Trust me, you don't want a career in shift work

Yes, somebody has to do it, but I'm really worn out with it being me.

My second full-time job was dispatcher with a law enforcement agency, a position that has to be manned 24/7. The shift changed every month; 7a.m. to 3, 3 to 11, 11 to 7. Days off varied, anything from weekends to Monday & Tuesday, or Wednesday & Thursday, etc. When my kids were small, the evening shift actually had advantages; you could spend much of the day with them. Also, I was younger then and got along well on less sleep. 11 to 7 always sucked, because I couldn't sleep well during the day, and sleeping in the evening with two kids around ain't the easiest thing. Days gave the evenings free, and often meant weekends off, very nice when your spouse had a normal-hours job.

What killed me was the changeover each month, just as your system got used to the one you had been on. Over time it wears you down, and you can't quite catch up. At that, our office was better than others. One agency I knew of regularly had people working two 11-7 shifts, then two 3 to 11, then one 7 to 3, all in one week. I think I'd have quit, and have no idea how those people did it.

I still have shift work, but we do three months on each shift. Some of it still sucks, but at least you have time to acclimate to one and stay there a while. But I'll still be damn glad when I retire. For that matter, if I can find something I'd like to do now, I'd sign my papers tomorrow.