Getting ready to head in for our fourth shift of the week. We are working Sunday-Wednesday 6 pm to 4:30 am. We leave here around 5:15 p.m. and get back about 5:000 a.m. So far, so good and we are planning to work voluntary overtime on Thursday night. It would be nice to have three days off in a row, but we came here to work so we're going to take every opportunity we can. Plus, I think that it will be easier to maintain our night owl schedule with only two days off, but we'll see how it goes.
The first night my back hurt almost the entire time, so that was unpleasant. I've been working a bit smarter and although my back has hurt every night, it's a little less each night. I'm not so foolish to think that I can walk, lift and bend for 10 hours a night painlessly.
The time goes quickly. We start at 6:00 with everyone in our group (30-40 people?) gathering for announcements at the beginning of the shift. Then we have stretches. One of the workers leads stretches. They count the odd numbers and the rest of us call out the evens. Sometimes the counting gets loud, with the leader and one or two other people shouting back and forth as they count, but it's fun.
When we all bend over to try to touch our toes, I imagine a giant crackling sound as all our backs crunch.
After that, it's off to get the stuff to be stowed. We work on our own until time or the first break at 8:30. That's fifteen minutes, but it also includes the time going to and from the break room so we are getting smarter about making sure we're working closer to the break room around that time.
Back to work at 8:45 for two hours. Lunch is 10:45-11:15. Then we meet up as a group for more stretches and on to the second half of the shift. Another break from 2:00 to 2:15, then it's the final quarter and we clock out at 4:30.
One of our biggest challenges for both Chris and I is finding our cart of stuff after the breaks and lunch. Sure the aisles are numbered, but even that isn't enough. I'll be sure that I left it on one side of the aisle and I'll be darned if it isn't on the other when I finally find it.
The people are all pleasant. When I've made mistakes or had questions, everyone is nice about it.
Gotta run. More later.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Feeling (Slightly) Better About Music City
We've chatted with several others from Camperforce and it turns out that this might actually be one of the better campgrounds.
Yikes.
Now, if you're vacationing, this ain't the place for you.
But, if you're working 40-50 hours per week, then there are some good points about Music City.
First, we seem to have about the shortest commute (25 mins). Others are driving up to 45 mins each way. And since we are punching (scanning) a time clock, you need to allow extra time just to make sure you're there on time.
The other nice thing about this location is that we are less than one mile from three grocery stores, a laundromat, plus drug stores, dollar stores and a Sonic.
Our wifi also seems to be better than most of the other places.
Plus (and this is a big bonus for a geek like me) we are right next to the public library. Since we don't have a printer, it was convenient to just go next door and print some paperwork we needed. I even got a library card and we got a couple movies (a free way to try to make up for the lack of cable).
So, we are adjusting our attitude about the campground.
Yikes.
Now, if you're vacationing, this ain't the place for you.
But, if you're working 40-50 hours per week, then there are some good points about Music City.
First, we seem to have about the shortest commute (25 mins). Others are driving up to 45 mins each way. And since we are punching (scanning) a time clock, you need to allow extra time just to make sure you're there on time.
The other nice thing about this location is that we are less than one mile from three grocery stores, a laundromat, plus drug stores, dollar stores and a Sonic.
Our wifi also seems to be better than most of the other places.
Plus (and this is a big bonus for a geek like me) we are right next to the public library. Since we don't have a printer, it was convenient to just go next door and print some paperwork we needed. I even got a library card and we got a couple movies (a free way to try to make up for the lack of cable).
So, we are adjusting our attitude about the campground.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Learning To Stow
There are a wide range of jobs at Amazon. We have been assigned to be stowers. That means (as far as I can tell at this point) that we will be "stowing" merchandise in the zillions of bins in the warehouse. When an item is ordered, the "pickers" rush from bin to bin collecting the items for the order.
We did a five hour shift of stowing today and I think we are both getting the hang of it. We were glad we had our water bottles with us today because it was stuffy up on the third (top) floor.
Here's what a stower does: you pick up a U boat, which is a cart with a dozen storage totes on it. Think of all the items sold on Amazon, and that's what's in the totes. Everything from slippers to wrenches to Legos. Then, within the labyrinth of the huge warehouse, you stow the items in bins. Scan the item, scan the bin. Repeat.
The trick seems to be finding space in the bins since the idea is to get as many items into each bin as possible and to empty the items from your totes as fast as possible. Not everyone has my eye for organizing a bin to max effect, so I spent some time rearranging to make room for my stuff.
It's sort of like a game. I hope I still feel that way in a few weeks. Mostly you work alone. Even though Chris and I are on the same team working the same shift, once we get our U Boats and go to different areas of the floor to work, we might not see each other until break time or lunch.
