bloody hell

[winterbadger]

This situation truly warrants the "pants" icon.

I had calculated to a nicety how far negative I could go in leave to take my trip next week.

As you can imagine, that didn't involve me taking nearly a week off sick (I can't recall the last time I did this that wasn't recovery from an operation).

So, I have the choice of taking my vacation as planned but taking the time off without pay (which would cost me a very large sum, let's call it X) or cancelling my trip (which would cost me, with nonrecoverable plane fare &c., about 2/3 of X).

This will be at least the third time in the past four years that I've had to cancel an overseas trip at the last minute. Of course, the last time I *took* an overseas trip it wasn't a 100% happy experience either.

*sigh*

Comments

[schizokitty.livejournal.com]

Sick days and vacation days come out of the same pool? Stingy bastards.

My gut reaction would be to go with option 1. If cancelling the trip was a smaller portion of X, then I'd say that, but a whopping 2/3? If you went, sure, you'd lose x/3, but you'd get something in return -- a wonderful vacation in a land you love. Take option two and all you've got is x/3.

Of course, you know better if you can afford x/3, so I expect my prattling is only complicating things. :-(

[winterbadger]

I think what you're missing is that I'm going to be out 2/3 X no matter what. It's gone, it's paid, no refunds. The question is whether I can afford to spend 2/3 X *plus* X (IOW, the cost of the airfare plus the time off without pay). And no, I can't.

[schizokitty.livejournal.com]

Actually, I did not miss that fact. I was working on the assumption that going on the trip would make the 2/3X, although spent, not "wasted," and when I said "if you can afford x/3," I meant the additional x/3.

I'm sorry you can't afford it -- that sucks industrial sewage. >:-(

[winterbadger]

At the risk of beating a dead horse...

cost of trip 2/3X: yes, worthwhile, if I had been able to do it

cost of taking the time off without pay *not counting the cost of the trip*: X

So taking the vacation without having the leave would not be 2/3X + 1/3 X, but 2/3 X + X.

The cost of the trip was pretty much sunk either way (I was able to get a refund from one hotel, and if I book the same travel with the same carrier within a year, I can get a credit worth about two-thirds of the ticket). Taking the extra time off would have cost more _more than the cost of the trip itself_ *on top of* the cost of the trip.