Hurricane Sandy Hits Amazon

When watching the devastation of Hurricane Sandy on TV, I never dreamed we would feel any consequences from the storm. It’s nothing compared to what those poor people on the east coast are suffering, but these types of catastrophic events have long reaching tentacles.

Shortly after the hurricane hit, orders started declining at all Amazon facilities. Its no wonder with such a concentrated population in the worst hit area. On Tuesday night we were sent home a little over an hour early. On Thursday night when we reported for work, we were told that we would only be working half shifts both Thursday and Friday nights. My feet were doing a happy dance, and I was glad to have two more nights of normal sleep. However, we’re here to make money. So far, we’ve only worked one full shift.

I’m not complaining. I know from last year’s experience that there will be plenty of LONG shifts soon. Thanksgiving is early this year, so within another week or two, we’ll be working plenty. In the meantime, we have time to relax. And, as a bonus the weather has been fantastic the past week. Sunny, calm winds, and highs in the 80s. The upcoming week is supposed to be similar with highs in the 70s. No complaints here.

Last night we attended a CamperForce get together at Pizza Hut in Coffeyville. They have a group room which was filled with fellow Amazon work campers. We met some new people and chatted with some people we already knew. Good food and good company. Here we are enjoying ourselves. I think Kevin was having an intense conversation about something.

In my previous post, I had a picture of a converted bus that arrived at the campground. I thought it was the same bus that was here last year. But, I believe I was mistaken. These people have three daughters, and the bus last year had boys.

I received a comment from Greg letting me know these new people have a website at theschollbus.com. They certainly have an interesting set up. I spent some time reading about their adventures. Another example of people who seem to be very happy in a non-traditional life. Good for them!

The Green Bay Packers game is again not on TV this week. Can you believe the local FOX channel is broadcasting soccer instead. At least we have computers and satellite radio. Go Pack Go!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Mother-in-Law Suite?

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something surprising comes along. Today a converted bus camper pulled into the campground.

We remember this bus being here last year. The dad worked at Amazon. The mom stayed at the bus with the kids. I think they had two or three kids last year and she was pregnant with another. They also had two dogs. They’ve added some extras to the bus this year.

The main thing you notice is the second story they’ve added. It could be a mother-in-law suite, but my guess is maybe a master bedroom or a room for the kids. They now have a trailer for bikes and other things they need. They also have a car this year. Last year whenever they needed to go anywhere, they had to take the bus.

The second story is very interesting and ingenious. I hope they reinforced the roof of the bus. That’s a lot of weight up there. Also, notice the BBQ on the right front. It’s attached to some bars and swings out from the side.

Last year they were parked near us, and the kids were often outside playing. They were the sweetest, most polite kids we’ve encountered. They put up a sign in the laundry room to be dog walkers. There are a lot of people with dogs, so I’m guessing they got some work.  I wonder if their last name is Scholl. Notice the spelling on the bus.

We finished our first two full shifts at Amazon. This week we’re assigned to half of the warehouse. Next week they’ll be assigning us picking areas in the entire facility. Last night I wore my pedometer and clocked just under six miles. My feet are pretty sore by the end of the shift, but its so much better than last year. At least my back and wrists aren’t aching from the standing and packing. The good news is we’ve both lost a few pounds. I have a lofty goal of losing 20 pounds. We’ll see how that goes.

Last night all pickers and packers got sent home an hour early because of lack of work. This happened a few times last year as well. They bring in the work campers in September and October to train and prepare for the big Christmas peak season. So, right now they have more workers than work. At almost every shift, they offer VTO (voluntary time off) to all workers. Many of the regular employees jump at the chance because they know once the rush starts, there is no time off allowed.

Some work campers take VTO, but many say no thanks. We came here to make as much money as possible, so we’re working. They can’t make you go home unless they send everyone home. I was okay with leaving an hour early last night. I was tired and my feet were aching. Today we rest, and tomorrow we’re back for two more full days.

