Very Physical Day

Yesterday was one day I could have done without. I should have known that it would be a very physical assignment, and it was. I arrived before 9 AM and parked the truck in the rain which was steady all day, and walked to the Aramark check-in location. Here is a shot of the stadium from my parking space:

The security at the entrance was, as expected, substantial. I made it to the Aramark merchandise compound, checked in, and following a managers meeting that I didn't participate in, began my first assignment which was emptying boxes of shirts and sorting them by size and counting out different numbers of each size to re-box for distribution to the outlet locations in the stadium. Following that assignment I began the real physical part of my day which lasted through the rest of my shift. This shot shows the merchandise warehouse fairly early in the morning:

This warehouse would be practically empty by the end of the day.

I was assigned to a team to take pallets of merchandise to each of the kiosk locations in the stadium which was several hundred yards away. The rain made it miserable. The stadium looks spectacular and there were hundreds of people milling around doing various prep work for the game. This next shot is of the inside of the Team Store which the central location for apparel and other Super Bowl items:

I was able to take some photos of the inside of the stadium which is just about dressed for the big game - one of which is below:

Many groups were practicing their duties during the day, and I have this shot of the rehearsal of the National Anthem:

The day eventually came to a close for me at approximately 5:15 PM and my Accupedo mobile application recorded a total distance walked of 8.73 miles for the day. I felt it when I got home at 6 PM last night.

We have one last day to work at the NFL Experience today, from 9 AM until 5 PM, and then it will be time for the final, and most anticipated, assignment of the entire effort. I saw our kiosk that we are scheduled to work on game day and it is located - get this - right next to the NBC broadcasting booth in Section 116 of the stadium. If the assignment isn't changed, it will be a wonderful experience at the biggest sports event of the year...

Hospitaltity

I think it is thoughtful and also an omen that AZ has provided some good 'ol hospitality to the Seattle visitors. It started raining yesterday afternoon and it is forecast for today and tomorrow. What better way to make the Seattle folks feel comfortable? So far, we have over .5" of the stuff, and we expect at least double that before the big game on Sunday.

Josie and I both worked an extra long day - from 1:30 until almost 11 PM - and didn't get home until after midnight last night. The crowds were almost overwhelming and it was an "electric" fee at the NFL Experience all day. Josie had her camera ready as we walked from the train to the Convention Center to begin our shift. The Super Bowl activities are present everywhere in the downtown area. This is probably the largest Super Bowl sign in town:

There were other locations in this huge, mostly blocked off, area in town where the crowds roamed:

We received our first paychecks from Aramark - a whopping $25 each - for our kickoff meeting at the Coliseum on January 20. Our next check on next Thursday should be pretty good with some long days included.

It was an extremely busy day as the line at the registers rarely shrunk. We are both dragging this morning as I will spend the day at the Stadium preparing the merchandise for sale on game day and Josie puts in a regular work day at the shop. The excitement is growing, and we are getting anxious for the big day...

Final Free Day Before Game

I was able to enjoy a totally free day yesterday while Josie put in a near full day at the shop. She was able to break away around 3:30 and get home a little earlier than normal. I did some computer stuff and cross stitch to enjoy my day and Josie ended up doing some laundry before we called it a night.

We have a real nice photo of the sunrise yesterday that Josie took at the exit of the RV Resort on her way to work:

 

It doesn't get much prettier than that.

I received a copy late last night of the video that Michael Brady took of us at the NFL Experience. I'll have to play with it a little bit to see how I can get it published in the blog. It's a short but cute clip.

Our schedule now gets hectic until after the Super Bowl. We work together today from 2 PM until 11 PM at the NFL Experience. There is a meeting announced at the Glendale Civic Center today for 5:30 PM which we obviously will miss. I don't know if they realized it when they scheduled it, but some of the folks - like us - have to work in downtown Phoenix during that meeting. I sent an email for clarification, and the response was they would get the information to us in a pre-shift meeting (?). They are so disorganized it is almost funny. Of course, to give them the benefit of the doubt, this is new territory for everybody involved. I don't think anyone involved here has worked a Super Bowl event in the past.

So, we have a few hours this morning and then it is full steam ahead to the Super Bowl...

More Experience

My day at the NFL Experience yesterday was mostly uneventful. I worked at the checkout stand in the main store all day with the exception of about a half hour when I worked at the jersey customization area. That is where customers select any team jersey they want and pay $25 extra for personalization. That area is a little bit different from the main checkout area and it was good to get that experience. It started out slow and became madness at around noon and stayed that way the rest of my shift. I ended up doing over $10K worth of sales at my register.

The most interesting thing about yesterday was an individual that walked up to my register to pay for his purchase. He saw my name on my credentials badge and said "I don't believe it. In all my years I never thought It would happen, but here I am, Mike Brady talking to Robert Reed". He had his wife take a photo video of the two of us and we traded email addresses and phone numbers. Funny episode.

