MY HUMBLE OPINION-AMAZON.COM

Now that I have officially completed my first season with Amazon.com in Coffeyville KS. Here is my humble opinion about the whole thing:
Upon my phone interview with Paul from Amazon, he was very pleasant on the phone and very honest in the interview. He came right out and stated that the job could be physically demanding. He asked if I was able to lift at least 50lbs, if I was able to walk at least 10+ miles in a 10 hour shift, if you would be offended by some of the things that might come through the fulfillment center. If you can answer those questions honestly-then you won’t have any problem working for amazon.com.

• Never did I have to really lift 50lbs, and they are very adamant that you “test” the load before even trying to lift. If you feel you cannot lift, then don’t hesitate to ask for help and get a “buddy lift” (another person to help you with the heavy item).
• The only time you may walk 10+ miles if you are a “picker”, then you could easily walk more than that; especially during peak season. Another one that could get you that many miles is also a stower (a person who puts the items in designated area). I was a receiver so I basically stood more than I walked. They do require that if you stand more than 15 minutes in the same spot that you get a rubber mat.
• Good solid shoes is a must and some are not even allowed, so before you go out and buy those shoes, find out first what are allowed and what are not. There are two different tennis shoes that are not allowed, the one is an exception as long as the wires on the heel are covered. Stay away from steel toe shoes!
• You will have to go through security every single time you leave the plant area. So be prepared to have your break time cut down by a minute or two.
• I never knew they could put so many shifts as Amazon has done; I believe that there was a total of 13 shifts. All day shifts started at 6:00am (inbound) or 6:30am (outbound) and you worked until either 4:30pm (inbound) or 5:00pm (outbound). Night shift started at either 5:00pm or 5:30pm depending if you were inbound or outbound. Regardless what you worked, we all did at least 10 hour shift. You might start beginning of your week on Sunday and end on Wednesday or maybe start on Monday and end on Thursday and so forth and so forth. There was one called the Donut shift and no they didn’t get donuts for going in but their shift might start on Monday, work Tuesday, have Wednesday off and then work Thursday and Friday and have the weekend off. There were couples that worked only 2 days and had the rest off. So many scenarios that you wouldn’t imagine that a job placement could do-but Amazon did!
• During peak season (right after Thanksgiving and going all the way to Dec 23rd) your hours could increase to 50, 55 or 60 hours. Workampers are only required to work 50, but they do have the option to go up to 60 hours if they choose too.
• All work force campers completed on or before the 23rd of Dec. Depending on when your shift work week ended. Amazon will pay for one extra day of camping the day before you start and one day after you completed your end of term. you do NOT get your bonus if you leave your assignment before your officially end date. I was shocked to see a couple of campers leave and they only had one more week left to go.

• We did get a few flack from the regular workers, but I learned for the most part to do my job, try my best to get along and not let them get to me. I would great them with a smile, tell them good morning or to have a good night and before I knew it, I did become friends with them. Once in a while I would ask for their input (even though I knew the answer)-this made them feel that you needed them and they then in return would actually respect you back.
• You had several vested folks running around, red vest, green vest, yellow vest and an occasional brown vest.
  • Red vest: were your Ambassador and did mainly training. They guided you and answer you any questions and were there the first week of your job.
  • Green Vest: were your PA’s (Process Assistant): If there was a job shift they would tell you were to go. Amazon also works on a percentage and they would come around about 2-4 times daily to let you know where your percentage was. Or if you had a screw up, they would come and tell you what you did wrong.
  • Yellow Vest were your managers of your dept.. You may easily see two or three of them running around your area. One is generally higher up than the other, but the same, if you have a question or problem, you go to them.
  • Brown Vest were the work campers force supporters. If we had any questions to relay to Paul or Dana we would go through them or they might do a safety check with us to make sure we are following Amazon’s guidelines in safety.
• Amazon is very strong on Safety and are very strict in areas of Pit Drivers and running or working around the conveyers, there is absolutely no room for errors and they won’t hesitate in firing you if you violate the serious safety rules! You do go through safety school on your first day during orientation. So pay attention-it’s really not rocket science but more common sense than anything.
• Your first day is called Meet and Greet which basically was orientation. You watch several videos (they are boring), you took a quick quiz to see if you could read and comprehend what they wanted (very easy and simple and almost funny). Here is where they will take your pic and you will get a badge before the end of the day and you will know what shift and areas you will be working. It’s an all day affair.

