Two

6:56 am - Wednesday - December 19th - Campbellsville, KY - 30º F, 100% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the south......clear today with a forecast high of 57º F.....tomorrow our location will finally read differently, and we will have a new view....today is the 3rd day in a row without rain.

 December 19th.....we roll our wheels in 4 hours!

As we made the 1/4 mile downhill walk to the concrete bunker for the last time in our 8 week sojourn working at Amazon I felt a lightness in my step, and a surge of optimism.....this would be my last day on someone else's schedule for a very, very long time.  We have worked a lot in the last 12 months, and now it is time to enjoy the fruits of those labors!  

Our 10 hour shift seemed to pass quickly, and I, thanks to the big Amazon AI* in the sky, managed to remain in Building 'A' for the entire shift, even though I was moved around quite a bit.  I finally ticked off the last Pick Mod in the 1 million square foot building......P-4-A.  I only picked 4, or 5 things there, but I was there.  As I heard the final chimes announcing the end of the shift, and the end of our obligation here at Amazon I gave a short fist pump in the air and thought....."I did it!  I finished!".  As we waited in line at the time clock to record our final time stamps in the computer I felt totally out of gas both mentally and physically.....I literally felt like I could not work one more hour, let along another day like several of our Amazon friends are doing, and as I write this morning they are still trudging up and down the endless aisles of Amazon obediently pulling the next item on their Motorola scanners from the designated bin to scan and drop in their tote.....just one tote of about 120 they will fill on this day.

Our friend, Fred, made reservations at Colton's for Tuesday evening at 6 pm about 10 days ago for our orientation group to celebrate the end of our Amazon days this year.  We were home by 5:10 pm, and relaxing before we got dressed to go out to dinner.  Fred had arranged for a private room at Colton's for our party, and it was perfect......

Left to right: Moi, TLE, Fred, Di, Don, Jim, Connie and Wendy

.....in all we had 10 people in our original orientation group, and 8 of us managed to make it to Colton's.  Len and Darlene still have one more day (Wednesday), and will be working their sixth consecutive day in a row, so they were focused on rest and recovery for their final Amazon day.  We had a great group of 10, and were by far the smallest orientation group that I saw this year.  I'm glad we were only 10 as we were able to get to know everyone, and really enjoyed each others company.  Without these friends to laugh with, and talk with each day Amazon would have been almost unbearable.  We talked and laughed for almost 3 hours before finally breaking up for the evening and heading to our respective homes.  I can only speak for TLE and I, but we had a very satisfied, warm feeling as we drove home.

Now we turn out attention to what comes next.  We have left our schedule for the next few weeks necessarily vague waiting for things to develop.  We will head to Nashville where we will spend time being tourists for 5 days before boarding a plane on Monday to fly home for Christmas.  We'll be back in Nashville on the 28th, and then head south into Florida.....from there the Jello is a little murky, but we'll figure it out and life will continue to be good.

Thanks for stopping by!

*AI = Artificial Intelligence

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.

Three

4:15 am - Tuesday - December 18th - Campbellsville, KY - 30º F, 91% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the west by northwest......clear today with a forecast high of 49º F.  Our last day in the concrete bunker is about to begin!  After today no more getting up at 4 am!

December 18th....our last day of work at Amazon!

That vague feeling of ennui (än-wē) is settling in again......it will soon, very soon, be time to exchange 'until next times' with our new friends.  On Tuesday we will enter the concrete bunker one final time through the revolving gate after scanning our ID badges, we will sit in the break room from 6:10 am until about 6:22 am talking and laughing with friends before we walk to swipe our ID badges on the time clock to clock in for the day.  We will head to 'Stand Up' one more time to stretch, hear a few safety and quality tips, some current Amazon news and then pick up our Motorola scanners to begin scanning the first of another 800-1,000 items for the day.

So, what happened Monday, our second to last day in the concrete bunker?  Nothing really exceptional, except maybe that I had my highest picking quarter ever in the 3rd quarter......394 items scanned and 'picked'.....that's what it is like when the 'picking' is easy.  Sometimes you just get on a run where nothing will stop you until the very end of the quarter when you have to empty everything in one 'A' bin (the one at ground level) to find a tiny item....that one bin was all that stood between me and breaking the 400 mark for the one and only time in my life, and, alas, I fell 6 items short as the chimes sounded shortly thereafter announcing the end of the 3rd quarter and break time.

