We both had very short work days yesterday so we were able to get some things done around the fifth wheel so we could free up our weekend. Josie did laundry while I waited for the TV guy to show up. He came earlier than scheduled so the repair was done by mid afternoon. The TV problem was just as we expected. There are 4 capacitors in the TV that provide the turn on power. When he took off the back of the TV he discovered that 3 of them were bad and only 1 capacitor was handling the job. Wow! It could have gone at any time and we would not be able to turn on the TV at all. He replaced all 4 of the capacitors with higher rated ones - replacing 10 volt capacitors with 16 volt capacitors. This was a common problem with these TV's and is the reason Samsung agreed to the repair at no charge. We saved about $200-250, and we are all set now with our TV capabilities. The biggest problem was taking the TV off the wall bracket and putting it back on.
We have our new schedules for May, and the hours have been extended to 6 PM with the same opening time at 8 AM. That means that on our two long days - Sunday and Monday - we have split times so that we can cover the day. There is also a built-in 1/2 hour lunch for each of us at different times. Josie and I also are going to use the radios they have at the office during our scheduled days. The managers don't use them but use their cell phones if they have to contact each other. It will be interesting to see how it works out.
It is partly cloudy this morning but we are going to go ahead and plan an outing for today. There are a couple candidates but whatever it ends up to be, we will get some shots for tomorrow's entry. 'Til then...
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
End of Work For The Week
We are happy to see the end of the work week. It has definitely been the most physical one for me, and probably one of the most boring for Josie. Yesterday was another day to scrub the bathroom floor to get the tile and grout to sparkle. This is easily the cleanest campground we've ever been associated with. Even the floors in the office area and breakfast area are mopped on a daily basis. That explains why each of the Resorts in the Premier Resorts family (5) all have their rest rooms rated at 10 in the Trailer Life Directory of Campgrounds. We give each customer a campground, service and amenities survey form to complete before they leave the campground, and with only one exception, the survey has rated every category as "superb" which makes all of us feel really good about the jobs we are doing.
Even though we've had rain every day this week, the forecast for our days off is better. We hope to visit some nice places on our days off this weekend and hope to be able to pass along some information on nice places to go in this area. It's about time to see some things that are more than just beaches. We will still stop at new beach access areas but there is much to do and see all up and down the coast. One such place we want to visit is the Constance P Hansen Gardens right here in Lincoln City.
Today is TV "fix it" day, and from the conversation I had with the service people yesterday, they won't be here until around 3 this afternoon. That's a bummer but we'll go with that as long as the problem gets fixed. Looking forward to the weekend...
Even though we've had rain every day this week, the forecast for our days off is better. We hope to visit some nice places on our days off this weekend and hope to be able to pass along some information on nice places to go in this area. It's about time to see some things that are more than just beaches. We will still stop at new beach access areas but there is much to do and see all up and down the coast. One such place we want to visit is the Constance P Hansen Gardens right here in Lincoln City.
Today is TV "fix it" day, and from the conversation I had with the service people yesterday, they won't be here until around 3 this afternoon. That's a bummer but we'll go with that as long as the problem gets fixed. Looking forward to the weekend...
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Wind and Rain Records
We're sure everybody is probably tired of reading about the wet weather we've been having. The fact is, it is so very different from other areas that we've been so far, it is noteworthy. I was just looking at the monthly weather chart for April and through 28 days so far, we have only had 6 days without measurable rain. How can anyone ignore those stats? There has also been only 1 day in the month where the highest wind gust has been less than 10 MPH - and that one day the high gust was 9 MPH! We also are still having high temperatures in the 50's here while the rest of the country is into the 70's - and we see that Phoenix is already in the 90's every day. The real statement about the weather is that we have yet to have our awning out. Bring on the summer!
I had a discussion yesterday with Jim, our manager, about the effects of the salt air on our rigs and vehicles. He has been here several years during this time of year and through the summers, and he suggests regular washing of the RV's and autos. He has some rust developing on some small steel parts of his rig but for the most part, there is no damage. You would think that with all this rain, the vehicles would be kept free of the salt. The problem is though, that the wind brings it right back in. We will have to pay close attention to keeping everything clean and free of salt. I plan to take our vehicles to the car wash every couple weeks and to wash down the fifth wheel at least once a month. Jim also suggested covers for the tires on the fifth wheel. We always did have covers on our other RV's but that was to prevent sun damage.
It's a short day today - 1 to 5 - before our final work day tomorrow. Tomorrow is the TV repair day so I hope we get a time from the service people so I can make sure to be here for them. Until tomorrow...
I had a discussion yesterday with Jim, our manager, about the effects of the salt air on our rigs and vehicles. He has been here several years during this time of year and through the summers, and he suggests regular washing of the RV's and autos. He has some rust developing on some small steel parts of his rig but for the most part, there is no damage. You would think that with all this rain, the vehicles would be kept free of the salt. The problem is though, that the wind brings it right back in. We will have to pay close attention to keeping everything clean and free of salt. I plan to take our vehicles to the car wash every couple weeks and to wash down the fifth wheel at least once a month. Jim also suggested covers for the tires on the fifth wheel. We always did have covers on our other RV's but that was to prevent sun damage.
It's a short day today - 1 to 5 - before our final work day tomorrow. Tomorrow is the TV repair day so I hope we get a time from the service people so I can make sure to be here for them. Until tomorrow...
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Another Long, Physical Day
We both were very tired at the end of the work day yesterday. Josie worked the office all day except for some cleaning she did in the bathrooms and mopping the office floor. After delivering the newspapers in the morning, I did more edging on the sites and worked there until the rain came in the early afternoon. Then, I did some deep cleaning on the bathroom floors and in between all this, checked the spa for chemical balance. That needs to be done about every 2 hours to satisfy the Oregon law for spas.
When the rain started about 1 PM, it came in torrents. We had a total of 1.80" yesterday and another .28" after midnight for a total of over 2" in about 12 hours. Then there was the wind. The gusts were over 25 MPH and it seemed like a small hurricane the whole afternoon and evening. We don't think we will be spending a winter here anytime soon. The coast weather is very different from the inland weather. There isn't quite as much rain inland and, for sure, there isn't the wind that we are getting here.
Our schedule has us doing the first of our 2 half days today. This week we do the late shift which is 1 to 5 PM. That's the shift we hate since the whole day is shot. The skies are partly cloudy this morning so we may luck out and get enough dry weather to continue the outside work.
The TV repair people called yesterday and confirmed our warranty work to be done on Thursday on our Samsung TV. It turned out to be a good move by not taking it in to Portland, since the entire service call should be no charge to us. We have to "limp" into Thursday hoping that the TV turns on at all. It now takes over 3 minutes for the TV to power up when we hit the "on" button. Once we get that problem fixed, we'll finally be back to 100% on our TV setup.
See ya tomorrow...
When the rain started about 1 PM, it came in torrents. We had a total of 1.80" yesterday and another .28" after midnight for a total of over 2" in about 12 hours. Then there was the wind. The gusts were over 25 MPH and it seemed like a small hurricane the whole afternoon and evening. We don't think we will be spending a winter here anytime soon. The coast weather is very different from the inland weather. There isn't quite as much rain inland and, for sure, there isn't the wind that we are getting here.
Our schedule has us doing the first of our 2 half days today. This week we do the late shift which is 1 to 5 PM. That's the shift we hate since the whole day is shot. The skies are partly cloudy this morning so we may luck out and get enough dry weather to continue the outside work.
The TV repair people called yesterday and confirmed our warranty work to be done on Thursday on our Samsung TV. It turned out to be a good move by not taking it in to Portland, since the entire service call should be no charge to us. We have to "limp" into Thursday hoping that the TV turns on at all. It now takes over 3 minutes for the TV to power up when we hit the "on" button. Once we get that problem fixed, we'll finally be back to 100% on our TV setup.
See ya tomorrow...
Monday, April 26, 2010
Physical Day
The improving weather allows more outside work during the day. Josie held down the office all day while I did edging at the sites and maintained the spa. They have an edger that nobody seemed to like, so consequently, the campground sites haven't had an edging in probably 3 years. The work was physical, but welcomed. The only problem is that it takes a lot of time to complete each site and I didn't even complete half the total sites we have. It is expected to rain today, so I probably won't get too many more done today. It's better than standing around the office with nothing to do.
