Shift Work

[Immortality]

So who here is a shift worker?

Its 2.30am here and I'm almost 3/4 of the way through my last shift for the week battling the sleep and boredom gremlins.

Currently blasting music to keep those gremlins at bay and Pearl Jam - Immortality has just finished. Now it's time for some Temple of the Dog.

 

[Immortality]

Yippee its 4am and over the worst stretch. Now rocking Metallica .

 

[rossimo]

I just finished a week of nights yesterday, time to try and get the head/sleep patterns back to normal now.

 

[figjam]

Not anymore.
I did about a year of rotating shifts, day, arvo, dogwatch and double. Boring as, because I was not doing anything apart from looking at stuff and filling in paperwork.
The job after that was also 24 hour shift work, and as the junior, bottom of the heap, for 18 months shift times were anytime, provided a minimum of 8 hours off, and not knowing your commitments more than 3 days ahead. But, didn’t get bored as I had to be awake and alert the whole time.

Does wonders for your sleep patterns, health, family and social life.

 

[losh1971]

I worked night shift from 14 years until i was 41. I had to stop as it destroyed a marriage and made me quite ill in the end. Although working night shift then going to work all day and crashing at 6pm didn't help either.

 

[Drewie]

I worked permanent afternoon/night shift for 30 odd years, 5pm start but depending on work load could still be there 8 am the next morning.
Retired many years ago and the body clock is still giving trouble, come midnight I am as bright as a button and can't get to sleep until 2 to 3 am.

 

[keith reed]

I worked shift work on a hydro scheme at Twizel in the South Island during the 70's and also on one of the tunnels in Brisbane.
To get the shifts to finish on the weekend at Twizel the day shift finished at 4 pm Friday and restarted at midnight. We only got an 8
hour break when we were supposed to get a 9. They had to pay us for the 8 hours we were off. I had only been there for a few
months and got back about $600. Most of the others had been there for 7 years and got back thousands. Not a bad job but a
not a nice place to live. Saw minus 13 there during a night shift, was told a minus 18 had been recorded there.
The Brisbane airport link was a very ordinary job, 11 hour shifts rotating fortnightly. Not much to get excited about there.

 

[Immortality]

I worked night shift from 14 years until i was 41. I had to stop as it destroyed a marriage and made me quite ill in the end. Although working night shift then going to work all day and crashing at 6pm didn't help either.

I worked permanent afternoon/night shift for 30 odd years, 5pm start but depending on work load could still be there 8 am the next morning.
Retired many years ago and the body clock is still giving trouble, come midnight I am as bright as a button and can't get to sleep until 2 to 3 am.

This is the stage I am at now. 41, body clock is up the **** and it takes a couple of weeks off work before I get back to an almost normal sleeping pattern but the mental aspect is the toughest bit, the job does not challenge me at all, the biggest headache is the bloody politics and dealing with breakdowns due to management issues.

 

[VS_Pete]

3 shifts 12yrs.
After 10yrs an old work mate said Pete (night shift 11PM/7AM)
When you got home at 3PM you don`t got to bed do you. Me no.
Well when you get home from night shift you have to do stay awake and do something "normal" so I did and when to bed at about 1.30/2pm.
Got up at about 9 had dinner shower and when to work about 10pm.
After he told me I was able to sleep well and not feel like S***.

 

[vc commodore]

I was working at an abbatoirs, where I did a night shift Thursday night and Sunday night to Monday Morning....The other days, I started at 7 A.M....The Thursday shift started at 4 P.M and went til 12 P.M. The Sunday/Monday shift was the worse as I started at 10 P.M and finished at 7 A.M....Made it extremely difficult when to go to bed after that, because you either slept half day Monday and ran the risk of being as tired as for Tuesday, or stay awake all day Monday and battle to keep alert Tuesday arvo, because you woke up during the night on the Tuesday.

Also doing road service stuffs the sleep patterns.....Getting a call at 2 in the morning to fix a tyre means sometimes I get bugger all sleep because by the time I get home, it's pointless going back to sleep for an hour, just to get up ready for work.....So yep, it stuffs the sleep pattern big time