One of the objectives we've had for quite some time is to clear out as much of our files as we could. We have several boxes of files that we have been carrying around that include all our receipts, medical records, tax records for the last 4 years and even a box of articles I have been collecting that describe places to go and things to do within each state in the country. This is a box, now weighing close to 30 pounds, that is organized by state, and Canadian Province. These articles have been clipped from our monthly magazines on RV'ing - Trailer Life, Trail Blazer (Thousand Trails), RV View and articles from other publications. I have done lots of research on portable scanners to see if that might be a viable solution to the problem, and I settled on a Brother DSMobile 600 scanner that was very highly rated and affordable - $129. With our Amazon.com employee discount, it was a real good bargain for us. I can now get rid of our very heavy HP all-in-one printer, copier, fax and scanner. The scanner on that device is top loaded, slow and inconvenient, and has poor software for organizing files on disk. There are many, inexpensive printers that can replace that heavy device. Anyway, I began scanning all the travel articles into the computer, and placing them onto a small USB Flash Disk (16 GB) for easy access anywhere, on any computer. The software that is supplied with the scanner makes it simple to organize the files on any disk. I was sailing along until I ran into a problem with the device. Evidently, it had a defect that I couldn't get around so I contacted Amazon.com and they are shipping a replacement to me, at no charge, on a 2 day delivery. Now that's good service. It will arrive Thursday and I can continue the task of eliminating most of the files we have. This will be a good step in reducing the total weight of our rig while traveling.
Josie went to the hairdresser in the afternoon and we, basically, just enjoyed the day relaxing. It has been 10 days now since our last measurable rainfall and the temperatures are in the pleasant range. Best of all, the humidity hasn't been unbearable.
There were a few more new rigs arriving in the campground, so it is slowly filling up for the peak season. We see the new "classes" of workampers during the week in the warehouse and remember the process from last year. They are in for a huge shock when they begin work. Some of them will undoubtedly leave after they discover how physical the work can be. Most of them are used to sedentary work at campgrounds and will quickly discover that they need to work in a different mode. We're still adjusting.
My lounge chair is beckoning, so have a great day...
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Another Week Down
We finished our 8th week of work at Amazon.com yesterday. There are only 16 weeks to go. UGH! It sounds better to say we are 1/3 of the way there. I worked in 3 different areas yesterday, and Josie worked in 2 different locations. We ended up working together again in the Prep area which was a good finish to the week. They asked us if we wanted to work an OT day today and we graciously rejected that idea, saying that this week we wanted the extra day to rest. This ranked right up there with one of the most physical weeks we have spent working there.
It's a good thing we are working the day shift now. They are rushing to get everything ready for the onslaught of workampers coming in to the campground over the several weeks and there is noise just outside our rig where they are putting up a fence. The noise started at 7 AM which would be right in the middle of our deep sleep if we still worked the night shift. The other thing is, it's nice to get up at a normal hour on our days off. There are advantages and disadvantages to the days, but overall, the hours are closer to normal which is the overriding factor.
I didn't get another update from Grey's Point last night, so I'm assuming either they are too overwhelmed with assessing the damage or don't have power. It may be both. We keep hearing about all the flooding and damage to homes in the areas from NJ north, but we have not seen many reports of damage in NC or VA, where the storm hit with its maximum force. With the network stations coming from New York, I guess we can understand. Stay tuned for the next report from Bruce at Grey's Point when he gets the opportunity.
There is definitely an improvement in the weather - temperature and humidity - over the last 2 weeks. A real sign is that we aren't dripping wet from sweat when we leave work. Oh, we are still hot and a little damp, but nothing compared to the first several weeks. We'll try to enjoy the better weather while we are off the next 3 days but resting up is the priority...
It's a good thing we are working the day shift now. They are rushing to get everything ready for the onslaught of workampers coming in to the campground over the several weeks and there is noise just outside our rig where they are putting up a fence. The noise started at 7 AM which would be right in the middle of our deep sleep if we still worked the night shift. The other thing is, it's nice to get up at a normal hour on our days off. There are advantages and disadvantages to the days, but overall, the hours are closer to normal which is the overriding factor.