There are quotas to be met for how many items you store over the course of your shift, but those don't go into affect for us for a couple weeks. I have no idea if I am close to going at the right speed, but I assume if it's a problem, someone will let me know.
I got totally turned around in the aisles of bins today. If I hadn't seen Chris at break time, I would have spent the whole 15 mins of time off trying to find the break room. From where we were working today, it was probably close to 1/4 mile each way to the break room (plus up and down two flights of stairs), so even though we might not be walking a whole lot while we are storing, the to and from for breaks and then the back and forth to get more boats will quickly add up.
Not sure if I've lost any weight yet, but it's only been a couple days. :)
We did a five hour shift of stowing today and I think we are both getting the hang of it. We were glad we had our water bottles with us today because it was stuffy up on the third (top) floor.
Here's what a stower does: you pick up a U boat, which is a cart with a dozen storage totes on it. Think of all the items sold on Amazon, and that's what's in the totes. Everything from slippers to wrenches to Legos. Then, within the labyrinth of the huge warehouse, you stow the items in bins. Scan the item, scan the bin. Repeat.
The trick seems to be finding space in the bins since the idea is to get as many items into each bin as possible and to empty the items from your totes as fast as possible. Not everyone has my eye for organizing a bin to max effect, so I spent some time rearranging to make room for my stuff.
It's sort of like a game. I hope I still feel that way in a few weeks. Mostly you work alone. Even though Chris and I are on the same team working the same shift, once we get our U Boats and go to different areas of the floor to work, we might not see each other until break time or lunch.
There are quotas to be met for how many items you store over the course of your shift, but those don't go into affect for us for a couple weeks. I have no idea if I am close to going at the right speed, but I assume if it's a problem, someone will let me know.
I got totally turned around in the aisles of bins today. If I hadn't seen Chris at break time, I would have spent the whole 15 mins of time off trying to find the break room. From where we were working today, it was probably close to 1/4 mile each way to the break room (plus up and down two flights of stairs), so even though we might not be walking a whole lot while we are storing, the to and from for breaks and then the back and forth to get more boats will quickly add up.
Not sure if I've lost any weight yet, but it's only been a couple days. :)
Friday, October 24, 2014
Music City Campground....Singing the Blues
In previous posts I've mentioned our trepidation about our campground here in Tennessee.
It was well-founded.
Here's some of what I've learned in my short time as a full time RVer. First, you want a level site. No one really wants to live in a house that is slanted from side to side or front to back. Most RV's come with leveling jacks (automatic) to help stabilize and level your home. Even with the jacks, we were slanting down hill. Chris went to Camping World and spent $70 for some leveling blocks. That helped but we're still not 100%.
Second, you want some amenities like cable and wifi. They did put in wifi (I have a feeling Amazon demanded it) and it's actually working pretty well. However, no cable. This is going to be a challenge (more for some of us than for others). Stay tuned for updates on that.
Other things aren't amenities but are necessities: like a laundry room. None here.
Yesterday I went into the office to register. I was there for as long as it took to get my driver's license from my wallet, have it copied and make maybe two mins of chit chat w/the woman there. When I got back to the RV, I reeked of cigarette smoke so badly I threw my shirt outside (didn't even want it in w/our dirty laundry) and took a shower. One of the questions I asked while there was whether we could have packages delivered there. (Yes, we can). But now I can't help but think every item we order online will come with a nicotine fix. So gross.
Another thing to look for in a campground is some sort of standards for people's sites. None here. There are some campers here that are so broken down, I doubt if they could get them out of here and because they've been here so long the residents have all sorts of clutter around them.
Perhaps we need to be here to learn a bit of humility and compassion. I tried to tell myself that and my heart pangs for what I imagine must be a pretty dreary existence. Not all full time RVers are traveling the country and seeing the sights, that's for sure.
There are some good things about this campground. We have a couple of trees. It's very quiet (except for the dog that is currently barking incessantly. Sadly we can't turn on the TV to drown out the noise.) It's also very close to several grocery stores, drugs stores and a laundromat (as well as a multitude of places to buy cigarettes, alcohol and get checks cashed).
Now...here's the irony. We heard about another campground that was added to the Amazon list, so we went there to check it out. We were filled with high hopes as we drove through the Tennessee countryside, past large horse farms and rolling hills of autumn colored trees. Turns out...that place was even less desirable than this one. Sites were still uneven and more narrow than what we have here. The wifi only reached a few of the campers (and would not reach the spot we would get if we decided to move) and it was at least 15 mins to any stores or laundromats. In addition, it had as many junky campers as Music City. And no cable.
