Amazon -- EWR4

About a decade after moving to Central Jersey my dad's hobby of chasing trains morphed into watching Amazon build a big warehouse in his new hometown. It was a cheap hobby, and kept him out of the house for a while, which likely made my mom happy.

After learning it was possible to take a tour, I knew I wanted to go on one. I asked Don and my dad if they wanted to join me. They both enthusiastically said yes. Mom was also invited, but at the last minute she couldn't make it.

Dad's legs have been wearing out. What started as trying out a cane a few years ago has moved to using a "rolator" (walker with a seat) both in the house and (especially) everywhere else. On a recent trip to Williamsburg, VA they rented an electric scooter. He loved it! I was concerned about him being able to walk the mile and navigate the one flight of stairs. I emailed to ask about accessibility. Ironically, due to needing the elevator, we had to walk extra far. Once there, though, more people joined dad in the elevator. Dad did great for the first half of the tour. On a particularly long walk to the elevator I offered to push him and he gratefully accepted. Don offered to take over for me, and I gratefully accepted.

Including the three of us, there were 18 people on our tour. The elevator buddies included an Indian family, with the matriarch wearing a sari that would fit in more at Robbinsville's other main tourist destination, BAPS than in a warehouse. We had to wear our hair up, and have close-toed shoes on our feet.

Full disclosure, I went on the tour being anti-Amazon due to how they have forced small businesses to close. I was reminded that their original business model was as the place to buy books, putting independent bookstores into bankruptcy. This facility only handles small items -- ones that weigh under 50 pounds. Bigger items (flat screen TVs, mattresses, furniture, etc.) are processed in a different place.

EWR-4 opened in Robbinsville, NJ in 2014. It's nickname is "The Beast of the East," our guide shared the story but it came out more as an inside joke than something I understood. Overall the location is 1.2 million square feet, making it the current fourth largest Amazon warehouse. The largest (4.5 million square feet) in in Ontario, Canada. There are 29 miles of conveyor belts. Parts of the building are two very tall stories, and parts are four stories high. Unfortunately for the sake of this post, cameras (including cell phones) are not allowed on the tour.

The tour lasts between 60 and 90 minutes. Ours was a few minutes longer thanks to people asking lots of questions. For once, I was not one of the question askers. I did not want to make Amazon nervous, so I did not bring my notebook. The thoughts are jumbled in my head as I write this the next day.

My primary question was about its name: EWR-4. It was confirmed it does refer to the closest international airport. In our case, Newark Airport (EWR). While there is not an EWR-1, 2, or 3, there is a 5 and a 6 with others in the plans. 

Jennifer introduced us to Steve, a picker. He grabs items from bins to put into cubbyholes. There is a little more to it. He has to scan each item. He has an average of 15 seconds to sort each item. Steve is tall. He can reach the top cubbies. The woman next to him has to use a ladder. Jennifer assures us this is an easy pace to maintain.

We moved to the robots. The robots keep going unless you are wearing a special vest. If something is dropped on the floor (which seems to happen with some regularity) only specially trained people can pick them up. There is another man. The packer. I'll call him Jim since I didn't get his real name. He picks the items that Steve put in the bins and sorts them by where they are going. Jim has an average of seven seconds to move them. 

The drivers, some using their own cars, have to deliver everything within a set amount of time or their pay is decreased. 

A long walk to the elevator and giant staircase. Jennifer filled the void with what a great company Amazon is to work for. I was busy keeping an eye on dad and missed much of what she said. Some points I remember, they rotate people to minimize injuries from repetitive motions. People are trained in different skills so they can rotate. They work forty hours a week in four days -- yup, ten hour days. The place is open 24-hours a day. They only close for Christmas.

