Side Trip to Lexington

There were a couple options that we considered on Josie's birthday yesterday. Just before leaving the Hotel/Casino we looked at going into Louisville to see the Frankfort Ave shops or going on to Lexington to see the last of the Distilleries that was on the Bourbon Trail. We opted to go to Lexington, since we didn't want to spend a lot of time walking around town the day before we had to start working again. (We did stop, however, at a local Kohl's store to do a little bargain shopping before leaving Louisville). It was a good opportunity to visit the Woodford Reserve Distillery and complete our passports and send them in to the Kentucky Distillers' Association to receive our free T-shirts.

We checked out of the hotel right at 11 AM and traveled the 50 miles to the Distillery, which was actually located in Versailles, just outside of Lexington. It is the smallest of the distilleries we have visited, and also the oldest. It was located among rolling hills and was very impressive as we drove up:

One thing became immediately noticeable to us, and that was that the aging warehouses here were made of masonry blocks:

instead of the wood and aluminum construction at the other distilleries. They also do more than just allow the seasonal changes to assist in the aging process. About 7 times per year, they inject steam into the aging warehouses to assist in the process. No other distillery uses artificial means to boost the aging process. That probably explains why the buildings are masonry.

Another difference at this distillery is that they charge $5 per person for the tour. It is the only one that charges a fee of any kind. We thought we would take the tour, even though the process is the same for producing the bourbon at all of the distilleries. We purchased our tickets in  what was a very nice reception area:

and walked outside to board a bus:

The bus drove to a location where there were several buildings that we toured which performed all of the same processes that we had seen at the other distilleries. We were dumped on by a very heavy rainstorm while walking from one building to another, so that was different. Here is one shot of the barrels that were housed in one of the "aging" warehouses that we visited:

We returned to the reception area where we had our tasting of the fine bourbon they produced and visited the gift shop. All in all, it was nicely done, but we felt they didn't need to charge the money. We did get to keep the monogrammed sample glasses they used, so maybe the money justified the cost for those. Our Bourbon Tour is complete now, and we will forward our passports to the Distillers' Association for our prize.

After leaving the tour, we went to a Cracker Barrel for dinner to complete the day. There are so many beautiful horse farms and properties in this part of Kentucky, and we had to take some pictures - one of which is below:

We do plan to visit one of these farms before we leave the state.

There was heavy rain, off and on, all the way home and we discovered that there was about an inch of rain that fell at home while we were gone for the day. It was a great time this weekend, and now we are facing 5 days of work, the last of which is voluntary overtime. It will go fast, I'm sure...

Mixed Bag

It was a little after 10 AM when we finally hit the road yesterday. We stopped to talk to one of the workampers that arrived about a week after us and is staying in our park - for now. He and his wife were with us last year in the State Park while working the peak season, and they will once again move over there once the peak season begins this year. It was nice catching up with them. They are working the day shift in another department so we won't see much of them.

We arrived near noon at the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory and it was easy to see where the building was located by this huge bat outside the entrance:

After paying for our tickets, we went to the area where they started the factory tours:

There was a short movie clip and our tour guide announced that there would not be any photos allowed once we went into the factory area - competitive reasons. It was a very interesting tour where they actually have 2 production areas - one for retail bats and one for professional bats. The only difference is that the professional bats are made only from the best of the "billets" that are used. These billets (3" in diameter, 37" long) are obtained from white ash trees and maple trees that are at least 80 years old. They grow their own trees and they indicated that they plant 4 new trees for each tree that is harvested from their nearly 7,500 acres of timber they own in Pennsylvania and New York. They manufacture 1.8 million bats per year. Up until 1983, the bats were all made manually with lathes. The whole process is now totally automated and they produce a new bat every 25 seconds. The tour concluded in an area where each person on the tour was given a small bat as a keepsake from this bin:

We then went through the very interesting museum where there were lots of statistics, pictures and displays of famous players using their custom versions of the bats. Below are pictures of figures of Babe Ruth and Ken Griffey, Jr that were on the museum floor:

The other interesting shot below is of the display that showed how the "billets" are obtained from the trees:

and we ended the visit in the gift shop:

and went through an area just off the lobby where there was a small theater where we watched another 10 minute movie clip, and a room filled with Normal Rockwell paintings and pictures of sports - again, no photos were allowed (?):

Since we were not allowed to take pictures of the actual production areas, we snapped these 2 pictures through the window outside while walking back to our car:

It was great experience and we were happy that we went.

It was then off to the hotel and casino in Elizabeth, IN. It was only 14 miles away - across the river - so the trip there was only about 20 minutes. It is in the middle of nowhere, and we drove down this country road until all of a sudden this complex appeared:

The hotel was attached, and in the rear of the complex:

Let me tell you, it was a huge disappointment. The hotel was nice enough, but the casino was a long walk from the hotel portion of the complex, and was the worse casino we could ever remember as far as payout percentages. Usually, casino slots will have a 90 -92 % payout. These slots had to be around 10-20 % payouts. We won nothing on many machines we tried and we didn't see any people winning anything on the other machines either. We went to the casino twice - before dinner, and after dinner - and left frustrated both times. Sometimes we lose, but we usually have a little playing time on the machines before we leave. We concluded that this was a result of it being the only casino within hundreds of miles, so they don't have to be competitive. At any rate, it may be a long time before we return here again.

I had to wait until we returned home in order to complete this entry. The response time was so slow at the hotel this morning that I decided to wait until we got home to download the photos. It's a good thing, as we came close to our 11 AM checkout time.

Today was another exciting day for Josie's birthday, and I'll have that entry in the AM tomorrow...

Set to Go

We completed our tasks yesterday - laundry and Jeep service - and are ready to go on our fairly short trip today. It will take us about 1 1/2 hours to drive the 87 miles to Louisville, and the hotel is only 14 miles from where we are going in town. The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory are in the center of town and we will spend about 2 hours there which is what their website said to allow. If we leave here around 9:30, we will have plenty of time for that visit and arrive at the hotel in the early afternoon. Hopefully, the Casino will keep us entertained for most of the rest of the day and evening. It's been some time since we last visited one.

