Well, let me tell you that the last week has been quite an ordeal. We left work, at Amazon, last Saturday evening at 9:00 p.m. and hit the road with our rig. Drove a few hours...stopped and slept. The temps plummeted the minute we left Kansas. The "warmest" temp we had was -17 (with the wind chill). Just to get diesel in the truck, Linda and I had to take turns, so only one would be out in the wind and cold for a couple minutes. It was horrible ! At one point, we heard on the local radio station that it was -25 with the wind chill. Although, it is a giant no-no, we had the furnace running to keep things from freezing. I had put a little RV antifreeze in each of the sink drains and the shower drain and some down the toilet for the black tank.
Coming across Ohio we ran into a snow squall. I reminded Linda that when driving a rig, like ours, if you start to fish tale you need to gas it not hit the brake as would be most people's tendency. It wasn't 10 minutes later but we came upon an area of black ice and the rig started to fish tale. Gotta tell you I thought we were done for....my heart was pounding and I grabbed the seat and door jamb as Linda tried to bring it under control. The cruise had been on so she tapped it to get the cruise off and then stepped on the gas and surely pulled it out of its attempt to jackknife us. Another mile down the road, we had the same thing happen and we were just crawling at this point...Ok, time to get off the road for a while. Luckily there was a rest stop about 2 miles ahead and we pulled off. Many truckers had the same idea as the rest area was filling up with rigs. After a nap and a chance to regain our composure we started out again and made it to Williamsport, PA around 5:30 p.m. on Monday evening. Then the real fun began....
Since we had run the furnace so much, on the way out, our RV batteries had become very depleted and couldn't keep everything going. Christmas eve our lights are going dim and the frig is reading "low DC". We pull the batteries out and take to local battery shop. There is a bad cell in one and other is just severely depleted. We buy a new battery for the rig and leave other one behind so he can charge. We had also discovered that our truck battery was dead due to being drained by the RV batteries....Things were not going well for us. The kind man, from the battery shop, came and jumped the truck for us and got that going. Then came the nightly ritual of starting truck to re-charge battery, then plugging in rig and trying to get everything back up to snuff. We ended up going out day after Christmas and bought a Honda EU2000i generator so we could continue to boon-dock here for another week. I'm able to type this post on the blog due to the generator running outside, giving us power. Merry Christmas to us....
Christmas day arrives and we go to my mom's for the day. On the way back, I get sick with the stomach bug that everyone at Amazon seemed to pass around. Day after Christmas it was Linda's turn. We are still weak as kittens and trying to rebound.Ho Ho Ho....can't wait for the new year. It surely must be better than the last 10 days have been.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
From Santa’s lips to your ears…… (so it's a little late)
(I wrote this entry on the way back from Kansas but never found enough time or wi-fi to be able to upload it so here it is as a post holiday note)
Sometime this week one of the Amazon employees said something to me that really made me stop and think. He made the comment that I was “playing Santa”, when I felt I was taking me an inordinately long period of time to find the correct title in one of the low bins. Playing Santa…yeah…cool…or as Linda said, at least being one of his elves for the last couple months…… Stuffing his sleigh with items for all the good little boys and girls.
OK, so based on the items I’ve been picking, there’s either a lot of “bad” kids out there or people just giving some quirky gifts. There was a lady on Dr. Phil the other day who takes great delight in buying weird gag gifts and giving them to her kids for Christmas to get a rise out of them. She would love some of these gifts. Last night I pulled a book that touted itself on the ultimate authority on farts….came complete with a little sound machine that must have simulated 9 or 10 different ones. I was so tempted to hit one of the buttons and ensure “that it worked properly” but had visions of it being really loud and of drawing a crowd to my aisle….Then there is the book on “How to shit in the Woods”….My favorite is the ever popular, “What’s your poo saying to you ? “ that I have picked many, many times. Frankly, if your poo is talking to you, you need to lay off the hard stuff. There is still the proverbial chunk of coal for the really bad kids…..but I’ve only pulled that once….these other titles far outnumber the old fashioned coal gift. Heard of the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul” series….course you have. They have one for every profession or age group out there. Well, believe it or not there is another similar series ( a distant cousin to the first, I believe) that is called “Chicken Poop for the Soul”. Don’t know what enlightening and spiritual information this series has to share with its readers but you can get it at Amazon.
While we’re on the poop subject, a lot of the items I pull are “crap”. DVD’s of old movies that sucked when they first came out but are now touted as being “15th anniversary edition”…”Collector’s Edition”, etc. It was crap back then and unlike a good bottle of wine it didn’t get any better in 15 years. It’s still crap but people are spending money on them left and right. As my mom would say, “They have more money than brains.” What will be really depressing will be the news after Christmas of how much credit card debt increased over the holidays without people having the ability to pay for the items they bought. Crap bought with credit….a poor combination.
The other practical item for Christmas is underwear. I’ll tell you….I’ve seen more brands and styles of underwear and bras in the last three months than I’ve seen in my entire life. Some have really spiffy packaging, like Tommy Hilfiger, with zippered bags that they come in while others are in a little plastic bag. Some come on little hangars….never hung up my underwear in the closet so not sure what that is about. The thongs are always interesting…mens and womens….can fit a whole lot of them in a bin. Then some brands have catchy little slogans….like Ginches brand. Their slogan is “Wrap your inches in our Ginches”….catchy…some marketing person was sure on the ball with that one…Guess it sounded better than, “Nothing pinches like our Ginches…. But I noticed that on the little boy underwear, for this same company, that it didn’t have that slogan….just pictures of construction equipment. Hmmm……
That’s kind of a peripheral summary on some of the more interesting gifts us elves are packing in Santa’s sleigh. It’s up to you which list you wind up on…..
Sometime this week one of the Amazon employees said something to me that really made me stop and think. He made the comment that I was “playing Santa”, when I felt I was taking me an inordinately long period of time to find the correct title in one of the low bins. Playing Santa…yeah…cool…or as Linda said, at least being one of his elves for the last couple months…… Stuffing his sleigh with items for all the good little boys and girls.
OK, so based on the items I’ve been picking, there’s either a lot of “bad” kids out there or people just giving some quirky gifts. There was a lady on Dr. Phil the other day who takes great delight in buying weird gag gifts and giving them to her kids for Christmas to get a rise out of them. She would love some of these gifts. Last night I pulled a book that touted itself on the ultimate authority on farts….came complete with a little sound machine that must have simulated 9 or 10 different ones. I was so tempted to hit one of the buttons and ensure “that it worked properly” but had visions of it being really loud and of drawing a crowd to my aisle….Then there is the book on “How to shit in the Woods”….My favorite is the ever popular, “What’s your poo saying to you ? “ that I have picked many, many times. Frankly, if your poo is talking to you, you need to lay off the hard stuff. There is still the proverbial chunk of coal for the really bad kids…..but I’ve only pulled that once….these other titles far outnumber the old fashioned coal gift. Heard of the ‘Chicken Soup for the Soul” series….course you have. They have one for every profession or age group out there. Well, believe it or not there is another similar series ( a distant cousin to the first, I believe) that is called “Chicken Poop for the Soul”. Don’t know what enlightening and spiritual information this series has to share with its readers but you can get it at Amazon.
While we’re on the poop subject, a lot of the items I pull are “crap”. DVD’s of old movies that sucked when they first came out but are now touted as being “15th anniversary edition”…”Collector’s Edition”, etc. It was crap back then and unlike a good bottle of wine it didn’t get any better in 15 years. It’s still crap but people are spending money on them left and right. As my mom would say, “They have more money than brains.” What will be really depressing will be the news after Christmas of how much credit card debt increased over the holidays without people having the ability to pay for the items they bought. Crap bought with credit….a poor combination.
The other practical item for Christmas is underwear. I’ll tell you….I’ve seen more brands and styles of underwear and bras in the last three months than I’ve seen in my entire life. Some have really spiffy packaging, like Tommy Hilfiger, with zippered bags that they come in while others are in a little plastic bag. Some come on little hangars….never hung up my underwear in the closet so not sure what that is about. The thongs are always interesting…mens and womens….can fit a whole lot of them in a bin. Then some brands have catchy little slogans….like Ginches brand. Their slogan is “Wrap your inches in our Ginches”….catchy…some marketing person was sure on the ball with that one…Guess it sounded better than, “Nothing pinches like our Ginches…. But I noticed that on the little boy underwear, for this same company, that it didn’t have that slogan….just pictures of construction equipment. Hmmm……
That’s kind of a peripheral summary on some of the more interesting gifts us elves are packing in Santa’s sleigh. It’s up to you which list you wind up on…..
Saturday, December 20, 2008
The sun has set on our Coffeyville experience....
We are packing up the rig and sending off last minute e-mails before we hook up and go to work. We are taking the rig with us to work and then once we finish up (around 9 p.m.) we will hit the road. We are excited and have been chomping at the bit for the last couple of days to get movin' again. We are exhausted and our bodies are beat up. We are better for the experience (I think)and met many wonderful people here that we hope to stay in touch with and meet up with as our paths cross "down the road".
We are heading back to PA, on the heels of a nasty winter storm which has dumped quite a bit of snow on the area where we are headed. Hoping that the roads ahead of us are cleared as we get there. Gonna take our time to allow for that to happen. Not sure when we will have internet access but will post a note as soon as I'm able to let you all know we arrived safe and sound.
hi everyone...this is the other linda...guess who beat me out of "picker of november" by 20 units? yes you're right...it was my other half :-) glad she got the honor with her name and picture on the wall for everyone to see...it is the only perk you get for busting your butt, but we showed the regulars what can be done when you are dedicated to do your best at what ever job you are doing. very proud of my woman. i'm sure her body will be thankful that tonight we only have to work a couple of hours and then we are done here for our contract.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Let's Recap.....
