Midnights Lately

It's amazing what two nights in a row of fantastic sleep can do for you.

Working midnights has played merry havoc with my sleep schedule the last six months. Sometimes I'd come home at six and fall right asleep, other times I wouldn't be able to sleep until ten am. Too often I would fall asleep at six am only to wake up at nine am and not be able to fall back asleep until three or four pm knowing I my alarm would be going off at five thirty pm. Trying to make plans seemed impossible, since I never knew when I would actually be sleeping. Some weeks have been more foggy and sleep deprived than others.

But despite the on again off again relationship I have with sleep, I love working nights. I've been a night person since I can remember, my mom telling stories about  I would fight her even as kid on bedtime, often staying up until midnight even if she tucked me in and wouldn't let me out of bed. I've tried working morning shifts and that just leads to zomobie sam. In a bad way. Coworkers have told me that when I've worked early morning shifts that I almost never spoke. Or smiled. Or interacted with people. I believe them. Mornings and I do not get along.

I've worked a midnight shift on and off over the last five years. And loved it. The actual work is usually more urgent, more exciting, more challenging. There is less Administrative staff, less bigwigs working during nights, so everything is more relaxed. And I've almost always had great coworkers, people who are hardworkers, good at their jobs and tell great stories at three am. Some of my favorite people have been coworkers who worked the midnight shift. There is something about three am that encourages stories and questions and games that normally aren't shared unless over a few drinks. That kind of closeness, it's intoxicating in its own way.

Working midnights here has an unexpected bonus. Hills. and fog. My job is located in a business district that is surrounded by hills and empty buildings at night. I've taken to walking them, music blasting in my ears and enjoying the stars and the fact that I live somewhere that isn't flat. Lately there has been fog. Sometimes just a touch, just enough to make the distance feel fuzzy, sometimes so much that it feels as if I'm walking in the opening of a noir movie and I feel the urgent need for a trench coat, a really cool hat and dark lipstick.

Sorry. I've been reading James Ellroy. It spills over sometimes.

I'm not sure how much longer I'll work midnights. It would be nice to fall asleep next to Fix on a regular basis. It'd be nice to make coffee dates with the girls and spend an evening watching the latest episode in a living room full of friends. It'd be nice to have a similar schedule as the rest of the world.

For now, my affair with working midnights will continue. And I'll enjoy the california king bed all to myself. Well, all to myself and the two mutts.