Wednesday is a furlough day for me. In the morning, I'll get a crown on a tooth implant. Then I'm going out to early dinner with friends at a vegan restaurant over the hill, and finally we're all going to an inspirational talk/meditation of some kind.

I'm not so sure about the talk, since I'm pretty leery of the self-help new age group stuff, but I'll take insight and love wherever I find it, no matter how it's gussied up or plainly spoken.

Thursday and Friday I'm taking as vacation days, because I simply have to have a couple of days to fix the problem with my safe deposit box, change the plan for my cell phone, call about earthquake insurance ($50,000 deductible?!?) and a bunch of other things that just can't be done after work or on weekends.

One of those days I'll visit N.

The vacation part comes when I can be away from the phone and the incessant service calls, supervisors who whine and managers whose style is crisis management. That in itself is a vacation.

By the time the weekend arrives, I'll be visiting N again at the VA (it takes up the whole afternoon, by the time travel time is included).

Along the way, I'll take the time to pet some cats and root around in the tomato patch. And read, of course, with my book (or Kindle) in one hand, coffee cup in the other.