Survived my first week at Amazon!

[WheelEstate USA]

Glad it's going a bit better.
Sending good mojo your way

 

[Wanderer]

I'll just toss in my 2 cents and say WTG. Working deli has it's moments, but not 10 miles a night...Ouchies!

 

[BradKW]

If you don't mind me asking, what hourly rate do they hire people at?

Can you bring your own Segway?

 

[StarEcho]

If you don't mind me asking, what hourly rate do they hire people at?

Can you bring your own Segway?  

Camperforce is getting 10.75/hr with .50 night differential.  I WISH we could bring a Segway, but no such luck.

---

For an update, I continued to have foot issues, even with the new shoes.  The moleskin caused blisters.  I went to the podiatrist who officially diagnosed me with bunions with a side order of arthritis in that toe joint.  And I'm so special I have bunions on the big toes AND the little toes!  Turns out the NEW shoes I got were probably the worst I could have gotten.   So ended up getting a pair of sketchers cross trainers with a HUGE toe box and wide width, so there is plenty of room for my poor tootsies.  Orthotic inserts at $90 a pair and a bunion gel pad at $30.  The amount of money I'm actually earning decreases.  Hopefully this is the last I'll have to spend.

Now about bunions.  Sounds so old ladyish type of thing, huh?  But it's a foot deformity, not just a sore toe.  It's something I've had for as long as I can remember.  My feet have always been shaped this way and I thought that was normal.  If I had known I would have done a lot differently with my shoe choices over the years.  I've never worn high heels regularly, I've instinctively hated them, but I've always gone for cheap shoes, going up a size to accommodate my toes instead of getting a wider width than was available.  I thought that was just the way it was.  If I had known I would have sprung for and looked harder for proper shoes.

Oh well, I know now and I'm still hopeful that I can do this job.  I hate giving up.

 

[SoulRaven]

If the injuries related to your feet are job-related you are entitled to workman's compensation. Don't give up without filing a report of work injury (and demand a copy before you leave the property) and make sure to hire a lawyer (to help you file the claim and steer you the best medical experts) that is a workman's compensation certified specialist.

 

[GotSmart]

Camperforce is getting 10.75/hr with .50 night differential.  I WISH we could bring a Segway, but no such luck.

---

For an update, I continued to have foot issues, even with the new shoes.  The moleskin caused blisters.  I went to the podiatrist who officially diagnosed me with bunions with a side order of arthritis in that toe joint.  And I'm so special I have bunions on the big toes AND the little toes!  Turns out the NEW shoes I got were probably the worst I could have gotten.   So ended up getting a pair of sketchers cross trainers with a HUGE toe box and wide width, so there is plenty of room for my poor tootsies.  Orthotic inserts at $90 a pair and a bunion gel pad at $30.  The amount of money I'm actually earning decreases.  Hopefully this is the last I'll have to spend.

Now about bunions.  Sounds so old ladyish type of thing, huh?  But it's a foot deformity, not just a sore toe.  It's something I've had for as long as I can remember.  My feet have always been shaped this way and I thought that was normal.  If I had known I would have done a lot differently with my shoe choices over the years.  I've never worn high heels regularly, I've instinctively hated them, but I've always gone for cheap shoes, going up a size to accommodate my toes instead of getting a wider width than was available.  I thought that was just the way it was.  If I had known I would have sprung for and looked harder for proper shoes.

Oh well, I know now and I'm still hopeful that I can do this job.  I hate giving up.

---

The Frenches Mustard factory in Springfield MO smells like Funyuns.  OH, you said BUNIONS!

I have always bought the better made shoes, as my feet will destroy a pair of cheap ones in a month.  I have a higher tolerance to pain as I have lived with it all my life.  It hurt more to have to spend $25 a month than $125 a year.

https://nwfootankle.com/foot-health/drill/2-articles/120-bunions-hammertoes

Read the above please.

 

[BC Guy]

New Balance makes a lot of wide sizes. The problem is to find a store that carries a good selection. Walmart (in Canada) carries DrScholls in wide sizes. The US Walmarts I looked in a couple of years ago did not have them.

 

[bigsallysmom]

Don't look for high quality shoes in Otero County, NM. I just bought some winter sneakers at WM. Definitely lower quality than my New Balance from a specialty store which costs four times more. For it's size, Alamogordo has one shoe store which I haven't gone into in 4 years because I never even noticed it was there. Looking at the prices online, prices are a bit higher than WM. Otherwise you will be going to a couple of sporting goods stores and Bealls. Excellent quality shoes for people who have foot issues will not be found here.

