Monday - early

Cold outside, 33 degrees with real-feel of 30.  It's going to get up to 59 degrees later on.  I have a light in the shed that puts off a lot of heat.  Even at 30 degrees, give it 20 minutes and it will warm up in there.  I want to get as much of the wiring done today as I can possibly get done.  I will be charging up the 1/2 pipe as well to see if that is also -hopefully - leak free and can move on from the water stuff, at least for the washer and dryer.

Yes, the dryer has a hose going into it for some sort of steam option to get wrinkles out of clothing. I have never heard of this before and will be interested to see if it actually works.  IE: do a load of wash once I get it going.  With the water hopefully done, it shouldn't be much longer.  The drain is complete excepting running the line to the roof so it's really just a matter of getting the electrical finished or at least, mostly finished.  But I think I want all the electrical lines run for everything before I go hooking up the main line to the lines in the pedestal.  

Realistically, I could already do that, it's just 2 hot lines and a neutral. Oh, speaking of that, I just remembered I also have to put a ground rod in. I have the rod already, I didn't get the ground wire and the clip to attach to the rod yet.  So, there is another trip to Lowe's before I can think about turning on power. But I'm not going to Lowe's first thing, at least, not if I can find an extension cord here long enough to work instead of having to buy yet another cord.  Oops, I need 2 grounding rods. This is why I watch endless YouTube videos of this stuff....

Anyway, I don't think I want to energize the main line until the whole thing is ready to go, that way there are no accidents/electrocutions and death, lol.  The wire just plugs into a 125 amp breaker that feeds the board with power that feeds the individual circuit breakers.  I'm glad I bought a bigger breaker box, I'm going to need several circuits for everything. The dryer, water heater and oven will get their own, dual pole breaker.  The HipCamp will likely have 2 single pole breakers devoted to that.  The window AC - I haven't decided yet, but probably inline with the light switch and light.  I run a window AC in my room and that circuit also provides power to everything else in the room. 

I can put the washer on that circuit too.  I currently have the window ac fan, 2 space heaters and the coffee maker going on one circuit in here along with lights, computer, charging, etc.  It's a 15 amp line.  I'm installing 20 amps for that circuit.  I'm ready to try and get this stuff over with, it's taking too long.  People are wanting the washer and dryer and I am definitely trying to get it up and going.  It's far more work than one would anticipate.  

I am buying a cord of firewood for $175 - very cheap price and 18 inch long pieces.  This is far better than the first cord I bought.  There wasn't a cord there to begin with and much of the pieces weren't even a foot long.  Just a rip off, really.  They tried to claim it was a cord, I know better.  This person is also going to string it up into bundles. I offered to pay more.  I don't know how much more he wants, I'm assuming at least $100. Maybe more.  

I was quoted $10 a bundle from a large firewood company in Dallas.  That's my cost to buy bulk quantity. I had to laugh at that.  I don't want to even try and charge my guests $10 per bundle, I consider that an outrageous price. Lowe's has bundles like that at $10.99 and I laughed the first time I saw it. Their pile isn't dwindling quickly -  at all.  Not only was this company going to charge me that much, I would have had to drive clear to Dallas to pick it up.  No thank you.  

I've got another week stay that came in Saturday.  As of Monday next week, that will be the end of any short term stays this month and only 5 days worth booked for next month. That is not good.  I am motivated to get this project completed and get started on the bathroom already.  There should be minimal costs to build the bathroom now that I already have the toilet and the shower stall.  Lumber to build the walls and form the shower stall. Floor drain and p trap for the shower, floor drain for the toilet.  It's going to be fun trying to hook all of that up.  Not just hooking it up, but leak free hooking it up.  

Still, I have most of the supplies, at least the costly stuff.  Lumber isn't cheap but I won't need that much of it.  Maybe 10 studs at something like $4.99 per 8 foot stick.  I think. I haven't measured it yet, I'm just doing head calculation of how many studs I'll need for vertical and the horizontal studs.  Oh, forgot the door.  I will probably buy a pre-framed door, I'm just not good enough to try to frame my own door setup.  That will add on to the cost but it will eliminate a lot of headaches. 

Anyway,  I am going to have the firewood by the shed now.  That way I can set up a camera on it and see who's taking it and see if they are going to be honest about it. Yes, the honor system for now.  I don't know of any other way to do it besides simply selling it only when I'm there.  These people show up at night and have fires long after I've gone home.  

If it doesn't work out, I will either not sell firewood at all or it will only be available for the hours that I am present at the property.  I don't know how honest any of these people that are using firewood are, I don't really trust strangers too much.  

If you think I'm going back to work before I get most or all of this done, think again.  I have enough money coming in now to tide me over for a while longer.  In fact, if I get rid of some more stuff I don't really have to have, I may be able to live off of the income until I get it completed and then - maybe - I will go back to trucking.  Maybe.  I don't want to be broke all the time, ie: just paying bills and nothing else.  

I have been reading that these bank collapses are going to make it much more difficult to get business funding for upstarts or expansions. That is really disappointing.  I don't know how I am going to expand the park without a loan. Another septic system is almost 7 grand in and of itself.  Of course, if I could get a septic system installed and have them install the piping, the rest I could do mostly myself and save a lot of money.  I don't want to install the piping because it has to be at a minimum pitch and tho I did okay with the sewer line I installed for the shed, I really don't want to try and do that for lots.  

Putting wiring in the ground is easy, installing pedestals apparently isn't that hard and I can definitely run my own water line. That would leave dirt work and gravel.  So let's say 6 more lots, I think that's what I can get on that size septic system.  $500 for wiring, around $400 a piece for pedestals, $700 per truckload for gravel, $7,000 plus piping for the septic, around a grand for water line and fittings.  

Looking at over 15 grand plus a couple grand for unknowns/higher prices/ more materials than expected.  If paying someone to do the dirt work, add a couple thousand.  So more like 20 grand.  It would be weird if I couldn't get a collateral loan for that much.  You know, put the entire property up for repayment? I could easily fill up 6 more spaces with long term, which is around 3 grand more per month income.  I could definitely live off of that plus the income already being realized with the 14 spaces. 

That's basically what I'm going to try and do tho, see if I can get a collateral loan.  

When I get this shed closer to done, I'm going to be calling the contractor's business partner - he recommended him and gave me his phone number - and see if I can get anything going.  I won't know unless I try, market be damned and failed banks be damned as well.  There are still going to be loans made, it will be at higher interest rates. It's whatever, as long as it doesn't consume the entire amount of projected income.  The business partner is a banker and can give me an idea of how much the park is worth including the 25 acres it's sitting on. I guess they would also have to finance the property to make a collateral loan.  I'm wondering if I shouldn't divide the property into 2?  The main driveway is a permanent easement tho I would have that written into the thing and I could have the RV park as a separate entity from the rest of the property, some 17-1/2 acres.  

If I could get a loan, that would mean the 17-1/2 acres would be paid off in full and the only amount owing would be on the RV park itself.  I don't owe a huge amount on the property, somewhere around $64k right now.  But its a 20 year loan, that's how I got the payments so low.  

Well, I'm not getting anything done sitting here, musing about things.

G'day

 Church was great!  I mean, the message was a basic one but it spoke to my heart directly . The kids enjoyed church as well.  I took them to Applebee's as a final thing to do for Spring Break, which is over today. Tomorrow,  the 2 younger boys go back to school, the older one is apparently going to do things with grandma at some sort of festival.  And I will be forcing my @$$ out of bed early to get over there and get s*** done.  Let's try to get most of the wiring done tomorrow?  Maybe?  

Whatever.  As stated in a comment in the last post, I have thoroughly enjoyed not having to sit in a truck all day long, alone, being watched by idiots in a corporate building somewhere scrutinizing my every move, being watched over by all sorts of electronic devices and basically making driving a miserable experience. 

The answer to that is buy my own truck.  I don't want to do that, but I wouldn't have to be exposed to people I don't even know are watching me if they so choose.  No, they probably aren't watching drivers all day long, they are probably reviewing "coachable events", as if any of those idiots could teach me anything about driving trucks - from people that have never driven one.  They have no clue what it's like to sit in a vehicle for 11 hours behind the wheel and then spend the rest of the time in the truck but not in the driver's seat.   

When you buy a truck, you become married to the thing. You can't just walk away from it like you can from a trucking company's truck.  And from what I have learned from OO's, it's a very difficult time to be an OO right now with all the undercutting going on from foreigners coming to this nation to drive trucks - many of whom have no training driving trucks and apparently get some sort of pass with their license acquired from that other nation with far fewer requirements.  

Still, I could drive a chemical/hazmat truck and make very good money. Several job openings.  It's just the idea of going back to that.....

And anyway, I'm going to at least finish the washer/dryer setup before I make such decisions, but rest assured, the idea of going back to trucking, as unpalatable as it may be, has been in my mind in the last month or so. Haven't discussed it much here because I just can't get myself to cross that bridge - yet.  Trust me, if I start going broke, I will be back in a truck.  That's a no-brainer.  I'm not going bankrupt over my desire to just do the park and nothing else.  

It would certainly help my chances of getting a decent loan if I were employed with a sizeable, annual income.  I'm still on that "just need another" 14 -40 lots to live comfortably. The more, the better. Of course, you get too many and then you have to have employees - and that can be quite costly. 

