Forced Vacation

All the people in the sales group in my company are forced to take 5 vacation days each quarter for the first two quarters. 5 days is about how fast you accumulate them each quarter. So essentially you are expected to use them as fast as you get them. If you don't have enough days, you can either borrow the days against future time off, or take the days without pay. This whole thing is a clever way of getting around pay cuts, but it is something of a pay cut. Without calling it a pay cut. I have to borrow days in the 2nd quarter. I am not taking days without pay. So, not only do I owe the banks and credit card companies (not blaming anyone but myself for that), but I also owe my company. If I take the owed days and then quit without working enough time to "earn" the days, I have to pay the company for those days I borrowed. Great.
Got to love corporate America.
I read, and hear, different stories about executives and upper-level managers in so many companies across the US and it makes me sick. I am working as hard as ever, and I doubt that I will get a raise or bonus this year. In fact, I got an email today stating that because company performance was down, not my performance, the stock options I recieve will be 10% of what they could have been. Not reduced 10%, the options were reduced 90%, I will only recieve 10% of what I could have.
Guess I should be happy to have a job. What a low target to hit.
I am a little angry, more than a little, at the Republicans not voting on the stimulus package because there are not enough tax cuts. More tax cuts for the wealthy are not going to help the economy. Just create even greater wage gap than we already have. The wage gap has grown enough under Bush, can we please stop it.

Anyway, today is one of my vacation days and I was up at 4AMish to do the masters morning swim, which I really like. I am already swimming faster than I was last year. I have only been swimming on Friday mornings for the last couple of months. I am surprised how good it feels. Currently I am in a coffee shop I like in Saint Paul. Monday I start the training program with my tri coach. It is nice to have something to look foward to. I am really looking forward to racing and training this year.

2009 is going to be interesting........