The overnight shift: an overview
11 PM - I have to go to work. I don't want to. I'm usually sitting with Ryan for the first time all day, just enjoying being with him. Tonight, for example. I had been doing stats homework all night in the Fine Arts Center while listening to his wind ensemble concert through a wall. We had been in the same building all day, but had managed maybe an accumulative of 5 minutes actually together. So, we go home. I'm exhausted, so the car ride is mainly me trying to relax without actually falling asleep and cockteasing myself. When we got home, Ryan was amazingly attentive and sweet. He had me sit on his lap and he just held me and rubbed my back. It was wonderful - and lasted about 20 minutes before I had to go and make some money.
The overnight starts pretty slow on weekdays. This night was no exception. I went in and started running the usual reports, waking up slowly and acclimating myself with the desk. The desk is a constantly changing beast. One day, you may know where absolutely everything is - stapler? Check. Tape? Got it. Pens? Oh yeah. The next night, nothing is where it should be, and you must begin the organizing process anew.
I work fairly steadily, without incident until about 3AM, when I run into a problem in the audit. I'm off by 120,000 dollars. What the hell? How can I POSSIBLY be off by that much. I check some figures, and look at yesterday's audit, which I also did (and submitted to my bosses) and realized it WASN'T BALANCED! For those of you who don't know what an auditor does, they balance money sheets. That's it. My whole job is printing reports, entering money values, and making sure everything prints. So, you can imagine that this was not a great realization.
At about 3:30AM I'm torn between tearing the computer apart and calling my supervisor and crying at her. However, I know she probably won't know the answer to my questions, and I don't want to wake her up. So, I decide to research all the old audits on the computer. Imagine how fun this sounds. It's not as fun as that. I was tearing my hair out in frustration.
At 4AM I realized it was a stupid mistake - and one that isn't even mine. Turns out that every day, the audit sheet needs a number from the previous day. Our Excel files are set up monthly - so up until Sunday, the "yesterday's balance" had been automatically entered. Since I began a new month, it was nonexistent. So....problem solved.
4:10AM I'm reveling in my amazing problem solving abilities! I didn't call anyone, I didn't give up...I worked at it and got it! Whoo! Productive! This is awesome!
4:20AM While on my problem-solving high, I print the few reports that are needed after the audit sheet balances. There isn't much to do after the audit.
5AM I. Have. Nothing. To. Do. Until. 7:30.
5:10AM I start working on homework. I reread chapters in my statistics book because my eyes start to glaze over after a few words. I manage a few basic problems then decide this is a mistake.
5:20AM Trying not to drool on the keyboard
5:30AM FACEBOOK! Facebook will save me. I have Diner Dash and Scrabble etc. So, I play Diner Dash until I'm out of energy. People are starting to walk around the hotel, now, and they all seem to be looking at me thinking, "Man, she is staring really intently at that computer. Is she ok?"
6AM Nothing is saving me from this night. It will never end, and I'll never sleep again.
6:30AM People are really up now - all the workers that are working on the renovation are getting coffee and muffins. They are friendly, and I try to smile warmly and wish them a good morning, but when I smile, my face contorts into a strange grimace. I have no control over my face. It's just flopping around against my will.
7AM I decide rambling on livejournal will totally fix my problem. I don't believe I have ever written something so flawed and obnoxious. As I write it, I know it makes no sense and somehow that makes it better. You know, through my lack of control of sentence structure, grammar and basic logic how fucking tired I am.
THE PUNCHLINE!
I have to go to classes now.
Please. Make it stop.
The overnight starts pretty slow on weekdays. This night was no exception. I went in and started running the usual reports, waking up slowly and acclimating myself with the desk. The desk is a constantly changing beast. One day, you may know where absolutely everything is - stapler? Check. Tape? Got it. Pens? Oh yeah. The next night, nothing is where it should be, and you must begin the organizing process anew.
I work fairly steadily, without incident until about 3AM, when I run into a problem in the audit. I'm off by 120,000 dollars. What the hell? How can I POSSIBLY be off by that much. I check some figures, and look at yesterday's audit, which I also did (and submitted to my bosses) and realized it WASN'T BALANCED! For those of you who don't know what an auditor does, they balance money sheets. That's it. My whole job is printing reports, entering money values, and making sure everything prints. So, you can imagine that this was not a great realization.
At about 3:30AM I'm torn between tearing the computer apart and calling my supervisor and crying at her. However, I know she probably won't know the answer to my questions, and I don't want to wake her up. So, I decide to research all the old audits on the computer. Imagine how fun this sounds. It's not as fun as that. I was tearing my hair out in frustration.
At 4AM I realized it was a stupid mistake - and one that isn't even mine. Turns out that every day, the audit sheet needs a number from the previous day. Our Excel files are set up monthly - so up until Sunday, the "yesterday's balance" had been automatically entered. Since I began a new month, it was nonexistent. So....problem solved.
4:10AM I'm reveling in my amazing problem solving abilities! I didn't call anyone, I didn't give up...I worked at it and got it! Whoo! Productive! This is awesome!
4:20AM While on my problem-solving high, I print the few reports that are needed after the audit sheet balances. There isn't much to do after the audit.
5AM I. Have. Nothing. To. Do. Until. 7:30.
5:10AM I start working on homework. I reread chapters in my statistics book because my eyes start to glaze over after a few words. I manage a few basic problems then decide this is a mistake.
5:20AM Trying not to drool on the keyboard
5:30AM FACEBOOK! Facebook will save me. I have Diner Dash and Scrabble etc. So, I play Diner Dash until I'm out of energy. People are starting to walk around the hotel, now, and they all seem to be looking at me thinking, "Man, she is staring really intently at that computer. Is she ok?"
6AM Nothing is saving me from this night. It will never end, and I'll never sleep again.
6:30AM People are really up now - all the workers that are working on the renovation are getting coffee and muffins. They are friendly, and I try to smile warmly and wish them a good morning, but when I smile, my face contorts into a strange grimace. I have no control over my face. It's just flopping around against my will.
7AM I decide rambling on livejournal will totally fix my problem. I don't believe I have ever written something so flawed and obnoxious. As I write it, I know it makes no sense and somehow that makes it better. You know, through my lack of control of sentence structure, grammar and basic logic how fucking tired I am.
THE PUNCHLINE!
I have to go to classes now.
Please. Make it stop.