We walked to work in the fog Sunday morning, and exited the concrete bunker to threatening skies........the rain materialized around 8 pm, and then went away. The wind, however, blew all night long, shaking the Newell from time to time.
So, how was work you might wonder? It was fine.....I guess. We continue to do well physically, but are all getting mentally tired by the 4th quarter (2:30 pm to 5 pm) and wishing we had a recliner in which to take a nap. I notice each day about 4 pm I begin to make a lot of mistakes as to which bin I should be scanning, and that happened a lot on Sunday. About 4 pm my brain reached the 'sensory overload' status and I couldn't seem to tell Bin P-2-C-67-45-A from P-2-C-68-45-A (the highlighted number is the Row number). I'm scanning bin 45-A on Row 67 on one side of the aisle, when I should be scanning a bin 45-A on Row 68 on the other side, right behind me. When I scan the wrong bin, or wrong item, or forget to scan the tote at the appropriate time I get this 'Bee-Boop', 'Bee-Boop' sound emanating from my scanner. It is a very disconcerting sound which makes you feel as if you are being scolded.
For 10.5 hours your senses are being overwhelmed by the constant whirring sound coming from all the hundreds of fans, the clackity-clack sound of the conveyors conveying, and thousands of alpha/numeric combinations flashing across your scanner screen one after another, minute after minute, hour after hour. At some point, usually around 4 pm for me, I begin to see alpha/numeric characters which are not there and begin to hear that scolding 'Bee-Boop', 'Bee-Boop' sound way too often. About that time it seems that time begins to slow down, and seconds begin to seem like minutes. It seems that some unseen hand is grabbing the minute hand on your clock and not allowing time to progress. About this time you begin to feel like you are the only person left working in the concrete bunker.....you are certainly convinced that you are the only one still picking on P-2-C, and that time for everyone else is still progressing as it should meaning they have gone home, and left you in your particular time warp to pick all alone.
Then, at last, you hear the loud (and I mean LOUD) 'Ding Dong', 'Ding Dong' (chimes) announcing that you may now proceed to the front of the building, logout off , and put away your scanner only to stand for a couple of minutes transfixed, watching the time on the time clock NOT change.....it seems to keep flashing 4:53 pm for way too long. Finally, after an inordinate amount of time (probably 120 seconds) the clock changes over to 4:55 pm and you are now free to punch the clock and escape to the outer world once again......on parole for 13.5 hours before you voluntarily return to 'wash, rinse, dry, repeat' for another 10.5 hours.
In between 6:30 am, and 5 pm there are the wonderful breaks spent with good friends talking and laughing, with an emphasis on laughing. It is those brief breaks from the mind numingly boring repetitive task job you willing subject yourself to 5 days a week that seems to make everything more bearable. But, here we are, three fifths of the way through our 5th week of work.....only 17 more days of labor remaining before we will fly home for Christmas to see our kids and grandkids! We will leave Campbellsville with our bank account brimming with new funds which you have already earmarked for next summer's adventures in Alaska.
Thanks for stopping by!
When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which helps defray our travel expenses to a small degree.
I am in awe of both of you for your work. You two are tough!
ReplyDeleteClark: should you take an aspirin before 4pm? I have migraines. When you see things (not really there) you may be experiencing brain tired. Be careful and go slower when you experience these visual/sensory problems. Best wishes! Love reading your blog. Alaska is going to be great after this work!