We have been communicating (emails) with the folks we left behind at 49er Ranch in Columbia, CA. It seems that we left at a good time since there are many disgruntled workers there. We were told that the couple that was hired as our replacements were fired already. Josie had some telephone conversations with the woman before we left and she said that she could barely understand her as a result of her strong German accent. That was probably one of the reasons they were let go. Our other friends are complaining about money that is being held out of their paychecks for ridiculous reasons - such as training. Who ever heard of workers paying for their training?
It's more of the same today as we have our 2nd long day for the week. This is the day I deliver newspapers to all the overnight guests and start at 7:30. Josie doesn't start until 8 but she has to do the closing by herself and that places a little stress on her since she isn't 100% comfortable with the procedures. On both of our long days, I also have to go around at 8 PM to close the spa and close up the other rooms in our office building that we keep open for the guests to use. It only tales a few minutes and doesn't count as time on the clock for pay. Pretty soon we will be extending the office hours for the summer season so our schedules will probably change. As indicated before, we are pretty much happy with the schedules we have now. That's about it for today...
We have been communicating (emails) with the folks we left behind at 49er Ranch in Columbia, CA. It seems that we left at a good time since there are many disgruntled workers there. We were told that the couple that was hired as our replacements were fired already. Josie had some telephone conversations with the woman before we left and she said that she could barely understand her as a result of her strong German accent. That was probably one of the reasons they were let go. Our other friends are complaining about money that is being held out of their paychecks for ridiculous reasons - such as training. Who ever heard of workers paying for their training?
It's more of the same today as we have our 2nd long day for the week. This is the day I deliver newspapers to all the overnight guests and start at 7:30. Josie doesn't start until 8 but she has to do the closing by herself and that places a little stress on her since she isn't 100% comfortable with the procedures. On both of our long days, I also have to go around at 8 PM to close the spa and close up the other rooms in our office building that we keep open for the guests to use. It only tales a few minutes and doesn't count as time on the clock for pay. Pretty soon we will be extending the office hours for the summer season so our schedules will probably change. As indicated before, we are pretty much happy with the schedules we have now. That's about it for today...
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Newport & Moolack Beach
It was a fairly nice day for a change yesterday so we went to Newport to stop at the Fred Meyer store to check out some sales they were having. The sales weren't that good but we enjoy the trip to Newport because there are lots of areas to pull off and see the beaches. One of the areas we stopped at yesterday was Moolack Beach. The sand isn't particularly nice here but the beach is huge and the view is excellent. There are 2 shots below of the beach. Actually, one shot of the beach and another that shows the Yaquina Light House in Newport that wasn't in the first shot:
When it is low tide here, the beach is one of the largest you'll see anywhere. We happened to arrive while the tide was changing so it wasn't as big as it can get, but still shows the potential for a huge sandy area. We will have to check the tide tables sometime and come here when the tide is out to see the difference. We did get a little bit of rain in the afternoon but it is suppose to clear up in time for us to go back to work today.
The crowds here are starting to grow on the weekends so that's a good sign. The next 2 days are just Josie and I on duty so they are our long days. Since the weather is improving, I'll be doing more outside landscaping work while Josie holds down the office - the first project for me is to do the edging around the sites which I hope to start today. The sites here are very well maintained and really don't need a lot of work to get ready for summer. The majority of the work is lawn mowing, tree pruning and weeding, and there is already an individual that takes care of those jobs. It will be interesting to see how our jobs and schedules will be impacted by the increase in customers. We'll know pretty soon...
When it is low tide here, the beach is one of the largest you'll see anywhere. We happened to arrive while the tide was changing so it wasn't as big as it can get, but still shows the potential for a huge sandy area. We will have to check the tide tables sometime and come here when the tide is out to see the difference. We did get a little bit of rain in the afternoon but it is suppose to clear up in time for us to go back to work today.The crowds here are starting to grow on the weekends so that's a good sign. The next 2 days are just Josie and I on duty so they are our long days. Since the weather is improving, I'll be doing more outside landscaping work while Josie holds down the office - the first project for me is to do the edging around the sites which I hope to start today. The sites here are very well maintained and really don't need a lot of work to get ready for summer. The majority of the work is lawn mowing, tree pruning and weeding, and there is already an individual that takes care of those jobs. It will be interesting to see how our jobs and schedules will be impacted by the increase in customers. We'll know pretty soon...
Saturday, April 24, 2010
No Portland Trip
After getting up early to take down the TV for our trip to Sharper Video in Portland, we canceled the trip. It was much more complicated taking the TV off the bracket than I anticipated and with the TV being as heavy as it is I didn't want to chance damaging either the TV or the bracket. We figured it would be better to have the service done here, rather than transporting it to a service center. After making a few calls and talking to a Samsung certified service center in Salem, I made an appointment for next Thursday to have them come out to fix it. They are going to make the calls to Samsung to try to get warranty coverage, which we were told we would have, and in that case the repair would cost us nothing. We just need to limp into next Thursday with the power up problem.
It was a nice day so we decided to take a trip to Salem to see the other Premier RV Resort that is there and go to Costco to get some things. The Resort in Salem is easy to get to and it is very nice. Actually, it is rated higher than ours in the Trailer Life Directory. All of the resorts are highly rated and they are consistent in their amenities and cleanliness. The only Resort we haven't visited yet is the one in Clarkston, WA, and that is one that we are anxious to see. That one is on the Snake River on the border between Washington and Idaho. Someday we will be scheduling a trip that would take us there, I'm sure. We made it to Costco and spent our usual $150 there. It is impossible for us to go to Costco and spend less. It's a good thing it's so far away or we would always be broke. Actually, the distance to Salem is about the same as when we used to go to Flagstaff from Happy Jack.
We also stopped on the way home at the extreme north edge of Lincoln City to check out the beach access there. There were some really nice homes along the shore and the picture below shows the nice view these folks have from their homes:
There was a milestone yesterday that went unnoticed. It was 1 year ago that the Blog was started. It doesn't seem like it's been a year but the dates don't lie. I didn't actually write entries every day when we started out since we were still at Happy Trails in Surprise, AZ, and waiting for Josie to leave her job so we could go to Happy Jack. It has been a fun and very different experience for us so far, not to mention the education we're getting and the nice people we are meeting. Once again, we wish we would have started sooner...
It was a nice day so we decided to take a trip to Salem to see the other Premier RV Resort that is there and go to Costco to get some things. The Resort in Salem is easy to get to and it is very nice. Actually, it is rated higher than ours in the Trailer Life Directory. All of the resorts are highly rated and they are consistent in their amenities and cleanliness. The only Resort we haven't visited yet is the one in Clarkston, WA, and that is one that we are anxious to see. That one is on the Snake River on the border between Washington and Idaho. Someday we will be scheduling a trip that would take us there, I'm sure. We made it to Costco and spent our usual $150 there. It is impossible for us to go to Costco and spend less. It's a good thing it's so far away or we would always be broke. Actually, the distance to Salem is about the same as when we used to go to Flagstaff from Happy Jack.
We also stopped on the way home at the extreme north edge of Lincoln City to check out the beach access there. There were some really nice homes along the shore and the picture below shows the nice view these folks have from their homes:
There was a milestone yesterday that went unnoticed. It was 1 year ago that the Blog was started. It doesn't seem like it's been a year but the dates don't lie. I didn't actually write entries every day when we started out since we were still at Happy Trails in Surprise, AZ, and waiting for Josie to leave her job so we could go to Happy Jack. It has been a fun and very different experience for us so far, not to mention the education we're getting and the nice people we are meeting. Once again, we wish we would have started sooner...
Friday, April 23, 2010
Short Day Ends Week
The work week for us ended yesterday at 1 PM. The schedule has been just OK for us because of the short days and the one split day like yesterday. We have requested that the managers consider 3 full 9 hour days and just one short day instead of the schedule we have now. That would give everybody 3 days off, work the same total hours and eliminate 2 of the short days. We'll see if that flies.
I have been struggling with a fungus of some kind on the side of my left foot for several months now with no sign of it going away with medications/creams I have been applying. Yesterday I decided to go to the Dermatologist in Lincoln City to get it treated properly once and for all. I should have known that I couldn't just walk in and get someone to see me. Even though it is in a Clinic, I need to make an appointment. These Doctors, at least the Dermatologists, only come to Lincoln City 2 days a week from their main location in Salem. The earliest appointment I can get in Lincoln City is in June, and the earliest I can get in at Salem is May 5th. Sheesh! I made the appointment in May at Salem. In the meantime, I guess I'll continue to use the over the counter creams to keep the itching under control.
