7700, couldn't agree more that it would be ideal if all crew were adequately rested. However, the reality is that more often than not, one pair will do better than the other, and common sense would clearly dictate that it be guys who are to be in the seat for TO & ldg.
Perhaps AlphaFloors silk pj dude was just erring a little to far away from the big picture, but I do quite like the idea of taking the middle 8hrs!.
As an aside, in times past it was normally common courtesy for the skipper to contact the other crew, I have almost always managed to achieve this, by either phone or email. Nett result - people rock up knowing what to expect, may not be to their liking, but at least they could plan ahead, and generally they were grateful for the heads up. It appears this is becoming less common place. Perhaps subtle suggestions could be once again directed to those who never/no longer do this, as ultimately, we all benefit.
I can appreciate that with roster changes etc, who actually rocks up may not be who you actually called/emailed, and conversely one sometimes comes across an individual who on principle doesnt check his emails until he next comes to work, but hey thats fine, I've got no problem with that, but he then just gets to take the rest thats given, rather than what he expected.
Any whining is normally met with my explanation of what I had to put up with on early Classic ULH with 3 pilots, where often @TOC it was 5hrs in one seat, a whole hour off, 5hrs in the other seat, (while the other 2 had 6hrs each with their teddy), and the last 45mins to yourself often sleeping through the landing still in the bunk.
So to quote Choppers advice, some people just need to 'harden the f**k up', especially as it's likely we will have more important things to be concerned about in the very near future if we are to remain as a united group.
Brgds