An interesting aspect of this whole experience is watching the different people that take the train from the first stop where we board, to the downtown stop which is probably 10-12 stops. It rivals people watching at any New York subway station or Chicago Elevated train station. There are drunks, transvestites, gays, students, and all kinds of dress codes represented. It is really entertaining.

I have off today before starting the final push to Super Bowl Sunday. Josie and I both work tomorrow, I work alone on Friday at the stadium putting together the merchandise for Super Bowl in the Team Store, and then we both work Saturday and Sunday. It is a real kick and a very rewarding experience so far...

Working The NFL Store

My schedule yesterday at the NFL Experience in town was from 3 PM until 11 PM last night. My second day as a cashier was at the main merchandise location at the Convention Center. It is a 30,000 square foot store that is between the three levels - on the 2nd floor - of the Convention Center. Josie and I were on the lower level and upper level on Saturday when we worked. This is what the big store looks like from behind the checkout stand where all the cashiers (15) are located:

There is not an item that you can imagine - from shot glasses to apparel to pennants to footballs - that you couldn't find in this store. We were told that every single item that was at the Pro-Bowl on Sunday sold out. There is no reason to think that the same will not happen with the Super Bowl.

This shot is one of the checkout stand where I worked for my entire shift yesterday:

My location was the third register from the right. We were extremely slow from about 2:30 when I arrived until almost 6 PM when business became brisk and stayed that way until around 8:30 PM. I left following the close-out at 10 PM and was out the door by 10:30 PM following the counting and bagging of my till. It was a lot less boring than Saturday, but I didn't get the opportunity to see much of the activities outside the store.

I am scheduled to do the same again today from 9 AM until 3 PM, so I really didn't get much time to do anything else from last night to this morning. I will probably leave here at the same time Josie leaves for her shop. I do get a day off from the NFL Experience tomorrow but I'm not sure if Sam's Club will call to have me come in for work during the day. In the meantime, have a great day everybody...

Final Break For Awhile

It was our last day off together until after Valentine's Day in February. In fact, there will be several days when the only time we see each other - awake - is in the morning for a about an hour and a half. I will be working the NFL Experience in town in the afternoons and evenings and Josie will be working the shop during her normal hours of 8 AM until 4:30 PM. There are a couple days we will be working the Super Bowl activities together, including the big game next Sunday.

We relaxed and hung out in the morning yesterday and did some grocery shopping and shopping for a couple other items in the afternoon. We ended up at the Arrowhead Mall looking for a pair of shoes that I could wear during my Super Bowl activities. The ones I bought at the Famous Footwear store in Peoria last week were too wide and they didn't have that shoe in my size when I returned them yesterday. I found a good pair at the Mall and now I am set to go again.

The Pro Bowl was played last night and it was a huge success at the stadium where the Super Bowl will be played next Sunday. I don't especially care for the new format with the new game rules, but it is always nice to see the best players knock heads on the field. We can now concentrate on the big game and after today, both teams will be in town to practice. The hype is growing and everybody has his own opinion on who will win and by how much.

I work until 11PM tonight so I don't expect to be home before midnight. With  a start tomorrow at 9 AM, there won't be much time to do the blog, so it may be a short entry tomorrow AM. Day number two at the NFL Experience is ahead...

NFL Experience Day 1

We left a little early for our first working day at the NFL Experience at the downtown Convention Center. Our start time was at 3 PM, but we parked at the Park-and-Ride, bought a 7 day pass for the train and rode to town in time to check-in at around 2:20 PM. We were given uniform shirts and led to the main merchandise center at the NFL Experience and began learning the cash register operations. At about 4 PM, Josie was led to a Kiosk on the lower level of the building to run a small Kiosk alone. I was led to another small Kiosk on the 3rd level of the building to operate my own small Kiosk. This is what my Kiosk looked like:

Josie's was very similar and both only contained a small selection of shirts and caps. It was a very boring day for both of us as the volume of business that is done at these Kiosks is small compared to the main merchandise area. Each of our Kiosks was the only apparel outlet on each of our floors. I didn't get to see Josie at all the entire shift except for a brief encounter during our single break of the night. The positive side was that I had a lot of time to take pictures of the surroundings.

These are a couple shots of the area where I was located:

There were many interactive events like passing and kicking, and also many displays of the NFL history.

As the Pro-Bowl is being held this weekend at the same stadium as the Super Bowl, there were many of the teams' mascots and cheerleaders that were roaming the floors. These shots show some of the ones I saw while working at my station. Starting with these cheerleaders. Notice that the gal on the left is one of the Sea-Gals from the Seahawks and a very attractive girl:

Of course, they all were attractive. These next shots are of a few of the team mascots that were walking around. Starting with the San Francisco 49er mascot (Sourdough):

followed by the Rams mascot (Rampage):

and finally, the Cowboy's mascot (Rowdy):

The fans that were walking around wore jerseys from almost every team in the league. The Seahawks and Patriots were well represented and I believe that there were more Seahawks fans than Patriots. Not that it means anything.