As expected, the weather is hot - 98 yesterday - and very humid. There are thunderstorms in the forecast but nothing that should be severe enough to worry about. Something else we did yesterday while out doing our chores was to pay a visit to a restaurant called "Little Philly" where we ate Philly Cheesesteaks for lunch. It is a place we enjoyed last year while here for the winter peak season. They were great as usual.

It's time to have breakfast and then pack for the trip. We should have some neat things to show tomorrow from our Louisville Slugger visit and, hopefully, have some good news from the casino experience...

Another Week in the Books

Our third full week of work here at Amazon.com came quietly to a close at 3:30 AM this morning. Another workamper showed up yesterday to begin working and it was somebody we knew - casually - from last year. We didn't get to talk to her much since she was being shadowed all night by one of the trainers to get her up to speed again on the use of the scanner and the procedures for stowing. There are different comments being made about the excessive heat in the warehouse and how it will affect our hours. Some say that the overtime will be eliminated because of the heat but we were able to sign up for next Thursday without a problem. There's no question that the heat inside the warehouse is extreme and we're surprised that there haven't been any - that we are aware of - incidents as a result. All we know is that we are both drenched after work each night.

There are a couple things on our agenda today that need to be done before we head out for Louisville tomorrow. The laundry needs to get done and the Jeep needs to be serviced. We have been diligent about getting the Jeep serviced every 3500 to 4000 miles since we purchased it and feel that that is one reason why we haven't had any major problems with it. Knock on wood. We are excited about our weekend trip and hope that it goes as planned. The weather will most likely remain as it is - hot and humid with hazy skies.

There isn't much else to report, so we'll end the post for today and get started with our chores...

Finding More Louisville Attractions

While researching other activities and interesting places to visit in Louisville, we came across several that might be enticing. The most interesting is an area that is called Historic Frankfort Ave. It is an area in downtown that is like a huge outside mall, except there are no large super stores or big name stores. The reviews are excellent and it is a place where the locals like to go, in addition to out of town visitors. There is also the Louisville Zoo, which is a world class zoo and very interactive. It has been quite awhile since we have been to a zoo and that may be a fun place to go if we have time. There are many other options on the website (Tripadvisor) that has rated and described the most popular places to visit. It promises to be an interesting, and we hope fun weekend.

There are some other places we are targeting to visit in Kentucky while we are here. There is Mammoth Cave National Park located in south central Kentucky, and the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green - one of the few cars I haven't owned at some time over the years and always wanted to own. There is also the Historic Railpark Train Museum which is also located in Bowling Green. There are some other places that aren't too far away - like in Lexington - that also could be interesting. Of course, we still have 1 more distillery to visit to complete our Bourbon Trail visits. One place we have to visit before we leave here is a Thoroughbred breeding farm - you haven't been to Kentucky until you visit one of those. There are many from which to choose, so that will be another task.

It's the same old story on the weather and work. Hot, humid and hazy days, and the normal physical routine at work. It will probably remain this way until around late September when most of the other workampers will be here. The only significant change for us is that we have signed up for voluntary overtime for next week, and we are considering doing that every other week. It may turn out to be every week, but we are enjoying the 3 days off right now. Until tomorrow...

Anxious For Weekend

Our second day of the work week was basically uneventful yesterday. It was hot inside the warehouse and everything they try to do to make it cooler seems to fall short. Of course, with no air conditioning and just huge fans everywhere, it just moves the hot air around. It is always a joy for us to come home and jump in the shower.

We're getting very anxious for the weekend. Just thinking about the trip helps get us over the hump at work. We are looking at our normal four day week this week and plan to rest during the remaining part of Thursday after we get up around noon. That will allow us to have a normal night's sleep for a fresh, early start for Friday so that we can visit the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory before heading across the river into Indiana and the hotel. Checkout time at the hotel is 11 AM so we may plan something else in the Louisville area while we are there. There's lots to see and do, so we'll do more research and try to find something before heading home on Saturday night. We then will have the full day Sunday to rest up for work beginning at 5 PM that night.

With the difference in weather and in the general working environment compared to the peak season last year, we will skip working here in summers in the future. Actually, we will probably call this our last year working at Amazon.com. The money is good, but we plan on having more free time in the future, beginning early next year. That is, if everything goes according to our plan. We will be heading west in early 2012 unless something really attractive comes up in the meantime. Anyway, that wraps it up for now...

Planning for This Weekened

While we were in Louisville this past weekend we were thinking it would be nice to do something special next weekend for Josie's birthday. It happens to fall on Saturday this year, and it is a day off for us. As I researched different places that would be exciting, I discovered that just across the river from Louisville - in southern Indiana - there is .... a Casino! It is called Horseshoe Southern Indiana and is part of the Caesars chain of hotels and casinos. So, we made reservations to go Friday night and visit another attraction in Louisville while there - the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory. That is something that has been high on our list of places to see ever since we came here last year. We will definitely take the tour and see everything there is to see while there. So, the weekend is shaping up and all we have to do is put in 3 more days of work this week.

Once again we had rain during the night while we were working. It wasn't much (.11") but it didn't cool things off much either. It is cloudy, hot and humid again today so it must be the normal summer pattern. There is no mandatory overtime this week - at least not yet - so we will have our normal 3 days off. We are considering signing up for voluntary overtime for the following week since the money is just too good to ignore. As our bodies get more used to the schedule, it makes sense to sign up.

It is very different working the summer here vs the peak season. The regular, full time employees even comment on the difference in the way the warehouse is run. Everybody is happy to see the workampers show up because the treatment of all employees seems to improve. It is a big deal here when the peak season people arrive as they really do create a boom in the local economy. It is a mixed bag for us to have more people around. We like the quiet campground but are also anxious to see old friends and new faces at work.

With only a little time before leaving for work today, we have a couple things to get done, so we'll call it a day for now...

Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum

From now on, the Kentucky Derby - run the first Saturday in May each year, will take on a special significance for us. Our goal yesterday was to visit Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum, then go to Costco and finish up with dinner at a favorite restaurant in Louisville. We did all but the restaurant since we were too full from a nice lunch at the Cafe in Churchill Downs. We spent about 6 hours visiting these 2 landmarks and took over 60 pictures. Following is a snapshot of our visit:

We arrived around 10:30 at Churchill Downs and were immediately impressed with the entrance where a statue of Barbaro greets you at Gate 1 before entering the grounds:

Everybody knows the sad story associated with, perhaps, one of horse racing's best ever horses that broke down in the Preakness in 2006, trying to win the 2nd leg of the Triple Crown - and was ultimately put to sleep in 2007 following a valiant attempt to save his life. He was a huge favorite to win that race after winning the Derby by a large margin.

