Way back in December, on accessing my work voicemail box after letting it go for three weeks without bothering to check it, I heard a very familiar voice addressing me within one of the messages sent in the middle of December. It was the voice of one of my fellow Japanese students from last quarters, calling me to call him back as soon as possible, because my professor and mentor, Tomita-sensei, was trying to get a hold of me to let me know about next quarter and getting back on track for my degree at Foothill. Well, rather than going through a middleman, I contacted Tomita-sensei directly, and it turns out that the class I’ve been waiting for is being offered in the spring quarter. So, looks like I’ll be going back to good ol’ Foothill College for another go at trying to get my Associate of Arts.
With my current work schedule, though this just won’t do. I work from 0900 to 2100 on the weekends, which means that I’ll be missing at least a whole day of classes. I spoke with my fellow NOC engineers and pretty much the best solution for me was to switch back to nights on the weekends, since I’ll have the weekdays free enough to go back to school and learn what I can. As of today, I have switched from days to nights, and I’m working 2100 to 0900. What does this mean in the long run? That I’m returning to a state of mind that I started out in within this industry. See, I absolutely adore working the graveyard shift, mostly because it affords me those blessed opportunities to be left alone. I hate being asked in the middle of my day for some inane bullshit thing that could have been taken care of by the previous shift. But, it’s my job to deal with the bullshit, that’s what they pay me for. At nighttime, hen everyone is pretty much gone home, there’s very little bullshit to deal with and that’s the way I like it. I’m glad I start today, but like I’ve always said… the first graveyard shift is always the hardest.
Case in point: I stayed up all last night to prepare myself and my body for the change in schedules. My ideal plan was to stay up until 1100 this morning and collapse into bed until 1900. I wrote, I ate, I drank, I played Battlefield 1942, Jedi Outcast, Command & Conquer: Generals, and I watched Ocean’s Eleven with the cast commentary on. I made it to 0800 and then fell into bed where I slept like a log until just barely 1600. Three hours before I was due to rise from my slumber and saunter on in to work. So tonight, it’s going to be slightly hellish trying to get myself back to a regular graveyard schedule again. At least I get four days off so I can be on days for the middle of the week and then readjust every weekend…
