Monday, August 9.

My dispatcher never sent the run on Friday and waited until Saturday afternoon to send it, telling me it needed to be there Sunday night, even tho she said it is a Sunday run....."So this is a Sunday run, correct?".  "Well they said they needed it there Sunday night but Monday morning will work".  Bypassing everything, I got there late morning today - just stuff happens on the road you have no control over - and they said they weren't expecting me until tomorrow morning and they didn't need it out of there Sunday or today.  

I just - whatever.  I busted my @$$ to get up there, I'll say that, leaving early Sunday morning and driving almost 700 miles the first day, getting up very early today and finishing it off.  After a minor breakdown that cost about 2 hours to fix, I was back on the road.  I'm 606 miles from the yard, stopped at a Truckstop in Cross Plains, Tennessee - I've stopped here many times in the past.  It's small, it's clean and it's not far from Nashville.  I couldn't make it any further, the break down cost me on duty hours and anyway, I am in good position to make it back tomorrow.  I'll be left with around 3 hours on the 70 hour clock after I get back so I will definitely have Wednesday off.  

Not that I want it off, I need to drive and make some money right now and get caught up from all of this loss of days of work and low paying runs. This run is a decent paying run at least and it was easier because I bobtailed all the way up there - the plant is shutting down their ethylene rack temporarily so they can clean their tank out and they are doing some sort of construction there as well.  I had originally thought our competitor had managed to steal the account from us - they've been doing that a lot.  This is a decent run and tho it's only once a week, I think anyway, might be 2,  it keeps us busy.  

On to other things.  I find that I have to make phone calls and text messages and send emails to get this thing moving along. The property that is.  My realtor is a nice person but she really isn't well versed in land deals.  Not that I am, but this thing is dragging on and on and ooooonnnnnn.......

So I texted her today about the title company, Then I emailed the lender about the appraisal. He said it would be finished today. Today? I thought, wow, he originally told me it would be 3 or 4 days after they got the survey to finish it.  Several emails later and he came back with one saying the appraisal is finished and the land values look good. I was a little surprised that he made it sound like they were spot on. I was expecting it to come back that the price per acre is less than market value - seriously.  In that area, land is going high.  Well, it's for sale high, doesn't mean it sells I guess. If you can't get a lender to give you the money, well, those sellers are going to be holding on to those properties awhile.  

After that, my realtor texted me back, saying she had called the title company and the lady on the other end of the phone had been extremely rude with her. If what she said is accurate, then yes, that lady was a real piece of work, to put it politely.  Friday is definitely a no go for closing.  My realtor said the only person in that title company office that has authority to close on files is on vacation until Monday.

Figures.  Closing date is  tentatively Tuesday of next week, time of day it will occur is unknown.   I had to cancel Friday off with my dispatcher and inform her that Tuesday is the tentative date, sorry for the inconvenience and last minute stuff, but this is important to me, please make it work.  She said no problem and that was that.  So I informed her Tuesday is tentatively the date, she said fine, just keep her updated.  

We are, hopefully, getting closer folks.  That doesn't mean I'll have an RV park magically appear, it just means the start of a process that is going to take a while to work through.  I'm definitely not getting an SBA loan to start this thing off.  They want to lend too much money and as tempting as that sounds, I don't want to be drowning in 400k worth of debt.  Just not my style.  I'm going to have to make it work with what's available to me. 401k, a personal loan and then credit cards.  I could cancel the last two if I can find a bank to give me a HELOC loan on my house.  About 75 grand would do it.  Well more would be better but I'll take what I can get.

I just have read that banks are hesitant on HELOCs right now so I'm not holding my breath on that one.  I can't think of any other sources of income beyond selling my house, but that is, at least currently, out of the question.  Just by my choice, not because I have to keep it. 

I will start this thing out by going to the road and bridge department of the county and finding out what permits I may need.  I will be contacting all the utility contractors and asking for bids.  I will find some way to get a 20 foot wide drive way cleared out on the west side of the property and get that started. Actually, I think I'll go 15 feet to start with and see if that looks like enough room.  Clear out the front - it will all have to be cleared of trees as there will be an office building there and a small parking lot.  

I've got the beginning of this started in my mind.  The rest of it I will work through and make decisions as the decisions are forced in front of me to make.  I want around 20-25 pull through lots and the rest will be back ins.  RV'ers are used to both, many seem to prefer pull throughs but I have determined that I can't have all pull throughs.  It's likely the east side lots will have to be leveled - meaning dirt removed to make them level lots meaning a wall - small block wall - at the rear of those lots.  That's not a disappointment for me, I had originally thought of doing all pull throughs but after looking at a bunch of RV parks both online and in person I adjusted that view of it.  

It's been difficult to try and come to definitive decisions about things because I've never done this before.  And I don't want to make the wrong decisions.  Wrong decisions cost money.  I am going to have an electrical engineer design the electrical portion of the park, blue print and at least attempt to install it myself.  I just need the experts to show me how to do it, I don't need their help installing it.  I don't think, anyway.  It's really a matter of affordability.  Without a huge loan right at the start it's going to have to be a lot of do-it-yourself stuff.  It will take longer - much longer - yes but in the end I actually have a functioning park. Not a partly completed park and gee, I'm out of money, now what?  

I'd definitely prefer a 150-200k loan and just get it over with.  In reality, if I can get this thing up and going eventually and hopefully some degree of success, I can then take the park's revenue and records into a bank and say, here, I built this, I am generating this much money, etc etc, can I please borrow  X amount of money.  I really would eventually like to have a swimming pool and a jacuzzi on the property and that will cost some serious money.  

OK, well, my ankles.  My hikes through the woods have resulted in my ankles being severely bitten by insects. Namely: tics.  Those things are horrible.  My feet and ankles are all itchy and not feeling so good because of it.  I hiked the other day with the 6 year old through the entire property - I have videos up on my Facebook of that.  I sprayed him with insect repellent, including on his shoes, I did the same for me but I forgot to hit my boots with it.  I won't be forgetting that again.  

I was impressed by the 6 year old's tenacity. He never once complained and the only thing he wouldn't do without help was to cross the stream on a giant, felled oak tree.  Why do we have to cross here over this tree? Because we are on an adventure boy, have some fun!  So he did it with the condition that I hold his hand the entire time.  Of course, I am not going to let you fall off the tree lol.  About half way across he let go of my hand, gaining new-found confidence in his ability to stand up on it.  Again, it was a huge tree.  I had to pick him up a few times and carry him over the  ridiculous thorn bushes and vines, but other than that, he did very well.  I guess I was doing that kind of thing at his age too, now that I think of it.  I'm trying to make the hikes with the kids into the woods an interesting adventure, something they will learn to like and perhaps go off on their own when they grow old on their own hikes.  It's fun, it's adventurous, it is great exercise and it's far better than sitting at home watching tv or playing on computers or phones all the time.  

But I've given up on the 4 year old, at least for now.  He just isn't tall enough to get over the thorn bushes and he cries and screams the entire time. I have another property I am going to take him to that doesn't have all of that nonsense and he can have a bit happier time hiking.  He didn't ask to go this last time anyway, I reminded him of his very bad time the last 2 hikes and he said I'm good, I'll stay home lol. 

