I haven't missed a deadline in three years, four months and two weeks.

Even when taking a vacation, I do my work ahead of time so I'm covered.

But, for the next two weeks, I'm letting the ball drop. Some would call this a vacation, but I have to work on Wednesdays no matter what since there's no one else on staff who can update the web site. And I have to make a presentation next Thursday evening in a neighboring county.
And I brought three projects home with me to finish.

So it's only a vacation from the weekly deadlines.

I guess I now know how long it takes me to burn out.

I went in Monday morning to citizen complaints on the answering machine, you know, those residents who want me to blow the cover off of something and take the heat while they sit in the background and read.

"I don't care!" I yelled at the answering machine.

I took no phone calls that day, and made none.

I sat down to write, and everything came out chunky.

Subject, verb, period. Subject, verb, period.

And I didn't care.

"This isn't good," I said to Bill, my office mate.

I have the best employers. Have I mentioned that?

I went into the boss's office yesterday and said,"I'm burnt out, I've lost my focus, and I need some time off. But since I can't actually take time off, I want to spend some time goofing off."

He said, "Okay, goof off."

So, I met yesterday's deadline, left a "to do" list for Bill, packed up three projects and came home.

Today I will deliver newspapers to the Upper West Fork, mail some Encounter Calhouns, update the Chronicle web site, finish the Encounter Calhoun web site, and then curl up on the couch for a nap.

Tomorrow I will decide which pieces to enter in the annual WV Press Association Better Newspapers Contest - and then maybe I'll take a nap.

I hope to take a nap every day for the next two weeks, and as soon as we see sign that the weather is going to break, we're headed for the hills to go camping.

Audra, our favorite state park, isn't open yet. Looks like we'll be headed to Cranberry.

Yes, we'll very likely be camping in the snow. Yes, it will very likely be wet and cold.

And no, we don't care.

We'll be prepared.