Whoops, clarification.
the 8 days are the 8 standard (Memorial day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc.), and then I get 16 "flex days" on top of that.
Not perfect, but not as bad as it sounds.
After 9/11, Bush made two statements:
1. "Terrorists hate America because America is a land of freedom and opportunity."
2. "We intend to attack the root causes of terrorism."
Sounds like everything is going according to plan.