I work a night shift with one other Soldier. Our job consists of receiving phone calls, emails, and walk-ins of people in distress for twelve straight hours. 7PM to 7AM to be more specific. There are eight phones in my office strategically placed in four locations that are ironically as far away from each other as possible. Four phones have green labels and four have red labels. A red phone and a green phone are always paired together so one doesn't get lonely. The green labeled phones are for conversations of little to no importance, while the red phones are for secret conversations and mainly used to conduct business.
After a few days, you get to know who is calling depending on what phone is ringing and you spend most of your night hopping from phone to phone around the office while hoping to make it back to your desk to keep up with the incoming and outgoing emails. To mitigate all this excessive hopping (no, I don't like to "hop"), I see what phone is ringing and if it isn't going to be important, I send my partner-in-crime to answer it.
Some nights can get quite tiresome. Picture it, me jumping from desk to desk with my notebook and pen, making it back to my desk to send out an email just in time for another phone to ring.
To add to that mix, I was also given a work related cell phone in which I was instructed, I must answer at all times. I only mention this because the other night I was at the red phone at the very back of the office and my issued cell phone started ringing at the very front of the office...yes, it adds to the interesting.
Anyway, with this in mind, allow me to refresh your memory, in that, when you work nights, you sleep during the day. I have been having trouble with this lately because of some construction work that is being conducted in my building. When I say building, I mean "Modular Housing." It is a trailer home with a concrete floor. There are seven rooms on a hallway and a bathroom at the end. I share a room with two nurses who work the day shift, so there are no arguments there! I see one of my roommates in the morning when she is heading to work and one at night when I am heading to work for about five minutes. Today, one of my roommates woke me up before she left to tell me she thinks they might be working in our room today. I told her to tell them to work around me because I would be sleeping. She giggled a bit and left. I was serious, so I don't know why she was giggling.
The Mayor Cell, which oversees projects on our post, hires locals to conduct the labor, so they work from 9AM to 5PM and they must be off post by 6PM (works perfectly with my sleep schedule). Until recently, they had been rewiring our hallway and it sounded like all the construction work was being done by my head! Today, I thought I was going to get some great sleep because I didn't hear them as much as usual, and I had taken an herbal supplement called "Sleep" to get some quality rest. All I heard was a few electric drill sounds piercing a wall here and there, nothing massive like the previous days.
I woke up around noon, super groggy, eyes glazed over, not wanting to move, but I had to pee...like yesterday! I crept out of bed, super stiff from a full bladder and a tough mattress. The rug on the floor protecting my feet from the super cold concrete until I can find my sandals and start to make my way to the door with my eyes still halfway closed. I unlock the door and peek my head out. The light is bright and hurts my eyes. I blink a few times and they start to water. I think I am becoming nocturnal, but we will keep that story for another day. Satisfied that there are no obstacles in my path to the bathroom, I begin my short walk. I reach the bathroom door, enter the pincode, and voila! I am in the bathroom...and greeted by four local men on ladders. I must have looked pathetic. Watery, half closed eyes, hair a mess from sleeping, and sad because I am out of bed three hours too early. I gave them the saddest puppy dog face I could muster and the woman overseeing their work got up from her chair and started to herd them toward the exit. Thank Jesus! I saw her in motion and I about ran for a toilet. I thought I might have to do a walk-of-shame upon exiting, but the nice woman sent them outside for a smoke break so I could exit in peace.
Yup, so that was my excitement for the day! To give you some imagery, below is a picture of my bed/area...and yes, I sleep with the Avengers everyday!
Still waiting to hear your questions...until then, enjoy what you get!!!
I'd been wondering what your bed looked like with those cool sheets! Glad to hear that they vacated the bathroom for you.
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