The lower winter tides have exposed the mitigation site oyster bed. This oyster bed is probably the primary reason that we catch reds in the pond. It is interesting that the oyster bed appears to have moved at least 15 feet toward the crossbridge since last year. Jerry finally got the golfcart going again. The hard to find replacement starter was located in Atlanta. We had been out of a cart for two months. The shop where we purchased the cart told us it was not economically repairable. The had the cart for over a month.
Below Jim(210) shows the largest(22 inches) of three trout he caught on lures this afternoon at Cavazos Creek. The cooler weather has made the trout more difficult to find.

The shutoff valve to the well water rusted off. We have been using pliers to turn it on and off. Last week, we had a buried pipe start leaking. Jerry was able to repair two problems with one fix. He repaired the underground leak by bridging up and then installing a shutoff valve. I think that's called two birds with one stone.
I've had several comments about the lack of folks renting right now. I looked forward to January and there appears to be a good number of condos without winter Texans this year. I remember years past when we had a waiting list. Not sure what happened, but like Yogi says, "You can't make them stay away if they don't want to come."
Last week was some of the coldest weather is some time. I checked Smartmetertexas.com and I saw that I used 200kwh on each of the coldest days. It's not a coincidence that the usage was the same. I had the thermostat set at 69 degrees, but the heat ran non stop. So I guess the maximum usage will never exceed 200kwh in a day. Of course, that does translate to $20 per day. At least this week went back to normal temperatures.

Check this out. Now we know where all the reds disappeared to.

http://youtu.be/uzsdNsmCVfs

 The most recent days could be considered the ladder days. First, this ladder washes up attached to a 12 x12 20 foot post that came from who knows where. There were only three lags bolts holding it to the post. Jerry removed those and we pondered what to do with this nice galvanized ladder. Jerry attached the base  that was behind the shop left over from a previous job that didn't work out last year.

 Jerry then mounted the ladder on the middle of the crossbridge. I have seen four people fall into the marina from the bridge over the years and this will provide a way for such folks to extricate themselves from the water. Jerry shows here how sturdy it is. At lower tides it could be used to step from a boat to the bridge.

 Ernie and Judy(guests in 303) brought their own ladder with them again this year. It helps them to get in and out of their boat.

While we were thinking about ladders, Jerry helped out those of us who like to hunt for flounder by building and installing this short ladder on the breakwater. The water here is less than a foot deep, but it is a big step down to step from the concrete wall. The cold temperatures and murky water has not allowed much floundering recently.

Signs were coming down today at First Victoria Bank. This was their last day of operations. Prosperity Bank has bought them out and will close this location to operate out of the Prosperity building one half block away.

The cold weather blew through here about 1 pm yesterday. Vic(712) was trying to get some fishing in about 45 minutes before the front hit. I told him these conditions were almost identical to those three weeks ago when I found some fish in the HEB pond from the causeway side. He went over and caught a five keeper mix of trout and reds before the weather chased him away. It was a good day according to him.

Two more three bedroom owners have told me they are planning to sell there condos, but have not yet listed with a realtor. If anyone is looking for one, let me know.
Chris and Karra are again owners of 404.

 The concrete cap on the bulkhead behind the 100 building continues to break apart. We replaced part of it last year and now the section just south of that is coming apart. The rebar inside the concrete rusts and swells and breaks open the concrete.  Eventually, the separated section falls into the bay.

The pipe that supports the tennis court net finally rusted off this weekend and needed to be replaced. JR checked it out this morning and made a call to a friend who came right out to pick up the old one for measurement purposes. He came back within the hour with this new pipe. He cut the eyebolts off the old post and welded them to the new post.  Here Jerry is installing the new post. There just are not many repairs that JR doesn't know just the person to call and things immediately get fixed.

I did have my flounder from Ralph and Cheryl grilled at Alice Faye's yesterday, but I had to take almost half back in a take home box. It was just as good for lunch today.

