I haven’t left. It’s just hard to find time to blog, when you’re night shift AND working 12 hour days. It’s also hard to find time to knit. Basically- I just work, eat, sleep, and repeat.
Work has been fun (if you didn’t catch the sarcasm there- please reread and insert sarcasm). We basically can’t keep anyone on the other 2 shifts to do my job. And it’s not a hard job. It DOES require some thinking, and some attention to detail, but it is not hard. Yet- when people find out that this is not a breeze- they don’t want to do the work.
And anyone who works night shift knows that sleep is hard to come by. And sleep in an apartment complex is extra hard. See- there are noise ordinances for the night time. Basically you can’t do crazy things after 9 pm and before 6 am. So deciding to rearrange your house? Do it before 9pm. Washing a few loads of laundry? Do it before 9pm. Beating that steak to make it extra tender? Do it before 9 pm.
However- there are no ordinances for the daytime. Everyone mows lawns… works on cars… blasts their stereo as loud as possible. Everyone works on roofs… does siding… road work… maintenance… moves in… moves out… sits on their keys so the car alarm goes off repeatedly for an hour. And all of this while you are trying to sleep.
And then there are the other people you LIVE with. People still on daytime hours. They bang stuff in the kitchen… drop heavy things on the floor… stomp back and forth to the trash can, and all of this while you are trying to sleep. And it is no use trying to ask them to be quiet. Have you seen someone TRYING to be quiet? They make MORE noise.
Then there are your friends. They are mostly all on day shift, so if you WANT to spend time with them- it means you have to alter your sleep schedule. Get up earlier or stay up later. In some cases- you have to forgo sleep entirely. And they want you to be happy! Yes, I’m happy to spend time with you, but I’m also happy when I get sleep.
And then there’s the food. When you get off from work, all you want is to grab something quick and go home. Do you know what it’s like to be FORCED to grab breakfast food? I appreciate bacon and eggs as much as the next person, but when that is your only choice- you don’t really want to look at another egg.
Then there’s the sunlight deprivation and sunlight overload. See- when you’re not really used to seeing the sun- being up and running errands in the sunlight means it’s that much harder to go to sleep. Why? Because sunlight triggers a switch in your brain, telling you that you should be up. But it’s time to go to sleep. So you’re tired, but you’re also WIRED, because your brain received the sunlight signal. That is sunlight overload. And then there is sunlight deprivation. Because you are up mostly when the sun is not- you become Vitamin D deficient. Which means you’re tired and sluggish ALL THE TIME.
So all of this makes you eternally sleep deprived and cranky. It’s hard to focus to do all of the things you used to do. And THAT is where I’ve been for about a year and a half.
But- I have some news.
I’m going to take this blog in a different direction. Not necessarily leaving behind all the things I’ve done up till now- just adding to it. I have a new journey, and with that comes new and different things to talk about.
So stay tuned!