the beauty of the 4-day work week

today is monday, and i, for once, am not filled with an overwhelming sense of dread. the upcoming week will no doubt be filled with paperwork, running errands, cleaning the house and my desk at work and lo and behold, i'm not all that worried about it. this is one of those weeks that is blessed with a bonus day off...so, thanks to our founding fathers, this friday i will be chilling on a lounge chair on my parent's patio instead of sitting at my desk counting down the hours until i can leave work. what is it about that one extra day off that makes you feel like you've been on vacation in some exotic locale, or just got back from a spa in the desert? it's only one more day. the thing is is that my weekends have really just become an extension of my work week...i have errands to run, laundry to do, a house to clean, all of these things that make me feel like i'm still on the clock - only i'm not getting paid. having one extra day to do all those things means i get to spread it out a little more, put it off a little longer, and actually still feel like i had a weekend. it also means i have to be more efficient in the office, getting my week's worth of work done in only 4 days, which translates to fewer visits to people.com and more time doing what i really need to get done. why every week is not a 4 day work week is beyond me. we'd all get more done in the office, have a little more time to ourselves on the weekends, and hey, some people are even saying it will help cut down on the use of gas getting to and from work, so it could even end up saving us money. i don't know how one goes about writing one's congressman, but i think this is a rather stand up idea. four day work weeks for life. who's idea was it to work 5 days straight and only have 2 days off after that, anyway? clearly, 2 days off is not enough. and what is this sneaky flex time thing that so many people are doing? work longer hours, and every other week, get a whole day off? that seems like a bit of a jip to me. why should i have to work 9 or 10 hour days just so i can have what should rightfully be mine anyway? four day work weeks seem to me to be a basic human necessity. really, who would argue with me? maybe a workaholic. but who likes those people anyway? let them work their 5 or 6 day work week. i'll take my 4 and i'll be just fine with that. god may have only taken one day to rest, but i don't think that creating the universe really compares with the amount of work, upkeep, and general running around that the average human being does in a week now. work for 4 days, sleep for 3. it's not rocket science.

what i went to college for

when i was in my early 20s (god, am i old enough to say stuff like that?), i remember telling my mom that i didn't think i was cut out for college. it was too demanding, the classes required too much work, and i was never free to be as lazy and irresponsible as i wanted to be. i thought that was the entire point of your early 20s, to screw around, not get anything done, and be as much of a waste of space as possible. needless to say, my pleas fell on deaf ears, and it's a good thing, because here i am, 5 years out of college, a bachelor's degree in art history (which is actually under my desk at this very moment, but that is another story), and know what i will be doing today? cleaning out old file drawers. which makes me think, my god, i'm so glad i have this college degree, because otherwise, i would most likely not know how to even open a file drawer, much less throw away any of the contents. but lucky me, since i have this degree (and i can dress myself in the morning), i am able to do the work that a well trained monkey could do - although i doubt that a monkey would spend as much time on the internet as i do, so the monkey would probably get more work done than me. and i don't know that a monkey would have the attitude problem that i have, either, so he might actually get a little further in his career than me, too. anyway, that's my day. it will take all 5 years worth of my college education, no doubt, to complete this mind-boggling assignment.

god, whenever you are ready to give me that rich and famous lifestyle we talked about, i just want you to know that i'm fully prepared for it.