For now, we'll stick with the devil we know.
It was well-founded.
Here's some of what I've learned in my short time as a full time RVer. First, you want a level site. No one really wants to live in a house that is slanted from side to side or front to back. Most RV's come with leveling jacks (automatic) to help stabilize and level your home. Even with the jacks, we were slanting down hill. Chris went to Camping World and spent $70 for some leveling blocks. That helped but we're still not 100%.
Second, you want some amenities like cable and wifi. They did put in wifi (I have a feeling Amazon demanded it) and it's actually working pretty well. However, no cable. This is going to be a challenge (more for some of us than for others). Stay tuned for updates on that.
Other things aren't amenities but are necessities: like a laundry room. None here.
Yesterday I went into the office to register. I was there for as long as it took to get my driver's license from my wallet, have it copied and make maybe two mins of chit chat w/the woman there. When I got back to the RV, I reeked of cigarette smoke so badly I threw my shirt outside (didn't even want it in w/our dirty laundry) and took a shower. One of the questions I asked while there was whether we could have packages delivered there. (Yes, we can). But now I can't help but think every item we order online will come with a nicotine fix. So gross.
Another thing to look for in a campground is some sort of standards for people's sites. None here. There are some campers here that are so broken down, I doubt if they could get them out of here and because they've been here so long the residents have all sorts of clutter around them.
Perhaps we need to be here to learn a bit of humility and compassion. I tried to tell myself that and my heart pangs for what I imagine must be a pretty dreary existence. Not all full time RVers are traveling the country and seeing the sights, that's for sure.
There are some good things about this campground. We have a couple of trees. It's very quiet (except for the dog that is currently barking incessantly. Sadly we can't turn on the TV to drown out the noise.) It's also very close to several grocery stores, drugs stores and a laundromat (as well as a multitude of places to buy cigarettes, alcohol and get checks cashed).
Now...here's the irony. We heard about another campground that was added to the Amazon list, so we went there to check it out. We were filled with high hopes as we drove through the Tennessee countryside, past large horse farms and rolling hills of autumn colored trees. Turns out...that place was even less desirable than this one. Sites were still uneven and more narrow than what we have here. The wifi only reached a few of the campers (and would not reach the spot we would get if we decided to move) and it was at least 15 mins to any stores or laundromats. In addition, it had as many junky campers as Music City. And no cable.
For now, we'll stick with the devil we know.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
First Day At Amazon
We had our first day of orientation at Amazon today. Orientation will last the rest of the week and then we start working full time on Sunday night. We asked for nights (higher pay, we are both better later than early in the morning and we think it will be better for the dog to be left alone at night than during the day). We will be "stowing". I'm not exactly sure what we'll be doing, but we'll be walking 2-4 miles per day.
Workampers have been starting at Amazon over the last few weeks. Our group this morning consisted of about 20 people. I think they were all couples though I think there was one woman who was alone. One couple looked to be in their late 40s and everyone else (other than Chris and I) was probably 60 (or 65) and above. A couple were over 70. About half or more had worked for Amazon before. Some where rather know-it-all-ish about it so you can imagine how I felt about that.
The warehouse is huge. Really huge. And rather noisy. I suppose that's what it's like working in a factory. I'll be sort of like Debra Winger in An Officer and a Gentleman. I'll need a cool hat like hers.
We were tortured by a couple hours of training videos about "bias" and sexual harassment. The videos were at least 20 years old, the acting was horrible and the hair was big.
We were given badges w/our pictures on them and cool Amazon Camperforce T-shirts (purple!).
Tomorrow we start at 7:30. I hope they don't make us watch any more videos.
Workampers have been starting at Amazon over the last few weeks. Our group this morning consisted of about 20 people. I think they were all couples though I think there was one woman who was alone. One couple looked to be in their late 40s and everyone else (other than Chris and I) was probably 60 (or 65) and above. A couple were over 70. About half or more had worked for Amazon before. Some where rather know-it-all-ish about it so you can imagine how I felt about that.
The warehouse is huge. Really huge. And rather noisy. I suppose that's what it's like working in a factory. I'll be sort of like Debra Winger in An Officer and a Gentleman. I'll need a cool hat like hers.
We were tortured by a couple hours of training videos about "bias" and sexual harassment. The videos were at least 20 years old, the acting was horrible and the hair was big.
We were given badges w/our pictures on them and cool Amazon Camperforce T-shirts (purple!).
Tomorrow we start at 7:30. I hope they don't make us watch any more videos.
Monday, October 20, 2014
Where Are We Now?
By the time you read this, we ought to be at or very near our next stop---Murfreesboro, TN.