Today is the day we take the TV in for repair. It seems like the best chance for us to get the work done under warranty is in Portland. We have to take the TV into their shop this morning, have the problem diagnosed, and wait while they perform the repair. It beats the $300 charge we were quoted for a service call to Lincoln City. Taking out the TV is no small task either. I have to label all the cables so that I can reconnect the thing when we get back and there is a bracket that needs to be taken off that holds the TV in the compartment in the fifth wheel. Here's hoping I can get the TV reinstalled properly when we get back, assuming they are able to fix it today. We already told them we couldn't leave it so they are prepared to complete the work. We'll let you know about that tomorrow...
I have been struggling with a fungus of some kind on the side of my left foot for several months now with no sign of it going away with medications/creams I have been applying. Yesterday I decided to go to the Dermatologist in Lincoln City to get it treated properly once and for all. I should have known that I couldn't just walk in and get someone to see me. Even though it is in a Clinic, I need to make an appointment. These Doctors, at least the Dermatologists, only come to Lincoln City 2 days a week from their main location in Salem. The earliest appointment I can get in Lincoln City is in June, and the earliest I can get in at Salem is May 5th. Sheesh! I made the appointment in May at Salem. In the meantime, I guess I'll continue to use the over the counter creams to keep the itching under control.
Today is the day we take the TV in for repair. It seems like the best chance for us to get the work done under warranty is in Portland. We have to take the TV into their shop this morning, have the problem diagnosed, and wait while they perform the repair. It beats the $300 charge we were quoted for a service call to Lincoln City. Taking out the TV is no small task either. I have to label all the cables so that I can reconnect the thing when we get back and there is a bracket that needs to be taken off that holds the TV in the compartment in the fifth wheel. Here's hoping I can get the TV reinstalled properly when we get back, assuming they are able to fix it today. We already told them we couldn't leave it so they are prepared to complete the work. We'll let you know about that tomorrow...
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Depoe Bay
It was an uneventful day at work yesterday on one of our short days. That's good news I guess. We were home shortly after noon and I placed a call to Mercy, the General Manager at Happy Jack Lodge to discuss some of the details of the situation with Chi Chi and Jamie. It seems that they were involved in some questionable transactions at the lodge and were dismissed for that and also for not performing some of the requested duties that were asked of them. Josie and I don't want to get involved in the activities there since we do want to maintain our friendship with all of those involved. It is sad for us to see these problems develop with good friends. Mercy did ask us if we would be interested in coming back and working at their storage facility that is located in Cottonwood. That was an option that we considered after we left the Lodge but decided it would be too boring for us and also would not provide necessary campground experience for our future jobs. Anyway, we will stay in touch.
Since the rain stopped and the winds weren't too bad, we decided to drive to Depoe Bay, a small town down the coast about 6 miles from us. It is the whale watching capital of Oregon and they have boat excursions for $16 per person for 2 hours each that are run every day. We had driven through it on our trips to Newport to go to Walmart and always thought it was a neat town. The main street is fairly short but is lined with nice shops on the one side, and the ocean on the other. I took a few pictures while there. This first one is of the street with all the shops:
Since the rain stopped and the winds weren't too bad, we decided to drive to Depoe Bay, a small town down the coast about 6 miles from us. It is the whale watching capital of Oregon and they have boat excursions for $16 per person for 2 hours each that are run every day. We had driven through it on our trips to Newport to go to Walmart and always thought it was a neat town. The main street is fairly short but is lined with nice shops on the one side, and the ocean on the other. I took a few pictures while there. This first one is of the street with all the shops:
Directly across the street is the sidewalk lining the shore which is totally lava rock at this location and very different from other areas that make the Oregon Coast so unique:
And of course, there are seagulls everywhere you go on the coast and they let you get close enough to almost touch them:
We spent about 2 hours there and bought a couple small bags of salt water taffy - what else do you buy at the shore? Most of the shops carried the same kind of touristy stuff so we didn't waste any money buying anything else. There were some interesting specialty shops though that sold art and unique items for this area that we will probably revisit sometime in the future.
Our final work day of the week, and a short one at that is today. Josie goes in at 8 AM and I go in at 10:30 to relieve her and work until 1 PM. At this time, we have no plans for the afternoon but if it warms up and the sun comes out we will probably head out to someplace nearby. Stay tuned...
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Back on Track
It was a huge relief yesterday morning when we went into work, turned on the computer, fired up the software and everything worked fine. All of the lost data has been recovered or restored and we are back in business.
The weather turned nasty again yesterday and we had wind and rain nearly the whole day. Well, we had wind the whole day - the rain stopped in the late afternoon. The wind is still with us this morning and we have had no rain yet. Once again though, we are promised nice weather for the next several days and that will be just in time for our days off. The short day yesterday gave us an opportunity to do some grocery shopping and restock our nearly empty refrigerator.
One thing that has happened over the last week and hasn't been mentioned in the blog is that our former managers at Happy Jack Lodge were fired. Chi Chi and Jamie sent us an email telling us about the change and they aren't totally sure about the reasons yet but indicated that they were told that it was about insubordination and money, whatever that means. We know that they have been bringing in lots of new business and were getting things organized for the new season when it happened. Anyway, we received an email yesterday from Mercy, the individual that hired us in the first place and is the wife of the General Manager. She wants to talk to us about some of the things that were happening in the hopes of shedding some light on activities that we may be familiar with, especially since Chi Chi and Jamie aren't talking to them now. We don't want to get into the middle of any disagreement so we aren't sure how that conversation will go. We are sorry about them being dismissed at the Lodge, as they turned out to be very good friends.
Another short day today - 4 hours - and then we have our very short, split day tomorrow before having our weekend. Our plan is to take our TV into a repair center, either in Salem or Portland on Friday, to have the power supply problem fixed. I have a copy of the on-line chat script from my conversation with the Samsung Technical Support group where they indicated that the repairs would be done at no charge to us, regardless of the warranty. I hope they honor it.
The last thing that should be mentioned is that our daughter Patty, and her husband Mark have entered into a new chapter in their lives by having the grand opening of their new store in Naperville, Ill, yesterday called Youth Sports Experience. It is a wonderful concept that Mark has been working to implement for a long time. We hope and pray that it succeeds and that all their efforts prove worthwhile.
That's about it for today...
The weather turned nasty again yesterday and we had wind and rain nearly the whole day. Well, we had wind the whole day - the rain stopped in the late afternoon. The wind is still with us this morning and we have had no rain yet. Once again though, we are promised nice weather for the next several days and that will be just in time for our days off. The short day yesterday gave us an opportunity to do some grocery shopping and restock our nearly empty refrigerator.
One thing that has happened over the last week and hasn't been mentioned in the blog is that our former managers at Happy Jack Lodge were fired. Chi Chi and Jamie sent us an email telling us about the change and they aren't totally sure about the reasons yet but indicated that they were told that it was about insubordination and money, whatever that means. We know that they have been bringing in lots of new business and were getting things organized for the new season when it happened. Anyway, we received an email yesterday from Mercy, the individual that hired us in the first place and is the wife of the General Manager. She wants to talk to us about some of the things that were happening in the hopes of shedding some light on activities that we may be familiar with, especially since Chi Chi and Jamie aren't talking to them now. We don't want to get into the middle of any disagreement so we aren't sure how that conversation will go. We are sorry about them being dismissed at the Lodge, as they turned out to be very good friends.
Another short day today - 4 hours - and then we have our very short, split day tomorrow before having our weekend. Our plan is to take our TV into a repair center, either in Salem or Portland on Friday, to have the power supply problem fixed. I have a copy of the on-line chat script from my conversation with the Samsung Technical Support group where they indicated that the repairs would be done at no charge to us, regardless of the warranty. I hope they honor it.
The last thing that should be mentioned is that our daughter Patty, and her husband Mark have entered into a new chapter in their lives by having the grand opening of their new store in Naperville, Ill, yesterday called Youth Sports Experience. It is a wonderful concept that Mark has been working to implement for a long time. We hope and pray that it succeeds and that all their efforts prove worthwhile.
That's about it for today...