I have not found all of the corner markers.  I am going back without the kid next time and search through a portion of woods he wasn't too keen on going into.  I have no choice, there are 2 corner markers I really need to know where they are at.  Both on the east side of the property. The first is at the end of the driveway - somewhere in the trees there is a pipe, so the survey says.  And then on east of there, an easement that goes along that side of property, there is supposed to be another pipe.  I was looking for both of them but without going into the trees, I couldn't find them.  

Well, it's getting time to go to sleep and I  am going to have to move my truck.  A refer unit pulled in next to me. They are noisy - extremely noisy - I have no idea how those drivers can sleep with all that racket.  A lot of them are starting to nose into parking spaces to keep that ridiculous noise away from other drivers, this one chose not to. I will either pull out into the driveway and get away from it or pull out, turn around and nose in myself.  

With that, I am offa here.

G'nite.  

The realtor sent me a copy of the survey yesterday.

All the corners were shown along with descriptions of what, exactly, is marking the corners.

Turns out, they found and let be existing old pipes that delineate property lines.  They did not cover them with paint or put ribbons around them to let someone like - me - be able to find them.  So, to find the property corners, I have to search for them. I don't recall seeing any old pipes sticking up out of the ground anywhere - but then again, I wasn't looking for them.  

So today, if I feel like it - it's starting to get late - I may go over there and start searching those pipes out. At least at the front of the property and at the gas well site.  I don't know if I feel like getting all bloody and cut up going through the rear of the property looking for those pipes.  

I"m not exactly motivated today, I put in nearly 16 hours yesterday and that kind of took it out of me.  Allegedly I have a run tomorrow to some mysterious location - that is how the dispatcher worded it - but she never sent the run.  I'm wishy washy on that one, but I need the money so I am hoping she sends it to me today.  

Regardless, at least I now know there are, indeed, markers at the corners at least.  Doesn't much help me with the property lines between the markers.  I am going to find the end of the barbed fence on the north east side of the property and paint something there - whatever sticks out - bright orange and then see if I can see it from the front corner marker.  

There isn't much else.  The pond project, I think I"m going to put the fish in there today whenever they get back from Walmart.  

Nothing back yet about the boat and now I need to find a place to fix the 4 wheeler. Whatever that "mechanic" did to it, he just messed the thing up worse.

With that, I bid you a good day.  

After driving by the property today and seeing no markers anywhere, I contacted my realtor.

She contacted the surveyors who said they finished the property this afternoon and would have the paperwork sent to her tomorrow by lunch time.  

Although I am thoroughly elated that this portion of this thing is done, I am left in bewilderment that I saw no markers anywhere.  Perhaps I needed to get out of the vehicle and walk around looking? Specifically the front, northeast section of the property.  I need  at least a corner stake!

I guess I might have missed it, I just drove by it slowly looking the entire length of the front of the property.  I didn't have time to get out and look.  If I can't find any, I will be contacting that company and asking them about it.  I will also be looking at the survey and reading the field notes.  

Regardless, it is hopeful that next Friday we will be closing on the property.  No guarantees, the lender has to get the appraisal done and apparently the title company has to be satisfied with the survey as well.  

That was news to me, I only knew about the appraisal needing it, not the title company.  As far as I knew, the title company has been appeased.  

Well whatever, this long, patience-trying process may - and I stress may - finally be coming to an end.  

I don't want to go into the first moves I am going to make, I've done that already several times over.  

I just want to get STEP 1 over with, pleeeeeeeeease.  Step one is closing on the property.  

Well anyway, it's bedtime. Actually it's past bedtime but I was hanging with the kids as we haven't seen each other in 2 weeks and James and Taylor wanted to go to Walmart to replace a broken coffee maker.  I have an Oklahoma run in the morning - 2cd load - and I need to get rested for that.  It's likely going to be a 16 hour day - try to get it all done in one day and get home so I can go out on Saturday to the property and see about any kind of markers on that property!  

G'nite.  

 I'm still curious how all of these maple trees came to exist in a sea of large pine trees.  I'm assuming the property was harvested of most of the pines. All well and good - tho thankfully there is still a good sampling of pine trees all over the place.  

But who plants maple trees in place of pines? Well, I don't think they were planted. Whether from bird droppings or being carried through the winds or however, they must have gotten there naturally.  They are dense, very thick stands of them that will need to be thinned out substantially in order to have healthy trees.  

That won't be a big deal, they are mostly smaller trees less than 30 feet tall and will come down easily with a chain saw.  It's more of a curiosity thing to me.  The western side of the front of the property is lined with huge trees of various kinds, I assume that's what covered the property previously. Some of those will also have to come down, which is fine, there is nothing for them to crash into besides other trees if the cutting goes foul.  The trees that need to come down are either completely dead or various stages of death rot that I won't even think twice about getting them out of there.  

There's a very large dead tree on the front of the property that I'm not sure I want to handle tho.  It will have to be cut so it falls on the street.  The power lines are literally right next to it on the other side, hence my reluctance to cut the thing down. If it takes down the power lines, I'm probably going to get a bill in the mail for the repair of everything and likely some pissed off neighbors whose power will be out for many hours.  

IF I feel comfortable cutting it down to fall on the street, I will still need helpers there to shut down the street and to hook a chain up to the thing and drag it off the street to clear it for traffic.  It's just that hiring someone to do the job will likely get a hefty bill to do it.  They want 4 grand to cut down the oak tree in our front yard, to give an idea.  This tree is completely dead, however, it's coming down eventually regardless of whether it gets cut down or rots and falls down on its own.  From that perspective, I probably have less worries about cutting it myself and saving thousands of dollars in the process.

I will get good practice on other big trees first before I try that one.  And clear everything out around it, that portion of the property will likely be cleared of all trees in order to make nice, neat entry ways into the park.  There appears to be an easement anyways - maybe 25 feet - from the roadway.  

I don't care too much about the loss of land in driveways, entryways and easements as long as I can get somewhere around 60 lots on the property.  I'm looking at net profit in the end.  Expenses can be fairly high and still make a good living off of this venture.  

At 35 feet wide, I'll have 1,050 feet of space needed out of 1,350.  Take out 25 for the easement.  Take out around 50 feet in the back for a turnaround - please complain endlessly about parks with narrow driveways and no turn arounds.  Another 200 feet in depth, not width, for things such as a bath house and a doggy park and a community area.  A bath house doesn't need to be anything more than 20 feet wide. That's plenty of side to put in 4 rooms that are 8 feet wide - 20x20 - includes the space for walls and such.  8 feet wide, 10 feet deep in other words.  I only want 4 bath/shower rooms. That's enough mess to have to clean up on any given day.  

If the width is enough, I can go 3 spots wide.  That makes 90 spaces, which I don't want.  It's just too much to deal with and you have to have full time management on site.  Of course, if it's making boocoo bucks then no biggies, but I'm stepping into new territory and I'm not going into it thinking the park is going to instantly fill up and stay that way forever.  I'm more of the half full thought - at half full my profits will still be quite good. The weekends typically appear to be when you fill up a park.  

But I am in love with my primitive camping sites idea. .  They will be no where near the RV park.  it will be a separate operation - sort of - all to itself.  They will cost nothing more than putting in the driveway back there, clearing out the lots and putting in picnic tables and fire rings.  Probably some grass.  That's very cheap compared to RV lots with full hookups.  I'm hoping to find enough suitable land for 10 of them.  Minimal cost, $15 or $20 per night.  It will definitely be out in the woods, out in the wilderness. I was out there today, the only sounds you hear out there is nature. No freeway noises, no mining operation noise, not even homeowners doing their thing.  It's so far from the road that the noise of the road simply doesn't carry back there and frankly, that road has very little traffic as it stands.  