I mainly stayed in Inbound trained in receiving and prepping. Prepping was sort of fun, but hated to hang coats on hangers! When Peek time came around many folks that were stowers and some receivers got moved over to outbound with many extra overtime. Here is where I really got frustrated because all the managers knew that I wanted as much OT as I could get, and I didn’t get moved. I got stuck in inbound and the tension between all the workers for some reason got more tense.
I won’t denied there were a few occasions where I just wanted to walk out, but I didn’t. I didn’t come this far to loose the bonus that I would receive at the end of completion. The lesson I learned is that I should have gone to HR right away with my issues instead of keeping them to myself. When I finally was denied extra OT that is when I did go to HR and both Paul and Dana did their best to get me my hours.
I did get some training in Outbound and enjoyed the different pace of work. However several of those that got transfer during peak season, they ended up quitting. I think if the managers would pay a little more attention to the workampers, they would get better cooperation and a lot less walking out on the job.
Here is a low down and description of each job that a workampers may do:
Inbound consist of shipment coming into the fulfillment center, being received and/or prepped, then onto the stowers who put the item away.
Receiver: Semi’s come in and workers unload the thousands of boxes/cases of products. Most get put on a conveyer and receivers check the items into the fulfillment center. The item is scanned and checked in through a computer system. They have to make sure there is no damage to the product upon checking in. It’s place on carts to be stowed away.
Prepping: consist of varies things. If an item if fragile and could possible be broken between transship, then it’s wrapped in bubble wrap to protect the item. If it’s anything apparel or cloth it has to be placed in bags or if it’s a child’s toy that is cloth it has to be bagged. Any liquid items that could possibly open up has to be bagged. Coats have to be placed on hangers. This is just a few things that maybe prepped.
Stower: the stowers now take the cart and find temporary placement for the product. They carry a hand held scanner so that once the product is placed, they have to scan both the product and the bin that the item is going into, so that the picker knows exactly where to go to get this item when needed. Some products have designated areas that they have to be in.
Outbound is now where the pickers goes finds an item that has been ordered and goes to shipping to be shipped out.
Picker: When item is received online through amazon, a picker goes and locates that item and places it in a bin. They too carry a hand held scanner and this is where they get their information to locate that item.
Crisplant: is the packing dept. Orders come off the conveyer and run through a chute. Again checked to make sure it’s the right product being shipped and there is no virtual damage.
Shipping: there are so many ways an item can be shipped. It all depends on how the customer has requested it to be shipped to them. Once the product is placed in the right size box, it also gets scanned and is sent down a conveyer where the address of the shipment is placed and ready to be shipped out.
Now here are some “funny” words that I call them that we had to learn quickly the meaning of:
Water Spider: is a person who takes the carts from the receivers and sends them to the stowers. Or they could also be the person that stocks the boxes for the shippers.
Gaylord: are huge boxes that shipping items are placed in once ready to be shipped to be taken out and loaded.
Asin: stands for Amazon Standard Identification Number. It’s a bar code that identified each item that is scanned into the warehouse.
There are many more that you will learn, but these are the ones that I laughed at the most!
There is really a lot that goes in to ship an item out and is amazing how it all works. It was a fun experience and look forward to more years as a seasonal work force campers for Amazon.com
One thing is for sure: this is NOT a sit down on your butt kind of job! It is physically and even mentally demanding-but I would and plan on doing it again. It does get frustrating, but you learn to cry a little, laugh a lot and make lots of new friends!
Note: All that I have described here, is how Amazon.com operates it’s fulfillment center in Coffeyville KS. So it may vary at other fulfillment centers. I hope this gives you just a general idea on how it all works.
Amazon’s Motto: Work Hard, Have Fun, Make History!

CRAZY OR WHAT??

Since traveling on the road for over 11 years now, we never have made a move this late in the season.  We always have been somewhere and settled way before even Thanksgiving.  But this year being a little different since working at amazon.com, we didn’t hit the road until literally days before Christmas!
Leaving Coffeyville, we had decided to make one of the AZ Casino’s our place to stop to enjoy Christmas at one of their delicious buffets and who knows-pluck a few dollars into the slot machine.
Upon getting ready, we knew that a bad snow storm was hitting in the direction we wanted to go, so we got held up in Sayre OK until the storm passed and the Instate cleared. 
The more we thought about it, the more exciting it sounded to be parked in snow!  We would bundle up and yes, even Leah and go play out in the snow on Christmas Day!  What a better way to enjoy the day and then go pig out on the Christmas Buffet!
Well, here’s where it starts to get interesting….
Upon leaving Amarillo TX and heading towards NM border we knew that we would start to see the snow accumulation.  Heading towards Tucumcari we only saw a dusting along the roadway and thought to ourselves that this was nothing.  We were thinking that a dusting to these folks was a blizzard…but as we got closer to a town called Edgewood NM, the snow started to get deeper.  There were areas along the I-40 corridor that hadn’t even been cleaned off along the shoulders yet.  All the rest areas Westbound were still closed and not plowed out yet.  They were just opening Eastbound rest areas as we plucked along.
   

Needing a break and wanting to stretch my legs, Brian found a Wal-Mart right off of I-40 in the town of Edgewood.  The exit was slushy but cleared enough to master the motorhome and tow, until we got into Wal-Mart’s parking lot.  They apparently don’t know the word “snow-plow”!  It wasn’t plowed at all, and being Christmas Eve, it was chaotic!  There was no place safe to park the motorhome without the fear of getting stuck since there appeared to be 10-12 inches of the white stuff. I  manage to go in one entrance and out the next exit to learn that I could not make the left turn I needed to head in right direction.  So ended up going down  the road, in the wrong direction of our destination and not knowing what was ahead.
I found a shopping center where I barely could get the motorhome in one drive and back out the other just to turn around!  upon the entrance I scrapped the back-end.  Brian goes to investigate and finally those skid wheels we purchased did their job well!Now turned around back in the right direction, We decided I didn’t need that rest after all so onward we go to the Casino!
We were tossed between Dancing Eagle and Sky City Casino.  Both had RV Parking, however Sky City sounded to have a wonderful Christmas Buffet-so Sky City here we come…
Monitoring the weather closely in that particular area, we knew that both Casinos got hit hard with the snow storm.  So Brian called to find out if even the RV Parks would be open and even plowed out.  Sky City told us that it was being done as they spoke-or so we were told.
Upon our arrival to Sky City Casino in late afternoon on Christmas Eve, we were again greeted with lots of slush and snow!  It made it difficult to even get fuel, but manage.  We paid for our site and was told that the campground was plowed out and ready.  The RV Park is across the road from the Casino/Hotel/Travel Center.  As we crossed over the road, to our dismay, we couldn’t even try to get into the RV roadway let alone find our spot that was buried yet under all the snow! 



We left the motorhome sitting in the roadway, unhooked the car and went back over to the travel center where we paid and complained.  They got the guy over to plow it out while we sat waiting…thinking boy, we gotta be crazy or what?   It took well over an hour and half just to get us a path in and into our site. 
Now we are stuck here until they finish up on Christmas Day so that we  can pull back out bright and early Monday morning to much warmer weather-AZ!




Upon getting up this morning-it was only down to –7below outside!  I think this is the coldest weather thus far since traveling.  So did we stay warm inside? You betcha!!!  With the help of the electric heater and the motorhome furnace running until we got up, then Brian turned on our Cozy World brick heater.  We never hooked to the water direct and what we have in the tank didn’t freeze either. 


We opened up the window blinds and discovered all the windows had ice on them!




Since the sun has come out all the windows are cleared up.  We are just waiting for the afternoon sun to hit the slide side so that we can bring it in and not wait till tomorrow.  As the day moves forward we are to warm up to a mighty 36 degrees.
Another Christmas Day to remember and to put in our memory book

MS GARMIN-HILARIOUS!

When we purchased our motorhome and decided to travel summers we also decided on a GPS system to help guide us as well. 


