Recuperating

Finally our fourth ten hour w*rk day came to an end on Monday.  We were both out of gas by the 1330 break and operated on fumes until about fifteen hundred hours, then it was coasting on empty for the rest of the day (until sixteen hundred and thirty hours).  Whew, we made it through our first week of 10 hour days!!!  In order of celebration we met with nine other CamperForce fulltiming friends at Gatti’s Pizza Buffet in beautiful downtown Campbellsville.  We were all tired, but still had enough left in us to gather together for chatting, chewing, and chuckling.  It was good to return to a little bit of our normal fulltiming lifestyle of fun, food, and fellowship.

Yesterday it was “Baby it’s cold outside” (36* and spitting sn*w every now and then), but a trip to the Due Dirty Laundry was a necessity.  We had done our daily household chores (which were put on hold for the past four days) before heading to the laundromat.  After finishing the laundry, we came home for some rest and relaxation. 

But first, we made a trip to the back yard to cut down a Christmas tree, a trip to the basement to get out some of our Christmas decorations, and fine tuned the FM radio to Christmas music.  Then we decorated the house for the Christmas Season.  After we finished decorating, we threw another log on the fire in the fireplace, whipped up some hot chocolate with additive in it, put on our PJ’s, and wrapped up in our cuddle blankets in the recliners with our Nooks (don’t tell Amazon).  With Katie cuddled up on her blankie and Alex stretched out on the braided rug in front of the fireplace; why, Currier and Ives couldn’t have come up with a homier Christmas scene.

Here are some pictures of our decorations.  First, and foremost, is the Christmas Tree.  There’s a shot with flash and without flash.  Pretty darned nice looking tree isn’t it?  It always looks nice when Judy finishes with it, but just wait’ll Alex gets done with it.

   

Here’s Katie inspecting the coffee table to ensure everything is in proper order there.  Notice that she has a cuddle blanket too.  Yes, that is her blanket, mom crocheted it for her.  Now Alex wants one, but he’ll have to wait until we get back to Rainbow Plantation.

Here’s Judy’s ragdoll snowman and a few of our hanging glass ornaments with pictures of Grand children in the background.

And, no Christmas scene would be complete without a sleigh and some reindeer.  The reindeer are out in the pasture grazing and the sleigh is waiting to get some gifts from Santa’s workshop (or is that Amazon.com?). 

We do need to find a place for a Nativity Set because if you take Christ out of Christmas, what do you have left?   He’s the reason for the season.  But still, 

“It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,
Ev'rywhere you go”

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

A Wellness Program For You

Okay, we won’t lie to you.  We’re doing just fine.  This job is a real piece of cake.  What a way to make some extra money.  All it takes is bending over (this is called tummy tucks) and climbing up and down on a stool (this is called step aerobics) for 10 hours a day.  Oh yes, you get to develop your math skills as well while you play Count Dracula.  “One, one little item.  Two, two little items.  Three, three little items.”  And so on. 

The really fun part is when you get to look into the bins at the lowest level with bunches and bunches of items in them.  There you are with your ass above your head trying to balance yourself on two knees and one elbow with your head next to the floor while pulling the items out of the bin like a katt burying his business in a sand box.  Once you get the items out and counted, then you have to “stuff” them back into the bin, nice and neat now, while balancing yourself on two knees and one elbow with your head next to the floor (this is called the dawg pose in yoga).

Don’t worry about your muscles and joints, they’ll let you know that they are still there; they’ll even introduce you to few new muscles that you didn’t even know you had.  But plenty of Advil and a heating pad will quiet them down after they torment you for a few hours.

Yes indeed folks, this is an all around program.  It stimulates mind and body, but what about the soul?  Well, we can assure you that you’ll be doing a lot of soul searching while doing 10 hours worth of tummy tucks, step aerobics, and yoga poses.  Your soul will be moved in ways you never dreamed of .

So, if this sounds like a program that you’d love to get in on, then just give Amazon a call.  Tell them that Darrell and Judy sent you – we get a referral fee (and if we can recruit enough suckers, eh, I mean dedicated souls, then we might even win an all expense paid trip to Hawaii).

Just think, you too could be experiencing all this fun and exercise.  No need to pay expensive gym fees when you can get paid for the experience.  All you have to do is make plans to show up sometime next fall and Amazon will be more than happy to let you play.  Exercise for the body, math skills for the mind, and yoga for the soul; who could ask for a more complete program.  Don’t delay, call today.  Operators are standing by. 

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

Chronicles Of The Latchkey Katts

Little Orphan Katie here.  Once upon a time, and not too awfully long ago, we had two wonderful humanoid parents; does anyone know where they are?  They go wheeling outta here in the wee hours of the morning leaving Alex and I alone all day to handle things on the home front.  Then they return again to only sit and stare into space.  They both moan and groan.  Dad puts the heating pad on his back and shoulders while mom keeps pumping Advil.  What’s Valium?   They both claim they need it – bad!!!!

We hear they are playing the w*rk game, whatever that is.  I’m quite sure it is not something that we katts would be very interested in.  When we need stuff, all we have to do is wish upon a star.  You know,  

“When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
It will come to you”

Our food comes from an endless supply in the pantry, so it’s not necessary for us to enter into that w*rk game kind of torture.  All we have to do is meow a couple of times, click our heals together, and do the purr thing, then we get what ever we want.  Aren’t humanoids great?  Every katt should own one or two. 

Anyhow, Mom’s whooping dad at the w*rk game.  In ten hours she inventoried 1407 bins to dad’s 1345.  Both have a 99.3% accuracy rating and are exceeding the goal of 125 bins an hour.  I wonder if there are any katt toys in them thar bins?  They say that Amazon stocks anything that you can think of or want.  Got any katt nip?

Oh well, it time for us to take up our duty of keeping the home fires burning while the old folks go back to the salt mines (is that the same as the w*rk game?).  Hurry home before our bowls need filling.  Oh yes, mom says to give Norm and Linda a thanks for the Well Pads, but I think they might be needing more.

