Phone etiquette seems to be non-existen nowadays Makes me almost prefer the robot voice that is a constant. Today I got a live voice on the phone. I answered with the name of my business as I always do, unless I see the name of someone I know pop up on the screen.
The voice on the other end of the phone was talking so fast in a sing song voice that I missed half of what she said. I get a lot of calls about the residents here in my park, to verify a physical address or a credit reference. They will usually let me know if a call is forthcoming. If they don't tell me that someone will calling, I don't give that information out. Could be a scam.
So, when this person called, she was looking for HeWho is the main resident. She repeatedly mispronounced our name and talked faster than I do. I could not get a word in. Then she yelled at me! Demanding to know if I know "this individual". I very calmly said, "you have called the reservation desk at Kan-Do Kampground" to which she responded (still yelling), "How was I supposed to know that? That is not how you answered the phone!" I said, "Yes, it is how I answered the phone." and she kept insisting loudly that it was not. I hung up.
It put me in a bad frame of mind. Like I would have enjoyed spitting in her face. Childish, you say? Yes, I agree. So I did the next best thing. I called the number back and asked for a superviser. Then I told on her!!
My good mood has been restored! I am enjoying some ice cold watermelon for lunch and waiting for the paint to dry on three signs. It is time to replace the signs in the park. I finished the big 4' X 8' sign that directs you down this road and it has been hung. I was hoping to salvage at least a portion of the old sign to make smaller signs with, but it was too weathered. The new 4' X 4' sign for the entrance is almost ready and the new STOP sign is waiting to be put in place.
For the STOP sign I used a 30" square of plywood and measured out the four flat sides, then had HeWho cut the corners to create the octagon. Painted it with 3 coats of red paint, then lettered it and painted the letters white outlined in black. I have some smaller signs, but I want to replace them all with big ones. I am adding "watch for bicycles" below all the STOP signs.
The "street signs" all need to be replaced. The original ones I made are on the small side, so I will be using bigger ones with bigger letters. Bullfrog Blvd is the main road that circles the park. Ribbit Road and Frog Hollow branch off. Another undeveloped road circles the park wider out than Bullfrog Blvd. That one has been called Toadstool Trail. But now that we have an actual trail, I want to change that name. Maybe I should have a contest for a new road name. Just has to be about frogs.
I am thinking frogs would have better phone etiquette than the woman I talked to!
Friday, July 26, 2019
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Our Newest Tenant
The heat wave is taking it's toll here at the kampground. Only 2:00 and I already feel a bit withered and wilted. Wish I could just tilt back and sleep the afternoon away. My phone is by my side, so I know that will not happen.
Last week one of my kampers lost their dog to a heat stroke.
RIP Atlas. He was not an old guy, only four. HeWho loves dogs as much as I do enjoyed playing with him during our Independence Day celebration.
The family was devastated and this morning they stopped in to see me and show me the newest tenant here at the kampground. He doesn't have a name yet, but I enjoyed a good dose of puppy holding with those limber arms and legs and sweet breath!
Just look at that face! HeWho rushed home to cuddle this little guy.
Yesterday, HeWho spent some inside time out of the heat with his favorite little kamper, Remi. They were playing solitaire on the laptop. He has proclaimed this sweet girl to be his adopted granddaughter. She reminds him of his youngest child. I had to tell her parents that she will never outgrow her rambunctious attitude. It is fun to watch her exasperate her parents!
I have plenty to do inside today, but am just not motivated. Solitaire on the lap top sounds good. Not very productive, though. A nap sounds better.
Last week one of my kampers lost their dog to a heat stroke.
RIP Atlas. He was not an old guy, only four. HeWho loves dogs as much as I do enjoyed playing with him during our Independence Day celebration.
The family was devastated and this morning they stopped in to see me and show me the newest tenant here at the kampground. He doesn't have a name yet, but I enjoyed a good dose of puppy holding with those limber arms and legs and sweet breath!
Just look at that face! HeWho rushed home to cuddle this little guy.
Yesterday, HeWho spent some inside time out of the heat with his favorite little kamper, Remi. They were playing solitaire on the laptop. He has proclaimed this sweet girl to be his adopted granddaughter. She reminds him of his youngest child. I had to tell her parents that she will never outgrow her rambunctious attitude. It is fun to watch her exasperate her parents!
I have plenty to do inside today, but am just not motivated. Solitaire on the lap top sounds good. Not very productive, though. A nap sounds better.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Tiny Eddie Has Been Kidnapped!
Remember my fairie garden at my front door? You know the one with the tiny dachshund that looks like my Eddie. Kamper Stacy gave me that little Eddie and I was so thrilled to put him in my garden.
