Pulled up the tarp over the hole I dug around the utilities at lot 14, run a string and then painted the intended trench line.  Called the rental store to reserve a machine for Monday morning. IF the forecast is correct, it will be dry clear til monday and potential storms tuesday, but well after I will be finished with the use of the machine.  This gives some time for everything to dry up.  

So, the big thing today? They cut down several pine trees next to the pipeline easement.  These were absolutely gorgeous trees and i was given no notice that they were going to cut them down.  

AS normal, it is a lengthy ordeal to find out who, exactly, is responsible for what back there. There are 3 gas companies and those companies have all of their own contractors that they send out there to do work.  They don't care about property owners - at all - and don't even let property owners know about their intentions to alter the property in ways that diminishes the beauty of it.  I made unknown amount of phone calls today, left email messages, etc until I found the right contractor.

They just called me back.  Oh,well those trees were on the pipeline easement.  I understand that.  I didn't cut those trees down and I am not going to tolerate them being left on the property like that. Oh, well they are supposed to leave them on "our property" - meaning the easement.  He was talking as if he owns that land.  No sir, that is not your property, I own the entire land that the project is on, you are not going to leave those trees sitting on MY property.  Period.  If you don't get stern with these people, they will try to walk all over you.  

He just grumbled on the phone after I shot right back at him.  I will start out with a basic level of respect I give to anyone that I have just met and then it either goes up or down from there, depending on their attitude towards me.  

He then said he would have a crew come out today and remove them.  It's fine if it doesn't happen today, I replied, within the next week is ok as long as I have your assurances that it will be removed.

Folks, I have enough to deal with right now - a LOT of stuff to do - without having to deal with someone else's mess.  Those trees would undoubtedly have just sat there and rotted forever, an eyesore.  

I then asked him about the driveway.  What are they planning to do on the driveway?  Oh well I don't know about that.  Yes, it's a 1,400 foot long driveway and they were running an ATV up and down it, if they are planning on removing trees along the driveway, I want to know about it.  I won't tolerate them cutting down trees that aren't on the driveway easement, eluding to the fact that one set of trees they had cut down in the back was not on their easement.  

He knew nothing about that and said he would contact them and find out, for they shouldn't be riding atv's on the driveway and they weren't planning on doing anything with it. Yes, well it's those vehicles that are tearing the driveway up.  Again, none of these companies care about the condition of the driveway. It could be pure mud and they will just plow through it. If they get stuck, the get a dozer or earth moving equipment out there to unstick it.  It's pretty ridiculous how they are allowed to operate.  

I know, I chose this property knowing what was going on with  a portion of it.  It would be nice if they would at least give the landowner's notice about their intentions instead of having landowners show up after the fact and basically go into shock about what has happened while they were gone.  It just kind of sends you into.... well, they took down some beautiful trees and it was rather shocking.  They were about 15 to 20 foot tall pines and were a natural block to the view of those giants tanks back there. Now it's just barren.  I'm going to have to plant some trees in their place. 

Actually, I will probably plant some fast growing shrubs that are nice to look at and will block that view in a couple of years. Looks like $100 worth of Thuja trees will do the trick. 

I have asked the older couple that if they see these people come in there again, please contact me so I can go confront them. Or not confront them, just watch what they are doing.  Guaranteed I will be out there as fast as I can get there. They agreed with a heart emoji and said will do!

These people may cost me more in utilities and such, but they are worth the price to have someone keep an eye on the property.  I found out yesterday they helped manage a very large park at one point in time in south Texas. I haven't asked them for that kind of help, it just means I would have to pay them or reduce their lot rent or if enough work, eliminate lot rent altogether for them and right now? That is financially out of the question. 

This situation threw my whole day off. I was in the mindset that my woes with these companies were over with, that all the ridiculousness that they could inflict was done.  They had already come through with land clearing equipment previously and a dozer, even, on the west side on the rear of the property clearing trees.  They had a giant bush hog clearing out brush as well.  The grader they had come along the driveway did far more damage than good by basically erasing the gravel left and displacing it off the driveway itself, leaving it unprotected and eroding every time it rains.  

Monday I will endeavor to get the trenches dug for the pipe and wire and then get over there and get a trench dug out for the driveway drainage so I can put some gravel down there and get that situation dealt with where there is extensive erosion going on.  I also mapped out in  my mind where the Hip Campers will be and want to use the blade on the mini-ex to clear a bit more land, I want enough room for 3 hip camp vehicles back there.  