These three white pelicans seem to have staked out our wall for their feeding area this week. I'm not sure what the single brown pelican is doing hanging with these white ones. It could be that this brown one cannot see to dive for his food and is depending on these white ones to locate the food and will then share in the bounty. Brown pelicans often die of starvation since their preferred method of diving for food leads to blindness from the impacts with the water.  The white pelicans feed by cooperating with each other to herd the bait into a small area and then launching their attach from the water instead of from the air.

Ralph and Cheryl(101) had a good floundering trip Monday evening. They got their limit in two hours. The flounder have not been plentiful here yet, but have gathered near Port Aransas for their winter migration into the Gulf. Ralph and Cheryl did generously share their take with Ardath(102) and me. I'm taking mine to Alice Faye's today. I would have gone yesterday, but Alice Faye's is closed on Tuesdays. I believe I will have mine mesquite grilled.

Not a bad idea!

Dog-doo scofflaws get bagged through DNA testing

BRAINTREE, Mass. (AP) — Apartment and condo managers, dogged by complaints from those who've experienced the squishy and smelly sensation of stepping onto a pile of dog doo, are turning to DNA testing to identify the culprits who don't clean up after their pets.

It's the latest twist in the long-running struggle to keep canine waste off lawns, hallways, elevators and other common areas of animal-friendly community buildings.

DNA monitoring has yielded immediate and dramatic results in the condominium community of Devon Wood, where maintenance staff previously reported seeing, stepping onto or driving over several piles of droppings each week on its 350-acre property.

"We initially didn't — for a better part of a month — didn't find any waste, which just floored us," said Barbara Kansky, who manages the 398-unit condo development in the town of Braintree that introduced DNA monitoring in July.

Polite reminders, letters and notices previously failed to persuade errant pet owners to observe condo rules requiring them to clean up after their animals, Kansky said. There were problems even after residents reported seeing others failing to pick up their dog's messes.

"We would call or send a letter and that dog owner would say: 'Prove it,'" Kansky said.

So she searched online and found Knoxville, Tenn.-based BioPet Vet Lab, which specializes in testing DNA from dog poop to identify offending animals. BioPet has beefed up its staff with more scientists to meet demand for what Eric Mayer, director of business development, calls "a booming, growing, new product," and has started distributing throughout the U.S. and into Canada, Israel and Singapore in the past two years.

The service, branded PooPrints, is a very simple, Mayer said.

The first step is to register the DNA of all dogs in the community by collecting samples of their cheek cells using a pair of sterile swabs, Mayer said in an email. The second is to collect a sample of feces and send it to the lab for matching.

An attorney advised Kansky that condo trustees could enforce existing condo rules by requiring all dog owners to submit their animals for collection of DNA samples. Dog owners paid a one-time fee of $59.95 for the initial DNA testing for the database. Subsequent lab tests of dog droppings that end up identifying the offending animal result in a $50 testing fee plus a $100 fine.

So far, one resident dog has been identified as an offender.

Kerry Weidner, a pet owner in Devon Wood, says the service has transformed life at the sprawling complex.

"We used to see dog poop almost every other day. You had to worry about where you walk on the grass because there was dog poop, a lot of different places," Weidner said. "Now, you don't really have to worry about dog poop. You can walk where you want, the grass is now ours again, we don't have to worry about it, and that's just a great thing."

Now, Kansky said, residents want her to solve another problem.

"We've now had people say: 'Well, now can we get them to stop having their dogs lift their legs on the shrubs?'" Kansky said, smiling. "That's a little more difficult and we are not going to tackle that.

Ray Luna sent these pictures and story.

Scott and I rang in the flounder season without delay at midnight on December 1st and the conditions could not have been better.  The light winds made the water as clear as I've ever seen it in the bay, and that made the visibility incredible.  Here are some pictures I was able to snap of the numerous black drum we encountered.  We ended the night with three very nice sized flounder and great memories as always!  The next pic shows Esai using the trolling motor to get us into position to try and hook some of the black drum that Scott and I had seen the night before.  Unfortunately, the drum didn't get the memo!