What will you do on your four-day weekend? Published Oct. 3, 2007 By Mr. Gary Johnson 319th Air Refueling Wing Safety Office GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- This weekend will be a four-day weekend for most Warriors of the North. What will you do on this short vacation? Perhaps you might drive home for the weekend. It's only 1,200 miles away? Let's see, if I left right after work Thursday and drove until I get tired, took a power nap, then hit the road again, I'd be home in time to party on Friday night with my friends. What's your opinion; good idea or bad? To anyone who takes the time to think about it, it's about as bad as an idea can get. Let's see, take off after work? How many hours is my shift; 12 maybe? Drive until I'm tired? I wonder if that's until I start to feel fatigue or waiting until I'm nodding off? Power naps? Yes, they do work in certain circumstances but not when you have built up a sleep deficit as this individual is about to do. This entire fantasy is fraught with danger and not just to the driver, but everyone else that he or she encounters. Come on folks, keeping safe isn't rocket science, just a few thoughts about "what if" and a little Operational Risk Management. But hey, even if you're really pressed and don't have time for the all six steps of ORM there's a real simple self examination that works just as well. Just take the time to ask yourself, "are the risks that I am about to take worth the perceived rewards that I may get if everything happens just the way I expect it too?" Kind of like "think you've had a few too many, do you call AADD or a friend, or just get behind the wheel and go for it?" If it was just your career or the money it wouldn't be as big of a deal, but it's your life and the lives of others. Have as much fun as you can this weekend but please, think before jumping into anything!