Guess what happened? Tiny Eddie has gone missing. In his place was a cigarette stuck in the tiny rocks where he once lived among the fairies. It is official …. I prefer dogs over people.
I would like to believe that some small child took him because he was smitten with the cuteness and could no longer survive the cruel world without him. The cigarette left in the place of the miniature Eddie leads me to believe some adult took him to annoy me. If so, it worked.
Karma will present your just rewards when you least expect it.
Friday, July 19, 2019
Chivalry Is Not Dead
This week has flown by. All I seem to do is paint, clean, mow, mow and paint some more. As soon as I lock up and take care of my nightly chores, I am too tired to think. Add anything out of the routine and it throws everything off and I just try to catch up.
Not even noon and my phone has rung 15 times, and that is not counting the calls that I missed while taking a reservation and had to call back. I was mowing. I had to keep the phone next to my ear so I could hear the ring and then stop and start the mower over and over again.
HeWho taxies others to various locations was not here when a man dressed in safety yellow came around to the back where I was mowing endless rows of grass and clover. Having to stop again did not help my mood. I only have until 11 am before I swing wide the door and click on the "OPEN" sign. I was not meeting my goal on mowing, having had to stop and walk back to the office several times. He said he had a work order to "read the meter". I have 7, so I needed another clue to let me know which one. Well he did not have a clue.
I tried to be nice, really, I did. I called HeWho is in charge of electrical problems and he seemed to think it was the man that was supposed to be there at 10 to tie in a new meter to gain more power to upgrade a row of sites to 50 amp. I showed the man where this event was to occur, but since the meter did not exist yet ….. Well, you see where this is going. I called HeWho was not in a good mood, enhancing my own mood and we growled at each other on the phone, right there in front of the yellow clad man/child there to read a meter. HeWho returned to try to determine the nature of his visit and I abandoned him in the parking lot to continue mowing mindlessly and fielding phone calls.
I was so hot when I finally mowed that last row that I stuck my head under the cold water flowing from the hose. Then I went on to clean the bathrooms and water my hanging baskets and potted plants before parking here at my desk. Feeling very unfriendly, I will have to rely on my acting skills to welcome in the week-enders. One such person has called me FOUR times with questions I have already answered, had she paid attention. This went on for about 20 minutes, she would call her daughter, then call me back. I still don't know if there are coming for sure.
Another person keeps e-mailing me about things that could be taken care of with a single phone call. I put the phone number in every reply and encourage her to call to make the reservation. I am not sure if she thinks she has a reservation, despite the fact that I made it quite clear that she would need to secure the reservation with either a credit card # or a deposit.
The new mailbox. I know the frog looks like a mad frog scientist. I used a green that was too dark, so I added the lily pad and then the white around the upper body and he looks like he is being electrecuted. But I am done and he will have to deal with his circumstance. The snowplow hit our existing box last winter and although HeWho has a hammer knocked it back into shape the door is wonky and won't close completely. Finally, I remembered to get another!
Made a new sign for the dog park. Maybe whimsical will help. I bought 11 bags of mulch on clearance for $1.58 a bag at Walmart after my second tumor removal event with the dermatologist. I was numb into my hair line, but I still made a stop for mulch. So it was my lucky day to find it on sale. A nice man loaded the pallet on a forklift and loaded my car!
So, yesterday I pulled my car over to the dog park to unload a few bags and mulch around the hostas under the tree, behind the bench in the shade. Next thing I know, kamper Craig is right there unloading the bags for me. Chivalry is not dead! He went on to take the robot out of the pool and ready it for swimmers and I pulled grass and weeds and started mulching. I clipped some low limbs and HeWho happened that way loaded them up and hauled them away. Craig joined me again and we put down weed barrier and ended up using all 11 bags of mulch and needed more! I forgot to take a picture and sat on the bench and enjoyed the peace and quiet for a good 5 minutes. It is really nice there on that bench that kamper DJ cut the seat to look like a milk bone years ago.
All things considered, life is good and my mood has lifted!
Not even noon and my phone has rung 15 times, and that is not counting the calls that I missed while taking a reservation and had to call back. I was mowing. I had to keep the phone next to my ear so I could hear the ring and then stop and start the mower over and over again.
HeWho taxies others to various locations was not here when a man dressed in safety yellow came around to the back where I was mowing endless rows of grass and clover. Having to stop again did not help my mood. I only have until 11 am before I swing wide the door and click on the "OPEN" sign. I was not meeting my goal on mowing, having had to stop and walk back to the office several times. He said he had a work order to "read the meter". I have 7, so I needed another clue to let me know which one. Well he did not have a clue.