The Kentucky Derby Museum is directly adjacent and attached to Churchill Downs:

We entered the museum and paid for our tickets which included the Museum and a 1 1/2 hour guided walking tour "Behind the Scenes" at Churchill Downs. That was scheduled for 2 PM, so we had lots of time to leisurely go through the museum. It was, as you would expect, packed full of 137 years of Derby memorabilia and history. From the lobby, you enter the main portion of the museum through - what else - a starting gate:

There were some very interesting displays, including these hats that were donated to the museum:

that were just a small sample of those that are worn each year, a tribute to the most recent winner - Animal Kingdom:

and many more displays of past winners and some of the more famous jockeys. There was an especially good section about Bill Shoemaker, who died in 2003. He was only 4' 11" tall, weighed 95 pounds, and wore a size 1 1/2 shoe - typical of most jockeys.

We saw a film in a small theater with a 360 degree screen that was very impressive and made you feel like you were standing in the middle of the track infield on race day. Following our visit in the museum, we went through the nice gift shop:

and then into the cafe that was part of the museum and had lunch.

The Tour was the highlight of the day and included the Jockeys' Quarters:

(where there was this shot of the 1933 race that was called the "Fighting Finish". There were no finish line cameras like there are today, and the jockeys were literally fighting to win the race at the finish:)

the very beautiful Paddock area:

Millionaire's Row, and the view from the deck they use outside of the lounge:

It also overlooks the finish line and the Winner's Circle:

We went through the press area, the media room, the finish judges room and ended with the VIP lounge area where Queen Elizabeth watched the race on her visit in 2007:

 Our final shot was taken by Barry, our tour guide, of Josie and I on the balcony just outside this lounge:

The view of the track from this balcony was just as good as the one at Millionaire's Row.

Following the day at Churchill Downs, we went to Costco and then came home. It was an exciting day and one that we will remember for a very long time.

It's back to work tonight at 5 PM, so we'll call it a day for now...

Heading to Louisville for Visit

First of all, we finally received our final paychecks from Grey's Point Camp in VA - 34 days after our final day of work. As noted previously, we filed a complaint with the VA Dept of Labor & Industries about their payroll practices, which violate the state law. There was one change in our planned deposit of those paychecks. Instead of sending them to the "overnight deposit" address at Bank of America in Phoenix AZ, we deposited them in our other bank account that we rarely use at US Bank here in KY. That account was opened in WY while working there last year. That is another state that has no B of A bank branches, and we opened it for convenience. Fortunately, almost all of our banking activity is automatic through B of A, including deposits and bill paying, which means that we can be anywhere and it doesn't impact the timing.

Our trip is planned for today. We will visit the Kentucky Derby Museum where we will meet up with a group of people to take a 1 1/2 hour walking tour of Churchill Downs at 2 PM. You must have reservations for this tour, and the only slot open was the 2 PM tour. We will see the museum prior to the tour which means we should arrive there around 12 noon in order to see everything. Following our visit there, we will go to Costco in Louisville - the nearest one to us - and get some much needed supplies and items that are unique to Costco that we use. Then, we will remain in Louisville and have dinner at Puccini's where we ate last year with our friends and enjoyed very much.

The day should be fun, and we hope to get lots of pictures at Churchill Downs. It's a shame that there won't be any racing there, but it could make the tour more enjoyable without racing distractions and crowds. We'll find out.

We feel up to the task today and are moving around with little physical carryover from our long work week. It looks like a clear day for a change. Until tomorrow...

Finished For The Week

It's in the book. The first full week with 1 overtime day is done, and we feel pretty good, considering the very hot temperatures and high humidity that continue here. There was another storm last night and the high yesterday was again 93. We didn't get much rain from this one (.1"), but it had more wind. Anyway, it's nice to relax again.

Amazon is very good about getting their employees paid on time. We are already set up on direct deposit and were paid for our first 2 weeks - only 55 hours as a result of the short first week, but it's nice to have the money on time - as opposed to hearing "sorry, we didn't complete the paperwork in time, and you will get paid in 2 more weeks" excuse that we got on 2 occasions at Grey's Point in VA. By the way, we still have not physically received our final paychecks, although they are in the mail from FL from our mail forwarding service. Even when the checks are received, we have to send them to Bank of America in AZ for deposit, since KY has no B of A branches. By the time we finally will have access to our final pay, it will have been about 6 weeks since our last day worked. For whatever reason, they don't issue final checks on the direct deposit system that we were already signed up for. Whatever.

There are lots of things we want to squeeze into the 2 days we have off before returning to work on Sunday night. Starting with haircuts and some local shopping today, followed by a planned trip to Louisville tomorrow where we will go to Costco, have a nice dinner at Puccini's, all following a visit to Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum. Racing is over for the summer until October, but there are tours conducted through the facility all year long. We are looking forward to that visit. This schedule should still allow enough "recovery" time before heading back to work Sunday night. That's it for now...

Stifling Weather

We have not spent a summer anywhere east of the Rockies since we left Michigan in 1978. This part of the country, at least for the last week, has been stifling hot and humid. It was again 93 yesterday and the "feels like" temperature was 110 with the humidity factored in. This pretty much satisfies our desire to spend any more summers in the east. It is suppose to be even worse today. The big problem for us is that we are outside people and like to sit out when we are home and have free time. We can't do that here. It is difficult to understand how anybody could love living in these conditions - sweat all the time in summer, freeze all the time in winter. But, we did it for the first 30 some years of our lives. It's easy when you don't know any better.

Our normal week is ended and we do our first overtime day today. We feel we are prepared for the extra workout and will see how well we adjust before going back to work on Sunday. If it is an easy adjustment, we may consider voluntary overtime as it is financially attractive to sign up, and that is why we are here. We were told that our schedule will shift to days on September 11, when the regular "peak" season kicks-in and the other workampers arrive for work. We are hoping that we can make it through this weather to fulfill our goal of staying until Christmas.

