Days Off - Sunday, Monday

10:00 church and then home for brunch.  We took a picture of this colorful tree on the way home. Worked on laundry again, dirty jeans and sweaty shirts from working.  We are appreciating our washer/dryer so much!  I can only do small loads, but I can do them without going somewhere else. The campground has a nice laundry room with 3 washers and dryers, but it is busy constantly and I cannot see if anyone is using it from where we are parked.  Many go to the laundromats, everything could be done quicker - I love being home and knowing the cleanliness of my own washer.  (There is a sign in our campground wash room that says - "washers are not to be used for dog bedding!")
We put together a shopping list, we are going to Bartlesville, OK tomorrow for sightseeing and errands.  Watched the KC Chiefs win, 8-0 now and watched part of the Packers/Vikings game before bed.

On Buckeye Street

Monday, we woke up to heavy fog, it hung around until after 10:00.  I woke up with a crink in my neck and a headache, had to stretch and ice to get rid of it.  Also woke to noise from the icemaker and discovered that a defrosting was in order, glad we were off today!  We worked on that and some other projects and then left for Bartlesville.  There were more fall colors in the trees, but they just did not show well with the overcast skies, we kept waiting for the sun to come out as the weatherman promised.  We drove to Caney, KS and then turned south for Oklahoma.  Drove south past Copan Lake, to Dewey then Bartlesville.  Our first stop was Lowe's, mission to buy a 5 gallon water cooler for drinking water.  Next stop, historic downtown Bartlesville.  The Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center is located in the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe RR Depot.  One of the only 910 Engines is on display here, check out the Engineer!  (Astronaut and Engineer, who knew!!)

910 Engine

Engineer for a Day

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe RR Depot

After a nice leisurely lunch downtown at the Indian Coffee Company, we toured the Phillips 66 Museum.  Lots of interesting history regarding the Phillips Petroleum Company that was founded in Bartlesville. Did you know Phillips 66 engineers developed plastics and invented the Hoola-hoop?? The Company originated and owned many patents, for a time period they averaged one or more new patents a day.  Now the Company is known as Conoco-Phillips.
The Phillips mansion is available to tour in town, unfortunately only open on Wednesday-Saturdays, the days we are working.  Frank Phillips also had a ranch/museum, Woolaroc, outside of town we can tour, we need to check on those hours.
Bartlesville is a much bigger town than the others nearby, so we bought groceries and other needed items before we headed home.  It was a nice drive back, the sun peaked out more so we did see some fall colors, including more Osage Orange trees.

A tree downtown Bartlesville

                    

An older Phillips building                      

In the Phillips 66 museum

Bartlesville has 25 buffalo statues all over town, each decorated differently.
One here is decorated with OSU with boots on and the other, Amadeus, has musical notes for the Symphony Center.

Home to put away groceries, make lunches and get ready for work tomorrow.  They offered voluntary overtime, VOT, so we will be going in for an extra day this week.










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Back to Work - Amazon

Oct. 22 -  home again, spent this day doing laundry and getting ready for going back to work. Emptied suitcases, putting the summer clothing in them before stowing them away.  We got out of the house for a little while to walk on the trails at the nearby park.  We also drove up the hill by the stadium to find spider balls.

In driving around in this area when we arrived, we saw trees that had grapefruit looking balls on them.  A couple of weeks ago we found a tree by the stadium full of the balls, but only a few had dropped.  We were surprised to find out that spider balls, as we know them from buying them in the stores at home, grew on these trees.  The tree is called an Osage Orange tree. You may know the bumpy fruit of the Osage Orange tree by one of its many nicknames including "Hedge Apple", "Horse Apple", "Mock Orange" or "Spider Ball".  The wrinkled skin of its softball-sized fruit is light green in color and gives off an aroma that smells like an orange.  Because of their long sharp thorns, Osage Orange trees were planted and used as fences to keep livestock from straying.  The early settlers would plant rows of these trees which grew so thick a cow or pig could not get through.  We picked up 1/2 dozen of the balls to put in the lower bays of the motorhome to keep spiders away.