Yes, I intend on using every last inch of that property for the operation.  Whether it be rv pads, a bath house, a pond, a series of intertwining hiking trails or these camp sites, it's all going to be integrated into a nature theme that I think will become very popular, very quickly.  Money is an issue, but I think I can get the thing rolling.  I teeter and totter back and forth on the loan idea - big loan that covers it all.  It just looks like an insurmountable amount of information they want that will cost a lot of money to obtain and will not guarantee I get a loan even after getting all of that info and submitting it.  

As far as I know, if I"m not going for a giant loan, I don't have to have a blue print of anything.  I don't know that for a fact yet, my dealings with the county Road and Bridge department have yet to fully begin.  I'd like to get a professional setup on paper first, yes.  That seems prudent.  

Have I gone too far, too soon, with this particular property, such as I did with Finklea?  Perhaps.  I've just had too much time to think about it and try to develop a plan in my mind that will work in real life.  I'm not planning on this property also falling through, but the hint of it remains in my head.  It would be really nice if the surveyors would get their @$$es out there and get the job done, that's what I can say about that.  

My nature theme may not be unique, but I do believe the park will be set apart from most other parks. It will be more like state parks in the nature and trails aspect of it - and people really like the state parks because of the fact that they aren't all dumped closely together and they are out in the nature without all of the elements of nature being stripped from the land. I can't compete with state parks in terms of the cost of the pad rental, they are much cheaper.  One nearby place I looked at is $15 per night.  But, it doesn't have wifi or sewer hookups.  It's a huge facilityand it's surrounded by trees such as what I am intending to do.  How can I compete?  

I dunno, I just know that the RV parks - all of them that are in good locations - in my area are all 80% plus filled up, all the time.  Some of them are trashy, many of them are old and need upgrades.  Many of them do NOT have 50 amp services, something that many newer RV's have. They can use 30 amp outlets, but they can't use all of their electrical stuff inside the RV. I am planning on putting everything in to be able to compete with everyone, with all lots having 50 amp access.  It's the only way to go - these people are spending fortunes on these rigs and they want to be able to use everything in them.The park I looked at only had 30 am hookup.  That's not enough for a rig with 2 ac units and all kinds of electronic gadgets and dishwashers, freezers and laundry.  

I was long, this project has been eluding me for some time.  I am hoping I am near the end of this lengthy search and that I can finally move on with this in the near future.

 No, the surveyors weren't out there lmao.

But I wasn't really looking for them.  I need to get more exercise, more often.  Sitting in that truck is definitely not good for you and there are diseases that prevail amount truckers. Obesity is the most obvious one, diabetes is also another big one.  High blood pressure is also up there.  And some sore of embollism that is related to not moving around enough. 

So I tend to do at least some walking, but I have really been trying to go on more hikes, more frequently ever since this 25 acres came into the potential reality of obtaining it.  

To that end, we went on the longest hike yet. We being Me, myself, I, Addler and Aspyn.  As a kid, I used to talk to myself.  Lots of people do it, I don't answer myself back, lol, but I can talk out loud to no one for long periods of time in having a "conversation" about things going on and what course to take.  Hence, the me myself and I bit.  There aren't 3 of us, lol, it's just me.

I did take the hunting camera this time and got it hooked up to a tree. I was going to put it near where I found the bear dung but I thought twice about it after getting back in there. Will I ever be able to find it again? Probably, but with a lot of trouble I imagined. So I doubled back about 100 yards to where there is an old, falling apart, home made deer stand replete with home made feeder nearby and set it up in an opening in that general area.  

I knew I could find that area, I pass through there every hike I make back in there.  I'll leave that up for a week or so and then remove the memory card from it, bring it home and see what there is to see on it.  I'm guessing deer since whoever put a deer stand up in there.

I went clear back to the back of the property again, this time I found a stake in the ground with a pink ribbon on it.  This was an old stake, not part of any current survey.  I then looked at GPS to determine where I was actually at and was surprised to find how far east I was of where the county appraisal map shows it. At least 100 feet if not 200.  I then looked at the appraisal map again, perhaps I was at the wrong place and well off the property?

No.  There are no other properties besides the one next to me and the one behind me.  It's either the survey is off or the appraisal site is off. I'm guessing the appraisal site.  It was interesting to find that there to say the least. I knew  - or thought anyway - I was off the parameters of the property, I was trying to find some way to get to the other side and the only option was to go well out of the way around the thick underbrush.

I will say here that I had quite a bit of blood on my arms after this hike was over.  I was getting eaten up by thorns pretty bad in my thirst and quest to get to the other side.  Anyway, I eventually found the fenceline - it's old and mostly fallen onto the ground, but it's barbed wire so it's not really going anywhere.  That was about 300 feet to the west of the stake I had found and it was right in line with the stake. I had set a marker on my GPS to keep track of where that stake was at versus where I am at along the fenceline.  Anyway, I got to the stream and that's where the trouble is.  It's so thick with underbrush.

I stood there quite a while wondering how to get through there, the dogs getting restless, staring at me - where are we going next? We aren't just going to stand HERE all day are we" was the look I figured they had on their faces.  Well, I found a way over the creek and started climbing up the hill on the other side. Pretty steep, actually.  But the further up I got, the more it started to level off.  Along the way, Addler was jumping over a log and apparently went down into a hole.  I heard a "ooomph" coming from him and wondered if I would have to get people back in there to haul him out of there?  

Thankfully, no, he got up and started running like nothing happened. But, he's a tough dog and he seems to ignore pain, I'm going to be watching that leg for any signs of muscle or ligament injury.  Regardless, there were no further incidents besides me getting torn up by thorns.  I have huge, long scratches on my arms this time, they went deep and drew some blood this time. There isn't any pain now, but it doesn't exactly look appealing.  

I followed the fence line - as best as one can anyway with all that mess in there - and finally got to the other side and to the west side easement! Yayyyy!  I was delighted to have finally made my way over there.  I got out into the easement - at that point there was nothing but some grass, no small trees and no thorn bushes.  Looked back to the north - towards the front of the property and knew I wasn't going back through there. First you run into all kinds of small maple trees growing and then....you run into those nasty thorn bushes.

Can I say here that if I do end up with this property, eventually every last one of those thorn vines and bushes will be cut down and burned?  Or even plowed under?  I have visions of just cleaning out the entire forest back in there of all of the undergrowth.  It adds nothing to the scenery and makes it a pain to get through anywhere.  Clear that ALL out of there it would be 100% nicer back there.  Just leave up the bigger trees, let some sun get to the forest floor and dry it all up. 

Okay, so I started making my way back to the front along that side.  I hoped to find a way out of there - and hence - a way back in there without having to go clear to the other side, all the way to the back, all the way to this side to get over here. Along the way, I was looking for potential camp sites.  Primitive sites, just tent camping, no RV's.  I found several places that could be cleared out, cut down some trees, put in some grass and put in a picnic table and a fire ring.  That's my style of camping. I could rent those out $15 per day and people that like tent camping really could have a good time back in there, at least from my perspective of tent camping. 