Upstairs we watched another man put the items in boxes. I'll call him Mike. We only saw the single item boxing area. The multiple box area is too crowded for visitors. Mike is told what size box to use. A piece of brown tape is spit out. He puts it in the box with extra brown paper. Adds the QR code (there are over a million in the building) and sends it on a belt. I noticed a woman behind me (we were not introduced) makes sure they are facing in the right direction so when they get to the address maker the machine can do its job.

We did learn as of last week the plastic envelopes are a thing of the past. Books will come in brown paper envelopes. You heard it hear first.

I'd love to say by the end of the tour I thought: I love Amazon! These people have the best jobs. 

But, no. 

I left digging my heels in with a new reason to not shop Amazon: they treat their employees like robots. When they can figure out a way to have robots do the jobs, these people will be let go. 

Dad and Don also left grateful to not work there. Yes, the pay rate is above minimum wage. With the exception of our tour guide (who was taking a break from picking and packing merchandise) smiled. No one was listening to music, or whistling, or talking to each other. It is just a modern version of the factories people like Don's dad worked in hoping he would be the last member of the family to do so. Perhaps that's a bit unfair, I never heard him complain about working for GM. I also never heard him encourage his children to follow in his footsteps.

As we stepped outside breathing in the fresh air we realized inside the warehouse there are no indications of the weather. I did see a spot to gather if there is a tornado (a fairly rare occurrence in New Jersey). It is so noisy inside I don't think they would notice a thunderstorm. 

The tour is free. They offer two a day, four days a week. Sign up HERE for a tour near you.

24th Anniversary of 9/11

I don't know why the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks are hitting me a little harder this year, but they are. Today's crisp blue sky and low humidity take me back to that Tuesday in 2001. 

My birthday had just passed. 

I was working at Princeton Day School (PDS) in their Development Office. 

A year earlier we moved to our home in Lawrenceville. The house we knew was the start of the next stage of turning the house into a home. Transforming us from being a couple to becoming a family.

I was late. I planned to pop into CVS on the way home to pick up a pregnancy test I hoped, expected, would show we were indeed expecting.

The news came in about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. Surely it must be a small plane. Then the news that a plane hit the second tower.

My role at PDS was to maintain the database of everyone involved with the school: staff past and present, students, alumni, and parents. The call came from the Head of School to identify which parents worked in the WTC. Subtext: which parents might not come home that night. Who needs to be pulled out of class to be talked to separately.

About ten days earlier I had put together a book listing every student and every parent, their home and office phone numbers (few had cell phones in those days), their addresses, students birthdays, organized by last name and by class. It was always a huge undertaking. When people were taking time off to enjoy the last bit of freedom before another school year, I was sifting through data with a fine toothed comb. Eagle-eyed co-workers scoured the book for mistakes. The Friday before school started the book was delivered to the printer in Langhorne, PA (once by me to ensure it arrived on time). It was probably my most stressful annual assignment and the most rewarding.

I knew my data. I knew I could find the answer if the parents gave us the information.

I found ZERO parents who worked in the World Trade Center, but gave them the names of parents who identified their offices as being located across the street in the World Financial Center.

Sadly, we did have a parent perish that day. It was the parents of a new student. One who filled in the space asking for their work information simply as NYC. One parent who did not return home that night. One family that moved shortly after the towers fell. One family too many.

I have a couple of stronger memories. I remember calling my dad at work. Something I hadn't done since moving away from home. At the time he worked at Teterboro Airport with a view of NYC skyline (his office did not have a window, but the airport could see the sky). I asked him how he was doing and he said "it is so sad."

The next memory is from a couple of days later when I could smell the smoke. It traveled over fifty miles from NYC to Princeton. I thought if that's how bad it smells here, it must be intolerable in NYC.

It was years before I saw the news footage. I was standing in the Newseum, the museum of news in Washington, DC with Don and our daughter. It was even more horrific than I imagined at the time. In 2001 we didn't have a working television set. The internet was still new. Social media did not exist. I did not seek out images.