I'll just add here the washer-dryer setup is getting close.  The problem is when you are running wiring, you are supposed to do all of it when you are doing it. That means the washer, the dryer, the light switches, lights, outlet for range, outlets for the cameras, everything.  

Look, I'm seriously tempted by this 4 day a week, 70k per year job training drivers. It has a curriculum, you just follow it and give your own advice, of course, after decades of being in the industry.  These new drivers are woefully undertrained and misinformed about the trucking lifestyle.  Many truck driving training courses are only giving the bare minimum to pass the CDL tests.  It teaches them nothing about the nuances of driving trucks. Maybe they don't want you teaching them that stuff, probably would have people dropping out if you tell them the stark realities of the industry?  

Yes, I can make a ton more money going out on the road and hauling hazardous materials, but do I want to? LMAO, if you've read this blog for any length of time, you will know that answer to that question is a definitive NO, LOLOL.  

Anyway, these antibiotics are dragging me down. They are doing their job but they are making me sleepy all day long.  I'm not using that as an excuse to do nothing tomorrow, just saying it's dragging me down. The benefits, however, are worth the trouble.  

I have tomorrow planned.  Lowe's - again - and then start hooking up the outlets.  Electrical outlets, that is.  Well, maybe I can bypass Lowe's and just take an extension cord from here for the day, pretty sure we have a few laying around that aren't being used.  I don't really want to go to Lowe's tomorrow - at all actually.  

That's all.  I'm done for the day, watching  a movie, chilling, hanging with friends, etc etc etc.  

 Sunday - morning

Yesterday, I went over to the property and finished the router stand setup.  The box I bought was curious.  There are no holes in it except for cutouts that you can remove for screws.  It's supposed to be a junction box - so where are the wires supposed to come in at?  Well, whatever the case, I got out my hole saw and cut a hole big enough to get an extension cord up into it as well as drilling out the holes for the screws.  

Unfortunately, the extension cord I bought wasn't long enough to reach to the pole, so I had to use another one that is being used to bring electricity to the shed until I get electric in there.  I would like to hope this coming week I will have everything done on electric and I can fire the box up with power and have outlets instead of running a cord.  

Until then, I will have to go buy another cord.  

Anyway, the device has 3 bars of service now instead of the two it had which is enough to pump wifi throughout the park. I kind of think I should have placed the pole somewhere else, sort of. Instead of behind the row of trailers, I think I should have put it in front.  The drawback to that is if you put it next to the driveway, there is the real chance that someone coming into the park and backing in will hit the thing and destroy it.  Still, reception would be much better if I had done it that way.  It's not a big deal to cut that thing out of the ground and put it somewhere else, the pole doesn't have to be super high to get the required signal strength.  

I was thinking of putting the devices near the ends of the park and that way, all the units will be covered, I can also install a camera along the driveway that can receive the wifi signal and also be able to cover the intended HipCamp area with wifi as well.  People want their amenities, that's all I can say about that.  I definitely must have wifi in the shed for a couple of cameras.  One inside watching the machines and one outside keeping an eye on the driveway.  In total, I'd like 4 cameras. The 2 at the shed, one at the main driveway and one on the HipCamp area.  

This will cover my @$$ for any bogus claims - or even legitimate claims - for damages or injuries.  People can lie, the camera does not.  

I mean, I did get the water stuff done this week, tho I haven't charged the half inch pipe up yet to see if it leaks. In fact, I turned the water pressure back off. I will turn it back on Monday when I get over there and leave it on all day long.  If it's going to spring a leak, I want to be there to be able to shut it off.  However, a couple hours after I shut it off, I opened the valve that lets water into the water heater tank.  There was still pressure in the lines as you could hear the water spurt into the tank. That is a very good sign.  All of that trouble is finally paying off.  

I need another T to add to the half inch line so I can direct it towards the other side of the shed for the shower and toilet setup.  Put the T in, a short piece of pipe and then a half in valve.  That way I don't have to shut off water to the entire shed to be able to work on those lines.  I have 4 valves installed so far.  The toilet will have it's own shut off, the shower sill be able to be shut off with the 2 valves I will have installed that go to it, there is a shut off to the entire shed and another valve in the existing trench.  The trench is for the sewer line going to the toilet and shower.

I realized after I started installing the water lines for the water heater and the washer that I didn't need to run water to the other side from the outside. I will just go from the inside through the 2X4 studs.  I will install another water spigot where that one in the trench ends and have it available for HipCampers.  I am not going to plumb water out into the HipCamp area, it's too much money and I don't see any need for it. If they need water, they can pull up to that valve I will install and fill it up.  No sewer out there either, same thing: I have the parts to install a sewer dump  next to the shed. 

I will advertise it as well. It won't be cheap tho.  $15 to dump. That's mid-range going rate. Some charge as low as $10 and others go as high as $20, I even saw one listed at $25.  It's a deterrent - stay at the park instead of just coming into dump. But I don't really care that much, it won't get that much use, more of a convenience.  I don't necessarily just want people coming in there to dump, but HipCampers will be able to use it for "free" - included in the price of their stay.  

Honestly, if I knew what I was doing, I would have had all of this done by now.  

I can see weeks worth of trying to figure out how to install stuff that I have never installed before.  I don't expect the wiring to take terrible long tho, it's pretty simple stuff.  HipCamp wiring will wait until I get everything else done. 

I actually have done some framing in the past - but we're talking 3 decades. Still, it's also pretty basic stuff.  That doesn't mean I'll breeze through it but at least I have an idea of how it works. The bathroom door will probably give me some headaches and framing in the shower stall.  I'm not going to get a door for the shower stall, it is made so you can either use a door or simply put up a shower curtain. A door assembly is at least $300 unless you find someone selling one on the Marketplace. Just not worth that much to me, if someone really wants to take a shower in there, they aren't going to care about a shower curtain.

The door will have a lock on it, I'm just making it possible for someone to clean up if they don't have access to a shower or if they have a family with kids and don't really want to use the trailer shower for all of that.  

BTW, T Mobile has a deal going for cameras as well. There is a monthly service fee, of course, but it records 24 hours a day and it's 2 cameras.  One for inside the shed and one facing the Park driveway.  These types of cameras are plug and play. No additional equipment needed beyond needing a wifi connection.  You can look at what's going on 24 hours a day and it records, 24 hours a day.  I didn't opt for that yet, but I suspect I will be.  It is likely I am going to install the next router next to the shed - in between the shed and doggy park.  That way, the shed and the Hipcamp has access to internet and a portion of the RV Park will also be covered.  

Just so glad that T Mobile has this deal and it's a "forever" thing, at least according to their claims. I don't know why they are offering it that cheap for unlimited data and the ability for each device to hook 66 devices into it.  They claim there is no reduction in speed with that many devices hooked up. I don't know, I just know that it's an amazing deal and is saving my @$$ both over the local, wired company that wanted over 7 grand just to install the wiring and Verizon, which is charging and outrageous amount of money. My current bill is $375. 

Things are slowly working out.  It's been a bumpy road and I've made my share of mistakes, but it's going to be ok, as the old saying goes. Well, I hope so anyway and asking the Lord's blessing upon it. I need to call Verizon since they haven't asked for the unit back and give me instructions on how to send the thing back to them - or take it back to the store.  And the trash can - that account needs ended, completely spaced that out.  And set up auto pay for the dumpster - still a bit of things to do beyond just shed stuff.

Slowly whittling away at the expenditures and bringing the costs down.  This way, even if I need to go get a job, it doesn't have to be an OTR or Regional position that keeps me out all the time.  In fact, I am very interested in the driver training position available. Home every night, Monday-Thursday, 3 day weekends. 10 hour days tho.  Nothing new to me, but I haven't been working in that capacity for a while.  It would take a bit of adjustment time to get used to that again, lol.  

Keto - no weight loss in the last several days, that's pretty typical. But the fat loss is becoming noticeable.  

Map - Google still showing a forest instead of what it is now.  I wish I would have made a few changes in the trees taken down.  The tree row at the south end of the portion where the park is could have stayed up, providing a natural view barrier to those ugly tanks.  I was thinking ahead into the future that I would need them down, but when is that going to happen? And even so, I didn't really have to take all of those down. There is nothing I can do now about it beyond planting more trees.  Anyway, the satellite image shows those trees standing.  I need Google to update the image lol.  That way I can make a map of the park without paying $300 to someone to bring a drone out. 

I still have yet to take that video - well retake it.  I want to upload a video of the park and a separate video of the walking trails.  I did get one but the camera was shaking around too much. 

And that's that. The boys all want to go to church. I say all - the step-brother is here for he week even tho other 2 have to go to school this coming week.  Different Spring break schedules from different states.  I am not going to be dealing with the third this coming week, thankfully, I have too much to do to be able to supervise children and get work done. It's fairly distracting to have them constantly asking for this and that. I don't mind doing it, I just need the quiet atmosphere to be able to think things through while doing that project.  I very much like going over there alone or with Addler.

Well, off to church.

Have a Blessed Day in the Lord!

 So this started 3 days ago. This guy says he's in a car, saw my ad on Hipcamp and asked if he could stay the night - in his car - to recharge batteries on his various devices?  I didn't know what to say right off. Hipcamp isn't opened yet.  At the rate I'm going with it, it's going to be a month at least before all that junk is in that shed and fully operational. What a pain! 

