Towing opportunity dissolved before my very eyes. Because I don't live in Shreveport, he can't use me.  He said he would contact his buddy in Texas that also has a wrecker operation.  I was seriously considering this as an opportunity to do something different and be home all the time, basically, or at least very close to home while at work.  I offered that I would stay in Shreveport while I am on duty, but apparently that wasn't good enough for him.  He wouldn't explain why I had to live over there, I only guessed that the reason is because they need people that are close to the yard to be available quickly for calls.  I could have rented a room over there - plenty of them available - for minimal cost. Heck, I could have rented a house and rented out rooms in the house - huge need for that as well - and have the house pay for itself. 

But, whatever. Back to square one and still looking for a local trucking job.  Towing almost always wants you to have experience before they will consider you. I've always wondered about certain industries where they want you to have experience. How do you get experience if they won't train you?  Lol.  What I'm doing now I never thought I'd get into because all of the companies I had contacted said they wanted 4, 5 whatever amount of tanker and hazmat experience before they'd hire me. I just got lucky this company hires anyone with tractor-trailer experience and will train anyone willing to learn. 

There was no equipment brought to the property, not yet anyway and with a forecast of potential tornadoes and definitely rain, I suspect he won't be having it brought over until later this week, at best. I was looking to see where a pond would go and I thought, well, it's kind of hard to determine that without the lots being mapped out first.  I think I know where I would want to put one tho. 

Yesterday, I was speaking with someone who said they have a friend who is moving to our town, but is staying in an RV temporarily. He said the guy couldn't find any spaces available in any of the RV parks in town and had to park at a place 30 plus miles away.  

The idea of having longer stays is interesting, but comes nowhere near the amount of revenues that overnights/short stays gives.  I might get away with $350 to $400 per month on monthly rates plus electricity, I can potentially make $900 per month on the same lot doing overnights.  I'd really like to get someone to move in there as a workamper who just has to greet new arrivals, clean up the lots when the guests leave and deal with any emergencies that might arise. It would eat up one lot space worth of monthly rent (and possibly still cost me money in paying a small paycheck), but it would at least have someone on site at all or most times.  

Whatever the case, I was just sent tomorrow's work dispatch. Ohio. Gag, another long run after getting back from one. And this run typically takes 4 days - well 3 full days and a 4th partial day. Simply because the plant will not unload the truck when you get up there, they make you wait until the next morning.  I think it's ridiculous that we are told we have to wait up there and not necessarily get detention pay. That company orders the product in advance, they know we will have to wait but they aren't expected to pay?  Very rarely they will have their tank empty AND someone there to offload it.  

I despise this run, lol.  Indiana is not a pleasant state to drive through.  The rest of the trip isn't bad, but Indianapolis is yucky and Indiana forces trucks to stay in the right lane on the Interstates. It's a lot of driving at slower speeds.  Almost guaranteed I will stay at the Super 8 down the road from the plant - I'm not a big fan of sitting around in a truck for anywhere from 14 to 18 hours depending on when I get up there. The super 8 is the only thing there that is under $100 and is at least half decent.  The rest of them are $139 and up.  There is a Buffalo Wild Wings right there, I love their wings and I can sit there for a few hours.  The only way I won't stay in a hotel is if I can get unloaded immediately or if something happens on the way up or at the loading plant and I don't get up there until late on Wednesday.  Last time, I got up there at noon and they didn't unload me until almost 24 hours later.

And finally, my credit score should be shooting way back up any day now.  I had no idea that going over 30% on any single card would affect your credit score that much. My understanding was it was 30% of your overall credit usage, which I am nowhere near using.  So, my Sears/Discover card I used to buy the desk?  It has a small credit limit at $3,250, which I didn't realize to begin with and using it to buy the desk took it up to almost 40% of it's credit usage.  I paid that card well down into the low 100's range and checked the rest of them to make sure I am not near or over 30% on any of the rest.  It was close on one and it's due date was tomorrow - so I paid it down $500 to make sure it isn't anywhere near that 30% threshold.

