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Even more came down for coffee this morning. Jim said he made 40 cups and we almost ran out. We had lots of good chat and solved several problems.
Stella and I had some errands to run today, so since it was another beautiful day, we went down to Channelview Supply to look at some director chairs. They were higher here than anywhere we had looked so far, so we didn't buy anything. We then went to Texas Direct Auto Sales which had been on Hwy. 90 in Missouri City when I worked there but they have moved to the Southwest Frwy. in Stafford. This place is HUGE!! and there are more used cars and trucks than I have ever seen in one place. We went to one of their computer terminals and looked up the truck that we wanted to see and took the stock number over to the receptionist desk. She called a salesman up to show it to us, but it seemed like it took 10 minutes for him to get there. When he got there, he went to get the keys but came back and said their key machine was messed up and he couldn't get the keys but would be back as soon as he found them. After another 10-15 minute wait, he came back and told us the truck was in the blue lot. We went to the blue lot but it was mostly cars and few trucks. He never introduced himself to me, but said he needed to go back inside to find the truck. He soon found some lot porters who immediately went to the opposite side of the car lot and found the truck. When they brought it up, it had a low right front tire, not flat but very low. Upon looking the truck over, I noticed the back tires were very bad and would need replacing before I would consider this truck. It met all of our other criteria for a new truck, and we could have been interested in it, but when I told him about the equipment that I wished to move over to the new truck, he said he would have to check and would call me back within an hour. No one called me for about four hours, but the man that called-not the same salesman-said they could not accommodate me. He said they don't have a facility to do this kind of work. Now keep in mind that this is what appears to be a closed-up Dodge dealership so it appears to me that they have plenty of room, they just don't want to do it. I made it plain to this man that I might be interested but the changeover of my equipment would be a condition of purchase. I don't know if wwe'll hear from these guys again or not. Apparently customer service is not in their vocabulary.
We came back home and went out to eat with Bob and Christina and Jerry and Joanne at Cheddar's restaurant. It was not all that packed and the food was delicious. It was a nice time with good friends. Jerry and Joanne are leaving on Saturday to go to Red Bay Alabama to watch their new Allegro Bus being built there. We will all miss them when they leave.
So long.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Wednesday November 4, 2009-Rayford Crossing
Wow, there were 9 guys down for coffee this morning. It is good to see my friends that have returned to Rayford. We stayed down in the rally hall until almost 9 o'clock. When I came home, I ate a quick bowl of cereal, disconnected the television and together with Stella and Jim, who wanted to tag along with us, we left for Camping World.
To remind you what was going on with the television, back in July, while staying at the Green Caye RV Park in Dickinson, the Samsung TV had gone out. It would not turn on at all, so after checking everything out myself, I called Camping World to see about a replacement unit. Their service writer told me that I would have to bring the trailer in the next day, which as I recall was on a Thursday so that they could put me into their system for service. He said they would not even look at the trailer until Wednesday, so I asked him why I would have to bring it in a week in advance and stay in their parking lot (I told him that we are living in the trailer). He said that this is their policy, so I hung up and called my friend Joe French, one of the sales managers. Joe talked to the general manager of the store who approved me to bring the trailer in on Tuesday. They said they had to check the plugs in the trailer to make certain it was something wrong with the TV and not the trailer. Whatever....
We brought the trailer in and on Wednesday morning we went out for an all day ride, since they didn't know when they would look at the problem. Of course, it was after 4 before they looked at the TV, and guess what? The TV was bad.....I didn't say I told you so, but.....I told them so! By then it was too late to call Heartland in Elkhart, but they told me it would likely be two days or more before the decision would be made about what to do with the TV. I asked for a loaner TV, thinking they might take one out of a trade-in, but Jim Faris (General Manager of the store) and David Boots (Service Manager) took me into their stock room and took out a brand new Dynex TV and had it installed. Now keep in mind that I had said it was a loaner and both men were in the room at the time.
About two weeks went by when I called and left two messages for someone to call me back about the TV. When no one called me back, Stella called for the service manager.
He told her that "Heartland had told them to let us keep the Dynex" which is an off-brand, much cheaper TV. She told him that this was not what we had agreed on, and hung up.
Long story short was that we learned that Heartland had paid Camping World almost $1000 for the Samsung. Now tell me why they would pay for the more expensive TV but then tell them to give me the cheaper one? We finally worked it out that we would bring the Dynex back in and get a check to buy what we wanted, which is exactly what happened. I met with David Boots who seemed to be as caught-in-the-middle of this as I was, and he got me a check cut after we brought the TV into his office. We stopped off at Best Buy and bought a very nice Samsung TV and installed it in the opening. All is well now with our television.