I tried to be nice, really, I did. I called HeWho is in charge of electrical problems and he seemed to think it was the man that was supposed to be there at 10 to tie in a new meter to gain more power to upgrade a row of sites to 50 amp. I showed the man where this event was to occur, but since the meter did not exist yet ….. Well, you see where this is going. I called HeWho was not in a good mood, enhancing my own mood and we growled at each other on the phone, right there in front of the yellow clad man/child there to read a meter. HeWho returned to try to determine the nature of his visit and I abandoned him in the parking lot to continue mowing mindlessly and fielding phone calls.
I was so hot when I finally mowed that last row that I stuck my head under the cold water flowing from the hose. Then I went on to clean the bathrooms and water my hanging baskets and potted plants before parking here at my desk. Feeling very unfriendly, I will have to rely on my acting skills to welcome in the week-enders. One such person has called me FOUR times with questions I have already answered, had she paid attention. This went on for about 20 minutes, she would call her daughter, then call me back. I still don't know if there are coming for sure.
Another person keeps e-mailing me about things that could be taken care of with a single phone call. I put the phone number in every reply and encourage her to call to make the reservation. I am not sure if she thinks she has a reservation, despite the fact that I made it quite clear that she would need to secure the reservation with either a credit card # or a deposit.
The new mailbox. I know the frog looks like a mad frog scientist. I used a green that was too dark, so I added the lily pad and then the white around the upper body and he looks like he is being electrecuted. But I am done and he will have to deal with his circumstance. The snowplow hit our existing box last winter and although HeWho has a hammer knocked it back into shape the door is wonky and won't close completely. Finally, I remembered to get another!
So, yesterday I pulled my car over to the dog park to unload a few bags and mulch around the hostas under the tree, behind the bench in the shade. Next thing I know, kamper Craig is right there unloading the bags for me. Chivalry is not dead! He went on to take the robot out of the pool and ready it for swimmers and I pulled grass and weeds and started mulching. I clipped some low limbs and HeWho happened that way loaded them up and hauled them away. Craig joined me again and we put down weed barrier and ended up using all 11 bags of mulch and needed more! I forgot to take a picture and sat on the bench and enjoyed the peace and quiet for a good 5 minutes. It is really nice there on that bench that kamper DJ cut the seat to look like a milk bone years ago.
All things considered, life is good and my mood has lifted!
Sunday, July 14, 2019
Password Protected
We have been having wi-fi issues. I have to be able to access the campground e-mail site and that is about all I have had the patience to do. Facebook is okay, but every time I try to read a blog I get an error message - 404, not found. Then sometimes it will block the site and indicate that there is "suspicious" activity.
What is suspicious activity and why have all the bloggers I follow been doing it? On occasion, I will be able to read someone's post and go backwards from there for a time until it cuts me off. This is not acceptable.
HeWho pretends to know things purchased a different system on which to distribute our wi-fi signal. We (me and him) have a private address that requires a password. The rest of the people in the park have a different password (it is our phone number). Oh, was that a secret? I doubt it could remain secret, as I freely give that information to those checking in. It was chosen because it is easy to remember.
The private password is so private that I do not know it. He did tell me, but it has all these complicated upper case, numbers and symbols. I doubt he could tell you what it is. I don't know why he comes up with this stuff. My passwords are not so simple anyone could figure them out (like 12345, or ABCDE), but they do correspond with something significant to me. HeWho, however seems to have just randomly hit some keys on the computer and …. viola, a password has been born.
Nothing exciting has happened since my last posting here. It would be hard to get more exciting than having the mower shoot me in the leg with a philips head screw. I did have a procedure done by the dermatologist. I have had this pea sized bump on my forehead for many years. I refer to it as my third eye. Now that I have Medicare, I can have things like that taken care of.
I was longing for a Dr. Pimple Popper experience. She always shows the product of her efforts to the patient and lets them touch it and hold it if they desire. This was not to be. I had to act like a patient and not participate. First they examined it with a light and magnifying apparatus (I want one). He told me it had a good blood supply with several vessels tangled there. I don't know why I needed to know that. Then he told me they would simply "shave" it off so that I would not be left with an indentation in my forehead.
Then he told me he suspected it was cancer, but that the good news was that it was basal cell and not melanoma. Okay. After a good numbing, the slicing began and I left the office with a tiny circle of a bandaid and went on my way, after being told that I would get a call in about two weeks.
That was just this past Wednesday, so imagine my surprise when I got a call on Friday. When I noticed the call was from the clinic on caller ID, I assumed the news would not be good news. I was wrong, well, sort of. No cancer cells. But …. he didn't get it all out. He had told me that he didn't get it all out before I left the office, so I already knew that. He told me what it was, a fibro something, but he said it too fast and the store was full of people talking. It will grow back. Oh goody.
