Stop the leaking!

8:01 am - Friday - May 31st - Ramona, CA - 56° F, 93% humidity, wind - CALM....foggy this morning with a forecast high of 77° F.....the view today.......↴

Thursday means pool vacuuming day here at RORVR, and after opening the storage area, and the Red Barn I headed over to the pool to test for PH and chlorine levels, clean out the skimmers, put a few hundred gallons in the pool, and then vacuum it.......

 Listening to some tunes

.....of course, the ducks made an appearance sometime during the night and left another deposit, so I had to retrieve the long hose from the tool shed to wash off the deck once again.  By the time I finished with the pool I had about an hour until lunch so I retrieved the pressure washer from the tool shed and took it up to sites 17, 18 and 19 to pressure wash the 3 picnic tables in those sites.  I finished just before it was time for lunch....perfect!

I spent the afternoon pressure washing the hast two cabins in sites 98 and 124.  It take about an hour to pressure wash each cabin including the setup and take down time for the pressure washer, so I was finished with them just after 3 pm.  I had an hour left until quitting time so I had planned to move the pressure washer down to the 80's to pressure wash some more picnic tables, but on my way I received a call over the 2-way radio that the water faucet in site 16 was spraying water, so I headed there to check it out.  Sure enough water was spraying out of a crack in the galvanized pipe just below the coupling.  It appeared someone had backed into the pipe bending it just below the coupling resulting in a crack.  

I contacted my co-worker, Alika, to see if he knew where the valve was that turned off the water to site 16.  He went to Rich's golf cart (he and Marnie were off  work Thursday) to retrieve the water schematic for the park.  It indicated the valve controlling the water flow to site 16 was up by site 30 next to the fire hydrant, so he went there to turn off the water while I waited at site 16.  Within minutes the water pressure went down, and soon there was just a trickle of water coming out of the cracked pipe.....

The faucet and coupling removed from the cracked pipe

 The cracked pipe waiting to have about an 

inch cut off the top so it could be re-threaded

I next retrieved the pipe cutter, pipe threader, teflon tape,  and pipe wrench from the tool shed to begin the repair.  Using the pipe wrench I removed the coupling from the pipe coming out of the concrete, verified it was, indeed, cracked, then began to use the pipe cutter to remove the bad piece, however the pipe cutter was missing a couple of screws and would not work properly.  About that time Rich and Marnie arrived home, and he brought his 'Sawsall' down to finish cutting the cracked piece off the pipe.  Once that was done it was time to re-thread the top of the pipe, and then reinstall the faucet.......

The repair is complete....turn on the water!

......I looked at my watch as I loaded the tools back on the golf cart and it was 5 minutes to 4.....perfect.  On Thursdays TLE is the only person in the office in the afternoon so she stays on to 5 pm to close the office.  I bid her adieu and headed for the barn with another day in the books.  I felt pleasantly tired....a far cry from two weeks ago, right?

TLE told me she would walk home, and she arrived about 5:10 pm.  As I have written before, I love working at RORVR.....every day is different, and I'm even allowed, and trusted to 'fix' broken things when I find them.....quite a contrast to last summer's experience.

Since we don't report for work on Friday's until the afternoon we were up until 11 pm watching some recorded shows ('The Amazing Race', and 'Elementary').....thanks for stopping by!

P.S. - The Amazon Affiliate link below is the only one that works correctly for some reason.  I am trying to fix the numerous other links you will find on my blog pages, but for now if you wish to use our affiliate link please use the one below......↴

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

A day in the life......

6:26 am - Thursday - May 30th - Ramona, CA - 55° F, 87% humidity, wind 1 mph out of the west by southwest.....sunny, clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 81° F.....the view this morning.......↴

A new monthly neighbor

Beginning Wednesday we are finally on our regular weekly schedule.  We are off work Monday and Tuesday, and work Wednesday through Sunday.  Rich and Marnie are off work Wednesday and Thursday.  Both TLE and I are working 33 hours per week (7 hours per day for four days, and only 5 hours on Sundays), which is perfect.  We are off work by 4 pm 4 days per week, and off by 2 pm on Sundays.

