RIP Chuck Z.......

6:55 am - Thursday - November 8th - Campbellsville, KY - 39º F, 80% humidity, 8 mph out of the north by northeast.......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 51º F.  Our weather outlook for the next 13 days.....

......notice the first two days, Friday and Saturday, in the first screenshot circled in red.....lows in the 20's.  Then look at the second set of two days also circled in red......lows in the 20's again, with possible snow on Tuesday with an overnight low of 21º F.....winter is coming ¡'mas rapido'!

Of course, then there is the amazing sunrise we are having as I write at 7:17 am Thursday!  I will live for today, and leave the freezing temperatures for another day.

Before I get into Wednesday's events I need to pause here and talk about my good friend Chuck Zimmerman who passed on from this life too soon.  I first met Chuck in 7th grade at a private school we attended.  We had a very small class.....just 14 students in all.....7 boys and 7 girls.  As one might imagine we were all good friends, and are still in contact to this day thanks to Facebook, and other social media outlets.....

Chuck and his wife Joy a few years ago

.....as preteens, and teenagers we shared many adventures which included canoe trips in the Northern Minnesota boundary waters, and on the Colorado River.  We went camping together many times.  We rode our bicycles everywhere in Junior High.....we played pickup baseball, basketball and football games on the weekends.  We pulled pranks on each other...we learned how to ride motorcycles together.....I could write a book on all the amazing times we shared together.  The last time I saw Chuck was in 1997 at our 30 year high school reunion.  He was doing well. He moved to Florida from Arizona for a number of years until he retired a couple of years ago and moved back to Arizona.  I had just been in contact with his wife Joy a couple of months ago when she messaged me asking if I remembered a camping trip she, Chuck, Elaine and I had taken in the summer of 1972 when Elaine was 7 months pregnant with our first son.  Out of the 14 kids in our 7th grade class just 9 remain in this life.  We all feel as if a piece of us died yesterday.  We are, after all, the sum total of all of our experiences, and all the people with whom we have shared time with on this earth.  RIP Chuck Z......you are dearly missed!

Wednesday was a day for small tasks.  I spent time raking the leaf accumulation off our artificial turf, attaching the 2019 tag to the license plate for the Newell, updated our insurance cards for both the VW and Newell, and made sure all the current registration info on both vehicles is where it can be located quickly.  I then spent time fabricating a sign which we will deliver to our friends in Inverness, Florida when we visit them in January.  They have this cool sign post in their yard......

....here is the beginning of our contribution.  I used my wood burning tools to begin the sign....there is a long way to go, but it is coming along....

.....I've got a lot more work before it is finished, but I am pleased so far, and so is TLE.  That, and the weekly black tank dumping was the sum total of my activities for Wednesday.  I spent time with my feet elevated, and took a few timely naps.  Around 5:15 pm we jumped in the VW to head into Campbellville to Brothers BBQ where we had dinner with friends Ed, Jackie, Bernie and Richard.  We met Ed and Jackie on our way to Maine, and Ed invited Bernie and Richard who are both Camperforce folk along with us.  I had the 'Full slab of St. Louis Spare Ribs' along with Ed.  Of course it was way too much to eat in one sitting, but there will be a couple more meals out of the leftovers for sure.  We talked endlessly for almost two hours, and had a wonderful time.  I wish I had memorialized the time with at least one 'usie', but I was remiss.  Yelp gives them 4.5 stars on 73 reviews, and TripAdvisor 5 stars on over 150 reviews.  I would be right at 4.5 stars.....amazing ambiance, beyond amazing food, and wonderful, personal service.   Sharing it all with good friends is just the icing on the proverbial cake.

We were home before 8 pm relaxing, and looking forward to another off day on Thursday.  I fell asleep in my recliner but awoke around 9:30 pm and joined TLE in slumberland a few minutes later.

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Conquering new Mods.......

7:16 am - Wednesday - November 7th - Campbellsville, KY - 46º F, 81% humidity, wind 2 mph out of the east.......cloudy today with a forecast high of 51º F......my, how the weather changes from day to day here in Campbellsville!

