All Hands On at Amazon

My parents just completed Week 4 at Amazon, and have the countdown clock going.

While they enjoy reconnecting with workampers from last year and meeting new folks, including full-time employees known as "Blue Badges", they prefer the work of the Receiving Department to that of the ICQA Department to which they are assigned this year.  And for some reason Mom is getting backaches, something she did not experience while working in Receiving.

Yours truly, PoPo the Rambling RV Rat, with fellow workampers at the Happy Hour we hosted

They attended Amazon's "All Hands On" Meeting recently. The good news is that their hourly wage increased from $10.75 to $11.50/hour due to an across-the-board wage increase.  The bad news is that more than likely they will not receive the $1/hour incentive for working weekends that they scored last year.   And based on the way the department is structured this year and the statements of the new General Manager, it seems ICQA will not incur as much overtime as Receiving did last year.  This is troublesome for yours truly, Rambling RV Rat, as I compile my Christmas wish list!  I had my heart set on getting a cheese fondue pot and pizza maker this year!

The one thing about Amazon that you can count on with certainty--change.  So I'm hoping they change their positions on overtime and the incentive plan.  In the meantime, I've put my sister Tabby and my Cousin Bailey on notice:  their Christmas catnip cartons from me will be downsized.

We got some good perks from Verizon this month.    As Amazon employees, we received a 19% discount on our data plan, saving us $20/month.  Then we were awarded 4 gigs of promotional data.  So we are back to streaming episodes of the series "24".

It was through Mom's efforts that we actually got that promotional data.  You see, my Mom is a real PIA (Pain in A**).  A woman of principle, she will fight every billing inaccuracy, fraudulent advertisement, and what most of us would not even consider wasting our time on.  This week alone, she scored us a savings of $8 on grapes and received a 40 ounce bag of Hershey Kisses FREE (value $8.98) because she was charged more than the posted prices.  Then she disputed a partial toll charge of $5 we incurred while traveling to Livingston last month and somehow got the entire toll of $15 waived.  The best thing about this story, though, is that she took the money she saved and  treated me to a pizza from Frenki's Caprisio in Azle.  It was a pretty good pie and I thought it very caring and generous of Mom to do this for me!  Then I learned she was still reaping savings:  Frenki's offers a one-topping pizza for just $8.99 as a daily special!

Hard to believe it is mid-October, particularly since the Dallas/Fort Worth area still has 90 degree temperatures.  We had a few days of cooler weather thanks to cold fronts coming through, but unfortunately, these periods are short-lived.

We searched for some place to go apple picking in the area these last few weeks, an activity we did frequently back in New Jersey.  But no orchards could be found in this part of Texas.  We stopped instead at Demases Produce Market in Boyd, a fourth-generation farm founded in 1919, and purchased some zucchini and tasty tomatoes.

Well, gotta run and help Mom cook that zucchini.  We are turning it into the Greek dish Moussaka.

Talk to you soon!