Friday - night

A quick update, it's getting late tho I do have 2cd load tomorrow so I don't have to get up super early. Still, I need to get to bed soon.

Anyway, the dozer was delivered around 7:45 am this morning.  I called the operator and told him they are out there with the dozer and need a signature.  I was just about to leave to head over there anyway but I didn't want to hold them up.  By the time I got over there, the dozer had been removed from the trailer and the operator had just gotten on the thing and started on his first run.

We discussed what needed to be taken down and what needed to be done overall and I left.  

The loading today was ridiculous, again.  I wasn't informed until after I was at the washout that they had run out of product and it would be 12:30 before they could load me. At the time, that was 3 hours.  They didn't actually start loading me until 1:36 pm.  The maddening part out this is, they know how much product they have and how many trucks it will fill, they know we are coming, why don't they make enough to cover it?  

Because they don't care, that's why.  

Anyway, I didn't get back until after 4. By that time, the operator had done both the entire area for the lots and the entire driveway, all 1,400 feet of it. He was doing some touchup work on the lot area. We discussed what was next and clearly, the rear of the property needed to be cleared again before those fresh growing trees got too big.   

I left him there doing the rear of the property, he wanted to earn some money and I was glad to get that done as well, keep a new forest from popping up and ending up costing me far more money to remove than the extra half day charge I'll get for the usage of the machine and more to pay him.  Thousands of dollars worth of savings, to put it into perspective. That area is proposed Phase 3, well down the road.  

I mean, there's more to today but that's the nuts and bolts of it.  I will have to run the tractor with the box blade on it to give the lot area a better finish, no big deal there.  The ball is rolling again.  I'm going to try and get the electrical portion done soon enough so I can get the power company out there to turn on the power to the meter.  It's just that it could take them a minute to get someone out there once I get a line run, need to prioritize that now versus later.

Anyway, I am constantly yawning, I'm off to bed. 

 Thursday - late morning

I dunno folks. I woke up at 5:00 am and said nope. Then I woke up to the sound of the pickup taking the kids to the bus stop and I said nope again.  Then at 8:00 am, I woke up again. Nope.  9:30? OH MY GOODNESS! IT'S LATE!

Then I realized I have nothing pressing today. Things I want to get done and probably will? Yes.  But, there is no dozer over there right now, otherwise I would have shown up at least a half hour before it arrives.  Unless, they are going to deliver it the night before which is what the operator says they typically do.  Well that's great as long as they don't charge for a full or half second day, like the in-town rental company does.  

So, it's 10:00 and I am enjoying the day off, sipping hot coffee, browsing reels and writing a blog.  I haven't even turned the tv on yet and no games.  It's amazing when kids are in school, you aren't awakened early and getting up for no particularly good reason when you have a day off.  I am facing at.......

....................

Phone call interruption.  The operator - who is also a tenant at my park, I know I have said that before but just for clarification - says they are ready to bring that machine at noon. 2 hours from now.  So, in about an hour, I'm going to get my water ready, get a bite to eat and get over there. I'll get on the tractor and help out however I can.  I don't care how long I have to sit out there, the operator is used to operating machines for up to 12 hours a day.  He's expecting $250 for the work, I thought that pretty fair, actually.  The whole thing will cost me $1,250 unless we go over 8 hours. Then I asked him to ask them how much they'll charge if we have to go, say, 10 hours?  

So, not a day off at all. But irrelevant, I got to sleep in and I'm stoked that we can get this project moving along.  In fact, I am going to dig out a portion of the line running from the power pole to the meter stand, take a pic of the type and rating of the line so I can get more of it to run to the stand again.  I haven't done that because - just haven't been motivated to do so. It's not going to take forever and I was hoping to just rent a mini-ex once the dozer work is done, trench that out and also trench out 3 or 4 lots worth plus trench across the existing driveway in an area where water pools up when it rains, put stick of pipe in there and make sure that water doesn't destroy my driveway.

And also, to dig out a trench along the main driveway and then run a large pipe underneath where water goes haywire during rain storms and get that water draining properly.  It does a number on the driveway every single time it rains, pretty soon I hope to be able to fix that problem with storm drainage pipe, I also happen to have SCH40 12" , tho I don't know if it's enough. I think 20 feet is enough tho.  

Basically, every time an advance in the project is made, I'm immediately working on the next part.  What I just described is the next part.  

Oops, just remembered I need to take the Ford into the upholstery shop this morning. But that won't take long and my friends said they would take me from there to the park where the pickup is parked.  

I'm so glad I didn't find out that this is happening today until now.  If I had had that call earlier, I wouldn't have been able to sleep, my mind instantly fills with thoughts. What do I do today to help? Or just get stuff done while he's doing it? I intend on being out there until he quits for the day no matter how long that is.  So, I got to sleep in and that was very important to me, sleeping in well beyond what I expected and feeling pretty good right now.  

Which is also a good thing, I need to feel good to make it through all of this lol.  

And I am oh so glad I wasn't loading yesterday.  My driver friend yesterday from the company I work for was giving up me updates. He was the second load, the first load didn't even start loading until like 2:30 PM!  At that late hour of the day? Both trucks should have been loaded and long gone!  

__________

Many hours later. I get another call after doing a bunch of stuff to prepare for today......and.........find out the dozer isn't being delivered until tomorrow, the machine hadn't been picked up from the jobsite it's already sitting at.  Beyond that, the company wouldn't take a credit card over the phone, I had to go clear over there 30 miles away - to pay for it in person.  If that wasn't enough, I was given directions to the wrong rental company.  When I figured it out, I realized I was 15-20 minutes away from where I was supposed to go and had already passed the place earlier. 

If that isn't enough and ironically? It's pouring rain right now.  You can't do that kind of dirt work in the rain, period.  So, it was a good thing it wasn't happening today even tho that really throws it off for tomorrow, when the delivery is going to be made.