Never plan anything. That's what I keep having to remind myself, the lesson I learn over and over again, only to forget it the next time. If you believe you have just enough work to get done in the four and a half days left before vacation, you can count on two things.

Something unexpected and time-consuming is going to set your schedule back a day or two. And someone is going to want to leave earlier than you were counting on.

Never plan anything, because it's just not going to work out the way you plan it.

It's only fair, I suppose, that I should have to earn my vacation. To take a week off (or a week and a day, maybe), I need to do some extra work ahead of time. That was the plan. What wasn't in the plan was dealing with the worker's compensation carrier, which also happens to be an agency of the state government. Wham! Insurance meets bureaucracy. Somebody has to suffer.

A week ago, one of Tim's twenty-year-old employees nicked his thumb on a chop saw. He went to the hospital to have it looked at, and the worker's comp carrier was notified. He got a kiss for his owie and a Curad Battle Ribbon to show his little friends, and he was back at work the next day.

Today I got no less than four different forms from the carrier, each asking for different information. They came in four envelopes and are to be mailed back in four envelopes. Two of them asked one question each. The other two asked for deep background and took me the whole day to fill out. And that's how I lost a day of vacation prep because some kid pinched his thumb.

So now I have either three or three and a half days to do the work I was hoping to do this week, which includes all the work I would have done next week but can't because I'll be on the cruise. I know as soon as I use the word "cruise" I waive the right to any sympathy, but still. I'm in distress here.

As for leaving early, I can handle that. I don't have to like it, but I can pretend to. That's one of the things I do best, especially when I'm depending on someone else to drive me to Los Angeles on Friday. If I wanted to take my own car, I suppose I could leave any time I choose. I'll just be happy, no matter how distraught I feel.