Mental Health Ride

[jhansen]

Just wondering how many folks have called in sick (of work) and then put the gear on and just went for a ride? Lord knows I have and will again. :rider:

[Tourmeister]

Poll added ;-) No for me.

[WoodButcher]

You forgot the "not yet" option.

[DANNYROTH]

Not yet, but I and some of my co-workers have gone home to lunch in the cages and brought back the bikes "the long way".

I have suggested planning days that will include expanded lunch hour(s) to take a mid-day ride. It has been proven that it is very theraputic to "get some fresh air" or "blow out the cobwebs". Living and working immediately in the vicinity of some fine, farm-to-market country riding has its advantages!

[Yokee]

You forgot the "not yet" option.
+1:trust:

[kurt]

Nope. Call me dedicated or something. When I don't work, it means someone else doesn't get to go home.

[blackhawk]

The danger about calling in sick and riding is, what happens if you were to crash or get t-boned by a cager. I know I would have a hard time explaining how I became so injured on a day I was home sick in bed.

My only hope would be to say the reason I called in was because I crashed, and hope that they dont do any research on the accident.

But I can not answer this question. :wary: There are people watching!!

[The Big Spank Daddy]

The job I have now, my boss would understand, so I just have to ask for the day off to ride. But at previous jobs.................no way would they understand so I had to "fake" an illness to have off.

[DANNYROTH]

I'm the HR guy, so, I get held to a higher standard than the rest of the team. :angel:

There are days, though, I wish I could just forget about loyalty and committment to job/coworkers and take off. :pirate:

[scratch]

No. But I have taken a vacation day on short notice a few times.

One of the nicest such rides I ever had was on a mild, sunny September day back when I still had my Duc 750. Packed some snacks, left @ 7:30 in the morning and didn't get back until 6:30 that evening. Hardly ever stopped except to re-fuel. Got all the way to Enchanted Rock out in the Hill Country before turning around to head back. It was one of the most enjoyable solo day rides I ever did - until I phoned my sister upon returning and was told about the events that had occurred that morning.

It was Sept. 11, 2001.

[TheSinistral]

Not yet. I have called in sick and gone fishing before. But I didn't have the bike then.

[The Big Spank Daddy]

"...I wish I could just forget about loyalty and committment to job/coworkers..."

I think they call that amnesia. You're sick, take a day off:sun:

[99VFR]

Didn't call in but had to explain why it took 2 hrs to get a burger and fries and what I was doing in Montgomery on FM 149. I said research ... with all the people that ride out there on weekends I just wanted to make sure it was safe. Thats my story and I'm sticking to it.

[garydogwood]

at my company we have "timebank" we get so many days a year for timeoff of all sorts (vacation, sickness, funeral, etc...) so not need to call in sick - just take a timebank day. besides if i called in sick they would not believe me anyway - they would know i was out riding (unless the weather really sucked).
gw

[macktruckturner]

well we know I get no such beast as a "sick day" - luckily my section sergeant rides, my section leader rides, the deputy S3 rides, the S3 plans officer rides, and my platoon sergeant rides too! If it's a nice day out - they all do everything they can to make sure we're cut loose by lunch so we can ride :)

[BigRoach]

YES!!

Many times, I will be on my way to work, bike warm, full gas tank, the sun coming up on a beatiful morning sets the sky on fire, music on the earbuds, very chilly, but I am warm inside my gear, and unlike everyone else in their cages, I am wide awake. And when I approach my building, I keep going... and keep going, until I'm in a different state.
...What should I tell my boss?...

[DaveC]

I'm the HR guy, so, I get held to a higher standard than the rest of the team. :angel:

There are days, though, I wish I could just forget about loyalty and committment to job/coworkers and take off. :pirate:

I am in the "new" corporate world, there is no loyalty, committtment from or for either party. I don't call in sick I call in from a distant location that precludes me showing up. Hard to repair stuff from Roswell!:rofl: Just don't call it sick, call it personnel business and "it ain't nun of yer biddness what I'm doin'!"

[Tourmeister]

:tab It is not a question of personal loyalty to me. It is a question of honoring a contract that was entered into voluntarily. It is an issue of personal integrity. Even if the people I work for are total dweebs, as long as I work for them, I play straight. If I can no longer tolerate them, I move on.

:tab Having been responsible for people working under me, I can tell you that if you worked for me and pulled a call in sick when you weren't and I found out, you would get one warning. After that you'd be fired. I hire people so I can rely on them to do a job for which they get paid. If someone approaches me and says they need a day off, I am quite happy to accomodate them if possible, even if it is very inconvenient for me. I am a big believer in treating those that work under me fairly and recognizing that stuff happens in their lives that is beyond their control. If they take advantage of me, I will remember it. Come time to thin the work force, guess who is on the bottom of the list...

:tab Like Kurt said, if one of us is gone, it means that someone else has to cover for us. None of us likes being taken for granted by the others. Maybe it is different since I don't work for some faceless corporation :shrug:

[mjacks]

I am the boss so I guess I don't have anyone to call. I suppose I could just take off and go ride but that wouldn't exactly be leading by example. Having said that, I really ought to make it a point to take a vacation since I haven't done that in over 6 years. :suicide:

[Tourmeister]

I really ought to make it a point to take a vacation since I haven't done that in over 6 years.

:tab Hehe, being self employed is not the dream life so many people think it is ;-) I was in that same situation not long ago. Finally, I had to take some time off or I would have just burned out. You can only do the 80-90 hours a week so long before it literally starts to kill you. I did not even have my weekends free during most of that time, regardless of whether or not I was on call. Things have slowed down since then and I don't make the same money, but that is quite fine with me.

[Big Bandit]

Before I had kids I would take 1-2 "mental health days" a year. Unfortunately I did not ride then. Or I rode a 74 Bonny that I was afraid to ride very far alone, because it was not very reliable. Now I have three kids and use up all my sick days staying home to take care of sick kids. It has gotten a little better the last two years, they are getting older and don't get sick quite so often.

Rod