Re: Captain's log Star Date 5-28-2022

Captain's Log, Star Date 7/7/2022 - 4th of July at the Beach

After an exciting and relaxing week at the beach, we are preparing for the voyage home. The water was clear and bath water warm, the dunes healthy and the "renters" agreeable. It was great fun to share the beach house with Tom and Ivy for a few days. Reminded us of the old days when all three families used to gather here. Maybe we'll get to do more of that in the future.

The bay is also beautiful and healthy, though the landscape has changed since the last hurricane. The fish and crab don't seem to mind. We had fun throwing the mullet net out there and exploring nature's breadbasket back there. We caught four crabs a day in the trap, a record for us, and had a big crab fest last night. I am storing and securing the trap underneath the stairs outside, as it's still too stinky from the crab bait to bring inside. 

A few items:

1. The icemaker is still kaputz. Tried a few things to fix and adjust but no luck. I have turned it off. We'll need to decide what to do about that.

2. I repaired two board on the gulf deck that had pulled themselves loose.

3. The kitchen stairs will likely need a complete replacement in the next year. We should get the process going with Duaiine, since it'll take a long time to actually get the work done. I replaced the broken spindles and shored up a few more that were very loose. I also did a fix for the left railing, which had come almost completely apart. I found some stainless steel straps and used that to secure the posts and added some more wood supports. Feels stable now, but all the nails holding things together have finally rusted out. It's the same condition that caused us to have the decks replaced.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something but that's all for now.

Can't wait to come down next time.

C

Cliff Spencer, field to studio

205.377.6729 | www.alasaw.com

On Sat, May 28, 2022 at 7:53 AM Thomas Spencer <tspencer@planetbama.com> wrote:

The beach is beautiful and the dunes are looking great. 

Both aire conditioners were frozen up when we arrived. Various electrical circuits were tripped. And one of the morning glory trash cans was under our house filled to the rim with with a delightful stew of trash, chicken bones, soft drink bottles with mysterious contents, maybe a diaper or two. The can couldn't be moved until the water was drained and in the attempt to drain the water, the whole stew poured out onto slab and sand. This is the broken, unloved part of the slab where pools of water form. Dressed in oversized gray gym shorts, crocks and a surgical mask, I mitigated the situation through a combination of sweeping, spraying and splashing Odor Ban, Bleach, and vinegar, until the toxic pools were shallow and only smelled mildly offense. 

Fortunately the night was cool and we slept comfortably without air conditioning.

We hope that when we switch the air back on, it will have defrosted and will function. We'll probably call comfort solutions anyway. 

Oh, there appears to have been stormwater incursion on the upstairs Gulfside west door. The Ye old carpet is a tad wet and smells of mildew, but will dry again.

The Internet is down. The wire box that was once attached to the pole is dangling in the wind, which might have something to do with that. 

I've set up a repair call. They plan to arrive after we leave. I'm not sure the Internet service is worth continuing. I'm using cellular. Not sure how everyone else is set up. Verizon isn't real strong here yet. We should talk about options.

Now for fun. 

TTFN

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