Friday, March 3, 2023

 Definitely out of it. Over to Harbor Freight for a pack of various sized hole-saws and over here, to the property.  There was a lot of rain going through here last night so I was pleasantly surprised to see the driveway in good shape. A couple of spots where water is pooling - but small and on the side.  The new gravel held.  It's not a muddy mess there for everyone to have to drive through.

My last remaining ditches next to the shed? 2 of them are full of water.  Those 2 are where I need to connect to pipe.  I'm not working through deep water and I just don't have it it in me today no matter how much I want to continue on  with this.  There is nothing stopping me from installing electrical outlets, standing water aside.  

If I ever get a bobcat out here again, I will take out more of the dirt on the side of the driveway. I can see now where it's still high and needs more removed.  It's far too much to do by hand.  

The sun has not come out yet, plenty cloudy outside I do hope it goes away so the tent camper coming tomorrow will have at least a semi dry experience.  But,  I cannot control the weather and I have pitched a tent in many places that were wet in the past.  It just depends on how much you have that desire to be outdoors and experience nature. Rest assured, there is plenty of nature back there to experience!  

I am sitting here inside the shed with the lamp on. It generates a lot of heat - it's pretty chilly out right now.  Contemplating the next door neighbor - he isn't talking to me at all and hasn't ever since he found out I was building an RV park here and came to the instant conclusion that he would be experiencing theft over there from my guests. 

That, of course, hasn't happened. There are no poor people staying here currently  The workers are obviously making good money judging by both the trailers they pulled in here and definitely the trucks they are driving. 

Regardless, he remains standoffish and distant.  Not my problem, but it would be nice if I could have a little better relationship with neighbors.  The people renting houses on the other side of my property and across the street? I've waved at them several times and the do not wave back.  I take that back, one lady did, once. I had never seen here there before.

It's Friday and all 3 trash cans are full.  They haven't brought the second, large can that I ordered. If they had, it would likely be full and the smaller cans would be empty.  But we still have the weekend to go through and they generate a lot of trash, especially come Sunday mornings.  It's just forcing me to discontinue this service and get that dumpster over here.  

I need 18 more overnights this month to equal the monthly lot rent I'm charging for monthly.  It's still early in the month.  I will have to get out here tomorrow to make up for today's loss of time/progress - hopefully those trenches are empty of water by then.  

Well enough of this.  Maybe I will, after all, at least install the outlets.  













 I watched none of the Murdaug trial for I had no interest in it, but this morning, seeing the judge giving the man his sentence, I did watch for 30 minutes.  I didn't know this dude was apparently apparently a high-profile lawyer from South Carolina who had defended others being accused of exactly what he faced - and has now lost and is sentenced to life in prison.  Murdaugh continued to declare his innocence. The judge said, perhaps you are, perhaps you become a different person after swallowing 30 of (whatever pills). It was interesting. 

I was up most of the night - the storms were making too much noise and I am just plain out of it. I am a very light sleeper - thunder keeps me awake.  I can't sleep now, I'm wide awake, but I wish I could. If so, I would definitely go back to bed.  I feel like today is going to be a useless waste, but I'm going to force myself to go over to the property and try to get something done anyway.  The storms are over with and the sun is going to be shining through the skies a bit later on today - allegedly anyway.

I do want to see how the driveway looks after I did all of that work to it.  This is the first deluge that has occurred since using the Bobcat to shovel up a lot of dirt and move it elsewhere, digging out a semi-deep angled notch in the side of the driveway for water to travel along.  I had the new gravel dumped to the side of that in hopes that the water will not affect it and more-so, that it actually drained nicely and I don't have a standing water issue.

If there is a standing water issue, it will be there for days, no worries on when I get over there today.  I spent a lot of time trying to alleviate that problem is all I can say about that.  

I have an overnighter coming in today - they said they wouldn't be there til late.  So far, I've heard no complaints from people about late shows coming in after dark.  There is a tent camper coming tomorrow, I'll hope the sunshine today will help dry things out a bit.  I asked the late shows today to keep it as quiet as possible - they are on their way from point A to point B and chose my place as a stopover - likely for the price.  It's cheap and people are looking for cheap.

I have several theories about the "cheap" factor -why these people are looking for cheap places to stay even tho many of them are driving 200k worth of pickup and 5th wheel being pulled behind them. One is simply that they spent a lot of their retirement on the setup and have to watch every penny. But, a lot of them sell their homes and that really isn't a part of the overall picture for them.

Another is just the way they were brought up.  Older generations definitely are looking to save a penny/dime/quarter/dollar wherever they can.  I've been doing the same thing lately.  I don't know but whatever the case, I have thought about putting up a billboard some 50 miles down the Interstate in either direction and see if I could get some stragglers that  are traveling and don't really have a place to stop.  I don't know how effective bill boards are for such purposes, but I've seen them for RV parks throughout the years.  It's one of those things where you place the ad on the board well out, showing the exact miles it is to the park and what the park offers and how much it costs.  Try to do that without getting too wordy - people are driving, even if they look, you just can't have too much on it. 

I've only considered it tho.  I would have to drive the Interstate a long ways in either direction to see where an optimal place would be to put an ad up.  I could especially target those small campers for the Hipcamp area. That area isn't solely for people using the Hipcamp app, it's just what I am calling it for it fits the description of what I want to do with it perfectly. 

Somehow, I need to draw in more of the travelers - the shed project is part of that picture but more advertising is likely a part of it as well.  Or not.  Kind of wishy washy, I've spent money on ads and some of it - especially Facebook - brought in customers.  There are probably keywords for my website that I am missing that would help for people looking for a place to stop in advance. 

________

Well, I figured but now confirmed that Taylor was wide awake for the storm event last night too.  She can't sleep through such things either and she will just stand there looking at the weather app and watch the news people going over maps of the region showing what is hitting where. If we are talking potential tornadic activity, they will do a live broadcast on it until the threat passes.  

I didn't hear anything from the older couple, I assume/hope everything is ok over there.  Especially that new shed.  Hopefully mounting it to the plywood was enough to keep it from flying around again.  I think I'd be freaking out if I were staying in an RV and there was news of tornadoes in the area.....

I really wish I had the area up front cleared out and graveled. I could put trucks in there overnight for a small fee.  There are trucks driving on that road all the time, it's nothing new and there are small yards where drivers are parking their rigs.  The area is far enough away from the RV park portion that the noise wouldn't bother anyone.  I continue to look for ways to make money off of this thing. I have other ideas....

I'm going to be taking a couple grand out of the business account here soon - later this month probably - to keep the personal account full enough that I don't have to start looking for work yet.  I haven't taken anything but $100 out for personal use and of that, I have only spent $20.  I figure after I collect the rents this month, I will have enough cash in that account to be able to justify/warrant taking out that much money.  I can't go back to trucking yet, I've got too much to do.  And anyway, that was the point of starting a business - earn money.  Just a bit hesitant atm to take anything out until I ensure that I have all my expenses covered.  Expenses are covered, even the new payment for the washer/dryer set, but you know, how much is left over?  I'm not taking more than what the monthly revenue will allow. 

As for now? I am getting offa here, going over there and taking a look.  Perhaps get myself motivated to get something done.

G'day. 









 Friday late-morning Typical morning when there is no work.  It was, I should say, until the new guy called.  "There's nothing wron...