Record Breaking Week

I'm a guy who likes to keep records. I like to keep track of things and see when I can break them. Like keep track of how many dates I can go on in a semester, or how few hours of sleep I can run on without crashing, or how many hours I can clock in at work in a week, stuff like that.
Well, Sunday, Nov. 8th began a week in which I would break 3 personal records. (And some how manage to survive the week relatively unscathed.)

All of the records had to do with work, I would set a new record for the most hours clocked in during a school week, the fewest hours of sleep required to function for a full day, and the most nights worked in a row.

Previous records

Most hours worked during a school week: 24:58 hours

Fewest hours of sleep yet still able to function for the whole day: 3:05 hours

Most night shifts in a row worked: 3 nights

New records

Most hours worked during a school week: 37:01 hours

Fewest hours of sleep yet still able to function for the whole day: 2:40 hours

Most night shifts in a row worked: 5 nights

Now, you might ask, "How did that happen?" It wasn't too difficult actually. Going into the week I knew that it was going to be a busy with work, but that just seemed to be the way that everything fell in place.

I normally have 20 hours, but this week I had to fill in for traffic for people who were training for intersection traffic, so that's 4 extra hours. Then I did night watch one day which is another 4 hours. Then two people specifically asked me if I could sub for them on Saturday, so that's two more 4 hour shifts. (Actually the one guy had an 8 hour shift that he wanted to give me, but I said that I could only do half of it. Otherwise I would have had 12 hours on that Saturday. :\ He found a sub for the other 4 hours though. )

So, if you've done the math, you'd see that that is 16 more hours that I normally don't have. So, that makes 20+16 which equals 36, and then an extra hour is time added up from the beginning of shifts, because the four hour shifts are really more like 4 hours and ten minutes, because I get there a little early to set up and get into position. But anyway, that is how I managed to get 37 hours in a single week.

How did I end up only getting 2 hours and 40 minutes of sleep though? Well on Tuesday night I was working night watch and that goes from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Then I went to night watch breakfast which adds another half hour or so to that. Then also, Tuesday night was a mess as far as weather goes, it was cold, raining, and windy, because of the nearby tropical storm, so I got drenched, from both the rain and my sweat because I was wearing a raincoat which doesn't breath.

So, yeah I was sweaty, nasty and cold, not a good combination. Since I wasn't really super excited about going to bed like that I decided to get a shower after I got back from nightwatch breakfast. I got back from nightwatch breakfast at 3:35 a.m. and then hopped in the shower to get clean. After my very hot, refreshing shower I snuggled in bed and set my alarms for 6:30.

Right after setting my alarm I noticed the time, 3:50 a.m. Then I thought to myself, "So, you basically have two and a half hours to sleep before you have to get up again to go to breakfast then traffic, then classes." "Also, you have classes until 1, and then work from 1 until 4. So, if you do get a nap it won't be until later in the afternoon. And even then, you have to study for your big Pentateuch test tomorrow, and then your Greek test the day after. So, you probably won't get a nap at all."

I wasn't able to get a nap, but by God's grace he allowed me to stay awake for all my classes and chapel, and even that afternoon when I was studying for my tests. It took some doing, but God did it. By 9 that night I looked pretty rough. I was so looking forward to going to bed that night it wasn't even funny. (Even though it was only going to be for 3 and a half hours because I worked that night too.) I went to bed that night right after prayer group at 10:45 and by the time the 11 o'clock bell rang I was already deep in slumber. And when I woke up at 2:30 to go to work again, I actually felt refreshed and ready to go. I think that somehow the Lord compacted 7 hours of sleep into those 3 and a half. :)

Then I was tried, but still fine for that whole day until I was able to get a glorious, full 7 and a half hours of sleep that night. It was amazing!

Then, finally working the night shift for 5 days in a row. This isn't nearly as intricate as the previous paragraph, but that's good. Anyway, I normally work Sunday night, Monday night, and Wednesday night. But I subbed for a guy for the previous Saturday night, which gave me Sat, Sun, and Mon nights in a row. Then I worked night watch on Tuesday night, so that connected Sat, Sun, and Mon nights with Wednesday night, making Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues, and Wednesday nights all in a row. I figured it out, and I got about 18 hours of sleep in those 5 nights put together, averaging out to be about 3:36 hours of sleep a night. A bit rough, but doable.

Well... All in all, a very memorable week. Busy, but good. (And to tell you the truth, I've been busier with school work some weeks.) And don't feel sorry for me, I bring this upon myself. If I didn't want to work 5 nights in a row, I'm quite sure that I probably could have gotten a sub, but I didn't because I wanted to see what working 5 nights in a row feels like. But yeah, don't feel sorry for me, I love my job. I wouldn't give up this job for any other job on campus.

This is Tim. I hope that you enjoy your night's sleep.

Thanksgiving Break!

I am so glad that it is Thanksgiving break.

At the time of this writing, I am in a vehicle packed with 8 college students on the freeway heading south. Heading down to Woodardsville where we will stay for the 6 days that comprise the Thanksgiving break.

For the past two weeks I've really been struggling to keep my head above the school work waters. By God's wonderful grace I have been able to hol

d things together until now, but I'm not sure how much longer I could have lasted. I know that God planed for this break and He's going to use this time to allow me to recharge and refresh.

There are several factors that have made these past two weeks quite stretching. First, Greek really seemed to pick up the pace and it's been taxing to devote the time to understand the lessons and learn the vocab. Not to mention the fact that we meet 4 times a week, so basically, I am having to spend probably about an hour of my study time every evening working on Greek homework alone. At least I am also taking Logic, which takes almost no time to study for. Logic has a really nice setup because if you have an "A" in the class, then you don't have to turn in the homework, which is super nice because, I can understand the concepts when he gives the lectures in class, so I don't need to spend any time outside of class doing Logic problems.

The other thing that has been taxing on my time has been work. I'm not really sure quite how it happened, but for the past 4 weeks I've had consistently more than 20 hours. This past week I had 31, and the week before that I had a record breaking 37 hours. (I have a different blog post dedicated to that week.) But the point is, I've had a lot of work recently, which has been taking away from my time and my sleep.

Last week was one of the hardest week that I've been through in a very long time. I honestly never even considered suicide, but I did think about how easy it would be to just go down to west gate--that's where public safety keeps all their equipment and stuff--and taking one of the guns and just simplifying my life by a great deal. And I think about how wonderful it would be to be in heaven, and not have to worry about school, or relationships, or anything anymore. I would be in heaven, and I would see Jesus, and I would be able to sing wonderful praises to his name. I would be able to sing with a voice far more beautiful that I could even imagine. It would be amazing.

But then I stop myself, and get back to work. Knowing that if God wanted me to take the easy way out then he would allow me to somehow die in a tragic accident or something. I definitely would not take my own life.

But, to the point. I was feeling really tired, frustrated, and just plain feeling down one evening when I was coming back from studying at the library. And on my way in I checked the night mail pile like I always do, not that I expect anything, but just incase. And to my surprise I had a small note. So, I opened it and it was a note from Sarah, just telling me that she was praying for me, and that she knew that I had been having a hard time with work and people and other stuff. I seriously almost cried when I read that note. I plopped down in my chair at my desk and prayed to God and thanked Him for the amazing friends that He has blessed me with.

That one short note brightened my whole week. Just to know that I'm not going it alone.

So yeah, I've been burned out, and this break is going to be an amazing time to recharge.

Looking forward to it!