I can’t get my mind around how the computer system works at Amazon. Everything is scanned and placed in the warehouse. The computer knows where every item is located, assigns each picker items to pick based on orders, then tells the packers which orders to pack and in what size box, then prints a shipping label for the box. All of this is done by computer. All the workers do is scan an item, and the computer does the rest. Its amazing how it all works!!

I talked to both boys this week. Eric is doing well and is happy the hot summer days are behind him. Work is now back to a normal pace. Korey just got back from a two week vacation cruise with his friend Jeremy. Jeremy works for Disney World and gets awesome deals on Disney cruises. This year they went to Disneyland and then a 14 day cruise to Hawaii. They had a great time.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

We Survived Week One

Week one at Amazon went very well. This year they have implemented a new procedure where work campers have a hardening week. That means only working half shifts your first week. For us that was 5 pm to 10 pm on M, T, Th, and Fr. If it was up to me, I’d like those hours the entire time I was here. Of course, that would also mean less than half the pay once overtime kicks in.  On Monday we’ll start our full shifts of 5 pm to 3:30 am.

I’m loving the picker job. Its much better than the packing jobs we had last year for two reasons. One, it is very noisy in the packing plant, not so much in the rest of the warehouse. Two, we’re moving rather than standing in one spot.

The first week they program the computer to lock you into a limited area to do your picks so you can get used to how it works. We were in an area of mostly small items like books, DVDs, CDs, and all kinds of bottles of pills and supplements. With the use of MP3 players and iPods, I’m surprised how many people are still buying CDs. We both had no problem meeting and exceeding the quotas set for us.

Next week they’ll release us to pick in half of the warehouse. The following week we’ll work the entire one million square foot facility. That’s when I’ll start wearing my pedometer to report on how many miles we actually walk. We’ve been told it will be around 15 miles per shift. So far, our feet are holding up very well. I’m sure once we are running around the entire warehouse, they will start complaining much more!

We’ve gotten our first paycheck for the week of orientation. They only paid us for one of the days, so I had to send an email to try to get that resolved. Mike in HR replied that he would take care of it. We’ll see how that goes.

On Wednesday the campground owner hosted an Oktoberfest get together. He provided brats and beer and campers brought dishes to pass. There is not a clubhouse building at the campground. The foundation is poured, but the building has not been built. Everyone brought chairs and we sat on the foundation. Luckily, the weather was warm although pretty windy. I’d estimate there were about 75 people who attended. They had gotten donations from local businesses for door prizes. We won a gift certificate for a free large pizza at Pizza Hut. There is a new owner of the campground this year, and it sure was nice of him to host this event!

The weather has been very strange. The first part of the week was hot with highs in the 80s and very humid and windy. We had to run the air. On Thursday morning a cold front came through and dropped the temps by 40 degrees. We went from running the air in the morning to turning on the heater by late afternoon. There is a freeze warning in effect for the next few nights. Kevin disconnected the hose and we’re using water from the tank. Last year it didn’t get below freezing until December. The extended forecast is looking pretty good, and the winds have finally died down!

I like to cook using my crock pot, but the clean up was always a pain. Last summer, Kevin noticed our friend Betty using a product that has made the clean up so easy. These crock pot liners are only about 50 cents a piece and so worth it. Why didn’t I know about these sooner???

We don’t have any big plans for the weekend. Kevin is going to take the fourth original tire off of the fifth wheel. There is a Goodyear dealer in Independence where we will get a replacement. I’m still waiting for an estimate from Burlington RV so I can submit our claim to Goodyear.

I’m going to find a movie to rent at Redbox. Other than that, we’ll rest up for the big week ahead.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Variety Galore

We had our second orientation session on Friday. More paperwork and training videos. They talked about changes that have been made since last year. If the information is correct, it sounds like things will work more smoothly. We start tomorrow, so we’ll find out.