We clocked out at 10:30 PM following closing out our registers and Kiosks. We made it home just a little before midnight so it was a long afternoon and evening. It's a little early in our experience to arrive at any conclusions, but we felt that Aramark dropped the ball a bit with the handling of the cashiers on duty We only had one break during the entire time and I didn't even know that there was free food - not the best- available in the lunch room. We are both off today and I work the NFL Experience again on Monday, Tuesday and Friday while we both work together again on Thursday, Saturday and, of course, game day on Sunday.

Stay tuned...

Clarification

I was almost certain that we did not have to go into our first day of work at 7:30 AM today in order to wait around until our start tome at 3 PM. I sent an email to our HR manager, Amy, to get clarification and she responded with the good news. We don't have to be into work until our start time at 3 PM. That means we will leave around 1 PM to drive to the Light Rail in North Phoenix and ride the train to work. But, today is the day that the NFL Experience opens at the Convention Center, and we will be there.

Josie put in a full day at work yesterday and will use the extra time this morning to get her hair done for the Super Bowl schedule. I will work seven of the next nine days at the events while Josie splits her time between the shop and the events. It will be a marathon schedule from now until Super Bowl Sunday. I'll take as many pictures as I can to help with our activity descriptions.

I took a mile and a half walk yesterday while Josie was at work and I saw that the South Ramp was still closed as a result of floating debris. That ramp has been closed the entire winter season so far as a result of whatever took place at the north end of the lake. Here is a shot of the debris that can be seen along the shoreline:

It has been a real inconvenience for lots of folks.

So, we're off to work today as Cashiers at the NFL Experience in town as we are looking forward to a fun time...

Aramark Orientation

Last night we had our Aramark Orientation at the Surprise Stadium. It was held on the bleacher's veranda where it was very cool - in the 50's. We were informed that we should wear warm clothes, and we did. The entire orientation lasted between about 5:30 PM and 7 PM. We did get paid from the time we clocked in at 5 PM until it was over.

Aramark is responsible for all of the merchandise being sold at all the venues for Pro Bowl and Super Bowl. We will be cashiers at the NFL Experience downtown on all the scheduled days except Super Bowl Sunday where we will run one of the Kiosks at the stadium. Aramark will not be responsible for any of the food concessions or have anything to do with the food at any location.

One glitch that surfaced during the meeting was the transportation aspect. We will have to take the Light Rail system to and from the Convention Center in town which is our work location. The closest terminal to us would be the first location at the start of the system which is located at 19th Ave and Montebello which is about a 40 minute drive for us. That assumes no traffic delays. We will have to start that schedule tomorrow AM when Josie and I both have to be at the Convention Center at 7:30 AM. Unfortunately, we don't begin our scheduled work day until 3 PM. We will have to train from 7:30 until we start and we will work until 11 PM. We will get paid for all that time, but we are not looking forward to the extra long day. I will have to travel the Light Rail each of the six days I am scheduled to work. Both of us travel to the Coliseum at 7:30 AM on Super Bowl Sunday to check-in and get our passes for the Super Bowl and take the shuttle to the stadium for the game. We also return to the Coliseum following the game.

The good news is that following the game on Super Bowl Sunday, the merchandise will be highly discounted for all of us to purchase any gear we would like. Aramark wants to have as little merchandise as possible to return following the big game.

We will not be allowed to take pictures while we are on duty which means the only shots we can take will be while on break or on lunch. We also are asked not to approach any celebrities or political dignitaries while on duty. We'll see how this goes. On the one hand, we are super excited to participate, but on the other hand, is the aggravation with transportation worth the inconvenience?

Hang on for the ride...

Controversy

Of course, everybody probably knows about the cheating allegations that have been leveled against the New England Patriots, the Seahawks opponent in the Super Bowl. The business of deflating the footballs is probably over exaggerated. The remark that the Patriots could have used soap bars against the Colts is probably a valid one. The score was 45-7, and the football inflation factor wouldn't have made much difference. The receivers were open on most plays and a 12 year old probably could have completed most of those passes. They will not have that much room to roam and will need a lot more than that to beat the Seahawks. Just my opinion.

We went to the Famous Footwear store last night after Josie got home from work. There is a requirement to wear black pants, which we already have, and black shoes, which we didn't have. I hate to have to buy anything to perform our duties but the experience should be worth it.

Tonight is our main meeting with the Aramark team. The orientation is from 5:30 to 8 PM. The doors will open at the Stadium in Surprise at 5 PM. Josie will work until 3 PM today in order to get home and be prepared for the meeting. All of our questions should be answered at that meeting tonight. Then, the next time we work on Saturday will be at the NFL Experience venue at the Convention Center in town. We hope to be ready...

Fans First Teammate Rally

Josie put in most of a full day at work as she worked until 3 PM before coming home to go to our first Super Bowl Event - The Fans First! Teammate Rally. I spent a good part of the day figuring out our schedule and trying to get Sam's Club to revise my schedule to what we talked about for the next several weeks.

