In what I am hoping is NOT becoming a third-week-of-January-or-so tradition, I find myself back at home with my daughter, and not out in the workplace making pretty (or not so pretty, like this joke) pictures for corporate America. Here's a personal lesson learned: when you have nothing to do at work, not a project, revision, etc., despite outright begging for additional work to the point your co-worker voices his annoyance at being asked if he "needs anything" once a day, do NOT take the time to, say, work on personal stuff. DO call in "sick" for three days in a row because your dog sprained his neck, spend hours sending personal forwards you find hilarious or simply stare listlessly at your screen for hours on end, every so slightly bumping the  mouse every few moments to make sure the screen saver doesn't pop on. Employees like that are "keepers".

So yeah, I'm a little bitter.