Thursday, April 14, 2022

 There is a 12% to 58% chance and everything in between - of rain for the next 15 days.

There is no chance of work being done at the property with all of that going on.  The contractor did say he wants to meet out there again - I changed my plan of which he immediately agreed was a better idea. (So why he didn't just suggest it in the first place I have no idea, I asked him that if he saw a better way, please let me know). 

The plan is simply to move much further back the location of where the first RV sites will go.  That way, it will be much more level. The front portion can eventually be leveled out either by hauling in a lot more dirt or scraping it down from the high side over to the low side with a two tiered park, the lower tier at the front and the higher tier at the back.  

This will allow for me to install "premium" sites at the front and simply charge twice as much.  A premium site being a site twice as large as the regular site, something like 80X80 with more amenities (such as a built in dog run where people can just put them out in it and not have to have them on a leash all the time) - perhaps natural gas run BBQ grill, larger fire pit, picnic table with a permanent canopy and charge a lot more for them.  

Give me 10 of those sites at $65 per night X 30 nights - do the math.  The rear of the park having smaller sites - but definitely not small by industry standards.  Up the number of total sites to 70, be done with it, live happily ever after, or so the fairy tale goes lol.

The plan for this park has evolved since it's inception where I'm buying property and wondering about all kinds of things. I have more confidence now that I have done ample research and even if I continue to change the plan, it isn't a daunting task that leaves me wondering if I'm making the right decision. In wanting level lots to start with and not having to spend a fortune to get them level, there is definitely nothing wrong with that and a prudent business decision, IMO.  

The idea of having it opened for the summer has gone out the window.  I'm thinking it will be summer before they can even do the dirt work.  It's going to sit there like that until then and there's nothing I can do about it, excepting I might contact a new start up business I saw on the Interstate that rents out heavy equipment. I would love to just get the lot graded smooth.  Nothing about the dirt work they want to do, just make it level and have a better idea about level lots.  

But it's probably a waste of money and I should probably just bide my time.  Heavy equipment rentals are extremely expensive and every place I contacted either don't have bulldozers or won't rent to an inexperienced operator.  

See, my mind hasn't completely departed from this project, but, I can't really dwell on it now that it's completely stalled with no start up date in sight. Mother Nature is in control of that. What I can say is that when I see a swath of enough days for drying and after that at least 3 days they can work the dirt with no rain, I'm going to be blowing up this dude's phone.  When are you coming? Have you seen the weather forecast?  Please bring your equipment, let's get moving with this.  I will want a firm commitment that he's coming for if he doesn't, I will immediately contact another company whose phone number I already have and whose owner I have already spoken with.

As for my pay? It finally showed up.  The payroll department insists they sent out a check on Monday.  Well that's funny because it's Thursday and it isn't anywhere in sight.  The second one they sent out yesterday and it arrived last night.  That's the way it always works and I don't believe they actually sent out the first one.  I think they made a mistake and are just trying to cover their @$$ by lying about it.  

I can tell ya that yesterday, I was discussing with the dispatcher about quitting. Not a threat against her, per se, but this stuff went on entirely too long and there was entirely too much pay at stake, the whole ordeal with 3 runs, all 3 of them longer runs, over $4,000 worth in total.  My manager wasn't particularly happy with me as my attitude degraded with time and nothing getting done, ie: my money actually showing up in my bank account.  I didn't care, either, I was ready to quit and frankly still thinking about it.  

It wouldn't be near as devastating to me as they think it would be if I showed up to work, they handed me walking papers and I had to clean out my truck and go home without a job.  I'm not going to sit here and say I would be happy about it, losing a job isn't normally a happy thing - tho the Ferguson ordeal and getting out of that, tough as it was to quit, I was extremely happy after I got away from it and confirmed how much abusive treatment that manager was doling out.  This one I wouldn't be quite so happy for the sole fact of the amount of money I am making at this job.  The caveat is, of course, that actually have to get paid the money and it actually has to land in your bank account for it to do you any good.  Fighting constantly over detention and breakdown pay gets very, very old. 

