for my mother to have her hair washed-- Rob Sheffield's Love Is A Mix Tape: Life And Loss, One Song At A Time. Sheffield writes for Rolling Stone, and the smarmy straining-to-be-hip tone of his columns there often irritates me; but this book is different. It's an autobiography structured around the mix tapes Sheffield has made over the years, but mostly focused on his relationship with his wife Renée, who died unexpectedly at a young age (they had been married for a little more than five years). So far, it's a moving and poignant book, with the more emotional passages interspersed with low-key, wry humor that's entirely different from Sheffield's style in RS. His description of driving around with Renée listening to music, shortly after they began dating, was so beautiful it brought me to tears, which isn't necessarily the best thing when you're sitting in the waiting room of a hair salon. xp