We’ve been walking for about an hour a day to keep working on conditioning for our 10 hour shifts on our feet. If we walk up and down each row of the campground twice, it takes an hour. There are 6 rows with 22 sites per row for a total of 132 sites. Currently about 115 of the sites are occupied. There certainly are a variety of units here.

Today Kevin and I counted how many were motorhomes or other types of RVs. We really need to get a life :) There are 52 motorhomes and 59 fifth wheels or travel trailers, pretty equally divided. Then there are a few other types of units such as camper vans.

Units run from very expensive to barely road worthy. People work here for a variety of reasons. Some are hear just to supplement a nice income. Others are barely scraping by and really need this money. We met a number of people last year who said they just needed something to do.

Most of the people in this park work for Amazon, although a few work at an oil refinery in town. Here are a few pictures of the diverse types of units at this park.

The front one looks like a work van converted into a camper. It has a sewer hose so must have a bathroom. A lone guy and his large dog live in it. The back Casita is occupied by a lone young lady. Rumor has it she is traveling the country before attending college.

These two trailers appear to be occupied by one family. They have a little boy and a dog. You’ll notice the hot tub on the right side. I don’t know if its hooked up. They also have a Dish satellite dish, everyone has their priorities.

Many units are very nice. These three motorhomes are all parked in a row and look like they cost a few bucks.

I’ve never seen a Class C made by Forest River. This one is called a Solera and has solar panels on top that take up most of the roof. I wonder if it comes with the solar panels and that’s why its called a Solera. The Class B next to it is occupied by a lone man. I can’t imagine living in such a small space.

Some work campers start working here as early as August. Its very hot here that time of year. We’ve seen a number of creative air conditioning options on some the trailers. Here’s an interesting one.

The weather this weekend has been wonderful with highs in the low 80s both days. This morning before football started we washed our windows and Kevin cleaned off the front cap of the 5th wheel. Those darn bugs sure do make a mess up there.

It’s time to start working. There’s not much to do in this neck of the woods other than count trailers :)

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

So Far, So Good

Today was our first day of orientation at Amazon. We were there for 4-1/2 hours. They explained how the CamperForce program works, showed us the diversity and workplace ethics videos, took our ID badge pictures, told us our job assignments, did the drug test, administered an easy skills test, filled out I-9 forms and fed us lunch. We also got CamperForce shirts. They had a drawing for some prizes, but we didn’t win any of those. Mostly shirts and coffee mugs.

The drug screen was interesting. They had a stick that you had to place in your mouth for a few minutes. When the dot turned blue, you were done. You placed the stick in a vile and closed the top. This was then put into a bag and sealed. It was quite painless and nice to be able to do the drug test on site. Last year we had to drive over an hour each way to a lab and do a urine test. They did tell us that next year they’re going back to the old way of doing things. No more on-site drug tests. I don’t know why. I hope they change their mind.

I’m much more impressed with the CamperForce personnel this year. They seemed to be much better organized and concerned about everyone’s happiness. Everyone in our group got the job assignment they were promised. We have another 4 hour orientation session tomorrow. I’m not sure what we still need to do that will take that long, but we’re getting paid, so who cares.

We start our jobs next Monday. We’ll be pickers working 5 pm to 3:30 am on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. The first week is a hardening week, so they only let you work half shifts. That means we’ll be done at 10 pm. Another week of good sleep for me :) Last year we were told there would be a hardening week, but we just started full time right away. The downside is less money, the upside is a chance to get used to the job.

We’ll still have 8 full weeks with at least 4 of them at 50 hours. Plenty of time for exhaustion!

Our travel day on Tuesday was much better than on Monday. No tire problems!! The only other mishap we had was that our large shade on the back window pulled lose on one side. There is only one screw on each side holding up that large, heavy shade. Last year the screw on the other side pulled out. Kevin has now reinforced it across the entire top. It should be good forever!