We'll be working for Amazon's Camperforce in the Amazon Distribution Center in Murfreesboro. Actually, we'll be staying a few miles away from Murfreesboro, but that's where we will be working.
We heard about these Amazon jobs before we even bought the motor home. Fortunately I'd read several blogs about it and knew we'd need proof we'd graduated from high school so when I was packing and found my diplomas, I tossed them in.
Amazon actively recruits full time RVers to work seasonal jobs in their distributions centers. There are four Camperforce locations this year, with Murfreesboro being new.
From what we understand we'll be working 10 hours shifts 4 days per week filling orders and packing boxes. The work is physically taxing, but I need the exercise. We were given the choice of three different jobs, but no promise that we'd get our first choice. Two of the jobs involve walking several miles per day while one job is mostly standing in one place. I really hope I don't get the standing in one place job.
We are looking forward to spending the rest of 2014 in Tennessee. We'll be closer to friends and family and I'm excited to explore Nashville during our (limited) time off.
I don't think working in a warehouse is a job that I want to have permanently, but I'm willing to give it a try for a couple months. Plus, there won't be any phones for me to answer or customers to deal with (see previous post).
Our biggest concern is Dooley the dog. Between the commute and our jobs, we'll be gone for about 11 or 12 hours and we know he'll be lonely. We are hoping to get to our campground and settled in for a few days before we have to leave him for long periods.
The one fly in the ointment so far has been the campground. Amazon sent out a list of five campgrounds where they had made deals for Camperforce workers to stay. We were working the day the list came out so by the time we called the next day, they were all full. All except the one campground that didn't have a webpage or any information on line except a 5 out of 10 star review from 2010. Sigh.
We made a reservation at a campground that wasn't on the approved list and asked Amazon to pay at least a portion of our site rent. We were willing to pay out of pocket if need be to have a nice space. We were informed that if we were going to have a Camperforce job we had to stay in one of the approved campgrounds. Ugh. So we bit the bullet and made a reservation. I am trying to be optimistic and since we'll be working or sleeping most of the time, maybe it won't matter that much anyway.
Stay tuned for more from The Volunteer State.
We'll be working for Amazon's Camperforce in the Amazon Distribution Center in Murfreesboro. Actually, we'll be staying a few miles away from Murfreesboro, but that's where we will be working.
We heard about these Amazon jobs before we even bought the motor home. Fortunately I'd read several blogs about it and knew we'd need proof we'd graduated from high school so when I was packing and found my diplomas, I tossed them in.
Amazon actively recruits full time RVers to work seasonal jobs in their distributions centers. There are four Camperforce locations this year, with Murfreesboro being new.
From what we understand we'll be working 10 hours shifts 4 days per week filling orders and packing boxes. The work is physically taxing, but I need the exercise. We were given the choice of three different jobs, but no promise that we'd get our first choice. Two of the jobs involve walking several miles per day while one job is mostly standing in one place. I really hope I don't get the standing in one place job.
We are looking forward to spending the rest of 2014 in Tennessee. We'll be closer to friends and family and I'm excited to explore Nashville during our (limited) time off.
I don't think working in a warehouse is a job that I want to have permanently, but I'm willing to give it a try for a couple months. Plus, there won't be any phones for me to answer or customers to deal with (see previous post).
Our biggest concern is Dooley the dog. Between the commute and our jobs, we'll be gone for about 11 or 12 hours and we know he'll be lonely. We are hoping to get to our campground and settled in for a few days before we have to leave him for long periods.
The one fly in the ointment so far has been the campground. Amazon sent out a list of five campgrounds where they had made deals for Camperforce workers to stay. We were working the day the list came out so by the time we called the next day, they were all full. All except the one campground that didn't have a webpage or any information on line except a 5 out of 10 star review from 2010. Sigh.
We made a reservation at a campground that wasn't on the approved list and asked Amazon to pay at least a portion of our site rent. We were willing to pay out of pocket if need be to have a nice space. We were informed that if we were going to have a Camperforce job we had to stay in one of the approved campgrounds. Ugh. So we bit the bullet and made a reservation. I am trying to be optimistic and since we'll be working or sleeping most of the time, maybe it won't matter that much anyway.
Stay tuned for more from The Volunteer State.
Saturday, October 18, 2014
Graceland
We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog post to bring you this live update...we went to Graceland today.
Thursday night we were in Oklahoma City looking at the map. We have until Sunday the 19th to get to our location for the Amazon jobs so we decided to do a long drive yesterday (over 450 miles) and spend two nights in Memphis at the Graceland RV park...right across the street from you know where.