After researching and picking a few  goo-roo’s brains, we decided to take the middle road and purchase a Garmin.  Ms. Garmin has proven her self and helped out greatly; especially getting us around metropolitan areas such as Denver, Fort Smith, Amarillo, Albuquerque and Phoenix. 


So once again hitting the road and on Interstate I-44, we wanted Ms. Garmin to help us around Tulsa and Oklahoma City.  So leaving Coffeyville KS we put in the Wal-Mart in Elk City OK, the nearest destination we could possibly get to Sayre OK.  We had it in mind that this time we would just take the Toll road and stay on Interstate-specially with the weather being a bit unpredictable this time of year.


Well, Ms. Garmin had different ideas.  She wants us to take a southern route to jump onto I-40.  So when we ignored her direction, and she consistently would say: “r-e-c-a-l-c-u-l-a-t-i-n-g” in that little annoying voice of hers.  She obviously did not want us to take the toll road and kept telling us to take every exit we would come across.  We always figure that they were set up to take the most economically way, so why in the world was she trying to take us 60 miles farther south-was beyond us.


but this is when she really got hilarious; when we ignored her once again on taking an exit, then she became insistent that we did a u-turn in the middle of the interstate!  Ironic enough she knew the locations of where there was a break in the barriers for emergency vehicles to do their u-turn, but no way we could!  We finally got tired of hearing her annoying voice and just shut her down.  We would get through Oklahoma City the old fashion way:  Brian being my navigator and the good ole’ Rand McNally maps!


As our old buddy, Ron would say: “Why buy a Garmin when you can buy a $2.00 map?”  Maybe he knew something we didn’t…

A PENNY, NOTE & GIFT CARD

This past few weeks has been a little harder on me.  What has happened is that many folks that I started here with Amazon got moved to outbound and I got left behind in inbound. 


So lunch time and break time became lonely place for me and even on the floor those that were still around were the regular workers, treating me as if I just got there.  On a few occasion I had to remind them that I have been there and I knew how to do my job.


This was becoming a depressing note for me at on a few occasion I was ready to just walk out-but instead I would walk to the bathroom-shed a few tears go back out and held my head high and went on with working.


A lady seen I was feeling lonely and came over and has in braced me with her kindness and friendship and ever since has been a great friend and I will always remember her-Thanks Val!  And along with her came a sweet older couple.  Val has gone out on the limb to even talk to plant manager to let her know how this past week or so has effected me.  The plant manager came over with a smile and had a nice chat with me-which has helped brighten my spirits some.


Determined to make the next 3 weeks as pleasant as possible I got to work one morning and in front of my locker was a penny-heads up.  Of course I had to laugh and thought of my co-worker who got moved over to out bound and thinking he put the penny there for me.  “A Penny For Your Thoughts”.  So I kept the penny and will keep it with me.




At lunch time I got my lunch out and found a napkin in it.  Thinking who got into my lunch and put a napkin in it.  I took it out and found this note written on it:




Leave it to George to write that I’m still short (He is also the one I think put the penny in front of my locker).  That made my day and another laugh.  Of course those around me wonder why I was laughing at a napkin until I showed them my note!    You see George and Bonnie and Nancy we all became good friends and those three got moved to outbound.  I’m still glad that George can still pick on me!


In the mornings after we clock in we do stand-up before going to our designated stations.  It’s here that they get announcements, stretch our muscles before work.  We do this again right after lunch. 


This past week they have been doing 14 days of Peak Drawing.  They drew three names and those winners won $10.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.  This particular day they ante it up to $25.00 dollars and instead of three winners they went to just one.  I was the winner that day!  Needless to say I stood there dump founded when my name was called!






to top the day off, my percentage on the receiving line was way up as well-and I wasn’t even trying to make quota-but I manage to go above and beyond my own expectation and Amazons.

COUNTING DOWN

Well as the countdown begins and it starts to get busy, my blog web pages may have to be short and sweet for now…But again-you just never know what I might write or when….with that said:
After two months of working at Amazon and avoiding volunteer time off we are now in full swing with the countdown to Christmas. Earlier this week we started with voluntary overtime that turned into mandatory for us this past Thursday for inbound.

Several folks including all that I have met and became acquainted with has been moved to outbound with plenty of overtime for them.  I have been left in inbound in receiving/prepping.  We are only getting 1 day overtime while outbound is doing 2 days of overtime or coming in one hour earlier.  Those that I have met didn’t want the overtime as I did. 

Also this past week while working on the receiving line, Christmas songs were playing, putting some of us in the Christmas spirit, then comes along those that didn’t want the music;  turned it off and started to play hard rock music. It sadden my heart to really know there are scrooges out there…
On the positive side of Amazon:  The week of Thanksgiving we had a meal catered in from a local catering company.  We had Turkey, mash potatoes with gravy,green beans cranberry salad and for desert bread pudding.  It was very tasty.  those that had to work a couple of hours on Thanksgiving Day got to take home a pumpkin pie.  This next week we are having another meal catered in and this time it’s stuff chicken breast, rice pilaf, and I don’t remember the rest of the menu.  Management also has been going around handing out small little trinkets to us workers.  Also all of us workampers received a workampers force T-shirt.

      

So the countdown begins…..only 3 weeks left and I’m done for the season with Amazon. Will I return to Amazon again next season? Probably, but not here in Coffeyville. I’m wishing for Fernley NV since we plan on spending the next several years that way touring the West.

You know I think I could get use to this kind of a lifestyle…Work maybe from Sept to Dec for Amazon.com and then the rest of the time off to tour around; Yep let the countdown begin!

WINTER COATS?

When Brian and I started our travels we went through all of our clothes and reduced what we had.  We decided we will no longer need heavy sweatshirts, sweaters, boots, gloves and most of all winter coats.

Our first winter was a huge mistake getting rid of all that since we got stuck in an horrible ice storm near Hot Spring AR.  We had to go buy once again gloves and hats.  But we refuse to buy a winter coat. 

After that bad experience we decided that thereafter all of our winters would be in the southern warmer states.  One year we traveled around parts of Louisiana and although we never had ice, when it rained it was very cold and damp.  Then we ended up in Northern Texas and once again in the cold and yet once again, we refuse to buy a winter coat…

Here we are again facing cold weather at least until Christmas time and we still refuse to buy that winter coat.  So how we do stay warm?  layers of clothing.  We wear t-shirts with long sleeve shirts.  When we go outdoors we put on our hooded sweatshirts and then our windbreaker/rain coats.  We did break down this year and bought stocking hats.