Osage Orange tree - most of the leaves had dropped

Still a few balls hanging up high 

Spider balls 

Wed - Sat.  - back to work.  We are still stowing product.  Gary and I were in different areas a couple days, he was opening cartons and stowing cases of product.  I was working with carts and totes of product, seems like I was on my knees a lot putting items on lower shelves.  My body handled it pretty well, I could tell more by the dirt stains on my jeans.  A lot of the guys and gals are wearing shorts and capris with t-shirts, it does get warm in many areas during the day, but we don't want to bend down on the cement floor with bare knees.
Friday night we ordered a pizza and cheese bread from Casey's, the first pizza we have had in over a month.  It was great, enough for leftovers to enjoy.  There is a Pizza Hut in town too, but we were told Casey's was the best.

Saturday, the owners of Buckeye RV Park where we are staying had their annual picnic for the residents.  They have a chili and dessert competition we could enter and then they provide hamburgers and hotdogs for everyone.  We were to each bring a dish to share.  The time frame was 11:00 AM to 6:30 PM, this allowed us to attend after we got off work at 5:00.  I made a box brownie mix, I've realized it is cheaper and easier this way then trying to make something from scratch.
We had some of the winning chili, but the winning dessert was gone and we never did find out what it was.  The weather was cool but sunny, we had a nice visit with with owner and his wife while we ate. There were not a lot of people there by that time, so we were home by 6:30.  It really cools down quickly after 5:00 this week.   Showers and relaxing before heading to bed.  A long 40 hours, but we are feeling better each day after the 10 hour days.

Oct. 16 - 21 Travel & Wedding Days

Wednesday - we are up early, just as if we are going to work.  We left the motorhome at 6:30 AM to drive to Wichita to catch our Southwest flight to Tucson.  A nice drive, we got there easily in two and a half hours.  Parked in the Park & Ride lot, the shuttle was right there to take us to the airport. After checking in and getting through security, we had a breakfast bagel and settled in the passenger lounge to wait for our flight.  Free wi-fi, so we each worked on our I-Pads and made calls.
This is our first time flying on Southwest, so we learned how to line up for the seating order and ended up sitting with a window and center seat with a gentleman.  He said he was glad to have us sit there, in comparison to the linebacker size guy that he had sat by on his last flight.  Time to rest, I usually fall asleep on some part of the journey.
Arrived in Las Vegas, we had a one hour layover.  Just enough time for me to quickly lose my $5 in the slot machines.  There are even penny machines there, but they don't take pennies, just dollar bills and then the minimum bid is 30 cents.  Boarded our plane there about 30 minutes late and arrived in Tucson about 15 minutes late.  Dan was there waiting for us, our luggage came quickly and we were out in the sun.  We stopped to pick up Gary's vest and tie for the wedding, then went to Dan's house to get Gary's tux.  Another stop to see Gary's sisters and husbands who had arrived and then to Deb & Joe's where we stay for the week.
Wednesday night was a girls' surprise party for Connie at Deb's house.  We settled in, changed and helped Deb get ready for the guests.  Dan picked up Gary and they went over to another house for a guys' gathering.  A fun night, Connie and Dan both had surprises.

Thursday - the morning schedule is for the ladies to have massages and nails done, the guys were golfing.  A beautiful day in the desert!  After my appointments, I ran a couple errands for last minute items, then visited with Deb (and took a nap) in the afternoon.  Rehearsal was at 4:00 and then everyone boarded a shuttle bus to go to The Cadillac Chapparal restaurant for supper.  It was about a half hour drive there, it was fun having everyone together on the bus, our kids and their cousins kept us entertained with their stories.  A great meal and good time to visit with Connie's family members and catch up with our family too.  A fun ride home again.  The "cousins" group came over to be with us at Deb & Joe's house for awhile, we enjoyed all being together.

Friday - slept in!  We all needed it, with travel and two nights of parties, we were tired.  Our bodies had to adjust to the two hour time difference too, we were up two hours later each night.  Out for a walk and a lot of visiting.  We saw a roadrunner in Deb & Joe's yard this morning and deer out on the golf course.  The "cousins" girl group went for their nail appointments and then everyone was back to get ready for the wedding and the 2:30 PM picture schedule.

