Another long day. It's going to be like this for a while, but I do reserve Sundays as a day off.  But right now, I have a deadline to meet and I intend on meeting it, rain or not.

And yes, it did rain today.  It rained heavily, in fact and it turned the trench into a mud pit. I got to the property this morning, looked around - gotta pay attention to minutia, I want a clean park free from trash, hoarding and debris.  And I want my damned picnic table back.  I will probably ask James to come help me load it up on the trailer and haul one of them back to the fire pit.  I don't care which one, either, neither of those people asked about simply taking it. In fact, it may just well be the first people.  

Anyway, I laid out the sewer pipe so that I can just grab the next piece in line from inside the trench, no need to climb out every time.  I got everything out I could remember that I would need. I then hunted down the primer and the glue.  I don't know what it is about these bottles of primer, but even with the lid tightly shut? They will still leak out if it's tipped over.

And tipped over it was and empty it was.  It got dark. I looked up at the sky, it was like night time only a few miles away and heading my way.  Rain.  Of course, it's going to rain.  Why not?  Oh! And I was examining the 4 inch sewer pipe end, they actually had installed an female adapter (I don't make these terms up, folks, the industry made these terms up long ago) on the end of the pipe and a plug! Instead of having to cut that all apart, I simply needed to get male adapter that also adapts to the sewer pipe from the PVC Sch40 pipe.  I wondered if I could even find such a creature?

Up to Lowe's.  After much searching, yes indeed, they did have the adapter and it was relatively cheap.  Got some plumber's putty and more glue and primer and a case of paper towels. The trench was wet, muddy and nasty, have to have clean fittings before putting primer and glue on them.

Lowe's is across the street from Chili's and Taylor was already there, so met up for lunch.  I don't eat before noon while dieting anymore. I don't really feel like eating before noon, it's just a habit I've gotten into I guess. But, I was starving and gulped down a hamburger without the bun and a salad minus the croutons.  It rained the entire time I was going to Lowe's, at Lowe's and at Chili's.  

Definitely wondered about getting anything done.  I got back to the property and found the portion of the trench where you start - which is the end of the sewer line for the lots - covered in dirty water. I stood there looking at it for a while. I knew if I were to go down into that trench, my feet would sink well down into that mud even if I get rid of the water.  I was tempted to go home.  But, the deadline got into my mind. I put on my work boots and got down into that mess and yes, my boots sunk down to the ankles.  

Whatever.  Unscrewed the plug, the water drained into it.  Dug down underneath it, installed the adapter and away we go!  I got all the way up to the shed. Not where I wanted to quit at, about 3 lengths of pipe away from getting to that point, but I did get to the shed area.  It took me 3 hours to get to the shed. It's because I had to keep dumping dirt and getting the pipe on an uphill slope. Not a steep slope, but enough to let - stuff - slide down it and water as well without any pooling.  I will be checking the entire length of it with a level again before I call it final.  I don't need to do things twice that can be done right the first time.  I stopped at an area next to the shed where I dug too deep, knew I dug too deep at the time but it was because I was digging a side trench that T's with the main trench to install water line there.  And then there's another one where the sewer line goes. Then around a corner and up to where the electrical line will go to the breaker box. After I get the pipe past the breaker box? I'm going to stop there.  

And I was quite filthy by the time it started getting late and I was out of energy.  

It will take at least half the day tomorrow to get everything installed and to the point where I want it to be.  I am likely going to rent a bobcat for a 4 hour stint, by the time I get that stuff in that trench, I am not going to want to also have to move huge mounds of dirt.  That's machine work and it will cost me around $150 for 4 hours.  In fact, I probably won't do that until Friday morning, I will still have time before those people show up. Check-in time isn't until 1:00 pm.  If they show up before then, they can take lot 11 and that's that.  

I will be able to use the bobcat to do some more dirt work on the driveway as well. I didn't quite get it with the mini-ex as noted today after it had rained.  It dawned on me while contemplating that that I have that river rock that I can't use for the application I used it for. I can scoop a lot of that up with the 
bobcat and put it on the end of the trailer.  I can at least dump some kind of rock on that mess.  I can see that taking a couple of hours.  I can see pushing dirt back into the trench and compacting it with the bobcat taking no more than an hour at most.  It's just not that much work - for a machine with hydraulics.  

In fact, there are lots of things I could do with a bobcat, but I don't want to rent it more than 4 hours.  It's just too much money right now.  

