Saturday, March 31, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, NM

Friday, March 23 - Sunday, March 25

Friday, March 23, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 39 degrees and mostly sunny to 88 degrees and sunny. Bonnie is doing better today still on the medicine for a couple of more days.

We went to Roswell today for cat food, yes that is right cat food. The cat is fussy and Walmart in Carlsbad and Artesia no longer carries the food the cat wants to eat. Now a cat that is seventeen and a half years old we think we have to do right by, so we do this for Merry our cat.

I went to the RV dealer in Roswell for rubber a grommet we need for the stove and they had them surprising me they had the grommet, I purchased four.

We had lunch after purchasing a vacuum cleaned for cleaning the ranch house the other one is not doing the job anymore.

A big water leak was found today, it was a water main pipe inch and a quarter. Some of the original water pipes used in building the park were schedule-twenty or thin walls. As a water delivery systems today schedule forty or schedule eighty are used for the higher pressure rating and thicker walls.

Today we received our voter registration cards to vote in New Mexico and this years presidential primary and election. Happy hour at four and after dinner Mexican Train.

Saturday, March 24, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 44 degrees and mostly sunny to 91 degrees and partly sunny. Taking it easy today. The repaired pipe is holding water pressure, only one third the quantity of water was pumped from the well in the past twenty-four hours. Happy hour at four and after dinner Mexican Train.

Sunday, March 25, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 47 degrees and mostly sunny to 91 degrees and partly sunny. NASCAR Sunday California, and a rain shortened race. Happy hour at four and after dinner Mexican Train.

Friday, March 30, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, NM

Sunday, March 18 - Thursday, March 22
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 48 degrees and partly cloudy to 86 degrees and partly sunny. NASCAR Bristol, TN. Happy hour at four o’clock and after dinner Mexican Train.
Monday, March 19, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 50 degrees and partly cloudy to cold 63 degrees and partly sunny. Two rain showers one noon one 4:00 the first almost measurable
Wind over night, enough to wake us up and Bonnie brought in Buster’s table side slideout.
Board Meeting there is a lot to be done before the ranch co-op semi annual meeting on April 4.
Happy hour at four o’clock and after dinner Mexican Train.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 38 degrees and partly cloudy to 63 degrees and partly sunny. A rain shower this afternoon, nothing measurable with a noticeable wind most of the day.
Mens Coffee and water committee meeting at ten o’clock. Happy hour at four and Mexican Train for me only as Bonnie has allergies bothering her today

Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 42 degrees and mostly sunny to 68 degrees and partly sunny.
Town Hall meeting at ten discussing mostly what we (the board of directors) will presenting to the membership at the semi annual meeting on April 4. Today there is no voting only a show of hands on some items. Bonnie went to the doctor for some relief from the allergies while the meeting was going on.
Happy hour at four for me, Mexican Train after dinner for me and Bonnie was feeling better and also played.

Thursday, March 22, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 38 degrees and mostly sunny to 76 degrees and partly sunny. Water use is high amount pumped from our well is about twice what we consider a high number of gallons pumped per day. The Ranch has two water wells we switch wells each week and there is a water meter on each well. Thirty percent of the water pumped is waste as this carries away the contaminates in the water from the reverse osmosis filtering system we have here.
MEWS - (Men Eating Without Supervision) seven of us car-pooled to The Paddock restaurant about five miles east of Artesia, NM.
Happy hour at four, Mexican Train after dinner Bonnie and also played.

Monday, March 26, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, NM

Wednesday, March 14, to Saturday, March 17

Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 48 degrees and mostly sunny to 85 degrees and sunny. Town hall today where the co-op members discuss the Ranch business bringing up for discussion and talking a show of hands on the issue. There was lively debate from a number of things discussed. This month there will also be a second town hall as our co-op will have the semi annual business meeting the first Wednesday in April. Here the show of hands will count or even a secret ballot on sensitive issues. We went to happy hour and Mexican Train today.

Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 40 degrees and mostly sunny to 83 degrees and sunny.

MEWS - (Men Eating Without Supervision) seven of us car-pooled to The Paddock restaurant about five miles east of Artesia, NM. Mens discussion of all things in a social setting. Later Bonnie and I went to happy hour and Mexican Train after dinner.

Friday, March 16, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 43 degrees and mostly sunny to 87 degrees and sunny. We went to happy hour and Mexican train

Saturday, March 17, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 47 degrees and fog to 76 degrees and sunny.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day. We attended the Ranch Corned beef with potatoes, carrots and cabbage dinner with almost fifty in attendance with a cake for the workers. These workers are digging holes and replacing the water pipes from the water main to the valve we connect our rig hoses to (water bibs). A opportunity to thank people for donating their time to this project.