Spent Sunday to Wednesday afternoon at Excel factory in Smith Center getting our rig worked on. Arrived back in Coffeyville around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night. Worked Thursday - last night (Monday). Still on 11 hour shifts....our backlog is over 200,000 due to 2 other fulfillment centers being snowed in and them shifting the orders to our center. We are trying to get as many hours in this week as they will allow before we leave here. Took today off since it is our day off anyway and we are exhausted. We are working off water in our holding tank and have everything disconnected due to bitter temps the last couple of days. Have had sub zero wind chills and last night we got freezing rain and little bit of snow. Thew wind was horrible for several days...20-30 m.p.h sustained with gusts over 40. We was a rockin' in the wind....let me tell ya. We are fortunate that everything is working on our rig. Most others we've overheard at work are frozen up and using gallon jugs of stored water. Not fun for them....No wind today which is a blessing...I can see ice on the truck windshield outside....supposed to warm up significantly by end of week. On Saturday (the day we hope to leave), calling for temps in the low 50's. We are anxious to head out but not looking forward to what weather we might have back in PA....
A recent e-mail I received......
A Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company
(Ford Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River.
Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before
the race.
On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.
The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided
to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat.
A management team made up of senior management was formed
to investigate and recommend appropriate action.
Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing
and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people
STEERING and 2 people rowing.
Feeling a deeper study was in order; American
management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of
money for a second opinion.
The consultants advised, of course, that too many people were
steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.
Not sure of how to utilize that information, but
wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's
management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area
steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent
steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that
would give the 2 people rowing the boat greater incentive to work
harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with
meetings, dinners and free pens for the rowers. There was discussion of getting
new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices
and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to 'equal the
competition' and some of the resultant savings were channeled into morale boosting
programs and teamwork posters.
The next year the Japanese won by TWO miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid-off one
rower, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and
canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved
was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.
The next year, try as he might, the lone designated
rower was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles) so he was
laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold
and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India .
Sadly, the End.
Here's something else to think about: Ford has
spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming
they can't make money paying American wages.
TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more
than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter's results:
TOYOTA makes 4 billion in PROFITS, while Ford racked up
9 billion in losses.
Ford folks are still scratching their heads
(and collecting bonuses)
and want the U.S. Government to 'bail them out'
What AUTO be done with them?
In reading a recent RV newsletter I see where a congressman from Indiana has or is thinking of asking Congress for money to help bail out RV manufacturers. As those of us in this lifestyle know many manufacturers have closed their doors due to the state of the economy but give me a break....where does it end ? How many businesses should we bail out ? This is the normal state of survival economics and the strongest of businesses will survive if they have their "financial houses" in order. I think it has gotten really ridiculous with everyone wanting a handout. On a recent news program there was a financial guy on there that said, "What's the big deal if the big 3 fail ?" The company would be broken up into 10 smaller companies. It may create innovation and move us in the right direction instead of the backward thinking that the big 3 have been using for the past 20 years. Seems like Washington has a "money tree" at their disposal cause everyone keeps stepping up to get their share.
(Ford Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River.
Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before
the race.
On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.
The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided
to investigate the reason for the crushing defeat.
A management team made up of senior management was formed
to investigate and recommend appropriate action.
Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing
and 1 person steering, while the American team had 7 people
STEERING and 2 people rowing.
Feeling a deeper study was in order; American
management hired a consulting company and paid them a large amount of
money for a second opinion.
The consultants advised, of course, that too many people were
steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.
Not sure of how to utilize that information, but
wanting to prevent another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's
management structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 2 area
steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent
steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that
would give the 2 people rowing the boat greater incentive to work
harder. It was called the 'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with
meetings, dinners and free pens for the rowers. There was discussion of getting
new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for practices
and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to 'equal the
competition' and some of the resultant savings were channeled into morale boosting
programs and teamwork posters.
The next year the Japanese won by TWO miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid-off one
rower, halted development of a new canoe, sold all the paddles, and
canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved
was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.
The next year, try as he might, the lone designated
rower was unable to even finish the race (having no paddles) so he was
laid off for unacceptable performance, all canoe equipment was sold
and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India .
Sadly, the End.
Here's something else to think about: Ford has
spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming
they can't make money paying American wages.
TOYOTA has spent the last thirty years building more
than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter's results:
TOYOTA makes 4 billion in PROFITS, while Ford racked up
9 billion in losses.
Ford folks are still scratching their heads
(and collecting bonuses)
and want the U.S. Government to 'bail them out'
What AUTO be done with them?
In reading a recent RV newsletter I see where a congressman from Indiana has or is thinking of asking Congress for money to help bail out RV manufacturers. As those of us in this lifestyle know many manufacturers have closed their doors due to the state of the economy but give me a break....where does it end ? How many businesses should we bail out ? This is the normal state of survival economics and the strongest of businesses will survive if they have their "financial houses" in order. I think it has gotten really ridiculous with everyone wanting a handout. On a recent news program there was a financial guy on there that said, "What's the big deal if the big 3 fail ?" The company would be broken up into 10 smaller companies. It may create innovation and move us in the right direction instead of the backward thinking that the big 3 have been using for the past 20 years. Seems like Washington has a "money tree" at their disposal cause everyone keeps stepping up to get their share.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Delays....
Funny how the best plans get screwed up when you're not expecting it. We are still in Smith Center, waiting for our rig to get finished. Luckily one of the service men found a problem with our bedroom slideout that they are now dealing with. Seems that the caulking was bad around the base of the slideout and the floor is rotten. To fix it they have to remove the whole slide out and replace the floor. A two day job.....so now we will miss two days of work, stay in an area motel (at Excel's expense)and wait for it to get done. Luckily it was caught while the rig is still under warranty. We also had them check the grey water tank to see why it was dripping the last time it was full. Seems there is a crack in the area where the waste line comes out of it. They are gluing the crack to see if that will fix it. If that doesn't work, then they will have to replace the tank and Lord knows how much longer we'll be here. Are we having fun yet ??
Monday, December 8, 2008
Currently in Smith Center...
We are currently in Smith Center, Kansas getting warranty work done on our rig. Saturday, before leaving for work we got the rig ready, hitched up and then rode in to work with friends of ours. Once we finished our 11 hour shift we got in and headed out for here. It took us 7.25 hours to get here so arrived at 12;15 p.m.....got unhooked, settled in...had some lunch and then took a two hour nap (which was way too short). We were afraid we wouldn't be able to sleep the night if we slept too long so we got up and came into the lounge to hang out for a while and use the internet (which didn't end up working).
Met a nice couple that were watching the Sunday night football game...Jerry and Ann. Had a great time talking with them. We're going to go see a movie tonight with them here in town. "The Express" is playing here in town....the story of Ernie Davis..first black winner of Heismann trophy and who is from Elmira, NY..back home. The local high school, in Elmira is named after him. Neat how we are half way across the country and will get to see a film, we've been wanting to see, about a guy from back home.
Work on the rig needs to be done by end of day tomorrow as we need to back to work Wednesday. Are hoping to start back tomorrow night and arrive Wed morning so we have time to rest and relax before going in for work. This week will be the busiest of the whole time...they expect to ship 1.5 million units from our facility this week. Just two weeks to go....yippee !!
Met a nice couple that were watching the Sunday night football game...Jerry and Ann. Had a great time talking with them. We're going to go see a movie tonight with them here in town. "The Express" is playing here in town....the story of Ernie Davis..first black winner of Heismann trophy and who is from Elmira, NY..back home. The local high school, in Elmira is named after him. Neat how we are half way across the country and will get to see a film, we've been wanting to see, about a guy from back home.
Work on the rig needs to be done by end of day tomorrow as we need to back to work Wednesday. Are hoping to start back tomorrow night and arrive Wed morning so we have time to rest and relax before going in for work. This week will be the busiest of the whole time...they expect to ship 1.5 million units from our facility this week. Just two weeks to go....yippee !!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
A grand 'ole time....
We had three days off this week...the first to have all of our days off in quite some time. As it turns out, when we got to work on Wednesday, several of the regular Amazon workers said they got a call to come in on Tuesday due to the volume of work. We didn't get called and surely would have come in for some additional overtime.
Instead on Tuesday we decided to find the closest Barnes and Noble and have a "reading" day. Found that the closest one was in Tulsa so late in the afternoon we headed there. Filled up with diesel on the way for $2.29 gal (saw gas for $1.43). Been a while since we could fill up for under a $100 and it was very nice. Hung out at the Barnes and Noble for a few hours and got home around 8 or so.
Last Saturday (our last day of work before our days off) had seen a spike in the number of Christmas orders coming in. When we had our stand-up meeting they told us that for the first time Amazon had broken the 200,000 order mark and did it with flying colors. They had always had that "glass ceiling" of hoping to get to that number of orders but had never experienced it until now. Last week they had said that at one point (on Friday or Saturday) orders numbered 9000 per 5 minutes on the internet...WOW !