Just when you thought you had learned as much as you needed to know about credit scores, bam! and it hits you with something you didn't know about.  It's not clearly stated on any of the sites I have read, hence my confusion.  Live and learn.  The Sears card payment is due tomorrow, so they should be sending out where it's now at in the next few days.  I am going to need good credit down the road if I end up needing another loan to finish the start up and definitely if I'm going to get a much larger loan down the road to do a - huge- upgrade to the park.  Half a million would work.  Clubhouse with an attached hotel (small), the lake in the rear, the swimming pool and whatever else to make it more of a resort and a destination place.  Some "glamping" sites and around 55 sites.  It would create the potential for over 70 grand per month in gross receipts.  

Around 5 grand per month payments, I could go full time into the RV business and leave the rest of the corporate world behind.  It may sound lofty, but currently, a large loan in a year or two after I get the park up and running is my goal.  I could also have a custom house built in the rear 15 acres and simply live on the property.  Taking "my" family with me, lol.  Stake out 2 acres right near the rear of the property, clear it, put in a road, build the house, walaah.  I really do have "sky is the limit" vision for this place.  Banks will loan the money if they think it's a viable operation and a government backed loan will only help to fortify a bank's assessment of it.  I do plan on starting on the process of coming up with plans and blueprints, costs and projected income of such a much larger operation after I get the park going.  And there is a possibility of buying property next door - they are doing nothing with it and there is something like 25 acres of unused land with towering pines that were never harvested such as the situation with my property.  

Anyway, that is what goes through my mind as I continue to wait on the contractor to get this stuff done.  I just have to get this thing going!

G'day.  

 Almost guaranteed change of plan with that pond situation.  It never really crossed my mind to have a smaller version of one up front, just seemed like I would need all of that space for RV lots and amenities. But, a pond is an amenity in and of itself.  A water feature, right there.  

Speaking of that, I just texted the contractor.  I need some sort of confirmation they're coming this week - tho it's supposed to rain today and tomorrow, probably won't come til' after that is over with.  I also received my new "No Parking" signs replete with a tow away notice. Sound harsh? Well whatever, it's my property and I don't want that truck parked over there, period, end of story.  It's a nuisance both for tearing up the driveway and ugly.  At least if it was parked on the other side of their house it wouldn't stick out so much and wouldn't be destroying the driveway as well.

Heading over there in a few, whether the contractor says he's coming or not.  I want to take a look at where I might be able to sneak in a pond - probably right in the middle of where the RV's will be and have some pads encircling it.  

I'm not saying I want pads around it at the beginning, I don't have the money for more pads and I am still a go with using the existing driveway and setting up the first 14 pads in the fashion I already spoke about in previous entries.  What I could do is have that pond right there at the end of those pads with about a 25 foot wide driveway around it and create a grassy area somewhere next to it replete with a picnic table and a fire ring.  Preferably with a tree - which might cause me to think about locating it closer to the west side and have some trees for afternoon shade.  

The reason I want to go over there today is to get a real look at what something like a 75X100 foot pond would look like set up on the site.  Well, maybe not quite that big, 50X75?  I haven't decided that yet, hence the need to go over there and take some measurements and see what I can come up with.  It will be a streamless pond, meaning there is no fresh water source excepting if the water table is high enough (which it mostly is in this region) fresh water will seep up from the ground below it.  Just have to dig down into the clay.  It will need a fresh water source beyond whatever comes up from the ground tho, I'll have to have that well drilled as well.  

My walking trails will still be created through the rear of the property, giving people that want some exercise a good bit of distance they can cover, perhaps go around several times if they are really fitness gurus.  But, people just like to stroll as well, take their doggies for walks, etc.  It will create additional cleanup.  As far as I can see it, any park that allows dogs is also a park that has problems with owners not cleaning up the dog dung, even if you provide ample dog cleaning posts with a scooper, plastic bags and a trash can.  

