April 2006
INFORMAL ACTIVITY WEEKEND OF 17-19 MARCH
DONATION KUDOS:
- To Jackie and Marion, Bound By Desire,
for hauling in and donating a pickup truck load of wood for the Fire Pit.
- To
Dan Murdoch, TCC Independent, for hauling in and donating a. pickup truck
load of wood for the Fire Pit.
- To Dale Arndt and Mark Adamson for donating
various plastic serving and storage dishes to the Kitchen.
KUDOS:
- To Jim Newsome and Randal Louk, Lone Star Leathermen,
for continuing their work of installing ceiling insulation in the Pole Barn
over the prior weekend.
- To Dale Arndt, TCC Independent, for
de-winterizing the Kitchen by removing and storing the doors, and removing
the tarps from the dish washing and ice machine areas.
- To
Ken Witt, TCC Independent and Landsite Caretaker:
- For correcting the
wind damage to canopies and gathering up blown down tree branches.
- For taking
the Green Tractor to Cameron Tire and having the worn out rear tire replaced.
OTHER LANDSITE ROUTINE MAINTENANCE, RESUPPLY, REPAIRS, REPLACEMENTS, AND MINOR
IMPROVEMENTS ACCOMPLISHED:
- Ken Witt, TCC Independent and Landsite Caretaker:
- Kept
the Restroom, Showers, and Kitchen clean between and during Activity
Weekends.
- Prepared the TCC Trailer and Bunkhouse for camping season
use.
- Removed trash from cans to the dumpster for removal from
the Landsite.
- Dan Murdoch, TCC Independent:
- De-winterized the water
system by removing insulating muffs from faucets.
- Repaired a split fuel
line on the Ryobi string trimmer.
- Restrung the string head of the Homelite
string trimmer.
- Cut back the briars and early spring brush growth on
the knolls flanking the Storage pit and on the front slope of the hill
behind the kitchen.
- Procured with petty cash funds:
- Five quarts of motor
oil for tractor and mowers.
- Large bottle of peroxide to replenishment First
Aid kit.
- A Restroom faucet fixture that fractured during winter
freeze.
- Weed killer for gravel path maintenance.
- Two boxes of
Rid-X septic system treatment.
- Twenty one metal posts and two eighty pound
bags of ready mix concrete for the boundary marking and path project.
ACTIVITY WEEKEND OF 24-26 MARCH
DONATION KUDOS:
- To Jack Elsbree and Gerry Garcia, for donating a box of food staples to
the Kitchen for future communal use.
KUDOS:
- To the Heart of Texas Bears club group for de-winterizing
the Pole Barn by rolling up the tarps.
- To the Heart of Texas Bears club
for work done on their Adopt An Area site.
- To the Heart of Texas Bears
assisted by Jim S., Chain of Command, Jim Newsome and Randal Louk, Lone
Star Leathermen; and Bill Cary, Austin Gay Nudists, for moving the donated
stainless steel vent hood body to a location behind the Kitchen pending future
installation.
- To Jim Newsome, Lone Star Leathermen, assisted by Hal
Pryor, TCC Independent, for researching means of possibly installing the
vent hood in the Kitchen.
- To Ray Moore, Austin Gay Nudists, assisted by
Ken Witt, TCC Independent, for raking leaf accumulations from around the
Kitchen, Shower building, Pole barn, and ditches, and mulching flower beds
and stone terraced areas.
- To Bill Cary, Austin Gay Nudists, for mowing
the Flag Pole Field.
- To Ken Witt, TCC Independent and Landsite Caretaker,
for mowing the sump area across the entrance road from the Bunkhouse.
- To Larry Perry, Trinity River Bears, assisted by
John Szewczyk, Houston Firedancers, and Dan Murdoch, TCC Independent, for
replacing all of the boundary survey wooden stakes with metal stakes imbedded
in concrete.
- To Dan Murdoch, TCC Independent, for installing guide
string on boundary segment between front gate and first surveyors stake for
boundary marking and path project.
- To Peter Reid, Heart of Texas Bears,
for improving the eroded path from the Chicken Ranch down to the Compound
area by filling a large hole and creating steps with wood and rocks and
back filled with donated woodchips.
- To Jack Elsbree and Gerry Garcia, Lone
Star Leathrmen, for providing the crispy fried chicken entrée for
the Saturday night dinner.
- To the following clubs/individuals for providing
the listed side dishes and dessert for the Saturday night dinner.
- Ken Witt,
TCC Independent, peach cobbler;
- The Heart of Texas Bears, several
kinds of cakes;
- Peter Reid, homemade Cole slaw;
- Bob Whittaker, mashed
potatoes with gravy and black eyed peas.