I didn't get another update from Grey's Point last night, so I'm assuming either they are too overwhelmed with assessing the damage or don't have power. It may be both. We keep hearing about all the flooding and damage to homes in the areas from NJ north, but we have not seen many reports of damage in NC or VA, where the storm hit with its maximum force. With the network stations coming from New York, I guess we can understand. Stay tuned for the next report from Bruce at Grey's Point when he gets the opportunity.
There is definitely an improvement in the weather - temperature and humidity - over the last 2 weeks. A real sign is that we aren't dripping wet from sweat when we leave work. Oh, we are still hot and a little damp, but nothing compared to the first several weeks. We'll try to enjoy the better weather while we are off the next 3 days but resting up is the priority...
Monday, August 29, 2011
More Reports From Grey's Point
We received another email from Bruce at Grey's Point with a further update on the damage at the campground:
"Finally got thru to Mary's cell & it was a very rough night, but those that stayed behind are safe. Mary did admit that things got quite hectic after midnight. Last count is about 8 to 10 seasonal trailers crushed by falling trees plus many trees just down. The marina is basically destroyed - the big fish cleaning station next to the little store is gone and most of the docks are seriously damaged or gone. There is lots of additional minor damage and it's going to take a major clean up. That's the good news - - now for the bad - - power is out and it may be one week to 10 days to get it restored. Don't know what Melinda and Jamie are going to do, but Larry, T, and I are heading back in the morning and hoping for the best. We can get water anyhow, so that's good, but I'm dreading trying to sleep without A C. Our coming back and working under those conditions, you'd think Hurly would rent a couple generators for us so we could at least cool our rigs down before going to bed, BUT I'm not holdng my breath on that happening. I'll E you some pics of the damage when I can. Take care, Bruce "
We thought that the marina would sustain significant damage, but are somewhat surprised at the number of park models destroyed. The storm was still near its peak power when it hit the Chesapeake Bay area, so it must have been a very scary situation for those that stayed behind. The mention of "Hurly" in Bruce's email is the owner of the campground. He is known for having tight purse strings. We will post the pictures when we receive them.
Today is our final regular day of the work week and we have decided to forego the OT this week and use the extra full day to rest. We did some work in a new area yesterday and it was tough on our bodies as the entire day was spent handling heavy totes with lots of items in each in a very tight area of the warehouse. It was nice to arrive home yesterday afternoon and take our showers. We found out that the company picnic will be held on September 24th this year at a local park in Campbellsville. Of course, it is a Saturday and we will be working so our plans are already made for that day. That's OK. Lots of others will also be working and they really cannot accommodate every employee. So, we'll put in our final day today and look forward to time off until Friday...
"Finally got thru to Mary's cell & it was a very rough night, but those that stayed behind are safe. Mary did admit that things got quite hectic after midnight. Last count is about 8 to 10 seasonal trailers crushed by falling trees plus many trees just down. The marina is basically destroyed - the big fish cleaning station next to the little store is gone and most of the docks are seriously damaged or gone. There is lots of additional minor damage and it's going to take a major clean up. That's the good news - - now for the bad - - power is out and it may be one week to 10 days to get it restored. Don't know what Melinda and Jamie are going to do, but Larry, T, and I are heading back in the morning and hoping for the best. We can get water anyhow, so that's good, but I'm dreading trying to sleep without A C. Our coming back and working under those conditions, you'd think Hurly would rent a couple generators for us so we could at least cool our rigs down before going to bed, BUT I'm not holdng my breath on that happening. I'll E you some pics of the damage when I can. Take care, Bruce "
We thought that the marina would sustain significant damage, but are somewhat surprised at the number of park models destroyed. The storm was still near its peak power when it hit the Chesapeake Bay area, so it must have been a very scary situation for those that stayed behind. The mention of "Hurly" in Bruce's email is the owner of the campground. He is known for having tight purse strings. We will post the pictures when we receive them.
Today is our final regular day of the work week and we have decided to forego the OT this week and use the extra full day to rest. We did some work in a new area yesterday and it was tough on our bodies as the entire day was spent handling heavy totes with lots of items in each in a very tight area of the warehouse. It was nice to arrive home yesterday afternoon and take our showers. We found out that the company picnic will be held on September 24th this year at a local park in Campbellsville. Of course, it is a Saturday and we will be working so our plans are already made for that day. That's OK. Lots of others will also be working and they really cannot accommodate every employee. So, we'll put in our final day today and look forward to time off until Friday...