Many purrs to you and if you happen to see our mom and dad wandering the street, send them home where they belong.

Katie

UUUGH!!!!!!

And that’s all we have to say about it!!!!!!

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

The Long Long W*rk Day

Well, how’d it go?  Yep!  Are you still alive?  We’ll know just as soon as we get the doctor’s report back.  Were you tired?  Well, duh!!!  But guess what?  We get paid the shift differential for all hours worked.  It just keeps on getting better and better – the hits just keep rolling in.

We crawled home, heated up some beef stew, fell asleep face down in the stew, managed to run through the shower, and then poured ourselves into our recliners.  I covered up with the Man Quilt and was afraid that that would be right where I’d find myself in the morning.  But, alas, we were able to drag ourselves off to bed just as soon as we medicated ourselves.  Better put more Advil on the top of the shopping list, honey!!!

Now we’re hearing that damned noise again; someone want to kill that clock?  You mean we gotta get up and do it all over again?  Oh well, at a $11.50 an hour, it will be worth it in the long run; and that’s just what it seems like right now – a long, long run.  Will we do it again next year?  The verdict is still out, but we’re not saying no at this point (at least one of us isn’t anyhow).

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

This Is It!!!

This is it!!!  Black Friday!!!  “They” (whoever they are) say we are into the “Peak” season now.  So, no more laughing, no more fun, Amazon’s peak season has begun.  If you show your teeth or tongue, you’ll have to w*rk mandatory overtime.  Or something like that. 

Anyway, we are off for our first 10 hour marathon w*rk day.  We’ll leave the house at 0530 and get back home at just before 1700 hours.  Let’s see, 1700 minus 0530 equals 11.5 hours.  And that, my friends, is a looooong w*rk day for a youthful fulltime w*rker bee, let alone a baby boomer retired couple w*rker bee.  Sure hope we survive!!!  Others have gone before us and made it.  So, most likely, we will too.

We owe, we owe, so off to w*rk we go.  Well, we don’t actually owe, but it is off to w*rk we go.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -  

Be Thankful And Give Thanks

 

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 

 

Judy and I hope you, your family, and all your friends have a very blessed day.  We do have a lot to be thankful for.  We live in the greatest country in the world, we have freedoms like no other peoples on earth, we have wealth beyond the imagination of most of the inhabitants on this planet.  On top of that, we have lots and lots of family and friends to be thankful for.  But, most importantly, we have a Lord and Savior who loved us enough to provide eternal life for us in Heaven with the Father, Himself, and the Holy Spirit.  Yes indeed, we need to enter into praise and thanksgiving on this very day.

We’ll be joining in together with fellow CamperForce and RVing friends (most of whom we don’t even know, yet) for a Thanksgiving Day Buffet at Creekside Restaurant in beautiful downtown Campbellsville.  It won’t be the same as being back at the Plantation, but it will be fun none the less. 

Well, there was no rain yesterday, but there was no sun either.  It was dark, dreary, damp, and cold so we opted for another “stay at home with the katts” day; therefore, no outing and no pictures.  I can say one thing for certain; our recliners, the fireplace, the Man Quilt for me, and the Cuddle Blanket for Judy gave us a nice warm cozy comfy feeling all afternoon.  We spent the day on the ‘puter, reading, napping, and watching a movie, so there you have it.  Another fine day in the “Life Of Riley”.

Take Care Until Next Time And Remember To Give Thanks  - - - - - - - -

Yesterday Unfolded

There’s not much to say, so what can we say?  Yesterday unfolded exactly as we predicted – well almost.  We decided to venture out and do the laundry yesterday afternoon so that we could have all day today to play.  While we were at the “Due Dirty Laundry” laundromat, we bumped into Thurman and Phyllis (as well as half of the Amazon CamperForce, so it seemed).  Someone had told them about an Amish country store so, after the last of the laundry was folded and put into the basket, the four of us made tracks to the store.

It was your typical unique Amish country store appropriately named “The Taste Of Home” with all the home baked items being displayed.  There were some good looking deli meats and cheeses, as well, and lots and lots of preserves.  Also, plenty of “stuff” for the sweet tooth adorned the shelves along with wheat flours, etc. for baking.  We only picked up some soup starter and a loaf of bread this time, but, like Schwarzenegger said, we’ll be back.

Other than that, we stayed inside and rested while the beef stew cooked itself in the crockpot.  It was um-um gooood especially being complemented with that fresh homemade Amish bread.  Fit for a king (and queen). 

Today we are going on an outing, but we’re not saying where ‘cause we need something to write about tomorrow.  There’ll be pictures as well, so be sure to come back to see where we went and what we did.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - - -

Rainy Days In Paradise

It’s dark and rainy outside.  Here I sit, am I getting up or am I going to bed?  It’s hard to tell.  The last couple of days at w*rk were a little bit on the “ruff” side.  We were doing what is called “bin cleanup”.  The bins are on shelving stacked six shelves high (about seven feet high from bottom to top).  The scanner tells us which bin to count and it would send us to a bin at the floor level followed by one on the top shelf, then back to the floor level followed by another one on the top shelf.  You need to be on your hands and knees to count the bottom bins and on your step stool to count the top bin.  This made for a five hour aerobic bend and stretch program.  Thank God for Advil.

By the way, if any of you are wanting to read another prospective on w*rking at Amazon, then check out Karen’s blog – Wish Upon An RV Star.  Al and Karen, young fulltimers from Long Island, are staying here at Green River Lake State Park along with their fur kids Casey and Chelsea (an Irish Setter and Golden Retriever).  Al w*rks in AmCare as an EMT and Karen was w*rking in Receiving, but has just transferred to CrisPlant (a shipping department). 

Karen contacted us while we were at Cedars of Lebanon and told us to “text” her when we arrived.  I had to explain that we are old folks and don’t do the “text”, “tweet”, “twitter”, “twist”, or “twitch” thang, but we would be in contact with them.  They’re great folks and we’re sure glad we got to meet them. 