A perfect weather day again for the wedding.  Pictures were done easily and the guests began to arrive.  The Santa Catalina Church was built with a beautiful view of the mountains through the windows behind the altar, a perfect setting.  Ben & Kelsey were the singers, it was a treat to hear them sing again.  Gary did an extraordinary job as Best Man and Harriet was shining as Matron of Honor.  The bride looked so beautiful and elegant in her dress and the groom very dashing.

The Bride & Groom

Santa Catalina Church

Following the wedding, we all went to the Saddlebrooke Club for the reception.
We were in a room there with a wall of windows looking out over the golf club and the mountains.  As the evening progressed, the full moon came up over the mountain. Connie and Dan had a steel drum player providing the music for the evening that was quite unique and did a great job. We enjoyed visiting with family and with the Saddlebrooke friends that attended.  Many pictures were taken, I will have a few here and there will be many on Facebook from the others.  The "cousins" group came over again to be with us at Deb & Joe's house for awhile, we had a lot of conversation and celebration.

The Cousins

Moon coming over the mountain at the reception

With the bride and groom

The Sieverding "kids" in order

Saturday - we enjoyed the morning together and relaxing.  Katie's sister-in-law, Jolie and family, came from Mesa and picked her up to spend some time together.  Ben & Kelsey came over for awhile and then went to the Desert Museum.  Gary took Dale to the airport for his return flight. Gary and I drove to Oracle Junction RV Estates, just up the road a bit from Saddlebrooke and reserved a place for us to park our motorhome when we return to Arizona in January. (Yay!)

We helped Deb & Joe get their house ready for the supper gathering Dan & Connie were providing for family members and friends that had traveled for the wedding.  Also invited the Saddlebrooke friends that were so generous to house the many out of town guests.  As we were waiting for the grill to heat, we got to see Deb's "kitties" (bobcats) hop over the wall and walk around the yard. There was a small cub and two adult cats.  Gary and Joe pregrilled the brats and burgers, we served them from crockpots on the buffet line.  It was a fun evening with much food and fun.  The bride and groom joined us, their chance to say goodbye to everyone before leaving on their honeymoon.

One of the big kitties in the neighbor's yard

Sunday - the exodus begins for the travelers returning home.  Many of Connie's family, the "cousins" group and friends from Wisconsin had to fly out early Sunday morning, so they were up early and on their way.  We met Ben & Kelsey at Mass before they drove to Phoenix to catch their early afternoon flight.  We were back at Deb & Joe's, cleaning up from the night before, cleaning the neighbor's casita where guests had stayed and taking the extra items back to Dan & Connie's house.  Then some of us cheered the Chiefs to a victory!!  7-0!!  That night, we were invited over to the Smith's for supper and games for those who were still in town.  And then it was time for goodbyes.  Gary's sisters and husbands, Connie's son and family, our friend Jan B and we, all have to leave on Monday.  We said goodbye to the Saddlebrooke friends and wished everyone well until the next time.
Thank you to everyone in Saddlebrooke that were so generous with their homes and time helping host all of us.  Thank you to Deb & Joe for hosting several events at their home and transporting guests when needed.  Hope you can rest and relax now.

Oct. 13 - 15

Sunday again.  10:00 Mass and then home.  We are getting caught up on laundry and book work and starting to think about packing for Arizona.  I watched my Chiefs win AGAIN! and started gathering the items we wanted to take to Katie, Ben and Deb & Joe and for the wedding needs. Gary pulled out our suitcases from the outside bay storage.  After the game, I went to Walmart and picked up groceries and needed items.  Gary is making Peppers and Shells tonight!  Yummy!  Back home to watch the chef in action, he does a great job in our little kitchen.  Turns out our saute pan and pasta pan crowd pretty tight on the stove top, but he made it work.  A relaxing evening with nice weather again!

