The Dark Path

[labelwench]

Hello RHK,

This thread was started with the intention of seeking input from the broader community on the effects of continuous night shift work in a physically demanding, high stress workplace.

One emphasis that I have made is that this workplace is the keystone for the food supply for the majority of the population of the Yukon Territory.

The Yukon itself, is tenuously linked to the rest of the world by a highway system that is very challenging to negotiate.

Our long daylight hours in summer and the lack of sunlight in winter are also likely stress factors as people burn the candle at both ends during summer.

Having worked continuously in this venue for 43 months, I found myself forced to cut back to three nights a week for four months, during which time I felt much recovered. I went back to a four shift work week, which thus far, seems more sustainable.

I have been researching this subject on-line and through obseration of my present environment this whole time. The one very helpful intervention was the provision of a balanced night lunch by the employer for the night crew.

Your comments are most helpful and I hope you are able to rejoin us after the aproaching storm has passed.

Labelwench

P.S. -"Well... I kinda find myself lost in the later posts "

There are diverse personalities and perspectives at this forum and threads quite frequently diverge from their original path. I appreciate that your reply focused on the main intent of this thread. LW

[labelwench]

One of the more positive aspects of working the "graveyard shift", I have seen many incredible sunrises, each a unique memory....





Attachment 470

[austintorn@aol.com]

Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night
Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight:
And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught
The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light.


notes: "[f]linging a stone into the Cup
was the signal for 'To Horse!' in the Desert."

[labelwench]

Some interesting co-relations discussed in this link, which may, in part, explain why working the graveyard shift is not something that many people choose to do, or are able to endure in good health, over the long term.

http://www.buergerwelle.de/pdf/magne...nsitivity.html

Attachment 478

[austintorn@aol.com]

You are a lovely creature, Labelwench, one who brightens the night and holds it at bay…

Good and evil were wrought from wrong and right,
When, from nought, twin genii split day and night.
Some think that black’s might can vanquish white,
But night can’t even quench the smallest light!

[labelwench]

A solitary beam of light,
denotes her path,
cleaves the night.

A gibbous moon, on velvet sky,
upon which, stars,
spilled sequins, lie.


The 5.7 L engine purred gently, low RPM's, most fuel efficient of it's kind. Tango and she glided to a halt. Empty parking lot, brightly lit yet empty building.

First to arrive, they sat silent, observant.......as one with the night......

Attachment 482

[austintorn@aol.com]

— W h i t e N i g h t s —

As the sky began to fall, all around,
The sequinned stars floated down to ground.

Never did I know of a world so white,
As when the tundra was lit by moonlight.
Oh, it was a crystalline cathedral
Built from falling stars in the holy night.

[labelwench]

Well cognizant of her immeasurably small place in the great scheme of existence, Labelwench awoke in a reflective frame of mind:

There was an old man whose morning habit was to take a long stroll along the beach. He would pause numerous times along the way, bend over to pick something up, and then toss it back into the sea.

The youth of the village, idling their time in conversation and coarse humour, noted his custom, and one day the boldest of the lot swaggered over to him and remarked.

"Hey, Old Man! What are you doing, wasting your time like this, throwing those stupid starfish back into the water? There must be thousands of the dumb things, and there's no way a gimpy old dude like you is going to rescue them all. What difference does it make?"

The old man, painfully bent over, and then examined the starfish he held slowly from several angles, allowing the young man to really see some of the details of it's being, likely for the first time.

After several moments, he replied, "Your observations are correct, young man."

Then he gently tossed the starfish into the ocean, looked him kindly in the eye and commented, "It made a difference to that one."

[labelwench]

My current area of study is my employment venue and the long term effects of graveyard shift on the human metabolism. It appears that night work is about to be acclaimed by an accredited organization as a known carcinogen. LW

An excerpt from the following link:

http://www.theinsomniablog.com/the_i...adian_rhythms/

Does Your Job Cause Cancer?
Remember the days when smoking wasn’t linked to cancer? At first, it was un-thought (and unheard) of, then it was invariably presumed, then it was proved. Well, get this: graveyard shift work is now considered a “probable” carcinogen. And the proof is already mounting.

This month, the World Health Organization's cancer division will classify shift work as a probable carcinogen—just like anabolic steroids, ultraviolet radiation, and diesel engine exhaust. (Following suit, the American Cancer Society said it would most likely add shift work to its list of “known and probable carcinogens” as well.)Scary?

I think so. In a fast-paced world that demands shift work in numerous industries, millions—billions perhaps—could be affected globally. About 20 percent of the working population in developed countries work night shifts.

[austintorn@aol.com]

At IBM, there was smoking, then just in one's office, then in a special lounge room with a TV, (then I put in a suggestion for a drug or love room), then it moved right outside the entrance, then 150 feet away, then they built a little hut for smokers outside, and then everybody died.