Last night, shortly after we started picking, I could hear music...loud music coming from the floor below (keep in mind we are up on a 3rd tier platform where Linda and I work). Since I wasn't near the railing, I couldn't see where it came from but it really sounded like a marching band....hmmm....I closed out the tote I was working on and went over to the other side where I could see the floor below and sure enough there was a high school marching band parading through the plant, playing Christmas songs. It was very cool ! You never know what Amazon has up there sleeves....how neat to make arrangements with the area high school to have them come in and play for us. It was a little pick-me-up to get the night off to a good start. I've read where, at some point, there will also be a caterer that will come in and have dinner for us some night. Although there were alot of orders last night, there were a ton of pickers...89 at our second stand-up. At one point, in the night, I was picking in an aisle with two other pickers....too crowded and it really spreads out the work and makes for a lot of running (again). Tonight may not be so bad, although many of them will be putting their overtime night in tonight. Wednesday is always the overlap night for the two shifts, which makes it unusually busy. By Friday and Saturday, it should be back to just our crew and it will be much better. When we finish up Sunday morning, we will be taking the rig up to Peterson Industries to get the last of our warranty work done on the rig. Will be about a 7 hours drive to get there. We'll spend our days off up there, getting the rig worked on and be back in time to go to work Wednesday afternoon. We are on 11 hour shifts "until further notice" AND we have to pick to work one of our days off each week. That won't be possible this next week since we already had this appt for almost two months to get the rig worked on.
The wind has finally died down here. Has been blowing hard for the last four days....gusting over 30 m.p.h. and rocking the rig. We realized last night that several other workampers have left. Not sure why but seems the number of us remaining is dwindling. We are here for the duration.....
Instead on Tuesday we decided to find the closest Barnes and Noble and have a "reading" day. Found that the closest one was in Tulsa so late in the afternoon we headed there. Filled up with diesel on the way for $2.29 gal (saw gas for $1.43). Been a while since we could fill up for under a $100 and it was very nice. Hung out at the Barnes and Noble for a few hours and got home around 8 or so.
Last Saturday (our last day of work before our days off) had seen a spike in the number of Christmas orders coming in. When we had our stand-up meeting they told us that for the first time Amazon had broken the 200,000 order mark and did it with flying colors. They had always had that "glass ceiling" of hoping to get to that number of orders but had never experienced it until now. Last week they had said that at one point (on Friday or Saturday) orders numbered 9000 per 5 minutes on the internet...WOW !
Last night, shortly after we started picking, I could hear music...loud music coming from the floor below (keep in mind we are up on a 3rd tier platform where Linda and I work). Since I wasn't near the railing, I couldn't see where it came from but it really sounded like a marching band....hmmm....I closed out the tote I was working on and went over to the other side where I could see the floor below and sure enough there was a high school marching band parading through the plant, playing Christmas songs. It was very cool ! You never know what Amazon has up there sleeves....how neat to make arrangements with the area high school to have them come in and play for us. It was a little pick-me-up to get the night off to a good start. I've read where, at some point, there will also be a caterer that will come in and have dinner for us some night. Although there were alot of orders last night, there were a ton of pickers...89 at our second stand-up. At one point, in the night, I was picking in an aisle with two other pickers....too crowded and it really spreads out the work and makes for a lot of running (again). Tonight may not be so bad, although many of them will be putting their overtime night in tonight. Wednesday is always the overlap night for the two shifts, which makes it unusually busy. By Friday and Saturday, it should be back to just our crew and it will be much better. When we finish up Sunday morning, we will be taking the rig up to Peterson Industries to get the last of our warranty work done on the rig. Will be about a 7 hours drive to get there. We'll spend our days off up there, getting the rig worked on and be back in time to go to work Wednesday afternoon. We are on 11 hour shifts "until further notice" AND we have to pick to work one of our days off each week. That won't be possible this next week since we already had this appt for almost two months to get the rig worked on.
The wind has finally died down here. Has been blowing hard for the last four days....gusting over 30 m.p.h. and rocking the rig. We realized last night that several other workampers have left. Not sure why but seems the number of us remaining is dwindling. We are here for the duration.....
Saturday, November 29, 2008
The rush is on !
Well yesterday was the official start to the crazy Christmas buying season and we started 11 hour shifts at Amazon last night. Whew...who would think that adding just one extra hour to a shift would be such a killer. I gave birth to two kids in shorter time than last night lasted !! Oh my, it was rough. I don't think my head had even hit the pillow before I was sound asleep. This morning I awoke to the sound of a chainsaw being rudely run somewhere outside...tried to get an ear plug in my ear to drown out the sound only to realize I already had one in. Not a good start to the day and we've got another long night ahead of us tonight....last day though and then a couple days off.
Orders were up last night....some people are shopping but the orders were still having us pickers running all over the place. Walked 12.18 miles last night....holy cow. Good thing that neither of us had any money on us cause we sure had a hankering for some fresh donuts from "Daylight Donuts" in downtown Coffeyville. They open at 4 a.m.....cute little place. Reminds me of an old fashioned bakery we had in my hometown growing up. This place is only open till 11:30 a.m. so they truly are a "daylight" kind of place. When we arrived the other morning, just after 4 a.m. their cases were full of glazed donuts, bear claws, turnovers, apple fritters, eclairs, coffee rolls, etc. Yum Yum !! Everything was great too....reminded me of my bakery days and getting up at 2:00 a.m. to make the donuts....but I digress...back to work tonight and we'll have one more week wiped off the books till it's time to go back east. If we have a full nights worth of work tonight that will be 57.5 hours for each of us this week. Whew ! Tomorrow and a couple of days off are sure looking good about now.
Orders were up last night....some people are shopping but the orders were still having us pickers running all over the place. Walked 12.18 miles last night....holy cow. Good thing that neither of us had any money on us cause we sure had a hankering for some fresh donuts from "Daylight Donuts" in downtown Coffeyville. They open at 4 a.m.....cute little place. Reminds me of an old fashioned bakery we had in my hometown growing up. This place is only open till 11:30 a.m. so they truly are a "daylight" kind of place. When we arrived the other morning, just after 4 a.m. their cases were full of glazed donuts, bear claws, turnovers, apple fritters, eclairs, coffee rolls, etc. Yum Yum !! Everything was great too....reminded me of my bakery days and getting up at 2:00 a.m. to make the donuts....but I digress...back to work tonight and we'll have one more week wiped off the books till it's time to go back east. If we have a full nights worth of work tonight that will be 57.5 hours for each of us this week. Whew ! Tomorrow and a couple of days off are sure looking good about now.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving !
It's Thanksgiving day and we just finished having some lunch and will now get ready for work. We signed up to work tonight and last I counted, on the sign-up sheet, there had only been 13 names for tonight's shift. Last night they said that only folks with a 75% or better "percent to goal" will be allowed to work since the quantity of work has been down lately. Our percentage is above this so it means we get to work. That is great since we get time and a half plus holiday pay for working. Last night, at first break, they asked if anyone wanted "VTO" (voluntary time off). Alot of people took advantage of this, even though it was only 7:45 p.m. and we'd only worked for a little more than 2 hours. We stayed but then got sent home at 11:00 because there wasn't enough work. Wednesday is the overlap night for the two shifts (Wed - Sat and Sun. - Wed)so it made for 71 pickers there last night. I'd never seen so many pickers before....wow ! We had made short order of what little business there was last night so that is why we got sent home. Hopefully tonight there will be enough work for the few of us there to take us all night. Tomorrow we start our 11 hour shifts.
Weather is great today...for end of November. Temps in the 50's, sunny and nice. We haven't had any rain in a while so the new area, where we are, is dry now and hard. No rain means the grass seed hasn't sprouted that has been put between the new sites. We like that there isn't any mud and we can get into the rig without sinking in up to our ankles.
Our time here is winding down....just a couple weeks to go. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving !!
Weather is great today...for end of November. Temps in the 50's, sunny and nice. We haven't had any rain in a while so the new area, where we are, is dry now and hard. No rain means the grass seed hasn't sprouted that has been put between the new sites. We like that there isn't any mud and we can get into the rig without sinking in up to our ankles.
Our time here is winding down....just a couple weeks to go. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving !!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Window Lickers
There are more new faces at work as they steadily ramp up their workforce for "the rush". Most of these employees seem really young....perhaps college kids picking up some work. We had heard that they go out to the local community college and recruit at holiday time. So far the orders are still down so with more people around, we are literally running into each other in the rows as we try and navigate around each other.Not fun...
When you go into the break room most times there is a distinct separation between the regular employees and the workampers. Each sits in their own little group, chatting amongst themselves. We have made friends with several of the "locals". We have also gotten to know a couple of the folks who are here from Puerto Rico to work. The one guy is always picking on us because we can't quite get the pronunciation of his name down. It doesn't roll off our tongues as well as it does his. Since we don't arrive, on a bus, to work each day I guess we are no longer known as the "window lickers". Haven't heard if there is some new name for us but each day rolling into work, by the busload, did give me the feeling of being a migrant worker coming to town to reap the local harvest. For a short time I've come to feel what that may be like for true migrant workers. Needed by the company but not always wanted by the locals....there was some animosity to our arrival when they needed to cut hours back. The regular employees asked why they just didn't get rid of us so they could have their full schedules but management knows the time will come when the extra hands are needed. Not really sure why the nickname "window lickers" unless it was because the bus windows always looked like there were smudges, etc all over them from the countless athletic teams that ride the buses. It certainly wasn't due to us licking the windows...bleck !!
