Let's Do Some Math

   I find myself looking forward to any type of a day off. Let’s do some math here.


   A week has 168 hours. I work 39 hours at my primary job. I usually work 15 hours at my second job. I normally do about 5 hours of homework each week. So I am doing 59 hours of work each week compared to an average worker doing 40 hours a week. But if we want to calculate free time that would be a whole different story.


   If I add in time before work that I wake up to get ready, travel time, lunch hour and time eating in between jobs that takes my unavailable hours from 59 to 73.5 hours. That leaves 94.5 hours for free time. If I take out time sleeping that really leaves 38.5 hours a week for free time. Don’t forget now on Thursdays I watch my mom. So that is like half free time and half occupied time. So a true free time number would be closer to 33 hours. I would give the average worker at least 59 free hours with their work hours, lunch hours, drive time and after sleep.


   Some of you may not have sympathy for me and my 26 hours less of time. But that is more than a full day less than you that I can sit on my butt, or hang out with my boyfriend, or go shopping. That’s about four and half days each month.


   We can take this even further though. Keep in mind I work for a movie theatre. People like it when you have seen the movies. So of my 33 hours, I try to spend 3-4 each week watching two movies. Not to mention that I love movies so this is a relaxing time for me. I usually find myself needing to stop at a store like Target or Wal-Mart each week for either groceries or something miscellaneous. Before work on Tuesdays each week, I go to the bank and run miscellaneous errands. Thursday nights by 8:30 I can do what I need to do, but lots of places are almost closed. I like to watch two shows on Thursdays, that’s another hour. You can see how thinly stretched my time is. I believe that puts me down to 24 hours to be able to say, “I don’t know what I want to do.”


   This is the reason I can be grumpy and be dying for my days off. I love to see holidays coming up on the calendar. My birthday will be here in 11 days so I am anxious for that. Then it will be Thanksgiving, and before you know it, X-Mas.


   But by the time I use a day of paid time off from work and that day arrives, I find my to-do list full so that maybe by 8:00 I have free time, and I just feel wiped the next day. Wednesday nights and Saturday nights I have found free time lately but my friends want to hang out. And yes I am including that in my free time. But we all know it’s not quite the same. Usually you just end up doing an activity everyone can agree on, but if they weren’t there I think I would be playing Zelda: A Link to the Past.


   But I don’t have any paid time off scheduled right now. I think my next vacation will be around February for my b/f and my 5th anniversary. I also want to go to Mall of America because I’ve never been.


A self-indulgent rant.