My Change of Pace

I just finished 3-straight weeks of the late shift and am now back to the
1-week on and 1-week off shifts.  I had 3 weeks to get used to going to bed
around 2am and waking up around 8:30am to start the day.  When it was sunny
and beautiful, I'd be outside before 10 --otherwise, I slum around until 1:30 or
so before getting ready for work.

Now I have to get used to waking up at 5am again in order to drag my sorry ass
into the office for 7.  And a-dragging I've been doing.

I am pooped.  It's 7:41 and I'm on my third cup of coffee already and it's
not helping.  That, and I have a bad feeling My Kids aren't showing up
until really late in the day today since "Clarkie" is supposed to come
in early, but tore ligaments in her leg and is done for the year.  she only
had a week to go as it is before moving on to a new job, but still....  She
caught up with me (impressive for someone on crutches) in the cafeteria
yesterday to let me know she was done:

"Hey, this was supposed to be my last week, but as you can see there's not
much I can do right now."

"Yeah, I bet.  So this is it then?"

"Yep.  I'm really screwed up."

"I see.  And you hurt yourself too."

The difference between the shifts is a killer too.  When I work the 7-3
shift, It starts out really, really quiet and gets progressively busier
throughout the day and by the time I leave, I just want to go home and
crash.  When I work the late shift, 2:30-10:30, it starts out super-busy
and dies down throughout the night.  Right now, with most students at home
studying and most of our teams done for the season, there's tumbleweeds blowing
down the hall and any noise seems to echo for a few minutes.  Which, when
I'm really bored, means I stand in the gymnasium and talk to myself for a while
--guaranteed intelligent conversation.

For now, I just need to enjoy the peace and quiet before F-bomb rolls in an hour
from now.  As usual, that's when all Hell breaks loose.  I'm just glad
my boss has finally started acknowledging that she sees everything as a
catastrophe.