It began raining Saturday night and hasn’t bothered to stop yet.  The weather dudes are giving us a 90% chance for rain today with some “severe” thunder storms so, I guess, it will be a play indoors day for little Darrell and Judy.   

As a kid, I sort of liked rainy days every so often.  We’d play inside our “bunk” house.  The summer that I was in the fifth grade, our dad built Mike and me a bunk house out behind the garage (it still stands there today).  We would sleep and play out there all summer long from early May to October.   Monopoly and Clue were favorite rainy day games.  Building model cars and airplanes were other favorite bunk house activities whether it was raining or not.  That bunk house maybe the very reason that I am so content in small quarters (i.e., recreational vehicles) to this very day.

Today, while it continues to rain outside, I get to spend time inside our Cedar Creek “bunk house” playing with my girl friend.  We’ll do a little cleanup of the house, make some beef stew, read in our Nooks, play some games, and/or watch some movies.  Instead of Monopoly, we have Sequence which we haven’t played in a long. long time.  It’s just so nice and warm and comfy in our little “bunk house” on this cold rainy fall day.  Yep, it’s still nice to have a rainy day every so often.

Norm, being from Kentucky, sent us a list of things to see around this area.  Hopefully tomorrow will clear up so we can make a day trip to one or two of the spots.  Before our time here at Green River State Park is complete, we hope to visit most of his suggestions and make some pictures to share with you.  Thanks for the list Norm.

If you remember, last summer the microwave portion of our convection/microwave oven crapped out so we’ve needed to replace it.  We found a replacement for $449 on Amazon last October and was “fixinto” (a Southern term meaning getting ready to begin to start) order it.  However, we learned that once we started w*rking for Amazon we’d get a 10% discount – which would mean a savings of almost forty-five bucks.  So we waited.  Well, Saturday I went on line to order said oven, but guess what?  Amazon no longer lists it. 

The good news is that we found that Home Depot can special order it for us for $388 plus we get a 10% veteran’s discount.  So, we did not hesitate to put it on order.  We’ll have to drive to Elizabethtown, Kentucky (50 miles away) to pick it up once it comes in, in about 15 days.  On top of everything else, we can take the old one to Home Depot to be recycled without having to pay a dumping fee.  All in all, that little transaction saved us over a hundred bucks even after considering the fuel to go pick it up.  See, good things do come to those who wait!!!

Well, “enuff” is “enuff” and I’ve rambled on “enuff”.  Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - -

This Ain’t Your Father’s Sunday

It’s Sunday and it’s a w*rk day.  The clock started leaking all over the nightstand at oh four hundred hours.  Yawn!!!  This schedule certainly has our fur kids all messed up.  Alex likes being the alarm katt and is not happy that something has usurped his authority; thereby, he makes a nuisance of himself by getting in the way and acting up.  Katie, on the other hand, just sits there and stares wondering if she’s supposed to be getting up or going to bed.

Oh well, such is life.  We continue w*rking five hour shifts for today and tomorrow, have three days off, and then start ten hour shifts on Black Friday – now we know why they named it Black Friday.  After tomorrow, we’ll only have 16 more w*rk days which is 160 w*rk hours, 9600 w*rk minutes, or 576,000 w*rk seconds – but who’s counting.  This, too, shall pass!!

Being that we had yesterday off, we took the opportunity to clean up the house, make a lasagna dinner, and have the neighbors over.  It’s sooooooo nice to have Thurman and Phyllis next door.  They were one of the bright spots of workamping at Lake George Escape.  And, they were the main reason that we were enticed to come here and w*rk at Amazon.com.  We had a real nice enjoyable evening together.  By the way, we’ll be spending Thanksgiving with them, as well as other co-w*rkers, at a local restaurant.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - - - -

Work And Real Life

Hang in there, there will be something other than w*rk, along with pictures, a few paragraphs later.

Okay, so how are things going?  We hate to be that boring couple that can’t talk about anything but w*rk, however, we have several people who have asked us to let them know about the Amazon.com CamperForce experience (CamperForce what Amazon calls us workampers).  Currently there are about 1200 CamperForce employees spread over three Facilities (one in Kansas, one in Kentucky, and one in Nevada).  Amazon is looking to expand the program to as many as 15,000 CamperForce employees over the next several years.

The w*rk is tedious but not exactly difficult, however, you will definitely find some muscles that you forgot you had.  The killer maybe the long hours as we’ve yet to w*rk a ten hour shift.  Both Judy and I feel that it is a lot easier than the w*rk we did for Regis a couple of years back simply because of the Fulfillment Center’s organization.

Basically, Amazon.com is a well run company.  They have put many of the same initiatives in place that I was implementing in the manufacturing plants which I oversaw in my past life.  It’s nice to see a facility this size operate so efficiently.  Now, keep in mind that the general workforce doesn’t always see the big picture and tends to grumble about having to follow all these ridiculous “petty rules”.  But it’s those “petty rules” that makes sure the product flows in and out of the plant quickly without lots of quality issues.

Judy and I are w*rking in the Inventory Control and Quality Assurance department.  We use a Rubbermaid cart, a folding step stool (just like the ones you get at Camping World), and a scanner to validate the inventory in the bins.  The bins range from the floor to just above eye level (the reason for the stool) – that means lots of bending, stretching, and reaching which is the physical part of this job. 

The scanner tells us what bin to count, we enter the count, and the computer validates it.  If it matches, we move on to the next assigned bin.  If it doesn’t match, we have to recount the bin and re-enter the count.  If it still doesn’t match then it is flagged as a problem bin that will be assigned to someone else to resolve the issue and adjust the inventory as necessary.  There’s a whole lot more to the process than we’ve outlined here, but we have signed a confidentially agreement and don’t want to cross that line.