Now for a nicer story. There is a rally in the park this week that is made up of older folks in motor homes. One very nice lady, who is staying right across the street from us, could not find her way down to the rally hall. She was confused about the buildings, so since I was going her way anyway, I walked her down to the rally hall and went to a meeting. When I came out of the meeting, she was near the pool but didn't remember where she had parked her motor home. Bless her heart. I walked her back to her motor home but she still didn't know how it had gotten there. I don't know where she came from but know that she will leave on Friday by herself. I hope she makes it!
We had a good meeting of the committee for the Winter Texans and made some good plans for some of the activities that will be held here in the future. It looks like its going to be a fun winter at Rayford.
So long.
To remind you what was going on with the television, back in July, while staying at the Green Caye RV Park in Dickinson, the Samsung TV had gone out. It would not turn on at all, so after checking everything out myself, I called Camping World to see about a replacement unit. Their service writer told me that I would have to bring the trailer in the next day, which as I recall was on a Thursday so that they could put me into their system for service. He said they would not even look at the trailer until Wednesday, so I asked him why I would have to bring it in a week in advance and stay in their parking lot (I told him that we are living in the trailer). He said that this is their policy, so I hung up and called my friend Joe French, one of the sales managers. Joe talked to the general manager of the store who approved me to bring the trailer in on Tuesday. They said they had to check the plugs in the trailer to make certain it was something wrong with the TV and not the trailer. Whatever....
We brought the trailer in and on Wednesday morning we went out for an all day ride, since they didn't know when they would look at the problem. Of course, it was after 4 before they looked at the TV, and guess what? The TV was bad.....I didn't say I told you so, but.....I told them so! By then it was too late to call Heartland in Elkhart, but they told me it would likely be two days or more before the decision would be made about what to do with the TV. I asked for a loaner TV, thinking they might take one out of a trade-in, but Jim Faris (General Manager of the store) and David Boots (Service Manager) took me into their stock room and took out a brand new Dynex TV and had it installed. Now keep in mind that I had said it was a loaner and both men were in the room at the time.
About two weeks went by when I called and left two messages for someone to call me back about the TV. When no one called me back, Stella called for the service manager.
He told her that "Heartland had told them to let us keep the Dynex" which is an off-brand, much cheaper TV. She told him that this was not what we had agreed on, and hung up.
Long story short was that we learned that Heartland had paid Camping World almost $1000 for the Samsung. Now tell me why they would pay for the more expensive TV but then tell them to give me the cheaper one? We finally worked it out that we would bring the Dynex back in and get a check to buy what we wanted, which is exactly what happened. I met with David Boots who seemed to be as caught-in-the-middle of this as I was, and he got me a check cut after we brought the TV into his office. We stopped off at Best Buy and bought a very nice Samsung TV and installed it in the opening. All is well now with our television.
Now for a nicer story. There is a rally in the park this week that is made up of older folks in motor homes. One very nice lady, who is staying right across the street from us, could not find her way down to the rally hall. She was confused about the buildings, so since I was going her way anyway, I walked her down to the rally hall and went to a meeting. When I came out of the meeting, she was near the pool but didn't remember where she had parked her motor home. Bless her heart. I walked her back to her motor home but she still didn't know how it had gotten there. I don't know where she came from but know that she will leave on Friday by herself. I hope she makes it!
We had a good meeting of the committee for the Winter Texans and made some good plans for some of the activities that will be held here in the future. It looks like its going to be a fun winter at Rayford.
So long.
Tuesday November 3, 2009-Rayford Crossing
I stayed down with the guys drinking coffee later than normal this morning. We have been having more and more come down and we just stayed down there chatting. Stella and I had intended to go down to Dickinson this morning and to take the television back to Camping World but our best intentions don't always work out.
The television has been going on for a long time and we are tired of fooling around with it, but we didn't want to remove the TV and then not have one tonight for the only night of viewing that I really care about, so we didn't take it today.
Around 11, we went down to see Gwen at the office. She wanted to talk to us about working at Timber Ridge, the other park they own near here. Our friends Rick and Brenda are working there now but will leave in March. We will be working at Stephen F. Austin state park in March, have a rally scheduled for Rayford in April and with our warranty issue trip to Elkhart for repairs in April, we can't come to work for her until some time the first week of May. We worked it out to work there through July so we can still get out of Texas in August and September to avoid some of the heat and of course, the hurricanes.