We sent a resume and inquiry to a company - CAL-AM Resorts - that runs about 9 Resorts in Arizona. They are also in several other states and we thought it would be nice to get on their radar screen for future opportunities out west. The response was immediate and unbelievable. We received interest from 5 of the Resorts within hours of sending our resume. We aren't planning to leave here anytime soon, but it appears that we will have many other good options for the winter and beyond. The fact is - the longer we do this and the more experience we get at different parks and resorts, it makes us more marketable and hireable at other locations. That's what we were hoping for when we started. It is good to get involved with all the companies that operate and manage many resorts and campgrounds in many different locations. That really opens the doors for us. Life is good...

Mandatory Overtime

We discovered yesterday (last night) that the mandatory overtime for our shift includes us. Last year when we worked the peak season with all the other workampers, overtime was a completely voluntary occasion. The pilot program that we are working under now appears to have many differences from the normal workamper rules. So, even though we were leaning toward working the extra day this week, our decision is made for us.

An email to our HR representative will be sent today to get clarification of the rules for this pilot program. It seems that, even though we are workampers and only seasonal workers, we are working under the full-time employee rules with none of the advantages we had as workampers - plus, we are not being paid the full-time employee wage. See, we receive a couple dollars per hour less than the regular workers since Amazon (supposedly) gives several other advantages to us: paid RV site, voluntary overtime, flexible scheduling, etc. So far, and until the regular peak season kicks-in in September, we feel like we are being used. We will get the "skinny" today.

Last night was a stormy night. We could hear the thunder while we were working in the noisy warehouse, and we received over .5" of rain. Also, we worked on the 3rd level of a stowing section of the warehouse, and it was extremely hot where we worked. Both of us were extra wet from sweat and it looked like I just stepped out of a swimming pool with my clothes on. One thing is for sure, and that is that we both will again lose lots of weight while working here.

We aren't certain about our weekend plans now as we will only have 2 days off with the extra day going to overtime. We still should have sufficient time to take our trip to Louisville, but we aren't sure about other trips. In the meantime, we have day 4 of our work week today, so we will see 'ya tomorrow...

Overtime on the Horizon

One of the announcements that was made at our pre-work meeting last night was that there would be mandatory overtime for our shift this Thursday. That, of course, is normally our first day off. Last year when we were here for the regular workamper peak season program, any and all overtime was completely voluntary for us, even though the regular full-time people had to work when asked. With the pilot program we are under now, we aren't too sure, so we need to check with HR when we go in today. We didn't want to make a hasty decision to work an extra 10 hours, so we waited until today to decide - assuming it is an option for us. Even though it is early in our very physical schedule, we probably will opt for the overtime, since it represents a nearly $300 payday for us, just for the one day. That also means that we only would have 2 days off this week, instead of our normal 3 days. We may wish we had the extra day to recover.

We have plans - tentatively - to go to Louisville sometime this weekend. That is the nearest Costco and we desperately need some supplies that we usually get at Costco or Sams Club. There are also some places we want to visit in and around Louisville, so we can do some of those while we are there. There is also a wonderful Italian Restaurant (Puccini's) there where we had a great meal with our friends Hank, Brenda, Karen and George last year - they are presently all back in Cody for the summer season. It should be fun this weekend, if we don't have to use wheelchairs.

More rain and humidity yesterday. Josie and I both were drenched from sweat again last night after work. It is even worse in the warehouse than it is outside, and we really look forward to taking our showers after work and before going to bed. This entire week is expected to remain hot, humid and stormy. We just remind ourselves why we are here, so we will take whatever the area has to offer. Hopefully, when it is time for us to leave we won't have any hydraulics problems like we had last year that tended to spoil the start of our Christmas season. In the meantime, we will take it one week at a time...

Working on Sundays

Sunday is probably the best day for us to work at Amazon. It seems that Sunday is the one day during the week when most of the full time people have off and it makes it easier for us to get our work done. There is less competition for full carts to stow and there are more open bins in which to store the products from the carts since there aren't a lot of people competing for those bins. The Receiving department is responsible for off-loading the trucks that deliver the product, opening boxes and separating products, moving the products to a preparation area where people load the carts for stowing the products in the bins and record those products in the computer system for tracking all the way to the end of the process when products are shipped to customers. Our job is the stowing phase and every piece of merchandise gets scanned (by our hand held scanners) as we place it in a bin on the warehouse floor. There are certain rules to be followed while stowing products in these bins - i.e., only 3 different products can be stowed in any one bin, they can not stick out of the bin more than 2 inches, and similar products cannot be stowed in adjacent bins. There are other guidelines, but those are the main ones. The interesting part of our job is that once an item is stowed, it is in the computer and ready for a "picker" to come along and take the item out of the bin to fill an order. It is a real time system and very well designed so that any product in the warehouse can be found anywhere within seconds of when it is stowed.

Sorry I got off on that tangent, but the point I was trying to make was that there is less pressure on us on Sunday than any other day we work. The other days seem more like a scramble to find bins before other people stowing products find them, and a scramble back to the pick up area to get another cart to stow before the "easy" carts are taken. The easy carts are the ones with small products that are easy to fit into bins. The other good thing about Sundays is that we only have 3 more days to work before we get our 3 day weekend.

We have concluded that we don't like the east coast in the summer. It is raining again today, and the humidity is high as usual. We will be happy to return to the dry western states in the summer months. Also, even though it is a pretty state, Kentucky doesn't compare with the mountain states out west. We will still enjoy our time here and just make sure that the future direction will be west. There are many places we would still like to go in the east, but we are thinking maybe some time down the road we will return and do the northeast, but not for another couple years. It is fun to be thinking about where to go next and we feel lucky to have the flexibility to go anywhere we choose. That's about it for now...