TLE and I worked in P-1-A (Pick Mod 'A') together most of the day, and frequently crossed paths throughout the day.  Sometimes I would see her first and whistle, and sometimes she would see me first and call out 'HOCKWALD!'.....sometimes we would stop to chat for a couple of minutes before continuing.  It was just a nice day all around.  Everyone I saw had a smile on their face, even those whom I have never seen smile the entire 8 weeks we have been here.  Our bodies are kind of worn down by the mostly 50 hour weeks....our eyes are tired, and we're all tired of getting up way too early every morning.  It is time to return to a life of leisure.  As I walk up and down the endless aisles of the concrete bunker I distract myself by thinking about standing bare footed in the warm ocean waters on Florida's Gulf Coast while watching the sun dip beneath the western horizon....I think about taking numerous leisurely bicycle rides.....I think mostly about not being on anyone's schedule except for my own.....no chimes, no conveyor buzzers blaring announcing a conveyor jam up, no more whirring fans.....no more gigantic 'Big Ass Fans' high overhead putting off their 'field of crickets' sounds.....just the sounds of waves lapping around my feet, and warm zephyrs caressing my face....the feel of the warm sun on my body....no more chilly walks at 6 am downhill to the concrete bunker for me!

It is time to hitch up the trailer and roll our wheels once again.....stay tuned and 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.

Four

4:18 am - Monday - December 17th - Campbellsville, KY - 34º F, 98% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the south by southwest.....clear today with a forecast high of 50º F.

Only two work days left!

Sunday was forecast to be cloudy, but not rainy, but oh did it rain!  We first became aware of the rain at lunch via the large windows in Break Room A, and when we exited the bunker at 5 pm you could tell it had only stopped raining an hour, or two prior.

As we walked to 'Stand Up' I turned on my scanner to find that I had once again been assigned to Pick Mod 'E'......'Oh well' I thought....it's only 3 more days of 'E' and I will be free.  Not to fast Clarke.....at 10 am after having picked on all four levels of 'E', and a little in 'F' I got the message I had been hoping for on my scanner...."Change areas.....move to P-2-B and scan a new tote"!  So off to Building 'A' I trundled with a big grin upon my face.  And Building 'A' is where I spent the rest of my day picking.  I was in P-1-B (Low) picking as the final chimes announced the end to day three of our work week.....we are now over the proverbial 'hump'.

It was announced at 'Stand Up' that Amazon would be providing a pizza lunch for us on Monday, so we've got that going for us.  I have noticed that most of my Camperforce associates are wearing big smiles the past couple of days as the the realization that their tour of duty is almost over here at Amazon begins to seem real.  We are all kind of worn down physically, and tired.....in between the smiles I see yawning from almost everyone.  How anyone does this job 12 months a year is beyond me.  Just the overwhelming background sound will wear you down....forget about the miles of walking, and stair climbing each day.  It is my sincere hope I will not be called upon by my Motorola scanner to climb to the fourth floor of any Pick Mod in my remaining time.....the first two flights are alright, but that final 3rd flight to the 4th floor is a killer, especially in the 9th hour of a 10 hour shift.

TLE made her famous anchovie pizza for dinner, and I quickly slipped into a food coma....OMG that pizza is soooo good!  We were again in bed by 8 pm dreaming of just two more shifts in the concrete bunker.

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.

Five (I was wrong yesterday....yesterday was Six)

4:17 am - Sunday - December 16th - Campbellsville, KY - 46º F, 94% humidity, wind 8 mph out of the west by northwest......cloudy today with a forecast high of 52º F.  

Things are winding down here at Peak Season 2018.  People you pass in the long picking aisles of the concrete bunker are talking about where they will be in a few days, or a week.  The end of our sojourn in Campbellsville, KY is in sight....the days of being able to sleep past 4 am are in sight.....the days of sitting on warm beaches south of our current location are in sight.

Saturday I continued toiling in Building 'C' mostly in Pick Mod 'E'....I only spent about 15 minutes in Pick Mod 'F', but picked extensively on all four floors of 'E', and I ended my day on P-2-E as the chimes announcing the end of Saturday's picking session sounded.  In between there was time spent with friends at breaks and lunch, and much laughter.  I will truly miss our good friend Fred and his wonderful sense of humor.  He has a knack for making unexpected comments about sometimes serious subjects that leave you convulsing in laughter.  We will also miss Don and Di (Diantha) and their hilarious stories about their two Whippets (dogs.....kind of a smaller version of a greyhound).  Di is the true expert picker in the group....she managed 1,100 picks Saturday far eclipsing our meager, by comparison, numbers.

