Electronics Get Me Charged Up!!

You may recall this post by the same name from 2009. You can believe I've had other tech problems since then--I just happen to have a great guy (who I have to pay) to handle everything for us now. I cannot say the same for our tech issues at the beach. 

I'll get to those issues on #8 below!!

We came down for a little R&R and a work week. There's always something that needs to be done. This trip, we were checking on our Emerald Beach place, changing light bulbs, checking the wear and tear, etc. We had the same sort of things to do at Santa Rosa along with the repair of two of the three fans, change the furnace filter and other general maintenance issues. To that, I add the cleaning out of the owner's closet and the sandy beach chairs and umbrellas under the bunks.

Once we got here, I started a list of other things we needed to do:

1. Shop for a new tailored, dust ruffle for the master bedroom. This is my first time seeing the new bedding I purchased for all the beds. I'm really happy with everything I picked out.
I didn't like the old dust ruffle with it at all.

2. Replace the potholders and stock up on hand soap, toilet paper, Kleenex, etc.

3. Take old, tired pictures home for either disposal or re-matting. Hang pictures I bought.

4. Remove hutch top from dresser in one of the bedrooms to allow more light in the room.

5. Fix the wood blind that was somehow twisted. That's a whole story in itself!

6. Replace the ugly runner in the hallway and dispose of the old one. 

7. Go through every drawer, cabinet and closet to get rid of junk and take inventory.

8. Figure out the internet and tv's. 

9. Fix two fans

10. Clean out the outside storage closet.

Here's how all of that went:
1. Purchasing a replacement bedskirt should have been simple. Of course, I couldn't just put it on without ironing it. You might remember how I feel about ironing--this is an excerpt from a 2013 post:

Some things have been on my list for absolutely years---like under "cleaning and chores"---I have ironing listed. Who am I kidding? I NEVER iron. I always said that if I wait long enough, the things in the ironing basket will eventually go out of style thus eliminating the need for ironing. The best use of wrinkled clothes is to take them when you travel. Then it just looks like your stuff got wrinkled in your suitcase. You can totally get away with this. If you see a slightly rumpled tourist, that could be me!!

This was for a king bed. I thought I'd never get to the end!

Looks good! Unfortunately, the picture I took didn't show the skirt.

2. Done, simple---well except trying to time the trip to Walmart just right so we wouldn't have to wait in the mega line to get in the store!

3. We moved a couple of pictures around and loaded the rest in the car for either disposal or new mats. I really like the new pictures.

4. Butch didn't want to haul the hutch back to Nashville. So, we arranged for the guy who is going to do some painting for us to take it.

5. Butch messed with the blind and couldn't figure out how it possibly got all messed up.

I started comparing it to another one. It was all screwed up! I had Butch take it down. I was either going to re-string it, or wreck it further. I didn't care---I wanted it fixed!

We laid it out on the table. We ended up having to cut a knot on the bottom. I got to work. About an hour later---and having to "undo" one side, because I made one little mistake---I got it all re-strung.

Unfortunately, by having to cut the cord, it's a little short on one side. Still, it looks better than the mess in the middle. It will do just fine until we decide what we want for the doors.

6. Runner dumped, new welcome mat bought!

7. We got rid of so much junk! Just getting under the bunks to remove all chairs, umbrellas, and other junk that has accumulated there was a major ordeal. Thank goodness Butch has strong knees. There's no way I could have done that---not on that tile floor.

8. Figuring out the tv's was a royal pain. We have a new cable/internet company that is all tied together. Butch is on the board of Gulf Place and had input on the company they selected. Perhaps they could have done a little better job at the research! 

Every company works differently and most are not particularly intuitive. At home, I ended up printing instructions and laminating them for any family or visitors. I can't tell you how many times people have messed up our tv's. 

Butch started with the instructions left by the cable company. OHGosh! There were so many steps. When they offer to send someone out to show you how to use their system, you know it's a problem. Butch ended up calling them out. 

After he had it down, we went through the steps for each tv and DVD player (yes, they are all a little different), so that I could write it all down for each room. He took pictures of all the remotes too. I'll print it all out for each room so people will know what to do. 

A huge issue is that when you go to the guide to see what's on tv, the writing is so tiny that you have to go up to the tv to read it!! OMGosh! Talk about user Unfriendly!!

Personally, I never touch tv's while traveling. They are always a pain to work and the remotes are too germy! 

9. The fans. As it turned out, our repairman stopped by with his wife (our cleaning lady) to look at the paint job. He worked on the one fan right then and there (one less thing for Butch to do). The other fan needed to be replaced. We bought the new one, so "our guy" will install it when he comes to paint.

10. I went with Butch to find out where the outside storage was. I couldn't find it the last time I was there. It's not air conditioned, so it was a hot job. Butch installed a bracket to hang his bike. He managed to make the best use of that space---he keeps a set of golf clubs in there too.

When it was all said and done, there really wasn't much R&R to be had. We accomplished everything we wanted to do. I only walked on the beach once---I got tired of dodging people. I did get to spend an hour at the pool.

We'll go down again in the fall for a real vacation. That will be fun!!