The weather here has been very humid and hot with the temps being in the mid 90's and I think the humidity right up there with the temp. We had a cool front come through a day or two ago and it is back to normal with the temps being in the min 80's and low humidity, very nice.
We have survived the Woodcarvers convention and right after they left the Brothers of the Third Wheel came in, like the next day. So we were very busy with cleaning rooms and cabins. The laundry was piled up but we got it all done. Since the two conventions are over the lodge has quieted down and back to normal, what ever normal might be. The boss purchased 5 dozen new towels for us, so we will probably start to out fit the cabins with towels now and when someone rents a cabin we will put the rest of the linens in at that time. We still need more wash cloths and hand towels to complete this project.
In my last post I kind of went on a rant about some of the people that we work with. I am still trying not to offend anyone or ask them to do anything. It is strange though that when people do want to help all they want to do is clean maybe one or two rooms and do laundry. Now we have people asking us not to do laundry so they have something to do after we are off. I am sorry but we are not going to do that.
We have a golf cart problem as well. It appears that there are not enough to go around. We rarely have one for our use so we are unable to get things done. I don't even bother asking for one for fear of pissing somebody off and they go cry to the boss. Example a couple of days ago we had two campers come over here to the North park. We are to escort them to their sight so the owner, Robert called me to do it but I had no golf cart and I told him that. Another worker had to come over from the Main park to take care of the campers. The golf cart that we were suppose to use was at the main park not being used.
In general one of my pet peeves is "Lack of Consideration" for your fellow man or in this case fellow worker. There is a lot of this going on this year here in Branson.
Until next time be safe.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Things Are Getting HOT!!!!
Well besides the weather, the place is getting very busy. Since my last posting we have had the cabins rented almost every weekend and the lodge rooms I would say about half have been rented as well.
We have everybody here now with one couple doing housekeeping with us and two other couples working the office in the lodge, one of them help us out when they can. Right now the Woodcarvers are here which takes up most of the lodge. Now that is not to bad but they will be checking out this coming weekend and right after that, like the next day, The Brothers of the Third Wheel will be here for a week. They are a motorcycle group that ride three wheelers.
I am really confused on some issues when it comes to dealing with people. We all had a training day and all were shown how to do things here and what to do, but it seems that some don't understand the simplest of things. They have been told to do this after you clean rooms and do that but they just don't , won't or can't do it. What we have established here just seems to make it easier for everybody but all I see is making it harder for them and everybody else. Now I know as we get older our brain isn't like it use to be but we can still take notes. We have shelves that are marked where things go but I still find things in the wrong place. Very frustrating. Is this what I have to look forward to when I get their age?
When I reach "The Golden Years" will I lose the ability to read, recognize different colors, not follow simple instructions or not care for your fellow worker? If this is the case then I don't want to be around anybody at all. So put me in a room until I die.
Until next time, be safe.
We have everybody here now with one couple doing housekeeping with us and two other couples working the office in the lodge, one of them help us out when they can. Right now the Woodcarvers are here which takes up most of the lodge. Now that is not to bad but they will be checking out this coming weekend and right after that, like the next day, The Brothers of the Third Wheel will be here for a week. They are a motorcycle group that ride three wheelers.
I am really confused on some issues when it comes to dealing with people. We all had a training day and all were shown how to do things here and what to do, but it seems that some don't understand the simplest of things. They have been told to do this after you clean rooms and do that but they just don't , won't or can't do it. What we have established here just seems to make it easier for everybody but all I see is making it harder for them and everybody else. Now I know as we get older our brain isn't like it use to be but we can still take notes. We have shelves that are marked where things go but I still find things in the wrong place. Very frustrating. Is this what I have to look forward to when I get their age?
When I reach "The Golden Years" will I lose the ability to read, recognize different colors, not follow simple instructions or not care for your fellow worker? If this is the case then I don't want to be around anybody at all. So put me in a room until I die.
Until next time, be safe.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Gearing Up for the Season
Well so far it has been pretty busy around here for us. Sherry and I have been trying to get all the rooms open at the lodge but not quite finished yet. We still have four more to go and then the lodge will be completely open, all 25 rooms.
This year the management team has decided to outfit all 10 cabins with sheets and towels. Now over at the main park there are 2 cabins and there are no issues as far as towels and sheets but over at the North Park, where we have 8 cabins, we have a shortage of towels. We finished cleaning, putting up towel racks and placed all the sheets in the cabins. They are ready to go and we will put the towels in when they become rented. We were told that we will get more towels down the road. No worries.