When we exited the concrete bunker shortly after 5 pm it had just stopped raining, and it must have rained hard as there were small lakes of water everywhere to avoid.  It is the last rain (fingers crossed) we should have before our departure on Wednesday, so everything, including the gravel at Heartland, should be dry.  The temps over the next few days will be in the 50's with overnight lows mostly in the 40's, so it is also warming a little.

I fell asleep in my recliner about 7 pm and slept for about an hour which messed up my sleep last night.  Oh well, only a few days left and then it won't matter anymore!  By the way, the number in the title of each days blog the past days is the number of days left before we roll our wheels counting from the day I am writing about that day.  For instance, today's title is Five, or 5 days including Saturday until we roll our wheels.  The calendar I post each day shows how many days from today, which is four....confusing, right?

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.

Six

4:13 am - Saturday - December 15th - Campbellsville, KY - 50º F, 97% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the north by northeast......heavy cloud cover, rainy all day today with a forecast high of 53º F.

Gettin' close!

It was back to work Friday, and as we walked to work under threatening skies I reminded myself that it is just 4, or 5 more days of work and then we are free to return to 'Every day is Saturday' mode once again.  As often I do, I struggled to get a rhythm going Friday....I ended the first quarter with 199 picks, so not too bad, but my second quarter was a measly 177 picks.  I try to hit 200 picks per quarter, but the picking Friday morning was not conducive to that goal.  Another factor is that I was merrily picking along in Pick Mod 'A' when I got the dreaded 'Move to a new area' message on my scanner....and that new area is?  Pick Mod 'E'.....ugggghh!  And Building 'C' is where I remained for the rest of the day picking on all four floors of 'E' with a 2.5 hour stint in 'F' thrown in for good measure.  Remarkably, and hence I remark, I managed 350 picks in the third quarter, and an additional 225 picks in the fourth quarter, so I managed to get my quarterly average up to 237 for the day!  Of course, whenever I have a record setting quarter (350 picks is my high water mark this year) TLE almost always out does me, and she managed 368 picks for the third quarter to best me by 18.  I really don't mind getting beat by TLE, because she is really a very fine picker.  She is consistently at 125% of expectations.

When you reach the 320 hours worked mark at Amazon you automatically receive 5 hours of PTO (Personal Time Off).  Normally, as seasonal workers, if you don't use the PTO you lose it at the end of your seasonal job, but because they are letting us go much earlier than normal they are 'paying it out' if you don't use it, so that's an extra 10 hours (combined) we'll get paid for and we don't even have to pick a single thing, or show up for work to collect it!

We emerged from the concrete bunker to pelting rain, and since we did not drive the VW to work we walked home in the rain.  It wasn't really that bad....in fact I kind of enjoyed it.  We both wore our rain proof parkas to work so all we suffered for the quarter mile uphill walk home was slightly damp shoes.

TLE reheated about half of the spare ribs we brought home from Brothers for dinner, and oh how amazing they were again.  Now we have one more dinner of spare ribs, making it 3 meals for the price of one.  As is our custom we turned the lights out and were in bed by 8 pm prepping our tired bodies for another 10 hour shift Saturday.

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.

Seven

4:17 am - Friday - December 14th - Campbellsville, KY - 50º F, 60% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the east......mostly cloudy today with a forecast high of 53º F.

On our donut hole day off work we had little ambition except to gird up for our last 4-5 days of work this Peak Season.  I spent time replacing the sewer connection elbow which I had run over with the VW the other day during the ice storm.  I ordered a new one from Amazon that night and had it in my hands by Tuesday afternoon after work......

.....once the new elbow was installed and my sewer connection reestablished I went about doing my weekly black tank dump ceremony.  The old elbow was translucent just as the one pictured, but the one I got from Amazon is completely clear which will aid in making completely sure the water coming out after flushing the tank a few times is completely debris free, if you know what I mean, and thereby 'clean'.

Once the deed was done we got dressed to go out for lunch at Longhunter's Coffee and Tea Cafe in Greensburg, about 11 miles away in Green County, which is also in the Central Time Zone.  Yup, there are two time zones in Kentucky.  Here in Campbellsville we are at the very western edge of the Eastern Time Zone.  When we got there I thought it was about 1 pm, but their clock read 12 pm.  At first I thought my watch was wrong, then TLE reminded me they are in a different time zone than Campbellsville.....doh!

We visited Longhunter's for lunch 6 years ago when we were here at Amazon our first time.  At the time we visited with our Amazon friends Jim, Sharon, Richard and Pat.....