Whatever the case, he sounded desperate so I offered him an extension cord and to park behind the shed, warning him there are no facilities here and you would have to use the "great outdoors" to relieve yourself.  I mean, it's not the end of the world to pee on a tree, but some people don't like doing that.  I disappear into the woods when I've over there whenever the need arises, I'm not driving all the way home to use the toilet.  

Someday, I'll have a toilet installed in there and I wont have to go anywhere.   

Well, he didn't show up that night and he texted me telling me why: he was stuck wherever he was at and was trying to get out of the predicament he was in.  No worries, I thought, I was only going to charge him $5 anyway, more along the lines of helping him out than making any money off of the deal.  Yes, well he did show up the next day, night actually.  I never saw him, it was just messaging. He showed up when it was pouring rain and I had already put the extension cord and power strip out there for him, wrapped in plastic so the rain wouldn't get into it.  

It was yesterday morning I was heading to the property with the boys and saw him driving out. There was no mistaking him in the car, lol, because one of the tenants texted me asking about it.  I am very fortunate to have 4 sets of eyes and ears over there watching out for the place.  Well, turns out he left me $10 cash instead of the $5, I texted him saying I was only charging him $5.  Yes, he replied, I left a tip. Well thank you!  He also left a lengthy review on Google and it was a good one.  That was worth the hassle in and of itself.  

Well, I got quite a lot done yesterday, in fact, I got the 3/4 water system installed and charged. No leaks.  I got the 1/2 system done as well, but I didn't test it.  Not enough time had elapsed for the curing process and I'm not interested in blowing out lines with glued on fittings that haven't had enough time to cure yet.  I will be testing that today. About 3 hours in, the boys wanted to go home.  I accommodated them on that one, my meds had arrived and I wanted to take an antibiotic pill ASAP. 

I took a nap and went back to the property - late actually - by myself.  I've had those boys all week long, time to pass the torch.  The youngest is a handful, the oldest is low maintenance but put the two together and it can get a bit dicey at times.  They fight with each other - as brothers will do - and it tends to get old.  

I dug out a hole for the 4X4X8 wood - I admittedly had completely forgotten about it but my memory was sparked when I remembered the T Mobile internet isn't working.  Why? Because the device is too low to the ground and needs to be elevated.  As soon as I pick it up, it adds another bar of service and the internet is restored.  Anyway, I got that in the ground, dumped quickcrete around the wood in the ground, poured water on it, leveled it and left that to dry. 

Back to the shed, I started running wire.  Of course, there is always something.  I don't have enough wire and the route I am making it go, I need clips to hold the wire in place.  I needed something else which has escaped my memory - I write everything down so I don't forget things when I go up to Lowe's.  It's time consuming to go up there. I'm sure there are many more trips up there before the entire shed is done.  So, this morning I will be going up there for that stuff and then back over to the property.

But, the first priority is to get that box attached to the 4X4 and get that setup going.  I want that done so I can unplug the Verizon over-priced trash and send that back to Verizon  They can keep it.  I am ordering another T Mobile device so I have complete park coverage including the shed and hopefully will extend to the HipCamp area.  I do want internet in the shed, I intend on running my video surveillance in there and it will have to have functioning WiFi in order for me to be able to view what's going on over there when I'm not around.  And recording as well.  

The extra unit will guarantee full park coverage as well.  It's $100 for both versus almost $400 for that Verizon nonsense.  What a joke.  

Done. Decided to get that over with.  I am also switching my phones over to T Mobile as well.  The savings over Verizon is amazing.  I'll be paying around $170 per month for 2 of the internet devices giving unlimited data and 2 phones. They are paying off the phone I purchased through Verizon last year - still $500 plus on that one - and sending SIM cards.  I'm all about saving every last penny I can save right now, which reminds me....

Dish Network. I have been avoiding that because I hate calling either of the satellite tv companies. The process to talk to anyone with any knowledge is ridiculous. I will just start with the house here and tell them I want to cancel the service. If they don't drop the rate, I will cancel the service today.  Only me and the kids use the satellite, the other folks use other, internet-based services to watch whatever they like to watch.  I like my satellite, don't get me wrong, but it isn't worth anything remotely close to what they are charging me now.  

Well, I might tackle Dish today, I might now.  My mind is sort of drifting over to the property and trying to get things done. I can only take so many of these mega-corporation phone calls on any given day. But, I am glad I got the second device because they not only offered a huge savings on monthly phone service, they also are sending me a $200 Visa gift card plus they will be sending a Mastercard to pay off the phone once I get to that point.  

That really feels good. Saving literally hundreds of dollars for same service.  They couldn't issue me a second internet for the property - my address isn't showing up there. Not surprising.  I asked if I could just get a second one for the house? Sure.  Okay!  lol

The coughing went down substantially last night after taking those antibiotics. I kind of thought it would work considering this is probably a bacterial infection versus a virus.  

Keto - up a few pounds.  It's quite expected.  I'm also barely in ketosis - I think it's the cough medicine I've been taking. You can taste the sugar in it.  I don't know if any cough medicine exists that isn't loaded with carbs.  I'm going to try to not use cough medicine today since the coughing has abated substantially.  

Well, I guess sitting here is not going to get anything done. I'm at the least going to try to get that router setup going so people can stop complaining that the wifi doesn't work. I can see why they would want it - you pay quite a bit extra for unlimited hotspot on a phone.  Meaning running your laptop or streaming devices off of it.  Verizon certainly gets me for it.  I'm just glad to have found a viable alternative that actually works and doesn't cost a fortune. I wanted to get in on that $50 per month deal before it goes away - I doubt they will have that offer going forever. 

 I'm hardly getting anything done at the property with the extracurricular things going on elsewhere.  Although I'm not really regretting it, certainly not for going and getting those shower stalls.  I'll have to go to Karnack again today to get the other shower stall, buy parts to fix the situation with the cracked adapter in the shed and then hopefully get to work before it starts raining.  

Yup, it's supposed to start raining this afternoon and go well into the night.  The adapter thing is going to be cutting the whole thing out of there and starting with new 90's, the adapter and a reducer.  The reducer is rather expensive, no choice in the matter.  I would very much like to get that fixed and hope to the High Heavens that there are no more leaks and I can move on with this.  It's not as bad as it sounds.  Cutting those lines and replacing everything is more a  matter of time than aggravation.  

You simply put one piece on at a time, give it a bit of time to dry and start curing, then move to the next piece.  I can get the flexible hose and work on the water heater while that's doing it's drying thing.  And half inch hose has to be installed back to the laundry box.  

Well, yesterday's excursion into the wild blue yonder ended up with me getting sunburnt on my face. Hadn't been burned in so long, it was a bit surprising to see that in the mirror last night.

I am also down another pound.  It's just a pound - but it is going down, now up, that's a very good thing.  11 pounds from 200.  Fat bulges are noticeably receding.  

And a complaint about a tenant at the park, replete with a pic.  They left a plastic bag out with household trash in it, something had gotten into it and it was strewn all over their grassy area.  These people owe lot rent today, I will be discussing this situation with them.  It's just intolerable and I won't just let such situation continue on.  

Whatever.  Just stuff that I expect I will have to deal with on and off.  It's human nature and some people have no respect for their living area or anyone else's. At least, so far anyway, the beer bottle situation has changed. They are no longer dumping trash into the can by the shed. That is a huge step in the right direction.  But leaving trash out by your door? Even if it's in a trash bag? Animals smell right through that stuff and will come straight for it.  

Actually, I haven't seen the people in lot 6, 8 and 9 since I left that notice.  Their trailers are still there, but I do wonder if they are planning on moving.  No worries, I am getting calls on a daily basis and have several people on a waiting list.  They can move to wherever a park allows such squalid living conditions.  

Of course, the people complaining about the bones and trash aren't any better.  Their dogs are getting loose and running directly down there to eat them. Pet are supposed to be leashed at all times - clearly written in my rules.  No one is perfect. 

No new reservations in many days now.  What to do?  Finish the shed, lmao.  

If reservations don't start picking up, I'm going to rent out lot 11 after the end of next week. I have a couple of stays coming up, but after that there is nothing.  I mean, it can change quickly, it has a few times now when I was thinking, gee, I want to rent out that lot long term.  And then within a week's time it gets filled up with enough reservations to cancel that thought.  

Anyway, the day is moving along without me. Time to get busy.  

 Slept poorly last night.  So much so that it is not a very pleasant thought about the day facing me today.  I mean, I'm going to have to leave here soon, go to the property, hook up the trailer, go to near the state line, get that shower - and whatever else they may have that I might need - head back to the property, over to Longview for a kite festival, spend a few hours there and then finally, after that, go home.  

Taylor is manning a booth for her company at the kite festival, but she promised to bring the boys for the festival itself.  The problem is, her work dumped a bunch of stuff on her at the last minute to prepare for today's event.  That meant that she wouldn't have time to drive clear home to get the boys and take them back over there, which was her original plan.  So I decided to go ahead and take them, it's Spring Break and they can't just be sitting at home all day long for a week.  

I just can't believe this coughing nonsense. It's endless. If I'm laying down, I'm coughing.  I am tempted to get some antibiotics to ensure that this isn't some non-virus thing that can be treated.  I at least want to try meds to see if they will help alleviate this endless misery.  Well, during the daytime, it's not so bad, I start coughing at times but it doesn't go on for hours.  

