My call to the new owner apparently worked. 

The guy that drives the green pickup truck in here every single day was going markedly slower than his normal pace.  I didn't even complain about him, I kept the complaint to the kid that was doing burnouts and running up and down the driveway like it's the Indy 500.  

Whatever works. I am at the property using my laptop. Everything is saturated with water, I can't do anything out here today.  I tried dumping diesel and gas on a burn pile and still couldn't get it to do anything beyond the initial flame up and then fizzle out.  

The fire pit is currently a mud pit.  Rain is unforgiving around here.  It also carried the freshly laid grass seed into piles of it.  Not useful. Not at all.  I'll have to get more seed and try over again.  I'm just not going to get anything done out here today and I will just have to deal with it.  

I also just noticed that the "Sabine Oil & Gas" sign, the one that was apparently run over by either a trackhoe or a bulldozer, has the new owner's name in it.  I thought it hilarious they wedged that sign into that crushed frame instead of simply putting up a new one.  Not my call and not my money.  It's a sign they have at the front of the property of which I left up.  The other sign - no dogs, guns, etc - was taken down a while back and is sitting at the rear of the property next to their operation. 

I have leads on 2 riding mowers.  One is $475 and the other came down to $600. The $600 one is nicer, but the $475 one they claim runs perfectly.  

As for firewood, there is a guy selling it at $190 a cord if I come pick it up - well he doesn't deliver anyway.  Is it a priority? Yes, if I get anything rented out here.  No, if I don't get anything until next year.  I don't have the campground software installed on this computer so I don't know if there have been any bites yet or not.  

Google postcard still not there.  If it doesn't arrive by tomorrow, I will be going to the post office to inquire if they are actually delivering mail out there yet.  They said they would......

A mower is an absolute priority, some of the first seed I planted is starting to get fairly tall.  

And sitting here gazing at the field full of weeds and 3 burn piles? I need that dealt with.  It looks trashy.  I don't really have "extra" funds for that, but I also don't have the luxury of leaving it looking like that if I want people to enjoy their stay here without looking at ugliness.  

It doesn't matter on that one, I can't do anything until it dries up completely and there is more rain in the forecast next week.  It won't be dry enough today or tomorrow for grading and plowing, it'll have to wait until Monday, when there is a 49% chance of rain.  

And whenever I have that dozer here, it's only going to be for a day - I want that gravel dropped.  I have thousands of more dollars to spend out here for bare minimum.  Yet, I will start renting out lots if people are interested.  I'm ready to get people out here, that's all I can say about it.  Get this ground dried up and I can finish everything and get with it. 

Currently the dates are blocked out for anyone wishing to stay now.  I may just change that.  I sent pics to the web guy this morning. The grass is finally starting to get pretty full, regardless of the water blowing out everything.  Anytime I put down the seed, it's a risk of whether the rain coming is going to be light, medium or heavy.  What can I say?  At least I found the seed pretty cheap now. 

I need to install a regular electrical outlet so I can have electricity out here - in case this place ever fills up.  That IS the goal, fill this place up and keep it full.  It might not keep me from having to work another job to begin with but it will certainly make it possible to not have to have an OTR or regional job that keeps me out all the time.   I've been looking, again, for jobs.  It's getting close to time to start filling out applications.  Well, a couple and a half weeks, it will be the beginning of January before I seriously start putting in applications.

If I were doing OTR, I could hired today. Local? That's a bit different ball of wax.  You have to sell yourself to the companies looking for the local drivers because there are a lot of people that want to do the same thing as I do - stay home.  I'll find something - I hope.  It's going to be tough to get back into that type of thinking and routine, I can tell ya that. 

Anyway, if I can get this park at least 80% full and keep it that way, I can more than just survive off of a lower paying local job. Of course, I might just say screw it and find something that pays well - but of course keeps you working all the time. 6 months to a year is the maximum I want to have to do anything like that.  

I've made my decision - just sitting here contemplating things.  The park will open at reduced rates.  Like, available now.  There are good reasons to not open until after everything is done, but I've paid out the money, I have nothing coming in, it's time to at least make it available.  It will mean reduced income if anything does rent out - but I"m hoping if I can get some spaces rented at reduced rates, I can get some reviews up on the board.  I desperately need reviews!  

I am busy removing the blackout dates - from now until the 1st.  Again, I am not going to be depressed if nothing happens, it's the time of year where everyone wants to be settled for the holidays.  There are still people traveling, yes and I expect the only real customers I could possibly get are long term rentals. Never-the-less, I am going to make it available and change the wording on the website. 

In fact, I have determined this to be my next reality to the point I am going home to do all of this on the desktop computer. I'm sitting here with a keyboard in my lap, the laptop on the console and trying to find room for the mouse, lol. 

Yup, I'm doing this. 

 I decided to lower the rates after giving some thought to it.

I need to give an incentive for people to check the park out, setting rates the same as everyone else might not be the best move.  I have no reviews, ratings, nothing from anyone because -no one has ever stayed there before. 

I lowered it by $5, which puts me below the only real competitor in town.  Although they have tight spaces and not that many - more than mine but for something that has been in existence forever, you'd think they would upgrade - they still manage to get decent reviews. They have a fishing pond which is a huge plus for them.  

Still, it's the worst time of year to be opening  a park. Winter and Christmastime. People up north have either already headed down this way and are wherever they are, or they winterize their rig and they are done for the season. The only real people I could possibly find right now are long term tenants.  

So, I didn't drastically reduce the rate but I did bring it down enough to compensate for other parks in the area. I need to get people in there and get some - good -reviews going. We'll see about the good reviews, it's lacking in amenities which is a definitely not a good thing.  No laundry, no clubhouse, no bathroom with showers.  I simply don't have the funds for any of that. 

I mean, I might be able to squeeze by a laundry facility after I find a job, go back to work and get some funds coming in.  But it's really going to take a large loan to get the things in there that I want and need.  

Whatever.

The kids woke me up at 6:00 am.  Mom was outside smoking and the boys were making all kinds of racket just outside my bedroom door, standing next to the toaster.  They know not to wake me up in the morning - or wake anyone up really that is sleeping.  I was never able to get back to sleep so I just ended up getting out of bed much earlier than normal.  Perhaps that's a good thing and I really need to start doing that every day?

It's cold outside, near freezing.  That isn't going to stop me from going over and working today, but it definitely slowed me down, lol.  

I did start listing the park in the directories yesterday.  There are a lot of them, I am only doing it in the ones that are free.  With only 14 spaces, it doesn't make sense to spend money on directories and some of the good ones are free.  This was highly encouraged by the site designer - but makes sense. You end up with "backlinks" that not only give your site more traffic, but also will end up causing your Google rating to go up.  It takes quite a bit of time, lol. 

I'm picking up more junk off the ground today if the ground isn't too wet - I need to be able to take the trailer back there and I'm not risking getting stuck if the ground is still too wet from all the rain.  The sun is shining and that's a huge plus regardless of what I get done today.  

Oh, I knew it was cold today without even looking at the temps. I don't run my space heater in the room at night, no point in wasting electricity when one can just pull more covers over yourself.  But, I sat up and it was freezing in here.  In fact, the heater has now been running for an hour and it has just started to warm up a bit.  

Well, I think I'll add the park to some more directories while letting it warm up a bit outside. Later on today, the older boy is in a choir thing at school - that's not until 5:30 but I am taking them since mom and dad are not going to be available.  Daddy will make it there in time for the actual concert tho, he just won't be home in time to get him to the school for the preparation.  

G'day.