anyone work graveyard shift?
 

we have been abusing some new hires. they are plain worn out. contractor is starting a regular schedule of drilling and blasting, and needs non-rookies out there. i volunteered for a two week stint. i have no kids, so i was the natural choice. the rooks get trained day shift.

GRRRR! it is going to be hell. i start tomorrow night. i am tempted to just stay up all night now. anyone do this? my system is gonna be wrecked...long weekend coming up, 4-day, so i will fall back on days, and then....back on vampire shift.

getting too old for this. ;)

Vash - I did nights off and on over the years. Was easy in my younger days. In my '40's, very difficult. You can do 2 weeks w/o too much drama.

My advice would be: Keep your body on the same schedule, whether working or on days off. If you try to sleep nights on your days off, you will be tired all the time and your body will never adjust.

Be prepared to be tired all the time, when you get up, when you go to work, etc....You'll get off shift, be just dragging, go to bed and be wide awake in 3 or 4 hours.....G'luck.....

Never have, never will...


KT

Use aluminum foil on the insides of your windows. It will make your bedroom as dark as a cave.

I worked graves for years.

Bill

I worked graveyard for years... Hated it...

Foil on the windows. Disconnect the door bell. Disconnect the phone when you want to sleep (and obviously shut off the cell phone).

Put a sign on your door that says "IF YOU KNOCK, RING THE BELL OR MAKE NOISE I AM GOING TO SHOOT YOU, RAPE YOUR DEAD CARCASS, CUT OFF YOUR APPENDAGES AND DUMP YOUR FILTHY BODY IN A SEWER."

It's helpful to take the sign down when you are expecting company.

angela

I did 3rd shift for years......
Here's the trick.....
Make your bedroom as dark as possible, when you get home in the early am goto bed.....don't eat, don't check your email or turn on the tv....just goto bed.
If your home by 9am....get up at 5pm at the earliest.....turn off your phone ringer....and anything that may wake you.....
On you off days you can shift the hours of sleep a little but not much, goto bed at 6am and get up at 2 or 3pm......
I wouldn't do an all nighter for the first day.....if you have too take a few power naps through the day....

Also when sleeping during the day I would have the stereo on very low for some ambient noise, you'll be less likely to wake up if there's consistant noise there......the note on the door is a good idea, but if someone knocks you'll be less likely to be woken up if there's some ambient sound going on.....

Black out curtains. Earplugs. Dramamine.

You will sleep like a baby during the day and be ready to go at night.

The real trick is how to get off of that sort of schedule once you are used to it.

Not often. This coming Thursday and Friday night I'm going to be working from 6PM to 3 or 4 AM blowing up vans, wrecking Humvees and big massive machine gun fire fights for a new ABC show "Flash Forward". Which I think airs September 24th (shameless plug). PM me if you want a backstage pass here in El Aye.

What is the best way to attach said foil to the window?

My wife works 10p-8a shifts, we've been putting blankets up over the bedroom window to block light..works ok but can be a PITA.

This will also probably lead to your neighbors believing that you are a meth cook.

Yes, I have worked night shift, and in a tunnel no less.

That would be the Crystal Springs lake tap tunnel on the north side of Hwy 92 and the west side of Crystal Springs Reservoir. The tunnel included a 250-foot vertical shaft, 25' in diameter, and a 600 foot tunnel to the lake taps at the bottom of the lake. We tunneled in gravels and other sediments. To prevent cave-ins, and a total collapse when we had only 12 feet of groundcover between us and the lake bottom, we used chemical grouting to control groundwater. It was kinda eery at 3AM.

Stay up as late as you can tonight, and sleep in as late as possible. A quiet, dark room is essential. When I was on night shift, I would stay at my parent's house in the redwoods, where it was as silent as a coffin.

Also, there may be some downtime during tunneling. Sometimes I was able to get a nap when the tunnel face was inaccessible. There might be some mucking cycles when you can rest, but with 2 tunnel faces, they may keep you on your toes.

I'll be at the tunnel tomorrow morning. I guess I'll miss you. Keep an eye on the roof; some of those joints and partings in the shale are as smooth as glass, and just as planar.

What exactly is your job description on this job?

Im writing this as im working the midnight shift. i work it 2-3 days a week and other nights i work 3-11pm

Used to that in the hospital world. The shift starts at 5 pm and ends at 9 am. No pauses, no brakes. Ever. Generally 1-2 night shifts/ week. Sometimes 3. No worries until I was around 35 years old. Now at 43 it is really taking its toll. Unfortunately I have at least 10 years left with night shifts.

Did if for 33 years. Worked my last one Friday night. I'm 55 and I think I've aged 10 years in the last 5. If you don't want your bedroom to look like a total redneck get some good blinds and heavy curtains. Make sure you unhook any phone that might disturb you. The first couple aren't that bad. It's the ones past 3 or 4 in a row.

You're probaly going to feel like shi- till you've done it for awhile. Drink cofee or something with mucho caffiene at night.

I'm a night owl. I've never done the graveyard, but I've worked until 3am, and have had times when I was getting off at midnight and then staying up until 8am.

If you haven't started, start trolling PPOT with Livi until the wee hours to start changing your clock. I've done the stay up all night thing a couple of times in my life. It really sucks and at some point, your body says "it's nighty night time". I'd not want that to hit when I was in a tunnel with dynamite.

I vastly prefer night shift.

not me...not to sound like a sap, but crossing paths with my wife during the wee hours isnt cool.

i worked NS for a year, about 9 years ago. best time ever. another young engineer and myself ran a huge project trenching under a bay area freeway. it happened at night without anyone suspecting a thing. it was fun, and provided the springboard for me to run my own projects..

now i am older and married...sucks. could be worse, becuase i dont have kids. if i did, i would be kicking and screaming.