i owe, i owe...

i've mentioned before about how much i love my job.  but with all that joy comes exhaustion which leads to bitching.  and, therefore, i'm allowed to rant for just a moment today.

i used to work five days a week, usually putting in many more hours than were required.  i remember how much i used to dislike wednesday.  it was on that day that i was eagerly awaiting the weekend. regardless of the early morning meetings or the after school conferences i had during the week, i always knew that saturday and sunday were mine.

the work week
fast forward to my current job.  my schedule, while extremely flexible, varies drastically.  i can end up working any day of the week, day or night, up to six days a week.  also, my work days are initially assigned to me and it is up to my skill (or luck) if those end up being the days that i work.  i am in control of my schedule, for the most part.  but, unlike a salary job, i get paid for what i work.  so if i only work three days in one week, i'm only getting paid for those three days.

and when i work a 5-day work week, it's not the same as before.  i'm away from home at least three nights.  it's not unusual to work 9 or 10 hours a day.  i will be the first to admit that my job is easy.  but, there are many aspects of the job that are exhausting.  working five or six days a week wears me out! 

reserve
because i am the low man on the totum pole, i also have to work reserve blocks every 2-3 months.  for ease of understanding, i am on-call for the entire day (3am-midnight).  these blocks of reserve are three days in length.  so, from day 1 at approximately 3am to day 3 until midnight, i am at the mercy of crew scheduling.  sometimes i'm given one assignment and i work those three days without interruption, and other times my phone is ringing with constant reroutes.

this is one of those months that i'm on reserve.  i am currently on day 4 of 6 (i put two reserve blocks back to back).  i feel like i am bound to my computer, constantly checking to see the reserve line-up to see where i am, what trips are unassigned, hypothesizing possible scenarios, etc.

take yesterday for example.  when i woke up at 8am, i was #6 to go for a trip.  soon after i was #4.  g and i had errands to run so i quickly packed my bag to be prepared, ironed, and got food packed to take with me.  while we were running errands, i checked the line-up.  i was #3.  once i hit the #2 spot, we finished up and headed home.  it was about noon and i was #1 to go.  for the next four hours, i sat with my computer beside me, wondering when i would get "the call".  it happened around 4pm and i was given two hours to get to the airport so that i could sit in the crew lounge for a 5 hours, near a phone in case they needed me at a gate quickly.  (thankfully since i was called later in the day and flights depart earlier on saturdays, i only had to sit at the airport for 3 hours.)  i was released at 9pm and could return home, only to watch the list again, for days 5 and 6.

it's a frustrating experience that returns every few months for 12-15 days. 

i'm honestly not complaining about my job, because i'm very thankful for my job.  i'm merely venting about a few aggravations that are a part of my job!

now, when i finish up these six days on monday and have the following four days off work, this will all seem like a silly little rant! 

update: i will retract more of my rant since i was able to request my assignment this morning and will be going to tampa this afternoon and will be home mid-afternoon tomorrow. 

photo found here.