The Heartbreak Hotel is right in front of the campground...both are located "At the end of Lonely Street."
When we made the trip to NM, I was a newbie and didn't know anything about campgrounds or RVing. Now, I've got 3 months of campground customer service under my belt so I'm paying attention. The young woman who checked us in last night was really bad. Completely indifferent to whether we were there or not. I could have stood at the counter and made dookie in my pants and her expression still would have said BFD.
Needless to say, that didn't give me the best impression of the area. Our campsite was okay, rather close to the others and there's no cable. (We'll be w/o cable for our whole time at Amazon too...stay tuned for more posts on how Chris deals with this...). But the weather was great and we took a nice stroll down Elvis Presley Blvd.
A few days ago there were two RVs of Australians traveling together who stayed at the KOA. They were a lot of fun and I remembered that they'd said they were going to Graceland. But, really, what are the odds?
Well, as we were leaving the campground a man walked up next to us and it was one of the Australians. I pointed and said "you're one of the Australians". Like he didn't know.
He didn't seem to recognize us w/o our yellow KOA shirts (common) but he played along.
This morning we walked over to get our tickets and take the tour of Graceland. We did the basic tour of the mansion which did not include a "bonus room", the car collection or the airplanes. That was fine w/me.
What I found most interesting about the mansion was that it really wasn't that big (we only saw the downstairs). It's still the way it was when he died in 1977, but I'm sure a few of you have bigger kitchens and living rooms. However, you probably don't have your own racquetball building that has been converted to display gold records and your different jumpsuit/cape combos.
If you do have such a room, why haven't you told me?
The good news about the jumpsuits is that they were linen, not polyester. Still, you can't avoid sweating when you wear a cape, unless you are a super hero.
The tour was very nice. Everyone got their own iPad and headphones for an interactive tour w/extra features on the iPad like home movies or movie clips.
As I looked at all the photos and film clips, I couldn't help but notice just how darned good looking he was in his youth and how charismatic he was.
I remember when he died. I was on vacation at the Jersey shore with my friend Karen O'Sullivan and her family. Her dad came in w/the newspaper that said Elvis had died and he was really rattled by the news.
What about you? Do you remember where you were when you learned that Elvis had died?
Thursday night we were in Oklahoma City looking at the map. We have until Sunday the 19th to get to our location for the Amazon jobs so we decided to do a long drive yesterday (over 450 miles) and spend two nights in Memphis at the Graceland RV park...right across the street from you know where.
The Heartbreak Hotel is right in front of the campground...both are located "At the end of Lonely Street."
When we made the trip to NM, I was a newbie and didn't know anything about campgrounds or RVing. Now, I've got 3 months of campground customer service under my belt so I'm paying attention. The young woman who checked us in last night was really bad. Completely indifferent to whether we were there or not. I could have stood at the counter and made dookie in my pants and her expression still would have said BFD.
Needless to say, that didn't give me the best impression of the area. Our campsite was okay, rather close to the others and there's no cable. (We'll be w/o cable for our whole time at Amazon too...stay tuned for more posts on how Chris deals with this...). But the weather was great and we took a nice stroll down Elvis Presley Blvd.
A few days ago there were two RVs of Australians traveling together who stayed at the KOA. They were a lot of fun and I remembered that they'd said they were going to Graceland. But, really, what are the odds?
Well, as we were leaving the campground a man walked up next to us and it was one of the Australians. I pointed and said "you're one of the Australians". Like he didn't know.
He didn't seem to recognize us w/o our yellow KOA shirts (common) but he played along.
This morning we walked over to get our tickets and take the tour of Graceland. We did the basic tour of the mansion which did not include a "bonus room", the car collection or the airplanes. That was fine w/me.
What I found most interesting about the mansion was that it really wasn't that big (we only saw the downstairs). It's still the way it was when he died in 1977, but I'm sure a few of you have bigger kitchens and living rooms. However, you probably don't have your own racquetball building that has been converted to display gold records and your different jumpsuit/cape combos.
If you do have such a room, why haven't you told me?
The good news about the jumpsuits is that they were linen, not polyester. Still, you can't avoid sweating when you wear a cape, unless you are a super hero.
The tour was very nice. Everyone got their own iPad and headphones for an interactive tour w/extra features on the iPad like home movies or movie clips.
As I looked at all the photos and film clips, I couldn't help but notice just how darned good looking he was in his youth and how charismatic he was.
I remember when he died. I was on vacation at the Jersey shore with my friend Karen O'Sullivan and her family. Her dad came in w/the newspaper that said Elvis had died and he was really rattled by the news.
What about you? Do you remember where you were when you learned that Elvis had died?
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