Ok – so this is what all these hours of work are doing to me – turning my brain to mush!  I am typing this (basically starting a new post) like an hour after hitting publish on my last post.  I totally forgot about the weirdest  items!  My friend, Judi, packed an Electronic Yodeling Pickle!  That would be worse than getting coal in your stocking!  (Sorry in advance if there are any fans of electronic yodeling pickles out there) Seriously!  I packed a (deflated) Knobby Bouncing Ball w/Handle – I really want to know – what do you do with that?  When inflated, it’s 36″ big.   I HAD to look it up – they say it’s for kids to bounce on – which was my first thought – I think I used to have one a billion years ago – but mine was smooth and didn’t have little knobby things on it!  Who wants to bounce with knobby things grinding in?  Doesn’t sound like fun to me!  Another thing that is becoming popular – vacuum sealed clothes.  This one actually makes sense, but man – does it look weird!  The first time I saw one – I was like “what?” If you think about it – which clearly I have – it is actually pretty smart – the items are completely safe – no chance of getting dirty (Amazon is not very clean – the whole place is full of dust!).  The only potential negative is the stuff could be wrinkled. Mostly what I’ve seen is costumes and stuff like that.

So, a week later, not sure I have enough to say for a full “post”, but I’ll start typing and see where it leads me.

Today I am home, well back home now.  I started my day the usual way, with coffee and petting the cat.  She is very demanding in the mornings, especially now that she is used to us leaving her all alone all day, poor kitty!  After some cleaning up – it’s amazing how cluttered this small place can become – and a quick shower and the last of my carrot cake for breakfast, I headed out to Kroger for the grocery shopping.  I had a very specific list – I am making a Kentucky Burgoo!  It smells so good in here right now!  We are actually having dinner company, Paul and Lisa.  I warned them they will be acting as my Burgoo guinea pigs, as I have not made this before.  I’ll let you know how it comes out!

I have been taking a lot of notes at Amazon this week.  I figured since our time here is winding down, I would take the time to tell you more about the stuff we are seeing.  I know I told you some weird ones at the top of this post, but this list is more the ordinary, day to day stuff, we see, considering the online Christmas buying season is fully upon us!

Star Wars stuff is probably one of the top things I pack.  All kinds of Star Wars things, t-shirts, toys, hats, games, etc.  Considering there hasn’t been a new Star Wars movie is a long time, that surprises me.

For anyone out there with small kids in their lives – Melissa & Doug toys are HUGE!  To be honest, I have never heard of them before, but let me tell you what – they are awesome!  When my kids get around to giving us grandkids (not for a few more years at least – ok?), I am sure I will be spending serious money on these toys!  They have puzzles, learning toys, play kitchen sets – REAL stainless steal pots – just teeny size, package says you can actually cook in them!  Even had a tiny little colander!  So cute!  They are truly the best made toys I’ve ever seen!

Speaking of toys, Frozen is also HUGE!  Back when my daughter was small, there was Little Mermaid (Ariel), Beauty and the Beast (Belle) and Aladdin (Jasmine) – right now it’s all about Elsa and Anna from Frozen!

Not forgetting little boys – there is Marvel – all things Marvel for boys!  All the clothes, games, action figures, etc.

As far as clothes go – Carhartts are HUGE!  Most of their products are a blast from the past for me, as my Dad, who worked in construction (therefore outside) his whole life, wore them a lot!  I remember he and my Mom talking about the cost of them (guess they were/are pricey) but nothing keeps a guy warmer outside in the winter!  They have jackets, lined jeans, fully lined coveralls, flannel shirts, hats, socks, the whole outdoor line-up!

Walking Dead t-shirts and hoodies are also HUGE this year!  I pack them all day long!  My fav t-shirt says “Zombies eat brains – so you’re ok” – HA!

T-Shirts in general are popular – vintage stuff, like Leave it to Beaver, old concert shirts (think Pink Floyd, Led Zep, etc), even old movies, like Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, etc.