Oh! On all of the lots, there is a sewer outlet. It's a piece of 4 inch PVC sch40 sticking up out of the ground with a female adapter on it and a plug in the adapter.  A person wanting to use it simply removes the plug and puts their sewer hose adapter into the 4 inch sewer adapter.  Well, I was taking it off on lot 14 today, I wanted to look down in there to ensure I wasn't going to be welcomed by a wonderful surprise when I opened up the plug in the adapter that is in the ground.  Nothing there, thankfully - but - the entire adapter just came right off.  

I examined that - they didn't put any glue on it.  I contacted the contractor asking about it.  Is this a fluke? The contractor got offended, acting as if I were accusing him of doing something malicious. No, no, no, I'm trying to understand what y'all did here? He said most people don't use the adapter and so they don't glue it on there.  I was perplexed.  "Well how do you connect a sewer line to a bare, plain-end pipe that has nothing for it to connect to? 

I didn't hear back from him for a while.  He didn't answer the question, he was wrong but didn't want to admit it.  I don't really care, I just wanted to know if they are ALL like that.  If they are, I am gluing them all onto the pipe. Not a single person has tried to pry the adapter off the top of the pipe, NO ONE.  There isn't anything for the sewer adapter to hold onto.  It would just be sitting on there and easily just - fall off and dump poop water all over the place. Gross. 

When I was at Lowe's, they have those RV sewer lines and adapters.  They ALL have threaded ends on them to SCREW INTO THE ADAPTER THAT IS COMING UP OUT OF THE GROUND. However, there are 2 hooks on opposite sides that one could possibly clamp it onto - if the pipe has nubs sticking  out of it for them to grab onto. No, those pipes don't have that.  

I just let it go.  I may very well need his services again - he is the most reputable septic system installer and maintenance company in the entire region.  He said he was sending guys out to glue all of them. No worries, I said, the park is near full and I can glue this one on myself.  He insisted anyway, but I said no, it's really not necessary. I am at lot 14 right now, in a trench, installing pipe with the same glue that would be needed to glue down that adapter.  It all ended well enough. 

Well, I want to watch a The Big Valley rerun that I stated watching last night before I got to sleepy and just shut it off in the middle of the show, lol.  And I have another long day tomorrow to prepare, time to get offa here.

 Wednesday - morning.

I don't know where time is going, but it just seems to disappear.  I could have sworn today was Tuesday...

And I found it! I've been looking for it for a while, but today was the final draw: either find the thing or go buy a new one.  I am referring to the charger for the battery for the sawzall, a device that basically makes cutting plastic pipe a breeze.  I'm standing in the pantry looking at all of this stuff on the shelves. C'mon, where are you? I singled out every single thing with a black cord on it and walaah!  $70 I don't have to spend today.  Yes, I'll probably have to wait an hour to charge the thing up, I'm fine with that.  

Still waiting to see what the rain is going to do anyway.  It's to the west of us be it appears like it's going to go north-northeast instead of heading more in an easterly direction.  Which is great, I can get a lot done over there today - hopefully anyway.  I'm going to tackle the sewer line first.  It's going to be the hardest one to do, might as well get it over with.  

The water will just be an inconvenience to whoever happens to the be in the park when I shut it off. I'm not giving forewarning to anyone on that one excepting the older couple.  I'm hoping to get that done tomorrow. I don't have to shut the power off to lay the line.  I just have to stuff the line into the pedestal - with at least an extra foot worth for working room - run it to the shed and just cap it off temporarily.  Well actually, I guess I could run it right into the breaker box.  I bought a conduit 90 sweep to bring it up out of the ground - you have to have conduit on outdoor wiring that is exposed. 

That's the plan - somehow, my plans never seem to work out the way I want them to.  So we'll see. I just know the sewer is going to be the hardest because of ensuring that the entire line has a downhill grade to it.  That will probably mean spots where I'll be shoveling in dirt to bring it up. I won't take it down any further, there is no need to, it's 2-1/2 feet deep, I'd rather just bring it up.  

I turned down a man looking for long term yesterday.  I'm going to up the rate to $475 now that I have it as full as I want it.  If people leave -- these oil field workers get laid off as abruptly as they get hired and then they start looking for work for wherever in the country and they just keep traveling - and I find it difficult to replace them, then I will lower it back down.  I'm keeping nightly rates the same, I don't get enough of that kind of traffic in to warrant raising the rate, plus I don't have the basic amenities in - yet.  We're getting closer.  Much closer.  

Amenities should do away with this need to advertise cut-throat rates that work for now, but come summertime? The energy bill will eat up profits in a fast hurry. I have no regrets reducing rates to undermine everyone else, I had no choice.  I wasn't getting anyone in and I was getting - anxious - about it.  Even to the point of wondering whether I had made a mistake in even dumping all of that money into this enterprise.  It's pretty easy to start second-guessing yourself when you don't see any kind of results at all, or very minimal anyway. 