We will work Thanksgiving day...probably all day which is OK by us as we will get overtime pay plus perhaps a pumpkin pie. Who doesn't like to work for food ? Then the following day we will begin 11 hour shifts...5 p.m. till 4:30 a.m...Our goal for the next few weeks will be to keep our bodies rested and prepared for the onslaught ahead. I think a new pair of insoles are in order...I can already see where the arch has lost some of its' height from when new, just 5 weeks ago. I think there must only be a 500 mile lifespan on them...LOL...and Lord knows we've gone past that.
When you go into the break room most times there is a distinct separation between the regular employees and the workampers. Each sits in their own little group, chatting amongst themselves. We have made friends with several of the "locals". We have also gotten to know a couple of the folks who are here from Puerto Rico to work. The one guy is always picking on us because we can't quite get the pronunciation of his name down. It doesn't roll off our tongues as well as it does his. Since we don't arrive, on a bus, to work each day I guess we are no longer known as the "window lickers". Haven't heard if there is some new name for us but each day rolling into work, by the busload, did give me the feeling of being a migrant worker coming to town to reap the local harvest. For a short time I've come to feel what that may be like for true migrant workers. Needed by the company but not always wanted by the locals....there was some animosity to our arrival when they needed to cut hours back. The regular employees asked why they just didn't get rid of us so they could have their full schedules but management knows the time will come when the extra hands are needed. Not really sure why the nickname "window lickers" unless it was because the bus windows always looked like there were smudges, etc all over them from the countless athletic teams that ride the buses. It certainly wasn't due to us licking the windows...bleck !!
We will work Thanksgiving day...probably all day which is OK by us as we will get overtime pay plus perhaps a pumpkin pie. Who doesn't like to work for food ? Then the following day we will begin 11 hour shifts...5 p.m. till 4:30 a.m...Our goal for the next few weeks will be to keep our bodies rested and prepared for the onslaught ahead. I think a new pair of insoles are in order...I can already see where the arch has lost some of its' height from when new, just 5 weeks ago. I think there must only be a 500 mile lifespan on them...LOL...and Lord knows we've gone past that.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Day of Rest
Boy are we exhausted ! Worked 50 hours this week and Linda and I figured that each of us walked at least 50 miles. Last night was really bad. I would start on row 77 and the next pick would be in row 120 something...then back to the 70's. That 40-50 row see-sawing kept up for a while until my scanner told me to go down a level to pick coats.Whew !! Two days off now then back to work for overtime Tuesday night.
Weather was great today...had the windows and door open. No wind either. We treated ourselves to a paraffin dip for our hands and feet. My hands are so sore...cracked and tender from the book jackets slicing into my finger tips and plus lifting some of these huge books is really hard on your arm and hand muscles.
It is amazing to see the impact of media and marketing on the books we see going out the door. Obama books are big now....if we see someone on Ellen or Oprah, we know we'll be picking that book over the next couple of days. "Extreme Measures" is a heavy hitter and the Jeff Dunham comedy DVD (the ventriloquist guy) is huge. I've seen the guy on TV and don't really see the appeal but someone is spending money on it....I picked 40 at a clip the other night of his Christmas DVD. There are a lot of neat items out right now for Christmas. "The Family Guy" - total world domination pack is a whole bunch of DVD's inside this giant plastic head of one of the characters. Cute if you like that show. There are complete sets that have come out for a lot of the old TV shows. Hawaii 5-O...Wild, Wild West...I Spy...Mission Impossible TV series....Mod Squad...Adam 12....CHIPS....These are just a few of the ones I've pulled lately. Brings back memories....There is one area that has all of these types of items and that is my favorite area to work. Never know what new items will have come in. Will be interesting to see if the Christmas business is down due to the economy. Can't see how it couldn't impact on things. Good thing is that the price of fuel has drastically dropped. Last we were out and about, gas was $1.87 and diesel was $2.69. That was two weeks ago so it may have dropped more since then.
Just five more weeks to go here in Kansas !
Weather was great today...had the windows and door open. No wind either. We treated ourselves to a paraffin dip for our hands and feet. My hands are so sore...cracked and tender from the book jackets slicing into my finger tips and plus lifting some of these huge books is really hard on your arm and hand muscles.
It is amazing to see the impact of media and marketing on the books we see going out the door. Obama books are big now....if we see someone on Ellen or Oprah, we know we'll be picking that book over the next couple of days. "Extreme Measures" is a heavy hitter and the Jeff Dunham comedy DVD (the ventriloquist guy) is huge. I've seen the guy on TV and don't really see the appeal but someone is spending money on it....I picked 40 at a clip the other night of his Christmas DVD. There are a lot of neat items out right now for Christmas. "The Family Guy" - total world domination pack is a whole bunch of DVD's inside this giant plastic head of one of the characters. Cute if you like that show. There are complete sets that have come out for a lot of the old TV shows. Hawaii 5-O...Wild, Wild West...I Spy...Mission Impossible TV series....Mod Squad...Adam 12....CHIPS....These are just a few of the ones I've pulled lately. Brings back memories....There is one area that has all of these types of items and that is my favorite area to work. Never know what new items will have come in. Will be interesting to see if the Christmas business is down due to the economy. Can't see how it couldn't impact on things. Good thing is that the price of fuel has drastically dropped. Last we were out and about, gas was $1.87 and diesel was $2.69. That was two weeks ago so it may have dropped more since then.
Just five more weeks to go here in Kansas !
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Overtime Begins...
Usually Tuesday is one of our days off but there is overtime available, in the stowing dept., so we'll work it. Stowing is putting the items in the bins and then tomorrow we'll be back to picking....pulling the items out of the bins. There is supposed to be a big ramp up going on with incoming orders, hence the need for overtime. Not knowing what the Christmas season will bring, we thought we might as well take it while it's available since we don't know how much there will be. There are supposed to be 800 more workers starting at the end of the month so there might not be any need for overtime once they start.
No sightseeing the last two days off...we've been pretty exhausted this week so we just did grocery shopping yesterday, laundry on Sunday and relaxing in between. It rained yesterday so we are surrounded by mud again. It sticks to our shoes and gets tracked into the house, along with the gritty stones from the gravel outside. It's a constant task to keep things vacuumed and stones off the floor so it doesn't damage the laminate flooring. This week we are the drivers for the carpool so I cleaned out the truck and got that ready for the six of us to ride in.
Temp is 54 here today....dreary and overcast. Sun is supposed to reappear tomorrow and temps in the upper 50's. Still not bad for mid-November.Overnight temps have been above freezing so we haven't had to fuss with the water lines just yet. That is good news...just need it to hold out like this for another 5 weeks till we leave. There are only six of us in the new park. We see folks drive through and check things out but no one else has moved over. When the new crew comes at the end of the month, I'm sure we'll have some new neighbors then. Not many other places for them to go since all the other areas are pretty full.
Sunday night a bunch of the workampers went to the local Mexican restaurant for dinner. We were in the banquet room in the back. Had a good time meeting some folks we hadn't met before. Two folks from Amazon came and had dinner with us which was nice.
No sightseeing the last two days off...we've been pretty exhausted this week so we just did grocery shopping yesterday, laundry on Sunday and relaxing in between. It rained yesterday so we are surrounded by mud again. It sticks to our shoes and gets tracked into the house, along with the gritty stones from the gravel outside. It's a constant task to keep things vacuumed and stones off the floor so it doesn't damage the laminate flooring. This week we are the drivers for the carpool so I cleaned out the truck and got that ready for the six of us to ride in.
Temp is 54 here today....dreary and overcast. Sun is supposed to reappear tomorrow and temps in the upper 50's. Still not bad for mid-November.Overnight temps have been above freezing so we haven't had to fuss with the water lines just yet. That is good news...just need it to hold out like this for another 5 weeks till we leave. There are only six of us in the new park. We see folks drive through and check things out but no one else has moved over. When the new crew comes at the end of the month, I'm sure we'll have some new neighbors then. Not many other places for them to go since all the other areas are pretty full.
Sunday night a bunch of the workampers went to the local Mexican restaurant for dinner. We were in the banquet room in the back. Had a good time meeting some folks we hadn't met before. Two folks from Amazon came and had dinner with us which was nice.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
How Many Items Can An Amazon Picker Pick ?
The October totals went up the other night for "Top Picker" and look who got it. Linda's first full month on the job and she knocks the stats out of the park. In looking at the stats for the other shifts, she had more total picks than anyone else. What a woman !! And this even when she missed some picking time running to the med office to get her bee stings tended to....can't wait to see what her November numbers are.
Don't get in her way....she's on a roll and not letting any grass grow under her feet.
New Location
We have moved into the new park that the city set up next to where we had been. We were told last week to be ready first thing Monday morning to move. Construction of the new park was still going on so the Monday turned into Tuesday and then into Wednesday. Not surprising since the park was supposed to have been completed September 1 so what's a few more days.
It wouldn't have been so bad except we had to go back to work on Wednesday, after having our days off Sunday - Tuesday. By the time they finally got everything ready it was about 2:45 when we could move over. We were coming over just as the roller and grader was finishing the road in the new area. Keep in mind this is all happening while we are watching and hearing of a severe storm moving into the area. The rain drops start and the wind is just howling....blowing 20+ m.p.h. We move over to a site we had picked out.....great views of neighboring fields and situated so we'll get the sun in on the couch side of the rig all day long. Nice !!
We get set up, get our showers, get lunch and pack our lunch for work and leave for work at 4:30. There is talk of a tornado warning being posted for the Coffeyville area and while working I can hear wicked thunder outside....even over the noise of the conveyors and fans blowing. We go on supper break at 10:00 p.m. and about 10:15 the power goes out and stays out till 11:30. We go back to work but not for long...one part of the plant is down and we end up getting sent home at 1:30.