We went to happy hour and Mexican train after dinner.

Friday, March 23, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, NM

Tuesday, March 13, 2012 The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 37 degrees and mostly sunny to 84 degrees and sunny.

Mens coffee and a water committee meeting. Water committee is steering the water hose connection or water bib change project. Here in the desert there is always discussion about the quantity of water used. Here at the ranch we talk in gallons per rig although there is water used in the ranch house and the laundry.
New Water Bib installed
Thirty percent of the well water pumped goes directly to the waste water pond as a by-product of the reverse osmosis water filtering system. We are running in the mid fifty gallons per rig as we are opening and closing the system changing the water bibs at lots. This project is moving forward with sixty lots complete.

Carlsbad, NM for voter registration today. Almost a non-event, as I was concerned with our drivers licences are Florida but presenting a couple of letters mailed to our address and proof of citicinship no problem registeration to vote.

Two fausets at each lot, one for the rig and one for a fire hose
The cap at ground level is access to the under ground shutoff valve. You can also see the green electric entension cord for the heet tape.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, NM

Saturday - Sunday - Monday 12,
Saturday, March 10, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 36 degrees and light fog with rain over night, just enough to make everything wet to 76 degrees and partly sunny.

Basketball, we watched FSU (Florida State) play and win the semi final ACC title game.
Taking it easy today but there is the normal happy hour and Mexican train.

Sunday, March 11, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 28 degrees and mostly sunny to 75 degrees and sunny. The sun is back after some cloudy foggy and overcast days this is nice except for the wind gusts.

Basketball FSU (Florida State) played and won the final ACC title game and NASCAR what a day. I went to happy hour and we went to play Mexican train after dinner.


Monday, March 12, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 37 degrees and mostly sunny to 82 degrees and sunny.

Board of directors meeting preparations in the morning a quick lunch and most of the afternoon in the Board of directors meeting.

We went to happy hour and we went to play Mexican train after dinner.

Friday, March 16, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, NM

Monday, March 5 thru Friday, March 9, 2012

Monday, March 5, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 32 degrees and mostly sunny to 81 degrees and sunny. Getting better today moving slow. I had to get ready for a board of directors meeting today.

The lot across from Buster had the shed removed over the past two weeks and that job is now complete. Soon there will be a new leaseholder there. After the board meeting Bonnie and I went to happy hour and after dinner we played Mexican train.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 35 degrees and mostly sunny to 84 degrees and sunny with a light breeze.

Mens coffee and a water committee meeting. Water committee is steering the water hose connection or water bib change project. The park is changing from steel risers (galvanized) to PVC pipe. Corrosion is a problem creating water leaks underground.

Bonnies is sick today, stomach upset and she is resting. I am over my Saturday night Sunday thing and I am functioning normally. I went to happy hour and after dinner I played Mexican train.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 45 degrees and mostly sunny to 84 degrees and sunny and windy. In a month there is a semi annual meeting and I am preparing for that now a little each day. Happy hour and Mexican train.

Thursday, March 8, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 28 degrees and cloudy overcast and windy overnight to 51 degrees and cloudy. Breakfast was MEWS - (Men Eating Without Supervision) ten of us car pooled to The Paddock restaurant about five miles east of Artesia, NM. Bonnie is recovered and we went to happy hour and Mexican train tonight.

Friday, March 9, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 37 degrees and overcast to 42 degrees and partly sunny. Rain & Snow shower today but nothing measurable came down more threat than anything. We went to happy hour and Mexican train.

Friday, March 9, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, NM

Friday, - Saturday, - Sunday

Friday, March 2, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 36 degrees and mostly sunny to 76 degrees and sunny. Wind was up again today causing George to bring in Buster’s table slide. This is inconvenient as the inside space is cramped. The slide topper gets to popping or snapping (not enough spring tension on the slide topper) but I try and control that popping with a tie down strap tensioning the topper and reducing the slack in the slide topper and thus reducing noise. With the wind coming from the southwest or west, it gets under Buster and the wind gusting tries to rock Buster back and forth. Sometimes slightly adding to the jacks will slow that rocking as the jack or compacting of the ground loosens the tension over time. Then it is time for happy hour and after dinner we played Mexican train.

Saturday, March 3, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 30 degrees and mostly sunny to 61 degrees and sunny. In the afternoon we went to happy hour and after dinner we played Mexican train.