Trying to Adjust to Schedule

The last couple days have been difficult for us for one main reason - adjusting to the schedule. The problem is that we are so tired during the day because it is our normal sleep time while working all night. We need to get assigned the day shift so that our days off can match the work days. The first day off for us is Thursday - actually, Thursday afternoon by the time we get up from working Wednesday night. We are tired by around 10 PM that night and rather than sleep in our chairs, we go to bed. Then, we are ready to get up at 7 AM on Friday and the next 2 days are the same - trying not to waste the days, but our bodies are saying we should be in bed. We toss and turn during the night because we should be working.  Sheesh! We keep pushing for the day shift and we are sure that we will get transferred to days as soon as management will allow it for workampers. Next week we will try to get out and do some fun activities and see if that helps. In the meantime, we begin the cycle all over again tonight at 5 PM when we go back to work.

We had a repeat of Friday yesterday while I watched the British Open Golf Tournament and Josie read some more. We did reorganize our movies into the closets we use for them since we also wanted to know what movies we need to get. We try to get the complete sets of the popular movies - Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. - and we are behind in getting the latest releases. Now we know which ones we still need in order to complete those sets. We also copy shows and movies from TV on the nights we work, so we try to catch up on those during the day.

The weather needs to cooperate a little more for us also. The last couple days have been overcast, humid and sometimes stormy. It looks like more of the same today. The weather will probably turn glorious when we return to work. This will be the second full week for us, so we are looking for some stability in our muscles and in how we react to our schedule. We'll see...

Checking Out Some Local Stores

It was another cloudy and dreary day. We had some rain in the afternoon - .04" - and a little wind, but it was also very humid again. The high was 88 which made it fairly uncomfortable outside. Most of the day was spent in the air conditioned fifth wheel as I watched the British Open Golf Tournament while Josie read some of her book.

About mid afternoon we decided to drive into town to check out a couple places we have not been to and also to check out some prices at Walmart for items we need to buy. Most things can be purchased online even cheaper than at Walmart, especially with our discount at Amazon.com, but it is always good to check. We also wanted to stop at a store called Burke"s Outlet, just to see what it was all about. It is actually identical to the Bealls Outlet stores that we have previously visited. We found out that it is the same company but they operate under the Bealls name in FL, GA and AZ. There are some good bargains on name brand merchandise, and they carry all kinds of clothing and household goods. The Burke's name is used in 11 states, including their headquarters in FL. After the visit to this store, our backs started to bother us a little bit so we headed back home to make sure we didn't create a problem for ourselves before the start of work again on Sunday. Our muscles are almost there, but not quite.

Today looks like another unstable day weather wise. The clouds are fairly thick, and the humidity is high again. We'll see how the morning goes and then decide if we will head out to do some exploring, or just stay home. Until tomorrow...

Ramblings

There wasn't a lot to write about today, so I decided to mention some grocery shopping frustrations I have. The difference between Josie shopping, and me, is like night and day. When we go together, she stops and looks at everything. When I go alone, I just want to get it done and get out. There was an article that appeared in one of the other blogs I follow about this very thing, and I grabbed a copy of it and made some of my own changes to suit the occasion. 


I always take a list when I go alone. If the list just says a "can of ...." whatever, Josie knows that's not good enough.  The cans come in all sizes and there are eighteen thousand different variations of every product in the store.  Left to make the choices on my own almost always means that I would be making a return trip to get the "right" stuff.  


I don't know how cooks do it.  Shopping for a particular recipe would drive me crazy.  The recipes call for certain measurements, but of course none of the ingredients are packaged according to those measurements - they are all packaged by weight.  I don't have an I-phone or a Droid, but maybe I need one to go grocery shopping.  I'm sure there is "an app for that" - converting measurements to packaging. 


Oh, and once you figure out the conversion, the packages never seem to contain the exact amount you need.  They either have too much - so you end up with extra that spoils before you use it - or they have too little so that you have to buy two packages, and, once again, you end up with too much.  It's like "Goldilocks Goes To The Supermarket".  But all the packages are "too big" or "too small" and there is never one that's "just right". And don't get me started on the checkout lines.  They have 112 checkout lines with four on each end of "20 items or less" and four more "self checkout".  Everything else is a regular check out lane, but they are rarely open.  If I have a couple items, I'll do the self checkout, but if I have several items, I avoid the self checkout lanes.  I can't handle the "Please place item in the bag" mechanical instructions and then the awkwardness of when you have the two designated bag spots full.  Can I remove one of the bags or will it yell at me?  Heaven forbid you place an item in the bag, and then try to remove it and put it in a different bag.  And then ultimately, the whole thing screws up anyway and you have to have an attendant, when you can find one, come punch in some magic codes so you can pay and be on your way.


Okay, so the last time I went the "20 items or less" lanes were out since I had a few too many items.  Not that that stops people.  I've given up trying to give them the glare or mumbling within earshot about their inability to count.  Apparently, if you have fourteen cans of the same thing, they can be counted as one item. And I avoided the "self checkout" lanes.  That means I had to choose one of the three lanes (out of eighty-something) that were actually open where there are lines and each of the three carts in front of me are stacked to the limits.  I did manage to avoid the line with the kid sitting in the cart staring at me while at the same time yelling "Candy, Mommy!!!"


Of course, once I'm next behind one heaping cart, with three others behind me, the announcement comes over the intercom.  "Julie, Brittany, Jeff, Joe, Tammy, & Lisa, please come to the front to do checkout please".  So they open new lanes and everyone behind me rushes to those. Sound familiar?


All of these things make up a few of the Murphy's Laws of grocery stores. I'm not a shopper, I'm a picker.  If it ain't on the list, it ain't makin' it home.  If Josie starts a sentence with "Did you happen to think to get .....", I cut her off.  "Was it on the list?  If it wasn't on the list, I didn't get it.  All my brain power was focused on converting the amounts on the list to the packaging so that I wouldn't have to go back, finding the cheapest prices, and getting the heck out of there as fast as possible."


I guess it's a good sign when the most stressful thing in my life is grocery shopping. 
Yawn.  I know, pretty boring.  But that's life on many days.  I've learned to embrace the boring days as part of the overall deal.  And I remember the times when I longed for a boring day, so it's all good. 


The next couple days we are off will most likely be low key - boring - as we try to conserve money until our missing paychecks show up. That is the money we use to play with and cover expenses for travel to fun places. Staying home isn't all bad either as we always find ways to enjoy ourselves...