December 7th, 2012.....left to right: TLE, Jim, Sharon, Pat and Richard

.....we enjoyed our lunch there so much we decided to pay them a visit to see if all was the same, and we were not disappointed......

.....we immediately ordered a pot of their 'Press-Pot Coffee' (french press), and for our entrees I had their Combo #1....half sandwich (BLT), and a bowl of their Potato Soup....TLE had their Corned Beef Sandwich....OMG, that soup was that for which to die!  The food and service were just as fine as they were 6 years ago!

We had a lovely, slow lunch talking about the short time left in the area, and about our plans afterwards.  Time is short and it is time to begin to think about the logistics of our travels to come over the next 6 weeks after we leave Campbellsville.

We were home by 2:30 pm with big, satisfied smiles upon our collective faces, and getting ready mentally for the next 4-5 days of work.....I say 4-5 as we don't know if our MET (Mandatory Extra Time) day on Tuesday will be on, or off, and we probably won't know util Monday sometime.  Either way, this is our last work week before we roll our wheels.

We were in bed by 8 pm....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.

Eight

6:34 am - Thursday - December 13th - Campbellsville, KY - 46º F, 78% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the southeast....cloudy today with a forecast high of 61º F.....yup, schizophrenic weather!

Going to work Wednesday we knew we only had to work 10 hours and we would be off for another day (Thursday) before beginning the final 4 ten hour shifts on Friday (with the remote possibility of an MET day on Tuesday....it is still on as of this writing).  As we moved from quarter to quarter in rapid succession I was thinking about how much easier Amazon was this time around compared to the first time back in 2012.  Already knowing your job, and what is expected helps.  When you are learning a new job time seems to pass much more slowly because of your lack of confidence in what you are doing, and whether you are doing it correctly.  Neither of us had much of an issue with our feet as we did back in 2012 when we were soaking our aching feet after every shift in epsom salts and hot water.  During the shift I caught brief glimpses out the emergency exit doors of a bright, sun shinny day, but by the time we exited the concrete bunker a little after 5 pm it was to heavy cloud cover, but relatively warm temps considering what time of year it is in central Kentucky.

At our first quarter break (9 am) TLE and I decided we would go out to dinner after work, which is something we have not done on a work day since we arrived, even if we are off work the next day.  It just seemed that it was time to revisit our beloved Brothers BBQ, so within minutes of returning home we were in the VW and on our way over to Brothers for a couple of full slabs of St. Louis Spare Ribs.....of course there were a couple of Christmas Ale's to be enjoyed.....

......the service at Brother's is quite exceptional, and within 5 minutes of placing our order we had our brews, and then our ribs.....TLE managed to down about 1/3 of her ribs, and I slightly over half before we surrendered and requested a takeout box to take the remains of our spoils home to serve as a future dinner.  The price point on a full slab of St. Louis Spare Ribs is $20.95, while the price for a 1/2 slab is only $4 less, so buying the full slab, and then taking the leftovers home really makes this an economical meal.....two for the price of one......

There is so much meat on these ribs!

.....we were home a little after 6 pm  which is a testament to the fast service at Brothers!  

We watched a couple more Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel before calling it a night about 9:30 pm.  I am still thinking about those ribs as I write this morning, and knowing there is another slab of ribs awaiting me for dinner tonight just puts a big smile on my face.  Just 8 days counting from Wednesday until we roll our wheels.....

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.

As the World Turns.....

4:22 am - Wednesday - December 12th - Campbellsville, KY - 32º F, 74% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the south.....clear today with a forecast high of 50º F.

And the world turned once again Tuesday.  But, before I get to that let me start at the beginning.  We slept in until about 7 am and it was still just 17º F outside.....brrrrrr!  We knew the high would be in the mid 40's so we put off our lone outside activity until the temperature reached at least the 30's.  What was our one lone outside activity?  That's easy....we needed to dry out the artificial turf and get it into the trailer before the rain comes again this weekend.  We knew Tuesday would be a dry, totally sunny day so if we were going to get the turf dry it would be then.

About 10 am TLE and I drug the turf into the vacant site adjacent to our passenger side where the sun was hitting the ground.  We left the 'grass' side up for about 3 hours and then turned it over to get the underside dry.  All during this time I was working inside the trailer to get it organized for the insertion of the turf, and eventually the VW next Wednesday, our departure day.  It is always slow going organizing the trailer at first.  There are a lot of small things which must be accomplished before the big stuff can be moved, but it is a very familiar process to me after almost 7 years, and I know within a few hours it will be ready.  I used to get full of anxiety whenever it was trailer organizing time, because there were so many things to do, but now I know the process and exactly how long it will take and just plow through it without a thought.  It's also a time that I sometimes will decide to discard something I have not been using, or has outlived its usefulness, and there was a small plastic grocery bag full of such items which I hauled to the dumpster for disposal, as well as an armful of used Amazon boxes representing the things we have ordered from Amazon since we arrived in Campbellsville.

