Couple Days Off

After 16 years in the corporate healthcare world, the traditional Monday through Friday work week had set my mind and body on a traditional schedule.  It was one that aligned with family and friends as well as nearly everyone else in the workforce. 

Now that I’m working for myself - with the centerpiece of the work being set on Saturday mornings throughout the year - the work week no longer aligns with “Working For The Weekend”, the 80’s hit from Loverboy.  Mike Reno was singing about the standard Monday through Friday grind with free-time frivolity in mind for the weekend.

Now, my life sounds more like a Huey Lewis & The News combo of “Workin’ For A Living” where I need a “Couple Days Off”.  [To bring Huey Lewis & The News into my life timeline, I bought the “Couple Days Off” single in ’91 and pushed it into the tape deck of my ’85 Plymouth Turismo.  That music and automotive combo must have been enough to impress my future prom date.]  Well, earlier this week, I thought about taking a couple days off.

My last vacation was back in 2012 when I was on the corporate side.  Back then, our community was called “Hunt Valley Cars & Coffee” and for me, the Saturday morning gathering was a weekend hobby.  Even when I took those days off back in 2012, my love for cars couldn’t be completely turned off.  Vacation involved choosing a hotel with an automotive event directly outside.  Our significant others may never completely understand this bug but darn it, doesn’t it make so much sense? J  “Honey, if we would have chosen the hotel across town, we would have never seen Mika Häkkinen drinking vodka with his race team in our hotel bar.”  Those words really only resonate with car enthusiasts.

Fast forward to this week.  I was offered to reunite with a girl I had known for a couple of years.  On the table is a weekend in the Finger Lakes of New York.  What is my first thought?  “I’m too busy.  This is impossible.”  My second thought?  “Ooh, I have never been to Watkins Glen International.  Maybe I can make this work.”  To the ladies, they may think – “Typical guy.  Cars, cars, cars.”  To be fair, I was thinking about how I could still work while mixing in a bit of a vacation.  

Out of the blue, I received a private message on Facebook from one of our community members.  To retain confidentiality, I’ll call this person the “Unknowing Vacation Enabler”.  Here’s the message - “I have two tickets and trackside camping pass to the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix this weekend at Watkins Glen.  I can’t make it.” 

I have now been pushed over the edge into vacation land.  Of course, I’ll be in Hunt Valley on Saturday morning but immediately afterwards, I’m going on vacation!  I’m hopeful that my body and mind can adapt to actual relaxation after so long of being without.  In Huey Lewis style, it’ll only be a “Couple Days Off”.  I’ll be sure to bring back some track photos.  In the meantime, it’s back to “Workin’ For A Living”.