Power Outage & Internet Down

Big news from the Casa Grande Dispatch:

More than 7.000 customers in east Casa Grande woke up Sunday morning to no electrical power.  A "service interruption to a main line" caused a power outage to 7,450 customers for more than three hours in an area stretching from Peart Road to Sunland Gin Road both north and south of Florence Boulevard, according to Arizona Public Service.  The outage began about 4 a.m. and power was restored to most customers by 7:45 a.m., APS said.

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Quite a few of us knew exactly when the power shut down this morning.  When your CPAP machine suddenly quits, you awaken instantly!  LOL  It made for some funny stories anyway.  To add to our woes, the internet was totally down as well.  Electricity came back by 8:00 but the internet was down for several more hours.  Dish was here bright and early to make repairs.....but they couldn't find the source of the problem.  That electrical outing must have fried some internal computer hardware.    Anyway.....we managed to somehow survive the ordeal and we're back up and running.

Gary Lambert is in charge of maintaining our internet system here in the park.  He stopped by to see us this morning and explained that Dish was here but was having difficulty isolating the problem.  Gary explained that when we want to report internet problems outside of normal office hours, we should report the issue to security at the front gate house. (520-371-5860)  Gary keeps in close contact with them and they will have the most current information.  Do not call the Dish 800 number.

I was excited to hear we have a cooling trend for a few days this week with highs back in the double digits.  Yahoo!

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Did you leave food in your freezer while you are away?  There is always the a chance that for some reason the electricity is shut off  by accident, unintentionally left off after construction in the area, or storm outage.  Here is a great tip to use so you know if the power has been off for any length of time.

Put some colored water or juice in a plastic bottle and freeze it.

When you're ready to leave, keep the bottle in the freezer upside down.  When you return and the ice is still at the top, you are assured that the power has been on and your food is safe.

New General Manager!!

Welcome to Scott Houle as our new General Manager for Palm Creek.  I'm sure a formal announcement will be coming from Sun Communities but for now, we welcome him and cheer his arrival.

Scott's wife, Marguarite, will also be joining us as our new Sales Manager.  She and Scott have both been with Sun Communities for a long time so bring much expertise to their new positions here.  

We say "Welcome Aboard!"

Drone Aerial View

Best Western hotel construction site, softball infield.

Main Pool Overview

Work continues on the main pool.

Looks like concrete successfully removed.

Overhead drone shot.

Our maintenance team now has some heavy duty work to get ready for the next phase of putting in the new pavers.  Eddie has to repair any broken pipes left from the concrete work.  John will be repairing and replacing electrical lines that ran through the area.

This one is deep and hard to access.  Good luck, Eddie.

The flower beds are completely gone and will not be replaced.  Irrigation lines were a frequent problem and caused damage to the old kool deck.  

I had to search and search through old photos to find one that showed the flower beds as a reference.  

As I was searching, I stumbled upon pictures from 2012 when the main pool was completely resurfaced.

It will be fun to see what comes next.  Will keep you posted.

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Mouse loves to play fetch with the oddest toys.  This morning he chose to play with a piece of trimming from a shoe insert.  Being "Mouse" he won't choose something normal like a ball or a real cat toy.  He'll keep this up until Don's arm gets tired.

Labor Day Celebration

How do you celebrate Labor Day?  It's usually with friends, fun, and good food.  That's exactly what we did here with the addition of a little luau flare.

Kat and Mouse celebrated with new toys so it was a fun day here too.

First Monsoon Storm of the Summer

I had to laugh when Avis Gray sent me these photos as the time stamp was identical to the photos I took up at the Cottonwood pool.  We were both taking sky photos at the same time.  We were obviously excited to have our first monsoon rain storm of the summer.

From Avis:

Terri Wellman and I were up at the Cottonwood pool for our evening swim.  We watched the sky closely and decided we'd better head for home.

I really really LOVE this pool.

Scott Honodel was out with his camera too.  Here's his contribution.  It looks like the sky is going to collapse!

Don and I sat out on the patio to watch the show.  It was awesome!  No heavy wind so there shouldn't be any damage.  Just wonderful much needed rain!

Golf Course Closing, Ball field schedule

GOLF COURSE CLOSING FOR RESEEDING

From MaryAnn Brown:
   On September 9 all 18 holes will be closed, due to the over seeding of the golf course, and both the front 9 and the back 9 will be open on November the 1st.

Until then we would appreciate if everyone would not use the course until November the 1st.

**Also....The front desk and Activities will be closed both Friday and Monday for a long Labor Day weekend.  The mail room will be open Friday but closed Monday.  Plan accordingly.

Major work on the Softball field is scheduled to start on September 1.  Stay tuned and watch for improvement.

Current field today looks pretty rough!

Loads of special sand have arrived...ready and waiting.

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Kat chasing a mouse.

Main Pool Do Over

Wow.  Looks like the main pool is definitely getting a face lift.  Saw a big concrete contractor there so stopped in to say hello and find out what they were doing.  Say hello to Josh and Hector.

Their task is to remove all the concrete around the whole main pool area and replace it with a new surface. 

All of this concrete will be removed and hauled away for recycling.

We'll have to stop by every day for a while to check on progress.

Meanwhile, more tree trimming continues all around the resort.  The olive trees are really getting pruned back.  Everything looks much different.  Wide open now until the trees grow back.

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Costco now offers free shipping.  Mouse loves their frequent deliveries as it means a new box each week!  

More Lights, RC news, HOT weather

In case you're thinking of returning early to join in on our fun summer activities, our weather forecast looks pretty much the same as usual.  Lots of heat but no rain.  Not one storm in Casa Grande yet this monsoon season!

While on our morning rounds, we spotted John working away near the south laundry so stopped to see what he was up to today.

He is installing new light posts along the curve by the laundromat.

Thank you, John.  He has had the tough duty of installing quite a few of these much appreciated light posts in different places of the park.  

 It was a nice cool 88 degrees this morning and the golf course still looks inviting.

This gent was having an enjoyable practice session.

I received another announcement from the RC flyers club.

Casa Grande RC Flyers Ready For Winter Season

Expecting the return of the club’s winter membership and the areas winter guests, the Casa Grande RC Flyers is preparing for this coming season.  Also, to facilitate the hundreds of visitors who attend the club’s many events, the City Of Casa Grande installed informational directional signage at both Trekell and Arcia roads and Arcia and Isom roads to assist the attendees and new members in finding the clubs award winning airfield.

The club just finished selection a fifth charitable organization to help: The Pets In Need Action League, who assists pet owners unable to afford both food and some medical needs for their pets.  Not only will that charity ask for donations at one of the club’s events, but they will also provide donuts and coffee to members and visitors at some of the club’s major events.  They will be joined by the Casa Grande Food Bank, The Valley Humane Society, The Hospice Charitable Fund and The Boys & Girls Clubs of Casa Grande, all of whom benefit from the club’s activities. 

A couple of the major events this next season include the celebration of National Model Aviation Day on November 9, 2019, The Fly-In For Hospice on January 11, 2020 and the club’s 7^th annual Air Show on March 14, 2020.  A full list of the club’s major events as well as direction to the club’s airfield are on their web site: www.CasaGrandeRCFlyers.com.

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