>Hey, look at my surname - so did mine

So true.

>I get 5 weeks vacation ( + an extra week for taking less of a pay-rise) (this irks Terry Thurber :-). I don't know how US employees can stand only the 2 weeks a year.

You can count me in on Terry Thurber list as well. Here, and I'm not sure if this is provinal or federal. But after several years of service it goes up.