Well, maybe $20 per day.  I dunno, but that's low maintenance.  I've definitely come to the conclusion I'm going to need some part time employees to help run the place.  Cleanup after each camp site is vacated - clear out the fire rings, clean up any trash/waste, make it good to go.  I wouldn't mind having a large trash can at every site.  More work, but less work for the trashy people that just don't care.  Here, dude/dudette, is a trash can RIGHT AT YOUR SPACE. Please use it, don't be throwing trash on the ground.  Yet, you know some people are like that and they will chuck their trash on the ground anyway.  Of course if this thing ever gets up and running I will work full time there and won't need much extra help.  At least, not for the existing campsites.

Anyways, the tent campers would be well in the rear of the property and well away from the RV'ers.  RV'ers apparently don't want to be around tent campers and tent campers the same.  I get it. If I'm camping in a tent, I don't want to be around anyone.  I've tent camped hundreds of times, at least, maybe over a 1,000 times in my life span and we mostly stayed away from people.  We don't got out there for a social gathering, we go out there to get the feel of nature.  The back of that property? Oh yes sir, you are going to get nature.  If  that's what you want, that is definitely what you're going to get.  

I could see some primitive cabins back there in the future.  It's too far to run electricity back there, it would cost a fortune to run a few thousand feet of electrical cable underground.  There are no power easements running through there that I could see, either.  The only utility is natural gas and that is a gas main, not something you would run residential use off of.  Primitive cabins are just a small cabin structure with bunk beds, a table and chairs and not much else.  

I will, however, be looking for any power easements running nearby.   I know, it's not the old ways of camping. Some people are still into that, many people still want power at the very least.  Put heating and cooling into those primitive cabins and they'll come year round.  

I know, I said I wasn't going to get this involved with this property  until after the closing.  I can't help myself.  The possibilities with this property are far greater than Finklea. It's 12 acres larger, the front portion is perfectly designed for an RV park, the rear is perfectly designed for nature buffs.  I don't even care about the gas well now.  That's just a small thing in the way, I'll get around that.  The title came back through clean, that was the biggest roadblock and the only thing really, in my mind anyway, that would have held up the closing of this property.  And anyway, regardless of whether it becomes mine or not, it has been interesting to go hiking back into it and observing nature in al of its mostly untouched glory.  There's no trash laying all over the place, it's pretty clean as far as human interference goes.

I will, however, want to put someone to work cleaning out the brush in the back and I have a solid candidate in mind. 

Got back from that adventure, took a shower, cleaned up the scratches on my arms and went to a new Irish pub/restaurant that opened up in town.  They failed on that one. Not because it's in a hotel, but because it doesn't have the feel of an Irish pub at all. They took over the hotel lobby to build their restaurant. They don't have the nook and crannies Irish pubs do for the eating "rooms".  There is no traditional wood anything. It's all modernistic and simply doesn't look like a pub.  Pricey, the food is ok but not worth what we paid for it.  You pay for the experience as well as the food in a pub like that, the experience didn't exist.  I don't know what they were thinking, they should have bought or leased their own building. They have a pub in a town north of here, that is a real pub atmosphere. We won't be back. I doubt I'll leave negative reviews, just wait and see what everyone else has to say about it.  

And now? We are all taking afternoon naps.  I slept soundly last night but woke up in a fog.  Too much sleep, I had to force myself to get up and go on that hike.  I either sleep too well or get too little sleep, there is nothing in between.  Then it's time to get up and clean the large throw rugs in the kitchen. They have become stained and dirty and need the carpet cleaner on them. They're too big for the washing machine, my favored way of cleaning rugs.  

If there's time, get the canopy up over the pond and transfer the fish from the aquarium into it.  If not, it will have to wait until I get back from the next trip, which I "assume" is tomorrow. I haven't received anything yet, but I'm not working today, I need to work tomorrow.  A good 3 day run would suffice.  The older boy was asking if I would be home when he gets here tomorrow - Wednesday, today is Tuesday.  Mom said "I don't know".  I'm saying hopefully not.  The boys have been gone 2 weeks and they are getting very homesick and not having contact with the people they are normally around, which is mom, dad and me.  Oh wait, I did receive notice from dispatch today that the loading plant is mandating everyone wear masks. 

I think I have a mask in my truck.  I threw those things out.  I am done with masks.  But not done, apparently, I will wear one in there to keep my job.  If I'm "forced" to start wearing one in places like supermarkets, I'll have to pick my battles. I do not like the idea of the government or even private enterprise telling me I have to wear a face diaper.  If you don't have a problem with them, fine, that's your prerogative.  I don't like them and more so, I don't like being told I have to wear one.  

Well enough of this, g'day.  

  

 Getting quote to have the Harrison property surveyed.  It showed upon the real estate listings yesterday, it is by far and away the cheapest property on the list for in-city land.  It's a really great location, I wish I could have done something with it.  

The next thing is to go over to the Caddo property and look around for invisible structures.  I've been up on that property, there is nothing there.  But I'll take a 2cd look, the tax appraisal website shows 2 structures with a combined total of 410 square feet of space on the property.  

Either they have the wrong property, or the structures were torn down, or the structures were portable and someone stole them.  I dunno, but I'm sure there aren't any structures on that property and I don't want to pay taxes on something that doesn't exist.  

This morning - going to the property. Not to see if the surveyors are there, but to take the dogs for a nice walk. It's a bit nicer out today, in the 70's this morning which is a far cry better than the last time I went out there.  No particular plan on trying to access the portion of the property I haven't made it to, just get the dogs and I exercised.  Oh, but I will be taking my hunting camera and finding the area where the bear roams, set it up and hope to catch it on camera.  I've got that thing ready to go.

It can sit up there for  week or so and see what kind of animals are roaming that land.  Someone had put up a crude deer stand replete with a home made feeder.  They obviously think there is something there- they were probably looking for deer, tho, not bears.  Deer droppings are far different looking that bear dung, that's what I can say about that and I haven't seen any deer droppings back in there, but then again I haven't really looked.  Taking kids back there is a chore unto itself, this time no kids and dogs are self sufficient.  They don't need much of anything but an occasional "ADDLER, WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" and he comes trotting back lol.  

This time I will also look to see if any trees are scratched up by any potential bears, that's another sign they are present.  

Checklist: Pistol, water, mosquito repellent, boots and machete. Checklist complete, let's go!

 Well that was fun.

I was walking through the back yard - which is an admitted disaster zone - tripped on a large sledge hammer, started to fall, tried to kick my left leg up to avoid the fall, but it just hit the hammer again and baam....all the way down to the ground and most of the impact absorbed by my left knee 😀

Ouch.  Instantly got up and started to try to walk around to see what the damage is.  It's scraped up pretty good and the pain will undoubtedly set in later, but it's not destroyed as far as I can tell.  Not that either of my knees are in very good condition to begin with, I'm sure this will help it right along! 

The pond project is coming right along regardless of that little setback. I've got some plants in there and more coming.  I haven't put fish in it yet, the water is too warm. I have a canopy to put over it for the summer months with the sun baking everything and the all months - with endless leaves falling out of the trees, winter months - it's still coming down from the trees folks lmao, spring, dead branches fall off of these giant trees year round.  It may become a semi-permanent fixture, who knows.  

