Rivers Edge RV Park-Special Edition

So...What do I do all day?

Note:  Californians begin most conversations with "So..." followed by a thoughtful pause.

CALIFORNIA STOP SIGN

So....before I start my busy day, I sip delicious gourmet coffee (store brand coffee not permitted) in front of the warming fireplace whilst gazing at a misty morning fog hovering at the clifftops.

MORNING FOG OVER CLIFFS

Soon, I'm sufficiently caffeinated and ready for the day's adventures! 

Among the routines:

1- Monitor the park.  Sis is a little off her feed recuperating from the knee surgery so I have been filling in some of the operational blanks.  The park is hoppin' since the weather has been beautiful and everyone is living outside their RV. 

Many park rules are broken and much time is spent "reminding" tenants of the most important rules (dog poop/leash) and chasing down visitors who park along the fence.  

My favorite violation: a tenant neatly stored at least 30 empty 6 packs of Coors underneath his trailer. He was surprised when my sis asked him to clean up his site:
   
"So...I need you to remove the empty beer bottles from underneath your trailer by dark tonight".

He thought it would be OK if he arranged the bottles neatly and in careful alignment under his vehicle. 

2-Maintenance in park.  I cleaned bathrooms when the Manager was off duty...troubleshot bathroom door code changes (everything gets nailed down due to trespassers)...pruned, groomed and cleared about a ton of debris from the BBQ picnic area...cleaned and prepped a vacated site...assisted hired help to fill potholes with asphalt...photo-documented 49 trailers + registration.  It turns out that only a handful of RV's have current registration and many are over 5 years expired!

3- Evicting tenants.  I am currently the acting unauthorized *process server chasing down the non-pays wherever they are hiding on or off the property.   This is a park that rents to the economically-challenged amongst us.  The stories of financial misfortunes related by hapless residents are many and fantastical and Sis is often mistaken for a social worker rather than a business owner.

*I am not an authorized process server; this "service" is theater designed to intimidate.  

I recently served a demand letter on a deadbeat who was ratted out by her neighbor.  We drove down to the town thrift shop, approached a man and presented as ditzy ladies looking for "Linda".  He pointed to her apartment and there she was-- a middle-aged woman with missing teeth wearing a soiled tee and sporting a cig hanging out her mouth!  I smiled, handed her the special envelope and said "You've been served"!

NOT LEGAL SERVICE-THIS IS THEATER

Later that same day, I presented eviction papers to a woman at her workplace at the town pizza place.  I sashayed up to order a pizza, spied a young woman and cried out loud "Laurie!"  She curiously approached and I quickly pulled the eviction papers out of my shirtsleeve and handed the papers over to her "You've been served".   

My favorite eviction involved forcible relocation of an unregistered trailer that had been abandoned by an absent tenant.   In certain conditions, the law permits taking possession of the trespassing trailer, so we towed it to city property adjacent to the park. 

Tenant subsequently appeared and was quite indignant but persuaded to pay past due rent and given 24 hours to remove the equipment. 

But they failed to do so.   

Alas!  Unknown persons came in the night, hitched up the RV and took off with it.  The police inquired about the disposition of the property at the insistence of the Tenant but gosh...what can you do?  The property was abandoned on city property and up for grabs! 

(You can't make this stuff up!)

TEARING OUT OLD STUFF

4- Rehabbing an RV.  Sis's son, a bio-horticultural business consultant, travels extensively in an RV that is in dire need of a full rehab so we have been helping and supervising the work.  

SCOTIA FIRE

The most exciting event here lately was the fire across the river.   

We have had NO rain and were on high fire alert over the 4th.  

OUR TRAILER AND THE FIRE

The fire was too close for our comfort but remote to firefighters, so it was necessary to bring helicopters and planes in to drop fire retardant and bucket loads of river water. The entire park and half the town gathered to watch the fire.

Here's a cool video  

GIVES TEAPARTY A BAD NAME

When we're not doing park stuff, we are mostly meeting with friends for lunch or dinner or getogethers.
  

WOMAN OF THE VINE

Our last bottle of merlot was called 'Woman of the Vine'. 

MARGARITA MAMMAS

Also known as the Margarita Mamas, Sis is far left.