I'm basically in a race right now to get this shed done.  It really needs to be done before the end of this month, but I doubt it will be.  When I say that, I mean the bathroom done as well as laundry.  Kitchen can wait til the last thing on the list.  It's going to be a scavenger hunt as well  - well it already has been, I'm not buying new and I will wait until I find something such as this shower stall before I pull the trigger and buy.  

_________________

Very long day.  Got the trailer, went over to Karnack, got the shower stall and a toilet. I said I wasn't going to buy a used toilet, but this thing was hardly used and only $40.  I saw the other shower stall and asked how much?  $100.  Sold!  That shower stall is the walls, the base and the glass door.  Similar setup at Lowe's starts at $599 and goes up from there. Not including tax.  I don't need 2 shower stalls, I will decide which one I want to use and sell the other one - at a markup.  

They had an old, metal bench that rocks on gliders.  You want this? How much? $20.  I was shocked and said yes without hesitation.  That thing cleaned up and painted is easily worth $300.  I've looked.  It can go in the doggy park or it can go by the fire pit.  

I didn't get the glass stall today tho.  Not enough room on the trailer. That fiberglass stall took up a lot of the trailer, the bench more and the toilet finished it off. I will be going back tomorrow to get the other stall. It is likely I will keep the glass setup and resell the fiberglass one.  But I'm not sure yet...

Back to the property, dropped the trailer and headed to the annual kite festival over in Longview.  Replete with a free kite for the first 720 people.  Both boys were into it, but the older boy was really getting into it.  We did that for quite a while, then to the bounce houses, then to the ice cone truck, back to where Taylor was, back to kiting, then to the bounce houses again and then...out of here.  Oops, forgot the boys got into a fire truck and police cruiser.  

That was 3-1/2 hours of that and I was done.  Came home, made dinner and here I am.  Needing to run over to the property actually, which I'm doing soon before I just say nope, I'm toast,; thanks, have a great day.  

Oh, those people that came in last night? They had 100 grand easily worth of toys on 2 trailers, which doesn't include the trailers themselves and the vehicles pulling them. They are going to the Sabine River thing that is also an annual event. Apparently they weren't able to get a spot down there for last night, hence staying at my place.  They had side-by-sides, 3 of them and other stuff.  Those things aren't cheap and these were decked out well beyond manufacturers outfitting.  

The water lines...well, the adapter has a crack in it, hence why the entire thing blew up.  So, I will have to redo that entire setup down there.  Unbelievable.  I'll be checking the next adapter for cracks....that's a bit of work and a few dollars as well.  I'm just going to replace the entire setup - it's just pvc stuff not extremely expensive.  Another trip to Lowe's tomorrow - but I was going anyway for the flexible pipe for the water heater.  

Shrugs shoulders, fix it and move on.

I'm very tired.  Dinner is almost done cooking.

 About all I can say about that is... whoops!  I put everything together this morning - well all the way up to the water heater anyway - so I could have it dry and cured enough to put it under pressure later on.  Including installing 2 valves for water shut off purposes for future reference.  

So, we went to a museum today - it was a kid's museum full of fun things for the kids but  Taylor and I were having fun as well.  A pretend kitchen, kids were handing us make believe coffee, fried dishes and other things that we pretended to enjoy.  We built a sort of log cabin thing out of giant Lincoln style logs.  

After that, we had a bite to eat at a local restaurant, which was quite good and then we went home after stopping by the property. Taylor hadn't seen it since shortly after the trees had been cut down - a long time ago.  We drove around it and she was like, well let's have weiners and smore's tonight!  I have that big fire pit that basically, I am the only one that uses it.  Lol, it wasn't intended that way, but that's how it has worked out.  

Well, I went back to the property with one of the boys - who really wanted to go, the other one did not - to turn the water on to see what would happen and to take Addler for a walk in the woods.   That's the whoops moment.  You see, when I was bringing the pipe from outside to the inside of the shed? I forgot to glue one of the fittings together.  When I turned the water on, there was a literal geyser going on inside of the shed - there is very good water pressure at the park and it comes pouring out. 

Well, I turned the water back off and just figured I'd come back tonight for the hot dogs and fix it after everything drained out of it.  Which is exactly what I did, but I didn't turn the water back on. Not with that much pressure, I wanted to let it dry/cure enough that it's not going to blow up again.  Over to the fire pit and James already had a fire going - we used my last fire log.  We had fun roasting hot dogs and making s'mores, tho I didn't eat any s'mores, my diet said no.

I also checked the dumpster - almost completely full. A couple more bags of trash would fit into it, yes, but it was amazing to see how much trash was in that thing.  I don't really think anyone is dumping into it that doesn't stay there, I just think with 14 lots and mostly full, that's going to happen.  The dumpster is being emptied tomorrow. Hopefully people will get rid of more trash tonight to keep the next one from getting filled up too quickly. 

I have the boys tomorrow morning, but after Taylor comes and gets them I will be back over there.  I will charge the system back up and make sure there are no leaks up to that point.  The pipe came off immediately, there is no way the entire system charged up with water. But, earlier today, I was trying to think what I was missing.  Then it dawned on me. They don't put solid lines on water heaters, they have somewhat flexible tubing coming off of it. 

Of course! I want flexibility because  neither the amenity shed nor the small shed the water heater is in are tied down to the ground.  Yup, back to Lowe's tomorrow morning to get those hoses and also to attempt to find the fittings to convert the pipe to CPVC.  If I can't figure out what to use to convert it, hopefully that plumber who works there will be there to help me out.  If I can get the figured out and if there are no leaks, I can pretty much get the water lines completed tomorrow. I only have to run the hot water line back to the laundry box.  That will take some hole drilling and pipe cutting and installing some fittings, but a couple of hours should be enough. 

Once I am sure that is good to go, I will start on the electrical.  It will invariably mean another trip to Lowe's but I intend on getting as much done first as I can so I know exactly what I will need and at least try to make a one-trip excursion to Lowe's, instead of multiple trips.  

I - think - I have all the wiring I need for the dryer, washer, AC unit, wall switch, light fixture and another general outlet.  I definitely have enough boxes and I think I have enough plugs.  I have all the circuit breakers I need for that portion of the project, I will probably need a few more for HipCamp. HipCamp is not a priority at the moment, the shed needs done first.  

______________

Shower stall. A person had just posted it on Marketplace while I was writing this entry.  Something told me to look at FB Marketplace, don't ask my why, I think God is involved with a lot of things in our lives and He blesses us in ways we don't even recognize.  And there it was.  It's a molded shower stall, the base and the walls all one piece.  It doesn't have a door on it, but they only want $225 for it - that stall sells new $700 and up all day long.  They claim it is in near perfect condition with no scratches or cuts in it.  It has the water valves and the shower tubing on it as well.  I don't necessarily have to have a door, I can put a shower curtain on it, just have to see if i can find a door cheap as well.  It's a done deal as far as I'm concerned, the man is remodeling a cabin and is upgrading it to a more luxury style setup.  I don't care about that right now, usability is all I need.  

This guy is now telling me he has a "I have another cool corner shower stall with round door".

This is actually what I wanted to begin with.  He said I could see it tomorrow, didn't give a price.  If it's the complete setup with the base, walls and glass, it's a grand. That's pretty much where the complete setup starts and goes up from there. If it has the fixtures, it would be worth even more.  I'm not telling him that, of course, he can set whatever price he wants and then we go from there.  The corner thing would be easier to install for the base doesn't need concrete put down first.  I never knew these stalls - certain styles I guess - have to have a concrete or similar layer installed on the floor first.  

Do I need this shower stall right now? No, of course not. I've been looking for quite a while now, however, and I can tell ya, that stuff isn't cheap and anything decent at a good price sells almost instantly. Unless this thing is messed up - which the pictures don't show any problems with it - I consider this just short of a miracle.  Not just for the price, but the fact that I had this feeling to look at marketplace and it was the first thing I saw on there. I'm serious, it was literally the first thing that showed up.  I'll watch videos how to install it replete with the concrete if necessary.  I don't really care, the price is the selling point. The labor is - it is what it is.  

"Apparently this is a great price- in 30 mins I have people begging me"

Lol. Yup, I can imagine!

Well, long day and time to start thinking about bed. Tomorrow is going to be chock full o' stuff to do as well.

 Went to bed at 10:22 pm last night, woke up in the middle of the night, went right back to sleep and then woke up at...6:22 this morning. 10 minutes later, the hacking  began.  It go so bad that there were tears streaming from my eyes.  I wasn't in pain, exactly, just a physical response to so much uncontrolled coughing.  I got out of bed.  If I get up, I know it will die down or even stop.  I went even further than that, got in the shower, turned it to a nice, hot setting, got the room filled with steam and soothed my lungs by breathing the steam in deeply.  I learned that when I was single digit age with asthma.  My parents had no drugs to give me, it was get in that bathroom and turn it into a sauna or suffer, suffer badly.

Yes, it's early, at least by my current standards.  My head is still a bit groggy from sleeping so hard.  If I could have gone back to sleep, I definitely would have.  Go a week without sleeping and see how that feels, is all I can say about that.  Once you get a night where your body says, uhh, no, we're going to sleep tonight? You take advantage of it.  But the coughing prevented it and so I am awake and drinking coffee instead.