Later in the day TLE made a grocery run while I continued working in the trailer.  By the time she returned it was just about time to move the artificial turf into the trailer.  Finally about 4 pm we did just that.  Now just the unhooking of our utilities remains for next Wednesday.

Now, what changed regarding our Amazon stint on Tuesday?  Well, about 11:30 am both TLE and I received via text message a VET opportunity (Voluntary Extra Time) for Wednesday.  We had discussed this 'what if' scenario Monday evening, and decided if a VET offer was forthcoming for Wednesday we would accept it, and thereby get our 50 hour week with 10 hours of overtime. We were disappointed that our MET for Tuesday had been cancelled, so this worked out well....we got one day off, we'll work Wednesday and still have Thursday off work before we begin our last 4 days of work at Amazon.  So, there are now 5 days of work left, not 4.

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.

Hahahahahahaha.....fooled you!!

7:09 am - Tuesday - December 11th - Campbellsville, KY - 17º F (feels like 17º F), 92% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the south by southeast......clear today with a forecast high of 45º F....

 17º F after 7 am!

Just when we thought we had the straight of it things changed again Monday.  As I wrote yesterday we thought we were going to work two extra days (Tuesday December 11th and 18th) based on the information disseminated to us on Sunday, but at our post lunch 'Stand Up' meeting on Monday the general manager of Amazon Campbellsville, Carlos DeLaGarza, announced that the only VET days available to the Camperforce folk would be Sunday the 16th through Wednesday the 19th......no VET prior to Sunday the 16th.  Of course, for us working the 11th meant we would get 50 hours that week with 10 of them being of the overtime ($22.50/hour) variety, and next Tuesday (the 18th) would just be straight time, but an extra $315 on top of the extra $450 from our overtime day on the 11th.  I write all that to say this....we are now down to 4 days of work left as of the end of business on December 10th.  We have opted not to work Tuesday the 18th and just spend that day putting the finishing touches on getting ready to roll our wheels on Wednesday, December 19th.

On a much more positive note I finally escaped the gravitational pull of Building 'C' Monday afternoon shortly after the lunch break.  I was picking in P-1-F when I got a message on my Motorola scanner to move to.....wait for it.....P-2-B......Building A!  I haven't been in Building 'A' for a month.  From P-2-B I was moved to P-1-B, then  to P-1-A, which is where I picked for the remainder of the day.  Pick Mod 'B' is all things other than clothing, and it was nice for the first time since last Friday to pick something which was not apparel related.  Pick Mod 'A' is all clothing, all the time and is much like P-1-C, P-2-C, P-1-F, and all of E, but it is in a different building and I enjoyed being in a new place within the concrete bunker.  As I picked up and down the long, long aisles of Pick Mod 'A' I could occasionally see outside through the windows in the numerous emergency exit doors along the back wall, plus out the main entrance.  It was a brilliantly sunny day.....a day I wish I could have been outside enjoying, but just being able to see outside once in a while was enough.

When the final chimes sounded announcing the end to week 7 of our 8 week sojourn here in Campbellsville I was already at the front of the complex instead of having to begin my 5-6 minute walk to the front as I have been doing for the past week.  As we exited the concrete bunker we were treated to our 2018 Peak Season t-shirts.....an annual tradition for each Fulfillment Center......

....and then we were on our way up the long 1/4 mile hill to our home.....we will make the round trip walk to and from Amazon just 4 more times before this workamping chapter is complete.

We relaxed Monday evening knowing we did not have to be in bed by 8 pm, and watched two Hallmark Christmas movies.  TLE was quite tired, and was in bed before 8:30 pm, but I managed to stay up until 10:30 pm.

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.

Actually there are now 7 left....

4:13 am - Monday - December 10th - Campbellsville, KY - 29º F (feels like 23º), humidity 78%, wind 6 mph out of the north by northeast.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 43º F.

In our ever changing world in this information age the information about our 'End Date' keeps changing.  There is now NO VET time being offered after 12/19, which is still our end date, but we can work our MET days even if they are cancelled.  As a result of that change TLE and I have signed up to work both Tuesdays (our MET days) on the 11th and 18th.  That will earn us another $765.  When all the accounting is done we should leave here having earned about $12,000 (net) for 8 weeks of toil.

