My life stinks!

I’ve just stated I had one more week of vacation ahead of me. Well, that was before my boss called and told me I had to be back at work on Tuesday - the day after the long Easter weekend.

I’m very angry about that at the moment. One of the reasons for this is my last week. My computer went on strike on Sunday and I didn’t get it back before yesterday - and I’m still working on it, not just using it for games or writing as I planned to.

Another reason is that I’m pretty much finished. I didn’t have a day of ‘real’ vacation last year, due to my webmaster course. I didn’t have time to gather new energy this year, either, due to not having that many vacation days. The last month was a nightmare, too, because one of my colleagues was sick and two people had to do the work of four. (The other colleague works part time and was on a forced vacation during the last week before my vacation started.) In January I planned those two weeks before and after Eastern without even knowing about what would happen in March.

My next scheduled vacation is towards the end of August. It would have worked out, had I had those two weeks in full. But I don’t get them. Basically, I’ve just lost four days of overtime, nothing more.

I do not blame my colleagues for that. The one who got sick surely didn’t do it on purpose - she’s very dutiful normally. The one who had to take a vacation didn’t do it on purpose either - she was forced to do so. I do not even really blame my boss for this situation.

What I blame him for, though, is not being able to find a suitable substitute for my male colleague who will be forced to leave the company in October (the German government is forcing him to do so). Had they found someone (and it’s getting pretty urgent now), there would have been enough people around to handle it without me coming back from the vacation.

I have made a decision. After I’m back at work, I’ll ask my boss for a talk under four eyes. And I’ll tell him one thing straight: if they don’t get going with that new colleague, I’ll be leaving at the end of October, too. I’m feeling bad already, out of energy and sick. I’m not going to ruin my health - or what’s left of it - for them. Even though I know it doesn’t look good, I’d rather face the crisis-stricken job market.