There is a trip to a museum today that I am going to with the mom and the boys.  Why? Because I want to.  Yes, there is  a lot to do at the property.  Oh well.  I'm going to Lowe's in a few minutes to get the stuff I was lacking yesterday and at least get that much done.  I'm guessing about 3 hours worth of museum trip, that should leave me time to get a few hours work done over there today regardless. If I do, indeed, get a couple hours of work done, I will be getting close to getting the laundry stuff done.

I think. Who knows? I haven't even started on electricity yet beyond installing the boxes for the outlets.  I don't "think" it should be that hard, but I've experienced obstacles on nearly everything I've done in that shed thus far.  

I've had no new reservations made in many days.  A few calls about long term of which I cannot currently help these people out with and one person that wanted an overnight stay - the park was full, I couldn't accommodate her.  

The best I can do under such circumstances is give them a place to park that has no amenities whatsoever at a very cheap rate.  People mostly don't want that when they're calling, they want that electricity, first and foremost and then be able to dump their holding tanks and fill the water tank up.  I haven't had anyone taking me up on that offer, but I make it anyway in case the desperation is so great that they'll literally take anything over nothing.  

Hipcamp will have 20 amp outlets. That's enough for those people to turn on their lights, run their refrigerators, etc.  it won't do all of that and run their AC - right now AC doesn't matter, it is cool at night once again. In fact, it's going to get cold again.  It's in the high 40's right now as it stands.

I've fiddled with my rates a few times now.  But basically, I want to raise the 50 amp trailers up to $475 before summer to make them pay for the ridiculous amount of electricity they are using.  It's pretty easy to turn the AC setting to a very cool temp when you aren't paying separate for electricity.  

My outdoor wifi box should be arriving today.  So, now that I think of it, I also need to get a bag of quikcrete and a 4x4 pole while I'm there.  An 8 footer will fit inside my SUV between the middle row of seats without damaging anything - I don't have the trailer and I don't want to go get it.  That trailer is going to need a new landing gear installed soon, it's so dry inside of the gear box you can hear the gears grinding. There are no grease zerts anywhere on the thing and no holes to try and force some in. I suppose I could drill a hole into the side of the thing and see if I could install a zert.  Not a bad idea, actually.  

The outdoor box is going to need electricity run to it - It's just nothing I can get involved with right now. It means running an underground line to the main meter assembly. Both of the meters have regular breaker boxes on them meaning I can install a lot of breakers in there if I needed to . I don't know if they did that because it needed it for the setup or they did that as a convenience, either way, it's good the option is in there.  Too bad it's so far from the shed, I could have just used one of those instead of having to add a whole new breaker box.  It's at least 350 feet away. 

I will just have to use an extension cord for now.  I'm also going to have to put some kind of sun-eliminating cover over that box to keep the direct sunlight off of it.  That won't happen this week but I am going to try to get the thing installed in there at least.  Maybe, lol.  

With all the expenditures I've had to continue to make, the business bank account is growing regardless. And doesn't include cash I have on hand.  A trip to the bank would grow it another 2plus grand.

I will help that along by selling firewood soon - instead of giving it away free, that was just the first cord and getting that laundry going.  Hopefully will at least pay for themselves versus a constant drain on finances, especially that shed.  I will be looking at the brand that Lowe's uses today for firewood to see how much a cord costs, pre-packaged and if they will deliver it to my park.  I'm guessing the cost is high and the price for customers would have to reflect that cost.  But if I don't try to turn it into a money-maker - convenience instead, maybe I can keep the cost down.  

I dunno, but that pile is dwindling and it will need replaced soon.  2 of the overnights stays have been digging into it and 3 long term have been using it as well.  I suspect charging for it will cause that usage to go down quite a bit. Shrugs shoulders, it's not an expense I should have to bear. People can go forage for free wood if they so desire, there is plenty of it on the property.  There are piles of it next to the walking trails.  Nicely seasoned as well.  

 Gorgeous, beautiful day.  Boys are out on Spring Break -  even tho the first day of Spring isn't until the 20th lol - for a week - so I took them all over the place getting stuff and then to the property.  I was working - they were playing. I got the plumbing done for the water heater.  I also mowed the giant lawn by the entrance and had the boys pulling out big clumps of grass.  They got tire of that quickly and ended up playing and then wanting to play games on my phones.  

I don't normally let them play on the phones out there, but to keep them happy I did today. I wanted to get X amount of stuff done, but as normal, I got held up by having to go get yet more parts.  There is no way the drain vent can go straight up the wall and out the roof, it's impossible. I have to get 2 90's and move it away from the wall to get it up to the top of the roof.  You really don't want a vent like that opening off the side of the wall - tho I suppose you could.  

I ran out of 3/4 inch CPVC pipe, I need one more stick to finish this project - will need more for the next phase but I want this done for now. The next phase, I will have to buy more stuff anyway, pipe is just a small part of it.  

I also realized a foolish mistake in not making it possible to unhook the lines from the water heater without cutting into pipe. Fortunately, I'm not too far along.  I will get 2 unions, hook them in there and also a water shut off valve.  Then I can shut off the water supply to the heater and be able to unhook it from the pipes altogether. I'm glad I caught that before I got done - the main water inlet is almost completed all the way around, I just have the hot water line to run back to the laundry box.  I should be able to finish that tomorrow.  I am going to get the valve in there and then pressure the system to see if there are any leaks before I move along with the hot water line.  

My new hole saw is worth it's weight in gold.  Cuts holes right through that wood.  

Then I will get busy with electrical outlets. Realistically, I could just run the line to the dryer, another line for the washer and run that off to the switch and that off to the light - one line can easily run a washer and a light.  I may just do that and get this thing rolling. If people really want to use it that badly, they will be able to. I will still be working in there, but I will make sure they have access.  

Well, got home and later on, they all went to the soccer field for practice. I am only going to the games, so I decided to load Addler up and take him over there.  People hadn't seen him before and were actually shouting.  Lmao.  I went over there yes to walk the dog but also to collect 2 night's rent before those people leave.  They wanted to pay cash, but they weren't there when I was working on the shed.

Addler, of course, loved his walk and I went strolling through the area I eventually hope to turn into more RV lots.  You can just stand there and daydream for a while.  I figure I could easily get 30 more lots back there, maybe more and still have them nicely spaced out like I have them now.  I'll have to measure it of course and also wondering if I could go 3 deep instead of two.  A back row could be for much shorter units and wouldn't have to have 50 amp outlets, just 20 and 30 - save a lot of money.  RV's that small don't use 50 amps.  

I might just measure the thing in the next coming days to keep the dream alive.  You never know, financing may become available.  I think with the banking situation going on plus inflation plus the feds continually raising interest rates, that may seem impossible, but with God, all things are possible. It's really a matter of how you look at it.  Just short of 7 grand for the next septic system to put in around 8 lots.  

Those 3 night people are loving the walking trails, just so nice to see others also enjoying it.  The kids with that family have also been back there with their doggy.  Everyone else - not so much.  

Anyway, getting close to the park on the walk I could hear yelling.  Someone was mad at someone else.  All nice find and dandy, could you close the door to your RV for that episode of Husband V Wife so the whole park doesn't have to be subjected to it? They closed the door and I didn't hear anything.  She drinks - a lot. She has a large glass of wine in her hand every time I see her if she's not on duty.  

I delivered a notice to the partiers that are also oil field workers.  No more throwing chicken bones on the ground, no more chucking beer bottles all over the place by missing the trash can, no more trash laying on the table.  Please and thank you. I didn't threaten eviction, but if I have to write another notice? It will be an eviction notice.  I don't think they're bad people, necessarily, they just aren't very clean people.  That's fine if it's your house, that isn't their house, it's my property and they have no say in the matter, it is plainly written in my rules. 

Besides an unsightly appearance, I wrote them, it also attracts rodents.  Good luck getting rid of mice or rats in your trailer once they get in there.  Rodents bring snakes and other predators as well. Also raccoons - I really dislike those creatures.  It's basically the food chain you are inviting into the park by leaving s*** and food laying all over the place, I simply won't have it and won't tolerate it.  They can leave if they get offended, that's their choice.  

Well, I have my work cut out for me tomorrow but I need to see Taylor's schedule, the boys may need to be watched. I can take them with me, I need to get more work done, they can play on phones if necessary but I intend on continuing on with the project.  It really isn't impossible to at least get the washer and dryer set up going this week - but I said that last week so I'll just keep my predictions to a minimum.  

And with that, I'm offa here. It's already almost 8:00 pm.  Where does the time go? 

 Sunday - Late afternoon

Daylight Savings Time. A thing I could do without and did without in Arizona for decades. It's especially this one where the clock moves forward where you basically are losing an hour's worth of sleep.  Not that I have to get up particularly early on a Sunday morning anyway, it's just the psychological effect.  It's an ancient ritual as far as I'm concerned that they need to get rid of.  I can't fathom the necessity in politician's minds to want to affect the sleep cycles of hundreds of million of Americans twice a year?  

The credit card for the incoming last night was declined - they still owe over $50 - whatever the exact amount is, the software does all of that for me.  Well, after church this morning, the man was walking his dog and I caught up to him. They had gotten rid of that credit card, he said, he could "go get one right now".  Uhh, no, you are staying 2 more days, I can get it tomorrow.  As long as I get paid, I don't really care at what point I get that money.  

