Close your eyes. Imagine your Amazon purchase being packed and shipped-- where, by who. Now open them.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2010-11-26-amazon-...

I'll withhold my reaction initially . . .

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Duppie 13.5185km on November 30, 2010 at 9:13am

I have to say, that workamper packed my $6.95 HDMI cable very solidly. A job well done!

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Permalink Reply by Chris C on November 30, 2010 at 9:56am

There was a piece about this some years back. The only new twist here is the addition of foreclosure victims to the mix. Sadly is appears the only thing that has changed has been the labor pool has expanded.

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Permalink Reply by Pablo on November 30, 2010 at 10:28am

$10 an hour for seasonal work is not bad. I thought it would be minimum wage at 7.25.

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Permalink Reply by h' 1.0 on November 30, 2010 at 11:24am

I'm having the hardest time wrapping my brain around the folks who bought a $275,000 mobile home because they couldn't afford to pay their mortgage any more . . .?

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Permalink Reply by BalloonBiker on November 30, 2010 at 12:11pm

I don't think that's the case for that couple. They were already retired and had the RV, but then their investments tanked and they needed more money

"More common among work campers are people like Bill and Dorothy Judge, longtime retirees and RVers working now because their investment incomes have declined.

They live in a $275,000 Winnebago Vectra, a gleaming, top-of-the-line, spacious RV that logs 7 miles to the gallon. Still, Bill Judge, 72, said he took a graveyard shift at Amazon in hopes of earning up to $9,000 in four months. That will buy new tires for the RV at $600 apiece and finance upcoming trips."

It seems like the really broke folks have older RVs.

I wonder if something similar would work for bike tourists...or would living out of a tent be frowned upon?

H3N3 said:

I'm having the hardest time wrapping my brain around the folks who bought a $275,000 mobile home because they couldn't afford to pay their mortgage any more . . .?

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Permalink Reply by h' 1.0 on November 30, 2010 at 12:26pm

Thanks, should have re-read before commenting.
Sounds like they provide the space and the hookup-- not sure why they'd care whether your shelter had wheels or not.

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Permalink Reply by Liz on November 30, 2010 at 12:41pm

I think that is a retired coupled who purchased the motor home to live in when they retired. $250 for a nice home isn't that crazy. I think they started working temp jobs when investments went south and income was lower.

None of this is that shocking.

H3N3 said:

I'm having the hardest time wrapping my brain around the folks who bought a $275,000 mobile home because they couldn't afford to pay their mortgage any more . . .?

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Permalink Reply by in it to win it 8.0 mi on November 30, 2010 at 12:45pm

Clark: So, when did you get the tenament on wheels?
Eddie: Oh, that uh, that there's an RV. Yeah, yeah, I borrowed it off a buddy of mine. He took my house, I took the RV. It's a good looking vehicle, ain't it?
Clark: Yeah, it looks so nice parked in the driveway.
[Raises class to his mouth]
Eddie: Yeah, it sure does. But, don't you go falling in love with it now, because, we're taking it with us when we leave here next month.

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Permalink Reply by h' 1.0 on November 30, 2010 at 12:51pm

OK OK, I'm sorry I got that wrong.

Liz said:

I think that is a retired coupled who purchased the motor home to live in when they retired. $250 for a nice home isn't that crazy. I think they started working temp jobs when investments went south and income was lower.

None of this is that shocking.

H3N3 said:
I'm having the hardest time wrapping my brain around the folks who bought a $275,000 mobile home because they couldn't afford to pay their mortgage any more . . .?

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Permalink Reply by knowbody on November 30, 2010 at 1:15pm

almost reminiscent of the 1930's... it's the modern day equivalent of an economic dust bowl.

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Permalink Reply by James BlackHeron on November 30, 2010 at 1:26pm

I wonder if that was the guy who put the two bike tires (tires, not wheels) I recently ordered into two separate 36"x48"x6" boxes to be shipped. Good thing it was free shipping. But I think Amazon lost money on the deal.

The boxes would make good shipping boxes the next time I need to take AMTRAK somewhere.

Sheldon Brown lived in vain. Amazon packer dude could have put both tires into one small box using his method.

As for people living in an RV -it's all about not having to pay ~~rent~~ property taxes on your house. $5k/year adds up pretty damn fast and buys a crapload of gas and tires.

And you don't need to buy a $250,000 one either. Lots of decent ones out there for well under $20k. And if you use a bit of creativity you can avoid many expenses & even camp fees. Boondocking is a neat way to do this. Many hard-core boondocking portable lifestylers are into bicycling too -and may live ultimately greener than most of the people reading this forum.