6 posts tagged “holidays”
It really is an odd week here in South Africa. Monday was a public holiday because the 27 April Freedom Day fell on Sunday. Tomorrow is the 1 May Workers' Day holiday, and then Friday has been declared an extra public holiday because two holidays fell on the same day on 21 March (Good Friday and Human Rights Day).
That means the working week is just two days long - yesterday and today.
We don't have any real plans for the long weekend - except to do more work on the house in preparation for selling it. I am unlikely to post anything, so I'll see you on Monday!
That's right! It's 29 February, and we all know what that means. This is the day we all work for free.
We work for an annual salary calculated on a 365-day year minus weekends and public holidays, but in a leap year, with with 366 days, it means we work an extra day for the same salary.
In South Africa, we are losing out even more this year, as two public holidays (Good Friday and Human Rights Day) fall on the same day this year - 21 March. In addition, National Women's Day is on a Saturday (9 August), so we lose out on that one.
So by my calculations, this leap year we in South Africa are giving up three days of our labour!
When I become Emperor of the Southern African Empire, I shall decree that every 29 February be a public holiday.
This is it - my last day of work for the year. At the end of today my summer vacation begins!
As I will be at home (on dial-up), I don't know whether I will be posting during the vacation, so let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a very good and Christ-centred Christmas.
See you next year!
Twelve working days (including today) before summer holidays!
I cannot wait. The minister of home affairs goes on leave before I do, so she has just 10 working days left.
My last day of work will be 14 December, and I'll return on 2 January. Thanks to all the public holidays in December, it means I have to use only eight days of leave.
We will be spending the holiday period at home this year - we want to paint and do repairs to the house ahead of selling it next year. Plus, the trip to the USA in July was pretty expensive, so that's our holiday budget gone.
Regardless of where we are, we will be together and that's the important thing to me.
This weekend the minister of home affairs and I tried our hand at making pumpkin pie for the first time.
Let me put this into context before I continue. Although pumpkin pie is traditional fare in North America, it is virtually unheard of here in South Africa. The same can be said for things like blueberry pie, cherry pie, and so on. The only fruit pie that is a hit here is apple pie.
As a result, neither of us had ever eaten pumpkin pie, even though we were both very keen to try it.
Someone I know in America was kind enough to send me a recipe, which, once the conversions to metric were completed, was quite easy to use. So this weekend was the big test.
One word: DELICIOUS!
So now we are planning to make one for Christmas, and I think it will become a new Christmas tradition in our home.
Next, we shall attempt a blueberry pie. Stay tuned!
What's your favorite vacation destination?
Locally, the east coast resorts area, where my parents live - between East London and Transkei. I grew up in the area and went to school in East London. We don't get to go too often, but we are going down there in December for the summer holidays.