I'd be inclined to tell those people to leave if I caught them doing it.  I still need to write up my rules, but it's a ways off so I'm kind of just getting ideas right now.  A lot of these parks have their rules right on their websites, many of the top priority rules are all the same, perhaps worded differently but the same idea.  No loud music/noise after 10 pm kind of thing.  That's a biggie - quiet time 10pm - 8 am or 7am, it's going to be one of those.  People like the quiet time, they complain about it not being enforced.  I envision an area with perhaps a canopy -down the road when I can get some more money together - that's well away from the RV sites where people can hang out after hours, enjoy a fire and do whatever, drinking probably.  I don't care if people drink, I just don't want flaming drunks creating disturbances and that will also be written into the rules.  

I struggle with amenities, because if I didn't want to install some or all of that right off the bat, I could have more spaces installed.  A septic system for more spaces will cost significantly more, because you of course need larger vaults and more pipe.  Oh how I wish the city also had sewer lines running through there.  Electricity is running about $2,300 per site.  Costs obviously adding up, I can just do what I can do.  At minimum there will be a dog park, walking trails and laundry.  I will also try to invent some way to sell pre-packaged firewood bundles for campers that want to have fires but didn't bring wood with them. 

If there is going to be anyone present there, it's going to be a very short amount of afternoon hours at first and I suspect there will be days when there is no one actually manning anything besides a cleaning lady coming in to clean the bathrooms if I can actually find a way to fund a decent bathroom setup.  Maybe 2 showers and that's it to start out with.  My mind says bigger is better, my wallet says no thanks.  I've scaled down my thinking on a few things that will cost too much to do with available finances and not taking out another loan. 

Another loan may be inevitable, but at least try to keep it a lower amount, no more than 20 grand. 

Weight loss: Still going. Down to 212 this morning.  Not substantial amount but the fact that is is still going down is what is important to me.  My gut is definitely starting to shrink - took a while to see that kind of result but I can now tell I've lost some fat.  I don't know why I let myself go like this, a bit ridiculous on my part.  Just eat whatever you want@! lmao Everyone knows the inevitable outcome of that particular scenario if you do it long enough lol

There. Spent the money on this new desk, spending the money on a leather desk top mat and natural wood coasters to protect the finish.  And with that, off to the property and then  - still have to build that wall desk, lol. We did other things yesterday, no work for me today.  Pretty glad too, other drivers are sending texts and pics of the loading plant. A long line backed up just to get into the plant and the scale house is running slow again, meaning sitting there forever waiting on paperwork.

G'day. 

 3 days worth of grueling driving over with as of last night.  Uneventful trip - that's the way I want them to go.  Just drive drive drive. 

Well I take that back. One accident after another after another after another yesterday.  2 of them huge traffic backups that took quite a while to get through.  I had extra minutes because I drove as far as I could before running out of time the night before.  That extra 50 minutes saved me, otherwise I would not have been coming home today.

But after thinking about it, coming home today would have been better.  It would have given me half of today off and all of tomorrow.  I'm on a 34 hour reset, but it will be done by 6 am tomorrow morning.  The other thing that may happen is that Mondays are usually doled out on Fridays, so there may not be any work Monday. All I need is an Oklahoma or Brownsville trip to go with the WV trip and my paycheck is set for the next pay period 2 weeks from now.  

Anyway, besides the two major accidents there were at least a dozen smaller ones.  Don't normally see that many accidents in one day's worth of driving.

I had replied to a local wrecker operator about a potential job with them. Are you local, regional or what?  I could learn the trade and be home after every shift.  I never heard back from them, instead, their competitor saw my comment and got into my Facebook inbox. We have been talking ever since. He is willing to train me - which is quite the undertaking, there is a lot to the business of towing large trucks. I have watched them endlessly while they have hooked mine up and hauled them off.

It's something I have always wanted to learn.  I'm getting a bit old to start something new, but this is trucking and I know how to unhook U-Joints and such.  You have to remove the drive shaft before towing a big truck.  There's a lot I don't know, but when he said the weekly paychecks are between $1,500 and $3,000 he definitely got my interest.  I flat out informed him I am building my own business and what kind it is, but it won't allow for me to quit working a regular job and just do that for probably years to come.  I haven't made up my mind, yet, I need a minute to think about it.

This coming week, the contractor is allegedly coming back to do the bulldozer work. Actually a bulldozer, a trackhoe and at least one dump truck.  The track hoe will be used to dig out a hole near the rear of the property.

