ハンツビルの植物園のサイトに掲載されているクリスマスの電飾。筆者が同園を訪れたときは、ボランティアが春咲きの球根を植えていた (
As the year winds down, there are fewer people at work. Our projects run on annual cycles and teams wrap up their work in December. Most of my colleagues take a vacation for the one week between Christmas and New Year's Day, but some take two, three, or even four weeks off. It's a time for people to relax.
|
主張先のアラバマ州ハンツビルで、空き時間を利用して航空宇宙博物館を見学。厳冬のニューヨーク州オールバニーとは違って気候が温暖なので、街を散策するにも気持ちがいい
|
Some of my labmates have been at the company for over 30 years and have earned six weeks of vacation time per year. Add several official holidays to that, and a senior researcher may have seven weeks or more of vacation time. I have just finished my second year, so I only have 2 1/2 weeks, plus official holidays. But I still have two weeks of vacation remaining.
My boss' boss once told a group of my colleagues that in the decades he's worked for the company, he has never given up any vacation time. He uses every single vacation day to which he's entitled. He sounded proud of his ability to manage his time. In an ideal world, we'd all like to copy him and balance work, family and hobbies, but sometimes you just can't. A couple of weeks ago, my project leader half-jokingly said he hoped we'd be able to take Christmas break this year. We are busier now in December than we have been all year. This is because we are getting ready to commercialize a product that has been developed over several years.
I spent the past week, including Saturday and Sunday, working at a vendor site in Huntsville, Alabama. We had to work long hours. Sometimes we'd even have to return to work after dinner. However, we were by no means the only ones working so hard. Parts were sent from Alabama to be used on our manufacturing line in Indiana. Dozens of people at the factory in Indiana kept operations running for 24 hours a day over the weekend. One of the managers even drove the parts from Alabama to Indiana in person so we wouldn't risk delays or damage caused by shipping.
In spite of the tight schedule, I enjoyed my trip. It was the first time I had visited Alabama, and we did some sightseeing in our spare time. We visited a botanical garden and an aerospace museum on a couple of sunny days and enjoyed the pleasure of walking outside without a winter coat while it snowed back in Albany.
I like traveling on business. I like eating on corporate expense and we went to a different restaurant almost every day. I was surprised that the Japanese food was good in Huntsville (there is a Toyota plant in the area and a lot of Japanese live nearby). I was also surprised to see several German restaurants. I believe this is because the city supported a large community of German-American scientists at its military research facility after World War II.
I also enjoy watching cable TV on business trips. I don't even own a TV, so the only time I watch TV is when I'm away from home. I suppose I could try watching CNN or an educational channel, but I usually stick to watching fluff. I saw "Sex and the City" for the first time - five years late - in a hotel room.
One of the best parts of business travel is that I don't have to attend meetings or participate in teleconferences. I wasn't obligated to reply to e-mails and I could get away with wearing T-shirts and jeans or jogging suits to work. There is something satisfying about doing hands-on work, especially since I usually work at my desk.
Before taking this business trip, I hadn't made any vacation plans. There was the chance that we'd be asked to work through the holidays. But thanks to the hard work of countless team members, this trip was a success. It looks like we'll be able to take our eagerly anticipated vacations after all.
Shukan ST: Jan. 7, 2005
(C) All rights reserved
- On the road
- 旅に出て
- winds down
- 終わりに近づく
- run on annual cycles
- 年次サイクルで回る
- wrap up
- 終える
- colleagues
- 同僚
- labmates
- 研究仲間
- have earned 〜
- 〜をもらっている
- per year
- 年に
- official holidays
- 法定休日
- senior
- 古参の
- remaining
- 残っている
- in the decades
- 数十年間に
- 〜 to which he's entitled
- 権利が与えられている〜
- manage
- 管理する
- ideal
- 理想の
- half-jokingly
- 半ば冗談に
- break
- 休暇
- commercialize 〜
- 〜を商品化する
- including 〜
- 〜を含めて
- vendor site
- 販売所
- Huntsville
- アラバマ州北部の都市
- by no means 〜
- 決して〜ではない
- manufacturing line
- 製造ライン
- Dozens of 〜
- 何十人もの〜
- kept operations running
- 操業を続けた
- in person
- 直接
- risk 〜
- 〜の危険を負う
- delays
- 遅配
- shipping
- 発送
- sightseeing
- 観光
- spare time
- 空き時間
- botanical garden
- 植物園
- aerospace museum
- 航空宇宙博物館
- on business
- 仕事で
- on corporate expense
- 経費で
- plant
- 工場
- military research facility
- 軍事研究施設
- suppose 〜
- 〜だとは思う
- CNN
- ニュースチャンネル
- educational channel
- 教養チャンネル
- stick to 〜
- 〜にこだわる
- fluff
- くだらないもの
- Sex and the City
- 米TVドラマ
- participate in 〜
- 〜に参加する
- teleconferences
- 電話会議
- wasn't obligated to 〜
- 〜する必要がなかった
- reply to 〜
- 〜に返信する
- get away with 〜
- 〜で済む
- jogging suits
- ジョギングウエア
- satisfying
- やりがいがある
- hands-on
- 実地の
- chance
- 可能性
- thanks to 〜
- 〜のおかげで
- countless
- 数え切れない
- eagerly anticipated
- 待望の
|