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Computer Problem at Work
We had what we thought was a small problem while closing out the computer on Sunday night. Josie has been trying to do the closing procedures so that she would know how if it comes time for her to do it alone. She accidentally let her finger slip while "clicking and dragging" information during the backup procedure after closing, and just before shutting down the system. I tried to locate the file that was inadvertently "dropped" in the wrong place while opening up for business yesterday. I not only couldn't locate the file that was lost, but I created other problems while trying to get the system fixed the way it should be. To make the long story short, we ended up bringing in the managers on their day off, and sending for the Campground Manager software expert - Terry, who hired us on in the first place - to come up from Eugene to help get the system fixed again. The trip from Eugene is 2 hours so you know how embarrassed we were to have to get these people involved in fixing the system. The system was down for almost the whole day while we finally got everything restored to where it should be and could use it for normal business transactions. All of the day's business had to be manually recorded on paper until we could enter the data into the computer after it was fixed. What a day. We felt terrible that we created the problem but these things happen. Terry was very understanding, as were our managers. You have to make mistakes in order to learn.
Actually, even though we made the mistake that caused the problem, the system procedures for restoring data in these instances is the most complicated I've ever seen. Restoring data from a backup disk should be a simple matter and accomplished in a very short time. We certainly learned about being more careful in handling the data during the closing process. We have proven ourselves to them as being good, competent workers, so there were no repercussions about having the problem. The closing last night went a lot smoother, and we will know if everything is OK again in a short while when we go in to open for today at 8 AM.
Today is a short day - we work until noon - and we have some grocery shopping to do after we get off work. Let's hope this is a better day for us...
Actually, even though we made the mistake that caused the problem, the system procedures for restoring data in these instances is the most complicated I've ever seen. Restoring data from a backup disk should be a simple matter and accomplished in a very short time. We certainly learned about being more careful in handling the data during the closing process. We have proven ourselves to them as being good, competent workers, so there were no repercussions about having the problem. The closing last night went a lot smoother, and we will know if everything is OK again in a short while when we go in to open for today at 8 AM.
Today is a short day - we work until noon - and we have some grocery shopping to do after we get off work. Let's hope this is a better day for us...
Monday, April 19, 2010
Selling Value Cards
One of the programs that the campground has is what they call "Value Cards". They come in 2 varieties - gold and bronze. The gold card is for 30 days and the bronze is for 10 days. The idea is that you prepay your 10 or 30 days camping at a nice discount, you get to use the days over a 2 year period and you can use it at any of the 5 Premier RV Resorts. It is a sweet deal for people that are regular campers. The management has produced a list of about 1,000 names of people that have stayed at least 1 day at one of the Resorts for us to call and try to sell them one of these cards. Of course, Josie has been the one that has to make most of the calls since I sometimes have a problem understanding people on the phone as a result of using hearing aids. Anyway, we quickly discovered that people don't want to be bothered with somebody trying to sell them something (anything) on the telephone - particularly during these poor economic times. Also, many of the names are of people who have stayed maybe 1 night, several years ago, and they don't even remember the campground. We have discovered that it is much easier selling these cards to people checking into the campground. First of all, they have camping on their mind, secondly they know they have to spend money to stay, so why not save some money if they are staying for multiple days or they camp regularly. I have sold a gold card ($695) to a camper who is staying 22 days, and Josie has sold a bronze card ($300) to a camper who is planning to come in multiple times this summer. It has become a pretty easy sale to folks in this category. In addition to that, we each get a small commission on each card we sell.
The day was fairly busy for both of us yesterday. We took many reservations and I also had to spread fertilizer on the grassy areas in the lower half of the park. It would be nice if I could get that kind of exercise everyday. There is a fitness room here but it doesn't have a treadmill. There are several machines in the room, but we haven't been motivated enough to start using them yet. As our weight continues to go in the wrong direction, the fitness room is taking on a whole new meaning for us. Diet and exercise are definitely in our future.
Today is our second long day for the week and I go in a little earlier since I have to deliver the newspapers to all the campers that are staying here on a short term basis - less than a month. That is something I only do on Mondays since one of the other workampers has the responsibility on the other days and I only cover him on his days off, and there is no paper on Sundays. After today, we do our 2 days of 4 hour shifts and then the 1 day of 2 1/2 hours. It is a schedule that is working well for us so far. Until tomorrow...
The day was fairly busy for both of us yesterday. We took many reservations and I also had to spread fertilizer on the grassy areas in the lower half of the park. It would be nice if I could get that kind of exercise everyday. There is a fitness room here but it doesn't have a treadmill. There are several machines in the room, but we haven't been motivated enough to start using them yet. As our weight continues to go in the wrong direction, the fitness room is taking on a whole new meaning for us. Diet and exercise are definitely in our future.
Today is our second long day for the week and I go in a little earlier since I have to deliver the newspapers to all the campers that are staying here on a short term basis - less than a month. That is something I only do on Mondays since one of the other workampers has the responsibility on the other days and I only cover him on his days off, and there is no paper on Sundays. After today, we do our 2 days of 4 hour shifts and then the 1 day of 2 1/2 hours. It is a schedule that is working well for us so far. Until tomorrow...
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Finishing Up the Home Chores
This is the first time that I can remember since we hit the road that we didn't go anywhere on the 2 days off that we had this week. The morning started out yesterday wet and windy and we just didn't feel like rushing through breakfast to go someplace. Actually, it is OK though, since we had an opportunity to finish up some much needed organization inside the fifth wheel that we have been ignoring for a long time. I finished up with the filing and magazines and Josie reorganized the drawers and cabinets in the kitchen. Of course, this morning is clear and we have to go to work at 8 AM for the first of our 2 long days this week.
In addition to providing office support and maintaining the spa, my duties are suppose to include light maintenance and grounds support. I haven't done much in the way of grounds support since we arrived because they hired an individual to do landscape maintenance right after we arrived. He is doing everything that I was suppose to do outside. That is until today. I briefly spoke with Jim, our manager, yesterday and he indicated that he wanted me to spread fertilizer today on all the grassy areas around the sites. He thinks this morning will be a good time for that since there is no rain forecast until late today or tomorrow. That's fine with me as I can use the exercise and it also helps to fill the otherwise slow day.
The weekends are starting to fill up the campground and that's a good sign. I look outside this morning and see that almost all of our pull-through sites (7) are occupied. We can also see several rigs on the upper level that are what we call "premium ocean view" sites that are occupied. I'll be getting some pictures of the Resort to show everybody how nice it is as soon as the weather cooperates and our plants are in full bloom. That time is fast approaching so stay tuned...
In addition to providing office support and maintaining the spa, my duties are suppose to include light maintenance and grounds support. I haven't done much in the way of grounds support since we arrived because they hired an individual to do landscape maintenance right after we arrived. He is doing everything that I was suppose to do outside. That is until today. I briefly spoke with Jim, our manager, yesterday and he indicated that he wanted me to spread fertilizer today on all the grassy areas around the sites. He thinks this morning will be a good time for that since there is no rain forecast until late today or tomorrow. That's fine with me as I can use the exercise and it also helps to fill the otherwise slow day.
The weekends are starting to fill up the campground and that's a good sign. I look outside this morning and see that almost all of our pull-through sites (7) are occupied. We can also see several rigs on the upper level that are what we call "premium ocean view" sites that are occupied. I'll be getting some pictures of the Resort to show everybody how nice it is as soon as the weather cooperates and our plants are in full bloom. That time is fast approaching so stay tuned...
Saturday, April 17, 2010
A Quiet Day At Home
We had plans to go somewhere yesterday while the sun was out to take advantage of a nice day. The plan shifted when we got busy organizing things in the fifth wheel and it became cloudy in the late morning after Josie made a big pancake breakfast. We use the dining table in the rig as our computer desk and we (I) have accumulated lots of paperwork to be filed away and or thrown away. In order to keep the table cleared, I store everything in a big box so it is easy to put away when we need to use the table for other things. I had to go through a big box of the stuff yesterday. Needless to say, it takes a lot of time to sort everything that has accumulated over the last 6 months or so.
Along with paperwork from the desk work, I have to sort through all the magazines that we have also accumulated over that time. I don't like saving magazines so a long time ago I set up a filing system of articles that I cut out from our travel magazines like Highways, Trailer Life, Highroads, Arizona Highways, TrailBlazer, etc. The idea is that when we go to any state, I can take out the file we have for that state that describes the interesting places to go. Anyway, I have about 50 of those to go through to remove the good articles and throw away the magazines. Our files on the states and the Canadian Provinces is growing rapidly.
We have been looking at websites that might help us decide where to look for nice beaches. I came across this interesting site, Romantic Oregon Vacations, that has some really good map information. The maps that show the distances between beach areas and cities is very helpful and just shows how many, and how diversified, the beach areas are. If you get a chance, go through the information on the link above.
