C. During the day (different work-patterns)

Most of the day I do routine tasks, but occasionally there's a crisis or I have to meet a deadline [have something finished by a fixed day or time]. At certain times of the year I have a very heavy workload [amount of work I have to do] but at other times it can be quite light.

I start work at my machine at seven o'clock when I'm on the day shift. The job's very mechanical [you don't have to think about what you are doing] and repetitive [the same thing every day]. All I ever think about is knocking off at three [informal: finishing work]. The shift I hate most is the night shift. I start at ten and work all night till six in the morning. The job's a bit monotonous [boring because it never changes].

I have a glamorous job [very exciting, which everyone admires]. I'm a pilot. The hours are irregular and antisocial [do not enable one to have a normal social life], but I' m not stuck behind a desk [informal: sitting in an office all day] and there's a lot of variety. The stress levels can be quite high when you know people's lives depend on you. I feel sorry for people who are stuck in a rut [stuck in a job they can't escape from] or working in dead-end jobs [jobs with no prospects of promotion].