This is a clip that my husband took during an unrehearsed jam session in 2010.  We'd gone to an open mic night, and found that only 3 people who could play anything showed up, and one of them didn't bring his guitar. So, since the place was empty and we were among friends, we tried a lot of stuff.  This is one of the few clips that turned out half way decent and worth sharing.

That's me on the left, playing my fiddle, or at least pretending to play, since I'm self taught.

I can sure see that I've lost weight.  Wow.  I think I'm around 25 lbs lighter now.

Sorry for the rocky start ... that just happens to be where he turned the camera on.  We didn't know he was shooting video.  To be totally honest, I'm not entirely sure HE knew he was shooting video, ha-ha-ha.  As you can hear, the guitar is too close to him ... but given that it was a relatively inexpensive little Sony Cybershot, the sound quality isn't all that bad!

Anyway, I sure miss my fiddle.  I brought along my Pancordion accordion, which I've had energy to play exactly twice, and my small keyboard which is just taking up space in the bedroom.  However ... God Help Me ... I found a little Gold Excelsior Accordiana in the local pawn shop.  It's a bit over priced, but it's so much lighter than the Crucianelli, that I'm horribly tempted to go buy it.

I feel like celebrating.  We have made it a little over a quarter of the way through this adventure.

On the plus side, I've reduced my gravitational pull by a full 15 pounds, we've made some much needed repairs to the van with a few more planned, and added quite a few kitchen appliances to the trailer including a microwave and new crock-pot.  We've enjoyed meeting and visiting with some of the other campers, and we've experienced the joy of being recognized and greeted while out shopping.  The only other place that happens is Crescent City.

On the negative side of the balance sheet, though, is the physical pain from the high level of activity that we were not adequately prepared for, the expenses for work shoes, OTC pain medication, and the frustrations associated with working for people who lack skills we've come to expect from managers.  Being treated disrespectfully by young people who haven't a clue about who we are and what we know is uncomfortable, and the whole factory setting that treats employees like cattle is a royal pain in the proverbial drain.

We work what's known as the donut shift, but we don't get donuts.  It means we work two days with one management team, skip a day, then work two days with the other daytime management team.  You'd think that both teams would be operating out of the same handbook, but there are differences and remembering who wants what is frustrating at times.  Several work practices are mandatory on one of the shifts and verboten on the other.  One has a happy, helpful, "we're all on one team" approach, while the other has the most unhappy, "I gotta get MY numbers, so screw you"  attitude, it's unreal.  That's been difficult to work in for a couple of reasons.  First, the job curtails personal freedom and expression just because of what it is we are doing, and also because at this point in our lives we've become accustomed to a retirement lifestyle and having to punch a time clock and submit to security checks and having our lunch bag examined is annoying.

The biggest issue for most of us recently, however, is that the break room and bathroom closest to our work area is being remodeled and is inaccessible.  So on the 15 minute break, which you lose at least 5 minutes of walking out of your work area, you have to add a lengthy hike to get to a toilet.  No allowance has been made for people to travel this extra distance, and we are told we must stay at our stations right up until the moment the clock ticks over to the designated break time.  So if I try to use the facilities on my scheduled break, I literally only get to sit as long as it takes to urinate, and I can just barely get back to my work station before I'm deemed late. 

Lunches have been a nightmare, because it's literally a 7 or 8 minute walk from where we end our morning shift to the security checkpoint at the break room, so we lose almost half of our lunch break just getting to our lunch.  Then if we happen to trigger the alarm, which my new bra did one day, we have to empty our pockets and go be scanned with a wand ... and our names get put on a list ... and there goes another 2 to 5 minutes.  The break room is very large, but there are no entrances at the back due to security issues, so you literally have to walk the length of the room, go through security, and then walk all the way back to your lunch.  I've become the fastest eater ever in my attempts to consume enough food to sustain me for the course of my second half work day.  I'm very relieved to find that yesterday the back break room had been reopened, although it didn't yet have the ice machine or refrigerators back in place.  What I'm most anxious about, though, is the reopening of the restroom.  I hope it's operational again next week.

I've spent a great deal of time pondering this whole situation, and also working hard at adjusting my own attitude so that I can survive this without a mental break down.  This job doesn't use any of my skills other than eye hand coordination and physical strength and stamina. They don't want me to think ... just move faster.   I'm trying, but there's a limit to how fast an oldish body like this one can adapt.  I get so tired that I'm falling asleep almost as soon as we get home, sometimes I don't even want to eat.  Then when I get a day off, I end up sleeping 12 to 14 hours.  Makes the time go by faster, but sure makes it feel as though all I do is work.  I'm hoping that as I get stronger and develop some additional endurance (and reduce my mass along the way) that going faster will become easier.

I play mind games with myself to help with the stress.  I tell myself that I'm being paid to lose weight, that I'm an athlete in training, and that this stint will not only pay for my products at the Trade Show in March, but also that I will be ready to walk the aisles without collapsing.  The last Trade Show we attended, we walked so much the first day, that the next day I felt like my legs were going to pop out of my hip sockets.  It was a really strange and painful feeling, but thankfully it passed after a few days of rest and lighter activity.

