New Years Resolutions checkin
Less Censorship, Keep Moving Forward
Read more "New Years Resolutions checkin"Physical Health
Physical Health while living and working with Shift Work
Snowday, Winter Weather Advisory
Horrible weather has befallen upon my city, and it’s a good thing. Record setting low temperatures, windchills of astronomical proportions and 500 shades of gray. The snow has fallen all night atop the previous snow and it’s over one foot deep. I prepared for the first snow by filling my red plastic 5 gallon gasoline […]
Read more "Snowday, Winter Weather Advisory"Me Time
“Me” time is more important than physical health. That’s my simple statement that could have experts debating for years. I find in my world that using the #toilet is about as much “me” time as I’m going to get some days. This last full weekend of summer in beautiful #Chicago I found myself spending an […]
Read more "Me Time"Picking it up
It’s been a while and I’ve got to pick it up. The original intention of this blog was to share how my second shift job made it difficult for me to balance life, family and a job in a traditional 9 to 5 world. Since my last post I’ve lost that job to a computer […]
Read more "Picking it up"Spring is in the air
Daylight Savings Time means spring forward. It also means early school programs, late school programs, no sleep, less sleep, dark and saggy eyes…Sleep deprivation is to shift workers as the early bird is to the worm. Now withstanding the loss of an hour behind me, I’ve adjusted-ish. I do really enjoy the change of seasons and all […]
Read more "Spring is in the air"Thankfulness on a Rainy Day
It was gray, cloudy, rainy and thunder could be heard nearby. My bed was warm, the house was quite and everything was alright. I’d slept till around 10 o’clock in the morning when I had to make several decisions, including would I get out of bed, and if so; Why? Would it be to return […]
Read more "Thankfulness on a Rainy Day"Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Some, Summertime…
“Summers here, and the time is right, for dancing in the street!” Martha and the Vandellas Summer has befallen unto this shift working dad and the last thing I can find time for is dancing in the street. However, the time is right to rotate the garage of snowblowers, ice melt and holiday decorations for garden […]
Read more "Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Some, Summertime…"Commuting
A 2013 USA Today article said that almost 15% of Chicago commuters endure a daily mega-commute of one hour or more. As a shift worker, my off-peak commute is just shy of that mark. I don’t endure road ragers, cramped buses or over packed train cars. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. My commute is practically […]
Read more "Commuting "Daylight Savings Time and the Shift Worker
As Daylight Savings Time comes to an end and our wall clock “falls back”, we gain an addtitional hour for the day, but how does that one hour effect the body clock of a shift worker? Sleep in general, is one of the most common laments of the shift worker. The United States Department of Labor’s Bureau […]
Read more "Daylight Savings Time and the Shift Worker"Marathon Man
By 9 to 5 standards, the life of shift work may seem abnormal, and making healthy lifestyle choices even more difficult. The basic need of nutrition is paramount to any individual, and especially the shift worker. Eating, drinking and sleeping in odd hours also takes it’s toll upon the human body. In fall 2011, the […]
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