Night workers

[John Galt III]

Night worker here. My schedule is approximately 12 noon to 3 am in the morning. Yep, a 15 hour work day. Five days a week. The 15 hours does include 2 hours of commuting, so the actual work day is only 13 hours. The good news is that the job is NOT computer programming. ( I used to be a programmer, but now am a happy blue collar dude)

[Sue J]

My concert ushering job over the summer is usually 5:00 pm to 10:30 or 11:30 pm which suites me just fine. The only issue is how to eat enough for dinner at 3:30 or 4:00 pm to last until 11:30 and then when I get home so late I'm hungry but don't want to eat something too heavy. It's tempting to pick up something easy on the way home like a take-out salad.

This isn't every day, it's 2 or 3 times a week at the most.

[aaronc879]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III Night worker here. My schedule is approximately 12 noon to 3 am in the morning. Yep, a 15 hour work day. Five days a week. The 15 hours does include 2 hours of commuting, so the actual work day is only 13 hours. The good news is that the job is NOT computer programming. ( I used to be a programmer, but now am a happy blue collar dude)

I'm an unhappy "blue collar dude". I almost passed out from exhaustion at my new job on friday. I used to work straight nights but now I rotate every week. I hope I adjust well because i'm going to need lots of rest.

Anyone know of a desk job that doesn't require a collge degree?

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 Anyone know of a desk job that doesn't require a collge degree?

Not exactly a desk job, but anyone with a commercial drivers license can get a very good paying job in the Texas "oil patch". Actually many of the companies will help you get your CDL if you don't have it, and offer a signing bonus to boot. Our local school districts are begging for bus drivers as many of their regulars have taken much higher paying jobs a few miles down the road.

This is a year old but most of the information is still accurate: Need work? South Texas Oilfield hiring like crazy!

[Amethyst]

Not sure this is what you are looking for, Aaron, but at least you are used to cold weather:

North Dakota Oil Job Listings Employment Opportunities in the Oil and Gas Industry in ND

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 I'm an unhappy "blue collar dude". I almost passed out from exhaustion at my new job on friday. I used to work straight nights but now I rotate every week. I hope I adjust well because i'm going to need lots of rest.

I hear ya aaron.......

I've worked afternoon shift, midnight shift and rotating shifts. By far, rotating shifts were the toughest.

Midnight shift was tough because I don't sleep well during the day. Afternoon shift was fine because I'd be home by 1:00 AM and asleep by 3:00 AM so I was still predominantly sleeping at night.

Rotating shifts were a bummer because I could never get adjusted to the shift I was working until it was time to rotate to the new schedule.

[Amethyst]

Aaron,

Is the work very much different from your old job? After almost a year without work, could your standing/bending muscles have gotten a bit soft?

Husband often reminisces about the warehouse job he had, after high school, and before deciding to head for college. He was only 19 but thought he was going to die from exhaustion (hauling/loading heavy cases of glass windows and linoleum rolls) for about 2 weeks. After that, his muscles hardened up, and he stayed on for almost a year until he got into college at age 20.

Realize you are no longer 20, but the same "hardening up" process might be going on with you.

P.S. Husband is 6 feet 2.5", which was considered very tall for his time.

Amethyst

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 I'm an unhappy "blue collar dude". I almost passed out from exhaustion at my new job on friday. I used to work straight nights but now I rotate every week. I hope I adjust well because i'm going to need lots of rest. Anyone know of a desk job that doesn't require a collge degree?

[kz]

Haven't worked for years but when I did I rotated shifts every nine days. Schedule went as follows: Six 6am-2pm shifts three days off, six 2pm-10pm shifts three days off, six 10pm-6am shifts three days off. Wasn't too bad except for the fact that the eight hr shifts were more like 10-13 hrs a shift and on the three days off I usually worked one of them. Sometimes by choice, other times not my choice.
I feel for true night shift workers though, sleeping is usually an issue from what I remember.