So here I am at the beginning of the second two-days-off-in-a-row weekend in my big Up The River adventure, looking forward to some Facebook time, getting some cleaning and organizing of the Argosy done, and visiting with our new friends.  I know it's going to slip by quickly, so I intend to savor every moment.  I think it's Ram Dass who always says, "Be Here Now" ... and that's my  motto for this weekend.

Love these soft and cozy slippers I received this week from my friend Las Vegas Elaine.  I say Las Vegas because I have more than one friend by that name,  but I don't want to post her last name here out of respect for her privacy.  I love them so much, I built a Squidoo page about them.  Click the image to go to the Squidoo page ... it will open in a new window.

September 8 and 9 we had our first 2 days off in a row since we began this adventure on August 13.  I slept most of the weekend, just barely managing to buy groceries and get the laundry done.  Then we went back to work on Monday and Tuesday.  Last night I fell asleep right after we got home, and except for getting up to change into my night clothes and a bathroom visit or two, I slept for 14 straight hours.  I think I was tired.

Nice surprise on the bathroom scales this morning, though ... I discovered I've lost 15 lbs in one month without trying.  There's just something about staying on your feet moving your arms and legs and lifting objects for ten hours each day that burns calories, I guess.  I can truthfully say I'm being paid to lose weight.  :)

Although I've been paying for it in the pain department, but the weight loss is something I can focus on when I'm unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It's hard to focus on the money that we hope to accumulate by the end of this project, when we keep finding things we need to spend it on now, even though the things we've been buying are needed and are making things last longer or work  better or both.  We've been spending our money as fast as we've earned it replacing parts on the van and the Argosy.

I now officially adore crock pot liners.  We have used them twice now, and it makes it easy to go from one crock pot dinner to the next, even when we're so tired we can hardly think.

One of the few high points I look forward to is seeing what new things people are buying.  Like that game I wrote about last post, CARDS AGAINST HUMANITY, the item that we packed most of this past week was a book entitled No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden.  We ordered a copy for Scott, Bob's youngest son, and sent it gift wrapped via Amazon.  He should be getting it today, as a matter of fact.  I hope he enjoys it.  I'm going to see if they've got it in at the library here ... I want to read it, but not enough to buy a second copy.  I suspect that it's selling fast and furious because it's the anniversary of the twin towers going down.  Yesterday was the anniversary of that day we'll forever know as nine-eleven (9/11).  Much like the day John Lennon was killed, and the day the space shuttle exploded, I suspect I'll always remember where I was and what I was doing when I heard the news.

Well, friends, I have nothing else to share today, so I'll leave you with some ideas for reading, if you're interested.  I'll list some of the books that I've seen going out along with No Easy Day.  Please remember that these are my affiliate links, so if you should happen to  make an Amazon purchase I will receive a small commission that has zero impact on the price that you pay.  It just means I'll get it instead of Amazon getting to keep it. :)

Completed our 3rd week out of the 19 scheduled, and today is our day off for laundry and cleaning.  We completed most of our shopping after work last night, which was a big change for us. 

I can tell I'm stronger and better able to manage the job, not only from my increase in packing speed, but also because I was able to go shopping after work.

Coffeyville is beginning to feel a lot like "home" because we know people from the job, and we are recognized and greeted by people in the stores and restaurants now.  The last place that happened was Crescent City, so it felt awesome to have 3 different greetings and chats in the store last night. 

Packing products isn't a glamorous job, and like running a CNC machine, it's a lot of repetition.  Once you get past the learning curve and develop some proficiency, there are really only two things you can do to keep from being bored beyond belief.  One is to compete with yourself for speed, and the other is to notice what you're packing.  Bob and I compare notes each night, calling out top speeds and unique or unusual items, pretty much the same games we played last year when we were putting products onto the shelves, and into the system.

We also pay attention to FBA products, noticing how they are packaged as part of our research for the 2013 plans we've made.  That's another story, though.

The most interesting thing we packed yesterday was a card game and two expansion packs.  What caught our eyes was that it says it's "a party game for horrible people" and says it's politically incorrect.  Well, that was intriguing, but when I searched Google for information about the game, I learned that it's very new and was financed on KickStarter.  It's apparently been in the top ten games on Amazon, but I did not know that.  The back story on Wikipedia is fascinating, so I won't spoil it for you. 

Looks like we'll be putting in another 50 hrs this week, since there's OT available on Sunday.

In other news of note, we went to the ER last Thursday night, because my husband's ear was bothering him and getting worse.  It's a lovely little facility, and the staff were very pleasant.  We were in and out in less than 3 hrs, which is a first for any ER visit we've ever experienced.  Most amazing to us was that they didn't require up front payment or co-payment, asking instead where we'd like the bill sent.  Of course, that could be because of Bob having Medicare plus secondary insurance, but it was nice none the less.  Plus, we got out of there in time to rush over to Wal-Mart to have the prescriptions filled, so that was good.  No lost work time, and we were only about an hour past our bedtime when it was over.

Lots of chores on the agenda today, including laundry, auto repair, and some research for a private issue we're facing.  I am going to try something new this week:  Crock Pot Liners.   The crock pot cooking works out extremely well, except that it didn't get washed so I wasn't able to use it the second half of this week.  So I decided that maybe using crock pot liners might be a sensible solution to my problem this time around.  I bought mine at Wal-Mart, but Reynolds sells them on Amazon.  Who knew?