I've never been one to take for granted my job. It's pretty damned cushy, no doubt about it. Sure, I bitch and moan and complain about it. But in the atmosphere I was raised, that was par for the course. My dad, who LOVES cars and LOVES working on them, always hated his job (mechanic) and bitched about it all the time. He hated it so much that he prevented my brothers and I from spending time in our formulative years in the garage with him, because he didn't want us getting interested in it. I never had to say, "I don't want...your lahf!" about my father. That was a nice luxury...and honestly, I've always respected and tried to model myself after him. Anyone who has met my father and talked to him can see that I'm very similar in thought, action and principle, if he opens up to you. All the men in my immediate family are very similar in that sense.

Anyway, tangent there...what I was going to say was, two things happened that have helped me realize in the past 12 hours or so just how nice my job is, really. First, it was pointed out to me that I can email all day long replies and things...if a friend needs an answer quickly, I can typically give it. Not because I don't have work to do, but because I do my work well and can "slack" at times to address personal needs. Also, the flexible hours of "stay until you get it done" help a lot too. Second, last night I went to help Gina enter grades into a computer and grade papers, because she's way behind. I realized that, really, take-home work doesn't exist that much for me...also, I'm not nearly as tired as so many people at the end of the day. Poor Gina was falling asleep while grading the papers...and I felt bad, because I was still going strong at 1am. Now, granted, that's because I don't have to be at work until 10am, so my wake-up time is different, but still, that's a luxury too, I guess.

Anyway, when you hear me bitch about work, understand that I know I have it good, and that, although it's a fantastic place to work, I grew up in a bitch-about-work environment and that there are some real negatives about it. But I'm not stupid enough to think that I could have it so much better somewhere else. Ya know? :)