We decided to jump right into the swing of things, and picked up voluntary overtime this week.  Going from 4 five-hour days right into 5 ten-hour days was a little tough on the feet!  But our goal this year at Amazon is “fatter wallet, slimmer waist”!!  And the 50 hour weeks will help us achieve that goal in no time.

There are two main picking areas at the Jeffersonville center:  East and West.  Last year we were both on the West side the entire time, until our very last day when I “moved on up” to the East side.  I happily discovered it was the easier side to pick, since the majority of the pickers, stowers and ICQA employees were assigned to the West side.  The two sides are identical, except for the fourth floor.  The West side contains the HRV floor (high retail value), consisting of watches and jewelry.  The East side just has more clothing on the fourth floor.

This week, they moved all the Camperforce employees to the East side, and stated we will remain there the rest of the season.  It is closer to our lockers and the seasonal break room, so it made sense to move all of us there.  Those of us that picked on the West side last year are thrilled to be on the “easier” and less crowded side of the building.

Also new this week, Amazon removed the metal detectors at the entrances, and replaced them with RFID panels.  I am not sure how this technology works, but we no longer have to remove items from our pockets (keys, coins, etc).  You just simply walk between the panels on the way out.  It used to take several minutes (or more during peak) to go through the metal detectors.  Now it takes no additional time at all.  You still need to stop at a table if you are carrying a lunch bag or purse, but it is a huge time saver.

They post a weekly newsletter on the back of the bathroom stalls (Dan says they are also posted above the urinals), and this past week they hired an additional 200 employees as they start ramping up for peak season.  Although this is not a job I would want to do year round, Amazon does offer some nice benefits for their employees, including fully paid health insurance and stock options.

Mandatory overtime has been called for the upcoming week. Amazon has opened up their Halloween “store” and are having a sale.  They are expecting a very large volume of orders this week.  Camperforce is required to do the mandatory overtime, up to 50 hours.  We are happy to have the hours.  And we both enjoy picking Halloween costumes.  They are easy to pick, as they stand out in a drawer of socks, shirts, jeans, jackets and underwear.  It is also fun to see what people are planning to dress up as.  Some of you are going to be very “naughty” this Halloween, as we have seen a lot of very “adult” costumes! In fact, we are picking about five times more adult Halloween costumes compared to the kids.

Tonight we are having another get together with our fellow Camperforce employees.  The best part of Amazon is the social side.  You sure do meet a lot of great people!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is our overtime day, and then back to our Wednesday through Saturday schedule.  Wednesday is “pink out” day, to show support for breast cancer research.  Looking forward to another “fun” week!

Work….eat….sleep….repeat!  This will be our life for 10 more weeks!

Quote for the day:  “What’s dangerous is to not evolve.” – Jeff Bezos

We received a text message from Dan’s former co-worker, Laura, stating she would be in Bozeman, MT for her nieces wedding. Laura is a high-school science teacher, and once a year I would take over her anatomy classes for a “career day” and talk about a career as a Radiologic Technologist, and go over the various areas (X-ray, CT, MRI, etc. that you could specialize in). I think both the students and the teacher enjoyed having a “day off” from their regular classroom studies.

Dan and I made plans to get together for a short hike with Laura and her husband Mike in Bozeman, at Drinking Horse Mountain. In the photo below, there is an “M” on the hill. (upper left)  That is another hiking trail, but we opted not to do that one. Our hike had both  ‘easy’ and ‘difficult’ options. We chose to go up the ‘easy’ route, which was also the more scenic of the two options. The trail is very dog friendly, and we encountered many off-leash dogs along the way. Sorry Makena, but you weren’t invited on this trip.

The beginning

We have had several months to adjust to the altitude, but it does catch people by surprise when they first arrive to the area. We stopped for several breaks and photo opportunities along the way.

Mike and Laura

The ‘easy’ portion of the trail.

The ‘easy’ trail

When we arrived at the top, we noticed someone had built a make-shift ‘shelter’. The view of Bozeman from the top provides a nice contrast of the “big city” living in a rural setting.

City of Bozeman

view from the top

The crew is still looking fresh at the top!