Now our Miniature Pincher, Leah Kay-well that’s a different story.  She’s ready for any type of weather that may come her way:

she has rain coat,

,

A summer dress,

A spring/fall type coat,

Somehow along the way we recently have lost the coat that is shown up above.  That was mine and I think Leah’s too favorite coat of all.  So now I must make her another new coat to keep her warm. 

and for really cold days just about everything gets covered up!

and now she owns a Christmas coat;

With the exception of the rain coat, I have made all of her coats, so that way I know for sure she will stay nice and warm on these cold days when out walking.

REMEMBERING PAST THANKSGIVING

Brian and I have full time RVing for a long time now.  When holidays come around, it gets a little depressing sometimes for me.  I miss the family gatherings and all the trimmings that goes along with it.

But as Brian and I do travel we are making new memories for the holidays-making each year a little better for me to accept.

I remember our first Thanksgiving on the road.  We were staying at a Corp of Engineer park near Hot Springs AR.  Brady Mountain campground to be exact.  We were newbies to the RV full-time lifestyle; fresh on the road-not even a month.  In fact we still had temporary tags both on our Coachman 5th wheel and dodge diesel truck.

Our small little 5th wheel had a very small oven and we couldn’t even fit the smallest turkey in it-even if we tried.  So the next best thing was going out for a Thanksgiving dinner.  We called around and being on a tight budget-we settled  on Shoney’s Thanksgiving buffet.

Thanksgiving day rolled around and we decided to keep a tradition that we started when the girls were young and that was having pumpkin pie for breakfast. (now that’s another story to be written at another time).  It started to rain like the dickens as we hopped into our truck and headed to town.  Got into Shoney’s and waited a short time to be seated.  The turkey turned out to be rolled turkey meat-not even a real turkey!  The dressing I think was to be cornbread dressing; which we were not use to.  When it came to the pie, a waitress came around and asked if we wanted pumpkin, apple or sweet potato pie.  Of course we said pumpkin.  We got a small sliver of a slice and a dollop of hard cool whip on top (it’s a good thing we ate a small one for breakfast…).

It was the most disappointing Thanksgiving meal we could possibly ever had!  Next thing was laundry to do and there was a laundry mat open.  Two of the machines ripped me off and no one to complain to…

We soon discovered that the Wal-Mart supercenters were open!  Never been in one until we came to AR before; we manage to pass over 3 hours of just walking around, while it poured outdoors. 

So that is how our first Thanksgiving on the road turned out.  Each year did get better.  We soon found private parks and spent holidays in them; which helped the holidays go much easier for the both of us. 

We did not try another Thanksgiving meal out again-until a few years ago when we spent the holiday down in North Padre Island for winter.  We went into Corpus Christi to Golden Corral.  They did do carved turkey.  We were there early enough-but it just still didn’t seem like it was the best.  I guess there just isn’t anything like a good home cooked meal….

We did have fun with holiday dinners in the private park.  You had a huge variety of food along with both types of dressing-bread and cornbread.  The only bad thing about that was-no left over turkey to take home! 

So from now on it’s a given with us-We will cook our own Thanksgiving dinner and make our own memories each year!  And we can pig out as much as we want to!!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and hope each year brings new memories….

Just Another Week…

aaahh…just another week around here in Coffeyville.  Let’s see, they say the ground has shook under our feet, tornadoes not so far away, amazon gearing up for the holidays, problems here in the park.  Just another week…

Let’s just start off by saying the temps have been like a roller coaster around here.  Up, down, up, down.  We get a few days into the 70’s with lots of sunshine.  But with that sunshine we also get the winds.  Then here comes a round of storms, spouting off tornados.  Luckily none near us, however this past week what was thought to be an EF2 turned out to be an EF4 and it was heading in our direction.  But it never reached us and all we got from it was winds, torrential rain and lots of lightning and thunder.  A rude awaking at midnight.

Then a few hundred miles south of us in central OK they have been having earthquakes-the strongest being 5. something on the Richter Scale.  I don’t recall feeling that particular one.  But one night after going to bed, we felt the motorhome move and thought it was just another wind downburst; but I guess it wasn’t-it was actually the earth moving.  Now scientist are scrambling to figure out if these Earthquakes are natural or due to oil pressure from oil companies drillings.

Now at Amazon.com I was told that I would be moving to a different area along with 4 other folks-which never happened and now don’t know if it will.  They started talking about the “black-out” period starting the day after Thanksgiving.  If and sound like it could be a big IF (according to the rumors that seem to fly around) we should get overtime-starting with 10 hours extra, possibly going to 20 hours of OT.  As fast as they talk about that-then they go around asking anyone who wants to take VTO (voluntary time off).  AND at the same time-they are asking for VOT (voluntary over time) for this next Thursday. Of course I was the first to put my name on the list for the VOT.  Such a crazy place I work at-but I do like it.  And will return again next year!

Here at Big Chief Park-they are having their own share of problems.  But it’s the owners own fault for these problems.  With all the recent rain and downpours, once again a large rig punch through and this time it didn’t break the water line-but the electric line!  Knocked out power to 5-6 rigs; making a few unhappy campers.  Down the road a ways seems to be yet another large water leak.  However-they claim it’s still standing water from the recent rain-although everywhere else has dried up.  The camper in that spot has to waddle almost to get to his vehicle and can’t even get to the back side of his rig.

While checking out the bathrooms/showers the manager’s assistant was spraying down the showers with a combination of Lysol and bleach.  I made the statement that that won’t keep the mold and mildew away and that he’s going to have to put some muscles into cleaning.  His come back was that’s as good as it’s going to get and if they don’t like they can shower with the mold and mildew…I wonder how far that will go before campers start complaining…When he hoses down the bathrooms-they stay constantly wet and always standing water when you walk in-even in the toilet area…poor planning is all I have to say.

So as I said:  It’s just another week around here in Coffeyville-wonder what next week will be like?

