One of these days, I'll remember to do the Picture of the Week before the new theme comes out on Friday.

This week's (or rather, last week's) theme was Relaxation.

What's more relaxing than a shady tree on a sunny spring day? Not very much, from my perspective. It's not a perfect picture, composition-wise, but it's not often that I don't feel compelled to mess with the brightness or saturation of a picture -- the colors were captured just perfectly.

So, a complaint. Becky and I were talking yesterday, and she reminded me that my company's maternity leave policy had changed since I had Penny. (Becky had her baby last summer.)

When I had Penny, a pregnant woman could take off from work up to 2 weeks before the due date. The first week had to come out of vacation time (no matter when she actually stopped working) but then after that, the short-term disability kicked in and lasted until 6 weeks after the birth.

That's all for a normal, uncomplicated birth. There were additional caveats attached based on complications, but that was the basic, minimum leave policy.

Now, the short-term disability count doesn't start until you actually check into the hospital. (Or, possibly, until your official due date. I'm not sure whether it's the due-date, or the actual date you check into the hospital, because Becky delivered early, so for her it was the delivery date.)

And you still have to spend a week of your own vacation time before the disability pay kicks in.

That's not to say you can't take time off before the birth, but if you do, it's on your own nickel -- it doesn't count toward the week before disability unless your doctor will fill out a form stating that it's medically necessary for you to stay home. And given that I have a desk job, that's not terribly likely.

So, in effect, Northrop Grumman has saved itself 2 weeks' worth of disability pay for each pregnant woman by forcing us to work right up until the contractions start. (Becky, actually, went into labor in the office and then drove herself to the hospital because she wasn't sure it was the real thing.)

I am quietly furious about this. I want to know what kind of misogynist pushed this "enhancement" through policy.

So not only do I need to reserve a week of my vacation for the first week of maternity leave (which was a given), but I'm also going to have to reserve another few days if I want to take any time off at Christmas. I confess, I'd been looking forward to the maternity leave handling that for me.

What it boils down to is that I'm going to have to be extremely stingy with my vacation time for the rest of this year if I want to have any available for emergencies or for next year.

GRR.