 

[Goshawk]

Just bought some HOKA ONE ONE tennis shoes. They are expensive but they have double the cushion for your feet. Amazing for me and my girlfriend. -- also make sure you have no feet issues with hidden callous or other structural stuff going on with feet.

 

[Almost There]

Try REI for good selection of sturdy shoes. I low hiking shoe with a vibram sole would probably be best for you for that type of work.

Make sure that when you try them on that they fit comfortably from the minute you put them on. There should never be a need for a pair of shoes to be broken in.

Nice thing about REI is their return policy.

It took me 5 stores and umpteen pairs of shoes before I found a pair of hiking shoes that fit my feet properly. I paid what I thought was an outrageous price for them but since I've gotten 3 years of wear out of them (no I don't walk 10 miles a day... ) they've proved to be less expensive than buying cheap shoes 3 or 4 times a year.

 

[GrantRobertson]

As someone who has walked A LOT in his day, I can tell you that 10 miles on a hard concrete floor, where you are constantly changing direction, is more like 15, or even 20, miles of regular walking. This is true even though (perhaps especially because) that 10 miles is spread out over 8 hours. I just walked 10 miles this morning, mostly at a 4mph pace. Though tiring, it was nothing compared to a 6 hour shift at Lowe's, as far as my feet were concerned.

Every time I feel like complaining about being stiff from sitting in a chair all day, at my current job, I remember barely being able to make it to my car after a shift at Lowe's.

How anyone over 30 can make it through a season at an Amazon warehouse boggles my mind. You have my condolences.

 

[StarEcho]

Thanks to all your encouragement!  I did finally make it through the whole peak season and after the Steelers/Broncos game we (my son and I) are on our way back to Colorado.  Got a horrible cold on Wednesday - that place is a giant petri dish! - so my last few days were more miserable than most.  On the plus side, the PTB decided to "train" us in packing the beginning of our last week.  So I got to pack for 2 days and listen to music while I worked.  That was nice.  

They had lots of contests in picking where the person who picked the most in a set period of time would win a gift card.  Of course, the ones who won those were the 2/3/4 year veterans who the items jumped out of the bins into their hands.  Pretty much rigged for failure for any temps.  They did give a separate category of prizes for the SMX temps, but the leadership didn't even know what camperforce was, so nothing for us.  I complained about this on their "associate board" and was given the party line about everyone had the same chance to win any prizes and that they valued camperforce, blah, blah, blah.  They even pulled us from a contest on the last day to tell us how much they valued us and to thank us personally.  So my son had 123 picks in that hour of the contest and those who beat this one person (126) got to be in a drawing for a gift card.  My son let them know that he was pulled out for 15 minutes by the manager for the camperforce meeting, so he should be in the drawing and they told him, oh so sad, too bad, you needed 126 or more to be in the contest.  That was the kind of stuff they did all the time.  Then they had a contest in the last quarter that if the "team" made a certain quota everyone would get a gift card.  We (camperforce), said we are leaving at 5am, so are we included in this since it's the last quarter which ends at 6am?  They assured us that we'd get the gift card too.  Then halfway through the last quarter they sent a message out to everyone on their scanners that you needed to work to 6:30am to get the gift card.  So I went down to complain and ask what's up and the jerk at the desk did the "I don't know anything about that" shoulder shrugging dance.  It was a very frustrating and disheartening last night working there.  It turns out the manager didn't say anything to his minions and he was at the other side of the building to give us our gift cards.  So add another mile to the walking.  Sigh.  That place just didn't communicate to each other and the result was crap for the workers.  So bottom line, Amazon might be worth it to some.  If you don't mind being crapped on regularly.  And at least for me, I won't ever go to Tennessee again.  That place is toxic.  And I won't ever be a picker again.  That is the lowest of the low jobs at amazon.  They expect a ridiculous quota.  Packing is a reasonable quota, you get to chitchat with neighbors, music during peak.  People up there would smile at you.  Pickers walked around with a permanent scowl on their face.

But on a good note, once I got some New Balance running shoes with the special orthotics it was like I had new feet.  I highly recommend them for anyone with bunions.  And best of all was meeting the other camperforce people and the great campground we were lucky enough to be in. (if you have to be in a campground) 

 

[highdesertranger]

glad you made it through. not exactly a rosy review. but it let us know what we would be in for. thanks for taking the to post the review. highdesertranger

 

[WriterMs]

Hey, Cindi,
Congrats on toughing it out! So isn't CO having some pretty frigid weather now? Will you be living in your rig when you get there?

 

[sassypickins]

Glad you made it through, StarEcho. That was a great write-up. Well, I hope you filled the coffers some and now you can enjoy some well-deserved you time. Sassy