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Workin' On The Night Shift

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,839
15
So Cal
So I recently came back to work at Kaiser Permanente about 6 momths ago. Thankgs have been good but I was hired on in a part time capacity. They have been cool and been letting me work full time hours, though.

So here we are today and I have been asking my boss to convert me to a regular full time employee so that I earn benefits at a full time rate. Well today the offer came: Full time on the NIGHT SHIFT.

The shift is a bit weird too... 3 12 hour days and one 8 hour Saturday every other Saturday. It will be better money for less work, but more technical work (which I like). And of course 3 - 4 days off in a row is really tempting.

Do any of you all work night shift? What did you think? How long did it take before you cracked up? Any advice you can give is mucho appreciated.
 

CRoss

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2006
1,329
0
The Ranch
I have been working a night shift(2am-10am) since early December. So far it is not bad. When I get off work I can do the things I normally would ride or ski. The one thing that sucks is when friends want to do stuff it is usually when I should be getting to bed. Luckily I am only doing this until early April. There is no way I could do it year round. Winter is always a slow time for me as far as doing stuff. Plus if my job was not fun as hell I would never be able to do it.
 

Zark

Hey little girl, do you want some candy?
Oct 18, 2001
6,254
7
Reno 911
I couldn't do it...
Anything that screws with my circadian rythm isn't worth it.
But I like sleep ;)
 

JohnE

filthy rascist
May 13, 2005
13,430
1,949
Front Range, dude...
I do, 2 12s (More like 15s), 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on 3 off, or something like that. Works out to every other weekend off. Not bad...but not great. No midgets.
 

manimal

Ociffer Tackleberry
Feb 27, 2002
7,212
17
Blindly running into cactus
i've got a pretty plush schedule of 4 on 3 off, and i'm off every sunday regardless of shift. i rotate shifts every 4 weeks which keeps things interesting. when i was on patrol i worked 4 on 4 off, probably the best schedule i can imagine..i couldn't handle ever going back to a 9-5/mon-friday job and only having 2 days off per week.

the night shift isn't that bad as long as you have a dark room to sleep in during the day. go for it :thumb:
 

greenchris

Turbo Monkey
Jun 24, 2005
1,381
0
DA BEARS.
my SO did it forba few years 3 12 hour shifts per week and didn't mindit too much. Similar to others responses but it does alter your relationship. I'd always have to be quiet during the day when she slept.
 

stinkyboy

Plastic Santa
Jan 6, 2005
15,187
1
¡Phoenix!
Many years ago the company I was with bought their first Mac and wanted to keep it productive as possible, so I volunteered to work at night.

The only good thing was that my relationship with my first wife improved as we rarely saw each other except for weekends which was our only time for sex.

When I went back to days about a year later, we got divorced...

I'm just saying.
 

Broken_Spoke

Mr. Big Hot Pastrami
Feb 26, 2003
2,410
0
Bozeman, MT
I have been working night shift for almost 15 months now. I work 4 10 hour shifts so I get 3 day weekends. I don't mind working at night because for the most part I am not around too terribly many people and i also enjoy the people I work with for the most part. If you are going onto a night shift you must understand that there are going to be some days where you absolutely will not be able to sleep (bring on the freaking coffee). Also on my weekends I switch my sleep schedule by taking a 2-3 hour nap the very second I get home from my last shift of my week.
 

Serial Midget

Al Bundy
Jun 25, 2002
13,053
1,896
Fort of Rio Grande
I say no. Your sleep will be disrupted, your social life will cease to exist and who the hell surfs the monkey at those hours? You'll begin to put on weight and develop sleep apnea. Total quality of life killer. Keep your day job. :)
 

swerve76

Monkey
Aug 30, 2003
292
0
nevada
I've been working nights for 7 years. A dark room is definitely a good thing. Your social life tends to disappear. Same thing with relationships unless they are with another night shifter. But you get to ride all you want at night.
 

Quo Fan

don't make me kick your ass
I worked 7 months on graveyard shift in the service. Midnight to 7am. Best 7 months of my life. Slept all day, when my friends were getting off work, I was getting up. When they went to bed, I went to work.

Working that shift, it felt like every weekend was a 3 day weekend.
 

scrublover

Turbo Monkey
Sep 1, 2004
2,885
6,191
been doing the 3 x 12 hour thing for about 8 years now. i don't miss the 4 hours a week. still "full time" in terms of bennies and whatnot. the time off is far more valuable to me than the pay from the extra 4 hours a week.

day sleeping: it's tough the first few months for some people. get yourself into a regular habit of when/how you sleep during the day, and it'll make it easier. days off, i "reset" my clock around the spousal unit schedule so that i sleep normally those days.

first night back after days off: either sleep in late, or get up early and nap later. you can fit a powerful lot of riding in with a schedule like this. mucho solo ride time, with plenty of weekdays off, if you're into that.

first day off: i get home and only sleep until about 1 or so, rather than 3 or 4. then get up and that afternoon is shopping/laundry/errand day, so the rest of the days off are free to play. plus then i'm a bit short of sleep that day, and go to bed in the evening with the wifey and get up with her the next morning, which lets me reset my internal clock

coffee and melatonin are your friends.

sweetest schedule: 3 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 3 on, 8 off. repeat. had that for five years. it rocked. walked away from that place cashing in a lot of vacation time that had gone unused. :)
 

laura

DH_Laura
Jul 16, 2002
6,259
15
Glitter Gulch
Anything that screws with my circadian rythm isn't worth it.
TN had major issues with this. He worked a 3.30 to 11 a.m. shift for a couple of years. At one point he was working another weird over night shift that I think was 2 a.m.-10a.m. it was nice having him at home all the time just about, but if you enjoy evening activities, those suffer. He also had issues with having to be up so early. Seems that no matter what time you go to bed, you never feel really rested at 3 a.m.

BTW, I have been singing Night Moves every time I see this thread and I am ready for it to die.
 

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,147
796
Lima, Peru, Peru
i do work 2 nights a week... 10pm to 10am.. its not bad at all
i do get monday thru wednesdays off.. and am off on friday after lunch....
not a bad deal....
 

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,839
15
So Cal
After thinking about it over the weekend and discussing with my wife we have decided to go for the night shift job. Thanks for all the advice, it was very helpful.

Wish me luck, and I will post about it when I crack up!

BTW, I have been singing Night Moves every time I see this thread and I am ready for it to die.
:rofl:
 

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,839
15
So Cal
UPDATE!!!

It is 5:47 am and I am about to complete my first night shift. After working here for the last 13 hours I can honestly say that so far...


THIS SUCKS!!!


I'm going to bed....