The only work duty that repeats everyday for me is opening the storage yard, pool, the Red Barn, and checking the water level in the water tank (was down 3,000 gallons so I ran both pumps for 1.5 hours.....the pumps add about 2,000 gallons of water per hour).  The pool takes the longest as I must complete the daily pool tests for chlorine and PH levels, as well as empty the skimmers of any debris they have collected in the past 24 hours, and then add water to the pool/Jacuzzi as needed.  Sometimes Rich goes to work earlier than 9 am, and he takes care of the pool, but most days I do.  Right now I vacuum the pool once a week, but as it gets warmer and we have more customers that will be happening more often, but still on an as needed basis.

Once I am done with the opening activities I then check the 'To Do' list in the employee break room and choose something to do.  As of Wednesday I still have 4 cabins to pressure wash so I saved the next two for the afternoon after lunch.  In the morning I cleaned up around the barn, raked the horseshoe pits, got a long hose to wash some duck poop off the pool deck, installed a couple of new "KEEP LOCKED" signs to the pool gate, installed a couple of screens on a heater vent on one of the cabins where some woodpeckers were trying to store acorns for next winter, and then spent the rest of the morning with the Stihl hand blower blowing leaves off the artificial turf in the playground.

At 1 pm I gathered up the pressure washer, an extension cord, and the long 100' hose to take up to cabins 64 and 65 to pressure wash them.  It takes about an hour per cabin, which includes setting up and taking down the pressure washer, pressure washing the deck, the cabin itself, the plastic stackable chairs on the deck of each cabin, and the picnic table.  While I am in the vicinity I usually pressure wash any picnic tables within 100' on either side of the cabins.

I ended my work day with the Stihl hand blower up at the mini golf course blowing leaves and debris off each hole, which takes just about an hour.  Before heading back to the office I checked the water tank water level once again and found it just 500 gallons down, so I took no action.  I picked up TLE from the office at 4 pm and we were home a few minutes later.

On Wednesday's and Thursday's TLE and I also close the park which involves locking the storage yard, Red Barn, and pool, plus checking on the condition of the two restroom facilities, plus verifying the office, tool shed, and supply buildings are locked.  It takes just under 20 minutes to do it all.  Now that we are into the summer schedule we do the 'close' at 9:30 pm.  On the weekends we split the 'close' duties with Rich and Marnie....they take on day and we take the other.

In just a few short days we have gone from temps in the high 50's combined with rain, and heavy overcast to clear blue skies and temps in the low 80's......my body is having a difficult time keeping up with the whiplash like weather changes, but I'm sure I'll adapt to the warmer temps in about a week.....for now it feels like it is much warmer than 81° F!

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. - The Amazon Affiliate link below is the only one that works correctly for some reason.  I am trying to fix the numerous other links you will find on my blog pages, but for now if you wish to use our affiliate link please use the one below......↴

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

Back in uniform!

6:46 am - Wednesday - May 29th - Ramona, CA - 50° F, 87% humidity, wind - CALM - sunny, clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 80° F.....the view this morning.....↴

Two days in a row with sun!

The forecast high for Tuesday was 71° F and it got there!  What a nice day to take a walk around old town Ramona, so that is exactly what we did.  We drove into town around 10 am, found a parking spot and began to walk.  There are several interesting thrift and antique stores in the old town area by which we have driven numerous times over the month we have been here and it was time to scratch that old 'junking' itch and check them out.......

The retirement uniform is back!

....for the first time in over a week I was back in my retirement uniform.....t-shirt, shorts and flip flops.  As we walked from one store to another I could not help but notice numerous murals on the local buildings so I began to snap a few pictures to memorialize them in the blog.....

......we only covered a two block section of old town, and I know there are more murals to be photographed, so I will add to my collection the next time we walk around old town.  We spent a couple of hours browsing before getting back in the car and heading over to Stater Brothers to do a 'big' shopping.....this is what a big shopping for us looks like......

