October 14, 2007
Picture Pages
First pic is on a rest-stop picnic on the way down, the second is part of the view from our kitchen window and the last is me trying really hard to bodyboard. Trying being the key phrase. Enjoy!
Labels: vacation '07
// posted by wayne @ 10/14/2007 01:53:00 PM 
Once again, something completely different...
What a week it's been! You see, fine friends, I've got a confession to make: we've been on vacation! for the last week, but I didn't want to mention it until our house sitter was fully installed and on top of things. Probably best not to announce to the world that you're out of town until your proxy is in place, right? Right.
So then, what's been on the agenda? The usuals: IKEA, beach, beach, swimming pool, a little more beach then some seafood and, oh yeah, a beach! Once again, we're visiting one of our favorite south Texas destinations: Port Aransas. The weather has been absolutely beautiful this week and is supposed to bring more of the same for us next week. Lows in the mid seventies, highs in the high eighties (which is a bit warm for me, but Aim's diggin' it) and not a word of rain. Yet. But it hasn't been all fun and games, folks. Oh no. The condo management was trying as hard as they could to crush our groove from the start. Aimee booked this trip back in May. Yes, I said MAY. But they called halfway through September and said "Oh yeah, the condo you booked 6 months ago that is 25 feet from the beach will no longer be available. The owner is going to build a new deck/awning thing so we're going to have to move you to another unit". Lovely. Long story condensed, Aimee got it worked out and we were back on schedule. Which was very tight, by the way, and is the primary reason why none of you got a call/visit as we made our way through your respective towns. But I digress (as usual). We checked in late Monday--and I mean late--too late to get the management out of bed to come see the sticky, jam covered dishwasher and mystery substance on most of the cabinets. And I almost forgot to mention the fur coat on the ceiling fan blades and picture frames. In short, the room had not been clean, vacuumed, mopped and there was not a single surface which had been wiped down with any kind of cleaner. The final straw was found when Aimee wanted to take a shower and there was no cold water pressure! No problem if you like seriously hot showers. Really, it was too hot even for me and I dig the hotness. So we called the office, the maintenance guy shows up and does some checks and makes a few adjustments to the hot water heater and replaces the shower head. Still no good. Unless you want to boil eggs or poach salmon in the tub. We called the people again and this time the office lady shows up with maintenance guy and we discuss options. They 'said' there weren't any other units which we could move into right then and there (because of the length of our stay) so they gave us the keys to one which had been vacated, but was not yet cleaned, so we could use the shower. We would then move to that unit on Wednesday AFTER they had a chance to clean it properly. Which they did. Somewhat. I'll right now that the amount of crap which can be forgiven is inversely proportional and increases exponentially to the proximity of a beach, which is to say that the smaller the distance becomes between us and the beach, the more forgiving we become. This theory of beach relativity explains why we are still in the same unit even though Aimee has dubbed it the "Condo of 1000 Smells" and I'm sure they stuck us in this one, rather than shuffling guests who had not yet arrived, simply because the billing was easier on office lady. Oh well, so it goes. The good bit is that we are now on the third floor so there will be no more Clydesdales romping over our heads at unbelievably early hours of the morn and we're able to get a really good view of the beach from the kitchen window.
I haven't done much hamming so far, but I was able to hit an IRLP reflector while stopped for our layover in Georgetown Sunday night and had a quick chat with a very enthusiastic fellow from Crystal Springs, CA if I remember correctly. Tuesday night (late enough to be Wednesday morning, actually) I was also able to set up a long-wire antenna (which I had to build from parts purchased at Radio Shack because I forgot the one Sony so graciously provided with the radio) for my SW radio and was able to pull in Radio Havana's English language broadcast on 6060khz, followed by Deutsche Welle's English language broadcast out of Bonn, Germany on 7810khz. Good times, I tell you. Good times. There is an IRLP node in Corpus, but it appears to be about 16-18 air miles from our location here and I'm not sure about their antenna height. There are repeaters in OK I can hit which are farther than that, but I also know their antenna height. The week is young yet so I'll see if I can hit that node later this week. I did hear someone bring up the node last night but it was immediately followed by a conversation in Spanish! But remember: just because I can hear the repeater does not always mean I can hit the repeater.