Monday - we wake up to rain and it rained all day.  We packed our cooler weather clothing in the suitcases, so I took all that out and started packing for the wedding trip.  Gary's white dress shirt has been rolled up in a drawer, so we will wash and iron that at Deb & Joe's after we arrive.  I had to try my dress on and figure out what jewelry to wear with it and other accessories.  The weather there will be highs in the 80's, lows in the 50's - Dan and Connie have ordered perfect weather for the wedding week.
Gary drove over to the propane dealer to make sure we could get propane tomorrow.  I spent the entire day inside, it was just too wet, cold and windy out.  Days like this we are enjoying our cable television options.  Tonight we had salmon patties for supper, I'm trying to use up things out of our pantry.  Monday night football and resting.

Tuesday - today is propane day.  Sounds easy, just drive over and have them fill up our tank, BUT this also means putting everything away inside, securing everything again for travel mode, unhooking everything outside and pulling the slides in.  It always takes longer than we think, so it was noon before we were ready.  I went over and told the office we would be gone for awhile, they were looking for a window of time that they could mow our site and the adjoining ones.  It was a nice sunny day again, just a little cooler.

Off to the propane store, their parking lot was muddy and full of puddles, but we got backed in and filled up.  We stopped and filled up the gas tank too, Gary will put some stabilizer in it since we (hopefully) will be sitting again until just before Christmas when we winterize it to come home.
When we got back to the campground, they were just mowing, so a delay there, but they did a thorough job.  We changed our parking on the site to be on firmer ground, then it was time to set up again.  While backing in, we turned into some softer ground from the rain across the road! (Yikes!!) but the captain got it out without getting stuck.  Gary worked outside hooking everything up and I put almost everything out again inside.  A couple more hours work, but now we will have enough propane to run the furnace when we need it.

Finished packing, showers, leftover Peppers & Shells supper, we are ready for travel tomorrow! We will miss our entire Amazon shift this week, but we had arranged that with them before we signed on.  It will be great to see everyone - all Gary's siblings will be there and our kids, Connie's family and the many friends we have made in Saddlebrooke where Dan & Connie and Deb & Joe live.  It will be a wonderful celebration.

Oct. 8-12 First Full Week

Tuesday, we did our half day voluntary overtime shift for 5 hours.  Some of the group we started with 2 weeks go signed up for the full day.  We were glad to go home at 11:30.  We did see other couples from our orientation group.  They are on shift one, so they work Sunday - Wednesday.  it was nice to visit with them.  Gary and I started off working in the same area, but then he and others were moved to another section.  Once home, we rested and organized our lunch bag and menu items for the next day.  Supper, relaxing, then to bed.

Wednesday to Saturday - The alarm goes off at 5:00 AM for us.  We shower the night before so we can get up, have breakfast, throw the last lunch items in and leave at 6:00 AM.
Wednesday went quickly, we found that we eat our lunch determinedly and try to relax in the half hour time period.  Sandwiches, chips, grapes and cookies.  The lunch room provides water, ice, coffee, sweet tea, styro cups, plates, plastic silverware, salt & pepper. There are also coolers/refrigerators for us to put our lunch bags in and shelves for coats, bags, etc. that we bring in. A lot of the full-time people have lockers, they must use combination locks.  Some of the Camperforce people made sure they got a locker too, but we are using the cooler and shelves.

We were tired and my feet were sore by the end of the first 10 hour day.  We are not really walking many miles at this time, but we are on our feet all day on the cement floors.  Stowing items involves pushing carts of products to the stowing aisles, bending and reaching when scanning the cart code, the item code and the shelf/bin code.  It sounds like it could get boring, but we have to pay attention with every item, watching to make sure the product scanned shows up correctly on the scanner, the bin number shows correctly and then we must enter the correct number of the item that we placed in the bin.   If we miss a step, the scanner reminds us with a beep sequence.  It is our new background music, we can hear that sound in the rows next to us from the other stowers.

Thursday to Saturday -   pretty much the same each day.   Gary and I were assigned separately many times, but we were each with others from our training group.  We are in the same break room for lunch, but not always at break time.  Many, many interesting products we are stowing.  Costumes, books, hunting items - all those make sense, some items are less common.  We are amazed at the grocery type items in sacks and boxes that people must order.

