April 15- 21, 2010

April 15, 2010, Thursday

Today we planted flowers all around the office area and the entrance to the park. We spent the better part of the day digging, planting and cleaning up. It was a very productive day. This day we didn’t have one LP tank to fill. I was a little disappointing because I was going to start filling tanks today. Maybe I will get the chance tomorrow.




April 16, 2010, Friday

Boy talk about struggling to get out of bed. This morning I crawled out of bed after yesterday’s activities working around the park. My body is really sore. I have aches where I didn’t know I had places. Frank came over early afternoon to let me fill my first LP tank. It was a brand new one so I had to purge excessive air out of the tank. It was pretty easy.

April 17, 2010, Saturday

Today was our first day of working without another couple, if you don’t count the bosses (Sheila & Keith). They were close by to help us if we needed it. Rhonda's job is more mentally challenging than mine. Mine is more physical and just getting into a routine. Rhonda is doing very well on the computer working the program called Campground Master. I’m confident by the end of the summer she will know most of the inn’s and out’s of this program.

My routine is checking for departures, reading any electric meters put on my list, cleaning the restrooms and laundry facilities, filling propane tanks when they come in, empting trash cans, picking-up any litter in the park, keeping up the appearance and maintenance of the golf carts, empting recycle bins, inventory of cleaning supplies for restrooms/laundry/office, empting the coin change machine in laundry room and a few other things that have slipped my mind at the moment. Other-than those few things I don’t have much to do in the park.

So far I’ve filled two LP tanks yesterday and two today. Today’s count would have been higher but Frank filled one up for me while I was planting more flowers in front of the office. It was nice of him to do that for me since, it was his day off. Even Sondra went to the office on her day off to help Rhonda with a problem she had with the computer. That’s just how it is in the RVing world. Keith, Sheila’s husband helped me with a 100 lb tank, a 40 lb tank and a few 20 lb tanks. He explained certain things that are a must when filling up the tanks and he provided me with some helpful hints.

The flowers we have planted and the few still to be planted are really making the office and the park look attractive. During the course of our stay here so far I’ve had the opportunity to meet several of the residents staying here at USI RV Park. None more interesting than a man named “Rocky.” Rocky Reagan is a walking, breathing, historical figure full of stories. He proclaims to be 90 years old and others tell me he’s 88 or 89. No-matter; he is full of history and stories that I can’t wait to sit down with him and let the fountain of information flow out. Another gentleman by the name of John Beddie and his wife Donna are from Kerrville, Texas. We met him our first or second day here. We all were talking in the office and as it so often happens, when you ask where someone is from; you are surprised on how small our country becomes with that little question. It seems they have a house in Kerrville they want to sell. At this point in time Kerrville is a place I’m looking at as a retirement location. In fact that little question of, “Where are you from?” brought out the fact that Rocky was born in the Hoosier State of Indiana right down close to the Ohio River in Hanover, Indiana. Now that makes it even that more exciting to me to interview/talk him.

My day was filled with non-stop work activities all day long. I didn’t take one break which made the day escape from me without even realizing it. Rhonda’s day vanished from her too. At the end of the day we were ready to call it quits and go home to relax. Tomorrow is an off day for us (Sunday).

April 18, 2010, Sunday

The temperature was 48 degrees when I got out of bed at 6:46 am. I turned on the furnace to take the chill off; put two dollars worth of quarters in my pocket for a Sunday paper (Wichita Eagle) and took Sadie outside to conduct her business. We were off to a good start for this day. Today we are off work but that doesn’t mean we won’t be working. We have things to accomplish around the M/H. Rhonda wants to do some deep cleaning and I have a satellite to put up, plus odds and ends outside to finish. Since we started our training we’ll have worked nine out of the last ten days. We certainly have stayed busy.

April 19, 2010, Monday

Today we were pretty much on our own. Sheila was in and out of the office helping Rhonda some and she helped me with a few things around the propane shed. My mailman mentality came out today. I put names of the residents inside the mailboxes for the office staff and talked to Sheila about a pop-up flag to put on mailboxes so residents will know when the mail has arrived. I stayed busy filling seven 20 lb tanks at one time, two additional 20 lb tanks, one 30 lb tank and two motor home tanks today. I do like staying busy but it sure is wearing me out. Guess I’m just not use to working this long and hard. I have until November 1st which will come in no time because of the way time is flying by. We finally finished our work day around 6:15 pm and then did the nightly run in the golf cart checking the park at 8 pm. It again was a good day by working hard and long.

April 20, 2010, Tuesday

Today and tomorrow we are working 9-12 and 5-6. Then we are on-call until 8 pm. I filled two motor homes and two 30 lb tanks with propane today. I cleaned both bathrooms and laundry room. Swept the driveway entrance into the park and in front of the long white storage building. Rhonda continues to learn the computer program for the campground and everyday is becoming more comfortable working with it.

April 21, 2010, Wednesday

It was a short night again because I wanted to stay in bed a lot longer. Today will be a short day in work hours but a long day in commitment having to stay at the campground on-call until 8 pm. I’m physically exhausted. I’m not used to working these long hours or this type of physical work anymore. I hope I can get my body back in shape. I started cleaning the batteries in the golf cart. They had all kind of corrosion on the cables and around the terminals. I cleaned them all up and replaced two cables that were destroyed. I worked the rest of afternoon and evening escorting RV’s to their sites and filling LP tanks. At the end of the night Rhonda and I take the golf cart around the park checking to make sure everything that needs to be locked up or checked on is done. Sadie even gets the opportunity to take a tiny ride around the park. Now we have three days off.