I sort of want to go to the property and get that hunting camera up on a tree near the area where I've sighted the bear dung.  It's hot out but I'd like to get this settled 100%, what animal is doing that and is it really a black bear?  You can't hunt, antagonize or harass black bears in Texas. They are an endangered species.  The property in the rear is probably perfect grounds for them. A stream, wild berries growing and other plant species.  Not a lot of meat around - or perhaps there is. The stream is too small for fish.  

I don't know how  you co-exist with a bear on your property.  I have no intentions of killing them but I don't want them around, either.  It would be a bit uncomforting for a potential hiker going to the rear of the property to see a sign that says warning, wildlife present including black bears.  Proceed at your own risk.  Of course this is Texas - ill advised to be walking around property without a pistol.  I've done it back there out of forgetfulness but the last few hikes I have had my 9 millimeter with me.  It's not likely a bear will just attack you for no reason, they would likely run off seeing humans coming unless they have cubs.  

Well, no sense in attempting to mitigate a problem that may not even exist, I may be off in my assessment of bear dung. 

____________

2 days later.  Brownsville run - down and straight back up. Only hitch was a bad tire coming up from Mexico - 3 hours to get that replaced, 3 hours of breakdown pay. 

I stopped at the property on the way home. Remember, this is the day slated for the surveyors to come.  They never showed up.  Of course they didn't!  No stakes, the gate not open, no pink ribbons, zero sign they were here.  

So I texted the realtor.  She was looking at the order, it said they would be there "Wednesday, August 2cd".  Uhh, today is August 2cd - Monday.  So now I guess we're looking at Wednesday? Or what were they thinking?  I figure she'll contact them and ask them about that.  Meanwhile, my property needs a survey.  It won't cost near as much as the property I'm buying, it's less than a quarter acre, I'm thinking a few hundred dollars at most.  

I don't know.  This isn't getting old, it's been old.  Supposedly they will have the completed survey to her by Friday, so that's what she's going on.  I'll just go along with that until Friday gets here and then we'll see.  Of course, I'll be going over there if I''m in town.

The yard is full of trucks and trailers, I don't expect a run tomorrow even tho I asked for one.  I need one on Wednesday tho to get any kind of check next week......

Loosely following politics.  Something I was avid about I've just sort of shied away from. I watch news, read news but I'm nowhere near as involved in day to day events as I was a few months ago.  I don't miss it, either.  Same s*** different day. We're all supposed to start wearing masks again and social distancing and everyone on the planet should get a vaccine.  

You'll have a hard time getting me to start wearing masks again.  I am not getting the vaccine unless I am somehow forced to - which I'm sure they're conjuring up some way to do just that.  Even then, I'd be in fear for my life after what happened the last time I got injected with a vaccine.  I don't care one way or the other about social distancing.  

Then you have the crisis at the border which the Biden administrations denies but everyone else - especially in Texas - not only affirms but shows proof of.  And all the rest of it - Joe the trucker driver -  laughable at best. Let's see his @$$ get into a truck and drive it - one with a manual transmission.  We are a total joke on the world stage.  China is mocking us and so is Russia.  Trillions of dollars worth of "budget" - and on and on.  

Yea, I have no interest in getting myself all riled up over things I have zero control over.  Like the Olympics and kneeling, turning the back on the flag and all of that s***.  Who are these people representing? Apparently not the USA.  Team USA? Am I just making that up or are they gaslighting us? I think the latter, thanks, used to be a day when everyone was proud to be an American, now we all need to be woke, be resentful of our white skin color and automatically agree that we are all racists. 

In a pig's eye I will.  The liberal media has control of a lot of minds, that's what I can say about that.

Tomorrow I will do some more work on the pond, if the weather permits.  And maybe put some fish in it, my aquarium is strained under the load of growing goldfish and a couple of Koi.  There's a new Irish restaurant that just opened up in town, I"m wanting to go try their version of Shepherd's Pie.  I love that stuff.  I haven't been doing the diet - but I haven't been going crazy eating either.  Like today, I had a miniature burrito, drove all day and then had a small sandwich. Some sort of chicken wraps for dinner tonight.

Kids coming back Wednesday.  We're all happy to have our last little bits of peace and quiet around here.

And nothing else that I can think of right now, g'day.  

 Well, one thing has occurred concerning the property since my last post.  We were out last night over in Shreveport when my realtor texted that the title company is done with it, has only one minor item that needs rectified and they will sign off on it. 

If you remember, the Finklea property was held up by title issues that were related to heirs.  Those 3 properties are still off the market.  That Finklea property would make an awesome cabin site for personal use.  

I said I had backed off doing any research for a while, and I have, but an interesting post came up on one of the RV park sites I'm in, these are specific to owners of the parks and some of them relate to actually building them.  My interest in doing this myself has rekindled now that I have seen the laundry list of required information to obtain an SBA loan.  It's long, detailed and some of it very involved information they want that I would have to acquire the services of professionals to accomplish.  

Here is a partial list, these are shown because of the need to acquire professional help in making the determinations:

• Architectural/engineering drawings and general contractor bid for new construction   
• Vendor quotes for new park models, furnishings, fixtures, and equipment   
• Market/competitor analysis with site feasibility conclusion   
• Business plan including marketing plan and management plan   
• First year cash flow projections monthly (sample format attached) and second year cash flow projections annually   
• List of assumptions for cash flow projections   
• Address attached COVID Considerations in a memo provided with loan application.   

 Obviously drawings have to be done by a professional firm. I don't want park models, that's isn't even in the equation.  Market analysis - more professional work.  Business plan, cash flow projections, assumptions and COVID considerations all would have to be done by a firm or firms to get the required information. That would cost thousands of dollars.  Now, putting out money for all of that wouldn't be a big deal, but would it result in my getting the loan?  No guarantees on that.    

I'm now back to the drawing board: Do I do this myself and just get a small number of lots going to start up with?  No bath house at the get go, either. It isn't off the table, it's just the money isn't there.  Or do I find a person that is a handyman, get blueprint for plans to build a bath house and try to get it done a cheaper route?  My mind will be filled with such things for a while.  I will not be in a rush to make the wrong decisions even after the property closes.  

My city lot is done.  One of the lots I bought at the tax sale. They got out there early before the heat sets in and finished it, sent me pics of the entire property showing they had mowed it all down. They had a crew of people working on it, the guy must make some good money at it, he pulled up to our house in a late model GMC 4 door pickup.  Now my realtor will go out there, take pics and then get it posted online.  It's not showing yet on any searches, I'm assuming she is waiting to take pics first before listing it.

I ended up having today off as well.  I'm going to have to push for work now that I've had all of this time off.  Tomorrow is a Brownsville run but I'm going to need another run the next day after that one is over.  If she doesn't give me one I will have to start asking my manager about this.  My paychecks are going to start showing the lack of any real work starting this coming week, when it will be a $1,200 gross pay check that will have me netting well  under a grand.  As much as that feeling of never wanting to get into a truck again runs through my veins, I cannot do that just yet.  

I do intend on getting this project going at the outset - some decisions are easy: water, septic and power all have to be installed, I need quotes.  The 20 foot wide driveway on the west side is also a no brainer.  Hire a person with a machine to get out there and clear it from front to back, get the construction permit first of course. I don't need trouble with the county.  They just want soil erosion control and that's nothing more than those 2 foot tall black retaining pieces of plastic installed with wood stakes into the ground.  They can come out and look at it I guess, but none of that can be installed until that driveway is cleared out. It's just clearing it, no gravel until later on in the project.  