Blowing Up Bridges

It was mentioned in the post around the time we were leaving Grey's Point Camp in Topping, VA, that we were leaving on good terms and we didn't want to burn any bridges in case we wanted to return at some time in the future. We did. Except now, they not only broke our bridge, but they blew it up. We still have not received our final paychecks from them and our last day worked was June 18. The normal pay day for us to receive those checks was June 29. As that came and went, we contacted them to find out what was going on. They told us that the paperwork had not been completed in time (after 11 days?) to make that pay period, but we would be paid on the next payday, July 13. Well folks, the checks still are not available to us. They have violated state law in Virginia by not issuing final paychecks within 2 weeks of the last day worked. We sent complaints to the Virginia Department of Labor and Industries about this situation, and they stand to be fined $1,000 per violation, which is one for each of us. As a result of this neglect, we would never return there to work again. If you recall, they also missed our first paychecks because the "paperwork" was not completed in time and it took one month to receive our first checks. The real problem for us is that we still haven't received our first pay from Amazon (July 22), so there is a strain on our budget, to say the least. Thanks, and good bye, Grey's Point.

Our first full week concluded last night - actually, at 3:45 AM this morning - and we now have 3 days to relax. We are a little sore, but believe we are way ahead of our recovery times from the start of last year. The meeting that they had at 5:30 last night was full of interesting and informative information. It lasted about an hour, and they reviewed company performance, employee survey results, acknowledged new management arrivals and gave out tenure prizes to employees who have been here 5 and 10 years. Other than that, it was a typical night.

The weather looks questionable today - but of course, we didn't get up until 1 PM, so it really doesn't matter. We will take the day today to just relax and hang out. The campground still looks like a ghost town, and will probably stay this way until September. Oh, and we found out yesterday that the "peak season" date for us will be September 11. That is the day that the complete Workamper benefits package kicks in. People will start arriving for the busy season like last year, and all the campgrounds in the area will be booked solid. So far, we feel we made the right choice by staying where we are...

Very Stormy Day

We had everything put away yesterday just in time for the big storm. The temperature dropped from 93 to 74 in just 1/2 hour from 12 noon to 12:30 PM. There were thunderstorms coming in from both the west and north and it looked like prime tornado skies when they merged. The wind went to 25 MPH and it was a little scary there for awhile. The thunderstorms went on for most of the night as we could hear the thunder outside even with all the noise in the warehouse.

It is becoming easier and easier on our bodies with each day. We get up in the mornings (actually around mid day) with very little aches and pains, but we are still very tired at the end of our shift. The big thing that we look forward to is taking off our wet (from sweat) clothes and jumping in the shower. There isn't much else that we do except get ready for bed. The positive result from this hard work is that we lose weight and our muscles will be toned. Of course, we would much rather tone our muscles at a fitness center somewhere. The big difference is that you don't get paid while working out at a fitness center.

Day number 4 (and the Friday) of our work week is today. There is an all hands meeting scheduled at 5:30 so our starting time is moved to 5:30 for this one day. They feel that not much can be accomplished in the half hour between the normal start time (5 PM) and the start of the meeting. Hmm. It makes you wonder why they couldn't schedule the meeting at 5 PM. We were informed that we could leave at our regular time after work - 3:30 AM - or work an extra 1/2 hour to make up for the late start. We aren't sure right now if we will stay or leave at our regular time. So far, the skies are partly cloudy, and the temperature is 84 at 12:45 PM, so it's a calm start to the day. That's it for now...

Hot and Very Humid

It went up to 97 degrees yesterday and the highest temperature was reached at 5 PM - when we started work. There is no air conditioning in the main portion of the warehouse where we work and it was a very difficult day. We started out in the 4th level of a stowing area - the worst place to be during a hot spell as the warm air rises to the highest point. It didn't take management too long to figure out they made a mistake in placing us there to start our shift, so we were moved down to the main level. We were both totally drenched in sweat by that time.

After a short time performing our normal stowing duties, we were moved to an area in the incoming section of the warehouse. There, we spent several hours preparing thousands of Verizon 4G-LTE Sim Cards in plastic sleeves for further processing through the system. That wasn't too bad except for the fact we had to stand in the same location to do the work. If you've ever spent several hours standing in the same place you probably have had the same upper back aches that we experienced. More new muscles to train. We finished the shift back in stowing, and the heat and humidity in the building was almost unbearable at times. It is supposed to be even warmer and still humid today, so we aren't looking forward to doing it all again. There are also some severe thunderstorm warnings for today which is normal following a long spell of hot and humid weather. Just keep the tornadoes away!

As I write this entry, there is already a change in the weather. It appears that a storm is forming so I will go outside to put away our chairs and move our grill under the front of the fifth wheel out of the weather. Our awning is already up so we won't worry about that. I noticed that the temperature already has moved from 93 to 88 in just about 20 minutes time. The sky is darkening and the thunder is arriving, so we'll call it a day for now as I check for any other adjustments we need to make before the storm arrives...

Beginning of First Full Week

We were not sure how the first day of our first full week back at Amazon would treat our bodies. We know now that we have the same aches as the first full day last Wednesday. Our feet were hurting and our lower backs were hurting. The big difference is that today the aches are pretty much gone and our muscles appear to be acclimating to the hard work schedule. Of course, we have 3 more days to know for sure.

Our day started in the HR office yesterday as we are trying to get Josie registered in the online system at ADP - the company that processes the payroll. The person we need to see was not in yesterday, so we will revisit HR today when we go in at 5 PM. The work force is so small compared to last year during the peak season. For the first time ever, we took one of our scheduled breaks in the lunch room we used exclusively last year - and we were the only couple in the entire break room. The small workforce is also evidenced by the attendance in our pre-work meeting every day. That is when the manager lets everybody know about the statistics for the previous day - items received, processed and stowed - and the targets for the coming day. We now have about 15 people in those meetings where the normal attendance was around 50-60 last year during the peak. The stretch exercises are also conducted at those meetings for all the workers to help get loose for the day. Once again, we know it will change dramatically around September.

With only about 4 1/2 hours between getting up and going to work again, the activities during the day are minimal. We will go to the store and get some Gatorade, or some other drink mix that will provide electrolytes  for our bodies. As we are drinking only water to replace lost sweat, we want to make sure our kidneys are staying as healthy as possible. Amazon is very good about offering all the free cold water you want, and they encourage you drink lots of it all day long. There are coolers and refrigerators throughout the warehouse where you can grab a bottle of water.

