How To Change It Up

Over the last six weeks I’ve been “reassigned” (i.e. “banished”) to our slowest station on the north side of the river. This has been through no fault of my own—it all has to do with scheduling and who is certified to work where. No big deal really, except that it’s a 70 mile round trip and has cost me a lot in gas to get back and forth. There have been some positives to working the slow station, though. Typically I’ve been sleeping all night. I’ve been able to get my prep work for class done while on shift.

But, the commute is a bitch and I’m blowing through gas money so quick that I feel like I should be just lighting piles of cash on fire. I have to get up earlier than normal to be to work on time. And I run very few calls (meaning I don’t get to practice many skills) and it weights my calls heavier when calculating my transportation (or non-transport) statistics.

So the plan: At the end of the month, I’m moving to a 12-hour day car. After four years working 24-hours shifts and rotating through stations, getting up in the middle of the night for calls, postings, and transfers, I’m trying something new.

My wife and I just celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary, so I think about it this way: for almost my entire marriage, I’ve been away from home, not sleeping in my own bed a third of the time. Time for a change I think.