Cedar Key - Day # 21 - "Gone With The Wind"

For most of the past 3 weeks the night time temperature in our bedroom at night has ranged from 78-80 degrees.  I know that may seem a little high to you, and we could probably get it lower by opening the windows at night, but we would also be increasing the relative humidity inside our coach.  We run a de-humidifier 24 hours a day inside the coach, it works wonderfully, and makes even 80 degrees inside feel cooler.  Anyway, my point is last night the bedroom temperature dropped to 58 degrees!  I knew we took that electric blanket off the bed too soon!

We were expecting a front to come through Thursday involving wind, low temps, and rain.....and that is exactly what we got.  Below is the view that greeted me around 7 am.....then the wind came up and blew steadily at 25-30 mph all day long, and into the evening.  Around mid day it got very cold, and is still very cold as I write....around 40 degrees at this writing.  Of course, that means it was probably in the high 30's last night.....BRRRR!!

As the wind speed increased we began pulling in the window awnings on the drivers side of the coach.....the side that faces the water.....and finally by late morning we had to stow the patio awning....always a really fun task when the wind is blowing hard.  Fortunately, as TLE and I were struggling to stow the large awning Forrest Clark (a NuRVer) walked by and immediately jumped in to give a hand, for which we are very thankful....when it's blowing that hard you need more than two sets of hands.  Thank you Forrest!  Forrest writes a blog about his retirement travels called Retired, RVing and Rambling, which presents another great perspective on this lifestyle, so give it a peek when you have time!

The only plan this weather interrupted was the "circuit training" with Brian and Maria, otherwise we had no real plans for yesterday, so we just hunkered down and stayed inside our rockin' and rollin' coach.  Fortunately the DVR memory had several TV shows recorded that we hadn't watched yet, so we passed some of the stormy day catching up on a few series we watch.

We knew that our friends Dan, Marlene and family (Mali Mish) would be pulling out around midday and eventually that time came.......time to say "adieu"....I'm getting more used to it, because I know we'll meet again, but it is sill bittersweet.  I was able to catch this brief video snippet of them disappearing around the corner.....:(  The background audio you hear is from the program "Top Chef", which TLE was watching at the time.

Around 5:30 I glanced out the window to see the beginning of the sunset, and ran over to Chris and Cherie's dock to capture it......I stayed just long enough for two shots and then retreated to the heated comfort of the Newell.  That water does not look inviting....not even a little bit!

Within minutes the sunset was obscured by the thick cloud bank off to the left, and Sunset Isle was quickly engulfed in the gathering darkness signaling the end of another Cedar Key day.

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The countdown will resume 5:30pm, 12/18/2012

I had been looking forward to Sunday since last Tuesday when we started our 5 twelve hour days.  It did not disappoint.  I slept until almost 2pm, and TLE until 2:14pm.....she smelled the coffee and just had to join me before I drank it all!  Of course, the NFL games were well underway by that time, but it's all good.  I was glad to see Peyton Manning win his 9th game in a row with the Broncos, and happy for my Cowboy friends that the 'Boys once again came from behind to win a close game against the Steelers with a field goal as time expired.  Of course the nightcap on NBC between the Pats and 49ers ended up being a great game.  The Pats, trailing by 28 points in the 3rd quarter, scored 28 straight points to tie the game late in the 4th quarter only to see the 49ers run the ball back on the ensuing (I've always wanted to use "ensuing" in a sentance) kickoff to inside the 5 yard line where they quickly scored to go back up by 7.  They ultimately won by 10.  It was a great day to watch the NFL, and a very relaxing day overall.  If only I could have 4 days in a row like that.....wait, soon I will have a month of days like that, only it won't be cold and rainy outside.....it will be Cedar Key.

Around 7 pm I realized I had not gone outside.  Usually I'm outside first thing in the afternoon doing something around the coach, but now it was dark and I had not even unlocked the front door and stepped outside once........so I took out the trash, and then closed the door once again, and locked it again.  