Right now, we would have to say that this is a good way to make a few extra bucks.  It’s not hard, but it’s not easy.  The real difficult part, for the “outbound” departments, will be the mandated overtime once the peak season begins (right after Black Friday).  Depending on the workload (that being incoming orders) it could result in up to 60 hours per week for them.  The “Inbound” departments will be on voluntary overtime during that time.  The verdict is still out as to whether or not we’ll return next year, but so far so good.  We’ll know for sure by December 23rd.

Now, as promised, here’s something non-w*rk related.  One day this past week, Miss Judy and I decided to figure out why the Green River is a lake.  Believe me it doesn’t take a rocket scientist here; it’s called a dam.  The Corps of Engineers (Gummint Beavers) gathered up lots of sticks and dammed up a section of the river which forced the water to flood the nearby low lands thereby creating Green River Lake.  We’re not sure why it’s called Green River as the water is pretty much blue, but we’ll leave that for someone else to figure out.

So anyhow, we took a drive down river to the Corps of Engineers dam site and visitor’s center.  As you can see, we had to drive across the top of the dam to get to the visitor’s center.

Why did the people go over the dam?  To see it from the other side of the lake/river.

Speaking of the other side, here’s the spillway on the backside of the dam.

And, yes, you can see that the Green River Lake is in fact blue.

This is the old Atkinson homestead that is located on the visitor’s center grounds.  It was tooooo cold and windy for us to walk down and investigate so we just snapped this picture and made a bee line to the truck.

And, on our way home, we passed by this old run down house.  Our sister-in-law, Shauna, loves old houses so we snapped this picture just for her.

There’s a Civil War Battlefield nearby as well as Lincoln’s birthplace.  We hope to visit both of those in the coming weeks.  So, hang in thar.  There is more to life than w*rk after all!!!!

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - - - -

The Routine

Whasat noise?, bam bam bam (clock’s dead), yawn, scratch, stretch, stumble stumble stumble, trip, “MEEEOOOOOW”, “sorry Alex”, open eyes, “coffee ready yet?”, sip sip sip, “ah”, “Good Morning y’all”, I are up!!!

Thank God It’s Friday.  Tomorrow’s a day off – we’ll bring you up to date then.  The w*rk’s not bad, it just the early start that’s difficult.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - - 

Snoozing

The second greatest invention of mankind, right after the double stuffed Oreo, is the snooze button, but now I’ve gone and used all my blogging time snoozing.  Awwww, this w*rking for a living has gotta go!!!!

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

Hi Ho, Hi Ho - - - - -

Do you remember alarm clocks?  Something that you set at night to help scare the daylights into you in the morning!  Ours went off promptly at oh four hundred hours this morning.  It sent the katts scurrying.  We had two sets of eyes staring at us wondering if the world was coming to an end (or, in our case, a beginning).  Yep, it’s day two of w*rk.

Yesterday’s training sessions brought back lots of memories.  Having been in manufacturing for over thirty years, I’ve sat through, written, and presented those very same training programs.  And looking around the facility I noted a lot of familiar items; for instance, 18 miles of conveyor.  There are various types of guided roller conveyors and belt conveyors located all over the facility.  Also, there is lots of package handling conveyor which is very similar to baggage handling conveyor used by the airlines.

In my previous life, just before retirement, I worked for Jervis B. Webb Company which manufactured material handling systems from automated guided vehicles to all types of conveyor systems.  As Plant Manager I was responsible for overseeing the manufacturing process and implementing the very same processes being used at Amazon.com.  Lots of memories (mostly, but not all, good).

Well, so far so good.  Judy and I were impressed with the cleanliness and the processes being utilized by Amazon.  We will be in the Inventory Control and Quality Assurance Department working four ten hour days (Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon) on the day shift (0600 to 1630 hours) with a half hour lunch break.  We’ll be paid a sixty cent shift premium for Saturday and Sunday (I’ll take that, thank you very much) and overtime in our department is on a volunteer basis (in the outbound departments O.T. is mandatory).

Today we’ll begin Inventory Control and Quality Assurance training so tomorrow we will be able to share more of what that is all about.  Basically it’s taking inventory, but beyond that we’re not really sure.  We’ll get a cart (one you push, not ride in) and a scanner (there must be a million of those things throughout the facility) to play with.  So check in tomorrow to learn more about Darrell and Judy’s Great Adventure.

The past two days have been rainy and fairly warm (50’s at night, 60’s during the day) and it’s still raining this morning with thunder providing background noises.  Judy is feeling (and sounding) much better this morning, but we’ll keep on pouring the Nyquil into her at night and the Musinex into her in the morning.  Hopefully we can beat this thing without taking her to the Saw Bones again.

Well, it’s time to go wash behind the ears and swill down another cup of Joe so -

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - -  

This Is It!!!

“Hey diddle dumpling, I’ll be darned!!!  Here I sit with my britches on.  One sock off and one sock on; hey diddle dumpling, I’ll be darned!!!”  Wow, it’s OOOOOOOh Dark Thirty in the morning and it’s still dark outside – what the heck am I doing up at this hour?  Oh yes, today is the first day of that incredibly nasty word – W*RK.  Ugh!!!

The “meet and greet” went without a hitch yesterday afternoon.  We did get assigned to the “inbound” side of the operation on the day shift, but not in Stowing.  Judy and I will be bean counters in the Inventory Control and Quality Assurance department.  More to come about that just as soon as we figure out what it’s all about. 

‘Twill be an easy day today as we just have Orientation and Safety Training.  I’ll need orientation alright.  Is w*rk like riding a bicycle?  Will I remember how it is done?  Do I want to remember how it is done?  These are questions to be pondered.  Now, where the heck is my other sock?

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - - -  

A Different Kind Of Church Service

Yesterday morning we attended Church On The Eastern Shores in Fairhope, Alabama via the internet.  They “Live Stream” all three services; the 8:30, the 10:00, and the 11:30 services.  It sure is nice to have that option when you’re away from home.  Being that we have a strong signal from the Tengonet WIFI service here at the campground, we were able to watch the entire service with out any hiccups.  It wasn’t as good as being there in person, but met our need to gather with our church family and worship God.

