"Baardwijk, J. van DTO/SLWPD/RZO/BOZO" wrote:
>
> > -----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
> > Van: Julia Thompson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> > Verzonden: Tuesday, January 01, 2002 23:12
> > Aan: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Onderwerp: Re: Tragedy in Israel
>
> > > Oh, wait, correction. It is the year 2002; from now on I will see
> > > basic military training happen *four* days per week. :-)
> >
> > OK, what happened to warrant that change?
>
> Tom happened. :-)
>
> The normal work week here has 38 hours; typically that means you work 40
> hours per week (5 x 8) and get 12 additional days off per year (known as
> Labour Time Reduction). The Defense Dept. allows its personnel to work for a
> different number of hours, and allows quite some creativity with the duty
> roster. FREX, I could get a contract for 40 hours instead of 38, and thus
> get 12 additional days off. What I did was choose a 36 hour contract for
> four days per week (Monday - Thursday); the result is a work week of 4 x 9
> hours.
>
> This allows me to do more work around the house, thereby making Sonja�s life
> a bit easier. It also makes it easier for her to go back to a paid job, one
> day per week to begin with. And of course (very important reason) it allows
> me to spend much more time with Tom.
>
> The downside: I will be home later (at least 1 hour 15 minutes), and my pay
> is reduced proportionally (pay for 36 hours instead of 38 hours; a pay cut
> of approx. 5%).
The normal work week here is supposed to be 40 hours, or however long it
takes to get your job done, especially if you're on salary. Dan works
around 40-45 hours most weeks, but sometimes there's a big crunch to get
something done, and he'll take it up to as many as 60 hours if that's
what it's going to take. (This is typical for programmers on salary, I
think.)
Since Dan is telecommuting, he's in the house most of the time. I think
that *Sammy* gets out of the house more than Dan does, since Sammy gets
dragged along on most of my errands during the day. Dan being home like
that can be very good; if I have an emergency when I'd like an extra
pair of hands, sometimes he's able to drop whatever it is he's doing and
help me out. He also does some of the minor kitchen chores over his
lunch break, especially if he's cooking himself pasta. This has a
downside, though -- the amount of stuff to clean up after pasta can be
more than I'd really like to deal with after he's gone back up to his
office and I need to do something else in the kitchen. If he's taking a
short break, one to stretch his legs as much as anything else, sometimes
he'll find us and spend a little time with Sammy. He enjoys being able
to do that. (It's a bit much, though, when he's in a phone meeting and
Sammy's not happy about something during the diaper change, as the
changing table is on the other side of the wall from Dan's office.)
Also, Dan's not spending time going to and from work every day, so Sammy
and I get to see more of him at home that way.
The reduction in pay doesn't sound so hot, but the extra day with Tom is
worth something to you, I'm sure. :)
Julia
