By Alexandra Fine
Even though we always miss
bingo nights and haven’t had a fresh dinner in weeks, there are some things
that make night shift pretty great:
10) Wi-Fi
all night
It’s
faster with fewer people using it and stays on all night… enough said!
9) No
waiting for laundry machines
If you like to throw your laundry in while
you’re on shift (which means extra time for sleeping and working out when
you’re off), good news – in the wee hours of the night you never have to wait
for a washer or dryer to open up or worry about someone moving your clothes if
you forget to take them out on time.
8) Ice cream
for dinner
…or
middle-of-the-night snack. Seriously, who hasn’t dreamed of this as a child?
7) The reflection
of the moon on the ocean
One of my personal favorites – it makes a great
backdrop behind the CTD while we’re sampling, especially when there’s a ‘Super
Moon’ that lights up the whole sky or a bright orange crescent just above the
horizon.
6) Fancy
cheese and grape juice parties
Thanks to Laura and Co-chief Annie, Leg 1 was
blessed with a wide selection of fancy cheeses. What better way to cheer up during
the ever-chaotic high-resolution stations (or anytime) than with a late night fancy
cheese party?
5) Visits
from Josh
One of the
friendliest and most energetic people on the Ronald H. Brown, Senior Survey
Tech Josh makes rounds to visit all the scientists every couple hours to give
us updates, alert us when there is a sunrise we can’t miss, and keep the good
vibes going strong all night long.
4) We *rarely* miss breakfast
Who doesn’t love fresh eggs
however-you-want-them and all the bacon you can dream of? Unless the CTD comes
up right at 7 and then it’s shovel, shovel, shovel whatever you can grab until
it’s time to start sampling.
3) Hammock
under the stars
On the rare
occasion that you finish running all of your samples before the next CTD comes
up, or randomly find yourself with time to kill mid-shift, there’s nothing
better than kicking up your feet and relaxing in the hammock under a sky full
of stars. Trust me!
2) We never
miss a sunrise
…and there have been some spectacular ones! As
a photographer, this is one of my favorite things about working night shift.
Just yesterday the sky was blended like watercolors, and everyone took a moment
to stand on deck and appreciate its beauty
1) The
people
Though I can’t speak for day shift, no matter
how sleep-deprived and delirious we are, the night shift crew always manages to
make 3 AM CTD sampling fun. We’ve got great music (thanks Bob!), a fearless
leader who samples everything and still makes time to laugh with us (we love
you Annie!), and a great group of scientists who keep things lively even when
most of the ship is sleeping.
So even though we lose sleep
to Monday drills, live off of leftovers and PB&J, and can never remember
what day it is, it’s not all bad!