Thursday night after work I went to Dollar General to find bobby pins for keeping my hair up.  I'm actually braiding my hair some mornings, I was tired of my fuzzy pony tail on the humid days.  The bobby pins will help.  At the store, the clearance rack called to me and I found plastic sandwich boxes.  These special items will help us save money on sandwich bags each day and will remind us of our two favorite little boys at lunch time.  Riley and Sam educated Grandpa about Monsters University and Monsters Incorporated - Gary always tells the twins we are going to "the plant" to work, like Sully and Mike do in the movie.

Monsters University sandwich boxes

Saturday night after work we got home in time to watch the Michigan football game.  Disappointing ending this week.  Now at the end of the 4.5 days, I can really feel my quad muscles!  The last two days we have been doing more squatting to stow in the lower shelves and reaching to the higher shelves - a good workout.  And we were all being observed for following safety rules, so I made sure I was not bending over from my waist to reach down.  We are pleased with how we feel after the first full shift, maybe we are in better shape than we thought we were.

Oct. 6 & 7 Days Off

Sunday - of course, we took advantage of being able to sleep in.  We actually had stayed up later than 10:00 last night, amazingly.  10:00 AM Mass again, we had our guitar playing song leader again, a little different to get used to.  Back home, I put some laundry in and settled on the couch to watch the Chiefs game. 5-0 now!  I knew they would cycle back in to winning.  Gary is determined now that I get some Chiefs sportswear, I will have to stop by the local sports store here.
Later in the afternoon, I cleaned house and then we grilled pork chops for supper.  It was a beautiful day and nice to sit outside without sweating.

Sunset tonight from our back window

Monday - today is project day since we are working tomorrow morning.  We restrung the window blind again, this time with double cord.  This is the large window blind over the couch that broke before we left Sioux Falls and we re-strung a month ago.  Now we are going to order the exact replacement cord from Winnebago that the other windows have.  We were not able to find the same strength of cord in the stores.  Gary is also recharging the water softner today, it has been nice to have soft water for showering and washing clothes.  A beautiful sunny day here, highs in the upper 60's this week.
My followup dentist appointment was today.  I think the mouthpiece I have worn during the nights has helped all my teeth, but I still am having trouble with tenderness around my crowns.  He checked again and said the tenderness is still from my mouth adjusting to the crowns.  I will get the special implement made to wear at night in a couple weeks.  I am so impressed with this dentist and staff - they are really trying to help me.  Stopped for groceries on the way home and then helped Gary finish his screen door project.  A beautiful evening.  We will enjoy it and then get ready for work tomorrow.

Oct. 4 & 5 Amazon

Friday - off to work again.  It is dark when we get up and when we leave the motorhome.  We have been switching pairs of shoes to wear each day and have gel inserts in them.  That seems to help. Today we gather for stand up/announcements and then have a round of questions again about safety items when working.  Things like push the carts with both hands, squat to lift, don't bend over, don't twist to reach something, should be nose over the toes.  No tiptoes to reach, use a stool.  Really smart reminders, we and they don't want anyone to hurt anything!  Also reminders to drink water every 15 minutes, it is very dry in the building with all the product, cardboard, etc.  We can carry water bottles with us, they gave us a harness the first day to carry a bottle in and attach to our belt. They also have water coolers and fountains every where in the warehouse next to the bathrooms.
More stowing today.  We started in a different area and then moved back to our area from yesterday.  Walking, organizing in the bins, reaching, lifting, squatting - a good full body workout. The morning went fast again and soon we were done.

Home for lunch and another nap.  Then we cleaned up to go downtown for Dalton Defender Days, Coffeyville's big annual celebration.  We went down for the 6:00 reenactment of the Dalton raid. On October 5, 1892, the Dalton Gang tried to rob two banks in Coffeyville.  The gang was made up of Grat, Bob and Emmett Dalton, Bill Power and Dick Broadwell.  As the gang crossed the Plaza to enter the two banks, they were recognized and the townspeople armed themselves with weapons. When the bandits with nearly $25,000 of their money emerged from the Condon and First National Banks, they were fired upon.  In the battle, 8 men died, 4 of the outlaws and 4 local men. Emmett Dalton was severely wounded and captured.  Three other citizens were wounded as well.

