The busy season at my work is slowly tapering off. Thank goodness, because I am tired! One of my team members was out most of the
critical two weeks (last week of June, first week of July) and I had to step in
and do some big chunks of her job. For part
of her work assignment she needs to arrive before 7:00 am. In her case, that’s no problem – in fact, she
prefers the early shift. For me, not so
much.
I used to work early rather than late. I typically arrived around 7am and left
around 3:30 or 4pm. I did that for many years. And, as an early riser, it wasn’t a big
deal. There’s a lot to be said for the
early shift, especially having time after work to actually get stuff done
rather than just come home and eat dinner and go to bed.
But, when my mom was dying, I switched up my work
schedule. I spent the mornings with her
which allowed my dad to take a long nap and run errands. I was going to work around 12:30 or 1:00 pm
and working until 8 or 9 in the evening. At least, some of the time I stayed that
late. Plenty of days I was just too
exhausted, physically, mentally and emotionally, to stay that late.
Something about that whole summer and fall changed my
internal clock. Something that drove me
to stay on schedule and on track just broke.
Since then, I arrive at work anywhere from 8:30 to 10:30
in the morning and stay, usually, until 6:00 or 7:00 in the evening. My coworkers are used to it and my bosses don’t
care, so I just come in when I feel like it and leave when I’ve had
enough.
So, the past couple of weeks have been a reminder of what
the early shift feels like. Tiring! I’ve also noticed the differences in the
commute. Both the bike commute and the
bus commute are different at those early hours.
The bus is crowded! I mean,
sardine can crowded. 7:00 to 3:00 is a
very typical hospital shift and there are a multitude of us here. And the bike commute, wow. So many rude and impatient riders at those
early hours! Of course, it doesn’t help
when the Tour de France is going on. We
get all of these lunatics who think they will earn a yellow jersey or be King
of the Mountain by racing down the streets and nearly knocking the rest of us
aside. Ugh. And don’t get me started on their damned
lycra biking outfits! Bunch of horses
asses out there… so unnecessary.
But, the early morning is cool and lovely and I don’t
give a fig if the racers all race by me.
I’m still out pedaling along at my fairly sedate pace and arriving to
work cool and calm and not all sweaty and agitated.
This morning, however, my errant coworker is back and I
sure as hell did not get up at the crack of dawn and show up to work early! I rolled in around 8:30 and it felt pretty
good. Will it be hard to stay later this
afternoon? I don’t think so. I like the later hours because after 4pm it’s
nice and quiet and I get a lot more done without all of the interruptions. It’s a trade off, but I think I’m getting the
good end of the bargain.