Ready to head down

We had a wonderful hike with Laura and Mike. Dan was able to get caught up on many of the happenings at the high school for the past two years. After our hike we decided to check out downtown Bozeman for lunch. The downtown area, despite the usual big box stores and a mall, has many unique and thriving businesses. We had a great time for lunch, and then checked out the local distillery and micro-brewery that was also located downtown.

cheers to lunch downtown

Montana is known for Huckleberries, and the distillery makes a huckleberry vodka, for use in Moscow mule drinks.

my new ‘hiking’ outfit!

The brew pub has what they call a “frost line” on the bar that you can set your beverages on. We all thought that was a nice feature to keep your beverages ice-cold.

the frost line

We tried a little sampler platter of local brews

We said our good-byes for now, and made the 90 mile drive back ‘home’. Mike and Laura’s kids were going to be flying into Bozeman later that night. A few days later, they made the drive down to West Yellowstone, along with a number of other relatives. They rented out a bus and did an all-day tour of Yellowstone National Park.

Before heading back to Bozeman, they stopped in to our store, and Dan was thrilled to spend some time catching up with their kids, Rachel, Michelle and Ryan.  Dan had all three of their kids in his math classes.

Rachel, Michelle, Dan and Ryan in the store

It was nice for all of them to take some time out of their busy “wedding week” to spend some time with us. We look forward to catching up with them again in the not too distant future.

Quote for the day:  “Most of us end up with no more than five or six people who remember us.  Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives.” – Andy Rooney

Our time in Wisconsin has gone by fast, as we get ready to head out to West Yellowstone, Montana for our summer jobs.  I spent several days getting poked and prodded with all sorts of medical tests.  I knew I was in for some fun when my doctor said “welcome to your 50’s, let’s get a colonoscopy!!”  Makena also had her veterinary appointment, but Dan declined any visits at this time.  He wanted to wait and see how our new insurance will cover all my tests, before he undergoes his own. We were happy that they covered everything at 100%.  Unfortunately, Assurant Health has decided they were not making as big of a profit under the new law, so they are going to sell off their health insurance line of business, but keep the more profitable ‘pre-paid funeral expenses’ and other ‘disability’ lines of insurance.  So next year we will be looking for a new carrier.  We will try to schedule Dan’s appointments in the fall, before we start back at Amazon.

The truck had some recall work done, an oil change, and new brakes done for 1/3 of the cost the Ford dealer wanted! (thanks Kevin!).  Dan is feeling better about taking the 5th wheel up into the mountains this summer. (more on the truck later)

We cleaned and defrosted the refrigerator, and fully restocked our freezer and pantry.   The nearest Wal-Mart to West Yellowstone is 84 miles (one way), so we wanted to stock up on food.  There is a grocery store in town according to our employer, but with being in such a remote area, we are anticipating “sticker shock” on the food prices.

We were able to visit with some friends and family, but time goes by too fast to see everyone.  My niece Molly had her last all district choir concert, which we were able to attend.  Not sure who was more excited….my niece or my sister and brother-in-law realizing they did not have to attend any more of these performances! We did enjoy Molly’s performance.

Margie, Molly, Greg

We also celebrated my sister-in-law Annette’s birthday.

Annette, Brian, me & Dan

Dinners with friends Dave and Angie, Mike and Karlyn and Robin and Mary on various nights reminded us we need to start exercising again!  Good thing there a lot’s of hiking trails in Yellowstone!

And we had our now annual ‘patio beer’ with my former co-worker Amy!

Cheers

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY!

I started a draft of this blog a week ago, and was planning on posting it when we left Wisconsin.  We had to leave a few days earlier than expected, because of some additional repair work that needed to be done on the 5th wheel.  Look for a future post on that.  After leaving Indiana, we had two very long driving days to get out to Rapid City, SD.  Our goal was to meet up with Tom and Ellen, our co-workers for our summer job.  And we wanted to visit with Phil and Rudee, our co-workers from last summer at Crazy Horse.  We did make it here in time, and had a nice get together.

Unfortunately, the truck started making a bad noise about 20 miles before we arrived to Rapid City, and eventually the ‘check engine’ light came on! So a trip to the Ford dealer revealed the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’.  Some exhaust tube thingy in the engine broke, blowing exhaust fumes into the dash, and melting part of the windshield wiper fluid lines.  The part in the middle that is all black is the culprit.

burned out part

The good news is that all of this is covered under the 100,000 mile manufacturer’s engine warranty.  The bad news is they have to order parts from Colorado, and they will not arrive until Monday.  Therefore, we will not be able to start our summer jobs on time.