We watched the local community restage the raid.  Men, women and children were dressed in vintage clothing, the robbery took place and the robbers and local men were shot and died on the plaza.  After the shootout, they had 4 women read history about their husbands and son that died defending the town.  Afterward you could have your picture taken with the four dead bandits (they were laid out in a row against a building - just like in 1892) or a picture with the jailed bandit.

The rest of the three day celebration included food vendors, craft booths, live bands, car show, chili cookoff, kids games, eating contests (jello, hot dogs, corn on the cob, pie) and rodeo events at the city park.

We enjoyed the reenactment, toured the bank building and then had supper at Lanning's Grill - another nice place to eat downtown.  The clouds were starting to build, this is our last day of hot, humid weather.  There were some storms north of us and in Nebraska, but it just rained here, starting after midnight.

The Condon Bank museum

Local townspeople - the boys were so cute.

Three of the Dalton Gang

Local men shooting at the Dalton's

Two robbers at the other bank

The four dead Dalton Gang members

Saturday - Our last day of work this week.  It really seems like Friday today, we will have to adjust to that.  It is still sprinkling and cooler, so I did wear a light coat, which we can have with us during the day or leave in the lunchroom.  We cannot tie jackets around our waists while working, it could get caught in carts or conveyors.
Today in standup, they announced mandatory overtime for Tuesday for the fulltime employees and told us Camperforce workers could sign up for a full or half day if they wished.  We decided we would try 1/2 day for Tuesday, because then we go to our four 10 hour days Wed - Sat. The veteran Camperforce workers tell us we will be in bed an hour after we get home on the ten hour days. Sounds like a good plan to me.
We were sent to another new area for stowing this morning and did not have any of our ambassadors (trainers) with us, they were assigned to other work.  We did have one Problem Solver with us to answer our questions and keep the carts of product coming.  Then after break we went to the Library area, stowing books and many small items.  We certainly are seeing a variety of products, big and small.
Coming out of the plant today, the temps were much cooler, which will be nice.  Home again and shower.  Another afternoon to get rested and watch college football!

Sounds like South Dakota has had fall and winter weather!  We would love to hear from you too!

Amazon - Here we go! Oct. 2 & 3

Wednesday - Up at 5:00 AM, work begins at 6:30.  It takes us about 15+ minutes to drive out there. Heavy dew and fog outside, the car and windows are covered with moisture.  Reminds us of potential road hazards as it gets colder.

Reported to work and were gathered up by our training supervisor, Roddy.  He gave us all radios so we could hear him as we toured the plant and went through Safety School.  We also met our other trainers, we have been assigned to Albertha, she is patient, caring and awesome to work with.  This day was a lot of standing around and listening, although we were tested on maneuvering a pallet jack, pushing carts the correct way and lifting and moving pallets.  We were given helpful hint cards to hang on our ID badge lanyards and got work gloves from the dispensing machine. They provide gloves, safety vests, earplugs and box knives for us to use.  Our legs were sore from standing on the concrete, it will be better when we are moving around.  This was just a half day, we had our break at 9:00 am and checked out at 11:30 am.  Home for lunch, a nap and rest for tomorrow.