The weather has turned nasty again this morning so our day is on hold for now. The rain and wind was forecasted but it is suppose to go away by the afternoon. It is strange to be in an area where it is so cool - temps in the high 50's, low 60's - while the rest of the country is cooking in 70-85 degree weather. Our turn will come when folks will wish they were here. Later...
Along with paperwork from the desk work, I have to sort through all the magazines that we have also accumulated over that time. I don't like saving magazines so a long time ago I set up a filing system of articles that I cut out from our travel magazines like Highways, Trailer Life, Highroads, Arizona Highways, TrailBlazer, etc. The idea is that when we go to any state, I can take out the file we have for that state that describes the interesting places to go. Anyway, I have about 50 of those to go through to remove the good articles and throw away the magazines. Our files on the states and the Canadian Provinces is growing rapidly.
We have been looking at websites that might help us decide where to look for nice beaches. I came across this interesting site, Romantic Oregon Vacations, that has some really good map information. The maps that show the distances between beach areas and cities is very helpful and just shows how many, and how diversified, the beach areas are. If you get a chance, go through the information on the link above.
The weather has turned nasty again this morning so our day is on hold for now. The rain and wind was forecasted but it is suppose to go away by the afternoon. It is strange to be in an area where it is so cool - temps in the high 50's, low 60's - while the rest of the country is cooking in 70-85 degree weather. Our turn will come when folks will wish they were here. Later...
Friday, April 16, 2010
Checking Out the Beaches
The return visit by the Board of Health representative occurred around 8 AM yesterday morning. He checked the kitchen and the spa and then wrote up a glowing report of the entire operation. The only minor infraction was the bromine content of the spa (a little low) and that was so minor that it barely made a comment in the report. We are good-to-go for another 6 months until they return for another inspection.
It wasn't mentioned yesterday, but we have been having continuing problems with our DirecTV receiver that was sent to us to replace the one with the bad hard drive. After spending about an hour on the phone with DirecTV on Wednesday, they decided to send out a local technician to look at the problem - at no charge, of course. He arrived at 12:30 and within about 5 minutes was able to tell that the "new" receiver that was sent to us was a piece of crap. The TV was frozen on one channel and we were getting zero response from the remote control to do anything on the TV. He replaced the receiver - again - and it appears that everything is operating as it should - except for our power-up problem with the Samsung TV. We will take care of that problem next.
We took a drive along the Hwy 101 through Lincoln City to begin checking out beach locations. The best we've found so far in the Lincoln City area is one just north of our campground. We walked a short distance on it and although it was cool, we could see that it would be a possibility for summer use. We took a couple shots that are below:
It wasn't mentioned yesterday, but we have been having continuing problems with our DirecTV receiver that was sent to us to replace the one with the bad hard drive. After spending about an hour on the phone with DirecTV on Wednesday, they decided to send out a local technician to look at the problem - at no charge, of course. He arrived at 12:30 and within about 5 minutes was able to tell that the "new" receiver that was sent to us was a piece of crap. The TV was frozen on one channel and we were getting zero response from the remote control to do anything on the TV. He replaced the receiver - again - and it appears that everything is operating as it should - except for our power-up problem with the Samsung TV. We will take care of that problem next.
We took a drive along the Hwy 101 through Lincoln City to begin checking out beach locations. The best we've found so far in the Lincoln City area is one just north of our campground. We walked a short distance on it and although it was cool, we could see that it would be a possibility for summer use. We took a couple shots that are below:
The first one looks north on the beach and the second one is looking south. You can see the Inn at Spanish head on the left which is where we went the other day, and is directly across the street from our campground. There are many more beach access locations that we need to check out, but it is fun looking at the differences.
We are off today and will probably figure out a good place to go to take advantage of the improving weather. It's amazing what a little sunshine will do to put you into an exploring mood. So far, it is clear outside today, so let the fun begin...
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Visit From Board of Health
We were told that the Oregon State Board of Health pays a visit to the campground about every 6 months to do checks on health issues. The last time they visited was almost 6 months ago so they were due. The management take these visits seriously, as they should, since it has a lot to do with the reputation of the park. Of course, the visit from them yesterday occurred while 1) the management were off duty, and 2) the spa had been drained in the morning for its monthly cleaning. Josie and I were taken by surprise as they never announce their visits and we had to explain to him about the spa being serviced and that he probably shouldn't test it for another few hours at least. He was very accommodating and said he needed to come back in the morning anyway in order to check out our continental breakfast and kitchen area. We passed the campground area inspection with zero violations, so all that remains is the spa and kitchen this morning. The inspector commented on how clean the campground and bathrooms were and said he wished all of his inspections were this easy. That made us all feel pretty good.
Other than the inspection yesterday, it was a typical, slow day, leading up to the busy season. We suspect that we will start getting very busy the Memorial Day weekend which is about the normal time for summer seasons to start everywhere. We'll be happy to see more activity, that's for sure. Until then, we will continue to have some boring blog entries for which I apologize. The weather has been another reason for the lack of fun things to report. It just hasn't been the right "mood setting" environment for going out to explore new things or to go places where we can enjoy the area. We have a lot of catching up to do as we get closer to summer.
It's 8 till 10:30 for me today, and 10:30 till 1 for Josie. This is the day where we only work a couple hours each but waste most of the day as a result of the split schedule. This is still a good place for us and we are looking forward to the time we have ahead of us here. Until tomorrow...
Other than the inspection yesterday, it was a typical, slow day, leading up to the busy season. We suspect that we will start getting very busy the Memorial Day weekend which is about the normal time for summer seasons to start everywhere. We'll be happy to see more activity, that's for sure. Until then, we will continue to have some boring blog entries for which I apologize. The weather has been another reason for the lack of fun things to report. It just hasn't been the right "mood setting" environment for going out to explore new things or to go places where we can enjoy the area. We have a lot of catching up to do as we get closer to summer.
It's 8 till 10:30 for me today, and 10:30 till 1 for Josie. This is the day where we only work a couple hours each but waste most of the day as a result of the split schedule. This is still a good place for us and we are looking forward to the time we have ahead of us here. Until tomorrow...
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Clear Blue Sky Finally
It had to happen sooner or later. Our streak of consecutive rainy days ended at 20. It ranks up there with the wettest period we've ever experienced. The beauty of yesterday though was that we had blue sky and hardly any wind at all. We still went over 12 MPH for the high gust but we'll take it. The forecast now has more rain coming in tonight. Another streak?
Our schedule yesterday was for both of us to work only 4 hours. The fact that we were scheduled from 1 to 5 PM was something we hadn't done before. It is not as nice working the afternoon, even if it allows us to sleep in. The reason is that we sit around watching the clock so that we aren't late. When we work in the mornings and get off early, we can go do something and not worry about the time. We will be doing it this way on alternate weeks so that it is fair for everybody. We have the same schedule today.
We have a problem with our new receiver from DirecTV. It is taking us up to 5 minutes to change channels on the TV with the remote. I was on the phone yesterday AM (for almost an hour) before we went to work, talking with their technical support people on the phone. They were able to improve the performance, slightly, and said if it continues to call them back today. It not only continued, but got worse last night. It just seems to us that in the year 2010, instead of having super great performance with modern conveniences, we are saddled with poor quality and poor customer service that is inferior to even 1980 standards. What is happening with our society that is causing us to go backwards instead of forward? It seems to be common with almost every purchase we make these days. I will be back on the phone with those folks again this morning as soon as I complete this entry. Here's hoping for a quick, and final solution...
Our schedule yesterday was for both of us to work only 4 hours. The fact that we were scheduled from 1 to 5 PM was something we hadn't done before. It is not as nice working the afternoon, even if it allows us to sleep in. The reason is that we sit around watching the clock so that we aren't late. When we work in the mornings and get off early, we can go do something and not worry about the time. We will be doing it this way on alternate weeks so that it is fair for everybody. We have the same schedule today.
We have a problem with our new receiver from DirecTV. It is taking us up to 5 minutes to change channels on the TV with the remote. I was on the phone yesterday AM (for almost an hour) before we went to work, talking with their technical support people on the phone. They were able to improve the performance, slightly, and said if it continues to call them back today. It not only continued, but got worse last night. It just seems to us that in the year 2010, instead of having super great performance with modern conveniences, we are saddled with poor quality and poor customer service that is inferior to even 1980 standards. What is happening with our society that is causing us to go backwards instead of forward? It seems to be common with almost every purchase we make these days. I will be back on the phone with those folks again this morning as soon as I complete this entry. Here's hoping for a quick, and final solution...
