Living in our RV: The 8th month

Karin and I would like to start out by thanking everyone for following along on our journey. If you are new to our blog, or have missed some blog entries along the way, then you can find all of our blogs at craignkarin.blogspot.com.

We are currently working in Campbellsville, Kentucky at Amazon.com. We are here to help as Amazon.com gets busy with the holiday season shopping. The job is actually easy, yet the hardest part of it is being on your feet for 10 to 11 hours a day. We have just finished our first 60 hour week. We decided that we are here to work, and only have about 3 weeks to go. So let's get all the hours that we can.

Out of the 8 months that we've been on the road, we have worked during 5 of those months. When we leave Amazon.com around Christmas eve, we plan to head back to North Carolina to visit Craig's parents. After this, we are going to head south to warmer weather. There will be no hurry to find more work, hence the reason that we're putting in the maximum overtime here that Amazon.com allows.

It is a bit chilly here, which has taught us a few lessons about living in the RV during cold weather. On the first night that the temperature dropped below freezing, our water filter that is attached to the hose busted. We have since learned to leave the water dripping in a sink to prevent this from happening again. Craig filled one tank of propane, but forgot to fill the other one. Each tank lasts about a month in colder weather and only costs about $12.00 to fill. We woke up one morning to the cold reality that we had run out of propane. How would we get it filled while working? That's the great thing about our fellow Workampers. We take care of each other. Our neighbors, whom had the day off because they work the night shift, volunteered to run and fill our tanks. They also let us borrow an electric heater. Thank you again, Ken and Debbie!

The Workamping force that has invaded this small town of Campbellsville has had some interesting media written about them. Labeled as "migrant workers", "gypsies" and "nomads", newspapers in Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky have written some interesting articles. There was even a small story that had our neighbors, Jimmy and Sheila, on the ABC evening news with Diane Sawyer. If you look at this video, you can even see a quick glimpse of our travel trailer, the smaller RV compared to some of the larger ones around us. I personally think that our RV is big. Karin has reminded me that most males truly believe that things are much bigger.....than they really are.

Here are the links that will take you to the articles that are mentioned above.

The Louisville Courier-Journal article is here:
Courier-Journal

The Lexington Herald-Leader article is here:
Herald-Leader

The ABC World News with Diane Sawyer article/video is here:
ABC News

AND... Karin sent a Letter to the Editor concerning the Louisviller Courier-Journal article. See this here:
Letter to the Editor

Amazon.com

Here we are in a small town named Campbellsville, Kentucky. We arrived as the fall colors were nearly in full bloom. We come in peace, yet we do not come alone. There are nearly four hundred couples that have also made the trek to Campbellsville. We have not come here for a vacation. We did not go off the beaten path to meet new people. We did not have a psychic experience that told us all to drive to Campbellsville. We are all here for one reason.

To work.

For Amazon.com.

Yes, the United Workampers of America have arrived in Campbellsville to help Amazon.com make it through the peak holiday season. Amazon.com has 3 major distribution centers throughout the country located in Nevada, Kansas and here. Why did we choose Kentucky? Well it was truly a process of elimination. In Nevada, Craig would lose all of his money. And have you ever wondered how it would feel to experience a black hole in outer space? Just take a drive through Kansas sometime.

Why did we decide to come and work for Amazon.com? That's easy. The money and the perks. We make $10 to $10.50 per hour. We all receive a free RV campsite for the duration of our stay. There is a bonus of $500 per person if we complete the contract. Four day work weeks until the peak season hits, then the overtime kicks in. We also get discounts when we order merchandise. It's actually a nice deal to cover the ten or so weeks that lead up to Christmas.

Many fulltiming RVer's are here. Unlike us, most are retired. They come to keep busy and supplement their retirement income. There are a few of us that just decided to get out of the grind and off of the grid. But we are not retired, so we do need the income. Most seasonal jobs just do not pay much more than minimum wage. Amazon.com has offered us a great way to make a quick buck.

Just remember this: a "quick" buck is not always an "easy" buck. This job is easier for some and harder for others. It just depends on what type of shape you're in. Ten hour days are nothing to sneeze at. Yes, you are on your feet all day. Yes, you do get a thirty minute lunch break. And you also get a fifteen minute break in the morning and in the afternoon. You lift things and sometimes they are heavy. There is a lot of walking. There are many flights of stairs! Sorry, no elevators. Comfy shoes are a must. Craig wears tennis shoes while Karin feels comfortable in her hiking boots. A little exercise helps too. When we arrive to work, we begin the day with some great stretches to limber us up. We do the same stretches right after lunch.

So far it's been a wonderful experience. But hey, we're only two weeks into this. We've only been doing five hour days. Our full days start next week. Let's see if we're singing the same tune then :)