[pct-l] What do you guys do for money?

[Devon Taig]

Some employers are no more married to the idea of having their employees
work 9-5, 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year than most of us hikers are.
 I'm a computer programmer with a pretty traditional employer that gives two
weeks vacation in years 0-5, 3 weeks at 5-10, and 4 weeks for years 10-15.
 But when I suggested that I would give back 15% of my salary in exchange
for six weeks off every summer, they agreed *and* agreed to make the
relationship permanent.  I keep my health insurance and its actually a good
deal for the company too because I miss only about 12% of the work year but
am giving back 15%.  So I hike 2 weeks every July, 2 weeks in August, and
2 weeks in September.  That gets me about 600 miles for the summer alone and
a huge dose of sanity.

Point being that if you make it to the companies advantage to give you time
off, it might just work out. My employer believes - rightly - that this
unique arrangement will more than likely lead to loyalty on my part and cost
savings on their part.

River