Monday - early

I woke up early, there was no point trying to go back to sleep. Just one of those nights with fitful sleep and I finally gave up trying. I mean, I got in at least 6 hours, I just kept waking up.  

I did, indeed, make it to 100 pushups last night.  Now, no one on this earth is being led to believe that I did all of those pushups in one set.  It was 5 separate sets and I'm completely fine with that - for now.  I do want to see me being able to do 30 in a row and then 40 and so on.  

Today will be day 7 of consecutive days of working in a row.  Yeah, I'm getting tired of this schedule.  I mean, I do want to work, I just need days off here and there to keep my sanity.  I will have to work through tomorrow before finally getting a break on Wednesday, but that entire day will be consumed with a field trip diversion.  It should be fun, I'm not saying it won't be nice I just really need a day to do nothing.  

No, cancel that: I need 2 days in a row to do nothing.  Oh well, I did say a while back I needed to work so here we are, I'm working! Lmao. 

I think the sleeplessness is tied to attempting to decide whether I should even try to get a loan for expanding the property.  I actually want to do it, I just don't know with my credit card debt if they'll even consider it, even if I am putting the entire property up as collateral.  I don't know.  I was thinking about them coming in there with all of that equipment and getting busy.  

I just really can taste the flavor of not having to get into trucks all the time and driving off into the wild blue yonder.  I can be happy just going to work at my property and spending my days there.  Get an office in there and have a place to hang out as well.  That dude called me again - we have a special going on in December!  I didn't hear what it was, I was in the middle of something and asked him to call me back at a later time.  

It would be a 16X40? I think that's what it was, the biggest barn he makes, for less than 10k.  That's half the price and less than anyone else, anywhere else.  I"m happy enough with the first one they built, it's paid off and I own it. It's part of the assets of the property adding at least 15k worth of value if not more.  It certainly wasn't cheap to build it out and part of what the credit card debt is all about . 

The only way to instantly get out of credit card debt right now is to get a loan to pay it all off.  And so far, the interest rates are just horrible.  I don't need a high interest loan to get rid of the debt -  excepting to jack up my score and show that I am "able to carry myself" with credit cards and not running them up.  The interest rates on those loans are almost as much as the interest rates on the cards themselves. The difference being there is a definitive payoff date with a loan, card debt can go on "forever".  

Well, anyway, it's Monday but to me it's just another work day. While everyone else is grappling with the idea of going back to work after a weekend, I'm just oh well, it's another day in a hoard of them altogether that I had to work.  I've got lots to do beyond this trucking nonsense but by the time I'm done driving, especially with some of the days I've had recently? I just want to go home.  People at the park apparently understand that, they hear that truck grumbling through the park at early hours and know that's the owner going to work!  

Yup, yesterday was particularly early.  I was glad I did it tho, considering I not only beat that other driver up there but I also got done just before noon.  I try to just idle through the park when I'm leaving, that truck is noisy.  Giving it the acceleration pedal just makes it even noisier.  

The newest competitor was asking some fairly pointed questions yesterday about my expansion plans.  I just cut him off after he was getting a bit too personal. He was using the information I was giving on an RV park owners forum as it stands to move in and try to take a bite out of the market share. The part that annoyed me was when I was telling him there's lots of competition in the area, including myself and he just brushed that all off. I'm not in competition with anyone! 

Oh really? He went off like that for a string of texted sentences and I just said no more. I try to be congenial with my competitors but if they're going to act like that, they can go stick it.  I gave him a ball park figure and then ended the conversation. I didn't have to do that but it really doesn't matter, I'm doing what I'm going to do, lol, in his way of thinking anyway, and that's that.  

The cost per site will be around 10 grand.  That's pretty good in this current market.  There's 64k worth of gravel in the cost of building it out alone, that doesn't even include the machinery to spread it and the labor costs involved. In fact, I guess the gravel is the biggest expense followed by electric.  The cost of the septic went way up but that's not only because of inflation, it's more than double the size of the one I currently have.  

I don't know what happened, but all of these people calling me all of a sudden? Maybe he filled his park up? I have no idea.  I think he has his spaces way too close together on the new ones he built out.

And I have to chuckle every time I pass by another new competitor in Jefferson.  The park is a "resort", there is nothing resort about it.  That's why I chuckle, it's seriously not a resort at all.  There is a bathroom and that is all I see over there.  It started filling up for a while but all of them left and now there are only 2 trailers in there.  I don't know who thought that one through, but they clearly did a poor job of it. This idea of building new parks right next to super-busy highways baffles me.  Yes, it's convenient for travelers but in this region, that isn't where the money is at. It's all long term, workers and retired.  

You aren't going to get them in there with all of that noise going on constantly unless you are giving such a low price that they can't pass it up.  

There is another one being built in Linden, about 40 miles up the road. It too is right off the main highway, Texas 59.  That's the other reason I'd love to get an expansion going and get it ready for the Interstate construction that is allegedly firing up next year.  

And then another one, brand new, they completed that one and yup, it's right next to the same highway, 59, in Domino, TX.  These parks are not that close but if they get any business at all, they're taking it from someone else. I get a lot of people seeing my rates and they come to me anyway.  My overnight rates are the best in the entire region.  My long term rates are right there with most everyone else, some are more expensive and some are cheaper, I'm keeping mine where they're at. 

Jack it up higher and people won't come, lower it too much and there is very little profit to be made.

Anyway, it's getting close to time to leave, so, just hoping for a quick day. Last trip down there to Lufkin wasn't quick. Wasn't quick, at all. 

G'day