Editor’s Note: While most of us are thinking about this week’s three day weekend, Mike has already been thinking about one even better. Today’s column first appeared April 14th. sk

Could you use a 4-day weekend in mid-January? If so, read on.

If you work in the metro Washington area be prepared to grin for joy. If you work Boston, L.A, Covington, Phoenix, New York, Seattle or most other places, now is the time to gnash your teeth over the unfairness of life.

Whether you will cheer, or be saddened by, the departure of the Bush administration is your call. But the fact is that January 20, 2009 (a Tuesday) is Inauguration Day. The day before Inauguration Day (Monday the 19th) is the national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

What that means is that for most Washington-area feds, it will provide a 4-day weekend. Four days off, Saturday through Tuesday, with pay. A nice mid-winter break for about 13 percent of the total federal population.

Feds in other cities will have Monday January 19th off as a holiday, but outside the Metro D.C. area Tuesday will not be good news day. Unless you take annual leave or, uh, get sick.

Here’s the official explanation from OPM:

Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009, falls on a Tuesday. An employee who works in the District of Columbia, Montgomery or Prince George’s Counties in Maryland, Arlington or Fairfax Counties in Virginia, or the cities of Alexandria or Fairfax in Virginia, and who is regularly scheduled to perform non-overtime work on Inauguration Day, is entitled to a holiday. There is no in-lieu-of-holiday for employees who are not regularly scheduled to work on Inauguration Day.

What happens if you work for a DC-based agency but you yourself are stationed outside the metro area? Excellent question.

Next!

Airport Security: The Naked Truth

Last week’s column about self-imposed reforms at the Transportation Security Administration prompted this been-there-done-that response:

I am a former TSA Dual-Function Screener and author. I agree with the fact that TSA supervisors, leads and managers can push you around, and they did. During a shift, screeners rotate every 30 minutes, giving screeners a chance to sit in 2 positions – the x-ray and exit. There is also the foyer if the airport has one, but that is usually reserved for screeners who are injured. There was a period of time where I wasn’t allowed to sit because my superiors kept sending me back to secondary screening all day. This is what happens when a superior doesn’t like you for whatever reason. They can and do certainly abuse their power.

I don’t agree with reducing competency and proficiency requirements and SOP testing. We need to hold the screeners accountable and to make sure they are at the top of their game. Terrorists are sneaky; they will use anything they can if they think it will get them passed security. Natalia Ippolito

To checkout her how-to-survive-airport-security book, click here.

Nearly Useless Factoid

As bad as figuring out our taxes are, it could be worse. According to the National Association of Margarine Manufacturers, when a court voided a ban on margarine in New York, dairy militants turned their attention to Washington, resulting in the passage of the Margarine Act of 1886. The Act imposed a tax of two cents per pound on margarine. The Federal margarine tax system came to an end in 1951. Slick!

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

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