> Taking many half days of personal leave just isn't workable either.

Why it isn't? A genuine question, I presume this is more typical US culture or dare I say workaholism and various self-pressures to maintain some public office image?

I recently took quite a few half days off to manage workers doing bigger reconstruction in our apartment. Sometimes full day. Then smashed a week of vacation in Sardinia in between. Everybody understood whats happening, nobody cared since many went through similar exercise before.

Your time is your time, if you actually let it happen. Or you can spend your life living with servile attitude, nobody will thank you though.