A Day Off

Having a day off doesn’t seem like such a big deal until I remember that it’s my first day away from work since Sunday, February 4. That is 72 straight days of work, and there were a lot of nights in there too.

It occurs to me that we tax preparers have something in common with major league baseball players. For half a year, they have very few days off from work. We may think of it as a game, but it is work to a ballplayer. They have to get up and go to the office. They wear a uniform. They warm up, practice, play, cool down, shower up and go home. It’s a work day, no matter how much fun it is.

Often the few off days they have are not completely free from the game. On some days they travel. Off days at home generally involve working out, practice, routine. Off days on the road are, well, on the road. It is not about hanging out at home with no responsibilities.

When Barry Bonds takes a game off, he still goes to the ball park, gets in his uniform, warms up and makes himself available if needed. It is not a day off in the sense of having complete control of your time. It’s still work.

Most people have not actually worked for weeks and months without a single day off. They don’t know what happens to you physically, including a loss of the sense of day and time. There is constant physical disorientation. Even though you are tired, sleep is difficult, too short and unsound. It is tough for those of us in a mental profession. I bet it is worse for ballplayers who have to perform physical feats against other great athletes.

Not that I wouldn’t love to be good enough to try to endure it.

Anyway, I’m back. Lots of days off and half days off ahead, and that will start tomorrow afternoon at Telephone Park when the Giants take on the World Champs.

Life is good. I hope the weather will be tomorrow.