[One]

Dear Friends,
I drive all night and sleep during the day, thats how I make the bread, and its no walmart bread that lasts 2 mos.
Now most weekends when i get home sat mornings, I can go to sleep as soon as I get home ( sometimes as early as 5am) and just take a few hrs nap to hold me over and be around all day to do things with the lady and pooches. I get tired again around 8pm and sleep till before the dawn sun morn, then take a nap during the afternoon to be ready to go than night. Often i dont leave out till mon night though.
Well, not this weekend: I got home sat at 0930, and faded fast. slept till 1500 and awoke to a grumpy lady. Sat night I was tired at midnight, but when we went to bed at 0200 I was wide awake and couldnt sleep. I got up for a few hrs and retired at about 0500 and finally fell asleep after a while. Now, sun I got up at 1530 and the lady is pissed at me talking about I have obligations to the dogs too and i know she feels neglected, so I reminded her that i drive at night and couldnt help it, but she was still pissed and made a dramatic exit to be by herself for a while....I have a great relationship, we are soulmates, I know shell b back in an hour and want to cuddle or something but what can I do but ask for understanding???
_________________

[Fozzy]

Show her a few accident clips of what it looks like when drivers fall asleep behind the wheel. I've been working nights for almost five years. It's just something that has to be adjusted for by everyone!

[One]

thats a good idea, ill try that approach....I guess im a bit annoyed that people do not tend to understand and act like im one of those that party all night and sleep all day, wich im not...People will call me during the day eventhough they know, even people from my company!!!wtf?

[Fozzy]

Sounds like this is what they WANT you to do. I warned students about this on the first day of classes. The day they get a trucking job, their lives really are not theirs anymore. The days of being able to show up to work half bombed or sleep deprived just cannot happen anymore. Sometimes this is like guys getting out of prison! if they start to hang out with their old buddies (misery loves company) they start trying to get right back to the old ways and the old days.

It's tough having to live life as a night dweller!

[Useless]

First of all, turn the phones off. The world really can turn without you!!

During the weekends, have a portable phone for your family to use. Get some foam earplugs (any drug store will have then, they are very inexpensive!! Get a box fan to run and drown out the noise of a busy family.

As for your wife?? If she enjoys such things as eating, cooking from a gas or electric powered stove, a cold refridgerator, lights on in the home, having clothes and health insurance for your kids, and a roof that doesn't leak, then she should be mature enough to support you.

Fozzy had an excellent idea about showing her what happens when drivers fall asleep behind the wheel!!

[Templedawg]

best thing for the phone calls during the day, is call them at 3 am. When i switched from P&D to linehaul everyone still called. I would always get the "Oh, were you sleeping" bunch of BS. Once you call them at 3 am and ask if they were sleeping it shouldn't happen again!!!! I was so lucky my cousin in law hasn't called in 2 years after i called her at 245 on a tuesday night.

[coalregion]

Originally Posted by One

and the lady is pissed at me talking about I have obligations to the dogs too

:shock: :?

[GMAN]

Perhaps you could set a time for just you and your wife to do some things together. Working different shifts can be difficult.

[Malaki86]

Reminds me of when I worked at a factory - 6pm to 6am shift.

My in-laws (now ex's) came to visit one weekend (we worked all weekend). We had explained my work hours, so you'd expect people in their 60's to understand. HA

I got home at 6:30am on Saturday and tried to follow my same internal 'schedule', so I said quick hello's, took my shower and was heading for bed. About 4 hours later, my mother-in-law decides I shouldn't be sleeping all day, so she decides to start vacuuming our bedroom. Mind you she is visiting from 300 miles away, not sitting in her own house.

My wife and her kids KNEW never to wake me up unless it was an emergency, and the mother-in-law very quickly found it out herself. I'm not a happy camper when I get woke up early.

It was probably about 3 months before she (mother-in-law) would speak to me in 'human' responses again.

[jjh1001]

This kinda reminded me of what ive been dealing with latley.. i also drive nights and usually on the weekends i could easily switch around to sleeping at night but for about the past month i havent been able to sleep at night no matter what, so ive just had to deal with it.