We come home to a mud pit...the rig is surrounded by mud.Once the sun came up we could see that the neighboring fields now looked like a lake. The lady next to us, in a small class C had sunk in up to her step. I went out to do some work around the rig and couldn't even get to the truck it was surrounded by mud. I climbed in through the passenger side and went to back it out to drier ground and it was mired in. Later on I saw the city manager driving through the campground and told him that he had his first tow job with pulling our truck out.
It's four days later....the wind has been blowing (it never seems to stop here) and the mud is dried up. We had the option to move back but it is so pretty here that we're going to stay. Linda feels like a kitty cat when she sits on the couch, in the sun's rays, and curls up for a nap. So quiet....so pretty. Just hoping that when it rains we don't have more problems. We will know soon enough. They are calling for rain tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Today we went to Tulsa to see the sites. First we went to the Blue Bell ice cream facility in Broken Arrow, OK. This is one of 3 production facilities in the country for Blue Bell. The others are in Texas and Alabama. It was a nice tour...we were working on several different flavors when we were there. At this facility they produce 68,000 quarts and 112,000 pints daily so it is a busy place. When we finished the tour, we were taken to the ice cream parlor and gift shop area we got to sample some ice cream. I tried the Snickerdoodle flavor and Linda White Chocolate Almond. Both were excellent !! If you find yourself in Broken Arrow, take the tour...well worth the $2 p.p. it cost.
Next we went to the Tulsa Air and Space museum and planetarium. They had some interesting displays of actual cockpits that you could climb into and check out. Here astronaut Linda dons her space suit and gets into the space shuttle to try her hand at docking the space shuttle to the space station.
There were some neat displays for hands on activities for kids to learn about different elements of flying and air flow. I could see where this would be popular with school groups. Tulsa has been very important to aviation over the years. They were given the task of building certain components for the space shuttle and was also the site where bombers were assembled during WWII. Women, as depicted by Rosie the riveter, were instrumental in helping to assemble the planes when there was a lack of manpower. It was a fun day....again the weather was great (77 degrees)and it was fun to see another area of Oklahoma.
Tomorrow we are supposed to move our rig over to the new park that they have been working on. We want to get that done in the morning and get set up as we go into work tomorrow night and there is rain scheduled to come into the area by tomorrow afternoon. I'll post some new pictures once we get moved to the new area.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Weather is perfect here again today...in the high 70's.We have the door and windows open...nice breeze outside. Supposed to stay like this for the next couple days and then possibly drop into the 60's. We could take this weather all winter...
Work is progressing on the new camping area although they are not working today (Sunday). We had been told to move tomorrow but that won't be happening. It looks like there are several more days of work that need to be done.
Linda got stung again at work by a red wasp. Last Wednesday she got stung by one and by Friday it had turned into cellulitis and had affected an area the size of her hand on her forearm. She went to medical office at work and they lanced it; found the stinger was still in it and removed it. That took place at 5:00 p.m.....by our next break at 10:00, it had spread even more. Red, puffy and warm to the touch. Taking the stinger out helped it though. By the next day it was starting to improve. Now, a week later it was starting to get back to normal and then last night another red wasp stung her when she pulled a book out of a bin. Same spot on her arm..went to medical office again but no nurse in (happened at 2:00 a.m.)Manager who was there got her some Bendryl and alcohol to swab it with. Is red today but luckily the stinger did not go in her arm this time. Seems to be a lot of these red wasps at work and they sure like Linda.....
Since we are PA natives, we were cheering for the Phillies during the World Series. We were working the night of final game...found out who won when we had our supper break. Since both of my kids are living in Philly, they told me how crazy the city got after Philly won....absolute pandemonium broke out. We found out last night that one of the guys there is originally from Binghamton so we were chatting with him about that.Small world....
Well, sun is setting over Coffeyville. Linda is back from doing laundry and the race only has about 50 laps to go. Time for supper and relaxing.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Buzz from Coffeyville
Hi All,
We are busting at the seams here in the park. There are more rigs than there are sites to hold them all and with the new park not yet completed (was supposed to have been done Oct. 1),folks are getting antsy. The honey wagon guys are busy making their rounds every Mon/Wed/Fri..trying to keep up with so many rigs. They have been getting to our side of the park about 1:00 or so.
Here is the area where we are...
On the far side of this area is where the new park is taking shape. It will be nice when it's done so we aren't awakened every morning to the sound of back-up beepers and slamming doors on the dump trucks as they drop off a load of fill or gravel. We were told yesterday that this coming Monday we need to move our rig to the new area. It is supposed to be done by then (the crews are supposedly working all weekend on it). That will allow them to install the sewer lines down the left side of this area. The opposite side of the lot was completed within the last week. They did not have to move their rigs because they ran the line about 40 feet behind the rigs (look out Wal-Mart as you'll have a bunch of people coming to buy extra lengths of sewer hose to reach). On our side the city doesn't own the land that far behind us so they will run the lines ahead of the electrical boxes.
Only the 8 rigs on our side of the park will be allowed to move on Monday. When we first were told about the Monday move, I envisioned the great land rush in Oklahoma where everyone runs to stake their claim to a site but that won't be the case. Once they finish running the lines, we can choose to stay in the new part or return to our current site.
Here are the people currently in an "overflow area" that need a site...
We called the city this morning to ask if they have WiFi in the new area, as we paid the $50 for a months worth of service. The woman on the phone said someone would get back to us. The WiFi service is very erratic here....get bumped off alot. One of the guys said that they don't have enough bandwidth for everyone on it...whatever that means. I just know that it is a pretty common occurrence for RV parks and it gets old after awhile. We are getting closer to the day when we get Verizon's air card so we don't have to deal with this anymore.
We are concerned about the softness of the new park. A lot of new fill over there. First good rain and a bunch of us might be stuck. We will see how it goes. The guy, two rigs down from us, has a refurbished Greyhound bus and he says that he weighs 40-50,000# and no way is he going over there. He will boondock in the parking lot if need be and then move back when they are done.
We love our "picking" jobs at Amazon but don't know that we'd come back again. They move people around too much and you never know what area you will be in. They take people over to receiving, stowing, crisp plant, etc. Linda and I have been lucky to stay in picking although I got moved one night to receiving. I think that is one reason that Linda and I try to stay in the top 3 for fastest pickers so that we will stay in picking....The other thing that has been a problem here is getting the automatic deposit to go through on our paychecks. Mine finally went through last paycheck and Linda is still waiting. We did paperwork on same day (in Sept.)...same account...and her paperwork got lost or something so they had to resend it to the corporate office. She was told that it should go through on Nov. 9. We'll see...
Here is a picture of the main area of the campground.
There is another campground just down the road about a tenth of a mile called Heritage campground. There are at least 30 rigs in that park too. Then there are folks in the Elk City park and also at Altamont. These people have quite a drive to get here since there it no shuttle anymore to take us to and from work.
Our site has 30 amp electric (the end sites across from us each have 50 amp but the others have 30 amp like ours), and water hook-up. We've been told to fill our fresh water tanks when it gets to freezing temps and unhook from city connection as we will be responsible for any damages caused by busted pipes. They do not have frost proof(insulated) connections like some parks have. No cable....can pick up a few stations. Reception is better in evening and when wind isn't blowing (which is a rare occurrence). There is a bathhouse over near the other park for folks in rigs without showers. Pretty much a cinder block building with stalls with curtains. Nothing fancy...and I wonder how operable they will be if cold temps come. Speaking of weather...the weather here is perfect ! Today..for last day in October I am in t-shirt and shorts. Is in the 70's and a breeze (always seems to be a breeze here). Biggest plus of being here has been the weather. Except for very little rain, it has been gorgeous. We had two nights in the 30's but usually it has been in the 50's and 60's overnight. Amazing !! Makes us cringe to think of going back to PA to the cold where they are scraping their windshields and getting that dreaded "S" word. Yuck !! Until then we'll soak up as much of the the Kansas sun as we can.....
We are busting at the seams here in the park. There are more rigs than there are sites to hold them all and with the new park not yet completed (was supposed to have been done Oct. 1),folks are getting antsy. The honey wagon guys are busy making their rounds every Mon/Wed/Fri..trying to keep up with so many rigs. They have been getting to our side of the park about 1:00 or so.
Here is the area where we are...
On the far side of this area is where the new park is taking shape. It will be nice when it's done so we aren't awakened every morning to the sound of back-up beepers and slamming doors on the dump trucks as they drop off a load of fill or gravel. We were told yesterday that this coming Monday we need to move our rig to the new area. It is supposed to be done by then (the crews are supposedly working all weekend on it). That will allow them to install the sewer lines down the left side of this area. The opposite side of the lot was completed within the last week. They did not have to move their rigs because they ran the line about 40 feet behind the rigs (look out Wal-Mart as you'll have a bunch of people coming to buy extra lengths of sewer hose to reach). On our side the city doesn't own the land that far behind us so they will run the lines ahead of the electrical boxes.
Only the 8 rigs on our side of the park will be allowed to move on Monday. When we first were told about the Monday move, I envisioned the great land rush in Oklahoma where everyone runs to stake their claim to a site but that won't be the case. Once they finish running the lines, we can choose to stay in the new part or return to our current site.
Here are the people currently in an "overflow area" that need a site...