And if time does permit for the trenching along the driveway, I will call the gravel company and see if they can manage to get a truckload of gravel out so I can spread it with the machine.  I just don't want to order it until I know if I am going to have enough time for it.  Or, eat it and just use the machine for 2 full days instead of one, regardless, the work needs to be done. This isn't a wish list, this is a top priority item.  But, so is the shed.  Clearing out for hipcampers is less of a priority, but it's well up there for potential money making.  

My new shed showed up while I was sitting here typing this entry.  Time to go out there and see if it's in a bit better condition than the last thing they showed up with.  And, I have to decide on which shower stall I want so I can trench where the drain on the stall will be.  I have this stuff figured out as far as how it is installed, I don't have precise measurements and I sort of need those before I get the machine. You know, so I have a trench dug in the appropriate location? lol 

Well well well. I sent a message saying I want to plant those Thuja trees and the man called me back.  Uhh, well if you get those trees we'd like to plant them for you.  OH?!!  Okay!  Lol, it ended up in a pleasant conversation, he apologized and that ended far better than what I expected.

Well, apparently the family is off to Chili's and I'm dragging along with them.

 So...the Valley of Decision. Well, I have recently decided to do much more in following after the Lord, that is for sure!  That isn't what I'm referring to here but it was the first thought that entered my mind after writing that. BTW, I think I need a new keyboard. Pounding on the keys for so long? It misses letters and spaces and I have to keep correcting it  - or move on and leave the error.  

Yes, well that was random thought, lol.  No, I have decided to get one more long term in there, if there is one that may come sooner or later, and leave the last 2 for short term.  One pull-through and one back-in lot. This way I can still test whether this shed and all of what I am doing to it will have any effect on short term, much higher paying (cumulatively of course) lot rents.  

Slowly getting caught up on bookkeeping to keep things on the up and up and also to show income for any potential lender I may be able to get a loan with.  I really want at least 30 more lots.  

There are advantages and disadvantages to filling the place up with this oil field workers. One advantage is they are hardly home.  That means they aren't sitting on the toilet as much and filling up the septic system, causing it to work harder and use more electricity in the process.

The second is since they aren't home, they will be using less electricity in cooling and heating. Tho, I think most of those things have propane furnaces, it doesn't stop them from placing space heaters around.  I can't tell if an RV is using a space heater - at least not with a meter on the pedestal - but I can tell if their AC is running all day long without them being home.  When it gets warm out, I will be walking up and down the row and listening for them to come on.  I can see keeping it 78 - 80 degrees inside just so they don't come home to a burning hot trailer - I can't see them keeping it at 70 or whatever, cooling a unit that isn't being used. Trust me, I will say something to them about it if I find the latter to be true. 

It will be a request and it will be given to the entire park: I have noticed that some of the RV's in the park whose owners are not home all day long have the AC units running continuously.  I am giving low rates to everyone, in order to keep those rates low, I am requesting that everyone please turn the temp up to 78-80 during the day when you are not home, or turn it off altogether ( I really don't expect people to turn them off altogether, I might not add that sentence, it takes a long time to cool down a hot trailer and if you have food or other perishables in there, they will be ruined). Otherwise, I will be forced to raise rent rates, which I don't want to have to do.  

So, electricity is going to be the "issue" in summer, whether I can make money or be paying giant electric bills.  There is a case to be made for adding meters to each pedestal, lowering the lot rent but requiring them to pay their own electricity.  The problem? Meters are very expensive.  

The Valley of Decision was how many more full timers to take in? 1 for the moment.  Certainly, I have a 2 nighter coming ni next week (I think it was) and a 3 nighter next month. I don't have anything else reserved.  It's this shed situation - will it make a difference or not?  And can I get these long term people to use the laundry facility or am I wasting money for nothing? 

I have decided to rent the mini ex on Monday. That gives ample time to dry out the soil - it isn't supposed to rain until late Tuesday next week.  It'll be one of those days I get up early, get over to the rental place and get busy.  Which means today, besides attempting to install electrical outlets  - I didn't get to that yesterday because these new people came in and ate up a lot of time - I want to run a stringer along where I want the trench dug out and then spray orange marking paint along the line.  

I'm thinking I should  hand shovel the gravel out of the way and into a pile so I don't waste it - that machine will be difficult enough for me to manage without also having to worry about saving gravel. 

I guess I'm in for a long day today.  

I do wonder if my sleep issues aren't directly related to a mind filled with "what is next" for the business.  I dunno, but cold or not, I'm outta here. Lots of work to do!

G'day