I could go on and on about the local seafood, the giant size of the trucks (really, does EVERYONE in Texas need a super-duty diesel crew cab 4WD monster?) and the amazing, late night walks on the beach, but it's getting close to bed-time and there's a lot more beach to be had tomorrow. I'll have something nice for you peeps soon enough--provided blogger cooperates.
So then, what's been on the agenda? The usuals: IKEA, beach, beach, swimming pool, a little more beach then some seafood and, oh yeah, a beach! Once again, we're visiting one of our favorite south Texas destinations: Port Aransas. The weather has been absolutely beautiful this week and is supposed to bring more of the same for us next week. Lows in the mid seventies, highs in the high eighties (which is a bit warm for me, but Aim's diggin' it) and not a word of rain. Yet. But it hasn't been all fun and games, folks. Oh no. The condo management was trying as hard as they could to crush our groove from the start. Aimee booked this trip back in May. Yes, I said MAY. But they called halfway through September and said "Oh yeah, the condo you booked 6 months ago that is 25 feet from the beach will no longer be available. The owner is going to build a new deck/awning thing so we're going to have to move you to another unit". Lovely. Long story condensed, Aimee got it worked out and we were back on schedule. Which was very tight, by the way, and is the primary reason why none of you got a call/visit as we made our way through your respective towns. But I digress (as usual). We checked in late Monday--and I mean late--too late to get the management out of bed to come see the sticky, jam covered dishwasher and mystery substance on most of the cabinets. And I almost forgot to mention the fur coat on the ceiling fan blades and picture frames. In short, the room had not been clean, vacuumed, mopped and there was not a single surface which had been wiped down with any kind of cleaner. The final straw was found when Aimee wanted to take a shower and there was no cold water pressure! No problem if you like seriously hot showers. Really, it was too hot even for me and I dig the hotness. So we called the office, the maintenance guy shows up and does some checks and makes a few adjustments to the hot water heater and replaces the shower head. Still no good. Unless you want to boil eggs or poach salmon in the tub. We called the people again and this time the office lady shows up with maintenance guy and we discuss options. They 'said' there weren't any other units which we could move into right then and there (because of the length of our stay) so they gave us the keys to one which had been vacated, but was not yet cleaned, so we could use the shower. We would then move to that unit on Wednesday AFTER they had a chance to clean it properly. Which they did. Somewhat. I'll right now that the amount of crap which can be forgiven is inversely proportional and increases exponentially to the proximity of a beach, which is to say that the smaller the distance becomes between us and the beach, the more forgiving we become. This theory of beach relativity explains why we are still in the same unit even though Aimee has dubbed it the "Condo of 1000 Smells" and I'm sure they stuck us in this one, rather than shuffling guests who had not yet arrived, simply because the billing was easier on office lady. Oh well, so it goes. The good bit is that we are now on the third floor so there will be no more Clydesdales romping over our heads at unbelievably early hours of the morn and we're able to get a really good view of the beach from the kitchen window.
I haven't done much hamming so far, but I was able to hit an IRLP reflector while stopped for our layover in Georgetown Sunday night and had a quick chat with a very enthusiastic fellow from Crystal Springs, CA if I remember correctly. Tuesday night (late enough to be Wednesday morning, actually) I was also able to set up a long-wire antenna (which I had to build from parts purchased at Radio Shack because I forgot the one Sony so graciously provided with the radio) for my SW radio and was able to pull in Radio Havana's English language broadcast on 6060khz, followed by Deutsche Welle's English language broadcast out of Bonn, Germany on 7810khz. Good times, I tell you. Good times. There is an IRLP node in Corpus, but it appears to be about 16-18 air miles from our location here and I'm not sure about their antenna height. There are repeaters in OK I can hit which are farther than that, but I also know their antenna height. The week is young yet so I'll see if I can hit that node later this week. I did hear someone bring up the node last night but it was immediately followed by a conversation in Spanish! But remember: just because I can hear the repeater does not always mean I can hit the repeater.
I could go on and on about the local seafood, the giant size of the trucks (really, does EVERYONE in Texas need a super-duty diesel crew cab 4WD monster?) and the amazing, late night walks on the beach, but it's getting close to bed-time and there's a lot more beach to be had tomorrow. I'll have something nice for you peeps soon enough--provided blogger cooperates.
// posted by wayne @ 10/14/2007 12:57:00 AM