When we finished up with Gwen, we went to the Wal Mart to do some grocery shopping and to do some other shopping and returned to the park about 2:30. There was an "All-Y'alls" get together this evening. The All Y'alls are headed by the winter Texans in the park and are open to everyone in the park, hence the name All Y'alls. We had a good time and there was a very good turn out of about 60-70 people. We talked about everything that was planned for the rest of the year. We also decided that the committee that suggests activities will meet tomorrow morning at 10.
We came home and watched TV until bedtime.
The television has been going on for a long time and we are tired of fooling around with it, but we didn't want to remove the TV and then not have one tonight for the only night of viewing that I really care about, so we didn't take it today.
Around 11, we went down to see Gwen at the office. She wanted to talk to us about working at Timber Ridge, the other park they own near here. Our friends Rick and Brenda are working there now but will leave in March. We will be working at Stephen F. Austin state park in March, have a rally scheduled for Rayford in April and with our warranty issue trip to Elkhart for repairs in April, we can't come to work for her until some time the first week of May. We worked it out to work there through July so we can still get out of Texas in August and September to avoid some of the heat and of course, the hurricanes.
When we finished up with Gwen, we went to the Wal Mart to do some grocery shopping and to do some other shopping and returned to the park about 2:30. There was an "All-Y'alls" get together this evening. The All Y'alls are headed by the winter Texans in the park and are open to everyone in the park, hence the name All Y'alls. We had a good time and there was a very good turn out of about 60-70 people. We talked about everything that was planned for the rest of the year. We also decided that the committee that suggests activities will meet tomorrow morning at 10.
We came home and watched TV until bedtime.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Monday November 2, 2009-Rayford Crossing
The coffee drinkers are starting to arrive. We had six for coffee this morning and expect more tomorrow. Warren and Judy will be in later today and Mack and his wife and Pete and Jean will be in later this week.
We went over to see Lin and Peggy before they left this morning. They had invited us over for supper yesterday but we had to take Tyler back home and then take the boys out to eat. We didn’t get back to the park until about 8:30 so they were inside already.
I want to talk a little bit about this guy that lives at my house that seems to be going deaf. Well, maybe not deaf, but close enough. I guess there were just too many times he went out shooting guns without hearing protection or had siren blowing right over his head that it has affected his hearing. It would be an admission of getting old for him to admit he is deaf and break down and wear a hearing aid, but he just simply can’t hear all that well.
His grandsons seem to take great delight in whispering, especially when they are not right in front of him where he can at least try to read their lips. He watches these ads on television about cheap hearing devices, but they seem like a toy, and really, how good can something be if it only costs $19.95 and if you call in the next 20 minutes or was that 30 minutes, the shipping is free. He thinks that offers like this should be written on the screen so he would know just exactly how long he can wait to get free shipping.
I expect that someday his children will get tired of hearing him say Huh? Or what’d you say? And buy him some kind of hearing assistance device. See I didn’t call it a hearing aid, so don’t call me old either. So much for my speech about hearing.
Our good friends Warren and Judy came in this afternoon about 2:30. I went over to see them when they came in and helped Frank to move their old trailer out of their space into another space. It didn’t take long and they will soon be all set up for the winter.
Johnny, the repair guy from Northwest RV came by this afternoon to repair the refrigerator. It didn’t take him long to replace the circuit board but he asked me to pay him for an additional 30 minutes of labor for the 4-5 trips he has made out here trying to figure out what is wrong with the fridge. I guess it’s worth $55 for me not having to take the trailer into a shop to have the fridge worked on. He showed me how to remove the front “eyebrow” cover to get to the circuit board. I think that even I, with my very limited skills for repairs, can do this one. Especially if it saves me $165.00. Living on a fixed income and all that…..
Bob said he needed to take Big Mama out to “exercise” her and invited Stella and I to go with him. I was very impressed with her; the power, smoothness and stopping ability are obvious and I could certainly see the reasons for getting one like this, but Stella isn’t buying it. With her bad knees, getting up into the cab would be very difficult for her, the need for a second vehicle is another strike against her and I can’t really justify buying this big a truck. I guess I’m going to be driving my truck for awhile.
Well I guess I better go now, I’ve got to make a telephone call to make to save some shipping costs.
So long.
We went over to see Lin and Peggy before they left this morning. They had invited us over for supper yesterday but we had to take Tyler back home and then take the boys out to eat. We didn’t get back to the park until about 8:30 so they were inside already.