We called the city this morning to ask if they have WiFi in the new area, as we paid the $50 for a months worth of service. The woman on the phone said someone would get back to us. The WiFi service is very erratic here....get bumped off alot. One of the guys said that they don't have enough bandwidth for everyone on it...whatever that means. I just know that it is a pretty common occurrence for RV parks and it gets old after awhile. We are getting closer to the day when we get Verizon's air card so we don't have to deal with this anymore.
We are concerned about the softness of the new park. A lot of new fill over there. First good rain and a bunch of us might be stuck. We will see how it goes. The guy, two rigs down from us, has a refurbished Greyhound bus and he says that he weighs 40-50,000# and no way is he going over there. He will boondock in the parking lot if need be and then move back when they are done.
We love our "picking" jobs at Amazon but don't know that we'd come back again. They move people around too much and you never know what area you will be in. They take people over to receiving, stowing, crisp plant, etc. Linda and I have been lucky to stay in picking although I got moved one night to receiving. I think that is one reason that Linda and I try to stay in the top 3 for fastest pickers so that we will stay in picking....The other thing that has been a problem here is getting the automatic deposit to go through on our paychecks. Mine finally went through last paycheck and Linda is still waiting. We did paperwork on same day (in Sept.)...same account...and her paperwork got lost or something so they had to resend it to the corporate office. She was told that it should go through on Nov. 9. We'll see...
Here is a picture of the main area of the campground.
There is another campground just down the road about a tenth of a mile called Heritage campground. There are at least 30 rigs in that park too. Then there are folks in the Elk City park and also at Altamont. These people have quite a drive to get here since there it no shuttle anymore to take us to and from work.
Our site has 30 amp electric (the end sites across from us each have 50 amp but the others have 30 amp like ours), and water hook-up. We've been told to fill our fresh water tanks when it gets to freezing temps and unhook from city connection as we will be responsible for any damages caused by busted pipes. They do not have frost proof(insulated) connections like some parks have. No cable....can pick up a few stations. Reception is better in evening and when wind isn't blowing (which is a rare occurrence). There is a bathhouse over near the other park for folks in rigs without showers. Pretty much a cinder block building with stalls with curtains. Nothing fancy...and I wonder how operable they will be if cold temps come. Speaking of weather...the weather here is perfect ! Today..for last day in October I am in t-shirt and shorts. Is in the 70's and a breeze (always seems to be a breeze here). Biggest plus of being here has been the weather. Except for very little rain, it has been gorgeous. We had two nights in the 30's but usually it has been in the 50's and 60's overnight. Amazing !! Makes us cringe to think of going back to PA to the cold where they are scraping their windshields and getting that dreaded "S" word. Yuck !! Until then we'll soak up as much of the the Kansas sun as we can.....
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sightseeing in Oklahoma
Monday and Tuesday was spent exploring the towns and countryside of nearby Oklahoma. I think I mentioned before that the Oklahoma border is just 3 miles outside of Coffeyville so we decided to check out the tourist attractions in this nearby state. On Monday we took a loop down to Pawnee, Ok and came back through Hominy and Barnsdall. The trading post we were looking for in Pawnee is no longer in operation but we had a great meal at Kacie's Diner while we were there. In Hominy a local artisan has created 18-20' sculptures, visible on a ridge just outside of town but too far away to get any pictures of. Our last stop, as nightfall set in, was to the town of Barnsdall...home of Anita Bryant and Clark Gable and the Worlds only main street oil well. It sits right in the middle of the street but appears to not be operational anymore.
On Tuesday we went to Bartlesville, OK. Our first stop was to Yocham's leather shop. What a neat place it was. Lots of cowboy memorabilia, custom saddles and furniture. In the rear of the retail area there is an area where three guys work on making the saddles and other custom items. They explained what they were doing and showed us some of the pieces they've made, that were in the back store room.
It was very interesting talking to them and learning about their craft. From there we went to the Tom Mix museum where I was surprised to see so much memorabilia. All of the items were purchased from the heir to the estate and the collection is extensive. We watched a movie in the little theater set up in the back and the saddle he used in the movie is shown here from one of the displays.
Tom's third wife was from Dewey (the town just outside of Bartlesville where the museum is) and he was also the town marshal for a short time in 1909. While in Dewey he worked on a local cattle ranch. His skill with horses is what got him a part in a movie that was being filmed near Dewey. That was the beginning of his movie career. The horse shown in this picture is in the likeness of Tony, the wonder horse that Tom rode. He was one of four horses that Tom owned throughout his career. Tom paid $600 for Tony when he was a young, undernourished colt. Tom Mix fattened Tony on oats soaked in milk. Together they made $7,500,000.
Next we went to the Price Tower, which is a Frank Lloyd Wright design. We took a tour of the building, which allowed us to see some of the private areas of the building, where the executive offices were and we also got to see one of the apartments, which has been left in its' original condition with period furnishings from the 50's. The building's uses a cantilevered design to suspend areas of the building. It was interesting to see the different Wright components and to also see the current exhibit that was in the museum. It featured artists who recycled common items into new art objects (items such as newspaper, milk cartons, plastic bottles and cassette tapes). It was fascinating to see the beautiful objects that had been created from "garbage".
Our last stop was to the Phillips petroleum museum. A lot of wonderful artifacts from the company's history in oil exploration. What I found interesting were all the items that Phillips has developed (resins, different types of plastics, etc.) that has led to them amassing over 15,000 patents and the development of many of the products we now enjoy.
We had two great days of sightseeing to see many of the interesting things that Oklahoma has to offer. Back to work tomorrow.....we have other trips planned for our upcoming days off.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Brown Mansion
Monday we took in a couple of the local attractions since we had the day off. We went to take a tour of the Brown mansion, located just a couple miles from us and it sits just on the outskirts of Coffeyville. Here is a picture of the exterior. We weren't allowed to take any pictures inside.
What a beautiful house this is ! We got to see every room in the house, starting in the basement. The basement is huge, with a tool room, big laundry area, walk-in cooler (overhead area held blocks of ice to keep it cold), butler bedroom and his own bathroom, potting room, wine making and storage room (Vicki would love this), hand operated elevator and a bowling alley. Can you believe it ? And the whole thing had concrete floors and walls and was absolutely dry. It was amazing.
Mr. Brown was the first oil and gas man in the area and that is where his wealth came from. He also got into lumbering and all the wood in the house was hand picked by him. He was a very tall man...6'3" and his wife was 4'8"....her original wedding dress was still in the bedroom and her tiny little shoes. They had 5 children, one girl the rest boys...but none of the boys survived. The daughter had one child...a boy and it too also died....so there are no descendants to this family remaining. The top floor of the house had a ballroom, with two "fainting" rooms...where the women in their ballgowns with the tight corsets could go and lay down and one of the maids would fan them....How nice !
The house had a music room, parlor, living room, kitchen with pantry, solarium, a skylight made from the bottoms of Coke bottles (he was building "green" even back then) laundry chute that sent clothes to the basement from the other floors, many bedrooms (the guest bedroom was used by President Taft when he came to visit - he was a close friend of the Browns)and several bathrooms. It is a beautiful house...several Tiffany lamps and glass work and one of the original light bulbs invented by Edison. It is still going strong and has outlasted all the other bulbs around it !!
When we asked the tour guide about the extent of their wealth, she said that he brought in $5000/day from the oil and gas business and from the bath house (he had a 15 room bath house in town where people could go and soak in sulfur water as a health thing) he brought in $3000/day..Wow, that's alot of money !! The house was started in 1898 and completed in 1906. In the 30's, they returned to the house as they were getting old and grew ill. The daughter returned to take care of them. Mr and Mrs Brown passed away, two months apart...The daughter later went into a nursing facility and left the house to the historical society.
We would encourage anyone thinking of seeing it to take the tour. We bought a combination ticket (good for Brown Mansion and the Dalton Museum) for $7.50.
What a beautiful house this is ! We got to see every room in the house, starting in the basement. The basement is huge, with a tool room, big laundry area, walk-in cooler (overhead area held blocks of ice to keep it cold), butler bedroom and his own bathroom, potting room, wine making and storage room (Vicki would love this), hand operated elevator and a bowling alley. Can you believe it ? And the whole thing had concrete floors and walls and was absolutely dry. It was amazing.
Mr. Brown was the first oil and gas man in the area and that is where his wealth came from. He also got into lumbering and all the wood in the house was hand picked by him. He was a very tall man...6'3" and his wife was 4'8"....her original wedding dress was still in the bedroom and her tiny little shoes. They had 5 children, one girl the rest boys...but none of the boys survived. The daughter had one child...a boy and it too also died....so there are no descendants to this family remaining. The top floor of the house had a ballroom, with two "fainting" rooms...where the women in their ballgowns with the tight corsets could go and lay down and one of the maids would fan them....How nice !
The house had a music room, parlor, living room, kitchen with pantry, solarium, a skylight made from the bottoms of Coke bottles (he was building "green" even back then) laundry chute that sent clothes to the basement from the other floors, many bedrooms (the guest bedroom was used by President Taft when he came to visit - he was a close friend of the Browns)and several bathrooms. It is a beautiful house...several Tiffany lamps and glass work and one of the original light bulbs invented by Edison. It is still going strong and has outlasted all the other bulbs around it !!