He offered options. I can let it heal and grow back and then have it removed again, or I can go back to his clinic and he will "take a curette and scrape it out". I really wish he was not so graphic when he speaks. Couldn't he just say he will remove the remaining tissue. Now I have to visualize the procedure and imagine scraping noises against my bones!! Of course I opted for completing the task and not having to deal with the same issue in the future. I will be presenting myself for a good scraping out next Wednesday. I can hardly wait.
What is suspicious activity and why have all the bloggers I follow been doing it? On occasion, I will be able to read someone's post and go backwards from there for a time until it cuts me off. This is not acceptable.
HeWho pretends to know things purchased a different system on which to distribute our wi-fi signal. We (me and him) have a private address that requires a password. The rest of the people in the park have a different password (it is our phone number). Oh, was that a secret? I doubt it could remain secret, as I freely give that information to those checking in. It was chosen because it is easy to remember.
The private password is so private that I do not know it. He did tell me, but it has all these complicated upper case, numbers and symbols. I doubt he could tell you what it is. I don't know why he comes up with this stuff. My passwords are not so simple anyone could figure them out (like 12345, or ABCDE), but they do correspond with something significant to me. HeWho, however seems to have just randomly hit some keys on the computer and …. viola, a password has been born.
Nothing exciting has happened since my last posting here. It would be hard to get more exciting than having the mower shoot me in the leg with a philips head screw. I did have a procedure done by the dermatologist. I have had this pea sized bump on my forehead for many years. I refer to it as my third eye. Now that I have Medicare, I can have things like that taken care of.
I was longing for a Dr. Pimple Popper experience. She always shows the product of her efforts to the patient and lets them touch it and hold it if they desire. This was not to be. I had to act like a patient and not participate. First they examined it with a light and magnifying apparatus (I want one). He told me it had a good blood supply with several vessels tangled there. I don't know why I needed to know that. Then he told me they would simply "shave" it off so that I would not be left with an indentation in my forehead.
Then he told me he suspected it was cancer, but that the good news was that it was basal cell and not melanoma. Okay. After a good numbing, the slicing began and I left the office with a tiny circle of a bandaid and went on my way, after being told that I would get a call in about two weeks.
That was just this past Wednesday, so imagine my surprise when I got a call on Friday. When I noticed the call was from the clinic on caller ID, I assumed the news would not be good news. I was wrong, well, sort of. No cancer cells. But …. he didn't get it all out. He had told me that he didn't get it all out before I left the office, so I already knew that. He told me what it was, a fibro something, but he said it too fast and the store was full of people talking. It will grow back. Oh goody.
He offered options. I can let it heal and grow back and then have it removed again, or I can go back to his clinic and he will "take a curette and scrape it out". I really wish he was not so graphic when he speaks. Couldn't he just say he will remove the remaining tissue. Now I have to visualize the procedure and imagine scraping noises against my bones!! Of course I opted for completing the task and not having to deal with the same issue in the future. I will be presenting myself for a good scraping out next Wednesday. I can hardly wait.
Monday, July 8, 2019
JD Powers Ratings??
I was awakened at 6 this morning, like every other morning by the cold nose poking my neck. Took out the pups and then decided to sleep just one more hour. Big mistake. Woke after 9, feeling hung over from too much sleep. Joints popping from being still for too long, I dragged myself to the coffee maker and began the day.
Thanks to all my wonderful camp workers, the debris from the weekends festivities was swept away yesterday. I was free to water my plants and put my front porch back in order. We had a silent auction benefit for Kamper Kevin on Saturday and the forecast said rain. So I moved all my plants and rockers. We had a great turn out and it didn't rain after all.
But, I was stopped in my tracks before I could get out the door to my plants. I had to fill our pill boxes. Just a necessity of life, but I needed to order some refills. You will recall that I changed over to mail order from Humana and have an ongoing problem with their service, despite the fact that they are rated #1 in customer service by JD Powers and associates. They have this boldly displayed on their website. Maybe I should enlighten JD Power and associates about my experience …...
There is a reminder on my email about a refill, so I go to the refill site. My computer blocks the site, sending the message that this is a suspicious site. Their site isn't really user friendly. You have to have your insurance card on hand and enter the same information several times.
I put the phone on speaker in order to be able to punch in the refill #'s. There is an extremely long prompt before you can do anything and no way to by-pass it. You have to listen in both English and Spanish to a recording that their wait time for a representative is extra long today and that maybe you want to wait until tomorrow. But, like most people I just want to order my refills and be done with this task. I only need 3, 2 for HeWho and 1 for me. How difficult can this be?
