Then, in March I was sent down the road to Lime Grove to work on the night shift writing news bulletins for Breakfast Time.

BBC: Happy Birthday, Breakfast - and newsroom computers

Many of the miners took an unofficial day's holiday for the royal visit, which meant only 117 reported for work on the Monday night shift.

BBC: Cadeby Main mining disaster marked 100 years on

And when sleeping pills aren't enough to help patients stay alert, a wakefulness drug called Provigil is already approved for excessive daytime sleepiness caused by narcolepsy, sleep apnea and shift-work sleep disorder--the exhaustion brought on in some people by working the night shift.

FORBES: Sleep On Demand

In a letter to Steven Newman, CEO of Transocean, Rahall said records from the rig indicate 18 people at work on the second shift with "zero engineers, electricians, mechanics or subsea supervisors" on duty the night of the explosion.

CNN: Rig survivors: BP ordered shortcut on day of blast

Programmers--sorry, seamen--hired from places like India and Russia would have their own cabins, work eight- or ten-hour stretches on either a day or night shift and have the rest of the time to sleep, play shuffleboard or take a water taxi to shore.

FORBES: Magazine Article