Wednesday sunrise peaking through the clouds

It would seem, in retrospect, that Monday's late move into Building 'B'  portended how things would go for me on Tuesday, our VET (Voluntary Extra Time) day.  Just when I needed a mental boost the most I received it in spades.  I began my day in Building 'B', and never left it.  I wandered through the endless rows of Pick Mods P-1-Q, P-1-D (Pick Mod D has four levels like K, but I only picked on P-1 on this day), P-1-J, P-1-K, P-2-K, P-3-K, P-4-K, P-1-L, P-1-M,  and last, but not least P-1-N.  Pick Mods J, L, M, N and Q have only one floor. I needed a day like Tuesday with lots of variety, and a total lack of same old, same old.  It felt like I had a little extra bounce in my step all day through. Regretfully, TLE was still locked down in Building 'C' for the entire day......there was, one might venture, a little 'gnashing of teeth' on our way home about her plight.  I think she is inclined to have a word with our manager, Keenan, on Friday about being released into Building 'B'.

Tuesday was also the first of two catered 'Holiday Meals' served at lunch time for the Amazon workers.  The second will be on Friday, and, as it turns out, we will be able to enjoy both meals since our next work day happens to be Friday.  The extra bonus is we get 45 minutes for lunch, with 15 minutes paid.  Not a big deal by any means, but much appreciated.  We did not have to clock in, or out for lunch.....that will be taken care of by HR.

Most of our friends from our orientation group back on October 22nd did not volunteer to work on Tuesday.....they wanted that 3 day 'weekend'.  We will not take VET the next two, or three Tuesdays, because after that it will most likely become an MET (MANDATORY Extra Time) day for the remainder of our time here in Campbellsville.  Even without overtime we will be grossing $1200 every Friday....not too bad.

We were home by 5:10 pm delighting in the fact that we did not have to be in bed by 8 pm, and we did not have to work on Wednesday and Thursday.  We chose not to watch endless hours of Election coverage.  It is just another political outcome that will be made too much of, and endless mind numbing opinions will be offered about what it all means.  The political class in D.C. will continue to do what they do, and for the most part it will have little, or no effect on most Americans.   There will be slight shifts of power, but in the end none of them really cares a wit about any of us.  We will continue on with our vagabond lives living free, abundant lives, loving our children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  We will continue to spend most of our time in rural America with good, salt of the earth people.....regardless of their political persuasion.  It is amazing to us that most people we come in contact with care little, or nothing about politics.  The only comments we hear are 'When are the political ads going to end?"......well, they are over for another 24 months.....thank God.

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A slight break in regular programming......

4:20 am - Tuesday - November 6th - Campbellsville, KY - 58º F, 93% humidity, wind 7 mph out of the southwest.......cloudy today with a forecast high of 62º F.  It rained all night long, sometimes ferociously.  There was lightning and thunder.....a good, old fashioned toad strangler!  Stopped raining just before we got up this morning.

So, our fourth consecutive 10 hour shift at Amazon is in the books.  Our feet are still doing fine, but we are both quite tired and ready for our work week to conclude.  Monday was a landmark day in that it was my turn to escape the gravitational pull of Building 'C'....a slight change in regular programming?

About 4 pm I got a message on my scanner that I was to move into Building 'B' to 'pick' in Pick Mods K and D, and that was really the highlight of my day.  Otherwise it was the same old same old.  My life is now defined in 2.5 hour segments, which are further subdivided into 15 minute breaks, 10 minute restroom breaks, and a 30 minute lunch for good measure.  In between the brief breaks from the endless tedium that is my 'picking' world I am wandering endlessly up and down one aisle after another mostly in Pick Mod 'E'.....four floors consisting of 99.99999% apparel related items ranging in size from tiny lapel pins to complete formal men's suits.  The only thing not there are shoes, but do not despair, there is a whole section in Building 'A' dedicated to shoes.

On the other hand, Pick Mods K has a lot of electronics related items, cell phone items, toys, and D is about 80% books.  D is an endless maze of narrow aisle, low ceiling rows of books stretching the length of a couple of football fields into the distance. It feels as if have gone down the proverbial rabbit hole.  When I say the aisles are narrow, I mean narrow.  In Pick Mod E you can easily turn your cart around in the aisles, but in D the aisles are about 1.5 carts wide.  Once you enter you must keep going straight, and if anyone attempts to enter your aisle they must wait until you exit, as there is no way for them to get by you.  TLE loves this section, but I do not.

Nonetheless, we are doing fine.  Mentally we are beginning to adjust to the boredom of the repetitive task world, and each day when we exit the concrete bunker I say to TLE ".....another $300 in the bank!" which lightens the mood just a bit as we trundle up the 1/4 mile hill to our sanctuary from boredom....our home.