So, with that, we'll call it a day for now...

Four Roses and Wild Turkey

Yesterday was a good opportunity for us to visit 2 more of the Bourbon distilleries along the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. We had already visited the 3 that lie along the western part of the trail (Makers Mark, Heaven Hill and Jim Beam), so we went to 2 of the 3 remaining distilleries that were on the north/central part of the Trail - Four Roses and Wild Turkey. Both of those are in the city of Lawrenceburg, KY, which is about 20 miles from Lexington.

Of course, they all have to go through the same distilling process, but they are each very different in the way they "tweak" the products to produce variations of bourbon that make up their product lines. We also discovered yesterday that each of the distilleries has a shut down period each year when they clean their facilities and perform necessary maintenance on equipment. Both of the distilleries we visited yesterday were in their shut down period, so we didn't get a chance to see actual production like we did in the others. Another of the reasons for having their shut down period in the summer is the heat, and the resulting costs associated with production in the warm weather. The water used in the process is taken directly from the rivers and it must be a certain temperature to produce the best bourbon. The costs associated with cooling the water in the hot summer are not justified by some of the distilleries.

Anyway, the first stop was at the Four Roses Distillery:

and we immediately could see a very different architecture of all the buildings in the facility. It is the only distillery that is Japanese owned, and the Japanese influence was evident, especially in the signs that were written in both English and Japanese. This is the most automated of all the distilleries (of course, Japanese), and they won the award in 2011 as the top Distillery;

They have been primarily an exporter of bourbon until recently, and they are now distributed and marketed in 47 states. That explains why it is the least known of the bourbon brands along the Trail. Our guide was very knowledgeable and did an excellent job describing the process and the differences in their products:

The beautiful buildings and grounds were very different and evident throughout the tour. The warehouses at this distillery are only 1 story high versus the 6 or 7 story warehouses at the other distilleries. They believe that this gives a more consistent flavor as it doesn't go through the wide fluctuations in temperature that bourbon does in warehouses that have barrels on the 1st floor, and barrels on the 6th floor, where it is much warmer.

 The tasting room was actually outside:

and they had several different products that were available for tasting. Their bourbon is excellent, and the gift shop was loaded with quality merchandise that was one of the best so far:

Our next stop was only about 8 miles up the road, also in Lawrenceburg, KY, at the Wild Turkey Distillery:

This was a tour that I was looking forward to as I was a huge fan of the Wild Turkey "101" brand for many years during my earlier hunting days in Washington State. This distillery was also shut down for the summer, but we were given an excellent tour through the facilities of one of the largest producers of bourbon. This tour was the first one that used a bus to carry visitors around the facility, and there were several stops, beginning at the fermenting building:

where our guide explained the process:

and we saw the many vats that were used in the fermenting process that were sparkling clean and empty for the season:

Our next stop on the tour was a warehouse that was fairly typical of those we've seen elsewhere - except for the Four Roses single story warehouses - where we saw thousands of barrels in the aging process:

We eventually made it back to the visitor center where the tasting room was located and the gift shop was located:

The shot we took of the tasting session wasn't that great, so it was not included here. We did get to taste some great bourbon, including my old favorite "101", and a new product called American Honey. We liked the taste of this so much that we purchased a bottle on the way out of the gift shop.

There's only 1 more distillery to see to complete our tour. That last one - the Woodford Reserve Distillery - is near Lexington and we plan to visit that one when we go to Lexington for a visit in the near future. Kentucky is best known for horses and bourbon, and we are gaining a real appreciation for the bourbon part. There are some nice places to visit that are Thoroughbred horse farms that will be on our list of places to go and things to do.

It's off to work again today at 5 PM and that begins our week of 4 straight 10 hour days. I hope we 're up to it...

All Day Rain

We were certainly due for a day like yesterday - slow and steady rain almost the whole day. We received over .5 inches but it was like a Seattle rain - a little bit at a time. It was kind of nice actually, to watch the rain and just sit around doing little odds and ends and not going anywhere. It gave me a chance to try to complete our online registration for direct deposit and withholding taxes for Amazon. This year they have the employees entering their own information which takes away a cumbersome activity from the HR people. It's very easy once you get entered into the system with your user names and passwords. I finally got my information in, but I cannot get past go for Josie's info. Evidently, the system in Seattle (where the payroll is processed) doesn't have her employee information ready, so I'll try again today.

We keep seeing people arriving in very small numbers. One more couple arrived the day before yesterday and they appear to be workampers as they are set up in their space for a long term visit. We can always tell the long term folks from the overnighters as the overnighters only set up as much as they need to for 1 or 2 nights. Sometimes - like us - they won't even unhitch from their rigs for the night. Amazon would have received a much better response for this pilot program if they had announced it sooner, and they are realizing that. Most people that are here for the program - ourselves included - left places where they had a commitment for the summer, but weren't getting the hours that were promised. Many others that would have come are fulfilling their obligations at the summer locations before heading back here to Campbellsville. Those are the folks that are getting their hours and are otherwise happy with their current locations. We have been communicating with several of the couples we worked with last year, and they are anxious to hear about changes, the work and other folks we all know that are here.

With just one more full day left - today - before we start our regular work schedule, we will try to go somewhere. I'm not sure we will attempt one of the "biggies" like Louisville, Lexington or Nashville, But there are still many places to see within a fairly short distance. I'll give the online system one more try this AM for Josie's info, and then it's off to (?)...

Quick Recovery

Yesterday was a recovery day - for our muscles - and it appears that we are probably about 90% recovered from our aches and pains. The only activity was a short trip to the grocery store. It was another hot and humid day, so it probably was wise to stay home anyway. As hard as we tried, we couldn't stay up too late last night. Our hope was that we could stay pretty close to our work schedule as far as sleep and eating, but our bodies - and our minds - are too programmed yet for the normal hours. I'm not sure if we even want to adjust to those hours on our off days since that would mean sleeping late into the morning or early afternoon, and that would be wasting our days off. Besides, if we get transferred to days for the regular (peak) season, we will be sleeping our normal hours anyway.