I have also had a new thought about the design.  Instead of a pond way in the back, why not have one in the RV section?  It doesn't need to be huge and it would be a water feature right there for them to see and enjoy.  Yes, it would be much smaller, but I could still stock it with certain fish.  

I could literally have a small lake built in the rear later on when my ship comes in and I have "unlimited" money.  Lmao.  If I have a pond installed, I am also having a well dug for water. I will not pay the city the amount of money it would cost to fill up a pond or a lake.  A couple of thousand dollars for a well and a pump.  The water table is high here, they don't have to go down maybe one hundred feet if that to hit water. 

I dunno, but I just thought it a better idea to start with a pond in the front - I have plenty of room for a small version of one and it would be a neat attraction.  Nature's Design is the them, that is definitely something you find in nature. 

Today? My final piece of furniture arrived to finish my room project.  It's a wall console, they call it, I just call it a wall table. It's like 12 inches deep, 3 feet tall and 42 inches wide. It's for the stuff I need to have directly under my TV - the gaming console and the satellite receiver - and other things.  It has 2 nice, glass paned doors on the small cupboards and some drawers.  It's a project, yes, I have to put it together.  So I'm sitting here thinking about it, lol. Been putting stuff away all morning long, trying to get everything over and done with.  After that is done, I move my bed and finally, the end.  

Anyway, I sit here in hope that the contactor is actually going to show up this coming week and that he will show up earlier in the week versus later. It's a 3 day project at most and then I can stake out my lots and then - get the utilities installed. This is all holding me up from moving forward.  

The building I was wanting to buy? I saw the thing by chance driving through a town going down to Brownsville. I had known it was in that town but I didn't know where. Very small. Too small. It would only be big enough to maybe put a couple of showers in or laundry, but certainly not both.  It looked much bigger from the pictures.  For 15k, no thanks.  I can get a 12X32 for 12k - but then it needs all the interior.  

I'm actually looking for a used one, still in good condition, that has had a good, decent interior job done on it, not needing anything but perhaps additional electrical outlets and 2, small bathrooms built.  In other words, the walls and the flooring have already been installed. That would save a lot of time and money.  I found one a week ago, but the person selling it wouldn't send me interior pics of it and I wasn't going to drive 40 miles to see it without at least seeing pics of everything first. The price was right, the exterior looked good, but still.  

No huge rush. I suspect it will be months before they get the utilities installed and I don't even know if they have the pedestals yet.  They should have them, I really need to call that electrician and find out this coming week. There is a huge demand for them, we are still under supply chain issues and it's 2 to 3 months out to get them. I want them to buy them now, as I have already authorized and they said they would. Never heard any word back.  

Anyway, once they finish the dirt work I'm going to design a small pond and see what he'll charge to dig it out.  Preferably before they move the equipment, they'll need all of it to haul off the extra dirt.  I'll need a place to dump it.  

++++++++++++++++++++

Standing down. The cracked screen turned out to be nothing more than a damaged screen saver. It truly looked like a cracked screen. Taylor was looking at it today and said, umm, no, it looks like it's just the screen saver.  Huh? And sure enough, she took the screen saver off and walaah. My brand new phone still intact.  Went to Verizon after a Chili's visit and they put a new one on it.  

No work tomorrow. No work sent, no work taken.  Research into RV parks ongoing. As always. I take a break here and there and then I fire it back up.  

Talks with the wrecker service company owner ongoing.  Not sure if that's going to actually lead to a job.  He wanted to know if I live in Shreveport - no, I live 40 miles away.  I can stay in Shreveport tho for any shift. I mean, I'm out on the road for days, I work 12 to 16 hour shifts, this isn't going to be anything new to me. It's the only job that actually pays anything that I have had come along since I started looking.  The pay would be equivalent to, perhaps a bit less or even more than I am making now.

Winding down. Hoping to see something going on at the property tomorrow.  This contractor is doing his best to give me the lowest pricing he can give. He works my stuff in.  I could get someone else out there to do this stuff and it would cost significantly more.  As long as he doesn't blow me off perpetually, I'm going to stick with it.