Start of the holidays

My workplace is shutting down between Christmas and New Year's, so all the staff have to take some of their annual leave days during this period. It isn't much of an imposition though, as most staff would probably want to take leave during that period anyhow. I've also taken a few extra days off before Christmas, so today was my last day of work until the 4th of January.
During the break I want to read through a couple of the planetary science textbooks I got from Amazon.com. I'll also have another go at using the Meade CCD camera I bought last year. I've written a first draft of an application for a student fellowship position at the Australian Astronomical Observatory - the competition for these positions is fierce (usually 30+ entries for the 2-3 available slots), so I'm not likely to get one. I'll revise the cover letter and CV during the holidays and send the 'final' version to the lecturer at JCU for some feedback before I send it off to the AAO in late January. It does no harm to apply, and some of the documentation can probably be recycled if I apply to the JCU doctorate program in a couple of years time. If I did get accepted I'd have to arrange to take the 10-12 weeks off work in June-August. Fortunately I have 8 weeks of long-service leave and 8 weeks of annual leave accumulated so this should be possible (although the boss might not like the idea).
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