# 2:@#$%$:30 A.m. !!!??



## hsteve (Jul 9, 2005)

Anyone out there work a REALLY early shift?
I started a baking gig about a month ago and an having a hard time adjusting to the new hours. I have to get up about 2:30 AM to wake up.It's not waking up, but going to sleep at the end of the day. I get home anywhere from 1:30 - 4:00 PM most days, and I end up either on the web or watching the Tube until about 8:30-9:00...
I know this sounds trivial, but I'M TIRED!! :axe: 
I'm beginning to get GRUMPY![smilie=e:


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Well, I don't start that early, but I do start at 5 am, so I have to get up at around 4 am.
I don't leave any time for reading the paper, having breakfast or things like that, so I just get up and do the necessary (like making coffee to take to work and feeding the critters), but I'm always a tornado rushing around the house before work.

I too have the same problem of not wanting to go to bed in time to get a decent nights sleep, so I always doze off on the couch when I finally give in and veg at around 10pm, but in general, I'm tired.... Unless I'm sick, I've always made it a rule not to give up and relax until late in the evening, or I'd be out. I know that's not the best advice in the world, but just so you know you're not alone....


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## hsteve (Jul 9, 2005)

So i'm guessing your advice is not to fight it?
It's not so bas now that it's getting dark around &, but what about summer, when the sun's out 'til 9? - I have a rule; never go to sleep til the sun's down...


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

When I worked in the oilfield I met a lot of people that worked and had worked crazy hours for years. The consensus was that you never get used to it.

I myself had to wake up at 1 AM, drive anywhere from 70 to 200 miles on back country roads in pitch black darkness, get to some isolated rig in the middle of nowhere, do my tests, and produce a report by 5:30 AM so some idiot at some office has it on his desk by 8:00AM. I and the people like me could go to the rig about 6:00 PM the previous day and produce the exact same report but that was not accepted. Noone questioned the ridiculousness of that situation - the oilfield is a rather laid back environment. Copious amounts of coffee, caffeine ladden sodas, chewing tobacco, ice cubes chewing against falling asleep at the wheel, and oilfield level cussing helped some of my colleagues stay up and go through their day (or should I call it "a night"?).

The people that did best in that environment were folk that had a set schedule that never changed. That means when you are off you do the exact same things at the exact same time and you always go to sleep at the same time - especially on days off. Also these folk never seemed to be in a hurry for anything or anywhere. They also never got truly hot headed about anything.

Basically one needs to not stress the body even more - a set schedule helps a great deal, a calm attitude too. But the bottom line is - still noone can really override the biological clock.

--Nikolay


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## cwlodarczyk (Sep 18, 2005)

I'm on the opposite end of the clock from the rest of you. I manage a restaurant so most of my shifts are at night. Most days I go in at 2 or 3 pm and leave at 1 or 2 am. By the time I've made it home and wound down it's usually 4 or 5 before I'm able to go to bed. Sometimes I will have to turn around and work the opening shift the next day, meaning that I have to be there by 9am. Don't think that means that I'm able to go to bed any earlier though.

I'd have to say that you DO get used to it, but it's much harder for others to get used to you and your schedule. Just ask my girlfriend - she works a typical office job.


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## hsteve (Jul 9, 2005)

that could be half my problem. the job i had just before this one was line mgr. @ night - 5Pm - 1am +-... So my body, I think is still in a state of shock...[smilie=d:


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## brad (Jul 10, 2005)

I worked the graveyard shift for a few years. I never got used to it. Just got used to functioning without much sleep. I hated when people would tell me they were tired. You don`t know what tired is until you can`t remember your 45 minute drive home. SOBER. I used to get about 20-25 hours of shut-eye a week. The worst was the other people. I used to get calls at 2 in the afternoon asking if I could do something for them since I was going to be home all day. it stopped when I started calling them at 2 am asking them to let my dog out since they were gonna be home doing nothing all night. 

So my opinion, some people can adjust, but most can`t. It does, however, let you see just how far you can push your body before it starts shutting down. Now that I`m back behind a desk, I never complain about being tired. I now what tired is now. It is NOT when you have a hard time keeping your eyes open.


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## gnatster (Mar 6, 2004)

Used to own a wholesale produce company. Up at 1am to drive a rig to the wholesale market to buy from local vendors at 3am, 6 days a week. Then back to write up orders, get my drivers on the road to deliver to my clients by 6am. After they got back around noon it off to sell to clients. Home in the eve around 6pm. Made Ferrari money but never had time to enjoy it. After I sold the company it took 4-5 months to get back to a "normal" sleep schedule.


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## hsteve (Jul 9, 2005)

brad said:


> . You don`t know what tired is until you can`t remember your 45 minute drive home. SOBER..


Man, Iknow what you mean. I worked for Home Depot a lotta years back; I signed up for a remodeling job within the store that turned a 100,000 sq.ft. store into a 150,000 sq.ft. store.
I'd go into a local Kroger and pick up a frozen pizza and a six-pack at 5:30 AM! The casheir looked at me like I was from another planet...
Don't get me wrong, Im not a lush, but that was a temporary thing... I'm just worried that my social life(Women) is gone forever...:drinkers: 
I'm too old to get up when I have to and try to hang W/ my friends who have normal hours(jobs)...


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