After that driveway is finished, I can measure out the first lots and have that cleared out as well, then the next driveway clear to the back, clear out the back for a turn around and access to all 3 driveways.  How much money we talking for that? Unknown.  It's a touch decision whether to rent my own bulldozer or pay someone to do it. Tough because I simply don't have the vacation hours available to take a week off for that kind of rental.

Others in these RV park communities advocate for buying your own machine, that you will get more use than the initial land clearing and lot building.  Maybe, but a backhoe isn't exactly cheap.  I'd need a machine big enough to uproot the trees and get the entire root structure directly underneath the trees out of the ground. I don't want to have to add stump grinding to the list of things to get done.  Those trees aren't that big and the root systems aren't enough to be able to withstand a decent sized machine.

Yes, I'm strongly considering doing this myself. Not that I will do all the labor but I will be overseeing the entire project and hiring out whatever needs to be done by others.  And getting some paid help to help with the land clearing.  Get 20 lots cleared out and attempt to get them all up and running. Or even 15 lots.  Heck, even 10 would work from the start.  

We'll see, but this list of things the government wants to be able to get a loan is pretty extensive. The other not so great part about this particular lender that helps acquiring the SBA loan? It's a minimum 400k loan.  You want to talk about some pricey monthly payments, that park would need to get up and running quickly, all 70 or so lots fully developed and all of the amenities in place.  There are other lenders that work the SBA loans, I'm going to check into a few others and see what the minimum loan amount is. I was thinking more in the 200k to 250k range.  I don't need 400k to build a park and get saddled with a huge amount of debt right from the start.  

It's kind of a conundrum that I'm just going to have to work through.  Once I decide either way, I'm stuck with it. The 401k would have to be down money for a large loan or it's working capital to build the park myself.  Can't have it both ways is the point.  

Anyways, no great plans today.  Just enjoy a day off. It's going to be hot outside and no, I'm not going hiking in this heat. I would have had to get up much earlier than I did today.  We didn't get in until late last night.  I'm going to go over and double check the man's work, they sent a bunch of pics as I had requested showing the work they did. It looks good, but I still want to check it.  

And maybe, at least, look up names of local firms that specialize in getting the info I would need for the SBA loan. I can at least look into it...

G'day.  

 Friday. July 30.

Allegedly 3 more days until the surveyors come.  I've completely backed off of doing any research on RV parks for the last - several days - since before we went on vacation. I needed a break from it.  Plus my attention got diverted towards one of the properties I already own in trying to get that thing all cut down and put it up for sale.  The listing should be showing up on the real estate sites any time now.  Not that it will sell right off the bat, but it's going low priced, I mean lower than anything on the market, if someone wants to live in this town and needs a lot - and a decent sized lot now that I was back out there looking at it - this one might be the one to go first.  There is a stream in the rear of the property, that may or may not have any appeal? Who knows.  

Now, when I was at the storage lot yesterday, the man that lives there was out there and we had a nice long discussion.  He's homeless and has been living there for a year now.  The owners of the facility allow him to stay in his car in exchange for him cutting down the massive amount of grass every month.  Not to mention free security.  He said someone cut a hole in the fence the other day and he was worried someone was going to come in and start trying to steal stuff.

Well, he has a phone, he can dial 911.  I asked him about the winter icing event earlier this year. This poor guy was living in that car out in that frigid chill the entire time!  I should have thought about it, if I had I would have put him up in a cheap hotel to get out of that misery.  Yes, I do like to help my fellow human beings.  He's well dressed, shaves, appears to shower somewhere, takes as best care of himself as he can with his circumstances.  He takes whatever odd jobs he can get around town.  He stated that he used to drive trucks.

I told him I'm a truck driver and asked him why he doesn't just get back into trucking? He would have a place to stay and never have to deal with cold and heat living arrangements again.  He let his CDL slide and only has a class C license. Cool! That's all you need dude, you can call any of these major trucking companies that have their own training programs up, they'll pay for you to come to orientation and then go through their training program, put you in with a trainer for a few weeks and then send you out on your own. You can make at least 40 grand your first year even with one of these major companies.  He was looking at me odd. Are there any around here? I don't know, it doesn't matter where they're at, they will pay for your ride to wherever their training facility is and put you up in a hotel and give you a food per diem.  

It would certainly better his life versus living in that old Cadillac and hanging out under the covered parking during 90 plus degree heat days and high humidity out, feeling like it's 107 yesterday.  I was going to get him a cold drink or even a bag of ice for his cooler but the dude that hires him here and there came and got him.  I did discuss with him my RV park intentions. This guy knows how to build block walls and basically does unskilled labor. I could put that guy to work.  Namely, I am thinking the back in lots are going to have to have a block wall at the rear, nothing fancy but to keep the dirt from caving in. It appears that to have level lots I'm going to have to cut some dirt out on that side of the intended driveway.  There's lots of physical labor work I could put a person like that to work with.  

He didn't however, know how to operate a bulldozer.  I asked, lol.  I don't either but I am confident I could use one with minimal learning curve.  Set the blade an inch into the ground and start moving.  I've just been thinking about how I could rent a dozer for a week and get the full use out of it while still working my job.  It would be using it when I'm home but it's far to expensive to just let it sit there for 2 days doing nothing. I have to find someone who can operate the thing.  So, in the end, it may be cheaper to just pay someone to clear the land as a side job - or their main job, they just do it on their own, no real company but they have a piece of equipment to do it with.  $75 per hour is the cheapest I've found so far.  

I thought about going to the property today and putting the hunting camera up in the rear of the property near where I've seen bear droppings.  But it's getting sooooo hot outside, I'm not feeling very motivated lol.  And climbing through all of that thorn brush - the only way I think I'd go out there today is if I can get the 4 wheeler going.  It's only 10:30 am and the "real feel" is at 103 degrees. I wouldn't know, I haven't been outside yet today lol.

Alright, well I'm going to get that waterfall filter going, I got the thing put back together last night now just have to go out and hook it back up to the pump.

G'day. 

Went over to inspect the property the city is complaining about. Yup, there is tall grass and weeds.  Just like properties all over the place in the entire city.  If they're going to pick on me, they best be picking on everyone else as well. Yes, there is a size limit - under a certain amount of square feet you have to keep it mowed down.  Well, there are lots and lots of small lots that are covered with weeds and brush.

I'm not sure what their beef is, I didn't start anything with the city.  :I went over to one of the other properties to see about that one, somebody actually mows the property.  I assume homeowner in the rear of the property but I don't know that for sure. Wonder if they'd be interested in buying it and get it out of my hair.  Sell it for 2 grand and be done with it. 

The other property along the railroad tracks has never been developed and is literally covered with trees;, brush and weeds.  If they come along demanding that be cleaned up - there are properties on the other side that are the exact same condition, I'm going to have to confront these city officials.  If the town were cleaned up I could see it. But I'd say at least a quarter of the city is undeveloped property and another eighth at least is old property that has some sort of structure on it and over grown with brush and weeds.  

Their threat was to clean it up themselves, put a lien on the property and the file a lawsuit.  I'm still aghast that they only gave me a week to get this done.  Whatever.  It will be done on Saturday, the real estate agent will go out there after they clean it up and take pics and then list it on the MLS.  

