Thanks!

I think I must've been unclear--I am NOT planning to try to fill up, either in the Reserve sense nor in the way I mis-used the term earlier to refer to trying to do all flying early in the month. Let me put it another way: am I more likely to get a weekend off (assuming I can get even one) early in the month, or later (i.e., closer to the Holiday)? Are you saying coverage renders it moot, and that I'm just as likely to get T-G weekend as I am the earlier one?

I freely admit to not fully understanding either "Coverage" nor "Denial Mode"--I'm spending more time (and less fruitfully) trying to figure out PBS than I did learning to fly the damn airplane....

And: yes, holding on to APD as my "last chance" option. Of course, I may have other time I need it for, so what to do, what to do....