ONE MONTH AT AMAZON

I have now worked a full month here at Amazon.com and all I can say is: I SURVIVED!!-So far….
This past week has been a true test on all of us-both seasonal workers and the permanent workers that work all year there. 

Just like anywhere you go-rumors fly around: some being true-some stretching the truth.   This week it’s been hard to filter out all the rumors going on.  One thing is for sure in Plant D the tension has been extremely high making it a difficult place to work almost in perfect harmony.

It all started out on Sunday when 1st break rolled around and we all were asked who wanted to take VTO (voluntary time off).  As it is, Sundays are what we call lull days; when hardly anyone is there.  I kind of liked Sundays because not too many bodies running around.  Anyways, a few took the VTO while us die-hard turned it down (like me) and continue to work.  Once again after lunch, during Stand-up exercise/announcements VTO was asked.  Again a few more left.  At 1:30pm we all were told to clock out and go home at 2pm and not to come in until 8am on Monday.

Needless to say I was actually disappointed about not receiving my full 40 hours of work this week. with it only being the beginning-what would the remaining of the week bring?

Come Monday they came around this time asking if anyone wanted to take VTO on Tuesday or Wednesday or both days!  Again my answer was NO!  Gosh darn it, I was hired to work, work and work.  I was looking forward to the extra money to fuel our motorhome this summer and finally not having to not work a summer!  Now I’m to the point that I’m really worried about job security here at Amazon.com-specially with the holidays coming up.  Also on Monday I was moved around to 3 different Prep areas (normally called Prep Cells).

Here is where rumors start. The full-time workers are blaming us seasonal workers.  They say we are coming in and taking over their job where they don’t get their time in.  Rumor is that in receiving-there will be no overtime and with them constantly bringing in more workers, they won’t be enough work for everyone. Another rumor is because of several other new fulfillment centers opening-all the products are being sent there and not to us.

  One guy that was normally in stowe (putting items in proper areas after we receive them) was brought into help with prep.  The women in that area treated him rough-so he went home (note: it was his last day as he was moving on).  Another lady was brought over from outbound due to an injury and was placed on light duty until further notice.  They have her biting bullets and she too is close to quiting.  Only thing keeping her is she knows it’s temporary and she will be back in outbound soon.  Another lady who has been in prep since the beginning-the regulars had her crying.  So the morals of the plant isn’t very good right now.

On Tuesday I jumped from receiving to prepping back to receiving; which at times a few of us stood around waiting for product to come down the line.  We all held our breath as to if we were going to be sent home….

After lunch on Tuesday I finally went to one of our person in charge and said that I really don’t want any time off and if there was maybe an area that I could move to where I wouldn’t be asked day-to-day to take VTO.  She said that there were 5 people gong to picking (where we have to locate a purchase item and send it to outbound to be package).  I asked her if I could be one of those 5 and she told me I already was. 

Now I’m excited because again rumors are that there are no VTO in picking and they will work longer.  Plus I will now get the walking that I so much miss.

Wednesday morning I’m pumped up and ready for a new adventure.  As promise my name along with 4 others (one of which I have worked with) are up on the board to report to picking school at 7:45.  Until then we go to receiving line until it’s time.  We are all there ready to go.  We get signed in and pick up a scanner just to be told: “not going to happen this week”….our mouths dropped and we asked what was going on.  They claim miscommunication.  They also claim that they are not going to train 5 when they just asked 40 to VTO and they got more Seasonal Workampers coming in on Thursday for picking school! 

At this point I’m really, really frustrated and was just about to go ahead and take VTO-go home and weigh my options here at amazon.  We were assured that we would be back to picking school next week.  But at this point I hold nothing to face value-because there is no guarantee what next week will bring.

The Big shots (as I call them), are gearing up for black out.  This next Wednesday they are having a black out parade inside the plant, then everyone in the plant will meet in D section for a “party”.  It’s hard to be in the mood when tensions are high right now.  They also stated that work will start picking up and be more steady…

I was sent back to receiving and was told I would stay there until maybe next week…I guess only time will tell what will happen.  As down as I felt I really didn’t care if my percentage was up or down.  Surprising enough-my percentage was over hundred percent and work was constant.
After talking with some of the other workers, I soon learned that others have asked to be transfer to picking and they were not chosen….So now I’m curious as to what the new week and this next month will bring here at Amazon.com.

Yes, I’m going to stick it out.  I really do like working here, I just don’t like the uncertainty it’s bringing.  Many of us seasonal workers come a long way to work and not to be left dangling on a string from day to day.

NEEWOLLAH

Neewollah is of course Halloween spelled backwards. Every year in Independence KS, a huge 3 day celebration goes on celebrating Neewollah. this is how it got started: ABOUT NEEWOLLAH        Neewollah celebration began in 1919 as an effort to provide positive activities for kids of all ages in place of the typical Halloween pranks that occurred in the community of Independence, Kansas. In the beginning the events centered on parades, morning, afternoon, and night on October 31. The parades consisted mainly of decorated cars and carriages. Queens and princesses from area festivals rode in the parades, along with our own Queen Neelah who was selected based on votes bought at a penny each. The Great Depression and World War II interrupted the Neewollah celebration but in 1958 four businessmen revived and elaborated on the Neewollah theme bringing it back as a 3-day celebration. Today Neewollah is the largest annual celebration in Kansas. The city of Independence will grow from a town of just under 10,000 inhabitants to 75,000. Today's celebration now includes 3 parade.  Go to: www.neewollah.com to learn more about their celebration and maybe next year if in the area you will come and join in on the fun.  It’s for the young, middle and even the old enjoy and have fun.  We only went to the parade because Amazon.com had a huge float and we wanted to see what it was about.  Any Amazonian workers could join in on the float either walking next to it and passing out candy or by riding on the float.  I choose to be a by stander next to my husband. As we were waiting along with many other spectator for the parade to start, we all of a sudden heard this loud roar and up looking up here came a military fighter planes flying very low over our heads.  It was really awesome and we soon learned that was the beginning of the parade.   They had well over 130 in the line-up with lots of marching bands playing along.  One really stuck out the most only because they put lots of extra nifty steps into their march which made them very unique and good. Of course I was waiting to see Amazon.com’s float and to see if I would recognize anyone from work.  Sure enough a few faces that I did know were either walking or riding on the float. I think it was unique for the way they paraded the antique cars with a police car next to it.  It almost appeared that they were racing or maybe preventing a race. I think we even found our future camper!  Wonder if would make it through the mountains and the back woods where we like to adventure? And there were some pretty awesome floats in the parade as well! HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!

