Death, Family, and Amazon from A to Z

November 17, 2016

This post is going up on Thanksgiving. We will celebrate in our little camper with my brother Brian, and be grateful for our rolling homes, food on the table, and families and friends who love us enough to let us live our nomadic life.

I fully intended to get the last post up within a reasonable time of writing it, but other priorities slipped in. My brother, Brian, showed up here to work with us at Amazon. He is hitting the road for a year in his van after selling his condo and leaving Baltimore. We were spending time with him, enjoying family time and introducing him to friends and the full-timing life, when we received word that my 91 year-old father was on Hospice care back in Maryland. He passed away on November 3^rd. Brian had only been working here a week, but the three of us needed to get back to Maryland. Amazon granted us three days of bereavement leave and we took penalty points for missing our fourth work day. After working our four-day shift, we all piled into our Toyota Yaris with our luggage and drove the 11 hour trip back to Maryland.


There was no question that we would go back home. Thankfully we could do it without giving up our jobs or our campsites, so we were able to be there to support our 87-year-old mother and help our other brother, Steve, who was left to help organize the visitation, burial, and memorial service. Our week was filled with family and friends, and the gift of seeing our daughter, son-in-law and our precious grand-daughter who we had not expected to see again until Christmas.

Keeping Grandpa busy

High-Five!

Grandma at the receiving end of the big slide.

Monday morning we piled back into the silver “sardine tin”, (three tall people in a sub-compact!), and made the drive back to Kentucky. Tomorrow we go back into Amazon to pick up our jobs after our missed week of work. I have been in a funk and feeling as if I haven't quite grieved. Greg managed to catch a cold and break a tooth since we got back. The day after we returned we were told that his 96 year-old Dad who lives in Florida, has taken a turn for the worse. The election occurred five days after my Dad's death and the disappointment of the results has been hanging over our thoughts and compounding our grieving.


Our four-year nomadic anniversary was on November 12^th, the same day as my Dad's memorial service. The last three years, we toasted the day and discussed the future. This time, the significance of the day barely crossed our minds. For the first time since we started this journey I have begun to feel the need to settle. Coping with everything at once in a state of Amazon fatigue, I longed for my old recliner to sit in front of our woodstove wrapped in a Mrs. Rosemeyer afghan. I am tired of supermarket veggies and miss plucking our own homegrown ones from the earth. I don't do well as a nomad sitting too long in one place and this has been a year of sitting. Not the reason I longed for this life to begin with.


Our three days back have been a time of planning for next year, while we are still adjusting to the changes this year has brought. Greg has been plowing through health insurance and car and RV insurance, navigating the changing insurance marketplace on-line. Being fulltimers, but Florida residents, creates complications, and questions about coverage. Trying to make sure that we have the insurance coverage we need no matter where we travel, gets complicated.


I am also beginning to come to terms with the legacy my father left me as our nation moves forward after a contentious election. When I eulogized him at his service I realized that the most important lesson he taught me was of the power of the individual to create change. His life was a testament to public service in education and non-profits and his vision and actions changed thousands of people's lives for the better. If he were still alive, he would be encouraging me to work for change, and not let depression and a feeling of powerlessness get the better of me. My own theological studies taught me that “Without a vision, the people perish”. My father was a visionary, one who could see the needs, envision a solution and inspire others to own that vision with him and work to see it to fruition. His blood runs through my veins. His voice and eloquence gave rise to my own ability to speak and empower.

Dad touring New Zealand

For now our nomadic life continues. We'll do our best to finish our time at Amazon, spend the Christmas holidays with family and friends, and then head to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park in Florida, where we volunteered last winter. It's quiet there. Surrounded by peace and nature's solace I hope to sort it all out. What comes next? Where do we go from here? For now, I am tired and there are “smiles” to be picked and co-workers to enjoy at Amazon. For a little while longer, the bigger questions can wait.

Gettin' in the Rhythm

October 26, 2016
This post is going up way late due to changing circumstances in our lives. I'll update on the next post.

Amazon work days are all consuming. The four 10-hour days require discipline which my creative nature always fights. Up at 5 am, wash up, dress, load prepared lunch into lunchbag, eat breakfast, and out the door into the dark by 6 am. Thankfully the Amazon Fullfillment Center is just a short 7-10 minute commute from our campground. That gets us inside by about 6:15 am with time to visit our lockers, short talk with friends in the breakroom, and then a quick bathroom break before clocking in between 6:25 and 6:30 am. Then we have a five minute walk to the Stand-Up gathering area. We find a hand scanner for the day, load in a fresh battery and join the big crowd there.

