the music of the night

even though i am almost destitute as of this writing, i don't think i shall return working to the night.

yes, a picky beggar am i.

i remember the the first time i worked during the night.

it was for a mortgage processing company.
the pay was good. actually, it was better than most call centers.
the hours were good. set banking hours, no shifts. the only changes made were due to daylight savings time.

i remember how lightheaded i would feel the first few weeks.
struggling with 3-5 hours' worth of light and intermittent sleep per day, and compensating the sleep debts on weekend nights.
to help me sleep, i would hit the gym after work. that would be early morning.

i smile as i remember how much anticipation i would have for the gym.
walking into the locker room, catching glimpses of the trainers as they showered and changed.
the gym bought me 2 more hours' worth of light sleep. not the deep sleep i so desperately craved for.

but eventually, i got used to it.
the light sleep, i mean. and my weekends were entirely devoted to sleeping.
i didn't have much of a life. it was work, gym, sleep.
for a while, it was fine.

then i wanted more.
clubbing, eating out, hanging out with friends. those sort of things.
i tried incorporating those into my vampiric life.
i came out more exhausted.

then the company i worked for slowly started going south when the US economy dropped.
a few of us got out before we were asked to leave.
such a shame, really.
the friends we made, the free food we ate, and the free unmonitored internet access we had.
but we all moved on.

and i am 90% certain that i wouldn't want to work at night again.
the other 10% is for the contingency that i might change my mind due to unforeseen circumstances.
pathetic!

lol