RNO1 - Day 3 - Groovin'

One of the things which helped make our choice of Sparks Marina RV Park as our domicile for our stint at Amazon was the opportunity for recreation and availability of services.  There are bike lanes, and bike paths in abundance as well as restaurants, malls, etc.  Additionally there is the lovely Sparks Marina Lake just two blocks from the park which offers a paved bike path around the entire perimeter of the lake, which is about 2 miles long.  Just a mile, or so away is a bike path that follows the Truckee River through downtown Reno which I am planning to explore soon.

On Thursday, after putting out our various patio lights I decided to take a ride to explore some of the riding possibilities around our park, but didn't get much further than the lake when I decided to just ride a few laps around the lake and just enjoy the lovely weather.  The day time temps got into the mid 70's with no wind.

Sparks Marina

In all I covered about 8 miles before heading back to the coach, which for the time being appears  to be rodent free.  We have caught no additional mice after the first two, which is a relief.  We continue to deploy the four traps each night with no results so we are crossing our fingers on that front.  I'll continue to inspect the basement areas for evidence, and/or a reappearance of any 'nest'.

Once again, as we will be doing for the 7 weeks we are here, we were in the car at 5 pm headed for Fernley, NV, and our third shift at Amazon.  This night we were being shepherded around the facility by Art, who is a trainer.  He continued to go over stowing technique, and stowing 'etiquette'.  Ultimately we do this work for the online customer, but in stowing our immediate customers are the 'pickers'.  Both TLE and I remember those long November and December nights in Campbellsville when we grew frustrated with the stowing methods of the 'stowers'.  Having that perspective helps us to stow with a little more consideration about how difficult it may be to pick those items we are stowing.  We avoid cramming and jamming the bins so full you cannot get anything out without pulling everything out.

Art trained us on the use of the Vertical Reciprocating Conveyers, or 'VRC' which are used to move product to the upper levels of each "Pick Mod".  You and I would call these things elevators, but they are only for product, and not for humanoids.....us humanoids must use the stairs.  Like most industries, Amazon has their own particular language, and it takes a while to know what all the initials people throw around mean.  So for 'VRC' is the most unique one.

Our five hour shift went smoothly, and we both feel like we are settling into our new job quote smoothly.  I stowed 4 large carts of product, and TLE 5.....she is always a little bit faster than I, but I hold my own.  Art told us he was very happy with our rapid progress, and Friday night we will be pretty much on our own.  One thing I have noticed is that the time seems to pass by much more quickly than when we were 'pickers', and that is a good thing.  Of course, we'll have a better feel for that 'time passing quickly thing' when we start our ten hour shifts Monday night.  One big difference between picking and stowing is the number of miles covered.  When we were pickers we routinely walked 10-12 miles per night.  As stowers we will probably cover 5-6 miles per night....a little easier on the feet.

Thanks for stopping by!