Over to the boat - it's at a storage lot - I had to find a way to get my SUV to the rear of it to put on jumper cables so I could get the hydraulic lift to lift up the motor and put the bar on it that holds it from shaking around.  That was a pain, because people had parked things on either side of it.  It got that done and then headed over to the courthouse to get the trailer registered. I was going to register the boat - but that system was down today.  Well I at least got the trailer the boat is on re-registered and they didn't try to charge me for the time it's been out of registration. I haven't used that boat since - 2019?  Before the covid disaster started.  

So now, we're going to head over there in Taylor's truck, hook up the boat and drag it the 40 plus miles to the boat repair facility where it will probably sit for a while.  They get a backload of stuff to do there and it could sit for months like it did last time. But, it's doing no good sitting in that storage lot and I want to get it going if possible.  They just told me at the repair facility that they're backed up but it is what it is.  I'm going to have them repair everything on it this time.  New battery, get all the lights going, fix the steering and install a speedometer - you have to know how fast you're going for wake zones and such.  They actually put speed limits out there on certain portions of lakes and reservoirs.  

Anyway, after that there's a slew of things I'd like to get done over there while in town.  Make a day out of it.

TTYL.  

 Okay. So today's revelations.

They are loading trucks out of railcars.  This isn't surprising to me, just been a while since this has occurred and had forgotten about it.

The problem? I'm not getting any of those rail car loads.  However, that only lasts so long, they might have 2 cars out there and that's about 7 loads, I am assuming - right or wrong who knows - that they would have run out today of the product in those cars.

The real problem is that the dispatcher lied to me.  She said the plant was shut down and they weren't loading until Saturday.  That was completely false and SHE is the one handing out the loads so she KNEW what she was saying is completely false. 

The conundrum: Do I call her out on it?  Contact my manager and call her out on it?  My manager, however, would have known about it too - but he may not know what she told me.  It's all in writing, it's all text messaging, this is why I prefer to "talk" to dispatch through texts.  You can deny you said something with your mouth, you cannot deny you said something in writing with your fingers.

The conclusion? I'm going to let it go - for now.  If I don't get a good run on Saturday, then all hell is going to break loose.  It's going to be - she said this, this is reality.  On several fronts.  And the fact that I've had nothing but Oklahoma runs excepting today for the last 10 days.  Today was a run to Baytown to pick up an empty trailer.  They did a pressure test on it, required every 5 years per federal law.  The pressure was down to zero - they pump all of the product out of it and fill it up with Nitrogen - inert and won't blow up on you. Then empty that out and you have a clean trailer that you can now pressurize with air and search for leaks anywhere. 

For whatever reason, they left the caps off of the hose fittings.  That is a big-time no-no and I had to wonder if they were trying to catch me in something here? Or just forgot? How do you forget to do something that is part of your job, that you would  have had to have inspected by someone else at the end?  The kicker: it's got a camera pointed directly at it, surveillance camera.

Surveillance camera or not, I would have - and did - put the caps back on and beat them tight with a brass hammer.  Regardless that there's no product in there, that's what you are required to do.  I think there's something afoot here - it's a typical trucking company and they do things that try to ensnare drivers.  I mean, it's a right to work state so they could fire me at any time - but - you know how that goes.  There is still the possibility of lawsuits, companies would rather find excuses to get rid of you.

I don't know if that's what's going on, but my mind always goes down every conceivable path that I can think of in attempting to analyze situations and come to rational conclusions as to why things are going as they are.  Now, I'm not the only one, however, that they have dumped endless Oklahoma runs on - which is my other beef. I was talking with a driver the other day who said they gave him 8 consecutive Oklahoma runs before he finally said something. Normally, you work 6 days you are getting a healthy paycheck.  You do that with Oklahoma runs and you are not getting a healthy paycheck.  

Note that my guesses are just that: guesses.  It could be just an inept dispatcher that has no clue what she's doing - which she clearly doesn't - and only reacts to when anyone says anything to her.  I've got a lot of competition in that arena. Some drivers are calling her every single day - where is my next load or when is my next load? Or texting her the same.  Or complaining about every single little thing - something I refuse to do, we are all big boys, we should be able to deal with whatever comes up without freaking out, having conniption fits and sounding like little babies.  

My manager clearly despises some drivers who call him every single day bit***** about everything.  He's pretty open with me - whenever I actually see him which isn't often - because I have no intentions of clouding up his day even more with useless, petty stuff that I can handle on my own.  

But again, if I am sent another Oklahoma load, my attention will be going straight to my manager and I will let him know in no uncertain terms what I think about certain people getting gravy runs all the time and me getting - some gravy and a lot of non-gravy.  My checks are all that matter to me - I'm working to earn money, it's not a charity.  The company makes GOBS of money off of hazmat, they aren't going broke, at least not with our division.  It only leaves a lot of this to either the "sqeaky wheel" or favoritism. From what I have seen and heard over the last - very long period of time - it's the squeaky wheel.  My wheel is about to squeak.

Tomorrow is a day off and we have it planned. City sent me a code violation on one of the properties - it's "over grown with weeds and grass". That would be legitimate if it weren't for the fact that half the city - literally half the city if not more - is overgrown with weeds and grass. And forest - unkempt, non-maintained forest filled with weeds, brush and Lord knows what else.  It's an old city, the residential areas aren't growing.  A new house here and there - very rare - mostly it's blight in certain neighborhoods that they do nothing about.  

Never-the-less, instead of fighting with the city, I just acquired a lawn care company to go out there and cut down all the tall weeds and cut all of the grass.  Get it ALL out of there. I also am putting it up for sale - cheap. Like, 4 grand instead of the 6 to 8 grand people are asking for for similar sized properties in the town.  My realtor who has been through hell with me in this property acquisition nightmare is gladly taking on the project. I told her I would give her a thousand dollars to sell the property - it's FAR beyond their regular commission.  I hope it sells, she deserves something beyond the nothing she's gotten with me attempting to acquire all of these properties. We are hopeful this current one goes through and I can at least get that part behind me.  The rest is all about money, time and labor. It will be what it will be. 

I'm not trying to make huge profit.  It's going for 4 grand, which is far less than anything else being offered.  It will be a test.  I will have to pay her the grand, whatever the title company costs and hopefully I don't have to pay for a survey, we'll see about that.  2 sides of it are street and the back is a creek. The only questionable part would be the east east side.  I can't remember if there is a fence there or not, I haven't looked at it in a long time. I will be going tomorrow - it's not far lol, nothing in this town is far by any stretch of the imagination.  Just not going today, it's dark and I'm going to bed soon enough.  The test will be to see if there is any buyers and if there is any profit to be made in this kind of endeavor.  These properties are sold cheap at every single auction and most of them do not sell.  The ones that do sell, the buyers  list them for far more than any of it's worth.

This area is not prime real estate.  The sellers think it is - and those properties sit there forever. Let me short change all of them, sell them for a grand or 2 profit and keep buying them.  I have 2 others I can sell if this one goes that route.  My vision of putting cheap housing on those properties was nixed by the city.  People do put up these "lean to" houses - they are small and the undoubtedly don't cost much. It's the only thing I've seen new being put up around the city for new housing.  Not much of it, but perhaps there is a market for cheap property to put them up on. I don't have the money to put up houses all over the place and rent them or sell them. Just not in the cards for me, y'all know my plans and this type of thing isn't it.