This first event of the Super Bowl activities schedule was a rah-rah session with all of the Super Bowl support organizations at the AZ Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Josie and I first made a stop at the Convention Center in town to pick up our credentials for the entire schedule. It was close to 4:30 PM when we arrived there and received our badges and got on our way to the Coliseum. This was a rah-rah session where the Disney Institute representatives conducted the Rally to get everybody on the same page for making the fans happy and creating a memorable experience for all of the Super Bowl participants in each of the scheduled activities and venues.

We arrived to a lot of fanfare with the Cardinals band and mascot, and we had someone take our picture as we entered the Coliseum:

The girl got her finger a little bit over the lens, but you get the idea.

We entered the building and went to the desk for our organization - Aramark - and clocked in. Yes, we actually got paid to attend this fun Rally. We all were seated in the auditorium with all the screens showing the Fans First! logo:

The entire Rally was conducted by representatives from the Disney Institute and the local organizing committee. It was a feel good session that had several different guest speakers, including Cindy McCain (Sen John McCain's wife), the NFL Events VP, several former AZ Cardinal players and the Cardinals President and owner, Michael Tidwell. Below are a few shots of some of those speakers, starting with the former Cardinals - J T Smith, Jason McAddley and a third whose name escapes me:

a closeup of Jason McAddley:

and Michael Tidwell:

Overall, it was a great start to what we are hoping will be a memorable experience. We stopped at a Denny's on the way home for a bite to eat following the Rally at 9:30 PM and are looking forward to our next event which will be the Aramark Orientation tomorrow night...

Fun Begins

Yesterday was a day of relishing the victory on Sunday that sent the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl. The real fun begins today with the first of the Super Bowl related activities.

Josie will leave work early at 3 PM so that we may travel to downtown to pick up our Credentials for the rest of the events and activities. There is what is called NFL Fans First! Teammate Rally at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum from 6-8 PM. We pick up the badges and details for the rest of our events and schedule. That will be followed on the 22nd with our Aramark Orientation at the Surprise Stadium on Thursday night.

The hype has begun and all the New England fans (of course) are all saying that the Patriots will win by a large margin - most saying scores like 35-17. We all know though that no team has scored 35 points on the Seahawks since Lincoln was President. It isn't likely this year either.

We'll try to get lots of photos of the events and happenings from now until after the game on February 1...

MIRACLE COMEBACK

The only real news from yesterday was the miracle comeback by the Seattle Seahawks to win the NFC title and a return trip to the Super Bowl. It was unbelievable. They were down 19-7 with 5 minutes to play and Green Bay had the ball. The Seahawks not only snatched the ball from them, but scored two last minute touchdowns and a Hail-Mary two point conversion to take the lead 22-19 with 30 seconds remaining. Green Bay tied the game on a field goal and Seattle won in OT, 28-22, with a touchdown on the first possession as a result of deft passing by Russell Wilson. Having played, by far, his worse game of the year and the team's worse game, they shocked the Packers - and the world - with the kind of football they are known for - great defense and great offense. It will be a very good matchup with the New England Patriots who obliterated the Indianapolis Colts to win the AFC Championship 45-7. I look for the Seahawks to win their second consecutive Super Bowl as New England hasn't faced any team like Seattle this year.

Josie and I took a 2.5 mile walk in the morning yesterday to kind of get into a routine of exercising again. We have not done much of any kind of exercise with our crazy schedules being what they are. She goes back to work today and I have off until Wednesday. I hope to get a start on our taxes and maybe get some action on the truck. We had an individual stop by to see the truck yesterday who saw the "for sale" sign in the truck and wanted to check it out. I am being very patient with the ads and still feel that it will be sold in the next couple of weeks.

I still can't get over the Seahawks win yesterday and now, both of us, are really looking forward to working the Super Bowl game on February 1...

Birthday Dinner

I just hung out around the fifth wheel all day while Josie worked from 8 until just before 4 PM. I called her around lunch time and asked her if she felt like going to Macayo's for dinner to celebrate my birthday. She was all for that suggestion.

It turned out to be a bit more than just dinner for the two of us as her manager, Kathy, heard her talking about Macayo's and she kind of invited herself and her boyfriend Steve to crash the party. Then, she asked if it was OK if her daughter Miranda came along. So, we had dinner at Macayo's - the one closer to Kathy's house on Bell Rd - with the five of us. It was fun though, and Josie pulled the usual birthday surprise with the wait staff singing and clapping their hands while serving a birthday dessert. My birthday is officially over for another year.

Today is the one day we have off together this week. Josie said she needed to get some laundry done and I am anxious to watch the NFC Championship game between the Seahawks and the Packers. It should be a terrific game and I'm hoping for another Seahawks victory. Frankly, I don't see any team among the four remaining in the playoffs that can beat them. GO SEAHAWKS!!!

