As many of you know, I am a member of the Ozark's Chapter of American Christian Writers. In spite of the fact that I've had nothing published (other than the published ramblings of a couple of blogs), I am also an officer of our organization. My position as an officer is mostly due to my comfort in speaking before a group of people and ability to facilitate our meetings. Perhaps, they felt that by offering me a position on the Executive Team, it would make it easier to get me to agree to run the meetings.
Whatever the reason, as an officer, I was at our summer board meeting today.
Even though the summer meeting isn't really about writing, just being around people that are writing and publishing works makes me want to write more. I even jotted down a couple of ideas about things to write as we discussed various topics of business during our meeting. I hope to write more often...maybe even work on that book thing!
As always, the biggest obstacle is the irregular schedule of an air traffic controller. Throughout most of my career, I have enjoyed working the mid-shift. As a matter of fact, I generally work more than the normal one mid/week by taking one from a co-worker that really doesn't like them. One year I worked 15 of 17 shifts on the mid.
The mids at SGF are very quiet. We have never had the traffic to justify being a 24hr facility, but have had to deal with the politics, pull and power of various levels of government and continue to waste tax dollars to staff and satisfy the unknown needs and irresponsible favors that have been granted along the way.
In many ways the mids have suited me very well. They suit my anti-social self very well as I work my area solo; no supervisors, no other controllers. They don't have a great impact on my sleep time as I haven't ever been one to sleep a normal eight hour kind of night. There are other benefits (including a 10% night differential) that make the mids attractive to me.
However, I'm also beginning to see the benefits of a more regular schedule. Last week I had a rare week without a Friday morning mid. It wasn't too bad. I got a good night's sleep on both sides of the day and felt a good energy level. I have another such week coming up and am looking forward to it. I may quit taking the double mids and even consider giving up my assigned mids when possible. It would be interesting to see how that changes things.
A more normal schedule would offer the benefits of more regular sleep patterns, more regular eating habits, more regular exercise times and the ability to set aside a more regular time to write.
I may have to polish my social skills as I start to work around other people more often. Others may not be so happy about my being there more!
We shall see!
John <><
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