We had to turn the water on to some of the cabins yesterday and there were no leaks or busted pipes. Sherry and Bri went to clean them and I was cleaning up leaves with a leaf blower. Once all gathered up there was mountains of leaves. You would think what's the problem? We have had some rain so the leaves were wet and hard to move but I managed to get it done by the time Sherry and Bri finished, good timing.
The weather around here has been crazy. At least once a week for the past several weeks we have experienced severe weather. We have had hard rain, bad winds, and tornado watches. Now I grew up in Phoenix and never been through a tornado, not that I would want to. When we lived in Houston we went through a few hurricanes, most memorable was Hurricane Ike. Let me think about this...........Tornadoes and a Fifth Wheel RV Trailer..........
I don't think that is a good combination. What do you think???? Well one of the downsides of Full time RVing. We are expecting more severe weather sometime today so I will take the necessary precautions.
We have had more help arrive this past week. The couple that will take care of the bath houses have arrived, one couple that will help in the office and maintenance are here and both couples will start this coming Wednesday. One couple that was here last year arrived a few days ago and they are Bobby and Maggie. They are parked here with us at the North Park as the other couples are parked at the main park.
I can't think of anything else, I am sure there is more, so until next time be safe.
This year the management team has decided to outfit all 10 cabins with sheets and towels. Now over at the main park there are 2 cabins and there are no issues as far as towels and sheets but over at the North Park, where we have 8 cabins, we have a shortage of towels. We finished cleaning, putting up towel racks and placed all the sheets in the cabins. They are ready to go and we will put the towels in when they become rented. We were told that we will get more towels down the road. No worries.
We had to turn the water on to some of the cabins yesterday and there were no leaks or busted pipes. Sherry and Bri went to clean them and I was cleaning up leaves with a leaf blower. Once all gathered up there was mountains of leaves. You would think what's the problem? We have had some rain so the leaves were wet and hard to move but I managed to get it done by the time Sherry and Bri finished, good timing.
The weather around here has been crazy. At least once a week for the past several weeks we have experienced severe weather. We have had hard rain, bad winds, and tornado watches. Now I grew up in Phoenix and never been through a tornado, not that I would want to. When we lived in Houston we went through a few hurricanes, most memorable was Hurricane Ike. Let me think about this...........Tornadoes and a Fifth Wheel RV Trailer..........
I don't think that is a good combination. What do you think???? Well one of the downsides of Full time RVing. We are expecting more severe weather sometime today so I will take the necessary precautions.
We have had more help arrive this past week. The couple that will take care of the bath houses have arrived, one couple that will help in the office and maintenance are here and both couples will start this coming Wednesday. One couple that was here last year arrived a few days ago and they are Bobby and Maggie. They are parked here with us at the North Park as the other couples are parked at the main park.
I can't think of anything else, I am sure there is more, so until next time be safe.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Started Work and Keeping Busy
Hi There,
Well like I said before we like our site and we try to fix it up to our liking. We hung a string of rope lights around the picnic cover and looks pretty good. Sherry got out her wingchimes and stuff so we hung them up as well. I set up my barbeque area and I am thinking that I may need a new table top barbeque. Oh well Father's Day is not to far off.
It didn't take long before Roger and Heidi put us to work. We started on a Monday with getting the Motel rooms ready to rent. Now to start with we are only working 4 hours a day until mid April, then we go to full time. Next we went to the two cabins to outfit them and ready to rent and boy it sure didn't take long before the two cabins and a few motel rooms were rented that following weekend. A couple of weeks ago some help arrived. She is a single lady by the name of Maureen. Our schedules are different so we only get to work with her on Fridays for now but I am sure that will change. She is very energenic and is eager to work. This past weekend we had one cabin, all five motel rooms and the big house rented. Maureen has been off since Saturday so Sherry and I were able to get the motel cleaned, the big house and cabin done but we still had a room left over at the lodge to do, so Maureen will do that one tomorrow.
On our off days we usually do the necessary things like grocery and laundry but that's not all we do. We have checked out our favorite second hand stores and craft stores. We did get to go to a magic show. We have never been to a live magic show before but let me tell you it was very good and Bri got a real big kick out of it.
A couple of day ago we were driving around and we stumbled onto the fish hatchery. This is located at Table Rock Dam.