Sunday morning brought us freezing rain....literally....it was raining when we woke up and the rain had frozen on the surfaces of everything including the glass on the VW.  Removing frost from a windshield is one thing, but removing ice is quite another, and it took us a few minutes to accomplish that before we drove to work at 6 am.  Fortunately the roads were not icy.....just everything else.

Inside the concrete bunker once again we were shielded from the weather reality outside, but we trade the bad weather for endless, overwhelming at times, sound.....the sounds of the hundreds of fans moving air....the clickety clack sounds of the miles of conveyors moving customer's orders from 'pick' to 'pack' and out the door to be picked up by UPS, FedEx and USPS and delivered into the welcoming hands of the expectant customers in two days, or less.....the sounds of hundreds of carts rolling along concrete, or wooden flooring.....the sounds of two way radio conversations crackling in the background, and the incessant sounds of beeping Motorola scanners.  There are times when I wouldn't mind just standing outside feeling the rain hit my face....freezing, or not.....:-)

I continued my exile in Building 'C' spending 9 of my 10 hour shift on P-2-E.....not even a short vacation in 'F', for me on Sunday.....the only change was about an hour spent on P-3-E.  Almost everyone in our orientation group was there too, so it's not like I have been singled out, or anything.  TLE continues to enjoy Building 'B' and all the amazing variety it offers, while I only pass through Building 'B' for breaks, and on my way to lunch in Building 'A'.

In spite of my continued incarceration in Building 'C' the time did pass rather quickly, and before I knew it I was hearing the chimes announcing the beginning of another evening of parole, and a return to the outside world for another 13.5 hours......kind of like 'work release' I guess.....:-)

We spent the three hours before bed time watching another Christmas movie on the Hallmark channel and were in bed once again by 8 pm knowing we have just 7 more days of labor inside the concrete bunker before we head south to Nashville, and our flight home for Christmas.

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.

6 left......

4:12 am - Sunday - December 9th - Campbellsville, KY - 31º F (feels like 24º), 82% humidity, wind 8 mph out of the north by northeast.....'freezing rain' with a forecast high for today of 39º F.

Of course, the main topic of discussion most of Saturday was the e-mail received from the Camperforce folk Friday evening about our end date of 12-19, and all of its ramifications.  When we weren't talking about our plans we were grinding up and down the long picking aisles of the FC averaging between 200 and 250 picks per quarter.  I, somehow, got sucked back into Pick Mod 'E' Friday, and never escaped all day Saturday. In the interests of full disclosure I did receive a one hour respite when I was sent to Pick Mod 'F' for an all too brief spell, but I otherwise spent my day on P-2-E and P-3-E  picking apparel, and apparel related items from row 1 to 57 and back.....from the #1 bin all the way to the 273rd bin in each row.  

Our time here at Amazon is quite finite now.....after Saturday we have just 6 work days left (barring any MET days).  We have already discussed and set our final dinner together as a group.....December 18th at Colton's Steakhouse and Grill.  As my good friend Roscoe (Yellowstone General Stores) would say at the end of each shift...."Time to wind 'er down!".

TLE requested and received from one of our managers special dispensation the other day and is now permanently 'locked' out of Building 'C' where the dreaded Pick Mod 'E' resides.  Her sinuses are affected by the dust that is blown around by all the fans.  If only I had a sinus problem.....NOT!  As I head off to Building 'C' at the beginning of each quarter she sweetly mocks me as she heads to my beloved Building 'B' to pick.  Will I escape the surly bonds of Building 'C' in the next 6 days?  Only time will tell....perhaps Sunday will be the day....stay tuned as 'they' say.

We emerged from the concrete bunker shortly after 5 pm to gusty, cold to the bone wind and the feeling of moisture in the air which immediately caused a quickening of our walking pace....we were home in record time!  We managed to get home without being rained upon, and it didn't really begin raining until sometime after midnight, but it sure felt like rain was in the offing.  It was nice to lie in bed this morning listening to the rain on the roof before finally arising at 4 am to another day of endless pacing in Building 'C'.

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It's actually 7.....

4:19 am - Saturday - December 8th - Campbellsville, KY - 31º F (feels like 27º F), 69% humidity, wind 4 mph out of the north......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 35º F.

