post vacation letdown

Here I am just back from a wonderful trip where I met great friends and had a real good time and how do I feel? Depressed. I caught a cold while in Vegas and my sinuses are a wreck. Coughing too. Damn germy airplane no doubt. I get to work yesterday and find we are so busy I'm gonna be stuck on 12 hour shifts for at least the next week. The fact that I work all by myself doesn't help matters any. Despite the fact that my one year checkup came back with the best possible results I feel like I haven't made any other progress with improving my life. I'm still the same old lonely schlub stuck on the night shift. I only get to see my family and friends on weekends and sometimes even not then. Cant eat to fill the void any more and I sure as hell don't want to turn to alcohol or drugs. I don't know, maybe I just needed to vent here a bit. Got some errands to run before another long lonely night at work. Thanks for listening Tim

Tim.. I have to tell you that the first thing I thought about when reading your post was this: 'Why is that smart, funny, nice guy doing a job he's bored with?'.. Tim it seems to me that you have so much to offer and I bet you love to learn why don't you go back to school and teach? Or take a few courses in something that you have been always been interested in and see how it works out.. If you have the time and energy to dig those giant holes in the ground in your spare time you can find the time to do something for you. Something that you love. .. Life is to short to be doing it on the night shift.. think about it.. peace Mo

Tim, I know how you feel about the job. I work second shift, 3:30 till midnight and feel like I miss so much of "life" sometimes. When I am off on the weekends, alot of time, friends and family have their own weekend plans. It's a tough shift and I liked it at first (right after my surgery) but now, I am ready for a change. This week I updated my resume and I am going to start looking for something different asap. I want to be with the rest of my world. Hang in there, you have done an amazing accomplishment this year, and the best is yet to come I believe. {{{Hugs}}}

Tim- I am so sorry your feeling down. You are a super guy, and you need to remember that. Remeber how much you have accomplished in just one year! Hoping your feeling better, Andrea

Timmy! Before I start.......it ACTUALLY seems harder to give you advice now that I know you than it was before....I don't know why....it just is. Now it feels like lecturing, where before it didn't. Hmmm. I think we built this trip up for so long and talked about it for months that it gave you something to focus your attention on. Now that it's past us, you're real life is staring you in the face again. This depression stuff is a good thing......negative emotions are what push us to make positive changes for ourselves. I think it's very common for heavy people to take night jobs or jobs they are underqualified for. They get to make a living and still be "invisible". Well.....now you are a different person. You don't want to be invisible anymore. You want to be amongst the living and have someone to share your life with. All things we told ourselves that we didn't deserve when we were huge. Tim!!! Two things......as you recently told me, your company is on the fence. It might not be around for too long. You ALSO told me that you had many connections that could assist you in finding a job. You need to run with this idea! Get yourself into a happier work environment. Somewhere you enjoy being. A rotton job is almost as bad as a crappy marriage because you HAVE to be there and it consumes SOOO much time and it makes you feel like **** And......Put yourself out there! You need to be joining some clubs or organizations, not necessarily meant for dating, but where there are women who enjoy what you enjoy. I know you well enough to know that you are too shy to walk up to a girl and ask her out. Get involved in something outside work and home repair. When the right woman meets you........she's gonna be smitten! You're a handsome, sensitive, smart guy!!! When you meet people in a club or organization, you can take it as slow as you want because there is no "dating" expectations there. It's a perfect way to meet girls. Go....now...why are you still sitting there? Go join something quick! Get thee a woman!!!!! Love ya, Channan

You aren't a schlub, but you are stuck on the night shift. Sister Vicki says, "get off the night shift" - echoing the advice you have already received from others here. Here is my prescription. Read what Channan wrote again. Read it a third time. Now, follow that advice. I agree with her completely. We love to listen to you, that is part of why we are here. Love you, and take care Tim, -Pam

My husband works nights sometimes and its tough - he can't really sleep during the day, obviously can't sleep at night AND, he works weekends, so it takes a toll, definitely. I went to a spa overnight w/my mother and sister and I'm telling you, when I walked into my front door, the calm evaporated (I have 2 little kids). It was like - hey - I was walking on clouds a minute ago... what happened?!? I hear ya - try to get some rest and lots of water will help your sinuses and that'll make you happier.