We live in this box much of the week.

The big screen illustrates stretching exercises which we all do in unison, while the manager makes announcements and motivates us to work hard picking “smiles” for our Amazon customers. After that, we consult our scanners for our first assignment and walk off to our designated “mod” and begin picking items from bins and throwing them into our yellow totes on our rolling carts. Full totes get dropped onto the closest conveyor belt to be transported across the huge building to be packed and shipped out.

The big box is quite warm so we dress appropriately for work.

The rest of the day consists of more of the same. Walking 10-15 miles up and down the long aisles and often up and down stairs as we are transferred by a notice on our scanners to report to a new mod. We have a fifteen minute paid break mid-morning and another one mid-afternoon. The priority on our breaks is sitting down and eating! We clock out and back in again for lunch, and visit stand-up again after lunch to repeat stretches and get an update on the morning's progress.

Just before 5 pm we leave the mods, turn in our scanners and work our way to the front of the building to join the crowds waiting to clock out. A quick trip to our lockers and we make the short commute home. Bedtime is supposed to be 9 pm. The four hours go quickly. First, sit and recover for a while. Then make dinner, shower, lay out clothes for the next day, pack lunches, and try to have a few minutes to “relax”. Being a night person, my body refuses to shut down at 9 pm, so I read for awhile, sometimes a long while, and finally try to go to sleep. I am somewhat sleep deprived on work days!


Currently we have three days off. That will change sometime around Thanksgiving when we will go to mandatory overtime and work five 10-hour days. Having only 2 days off makes it hard to recover physically and be sure to get laundry and groceries done. With three days off we tend to “veg out” the first day and get our chores done on the other two days. At least we get paid time and a half for the overtime day, and the main reason we are here is for the money, so we keep the December 23^rd contract deadline in sight. What makes the Amazon job bearable is knowing that there is an end in sight.


My other challenge is meal planning. As a creative, if I have no other creative outlet during the day, which I don't working at Amazon, I can create a good tasting healthy meal for dinner. That helps keep me sane. The problem is that I am too tired to do much cooking and fall back on leftovers and super simple meals. But, even super simple is too much some days. Monday, at the end of our work week we joined our friends Lyle and Lynda at the only restaurant in this dry county that serves alcohol. It was nice to sip a beer and eat a huge burger, which I would not normally order, but my body was screaming for fat and calories after a day with more walking than usual. We are at the time of the season when the hiring is ramping up so everyone is trained by the time Amazon Peak arrives with Black Friday, but the orders haven't ramped up yet. That requires a lot more moving around the warehouse to find items to pick, hence more than the usual walking and stair climbing. But, hey, not only are we here to make money, but to participate in the Amazon Fitness Plan!!! (Will I have “Buns of Steel”? Maybe...maybe not...)

Happy hour with our next-door neighbors.

Campfires are mandatory for happy hour.

We have two more days off. Friday morning will come way too early and after sleeping in for three days, I will have a short night. I treasure my alone time late at night and can't always give it up. Got to balance sanity and sleep! Greg is humming along, but seems to require an impromptu nap in the comfy chair on the afternoon of his days off. As if he isn't getting enough exercise already, he goes off on his bike on our days off and explores the nearby state park. He needs his nature solitude to cope with our long busy days.



Not many photos to share. I'll be back up when I get a chance and have something to write about!

Amazon- Back Behind the Pick Cart

October 11, 2016

The four weeks between leaving Geneva Point Center in New Hampshire and arriving in Campbellsville, Kentucky for our 12 weeks working at Amazon have flown by! No leisurely “vacation” between assignments this year. With a marvelous grand-daughter and her parents to spend time with, and catching up with my parents and the rest of the family, we were busy and happy. On top of that the RV needed an extended stay at the dealer to take care of some maintenance and the installation of new coach batteries, including a newly constructed shelf for them. The rig also spent time at the Mercedes-Benz dealer for the truck part to have some work done. We squeezed in doctor and dentist appointments, re-stocked the rig, visited the storage unit, and attended another family wedding on Nantucket. This time we were able to introduce the island to our son-in-law and 18 month-old grand-daughter, and relive experiences with our daughter. We made many memories to treasure, as well as reconnecting with extended family. Phew!

Sunset on Lake Winnipesaukee

Our last night...

Goodbye Geneva Point Center!