If a lot of those people are still there come summer? I'm going to raise the rates on the sites where they are using 50 amps.  50 amps is needed to run 2 air conditioners and I don't feel the need to pay for excessive electric bills.  It's "free" electricity, meaning people that don't care, won't care about leaving things on or running the AC cold all day long even when they're not there. 

My ad does say "intro rates".  Not "regular rates".  Not "permanent rates".  If they don't like  a rate increase? They can go find somewhere else where it's cheaper - guaranteed they won't find it. Not in this area.  

By the end of March, I will have to submit a payment to the I..R...S. Every quarter, one must do so.  But, I really need to see about structuring the business in some other corporation style as I am hearing and reading that some kind of S corp setup will save on the personal tax rate I will have to pay.  Namely - Medicare and SS payments.  I don't think it does anything to Federal income tax rate, but any savings is worth the trouble.  

My gross revenues per month right now, including long term and short term - are somewhere around $5,500 per month . That's before paying everything and taxes.  At least half of  that - probably more - will end up going to various payments, utilities and taxes.  If I got to keep 2 grand of that I would be surprised.  I'll get away with low electric bills for now, that is one of the biggest factors in how much money I can actually keep than even taxes.  With 14 spaces full in summer, I can easily see $1,600 electric bill.  Or not - depending on these workers and if they keep their ac on all day long or just shut it off. I suspect there will be a mix of both.  I might luck out on that one, who knows.  

This is why I am driven to add the Hipcamp spots. Minimal investment, hopefully some kind of return. It's easy money if it works out, I just need to figure out how to advertise it. Maybe it's own website.  It would really make sense to have  Hipcamp website with the reservation link embedded into it.  It costs a little to build a website, yes, but you look at potential profits.  These are not high dollar lots. You simply hope that once word gets around, you will start filling it up eventually.  I've got one very good review on hipcamp already, it's just that I don't have the amenities that people need - especially a toilet - to make them want to come.  

After I get this shed fixed up and the hipcamp lots done, I will be shutting down spending any money on anything excepting things that absolutely require my attention. The driveway is one of them, but now that I have graded it on the side, I am hoping I can get away with that for awhile.  I just don't have the money to spend on 800 feet of fresh gravel.  I figure I still have a grand to go on that shed by the time I buy a shower stall, toilet, fittings, water line, etc.  However, I want to get the laundry going regardless.  

That is a relatively easy setup - just getting water to the washer, power to both machines and a drain that isn't near as daunting as attempting to install a floor drain for a shower or a floor attachment for a toilet. We aren't talking about just replacing a toilet, we're talking about install the whole piping apparatus.  I suspect that's going to be a literal pain in the @$$ with trying to get underneath the shed to get the sewer pipe in there and get the attachment hooked up to the sewer pipe.  There is probably a YouTube video for that, once I get to that pint, I will definitely be looking for some guidance.  I just don't want any leaks, lol, that would be nasty. 

A toilet sewer setup looks relatively simple, it's the access that is going to be the problem. There is less than a foot of space between the floor of the shed and the ground outside. Obviously, a toilet is going to be placed closed to the wall so I don't have too far to reach to get that pipe up under there.  I also suspect it's easier to just get a small piece of pipe to work with instead of the entire setup of pipe going into it and just hook a couple up to the main line after I get the  assembly installed.  

The jury is still out on whether to long-term rent site 11.  I just raised the price while writing this - I tend to forget things and it's better to get it done while you're thinking about it if you have the option to do so.  

Oh, my weight.  Well, I'm still on keto.  Been watching it pretty good, too. So it came as a surprise 2 days ago that my weight went up, not down. Rather shocking, actually.  Why did it do that? I stood there wondering. I hadn't eaten that much the day before, I always weigh myself in the mornings. 

Well, that is all done now.  My weight today, 2 days later, is the lowest it's been in a long time at 218 pounds, just on the verge of 217.  How did this happen? I have no idea, but I'll take it.  It's 14 pounds down since I started some 5 or 6 weeks ago, it's really not bad at all.  My love handles continue to shrink and it's looking better, at least. Still fat, lol, it's going down slowly.  

Well, that's it.  I can finish charging the sawzall over at the property. I have an extension cord over there with a 6 outlet strip. It's not like I "have" to sit here and wait, it's just taking time for me to wake up.  My goal is to get that sewer pipe to the shed today. I don't know if that's a lofty goal or not? I really don't know, lol. I have all the fittings, the glue, the sawzall, shovels, I'll find out! 

G'day