We did chat or a bit, he is one of the few that has actually walked the entire circumference of the walking trails.  He really liked it and complimented me on it.  Thank you! Not many people use it, tho I built it for the Park use, it's basically my own little paradise back there.  He commented on what looked like tent camping sites.

Yes, there is a big one back there but atm, I can't run it because the only real way back there is to walk.  He commented that many people wouldn't mind walking back there for that kind of scenery and deep in the woods. Hmm.  There are no facilities - but I spent a good portion of life dry camping in areas with no toilets, water - nothing.  You take a shovel, a roll of toilet paper, go into the woods, do your thing and cover it up.  I just wonder how many people would be willing to do that in this current age of amenities and have-to-have's where people can't be inconvenienced by much of anything?  

I do have one of my tent camping sites on both Roverpass and Hipcamp. So far, only one person and she couldn't find the site.  

Speaking of Roverpass, my second reservation for that came through 30 minutes ago. This time? It's for one of the RV sites, not tent camping.  I take a bit of a loss on Roverpass, their fees are pretty high.  My $25 site even with them adding fees to the customer still only gets me $21.75 back.  But, it's on a date that had nothing reserved. I'll take that $21.75 over nothing.  It's a done deal, confirmation letter sent and date blacked out on the software reservation grid.  

I was really delighted tho that the guy, his wife and doggy had strolled through the woods.  I really don't want it all to myself, I like to share treasures and I do think it's a natural treasure back there.  Interestingly, the people I was hanging out with last night said they hear coyotes howling back there at night.  They also said the older couple warned them to not let their dogs roam around without being on a leash at night.  That was the first I had heard of that, I have never heard coyotes howling back there.  ?? I keep forgetting to get my trail cameras out back there and potentially see what's lurking around at night.  People should probably know there are coyotes roaming the woods at night if they want to tent camp back there....like, bring a pistol.  

People that are gun lovers will bring their firearms regardless of whether there are warnings or not.  

I slept a little better last night, tho the coughing started around 3:00 am and I was up almost 2 hours, it wasn't as bad as previous nights being up all night long basically.  Still, I need a good night's sleep. I would really like to get a good portion of this stuff done tomorrow for the laundry setup. Note that I didn't say I would finish it, just get some real progress.  I will also be mowing down 2 or 3 more lots worth.  I'm just do a few a day until it's all done and then when the grass grows back, start it all over again.  

I'm just hoping the rye grass will last a few more months. I can't be trying to figure out what to do about summer grass right now, I'm too busy. That will be an entire project in itself. Even if I try to grow the grass myself (versus getting sod), it requires much more prep work than rye grass that you just throw the seed and as long as it doesn't wash away in a storm, it will grow.  Probably going to have to aerate the ground and definitely fertilize it. So, growing grass like that will actually take months.

That's because you have to water it every day, a couple of times a day.  It's just not as easy as rye grass, unfortunately.  I'm not going to be watering the entire park every single day.  Watering the lots will be a problem in itself. With guests using the water hoses, where am I going to get water from? I can't just unhook their hoses, sorry folks, it's only going to be for 20 minutes?  I never even thought about that until just now.  Oops.  I am very likely going to have to pick certain lots, turn the water off to the park, cut the pipe coming out of ground, install a T and install a separate outlet for watering purposes.  I could probably get away with 5 of them if they are offset on each side of the driveway.

The doggy park? I have already installed a spigot next to the shed, which is 10 feet or so from the dog park entrance.  

Well, grass issue is on the horizon. Have to start thinking about it including where to get the seed.  It's very expensive, not like rye grass.  Unless the place I am getting the rye grass also sells summer grass seed - I will definitely be asking them soon.

April bookings for the 3 overnight spots are slim pickings.  It's only got 5 bookings so far.  REALLY need to get that shed completely finished. Just feels like pressure. I've got a national company offering me a job, meanwhile. I didn't apply, I just asked a question on their facebook thing and they contacted me.  It's "home multiple nights per week". It's probably loading out of the same plant I was loading out of last job.  They have a yard that's 2 miles away from the plant. They have been desperate for workers for a long time now.  They don't pay as much, but that doesn't mean the pay isn't as good. 

I don't know if it's hauling cryo or what, but it's definitely hazmat.  I'm not really wanting to go back to that life, but I feel like I'm going to have to.  Just need to get the shed done and probably the grass done - which means I won't have months.  I'll have to figure out how to do the grass without it taking forever to get all of it growing.  I dunno what a truckload of sod costs, but I imagine that's out of the question.  

I can tell ya, tho, if I could keep those 3 lots full all the time plus the long terms, I could make it work.  I just don't see those lots filling up without those amenities. Yes, I'm working on it, but the work is often frustrating and I find myself scratching my head and having to look up info on Google or watch even more videos on Youtube.  I'll get it done, it's just taking much longer than I had hoped for.  I would be surprised if I even have the laundry done this week. It really shouldn't take that much more - but that's what I have been saying and then I run into a problem that I have to really sit there and think about before I can proceed. 

At this point, I am not giving any estimations of when the laundry will be done.  When you think about hooking up the rest of the water line - it's at least 17 more holes I have to drill in the framing to run the pipe through, so much cuts that I went and bought a high quality hole saw to expedite it - and running electrical line to all of the outlets, installing a switch and at least one of the overhead lights, cutting a large hole in the shed for the dryer outlet - etc. - well, it's going to take a minute. 

Cutting those holes takes much more time than I had wanted it to, hence going to Lowe's and buying the new holesaw drill attachment.  

Well that's enough.  I don't want to start defeating myself with an "impossible" task by listing all of it, dwelling on it and wondering if I'll ever get it done, I just need to keep on with one thing at a time until it's all done.  Tomorrow I'm continuing on with the water line, which will include more holes in the shed to get water line in and out - cold in, hot out - which is what I'm doing now.  

That is, running the line to the water heater.  I'm a few holes to be drilled, a piece of pipe, a 90 elbow and pipe going through the hole out to the water heater away from getting the cold water to the heater and then reverse back to the laundry box.  

However, before I do anything tomorrow? I'm going to Walmart and getting a new belt. The old want snapped in half and it's getting too long anyway.  Like, too much sticking out at the end.  I put my 34's on and they are fitting well enough. Just did that because of the belt situation and thought tight pants will hold better.  I wasn't prepared for the 34's to actually fit.  

Monday's a coming. But, it's Sunday evening and we are going to watch some sort of anime stuff. 

 Well.

The T Mobile unit isn't working over there very well - but that's because the signal strength has decreased significantly.  Not sure what the deal is, cell tower issue?  The problem, I signed up for T Mobile at the house, not the property. They said it doesn't qualify at the property because of signal.  Ironically, it did qualify at the house but we couldn't get it to work at all not matter where we located the unit.  If I call them, they will probably locate another cell tower closer to the house that carries their signal.  

I find it odd they tell me the property doesn't have enough signal strength, the tower is 1-1/2 miles from the Interstate. Furthermore, there are hardly any homes in the area, it is mostly for Interstate traffic.  

Well la-de-da. It now shows I can get internet over there with the 5g network.  So, I'm going to call them and deal with this. Ok, I'm not calling today unless I get a second wind.

I just went over to the property, got out the new (old) lawnmower and got busy mowing down the lots on either side of the people coming in today. Their awning/passenger side had giant lumps of grass that were as much as 12 inches tall.  It look unsightly and not the kind of first impression I want people to have of the park.  After that, I mowed the entire doggy park. That park is quite large at over 90 feet wide by almost 90 feet deep.  It is cool out today - I am still sweating.  Just shows what kind of shape I'm in - not very good lol.  

I"m glad I got that kind of physical energy out today tho.  Maybe it will help me sleep better tonight. I have still been coughing half the night long and it is keeping me awake.  I can only wake up so many times before I'm awake and there is no going back to sleep.  

I just remembered the older couple got T Mobile after finding out how cheap it is and that I had it at the property. So I have contacted them asking if they have good reception.  Yup, their reception is 3 bars, mine is at 2. It's got to be the trailer that pulled into lot 11.  I'm going to have to get the box up higher and away from that lot.  I'm thinking to sink a 4X4 - 8 feet tall - into the ground and mount a plastic box to it and put the router in the box.  Set it back from the trailer.  I'm guessing elevating the router off the ground well help immensely.

Yup, just one more thing to put on the to-do list.  But I'll try to get that dealt with quickly, I don't need people complaining about the wifi. And partially dealt with. Outdoor wifi box enclosure ordered.  Says it arrives Tuesday, good enough for me.  I'll get another 4X4 next time I'm at Lowes, figure out where i want the thing, sink the 4X4 into a hole with quickcrete and call it a day.  

++++++++++++++++++

People wanted help that were going to show up so I headed over there. Got them leveled and then was invited to visit with some other folks across the driveway - real nice people.  Spent an hour hanging with them and headed home.  The park is currently full.  3 short term and the rest long term. Got a call asking if I had room for one night - sorry, I wish I could but I'm full up tonight.  Really would like to keep the place full constantly with the 3 short terms, but so far that hasn't materialized.  Yes, it's full now I'm saying there are plenty of open spots for the rest of this month for those 3 short term lots. 

Well that's great. The people that showed up tonight? They paid the required one night's stay in advance, but attempting to process the rest of their stay, the card was declined.  They are pulling a late model bumper hitch trailer, very nice rig and an 80k give or take pickup. I'm fairly certain they aren't trying to pull a fast one. So I sent them an email asking for the rest of the payment.  

