I left out one part of my master plan. Our state system allows one to accrue "sabbatical" leave. After you have 10 years in, you can "bank" 5 days of vacation every year, to be used at some future date, never expiring. I presently have 42 days of "banked" vacation.
So I'm going to start using it by blending vacation into my work schedule. As I explained above, I will be paid for 15 days out of every 20 work days. I will be using these in a 4-4-4-3 rotation. Three weeks out of four will have a 3-day weekend, the fourth is a 4-day weekend.
But wait ... We also get 9 paid holidays. So if I schedule my 3 day work weeks into weeks with holidays, which I can do for 7 of the 9 holidays, then that's only 2 work days on those 7 weeks. So if I wanted to take a week off every month of the year, I could do so by using 2 vacation days for each of those 7 weeks and 3 vacation days for 5 more weeks. I would need to use 29 per year.
I have 42 in the bank, and will get 19 more per year at a 75% assignment. So if you do the math, I need to use 10 "banked" vacation days a year to supplement the 19 that I get. No problem when I have 42.
Thus I can go to a schedule where I will work 4 days, take a 3 day weekend, work 4 days, take a 3 day weekend, work 4 days, and then take a 10-day vacation. And then repeat that every month for the next 3 years (anticipated retirement date is early 2012).
It sounds glorious. I'm already hard at work, planning what I might do with all of those 10-day breaks. Of course, I'm more limited on travel funds, due to the 25% pay cut. Sure wouldn't mind having a small rustic cabin in some scenic location near a bike trail - but that is unlikely. A tent might be doable.
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"Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L'Amour
There are two types of road bikers: bikers who are faster than me, and me. Bruce Cameron - Denver Post