While it is still quite dark in the mornings when we walk to work, it is still light when we exit Amazon, but within another week, or so it will be dark as we edge towards the winter solstice.  TLE heated up that second chicken enchilada casserole I mentioned a few days back, and we sat down to watch a few recorded TV episodes.  Our three hours before bedtime pass quickly, and soon we are shutting off the interior lights and pulling the covers up to our chins for another night of redemptive slumber.  Sleep comes quickly, but we are awakened about midnight by the raging storm.  There is about an hour when it is so loud it is difficult to sleep, but eventually the intensity eases somewhat and slip back off to dreamland.  4 am comes all to quickly and the wash, rinse, dry, repeat cycle begins once again.

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.

Is it Sunday?

4:25 am - Monday - November 5th - Campbellsville, KY - 51º F, 96% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the south.....cloudy today with a forecast high of 66º F.  Rained most of the night....not raining now.  Was yesterday really Sunday?  It didn't feel like a Sunday....it is becoming difficult to remember what day of the week it is.

When we left for work Sunday it was clear and quite dry.  When I glanced out one of the cafeteria windows during lunch it was sunny and still clear.  When we exited the FC at 5 pm it was to a gentle rain.  In between all that we 'picked', and we 'picked', and we 'picked'.  And now we enter uncharted territory this time around.....our fourth and fifth consecutive 10 hour shifts are coming up Monday and Tuesday.  Our legs and feet are tired, but we are doing just fine.  At the end of Sunday's 10 hour shift I was out of gas mentally and physically, but I knew I would recover and be ready to go again on Monday.....at least that is my fervent hope.

TLE managed to escape the gravitational pull of Building 'C' at the end of the day to do some picking in Building 'A' in Pick Mods A and B.  I, on the other hand, toiled away my hours in Pick Mod 'E', this time on all 4 floors, with an ever so brief foray into Pick Mod 'F', so I finally 'hit for the cycle'.  And that my friends was the highlight of my 'picking' day.  Otherwise it was just the same old same old......wash, rinse, dry and repeat.

Things have slowed a little here at SDF1, and we are being offered 'VTO' (Voluntary Time Off) virtually everyday, and several times during the day.  For instance we could have gone home for the day at our 9 am break, and then again at our 2:30 pm break.  We didn't become aware of the 9 am VTO offering until we got home and found the messages on our phones, which we don't take to work.  The second one came over our scanners during our 2:30 pm break, but by that time we only had 2 hours to go, so why go home, right?  I'm not sure why they sent a text message on the 9 am VTO because we are not allowed to have our phones on our persons on the floor while working.  If you get caught with a phone while going through security as you exit the building you get pretty much a full body cavity search.  The only real time we have to look at our phones would be during the lunch break, so we just leave them at home.  It is amazing that we can go almost 11 hours without looking at our phones five days a week......who would have thought, right?

Well, that is a recap of our scintillating Sunday.....not much more to tell.....TLE did make a wonderful 'chili size' for dinner, and I mean it was wonderful.  I cherished every single bite.  Characterizing it as 'wonderful' seems so inadequate, and borders on insulting it was that good.

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.

Symmetry.....

4:13 am - Sunday - November 4th - Campbellsville, KY - 45º F, 75% humidity, wind 5 mph out of the east......clear today with a forecast high of 64º F.

The days have taken on a kind of sameness akin to 'wash, rinse, dry, repeat'.  No one loves symmetry more than I, but there is good symmetry, and there is bad symmetry.  The symmetry you create in your life is unique to you, but the shared symmetry of a repetitive task job is something else indeed.  Some flourish in this kind of environment, and some do not.  The Amazon experience is replete with mind numbing symmetry.  We enjoy brief moments of asymmetry during our two 15 minute breaks, and 30 minute lunch, but the rest of the 10.5 hours we are onsite everyday are necessarily symmetrical for Amazon to succeed.  There are times when I am sure there is a hidden conductor somewhere orchestrating our minute by minute movements throughout this 1 million square foot concrete structure.  If there were no roof on this building and you flew a drone over it from high altitude we would appear to be so many ants moving here and there with a seeming rhythm just like we have all seen in an ant farm.  I have said often before that I have so much respect for the folks who work at Amazon full time......four to five 10's a week, week after week.  I could not do this work beyond my meager multi week commitment during peak season every few years.  Those of us who identity as 'Campeforce' folk are essentially here for a short period of time to harvest the money, and the overtime.  In the end what we will take with us when we depart are the friendships formed and a much more vigorous bank account.   It's just a very temporary job, and the money will be spent, but the friendships.....ah the friendships will last the rest of our lives, and that is the real treasure to be mined during 'Peak Season'.