Granddaughter running wild at the wedding on Nantucket

All Gussied Up

On the beach in Sconset

Knocking down sandcastles

On the ferry back to Hyannis, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Heading back to the mainland

Needless to say we left Maryland for Kentucky a bit on the worn out side. Not the best way to start the rigors of Amazon! Amazon pays for two nights at your chosen campground before you start, so we took two days to drive after leaving Maryland. The night in between found us as usual at a Flying J Truck stop just over the Kentucky line. We arrived at the Green River Resort on Saturday, October 1^st. Definitely not as nice as it looked on their webpage, but the owners are friendly and it is so much better than the trailer park we were put up in while working at the Jeffersonville, Indiana warehouse last year.

Passing through the famous Sideling Hill Syncline as we head west through Maryland on I-70

A really, REALLY big box!

We found a suitable site backing up to a fenced in field and were greeted by our buddies from last year's Amazon experience. Lyle and Lynda and their Black Lab, Lola, arrived three weeks before us and showed us the ropes. The campground is small, just a loop and one short entry road with sites. There is a camp store with hot food, ( we haven't tried it yet), a decent shower house, and a laundry room. That is a godsend! No driving into town hauling laundry.

Our Neighborhood

Our campsite

Most of the campers are working at Amazon, and a few at a local construction site. The local seasonal campers who are still here have been told to move their rigs out of the park. They usually pay a small amount to leave their RV's on a site for the winter, but the resort owners can make more from Amazon by renting to all of us until Christmas. So far it has been pretty quiet here in the evenings since most people are working now.


Green River State Park is across the road, and an Army Corps of Engineers dam and visitors center is 3 miles down the road. We made a visit on our day off and explored both parks. Greg is planning to get out his bike and do some riding on the trails. I get enough exercise walking 10-15 miles a day at Amazon, thank you!

Authentic Kentucky equestrians

Houseboats at the Green River Lake Marina

The outflow from the main dam

Residents of the visitors center

The sign does Not say Greg will get his arm back!

On the beach with the main dam in the background

Green River Lake

Civil War era house at the park used as a field hospital during a nearby battle

Ghostly apparition?

We started with orientation and safety training on Monday. We spent 8 hours learning a new Amazon Fulfillment Center. SDF-1 is smaller than last year's warehouse and a lot older. This facility has been in operation for 17 years and is currently three buildings joined together. Two have been totally refurbished to take on the overflow of apparel that goes into Jeffersonville where we worked last year. Amazon is making a big push into the apparel market. There are still a lot of toys and miscellaneous items, but not a lot of heavy items.


This Fulfillment Center has used workcampers for 7 years, and apparently is very dependent upon us to get them through the Peak Season. There is definitely a “friendlier” attitude here than we found last year. It has been fun to run into familiar faces from last Peak.


Our first week consisted of orientation on Monday and then four 5-hour days of “work-hardening” while we did actual picking and tried to learn the layout of the warehouse. Oh, my! Yours truly was dazed and confused! Picking came right back easy-peasey, but the rat's maze warehouse will take a while, even with the maps they gave us! Friday was a short day. There was a water main break in town and the warehouse had no access to bathroom facilities, so everyone was sent home with pay. We had Saturday off and then picked up our regular schedule, so we went back in for our first 10-hour days on Sunday and Monday. I stayed up for the Presidential debate on Sunday night. Bad move, (for a host of reasons...) but had to be up at 5 am. We clocked in at 6:30 am and back out at 5 PM. That last hour on Monday was one foot in front of the other...


For now, we get three days off, while working for four. Once mandatory overtime starts we go to five days. Voluntary overtime was offered this week so Greg decided he wanted to earn more. He went back in today. I am luxuriating in sleeping in until 8 am and having nothing I have to do today! First time since???



Well, one week down, 11 to go! I'll update when I can. Last year I managed one post a week for our six weeks. This year with 11 to go...no promises! Hoping to get out a bit before the weather cools down. For now it is sunny and beautiful. The warehouse is a bit like the show title, “It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. It's always artificially sunny and warm!

Leaving the North Woods

September 3, 2016


We are down to our last five days at Geneva Point Center. The nights have been cooling down, and the mornings have the scent of Fall in the air. The loons are changing their calls as they begin to search out one another on the lakes of New Hampshire, and start gathering in large groups for the migration to the North Atlantic coastal waters. They spend the long winters out on the open ocean.