It never get used to packing food.  I mean, some food I can understand, if it were weird, hard to find stuff or specialty coffee/tea, stuff like that.  But – I have actually packed Oreo cookies – mega stuffed Oreo cookies!  Baby food jars – who orders baby food from Amazon, and like I said, not hard to find stuff, just ordinary formula or Gerber food.  Yesterday I packed a 1 lb Snicker Bar!  Yes, ONE bar that weighed (at least the package said) one pound!  It supposedly is nine services, at 240 calories per serving – so the whole Snickers bar is  2160 calories!  WOW!  I’ve also packed coffee, tea, gator aide, vitamin water, chocolate chips (not even a fancy gourmet brand, ordinary Hershey’s), dog and cats foods and treats.  It’s crazy!

Also – undergarments – socks, t-shirts, underwear, bra’s – and another HUGE popular item – corsets!  Lots of them, in all colors and sizes!  It might make sense to me if it were mostly men’s stuff, men (mostly) hate to go to the store for stuff, but I really can’t say that, it is both men and womens – and kids!  Baby stuff, even diapers!  Yes, people order Pampers, baby wipes, anti-diaper rash creams, etc. from Amazon!  Kids underwear with all the different characters on them.

I’ve also packed wedding gowns, 3 actually.  They were all folded neatly in a bag, not vacuum sealed, but just very tightly folded.  The computer screen told me I could pack them into a bag, but I decided they deserved a box, so that’s what I did.  I’ve also packed prom/bridesmaid type dresses.  When packing one of them, a lady came up behind me to stock the shelves with boxes and commented that I could/should bag that and I said “But it’s a wedding dress” to which she replied that “they ordered it from Amazon, that’s what you get”.  I shut her down completely when I said “Maybe that’s all she can afford”.  She just huffed away – those of you who know me well know the word I called her, under my breath of course, as she walked away.  Some people just live to be miserable, and love sharing that misery with others.

So, it occurred to me that I talked a good bit about how I did with picking when I was doing that job, but maybe not so much about packing.  Packing, initially, seemed a better fit for me, aside from the not walking due to my knees part.  I wasn’t as bored, felt like I got to think about what I was doing more.  Well, I guess I should report, that has worn off.  Packing, it turns out, is just as boring as picking.  I guess that is b/c I am used to it and even though it took longer (not a bad thing) it is all second nature now.  I find my mind wandering to all kinds of crazy things, like when I was picking.  Oh well, guess it was bound to happen, none of the jobs here at Amazon are rocket-science or brain surgery, just boring distribution center jobs.  Even the people who are “career” Amazon employees don’t have difficult jobs.

Next time I plan to give a brief description of all Amazon jobs made available to CamperForce people.  Keep in mind I have not done all the jobs, just picking and packing, but I’ve talked to people who’ve done them so I can give you as much info has I’ve gathered from those conversations.

Bill and I have done some Christmas shopping recently.  Guess where we bought from – Amazon!  We call that job security.  Ha!  We had packages sent to both kids.  Speaking of sending packages, Bill was finally able to send the bourbon samples also!  Had I mentioned that UPS, although VERY close by, is only open Mon-Fri 5pm to 7pm – that’s it!  So, today was the first and only day of the week he could get there.  Samples should arrive Dec 8!

Speaking of gifts – Bill ordered me my birthday present – oh yea – I didn’t mention it yet – my birthday was this week!  I celebrated by working a 10 hour day at my fav place (there’s that spice everyone loves about me!)  I now have an InstaPot – I seriously think it’s just Bill’s way of saying how much he loves my cooking and wants me to do more of it!  Our friend, Jo, has one and she loves hers and has cooked all kinds of yummy things in it! Bill wanted me to use it for the Burgoo today, but I really needed the 8 quart pot.  Maybe next time, I’ll have to cut the recipe in half though!

Company has come and gone.  Time to post, but I told you I would let you know how my first attempt at Kentucky Burgoo turned out.  Well, it is YUMMY!  Might be my new fav stew/soup type dinner!  I may or may not change it next time, so I won’t be posting a recipe just yet.  If you REALLY want to make it, I got the recipe I used off SimplyRecipes.com – Kentucky Burgoo.  Paul and Lisa arrived right on time, and brought a delish pumpkin roll for dessert.  The biggest surprise of the evening was Callie, who let Paul pet AND pick her up!  Couldn’t believe it!  He was barely in the door!

So, that’s all for tonight – see you again soon!