Do you own your own home? If so... "The plumber/cable guy/dishwasher repair man was supposed to be here to fix my pipes/cable/dishwasher at 9 am, but he hasn't shown up yet. He said he'll be here around noon and that it will take a couple of hours. Might as well call it a day."
I like the absent hotline.. you can call and just say you don't feel like going and you don't feel bad the rest of the day for not calling in.
Yeah the only thing is I really like my team so I do feel bad, but its something that i definitely have to take time off for well I hope there is a rockets game on that day, might as well watch it at home
I can't think of a good excuse, but as a former manager, I can tell you that someone who came in and worked a half-day got a lot more cred than someone who called in "sick". So if you have an interview in the morning, go to work after it's over, or if it's in the afternoon, work the morning and then leave at lunchtime. You're manager will probably let that slide.
I've always used car trouble, especially when I used to have a really crappy car. Depending on where your work is tell them, you're really far because you had to go somewhere and you're having major car issues and you're trying to find a ride to work but it isn't working. It helps if you go outside where there are a lot of cars because it makes it sound authentic
Tell your boss that you are too wrapped up in your latest Dungeons and Dragons game. He'll understand.
Say.... "I have waited 6 years for Unreal Tournament 3 " and the public beta demo just came out today : http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=1456288 http://www.gamingnewslink.com/ 2 more hour for torrent to be done, woot!
why do you have to give an excuse then? Just tell them straight up "i'm not coming in to work today". don't make up **** like your dog died or something.