We were out the door of the Newell at 6 am walking the downhill course to the Employee Entrance for another 10 hour shift.  There were no mysteries awaiting us.....we knew exactly how our day would go.  The only variable in our daily routine would be on which level of Pick Mod 'E' will we spend our day 'picking.  For me it began where it left off on Friday....P-4 of Pick Mod 'E'.  I spent time later in the day on P-1, and P-2 with a brief foray in Pick Mod F (one floor only).  I thought I was going to get to 'bat' for the cycle (baseball terminology referring to a batter getting a single, double, triple and homerun in one game), but never got to work on P-3.  Moving from floor to floor is really the only variety one experiences during a 10 hour shift.

One thing that is different from 6 years ago is that they have completely remodeled the cafeteria, and there are now floor to ceiling windows along one wall enabling you to see what kind of a day you are missing.  Saturday was a beautiful, sunny day as observed during our 30 minute lunch.

As we exited the building at 5 pm we were both quite tired mentally and physically, and silently wondering how we could do this for three more days, let alone 7 more weeks.  We will do it, but the thought is always there as you walk that 1/4 mile uphill road home where the Amazon symmetry has slowly, but surely embedded itself.  It is a necessary symmetry, but resented all the same.  It will make our off days seem even more delicious when we can cast off the Amazon symmetry for a couple of days and become individuals for a brief time.

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.

7 weeks to go.....

4:22 am - Saturday - November 3rd - Campbellsville, KY - 34º F, 99% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the east by southeast......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 58º F.

Friday was back to work day, the first of five consecutive workdays.  So far we have worked 3 five hour days, and then 3 ten hour days in preparation for 5 ten hour workdays each week for the next 7 weeks.  This is when the rubber meets the road.  Are our feet and legs ready for 10+ miles of walking per night?   Only time will tell, as they say.   One note about the walking.  When we were here 6 years ago we wold routinely pick in all three buildings each night, and moving from building to building throughout a shift can add a mile, or two per shift.  This time we have been picking in just one building, Building 'C', which does tend to reduce the nightly mileage somewhat.  Neither TLE, nor I wear one of those watches which count steps, and translate them into miles, but our friends who also spend their time picking exclusively in Building 'C' do, and are reporting mileage in the neighborhood of 9-10 miles per day.  How fast you 'pick', and how many items you pick in a shift will determine your total mileage.  I've been doing about 1,100 picks per shift.....TLE a little more.

After two days of rest, and frequent naps we were both ready to begin a new work week, and see just how well we do.  The temps as we walked to work were in the low 40's, but were only destined to reach 49º F for the day's high.    It will warm back into the 60's and 70's over the next week, but we are in store for rain Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, and then later in the week. 

Our shift went well, and as we exited the concrete fortress it was bitter cold, and breezy.  The past few days of work I had not worn my jacket, or watch cap on the walk home, but on this day I had everything on including my gloves for the 1/4 mile uphill walk to the Newell.  We were both pleasantly tired and chilly as we entered the Newell.  We quickly turned on all three heaters, and changed into something comfortable.

TLE had prepared, on our off days, a couple of chicken enchilada casseroles, and put one of them in the oven to heat it for dinner just after we changed clothes.  We have less than 3 hours from the time we get home until it is bed time, so there is no time to dilly dally.  Bhy 5:40 we were eating.....that had to be one of the top 2, or 3 enchilada casseroles she has produced over the years.  They are always very good, but this one really lit up my taste buds!

We were in bed, of course, by 8 pm, and that was our day.  We're doing well with a few expected aches and pains, but very optimistic about completing the next 7 weeks in style!

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.

Parole, day 2......

4:20 am - Friday - November 2nd - Campbellsville, KY - 46º F, 83% humidity, wind 9 mph out of the west....cloudy today with a forecast high of 49º F. Today is our first Amazon payday this time around.  We each netted $201 and change for 23 hours at the old $10/hour rate.  Next Friday the 'big bucks' begin to roll in!

I slept in until almost 8 am Thursday.....that will not be happening for the next five work days.  By 9 am it was raining steadily, and we were both grateful we were home snug as two bugs in a rug, and not working.  Once again we did very little except rest, and make another trip to Harden Coffee on Main Street for some more of their great coffee and pastries.  We both read our books whilst sipping coffee, and nibbling on our strawberry crumble cakes.  I've been reading Mark Twain's first book, The Innocents Abroad, which is quite a long book at 501 pages, but I have been enjoying it immensely.  To think I have never read this book before!  It is essentially a 'travel book', and was his biggest selling book during his lifetime, as well as the best selling travel book of all time according to Wikipedia.