Back to work day is always the hardest for me mentally, and Friday was no exception to that rule.  I was ready to go home by the end of the first quarter......9 am.  We all started out the day being moved around a lot.  By 7 am I was in my 6th Pick Mod, P-3-E.....as you know 'E' is my least favorite Pick Mod, but there I was moving from 3-E, to 4-E, back down to 2-E, and then 1-E just before lunch.  I was back bouncing around 'E' in the 3rd quarter, after lunch, but finally was sent to Pick Mod P-1-F for about 90 minutes during the 4th quarter before being moved back to P-3-E, then 4-E, then back to 2-E to end the fourth quarter.  Finally by the end of the day I was feeling much more like myself.

We exited the concrete bunker to 35º temps, and it was cloudy and blustery.....a perfect winter day if you are into such things.  I'm pretty much over 'perfect winter days', and am quite ready for some sun, 70's temps, and a little bicycle riding.  Shortly after returning home we got an e-mail from the Camperforce folk advising our (shift DH-3) end date had been moved up to December 19th, and that we could even be released as early as the 15th if we wished, and still get our completion bonus ($1/hour worked)......

We are in shift DH-3....the one circled in red

.....so there it is.....there are actually now just 7 work days left (barring any MET days between now and then, which looks unlikely).  We will be rolling our wheels a few days earlier than expected.  That actually works out much better than the original 'End Date' of 12-23 (a Sunday), which would have had us leaving Monday morning to get down to Nashville (157 miles) with the Newell, and catching our late flight home (5:30 pm) all in one day.  Now we'll have time to get the Newell properly set up for cold weather, and do a little touring around Nashville!  Perfect!

Now if I can get out of Pick Mod 'E' Saturday....thanks for stopping by!

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Is it Ten, or Eleven?

4:17 am - Friday - December 7th - Campbellsville, KY - 36º F, 85% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the north.....cloudy today with a forecast high of 39º F.

Thursday was another wonderful day away from the concrete bunker.  It was actually sunny for most of the day even though the temperature only managed to briefly nudge the 45º mark.  Just being able to go outside and be warmed by the sun as I performed the weekly ritual of black tank purification was much appreciated.  There was no rush to get in out of the bitter cold for a change.

Around 1:45 pm TLE headed into Campbellsville for her semi monthly massage at 'Green Room Salon and Day Spa' whilst I remained behind to take a nap.  Napping often during my days off work is something I look forward to for the four days I walk up and down endless aisles searching for my next 'pick'.  I don't take naps during the work week as there are only 3 hours from the time we get home from work until we go to bed, and taking a nap then seems redundant.

While TLE was gone I walked over to the campground office to pick up two packages which had arrived the day prior.....our new 2019 mini calendar (7" x 7" - we don't have the wall space for a full size calendar), and a new Sirius/XM Radio receiver.  We have three of them (Newell, VW and Trailer) and the one in the trailer was about 7 years old and failing quickly.  I like to have music when I'm working in the trailer, so a working Sirius/XM receiver is a must.  I had to call Customer Care to activate the new receiver, and to cancel the subscription on the old one, but that took just a few minutes and I was back in business.  The new receiver did not cost me anything but shipping ($10.21).  The receivers typically cost about $69, but I just wait until I get an email from them offering one for free before I order each time.  Now all three receivers are updated to current technology....they seem to get smaller with time.

TLE was home a little after 3 pm looking and feeling refreshed after her 55 minute massage for $55.  She had stopped by the store to pick up a couple of things, but after they were put away we returned to watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel (312 on DirecTV).  What a nice way to spend a cold afternoon!

We were in bed at our usual 8 pm looking forward to our next to last week of work at Amazon.  I wrote the other day that we had 15 days left, but I was incorrect.  We had 17 days left at that time, and just 10 now.  I always forget that each Friday and Saturday we are finishing the pay period we began the prior Sunday and Monday (Tuesday if we have MET).  The pay periods run from Sunday to Saturday.  So this Friday and Saturday will complete our current pay period thereby leaving just 8 more work days (with no MET) until we are released.....that's if we are released Saturday, December 22nd, as we suspect.  Currently the published release date is December 23rd, but that begins a new pay period, so we think they will make it the 22nd.  Either way our time is short here in the land of schizophrenic weather....lol!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Finishing.....

7:43 am - Thursday - December 6th - Campbellsville, KY - 23º F (feels like 16º), 92% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the south......clear today with a forecast high of 45º F.

The high Wednesday got to about 33º F sometime late afternoon, but for most of the day it was in the mid to high 20's.....not conducive to outside activities, especially for a native SoCal boy.

Right after breakfast I put the small bathroom heater back in TLE's hanging closet to finish the drying of the wood sub floor.  By 11 am the sub floor was pronounced DRY by TLE.  Then it was time to cut the area rug we had purchased to fit the space.  That took about 20 minutes, but soon the new piece of carpeting was installed and it was time to begin to put TLE's clothing back in the closet, and thereby regain the full use of the salon....