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Miscount on Streak
Yesterday's entry indicated that the consecutive rain days had reached 19. Actually, after a recount on the weather charts, it reached 20 days yesterday. So far today, it's dry and clear. The days are warming up and the daylight is lasting longer which is something we always liked about the Northwest. We think it's all smooth sailing from here as far as the weather is concerned.
We finished our 2 long days for the week yesterday and we begin 3 shorter work days today. Our starting times today and tomorrow aren't until 1 PM and we work till 5 PM. Our schedule alternates us from early start to late start each week with the managers. So far, we like the schedule except for Thursdays where we are split at 2 1/2 hours each. That day, one of us starts at 8 while the other starts at 10:30 when the first of us goes home. We end up spending a total of 5 hours working but only 2 1/2 hours each. It seems like a wasted day to us.
The new software upgrade for our satellite receiver arrived yesterday and I installed it with no problem. The satellite dish locked on to the satellites with no problem. I then contacted DirecTV to activate our new receiver from them and accomplished that in a short time. The only problem we have outstanding now is the power up issue with the TV. We will need to take that to either Salem or Portland to have the power supply replaced. We hold our breath every time we turn on the TV hoping that it powers up OK. At least we are off the campground cable and can once again record shows and movies. That's about it for now...
We finished our 2 long days for the week yesterday and we begin 3 shorter work days today. Our starting times today and tomorrow aren't until 1 PM and we work till 5 PM. Our schedule alternates us from early start to late start each week with the managers. So far, we like the schedule except for Thursdays where we are split at 2 1/2 hours each. That day, one of us starts at 8 while the other starts at 10:30 when the first of us goes home. We end up spending a total of 5 hours working but only 2 1/2 hours each. It seems like a wasted day to us.
The new software upgrade for our satellite receiver arrived yesterday and I installed it with no problem. The satellite dish locked on to the satellites with no problem. I then contacted DirecTV to activate our new receiver from them and accomplished that in a short time. The only problem we have outstanding now is the power up issue with the TV. We will need to take that to either Salem or Portland to have the power supply replaced. We hold our breath every time we turn on the TV hoping that it powers up OK. At least we are off the campground cable and can once again record shows and movies. That's about it for now...
Monday, April 12, 2010
Long Day
It was difficult to find enough to do yesterday to stay busy. We worked from 7:45 AM to 5 PM and had very few customers checking in or checking out. It's a good thing there was a TV in the breakfast room where I could watch the Masters - off and on - all afternoon. I was able to watch enough of it to see Phil Mickelson score a well earned victory. The thing that made it sweet was that Tiger didn't win. Josie tried to find things to do to keep herself busy. She did a lot of cleaning - bathrooms, mopping the halls, vacuuming the office, etc. I did do the checks on the spa during the day. At least 3 times a day on Sunday and Monday I check the spa for chemical balance - Ph, Alkalinity, Bromine level -and temperature, water level and a few others. The Oregon state law requires that spas be checked regularly for these and that strict records be kept for their inspection every 6 months or so. It's the first state that we have run into with such strict spa rules. I did pool maintenance and spa maintenance in Palm Springs but nothing like this.
The record for consecutive days of rain continues to grow. It reached 19 days this morning with .04" already by 6 AM. It is hard to believe that there hasn't been at least one high pressure system come through with enough strength to give us a couple dry days. No wonder there is so much moss on all the trees.
Today is another long work day. I will go in a little early to deliver the newspapers to the customers in the park. Then I do spa checks again while Josie does some more cleaning. This place really sparkles though with all the attention given to cleaning. The rest of the day will be filled with trying to keep busy any way we can, without looking bored or like we are ready for naps which would be really easy at about 2 PM. Until tomorrow...
The record for consecutive days of rain continues to grow. It reached 19 days this morning with .04" already by 6 AM. It is hard to believe that there hasn't been at least one high pressure system come through with enough strength to give us a couple dry days. No wonder there is so much moss on all the trees.
Today is another long work day. I will go in a little early to deliver the newspapers to the customers in the park. Then I do spa checks again while Josie does some more cleaning. This place really sparkles though with all the attention given to cleaning. The rest of the day will be filled with trying to keep busy any way we can, without looking bored or like we are ready for naps which would be really easy at about 2 PM. Until tomorrow...
Sunday, April 11, 2010
18 Days and Counting
It was a beautiful, warm sunny day yesterday - until about 8 PM last night. The rain came back, along with the wind, to keep the consecutive days of measurable rain alive at 18 days. The streak will reach at least 19 days since it has rained .14" already today. At least we had some sunshine during the day. I watched the Masters on TV most of the day until we decided to go across the street and check out the beach access at the Inn at Spanish Head. This is a 10 story hotel with all but the top 2 floors under the lobby. The hotel is built on a rugged cliff and you have to take an elevator down to the 1st floor where you can walk out to the beach. The beach is not the best that we've seen along the coast. Below are 2 pictures we took. The first one shows the hotel with the beachfront rooms looking north:
You can see why the hotel has all its floors above the beach. The second picture is of the beach, looking south:
It is pretty obvious from these shots that the beach is better for walking than for swimming. There was large driftwood everywhere up and down this section of beach. Also, the sand along this hotel was not white and nice to sit on or to set up a spot to swim. We had to check out this particular section of beach since it is the closest to our campground and accessible just across the street. There are many other nice places that aren't too far away that are great for swimming and good for kids to play. We plan to evaluate all the spots so we will know the best locations when we have visitors this summer.
It's back to work today - long day, at that. I hope to sneak away occasionally to catch up on the final round at the Masters. We have a TV in our kitchen area where we have the continental breakfasts each morning. I'll be cheering for Phil Mickelson, even though Tiger is lurking just a couple shots back. We will not be cheering for him again anytime soon since his "real" character was exposed some months back. Anyway, have a great day...
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Streak May End
According to the weather forecast for today, our consecutive days of rain (17) is in jeopardy. Even though it is cloudy outside this morning, there has been no rain and we can see blue sky between the clouds. If that happens, there is a good chance we will spend some time down at the beach.
We spent the day yesterday around the rig. Josie made her blanket while I watched the Masters Golf Tournament and later set up the weather station so that it would be more stable. The other major chore we accomplished was defrosting the freezer. This is something that needs to be done about once every 3 months in order to stay on top of it. We have had some water leaking into the refrigerator and it appears that the frost in the freezer has been creating a problem for the ice maker which may have caused the problem. We will know soon enough if that problem has been fixed. I do know that the Masters is on my schedule again for today.
All of the spring break vacations are over now for Washington and Oregon. Oregon was last week and Washington was this week, so the little bit of extra people will be gone from here. We are sure that the weather has contributed to a smaller crowd this year. We don't believe the reports that the economy has turned around. There are still signs everywhere that it has a long way to go. Oh, well. That's another topic for another day...
We spent the day yesterday around the rig. Josie made her blanket while I watched the Masters Golf Tournament and later set up the weather station so that it would be more stable. The other major chore we accomplished was defrosting the freezer. This is something that needs to be done about once every 3 months in order to stay on top of it. We have had some water leaking into the refrigerator and it appears that the frost in the freezer has been creating a problem for the ice maker which may have caused the problem. We will know soon enough if that problem has been fixed. I do know that the Masters is on my schedule again for today.
All of the spring break vacations are over now for Washington and Oregon. Oregon was last week and Washington was this week, so the little bit of extra people will be gone from here. We are sure that the weather has contributed to a smaller crowd this year. We don't believe the reports that the economy has turned around. There are still signs everywhere that it has a long way to go. Oh, well. That's another topic for another day...
Friday, April 9, 2010
Blown Over Again
Our poor weather station just isn't able to cope with this weather. It once again blew over, this time before midnight. I know it was before midnight because so far today my station has recorded no wind and no rain and the ground is soaking wet from rain that occurred during the night. This makes 17 consecutive days of rain - and wind. The problem with keeping the station standing is that the ground is so saturated that the spikes I use to secure it in the ground can't go down far enough to give it a solid base in these winds. These are 10" spikes that I use and I have never had this problem with it before. I will have to figure out a solution for that problem today.
