Doctor visit over.  I filled out a bunch of paperwork for new patient and they got me in shortly after that.  The doc was cool, I'll give him that.  We were joking about all kinds of things non-medical related.  He stood there in front of a laptop and was inputting all kinds of info as he was asking me questions. I was quite candid about everything. 

He left and then came the part about blood. The doc had informed them I needed to lay down - that was the caveat, I'm either laying down or I'm not giving blood.  So what does the nurse do? Takes me into the "lab" and upon entrance, saw no bed.  The doc was standing right there - "are you going to be able to lay him down for that?".  Oh, the nurse replied, I forgot. 

I wouldn't have let her forget, lol, I simply and flatly would have refused.  We got back into the room I came out of and she informed me her husband passes out giving blood, lol.  I was amused that there is someone worse off than me in giving even just a couple of small tubes full of blood.  Some of us just can't handle it, what can I say.  She poked my arm which I barely felt, "Oh there's the worst of it" No ma'am, that is not the worst of it. She laughed lol I just laid there waiting for the feeling to come over me.

You're looking pretty white.  I didn't feel that bad tho.  I was in there about 25 minutes after the blood draw and then I left.  Lab results will be next week, I think. 

Back to the property, this dude had it going. The entire new trail to the right that didn't exist when i was there this morning was all but done. It was 10:30 am and the contractor doing the dirt work had already left with their dozer and dump truck, but left the excavator.  They are done with the dirt work and are - were - waiting for the underground utility locator to come and mark the underground utilities.

The new pathways were already done for the first run.  This was 10:30 am and I was amazed how much that machine could do in a short period of time. It is a big mulching machine, much bigger than they typical bobcat you might envision.  He earned his money, I'll say that.  It would have cost much more than what he charged me for several other companies I had contacted.  

The day is sort of a blur. I was at the property 5 times today.  One on of the visits, a very large grader was grading the driveway. I instantly guessed this was the gas company's contractor, the rv park contractor wasn't doing it, I was sure of that. I stopped the guy and asked him. Yes, we contract out to Sabine.  Oh, okay, are you going to have gravel dumped? Uhh, nooo, these oil and gas companies are cheapskates they won't be bringing gravel in here.

Uhh, yeah, that's not so clear-cut in my view of it, but I thanked him for the info and he continued on with several passes of it.  It looks good as far as being smooth, but there is hardly any gravel left at all now.  Just kind of plowed it under or to the side, what little was remaining.  It was that visit, which as the third one there, that I noticed that they had come back - the underground utility locator - and flagged where the pipeline is.  Yeah, that was a no brainer, the pipe comes out of the ground into some array of pipes and valves. You can plainly see what direction it is going in in both directions.

Not close to the dirt operation, they can finish that whenever they want to. I suspect they will want to get it done and get paid.  This guy finishes a phase of the operation and he wants paid - rightfully so.  I guess I'll leave a blank check here, if they finish tomorrow and he wants his money, he can either come to the house and get it or wait until Monday, cause' I'm headed to West Virginia tomorrow.  He knows I'm a truck driver and I'm in and out of town frequently.  

They never came back, tho I informed the contractor that the lines are flagged. He can't legally dig into the ground without having that done first, he didn't indicate when they are coming back.  

It is now on me, regardless of that, to mark the sites.  By the time I was in any position to do that, it was after 2 pm and it was brutally hot out there and I had already been hiking around the back of the property for a couple of hours worth.  Just no, it'll have to wait til' my next day off.  

The mulching dude had taken off around noon I guess it was to go do a CDL pre-trip test, which I found out later he had failed. I didn't give him any advice on that, I only was trying to help him with the driving part.  Anyway, I marked more areas I wanted cleared out.  I am up to 4 campgrounds out there now and that's enough.  I mean, the trees and brush and junk are cleared out. Other stuff will need to be done to make them a good tent camping site, but the hard part is over with.  

I'm going to need a bridge of some sort over the creek in the rear.  There's no other way about it.  I can't expect people to climb over a giant, felled tree as I have been doing lol.  I've found a very large number of websites with premade bridges for sale, replete with rails on each side for protection from falling off.  I need to keep the liability for people getting hurt as little as possible. Those bridges aren't that expensive starting at $100 and going up from there, many of them in the $200 range.  I just need to go out and measure the length of bridge I will need to cross the creek, really paid no attention at all to that today. I was in awe of how fast this guy has made all of these trails all over the place.  

I'm going to have him come back and do one more day's worth in a couple of areas that have no trails and have no access because of the thick undergrowth.  I want a maze of trails that can keep people busy walking for a while back in there if they so desire.  I'm going to have to get a drone service out to get some video and pics of it from the air so I can both make a map of it for hikers and have it online on the website when I get that far with this for people to see what kind of activities they can do if they come to my park. 

I've already determined to put in a sitting area - nothing huge, just maybe a large bench or something - with a cover and a curtain to keep mosquitoes out.  Maybe a few wooden benches along the trail in various places for a quiet sitting area.  These are not high dollar items but will enhance the overall allure of all of it.  