We met another workamping couple yesterday that is staying here in the campground. They are originally from Iowa, but most recently were working in South Dakota and arrived in late May for this pilot program at Amazon. They work days in Receiving, which is one department that was taking day workers for the summer. They also indicated that they stayed here at the same campground last year and were happy with it. So far, we agree that the owners are very nice and very accommodating. and the park is obviously the most convenient of all the choices.

It is raining this morning and still pretty dark outside. This looks like one of those all-day rains as there is no wind, thunder or lightening. We'll have to check the forecast to find out for sure. At any rate, that about wraps up the (short) entry for today...

Our Muscles are Awake Now

All the muscles that are rarely used are once again awake. We were prepared for a very physical night last night but we had forgotten the feeling after our first night working at Amazon last year. It's a good thing we don't have to go back until Sunday night. It would have been very difficult for us to return to work again tonight for another 10 hour workout. Both of us actually had the same complaint after last night - our lower back and our feet. We know that it won't take too long to get back into the mode we were in by the time we left last year when it became fairly easy for us to comfortably get through the work day. Overtime, although available to anybody that wants it, will definitely have to wait awhile for us.

There was no formal training - or retraining - last night. We were given our scanners and only a brief reminder on how to use them. It all came back to us quickly though, and we were off and stowing product like there was no interruption from our last day worked in December. Both of us put up some very good numbers for the night and the management was very pleased with our first day performance. Actually, our first day numbers were better than some folks who have been there every day as full time employees. There is very little change from last year, and the changes that were made are good ones. The biggest problem for us - aside from getting our muscles toned again - is to figure out the best eating schedule. We had our dinner before going to work at 5 PM last night and only took snacking food for our dinner break which was at 9:30 PM. That seemed to work well except we were hungry when we got off work. I don't think we will be changing that schedule too much though as we don't want to have a large meal before going to bed at 4 AM.

The heat was intense on the work floor all night long. We were told that if the temperature in the warehouse ever reaches 120 degrees, they shut down the plant. The highest it has been during the summer months is 108. That's still way too warm. Josie and I both were wet rags when we got off work this morning, and couldn't wait to get showers before going to bed. It's a different experience here working in the summer but, so far, we are glad we made the decision to come.

Today is a recovery day and we probably won't do much more than going to the grocery store. The posts will be a little later in the day on work days, but shouldn't make much difference. That's it for today...

Back to Work at Amazon

We arrived in the lobby at Amazon right on schedule at 9:30 AM yesterday. There was one more couple there - Doug and Patty - who were returning workampers and were here from Dollywood Park in Tennessee, They left there for the same reason we left Grey's Point Camp in Virginia - not enough hours. We were given our old badges back from last year and we clocked in for the safety training. That was a repeat of what we had last year but it was a good refresher. There have been some minor changes since we were here last here, but for the most part, it was like we hadn't left at all.

It was close to 11:30 by the time the safety class wrapped up so we took a 1 1/2 hour break before we had to meet in HR for our orientation. One of the advantages to staying in the campground across the street is that we are able to come home in situations like this rather than sitting in a break room for long periods.

Part of the orientation was receiving our shift assignments, and we discussed day shift possibilities with the HR representative. She talked to a couple folks and they were able to switch us to the day shift - Sun thru Wed, 6 AM to 4:30 PM. We were happy about that. Unfortunately, that decision was overturned later in the day when we received an email stating that no workampers had been assigned day shift yet by the senior operations people, and they switched us back to nights. So, instead of going in to work this morning at 6 AM, we will go in at 5 PM, work tonight, and then have off until Sunday night. We were not happy about that, but we can make it work as long as they put us on the day shift for the regular season beginning sometime in September. It shouldn't be too bad with the almost empty campground. One of the biggest problems with working nights last year was the noise outside during the day when we had to sleep. That should not be a problem from now until September.

Since we have to work tonight, we will stay close to home today and probably try to get in a nap before we leave for work. It will take some adjusting to get used to the new schedule, but we've done it before. Tonight we find out about on-the-job changes that were made since we left in December. We're hoping for a smooth beginning...

Rain on the Parade

The forecast was right-on for the day. There were scattered thundershowers all day - scattered all over Campbellsville. We went to the parade in town at around 10 AM for the start, and it was still dry when it started:

We were surprised and happy to see that the Grand Marshal for the parade was Mitch McConnell, the Senior Senator from Kentucky and the House Minority Leader:

He was fortunate to get through the whole parade route before the skies opened up. The entire Main Street was crowded on both sides:

and the parade had its usual number of horses, including the little ones:

After watching for about 15 minutes, the skies opened up and drenched everybody. Many people had umbrellas and many just stood in the rain. We were able to duck under the canopy of the local Country and Western music station in Campbellsville. Of course, the people on the floats didn't have much choice on where to go to take cover from the rain - some had umbrellas, and others just walked in the rain:

We had to get a picture of the Amazon.com float that was part of the float contest (above and below):

The parade was an unusual one for us. This one had a heavy emphasis on Agriculture, and there must have been 50 tractors in the parade. Last year, it was mostly horses in Cody, WY.

The rain finally stopped by the end of the parade, and everybody spilled out into the street to visit the arts and crafts booths, and merchant booths that lined the street:

There was a stage at the end of the street where the entertainment was scheduled all day long. We caught them setting up for the first group to entertain for the day - the East Campbellsville Church of God Choir:

You can see the long list of scheduled events to the left of the stage. It is one of the largest and best 4th of July celebrations in central Kentucky. People were everywhere and it seemed like the whole population of Campbellsville was there, which could have been. We took one last shot of the crowd in the street as we left for home:

There were scheduled events all day long, but we decided to wait to return for the fireworks display at the local park that was scheduled at dark - around 9:30. By the time 9 PM rolled around, we were comfortable in the fifth wheel and not anxious to take a chance on being part of another thundershower and, perhaps, cancellation of the fireworks. It seemed like they went off as scheduled as we both saw them from our rig and heard them from inside. All in all, it was a great day, in spite of the rain.

Today is the start of our next assignment at Amazon.com and we are ready for the paperwork phase and the classes that they have scheduled for us. The real work begins tomorrow, but we are anxious to get things started. We will try to get our shift changed to days, but are prepared to work nights again if they can't accommodate the change. It's off to work we go...