Yesterday was also a short day in the office. I worked from 8 till 10:30 and Josie worked from 8:30 till 1 PM. She worked longer because she came in a little early to make phone calls for the "Value Card" promotion that Premier RV Resorts has going. The owner of all the resort locations, Paul Williams, was in town the other night and our manager indicated that he told him that the cash flow has taken a hit as a result of the poor economy and they are trying ways to increase the cash flow before the busy summer season. This park will be booked solid for the summer, but until then there aren't a lot of people in the park. Who can blame them with all the rain and wind we've been having.
Much of today will be spent at home. I will be watching the Masters Golf Tournament on TV while Josie makes her blanket from the material she bought a couple days ago. Other than that, we may try to do something outside if the weather improves...
Yesterday was also a short day in the office. I worked from 8 till 10:30 and Josie worked from 8:30 till 1 PM. She worked longer because she came in a little early to make phone calls for the "Value Card" promotion that Premier RV Resorts has going. The owner of all the resort locations, Paul Williams, was in town the other night and our manager indicated that he told him that the cash flow has taken a hit as a result of the poor economy and they are trying ways to increase the cash flow before the busy summer season. This park will be booked solid for the summer, but until then there aren't a lot of people in the park. Who can blame them with all the rain and wind we've been having.
Much of today will be spent at home. I will be watching the Masters Golf Tournament on TV while Josie makes her blanket from the material she bought a couple days ago. Other than that, we may try to do something outside if the weather improves...
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Tough Night
Our streak was not broken yesterday. We received almost .10" of rain last night to make it 15 consecutive days. The real problem so far today is the wind. It started at about 1 AM this morning and has blown at a steady 40 - 50 MPH since. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep last night.
Our work day ended at noon again yesterday and we went to a Joann's store in town so Josie could get some fleece material to make a blanket for the sofa in the fifth wheel. After leaving there, we decided to take a trip, 20 miles up the road, to the other casino that people go to from this area. It is called the Spirit Mountain Casino and is much larger than the one in Lincoln City. Since it was an unscheduled trip we didn't have money budgeted for the slots so we only used the pocket money we had which was only about $15 each. It wasn't enough to do any good, but we are sold on the casino anyway and will definitely be back. We did sign up for the club card but didn't get a free buffet coupon because they only gave those out on Tuesdays and Fridays. Wish we had known that. They did give us each $5 of free slot play though. We believe the machines know that the money being played is promotional money and no jackpots are paid while playing from that. Ha!
Today is a really short day. We work only 2 1/2 hours each and then we're off through Saturday. There are a few chores we need to get done before we can play, so we hope we can get those done quickly. Until tomorrow...
Our work day ended at noon again yesterday and we went to a Joann's store in town so Josie could get some fleece material to make a blanket for the sofa in the fifth wheel. After leaving there, we decided to take a trip, 20 miles up the road, to the other casino that people go to from this area. It is called the Spirit Mountain Casino and is much larger than the one in Lincoln City. Since it was an unscheduled trip we didn't have money budgeted for the slots so we only used the pocket money we had which was only about $15 each. It wasn't enough to do any good, but we are sold on the casino anyway and will definitely be back. We did sign up for the club card but didn't get a free buffet coupon because they only gave those out on Tuesdays and Fridays. Wish we had known that. They did give us each $5 of free slot play though. We believe the machines know that the money being played is promotional money and no jackpots are paid while playing from that. Ha!
Today is a really short day. We work only 2 1/2 hours each and then we're off through Saturday. There are a few chores we need to get done before we can play, so we hope we can get those done quickly. Until tomorrow...
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Short Work Day
Yesterday was one of our short work days - 7:45 to noon. Since the sun was out - yes, that was sun - we took a short trip to Newport to go to WalMart. This time we stopped at a couple locations on the way to see the different shorelines on this part of the Oregon coast. We were only a few miles south of Lincoln City when we stopped at a viewpoint in Depoe Bay. This is a picture looking north and you can see Lincoln City in the distance:
This particular location shows a rugged portion of the shoreline. The next picture, taken from the same stop , is looking south from Depoe Bay:
The trip to Newport is only about 22 miles and the shoreline changes from rugged, rocky areas to nice, sandy beach areas all the way down. Once you arrive at Newport, there are 2 lighthouses that are within the city limits. The first one is in a State Park and requires a fee to enter so we passed on that one. The second one was further south in the city and was accessible from a beach access road:
Both of these lighthouses are part of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse history that you can see in the link provided. Part of the history describes the Yaquina Bay Bridge which is below:
This was a good introduction for us to a typical town on the Oregon Coastal Highway. We will be featuring many of these towns in the future - we hope - including more history of Newport when we have more time to spend.
Our schedule also called for us to return to the the office at 6 PM last night to place phone calls to a database list of people that have stayed at Premier RV Resorts and try to get them to buy a "Value Card". This is a discounted card for either 10 or 30 days worth of stays at any of the 5 Resorts. The plan was to spend 2 hours making these calls but we stopped at 7:15 because we were getting a cool reception from most people. We concluded that it was mostly the time we were calling. People don't want to be sold anything while they are sitting down to dinner or just finishing dinner - we know that it is a no-no to us. Anyway, we felt that the program needed to be "tweaked" some more before we could comfortably participate.
We work another short day today. So far, it is dry, but the streak is alive at 14 consecutive days of measurable rain. Will it end today?...
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Typical Day
It turned out to be a typical day here yesterday. It rained just over 1" and we had winds that averaged around 20 MPH all day and night. It has already rained nearly .2" today and the wind is howling. We worked our second long day and left the office at 5:30 PM last night and went to a local Pizzeria in town for dinner. It was an excellent pizza and we decided we have found our pizza place of choice while we are here. The place is called Gallucci's, and it was crowded for a Monday night. On the way home we decided to see the beach access that is across the street from us and we captured the following shot of the setting sun through the clouds:
That was one of the very brief peeks of the sun. Maybe we will get to walk on the beach this weekend as the forecast is still for nice weather to move in by Friday.
We aren't sure exactly how long we will be working today as we went a little over on our time on Sunday and Monday. They have pretty strict budgets that they follow here and they have our total hours figured out pretty close to what we need to make while workamping. As the summer season approaches and the park gets busier, the budget expands to accommodate more hours. We should be working to around noon as our normal time for Tuesday.
I do know that we need to fix a couple problems with our TV system on our days off. We have been watching TV using the cable system here at the park since we have to upgrade the software on our satellite dish receiver before we can use that. It seems that DirecTV made some changes in their programming that have affected the pointing parameters for the satellite dish. Our dish is made by MotoSat, and the receiver for the dish can be reprogrammed using some equipment they are sending me this week. After that, we will get our new DirecTV receiver activated so we can get back to watching our normal TV shows. We also have to fix a problem with our Samsung TV that involves the power supply. The TV has been taking longer and longer to power up when we turn it on. The problem began over a month ago when it started taking about 10 seconds to turn on. Now it takes over 3 minutes to power up once we turn it on. This is a common problem with Samsung TV's so we hope to get it fixed this weekend - under warranty. There's always something.
It is frustrating for us to see almost the whole country "cooking" while we are entrenched in this rain, wind and cool weather. Our turn is coming though...
Monday, April 5, 2010
Noah Who?
It was a busy day for us yesterday as it was the first time we were on duty all day - alone. There were about 6 guests that checked in and there were various chores we completed that made the day go faster. I performed the maintenance on the spa several times and Josie cleaned the rest rooms and the laundry room floor along with the other floors.
How many days did it take Noah to build his ark? We need to think about doing the same thing as we are up to 13 consecutive days of rain. It is really pouring outside as I do this entry. The winds continue to set records for us also. There hasn't been 1 day since we've arrived where the high gust for the day has been less than 12 MPH. Most days it is over 20 MPH. We did see in the long term forecast last night that there would be a couple cloudless and rain-free days for this coming weekend. Wow!
Today is our 2nd long day for the week and we will perform the same duties as yesterday except I get to deliver the newspapers to all the guests this morning. This place really is run like a hotel with the continental breakfasts and newspaper deliveries each day. It is a nice touch for a campground. We have gotten all rave reviews from customers that complete the surveys they get as part of their check-in package.
Have a great day and we'll be back here tomorrow...
How many days did it take Noah to build his ark? We need to think about doing the same thing as we are up to 13 consecutive days of rain. It is really pouring outside as I do this entry. The winds continue to set records for us also. There hasn't been 1 day since we've arrived where the high gust for the day has been less than 12 MPH. Most days it is over 20 MPH. We did see in the long term forecast last night that there would be a couple cloudless and rain-free days for this coming weekend. Wow!