I want to talk a little bit about this guy that lives at my house that seems to be going deaf. Well, maybe not deaf, but close enough. I guess there were just too many times he went out shooting guns without hearing protection or had siren blowing right over his head that it has affected his hearing. It would be an admission of getting old for him to admit he is deaf and break down and wear a hearing aid, but he just simply can’t hear all that well.
His grandsons seem to take great delight in whispering, especially when they are not right in front of him where he can at least try to read their lips. He watches these ads on television about cheap hearing devices, but they seem like a toy, and really, how good can something be if it only costs $19.95 and if you call in the next 20 minutes or was that 30 minutes, the shipping is free. He thinks that offers like this should be written on the screen so he would know just exactly how long he can wait to get free shipping.
I expect that someday his children will get tired of hearing him say Huh? Or what’d you say? And buy him some kind of hearing assistance device. See I didn’t call it a hearing aid, so don’t call me old either. So much for my speech about hearing.
Our good friends Warren and Judy came in this afternoon about 2:30. I went over to see them when they came in and helped Frank to move their old trailer out of their space into another space. It didn’t take long and they will soon be all set up for the winter.
Johnny, the repair guy from Northwest RV came by this afternoon to repair the refrigerator. It didn’t take him long to replace the circuit board but he asked me to pay him for an additional 30 minutes of labor for the 4-5 trips he has made out here trying to figure out what is wrong with the fridge. I guess it’s worth $55 for me not having to take the trailer into a shop to have the fridge worked on. He showed me how to remove the front “eyebrow” cover to get to the circuit board. I think that even I, with my very limited skills for repairs, can do this one. Especially if it saves me $165.00. Living on a fixed income and all that…..
Bob said he needed to take Big Mama out to “exercise” her and invited Stella and I to go with him. I was very impressed with her; the power, smoothness and stopping ability are obvious and I could certainly see the reasons for getting one like this, but Stella isn’t buying it. With her bad knees, getting up into the cab would be very difficult for her, the need for a second vehicle is another strike against her and I can’t really justify buying this big a truck. I guess I’m going to be driving my truck for awhile.
Well I guess I better go now, I’ve got to make a telephone call to make to save some shipping costs.
So long.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Sunday November 1, 2009-Rayford Crossing
Today is the day that everyone but us and the other full-timers that are in the park, the last day of a weekend party. It's ironic that Donna found this sign and brought it to me today but it's certainly appropriate.Our friends Tommy and Susan were among the first to leave but they just began the rush to leave. Almost all were gone by noon but there were a few stragglers that arranged for late check outs.
We stayed around to watch the football games-both Houston and Dallas won their games-before we left to take Tyler home. I had learned that Cam's team had lost all three of their games this weekend but that he had gotten the best hit for his team. That was about the only good news for the team's debut. I know that it is their first game as a team but the parents paid a lot of money to watch the team get beaten-badly!
We came back to the park about 8:30 but everyone was inside their rig so we just came back home.
So long.
Saturday October 31, 2009-Rayford Crossing
All Hallows Day (Hallloween) began with breakfast in the Rayford Room prepared by Frank and Nancy. We had a choice of blueberry or regular pancakes with sausage. I waited for Stella to come down because I knew that Tyler wouldn't get up to come down, but when the line started getting big, I went ahead and ate.
When I got done eating, I came back and got my camera and took photos of some of the decorations that had been done for the rig decorating contest.
Here is a motorhome right across the street from ours that has a giant figure on the back to scare off all the little kids. I guess it worked because I didn't see too many kids around it.
Another site that was decorated for Halloween. There were several friends that were close together that all decorated their sites. They all had a good time.
Another of the friends that decorated their site. They were all cute and they spent a lot of time doing the decorating.
Some large figures at the front of a motorhome.
I thought this one was the best of the group. The large figure is a cauldron that a figure inside the cauldron seems to be pushed down into the boiling water. I guess it's one of those things that you had to be there for to get it.
This photo and the next shows how full the park was this weekend. I guess these are the times when you really want to own an RV park. I don't think they could have put another rig in anywhere in the park.
A full park!
Grandson Tyler was hard at work. He looks a lot like his PePaw with the computer in his lap and a cup of coffee on the table beside him. As you can also see, he hasn't made his bed this morning either.
The weather was just about perfect this weekend with cool nights and warm sunny days.