I loved sitting in my recliner at 4:45pm when we would normally begin our walk down to "that building", and I loved still sitting there at 5:30pm when I would normally turn on my scanner to see where the faceless computer would send me that night.  Instead I just sat there enjoying the tingling feeling in the soles of my feet, which meant I was not standing on cold concrete......yay!!!

Several naps were taken in my recliner, and around 11pm we turned on Survivor to see who would win, and were totally surprised at the winner, although all of the final 3 were deserving, I never thought it would be Denise, but she certainly played a strong game and deserved the $1 million dollars.  After playing such a strong game for 38 days Malcolm made a critical strategic error in not committing to Denise to split the vote and force a tie breaker, which is always making fire, which he would have won handily against Lisa, and, therefore would have been in the final 3.  He thought he would win the final immunity challenge, which he didn't, and that sealed his fate.  

It sprinkled briefly several time during the afternoon and early evening, but the big storm hit around 8am this morning when a torrential rain hit.  I slept until almost Noon meaning that I got almost 10 hours of sleep last night.  It looks like more rain today into the evening so there goes the trailer brake job I was planning for today.  I guess I'll just have to take a few more naps and gird up for the resumption of the countdown beginning tomorrow evening at 5:30pm.

Only a week of shopping left before Christmas so get on your computer, log on to Amazon.com and order away.....we are "eagerly" standing by to fill your orders with leg cramps, arthritic elbows, aching feet, blurred vision and dirty knees from kneeling on cold, hard, dirty concrete to pull your special item out of the "A" bin.  Don't worry....there are millions of Kindle Fire's left.....I see large crates of them every night on my nocturnal journeys hither and yon through "that building".

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The launch sequence has begun.....10

There was no robo call cancelling our MOT (mandatory overtime) day for Tuesday, so the launch sequence has begun for our 5 X 12 work week.  At 5:30 this evening we will start our first 12 hour day.

Monday was a dreary, rainy, cold day.....I think the high was 39 degrees.  And, of course, it was time to dump the black tank.  This is never a fun job when it is pleasant outside, and on a day like Monday it was even less fun, but when it's time to dump, IT IS time to dump, so I bundled up and went outside to face the elements for about 20 minutes.  Some are wondering why it takes me 20 minutes to dump the black tank.....don't I just pull up on the valve handle and let the "black" effluent flow down the sewer hose into the sewer connection?  How long can that take, right?  Well, if that was all there was to it you would be right.  Ever since we owned our 1987 Fleetwood Tioga Class C motorhome I have really taken time to thoroughly flush out the tank each time I dump it, and the result of that diligence is no odor, ever.  

After I drain the black tank the first time I close the valve and begin filling the black tank with fresh water until it is about 3/4 full, then dump it again.  I repeat this process at least once more, but most often 2 more times, until I see the water passing through the see through elbow into the sewer is clear.  That has worked well for us over the years and that is what it took Monday.....3 flushes after the initial dump.

Other than taking care of the black tank business we spent the entire day indoors taking naps, doing a little insurance, reading, and watching a little TV.  TLE made some great Potato Cheese soup again for lunch, and then for dinner she grilled up two Buffalo Bleu Cheese Burgers......yummy!