Crooks at Work

One of the most dreaded events at any retail store is shoplifting, or pilferage. I had a good example of it yesterday when I went to work. I was shown a couple photos on Wednesday night of a few individuals that were caught on our store cameras that walked out the back door with a basket full of merchandise. They didn't show up again on my shift on Wednesday. When I arrived at work yesterday afternoon, the pictures were again at each work location throughout the store. The same three individuals struck again on Thursday night while I was off again. This time, they walked out the back door with three baskets loaded with electronics and other merchandise. They didn't show up again on my shift last night. It's hard for me to understand how three people, with three baskets, can slip out the back door where nobody is even suppose to be close to without one of the employees that work in the back office couldn't see them. In fact, I was told there was even an employee taking out trash while this was going on and didn't say anything. Sheesh!

There was another sizable drop in the fuel price at Sam's Club. It is now down to $1.73 per gallon for regular unleaded:

As you  can see, even premium is now below $2.00 per gallon. Wow.

There was an updated schedule released yesterday by Aramark and I was added another full day on mine. Josie's schedule stays the same but I work all four days leading up to, and including, Super Bowl Sunday. We will have to get explanations on exactly where we will be working as the extra day that was added on mine was at the Stadium three days before the game. We'll get explanations when we go for our orientation training on the 22nd.

Once again, I have the day off (today) while Josie has to work. She baked some delicious cookies yesterday while I was at work. I don't know how much of those my diet can take at this point, but the weight isn't melting away like I wanted...

That's More Like It

The weather is now getting to where we expect it to be in AZ in the winter. It was a beautiful and almost calm day yesterday and was one to get out and enjoy the fresh air. I even took a one mile fast-walk around noon to get back into the exercising mode. Both of us miss the hikes and bike rides we took most days in Jackson and have tried to get it together here but our schedules and the weather hasn't fully cooperated. There should be no excuse now as far as the weather.

I took the truck over to the gas pumps here at the resort where diesel prices are actually competitive with prices in the area. I paid $2.63 per gallon while the best price for diesel I've found anywhere in the area is around $2.55. By the time I figure in the time and gas usage to go to those stations, it becomes a deal to get it a few hundred feet away. I can remember paying $5.00 per gallon a few years ago so it is a real bargain today, even though it is still a far cry from the unleaded prices of today. It will certainly be interesting to see how low these fuel prices eventually go before turning around again.

We have word from Jackson that Jim Triplett, the Administrative Manager, turned in his resignation and will be leaving at the end of this coming summer. Our manager, Judy, will move up to replace him and we are hearing that the person identified to take Judy's place is an individual who is young and mostly irresponsible, so we will wait on developments there. It would be a real shame to see that summer situation go away as a result of personnel changes. We'll be watching that situation very closely, for sure.

Josie has the day off today and I don't go into work until 3 PM, so we have about half the day to do some things together. One thing we need to do is to go to the grocery store and restock some staples so that will be on the agenda for this morning. She works tomorrow, so the next full day we have off together is Sunday...

Clear Day

The rain finally stopped yesterday and I had a chance to get the truck wiped clean and ready to go again. It wasn't too much trouble wiping it down with the nice coat of wax that the detailer put on. I haven't had any calls from private parties, but I received a couple more from companies that want to help me sell the truck. If it were just a "beater" car or a common one, it might be something to consider, but I feel this truck is unique enough and with the reputation it has, should sell on its own. I have many page views on the eBay ad, and even have 5 or so people watching the activity on the ad. Those ads typically don't get action until they are about to expire which is still more than two weeks away.

I had another surprise when I went to work yesterday afternoon. The gas prices dropped again - more than just a few cents:

When was the last time you saw gas that low - and especially, premium fuel? I just wish Diesel would follow with those low prices.

I had a nice birthday yesterday even though I was scheduled to work and Josie worked. She made a cake for me while I was at work and it was a very nice day overall. I want to thank all my family and friends for their birthday wishes. I hope the good Lord will continue to allow me to celebrate birthday's...

The Rain Switch

I can see now where the all day session spent detailing the truck was just a rain switch. It has rained every day - the last 4 days - since that job was completed. I can see that there is interest generated from my ads, but nothing that appears to be a deal as yet. I also received the usual inquiries from dealers and brokers trying to "steal" the vehicle, but I can certainly see through those inquiries. Patience is the key through this process. If I can just see the rain disappear.

Speaking of the rain, it became worse in the afternoon when we had some thundershowers to go along with the winds that kicked up yesterday. Josie snapped a couple photos of a rainbow on her way home from work:

They are a couple different perspectives of the rainbow. I captured a third perspective of the rainbow over the resort just before she arrived home:

The rainbow looks like a boundary around the storm.

We got our final schedules yesterday for the football activities over the next couple weeks. I will work 8 days and Josie will work 6 days beginning on January 22 with our training night, and going through the Super Bowl on February 1. We will work together, but at different venues during that time period. We have a couple days at the Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix and the Convention Center in Phoenix where the NFL Experience is being provided. Of course, we will work the Stadium during Super Bowl in the Team Store. We're happy that Super Bowl day will not be spent as cashiers at a food concession, but in the store where lots of action will take place. It looks like we are set to go, and look forward to a fun time...