Well that's it. Almost 9:00 pm but oddly, I'm not tired.  Yet anyway.  It'll hit sooner or later, I did take a nap this afternoon but that was only 20 minutes. Woke up from that and thought, I best get over there and get some stuff done.  

I will visit over there tomorrow, but only long enough to make sure everything is ok.  Other than that, it's going to be church and then a whole lot of nothing.  

 Saturday - morning.

Spent 4-1/2 hours running around looking for a mower yesterday. I eventually gave up on a riding mower. A decent mower in good condition will start at around $800 and goes up from there - used one of course.  I can't afford a new one right now, well out of my price range.  I drove 42 miles to look at a mower in "good condition", only to find the thing wouldn't start, when the man did finally get it started, the engine was running rough and then after the engine heated up? Billows of oil smoke gagging the both of us. 

The man acted as if it were nothing, I said no thanks, especially for $450.  This is the state of most of the cheaper riding mowers being listed locally - they are chock full of problems. But would you pay $500 for a machine that has all kinds of issues, in many cases, serious issues with them?  

Accidentally paid power bills for RV Park out of personal checking account.  Oops.  I transferred money and memo'ed as such.  For any tax "problems", I at least want it noted, this was a legitimate business expense that was overlooked.  Is it a big deal? No clue, but it's certainly not unethical or immoral.  

ATM, short stays are paying off. The people that put in a reservation out of the blue yesterday are back.  I didn't see them, one of the people that are my second set of eyes (not the older couple, this is another couple that is there temporarily, tho they have stated they may be there through the summer) contacted me saying "what a beautiful rig pulling into the park!".  

That was actually a message that, hey, I have my friend that wants to move in here too! I said yes, they are here for a couple of days as will be the other 2 short stay lots.  As of today, all 3 of them will be filled.  And I just remembered that I need to move some things around before lot 2 arrives today. They wanted a fire ring - there are several behind back in sites that aren't being used.  Those people have been there long enough to ascertain they aren't going to use them and I don't mind taking one.  

Well, I don't know what I'm going to do today beyond what I will be doing in a little while, which is going with the family to the 8 year old's first soccer game. They have been practicing for a couple of weeks, time to test that practice.  I have not been going to the practices but I promised the boy I would go watch his games.  He rather insisted, lol.

Ok, well I really need to get some work done today over there, I guess I'll continue work on the shed.  I'm not going to bother trying to mow grass until Monday, when most people are at work and it won't disturb them.  I bought the necessary items to continue on with the shed work - it seems to be an endless money pit.  It will  end at some point, but not yet.  I have to wonder if my priorities were backward in installling the washer/dryer systems first.  People are now expressing their desire for that shower stall.....

I can't read minds and I just assume that I will offer all of it and that will be that. But, of course, they aren't all being done at once, lol.  

Weight loss is up and down.  It does this thing where it gets to a new low, then goes back up as much as 5 pounds and then starts working it's way back down.  I'm on the working-it's-way'back-down stage at 213 this morning, with the recent low being 212.  I expect to hit 212 again in the next couple of days and then on down to some lower number. It's been quite the exercise in restraining myself from eating everything everyone else is eating.  Especially cookies and cake. Last night we were at a gathering of the usual crowd and a cake was brought to celebrate the pregnancy.

No, I didn't have any.  I'm stuck with the occasional Atkins chocolate treat.  I don't buy stuff online for treats because it is way overpriced.  $30 box of cereal, $35 dozen donuts, etc.   For that much money I could go have a prime rib dinner at a restaurant.  

Once I get that water heater all hooked up, I'm going to have to go ahead and build that other shed.  I have nowhere else to put my stuff and once I get laundry going, I am not going to have anything left in there as I currently have.  I don't trust people much, especially people I don't know. Leaving tools, generator, chain saws - no.  For right now, yes, but "right now" shouldn't last much longer.  I need that laundry setup completed, done and over with.  

Well, it's almost time to leave.   

 Uhh, so these people.  They just pulled in after I got home.  They didn't know which lot they needed - they signed up for lot 11 - and then asked if we have a bath house.  No, we are in the process of building one.  Ohh, that might be a problem, our water heater just went out.  I'm sorry, we are building one but it isn't completed yet.  She went off about how your site says you have one.  I don't want to argue with customers, but my site definitely does not say we have a bath house.  It does say we have a laundry facility coming soon, it doesn't even mention a shower or toilet.  

I just looked at the site again to make sure the web designer didn't add something I didn't know about.  Nope, it's not on there. I'm not advertising things I don't have.  Give a - month probably at the rate this is going - and I will have one in there.  

I know you can't please everyone, but I'm not trying to please people that I don't have any facilities for and make no claims that I have such facilities. I'm telling ya, these people better not even think about leaving a negative review over something that doesn't even exist.  They can find some other place to stay if they don't like it there, I will just cancel the reservation, wish that they hadn't left because the money would be helpful and move on.  

I'm days away, I think, from even having the laundry going.  I'm thinking days, I got quite a lot done today regardless of the fatigue. I can only work so long before my brain starts to feel like it's frying and I have to stop.  It was near 5 hours straight.  

Whatever the case, I'm picking the boys up at the bus stop and dragging them over there with me to sort this out.  If those people want to leave, who am I to stop them?  I care, and I will show that I care, but that's entirely up to them. Better yet, get a water heater, install it and problem solved.  That's what I would do, anyway.  There are RV parts houses in Longview, they can get one if they really want to. I have no idea why they are here - they are staying for 6 days - or were anyway - but good luck finding a spot anywhere else near town.  Any place decent is booked up. 

It's $200 worth of stay is why I would like to do whatever I can to encourage them to stay.  I am already at discounted prices, but I guess I could bring it down more for the inconvenience - even tho there is nothing stated about having a bath house.  I know I need one, hence the idea that I am working on building out the shed. But that darn shed is a pain in the @$$ and it's been ruffling my feathers.  Everything has to be difficult.  

I'm giving no date or even approximate date when this thing will be finished. When I start thinking about all the stuff I will have to do after I finally get the laundry done to put in a shower and a toilet? Lol.

I'll have to frame out a room and hang a door, get the shower stall, install all of that including the drain which will be very much a PITA (pain in the @$$) plus the toilet - another drain underneath the shed, install more water line, a light fixture and the walls are going to have to have drywall installed.  Not to mention installing insulation and an AC unit.  

_________

Well that explains that.  After that lady called, I ran over with the boys.  She has 3 kids -with her - one of them goes to ETBU and does some sort of acrobatic dance stuff there and there is a competition which starts tonight. The husband was busy leveling the trailer and getting the their water heater to work - turns out it wasn't broken after all.  Or something minor wrong with it.  They were real nice but I did affirm - politely of course - that there is no bath house listed on the website but we are working on getting one installed. Which is the honest truth.  I just prioritized the laundry first.  

They didn't sound like they were going to be moving anywhere else and the man seems to be of the handyman type - fix it himself type of dude - so I think they may be staying. I didn't ask specifically, that's entirely up to them.  What I will be doing is charging the rest of their stay to their credit card. 

Since the family appears to be very active just watching them for the few minutes I was there, I suggested they try the walking trails back in the woods.  The dad looked and said oh? Yea, it's about a thousand feet back there, there are signs.  Oh great! The 2 youngest immediately said they were going for a walk!  With the family doggy!  yayy! More than just me back there with the boys and my dog!  I built the thing so others could experience it as well. I think it's beautiful back there and lots to see. I left and watched them walking - more like trotting - down the driveway to get to the trail. 

So what am I doing tomorrow? Well, I have a riding mower lined up to buy, hopefully it is a go. Been talking back and forth with the dude the last few hours he says fine, no one else has committed to come at any set time tomorrow.  Well no kidding! The thing has been for sale for several weeks now.  It just is the best one available and even if I have to drive a bit to get it, as long as it is as good as they say it is, I'm getting a good mower that I shouldn't have to fix the first time I try to use it.

I will endeavor to mow the grass if I get the machine and I may try to get more done on the shed. Really depends on how I sleep tonight....

And with that?  Time to go watch some tv.

 It's hard to imagine coughing so badly that it keeps you up for several nights in a row. Last night, I took some other type of medicine to keep the coughing at bay.  So what happened? The medicine kept me awake instead.  I just can't win with this cough.  I eventually got to sleep at around 2 am and slept 4 straight hours and then - awake again.  Couldn't get back to sleep - mainly because all kinds of disgustingly nasty stuff was coming up out of my lungs.  TMI, I know but it's how my day started.  

Anyway, I am awaiting a reply from a person selling their riding mower.  I can't let this go any longer, there are some clumps of grass - lots of them - that are very tall and need to be mowed down. I don't have time to be pushing a push mower around, I need a riding mower to get the job done and over with.  Not waiting all day, just if he gets back to me soon, I want to go over and get it. Go over means a 40 minute drive.

There is nothing available locally - in my town - that is in running condition. People selling riding mowers saying: "I don't know if it runs" on the ad. Or: "needs a belt". "Needs a battery".  "Smokes"....and putting ridiculous price tags on these units.  Like, okay, I'm going to give you $450 for a mower that doesn't work...