SCOTIA BLUFFS AT SUNSET

At sunset, sipping wine and appreciating the flaming beauty of the bluffs is a sublime ending to another busy day at the park.

SLEEPING SUE NO SPILL ZONE

Sooo...this is the most unflattering photo ever but my sis and I thought it was very funny and entitled it "Sleeping WineSipper".  Sis has always marveled at how I can sleep and still hold my wineglass upright without spilling wine.

California Signs & Symptoms

Here are some random signs that make you realize you are in California:

This is a fairly common scene in Eureka and is not intended to make light of anyone or their circumstances-it's just a routine occurrence and fact of life!   Eureka is home to a brand new Veteran's Center and has many agencies that provide social services to the region's poor and homeless from the Oregon border to Sacramento.   The climate is well-suited to outdoor living being neither hot nor cold but almost a constant 60 degrees.  As most of you are aware, California has a massive social net that provides for people without income or other means of support and this pic illustrates how area residents and their pets have adapted to the environment.

Everyone wears designer socks with their Mary Janes, Birkenstocks and shower sandals in northern California.  A popular gift is "Sock of the Month" club where each month you get a theme pair of socks in the mail.  People meet and greet on the street and pull up their pants.

This next one is not technically California but Oregon is close enough--a solar-powered trash compactor.

And now, a sign of the times...degenerative joints.

My sister has needed a new knee for several years, but until Obama created an insurance plan for people with Pre-Existing Conditions Plan (PCIP), she was out of luck for surgery or any health care at a reasonable cost.  Prior to PCIP, she paid over $1000/mo, $10,000 deductible, 50% medical copay and no preventative services.

After jumping through numerous hoops, she finally qualified for the new Obama plan which was supposed to cover subscribers through 2013.  It would pay 100% for surgery after a typical plan deductible.   Elated, she researched orthopedic surgeons in CA, chose a doc in Napa Valley and scheduled surgery for August 14th.

Suddenly-- PANIC!  She got a letter May 29 saying that her PCIP insurance was cancelled July 1.  Even though she had previously been approved for the surgery, benefits would not be retroactive and she would have no insurance as of July 1.   So began the mad scramble to get rescheduled and pre-op'ed for a very popular new knee surgery before July 1.  The Coons Orthopedic Institute in St Helena is in great demand, but they found a spot for her on June 26 and immediately began an intensive pre-op protocol.

The surgery is minimally-invasive total knee replacement also known as "quad-sparing" Minimally-Invasive Total Knee Replacement (Real).  Rather than cut the quadriceps tendon, special instrumentation and computer navigation software leads the way through a 4 inch incision--a technique that creates an error-free, custom knee replacement and reduces recovery time by about half.

Even with her early mobility, getting up and down RV steps would have been difficult, so a friend of Sharon's arranged for her to stay for 5 days in their Calistoga vineyard home which they had been planning to vacate.   We took Cassie and enjoyed a sublime setting in the middle of a vineyard for 5 days.   Thank you Debbie and Greg!

During her recuperation, Sharon was glued to the phone running her RV park.

I am happy that my sis is doing extremely well and began walking without a walker, cane or crutches two days after her surgery!   She walks slowly and  sometimes uses walls for balance.   Her only "job" is to walk 5 minutes each hour, do daily range of motion exercises and apply her special ice machine for 1 hour 3X/day.

MY job was to go-fer more ice.

Due to the surprising early mobility, she skipped physical therapy, since she was transitioning between the old and new insurance plans and it would have been completely out of pocket to the tune of around $5000.  (The docs, of course, want you to do conventional physical therapy as there is not yet a special protocol for the new procedure.  However, she was provided a booklet with glossy color illustrations and explanations of the rehab exercises to do at home.)



Her only difficulties have been with her medication regimen.  She is intolerant of narcotics and was put on a heavy duty med for nausea and vomiting (N & V).  I consulted with her doctors on two separate occasions for uncontrolled N & V but, unfortunately, nothing stopped the nausea & vomiting and has made her recuperation quite uncomfortable.

Finally-in true California-style medicine-natural relief was found.

MovinSue chillin' in her socks!