I tried punching in the numbers and was sent to a representative and told that the wait was longer than 5 minutes. I hang up and try again and get disconnected. I went outside and set the sprinklers and came back in. This time I spoke the numbers instead and successfully ordered the first one! Then was disconnected again. This took so long just to do that. I went out and moved the sprinklers.
The next attempt seemed to be going well. The next one was out of refills and after repeating "yes" many times I was pretty sure it was put in the que to fax the doctor. Then I ordered mine. Keep in mind that with each and every one I had to verify the number twice, the date of birth, the address and the zip code. I did all that and then a summary of my entire order was begun. All the same info had to be verified again. We made it through my refill and that is where it all went to hell.
I was transferred to a representative and told once again that my wait would be longer than 5 minutes. By now I am sure my blood pressure is up and I refuse to hang up before I see what the problem is. I also want to express how I feel about their service.
When I finally get a representative she expresses her apologies for my bad experience and says that she sees nothing "wrong" with my order. Then why did the system transfer my call to you after telling me their was a problem?????
I drag out the insurance card yet again, since the prescription # is not enough. I go through all the identifying steps again, repeating all the information for the fifth time and guess what she finds? That same outstanding $8 that has been there for months. It has supposedly been "taken care of" 3 times. She even sees that it was paid, but someone must have "forgot" to remove it.
Two hours I wasted getting the refills. It would have taken me less than a minute to punch them in on Walmart's refill line and I could pick them up tomorrow. Yes, I would have to go get them and yes, it would cost more. She assures me that she has relayed my "bad experience" to the correct department and hopes that my next experience will be better. I assured her that if my next experience was not a good one, it would be my last experience.
Set the mood for my day.
Thanks to all my wonderful camp workers, the debris from the weekends festivities was swept away yesterday. I was free to water my plants and put my front porch back in order. We had a silent auction benefit for Kamper Kevin on Saturday and the forecast said rain. So I moved all my plants and rockers. We had a great turn out and it didn't rain after all.
But, I was stopped in my tracks before I could get out the door to my plants. I had to fill our pill boxes. Just a necessity of life, but I needed to order some refills. You will recall that I changed over to mail order from Humana and have an ongoing problem with their service, despite the fact that they are rated #1 in customer service by JD Powers and associates. They have this boldly displayed on their website. Maybe I should enlighten JD Power and associates about my experience …...
There is a reminder on my email about a refill, so I go to the refill site. My computer blocks the site, sending the message that this is a suspicious site. Their site isn't really user friendly. You have to have your insurance card on hand and enter the same information several times.
I put the phone on speaker in order to be able to punch in the refill #'s. There is an extremely long prompt before you can do anything and no way to by-pass it. You have to listen in both English and Spanish to a recording that their wait time for a representative is extra long today and that maybe you want to wait until tomorrow. But, like most people I just want to order my refills and be done with this task. I only need 3, 2 for HeWho and 1 for me. How difficult can this be?
I tried punching in the numbers and was sent to a representative and told that the wait was longer than 5 minutes. I hang up and try again and get disconnected. I went outside and set the sprinklers and came back in. This time I spoke the numbers instead and successfully ordered the first one! Then was disconnected again. This took so long just to do that. I went out and moved the sprinklers.
The next attempt seemed to be going well. The next one was out of refills and after repeating "yes" many times I was pretty sure it was put in the que to fax the doctor. Then I ordered mine. Keep in mind that with each and every one I had to verify the number twice, the date of birth, the address and the zip code. I did all that and then a summary of my entire order was begun. All the same info had to be verified again. We made it through my refill and that is where it all went to hell.
I was transferred to a representative and told once again that my wait would be longer than 5 minutes. By now I am sure my blood pressure is up and I refuse to hang up before I see what the problem is. I also want to express how I feel about their service.
When I finally get a representative she expresses her apologies for my bad experience and says that she sees nothing "wrong" with my order. Then why did the system transfer my call to you after telling me their was a problem?????
I drag out the insurance card yet again, since the prescription # is not enough. I go through all the identifying steps again, repeating all the information for the fifth time and guess what she finds? That same outstanding $8 that has been there for months. It has supposedly been "taken care of" 3 times. She even sees that it was paid, but someone must have "forgot" to remove it.
Two hours I wasted getting the refills. It would have taken me less than a minute to punch them in on Walmart's refill line and I could pick them up tomorrow. Yes, I would have to go get them and yes, it would cost more. She assures me that she has relayed my "bad experience" to the correct department and hopes that my next experience will be better. I assured her that if my next experience was not a good one, it would be my last experience.
Set the mood for my day.
