I need a break

[DFW]

76. I remember the line from the movie Avatar

“If there’s a hell, you might want to go there for some R&R.”

My solution is to live and work in Europe, although I fell into it. I didn’t really consciously choose it. More like it chose me. The weather is unpleasant, the bureaucracy is infuriating, uncaring, inefficient and unfair. Oh, and nothing is free here. The ones who claim otherwise are lying. Things are financed differently from the way they are in the states. Consumers of some certain services are not necessarily the same ones who get the bill, but it is all paid for.

Oh, and I still work for a living. At 73, it’s not quite as much fun getting up at 4:00 AM to get the 6:whatever flight down to Zürich, but my Swiss employee got a bad case of Covid, and someone had to step in for him. He’s still a mess, and I have to run down there again this weekend. My wife’s mom is a mess (she’s 98, and lives far away), and I don’t even remember when the last time was that we had a weekend together.

We all watch the news and see the US government doing its level best to destroy the place. But 85 years ago, things weren’t so wonderful here, either. Many take the long view.

Most people who work here get six weeks paid vacation. As director for Europe for a very liberal Texas company, I take what I want. As long as the work gets done, the head office is happy, and they are the same guys I was working for when I signed up, and that was fifty years ago this year. We were less than 20 people then. We are over a thousand now. Like I said: liberal. Adapt. Treat your people well. They’ll work hard and adapt, too.

What I mean by all this is just reminding you that the point comes for EVERYBODY where they have to step back from things. So just do it. Feel good about it. You know as well as anyone that the whole stinking mess will be here when you return, whether that’s tomorrow or in half a year.