The past two days have been extremely windy.  It began Friday night and has continued on until now.  The wind is strong enough to shake the entire house and, of course, rattles the slideout awnings making it rather noisy at times.  Hopefully we’ll get a break from the wind later today.

It all began on Friday and is slightly improved this morning.  Judy’s sinuses are acting up again.  Saturday night she had quite the fever and was a little feverish yesterday.  We had picked up some good old Nyquil when we did our grocery shopping which has seemed to help.  Today we’ll probably visit the clinic and see about some antibiotics.  We have to get her over this real fast.  Her tender little body won’t be able to deal with ten hours of w*rk while fighting off a sinus infection.

This afternoon we have our Amazon “meet and greet”.  We’ll find out the state of our lives for the next six weeks as they will let us know our assignments and shifts.  It really doesn’t look like we’ll be getting “stowing”; most likely “picking”. 

We received an email saying they were looking for volunteers from the “inbound” departments to work in the “outbound” departments.  Receiving and stowing are “inbound” activities while picking and shipping are “outbound” activities. 

Being that we’re just starting, we assume that “they” (whom ever “they” are) will just assign us to one of the “outbound” activities.  We already told them that we couldn’t stand in one place for ten plus hours, so that leaves picking (and grinning, but you don’t get paid for grinning).  We’ll know for sure by day’s end.

Katie and Alex have no idea that they’re about to become latchkey katts.  They’re not going to like us being away for ten to twelve hours a day.  Alex needs the attention while Katie just likes to have Mom and Dad around the house.  Neither one of them like to be left home alone for long periods of time.  But they both like that high priced katt food so it’s off to w*rk we go.  They, like us, will learn to deal with it.

Well, it’s off to do the laundry so we’ll catch you on the flip side.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - -  

What? No TV?

Yep folks, no television to speak of here at Green River Lake State Park.  Two things that we can say about that.  First of all, we don’t watch enough TV to really matter, and two, we’ll be w*rking so many hours that our day will be breakfast – w*rk – lunch – w*rk - dinner - bed.  Also, Amazon is paying for us to have a Tengonet WIFI connection so there’s always Hulu.com, but we may just go to Family Video and catch up on some the latest movies that we’ve not see over the past two or three years.

Here is the sunrise as seen from Judy’s Chair – neat huh?

We got the grocery shopping done and put away.  It was a cool and blustery day with the winds picking up during the afternoon so we just stayed inside.  Some blog followers, Al and Karen, stopped by to introduce themselves.  They are a young couple from Sag Harbor, New York (on Long Island) who sold their business and went fulltime in March of this year.  They plan to w*rk their way around the country by taking both paid gigs and volunteering for their site.  They are a nice couple and it was a great visit.

After Al and Karen left, we dropped by Thurman and Phyllis’ house.  We just love the way they have decorated their fifthwheel.  It reminds us of a grandpa/grandma house or apartment with lots of knick knacks and pictures neatly placed throughout the living spaces.  You feel right at home and just know that a nice cup of tea will soon follow.

We spent the evening reading and watching a movie.  Whenever we pass by the five dollar movie bin at Wally World, we check it out.  So there are several movies in our cabinet that we’ve purchased but just never gotten around to watching. 

Matthew called and was able to secure a Dora Puppy so now our Christmas shopping is officially over.  Now the gift wrapping marathon will begin.  We’ll get right on that over the next couple of weeks as well.  Once we start our ten hour shifts (that may extend to eleven hour shifts with overtime) we’ll be too tired to read, watch movies, or wrap gifts but that’s what we’re here for – to make money.

Well, I’m rambling so it’s time to say fair thee well.

Take Care Until Next Time - - - - - -

A Soft Landing And Nice Friends

We took off at nine hundred hours yesterday morning and set our course in a northerly direction with Green River Lake State Park in Campbellsville, Kentucky being our landing field.  After flying two and a half hours on secondary roads, we arrived safely.  However, we did manage to loose an hour just south of the campground when we flew into the Eastern Time Zone.

Green River Lake State Park is a beautiful park with nice sized level sites.  Here is a photograph of our site along with Thurman and Phyllis’ rig (on the left).

And this is the view from our patio.

Here is a picture of Green River Lake from the shoreline.  This is a man made lake having been created by a dam on the Green River constructed by the Corps of Engineers.

Thurman and Phyllis were excited to see us.  It has been a just over a year since we last met up with them last at Lake George Escape.  We had workamped with them at LGE in 2007, 2008, and 2009 and visited with them at LGE during July of 2010 when we were touring with our grand daughter Briana. 

They wanted to show us around so we headed into town.  Thurman did a drive by of the Amazon facility which is three foot ball fields long and three wide (150 by 300 yards) and four floors high.  It’s no wonder that one can rack up some mileage while retrieving products in this place.

Next on the agenda was lunch so we made a pit stop at the local Subway store.  Being Veteran’s Day, my sandwich was free, however, we can tell you one thing right now, they may have a lot of good sandwiches at Subway, but Philly Cheese Steak is not one of them (I guess you get what you pay for).  Anyhow, once we were all back in the truck, T&P pointed out Uncle Wally’s, Kroger, the local Laundromat, and several good eateries.  Basically, we got a tour of the “lay of the land”.

You can see the sunrise from our site, but not the sunset.  However, there is a turnout just up the road from the campground where you can see it, so here’s a couple of shots of last night’s sunset.  Maybe one of these mornings I’ll shake the cobwebs out of my mind and snap a few pictures of the sunrise.

Today we’re going grocery shopping at both Walmart and Kroger (Kroger is one of our favorite grocery stores).  Then we’ll do some household chores and, if it is warm enough, we just may sit outside in this idyllic setting and do some reading.  Once we begin w*rking, we’ll be going to w*rk in the dark and coming home in the dark so we’d better enjoy it while we have the chance.  According to the weather dudes, it’s supposed to be warming up so it should be a nice weekend to be outside.

