1-25-20: It’s 11PM as I write this. I’m sitting in my apartment in Spring Hill, TN. This week, I started 3rd shift; it’s an interesting schedule, for sure. I have a fascination and affinity with this shift, simply because I’m awake when most people are asleep. For a few years, I’ve had a tradition of reading horror during these dark hours; early in 2019, I listened to the audiobook of Interview with the Vampire while on this shift. That added a whole other level to the fascination, because of the vampire narrative. My main purpose for starting this shift was so I could do tax preparation during the day, and my trainer at the tax place made a funny comment about me sleeping in my “vampire lair.” She didn’t know anything about me being a fan of horror and Anne Rice; it was just a coincidence. Since I’ve finished Interview, I now listen to The Vampire Lestat anytime I’m driving in my car and it’s dark. Despite the horror aspect, there are downsides to 3rd shift. It opens me up to do anything I want during the day, but sometimes that will disturb my sleep schedule. One day this week, I got up “early” (whatever that means) to go do my tax job. When I got off, I went back home and slept a couple hours before going into my 3rd shift job. Doing a lot of things during the day when you’re on 3rd shift is the equivalent of doing things in the middle of the night for 1st shift.
It seems like there’s less drama on 3rd shift; I seem to get along with the people and there’s less stress. That’s a big thing for me, stress. I’m not lazy at all but I try to stay away from unpleasant people. Just let me do my job and I’m good. So, I might stay on this shift for a while eve after tax season, if the social situation stays the same. But society isn’t considerate of 3rd shifters, and every does all their stuff during the day. It’s winter right now, so I don’t have to worry about weed eaters and leaf blowers. Oh. My. God. Those things are loud! During the summer, people doing yard work at my apartment will have a leaf blower right next to my window. It sounds like it’s in the room with me, making it impossible to sleep. I could try some time of noise blocker and a sound machine; I don’t know how well those will work. If they don’t, then I’ll have to get back on 2nd or 1st.
I do have an agenda for tonight, which includes my usual routine. I wake up, and the first thing I do is fifteen burpees. This gets my heartrate up quite well. Then I cook a healthy breakfast. Tonight, I had three scrambled eggs with cheese, a bowl of raw spinach, and two mandarins. After eating, I do a fifteen-minute meditation, followed by reading for 45 minutes. Tonight, it was Great Expectations. Later, I finished up all the spinach and carrots I had, as well as some tuna salad and crackers. Pretty healthy, huh? I’ll probably microwave a bowl of oatmeal here in a little bit. Another thing on the agenda is writing for three hours. I’m on my second hour right now. My first hour was spent writing my novella, titled West. (It’s on this page if you want to check it out.) I’m sure it’s terrible, but writers write. Before my third hour of writing, I plan on going to Planet Fitness in Franklin, TN and attempt to run on a treadmill for 2.3 miles. It’ll be interesting to see how many people are at the gym this late at night. Gym chains are neat because you can go to different locations. In addition to my home gym in Franklin, I’ve been to locations in Florence, AL, Columbia, TN, Nashville, and New York City. It’s just another one of my exciting travel adventures.
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