Tuesday morning view from our front window at the campsite

Thursday - Here we go.  I'm wearing capris today and a light t-shirt, our experience yesterday and the veterans of the group have helped us realize it can be warm inside and today we will be working. We check in and gather for what they call "stand up". There are numbers on the floor you line up on so they can get a head count, then you can move and do stretching exercises while they make the morning announcements. On the wall there is a power point display of the area everyone is assigned to.  We, being trainees, are all assigned to one area and wait today for our trainers to give us instruction.
Then we are lead to the stowing area and shown how to stow the product.  "Stowers: the team that safely shelves millions of items that come through each Amazon facility."Amazon has a lot of acronyms, it will take some time to learn them all. Albertha takes 5 of us to train, it is great working with her.  After some instruction, she turns us loose with each of us having a cart full of product to stow.  We each have a scanner and have to remember how to scan the cart, our badge to get checked in, then scan each items barcode and stow it in a bin.  Then the bin is scanned, so the computer system knows the product is available to sell and the "picker" knows where to find the product when it needs to be shipped out.  A lot of steps to remember, but it is good to be working and feeling productive.
The products we stowed are interesting.  Everything from toys, to books, to hunting equipment, caps, photo albums - anything you find on Amazon that you can buy is on the shelves here.  Nothing real heavy for us today, but we had a quantity of some items that we had to find a cubby to put them in.  Today, we were given our orange reflective vests to wear.
The morning flew by and then it was 9:00 break time.  After break we had a short skill/rule testing for stowing and then back to our carts and aisles.  The rest of the morning went quickly, they came around and told us it was time to go home.  So we checked out and headed home.  Stopped at Subway for a sandwich, then home to eat and nap time again.  Gary strolled around the campground and talked to some of the other campers/Amazon workers.  Had supper, showers (we are showering at night, so we can sleep later in the morning) and to bed.

Here is a recent article from Motorhome magazine with a couple pictures.  The first picture is of the stand up gathering when we check in every morning, the second picture is of receiving (I think) and the third picture shows stowing.
www.motorhome.com/motorhome-travel/lifestyle/amazon-Camperforce-your-next-adventure#.Uk3uB5wW-kM.gmail

Sept. 30 & Oct. 1

Monday - The last day of September.  Wow, where have the last two months gone?  We have traveled a lot of miles and seen a lot of new areas.  Time spent with family and friends, time we never were able to spend when we were working our full time jobs and had limited vacation days.   That is one of the best things about being retired!

Today we drove over to Joplin, MO.  The closest Sam's Club is there and we wanted to pick up some lunch supplies and other bargains we know they have.   We also went to some of the thrift stores, I picked up some jeans to wear to work.  I realized after our orientation and hearing about the job that I really did not want to wear all my good jeans there.  Mission accomplished for $10.00! Had a nice Mexican cuisine lunch with margaritas, yum!

On the way home, we detoured 7 miles to stop to see Big Brutus, the world's second largest electric shovel!  (The first largest was demolished, so Brutus remains).  I am going to let Gary tell you about that, he went in and saw the full exhibit and climbed around inside.  www.bigbrutus.org

Gary:
This was cool !!    Especially for a guy who loves Big Iron!!  This behemoth cost $6.5MM in 1960's dollars, and only operated for 11 years. (1963-1974)  It took 150 rail cars to haul in the parts, it was assembled at Hollowell, KS, and only traveled 12 miles, stripping the overburden over coal veins, up to a depth of 60 feet.  Due to environmental restrictions regarding the high sulphur content in the coal  being mined the company shut the shovel down.  It sat next to its last dig until the 1980's when the Company stripped out the motors and fluids, then donated it to the local historical society.  It is quite a sight sitting in the Kansas countryside!! Think I will tell some of my contractor friends that I have purchased it with my retirement fund to start a new construction company!!!!!
They will truly know I am crazy!!  I had a blast taking the tour and if you get down this way, take time to see it!
What we have learned is that southeast Kansas was a huge coal and lead mining area in the early and mid 1900's.  A lot of the lakes nearby are a result of the strip mining that was done.

Look at the machinery sitting next to it.

Big Brutus!

Look closely for the two people - you can see the size difference!

Tuesday - October is here!   We were home all day, getting book work, projects and laundry done before starting our jobs tomorrow.  Went for a walk late afternoon up by the Community College stadium and the former airport.  It was warm, but up on the hill there was a good breeze.  Discovered a trail that ends up there and starts at the bottom by the river.  We will have to hike that another day.  Quite the drop-off/gully from that trail, reminded us of the treed low areas at Newton Hills.  It should be beautiful when the leaves turn in the weeks ahead.