I’ve been in touch with Burlington RV in Wisconsin where we’ve had repairs done on our 5th wheel in the past. They are going to send me an estimate for repairs based on pictures I’ve sent them. That way we can submit our claim to Goodyear and wait to have the work done when we get back to Wisconsin in April. The damage isn’t that bad and is all cosmetic. We really don’t want to deal with repairs while on the road this winter. I’ll let you know what happens with Goodyear.

On Tuesday we crossed this cool bridge over the Missouri River into Kansas City.

Here’s the Kansas City skyline. The tree colors in Missouri and Kansas were fantastic.

We traveled on Hwy. US-169 in Kansas. Parts of it are four lane and other sections are two lane. Twice while we were on the two lane sections they were repaving and had traffic down to one lane. 

At the first stop, they had this lady with her stop sign standing out in the weather. It was in the 70s out, but it was quite windy. We waited there for about 15 minutes until the pilot car came to guide us through the construction. The lady switched spots with the driver and then she drove the car. At least she didn’t have to stand there all day.

 

At the second stop, they had this portable red light set up. It had a barrier down across the road like they have at railroad crossings to help assure cars stopped. We waited at this stop about another 15 minutes and then a pilot car came to guide us through. This red light sure seems like a better and cheaper alternative to having a person with a sign.

We arrived at the Big Chief campground in Coffeyville, Kansas Tuesday afternoon. There is a new owner this year. It looks like he is making some improvements, but its slow going. We are parked in site D-11 this year. This is one row over from where we were last year, and its on higher ground. I told the owner we did not want to be in the lake we were in last year. Here’s a reminder picture in case you forgot about our lakefront property last year.

The owner claims he has built up that row. There are some motorhomes on those sites right behind us, so we’ll see what it looks like when it rains. It still looks low to me.

The weather when we arrived on Tuesday was 82 degrees. Its been quite windy and in the 70s since then. This afternoon they actually closed down a stretch of I-35 south of us due to poor visibility caused by blowing dirt. The weekend is forecast for sunny and low 80s. We’re off, so we’ll have to get out and enjoy.

Kevin is super pleased with our new truck. He says it tows like a dream and the brakes work much better. We also averaged almost 10 mph even while driving into the wind. We’re able to travel farther before refueling so we didn’t have to stop once for fuel while towing. This also made Kevin very happy!!

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Another Tire Bites the Dust

This is getting quite ridiculous!!! This is the third tire that has failed in the last 18 months. This tire also has the tread pealing off of it, but it also blew.

We were driving along on I-35 about 20 miles north of Des Moines, Iowa when we heard a loud POP. Kevin looked in the side mirror and saw the tire had blown. This is on the same side as the one that blew in March, 2011 only it’s the front one this time.

Luckily, we were close to an exit so Kevin slowly limped us off the exit and onto the side of the entrance ramp across the road. He did a great job keeping control of everything.

As you can see the tire was quite flat. It also did damage to our 5th wheel again. Kevin tried to put the spare on, but his jack wouldn’t raise the axle high enough. We were not in the best place for changing a tire, so I suggested we should call for help.

We got to try out our On Star on the new truck. They connected me with GM Roadside Assistance who sent out a guy to change the tire for us. The bill was $259. Wow, that sounds pretty steep. We have coverage under our trailer insurance, so I will have to submit the bill to them for reimbursement.

While waiting for the roadside assistance guy, I used my smart phone to find a Goodyear tire dealer near where we would be staying the night. After calling a couple of places, I found one with our type tire. Its about a 45 minute drive from where we’re staying tonight, so we’ll drive over there first thing tomorrow morning, pick up the tire, mount it, and continue to Coffeyville.

So, after a two hour delay we were back on the road. This is now the third tire that has failed. At most, these tires have 12,000 miles on them. I don’t care what Goodyear says, there had to be some kind of defect in these tires. They will be getting a real earful from me. I expect them to cover some or all of the cost of the tire and the damage to our unit. I also expect them to give us some compensation towards the fourth tire as we will be replacing it. We do not trust that tire at all.