Greg is still working hard in the Buildings and Grounds department and finding satisfaction in the physical labor involved. Last week I delivered our international staff to the local and Concord, New Hampshire bus stations. All but one are off on their adventures to see America. Mat from Slovakia, (“I'm riding shotgun!”, who learned English watching American television), is staying behind for a few weeks in order to help all the oldsters finish out the season. Last year the majority of the international staff stayed until Labor Day and got us through our last few groups. This year they were scheduled to leave a week early, and suddenly we are down to a skeleton crew of mostly retirees who are trying to handle groups of 200 guests and 80 guests, while the Director had to be out of town.

The Ice Cream Shop is shut down for the season.

The Building & Grounds crew cleaning up after tree trimming.

I have been circulating through housekeeping, kitchen, guest services and the ice cream shop. The day before yesterday I put in an 11+ hour day. Yesterday, on changeover day, I joined the “Four Old Ladies”, as we were calling ourselves, to prepare all the necessary bathrooms, shower houses, and cabins by the 3 pm check-in. We didn't finish on time. The irony of working in housekeeping didn't escape me. When Greg and I were preparing to apply for workcamping jobs in February of 2015 we discussed what our dealbreakers would be for any job offers. Mine was cleaning bathrooms! Guess what I have done for the last four days?! Also, when we discussed our finances and made a plan so that we could continue being nomads after our original two year sabbatical, I sort of remember making a comment about if we ever really got in a pinch, maybe I would consider cleaning bathrooms...

I now have a new found respect for anyone who has no choice in order to make a living, but to work in housekeeping, cleaning toilets and showers, and making bed after bed. I got a real baptism into it since we were cleaning the cabins of teen-aged boys!

Today I managed to get my hair stuck on a hanging flystrip, yuck! After coming back to the rig I washed my hair with Dawn dishwashing detergent. I figured if that works to get oil slicked waterfowl clean after oil spills, I better give that a try. My gentle herbal shampoo didn't even begin to cut the glue. At that point I decided that I was done. I didn't come back here to exhaust myself again. I had a great time driving the students on their excursions. Greg and I have both been asked to come back next summer, and I would do the same job. We haven't committed to anything yet.

We've enjoyed our co-workers. They are mostly friends from last year. This summer I was able to attend a concert here during Summer Acoustic Music Week. Last year I had late hours in the ice cream shop and missed out. Our nephew Jon and his girlfriend Rebecca came for an over night and we had a fun morning kayaking on the lake. Our international students asked me to take them to N. Conway, NH to Diana's Baths and Cathedral Ledge, Old Orchard Beach, ME, Portland Head Lighthouse, ME, Salem, MA, Franconia Notch State Park, NH, White Mountain National Forest, NH, the Mt. Washington Hotel, Portsmouth, NH and a nearby whale watching cruise, Castle in the Clouds, minigolf, and numerous restaurants, as well as outlet shops, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, the local bank, and most trips ended by going to WalMart! If I do this again next year I will already know where to find these places! I loved getting to know all the kids who rode with me on those long days in the old camp van. We learned from each other. Most of them were from Eastern Europe and the UK Our six weeks have passed quickly and we are looking forward to more family time soon.

Summer Acoustic Music Week

The Harmonica workshop band

Selfies at Cathedral Ledge

Portland Head Lighthouse

Sarah, Mat, and Vivien soaking up the sun

The Basin at Franconia Notch State Park

Iveta and Laura  after a day hiking

The sign said, "Do you have the 10 essentials?" Do we need a spider?!

The Mount Washington Hotel

Looking at Mt. Washington from the hotel

Downtown Portsmouth, NH

Whale watching tour office

Diana's Baths

Fun at the Baths!

The Geneva Point waterfront

Kayaks and canoes on Lake Winnipesauke.

The kayak paddle and life preserver sheds at the beach

We have been keeping our eye on the weather and are grateful to be gone from Tidewater Virginia and Bethpage Camp Resort as Hurricane Hermine is flooding out that area. Our campground was low and flat and our RV sat in a lake every time we had an ordinary rain! Hopefully by the time we leave for Maryland on Thursday morning we'll be able to avoid the storm. After a good visit, a family wedding and being grandparents, (can't wait!) we'll start on October 3^rd at Amazon in Campbellsville, Kentucky. That job is starting to feel real since we got our e-mail notice yesterday to go get our drug testing done for the job. I'm ready for the Amazon Fitness Plan after eating the free meals here and indulging in all the yummy baked goods calling my name after every meal...

Summers End

Evening along the lake

Saying goodbye to new friends Weronika and Paulina waiting for their bus

Backside of the sign that our international student staff saw every time they left their cabins!