The Resort Years- 12

THE POST OFFICE

Our contract station is open 4 hours during the summer months – June through September, and just 2 hours per day during the other eight months. We have had a variety of Postal Helpers at our little sub-station, some elders willing to put in a couple of hours to see their friends, securing their 40 quarters to qualify for Social Security, and some our actual “office assistants” who learn to take credit cards, take reservations, handle various RESORT problems.

The Postal Service, like many bureaucratic organizations, is famous for its inefficiency.  The zip codes were supposed to lead to “no missorts” – no mail going in the wrong direction.  WRONG!  We still get mail for Tracy 95376 or 95378, just because the machines read those last digits as 5.  Our zip code is 95375.  We also get mail for the Strawberry on Hiway 50, even if it has the correct zip code – 95735, and just the other day mail for Strawberry Fields TN with the correct zip code.

The procedures change at least weekly as the middle level managers seem to need something TO DO every day, if only make changes, which are sent out by email.  As a sub-station, I do not have email for the Postal Service so must depend on my supervisor to let me know if one of the many procedure changes affects the way we do business here in Strawberry.

The sorting facility in Stockton was closed so our mail delivery truck was an hour later coming from the facility in W. Sacramento.  It was the slow season when the contract says that we were to close at 1 PM; the mail delivery did not arrive until nearly 1 PM!  The solution was to “Well, change your hours!”  So we did, contract or no contract.

The latest BIG change, a year ago last July, was to give our facility a new finance number!  And just like ten years ago when they did this, we were unable to GET postage stamps, the system said that we did not exist.  I was forced to “buy” stamps like a customer at some other post office in order to have stamps to sell, but with no way to account for the fact that I was indeed selling stamps.  Very frustrating!!

After nearly a year, I was given an 800 number to call for “Touch Tone Order Entry.”  Voila, the stamps that I ordered arrived three days later.  So easy, just have to find a way to get the “order numbers” for the various stamps without calling Customer Service every month.  But that gives Gary and Helen something to do!  TWO MONTHS later the ability to order stamps was given to my supervising Postmaster down in Mi-Wuk, so she has to keep enough stamps on hand to keep me, and Long Barn – 95335, and Pinecrest – 95364, in business!

Oh, and speaking of contracts, when the new contract arrived with the new finance number it listed my supervisor as being Tuba City Arizona, and said that I was to be open for eight hours per day, six days a week.  A phone call to the Denver Colorado Contract Unit Supervisor’s office quickly got a corrected copy with the more logical information and the short hours that we have always been open for the tiny amount that they send our way each month!

Some days you just have to laugh or you would cry, but isn’t that true of just about any job?  

JULY of 2018 was an eventful time - I had received a visit from my supervisor at the MiWuk Post Office informing me that as of August 1st we would no longer have a POST OFFICE here in Strawberry.  She had lost sleep the nights before her visit as she was sure that her news would be devastating to me.  I called to Tom who was in the apartment - on the other side of "the pantry" - walkin closet,  "Honey, grab your tape measure and a pencil and figure out how we can use this space!"  My supervisor nearly fainted!!

So on August first the maintenance guys from the USPS arrived bright and early and literally ripped out 3 clusters of mail boxes.  We had had several locals wanting to "have or buy" THEIR long time combination boxes but alas, they were USPS property as was the hunking scale with the weights to allow you to weigh up to 100 pounds!!  As the guys were finishing their task I asked where the plywood was to cover the HOLES in the walls. "Ah, we have some plastic and some tape."  Planning ahead was not part of their training so the holes were covered with contractor weight trash bags secured with painter's tape!!  Fortunately, my husband had a couple of pieces of plywood to cover their ineptitude!

We went to the local - 30 miles away - lumber yard for paneling both interior and exterior and succeeded in creating a guest room/office.  Covering the window onto the parking lot and street and putting in a larger window on the garden side of the room.  That window was a miracle!  As we were again driving to the lumber yard/ big box store for a window I suggested that we should try the "boneyard" at the local glass company and Tom said, "You know I was thinking of that just this morning!"

I am sure that the Glass Company doesn't have an abundance of customers who want a double pane window and don't care much about the size!  The "boneyard" yielded a $250 Anderson window, missing it's screen.  We offered $75 and they took it.  Tom said on the way back up the mountain that he could easily fabricate a screen from the "left overs" from the #7 remodel!  Their old double hung windows had been replaced, giving us an abundance of screens and material.

Do I miss the US Post Office?  NO!  Do I miss seeing my regular customers?  YES!!  I run into them when picking up our mail at Pinecrest Post Office, but some are actual GOD sends.  That would be my neighbor with property in Oakland which includes two lemon trees.  At the beginning of my three week fight with the flu bug back in January Helmet arrived holding a bag of lemons.  I took it as a sign that I should use the old-fashioned remedy for a cold / flu - hot water, juice of a fresh lemon, and some honey!   So I did and when Helmet arrived at the end of January with another bag of lemons, I thanked him heartily and healthy once more!  My husband Tom, kept suggesting a trip to the doctor or the Prompt Care and I insisted that I would take home more germs than I came in with and declined!!    I also took naps at least every other day and made sure that I was IN BED for 12 hours every night!!  Good immune system and patience plus a good neighbor!!