We know of many other RVers with these Goodyear G rated light truck tires on their 5th wheels, and no one else seems to have had the bad luck we have had. That’s what makes me think we had a defective batch. Kevin has been so careful checking them since our first problem. He had just looked at them about 20 miles earlier at a rest stop. But, you can’t always see if the tread is separating.

As always, things could have been worse. No one was hurt, the tread did not wrap itself around the axle which would have been so much worse. The damage to our 5th wheel is only cosmetic. On Star worked very well.

Tonight we’re staying at Wallace State Park in Cameron, Missouri. It’s about 30 miles north of Kansas City. This is really a beautiful park. We’ll definitely have to come back when we can take advantage of the hiking trails. The tree colors are just gorgeous. Here’s our site. We have a pull through, paved, 30 amp electric only site with free Wi-Fi for $21 per night.

On a brighter note, we had dinner at Joe and Julie’s on Saturday night and got to spend some more time with our niece Jen and her family. We had a great time visiting. Here’s the required family picture.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Two Enjoyable Bike Rides

On Thursday afternoon Kevin and I went bike riding with Kevin’s brother Joe. Unfortunately, Joe’s wife Julie had to work. Joe and Julie live in Waverly, Iowa where Joe took us out on the Rolling Prairie Trail. Another very nice paved Iowa bike trail.
We rode 16.3 miles round trip. The forecast was for 60s and sunny. Unfortunately, the weather guessers were wrong again. It was much cooler and overcast. We even got sprinkled on a bit. However, it was still a great ride. Thanks to Joe for giving us a tour of the trail. Here are Kevin and Joe next to the tallest Pompous Grass I have ever seen.

On Friday Kevin and I rode about 9 miles on the paved trails in and around George Wyth State Park. There are some small lakes in the park. This one is called Brinker Lake.

Part of the trail runs along the Cedar River. As you can see, most of the colorful leaves have already fallen to the ground. It was still a very pretty ride.

Much of the Midwest, including Iowa, is experiencing a severe drought this year. According to the newscasters, this area is over 16 inches below normal. The drought conditions are very noticeable in some of the waterways. The water level on Fisher Lake in the park is very low. These Canadian Geese must be wondering what all this mud is doing here.

Last night we went out for dinner with Joe and Julie, their son Robert, and their daughter Jen with her husband Mike and their son Nathan. Jen, Mike and Nathan live in Chicago and are visiting her family this weekend. When we found out they were going to be here, we extended our stay so we could see them. It’s been almost three years since we’ve seen them. Nathan is now four years old and is such a little cutie.
We ate at a retirement community. You may be thinking that sounds a bit odd. The story is that the chef at the retirement center used to own his own German restaurant in the area. He got out of the restaurant business because of the crazy hours. He was hired at the retirement center. Once a month he puts on a German dinner in their dining room and the public is allowed to make reservations.
It’s really a win/win/win situation for everyone. He gets to prepare his German cuisine, the proceeds go to the retirement center, the public gets to enjoy the great food and visit the fantastic retirement center which is great publicity for the center. Their dining room was just as nice as many restaurants I’ve been in. The food was fantastic!! They don’t serve alcohol, but the public is allowed to bring in beer or wine. What a great idea this chef had!
Today has been pretty rainy, but that’s okay. They really need the rain. Tonight we’re going to Joe and Julie’s house for dinner with everyone. It’s so nice to have a more flexible lifestyle now and be able to spend some extended time with family.
We got a phone call from Amazon yesterday. They were confirming our assignment as pickers. The lady I spoke with assured me that we will be pickers working the 8 shift which is nights on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. That’s exactly what we wanted. Hopefully, this year what they told us and what happens will match! On Thursday we report at 8 a.m. for orientation.
Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!