....six bags of groceries in all!  We also made a stop at the local TruValue hardware store to pick up four more mouse traps to deploy in four other storage compartments just to make sure we are not missing any of Mother Nature's little critters who may have taken up residence in our Newell.

While TLE put away the groceries I deployed the mouse traps, and then headed up to the trailer to putter around for a while.  I miss the convenience of have my 'garage' right next to our Newell, but it is what it is.  The one side benefit of having the trailer up in the storage area is I am exercising the Honda generator more often, which is good for any mechanical thing.

By the time I returned the groceries were put away, and it was going on 5 pm.....where did the day go?  Around 5:30 I lit the Sea-B-Que so we could grill a salmon steak for dinner.  TLE made a salad to go with the salmon.  We enjoyed the evening sans electric heaters running for the first time in over a week.  Looking forward to some sunny days and temps in the low 80's after all the rain we have had lately!

Thank for stopping by!

P.S. - The Amazon Affiliate link below is the only one that works correctly for some reason.  I am trying to fix the numerous other links you will find on my blog pages, but for now if you wish to use our affiliate link please use the one below......↴

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

Monday becomes Saturday.....

7:16 am - Tuesday - May 28th - Ramona, CA - 47° F, 89% humidity, wind - CALM - that is becoming a regular occurrence....you know, the wind being CALM.  Very sunny today with clear blue skies and a forecast high of 71° F.....the view this morning.....↴

Yay.....sun!!!

It finally stopped drizzling around 10 am Monday, and we finally saw blue sky again around 3 pm.  The forecast for the next two weeks looks rather promising.....sun and blue sky wise.....↴

.......Monday was our Saturday, and Tuesday will be our Sunday for the foreseeable future, and that is the nature of working in an RV park......everyone works on weekends as those days are our busiest each week.  I took advantage of the VW being completely wet and went outside around 10 am to wipe it dry....saves getting out the hose to wash the car, and it looks just as good when I am done.

I spent a couple of hours finishing a book I had been reading, and then drove the golf cart up to the trailer to get a few washers, and a nylon bushing to use to adjust the refrigerator door.  The door latch which keeps the door shut was out of alignment with the catch....it was too low, and would not lock properly, so I need to install a washer, or a bushing on the bottom pivot point in order to raise it about a 1/2" to get the latch right in the middle of the catch.  First I had to remove the bottom pivot point and install a shim to tighten up the pivot post, then add the nylon bushing.........

.....once those two items were installed it was time to remount the door, and just as I hoped, the latch is now smack dab in the middle of the catch.......

.....and the door now stays shut.....I love it when a plan comes together!!  That was my big project for Monday, but there was also success on another front.  Whenever we are staying in one place for an extended period of time, especially when it is in a rural area, I periodically do an inspection of our storage areas looking for signs of mice.  It has been a long time since we had an issue with mice, but you just never know.  The other day I found some of the tell tale signs and deployed our 4 mouse traps....two in the living area, and two in the basement areas where I found signs of mice.  It took a couple of days, but the one trap I placed in the driver side water bay area yielded a mouse of the deceased variety.  I quickly disposed of the carcass, and reset the trap.  I hope there was only one, but you never know.

It was pretty cold most of Monday, and I spent very little time outside preferring to remain inside where it was warm and cozy.  Both TLE and I are beginning to wonder when summer, or at least spring will arrive.  Looks like we've got some temps in the 80's on the horizon.  Looking forward to some evening walks, and sitting out on the 'lido deck' with TLE in the next couple of weeks as we edge into the first week of June.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

About The Lovely Elaine......

7:27 am - Monday (Memorial Day) - May 27th - Ramona, CA - 49° F, 91% humidity, wind - CALM.......cloudy right now, but no chance of rain today with a forecast high of 63° F.....time for a couple of days off work......the view this Monday morning.......↴

It began sprinkling on our way to work Sunday morning, and continued raining all the day long.....never hard, but always there.  Sunday's we only work from 9 am to 2 pm, which is nice.   It was also our 5th consecutive day of working.  I spent the entire 5 hour shift working in the supply building reorganizing everything.  Rich had begun this process a month, or so ago, but did not have time to complete it, so I volunteered to tackle it, and since we would have rain all day it was the perfect inside job!

