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Five Down, Fourteen To Go. 

9/15/2012

4 Comments

 
Picture
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.








4 Comments
Virginia Allain link
9/15/2012 05:03:22 am

Wow, I'm wondering if I'd be able to do it. Since retiring, I've been somewhat sedentary except for golf 4 days a week. It would be a big shock to my system to be on my feet for an 8 hour day or more.
Hang in there!

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CCGAL Janelle link
9/17/2012 11:08:09 am

I'm fairly youthful compared to many of the other Camperforce work campers, but the job is kicking my proverbial behind. I honestly don't know how people do it, but there are people in their 80's who come back year after year and manage it. I would recommend to anyone who is thinking about it, to exercise a LOT before starting.

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Elaine
9/15/2012 02:36:27 pm

Janelle - I know that "factory work" isn't pleasant, but I'm amazed that the Amazon folks don't have SOME simple things in place to make life a tad more bearable.

Like the parking lot - 20 minute walk to the building. Why don't they have a shuttle bus to take the workers to the building and back after the shift? Nothing fancy, just an old school bus or something. That would save you guys about 40 minutes. Or are there so many workers on each shift that it's not feasible?

As far as lunch breaks - are you guys allowed ANYTHING on your person? Like a powerbar or Gator-Aid ... something to sustain you until you get to the lunchroom? And as far as bathroom breaks go - I think it SHOULD be some kind of OSHA requirement that allows personnel to go to the bathroom!

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CCGAL Janelle link
9/17/2012 11:15:21 am

There's nothing to be gained by a shuttle ... the 2 parking lots aren't all that big. It's the walk from the main gate, though a badged turnstyle, across the truck yard, up the stairs into the building, through a second badged turnstyle, through a short hallway, and then all the way down the building to our break room to store lunch and then back into our work area. That's the 20 minute walk.

During hot weather, when the break rooms are being maintained, they provide free Gatorade, ice, iced tea, and coffee. During the winter, Gatorade is out of season, but they bring in hot cocoa packets. It's not as austere as you might imagine, and we have our break room back as of Monday Sept. 17 (today). Now if they'd just get that back restroom completed, life would be good again. We do have the ability to leave our work stations to use the facilities, it's just bad for us because it affects the metric we call "our numbers" so we pay for it when we need to do our business during our work time.

We can have hard candy and water on the work floor. Nothing else. We have 2 breaks and lunch during the 10 hr shift - the breaks are paid time, the lunch is not.

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