When we asked the tour guide about the extent of their wealth, she said that he brought in $5000/day from the oil and gas business and from the bath house (he had a 15 room bath house in town where people could go and soak in sulfur water as a health thing) he brought in $3000/day..Wow, that's alot of money !! The house was started in 1898 and completed in 1906. In the 30's, they returned to the house as they were getting old and grew ill. The daughter returned to take care of them. Mr and Mrs Brown passed away, two months apart...The daughter later went into a nursing facility and left the house to the historical society.
We would encourage anyone thinking of seeing it to take the tour. We bought a combination ticket (good for Brown Mansion and the Dalton Museum) for $7.50.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes.....
The town of Coffeyville has been through some horrible devastation with the flood of 2007. We've seen signs like these which are reminders of what happened.
I did a search to see if there are pictures of what the area looked like during the flood and here's a great site with pictures....pretty horrifying to see the damage. As you look at them, keep in mind we are on 8th street...on the edge of town and we are staying in Walter Johnson park...There are several of the park and our area here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kstatealec/CoffeyvilleFlood2007#
Here is the picture of the baseball field near where our rig is....
Now there are alot of concrete slabs with no buildings on them and alot of sidewalks that lead to nowhere.....
They are fighting back and there is new construction going on. Still many closed up businesses but they are making progress. Here is a look at downtown...small but cute
I did a search to see if there are pictures of what the area looked like during the flood and here's a great site with pictures....pretty horrifying to see the damage. As you look at them, keep in mind we are on 8th street...on the edge of town and we are staying in Walter Johnson park...There are several of the park and our area here.
http://picasaweb.google.com/kstatealec/CoffeyvilleFlood2007#
Here is the picture of the baseball field near where our rig is....
Now there are alot of concrete slabs with no buildings on them and alot of sidewalks that lead to nowhere.....
They are fighting back and there is new construction going on. Still many closed up businesses but they are making progress. Here is a look at downtown...small but cute
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Little House on the Prairie
I guess I didn't realize that the TV show, Little House on the Prairie is based on an the actual accounts of the Ingalls family in the mid west, as written by Laura Ingalls. We visited the site, outside of Independence, KS, where area folks have recreated the log cabin that the Ingalls family had. no loft area, like on the TV show where the kids sleep. Just a small bed in the corner, near the fireplace.
Next door to the "little house" was the post office, from Wayside and the one room school house, that had been located in Sunnyside. The post office had actually been in use up until 1977, until that location was closed. Here are pics of the school house, inside and out. Click on the last picture to read, in greater detail, the salaries of teachers back then. Great information on what school life was like for school children in Kansas in the early days.
Next door to the "little house" was the post office, from Wayside and the one room school house, that had been located in Sunnyside. The post office had actually been in use up until 1977, until that location was closed. Here are pics of the school house, inside and out. Click on the last picture to read, in greater detail, the salaries of teachers back then. Great information on what school life was like for school children in Kansas in the early days.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
History Recreated....
On Saturday, we went downtown for Dalton Days…..each year they recreate the day that the Dalton gang rode into town with the intention of robbing the two banks in town. This picture kind of sums up what happened on that day…. (click on the picture to make it bigger so you can read writing)
It was a fierce gun battle, which was really loud (was nice that they handed out ear plugs beforehand) and a lot of shooting…..
At the end the “widows or mother” of each of the fallen Coffeyville citizens told about their man…age, occupation and who they left behind and how they had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Watching it all unfold, it made me think how weird it was to see men just walking around carrying firearms in the Old West. So different from today. In the alley where it all actually took place, they have outlines painted on the road where the bodies laid and here is a picture of one of the original bullet holes left behind from the gun battle.
After the re-enactment, we went home to get ready for work. It worked out well that we were able to take in Dalton days before leaving for work. We only worked 5 - 9 p.m.and now we have Sunday - Tuesday off.
It was a fierce gun battle, which was really loud (was nice that they handed out ear plugs beforehand) and a lot of shooting…..
At the end the “widows or mother” of each of the fallen Coffeyville citizens told about their man…age, occupation and who they left behind and how they had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Watching it all unfold, it made me think how weird it was to see men just walking around carrying firearms in the Old West. So different from today. In the alley where it all actually took place, they have outlines painted on the road where the bodies laid and here is a picture of one of the original bullet holes left behind from the gun battle.
After the re-enactment, we went home to get ready for work. It worked out well that we were able to take in Dalton days before leaving for work. We only worked 5 - 9 p.m.and now we have Sunday - Tuesday off.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
We've landed in Kansas....
Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks but the dust has settled and we are in our new location for the next couple of months. Left Virginia on Friday, the 19th and after 25 hours of driving, on Sunday afternoon we pulled into the campground in Coffeyville, Kansas. We are staying at the Walter Johnson park, here in the outskirts of Coffeyville. Very cute town...more services here than what we expected. We are in a back overflow lot with a few other rigs (more will be arriving over the next few weeks). We like it cause it's quiet and not so congested. I'll post some pictures of our site and the campground in the near future.
Sophisticated payment system for paying for your site.....If you arrive within one week of your start date with Amazon, you don't have to pay for any extra days.
First sunset, as seen from our rig....
Our original start date was to have been October 5th but our neighbors told us that another couple, who was supposed to start on Wednesday, had pulled out the day before we arrived. So, on Monday, when we went to Express Employment's office to do our paperwork, we asked if it was possible for us to start early. They checked and said that we'd start on Wednesday. This week is "hardening week" which means we only work 5 hour shifts. A time to get your body adjusted to long days on your feet and the aches and pains of lifting, bending, etc. Linda and I are in the "picking" dept. and we love it !! Once you're trained, you get to work on your own, pulling items from the huge warehouse, put them in totes and put the finished totes on a conveyor. We will be working a Wednesday - Saturday shift, from 5 p.m. - 3:30 a.m. So far, like I said before, we've only been working 5 hour shifts, finishing up at 10 p.m. The time goes by very quickly when you are working. I love seeing all the items that they sell. For our area, there is ALOT of walking...they told us we'd walk 10-15 miles each night. Our trainer walked over 13 miles the night before she started working with our group. The place is HUGE and they carry everything imaginable. Alot of the items I picked last night were CD's, books or movies. Nice to see that there is still a strong interest in the older movies. John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, etc. but the most popular item that I picked last night had to be the Sex and the City DVD.......picked many of them for orders.
We have tonight off due to some maintenance they need to do at the factory so we have a long weekend. I will try and get some pictures this weekend and post them for you to see.
Sophisticated payment system for paying for your site.....If you arrive within one week of your start date with Amazon, you don't have to pay for any extra days.
First sunset, as seen from our rig....
Our original start date was to have been October 5th but our neighbors told us that another couple, who was supposed to start on Wednesday, had pulled out the day before we arrived. So, on Monday, when we went to Express Employment's office to do our paperwork, we asked if it was possible for us to start early. They checked and said that we'd start on Wednesday. This week is "hardening week" which means we only work 5 hour shifts. A time to get your body adjusted to long days on your feet and the aches and pains of lifting, bending, etc. Linda and I are in the "picking" dept. and we love it !! Once you're trained, you get to work on your own, pulling items from the huge warehouse, put them in totes and put the finished totes on a conveyor. We will be working a Wednesday - Saturday shift, from 5 p.m. - 3:30 a.m. So far, like I said before, we've only been working 5 hour shifts, finishing up at 10 p.m. The time goes by very quickly when you are working. I love seeing all the items that they sell. For our area, there is ALOT of walking...they told us we'd walk 10-15 miles each night. Our trainer walked over 13 miles the night before she started working with our group. The place is HUGE and they carry everything imaginable. Alot of the items I picked last night were CD's, books or movies. Nice to see that there is still a strong interest in the older movies. John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, etc. but the most popular item that I picked last night had to be the Sex and the City DVD.......picked many of them for orders.
We have tonight off due to some maintenance they need to do at the factory so we have a long weekend. I will try and get some pictures this weekend and post them for you to see.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Here Comes Hanna.....
Am sitting at a Panera restaurant, posting this, as we got evacuated from the campground this afternoon. We've been staying at the Newport News campground all week and have really loved it. Ranger came around while I was up at the office doing laundry and said we needed to be out by 6:00 p.m. Luckily we had already hooked the truck up to the rig in case this same scenario would happen tomorrow while Linda is at work and I'd need to move on my own....just came a day early.
Within an hour we had everything loaded, tanks dumped and were headed down the road. We need to stick close by as Linda is supposed to work Saturday and Sunday at Busch Gardens (although a friend of mine called me and said that they will be closed tomorrow due to the storm).
We have parked in a plaza parking lot and will stay there tonight unless we get the dreaded knock on the door, from a security guard, in the middle of the night. If that happens we'll move over to the Wal-Mart nearby. That area was really busy when we arrived here earlier (couldn't be that "run out for the much needed milk and bread thing, could it ?"). The winds have intensified a bit with this storm and they are saying that winds will be 65 - 80 m.p.h. Glad our rig is really heavy !! Might be alot of rock and rolling going on tonight. So far it's only starting to rain and that comes in waves....
Just wanted to give folks an update since we've been without internet all week. We'll let you know what it was like to weather a tropical storm, in an RV, once I get access again. Till then we'll be playing lots of Skippo.
Within an hour we had everything loaded, tanks dumped and were headed down the road. We need to stick close by as Linda is supposed to work Saturday and Sunday at Busch Gardens (although a friend of mine called me and said that they will be closed tomorrow due to the storm).
