Only 10 days???????!!!!!!! I've been lucky enough to have 6 paid weeks the last few years. Most non-teachers in Australia get 4 paid weeks.

10 days is the starting here. It's double that in the UK and more in other parts of Eu. I find it a little archaic, but there ya go. But typically you earn an extra week with each 5 years in.

What, no Urlaubsgeld?

It probably is from the term for butchering.
Used to mean exceptionally tired (fit for the knacker's yard) or damaged. Buggered is used in the same way - to mean now unfit for purpose.
Although slaughtered means very, very drunk.
Knackers are also a word for plums. In the male fruit sense I mean.
Is that like Danegeld? Didn't work for Ethelred.

Time off...

Hiya Brutus!

Re: that graph - In Australia, we have (by my wall planner) 10 public holidays per year. I get 20 days personal (holiday) leave and 20 days sick leave. AND we get "long service leave" - after 10 years out here in the colony, it is presumed you will need three months to visit family back in Old Blighty. Still.

I think they legally have to pay you for bank holidays in the UK too.

no, sick days are calculated separately. I usually take my main vacay at Christmas time, combining it with paid holidays (usually 2) so stretch it that way.

For me, my annual leave must be used if I call in sick. I get no sick days. So it sounds like I have a lot of leave, and I do because I've been here so long, but I don't have sick days.

On the one hand, the system my firm has is better, because I can manage my time and if I'm not sick, I can take a lot of vacations. It's good for my employer because you don't have people calling in sick on a Monday simply because they just don't feel like coming in. It would take away from the big vacation plans they have. But on the other hand, it's bad because when people really are sick, they sometime come in instead of staying home and keeping their germs away because they want to use their leave for vacations.

20 days sick leave. (Just repeating that because I'm still so incredulous). You done good!

In my current job, I get 15...no idea how I am even going to come close to using them all.

And re the trip back to old Blighty every 10 years, yep, it's six weeks on the boat there and 6 weeks back.

And on another topic...Saturday night I saw a homeless kitten on the street looking for its next meal (once again, like the homeless, it's a common sight so I have to steel myself and walk on). Sunday, I saw the tail end of a rat. In a fight between the two, the kitten would have lost. :thepain:

Just watched my first Water Polo game.

How many horses drowned?

7

I really love the chickpea curry I made for dinner last night, and the best thing about it is I can eat it until I'm stuffed and still not feel guilty because it's low in fat, high in fibre and other essential nutrients (including the ones that cause serotonin to be produced naturally) and it's yummy.

The other great thing about it was that it took me less than 20 minutes to make from start to finish!