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Storm Update
We received an email from our friend Bruce who was one of the folks that traveled to Charlottesville, VA, for the weekend to escape the wrath of the hurricane. I placed the text of his email below so you could see the early reports of the damage at Grey's Point Campground:
"Hi kids, Larry & T, Melinda & Jamie, & I had a good trip over to Charlottesville yesterday. I talked with Mary late this afternoon and the worst of the hurricane is still several hours away from Grey's, but already trees have fallen on and crushed 4 of the seasonal park models, the entire transient area is underwater, and the docks at the marina are under water, with a good number of boards loose and floating around. We're 130 miles away and it has rained here all day and right now the wind is blowing about 20 to 25 mph. Grey's still has power, but it will probably be out by morning - Beth Page lost power early this afternoon. This is the first Saturday I've had off since March 1st & it's been nice to just hang out and relax! We're heading back Monday. Take care - sorry you're missing out on all this fun! Bruce"
Mary is the campground Manager and it appears that she stayed behind with her husband, Russ, in their motorhome. That was a very risky thing to do- if it is true - as their space is under several trees. Bruce was also my supervisor while I was there and is in charge of all the hosting functions at the park. The transient area that he referred to is the overnight campground portion of the park, as opposed to the full time, permanent site locations where the park models are located. All of our (workamper) sites were in the transient area. Of course, Chesapeake Bay, on which the campground lies, took a direct hit from the storm. Thank you, Lord, for guiding us away from that area. We will keep everybody posted as we get firsthand reports.
Today is day 3 of our work week and already we are looking forward to Tuesday afternoon. We aren't sure yet about working a half day of OT on Tuesday morning, but we will probably end up working. It is so easy to do just a half day after working 10 hour days, and the money is good. Later...
"Hi kids, Larry & T, Melinda & Jamie, & I had a good trip over to Charlottesville yesterday. I talked with Mary late this afternoon and the worst of the hurricane is still several hours away from Grey's, but already trees have fallen on and crushed 4 of the seasonal park models, the entire transient area is underwater, and the docks at the marina are under water, with a good number of boards loose and floating around. We're 130 miles away and it has rained here all day and right now the wind is blowing about 20 to 25 mph. Grey's still has power, but it will probably be out by morning - Beth Page lost power early this afternoon. This is the first Saturday I've had off since March 1st & it's been nice to just hang out and relax! We're heading back Monday. Take care - sorry you're missing out on all this fun! Bruce"
Mary is the campground Manager and it appears that she stayed behind with her husband, Russ, in their motorhome. That was a very risky thing to do- if it is true - as their space is under several trees. Bruce was also my supervisor while I was there and is in charge of all the hosting functions at the park. The transient area that he referred to is the overnight campground portion of the park, as opposed to the full time, permanent site locations where the park models are located. All of our (workamper) sites were in the transient area. Of course, Chesapeake Bay, on which the campground lies, took a direct hit from the storm. Thank you, Lord, for guiding us away from that area. We will keep everybody posted as we get firsthand reports.
Today is day 3 of our work week and already we are looking forward to Tuesday afternoon. We aren't sure yet about working a half day of OT on Tuesday morning, but we will probably end up working. It is so easy to do just a half day after working 10 hour days, and the money is good. Later...
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Huge Hurricane Bearing Down
Our friends that have evacuated to Charlottesville, VA yesterday will be out of the way of the worst part of Hurricane Irene today, but will still feel some of the effects of the storm. The storm is so huge that most of Virginia will feel some of the winds and get heavy rain. We feel sorry for the people that have properties in Grey's Point and Bethpage, as most of those will certainly have some damage by the time it's all done on Monday. The forecast is for about 10" of rain for them from the storm, plus relentless wind for about 20 hours. It amazes us that the technology today is able to predict the path of these storms with such accuracy. They said about a week ago that Chesapeake Bay would be in the direct path, and it seems they were right. It will totally miss us and we again are thankful that we are where we are. We pray that everybody is safe through it all.