And you see that those ads have been up for many months.  No one in their right mind is going to buy something for that much money that doesn't work.  I just don't get these people. I'd really like to get it all mowed today, the shed can wait until I have that done.

Anyway, I'll take my tired self over to the property and start working on the water line. If the guy contacts me? I would have had to have gone over there anyway to get the trailer to haul the machine back.  Once I figure out how I want to run the line, it should go pretty quickly - excepting the part about moving the water heater from inside of the shed out to the small shed I build for it and attempting to hook it up.  That will be fun, I'm sure. 

In fact, I might just get that water heater out of the box, get the fittings installed on top of it and try to get it over there first thing.  Might as well get it over with....

I'm a bit too tired to be writing lengthy entries, I'm outta here. 

 Just long day.  It's hard to get anything done attempting to work on a huge sleep deficit.  I got the drainage pipe assembly all but done. I just need one more piece of pipe to run up to the roof.  That and waiting on the dumpster and a tenant paid up for another month.  I then started looking at the water line and how I wanted to route that.  More like, where am I going to run the electrical wiring?

I started looking at different routes but my head was fried.  Just hard to think like that when you're that tired.  I ended up leaving.  It was mid-afternoon and I was ready to go home, lay down on the bed and take a nap if I could get one.  

As has been the last several nights, I am hardly coughing - but - bedtime is soon and it's around this time of night the coughing has starting and won't let up until sometime in the morning, 4-5 am.  I am dearly hoping tonight will be different.  I am going to try another type of cough suppressant tonight to see if that works.  The prescription grade stuff I tried last night did nothing for that cough.  Like I hadn't taken anything at all.  

The dumpster did arrive, btw, after I called the company and asked how they can be sending me text messages saying the trash pickup is complete?  Oh, well he is 2 stops away from you.  Okay? What does that mean? There isn't even a dumpster here.  The lady clarified that the new dumpster is 2 stops away from being delivered.  They sent me the next size up from what I ordered because they were out of the smallest size.  There is an old mattress that someone threw in the woods before I got the property that I am going to throw into that thing before they come and take it away with the smaller size. 

There isn't much else - not for today anyway.  I'm going to make myself sleep watching  a rerun of something and then hopefully go to sleep for more than 2 or 3 hours.  

 Considering lack of sleep yesterday, I got quite a lot done.  Found the Fernco's at Lowe's took them back, installed them and then started putting in the pipe from the T to the shed for the drain.  My trenching was off...so I had to go get some 22 degree bends to make up for that, but eventually, I got all of that done, drilled a hole in the side of the shed and routed the pipe inside.  

While waiting for freshly-glued fittings to dry on the drain line, I would move over to the water inlet side and work on that.  AS of now, both the water and the drain lines are inside the shed, which was my goal yesterday and took me - as usual for pretty much everything out there - much longer than expected.  

Today? I feel absolutely miserable.  I spent another night coughing and getting very little sleep and now I am basically dysfunctional.  I took prescription grade cough medicine last night which did nothing to alleviate it.  In act, it got so back, I got up and got out of bed. I don't know what it is, but apparently laying down has the effect of causing the coughing to start.  I'm up all day long on my feet or sitting? Not too much coughing,. I don't get that, but I'm not a doctor.

I am forcing myself to go back out there today regardless of how I feel, there just isn't time to be fooling around, sitting at home feeling sh****.  I want to try to get the laundry box and the P trap in at the very least.  That means - yes - another trip to Lowe's I had to use an extra 90 yesterday, won't be able to advance without getting another one. But, it's just a 90, in and out of Lowe's instead of hours standing there wondering what I'm doing.

I fully intended on hitting up that prayer meeting this morning as of last night. No.  Just no.  I was finally getting some sleep around 5-6 am and yes, it's late morning now.  My head is woozy, just hoping I'll start feeling better once I start moving around a little.  There is some motivation to getting out to the property today: a tenant wants to pay up his rent at noon, says he's leaving town for a week and wants it paid before he leaves. Yes, indeed, sir, I will be there.  My business checking account is going to increase quite a lot in the next couple of weeks, even with expenditures.  After I get all my payments, I'm going to sit down, figure out what I can pay myself and bam, transfer the money from the business checking to the personal checking.  

There are still plenty of construction expenditures coming, no doubt, but I must pay myself or go broke.  Which really means, I need to get into see that tax accountant and figure this all out. Which means finishing up the books so they can take a look.  They can have access to my quickbooks which I am going to double down on here sometime this week and get it finished or at least very close to caught up.  

Regardless, the reason I am pushing myself even feeling like hell is to try and get all of this shed stuff done, over with, in the books, on the websites and see what, if anything, is going to happen. Cause' honey, right now? April is slim pickens' for overnighters.  I've only got 4 bookings for April so far, tho admittedly it's still early March.  I need another 30-40 bookings/days worth of reservations to get me to where I want to be with those 3 spaces. Otherwise? I'll be calling that lady back: Yup, lot 11 is available.  $475 per month, come get it!  I'll take less money over none.  But we'll see, I've just got to get this project completed and it's at least weeks - at the rate I'm going.  I just haven't done this stuff before, it's basically like building a new house, except the framework is already in, I'm just trying to get the utilities through it and to it.  It sounds so simple to do in theory....

Pros would have had that thing finished by now. Of course, the price tag would be 15-20 grand which I simply don't have and with the feds pushing up interest rates, loans are becoming a nothing burger.  There is a reason I'm doing this project by myself and it isn't only because contractors won't come out - they are far too busy, it's also the price tag that inherently comes with professional work.  

 Whatever.  I'm trying to get my @$$ moving and get out of here and finding it very difficult.  It's already 10:30 am.  Oh well, guess I best get going. VEhicle out of gas, a check to deposit and a trip to Lowe's before I even get to the property...

G'day

 I get calls all the time now for long term. If I had 50 spaces I could have them filled.  It's disconcerting because you know, money.  Can't build them, sorry, wish I could, have plenty of space.  I had to turn down yet another long term inquiry - and this person has friends living in my park.  She has two kids and said her friend sent her a video and was immediately jealous, lol.  Look at all the room back there!  She wanted lot 11.  

Lot 11 is rented for 17 days out of the next 30.  She offered more money but I had to refuse. I'm not going to just suddenly tell people that I have sent confirmation letters to - and taken their deposit money - that now, all of a sudden, that lot isn't available.  I told her if one of the long termers leave - which is possible, who knows when any of these people will get reassigned somewhere else or lost their gig and move to some other state, even - I would give her a call. 

She said she is "not in a good place" and I had to ask which park she was staying at?  Cypress Valley.

Cypress Valley has a horrible reputation and for good reason.  The same complaints over and over.  Management never there.  Park is run down. Roads are horrible, etc etc etc.  I wouldn't want to stay at such a place even if it were beautiful because it is right on Highway 59.  Way too much road noise.  My park is getting a good reputation even if I don't have the Google reviews to back it up.   

________________

The dude that started bush-hogging the property until his machine broke - showed up again today and finished the project. 

I have a waiting list for people to come long-term into the park now.  Literally, people wanting me to take their name and number down and contact them if a space becomes available.  Others that say they will call back and see if anything's available.  I'm getting several calls a day.  I think there were 4 of them today. It's a gold mine that I can't tap out because I don't have the funding to expand.  I could be taking home 10 grand a month easily if not more.

Just gonna have to bide my time with it.  By books are almost caught up.  Some more receipts to go and get the new recurring payments in there and get them coming out of the business account.  

______________________

That was yesterday. I went to bed last night at 10:25 am and woke up 2 hours later coughing.  I took some medicine that did nothing for it.  I have been awake all night long.  I forced my @$$ out of bed at around 9:30 am, got busy cutting up all kinds of veggies - leeks, carrots, celery, cabbage, onions and cauliflower, dumping it along with a very nice-sized ham hock and accompanying spices, 3 cans of chicken broth in the crockpot and set on low for 8 hours.  

This is probably not going to be anything the family will want to eat, it will be my lunches for the next several days.  It's a good amount of food and I like not having to cook every time I want to eat on this Keto diet.  Oh, and yes, I did see the warning about Keto after a study was done.  Keto doesn't have to be fill with saturated fats and I don't eat much of it.  I also try to avoid highly processed foods and sugar substitutes save Fruit Monk - it's wonderful and more on the natural side of things.

Anyway, I will have to go back to Lowe's to try and find the right-sized fernco rubber couplers that just slide right over the top of the pipe. I have no idea why I didn't think  of it yesterday.  They are commonly used on drain pipe applications for underground pipe.  It's just hose style clamps you crank down and it's provides a good seal. 

If Lowe's doesn't have it, I'll try the other place. They have a lot of stuff there but their prices are high. It's a last resort for finding things in my town before I have to drive 35 miles to for more options. Actually, there is a waterworks store about 40 miles from here, they would definitely carry it.  But I've seen the Fernco's at Lowe's, I am really hoping they have the right size and I can get this ordeal over with and get the drain pipe inside the shed so I can get with the program here. 

It will also make it possible to work in the rain, since it's inside.  There are no leaks in that shed, even where the 25 year old hit it with the trailer.  

If I can  at least get these outside pipes going inside today and back fill those 2 trenches, I will have thought I have gotten something done, considering the lack of sleep.   I at least want the drain pipe going up the side of the shed so when it rains again - which is allegedly later on today - I don't have to worry about water and mud going into the pipe.