Time is nearing for my Sabatical. My company generously offers it's salaried employees a 2 month paid vacation after each 7 years of service.

I have been eligible for mine since June. I was just waiting for one of my coworkers to finish his.

So, I will be taking mine soon, probably sometime between Sept. and March.

Any suggestions for things to do? The wife and I are on decent money and we have no kids. She is working as a first year attorney, and will have little time off. So, I am pretty much on my own. I'll spend some of it with Dad, and maybe a little working around the house.

Can anybody hook me up with a bartending gig in some ski resort town :-)

Any ideas appreciated!

 

Who do you work for and are they hiring?

 

Skydiving?! Plenty of time to get some jumps in. Work on the trucks. How does the wife feel about you leaving town and taking a vacation alone, since she can't take the time off? If it's cool, maybe a road trip would be in order. Can't help you with the bartending gig...well, maybe I could, since I used to live at Lake Tahoe and could probably still locate some contacts there, but you probably don't want to come to California. The sky's the limit, there's just a ton of things you can do with two months paid vacation. It all depends upon your interests. I know what I would do, but I doubt that's what you would do. -TD

 

find some ruins to visit. i recommend "chaco" in mexico, but any south american ruins will do. the feeling you'll get from just standing where ancient civilizations used to practice their rituals will stay with you for a long time. it's incredibly cool!

 

I was just in Belize for our 10th anniverary. We didn't take the time to see the Mayan ruins, because we only had 5 days there. We will go back and see the ruins. It's just the diving was so convenient to the resort and it is very good diving. I found a place off California that will take me diving in a cage with a Great White shark. Also, diving with a Blue Whale is on the list!

I may be completing the Skydiving course in the next few weeks, so I bet there will be some of that on my vacation as well.

I'd do a lot if the stock price was any higher... the company is doing well, but the market isn't. So my options aren't worth crap :-( I was banking on them to help fund my vacation...oh well...at least I'll be off work.

I work for Spansion, it'a merger between Advanced Micro Devices and Fujitsu. AMD actually hired me about 7 years ago, the merger was about 2 years ago, but they kept the sabatical benefit :-) Yipeeee!!! The company is usually hiring in very specific engineering fields. Unfortunately, they are hiring temps for the simpler jobs. The hourly people don;t get 2 months paid. They get a week off and a $4000 bonus. Still a nice deal.

 

what did you think of beliz? i work with a guy who owns property there and swears that its the nicest place he's ever been(and he's ex-military).

i dont think i'd ever do the cliff diving(gurss im not much of a thrill seeker, blowing out my tire last week was all the adventure i need.!) to me there are only two categories of cliff divers-greatest in the world, and stuff on a rock!

 

Diving in a shark cage off the Ca. coast? Is that around the S.F Bay Area? The Farrallon Islands just off the coast there are a breeding ground for Great Whites. That's why we often read about shark attacks off of Stinson Beach in Marin County, that's right in line with the Farrallon's. I won't tell you what I just read about Blue Whales, I think the mods would have to delete my post! -TD

 

If your into fishing, c'mon up here to the great lakes, the salmon and trout'll be running up the rivers soon. Good diving too if your into shipwrecks and such. enjoy your time off man!

 

Yeah, that sound slike the place. They have aclose trip then a 5 day trip that goes to another Island farther south...


What could you possibly say about a Blue Whale that is politically incorrect? It must be about the size of a certain anatomical feature :-)



As for diving in the great lakes....sounds cold. I was just diving in shorts and a T shirt in 80feet of water in Belize :-) Now, the fishing is a bit more tempting.

 

Actually, it was about the, output, shall we say, of that anatomical feature, being in the neighborhood of 400 gallons, only about 10% of which finds it's way to it's intended destination. That leaves about 360 gallons to spill into the ocean. The conjecture of this report was that that was possibly why the oceans are salty...I don't quite buy it! (Was that PC enough?) -TD

 

back to the vacation.

My latest scheme is to buy a motorcycle and tour the country for about a month. I rode before and would continue to ride, as I am missing my bike!

I'd shoot for about 200 miles per day average. In a month, that would be about 6000 miles. That should cover much of the states. I would spread it out between visiting friends and family, as well as other landmarks, monumenets etc. This would happen in October most likely, should be good weather across the country, no?

I'm looking at a new Yamaha, big sport touring bike. FJR1300, gobs of power, crotch rocket styling and handling with touring comfort and ABS brakes for those surprise showers.

Whaddayathink, am I crazy?

 

No, that's very close to what I've always wanted to do! I had thought about doing it on my bike, but later decided to do it in my Tiger, so I can take my instruments and some camping gear along, and hit some Bluegrass festivals and Nascar races. Some day....TD