Our water line problem with the refrigerator appears to be fixed. The Tech came by yesterday while we were working and put yet another (the third) fitting on the line, and it appears to be OK - so far. It wasn't his fault that the fittings have failed but it makes you wonder where the quality has gone. He purchased the bad fittings from Lowe's in town and finally went to another hardware provider (?) to purchase the third one. There are a couple minor fixes that remain to be done on the refrigerator - the inside drain needs a part and the outside drain hose needs an extension. Both of those parts are ordered and will arrive within the next week. The bill for the Tech services came to $122, which was a pleasant surprise considering the way that most mobile services gouge the public. There will be a small additional charge to install the ordered parts, but that will be a very small amount. We're just happy that the water problem appears to be fixed.
It seems like we just get to bed at night and it is time to get up again. We both feel tired this morning and will probably have to go to bed earlier at night in order to get our full, required rest. Evidently, 7 hours isn't enough. Overtime for this week is still up in the air, so we have to decide on that in the next day or so. The half day we worked last week was easy, but we are both very tired right now, so we'll have to evaluate that situation. Have a great day...
Our water line problem with the refrigerator appears to be fixed. The Tech came by yesterday while we were working and put yet another (the third) fitting on the line, and it appears to be OK - so far. It wasn't his fault that the fittings have failed but it makes you wonder where the quality has gone. He purchased the bad fittings from Lowe's in town and finally went to another hardware provider (?) to purchase the third one. There are a couple minor fixes that remain to be done on the refrigerator - the inside drain needs a part and the outside drain hose needs an extension. Both of those parts are ordered and will arrive within the next week. The bill for the Tech services came to $122, which was a pleasant surprise considering the way that most mobile services gouge the public. There will be a small additional charge to install the ordered parts, but that will be a very small amount. We're just happy that the water problem appears to be fixed.
It seems like we just get to bed at night and it is time to get up again. We both feel tired this morning and will probably have to go to bed earlier at night in order to get our full, required rest. Evidently, 7 hours isn't enough. Overtime for this week is still up in the air, so we have to decide on that in the next day or so. The half day we worked last week was easy, but we are both very tired right now, so we'll have to evaluate that situation. Have a great day...
Friday, August 26, 2011
Hurricane Irene Approaching
We heard from the folks at Grey's Point, VA., last night and they are all evacuating today to avoid Hurricane Irene due to hit the area on Saturday. They spent the whole day yesterday making preparations, as best they could, by removing flags, banners and tying down everything they could before preparing to leave. They will stay at the Charlottesville (VA) KOA campground until Monday. That is located northwest of Richmond and will hopefully keep them a safe distance from the shores of Chesapeake Bay which is expected to take a direct hit. We are so grateful that we left there when we did. The folks at Grey's Point are hoping that the Labor Day weekend is not impacted too much as they are totally booked for that weekend. We would expect that there will be serious damage to the park - and also Bethpage, the sister park - as there are many park models and manufactured homes that are permanently located there and always affected by these storms. We will get a report from them on Monday, the planned return to the park.
The refrigerator leak is still a stubborn problem. The Mobile Tech put in a new line yesterday AM and we all thought it was fixed. After he left, I went to replace the outside cover on the refrigerator compartment and discovered that there was still water leaking from the fitting where the new line was attached. I called the Tech back and he came to replace the fitting with another one. Once again, we thought it was fixed. Josie went to do laundry and I did some work on the computer and then took a little nap for about 45 minutes. When I awoke, there was a flood in the kitchen. I turned off the water and ran outside to discover that the new line, a plastic tube that is 1/4" in diameter, separated from the fitting and water was running into the rig from the rear underside of the refrigerator. I once again phoned the Tech and he was unable to return yesterday to fix the problem. He will return this AM, while we are at work, so we need to leave the rig unlocked and trust him to fix the problem and close everything up again before leaving.
It promises to be an interesting 4 days this weekend while we are working, so hang on...