I got a message from a reader (Mike) yesterday asking for more detail in how Amazon works.  Big semi trucks arrive each day, all day long and into the night, delivering everything from fishing tackle to DVD's to cell phones, etc., etc., etc.   Some trucks carry product from other Amazon facilities.....this is called "TRANSHIP".  The trucks are unloaded at the receiving dock, and the boxes are opened and put on what are called U-BOATS, or very large carts....about 6 feet long.  Those carts are assigned to "stowers" who are then directed to where these items are to be "stowed" so the "picker" can come along at a later time and pull them out, put them in totes, and send them on their way to the various packing stations.  The main packing station is called "Crisplant".....named for the guy who designed it.  Here the "picked" items are matched up with the name and address of the person who ordered it, put in a box with proper padding, addressed, and shipped out via FedEx, UPS, or USPS depending on what service the buyer has paid for.  From the time something is purchased on Amazon.com until it arrives at the buyer's address about 2-3 days elapse.....sometimes things are coming from a source outside of Amazon and it takes a little longer.  If someone has ordered next day delivery those items  become "PREMIUMS" and a specific person is sent specifically to the location of the item in that particular Amazon warehouse to "pick" it, return to the packing area and get it out within an hour or two of the order being placed.  That's the basic process.  That "process" goes on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week every day of the year except Christmas.

For now the rain has abated, and there is a hint of blue skies edging toward us from the west.  In a few hours we will become part of the Amazon "process" for 12 hours each day for the next 5 days........then there will be only 5 remaining.

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Daze Off......

Sunday at 4am our "daze" off began.......that is what I am now calling our weekly vacation from "that building".  Two "daze" off, because after 4 ten hour days we exit "that building" in a little bit of a daze.  It's really a 4 day marathon where it seems you only leave "that building" for a few hours each day.....after sleeping 6-8 hours you are only awake and conscious for a few hours, and then there you are right back pushing a cart up and down endless miles of cold, hard concrete looking for a teal colored IPHONE hard shell case in BIN # P-1-A-123-G-6.  Wait, didn't I just pick that item a few hours ago?  Yes, yes you did......probably about 200 times in the last week.....and that is just one of a dozen color variations of that case.  I have gotten to where I don't have to bend over to peer into the "A" bin at floor level to find the item....I can find the item in the bin by "feel".....I don't have to see it to pick it anymore.  Pick it, scan it, toss it in the tote and then move 10 feet to your right to P-1-A-133-B-6 and find the GLOCK holster.  It takes about 1-3 minutes to fill a tote.....no more than 25 items per tote.....probably averages over the course of the night around 5 per tote.....depends on the size of the items you pick.....so every 9 minutes you drop 3 full totes on the conveyor belt, pick up three more empty totes and do it again.....about 20 totes per hour, and 200 per night......about 1,000 individual items per night.  If my math doesn't add up, don't blame me.......I'm in a daze.

The only way to get through each night is not to focus on the 4am, or 6am exit, but on each break....2.5 hours then the first break at 8pm; 2 more hours then "lunch" at 10:15pm; 3 more hours then break at 1:45am; 2 more hours then at 4am exit "that building" in a daze.  It's how I got through a long day at the soccer pitch....each half was 45 minutes....break it down into 15 minute periods, then 10 minutes to sit down between halves, then 3 more 15 minutes periods, then 15 minutes to eat, rest up, and then on to the next game.  It works for me, and for TLE.

It rained on and off all morning while we slept, and was raining when I got up at 1:30pm, and continued to rain all day long, sometimes so heavily that I lost my DirecTV signal, and one time for 20 minutes.  I watched some NFL,  and then went to Krogers to do a much needed restocking of our pantry......a fast way to make $200 disappear quickly!

Of course, Sunday is NFL day, and I watched the Cowboys vs. Bengals, but, of course, right when Dallas is driving for the winning field goal I lose the aforementioned signal, and miss the end of the game.  We left for Krogers in a driving rain storm, and returned to same.  The Giants vs. Saints was a good afternoon game.  For the night cap we watched the 2 hour season finale of "The Amazing Race" starting at 11pm (yes we still have the west coast feed).

It rained all night long, and as of this writing (10:12am) it is still raining.......where is my ark when I need it?

Monday is the second of our "daze" off, and then back to "that building" Tuesday at 5:30pm for our first 12 hour shift, which will see us exiting "that building" now at 6am Wednesday morning, and for 4 more mornings after that, until we exit "that building" next Sunday morning at 6am in a daze.

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