There was a lot going on in the park this weekend for the kids, a hidden pumpkin contest, crafts for kids and of course, just getting out and enjoying the weather and the other kid's company. Tyler met another boy about his age who is also named Tyler and goes to the same school as he does. They didn't know each other prior to this weekend but I bet they look each other up in their school now. The other Tyler's parents are friends of ours from previous camping trips and his mother works with one of our dear friends who used to live next door to us.
When I got done eating, I came back and got my camera and took photos of some of the decorations that had been done for the rig decorating contest.
Here is a motorhome right across the street from ours that has a giant figure on the back to scare off all the little kids. I guess it worked because I didn't see too many kids around it.
Another site that was decorated for Halloween. There were several friends that were close together that all decorated their sites. They all had a good time.
Another of the friends that decorated their site. They were all cute and they spent a lot of time doing the decorating.
Some large figures at the front of a motorhome.
I thought this one was the best of the group. The large figure is a cauldron that a figure inside the cauldron seems to be pushed down into the boiling water. I guess it's one of those things that you had to be there for to get it.
This photo and the next shows how full the park was this weekend. I guess these are the times when you really want to own an RV park. I don't think they could have put another rig in anywhere in the park.
A full park!
Grandson Tyler was hard at work. He looks a lot like his PePaw with the computer in his lap and a cup of coffee on the table beside him. As you can also see, he hasn't made his bed this morning either.The weather was just about perfect this weekend with cool nights and warm sunny days.
There was a lot going on in the park this weekend for the kids, a hidden pumpkin contest, crafts for kids and of course, just getting out and enjoying the weather and the other kid's company. Tyler met another boy about his age who is also named Tyler and goes to the same school as he does. They didn't know each other prior to this weekend but I bet they look each other up in their school now. The other Tyler's parents are friends of ours from previous camping trips and his mother works with one of our dear friends who used to live next door to us.
We enjoyed Michael Maker, the one man band in the afternoon. He puts on a great show and we all enjoyed him. He and Melissa from the park intend to get married very soon.
The main adult activity this weekend was the chili making contest. This year there were 22! entries. I volunteered to be a judge of the chili and had a good time doing it. There were 53 other judges, and we all tried to be fair and give each dish an honest judging. It was a lot of fun as usual.
We had another great potluck dinner after the chili judging. We listened to Michael play as we ate and I think everyone had a good time. I know we did. After eating, I built a campfire at Tommy's site since my firepit was down there already. Several people came down and sat out by the fire and we enjoyed chatting with our friends. This is what camping and the RV lifestyle is all about.
So long.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Friday October 30, 2009-Rayford Crossing
At least it wasn't raining this morning. After coffee, we hung around the park. I helped Bob and Jerry work on Bob's trailer. They discovered the problem last night had been in the wiring to the motorcycle trailer that had shorted out and gotten hot enough to melt a section of drain hose from the bathroom. This hose burning is apparently what caused all the smoke and excitement last night. They later found an air line that had also been burned in two, which they replaced. The air line is for the trailer suspension that they installed recently, so there was no air to support the trailer. Bob started to move Big Mama to put air into the tank, but I told him that my truck was closer and since the park is packed this weekend, I would not lose a precious parking space. I came over and the air was added in short order.
We left for Texas City to pick up Tyler about 2:30. The drive was slow because of traffic delays but we made it okay. Cameron was very upset because he couldn't come to visit, but he doesn't remember that Kim and Jeremy spend a lot of money for him to play with this baseball team and had to pay for the tournament this weekend. I felt bad because he started to cry but he made the decision to play ball this weekend instead of coming to visit us.
We got back up here about 7:30 and Tyler decided we needed to go to Red Robin for supper. We got back home about 9 o'clock and went down to Peggy and Lin's for a little while to visit with our friends. Of course, when we came in, Tyler had grabbed my computer, but he did give it back to me after I threatened him LOL. He's a great kid and I am very proud of him.
So long.
We left for Texas City to pick up Tyler about 2:30. The drive was slow because of traffic delays but we made it okay. Cameron was very upset because he couldn't come to visit, but he doesn't remember that Kim and Jeremy spend a lot of money for him to play with this baseball team and had to pay for the tournament this weekend. I felt bad because he started to cry but he made the decision to play ball this weekend instead of coming to visit us.
We got back up here about 7:30 and Tyler decided we needed to go to Red Robin for supper. We got back home about 9 o'clock and went down to Peggy and Lin's for a little while to visit with our friends. Of course, when we came in, Tyler had grabbed my computer, but he did give it back to me after I threatened him LOL. He's a great kid and I am very proud of him.
So long.
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