Anyone here work third shift??

[tay666]

I worked 11-7:30 for the past 3 years.
Would still be doing it if the factory didn't just eliminate 3rd shift and moved us all to 1st (we have no 2nd shift and never did)

The hours didn't bother me at all.
I am one of those rare people who can adjust my body clock to about any schedule. As long as I can get 5 hours of sleep a day, I can function just fine for week on end like that. (though I prefer 6-6.5 hours sleep)
I would get home in the morning. Eat some breakfast and hop on the computer. Read the news, cruise the boards, and ebay. Go to bed around noon then sleep til 6:30. Then I could get up, eat dinner and spend time with the family.
Biggest drawbacks for me were having to tape shows that started at 10 as I would have to leave in the middle. Missing Monday and Sunday night football games. And if I wanted to go to a concert, I would have to blow a vacation day.

Kind of glad I am on days now. As it will make summer a little more fun.
But am missing the extra money I would be making right now in construction.
When he was busy, a local contractor would use me for extra help in the mornings. From 8 until whenever I started getting tired. (usually around noon)
He didn't have much for me last year. But this year he has a bunch of work and I am missing out on all that cash. He's got a job now that would have kept me busy all this month. Working 20 hours a week with him got me as much cash as what I net at my regular job. But it's feast or famine, and I need the steady work.

My kids are grown, so that isn't really an issue.
20 years ago, when I worked nights before, it was a little different.
My son used to cry when I would leave for work and stuff. So it was a little harder back then.

[saildog]

When I was in the Navy, I worked 11p-7a for about a year-and-a-half with two of the coolest Dudes I have ever met, so it was like getting paid to hang out. It was a pretty rare mix because all of us were into sports, techie stuff, Sci-Fi, and comics. We were absolutely the most productive shift, but we'd get our work done upfront and then just hang out. Each of us was an expert on a specific system, but we would team-up to knock the work out, so I was cross-training on their respective systems and training them on mine.

Our first priority was to get stuff done and we would pick up all the slack from the other shifts, but we still had about half of the shift to just hang out. Additionally, we benefited from the Navy's Mandate that we spend 30-minutes from each shift doing some kind of physical training. We'd combine that with our 1-hour "lunch" break and play Racquetball for an hour-and-a-half each day, then go home.

So, in short, I hung out 8-hours a day with my two best friends, had Friday and Saturday Nights off, was in the best shape of my life, got away from the "brass", got out of all the ceremonial BS that frustrates most military members, and got paid for it.
Oh, yeah, all three of us had volunteered for that shift because no one else wanted it....suckers!!!!

[garagesale]

I've worked 10-6, 11-7, and 12-8. It was tough, but I guess I got used to it. Decided I didn't like it at some point, so I gradually got out of it. I think I could do it again, but I would totally avoid it. The worst part of it was those heartbreaking times when the relief would either not show up or be in very late.

JamesD

[kryptosmaster]

I worked overnights for a few years when I was in my 20's. It SUCKED. The only thing good about it was you could sometimes adjust your bedtime if you had to do something during the day that you normally would have to take time off from work to do if you had a 9-5 schedule. But most of the time it was get home, dead tired so fall asleep and end up sleeping all day till after dinner time and then the whole day is shot after you get up and by the time you eat and take a shower, etc, it's time to do the whole rountine over again. I swear sometimes all I did was sleep and work. I'd never do it again unless I was absolutely desperate. I also tried working two jobs like that once. I'd start the first job at 8 am and sometimes have to work a 12 hour shift and then have barely enough time to take a nap and start the other job at midnight till 7:30 then rush back over to the first job. I did that for two weeks and that was all I could take.
Plus I do recall all the freaks that crawled out of the woodwork as I worked in a 24 hr grocery store chain. That was back in the late 80's, early 90's. I can only imagine how much more scarier those same denizens of the night have become over the course of 20 years.
On a bright note, I did run into Meatloaf one night as he was leaving town after a concert. They stopped in my store for some food. He was pretty nice, let us take pics and all that with him. Unfortunately I no longer have that polaroid pic of me & him as I slipped it inside one of his CDs and when my apartment got robbed that was one of the things they stole.
Rich

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

Ten years on midnights so far, at my one job. I've always preferred midnights though.

