Zombie.
Monday 24 September 2007
My apologies for the lack of updates of late. The biggest and newest problem is pretty simple: once I get home from work at around 9.30am, I'm too fucking knackered to do anything but go straight to the land of Nod. Before, when I was working doors, cracking out 500+ words at 3am seemed like the right thing to do. At 9.30am, all I can think about is a pillow.
It's going to take some while for me to get used to the shift in general and the overall pattern of my week. I will get there. Eventually.
Here's roughly how my night goes:
10pm-midnight: Just kind of chilling, watching a bit of TV, doing various checks and patrols, etc.
Midnight-4am: Watch a bit more TV, maybe some DVDs, patrols, etc.
4am-7am: Sit around like a zombie, bar the odd patrol.
7am-9am: Try and 'hang on' to the end of my shift.
As I said before, the project is only at about half capacity at the moment and the folks there are there for a reason - they behave. Hence, not a lot really happens. Some new tenants should be arriving soon and things might spice up a bit then. As it is, my work-time at the moment is little more than a war of attrition - it's an endurance test. Staying not only awake, but semi-alert overnight for 11 hours is not all that easy. While I have the privilege of DVDs, TV, music, reading etc to pass the time, it can get incredibly dull. Also, closing your eyes, even "just for a second", is death. Even blinking can be a bit risky.
So, you fill the time with caffeine. Last shift I had four coffees, three Red Bulls, two Cokes and about eight Pro Plus. Sounds excessive - it is excessive. However, whilst one could probably scrape by with far less than this, not being loaded up means time goes by much, much slower. When you're that tired it's very easy to lose all enthusiasm to the point where even putting in a DVD seems exhausting. So, drink your coffee, put on that movie, and watch the time go by just a touch faster. This is, obviously, essential to your survival. A movie lasts 90-120 minutes - you know this, time knows this, your sanity knows this.
Films I've seen at work this week: Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, The Simpsons Movie - which was crap - Prizzi's Honour, Mad Max, MST3K: I Was A Teenage Werewolf and probably some other things I'm forgetting. Also, several episodes of season five of The Shield on DVD, lots of Family Guy (the BBC has been kind enough to show 2-3 episodes every night this week), and various other shows.
This all sounds great, and believe me, I'm getting paid for this so I'm not complaining, but it's that fucking 4-7am phantom zone that's the real killer. You've just passed the halfway point of your shift and then it all slows down to a fucking crawl.
I go back Wednesday.
posted by Sheamus @ 8:30 am