Before.....

After.....

.....we spent the rest of Wednesday watching the Hallmark channel, and one Christmas movie after another.  There was one English Premier game (part of the annual London Derby pitting local team rivalries against each other....in this game Manchester United tied Arsenal 2-2....it was a very good game) that we watched, but otherwise it was Christmas movies all day, and into early evening.  We watched 'Survivor' at 8 pm via live streaming, and then a recorded episode of 'Gold Rush'.

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A small bump in the road.....

6:46 am - Wednesday - December 5th - Campbellsville, KY - 30º F, 95% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the west......cloudy today with a forecast high of 33º F, and a slight chance of snow.

 Had a brief dusting of snow overnight

Originally we had planned to drive into Elizabethtown (about 40+ miles) to do some 'junking', maybe visit a micro brewery, or two, and then come home late afternoon, but Mr. Jello intervened in those plans on Saturday evening.  TLE had gone into her hanging closet which is at the back of the coach on the left side of the bed to get something.  She discovered that the carpet on the floor of the closet was wet!  We had just gone through that 'toad strangler' of a rain storm, and it appeared the rubber gasket around the rear window had been leaking for a period of time, but just at the lower corner of the window which reaches into TLE's closet.  My hanging closet on the opposite side was dry.

Well, what to do, right?  It's about 6:30 pm on a work night, and it will take a while to dry out the space.  First up was to get all of TLE's clothing out of the closet, then I immediately removed the carpet piece, put it in a large plastic bag, and took it outside. I then got out some 2" wide Scotch brand blue masking tape and went outside (it wasn't raining at the time), dried off the rubber gasket, and window in the area where it appeared to be leaking, and applied the tape.  This stuff is amazing!  Even with it being a little damp to the touch the tape still stuck, and held through the night through another rain session.

The offending window gasket and where it was leaking

So, we went to bed Saturday night with TLE's clothes all over the salon area of the coach and just decided we would deal with the aftermath of the leak when we were next off work, which as serendipity would have it was Tuesday instead of the expected Wednesday.  Instead of going into Elizabethtown we dedicated our Tuesday to get the floor of the closet dried out.  I took the small heater from the bathroom and set it on the closet floor and let it run all day long in there.  By the end of the day the floor was 98% dry, and should reach 100% sometime Wednesday.

TLE's empty closet...the floor is almost dry.  You will note what appear to be damp spots, but those are old burn,or scortch marks from, apparently, two shorted out wires that were replaced a few years before we bought the coach.

A few years ago when we were at Cape Blanco doing our volunteer lighthouse gig my hanging closet had gotten a little damp (we had a lot of rain that October, and one day hurricane force winds).  It does tend to get a little damp in that back area because of condensation build up on the window when it is cold and damp.  We tend to forget about that area as we don't access those closets very often.  While my carpet did not get 'wet', it felt somewhat damp so we got it dried out, put everything away, and kind of forgot about the problem until this past Saturday.  Why?  Well we spent most of the next few years in the southwest, as well as at Lake Tahoe where it is quite dry as a general rule.  In order to deal with this issue on a long term basis we made a run to Lowe's to buy some 'Damprid' (moisture absorber), some mildew treatment, and a new carpet piece to put down in TLE's closet after it is all dry and ready to use again.  

TLE's used the 'CLR Mold and Mildew' solution on the floor in her closet, and then treated the carpet in my closet, then hung a bag of the DampRid in my closet, and will also hang one in her closet when we put the clothes back in, and reinstall the new carpet piece.

While we were out at Lowe's we dropped off a large bag of clothes we were no longer using at Goodwill (when you begin going through little used closets you begin to realize there are things in there you have not worn in a couple of years.....time to 'thin the herd'!), and then Krogers to pick up some milk and a few other items (including a new supply of limes for some Margarita's later).  That was the extent of our first day off work this week, although we did watch three English Premier soccer matches (two recorded, one live) in the afternoon after returning from our brief foray into the cold December weather.

In the overall scheme of things our little experience with water intrusion is just part of living whether you live in a sticks and bricks home, or in an RV.  Stuff happens and you deal with it, then move on to something else.  Considering that we have been living full time in our Newell for almost 7 years now it is remarkable how few major problems we have had to deal with in that time.  We have managed to rise to the challenge each and every time.  We don't even really consider what happened to be a major problem......just a small bump in the road.

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.