A Pleasant Surprise

I have discovered one common element between the defense industry and EA: a week off around Christmas. I was almost certain that in leaving the defense industry I would be giving up this extended holiday time. My reasoning was that we government contractors got this time off because the government did, as they do many other holidays, Mondays, and Fridays.

So, it was a pleasant surprise to find that EA takes this time as well. It seems this is just part of a general culture where expectations of time off mirror expectations of "time on" when the crunch of a deadline hits - especially in the sports game world where there can be no schedule slips, but only feature cuts. Games with less features sell less, so it is incumbent upon a game manufacturer to do its utmost to get everything done on time.

Of course, as a contractor, I get the time but I don't get paid. Conversely, I would be paid for overtime were it required. Never fear, there is some justice in the world.

At any rate, I'm catching up on lots of interesting chores this holiday. Perhaps I'll squeeze in a non-fatal kayak adventure...