h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It can get interesting, living with someone whose work schedule is opposite most of the world. Logically, the simplest way for Tom to deal with working 10pm to 7am would be just to swap am for pm evenly. And to keep that schedule on his days off (most weeks, he works 4 nights--3 wouldn't be worth it, and 5 would be full time hours--enough weeks of full time hours, and you're a full time employee with benefits--which of course must be avoided at all costs) Of course, that's assuming one has no family--if one wants to actually see one's spouse and children, one must tweak the sleep schedule. That also assumes that one has no other obligations during the week, that were started before one started working graveyard--or before one asked to change which days one has off.

Currently, Tom works Wibble, Thing, Poets, and Doobry nights. (W*dnesday-S*turday to nonThingites). He sometimes gets asked to work an extra night at either end of his week, though sometimes we ignore the phone those nights This past week was fairly typical (I'll use dates, to avoid Thingite/nonThingite confusion). The 11th, Tom slept in, since the previous night was the start of his weekend. I took the girls to school, and Tom was awake a bit before I left for work at 10am. He picked up Notepad at 11am, and watched her until I came home from work and picked PaperKid up from her school. Normally, we would've had our date night, but our babysitter was not feeling well. So, after the girls went to bed, we debated which new-to-us series we should watch on Netflix. After Jericho, Firefly, Outcasts, and Terra Nova, we decided we couldn't take any more short-run series. We had been watching Red Dwarf, but Tom didn't like it as much as I did, and I liked the first 2 seasons much better than the others, anyway. We went to bed at the same time, and Tom slept in the next morning. The 12th followed the same pattern as the 11th, without the expectation of a date. The 13th was the day of the week that both girls get out of school early--and also the day of the week that Tom generally takes the girls to school, giving me a chance to not have to go outside until later. Tom picks up Notepad about the time I'm almost ready to leave the house for work, and picks PaperKid up at 12:30. This is the day of the week that outside chores will likely get done, at least by Tom, since it still sort of feels like a weekend, but work is waiting. Tom might try to squeeze a nap in, because the next day is pretty sleepless. On the 14th, Tom got to bed just before 8am, and had me wake him up around 10am--he took me to work at 10:30, so that he could be sure to be awake to pick Notepad up at 11. I'm home shortly after 2:30. This week, Tom actually had time to take a short nap--we have people in the house every week, and that's the day. PaperKid helps me get the house ready, and when Tom gets up, he also helps. We have people in the house from 6pm to 8 or 9, and then Tom gets ready for work, and goes--having gotten, at most, 3-4 hours of sleep since the previous day. So I have an arrangement on the 15th that lets Tom sleep straight through to late afternoon when he gets home from work--someone else picks Notepad up from school. We spend the evening as a family--or maybe spend the evening doing chores. The 16th, no one has school, so that's another chance for sleep--and a chance for cuddling in bed. This is also Tom's last work night of the week. Today, the 17th, Tom has been asked to preach at a church whose regular pastor is ill--he was asked last night, so much of last night was taken up with preparations. Since this church is out of town, and their service starts earlier than our usual church, we need to leave a bit earlier than usual--which means Tom got to have a whole hour of sleep. This afternoon, as usual, he had ministry on the street corner, with no time for a nap between. When he got home, he laid down on the couch, on the theory that he'd be more likely to be able to get up before the girls go to bed (which theory will be proven wrong in less than half an hour). He may or may not wake up in time to watch something with me before I have to go to bed--I should probably put his dinner in the fridge so he can reheat it and eat later, though I'm not sure how well grilled cheese will reheat

I think that might have been best presented as a table, or a diagram with arrows.

Maybe the grilled cheese will better the second time around. The bread/toast probably won;t be, though.