 The POOL – the ongoing saga!

The plans as drawn by Tom were sent to the engineer along with all kinds of measurements.  Hurry up and WAIT.  All ten owners have agreed that the Resort DOES NEED a pool in the summer and are willing to give us the money to complete the job!!  Halleluiah!!  We have lost TEN WEEKS of “regular reservations.”   Five weeks are coming, but want the “NO POOL DISCOUNT” – they were amazed that we only received $75 per month from the individual cabins for the use of the pool.  Of course, we also get the 20% off the top of the weekly rental.  Several of the weeks have filled with two and three nighters, so that is THE LORD’s provision!!

The owner of Unit #4 has an uncle who “just happens to be” one of four pool structural engineers in the State and agreed to draw up the plans based on Tom’s measurements and photos.  So the building permit was obtained in November of 2014, just before the winter set in.

In 2015 the shallowing pour of 40 yards followed the installation of the new drain system, which was pressure checked and approved.  Then the inspector for the FLOOR pour of 40 yards said, “Aren’t those two drains too close?”  Well, the last inspector signed off on them!  Didn’t matter – the code reads “separation” and is measured edge of drain cover to edge of drain cover.  All other measurements in building are center to center…didn’t matter!  So these two seventy year olds chiseled out the 2-sack slurry around both drains, rotated them 90 degrees and obtained the required SEPARATION and then some!!

The stairs in the corner of the shallow end were done WITH the floor pour, but small “bump in the road” - the receptacle for the ladder, ADA approved, needs to be 4 inches further down in the pool.  More chiseling required, but there has to be 4 – 6 inches more cement on the walkway, which was quickly poured with excess cement from the final floor pour.  Lovely walkway should meet the ADA requirements.  The windows in #10 and #1 will definitely need another washing!!

Then there is the plumbing that was going to be DONE while the floor cured…hopefully the chalk sketches on the pool wall won’t have become “Monets” with all the wet weather this past winter.  With a final inspection needed AFTER the pool is painted with the epoxy paint and water added we have a LOT of work left to do before Memorial Day 2016.

 

2016 - EPILOGUE on the POOL PROJECT – We had a rainy/snowy winter, the concrete cured and the epoxy primer and paint – 12 and 11 gallons respectively – were applied the middle of May.  It was a 4 day process – TSP, rinse with water, Acid Etch, rinse with water (we put a bucket with bicarb under the drain line to neutralize, and dilute the acidy water!) Then more TSP was applied with a final rinse.  The primer catalyst had curdled despite being stored where it did not freeze so Tom had to mix it twice, once just the catalyst then the primer and the catalyst.  So he spent the entire 5 hours bent over the mixing operation.  Since the primer could only be left 48 hours before the final coat of epoxy we had to do that final coat the next day.  No rest for the weary!!  Another 5 hour day but what a relief to have a gorgeous white surface totally covering two years of hard work!!

We decided that we would take the following week off and drive to CO to check on Dad and give the nearby family a few days off.  God chose to bless our decision by sending rain, hail, and snow for ALL the DAYS that we were gone!!  We couldn’t have worked on the pool had we been here!  With the winterizing covers on the five inflowing lines we were able to add water the first week of June as the water folks had asked us to schedule it and check for any leaks as Tom finished the last of the plumbing and electrical connections.

The concrete deck had developed some “Spaulding” over the years, cracks had appeared in the expansion joints where the initial caulk had dried up and been pulled out by mischievious guests.  So mix some cement for the potholes and back to the caulking gun; I used up all the caulk in our stock and a few new tubes besides.  The deck paint arrived; I read the instructions and marveled that the prep was exactly the same as the epoxy primer and paint for the pool!!  TSP, rinse, Acid Etch, rinse, TSP, rinse and finally FIFTEEN gallons of grey paint!!

In the mean time, Tom had emptied the ladies room - tool shed for two years - so as soon as the deck paint dried I started on the renovation of the ladies room!!  Two coats of paint on the walls and ceiling then two coats on the floor and it was a whole NEW experience!!  Miraculous even!!  To top this often frustrating and very tiring project I chose the 4^th of July to call the machine at the Building Department and request the final inspection.  I mentioned it to Tom just before noon on Tuesday the 5^th of July, and the inspector was here right after lunch!!  He looked at the bonding copper wire, I handed him an “as built” copy of the form that our engineer had sent to us by email, “for your file!”  He signed off on the permit and said “job well done!”   What a relief!!

The Environmental Health Department still has to sign off as well, but their pool person is out on Maternity Leave until mid-August. But she comes every summer, so I am not at all worried about her inspection, whenever she gets around to it!!