Hopefully, during the next few weeks we’ll get in a little exploring.  There are some hiking trails that traverse along the lake side.  We’d need to take advantage of them now because once we begin our ten hour hiking program with Amazon we’ll probably not look forward to a bus man’s holiday even if there’s a change of scenery.

Further, we would like to get in a little sight seeing.  Lincoln’s birthplace is not far from here and there are several Civil War battlefields nearby.  Maybe we can find a winery or two where we can taste the wares.  We’re not sure how far away the bourbon trail is, but there maybe a couple of distilleries close by as well – we’ll need to check it out.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - -

Santa’s Little Helpers

Well, it has become time to get up and go to w*rk.  Yep, w*rk!!!  That four letter word that us retirees try awfully hard to avoid.  W*rk, something that has become quiet foreign to us.  Hopefully we’ll remember how to do it.  It’s not necessarily like riding a bike – you can forget how.  Anyway, we’ll be making our way two and a half hours north.  We plan to arrive at Green River Lake State Park at 11:11 this morning (get it – 11:11 on 11-11-11).

Elementary my dear Wilson or rather Wilson Elementary.  We had lunch with grand daughter Catia at her school which is, you guessed it, Wilson Elementary.  Man, those kids can be loud.  The lunch room monitors had to keep turning the lights off.  “When the lights are off there’s no more talking!!”  So we either had to eat with it being so loud that you couldn’t hear yourself think or eat your mystery food in the dark.  It was all fun and G-pa didn’t get sent to the “naughty table”, however, he was told that the next time he visits he should just go there to sit.

Next we managed to pick up the last couple items for our Christmas shopping.  Oops, we still have one more item to find – a Dora Puppy.  That’s not going to be easy.  You know how there’s always one elusive item on the list to find?  Well, that puppy is it, but if there’s one to be had G-ma will find it.

We finished up the day at Matt and Jackie’s saying good bye to the three little munchkin faces.  They think that we’re on our way to the North Pole to help load up Santa’s sleigh for his Christmas run.  They, also, know that we’ll be back to spend Christmas morning with them, but we may have to use our truck to haul Santa’s sleigh if the reindeer get sick.  It’s always good to be someone’s hero.

“Head ‘em up, roll ‘em out!”   It’s time to hitch up the mule to the wagon and head just plain north.  See ya from Campbellsville, Kentucky.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - - 

Why Attend The 4 O’clock Social?

Rainbow Plantation, as well as all Escapee Parks, hold a four o’clock social time each day to welcome new arrivals, pass on information regarding happenings in the park/area, celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, and share a few stories.  For us it has been a serendipitous event as we have made lots and lots of new friends at these gatherings.

We don’t remember what year, but it was at a four o’clock social that we met Gene and Judi Curp and over the years a great friendship has evolved.  Yesterday afternoon we met up with them once again for an early afternoon meal at Demos’ Family Restaurant in Lebanon, Tennessee. 

It’s been almost a year since we last got together which just happened to be at Demos’.  At that time they had just purchased a class C motorhome and were getting ready to travel the Blue Roads To Hiking Trails (their blog).  Since then they have followed those blue roads all the way to Alaska and back so, needless to say, they had plenty to share with us.

The meals were great, always are at Demos’, but the company was the best.  It was fun catching up with them once again and hearing the stories surround their adventure. 

Judi said they were inspired by Norm and Linda’s Survival Kit and had to bring us a gift to help us get through the Amazon.com stint.

And guess who has to get into the picture?

After the meal, the four of us pointed our noses southward to our home where Judy had prepared some frosted brownies.  I had picked up some nice Mayfield Butter Pecan ice cream to serve on top and the coffee was brewing.  So our evening continued with discussions around travel, fulltiming lifestyle, class C motorhomes, and fifthwheels. 

Great company, good discussions, and plenty of laughter – before we knew it, it was time to part company; always a sad time.  We had a great evening together and thanks Gene and Judi for the gift.  We’ll get together again at Rainbow Plantation after Christmas, can’t wait.   

So, now you know why you owe it to yourself to attend the 4 o’clock socials at Rainbow Parks.  There are lifetime friendships to be made.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

It’s All About Grandkids

Mission accomplished!!!!  Yesterday was a very successful Christmas shopping day.  By noontime the mission was complete.  We just have a couple more items to get and hope that we can finish that up this afternoon as we head north to Lebanon.  Now, I think it is way too early to be doing Christmas shopping, but, being that we are heading off to w*rk at Amazon, we want to have it all behind us.

Just to keep our future options opened, we looked at a couple of Condominium communities.  One is an upscale project with brand spanking new condos with the smallest being just over 1300 square feet (they go up to almost 2000 sq. ft. – waaaaaay toooo much house for us).  The other is a 55 plus community with duplex homes that have a common wall between the garages.  But, neither project has the “it” factor; although, the duplexes were very nice.

We keep chasing that rabbit around the tree.  We like Rainbow Plantation for fulltime living better than any other place.  The fact that we have kids and brothers/sisters in Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Virginia makes it hard to pick a place to live permanently.  With everyone spread out like that, we need a house in each of those areas – or, we could just become fulltime RVers and visit each of those places each year.  Hey, wait a minute, that’s what we already are; maybe we don’t need a “house” at all!!!!!   Maybe we just need to keep doing what we’re doing!!!  Maybe!!!!

Jackie had an appointment for their car yesterday afternoon so G-ma and G-pa showed up at their place just after two to watch Kalina and Radek.  Catia was thrown off the bus out in front of the house at around three, so we had all three children for almost an hour.  Catia decided to whoop her G-ma at checkers while Kalina tried to help G-ma.  G-pa kept an eye on Radek the mobile unit while he managed to get into one thing right after another.  Fun, there’s nothing like Grand Kids to help keep one young.

This morning we are going to Kalina sit while Jackie takes Radek for a doctor’s appointment – Catia will be in school.  We’ll probably get to put together the Dora puzzle a zillion more times.  That’s seems to be Kalina’s new love. 