[frayne]

I worked swing shift for the better part of 25 years. During the last five years I was a shift manager at a chemical plant working 12 hr. night and day shifts. The older I got the harder the night shift got to the point where I had to say uncle, enough, it ain't worth it no matter what the pay was. I retired at 54 and have had no regrets whatsoever, except that I didn't take a package and do it earlier. Working shift work, I was always tired and felt like a zombie most of the time.

[obgyn65]

Most of my posts are at night. Sometimes while working, sometimes from my home.

Quote:

Originally Posted by smr91481 I don't see many posts from the middle of the night around here… Am I the only sucker that works nights?

[smr91481]

It's good to know I'm not alone out here.

[Redbugdave]

I have worked rotating shifts most of my life until the past couple of years. It takes about 2 years for your body to become acclimated to working rotating shifts. Some people cannot ever get accustomed to doing it. I have seen people go to school for years majoring in a particular field, and when they graduate and get out in the real world...can't do the job because it involves shift work.

Since I have been off the rotating shifts...I now have more energy, alertness, less headaches, and much better quality of life, as well as a social life. It's like being re-born again. It's like a black and white world and now suddenly you can see colors. When you are caught up in the world of shift work...you don't realize what you are missing.

I keep seeing more and more articles like this:
Night Shift Work Hard on the Heart - - Health.com

No one put a gun to my head and forced me to do it. It was my job and that's what I trained to do. Working the shift work that I did...paid well and I did not have to put up with the day weenies, (shift worker term for a normal scheduled worker). I laugh at the piddly things the day weenies complain about around here. They don't have a clue. What? Me?...Work a Saturday evening? I can't do it!

However...It also drove me into high gear to invest and save...because I didn't want to have to keep living that way any longer than I could bear. I could not see myself working rotating shifts past my mid 50s or longer and not having a choice. That what does not kill you makes you stronger?

And so...I will soon be re-born once more in 1 year 4 months. And I swear...I will never work another job again. And that's my story on shift work.

[Amethyst]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbugdave Since I have been off the rotating shifts...I now have more energy, alertness, less headaches, and much better quality of life, as well as a social life. It's like being re-born again. It's like a black and white world and now suddenly you can see colors. ....I did not have to put up with the day weenies, (shift worker term for a normal scheduled worker). .

Trick trash versus day ladies. Brings back memories.

Amethyst

[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbugdave Since I have been off the rotating shifts...I now have more energy, alertness, less headaches, and much better quality of life, as well as a social life. It's like being re-born again. It's like a black and white world and now suddenly you can see colors. When you are caught up in the world of shift work...you don't realize what you are missing.

Been there. I worked weekly rotating shift work for 18 years and it wasn't until I transferred to a straight day-work position that I realized how physically exhausting that is.

Never again!

While the job I have now is a with 24/7 organization I just work 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM which is fine with me. Some people like starting early days and get off mid-afternoon, and some like working midnight shifts and they are accommodating about that. But if they ever start that rotating shift work stuff I'm outa there!

[rescueme]

During one part of my "career ", I wor*ked a normal dayshift, but every other week, I was "required" to fill in for 3rd shift on a Friday night/Saturday moring.

I would w*rk Friday 7-4, go home and try to get some sleep (often no sleep involved), and returned at 11pm for the 11-7 shift.

In actual hours, I spent more than 24 hours awake, two of the four Fridays of the month.

While the money was good for that Friday/Saturday gig (1.5 & 10% night shift premium), my home life suffered.

It suc*ed, but than again, I was there for the $$$, not the "career goal", as some others have posted.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst Trick trash versus day ladies. Brings back memories. Amethyst

You girls were rough.

Ha

[John Galt III]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 I'm an unhappy "blue collar dude". I almost passed out from exhaustion at my new job on friday. I used to work straight nights but now I rotate every week. I hope I adjust well because i'm going to need lots of rest. Anyone know of a desk job that doesn't require a collge degree?