BUBBLE WRAPPING

When I was younger and would receive something that was wrapped in bubble wrapping, I would have fun popping all those bubbles!  As I grew up, the kid in me didn’t change any and again I would have fun popping those bubbles!  Brian would make the comment that maybe some day I would grow up!

Well, after starting work for Amazon.com, I think I finally grew up!!!  This past  week has been a challenge on my hands.  I have been taken off receiving and mainly been in prepping.  All glass items must be put in bubble wrap to prevent breakage.

The bubble wrap is a special wrap.  It starts out on this huge roll, we pull out as much as we need, wrapping the precious glassware several times; cutting the wrap.  Then on the ends we pop,pop and pop all the bubbles.  By doing this it creates a very tight seal around the product.  This way if someone should accidentally drop the item-it should not break. 

so how much is determine that we should use?  Enough that it should never break while in this bubble wrap.  I do feel for the consumer who purchased the item, because getting this wrap off is not the easiest thing to do!

Cutting and popping after a while takes a toll on your hands.  We have exercise that we do at our morning stand up and after lunch again.  This does help, but I continue to use those exercise in between and even at hope.  My hands this week have received a few cuts and nicks, but nothing serious.  I keep a small supply of band aides always with me and I also bought liquid skin to help the owees from re-breaking open the next day and this seems to be helping so far.

Now bagging is a much simpler process, but still requires a lot of usage with your hands.  All apparel must be place in bags; including hats, gloves, sock,  and ect.  So if we get a large quantity of socks or gloves, they have to each be place in individual bags and sealed.  There are also several other items that also maybe place in bags and of course we have different size bags to use.

In order to keep the pace going fairly fast, one must not slow down for any length of time, remember we are on a schedule to get the product to the customer in the manner that they wish to receive it.  And we haven’t yet gotten to peak season….

One thing is a given: the next time I receive something in the mail that is bubble wrapped-I won’t be popping those bubbles anymore!!!

LOOSING WEIGHT

Since being a teenager I have struggled with weight loss.  It’s an ongoing battle in my life and probably always will be.  Maybe some day I will give the battle up, but for now I still have some fight left in me.


With me now working at Amazon and a little more active for a longer period during the daytime gives me the perfect opportunity to once again work on my weight loss.  It’s just a matter of packing the right foods for lunch.


In the past I lost a lot of my weight using the Richard Simmons Diet.  I did try the Allie diet, but not only was is costly, you really have to be especially careful about how much fat intake you eat!  I think I will go back to the Richard Simmons diet-his helped me the most.  Yeah, the guy is a little on the quirky side, but his eating plan is the best I have found to work for me.


Over the years I have learned that things like Pasta, breads and such are my worse enemies as far as carbs go.  I’m not big on veggies, as I should be.  I like a good salad, I will eat lots of carrots.  Fruits I don’t mind, I try my best with fresh, but I’m just way too picky for my own good-I guess.
What I looked like when I lost all my weight back in 2006. I don’t think I will get down there that far again…..but who knows

What I look like now-see I need to loose a few pounds-again….

There are other diets out there that I could try, but I already have the tools of the Richard Simmons Diet and it has worked in the past for me.  I know people who have done the  weight watchers and have lost weight on it.

All in all it’s what  you eat and how much of you eat, so good by Donuts, Good-by McDonald’s sweet tea, Good-By buffet dinners.

Now I do have one tip that I faithfully did when I lost my weight before:  I took one day off and splurge a little.  Whether it would be that donut, or maybe a burger & fries & sweet tea from McDonald.  I would eat early enough in the day, and eat very lightly for the remainder of the day.

HIDDEN GEM IN KANSAS!

Okay, we really didn’t find any hidden gems or jewels in Kansas, but if you are an avid hiker like Brian and I are, around here finding a beautiful hiking area in Kansas is almost like finding hidden Gems.

When we left Colorado and crossed over into Kansas all we saw was desolate grass land.  A tree or bush couldn’t be seen for miles and miles.  and once we did come across a bush or maybe a lone tree our little Min Pin; Leah thought it to be exciting and would start barking at it.
The closer we got to Coffeyville we then started to come across a few trees, some rolling hillside and many farms with cows and fields.

After getting settled in and starting to work at Amazon, we started to adventure out to see what there was for us to do.  Being in the middle of literally-nowhere, finding hiking trails was far and few between.  Asking some of the locals they too said there wasn’t many places to go wondering around.  Most folks spend their days off going to the cities-shopping; but that just isn’t for us.  We would prefer being out with nature.

Brian did some research and knew there were two Corps of Engineer parks not to far away from us.  One stated they had horse trail, well being in the middle of the week, we thought that it would be safe for us to walk on.  So last week we took a lunch picnic, Leah and went exploring to Big Hill Lake.



When we got on the trail, we noticed it really hadn’t been used much for the grass/weeks were tall.  We went as far as we could, apparently over a year ago they had a wind burst that came through knocking down many trees and the area that we came across showed apparent severe damage and clean-up hadn’t been completed as of yet.


After heading back we found a nice day-use area where we had our picnic lunch and then took the 1 mile trail along the lake.  It was peaceful and I think we were the only ones out there.  Not many boats were active on the lake as it was the middle of the week.

.



This week we went to Elk City Lake where there were hiking trails as well.  We first took the interpreter trail and then joined on to the Over look trail that joined with the State Park.  Now that was a trail that we would never thought to be in Kansas!  It was awesome!  within the first 1/2 mile hike, we had to climb down into a crevice.  It was hard having our little dog with us.  But we manage to get down it.  Then we came across another area where the crevice was so small that if you were a large person-you would not get through!




With the leaves coming down and the terrain, Brian was having a little difficulty and with me having Leah, it was hard to really enjoy the hike to far, so when we found that it did join with the interpreter trail, we headed back towards the car.  But it’s a hike that we will adventure on again some time in the near future.

