Wednesday - late

It was  a pretty seamless day as far as work is concerned.  Got out earlier than normal, the washout place got it done quickly and the guy that gets loading the trailer done quickly was there instead of the slow dude. 6-1/2 hours and it was over.

During the loading, the manager called and informed me there were "cancellations".  Well I hope it isn't what I'm loading now, we're done here.  My Friday load was cancelled, of which I considered nothing short of a minor miracle - I really didn't want to work Friday and Saturday after everything else this week. I mean, I would have done it of course, but here we are.  It happens frequently enough that I figured something would happen along the way here that they would cancel a load eventually.

Actually, they were filled up after my last load, neither tank could have taken another truckload. I don't know how fast they use the stuff, it's a 24 hour operation.  I have no idea whether it's too much product, or perhaps Christmas and they shut down, or something wrong, who knows.  I just know I'm delivering this load tomorrow and that's it for the 4 days following. 

I will be calling the rental place and seeing if the tractor with box attachment is available for Friday.  I can't exactly afford it, I can't exactly afford not to type of deal.  

We went to the Christmas Wonderland of Lights tonight downtown, the church had some family that paid for it for everyone.  They must have footed quite the bill.  There were a lot of people there.  We went ice skating lol.  They set up an outdoor skating rink every year at the town square. We haven't gone skating until tonight.  It's been a few decades since I went ice skating last and about the same amount of time when I used to roller blade a lot for fun and exercise.  

So I took one of the kids and James took the other. The youngest gave up quickly, I had the older boy who just couldn't figure it out.  He tried tho, I'll give him credit for that.  I pushed off and started skating around, I had to see if I could still do it.  The ice was badly gouged, they needed to do a resurface job on it, but I still managed to skate around all over the place - without falling.  And let me tell you, there were people falling all over the place.  Old and young, lol.  

We did the merry-go-round and then the kids went on the inflatable bounce house slide and that was it.  They left one way, I went another. My belt broke this morning at the Park, I've been holding my pants up all day long.  Like, I have to go to Walmart regardless of whether I want to or not and get a belt. They went to Taco Bell, Super 1 and then took the boys to a friend's house for 2 days. Christmas break started today after they got out of school - half day at that.  

They are off for 2-1/2 weeks, amazingly enough.  I'm working now so I can't watch them the whole time like I was doing last year.  Next week, James is off so they will be home and the week after, they are going to be put in a local daycare for the entire week. If I happen to be off any of those days, I'll watch them, I have no idea about that and won't even bother to give that any thought until that week comes rolling along. 

I had a lady saying she wanted to stay for 2 weeks, she disappeared off the radar.  Hipcamp got me a 5 night stay - I"m going to have to up the rate for my regular lots for that. They got a smoking deal, I'll say that.  Good thing it's nice and cool, I'd be eating a lot of electricity costs for a lot not making me that much money.  

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Continuing from last night - forgot to publish this post lol...

It's Thursday morning, early.  Get up to Gurdon, get this stuff off the truck and try to get this day over with and get my 4 days off started early. 

Whether I can get that tractor is totally dependent on whether the thing is at the store.  It wasn't there last time I looked.  

My mind has been running all over the place with this idea of expansion.  I think, I need more lots. Then I think, hmm, it's difficult enough to keep my lots full.  I have turned people away, it's not like I've turned 50 people away tho.  

If I get another septic system, would my money be better spent building small cabins instead of putting in more lots?  What is the Return On Investment for more lots versus cabins I could probably rent out easier? But then, I think, well they're going to start up this Interstate project in 2025, shouldn't I think about being ready for an influx of people needing lots to rent? 

What if that doesn't pan out?

And then, I think, what I really need is something IN my park that draws people in.  When it comes down to brass tacks, it's what you have that's important to travelers and long term.  I have some stuff, I could use a lot more.  

When I get to the end of all of these trains of thoughts, I just throw up my hands.  I don't have the money for any of it.  No sense stressing over stuff you can't change. 

I've been working, that's what I can say.  I think this next paycheck determines whether I stay at this place or move on.  It will be a "full" check, a check where I"ve worked about as much as I can expect to work and have it show up to represent 15 days worth of work. Pay should be coming in tonight.  

There is a place that is hiring or local work that hauls sand for fracking operations.  You have to have some sort of certification before you even apply according to their website.  It's an hour course, I didn't see a price tag on it.  If you go through that training, pass and apply, you aren't guaranteed a job, of course.  

I'll wait until I see what I've got before attempting to make any decisions.  

Anyway, it's time to get my coffee thermos filled up and get out of here.

G'day