Rocket Man
Yesterday I did a nice little 4 mile run on the treadmill. It wasn't that long ago that I struggled to reach 3 miles, and lately (probably because I've been mostly running on the road) I feel so good at three miles, I just have to go for four! I'm really glad to see some kind of improvement in my fitness. It is nice to know that I am getting stronger and more physically fit.
This morning I swam another 1600 meters in the pool. I was late getting there, so I really pushed it to make sure I got all 1600 in before my time ran out. Now I'm kind of doubting the wisdom of that since I had planned on plodding out a 10 mile run tomorrow morning. I could put it off til Sunday, but that being Mothers Day, and we are having 15 people out here for a BBQ, I'd better get it done tomorrow. Swimming being upper body and running being lower body, I should be ok.
On to life in the Campground. A lot of our customers are retired folks, here either to spend the summer, attend an event at EWU, visit their kid who is attending EWU, or people passing through on their way to or from a vacation spot. We have 28 RV sites and a large area for tents. So, we get a wide variety of customers, most of whom we welcome.
Every once in a while, the occasional transient will wander in. We've had one here for the last two nights, sleeping in his car. I named him Harry due to his wild curly mop of hair. Sometimes it's hard to tell a persons "situation" by their car, clothing or hygiene. But it never fails, within an hour of their arrival, their behavior gives them away.
Harry, when he's not walking laps around the campground road, spends most his time sitting at picnic benches in sites other than his. This is actually preferable to his walking around, since he has a large hole in the back of his pants. He's gotta go.
We once had a guy living in a hole in the ground on the property next to us. (Which happens to be a cemetery. We should have filled the hole in, he would have fit right in with the other residents of the property!) He had spent a several days hanging out here and then we'd send him on his way. Next day, we'd see him back, and we'd send him off again. Come to find out, he was using our restrooms and then going back to his little nest in the ground. We finally had to ban him from the property and then called the Police when we caught him back again. After all that, the cop tried to talk me in to letting the guy camp under a picnic table if he promised to pay. What? Get him out of here!
The best though, was Rocket Man. We caught this guy in the shower room one night. It was very cold out, so when he propped the door open and cranked on the hot water, the steam billowing out of the room was pretty obvious. When I went to investigate, I noticed he had pulled out the rug, the bathmats, the deck mats that line the shower floors and the garbage can and had it all sitting outside the shower room. He told me later that he couldn't be near anything plastic. Ummm, ok... whatever!
I decided to sit at a picnic table and keep an eye on him since the campground was pretty full, and there were several children in the close vicinity. When he finished his shower, he dressed partially in the shower room and partially outside the door. (I guess the plastic fumes were getting to him?) I proceeded to watch him wrap his body with tin foil prior to putting his clothes on. Stomach, chest then head. Over the foil on his head went a milk jug with the bottom cut out. I remember it being a plastic gallon jug. I guess the tin foil must have protected him from the plastic? I didn't ask. Over the milk jug went a stocking cap. He had kind of a cone head which must be why I named him Rocket Man. After putting the shower room back together, he left.
I think it was after that that we quit allowing the "general public" access to our showers. The owners before us allowed it, and we never felt the need to change it, until Rocket Man. The few dollars that we made was never worth the hassle or headache.
Now the restrooms and showers are for Camping Customers Only... but yes, we still get the occasional Harry.
This morning I swam another 1600 meters in the pool. I was late getting there, so I really pushed it to make sure I got all 1600 in before my time ran out. Now I'm kind of doubting the wisdom of that since I had planned on plodding out a 10 mile run tomorrow morning. I could put it off til Sunday, but that being Mothers Day, and we are having 15 people out here for a BBQ, I'd better get it done tomorrow. Swimming being upper body and running being lower body, I should be ok.
On to life in the Campground. A lot of our customers are retired folks, here either to spend the summer, attend an event at EWU, visit their kid who is attending EWU, or people passing through on their way to or from a vacation spot. We have 28 RV sites and a large area for tents. So, we get a wide variety of customers, most of whom we welcome.
Every once in a while, the occasional transient will wander in. We've had one here for the last two nights, sleeping in his car. I named him Harry due to his wild curly mop of hair. Sometimes it's hard to tell a persons "situation" by their car, clothing or hygiene. But it never fails, within an hour of their arrival, their behavior gives them away.
Harry, when he's not walking laps around the campground road, spends most his time sitting at picnic benches in sites other than his. This is actually preferable to his walking around, since he has a large hole in the back of his pants. He's gotta go.
We once had a guy living in a hole in the ground on the property next to us. (Which happens to be a cemetery. We should have filled the hole in, he would have fit right in with the other residents of the property!) He had spent a several days hanging out here and then we'd send him on his way. Next day, we'd see him back, and we'd send him off again. Come to find out, he was using our restrooms and then going back to his little nest in the ground. We finally had to ban him from the property and then called the Police when we caught him back again. After all that, the cop tried to talk me in to letting the guy camp under a picnic table if he promised to pay. What? Get him out of here!
The best though, was Rocket Man. We caught this guy in the shower room one night. It was very cold out, so when he propped the door open and cranked on the hot water, the steam billowing out of the room was pretty obvious. When I went to investigate, I noticed he had pulled out the rug, the bathmats, the deck mats that line the shower floors and the garbage can and had it all sitting outside the shower room. He told me later that he couldn't be near anything plastic. Ummm, ok... whatever!
I decided to sit at a picnic table and keep an eye on him since the campground was pretty full, and there were several children in the close vicinity. When he finished his shower, he dressed partially in the shower room and partially outside the door. (I guess the plastic fumes were getting to him?) I proceeded to watch him wrap his body with tin foil prior to putting his clothes on. Stomach, chest then head. Over the foil on his head went a milk jug with the bottom cut out. I remember it being a plastic gallon jug. I guess the tin foil must have protected him from the plastic? I didn't ask. Over the milk jug went a stocking cap. He had kind of a cone head which must be why I named him Rocket Man. After putting the shower room back together, he left.
I think it was after that that we quit allowing the "general public" access to our showers. The owners before us allowed it, and we never felt the need to change it, until Rocket Man. The few dollars that we made was never worth the hassle or headache.
Now the restrooms and showers are for Camping Customers Only... but yes, we still get the occasional Harry.
posted by Barb at 9:07 AM
1 Comments:
That's HORRIFYING!!! Rocket Man sounds like a complete freak!!! I'm impressed that you simply sat and watched the show - I would've been on the phone to the sheriff pretty quick...but good call on changing the rules!!!
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