I had a message from a reader yesterday on 'Real Saturday' saying they enjoyed reading about my workday, and what I do outside of work, but wanted to know what TLE does during the day.  I don't write much about what TLE does, as she is much more private than I, and prefers I don't put in too much detail about what she does, however, when not working she reads a lot of books, and she also reads a lot of recipes, occasionally finding one she wants to make for us.  She is a very good chef, and I can only think of one time in the last 10 years she has made me something I did not like.  Whenever we take on a seasonal job as we are right now, she works too.  Typically I have the outside job, maintenance in this current job, and she works in the office.  In her current job she does what you would expect a front office person at an RV park to do.....she takes reservations, she checks people into, and out of the park, she answers questions, gives directions, occasionally cleans a restroom, or unclogs a toilet, etc.  She is very good with people, and is very quick to learn new computer programs at the different RV parks in which we have worked.  When we worked at Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon we were both cashiers, and both got to be pretty good at it.  Back in 2013 we both worked in traffic control at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at Gate 2, the main entrance for vehicles, and semis for 16 days (12 hours/day) leading up to and including the Indy 500 that year.  We have worked the Sugar Beet Harvest in Sydney, MT.....I worked on a piler, while she worked in the scale house.  We have worked 'Peak Season' at Amazon three times now (twice in Campellsville, KY, and once in Fernley, NV), and are scheduled to work at their Phoenix, AZ facility for 6 weeks beginning November 6th of this year.  We worked 3.5 summers at Tahoe Valley Campground, which we loved, but had to leave early in the summer of 2017 due to serious management issues at the corporate, and local level.

The last few years she has become very adept at sitting in doctor, and hospital waiting rooms waiting for me as I have moved from one medical issue to another.  She always has her iPad, or phone with her so she can read whilst she waits.  There was the emergency double hernia operation at 2 am in the morning back in February of 2014, my left eye cataract surgery in November of 2016, my ischemic stroke December 28, 2017 when she rushed me to the Grand Canyon Clinic, which in turn put me in an ambulance to Flagstaff Medical (there was a lot of waiting then),  the two recent surgeries to remove non-malignant growths on my butt cheek, and facial cheek in February of 2019, my right eye cataract surgery on May 10, 2019, and then my first, and hopefully only cardiac event on May 13, 2019, and subsequent angioplasty.

TLE loves to take walks, and go on hikes.  We did over 100 miles of hiking at Yellowstone in the summer of 2017, about 25 miles of hiking at Bryce Canyon that Fall, and about 40 miles of hiking at the Grand Canyon in the Fall/Winter of 2017 before my stroke.  We have hiked many trails at Lake Tahoe over the years, and this past summer we hiked about 40 miles in Acadia National Park, and rode our bikes about the same distance on the extensive carriage road network within the park.  We have both ridden literally hundreds of miles on our road bicycles up an down the California Coast, around South Lake Tahoe, in Florida, Vermont, Louisiana, Death Valley, Kentucky, Nevada, Wisconsin (there are a lot of 'rails to trails' bike paths in Wisconsin), Washington State, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, Utah....pretty much everywhere we have been except Maine where there were no shoulders on the local roads.  She is an 'outdoor' girl, having grown up in Miami, FL back in the 40's, 50's and 60's.  She prefers to be barefoot.  She is a wealth of information....I can ask her about almost any subject, and she knows something about it.....I call her my voice activated encyclopedia.   

As you can see they offer virtually every Mexican beer available

We ended our work day Sunday as scheduled at 2 pm, drove home in our golf cart, changed clothes and drove into Ramona for some Mexican food....our first real foray into the local culinary scene.  TLE chose Casa Reveles (4 stars on 73 reviews on Yelp) for our late lunch/early dinner.  She had  Camarones de Diabla (shrimp), and I ordered their two Chile Rellenos combo plate.  We sat enjoying their chips and salsa, while sipping Dos Equis amber, as we talked about our first month at RORVR, and all that has happened in the past few months.  We are content, happy, and at peace.  In spite of all of my health dramas, I am doing well, and getting healthier....life is good!  We love living in a small space together, and cannot imagine living any other way.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

Real Saturday.....

