A furlough is a cross between a vacation and getting fired. College employees have the day off, but they are not getting paid. A few college employees are adhering to the letter of their unpaid furloughs, but most have trouble drawing the line between life and work. In these lousy economic times, a handful of colleges have already instituted furloughs and more are considering them. For furloughed employees, a smaller paycheck is the primary concern. But there's also the question of how to spend all that supposedly "free" time. The author talks about furloughs and how some employees take furloughs more seriously than others. The hope is that the furloughs are temporary and that next year everything will return to normal. Some worry, though, that furloughs will continue if the economy doesn't turn around. They also worry that state legislators may decide that they can get the same amount of work for less money.