A Week Without Sleep

[ehowton]

1989: 13-hour days, 7 days straight, Cinco de Mayo festival, Keller, Texas
1992: 12-hour overnight shifts, rotating for 6 months, RAF Molesworth, United Kingdom
1993: 12-hour midnights, 7 days a week, for a month, MacDill AFB, Florida
1994: 16-hour days, 6 days straight, for two weeks, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
1995: 14-hour days, every other day, for two months, Osan AB, South Korea
1998: 16-hour days, two weeks each month, for a year, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

USS GEORGE WASHINGTON
USS JOHN C. STENNIS
USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN
USS NIMITZ
USS KITTY HAWK
USS CORONADO
USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN
USS BOXER
CMSA HAWAII
CMSA NORFOLK
USS KITTY HAWK

1999: 12-hour overnight shifts, rotating for one year, Lewisville, Texas
2000: 24-hour single overnight shift, Greenville, Texas
2001: 12-hour overnight shifts, rotating for one year, McKinney, Texas
2002: 24-hour single overnight shift, McKinney, Texas
2007: 17-hour days, all week, this week, Saint Louis, Missouri

I had a pretty good run there between 2002, and today. This week has been a nightmare. The last time I slept more than 4 hours, was Sunday night. I went to work Monday morning like any other Monday. When I arrived home that evening, I rec'd a phone call. A virus outbreak was affecting computers nationwide. I was up until 0200 trying to get that handled. When I awoke, I survived on coffee, but the nightmare was over. A job well done. I was understandably tired, but unfortunately, I couldn't sleep based on caffeine intake and a skewed sleep schedule, so I was up until 0300. That's when a phone call got me out of bed at 0700, calling me to a conference call concerning a nationwide virus outbreak. I didn't understand...was this Monday night again? I spent 10 hours in my basement office, leaving only 5 times. My wife brought me clothes, coffee, scooby-snack, and food. The 5th time I left my office was to drive into work. I was up until 0100, but didn't get more than 4 hours of sleep. Yes, I'm still at work, yes, I'm still battling viruses, and in the middle of everything, we had a power outage due to 'high winds.' Tomorrow, we have a project scheduled from 2000-0100, after a full day of work, and a generator cut-over this weekend. galinda822 has offered to take my morning appointments to allow me some rest between today, (Thursday) and Saturday morning. The generator cut-over, a 24-hour project which will kick-off Saturday morning after we finish our Friday night project, will likely involve me throughout the weekend.

I want to die.

Comments

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

Keep your chin up. It will be over soon.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Thanks dude. galinda822 took my morning appointments so I got in a good eight hours sleep. Too bad I'll be here until 0300!

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

I can bring you a pillow and blanket if you'd like!

[drax0r.livejournal.com]

In the previous examples you were working long hours because you were integral to fixing the problem.

Currently you serve as a manager. Pull a 'Sparky' and sleep on the con-call. Learn from his mistakes and hit mute before snoring however.

Someone will wake you up when the problem has been resolved.


Seriously though, delegate something. I'm quite sure your staff is capable of sitting on a phone call providing status updates while you catch some Zs.

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

Seriously, his staff worked those long hours along with him. While he was at home Wednesday who do you think was taking care of getting the viruses cleaned, sitting on tech bridges and doing EVERYTHING else that still needed to be done!

The reason he came in Thursday was to bring his staff sustenance as there was no break in the activities to get food!

I for one feel for hin and his lack of sleep which is why I VOLUNTEERED to take over his morning activities today.

[drax0r.livejournal.com]

It sucks that the corporations select a computing platform that's known to be fundamentally flawed and susceptible to devistating viral attacks and then expects the IT staff to jump through its ass to respond when said attacks occur.

Perhaps this would be a good time for the company to consider alternative platforms.


"Hi, I'm a PC"

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

"Hi, I'm a Mac"

ps: I love my Mac!

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

I'll never go back.

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

You know what they say...."Once you go Mac you'll never go back!"

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

“I’m A Mac” Guy Dropped. “PC Guy” To Switch.
By Bambi Hambi - Friday, November 10, 2006

Mac Guy - PC Guy Radar reports that Apple’s “I’m A Mac Guy”, Justin Long is out, but “PC Guy” John Hodgman stays.

Is Apple’s best ever TV ad campaign headed for history or ready to make history?

Apple makes history. “PC Guy” will switch to a Mac.

It makes perfect sense. Apple’s “I’m a Mac” TV commercials are excellent, but nothing lasts forever.