Sunday, March 4, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 32 degrees and mostly sunny to 76 degrees and sunny. NASCAR Phoenix race today I am sick as overnight I had to move quickly to the bathroom from the bed and made it just in time. Bonnie went to church and to Walmart after that was about all for today. No happy hour or Mexican train tonight. During the afternoon I was in bed with a blanket and Bonnie was complaining about it being hot in Buster, it felt ok to me. My hands and feet were cool and my far head was warm.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, NM

Thursday, March 1, 2012
   The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 43 degrees and mostly sunny to 79 degrees and sunny and windy.

Breakfast was MEWS - (Men Eating Without Supervision) eleven of us went to The Paddock restaurant about five miles east of Artesia, NM. On the way to Riverside I stopped to get a 30 pound propane gas bottle filled, Buster's main propane tank would get emptied when parked here at the Ranch for more than a month.

White plastic pipe with water shutoff valves
Electric extension cord is for the heat tape
One of the projects the park is working now is changing the water pipe coming out of the ground at each site or lot. Every lot had some different means for freeze protection from elaborate houses constructed ice coolers to insulated to nothing. The point is we need to protect from freezing all water pipes exposed to the elements. All exposed pipes are being replaced including the underground shutoff valve. There have been many water leaks discovered underground from the shutoff valve stem or inlet side leaking water into the ground. On one lot the trees grew roots over to the cracked fitting and there was a ball of roots bigger than a softball. We removed galvanized pipe coming out of the ground, in some cases the wall thickness is greatly reduced from corrosion and braking as we handle the pipe. We are installing plastic and using foam insulation heat tape and using a case of four inch plastic pipe to protect these pipes. The heat tape electric use is between three and twenty-six watts of electricity depending on the temperature.


Our temperatures have been only in the high twenties this year and electric cost is averaging eights cents a day for the heat tape inside the foam insulated four inch plastic pipe.  (In December the temperature was down to one degree. In February 2011 the Ranch experienced many day of single degree temperatures over night and there were many water leaks to be repaired). The four inch cap is the access to the underground shutoff valve.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, NM

Monday, - Tuesday, - Wednesday, (Happy Leap Day)
Monday, February 27, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 43 degrees windy and mostly cloudy to 60 degrees and partly sunny.

Windy overnight and early morning. The wind backed down today as the morning went on making a decent day. I had a two hour Ranch board of directors meeting spending part of the morning to prepare for that. Then it is time for happy hour and after dinner we played Mexican train.

Race night in Daytona, FL NASCAR Daytona 500 all night.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 41 degrees and mostly sunny to 74 degrees and mostly sunny. The wind came up enough that we brought in the table slide this morning and we kept it there until dark when the wind finally died down. Plenty of dist storms out in the range land.

What a night watch the race fall asleep wake up and watch the race backing up the recording to where I fell a sleep and repeat this cycle two or three times. East coast time the race ended about one AM Tuesday. Mens coffee and a water committee meeting.

I spend some time every day checking into the ranch office for the ranch business.
Then it is time for happy hour and after dinner we played Mexican train.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 34 degrees and mostly cloudy to 76 degrees and partly sunny. Happy Leap Day, see you (February 29) in four years.

Then it is time for happy hour and after dinner we played Mexican train.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Ranch, Lakewood, NM

Friday - Saturday - Sunday

Friday, February 24, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 28 degrees no wind and mostly sunny to 54 degrees and mostly sunny. I had to go into Carlsbad, NM after lunch to our Ranch co-op accountant some documents needed to be signed.

Then it is time for happy hour, Bonnie stayed at Buster to finish a project she was involved in. After dinner I went and played Mexican train.

Saturday, February 25, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 28 degrees and sunny to 70 degrees sunny with some wind.

Daytona race (Nationwide - 300) this morning I had to produce a report for the Ranch members news letter. After the race BoD work for Monday’s meeting.

Then it is time for happy hour, Bonnie stayed napping and I went. After dinner I went and played Mexican train.

Sunday, February 26, 2012
The Ranch, Lakewood, New Mexico 34 degrees and sunny to 74 degrees and sunny.

Happy Birthday to Me

Daytona 500 race did not happen, postponed to Monday night, off and on I worked ranch business while the pre race show extending into the rain delay show was on the television. Then it was happy hour at the Ranch House, and everyone present sang happy birthday it me. This evening at the ranch house at seven o’clock the last Sunday of the month the ranch celebrates all of the months birthdays with a cake and ice cream party for all the months birthdays. I was the youngest birthday (year born) Marge, Tresh, and Thayer was the first born (oldest). Anniversaries are also celebrated, Barbra and Soren celebrated their wedding anniversary this month.