This reminds me of a guy I knew in college who did something very clever. He was one of several people in his dorm who worked the front desk. Probably 99% of students go home over the holidays, but the dorms stay open, and that means the desk has to be manned for security reasons. He had to stick around anyway to work on his senior thesis. So, he offered to work desk for the weeks of Christmas and New Year's.
Usually, the deskworker is pretty busy buzzing people in, lending room keys to people who've locked themselves out, lending out keys to various facilities (study rooms, weight room), etc., but with almost everyone gone, all he really had to do was sort the mail. So every morning he brought his laptop down, and all day he sat at the front desk writing his thesis... and got paid time and a half for it.