Today is our 2nd long day for the week and we will perform the same duties as yesterday except I get to deliver the newspapers to all the guests this morning. This place really is run like a hotel with the continental breakfasts and newspaper deliveries each day. It is a nice touch for a campground. We have gotten all rave reviews from customers that complete the surveys they get as part of their check-in package.
Have a great day and we'll be back here tomorrow...
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Personal Care Day
It was just one of those "let's just stay home" days yesterday. Josie needed to get her nails done and get a haircut so she did go out for those things but I stayed home and watched TV the whole day. Yes, it was raining and a little windy so that was the major factor. The only other thing that was accomplished yesterday was we got the laundry done. The space we have in the park is right next to the laundry so it makes it easy to get done, even in the rain.
The streak of rainy days is still alive as we have had some rain already today. That's 12 days and counting. You can tell it's a normal occurrence since there hasn't been any flooding - at least that we can see. The other thing we haven't seen is trees down everywhere as a result of all this wind. Amazing!
Today will be our first day as the only two people on duty. The managers will be off until Tuesday so we have a couple long days ahead of us. We prefer it this way since we don't have to trip over people in the office. We are suppose to get a second terminal in the office so that will help when it does get busy this summer. This will be the first Easter Sunday that we didn't go to church in many years, so we are sad about that. Anyway, we hope everybody has a HAPPY EASTER today...
The streak of rainy days is still alive as we have had some rain already today. That's 12 days and counting. You can tell it's a normal occurrence since there hasn't been any flooding - at least that we can see. The other thing we haven't seen is trees down everywhere as a result of all this wind. Amazing!
Today will be our first day as the only two people on duty. The managers will be off until Tuesday so we have a couple long days ahead of us. We prefer it this way since we don't have to trip over people in the office. We are suppose to get a second terminal in the office so that will help when it does get busy this summer. This will be the first Easter Sunday that we didn't go to church in many years, so we are sad about that. Anyway, we hope everybody has a HAPPY EASTER today...
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Ho Hum, More Rain
The high wind gust that I reported in yesterday's entry turned out to be a little low. The official high gust was 79 MPH! And, of course, it rained off and on all day. Guess what. It's raining again today making it 11 straight days. Once again, it isn't the rain so much as the wind that is frustrating. The summer would almost have to be spectacular in order to make up for all this wind and rain. We had stretches like this of rain when we lived in Washington, but we couldn't recall ever having a stretch of windy days like this. There would be an occasional windy day, but never consecutive days. Comes with the territory I guess.
We went into town to Safeway to get some groceries and that's about all we could do in the weather. We pulled over into a spot that was along the beach and took a couple pictures. This first one is of the surf that was churning up foam as a result of the wind:
We went into town to Safeway to get some groceries and that's about all we could do in the weather. We pulled over into a spot that was along the beach and took a couple pictures. This first one is of the surf that was churning up foam as a result of the wind:
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This second picture was taken of a seagull that appeared to be flying but was actually suspended in space and just bobbing up and down in the wind, flying in place. There were several of these along the beach that were fun to watch:
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We are getting anxious to go places where we can get out and take some pictures of things that are fun to see and do. We're sure those days aren't too far off. One more day and we go back to work for 2 long days. We hope to find something interesting to do today, in spite of the weather...
Friday, April 2, 2010
Schedule and More Rain
Yesterday was our first day working with the managers, Jim and Mary, and we received our schedule as we were leaving work at noon. We will have every Friday and Saturday off, work a full 9 hours on Sunday and Monday while the managers are off, work 4 hours on each of Tuesday and Thursday and work 2 1/2 hours on Wednesdays. Phew! It seems pretty complicated but we think it will work for us. We will have a little more free time while still making enough money.
Since we left early yesterday, we decided to do a few errands and then try out the new casino. We got to the Chinook Winds Casino around 3 PM and proceeded to sign up for their Players Club card which we get at every casino we visit. One of the rewards for signing up was a free buffet coupon for each of us. We budgeted $30 each for play, so we had no idea how far it would go. It was a no-brainer for me, as I didn't win anything but Josie got lucky and won several jackpots, including one for $500 and another for $200 - all on penny machines! Needless to say, we played for quite a while. We had a free buffet dinner - very good - and left the casino at around 8 PM, with $600 left over. Now that's the way it's suppose to be.
We rocked and rolled all night long as another storm moved in with high winds. There are suppose to be 60 - 70 MPH winds with this storm and they didn't miss the forecast. I have recorded gusts up to 60 MPH and over .80" of horizontal rain. It's unbelievable that we have had measurable rain every single day we've been here - 10 days. We have to go to the store today but right now we are content to sit here and watch the storm until it gets to where we can go outside without getting blown away. By the way, the weather station is still standing since I reinforced the base a few days ago. It is amazing that there are still trees standing in this area. We are hoping that we can eventually get out today and do something different on our day off, but it doesn't look good right now...
Since we left early yesterday, we decided to do a few errands and then try out the new casino. We got to the Chinook Winds Casino around 3 PM and proceeded to sign up for their Players Club card which we get at every casino we visit. One of the rewards for signing up was a free buffet coupon for each of us. We budgeted $30 each for play, so we had no idea how far it would go. It was a no-brainer for me, as I didn't win anything but Josie got lucky and won several jackpots, including one for $500 and another for $200 - all on penny machines! Needless to say, we played for quite a while. We had a free buffet dinner - very good - and left the casino at around 8 PM, with $600 left over. Now that's the way it's suppose to be.
We rocked and rolled all night long as another storm moved in with high winds. There are suppose to be 60 - 70 MPH winds with this storm and they didn't miss the forecast. I have recorded gusts up to 60 MPH and over .80" of horizontal rain. It's unbelievable that we have had measurable rain every single day we've been here - 10 days. We have to go to the store today but right now we are content to sit here and watch the storm until it gets to where we can go outside without getting blown away. By the way, the weather station is still standing since I reinforced the base a few days ago. It is amazing that there are still trees standing in this area. We are hoping that we can eventually get out today and do something different on our day off, but it doesn't look good right now...
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The Tanger Outlets
The sun actually came out yesterday afternoon and it became a beautiful day to go somewhere. The last time we were on the Oregon Coastal Highway was about 15 years ago when we came down to stay at the Thousand Trails park in Pacific City, just north of here. At that time, we drove down the Highway for quite a distance and we remember stopping at an outlet mall, but we weren't sure where it was until yesterday. It was the same mall we visited yesterday - the Tanger Outlets - in Lincoln City. It immediately became familiar to us when we arrived at about noon yesterday and we walked the entire mall checking out the stores and the deals. The thing about this mall is that, not only are there over 60 named brands, but there were only a couple spots that were vacant. Most of these outlet malls you see today have a high percentage of spaces available as a result of stores going out of business. The truth is, there aren't many "real deals"at these places unless you know what your looking for. We concluded that this outlet mall was so busy because of its location. There aren't any big name stores anywhere nearby unless you go to Salem or Portland, so this is a real convenience. We are happy that this is only a couple miles from us and that there are some nice stores. We will be shopping there for sure.
Although we are working today, starting at 8 AM, we don't know our schedule yet. We are suppose to have Friday and Saturday off as our regular days but we don't know yet if that begins this week. We are hoping that it does. There are some great looking beaches along the highway that we are anxious to walk and then there is the casino which is a new one for us. There will be plenty to do. We also are going to go back to the Tillamook Cheese factory that we also visited on that vacation 15 years ago.
The day has dawned cloudy again but it looks like normal coastal clouds and not the storm type clouds we've had recently. There is rain in the forecast but not until later in the day, or even tomorrow morning. We hope to begin packing up after work today so we can get a head start on moving to our new location -
Although we are working today, starting at 8 AM, we don't know our schedule yet. We are suppose to have Friday and Saturday off as our regular days but we don't know yet if that begins this week. We are hoping that it does. There are some great looking beaches along the highway that we are anxious to walk and then there is the casino which is a new one for us. There will be plenty to do. We also are going to go back to the Tillamook Cheese factory that we also visited on that vacation 15 years ago.
The day has dawned cloudy again but it looks like normal coastal clouds and not the storm type clouds we've had recently. There is rain in the forecast but not until later in the day, or even tomorrow morning. We hope to begin packing up after work today so we can get a head start on moving to our new location -
APRIL FOOLS!
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