Our two little electric heaters have not shut off in almost 24 hours and it is only 64 degrees inside! 

A dusting of snow

We weren't suppose to live in snow!

19 degrees this am and it is suppose to get colder by Thanksgiving!  California here I come!

Although we are here in Fernley working our fingers to the bone we have a silver lining – we get 3 days off each week and are so near to Lake Tahoe.  Tahoe has to be one of the most beautiful lakes and hwy 89 around the lake is amazing with plenty of quaint little spots and spectacular vistas.

Yesterday we took the one hour drive over Mt. Rose into Incline Village with the most amazing weather.  It was 60 degrees in Reno, 40 degrees at the summit of Mt. Rose and about 50 in the Tahoe Basin with clear blue skys. 

View from above Incline Village

yep! There is a sprinkling of snow

Beautiful Blue Skies, Plenty of Sunshine and Snow!

Lake Tahoe

What a beautiful place!  Now back to Fernley and ……

Enjoy your day!

This is really hard work!  This week we actually worked 5.5 hours of overtime.   It is starting to get easier as your body becomes accustomed to standing for over 10 hours while twisting one way and then the other.  And these 15 minute breaks where you are suppose to run to the restroom, grab a cup of Java, and rest before returning to your station to stand another few hours packing more purchases is just crazy.  I barely get relaxed in the lunchroom before it is time to stand back up and get going again.

I am getting use to the whole concept and able to function minimally when we get home at 6 pm.  Although the experience is less than exciting for me, Paul is having a great time.  This week he got to learn 2 new tasks in one day- they don’t want to overwhelm you!! 

We have packed some interesting things and I am learning a lot about what “OTHER” means!  WOW!!!  So keep shopping at Amazon and we will keep packing for a few more weeks!  See everyone at Christmas.

We made it through another week.  Our commitment here is 40 hours a week working four 10 hour days and so far we have not worked that much.  Our first day this week was a STRESS TEST day where all 4 shifts would overlap 4 hours to run all the systems and see how everything performs.  When we arrived on Wednesday they had so many people they didn’t have enough equipment or whatever and asked for volunteers to go home.  We worked 1 hour!  Up at 6 am, go through the routine of making lunch, walking the dog and arriving to clock in by 7 am only to get to go home by 8 am!  Oh well, I made very good use of the day by going shopping and spending several hundred dollars!  But, my Christmas shopping is almost finished.

We did work full 10 hour days the rest of the week.  Yesterday was really hard as by 9 am I had an awful kink in my back and was having a really difficult time standing there scanning the books we were packing.  A trip to Safety and then to the EMT office and I was back on the line by 11 am to finish my shift.  Our team packed over 8,000 books for charity.  At the end of the day the supervisor told us we exceeded our goal and he was very excited.  Not bad for 5 retirees, one with back issues and all working the last leg of their 40 hour work week! 

Oh, and then we get the good news that this following week we get to work mandatory overtime!  4 hours on Monday, one of our days off.   This is great.  Keep ordering and we will keep packing!

We have worked 3 days in the FC(Fulfillment Center) and as promised it is a very busy place with some cool equipment.  We don’t get to operate the equipment but still.  So far we have packed merchandise to be destroyed and packaging of items for shipment.  Paul is loving it now that we have worked on the line and it is not boring!  Our first 1 1/2 days were pretty slow with them trying to figure out where we will work.  Our second and third day we spent working in Tekho (Toys, Electronics, Kitchen, household and other)  The other is definitely interesting!  I have seen some things that I didn’t know existed.   People will order anything- toothpaste! REALLY!

So far I haven’t packed a package for one of you, but I did pack two for someone in San Jose so keep ordering and who knows.

Go GIANTS!!!!

We arrived here on Saturday in time for the meet & greet with our representative, Alison from Amazon.com.  The meeting was informal and went over some of their expectations, answer our questions, get schedules and take a competency test.  I hate test but inspite of myself I passed!  The test reminded me of a psychology test where you identified pictures.  We also received our schedule and to Paul’s disappointment we did not get nights so our schedule is W-Sat. 7 am till 5:30 pm with a 30 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks. 

Sunday was our first day of training and then our first day on the floor was today.  They also have a program where as senior employees we can only work 1/2 days our first week and 3/4 days the second week.  Paul and I decided we would see if we needed that.  Unfortunately, as seniors we also are not to be pickers who walk up to 15 miles each shift!  We get to have the jobs where you stand and scan or pack items for shipping – boring!!!  Apparently they have had problems with seniors making the quota’s or quitting! 

Anyway our first day was sort of slow and they moved us from shipping where you stand and put books in envelopes and add labels to Vendor returns where we get to pickup bins of old merchandise, count them, scan them and put them into boxes to ship back to the vendor.  Once the box is sealed we get to walk it to the pallet where we stack them.  Not much walking here either but everyone seems good with the job except ME!  After lunch at 11:30 we get our next break at 2:30!  By 1 pm I was ready for that next break – should have gone home at lunch like they offered!

So, at 2 pm, there was a big lull in the busy work and Paul tells the supervisor that we are opting for the 3/4 day this week as my back was starting to pain me!  I feel like such a wimp BUT my back was starting to spasm which it has a couple of times since my fall last summer.  So, being the youngest of these seniors again I am shown up by men and women (some who look like they have not exercised in years!).  How do they do it!  I am thinking Valium!! I’m not taking drugs but a few cocktails may just what is needed to keep me going through this current situation.  Sometimes when I get a moment to not concentrate on what the screen or scanner is saying I will think happy thoughts of some of the adventures we have had this year.

Enjoying the ocean breeze with our friends Connie & Charles near Pacific Grove

Paul standing infront of one of my favorite beaches

Charles & Connie - Brrrrrr....

Besides working I am hoping to get to golf a little however this week the temperature was not even 50 degrees!  The golf course is right here within walking distance of the RV park and the rate (according to a nice gentleman in the sales office) is $20 riding for 18 holes!  I keep telling Paul, let me golf 4 days a week and I will get way more exercise than standing  in front of a screen and scanning!  No luck yet, but I am not done working on him!!!

Fernley is in the desert and the scenery around here is pretty baren.  Yesterday we took a short drive and found the Carson River with the most beautiful trees that were just beginning to turn fall colors.

Fall colors on the Carson River

Fall is just beginning but the temps say Winter!

We work the next two days and then we get 3 off!  I sure hope I can stand the pressure and not think about the golf course just waiting for me!

So wish me luck for the next several weeks while I see what my body (and mind!) can handle. 

This is what Paul considers when he is standing there scanning or just anytime!

Hmmmm.....

If you were paying attention to the weather you know it snowed in the Sierra’s today. 

Donner Summit October 2010

So much for hoping the snow waits till January when we are safely back in California!  I arrived at the RV park about 2 pm and we passed our conpetency test so we are good to go with tomorrow being our planned orientation at Amazon.com.  The good news is we are not working the night shift so we will be up at 5:30 am and on our way to WORK by 6:30 am.  Wish us luck!!!