Sunday, July 7, 2019
The Day After
Thanks for all the sympathy about that screw in my leg. I was more annoyed that it slowed my progress than hurt. Oh, it hurt, but pain fades away. I am just thankful it didn't hit one of my dogs … or my knee. I suppose it is a good thing to be well padded?
Yesterday we had our Independence Day Celebration. Eddie was chosen to ride in the Golf Cart Parade. He was okay with his collar, but not all that happy about the hat. Cujo and Toni Louise were left inside. Cujo is a recluse, not happy to see other people, hates men and small children and would try to crawl up my shirt to avoid everyone. Toni L is an escape artist and would have jumped off to retrieve the candy I tossed to the children, then she would have run like the wind after yanking her leash out of my hand. We learn by experience.
I had my art work on display. My circle of stars is off balance and I will have to fix that one star. HeWho always tries to "help" wanted to cut the jagged edges off and steal the character. I told him to just stick to spilling screws on the ground for me to shoot myself with.
Another shot of my sweet Eddie looking indignant about his head gear. The only pictures I managed to take yesterday. I was not at my best. My head hurt and my leg wound was throbbing.
More of my art work. Sold none of these. Oddly enough I sold a Christmas sign. The "Dachshund Through The Snow" I see more and more doxies with campers. We had lots of canine visitors this weekend.
Signs, signs, everywhere you go. What will I paint next? Most likely I will be making new signs around the park to replace the worn ones. HeWho procrastinates has asked me several times to do this and I will as soon as he gets the plywood. We use treated wood, but it will still rot eventually. As I replace the signs, I will cut the old ones down and re-use them.
But, not today. Today I rest. Well, I might do a little mowing and weeding of gardens …. maybe.
Yesterday we had our Independence Day Celebration. Eddie was chosen to ride in the Golf Cart Parade. He was okay with his collar, but not all that happy about the hat. Cujo and Toni Louise were left inside. Cujo is a recluse, not happy to see other people, hates men and small children and would try to crawl up my shirt to avoid everyone. Toni L is an escape artist and would have jumped off to retrieve the candy I tossed to the children, then she would have run like the wind after yanking her leash out of my hand. We learn by experience.
I had my art work on display. My circle of stars is off balance and I will have to fix that one star. HeWho always tries to "help" wanted to cut the jagged edges off and steal the character. I told him to just stick to spilling screws on the ground for me to shoot myself with.
Another shot of my sweet Eddie looking indignant about his head gear. The only pictures I managed to take yesterday. I was not at my best. My head hurt and my leg wound was throbbing.
More of my art work. Sold none of these. Oddly enough I sold a Christmas sign. The "Dachshund Through The Snow" I see more and more doxies with campers. We had lots of canine visitors this weekend.
Signs, signs, everywhere you go. What will I paint next? Most likely I will be making new signs around the park to replace the worn ones. HeWho procrastinates has asked me several times to do this and I will as soon as he gets the plywood. We use treated wood, but it will still rot eventually. As I replace the signs, I will cut the old ones down and re-use them.
But, not today. Today I rest. Well, I might do a little mowing and weeding of gardens …. maybe.
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Lawn Mower Tales
No pictures on this post. I wasn't thinking fast enough.
You might recall that I am a delicate being and do not put fuel in my car. Yes, I know how and I did do it while on my trip. Two times, in fact, once on the way and once again on the way home. Necessity. While I was there, my grandson took care of it. With this in mind, read on.
I mow. I mow a lot. I do all the prep mowing with the push mower. I mow a wide swath around my gardens and under the trees. I mow my back yard, my side yard and the other side yard area between the main building and the pool. I keep my blade low, liking a clean shaven look. I mow about every third day. I do gas up the mower out of necessity, but will happily take advantage of having someone else fill the tank. I don't like to fill tanks. I know how, I just don't particularly want to.
I mowed my back yard. I do a thorough policing of my yard before mowing and pick up all the poop. After mowing that I took the mower through the shed to continue my self prescribed assignment for the day. I start the mower and discover that self propel function is not working. I was not happy about it. As I said, I mow a lot.
Next day, when HeWho fills my car with gas and is in charge of mechanical things around here informs me that I have killed another mower. He says I ran it out of oil. Me. I am not in charge of maintenance! I haven't a clue about where to put oil in a mower, how much or what kind.
He bought me a new mower. I was happily mowing my back yard Thursday morning, knowing I would not have a chance until Monday to get it mowed again. Early start to my day, I was patting myself on the back about how much I was accomplishing. I mowed close to the fence and felt a rock come out and hit my leg. It stung, but it wasn't going to stop my progress. I mowed on, until I happened to look down at my leg to see if the rock left a mark …...
