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Being on Call

tyler.kim

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Re: Being on Call

#21

Post by Clewza313 »

yuliyp wrote: post #5

What is the point of such a crazy schedule? If someone has to do a double-graveyard shift and is basically useless the rest of the week, why not just split that shift into two so you don't destroy all of the people who try to cover such shifts. People can generally work 4-12 without much trouble or needing to recover after it other than weekends. Doing 12-8 might be an every other night kind of thing. Having a couple…

Welcome to Hell Korea. The country is infamous for poor working conditions, particularly in the military, where the author was apparently serving out their mandatory military service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell_Joseon

http://www.koreatimesus.com/hazing-deaths-in-korea-disturbin...

Re: Being on Call

#22

Post by Cthulhu_ »

wombatmobile wrote: post #14

It is normal for governments to treat defense personnel like soldier ants. The reasons for this date back hundreds of millions of years.

I mean, I get military discipline; in war, you need to be able to rely on your people, they need to do what they are told and not question things because we'll be here for a while, etc.

But this is a guy at a desk on a night shift who seems to be mentally dead most of the time anyway, to the point where he's not able to do his duty (sleep through phones), AND he handles ammunition in this (self described) half dead state.

The military knows the risks of sleep deprivation and half awake personnel.

Re: Being on Call

#23

Post by angarg12 »

What is the point of this article?

As far as oncall go, this is an anti-pattern. You should have metrics, alarms and tickets, and oncall should get alerted out of working hours only of high impact issues that require human intervention.

If it is about the requirement to pull all nighters or crazy schedules, some jobs do it in a regular basis (I would know, my sister is a nurse in a hospital).

Re: Being on Call

#24

Post by lostlogin »

unixhero wrote: post #3

Being on call, this is more working actively and being attentive throughout almost all night!

Yes - the post describes shift work.

Oncall is where you go in, then go home, then go in, then go home, but as you touch your back door, you are called back. You say something regrettable to the caller and then apologise. You’re so tired your almost crying and can’t get your laces done up. You drive in, can’t recall the drive and the you are due back for your day shift in 2 hours.

Re: Being on Call

#25

Post by bayindirh »

zdkl wrote: post #18
watwut wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imo, whether being soldier is noble depends very very much on which army you are in and what are current goals and conduct of said army.

One could argue the qualities of a soldier or officer (individuals) transcend their organisational context (groups) and time. In other words: politics, technology or best practices change, not the responsabilities. The ability (necessity, even) to adapt to that fact defines a fit-for-service soldier/officer. So, I contend you find remarkable soldiers even in terrible groups, and that they (individuals) should not be…

Thanks for clarifying. This is exactly what I was trying to compose in my mind as an answer, but unable to do so.

Re: Being on Call

#26

Post by randyrand »

angarg12 wrote: post #23

What is the point of this article? As far as oncall go, this is an anti-pattern. You should have metrics, alarms and tickets, and oncall should get alerted out of working hours only of high impact issues that require human intervention. If it is about the requirement to pull all nighters or crazy schedules, some jobs do it in a regular basis (I would know, my sister is a nurse in a hospital).

> Most of the work is answering and making calls, updating documents, and making sure that nothing is out of the ordinary.

This is not a programming / automated position.

Re: Being on Call

#27

Post by wombatmobile »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #19
wombatmobile wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why would you glorify hurting yourself like this? You sound disapproving, incredulous, or perhaps mystified, but you probably have similar dynamics in your own culture that you hardly notice. Do you not see the parallels with crunch coding, or all nighter heroics at law firms and brokerages? Or even the obesity that inevitably results from lifestyle advertising for junk food?

I see the parallels, but I don't do those either, fuck that, there's no reward for that. It's a subculture that a small percentage of people are able to follow, and often only while they're young.

Fair enough.

Why do you think some other individuals embrace those behaviours?

Re: Being on Call

#28

Post by unixhero »

lostlogin wrote: post #24
unixhero wrote: post #3

Being on call, this is more working actively and being attentive throughout almost all night!

Yes - the post describes shift work. Oncall is where you go in, then go home, then go in, then go home, but as you touch your back door, you are called back. You say something regrettable to the caller and then apologise. You’re so tired your almost crying and can’t get your laces done up. You drive in, can’t recall the drive and the you are due back for your day shift in 2 hours.

That's pretty funny. In IT it would be more like just getting phonecalls in the middle of the night and operating Service Now tickets, "Mr John Jackson, it is from mainframe services. We need you to file a ticket for team Z to restart service Bob and server Alice." Then go back to bed, and get well paid for it.

Re: Being on Call

#29

Post by dijit »

This seems counter-productive. Humans with sleep deprivation are prone to mistakes (as the author admits).

I know "we do what our bosses tell us"- but honestly if it was me I would be informing my boss that this is counter-productive and will cost the company (or in this case the country and it's countrymen). Much better to have staggered shifts or even a small night crew.

Re: Being on Call

#30

Post by zxcvbn4038 »

One place I worked had six operators on site 24/7 in a restricted access floor of the building. At any time five of them would be asleep and the sixth would watch the cameras and wake everyone up whenever someone arrived in the elevator lobby. They had there own rotation of who would be woke and who got to sleep. Even during the weekday no one could gain access to their room without being buzzed in, so their manager was none the wiser. He found a pillow one day but it was explained away as belonging to one of the operator’s kids and that answer satisfied him.
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