Aaron, Best of luck finding a good shift, or adjusting. The office folks where I work do not have college degrees. They are all "daywalkers" (9 to 5 ers) . Some actually work, some just surf the internet and gossip about coworkers. They seem unstressed (except one guy) and pretty happy. But would you want to work at a desk in an office environment? JG3

[aaronc879]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III Aaron, Best of luck finding a good shift, or adjusting. The office folks where I work do not have college degrees. They are all "daywalkers" (9 to 5 ers) . Some actually work, some just surf the internet and gossip about coworkers. They seem unstressed (except one guy) and pretty happy. But would you want to work at a desk in an office environment?

I can't say for sure since all i've ever done is hard manual labor but it sure seems like working at a desk in an office would be a whole lot better. I guess it would depend on what i'm doing and how stressful it is.

On friday I lifted approx. 20,000 lbs of cardboard cases in a hot factory while walking the equivelant of several miles in an 8 hour shift. How could an office job not be better than that?

[John Galt III]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 I can't say for sure since all i've ever done is hard manual labor but it sure seems like working at a desk in an office would be a whole lot better. I guess it would depend on what i'm doing and how stressful it is. On friday I lifted approx. 20,000 lbs of cardboard cases in a hot factory while walking the equivelant of several miles in an 8 hour shift. How could an office job not be better than that?

Well.... I guess there are awful jobs of all sorts to be had.

Could you handle being a truck driver? A lot of folks love it. No immediate boss. Decent income. $45,000 is the average annual salary, for tractor trailer driver. And many truck drivers never have to lift any freight. Just drive.

I notice you have an 8 hour shift. To me that seems like a luxury. Do you work 5 days a week with weekends off? Another luxury. I hear you about the hot conditions and the hard labor. You risk injury too. But working in an office could be worse. You'd just have to try it, I guess. Somewhere there probably is an office job you would like, but how to find it


For me, I like having zero coworkers and bosses around me. I became a truck driver to achieve that. I took a cut in pay, compared to computer programming, my previous job, but that's OK. Temp agencies usually have openings for white collar clerical stuff. You could possibly try it for 6 months just to see how it is. How about working on a road paving crew? Still blue collar, but no heavy lifting. Security guard?


JG3

[aaronc879]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III Well.... I guess there are awful jobs of all sorts to be had. Could you handle being a truck driver? A lot of folks love it. No immediate boss. Decent income. $45,000 is the average annual salary, for tractor trailer driver. And many truck drivers never have to lift any freight. Just drive. I notice you have an 8 hour shift. To me that seems like a luxury. Do you work 5 days a week with weekends off? Another luxury. I hear you about the hot conditions and the hard labor. You risk injury too. But working in an office could be worse. You'd just have to try it, I guess. Somewhere there probably is an office job you would like, but how to find it For me, I like having zero coworkers and bosses around me. I became a truck driver to achieve that. I took a cut in pay, compared to computer programming, my previous job, but that's OK. Temp agencies usually have openings for white collar clerical stuff. You could possibly try it for 6 months just to see how it is. How about working on a road paving crew? Still blue collar, but no heavy lifting. Security guard? JG3

The standard shift is M-F rotating 3rd,2nd,1st with weekends off. However, they can tell you at anytime of any shift that you need to work 12 hours instead of 8. Also they have weekend overtime that is mandatory if you're scheduled. Could be 8 or 12 hours and could be any shift. You find out thursday afternoon what you work that weekend so not much notice. Hard to plan anything in advance.

I've considered truck driving. There are a few things that have held me back. When I owned a manual transmission vehicle I got a sore left knee if in heavy traffic. I'm assuming it'll only be worse with a semi. When I drove from Wisconsin to Florida without stopping to sleep I got a very sore lower back. Also probably not good if i'm going to be driving a truck for 10 hours per day. Another thing is i'm reluctant to fork over several thousand upfront for training when I don't know if I can do the job. The other thing is that I hate driving on the highway in winter. I'm guessing you don't have a lot of options as a truck driver to wait out a storm. You have a place you need to be and not much time to get there.