Working Overnights

[Lifeguard911]

I am working a 2100-0700 graveyard shift right now. We email the daily reports for the agencies we serve each night. Graveyards is also a good time to get caught up grading EMD calls. Every dispatcher hear has special duties. Mine is dealing with all of the maps and training the other dispatchers on maps, so I try and do that when I can. We also are responsible for cleaning the center each night (vacuuming, trash, etc.). I try and save cleaning until after 0300 as a means to keep myself awake.
We are not allowed a TV in dispatch, so we get news of the outside world from the internet.
I stopped bringing books into work when I saw that every time I started to read, the 911 phone would ring.

[ridebmxnc]

well luckily we can bring in our personal laptops and we have a TV with dvd player so I guess I should just be content with that...my prob with reading is I might get sleepy so as long as I am typing or watching an entertaining movie I am fine.

man... you've got it good then. all youve gotta do is pick up a wireless card and get a plan and you can start playing computer games online, watching tv online, etc. i'd kill to be able to have a laptop (or any electronics for that matter) at work. life would be easy.

[Bostondude]

well luckily we can bring in our personal laptops and we have a TV with dvd player so I guess I should just be content with that...my prob with reading is I might get sleepy so as long as I am typing or watching an entertaining movie I am fine.

[bobbbbbbbbbbo]

You learn to appreciate literature very fast. I read through the 4 websites we have access to in my first week (Local News, Webmd, Jems and here). Then I started reading the Enders Game and Beans Story series. Since then, Ive read nearly every Stephen King novel, most of Piers Anthony (including as much Xanth as I could find), and anything else that piques my interest.

Without books, I would have fallen asleep or gone insane. We also can not bring in any outside entertainment if its electronic.

It also was a great study time when I was in school too.

[ridebmxnc]

read EVERY SINGLE ARTICLE on the 4-5 news sites we have access to... we stay decently busy though most nights.

when i dispatched in the Marines we just took a laptop into dispatch and watched movies all night

[MrJim911]

Read, internet and TV (we only get weather and news) just about cover everything. LOL

[Bostondude]

Hey everybody...anybody that works the overnight or what my station calls MIDSHIFT? We start at 5:30 pm and work until 0530. Just wondering what people do during the shift to pass the time other than read, internet, TV. We are not a very busy station at that time of day so I was just curious as to what other do during their shift.