Another Unscheduled Work day

I was just getting settled in to do some computer work yesterday morning when at 8:30 I received a call from Sam's Club asking me if I could work from 10 AM to 3:30 PM. Of course, I try to accommodate when I can, so I went in to work and did the full shift. I am scheduled to have today off, but I never really know with this company.

We received our schedules from Aramark and the information is somewhat confusing at this point. It looks - initially, at least -that Josie and I will work about 5 days over the two or so weeks during the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl. It looks like our assignment is the  NFL Experience which will be conducted at the Convention Center in town. Further review of the confusing and long email will confirm or not confirm those assignments. If we are forced to work at the Convention Center in downtown Phoenix the whole time, we will most likely pitch the whole project as we both have other jobs that we could work that are a lot more convenient. Plus, the whole purpose for getting involved anyway was to get a chance to go to the Super Bowl. We'll know after today.

We're entering a kind of stressful period now with all the Aramark activity, so we'll see how things go over the next week or so. We aren't going to have any stress to deal with in our lives if there is any way to eliminate it...

Great Football Games

All of the planned ads were completed yesterday for the truck sale. I added Craigslist and the local laundry room for ad placements. I see this morning where I have 133 views on eBay for the ad and 4 people watching. There are a couple other King Ranch F450's for sale, but they will expire in a few days or less, so I hope to get some interest soon. There aren't any available with the added equipment that ours has or a warranty as good as ours. I concluded that the one inquiry I had from Auto Trader was a fraudulent attempt to acquire the truck.

We had some more rain last night - of course, the truck was cleaned and waxed - but it hasn't really affected the nice job that the detailer did on Friday. The inside is still pristine, and the outside can be wiped very easily.

Along with preparing these ads, I watched some great football games over the weekend. Of course, the best one was the Seahawks' trouncing of the Carolina Panthers. It was a close game for three quarters, but Seattle ran away from them in the fourth quarter. Next up is the NFC Championship game next weekend against Green Bay who Seattle has already beaten this year by 20 points. Of course, it doesn't matter what they did early in the season but I don't see any team that can beat the Seahawks again this year. I hope I'm right.

We still haven't received our detailed schedules yet from Aramark, so this week should clear up some of the mystery of when we need to reserve days off from our other jobs. We're heading into some interesting times over the next several weeks...

Truck Listed

Almost my entire morning and early afternoon were spent taking photos of the newly detailed truck and preparing the ads for Auto Trader and eBay Motors. I finished everything by the time I had to leave for work at 2:15. There are still a couple of places I would like to advertise the truck - Craigslist and in our laundry room here at the resort - so those ads are on today's agenda. I already received one inquiry from the Auto Trader ad and I believe it looks suspicious. I have an email from Auto Trader which asks to send any suspicious emails to their fraud department for investigation, which I did this morning. While working last night I received a text from someone asking for another photo of the engine which I texted back. The same individual responded this morning with the suspicious email. In less than one day, I have had 64 views of the eBay ad and one person watching the ad. So, we're off and running with this experience that hopefully will be positive.

It makes sense that since I had the truck detailed that it would rain yesterday. We probably get five or six days of rain in the winters here - between October and May - and one of them (or more) have occurred following the detail work. Oh, well, the pictures don't lie. It also makes sense that since I decided to sell the truck because it is a gas hog that diesel fuel prices would drop to almost where they are affordable. It's too bad that the best mileage I can get from the truck is about 13 mpg.

I got home in time last night to watch the final few minutes of the Seahawks/Panthers game and was happy to see the Seahawks destroy that team 31-17. They were the first Super Bowl winning  team to win a playoff game in their first season following the Super Bowl win since 2005. I don't see any team that can beat them, so I see them repeating as Super Bowl Champs again this year. I hope I'm right...

Truck Detailed

I spent my day off having the truck detailed while Josie was at work. He (Bill) arrived at our space a few minutes before 8 AM and didn't finish up until 3:30 in the afternoon. I've never seen such attention to detail or ever had such a thorough detailing of any vehicle I've ever owned. This guy was downsized from his IT Sales job in September and he indicated that he had always done some detailing for friends and while on vacations, so he decided to make it his full time occupation. He said he couldn't have any people working for or with him because he is so demanding on the details. The name of his company is Crystal Clear Auto Detailing in case anybody wants to know. He charged $275 for the detailing, and it is worth every penny. The truck looks as good as it did the day I picked it up from the dealership.

Here is a shot of him working on the detailing:

and the finished product:

The truck is now ready to be advertised for sale. With any kind of luck, it will sell quickly.

Our weekend will be spent mostly together as Josie has both days off and I work today from 3 PM until 8:30 PM. We have some shopping to do for groceries but, other than that, nothing else is planned at this point...