Don C.

[bobws]

i work midnite to 8 am sunday thru fri morn. for 4 years now. i'm still not used to it and everyone i know is on regular shifts. but i still make time to spend with my nephew as i have no kids.

[starsky]

Nothing quite like being in a Wal-Mart at 3am, is there? That's where I'm at as well as the salaried night manager. Obviously if you're in the deli, you're in a Super-Center. Are you guys a 24 hour store? I'm fortunate that we close at 11pm.

I work four 12's, with three off, so that's not so bad. The struggle is on days like today when I have to be up all day with the kids. Oh well. As I said earlier, I'm happy to have a job right now. Things aren't looking too rosy right now, especially in Michigan, and Wally World actually pays salaried Managemant pretty well.

do you guys get first shot at all the new figures coming in like dc universe?

[cjefferys]

I worked midnights for a while around 10 years ago, and hated it. I now work afternoon/evenings (2-10pm) which isn't terrible. I can sleep in a bit, play with my son during the day, and it's not too late when I get home.

When my son starts going to school it will be a different story though. I would hardly see him during the week. I have a year and a half before that happens, but at that point I'm going to have to seriously push for a day shift at my company or start looking for day shift jobs at other companies in my field (hopefully the economy is a bit better by then!)

[ramsey37]

Nothing quite like being in a Wal-Mart at 3am, is there? That's where I'm at as well as the salaried night manager. Obviously if you're in the deli, you're in a Super-Center. Are you guys a 24 hour store? I'm fortunate that we close at 11pm.

Yep, it's a 24-hour store. It's not too bad most of the time, although the freaks are out in force all night long on the weekends
George

[vintage spideyfan]

I've worked the 10-7 shift at Wal-Mart for almost two years. My daughter's in college now, so getting to sleep during the day is only an issue when the neighbors in the other half of our duplex decide to play Mexican polka music all day long I have the deli to myself for about six hours of my shift, so I'm enjoying the peace and quiet without having to deal with the drama my coworkers seem to live on
George

Nothing quite like being in a Wal-Mart at 3am, is there? That's where I'm at as well as the salaried night manager. Obviously if you're in the deli, you're in a Super-Center. Are you guys a 24 hour store? I'm fortunate that we close at 11pm.

I work four 12's, with three off, so that's not so bad. The struggle is on days like today when I have to be up all day with the kids. Oh well. As I said earlier, I'm happy to have a job right now. Things aren't looking too rosy right now, especially in Michigan, and Wally World actually pays salaried Managemant pretty well.

[fallensaviour]

I am a nightwatchman(security) I work 6pm to 4Am.My shift is 7on,7 off.It should be 8 on 6 off but I have enough banked time to take two days off out of my regular shifts all year long.So I work a week straight then get a week off.Then I get three weeks on top of that so it works out pretty well.

It is strange getting used to the night swing but I would never give it up as the two weeks per month I get to spend with my family more than makes up for it.The days I am working I can still get up to walk the kids home for lunch and after school.

[ramsey37]

I've worked the 10-7 shift at Wal-Mart for almost two years. My daughter's in college now, so getting to sleep during the day is only an issue when the neighbors in the other half of our duplex decide to play Mexican polka music all day long I have the deli to myself for about six hours of my shift, so I'm enjoying the peace and quiet without having to deal with the drama my coworkers seem to live on
George

[theantiquetiger]

I work swing, 12 hours shifts, changing between 5am->5pm to 5pm->5am. I work three days one week, four days the next, every other weekend (Fri->Sun). So every fourth weekend, I work three dogs in a row.

My schedule looks like this:

Mon-Tues -> days
Fri-Sat-Sun -> nights
Wed-Thurs -> days
Mon-Tues -> nights
Fri-Sat-Sun -> days
Wed-Thurs -> nights
Starts back over Mon-Tues -> days

I love shift work. I have a lot of time off to spend with my family.

[hobub]

I work midnights and it was tough to get used to.. If you can call it that.

[Megotu]

Woulda worked fine when they were a baby...They were up as many hours during the night as they were during the day. Hardly any difference.