Christmas holidays have started early for me. "But Mallymoodle, it's so damn early!" I hear you say. And yes, it is earlier than I anticipated taking Xmas-NY holidays, especially since I will be returning to Melbs not once, but TWICE! in the space of 4 months. So how did this situation come about?
Long story short, for the first time ever in my life, and to the amazement of many other scientists (from Aus and Germs), I get OVERTIME (ueberstunden)! Due to the conditions of my contract, I am subject to Federal German labour laws meaning that I am limited in the number of hours and days I'm supposed to work. "Huh? But as a scientist, you work as much as you need to work!" And yes, that's true, which is how I racked up over 80 hours of overtime, despite taking a few days off to drink at Oktoberfest and leaving work early(ish) on Fridays. The catch is that the overtime is not paid and only 50 hours roll over into the next calendar year, leaving me more than 30 hours - or nearly one week of overtime to use or lose.
Given the Xmas Eve, Xmas Day, and Boxing Day are holidays, that left 3 days (27,28, 31st) as working days...so I'd still have time to lose :O! But then someone pointed out that if I took 8 days leave, using 5 days as overtime, I've have 2.5 weeks of holiday :D So now that I'm forced to take more time off, I am using the time for now to catch up on cleaning the apartment and sleeping and shopping. ;) Yes, times are sweet.
Also, 3 weeks until I return to Melbs!!!
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