On one of our first father-son outings, my then-tiny little boy said, “Daddy, am I having a good time?”

He was dead serious. He really didn’t know. I assured him that he was having the time of his life, experiencing joy and thrills that some people never had in a full life time. He bought it!

So my question to you, after what some adults would call a rough few months, is this: Are you having fun yet?

Is life as a civil servant, a steady rewarding job with the opportunity to help others, what you had hoped and expected? If you could, would you do it again or would you choose another, less stressful career, like a coal miner or bull fighter?

Having covered feds for a long, long time I like to think that when you are in pain I feel it, too. But sometimes it is difficult. Like most American workers I didn’t get furloughed last year, as you did. Nor this year, as you were.

I wasn’t required to stay home without pay — over Christmas, no less — for 35 days. Nor was I forced to work without pay because a bunch of politicians, many of whom are millionaires, couldn’t do their jobs even though they got paid all the same.

Like a lot of Americans, I am catching up on some bills, but not because I didn’t get paid.

Over the Christmas holiday I took time off while you couldn’t, even if furloughed. And even if you could have taken a vacation you probably couldn’t have afforded to do anything.

Also I didn’t have to hit friends or family up for a loan or apply for a $100 charitable grant as many did, or seek a special $400 loan from charity. Nor did I have to visit a diaper bank for the children of feds, or get in a free food line outside my office.

I missed all that, so I really don’t know what your state of mind is. But allow me to withdraw the question because I suspect I just might know the answer!

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Amelia Brust

If all the cars, planes, trains or buses are booked one way to get from Spain to Portugal is to ride the  720-meter LÍMITEZERO zip line over the River Guadiana. It also crosses a time zone so that when riders land they have gained one hour back.

Source: LÍMITEZERO

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