7:16 am - Sunday - May 26th - Ramona, CA - 54° F, 81% humidity, wind - CALM (3 days in a row!)......heavy cloud cover this morning with a forecast of rain once gain, and a high of 57° F.....the view this morning......↴

It was wonderful to drive down the hill to work with blue skies and warming temperatures for the second day in succession.  After opening the storage yard, pool, and Red Barn I retrieved a Stihl hand blower from the tool shed and headed back up to the barn area to blow the leaves off each mini golf hole, and then up to the Red Barn to blow dirt and leaves off of all the concrete areas surrounding the structure.

When I went to check on the pool later in the morning I found someone had backed into the wooden pole fence that borders the parking area near the pool, breaking one of the vertical poles thereby scattering the 4 horizontal poles across the parking lot.  I went back to the tool shed to retrieve a length of rebar, wood screws and some plumber's tape.  I used the 3 foot length of rebar to support the broken vertical pole by pounding it into the ground next to the stump of the pole left in the ground, then placed the broken pole next to it and attached it to the rebar using the plumber's tape and screws.  Once that was done I reinstalled the 4 horizontal poles.  This is only a temporary fix as we will need to order a new vertical pole from the local lumberyard to replace the broken one.

Later in the day I received a call from TLE at the office that someone had reported a 'smoking' electrical pedestal in site #71 (right next to us!), so I headed up there wondering what I would find.  Fortunately, the neighbors had immediately disconnected the shore power from the RV parked in that site, and turned off the 30 amp breaker.  Rich arrived shortly after I did.....we examined the pedestal and could feel that the metal box was quite hot.  Luckily there is a separate 50 amp outlet near the pedestal so I retrieved my 50 to 30 amp adapter and plugged the customer's 30 amp plug into that one for the duration of the weekend.  Most of the 30 amp pedestals on this row will be replaced within the next 60 days for this very reason......many are beginning to fail after 50 years.  This is all part of the major electrical upgrade which began back in February, before we arrived.  After we reconnected power to the RV in site #71 I retrieved a couple of self tapping sheet metal screws from the supply building and screwed the pedestal 'door' shut to prevent further use.  This site has now become a 50 amp only site.

I spent the rest of my workday ensconced inside the supply building beginning the multi-day reorganization project.  Rich began to reorganize things about a month ago, but has been so busy he has not been able to finish, so he is letting me finish what he began.  This is the kind of project I relish, and Sunday will be a good day to really dive into it as it will be raining most of the day.

4 pm came quickly once again on Real Saturday, and within minutes TLE and I were on our way home.  This is the first time since we arrived that we have both worked 4 days in a row.  We are both loving our jobs, and enjoying being at RORVR* quite a bit!

I haven't talked in a while about how retirement has changed the way I view the days of the week.  When I retired back in 2011 every day felt like Saturday to me.  You know how back in your workaday life you would sometimes awake Saturday morning thinking it was a work day, and then within seconds remembered it was Saturday and you didn't have to go to work?  I loved that feeling of relief.  Now that I am retired (when we are not doing some seasonal job) every day feels like that, so I have renamed the typical Monday through Friday workdays.....Monday is now 1st Saturday, Tuesday is 2nd Saturday, and so forth.  Hence Saturday is now called Real Saturday......Sunday, of course, will always just be Sunday.  I learned quickly when I retired that you never go to the hardware store on Real Saturday, or on Sunday....it's just too crowded.....the best day to go is 2nd Saturday (Tuesday), when you are not competing with all the workaday folks.

Thanks for stopping by!

*RORVR = Ramona Oaks RV Resort

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

It begins......

7:03 am - Saturday - May 25th - Ramona, CA - 48° F, 96% humidity, wind - CALM - clear blue sky today with a forecast high of 68° F.....the view this morning......↴

Yup, it is the Memorial Day weekend!