Well, that’s pretty much the state of the union from Murfreesboro, so

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - -

Grand Kids Rock, Man!!!

It was another uneventful travel day, just the way we like them.  It was a nine hour day and even though it seemed long; before you knew it, we were pitching our tent here at Cedars of Lebanon State Park.  We made four stops along the way – a rest stop after two hours, a fuel stop at Flying-J south of Montgomery, a lunch stop at mile marker 301, and a fuel stop at the Tennessean Truck Stop.   We have four favorite camp sites here at Cedars of Lebanon and were able to secure our number one choice.

Then guess what?  It was grand kid fix time.  We made a bee line to the Murfreesboro residence to just to get our hands on the Munchkins.  Catia seems to have grown two feet since we saw her last.  She read to G-ma and G-pa – that’s a change isn’t it?  She’s a good little reader.  At her age I was reading, “See Spot Run.  Run Spot run.”  Catia reads “chapter books”.  We’re impressed.

Miss Kalina has shot up to.  She’s into puzzles and had G-ma and G-pa putting together a Dora puzzle.  She would start the puzzle and complete it the same way every time so I decided to confuse her and give her one piece at a time starting in a different place.  When I handed her the piece in the middle, she hesitated and said, “I can’t put that piece in yet.”  Then she thought a little more, put the piece in the middle, and just built around it.  She done good.  It’s fun to watch little kids solve problems.

Radek is now a full fledged mobile unit.  He’s walking around the house as if it were natural – well, I guess it is.  He is a little brother and is real good at it, just ask his sisters.  He loves to push buttons so keep him away from the computer, television, phone, or any other appliance that has buttons.  Hockey is his sport.  He has a hockey stick and a soft ball that he uses in the house.  “Four!!!”  Maybe golf is his game.

Here are some Halloween pictures of the little monsters.

 

   

We had dinner with the kids / grandkids, visited a little bit, and then our PJs were calling – no, after a nine hour driving day, they were screaming for us.  So it was home to watch a little telly (The Sing Off) and to hit the hay.

Who knows what’s up for today, but I’m sure that we’ll find something to do.  There are a couple of items that Grandma wants to pick up for Christmas.  Most likely today will be the day to do that.  Otherwise we’ll just make up the agenda as the day progresses.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - - 

It’s Time To Go :(

Yesterday was a busy day.  We attended church, stopped at Wally World to pick up some needed items, visited with Randy and Terry, stopped by to visit with Dick and Jody, did the final chores, and hitched up the wagon.

At four o’clock Randy, Terry, Judy, and I made tracks to Shrimp Basket for all you can eat shrimp.  It was yummy, but, as always, the visitin’ part was the best.  It’s soooooo gooooood to see these guys again.  We’re gonna miss ‘em, along with all of our Rainbow Plantation Family. 

The four of us made it back home in time to join in with the Ice Cream Social at the clubhouse.  With Gary and Millie back as managers, it was just like old times.  Larry (the cook) and Babs will be back on November 15th so things at Rainbow Plantation will be in full swing.  We can’t wait to get back here. 

Here are the promised pictures of the Kentucky Survival Kit that Norm and Linda put together for us.  It was a two package deal.

Note the nice looking combo RV / Houseboat complete with outboard floating down the Green River in Campbellsville, Kentucky.

And now for the contents  - Well Patches, Red Bull, Aleve, No Doz, Muscle Cream, and Leg Cramp pills in Package One of Two.  Brownies with walnuts and candy in Package Two of Two.  Now do you think we can survive the first day?  What will we do for the next five and three quarter weeks?  Oh my goodness!!!!

 

It’s now time that all good things come to an end and we haul up anchor and shove off – or in our case we unplug the utilities and haul assets.  We’re going to drive nine hours to get to Murfreesboro in one day just so we can have an extra day to spend with grand kids.  It’s a rough life, but someone has to do it.  So we’ll be off real early this morning in order to get to Cedars of Lebanon before darkness falls, which is real early now that someone messed with the clocks.

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date.  No time to say “Hello” “Goodbye”.  I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!!

So, we’re off.  See ya from Tennessee.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - - -

A Play Day

A quick entry this morning to say that we’ve been having lots and lots of fun with our playmates here at the Plantation.  Yesterday we were invited to dinner at Jim and Ellie’s.  Jim prepared a wonderful pork loin on the charcoal grill while Ellie had baked squash, a garden salad, and rice.  Judy brought a cranberry bread – it was all good.  But, the best part, as always, was the time spent with special friends.

Dick and Pat came rolling in yesterday afternoon, so we stopped by to say “welcome home” to them and met their next door neighbors – George and Dottie.  I think I can remember their names since my Dad’s and Mom’s names were George and Dottie.  Anyhow, it was good to see Dick and Pat and Sassy (a bichon puppy) once again.  They’ll be leaving before Christmas so we won’t see them again this year.

We must be popular because we had another invite last night to Norm and Linda’s for appetizers and drinks.  Bill and Diane were there as well.  It was another great evening with our Rainbow Plantation Family.   Norm and Linda presented us with a Kentucky Survival Kit (pictures tomorrow) for our time at “Camp Bellsville”.   Thanks guys, we’ll probably need most of those items after our first day (maybe after the first two hours).

This morning will be church.  Randy and Terry should arrive somewhere close to noon time.  We’ll go somewhere to grab a bite and catch up (yes, Mike, Big Daddy’s is a possibility).  Dang, wish we weren’t leaving.  All our friends are returning to the roost, but a man’s (woman’s) gotta do what a man’s (woman’s) gotta do.  We’ll get back to share in the good times once again in January and February.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - -

Back To Daylight Wasting Time

Yep, it’s time to do that stupid thing that most Americans do twice a year – mess with the clock.  See what happens when you let Congress get involved?  Everyone that we know thinks changing time is a dumb thing to do and wished that we’d just set our clocks on Daylight Savings Time and leave them alone.  However, we have heard it reported that the mid west farmers do not like Daylight Savings Time – the extra hour of sun light burns up their crops.  But, other than that, the rest of us like it lighter later. 

