third

To answer Sharon's question: I work for the Merrill Corporation, doing project management assistant stuff. Lots of computer work, plus other things. I try not to talk about it too much, because some of what I do involves sensitive or confidential information, so I figure the less I talk about it, the better.

That said... It's list time!

The Best Things About Working 3rd Shift (discovered in less than one week):

1. Trader Joe's Irish Breakfast Tea with a packet of Sugar in the Raw and a splash of milk. Best way to get my morning started (at 11:00 p.m.)

2. Dress code = Casual Friday EVERYDAY!

3. Peace and quiet

4. Quirky co-workers--my guess is that you've got to be a little bit weird to enjoy working in the middle of the night

5. Leaving work a bit after dawn, cranking Flogging Molly on my car stereo, and singing loudly as I drive the opposite direction from all the people just now heading into their jobs, and thinking, this is bliss.

shift

There's a bit of a change going on in my personal life right now: I'm switching from my first-shift, normal working day to a third-shift schedule (same job, but the different shift will supposedly get me hired on permanently faster). I worked my last day of first shift today, and I've got until Tuesday night to find a way to adjust my sleep patterns and whatnot to working from 11 p.m. until 7:30 a.m.

Right now, my plan is this: every night I'll go to bed three hours later, and sleep as long as I like (but not after about 4 p.m. any afternoon). That will put me in a place where, by Monday morning, I'll be going to bed at 9 a.m. Tonight, I'm going to bed at 3 a.m. Hence, I've got about three more hours to kill. My poor spelling and typing abilities at this moment tell me that it's going to be a LONG three hours.

Sadly, I have no stories to tell for these three hours. I was (still am) considering distracting myself with a lengthy fishing session in World of Warcraft. Fishing in the game is boring, but I want to maximize my character's skill, and it takes an enormous time requirement, and not too much in the way of thinking. Perfect for staying up til the wee hours of the morning.

I'll report back if I start getting the sleep crazies (seeing stuff, etc.). Hope the rest of you have a good night.

molly

This past Saturday, I got a chance to do something that I've wanted to do for years and have never done: I got to see Flogging Molly at an outdoor concert at the Irish Fair in St. Paul.

I have a special place in my heart for Flogging Molly. They were the first band that I found on my own, without the assistance of a) hearing their music on the radio a billion times; or b) someone telling me, "hey, you ought to be listening to this." I fell in love with them almost immediately after hearing them online, and it was their heartfelt, loud, sometimes angry or mournful, but eminently hopeful music that helped to pull me through my first awful year of college.

Anyway--awesome. Outdoor concerts are officially my favorite ever way to hear music. It was a gorgeous evening, cool and clear. I was with a few friends, and we ended up WAYYYYYY in the back (my only regret--we couldn't see much of the band). Two favorite moments: Dave King saying that the sight of a young woman waving an Irish flag underneath a big oak tree way in the back was "the loveliest thing I've ever seen," (At least I think that's close to what he said--memory's a little foggy after two days); and the crowd joining in singing "What's Left of the Flag". Okay... third moment: this was the first time I heard "Whistles the Wind", and the lyrics Oh it breaks my heart to see you this way / the beauty of life, where's it gone? / Oh somebody told me you were doing okay / but somehow I guess they were wrong.

Yeah, I'm totally in love.

adelphoi

An update on the mouse problem: over the weekend, I purchased one of those sonic mouse-deterrent devices. No clue as to whether it really works or not (I know they're supposed to be a grand old hoax, but I was getting a little desperate and still lack the stomach to deal with a dead mouse). I've seen neither hide nor hair of the mouse in a few days, but that may be because I've taken to sleeping with the kitchen light on, thus discouraging him from his midnight forays to my garbage can and points beyond.

In other news, I feel a bit stupid for not realizing that the etymology of "Philadelphia" really does break down to "brotherly love". I feel I can be forgiven for not realizing that "delphia" is based on the the Greek word adelphoi, meaning "brethren", but I am greatly disappointed in myself for not picking up the relationship between the phila- prefix and "love". As a lover of all things language-related, I feel I must now hang my head in shame and retire from the realm of the written word. Oh, woe.

...or not.

scream

Well. I was just rudely awoken by the sound of a mouse investigating my (covered) garbage can. I saw him. He's here, hiding. Every time I turn out the light and try to sleep, he's back, scurrying around. No luck with the trap yet. I'm very very tired.

I was actually watching him for a while, by the dim light of my computer, as he scurried around in my kitchen. When he finally realized I was awake, he dove for the space behind my computer desk. I've been trying to figure out how to track him, in the hopes that I can at least chase him off or something. So tired.... and hungry, now that I'm awake. I'm half of a mind to move all my furniture away from the walls and see if I can chase him down. Pretty sure he's making his home under my fridge. God this sucks.