Not a rock. A screw, philips head to be exact, was embedded in my leg. Just sticking out, so I reached down and grabbed it, intending to yank it out. I was annoyed at the interruption. It was stuck in that soft tissue. Wouldn't budge. The attempted removal hurt worse that the initial injury. Made me feel a tad queasy. I had heard the dogs bark earlier and thought maybe HeWho was out to get his daily dose of cholesterol laden food was back. They bark because he usually gives them a treat.
No, he was not in the house. It was too early to go banging on a kamper door and demand a screw removal, so I grabbed a pair of needle nose pliers and clamped down on the screw and gave it another yank. That really hurt. I sat down and gave careful consideration to my current dilemma. Should I try unscrewing it? Just the thought of that gave me pause. I called HeWho and told him to come home, that I had shot a screw into my leg.
I was awaiting his arrival on the front porch in the rocker, with my injury propped on the other rocker. I had the good sense to grab a couple of ice cubes and hold them on either side of the screw. Xylocaine would have been better, but I had nothing with xylocaine in it. As he approached me, asking what kind of gun shoots screws, I held out the pliers and turned my head and told him to just get it out of my leg.
I must say he did a fine job. It was fast and didn't hurt nearly as bad as the anticipation did. I even finished mowing after dousing the wound with peroxide and applying Neosporin and a band aid.
I realized later that I had failed to get a picture of the screw in my leg. The peroxide caused it to bleed and there was a considerable blood stain on the concrete. I wanted to chalk a body around the blood and put up crime scene tape, but HeWho has no sense of humor washed it away.
You might recall that I am a delicate being and do not put fuel in my car. Yes, I know how and I did do it while on my trip. Two times, in fact, once on the way and once again on the way home. Necessity. While I was there, my grandson took care of it. With this in mind, read on.
I mow. I mow a lot. I do all the prep mowing with the push mower. I mow a wide swath around my gardens and under the trees. I mow my back yard, my side yard and the other side yard area between the main building and the pool. I keep my blade low, liking a clean shaven look. I mow about every third day. I do gas up the mower out of necessity, but will happily take advantage of having someone else fill the tank. I don't like to fill tanks. I know how, I just don't particularly want to.
I mowed my back yard. I do a thorough policing of my yard before mowing and pick up all the poop. After mowing that I took the mower through the shed to continue my self prescribed assignment for the day. I start the mower and discover that self propel function is not working. I was not happy about it. As I said, I mow a lot.
Next day, when HeWho fills my car with gas and is in charge of mechanical things around here informs me that I have killed another mower. He says I ran it out of oil. Me. I am not in charge of maintenance! I haven't a clue about where to put oil in a mower, how much or what kind.
He bought me a new mower. I was happily mowing my back yard Thursday morning, knowing I would not have a chance until Monday to get it mowed again. Early start to my day, I was patting myself on the back about how much I was accomplishing. I mowed close to the fence and felt a rock come out and hit my leg. It stung, but it wasn't going to stop my progress. I mowed on, until I happened to look down at my leg to see if the rock left a mark …...
Not a rock. A screw, philips head to be exact, was embedded in my leg. Just sticking out, so I reached down and grabbed it, intending to yank it out. I was annoyed at the interruption. It was stuck in that soft tissue. Wouldn't budge. The attempted removal hurt worse that the initial injury. Made me feel a tad queasy. I had heard the dogs bark earlier and thought maybe HeWho was out to get his daily dose of cholesterol laden food was back. They bark because he usually gives them a treat.
No, he was not in the house. It was too early to go banging on a kamper door and demand a screw removal, so I grabbed a pair of needle nose pliers and clamped down on the screw and gave it another yank. That really hurt. I sat down and gave careful consideration to my current dilemma. Should I try unscrewing it? Just the thought of that gave me pause. I called HeWho and told him to come home, that I had shot a screw into my leg.
I was awaiting his arrival on the front porch in the rocker, with my injury propped on the other rocker. I had the good sense to grab a couple of ice cubes and hold them on either side of the screw. Xylocaine would have been better, but I had nothing with xylocaine in it. As he approached me, asking what kind of gun shoots screws, I held out the pliers and turned my head and told him to just get it out of my leg.
I must say he did a fine job. It was fast and didn't hurt nearly as bad as the anticipation did. I even finished mowing after dousing the wound with peroxide and applying Neosporin and a band aid.
I realized later that I had failed to get a picture of the screw in my leg. The peroxide caused it to bleed and there was a considerable blood stain on the concrete. I wanted to chalk a body around the blood and put up crime scene tape, but HeWho has no sense of humor washed it away.