- To the following for
Kitchen clean-up after the Saturday night dinner:
- Jack Elsbree and
Gerry Garcia, Lone Star Leathermen;
- Ray Moore, Austin Gay Nudists;
- Ken Witt, TCC Independent.
OTHER LANDSITE ROUTINE MAINTENANCE, RESUPPLY, REPAIRS, REPLACEMENTS, AND MINOR
IMPROVEMENTS ACCOMPLISHED:
- Hal Pryor, TCC Independent, serviced the ice machine
by changing the water filter and cycle flushing the machine with cleansing
fluid.
- Ken Witt, TCC Independent and Landsite Caretaker:
- Kept
the Restroom, Showers, and Kitchen clean between and during Activity
Weekends.
- Kept the TCC Trailer and Bunkhouse in good order.
- Removed
trash from cans to the dumpster for removal from the Landsite.
- Dan
Murdoch, TCC Independent:
- Procured with petty cash funds:
- Fifteen gallons of mower
gas.
- Parts and repair of Homelite string trimmer muffler by
Cameron Seed.
- Changed oil, serviced air cleaners, and serviced batteries,
and inspected blades, as applicable, of Green Tractor, Snapper riding
mower, and Craftsman and Murray push mowers.
- Procured from the Cameron Chamber
of Commerce and replaced the Cameron and Milam County phone books in
the Kitchen.
- Replaced missing tire valve cap on Green Tractor.
- Replaced
damaged Restroom faucet fixture.
- Burned off accumulations of branches and
twigs.
- Replaced weak battery in TCC Trailer smoke detector.
- Treated septic system with Rid-X.
INFORMAL ACTIVITY WEEKEND OF 7-10 APRIL
KUDOS:
- Dan Lindquist, Lone Star Nudist Group; and Hal Pryor,
TCC Independent and TCC Treasurer; for successfully conducting the routine
transfer audit of the TCC books and accounts.
- Ken Witt, TCC Independent
and Landsite Caretaker:
- For mowing the Parking Lot, the sides of entrance
road, and the Flag Pole Field.
- For raking leaves in common use areas.
- For keeping the
Kitchen, Showers, and Restroom in good order.
- Dan Murdoch,
TCC Independent, cleared a line of sight path through the underbrush and
strung a temporary marker tape between boundary stakes on the three unfenced
sides of the Landsite.
OTHER LANDSITE ROUTINE MAINTENANCE, RESUPPLY, REPAIRS, REPLACEMENTS, AND MINOR
IMPROVEMENTS ACCOMPLISHED:
- Dan Murdoch, TCC Independent:
- Made repairs
to the trailer for the Green Tractor to re-attach the rusted loose front
support pedestal.
- De-winterized the Ice Machine by turning off
the standby warming heater.
- Removed the freeze protection muff from the
Well Head area faucet.
SUGGESTED TASKS FOR THE APRIL ACTIVITY WEEKEND:
- Expanded path clearing for the boundary line project.
- Rolling and tying up the tarps in front of the Kitchen
serving line.
- Spraying weed killer on weed sprouts in gravel and paths
in common use areas.
- Refilling of hand soap dispensers at Restroom, Kitchen,
Shower, and Walk-In Cooler sinks from bulk supply.
- Draining the Swimming
Pool, re-contouring pool pad to correct pool tilt, cleaning of pool and
accessories, refilling pool, and testing and chemical treatment of water,
and cleanup of pool area.
- Trimming spring foliage sprouts on tree trunks
in tenting and common use areas to maintain park like ambience.
- Mowing
and/or weed eating, as necessary, of the Parking Lot, shoulders of the
entrance road, Flag Pole Field, pathways, and common use areas.
- Path weeding
and clean up of the Buzzard's Peak and Boundary trails.
WANT LIST:
- Donations to restock the running low supply of toilet paper, plastic forks,
paper plates, and regular grind coffee and granulated sugar to wake up and
keep volunteer workers going at peak performance.
PROJECTS LOOKING FOR A COORDINATOR & HELPING HANDS:
- Walk-In-Cooler door seal replacement: Existing seals
on the front glass-paned doors are old, brittle, split, and do not seal properly.
This causes excessive running of the cooling unit/excessive electrical consumption
and excessive condensation formation inside the cooler and adjacent to the
doors on the outside of the cooler building. Replacement task involves measuring
to determine the length of seal needed, taking a sample of the existing
seal to a commercial refrigeration supply house to find a suitable match,
buying a bulk length of new seal, removing the existing seals that are held
by a riveted in place metal strips, replacing the old seals with properly
cut lengths of new seal, and pop-riveting the retaining strips back in place.
Reimbursement for the cost of new seal and associated material can be arranged
by the undersigned.
As always, looking forward to seeing everyone,
Dan Murdoch