I just put in for next month off a couple of days to go to the High School Reunion.  I should have done it sooner, but it slipped my mind. Not a big deal if I can't go.  We are definitely set to go to Galveston Beach in July, I have the dates marked as off for working.  5 days, I'm taking more than just the vacation off. I always forget to add an extra day after vacation is over and we are home for recuperation and getting my mind into work frame of thinking - which is becoming and increasingly hard thing to do.

This is day two off. Well yesterday was half day off and all of today - the 70 hour clock was down to 8 hours and 3 minutes.  There is absolutely nothing you can do with that small amount of hours excepting to go load a trailer or even two.  This dispatcher rarely has anyone doing that anymore.  It is a good tool, tho, if you are short drivers but you need the loads to show that they have been taken on the board with both the chemical plant and the plant it's going to.  It can sit in the yard a day until a driver becomes available to take it.  

I am home with the 5 year old, who is being a bit cranky. Mommy went to an Ambassador function - it's a thing she does with the city and goes to events to help host them.  Volunteer type work.  She's been doing it for a couple of years now?  

I dunno, but this boy is going to get out of here and outdoors if he keeps it up.  The dogs need walked and I don't care if this kid is afraid of Siren Head, Cartoon Cat and Bendy.  Those are all scary, fictional cartoon type characters of which he believes are real and he also believes they live on my property and are roaming about it, looking to eat humans.  If I take my small 9mm pistol and show it to him, I can tell him I will kill Siren Head (again, this is a fictional cartoon character that does not exist in real life, no need reporting this blog lmao) if I see  him and I will keep  him (the boy) safe.  

I did that once before and it actually worked.  he feels if I have my "shoot gun", he will be safe.  I feel like my dogs could take down Siren Head lol.  

Both of these kids treat me like a parent, even tho I have repeatedly told them I am not mom or dad and I certainly had nothing to do with their inception LOL.  Doesn't matter to them, I have been here all of their lives, l am a part of their family regardless of how I see it.  I do feel like I'm a part of the family, I'm just not a "parental unit" and don't want to be.  I don't mind watching them, at all, when the real parents have other things to do, but in the end, those boys are their responsibility and they do take that responsibility quite seriously.  It's just funny to me these kids think I am a part of that equation.  I do get on their cases whenever they are disobeying or showing their age reflection of rebellion and disobedience. 

Well, winding this one down. It's Thursday, highly likely I will be sent out tomorrow.  My wish? Get sent out on a 3 day run and get home in time on Sunday to enjoy Easter dinner.  The reality? I have no idea.  Well, my real wish is that I would somehow get Easter day off and enjoy it with the family and help cook a feast - I have 4 prime rib roasts in the freezer and one of them is coming out of it for the dinner whether I'm here or not.  If not, I can always enjoy leftovers when I get home.  I far-more-often-than-not get dumped with working on holidays, I don't usually ask for them off, I just hope that it works out that I get at least a few off.  I got lucky both Thanksgiving and Christmas in that department.  

The boy is getting dressed.  He wants to go to Waffle House.  I will not take him unless agrees to and actually engages in a walk in the woods.  IF he does that, I will post a live video of it once we get back in there.  He will start talking about Siren Head  - you'll just have to look it up if you don't know what it is, but basically it's a walking tornado type siren monster.  It has a bone structure that is very tall, as tall as trees and it has sirens for a head. The sirens have mouths inside of them and they bite off the heads of humans, discarding the body and apparently swallowing the human head.  Yup, I figure someone high and on drugs thought up of that one.  Hallucinogens may have had a part of dreaming that thing up. And then it morphed into all kinds of other "heads", such as light head which is also a tall, pole like creature that has street lights as a head instead of sirens.  

Weight loss has been slow this time around.  I've been faithful to the diet, I just let it go too long and had too much fat to get rid of.  I don't intend on cheating until vacation - or the High School reunion if I go.  That will entail flying out the day of the reunion, going that evening, staying over night, going the next evening, it's a two day event, and then flying home the next day, hopefully finding time to visit some folks while I'm there.  If not, I won't be cheating on the diet again until July.  Yes, I can make it that far, I have been doing this diet for 2-1/2 years now.  It's really just a way of life at this point.  

With that, I'm going to find out what this boy wants to do. If hiking, we are leaving. If not, I'm making breakfast!

G'day


 Friday late-morning Typical morning when there is no work.  It was, I should say, until the new guy called.  "There's nothing wron...