Sept. 28 & 29

Saturday - woke up to rain and thunder.  It rained all morning so we had breakfast and did our inside chores.  I thawed a pork loin and put it in our new crockpot.  And, read a book!  It's been a long time since I have done much of that.  The rain continued, so we watched college football and relaxed.  I pulled my sewing machine out again and did a little mending too.  I'm glad I brought it along for now, it has come in real handy.
The sun finally came out at supper time.  We had our hot, home cooked meal and then went for a short walk before dark.
We have had lazy, rainy days some weekends when we were camping, but now we always seem to have a project to work on.  Funny how that is, just like having a bricks and sticks place.  I am thankful more and more that we have our washer/dryer.  It is so much easier to throw in a load every day, even though they are small loads, than to go to the laundry room at the campgrounds or a laundromat (they called them wash-a-terias in Texas)  We also don't really have a place to accumulate a lot of laundry in our home.

Sunday - went to 10:00 Mass today.  Then came home to change and drove out to explore more towns around us.  First we drove by Altamont, where we knew there was a county campground with a lake.  We found it about 4 miles south of town, the interior roads were pretty muddy from the rain. There were quite a few campers out there.  We had read about previous Amazon Camperforce people staying there, it was about a 30 mile drive for them to come to work.
Then we headed west to Independence, KS.  Stopped at a Walgreens (there is not one in Coffeyville) and then picked up what we needed at the Walmart.  Independence has a celebration the last week of October called Neenwollah Festival (Halloween spelled backwards).  We had hoped to go, but now we know we will be working Friday and Saturday each week.
We drove home on another road, Hwy 75 and went by the Little House on the Prairie site.  What? My research told me the Ingalls family moved here from Wisconsin for 1 year, when she was 3 years old, then moved back. We drove through Caney, KS before heading east to Coffeyville.  The town and area around Caney will be growing more soon, they are going to build a new oil pipeline there.

On the way home, we found the Kansas City Chiefs radio network and listened to the game.  We got home in time for me to watch the last 10 minutes, my Chiefs are now 4-0!  The kicker on the team, Ryan Succop, must be one hell of a guy - his last name is pronounced Suck-up!  Can you imagine how he was teased as a kid?
We took a short walk after supper, then watched Sunday night football.  Fall is a great season!

Sept. 26 & 27 - Amazon!

Thursday - Gary here...well, we have started as Warehouse Associates at Amazon Fulfillment Center!  We have been blest with many jobs in our lives, and now a new one!!  Our orientation class met both days from 1:00 until almost 6 pm.  Typical first days, lots of paperwork to fill out, policies to review, and some introductions.  We have a great HR person, Michael.  He was the gentlemen that hired us back on March 30th following a 5 minute phone interview!
Being a natural curious person from my days in commercial lending, this should be a fascinating facility and operation to be a part of.  The amount of product moved is nothing short of phenomenal.

Deb again - Thursday morning we were up and excited for our starting day.   The morning passed slowly, but then it was 11:30, we had some lunch, got dressed and headed out to the plant.  We weren't the first ones there, but some of the first.  That was okay because security had to issue each of us visitor passes for the day.  Our HR guy, Michael, came and led us to the training room and then went back for more beginners.  A first impression of the security and entrance procedures.

Today consisted of getting our pictures taken for our ID badges, hearing about Amazon - the Corporation, talking about schedules and different jobs and areas we may work within the plant.


Friday - Decided we better walk again, since we sat most of yesterday in training.  Another beautiful day, we enjoyed the morning and then went to work - our second day.  More information to digest and final papers to sign.  We also received our assignment for the days and times we will work.
We have talked to many of the people in our group, there are three couples who have worked for Amazon before, one couple is starting their fifth year.  Another new couple we talked to have been full-timing for 20 years, this is their first time at Amazon.  We hope to visit more with them, they have done many workcamper jobs in their years on the road.
I talked to one of the veterans, getting more information and other advice from her about what to expect.  She and her husband have enjoyed Amazon and have two more couples joining them this year here, that worked with them in Kentucky the last couple years.

Gary - We will start our shifts, Wednesday thru Saturday, 6:30 am-5 pm on Oct. 2nd, so we will have a few days to get some more walking in.  At the peak season coming up in November and December, they anticipate 1,500 workers total, consisting of full-time associates and us Camperforce workers.  Should be fun!