I think it's vital to call in sick to work every so often. How can they realize how much they rely on you unless you're not there to be relied upon? How can they miss you, if you're never gone?

I called in sick one day last week and I was a more cheerful person the next day for it.

You might think I'd feel guilty about calling in sick when I wasn't suffering from a bodily ailment, but I didn't. In the normal run of things, I never call in sick. I just don't miss work. But every so often...once a year, maybe twice, I take a mental health day, that's all.

It wasn't anything in particular, except maybe the server in the closet that was still whining like a jet engine stalled on the runway. (I rebooted it on Thursday and the shrill whine finally ceased. I have no idea why rebooting the server made the fan happy. One of life's little mysteries.)

It wasn't Bernie. He's been trying very, very hard for the past five or six weeks, not to wig out or have psychotic interludes. Granted, experience suggests it's all just building up inside of him and one day soon he'll throw a major tantrum, but he might not. He's been making a sincere effort not to be a crazy man and I appreciate it.

It was lovely, having a day off. So lovely that for two cents I'd have called in sick again today, which is supposed to be our last day of Indian Summer before we get snow on Tuesday and Wednesday.

And today I actually have an owie. Thanks to a recalcitrant potato and a peeler that was sharper than anyone's experience of my household's edged implements would have suggested, my right forefinger is swathed in antibiotic cream and a bulky bandage. Ugh.

This had better turn out to be some damned fine soup, that's all I can say.

Still. Slacker I may be upon occasion, but I can't see staying home from work because I peeled my finger. (The R.C. told me last week that her immediate supervisor has been known to call in sick for a headache. Not a migraine, you understand, but a headache.)

This week I'm facing using the new bulk e-mailing program for the first time, as I add yet another of DiamondGirl's tasks to my own pile o'things to keep doing. I messed around in it last week and I don't anticipate having any trouble using it but I'm still a bit annoyed.

It's one thing when a company "downsizes" an employee and everyone left gets more work on their plate, but it's quite another to be the last person standing in an office that once had seven staff members. The only job I didn't wind up with at least a bit of was computer programmer.

I had a gorgeous weekend.

Did a bit of shopping. (The frugality thing is proving to be problematic. I'm spending less in the stores I habitually shop, but that means I have time to shop in more stores in one day - I don't think my total expenditures have decreased much.) A new shirt (lavender) and a new pair of pants. (Not black! I can't remember the last time I bought Not Black Pants.) Miscellaneous other things.

Did some tidying up in the hall closet (a perpetual disaster area) and considered tackling my closet (ditto) but decided to think about it for a while first.

I didn't quite get around to doing laundry, so I'm not wearing my new clothes today. Didn't get the dusting done, either. I did get the bathroom cleaned before the Great Peeler Debacle, but after that, in spite of still having two hands and nine functioning fingers, I decided that I was too wounded to do chores.

Fortunately, the GameBoy mostly uses thumbs, so I wasn't hampered there. Tonight: The Final Boss Monster!