I am back on nights, which I haven’t done for over a month.
Now that I don’t drink, going to bed during the day is kind of depressing and difficult.
All because one of my colleagues has made too many mistakes and has been deemed unable to do nights.
Fannytwat.
Arsetruck.
Wanktable.
Chin up, my friend.
After nearly ten years on the night shift I’ve concluded that it’s the most desirable shift, by far, that one could hope for.
No worrying about day-to-day politics that litter the minefield known as the day shift.
If you’re lucky, nobody to look over your shoulder criticizing every move you make.
Again, if you’re lucky, your workplace subscribes the the “Don’t Fuck With the Night Guy (or Gal)” policy - they surely don’t want to take up the slack if you suddenly feel ill.
Things tend to be slower on nights, occasionally allowing time to catch up on the the newest must-read novel.
Those are just off the top of my head.
Yeah, buck up.
I remember once a long time ago I was working nights (10 hour shifts) on a job where we were provided a place to sleep and eat (a Quarterboat).
I drank back then and several of us would go by the mess hall and instead of eating we would get a couple of big cans of grapefruit and orange juice. We would then mix it with 100 proof vodka and drink from 7 am til 10 or 11.
Then we had to get up at about 5 PM and get ready and go to work - it was pretty awful.
At least you aren’t having cocktails when the sun comes up. 
While I can sympathize, because the whole screwed up sleep schedule is though, I have to say that working evenings is pure heaven, for the reasons Ginkgo listed. I work from 1 pm to 11:30 pm. It’s the best of both worlds, really.
Eh, working nights isn’t so bad, at least until the telemarketers start calling at 8:30. And at 9. And at 9:45. And at 10. And at 11. Talk about your huge, aching pain in the ass. It’s not often that that happens, though.
I get off work at 2am (depending on what’s going on, it may be significantly earlier or later), go to bed around 4, and get up around 11. I have time to go to the bank or take care of other business during normal business hours, which can be a real luxury.
If I can get in bed before the sun comes up completely (and without starting up the Great Snoring Machine), I’m good.
I’ve worked nights before–often night shifts randomly interspersed with day shifts. Here are some tips:
[ul]
[li]Those little blindfold things they sell to travelers for planes and such help a lot.[/li][li]Melatonin (a hormone/supplement you can buy at the market) helps.[/li][li]When you have to switch back to days, the best way is to bite the bullet and not go to sleep in the morning (this will mean staying up for more the 24 hours–rent a bunch of videos and brew some coffee).[/li][li]Be more conscious of noise then usual, if you’re in an apartment. It’s easy to forget that others are sleeping when you’re waking up or relaxing after work.[/li][li]Try to stick to a regular sleeping schedule. [/li][/ul]
All that said, night shifts still suck, if for no other reason then you end up having to do stuff like go to the grocery store to get some booze when you get off work–which, if it’s 6am or so, will make everyone think you’re a total alcoholic. 
Having worked nights for many years awhile ago, the night shift sucked. Roll into work at 11pm, off work at 7am, wiped out, go to sleep, get up go back to work. Life boiled down to sleep and work. I’m a night owl so everyone figured it would suit me buy it sure didn’t.
Ginkgo,
those day to day politics might be nice to avoid but it also means not getting as much notice of your work and a possibly a reduced chance of promotion/performance based raise.
Agreed. Fortunately, in my situation, I’m able to do things beyond the call of duty that tend to help me out. My slack time can be creatively used to complete projects and do research that get me noticed by both my boss and members of my professional community.
Mr. Rilch is working nights this week. Which puts me on the couch, because I’m working days, and my alarm would be going off just as he’s trying to settle down.
It’s okay, though; I’ve been taking advantage of the time to go through some old videos and burn them to DVD. And today I got off at 3, so I zoomed home and got to hang out with him for…five whole minutes!
4:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. here. I’ve been doing it for the last three years or so.
Good points:
I’m totally unsupervised; I sit in an office completely by myself with an Internet-connected computer and a TV with cable, and I can listen to music, burn CDs, browse SDMB, whatever I want as long as my work gets done professionally (which it always is).
I sleep from about 4 a.m. until “whenever I feel like getting up,” usually about noon; I never, ever have to set my alarm for work.
Those midday errands that used to be a total hassle and use up my lunch hour (e.g., get a haircut, go to the bank, go to the post office) are now no big deal, and I rarely have to deal with long lines anywhere.
The incredibly cool gal I’m seeing these days manages a used bookstore/coffeeshop, so when I get up I truck over there and see her for a while before I go in to work. (Free coffee doesn’t hurt either.)
Also, if I’m gone for more than a couple days, like on vacation or a business trip, everybody else in the office gets really, really sick of covering my late shifts and they’re all extraordinarily happy to see me return. Last time I came back after being gone for a week, my coworker’s wife called me up to personally tell me how glad she was that I was back, since she’d hardly seen her fella while I was gone.
Bad points:
It puts a major crimp in the social life of a single 32-year-old, especially since I work both Friday and Saturday nights (my “weekend” is Sunday and Monday).
And on the rare occasions when I do have to get up early for something, it’s completely awful. A dentist’s appointment at 10 a.m. is no big deal to daysiders, but to me that’s about like having to visit the dentist at 4 a.m., when you’re supposed to be in deepest sleep. I try not to schedule anything before noon.