We had just one more stop to make and explore, Montgomery State Fish & Wildlife area.  Brian was told that there was a small lake there that we could take our canoe.  sure enough we found yet another what we call “Kansas Gem”!  There is free primitive camping.  Plenty to explore and yes, we can bring the canoe.  We had fun walking just on the gravel roadway, exploring and we found where there are several off road trails.  This one is must to return for a day of hiking, canoeing and who knows,if the weather cooperates; we will bring our tent as well.  If not, well we will just enjoy a day trip here.





So  you see, Kansas isn’t ALL flat and boring as one would possibly think-there are some Hidden Gems! 

WEEK TWO AT AMAZON.COM

I have now worked two weeks at amazon.com, call me crazy, but I actually like the job and the challenge it provides.  Yes, I do come home in the evenings tire and this past week, a little bit more sorer; but I’m also pushing myself to work harder.

I felt that my last two days of work wasn’t as productive as I would have liked.  It seems all that could go wrong did go wrong.  On Tuesday, right off the bat, I manage to cut my finger on God only knows what, but was bleeding all over the place.  It turned out to be a minor cut on my finger, but I’m a bleeder and just decided to keep on bleeding. 

Then we had trouble with the folks from night shift.  When boxes comes off the semi, they are opened and a skew is placed on the box.  Well the night shift we think got lazy and assigned the same screw for all the boxes and when they came down the line to us-well all kept getting the same message that nothing matched, causing us to turn on our Red Lights and Yelling “Red Light”.  On top of that we were short hand with problem solvers, so what folks we had doing that job was running around with their heads chopped off.  Within two hours of our shift-I think we all were ready to go home and start drinking!!

As the day went on-all did get better, but productivity was down for us.   the next day we again had the same problem, but this time it was our day people.  They were not putting on skews and once again, boxes had to be sent back…which again caused us to have numbers down.
Two of us got bumped off of receiving and placed on prep.  I really don’t mind prepping, but we got stuck placing hangers on coats.  That was a job I didn’t care for.  There were 3 of us, one put the hangers on the coat and two of us had to re-tape the plastics to keep the coats clean.  We got 4 pallets done before we ran completely out of hangers.

I had signed up for Overtime on Thursday.  Come Wednesday afternoon we were told unless we had the experience in prepping we wouldn’t be needed.  I went up to the supervisor and since I hadn’t had enough experience in receiving after prep, he would prefer I waited another week.  So maybe this next week I will finally have enough experience that I can finally do the voluntary overtime.
Each day we learn new things, and like the government, it appears that every week things will change at Amazon.com on how it should be process through.  I go with the flow and I do as my superiors above me tell me to do.

We have seen a few that given up and has pulled out.  No where does it state that the job would be easy, in fact is states the opposite-so you really need to come in here with an open mind and know that when you go home at night it’s a given you will be tired and a bit sore-but in the end it’s worth it-or at least to me it is.



I’m more determine to make week 3 much better and a productive week!

WEEK ONE-RECIEVING

I’m up bright and early to report to work by 6:00am. First thing we do is swipe our badge to clock-in, then it’s stretches and announcements. all newbies are assigned to a trainer. They need 4 people to go into receiving-not knowing what I was getting myself into-I raised my hand….

But before we can actually go out on the line we have to go through “school” or training on what we will be doing.  We have to learn what certain abbreviations mean. (And I’m still learning). After lunch then we were thrown to the wolves-well not literally. We had plenty of supervision and someone always there to answer our questions. 

We sign onto a computer with our username and password then we have to scan our badge.  Now we are ready to start receiving.  Boxes have been open and given what looks like a skew.  The boxes come down a conveyer belt and we have to put the boxes on our workstation.  Now comes the fun part-opening the boxes to see what’s in them!  Each items in the box also have skew.  We have to scan the skew, place it on the cart.  the computer keeps track of what and how many is in the cart.  And yes, we even have to scan the cart!  we have two different scanners that we can use, one is where we just swipe the item under it and it picks up the bar code (called the grocery scanner) or we have the hand held.  They prefer us to use the hands free scanner, but there are times you have no choice and you need to use the hand held scanner.  Even though we may have a dozen or better of the exact same thing, we still have to scan each item separately.

Thus far I have scanned loads of Halloween costume, power drinks, office supplies up the wazoo, tools, just to name a few things.  We have to separate apparels and they have to be on a completely different cart.  I hate doing apparels, because they come in large boxes and we have keep sizes, skew, colors all separate and that can become a nightmare not to mention slow you down.

If we have any questions on an item or something just won’t scan we have to turn on our Red Light and Yell “Red Light”.  This happens more times than we all would like.  someone comes around (they are literally called “Problem Solver”).  They make the decision if something should be prepped, or if it’s too small and needs to be place somewhere else or they decide if the product is considered damage when we get it.

On my 4th day ( and my Friday) we all started out with problems all morning long.  Apparently the night shift either got lazy or didn’t know what they were doing, but put the same skew on all the boxes and when we received it-our scanner didn’t like it and the boxes all had to be sent back!  We all kept yelling “Red Light”.  too boot we were short handed on ‘Problem solver” so the poor guy was running all over the place!  Then I got picked on-my red light burnt out on me!!!
Now that I have the scanning business down pat and I actually got my percentage up there, they move me to the prep line!  So now I’m learning yet another part of the job.

In prepping, you prep each individual item to according to it’s needs.  If it’s glass-it gets bubble wrapped, if it’s small individual item it gets put in bags.  The full-time year round workers prepare everything, so it’s easy to figure out what the item needs to be done.  We also learned recently that if it’s a liquid chemical, like car wax, it too has to be individually in a wrapper.

Each day we learn new things and as the days do go by it does get easier.  I do go home totally exhausted and a bit sore.  I’m a bit disappointed for I was hoping to walk more than I do, but I still love what I’m doing.  And I love opening the boxes, because you just don’t know what you will be getting.  I haven’t yet open an “naughty” things, just men's underwear!

Wonder what week 2 will bring?….Being first week, we cannot do overtime, and our area is doing volunteer overtime, so maybe by week 2 I can do that overtime.

Over the course of the summer I did a lot of reading on Amazon.com and some actually sounded frightful, but for me I’m enjoying this new adventure. 