Other than that brief foray into downtown Campbellsville we were home watching the weather roll through.  Late in the day the winds rose into the 20+ mph range to chase the clouds across the sky.

One more thing about Thursday which I failed to recount yesterday was that we spent over an hour on the phone with the Amazon A-Z people trying to figure out why we could not access our ADP accounts.  At the end of our discussion with Jose he created 'tickets' for each of us to get the problem solved.  We think when we were taken out of Equity Lifestyle's payroll system they somehow suspended our ADP privileges.  We haven't been able to get into ADP for over a year, and we should have been able to even if we were no longer working for Equity Lifestyles (they own Tahoe Valley Campground).  Well, this morning I went to check to see if we could not get into ADP, and we can!

Late afternoon TLE and I both got multiple text messages from Amazon offering 'Voluntary Extra Time' ( or VET) opportunities.  One of them was to work a full shift on Tuesday, November 6th (6:30 am to 5 pm), and we both accepted that offer.  There were many other offers, but we both think five 10 hour days each is quite enough.  Will we work a 5th day every week.....I don't know.....we'll have to play it by ear.

That, my friends, was the extent of our Thursday shenanigans, and the end of day two of our 'parole'from the FC, so I will bid you adieu once again.....thanks for stopping by!

P.S. - Just a reminder.....I know many of you will be starting your online Christmas shopping if you have not already done so.  If you choose Amazon to make your purchases please use my affiliate link below to do so.  It does not increase your costs in anyway! Thanks!

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.

$300 per day........

7:52 am - Thursday - November 1st - Campellsville, KY - 65º F, 76% humidity, wind 11 mph out of the south by southeast......it rained on and off throughout the night, but never for very long, or very hard.  It's weird being up at 7:52 am and the sun just now rising, and what a rising it is........

.....I just happened to open the mini blinds as I was writing the opening for today's blog and saw this spectacular orange glow over the eastern horizon!  It is so warm this morning (65 degrees) that I just walked out in shorts and flip flops to get the picture.

Resting and naps were the name of Wednesday's game.  The big mistake one can make after the first week of work at Amazon, especially if you are feeling pretty well physically, is to do too much on your off days.  We're not 'spring chickens' anymore, and the most important thing we can do during these two days off work is 'NOTHING'.

Part of 'NOTHING' Wednesday was to take a very short drive over to Harden Coffee on Main Street around noon time to have a couple of cups of coffee and a pastry.  Yelp give them 4.5 stars on 23 reviews.  What a cool place to hang out!  Since this is a college town (home to Campbellsville University) we were the only oldsters hanging out.  I actually like the energy of this little coffee house, and that is what I would call it....a coffee house, not a coffee shop.....it feels like you are sitting in someone's living room.....

......I had a strawberry crumble pastry, and TLE chose a vanilla scone.  The coffee was 'soooo' good I did not add half and half, which I always add 99.9999% of the time.  I was about to add it when TLE said "You should try it without'......I did, and I was surprised at how good it was, so I took her advice.  We sat there talking, and catching up on the events of the day on our phones for over an hour before heading out to Walmart to pick up a few things before returning to the Newell for the rest of the day.  It was good to get out, and I think we'll return to Harden's a few more times before our time here is finished.

One thing I neglected to report upon was that when we went to get into the VW to drive to Harden's it wouldn't start.  The battery had been drained by the XM Radio receiver I had failed to turn off the last time I used the car a few days prior.  When it happened last Saturday I simply plugged the battery into a charger in the 50 amp start mode, and started the car.  We drove around town, and restarted the car several times, but that was apparently too little time to get it charged up again, so when we got in the car Wednesday it was too low to turn over the engine. This time when we got home I plugged the batter back in to slow charge on the 2 amp setting, and now, as I write, it is properly charged once again.

We took it easy the rest of the afternoon, and around 5:30 pm I turned on the Sea-B-Que to grill some carne asada for a taco dinner had planned for moi....she takes such good care of me!  While we ate we watched several recorded TV episodes, and then watched 'Survivor' live at 8 pm using our streaming capability on our Roku TV.

We were both in bed a little after 9 pm in an effort to maintain as much as possible our workday schedule.  The only difference is we will sleep in on our off days!  Our pay increase to $15/hour began this past Sunday (October 28th), so now we are making (combined) $300 per 10 hour shift, and $450 on our 5th day, which is paid at time and a half, or $22.50/hour.  Makes meandering around Amazon all day, five days a week feel pretty good when you look at it that way!

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.