We already went through the drill once this year, however this time with a proposed furlough letter in hand we're moving a tad closer into the genius solution on how to help the budget. Talk about a fabulous way to start your day- right?
Despite my precarious leave (vacation) status the fact that if I want to do any traveling at all for the next 3 months means I'm taking leave without pay or just leaving town on a regularly scheduled furlough (no pay status) day. It's amazing that although the net income is the same (reduction in pay), the difference between the two are huge in my mind.
· Leave without pay means I'm choosing not to come into work today because it is way more valuable for me to avoid my office and not earn 8 hours of pay.
· Furlough means although I really don't want to be in the office, rather than trying to think of an aliment while in bed in the morning to call in sick with, I'm not allowed to go to work and I'm not allowed to collect pay for the 8 hours of originally scheduled work. In short, Uncle Sam made the decision for me.
Luckily, the once proposed 22 days have been reduced to 11. Even luckier is the fact that as an overseas employee my housing is provided for, regardless. This means that I'm forced to see the irony that on most furlough days I will be not only earning money, but I will be spending more money by taking some sort of adventures with my fellow furlough buddies since my time has always been the limiting factor on adventures; not money. Don't worry- I will still be financially responsible (it's possible, even as a government employee, honest) and just in case funds start running low I figure any or all of the options below can put a little extra cash in my wallet:
Babysitting Car washes Sell blood/organs
Bake sale Tour guides Lawsuit against government
Collect unemployment (? but we're not residents of any state)
Clean Houses Rent out Nico Garage sale
Rent cubicle space on furlough day Caddy at golf course
Create tv show spin off of Survivor- "Furlough Frenzy"
Yep. This list grows on our space's white board daily. I think my favorite idea I've had at this point is the Adopt-A-Civilian program where 1 or 2 military members "adopt" a furloughed civilian and their family. In my case, I've asked our CSO if Nico and I can show up at this house once a week for meals in addition to presenting a list of "urgent needs" as a result of 20% pay reduction. Brilliant right?
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