You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you:

Vote on this poll

Use the time to catch up on work	66/13%
Use the time to bone up on Perl	70/14%
Use the time to goof off on PerlMonks	34/7%
Eat a lot of pastries	9/2%
Time? What time? I have work to do!	59/12%
Invent some work to justify yourself (consultant)	30/6%
Clean everything in sight	7/1%
Play nerf football with the network guys in the hall	28/6%
Craft cunning booby-traps for your missing coworkers	39/8%
Finally get around to writing that killer module you've always wanted to	66/13%
Zzzzzzzz....	59/12%
Do something else	32/6%
	499 total votes

Comment on You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you:

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Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by McDarren (Abbot) on Dec 26, 2008 at 15:25 UTC
Definitely the first one. I always struggle to get any useful work done during the day because of constant interruptions. And so most of my work usually gets done between 6pm and midnight, after everyone else has gone home. A full week in the office with nobody else around would almost be "working heaven" (if such a thing exists) :)	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by swampyankee (Parson) on Dec 26, 2008 at 14:42 UTC
Hey, if I'm in the office I am working. It's just that my definition of "catching up on work" includes everything except sleeping and setting booby traps (the sysadmins install the trojan horses). Information about American English usage here and here. Floating point issues? Please read this before posting. — emc	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by Anonymous Monk on Dec 26, 2008 at 14:29 UTC
Where's the "What work? What department?" option? :)	[reply]
Re^2: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by smiffy (Pilgrim) on Dec 31, 2008 at 05:14 UTC
I was wondering something like that - how many other Monks are, like me, self-employed. If we need departments, we have to go to a department store. Chortle, guffaw! Sorry.	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by jdporter (Paladin) on Dec 26, 2008 at 14:44 UTC
I voted for the first option. I spend my normal working hours doing all of the other things on the list.	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by webfiend (Vicar) on Dec 26, 2008 at 19:50 UTC
Here is yet another poll that I wish was multiple choice.	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by hexcoder (Curate) on Dec 28, 2008 at 13:54 UTC
Finally ... all the company's net bandwidth at my fingertips.	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by redsai (Initiate) on Dec 29, 2008 at 16:46 UTC
I wish I could have picked #1 and #2. This past month I never had the time to stand up a useful tool that would save me tons of time. With these four days (two before Christmas, and two before NYE) in a quiet office, I've been able to tackle it in force. Though my progress isn't as fast as I was hoping :-/	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by kennethk (Abbot) on Dec 26, 2008 at 17:27 UTC
What does it say that I am surrounded by nieces and nephews and still getting more work done than a normal work day?	[reply]
Re^2: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by papidave (Pilgrim) on Dec 29, 2008 at 21:30 UTC
It says that your nieces and nephews are more respectful of your time than your customers... which isn't really that surprising in my world.	[reply]
Re^2: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by MidLifeXis (Monsignor) on Dec 26, 2008 at 21:47 UTC
Well, I could make a comment about engineers vs kids, but... --MidLifeXis	[reply]
Re^3: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by Illuminatus (Curate) on Jan 07, 2009 at 14:35 UTC
...you just did...	[reply]
Re^2: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by shmem (Chancellor) on Dec 27, 2008 at 03:39 UTC
several things would fit... your nieces and nephews do the work your nieces and nephews are a source of inspiration most of your work is done by you while not doing the work you're a procrastinator: you spend the time with your nieces and nephews to gather strength to do the work in the last minute before the deadline something else ;-)	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by gube (Parson) on Dec 26, 2008 at 20:57 UTC
Exactly, i am really only one left in my department today for development support. Since i have no work pressure i "Use the time to goof off on PerlMonks" after long time :-) and "Use the time to bone up on Perl" Obviously, when i use perlmonks.	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by Moriarty (Abbot) on Dec 27, 2008 at 10:22 UTC
I have never found myself in the office alone during the Christmas season as the boss always makes sure there are at least two of us on duty, however, there have been many interesting challenges going on at this time of year. A few years back it was Tux Racer. We picked one particular course ("Who said penguins can't fly") and tried to get Tux to the finish in the quickest time. I think I managed about 56 secs and the record was about 44 secs.	[reply]
Re^2: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by swampyankee (Parson) on Jan 04, 2009 at 03:31 UTC
On a previous job, company policy was similar. The reason was that one of the guards found an engineer dead at his desk. Information about American English usage here and here. Floating point issues? Please read this before posting. — emc	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by talexb (Chancellor) on Dec 28, 2008 at 05:01 UTC
Definitely, Use the time to catch up on work. I already know one problem I have to tackle when I get back, and have plans for another one that I want to work on when I get in on Monday. If I'm in the middle of something when the day ends, I leave myself a couple of ToDo items in my log book to jog my memory for the next day. I already visit Perlmonks irregularly as it is -- I don't need to assign any more time to visit the site unless I'm actually researching something (which does happen). Alex / talexb / Toronto "Groklaw is the open-source mentality applied to legal research" ~ Linus Torvalds	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by Bloodnok (Vicar) on Dec 27, 2008 at 12:42 UTC
I surely can't be the only one that combines all of Finally get around to writing that killer module you've always, Use the time to bone up on Perl & Use the time to goof off on PerlMonks, can I ?? Or, put another way, I don't see them as mutually exclusive activities. That seems to describe my modus operandii thus far ... :D A user level that continues to overstate my experience :-))	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by andye (Curate) on Jan 05, 2009 at 11:55 UTC
catch flu. :(	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by shmem (Chancellor) on Dec 27, 2008 at 03:24 UTC
procrastinate anything urgent to do the important - as always...	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by GrandFather (Saint) on Jan 04, 2009 at 06:47 UTC
"Use the time to goof off on PerlMonks" is of course a super set of "Use the time to bone up on Perl" and may also encompass "Use the time to catch up on work " as well as contributing to "Finally get around to writing that killer module you've always wanted to". Perl's payment curve coincides with its learning curve.	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by Illuminatus (Curate) on Jan 06, 2009 at 20:26 UTC
re-configure the firewalls and all the systems to act as servers for SETI_at_home. I know they're out there... fnord	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by Bass-Fighter (Beadle) on Dec 30, 2008 at 14:45 UTC
well, I have chosen Zzzzzzzzzz... the funniest thing is that I really almost fell asleep this morning... I was happy that someone called me at that moment:-P	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by atcroft (Abbot) on Dec 31, 2008 at 01:42 UTC
[ X ] Two or more of the above. Most definitely..... (When most everyone is away is the best time to do the bits of maintenance that have to be put off to keep from interfering with anyone else, among other things....)	[reply]
Re: You find that you are the only one left in your department on the week between the Holidays. Do you: by smanicka (Scribe) on Dec 31, 2008 at 18:28 UTC
Maybe a check box would be more appropriate :D	[reply]
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