End of the Shortened Shifts

Location: Campbellsville, KY (High 95, Low 68)

Yesterday we finished up our first week, which is officially called the “work hardening” week. I do think there is some kind of muscle memory from year to year because the first year we were here it took many weeks, if not months, before the tight muscles started to loosen up. (I was SO sore, in fact, that by the second month I was going for a massage almost every week.) But now it’s much easier. Other than the normal tiredness of going back to work and having an active job, we really do feel pretty good and don’t have too much soreness. I could feel a little achiness around my knees yesterday from doing lots of squats but the same thing happened last year so I expect that will go away after a couple weeks.

We are really enjoying the change of jobs this year. Both Harry and I decided it was time for something different, so we asked for an Outbound position. Our first choice was picking and we were excited to get here last week and find out that we had gotten that job. One of the biggest differences is that picking means A LOT of walking. I’ve been using a pedometer, and for the past few days, in about four hours of picking, I’ve walked 4.5 miles. And right now we’re only working in a smaller portion of the facility. We have friends who are picking and they are walking fifteen miles or more per day.

So, what is picking? Picking is the action of filling the customer’s order. You may have seen the various videos online of how the typical Amazon facility looks, with the rows and rows of product. We have a scanner which tells us where to go – which part of the building, which row, which small cubicle. And when we get there, it tells us what to “pick”. And then we’re off to the next part of the building, next row, next cubicle. It might be close by the position we’re currently located, or it might not be. It is a very fast-paced active job, and so far the hours of the day are going by very quickly.

Now that our first week is over, we are also eligible for overtime. As of yesterday, voluntary overtime IS available, so next week we are going to start right in with a fifty hour week. We have decided that this year we aren’t going to do sixties. It’s just too much for us. We’ve done it the past two years and we find it is the part of the season which really wears us out. So we’re going to change that this year and we are both really happy with that decision.

Week 1 is down…Sunday we start Week 2, our first full week.