This shift seems to be rather popular with data centers for some reason.

Wouldn't be a data center in VA?

I've been working that same schedule for the last year or so and love it. Every week I have Thursday morning through Sunday evening off, and every other week I get Wednesday off as well.

It's actually 36 and 48 for an average of 42 hours/week. However, I very much enjoy having that "long weekend" every weekend.

I'm currently doing remodeling work around the house and having a full day or two during the "workweek" to do these projects is almost crucial. I couldn't imagine accomplishing running wire and drywall in the evening after dinner and a bit more on Sunday when some of the stores close early.

On any job I've worked where I worked the "9-5, M-F" deal, I always hated getting of work and finding that various offices/banks/stores were closed. So many errands stack to get done "by noon on Saturday". If I couldn't do a flexible (4x10) schedule, I would try to shift my hours to earlier (7am-3pm) so I could do stuff in the afternoon.

When I was younger, I tried shifting my work schedule to later in the day: 10-8 or 11-9. I liked it at first because I like sleeping in and staying up late, but I soon discovered that I didn't have time for anything. I stayed up all night by myself and then slept till it was time to go to work. Once I forced myself to get up for a 7am shift a few times, I got used to it.

On a side note, I do Linux admin work at a 24x7 data-center and doing the home repair adds a nice sense of balance.

I think that really sums up the difference between working with a Linux server and working with a Windows server.