At the hatchery they breed Rainbow Trout which is released through out the state. Some of the fish are really big like this one.
How's that for a fish on the end of your pole? Let me give you a picture to show you just how big this fish is.
Pretty big fish don't you think?? Bri had a good time and it was very educational.
Well I don't have much more so until next time be safe.
Well like I said before we like our site and we try to fix it up to our liking. We hung a string of rope lights around the picnic cover and looks pretty good. Sherry got out her wingchimes and stuff so we hung them up as well. I set up my barbeque area and I am thinking that I may need a new table top barbeque. Oh well Father's Day is not to far off.
It didn't take long before Roger and Heidi put us to work. We started on a Monday with getting the Motel rooms ready to rent. Now to start with we are only working 4 hours a day until mid April, then we go to full time. Next we went to the two cabins to outfit them and ready to rent and boy it sure didn't take long before the two cabins and a few motel rooms were rented that following weekend. A couple of weeks ago some help arrived. She is a single lady by the name of Maureen. Our schedules are different so we only get to work with her on Fridays for now but I am sure that will change. She is very energenic and is eager to work. This past weekend we had one cabin, all five motel rooms and the big house rented. Maureen has been off since Saturday so Sherry and I were able to get the motel cleaned, the big house and cabin done but we still had a room left over at the lodge to do, so Maureen will do that one tomorrow.
On our off days we usually do the necessary things like grocery and laundry but that's not all we do. We have checked out our favorite second hand stores and craft stores. We did get to go to a magic show. We have never been to a live magic show before but let me tell you it was very good and Bri got a real big kick out of it.
A couple of day ago we were driving around and we stumbled onto the fish hatchery. This is located at Table Rock Dam.
At the hatchery they breed Rainbow Trout which is released through out the state. Some of the fish are really big like this one.
How's that for a fish on the end of your pole? Let me give you a picture to show you just how big this fish is.
Pretty big fish don't you think?? Bri had a good time and it was very educational.
Well I don't have much more so until next time be safe.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Preparing For The Trip To Branson, MO
When we arrived in Tomball we stayed at a park called Tomball RV Park. Nice little park with only about 45 sites, all with full hookups. The monthly rent was $275 plus 10 cents per kilowatt hour. We had a good site up until we had sewer problems once again. Their sewer line was plugged and the manager failed to get it fixed. He told us that we could move to another site so we did and then the billing problems began. Lets just say there was no contract, they tried to charge us for extra fees, higher rent for the space that they put us in..................well you get the picture.
We found a park ran by the county that had 8 full hookup RV sites and get this it was free. You can stay for 7 nights at no cost. The park is gated so you better be in by 10 pm or you will be locked out. Outside of that it is quiet, and a beautiful park. We stayed for the seven nights and then packed up and headed for Branson. Oh the name of the park is Spring Creek Park and it is maintained by Harris County. You can find them on the web by looking up Harris County Prec. 4 Parks. You can even make your reservation online if you wish.
We took off on March 8th and headed for Livingston, TX and staying at Escapees Rainbow Park. We stayed two nights because we needed to do some business in Livingston. When we got there and pulled into our site I started to unhook like always. When I pulled the lever to unhook the jaws to release the trailer it felt kind of funny. To my surprise the jaws never released. Oh Crap now what am I going to do?? I was able to play with the lever and managed to release the jaws, Thank you Lord. We found the problem which was a broken clip. We were able to locate one and the repair was made. We took off from there and headed north to our next stop.
We stopped at a Corps of Engineer park on some lake just outside of Texarkana, TX. This was a very nice park and the rates were good. We were able to get a pull through site and we left the truck hooked up, only staying one night. Next to our site was a playground so Bri was in hog heaven.
We left early in the morning for our next leg of our journey which took us into Little Rock, through Conway and into Clinton. We stayed at a park just north of Clinton off of highway 65. There was no manager around but one of the residents showed us where to park and this site was also a pull through. I am loving these parks, no backing in. We still never noticed any manager around when we got ready to leave the next morning so we left some cash in an envelope and put it in a mail slot. I sure hope it was the right amount. We took our time getting out of there since this was going to be our last day of traveling and only about 150 miles.
Brianne is back to her old self when we travel. But on this trip she has begun to ask more questions and she seems to wonder if we are lost. I try to reassure her that Daddy knows where he is going. At least the GPS knows for sure. We drove into Branson and then into Compton Ridge Campground around 12:30 or so. The park was pretty much dead and after all of us checked out the bathrooms we located our managers, Heidi and Roger. They said that the site we had last year was available and that we could go over there. Roger helped us back in and we got set up for the long stay. We think we made it look very homey. We like our site. Well I think that wraps up our trip to Branson so until next time be safe.