We have parked in a plaza parking lot and will stay there tonight unless we get the dreaded knock on the door, from a security guard, in the middle of the night. If that happens we'll move over to the Wal-Mart nearby. That area was really busy when we arrived here earlier (couldn't be that "run out for the much needed milk and bread thing, could it ?"). The winds have intensified a bit with this storm and they are saying that winds will be 65 - 80 m.p.h. Glad our rig is really heavy !! Might be alot of rock and rolling going on tonight. So far it's only starting to rain and that comes in waves....
Just wanted to give folks an update since we've been without internet all week. We'll let you know what it was like to weather a tropical storm, in an RV, once I get access again. Till then we'll be playing lots of Skippo.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Packing up to go....
Today is Linda's last day in the office here at the campground. I will continue to clean the pool through the weekend but on Monday (Sept 1) we will be leaving. It took us about two days to figure out what our next month was going to consist of since there are so many variables to take care of (dr. appts, last days of work at Busch Garden, wedding in NJ,etc.) After sifting through all the dates, we came up with a departure date of Sept. 8...last day of work at campground of Sept. 7. Upon telling the mgmt here, they proceed to tell Linda that her last day will be Friday and if we stay past Sept 1 we will need to pay site rent. Back to the drawing board....
So, after scrambling to make arrangements at another campground, here's the plan:
* Leaving here Monday Sept 1 (once Linda gets out of work) and moving to campground in Newport News. Will be there till Sept. 8. WILL NOT have internet so this may be last update for a little while.
* Sept 8 will be checking into campground in Pomona, NJ for Linda's niece's wedding. Will stay until at least Monday, the 15th. May possibly stay till the 18th.
* Return to VA for doctor appts on Sept 19.
Will update more once we firm up our travel plans.
So, after scrambling to make arrangements at another campground, here's the plan:
* Leaving here Monday Sept 1 (once Linda gets out of work) and moving to campground in Newport News. Will be there till Sept. 8. WILL NOT have internet so this may be last update for a little while.
* Sept 8 will be checking into campground in Pomona, NJ for Linda's niece's wedding. Will stay until at least Monday, the 15th. May possibly stay till the 18th.
* Return to VA for doctor appts on Sept 19.
Will update more once we firm up our travel plans.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
National Conventions.......
History was made tonight with the nomination of an African American man for the highest office in the United States ! Linda and I watched the process on CNN and it was a very moving event and one that many people did not feel would come in our lifetime. When you think about how far we've come in the last 50 years....from the back of the bus to the possibility of an African American man serving in the Oval Office. Wow !!
Linda and I have watched the convention proceedings this year but typically I don't like to watch the conventions. Convention time is a reminder to me of a dark time in my life.
In June of 1972, my grandfather went to the hospital to have an operation for a hernia that he had lived with most of this life. He had put it off because he did not like hospitals and so he had suffered for many years with it. Finally he decided to have it taken care of. He had the surgery and was recovering from it but died when a blood clot dislodged and moved to his heart, killing him. I was 12 and can still remember the disbelief my grandmother, mother and I felt when we arrived at the hospital and were given the news.
My grandmother had a very hard time with his death and my mother told me that I needed to go and stay with my grandmother for the summer. My grandparents farm was close to my house.....just a few miles away. But it might as well have been hours away, as I felt very isolated there....staying day after day when I wanted to be home. My grandparents slept in separate twin beds within one big bedroom and I slept in my grandfather's bed each night. My grandmother would cry herself to sleep most nights; grief stricken by the loss of my grandfather. My grandparents were a team, loving spouses and a dynamic couple who worked hard on the farm. His sudden death was almost more than she could bear.
I remember enduring the 1972 conventions that long, hard summer. As a twelve year old, it wasn't my choice to watch the electoral process unfold. When you live in a rural area, as we did, you got very limited TV reception. Such was the case at my grandparents farm. They got one station and lo and behold, it was covering the conventions. How lucky for me.....I would spend evenings watching TV to pass the time, until I eventually had to go to bed. George McGovern and Richard Nixon....we know how that all turned out. I haven't been a fan of conventions since then.....until NOW.
I think the shadow has been lifted on my opinion of conventions. At least I have a sense of hope.....we'll see what happens over the course of the next 69 or so days. Will we emerge from the darkness that has overtaken our country or will we fall deeper into the shadows ? It's up to us to make that determination.
Linda and I have watched the convention proceedings this year but typically I don't like to watch the conventions. Convention time is a reminder to me of a dark time in my life.
In June of 1972, my grandfather went to the hospital to have an operation for a hernia that he had lived with most of this life. He had put it off because he did not like hospitals and so he had suffered for many years with it. Finally he decided to have it taken care of. He had the surgery and was recovering from it but died when a blood clot dislodged and moved to his heart, killing him. I was 12 and can still remember the disbelief my grandmother, mother and I felt when we arrived at the hospital and were given the news.
My grandmother had a very hard time with his death and my mother told me that I needed to go and stay with my grandmother for the summer. My grandparents farm was close to my house.....just a few miles away. But it might as well have been hours away, as I felt very isolated there....staying day after day when I wanted to be home. My grandparents slept in separate twin beds within one big bedroom and I slept in my grandfather's bed each night. My grandmother would cry herself to sleep most nights; grief stricken by the loss of my grandfather. My grandparents were a team, loving spouses and a dynamic couple who worked hard on the farm. His sudden death was almost more than she could bear.
I remember enduring the 1972 conventions that long, hard summer. As a twelve year old, it wasn't my choice to watch the electoral process unfold. When you live in a rural area, as we did, you got very limited TV reception. Such was the case at my grandparents farm. They got one station and lo and behold, it was covering the conventions. How lucky for me.....I would spend evenings watching TV to pass the time, until I eventually had to go to bed. George McGovern and Richard Nixon....we know how that all turned out. I haven't been a fan of conventions since then.....until NOW.
I think the shadow has been lifted on my opinion of conventions. At least I have a sense of hope.....we'll see what happens over the course of the next 69 or so days. Will we emerge from the darkness that has overtaken our country or will we fall deeper into the shadows ? It's up to us to make that determination.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
By the light of the silvery moon....
Last night I had a dose of insomnia. Woke at 12:47 with "busy brain", as Linda and I like to call it. Went out on the couch and laid there for an hour, tossing and turning and then went back to bed. After laying there for a few minutes...wide awake, with no sleepiness in sight, I decided that I might as well get up and go clean the pool. If I continued to lay there, tossing and turning...then finally fall asleep and the alarm goes off at 6:00, I'll be a zombie for my drive down to see Becky. So I got up, dressed, grabbed the pool key and off I went.
The campground looks a lot different at 2:15 a.m. then it does in the daylight. And the pool looks even weirder. There are a couple of lights on surrounding buildings and two underwater lights in the pool itself so there are lots of shadows that are cast.The sky was full of stars and there was a half moon; very pretty and comfortably cool.
The water was very clear and not dirty at all so it only took me an hour to finish up everything. No frogs to rescue from the skimmer baskets (or the pool itself)so nothing out of the ordinary to take extra time.
I like working when it's quiet...no distractions....no one looking over my shoulder. Just get in there and get the job done.As I pushed the long pole through the water, with the vacuum attached on the end, weird shadows were playing off the edge of the pool on my side and the opposite side of the pool. Kind of creepy !
When I finished, I locked the pool up and walked back to the rig. The exercise of cleaning the pool was just what I needed. I crawled into bed, curled up with my pillow and slept till 6 (when I heard Linda getting up for work), then resumed sleep till 8:30.
Getting ready to leave now to go visit my daughter, who has gone to Cape Charles with a friend for the weekend. It is supposed to take me about an hour, forty minutes to get there but I have to cross the Chesapeake bridge, which I'm not looking forward to. 17 miles of bridge over open water !! Eeekkk !!!! One of the very few things I really have a fear of. But with the thoughts of seeing my daughter on the other side....I can do this !
Friday, August 8, 2008
Relaxing Morning
What a perfect morning ! Temp is in the 70's....nice breeze blowing...it's not quite 8:30 and no one is moving around much in the campground. All you hear are the birds chirping and the faint sounds of morning rush hour starting on nearby I-64. The dogs are chillin' outside with me (see Boomer there on the patio). Schroeder is laying next to me at the back of the patio. They are taking in all the sounds and smells of being outdoors. I don't go in till noon today which is a shift I don't think I've ever had before. Still needed to get up at 6 to clean the pool but now I have time to relax and enjoy the morning. Just wanted to share the view with you all....
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Williamsburg
On Saturday, once Linda finished her shift at Water Country, we decided to walk around Colonial Williamsburg. We haven't had the time yet to visit there but when my kids were down here we drove around it a bit so was anxious to check it out. Here are some pics of our visit. More pics under the link to the right....
I found this one interesting since we're now full-time travelers. Back then, we would have been looking at the same scenery for a really long time at this rate of travel.
See....T.Boone Pickens isn't that far off base....Had windmills back in Colonial days....
And we think that today's "Buy Local" campaigns are big news.....
Lots of formal gardens, complete with beautiful old arbors...alleyways...tucked away areas to explore...
And no day is complete without barnyard animals just lazing in the hot, summer sun...
I found this one interesting since we're now full-time travelers. Back then, we would have been looking at the same scenery for a really long time at this rate of travel.
See....T.Boone Pickens isn't that far off base....Had windmills back in Colonial days....
And we think that today's "Buy Local" campaigns are big news.....
Lots of formal gardens, complete with beautiful old arbors...alleyways...tucked away areas to explore...
And no day is complete without barnyard animals just lazing in the hot, summer sun...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)