And now for the UGLY:  There is a winter storm warning this weekend!  6 – 12 inches of snow is expected by Sunday here in Rapid City!  Ugh!

The Ford dealer is hoping the parts won’t be delayed by the storm.

So we are just going to sit still for a few days.  We are trying to take a positive view of all of this.  “No rain. No rainbows” is a popular slogan in our favorite state of Hawaii.  A simple saying, but sometimes you need a few bad things as a reminder to always appreciate the good things.  Wish us luck!

Quote for the day:  “There is something good in all seeming failures.  You are not to see that now.  Time will reveal it.  Be patient.” – Swami Sivananda

Sunday turned out to be a beautiful sunny day, and we were able to meet many more folks that were out enjoying the weather.  The campsites here do not have fire rings, but you are allowed to bring your own.  Our gracious hosts for the Packers/49ers game had an interesting fire ring.  When they sold their house last year, they decided not to include their old washing machine, and instead took out the tub and brought it with them in their RV.  It makes an excellent fire pit.

a laundry tub

We did put the game on pause, to take time out to watch the sunset.  Cedar Key has some colorful sunsets, and I hope to be able to post many more photos like this:

After the game, another couple entertained us with their wonderful musical talents, playing a harp (yes, they travel with a harp!) and a Hammer Dulcimer.  I have never seen such an instrument, but they played many beautiful songs.

By Tuesday, the weather turned cold, and one of our fellow campers decided we should have a chili cook-off.  We had many different styles of chili, from your traditional meat and beans, to vegan and gluten-free recipes, and one with buffalo meat.  I decided to try something new, and went to my favorite source for recipes, Taste of Home, (http://www.tasteofhome.com/) and found a white chicken chili recipe for the crock pot.  It was very easy to make and very flavorful.  All the chilis were very good.

The chili crew

And as happens so often, another impromptu musical session broke out after we all stuffed ourselves.

One of the couples has a 4-year-old daughter that kept telling everyone, “everyday is a great day”, and to “be happy and kind to others”.  Good advice!

Quote for the day: “It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.” – Charles Spurgeon

I’m baaaack!

Hi there!!

We have arrived in Florida, and my parents are busy cleaning out the camper and other odds and ends, so I thought I would do a post!

We are in Lake City, FL until Thursday, when we leave for Cedar Key, FL.  I did have a major crisis the other day, when my parents left to go run some errands.  They usually give me 1/2 of a small Milk Bone when they leave, which I love!  However, when they left, instead of eating the treat right away, I kept it in my mouth and ran to the back window to watch them leave.  Then I dropped the treat behind the couch!  Oh, it was horrible.  When my parents came home an hour or so later (hey, I can’t tell time), they knew something was wrong when I didn’t greet them at the door.  This is what they saw:

crisis!

My mom looked under the couch to see what I was staring at, but didn’t see anything.  But I kept whining, so she got a flashlight and looked under the couch again.  I helped point out where my treat was.

I can’t reach it Mom

My dad remembered that the couch folds forward (it folds into an air mattress I guess), so they were able to reach my treat, and all was well with the world again!

For awhile, that is.  Then I kept hearing voices, familiar voices, but I couldn’t figure out where they were coming from.  I would run around the camper, barking, and then I would hear laughter from those familiar voices.  I asked my mom if this is why people go get a CAT scan?  She tried to explain that those voices were from the Face Time and Skype that they were doing with our families for the holidays!  I’m a dog, I don’t understand all this new technology stuff, but I know they both appreciated being able to see and talk with their family (even if Skype turned my mom’s family into purple and green blobs!!).

Other than that, I am really starting to enjoy this camper life.  We have been on the move a few times in the past week.  I know that when I get out of the crate in the truck, I am always at home.  Same bed, same location for my treats and dog food, just a different view.  I am really settling in nicely, and am enjoying the sunshine along with warmer weather!  I hope all is well for everyone out there!

I think my parents will start posting again when they get to Cedar Key.  If not, I will keep you updated!

Quote for the day: “If you think dogs can’t count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them”  – Phil Patoret