We found a park ran by the county that had 8 full hookup RV sites and get this it was free. You can stay for 7 nights at no cost. The park is gated so you better be in by 10 pm or you will be locked out. Outside of that it is quiet, and a beautiful park. We stayed for the seven nights and then packed up and headed for Branson. Oh the name of the park is Spring Creek Park and it is maintained by Harris County. You can find them on the web by looking up Harris County Prec. 4 Parks. You can even make your reservation online if you wish.
We took off on March 8th and headed for Livingston, TX and staying at Escapees Rainbow Park. We stayed two nights because we needed to do some business in Livingston. When we got there and pulled into our site I started to unhook like always. When I pulled the lever to unhook the jaws to release the trailer it felt kind of funny. To my surprise the jaws never released. Oh Crap now what am I going to do?? I was able to play with the lever and managed to release the jaws, Thank you Lord. We found the problem which was a broken clip. We were able to locate one and the repair was made. We took off from there and headed north to our next stop.
We stopped at a Corps of Engineer park on some lake just outside of Texarkana, TX. This was a very nice park and the rates were good. We were able to get a pull through site and we left the truck hooked up, only staying one night. Next to our site was a playground so Bri was in hog heaven.
We left early in the morning for our next leg of our journey which took us into Little Rock, through Conway and into Clinton. We stayed at a park just north of Clinton off of highway 65. There was no manager around but one of the residents showed us where to park and this site was also a pull through. I am loving these parks, no backing in. We still never noticed any manager around when we got ready to leave the next morning so we left some cash in an envelope and put it in a mail slot. I sure hope it was the right amount. We took our time getting out of there since this was going to be our last day of traveling and only about 150 miles.
Brianne is back to her old self when we travel. But on this trip she has begun to ask more questions and she seems to wonder if we are lost. I try to reassure her that Daddy knows where he is going. At least the GPS knows for sure. We drove into Branson and then into Compton Ridge Campground around 12:30 or so. The park was pretty much dead and after all of us checked out the bathrooms we located our managers, Heidi and Roger. They said that the site we had last year was available and that we could go over there. Roger helped us back in and we got set up for the long stay. We think we made it look very homey. We like our site. Well I think that wraps up our trip to Branson so until next time be safe.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Holidays With The Kids
When we left Arizona we headed towards the Houston Texas area. We used to live north of Houston in a small town called Tomball. This is a good central location to the rest of our kids. We arrived on December 9th, got set up and later that night our son and his family showed up. Our son, Chris and his wife Lauren recently had a baby girl. This was the first time we got to see the new addition. Her name is Jordyn and of course the cutest baby you have seen.
As the Grandfather I do have some privileges like teaching her how to stick out her tongue. Very cool. Now Sherry got all the baby time she wanted since they were only about five minutes from where we were staying.
The first family gathering was the following Sunday where we all gathered at our oldest daughter's place to celebrate some birthdays. You see in December we have mine, our son's and our eldest daughter. We all had a good time and this was the first time that the kids saw that I pierced my ear. Some liked it and some didn't. Oh well I like it.
Christmas Eve is the Lambros get together, when all the families gather to share and open gifts. It is great to see all the kids and grandkids open their gifts. Mel and Spencer's little one seems to be quite the shy one but she started to warm up to us later on.
We had one more gathering before we left which was a picnic. Great weather and food. We had planned games for the little ones and they all had a good time. Good family time with everyone.
Well until next time be safe.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Water Problems and Then Some
Hello,
Well I'm back. Amazing huh! I titled this post "Water Problems" because we had many water issues this past winter.
It all started back in Branson when the floor in the toilet area was wet. I went to investigate and found that the vacuum break valve was leaking. At first I thought it was the seal at the floor leaking. I had to replace that one once before. But that was not the problem. When we got to Houston I was able to get the new part and no more wet floor. Not for long.
Before we left Arizona we started to notice that the toilet started to back up. I am trying to figure out how a 3 inch diameter hole can be plugged up? None the less it was. I could plunge the toilet and the clog would go down. In the mean time I kept noticing that around the toilet was still wet. How can this be?! Nothing was leaking. So I thought.
