I did Material testing for a paving crew east of Grande Prairie for a few summers and since the house our company rented was right off the highway we worked some crazy hours. From 5-7am depending on when the contractor started until 9-10pm sometimes later. The real kick was how many consecutive days we could work. My longest streak of working days in a row was 57. One guy on the crew worked over 78 days.
I guess it sounds harsh but there would be about 5-6 of us staying in the house and the lab was set-up in the backyard. So we'd shadow the contractors hours and then go back to the house and work in the lab and the office, drafting and testing samples. So it kind of split the day up, plus we'd drink lots when we were done on-site and back at the house.
anyone whose ever been in the army likley had to go 3+ days without sleep sitting in a trench during basic.
add on top of that numerous exercises from 2 days in length up to weeks while sleeping an hour or two here and there.
yep been there.....72 hours straight, the worst part was the 4 hour drive at the end in a track......try keeping your eyes open when that thing is trying to rattle you to sleep....
Location: Chiefs Kingdom, Yankees Universe, C of Red.
Exp:
I have probably never done more than 19 or 20 hours straight. One August I put in over 400 hours which averages 13 hours a day. When I first got out of high school I did over 60 days straight with out a day off. I don't miss those days at all. Although I think doing things like that at a young age help to build character.
I did Material testing for a paving crew east of Grande Prairie for a few summers and since the house our company rented was right off the highway we worked some crazy hours. From 5-7am depending on when the contractor started until 9-10pm sometimes later. The real kick was how many consecutive days we could work. My longest streak of working days in a row was 57. One guy on the crew worked over 78 days.
I guess it sounds harsh but there would be about 5-6 of us staying in the house and the lab was set-up in the backyard. So we'd shadow the contractors hours and then go back to the house and work in the lab and the office, drafting and testing samples. So it kind of split the day up, plus we'd drink lots when we were done on-site and back at the house.
Yep I drove one of these http://www.clipartof.com/details/clipart/22042.html for a few months one of the times when I returned from working overseas. A buddy said if I wanted to just work and work and work and get some cash I could virtually work every hour of the day and every day. Which is basically what we did from June(when I joined up) till late October.
Should point out that the overtime tax rate sucks but it is a lot of cash rolling in. But no I wouldn't do it again.
Or as I liked to call it, the eating instant coffee grains by the handfull while seeing ninja bunny rabbits trying to kill you phase of BT.
Personally, I always loved watching the trees off in the distance turn into giant soldiers while laying in an ambush position at dusk for an hour after being on ex for two weeks already and averaging maybe 3 hrs sleep per 24 hour period. Accidently being completely asleep, drooling all over your rifle when the shooting starts can be good exercise for the heart too.
That sleep deprivation can be better than any drugs, I tells ya.
Personally, I always loved watching the trees off in the distance turn into giant soldiers while laying in an ambush position at dusk for an hour after being on ex for two weeks already and averaging maybe 3 hrs sleep per 24 hour period. Accidently being completely asleep, drooling all over your rifle when the shooting starts can be good exercise for the heart too.
That sleep deprivation can be better than any drugs, I tells ya.
Uh, soldiers use ecstacy? Seems kind of counter-productive doesn't it?
A soldier is supposed to kill the enemy, not have a heart to heart while giving a hand massage and teaching them how to dance with glowsticks. Lol.
__________________
So far, this is the oldest I've been.
The Following User Says Thank You to Traditional_Ale For This Useful Post:
Longest shifts I've dealt with is during harvest season probably. Up at 7, go service combines, move trucks, do whatever to get ready for the day, get coffee while everything dries a little bit, then go till about one or two in the morning if we're really behind.
The longer shift though is something I've hardly done, as I'm too much of a young buck to handle the pressure of the damn thing. Pops or my uncles are up when the sun rises, and sit in our big tractor pulling an air drill until dark.
