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Saturday, September 14, 2013

A Day Off

Location: Campbellsville, KY (High 73, Low 53)

Today is our first day off, and the only day off before we start our normally scheduled days tomorrow. Usually we are going to have two or three days off in a row, depending on whether we’re working overtime or not. The first two weeks while we are in the hardening period we are not able to volunteer for the overtime shifts. But once this next week is over we could possibly be working an overtime shift if that is available. Both Harry and I agree that we want to work as many shifts as Amazon is willing to give us. After all, we are here to make some money and we have the next fourteen weeks to accomplish that. Smile So we shall see how much overtime we end up getting.

Physically, I am faring pretty well with the job that we have been assigned. As I’ve already mentioned, we are only walking a few steps back and forth in our little areas. And we have the thick rubber mats under our feet, so I’m really not minding the standing like I thought I would. Surprisingly, the only part of my body that’s sore is my hands, especially my left hand. I’m assuming it’s from the motion of pulling the boxes onto my table from the conveyor and opening the box. My shoulders, back, legs…all feel fine. So far, so good!

I have a few things planned for today – mainly preparations for the next several days when we will be working our shifts. I am trying to stay super organized to make our lives a little easier. The main thing on my agenda was figuring out what we’re eating for the next several days. I found a couple recipes that sound good – one crockpot pork chop recipe and a casserole. I’ve already got the crockpot one started and the casserole is next on my agenda. Then on our working days I won’t have to do a lot of cooking, just come home and warm up a plate of leftovers. If I get that done, and a couple loads of laundry, this will have been a successful day off!

Tomorrow, we start our week of 7 1/2 hour shifts.

5 comments:

  1. Good that you are planning ahead for when your days get longer there. I know one of the complaints is being so tired after the shift that you have no time to do anything else but sleep :)

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  2. Dave has been working 12hr days for 20 yrs so we've always made larger meals on his days off so there are leftovers for the work days :) All he wants to do when he gets home is eat watch a bit of tv go to bed to get up and do it all over again. Fourteen weeks will go by quick on that kind of schedule.

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  3. How good that you got yourself in better shape over the last few months. I am almost dreading our three weeks of NOMADS volunteering for three weeks in Oct. because of being in less than satisfactory shape. And we work only 6 hours days/ 4 days a week!

    Yup, getting meals pre-prepared and laundry gone is a good idea. Takes a lot of stress off you.

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  4. I know you have been careful with your eating. I find having a whole roasted or simmered chicken can feed us quickly for three or more days. You could get one already from the grocery if you don't mind the salt.
    First day we just have chicken, maybe a few steamer potatoes and a steamed fresh veggie like green beans or broccoli. Day two I make a Chinese chicken salad. I make them a bit different so if you want therecipe, just ask. Day three I make a pot pie using the rolled grocery store pie crust, canned soup, frozen mixed veggies, and if I thought ahead and made extra potatoes, I dice some of those. A pot pie usually last us two days. I firts reheat in the microwave and the put it into the oven for a few minutes to dry the crust. You could also make just creamed chicken and veggies over rice.

    The key is to not use a large amount of chicken in any of these. A good time and space saver is to bone and dice the chicken and divide it up in plastic bags on the first night.

    The hardest part is planning ahead, not the cooking.

    Good luck, I find your posts very interesting, and your encouragement helpful.

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  5. Jessica and Harry,

    Congratsnon surviving the first week. Reading your posts we are picturing the I Love Lucy episode where she and Ethel are in the candy factory on the conveyor belt and the candies are rolling along and the supervisor thinks they were doing so well that she yells "speed it up"!

    Hope all goes well with the full shift weeks as I am sure they will.

    Les and Sue

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