I took the toilet off and noticed that the floor flange was cracked. So every time that I would plunge it would force water through the crack. Now replacing the floor flange doesn't seem like a problem but purchasing the right one is the question. There are 3 different types of flanges to choose from. Not sure which one I have. So we kept towels around the toilet to soak up the excess water.
Now in Houston we started to figure out what could be clogging up the toilet. We changed the TP we used and it still plugged up. We ran water and a snake down the vent tube and the plug was still there. All the while plunging and forcing water onto the floor. More towels please. Finally we tried some Foaming Liquid Plumber along with some boiling water and that seemed to do the trick. No more plug. It must have been a massive one because it even plugged up the valve when I was dumping and flushing the tank. I was able to tap on the pipe and away it went.
I have a flushing system on this trailer so I hook up a hose outside and the flushing begins. What I didn't know is that the piping goes through and under the bathroom sink. Guess what, water leak at a connection under the sink. I tightened that one and no more leaks there.
What else could leak.......?????......How about the hot water tank??? You guessed it there is a small leak at the tank which is under the kitchen sink. Tightened this one and there is still a small dribble, more towels please. I think I have covered the water problems so far so until next time be safe.
Well I'm back. Amazing huh! I titled this post "Water Problems" because we had many water issues this past winter.
It all started back in Branson when the floor in the toilet area was wet. I went to investigate and found that the vacuum break valve was leaking. At first I thought it was the seal at the floor leaking. I had to replace that one once before. But that was not the problem. When we got to Houston I was able to get the new part and no more wet floor. Not for long.
Before we left Arizona we started to notice that the toilet started to back up. I am trying to figure out how a 3 inch diameter hole can be plugged up? None the less it was. I could plunge the toilet and the clog would go down. In the mean time I kept noticing that around the toilet was still wet. How can this be?! Nothing was leaking. So I thought.
I took the toilet off and noticed that the floor flange was cracked. So every time that I would plunge it would force water through the crack. Now replacing the floor flange doesn't seem like a problem but purchasing the right one is the question. There are 3 different types of flanges to choose from. Not sure which one I have. So we kept towels around the toilet to soak up the excess water.
Now in Houston we started to figure out what could be clogging up the toilet. We changed the TP we used and it still plugged up. We ran water and a snake down the vent tube and the plug was still there. All the while plunging and forcing water onto the floor. More towels please. Finally we tried some Foaming Liquid Plumber along with some boiling water and that seemed to do the trick. No more plug. It must have been a massive one because it even plugged up the valve when I was dumping and flushing the tank. I was able to tap on the pipe and away it went.
I have a flushing system on this trailer so I hook up a hose outside and the flushing begins. What I didn't know is that the piping goes through and under the bathroom sink. Guess what, water leak at a connection under the sink. I tightened that one and no more leaks there.
What else could leak.......?????......How about the hot water tank??? You guessed it there is a small leak at the tank which is under the kitchen sink. Tightened this one and there is still a small dribble, more towels please. I think I have covered the water problems so far so until next time be safe.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Recap Since The Last Post
Hello There,
Well I know it has been awhile since I have been on this blog but forgive me. I will try to keep up on our experiences. There are many things to talk about so I may break this up into several blogs.
We left Branson in mid November and headed towards Arizona to visit my mother. We stayed for two weeks and celebrated Thanksgiving her and some of my brothers. While there I made some repairs to her house and we had a good visit. The park we stayed at was not the best in the world, as a matter of fact it was down right terrible. It was in the middle of downtown Mesa and the sewer pipe was broken and messy even after I told them about it they never fixed it. Really bad.
We left Mesa and headed towards Houston for the holidays with the rest of the family. We arrived in Tomball around the 9th of December.
Like I said I am going to start small for now so until next time be safe.
Well I know it has been awhile since I have been on this blog but forgive me. I will try to keep up on our experiences. There are many things to talk about so I may break this up into several blogs.
We left Branson in mid November and headed towards Arizona to visit my mother. We stayed for two weeks and celebrated Thanksgiving her and some of my brothers. While there I made some repairs to her house and we had a good visit. The park we stayed at was not the best in the world, as a matter of fact it was down right terrible. It was in the middle of downtown Mesa and the sewer pipe was broken and messy even after I told them about it they never fixed it. Really bad.
We left Mesa and headed towards Houston for the holidays with the rest of the family. We arrived in Tomball around the 9th of December.
Like I said I am going to start small for now so until next time be safe.
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