On September 12th I took that pregnancy test. It was positive. It was hard to celebrate knowing we were about to send a child into a world completely different from the one I had always known.

Pictures of a couple of pieces of WTC steel from our international travels:

Outside Gander, NL, Canada

Christ Church, NZ

Another reason it is hitting hard is because this summer we saw COME FROM AWAY in Gander, NL. The stories of people being stranded were brought back up to the surface.

Yet another reason is the resurgence of gun violence this week with the murder of a right wing 31-year old who once said a few deaths is the accepted price we pay to keep our "God given" right to the Second Amendment. The unity our nation felt on September 12, 2001 has been torn in half.

The calmest week we have felt since January 20, 2025 happened when the current President stayed out of the news for six days. It was just long enough for me to realize there is a chance we'll go back to being able to fully breathe again without worrying about what laws are being broken by the Commander in Chief. If not laws, societal standards. He thrives on chaos. I thrive on calm.

Trenton Fit

A few weeks ago Don and I went on a Trenton Walks tour. A week later we went on another one. A week after that we went on a third one. Upon retirement, Becky Taylor (locally famous for co-founding the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail over 20 years ago) moved to Trenton and wanted to learn more about her new home. The more she learned, the more she wanted to share this knowledge with others. Hence Trenton Walks was born. 

Tom, a frequent participant on the Trenton Walks meetups, saw a need for people to gather and run together. He calls his group Downtown Fit. They meet on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 5:30 and on Saturday mornings at 8 am. I've been to two of the "Bridge to Bridge" runs. They also have a four-mile Stacy Park loop. 

The Bridge to Bridge runs starts on the corner of Lafayette and Warren Streets and, after taking a group photo in the same spot each time, they have a warm up walk to the New Jersey State Library to the Calhoun Street Bridge, runs along the Delaware River on a path in Levittown, then crosses at the Trenton Makes Bridge, before heading up to the start on Warren. This is about 2.4 miles. You can add a loop through Mill Hill to bring it up to three miles. The two times I have done it, the shorter amount was fine. 

It is a small yet diverse group of super supportive and encouraging people. The two times I have gone (once with Don, once without), our group of about ten people broke into eight minute mile runners, 12 minute milers, and walkers. Roland and Tom, the de facto leaders, says they are slow, but later amends that to say slow for the fast runners, waits until the end to make sure everyone is greeted with a high five and a smile.

We are continuing through the fall, but there is concern about what to do once it gets darker earlier, and when the icy weather starts. The group only started connected this past Spring. They want to keep going.

It helps dispel the theory that Trenton is a scary place. The scariest parts are when we are crossing traffic and cars do not notice us, but that's everywhere.

Labor Day Protests

Monday was the latest national day of protest. It feels absurd we have to keep gathering to express our displeasure at the government. Each day they (hate to call them "leaders") do more to destroy decades of progress, so here we are.

In June millions protested. I heard this Labor Day the national number was closer to 500,000. Still a lot of people, but nowhere close to the numbers needed to really push for progress.

Why the lower turnout?

This movement got much less publicity than No Kings Day on June 14.

We are told by Indivisible and other groups that organize these events that the use of the word "protest" is being flagged by Facebook algorithms therefore they are not reaching as many people. Instead use the phrase: music festival, or community picnic. Words that don't generate the same fire that protest burns.

There was not a cute symbol. There are so many injustices, the day splintered into different directions. Not everyone has the same fire, so the protest closest to you might not attract you.

I went to two protests that day, or "gatherings" as I called them on my FB page. One in Trenton against billionaires and pay inequality. The other in Princeton organized by a Spanish speaking group against ICE. Both good causes. Neither one that hits me at my core.

I stayed about an hour at each. Long enough to be counted, but not long enough to form lasting memories.

At least it wasn't raining.

Trenton pictures:

Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman

Princeton pictures:

Einstein lived in Princeton,
so it was fitting to include him on a sign

Two sided signs is the way to go