Anyway, the trails are finished.  The man is paid and I am quite happy with the results.  

Anyway, I'm really tired, this has been a long day and I'm facing 3 long days of driving ahead of me.  The heat really took it out of me.  I ended up having to go back a final time this evening and checking out the finished work and then paying the dude.  A flurry of work in just a few days time and lot of progress.  I'm pretty happy about that.  

 I woke up early this morning so I just decided to get up, get dressed, get the dog and head over to the property. There were several hours of work the mulching dude did after I had left there yesterday.  His machine and his trailer were parked in the back, out of sight.  I'm going to want electricity on the property pretty soon in order to get some video surveillance going - which I guess means also getting internet out there. 

Maybe not too soon, lol.  I just don't want to have people that don't belong back there - going back there.  

The next door neighbor's house at the front is going to be a problem as well. The garage - which is old, dilapidated and falling apart - also needs a paint job in a big way.  Or plant a hedge row and eventually the view of it will be knocked out. I'll give them credit tho, that truck is no longer parked there without my having to say anything to them and they have cleaned up that property.  I mean, they either moved the junk into the structures out there or got rid of it, either way, it's no longer an eyesore.

Makes me glad I never confronted them about that truck.  

If the gas company doesn't dump rock on that driveway, I'm going to have to.  There is no way I'm going to leave it like that for people driving 100k plus rigs in there over dirt and especially with all the rain we get, it has to have a fresh layer of gravel over it.  That's probably 10k worth of gravel right there.  When  you're talking hundreds of tons, you're talking bigger money.  Well, that should only need a couple of inches of gravel, so maybe not so much money.  

I'm going to press that gas company about doing it before I relent and have to pay for it myself.  

As for the trails......he got started on the trail I marked out yesterday after I left. He went all the way back and curved to the stream.  He's now out there making his second run and then he's going to do the other side. I tried, this morning, to weave my way through the other side - not a happening event.  It's way too thick and there is just too much thorn vines in there to even try.  I just told him to just make his way through there with his machine however he can get through there, I can't mark it for him.  

He's only there until noon today - he has to get a CDL to start pulling the equipment he wants to use for his business. I gave him several tips. He's doing the driving portion of the test today and that is something you have to be prepared for.  They'll ask you to park in front of hydrants, near driveway entrances, go over railroad tracks and try to get you to change gears going over them, make a left hand turn and not come back into the furthest left lane, drive under bridges and ask you what the height sign said and other signs as well.  

They take you on a "trick" course and see if you know what you're doing.  I told him everything I could remember, it became obvious no-one had given him this info before.  He was more stressing on the pre-trip. I just told him the basics - which the manual already tells him to do anyway.  Last time I did the pretrip test, the instructor got mad at me because I found so many things wrong with their truck, he canceled the pre-trip after I had only gotten done with the engine compartment, called me a know-it-all and defended his equipment. I promise you I was just doing a pre-trip inspection, we learn over the years what to look for, not trying to make him or his company look bad lmao.

They took down the beautiful oak tree this morning, right in front of my eyes. The dirt work people.  I thought yesterday - why didn't they just start that mountain further towards the front, then they wouldn't have had to take down my beautiful tree?  It's not like there aren't a thousand other trees on the property - literally if nor more - but that is in the RV section and the trees I selected to stay up were selected for a reason.  I'll just have to plant something else there and other places they have trampled small trees.  I'm not giving them a hard time about it, it is what it is.  I just know that they know that I don't want any trees taken down, at all. Not in the front.  The rear of the property, all kinds of small trees can come down and I won't miss them.  

20 more minutes until the nightmare of the doctor's office. I have been dreading this day for a  month.  I would literally rather be on the road driving than doing this, that's how bad my mind is making this out to be.  If they don't let me lay down for them to take blood, I'm just leaving there. I'm not going through that again with a staff that thinks they know best. I know best how my mind and body works in reaction to such things, not them.  Some people can't handle it, . Call me a wimp, call me other names, I .... don't....care.  But I'm going to face it and then go out to eat after wards and then go back to the property  The mulcher should be getting close to done by then, pay him up and then I'll take another look at what more I might want to have done there.  But, today is it for him, I don't want to pay any more for that stuff, he should have what I wanted done - done.  

I'm facing the dilemma of having to buy some kind of equipment to maintain all of the work I'm about to pay for.  Hence, I will be calling the repair shop later today and see if they've gotten to the ATV yet.  I thought about just putting a chain behind it, hooked to either end of a heavy piece of steel and dragging it over the trails to begin with. That would help smooth the trails out. But then I thought, well, there is wood shavings all over, I wonder if that will keep vegetation from growing? I might wait and see, especially the next rains that are coming.  If I even see the hint of vegetation coming up, tho, it's  a done deal. I'm going to do whatever I have to to maintain them. 

Or, pay someone at the beginning to go through it and brush hog it at the least until I decide what to do.  But I suspect a brush hog doing that much work is going to be pricey and the money may be better spent just getting the equipment right off the bat.  

Whatever the case, my departure time has arrived, off to the doctor.

G'day.