Some reports say that “Mac Guy” Justin Long is out the door, and that’s OK with many observers and Mac users.

Why? “Mac Guy” was just a bit too smug, too cool, and sees his future elsewhere as a movie star.

“PC Guy” John Hodgman is the lovable but hapless PC user that more people identify with and love even more.

The results of Apple’s “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” TV ads are obvious.

The Mac’s market share is rising rapidly.

Apple’s sales, profits, and unit sales have never been better. Now is the time for change.

In true Apple style, the change will be historic. “PC Guy” will switch to a Mac.

What a perfect set up for Apple to show Windows virus weary PC users how easy and wonderful a digital life can be when you switch to a Mac than having “PC Guy” actually switch to a Mac.

Extending the legs to a successful TV commercial campaign is a major challenge for any company’s ad agency, so timing of “PC Guy’s” switch to a Mac is important.

Apple will want to do everything possible to torpedo Microsoft’s impending launch of Windows Vista.

Could there be a better way to put a stick in Bill Gates’ eye than to have the country’s most memorable Windows user kiss PC’s goodbye and switch to a Mac?

Don’t tell me that’s not a brilliant idea. Will it happen? Yes, sometime between the launch of Windows Vista and the introduction of Mac OS X Leopard.

Tens of millions of Windows PC users will hear all about Windows Vista. Tens of millions of TV viewers will see “PC Guy” John Hodgman piss on Windows and switch to a Mac.

With “Mac Guy” Long out of the picture, and “PC Guy” Hodgman the new “Mac Guy” who will play the Windows PC alter character?

It won’t matter, but it means that Apple can begin, on TV commercial after TV commercial, to switch PC characters to Macs, roasting Window Vista into shame.

Radar implies that more than change is on the radar screen in the near future, including more about “soon-to-be Mac Guy” John Hodgman.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

You gave me the gift of life, and there's no gift greater than that. Thank you.

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

I didn't know draxor was one of your parents????

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

And I didn't know you couldn't follow a thread. That reply was to galinda822

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

Feck off!!!!

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

Was he your mom or dad?

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

In the previous examples, each person had a job to do, and they did it.

This was no different.

Furthermore, I'm ultimately responsible for this entire shop. Thank goodness I'm not some paper-pushing manager, rather a bona fide administrator who can perform actual work. How many times have you and I been hindered by the Sparky-types hanging around while we're trying to work asking dumb questions?

Seriously though, if I had more staff, I'm quite sure I would have chosen someone to sit on a phone call providing status updates while I caught some Zs. As it was, each and every one of my guys was performing a function.

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

Each and every one of my guys was performing a function.

Then there was me...the lone female on your staff!

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

How very sexist of you. I use that as a gender-neutral term.

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

I am a female and prefer to be referred as such.

How very 'sexist' of you to use 'guys' as a gender-neutral term. Why do you not refer to your staff as 'gals'?

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Webster's: used in plural to refer to the members of a group regardless of sex

[drax0r.livejournal.com]

Don't get your panties all twisted, sugar-tits. Just get back in the kitchen while the men-folk are talking.

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

No, your just one of the guys!!!!!!

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

I don't wanna be just one of the guys! I'm all woman and like to be thought of that way! :)

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

I can attest to galinda822 being all woman.

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

*wink, wink*

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

Yeah like draxor says put galinda822 to work. I'm sure you would never tolerate such laziness from
draxor.

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

How very amusing that you all assume that ehowton was the ONLY one busting his ass this week and not getting any sleep!

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

It was no insult intended towards you. It was a sarcastic insult towards draxor . You just don't know him well enough to notice I was actually making fun of him.

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

I apologize to you then sir! Because of the activities this week I am a bit frazzled!

[drax0r.livejournal.com]

Why are you posting on LJ? Go sleep.

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

The problem, dear, is that I can't sleep. I haven't slept through the night for about a month now...even with the aid of Ambien CR (which my doctor prescribed).

I fall asleep fine, manage to stay asleep for about 3 hrs. but then wake up every 45 mins. thereafter. You should see the bags under my eyes - eeek! Not a pretty sight!

Besides, how selfish would it be of me to stay home and sleep when the rest of the staff is in the same boat?

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

No, offense taken!!!

[drax0r.livejournal.com]

*clap*

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

There is no single person I know who's as lazy as drax0r. But in an effort such as this, there is no single person I know who'd I'd rather have by my side.