Just Another Work day

Both of us worked yesterday but my schedule was the later shift once again so I didn't get home until 9 PM last night. This year is very different from last year with our increased work schedule and I'm not sure yet how it all is going to work out. There were no noteworthy events at either of our workplaces except the gas prices dropped again at Sam's Club. I won't put the picture in that shows the new price at $1.84 per gallon as it seems that almost every day now there is a drop in the price. The big questions are: how low will it go before it begins rising again, and how high will the price go again when it rises? It is a nice situation for now.

Josie ends her work week today and I have off until tomorrow. The main activity for today is to get the truck detailed so I can get some shots of it for the ads I will prepare. I'm hoping that I get a good response to the ad and can get it sold quickly. The implication here is that the fifth wheel is going to remain on site at Lake Pleasant for the foreseeable future. We are looking at other options for Jackson but have to see how the next couple months go before making any firm plans for the summer. There are lots of questions still to be answered, and we hope to know the answers before too long.

The training for the Super Bowl activity and Pro Bowl activity will begin soon, so that is another distraction. At least our employers are both aware that we have those commitments and there shouldn't be any problem getting the required time off to participate. It is going smoothly right now...

Unscheduled Work Day

My day wasn't too far along when I received a call from Sam's Club to ask if I could work yesterday. It was before 8 AM and they asked if I could work from 9 to 6.  Evidently, one of our Greeter's called in sick and they had to have coverage. I agreed to come in, but from 9:30 to 3 PM. That was OK as they had another person scheduled for 3 to 8:30 which is closing time. I don't mind covering for somebody on my day off, but I don't relish working beyond the time I'm needed. It's not like I'm getting $20 per hour.

We set a record high temperature for this date yesterday (sorry, Patty). We reached 81 in Phoenix to break the old record of 79 for this date. I know that Chicago is still in the freezer as their high was barely in the plus figures for the day. With the wind chill, I saw that they were around -20. That is definitely dangerously cold, and the kids - and everybody else, for that matter - have to stay inside.

Josie and I both have work scheduled today. My day doesn't begin until 3 PM while she works her usual 8 to 4:30. It's another day where we only see each other briefly in the AM and at night before bedtime. There still is no word yet from Aramark on our schedules for the last two weeks in January...

Waiting For Aramark Schedule

I picked up my schedule for the next couple weeks at Sam's Club and I see that I am only scheduled for one shift the week of January 16. That coincides with the start at Aramark. All I need to get now is the Aramark schedule.

Gas prices took another dip yesterday and the price for unleaded has dropped to $1.86 per gallon:

The lowest price I've seen for diesel in our area is still pretty high - $2.73 per gallon. It still is a mystery to me why diesel hasn't dropped at the same rate as unleaded - it's refined from the same, cheap oil. The linked article helps explain it a little better.

Josie has gone to 5 days per week on her schedule and they are setting her up for full-time work. That may determine how our long term schedule is planned and may impact our annual (summer) trip to Jackson. We'll have to wait and see what happens with both of our jobs. We will have to make a commitment to Jackson in another month or so, or lose our position there for any future jobs. It could turn out to be a real dilemma for us.

It is heating up again as we reached 77 degrees yesterday. We don't see it getting too cold again, so I hope we can get some outside activity going. I have Friday off this week and I have scheduled an appointment to have the truck detailed. I am going to test the market for selling the truck to see if we can get what the Kelley Blue Book says it is worth. Hang on for this ride...

Moon Over Peoria

I have to start this entry with a couple photos that Josie took on the way to work yesterday. She will take pictures of sunrises when they are pretty, but this one is especially unique as it shows the moon setting over the desert at Lake Pleasant in Peoria in the west:

 while this one was taken facing east to get the sunrise that was on the opposite side of the road:

Now that the days are getting longer again and the sun will rise earlier, she probably won't get many chances at these kind of shots for awhile.

I spent the day doing some prep work for taxes and reading my book. I'm reading the story of Louis Zamperini who is the subject in the movie of the same title "Unbroken". It's quite a story and you have to be amazed at the fact that he lived to be over 97 years old after all the torture he endured during WW II.

I have to feel sorry for Patty and her family in Chicago where the latest Arctic Blast has the temperatures in the negative range. We went to 74 yesterday as our warmth has returned. Hang in there as it will once again - eventually- get to where you can enjoy the warm weather.

We will spend the day "passing in the night" again. Josie will get off work at 4:30 while I start my shift at Sam's Club at  5 PM and work until 9 PM tonight...

Christmas Put Away

Our only common day off for the next week was spent taking down and packing up the rest of our Christmas decorations. The lights outside and the window lights from inside were the final phase. Everything fit into the Jeep and we took everything to our storage unit in Surprise.

There were a couple really good football playoff games on TV which we watched - I watched, really - while Josie did some crocheting. Next week's playoff schedule is set and the Seahawks will play the Carolina Panthers on Saturday. They were the team that beat the Cardinals this weekend.

It's back to work for Josie today while I get another day off to catch up on some computer work and to start the gathering of data for the annual taxes exercise. Everything that I need will be placed into one folder and be ready to go with the exception of our W-2's which will come dribbling in over the next few weeks.

