As you have read many times this month and other May's, this is my favorite month by far. If I was a millionaire I still wouldn't have enough time to enjoy everything I want to do. However, I am not a millionaire and have to work. Normally I get two days off a week. I go on "exotic" daytrips on those days. I sometimes leave at 5:30 am and get back after dark. I do not get cheated on those days, no minute is wasted. I usually have my list of spring daytrips written out in January. I will have tides written on a calender along with moon phases. I plan trips to the Cape trout fishing and Central MA fishing for giant mirror carp.
This month I was thrown an unexpected wrinkle. The girl, Megan, that covers my days off,moved on to greener pastures. This left a void in the company and we do not have a district manager. So now I do not have someone to cover my days off and I have been asked to do a lot of her job for the time being.
I certainly do not want Megan's job permanently and made it clear to the owner. She was on call 5-6 days a week. She could have gotten a phone call at 4 am from a morning girl or at 4 pm from a closer. If she couldn't get the shift covered she had to go in. I had that job for seven years and do not want to live that life again. I had to walk out of movies with my then ten year old son. I'd have to leave little league games and fishing sessions cause a toaster broke. It is a life style I do not plan on living again.
However, with Megan leaving I am stuck for a little while. At first I was really depressed that I would be working so hard in May. If Megan left in January I would welcome the extra work and overtime. In the spring I do not think that way, I look at it as time I can never get back. So many things are better in May than the other 11 months. The bird spring migration, trout fishing, and the largest carp of the year are landed are just a few examples.
To make the best of it I realized something. Even if I get screwed over by a couple of night girls, I can still go out most every night. Being on call I can't go far, but I can stretch my limit as far as Warwick, where conveniently enough, I have been catching a lot of stripers.
My big sacrifice are my days off. I'm working 6 days right now. So I am loosing half of my valuable daytrips in this precious month. But, I will get overtime every week. By getting into overtime, I should have enough money to go on a vacation to the Utah national parks this fall. Laurie and I have been thinking about this trip for a while. I did not want to commit until early summer because I wanted to make sure I had enough money in the bank. By working overtime the next few weeks, the money shouldn't be a problem. So in reality, 'm trading four days off for a 2 week dream (but cheap) vacation. I can live with that.
I have still been getting out after my longer days at work. Tonight I went to the fly pond and had some fun. Last night I went striper fishing and got a few. Sunday, Laurie and I went birding at Great Swamp. We saw some cool birds and walked 3 miles. Saturday I went striper fishing where my friend Dave and I caught a combined 51 fish. All in all not a bad 4 days.
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