RNO1 - Day 6 - Aqua

Just in case you thought it was a fluke, the answer is a resounding "NO!".  After 6 days working as a 'stower' in RNO1 I have to say I really, really like being a 'stower'.  I managed to sleep in until Noon, so that's 5.5 hours of sleep.  My first week, or two in Campbellsville I would be wide awake by 10:30, or 11, and then end up taking a long nap in the afternoon. To help motivate me to stay in bed I set the coffee to come on at Noon, and then it takes about 15 minutes for it to be ready to drink.  I know.....I could just get up and turn on the coffee maker manually, but hey, I'm a little bit lazy, and I really like to get up with the coffee already made.  

I woke up with a little bit of a headache and it took me a little while to remember it was not Monday anymore, but Tuesday afternoon!  That's one of the things about working the night shift at Amazon, or anywhere for that matter.....you go to work one day, and come home a day later....afternoon always feels like morning, and you catch yourself greeting people with "Good Morning.....errrr....Good Afternoon".  The nice thing about working nights is you get to see the sun every single day.....well at least every single day it is not raining, or cloudy.  When you work days this time of year the sun is still down when you leave for work (from Sparks) at 5 am in the morning, and it is way past sundown when you head home at 4:30 pm.  You begin to feel like a troll when you don't see the sun, and that is one of our primary motivating factors for choosing to work at night.

Tuesday Thanksgiving day came early at RNO1.....that is the day Amazon provides an 'all the trimmings' Thanksgiving dinner (for our 'lunch' break at 12:30 am), and gives us a 45 minute lunch, instead of a 30 minute lunch.  It is just one of their ways of saying 'Thank You' to their workers.

We left for work at our usual 5 pm time, and were walking through the front door of RNO1 at 5:35.  We can't clock in until 5:55 pm, so TLE and I usually hang out in the break room until about 10 til.  Once we clock in we head for the 'Stand Up' area to await the daily barrage of announcements, and then do our stretching exercises.  Believe it, or not, but I really enjoy these exercises, and they do loosen me up.  New this time around, for us, is a medication dispenser in the 'Stand Up' area with free pain killers (Alieve, Ibupropen, Tylenol, etc.).  This is a nice touch.....plus it's free!  I used to have to carry my own supply of Alieve, now I don't have to worry about remembering to bring my own!  

Another thing I'm doing differently this year is not carrying a water bottle around with me.....it's kind of a pain in the butt anyway, and often I end up losing the bottle because I set it down somewhere, and forget it.  There are water stations everywhere in Amazon with paper cups, so every hour or so I stop what I'm doing, walk a 100 feet to the nearest water station and get a drink of water.  This works better for me because it gives me 60 seconds to kind of clear my head, and then continue on stowing.....like a mini break every hour.

Tuesday night I was assigned to 'Aqua' to stow (on the Nevada side of the building).....say what?  Yep, here in Fernley Amazon designates the various 'pick mods' using colors instead of numbers.  Since 'Aqua' begins with an 'A' it is the first 'pick mod' as you work your way from west to east in the building, and so, naturally, 'Blue' is the next 'pick mod'......all the colors used are used in alphabetical order, which makes it more intuitive from my perspective, and way easier to find my way around.  Another thing I am liking about 'stowing' is you basically are assigned to a given 'pick mod' for your entire shift.....when we 'picked' we were all moving over the place continuously as the computer randomly assigned you your next item to 'pick', and a rarely spent more than 20 minutes in a given 'pick mod'.  By spending hours in one 'pick mod' I am getting to know my way around, and where the good areas to 'stow'.....the places that provide the most number of empty, or near empty bins to stow stuff in.

Since TLE was assigned to the Utah side of the building, which is quite a long walk from the break room on the Nevada side where I was taking my breaks, she took her two breaks there, and met me for our turkey dinner at 12:30 in the Nevada break room.

Once again the hours passed by quickly......my feet did not bother me, and my only side effect was my eyes were tired from staring at ASIN's all night.....ASIN stands for 'Amazon Standard Information Number.....their own unique 'bar code'......this is what we scan hundreds of times each night.

TLE met me at the exit just after 4:30, and we were in the VW headed home after our second 10 hour day.....Wednesday is our day off, and then we will work two more days (Thursday and Friday) before having the weekend off once again.....so far, so good.

Thanks for stopping by!