Alternating between Campbellsville and Elizabethtown

Wednesday night at Amazon really kicked my butttttt!  As I was finishing my second 10 hour shift I was thinking to myself "How can I do this for 7 more weeks?"....well, that's the printable version of my dark mental processes around 3:30am Thursday morning.  Physically I was doing OK, but mentally I was a basket case.  But, before we go any further with that let's get back to the most important thing for Thursday....picking up the T-Bird from Bob Swope Ford in Elizabethtown.

I awoke around 10:30am thinking I needed to be on the road by 11:30 to Elizabethtown in order to get back around 1:30pm, and rest up before the dreaded third 10 hour shift at Amazon.  The drive in was pleasant enough as I listened to a CD I brought along of "One Hit Wonders" I made years ago.  I think I was on song 24 of 28 when I pulled into Enteprise around 12:15pm.  One pleasant surprise was Enterprise only charged us for one day, even though we had the car for 2 full days......cool.  Then I went over to Bob Swope Ford to pick up our baby.  I have to tell you....even though Josh, the mechanic, was 99.9% positive replacing the alternator would fix the problem, I was skeptical.  Not because I didn't trust him, or, frankly, myself, because that was my diagnosis from the beginning. I was skeptical because these newer cars are so complicated, and soooo electronic now that it was not difficult for me to believe that there was some gremlin in the electrical system.  Nevertheless, I paid my $603 bill, got in the 'Bird and began the drive home.  As I left the town of Elizabethtown in my rear view mirror I continually checked for warning lights on the dash.....there were none.  As I hit the half way mark on the drive home I began to get more comfortable, and when I pulled into Heartland RV Park I had a big smile on my face, and relief in my heart.

I arrived home around 1:40pm (TLE stayed home).  Now I'm beginning to wonder if some of the other electrical issues we have had the last 8 months, while minor, were not the symptoms of a failing alternator.  We have only driven the 'Bird around 2,000 mile since we left Riverside, CA, so it is possible that the other issues were related.....we will see.

Anyway, after getting home I immediately took a nap, had some lunch, then took another nap, then had dinner around 4pm.  In between I was thinking about what I could change to make my 3rd 10 hour shift go better.  I decided to drink a lot more water.  Amazon provides FREE bottled water at several refrigerated dispensers scattered throughout the facility.   On all of our previous 5 and 10 hour shifts I had consumed between 1, and 2 bottles.  I decided to cut out any soft drinks, and drink at least 1 bottle of water every 2.5 hours.  Now that I have successfully completed my 3rd 10 hour shift I can tell you that drinking more water made a significant difference.  Was I still very tired at the end of my shift.....yes, but was I more mentally alert and competent.....you bet!  I think was getting a little dehydrated the first two nights.  The other thing I added was drinking a small cup of coffee at each break.....oh, by the way, coffee is also free at Amazon, and it is not bad.

Well, that's another day in the Amazon.com world.  Things are looking up,and confidence is high.....well, higher than it was before.  Friday is our first payday, and I am looking forward to a three day weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!