Friday was the first day in many that greeted us with clear blue skies, and it was also the first day in many that the overnight temp dipped back into the 40's.  We were scheduled to begin work at 1 pm working until 8 pm, which was a nice break from the routine of being at work by 9 am.  We took a walk about mid morning enjoying the still empty feel of RORVR knowing that by late afternoon it was be quite a different picture with over 70 arrivals.  After our walk I put out a few more yard lights, dumped the black tank, and then took a nap outside in my zero gravity lounger, something I have not done for quite a while.

We reported to work at 1 pm to a still quiet office, but the fun was about to begin.  After dropping TLE at the office I went to talk with Rich about what he wanted done Friday.  He said he had found a large water leak just outside the pump/filter room for the pool.  While he talked with the electricians I drove my cart up to the pool to inspect the leak.  It appeared that someone in the distant past had put a temporary patch on a pinhole leak in a section of copper pipe just at ground level.  That patch finally gave way, and now it was time to do a permanent fix.

I then drove around park to see if anyone needed help getting into their site, and then returned to the pool area after getting a call from Rich on the 2-way radio that he was ready to begin repairs on the leak.  By the time I arrived he had already begun to dig out the mud around the leaking pipe.  Based on the complete saturation of the ground around the leak it appears this leak as been going on for some time.  The pipe below ground was PVC, but above ground it transitioned to a section about 18" long of copper pipe threaded into a brass shutoff valve.  After shutting off the water we decided to cut the copper section in half then unthread it from the brass valve and PVC pipe, then replace it with PVC up to the valve.

We have a lot of PVC stuff in our supply building, but not exactly what we needed to repair the pipe so Rich headed into town with his notes to buy what was needed.  While he was gone I helped a couple of people get into their sites, then went down to the office to make sure there were not too many RV's at the entry way.  It never got worse than 2, or 3 RV's at one time, and we can stage about 6 before we begin to have a traffic problem.

Within 30, or 40 minutes Rich had returned from town and we headed out to complete the leaking pipe repair.  Within another 40 minutes we had the new section of pipe installed, and the water supply to the pool area restored.

I spent the rest of the day completing the weeding job I began two days prior at the Red Barn.  There was still a section of weeds to be pulled along the south side of the horseshoe pits.  By 7 pm the sun had passed behind the local hills, and it was beginning to get chilly.  I finished weeding just about that time and headed back to the tool shed with my tools.  The rest of my workday was spent in the office, and directing traffic.  It never got real busy, which is nice.  By 8 pm we had about 18 arrivals left on our list, and the park was settling down for the evening.

Since we had lunch at 4:30 pm, which was really dinner, TLE produced a bowl of yogurt and fruit for a snack, and we watched a recorded episode of 'Elementary' (first episode of the final season), and then 'Gold Rush: Parker's Trail' before hitting the sack around 10 pm.  On a side note I have managed to lose 8 lbs. on my current weight loss program (managed by TLE) since my HA on May 13th.  My near term goal is to get down to 195 lbs, which is about 12 pounds away now.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

Preppers.......

7:22 am - Friday - May 24th - Ramona, CA - 48° F, 86% humidity, wind - CALM.....clear blue skies today with a forecast high of 72° F.....the view this morning.....↴

Well, what do you know?  Blue skies once again!

Thursday was my second day back at work after the HA and it was just as wet, and miserable as it was on Wednesday.....in fact I had my jacket on until after 2 pm.  It would rain, then begin to dry out, then rain again all day long.  I had planned to finish weeding around the Red Barn, but very wet ground and weeding on your hands and knees do not combine very well, so I decided to spend the morning doing a thorough cleaning of the pool which included 'sweeping' it first, then vacuuming it.  This was on the 'to do' list to be done in preparation for the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend, and that is this weekend.  As I suspected, it took me until about 12:15 pm to finish......just as the rains came again.....good timing Clarke.