The refrigerator leak is still a stubborn problem. The Mobile Tech put in a new line yesterday AM and we all thought it was fixed. After he left, I went to replace the outside cover on the refrigerator compartment and discovered that there was still water leaking from the fitting where the new line was attached. I called the Tech back and he came to replace the fitting with another one. Once again, we thought it was fixed. Josie went to do laundry and I did some work on the computer and then took a little nap for about 45 minutes. When I awoke, there was a flood in the kitchen. I turned off the water and ran outside to discover that the new line, a plastic tube that is 1/4" in diameter, separated from the fitting and water was running into the rig from the rear underside of the refrigerator. I once again phoned the Tech and he was unable to return yesterday to fix the problem. He will return this AM, while we are at work, so we need to leave the rig unlocked and trust him to fix the problem and close everything up again before leaving.
It promises to be an interesting 4 days this weekend while we are working, so hang on...
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Leak Almost Fixed
The mobile Tech arrived a few minutes before noon yesterday and got to work on trying to locate the source of our refrigerator leak. I had already taken the back panels off the refrigerator outside and I got the ladder ready so he could inspect as much of the back of the unit as possible. There has been a slow leak for some time in a splice of the tubing that is part of the ice maker system that I was aware of, and that is seen from the outside back panel. The water leaking into the kitchen was coming from a different location (it seemed) and I assumed that it was a different source. That leak outside was so small that I was going to try to repair that one myself. The Tech inspected the whole line and any other location that he could see and concluded that the tubing was the culprit. Either the splice was leaking for so long that the water accumulated somewhere under the refrigerator and is spilling into the kitchen, or there is another, hidden leak in the line that cannot be seen. Anyway, I shut down the water source to the refrigerator which is a valve under our kitchen sink and the leak stopped. If I had any sense at all, I would have cut off the water supply a week ago and done without the ice maker and drinking water dispenser. It just never occurred to me to do that. Of course, if I had done that, there wouldn't have been any dripping and the Tech would not have been able to discover the source of the leak.
After working for about an hour and a half on the problem he decided to replace the entire line of tubing. That will be a task that he is returning today to complete, since he didn't have any of that tubing in his truck. Also, there is a problem with the drain inside the refrigerator - missing a part - and there is another problem with the fans - not working - that are located in the back of the refrigerator to recirculate air around the coils. He needs to order those parts and return a third time to install those. The estimate for all the work is around $150, plus parts, so it doesn't seem too bad. We'll see how close he comes to his estimate.
This activity with the refrigerator problem has pretty much dictated the schedule for our off days. Josie will do some laundry this morning while I entertain the Tech once again. It warmed up into the 90's again yesterday and the humidity returned. Maybe it will be a short term thing. We are watching the path of the hurricane (Irene) on the news and it doesn't look good for the North Carolina coast. We will probably get some rain from this hurricane. New York newscasters are all commenting on how the city over reacted to the earthquake and how the westerners are poking fun at the city. The storm may, unfortunately, give them something to really talk about as Long Island is in the path of the storm, so we hope the storm doesn't result in any major damage.
We may be getting some rain even before the hurricane effect hits us as it is very cloudy and appears ready to dump some rain at any time. I hope we get the refrigerator work gets done before the rain arrives...
After working for about an hour and a half on the problem he decided to replace the entire line of tubing. That will be a task that he is returning today to complete, since he didn't have any of that tubing in his truck. Also, there is a problem with the drain inside the refrigerator - missing a part - and there is another problem with the fans - not working - that are located in the back of the refrigerator to recirculate air around the coils. He needs to order those parts and return a third time to install those. The estimate for all the work is around $150, plus parts, so it doesn't seem too bad. We'll see how close he comes to his estimate.
This activity with the refrigerator problem has pretty much dictated the schedule for our off days. Josie will do some laundry this morning while I entertain the Tech once again. It warmed up into the 90's again yesterday and the humidity returned. Maybe it will be a short term thing. We are watching the path of the hurricane (Irene) on the news and it doesn't look good for the North Carolina coast. We will probably get some rain from this hurricane. New York newscasters are all commenting on how the city over reacted to the earthquake and how the westerners are poking fun at the city. The storm may, unfortunately, give them something to really talk about as Long Island is in the path of the storm, so we hope the storm doesn't result in any major damage.
We may be getting some rain even before the hurricane effect hits us as it is very cloudy and appears ready to dump some rain at any time. I hope we get the refrigerator work gets done before the rain arrives...
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