Friday, July 5, 2019
Golf Billiards
Finally done! Golf Billiards is here. We saw this at a KOA park we stayed in near Atlanta. I thought it looked like a fun game to add to the park. I began suggesting it every time I could work it into a conversation with HeWho sometimes tunes me out.
When I saw astro turf on sale a few months ago, I encouraged HeWho to get a piece. 18' X 12'. It sat on the front porch in a roll for some time, until I finally told him it was in my way and needed to be spread out flat. After deciding where we wanted it, we spread it out on the ground and anchored it so that it would no longer want to roll up.
The very next day I happened to be out side when I noticed that it was all wadded up. I watched in fascination as a woman let her dog try to tear it up! I walked toward her, all the while telling myself to choose my words carefully. The dog was not on a leash, despite the many signs and the warning on the brochure. "Ma'am, the dog has to be on a leash unless you are in the dog park." I say as I begin to un-wad my future pool table. She informed me that her dog did not like to be on a leash and that he was a good dog and obeyed her every command. Not the first time I have heard this. I wanted to ask if she had commanded the dog to try to destroy something that was not hers to destroy. I didn't. I smiled sweetly and told her that I really didn't care that her dog didn't like the leash, that the rules were in place for the safety of all the people staying in the park and that perhaps she should take the dog inside. Sniffing loudly she told me that my dog park was not convenient to the playground. She hooked the leash that was in her hand to the dog.
Relaying this episode to HeWho procrastinates, I suggested that the easiest way to keep the astro turf in place would be to finish the project.
Imagine my surprise when I returned from my last visit to see my kids when all the supplies had been purchased to complete the project!! Did it go smoothly? Of course not!
HeWho bought the putters and 2 sets of Bocce balls, 8 cans of spray paint, and masking tape. He decided that I could paint the balls, stripe half of them and then number them. Thrilled to see progress, I agreed. But first I returned most of the paint, as I already had the colors in my paint closet. The balls were blue and red, so I painted the stripe on a red and a blue first. The taping of a round object is tiresome. They looked okay, but amateurish. I painted the white stripe on half of them, thinking it would be easier to tape the white stripe to paint the color on the rest of the ball.
I needed something to hold the ball while it dried. I used Styrofoam cups and painted one half at a time. Worked great until I pulled the tape off and the white paint came off with the tape. Yes, I used the right kind of tape. Not only that, on some of the balls the styro had melted into the paint when the paint made contact with the cup.
This was a lot of work with no reward. Besides that I was worried about the weight of the bocce ball. Would the putters get bent? So on to plan B. HeWho thinks tennis balls will be easy to paint. So I get 4 balls out to paint purple. I have decided white tape can be put on the balls that need stripes.
Just in case you might be wondering, tennis balls do not do well with paint. Having ruined 2 Bocce ball sets and 4 tennis balls, it occurs to me that we could just buy billiard balls. Why did I not investigate this possibility first? They aren't that expensive and the weight is just right. I was not keen on tennis balls being whacked to the outer regions of the park. Hit with enough force they could break a window or hit someone.
Monday, July 1, 2019
Roses Are Red .....
The tiger lilies have taken over. This what HeWho was referring to when he told me that my roses were blooming.
Not sure why a bird would think the stand holding my asparagus fern would be a good place to build a nest. Martha, the boy cat, has easy access to this nest!
Another nest showed up inside the pot of the Boston fern. I don't know if the plant will ever be the same, but these babies are hungry! The parents get really upset when I am watering.
Getting ready for the holiday weekend. Everything is red, white and blue. Flamingoes are not exempt.
I am so tired. I killed another mower. HeWho thinks I might have run out of oil. Hey, I do not do maintenance on mowers! All I know is that the self propel function quit on me. I muscled through my side yard last night, but today when I demanded that the mower be fixed, it was deemed to be beyond repair. Got a new one today.
But …. I found the George Forman grill!! I totally remember what I did, now that I found it quite by accident. When I was putting the kitchen back together, I moved some of the shelves to accommodate some very specific items. I have one shelf just the right height for my industrial size box of parchment paper. I will never run out. This box will outlive me. I also have a giant roll of aluminum foil. I made a shelf the right height for this, as well. Unlike the parchment paper this box does not take up the entire shelf.
You see where I am going with this. The George Forman fits perfectly behind the box of foil. But, it is hidden, so you would have to remember it is there when you want to use it. Mystery solved.
The remainder of the week will be a mad rush to prepare for our big celebration on Saturday. Most campers will be coming in on Thursday. And, in addition to our regular activities we will be hosting a silent auction and some other activities to benefit Kevin, my "wife".
I have opened the event up to the community to purchase day passes. Should be pretty chaotic. I will let you know.
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