WEEK ONE-ORIENTATION

The Day of Orientation I was really nervous and I was also getting over some kind of flu/bug.  So when I had to be at Amazon.com by 8:30am I prayed that I could handle it and not get sick.  I awoke feeling a bit queasy, but as the morning went on-I got better.

Not knowing what doors I was to go into, I decided to drive the first day and get there early.  So I found a parking spot and watched where everyone else was heading.  I saw a couple that I recognize from the park and I decided to follow them in.



Upon arriving I thought I was going into Fort Knox!  once you proceed through the door, your first greeted with security.  Of course they were ready for us.  We were handed a visitor badge and we had to sign in-matching the number on our badge.  I was number 22.

We then had to wait at in the lobby to be escorted any farther.  The first group was being led in while we waited.  Then came out a gentleman that introduce himself as Paul Strum.  He was nothing like I expected-although I’m not sure what I really expected…Anyways he made a point to greet each and everyone of us.  The most that amazed me of him-is the fact he just about remembered all of our names!

There was to be approximately 80 of us workampers to come in for orientation so they had to split us up in half.  The other half had orientation on Wednesday (glad that I didn’t get moved). First order of business was lining up against a wall and getting our mug shot.

the remainder of the day was spent on how amazon.com works and in the afternoon we had to go through Safety school.  Then it was time to finally get our badge; now we won’t need an escort if we left the conference room.  Oh, we were allowed to go to the bathroom unescorted-but that was it.



Our badges has to be on us at all times while inside Amazon.  It’s stress strongly to us that when wearing it around our neck it has to be a break-away necklace for safety reason.  If it should get caught in the conveyer it needs to break away from you.



We also at this time got our schedule and when I got mine I went; WHAT?  They put me on nights and in outbound.  I don’t mind outbound, but I really didn’t want nights.  My shift was to be from 5:00pm-3:30am.  Okay, the question I had is:  Would Leah let me sleep in the mornings?  probably not….

So I pulled Paul aside and asked him if there was any chance of changing to daytime.  He told me to give him a week and then come back to talk to him.  Okay now I’m accepting the idea of working nights and thinking maybe it won’t be so bad after all.  Then Paul’s associate, Dana calls my name and of course we all joke that I am already in trouble before I even get started!  (LOL)

She hands me a strip of paper that now has my username and password and informs me that I am now on days and I’m in Inbound/Stowe. My shift would now be 6:00am-4:30pm.  We all get our own username and password.  Even out on the floor we have to use computers.  I guess everything is computerized now-a-day in our crazy world.

So now orientation is done with and the following day (Monday) I would report to the “D” section of Amazon.com to start working in stowing/receiving. 

BIG CHIEF RV PARK

When we arrived here at Big Chief RV Park, we really didn’t have a chance to look at our surrounding since we were preparing to make a trip to WI. But once we got back and finally looked around, Big Chief is not the most desirable RV park around, but it’s convenient since it’s so close to Amazon.com.

Big Chief RV Park near Coffeyville, is a fairly new park, so it’s really hard to make any judgment on the park itself.  There are no trees, although they have planted some young trees on some sites-it will be years before they will even provide any kind of shade.

Big Chief RV Park in Coffeyville, KS

It’s easy to see that the park has been done cheaply.  they didn’t tamper down the individual sites, instead they laid large rock base for sites.  The bigger RV’s and Motor coaches are having trouble when bringing down their jacks, for they sink deeply in the ground.  Although the park is not quite two years old-they already are replacing broken water lines…

The office is the manager’s home, a small mobile home on the premises.  The downfall to that is the fact that she smokes and so when you walk in you will get a lung full of cigarette smoke; although she has never lit up while in our presence.

The Managers office/home (poor Sharon...)

Now I’m not putting her down in any way, her name is also Sharon and she seems to be a very nice lady.  Some folks are a bit leery of her because she has the “rough” look to her and her “helper/assistant” also has a rough look to him.  But  again, they have been really nice to us.  As I stated it is a new park-so what does one expect.  I’m here because of the convenience to Amazon.com and the fact that I can walk to work.

One thing I notice, is that an RV has been left while the folks to off for a spell.  Her assistant every night drives around and makes sure all looks okay with their coach and I hope while we were gone that he did the same for us.

You will find outstanding power here, the one thing that was done right was enough electric to keep even the fanciest motor coach running smoothly.  The water is city water and the only problem we have found with it, is that they seem to bleach the line often.

There is a bit of false advertisement right now on their web page.  It states that there is showers on the premises.  The shower building is up and contractors are slowly working on it-but the showers are non-operable as well as the laundry facility.  Maybe by the work we are seeing-they might get it done in a couple of weeks-or at least we are hoping so.

The new shower & laundry facility (not completed yet)

There is not too many other RV parks around or nearby.  You have the county park which has added more sites to accommodate both Amazon.com and the refinery in Coffeyville, but only a few sites have full hook-ups and when we drove by, they are literally on top of one another.  At least here at Big Chief they are spacious  and long sites, which we like.  There is another RV park in town but it’s plum full of workers for the refinery.  Otherwise you have to venture out to either the State Park or there are two Corps Of Engineer parks with-in 30 miles or less.  I think we will stay right where we are. 

We did end up with a bad site at first due to a water break behind us.  But upon requesting another site-Sharon did assist us and got us a little better site for our little dog. 

  Our site here at Big Chief-Can't complain-not a bad site


One good thing about here for sure-we can have campfires, where you can’t do that inside the city limits of Coffeyville.  We probably won’t seek out a fire grille this year or wood, but maybe next year we will-who knows.

All in all we really can’t complain.  We try not to judge people by looks or the fact that they  smoke and we do understand that it’s still a new park with lots of work yet to be done on it.  And hopefully by the amount of money they receive from Amazon.com-the work will improve each year on the property.

A beautiful sunset behind us

We will stay here at Big Chief RV and give our support to this new park and the manager that is trying to make a go of it.  They are putting on a Bash on the following Sunday (16th) for all of us here.  They will be providing hamburger, hotdogs and ribs plus music.  All we have to do is bring a dish to pass plus our own drinks.  They are doing this to where both shifts can enjoy either before they go to work or like in my case when I get home from work.

Not sure what this slab will be used-maybe an office or rec hall....