After lunch it had dried out sufficiently that I was able to get back to the final weeding at the back of the Red Barn, which covered the area all around the horseshoe pits, and there were a lot more weeds than I thought I had observed Wednesday.  By 3:15 pm I had just about finished when I got a call from TLE at the office advising the 'bee guy' was here.  Last Saturday when my kids were playing horseshoes they said they had noticed a lot of bees around the red observation tower that overlooks the mini golf and dog run area......↴

There was a bee hive in the wall of the observation tower!

......we had advised Rich and Marnie, and they had called the 'bee guy' to "neutralize" the bees.  I ran down to the office to guide him to the site at which time he advised me I should vacate the area for about 30 minutes while he did his work as the bees would get quite agitated when he began his work.  I complied without debate.

While the bee guy was doing his thing I headed back to the office to set up the cots we have for two 'pavillon' tents (tents on wooden platforms with cots inside, and a BBQ outside).  We just got in the new tents, and those sites have been rented for this weekend, so we needed to check out the cots to be sure they were in serviceable condition.....they were.

Around 3:45 pm I headed back to the Red Barn to find the 'bee guy' had finished his job.  He said the hive was about 3-4 weeks old.  He had pulled off the plywood on the side of the tower to expose and remove the hive after removing the bees, and all was good to go once again.

I picked up the trash can with the weeds I had pulled.......

 The area behind the horseshoe pits 

is now a weed free zone

Another 25 lbs of weeds

....I headed down to the tool shed to put everything away, filled out my time card and bid TLE adieu until 5 pm.  The fun begins Friday when we have over 70 arrivals.  The park is looking good, and we are ready to rock 'n roll!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

Into the weeds......

6:28 am - Thursday - May 23rd - Ramona, CA - 52° F, 90% humidity, wind 6 mph out of the south.....overcast this morning (30% chance of rain) with a forecast high of 63° F....the view this morning......↴

So, after 8 days off work, Wednesday was my first day back on the job following my HA*on May 13th.  The weather forecast for Wednesday was rain showers, on and off, all throughout the day so I bundled up and headed for the office with TLE about 8:55 am.  Although the cardiologist released me to moderate work (no running, or lifting over 25 lbs.) I was determined to take it easy Wednesday.  When Rich presented the current 'to do' list I immediately saw he wanted weeding to be done around the Red Barn.....not the weed wacking, string trimming kind of weeding, but get down on your hands and knees kind of weeding.....perfect!  Many people would not like that kind of weeding, but find it very relaxing, and the time seems to fly, so I chose that one.  I knew from what I had seen that this would be at least an all day job.  

Before I could get to the weeding I set out to 'open' RORVR for another day.  As I have written previously this includes, but is not limited to unlocking the storage area, checking the water level in the water tank on the hill and turning on the pumps as necessary, unlocking the Red Barn, and opening the pool (involves unlocking the gate, clearing all the skimmers of any debris, rearranging the pool furniture, testing the water (chlorine and PH levels), and recording the temperatures and filter pressures of the pool and Jacuzzi).  All of that takes 60 to 90 minutes.

I began weeding around the Red Barn around 10:30 am.......

 The weeds were not thick, but there were a lot of them, including a lot of small ones you cannot see in these pictures

......I stayed at it all day (except for my 30 minute lunch break), and was almost done by 3:45 pm, but two small patches of weeds remain for Thursday.  I also took time to rake out the horseshoe pits, and sweep off the concrete walkways around the pits.....

 Almost all the weeds are gone.....looks great!

.....I'm going to suggest to Rich that we re-stain the backstops for each of the pits, and perhaps replace the dirt in the pits with sand.

I had my weeds dumped, and tools put away just before 4 pm, and was on my way home.  TLE remained on duty to 5 pm as Linda (the other office person) had to leave early.  I returned in about 50 minutes to pickup TLE just as it began to rain once again.  

The rain came and went as forecast all day long, and into the evening.  Periodically I had to take shelter in the Red Barn waiting out the 5-10 minute squalls.  It was a good first day back, and while being very tired at the end of the work day I feel great, and am looking forward to Thursday!

Thanks for stopping by!

*HA = Heart Attack

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