We hate getting up at two o’clock in the morning to run throughout the house resetting all of our clocks.  It’s amazing how many clocks we have.  The computers, the TVs, the DVD player, the coffeepot, the microwave, and let us not forget the clock itself.  Oops, we almost forgot the most important one of all – our wristwatches.   That’s because Judy and I don’t have wristwatches, we have a day clock instead – it just tells us what day is which is helpful when you’re retired.  Retired folks never get a day off or take a vacation, but they do need to know when to go to the clubhouse for breakfast or dinner.  

Here’s a suggestion, we ought to rebel and refuse to change our clocks; after all, this is America and, just like Burger King, we can have it our way.  Maybe that would send Congress a message and they would rescind this foolish legislation.  Nah, they never listen to “We The People”, they just listen to the idiots.   Mark Twain said, “All Congresses have a kindly feeling for idiots, and a compassion for them, on account of personal experience and heredity.”   So, I guess it’s just up to us to take matters into our own hands and just refuse to go along with this foolishness. 

So, we’ll see you at eight o’clock, or is that seven o’clock?  Well, checking our clock on the wall, we’ll see you on Sunday.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - - -

A Cure For Insomnia

Last night was a restless night indeed.  A little after mid night, I decided to take the Man Quilt for a test drive in my recliner.  I can tell ya one thing right now.  That blanket is completely filled with zzzz’s and insomnia doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance in some very hot climates.  It’s not actually complete yet as it is still in the “fringing” stage – lots and lots of clipping needed.  Next it has to be washed at least once, if not twice.  Then it will be nice and soft and conforming.  But warm and cuddly, I guess it’s warm and cuddly. 

After taking a nice midnight nap under the Man Quilt, I was wide awake.  Miss Judy was, also, up and about.  It was only a little after three, but Judy made some coffee anyway and we began our day.  However, I did sneak back to bed at around five for another hour’s worth of sleep.  Someone’s in the kitchen with Momma, it’s Alex.  He stayed up and kept Momma company while the ol’ man was snoring. 

We are about a week late in leaving Rainbow Plantation as all our friend are rolling in and now we hate the thought of leaving.  Yesterday evening was another impromptu outing at Big Daddy’s.  The quilting ladies decided to take their husbands “under arms” and meet around the table at BD’s.  When we were walking in, we bumped into Jim and Ellie walking out; they had just arrived and had to take care of “Feed Me”.  Of course, Bill and Diane had arrived on Monday so we sat with them.   Randy and Terry will arrive Sunday, just before we leave on Monday.  Oh well, it is what it is.  Just like Schwarzenegger, we’ll be back.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

Hobgoblins And Major Progress

Where did this motley crew come from?  Oh no, tell us it’s not so!!!  These are our grand children?  Couldn’t be!!!  Our grand kids are sweet and lovable, well behaved, and nicely dressed; these kids are just a bunch of hobgoblins.  We think we can Trick ‘em though, that way we can keep the Treats for ourselves.

Progress has been made, the Man Quilt is all sewed up.  It just needs the intensive cutting job to “fringe” all the loose ends around each block and the entire perimeter of the blanket.  I gave it a trial run, it’s just as warm and cuddly as I had anticipated.  Notice the thumb in my mouth.

 

Also, the Entertainment Center Mod has been completed.  Here are the before and after shots.  The modifications allow the television to be pulled out and turned although it generally remains has you see it.  We had to complete the modifications before “hitting” the road because we needed to be able to lock the TV in place.  See the slide locks on the face plate?  They keep the TV from sliding out while going down the road. 

   

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Mall in Spanish Fort to fill in the gaps in our Christmas shopping.  We now have just a couple items left to pick up when we get to Tennessee and few more that we’ll order from Amazon once we get to Kentucky.  Then, TA-DA, the 2011 Christmas shopping will be behind us.  Hooray for our team!!

After running around hither and thither we bumped into “Feed Me” so a pit stop was made to Olive Garden where Judy had the chicken parmesan and I had my old stand by, spaghetti with Italian sausages.  As always, there was plenty of salad and bread sticks.  By the time we were finished with the meal, there was no room for dessert. 

Now it’s onto another quick wash of the rig and the truck, airing up the tires, picking up the yard, and we’ll be on our way come bright and early Monday morning.

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -

The Great Peanut Butter Caper

The price of fuel has been going up, medical costs have been going up, coffee prices have been going up, and, now, the price of peanut butter is going by as much as forty percent.  Now it’s getting personal.  Peanut butter is a staple; a necessity of life.  Someone has got to do something and do it quickly.  What is this life coming to when you can buy a Wendy’s hamburger for less than you can get a PB & J?  It’s just not right.

So, to all my fellow Americans out there in cyber space, write your congressman (woman) and let them know of your displeasure.  Rather than waste their time with hearings on HGH use in the NFL (let the legal system deal with that), encourage them to engage in the great Peanut Butter Caper and pass legislation that caps the price of Peanut Butter to the pre 1967 Israeli war. 

We need price wars.  Maybe Planter’s can undercut Skippy or Peter Pan can steal the show by reducing their price waaaay below Jif.  Instead of sending money off to businesses in China, Japan, Korea, etc., maybe our Gummint should bolster up the Peanut Butter industry right here in the good old USA with some kind of stimulus money.

There maybe a horrible economy, there maybe unemployment, there maybe homelessness, there maybe wars going on, but raising the price of Peanut Butter is taking things waaaay too far.  I can guarantee you that come November 2011 I’ll not vote for anyone who does not have a sound game plan for reducing the price of Peanut Butter.  This is an atrocity.  We must act now!!!!  Write your Senator, write your Congressman, write the President (he has kids, he’ll understand).  We need action and we need it now.  Don’t just sit there, don’t delay – Act Now!!!!!

Take Care Until Next Time  - - - - - - - -