The winter weather has seemingly moved on as we had a low of 39 here yesterday and a high of 64. We expect to reach the 70's by tomorrow, and that will be good weather for outside activities. It looks like "normal" has returned this second week in January...

Full Work Day

There was nothing happening yesterday except "work" for both of us. For a Saturday, it didn't seem right that both of us were gone for the whole day. We would normally begin our outside take-down of Christmas on the first Saturday following New Year's, but it was not possible. I met Josie at the Sam's Club after she got off work and I finished up at 5 PM. We shopped for several items we needed plus a roasted chicken for dinner. They sell lots and lots of these roasted chickens that cost only $4.98 and are larger than any of the roasted chickens we buy at the grocery stores. Mmm, they are good.

As mentioned, we have a pretty full day scheduled today with taking down and packing away our outside decorations including the lights. We will also take everything to our storage unit and get those items put away for another year.

I hope to get some time today to watch the second round of football playoffs. It was a shame that the Cardinals lost yesterday but I would guess that they were doomed from the day they lost their starting quarterback several weeks ago. They were a real threat before that when they could move the football and put points on the board. They will be back again next year, tougher and better than this year. In the meantime - GO SEAHAWKS!!

Surprise Response

My schedule had me working from 3 PM to 8:30 PM yesterday. I had prepared a resignation letter to present to the Personnel Manager at Sam's Club giving my two weeks notice, and indicating that I would like to re-apply on April 1 following my commitment to Aramark for the Pro Bowl, Super Bowl and Spring Training. She wouldn't accept my resignation and indicated that if I could only work one 5.5 hour shift per week, I wouldn't have to resign and could keep my seniority and benefits without interruption. Their willingness to work with me during these other events must be a sign they are satisfied with my efforts so far at Sam's Club. I don't have a schedule yet for the days I need to work for Aramark, but as soon as I get one, a copy will be given to Sam's Club to prepare a schedule for squeezing in some work time with them. So, now I have two jobs.

Josie will also have two jobs for awhile and will be juggling time between the shop and Aramark. It looks like the next couple of months will be extra busy for us. There may be long stretches where we just pass in the night but we will give it a try.

We are having our annual cold spell in AZ as the temperatures have been hovering around freezing the last few nights. The forecast is for warming at the beginning of the week and it is expected to reach the 70's again by Tuesday. Following some pretty strong winds yesterday, it is relatively calm again this morning.

We both work long days today - 8 to 5 - and have tomorrow off which is good news...

Starting the New Year in the Freezer

It was an especially cool day - low of 33 - and especially windy - gusts over 30 mph. The night last night was one of those rock'n and rollin' nights. New Year's Day was so cold we had snow in the hills that are just north of the RV Park. Josie snapped this shot of the snow level in the hills:

It is very rare to see any snow in this area, but this reminded us of seeing the Tetons in late May. The forecast is for warming - of course, where else could it go - and will be in the seventies by the beginning of next week.

The activity is heating up at Aramark for staffing needs for the NFL Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl. Reportedly, there are many hours available to work these events that lead up to Spring Training. I have decided to leave Sam's Club with two weeks notice that I will give at work today. I will make more money with Aramark and will have a much more predictable schedule. The scheduling to date has taken its toll on our ability to plan anything. Schedules change almost on a daily basis at Sam's Club, and as the new kid on the block, I seem to get the unwanted hours rejected by the more senior workers. I understand that. I may re-apply for the same job following Spring Training, but we'll see.

There are also some potential changes at Josie's shop which could impact her schedule - and, our longer rang plans. We'll keep everybody current on those changes as they occur. It could be more hours and/or more pay for her. It could also result in no changes at all...

Goodbye 2014

What a difference a year makes. Last New Year's we were in Laughlin at the tail end of our Western Arizona trip between Christmas and New Year's. This year, we both had to work and we spent a quiet New Year's Eve bringing in 2015 in front of our own TV. I didn't get home from work until after 7:30 after I stopped at Walmart to pick up a couple frozen pizzas for dinner. So, instead of spending money and having some fun in the Casinos, we made some money and had a nice time at home.

The year of 2014 did not produce a good showing in our weight control program. You might say that the program was suspended for the year. We both gained some weight, although not an extreme amount. We have already decided to make it a serious year for weight control and exercise like we did in 2013. With both of us working, it shouldn't be too difficult to curb our bad eating practices and to get back to the basics of eating healthy food and maintaining strict portion control.

It's now time to get out the new charts for 2015. We keep a record of our gas purchases and mileage for each vehicle in a Dome Auto Mileage log book each year. We also keep a chart of our weight taped to the back of our bathroom cabinet mirror to record our weight twice a week. We go back to 2004 with these weight charts and I save them so we can track our yo-yo weight control. Someday I'll total up all the pounds we have lost - and regained - over the years. It would most likely be an alarming number.

We hope that everybody has a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year, and you achieve all your goals for the coming year...