Still, it is an intriguing idea to sell property cheap if there are buyers.  Most people don't know about tax lien auctions and it can stay that way.  Even if people know about it, they have to have the cash to buy them and they have to cash - then and there when they have the winning bid - and Texas state law confronts the people that bid and don't pay right away - I mean as soon as the auction is over - with a 20% fine of the amount the auction sold for.  If you think Texas ain't getting it's money, think again lmao. 

Anyway, I am not fighting with the city about it because they have this stipulation about the property being under X amount of square feet to mandate this type of upkeep. The rest of these properties get away with it because it's - over the small size limit. Makes absolutely ZERO sense for undeveloped property - which the city is full of. I could take video down the streets and show you land in the city limits - LOTS OF LAND - that is undeveloped and not maintained at all.  That property I have over by the railroad tracks is also small enough to fit the city's rules and it would cost me either a lot of my time or a lot of money to clean that lot out. It is very small.  I have a new chainsaw, it would get it's use on that property is what I will say about that. I ain't spending hundreds of dollars to clean up that land if the city finds out about it.  Better off laying low, just comply with this thing and not start a needless battle.  Keep track of my expenses and keep adding that to the sales price.  

The guy want's $140 to clean up the property. He will easily spend half a day out there doing that, so I said yes.  Well, if you want us to haul off the limbs and stuff, it's going to cost more. Nope, just pile it up in the middle of the lot and I will burn it.  That IS legal in this town, albeit I have to get a permit to do so for $20.  Or if it's not too much, load it up on my trailer and haul it to the dump.  

Oh! Guess how long I have to get this done? I JUST got this notice today.  You think a month, right? At least 30 days?  No, I have til the THIRD OF NEXT MONTH before this person goes out there again to inspect it.  Unbelievable. This is the FIRST notice I have received about this property and I get all of a WEEK to clean it up! Not even the City of Phoenix is that brutal.  Still, I will pick my battles and this isn't one worth fighting.  It's not that much money, the realtor will be out there after they clean it up and take pics, post a sign FOR SALE out front, list it on the Realtor MLS and it will show up on all the land searches and all the city searches.  There is a creek running through the back of the property, I wonder if that's some kind of appeal for anyone? I doubt there's fish in it tho, lol, a small creek. 

Tomorrow I will be calling a title agency to see about getting the title cleaned up on it and see if there are any problems. Whatever it costs, it has to be done.  

This will be an ongoing story - albeit one I didn't want to have to deal with at the moment, I have other things on my mind.  The property was cheap, a few bucks spent on cleaning it up isn't going to hurt my feelings and whatever it costs for the title agency - who knows. 

And yes, I went by the property today.  Lol.  Nope, the surveyors haven't been there.  But,  was re-examining the property line at the front today.  These neighbors are going to lose a chunk of land they apparently think belongs to them. I'm not gleeful about that prospect.  I do think if they wanted all of that land all the way up to the driveway, we could make a trade.  He gets all of that - property lines redrawn and legal fees at his expense - and I get some of his wooded property at the back.  I really can't wait until the survey is done, if it is what the appraisal map shows it is, there is a deal that can be had here if the guy is open to it. Otherwise, I will take my property and do what I intent to do with it.  

But all of the property in the rear of his place - all separate tracts but all in his name - is very desirable and could enhance my investment.  He could retain his garage and other stuff out there and we can call it good.  I'm not looking for land wars, I'm looking for land deals.  He's doing nothing with that property and I think it could be a good tradeoff. But that's my thinking, I dunno what he might think. 

Anyway, now I have another thing to add to an already crowded plate.  Ces't la vie.  

Tomorrow will be a full day.  Go to that property, take pics of what I want done per the guy's request, send it to him and then go to the storage lot, get the boat hooked up to the SUV and then we are going to Longview. Drop the boat off - I want the damned thing fixed once and for all, go to a store over there that has her crack - she calls it crack, it's Monster juice, a specific brand that is hard to find and the only kind she likes but has to have every day, pretty much like a coffee addict type of thing - then off to the Home Depot for a part for my waterfall filter. I ordered the part and then realized it's coming from china.  Yea, no thanks, I don't want anything directly  - or indirectly for that matter but that's near impossible nowadays - and it takes weeks to arrive.  Just that our town had nothing at the Lowe's to do what I need to be done. I want the big fish out of the aquarium and into the pond.  I will take my AR 15 with me in case we have time to get a new sight for it and get some practice and real ammo for it.  After that I assume we will be eating lunch over there. 

Did I say the kids are still gone? Yes and we are all loving it.  The peace and quiet around here is amazing! I love the kids don't get me wrong, but a decent break from all of that is well needed and appreciated.  It also means we can go out during the day and do whatever without having to think about taking the kids with us or finding someone to watch them. So that's tomorrow.  

Addler has settled down. I'm not sure I want my dogs over at Maria's again. It's nice of her to take care of them, but all 3 dogs that went over there were not right when they came back.  Aspyn finally ate after 3 DAYS of not eating.  She didn't eat that much but geeze. I think it was the stress of 5 dogs and a lot of barking going on that threw them out of their normal personalities and eating.  Sleeping has been on the minds of both of my dogs and Taylor's dog since they came back.  It's really good to see Addler back to normal, he was worrying me the first two days.  I didn't even think this would be an issue, he has been subjected to going back and forth between properties in the past, tho it's been a while.  Maybe he thought I was leaving him there permanently?  I dunno, but his sweet, loving personality is back and I am thankful for that.

This post waxes long.  More I could go into, but I think this is enough for one post.

G'nite. 

 So yesterday.

Drove up to the plant north of Tulsa, dropped and hooked trailers, started heading back.  About 4 miles going back into the trip, I hear a lot of air passing through one of the air valves.  It got worse, worse and worse.

About 8 miles I found a place to pull over and checked it out.  The air was hissing from a brake chamber and it was bad.  But this is the middle of nowhere and I didn't want to be stuck out there, so I tried to get the air back up. It worked - long enough to get down the hill in front of me and that's where I came to the revelation I best pull over, put out the triangles and call for help.

3 hours later, a mechanic comes - clear from Oklahoma City, like 140 miles away.  All the repair outlets in the Tulsa area were all booked up and wouldn't be able to get to me for a long time.  It took this guy 2 hours to fix the problem.  I left.

A mile down the road, the hissing started again. I'm like, man, this dude just replaced that with a brand new brake chamber! There was no where to stop and unlike previously, the brakes weren't dragging so I just drove to the Casino. I didn't know there was a casino up there, just found it on the Trucker's Path app and that was the closest place.  I got there, no trucks at all.  Started wondering if they even allow trucks, tho there were plenty of parking spaces for them.

I got out and determined that I now have an air leak on one of the air bags on the trailer.  Gag.

I flagged down a Security vehicle - do you allow trucks to stay the night here?  Yes, but you have to do some business here - in other words, spend some money. Yes sir, I plan on eating dinner.  Okay, no problem.  So I called the breakdown line, reported the problem, gave the info and they told me a half hour at most they would call back with info for who they were getting to come out and fix it.

Good luck with that,, I thought, at this time of night?  I went into the casino only to find the restaurants were already closed at 10:30 pm, even tho their website says one of them says they're opened until 2 am.  Be nice if they updated their website whenever they make changes like that.  So, I decided to have a beer at the bar.  I sat down in front of a electronic style machine that is mounted onto the bar top.

I hadn't gambled in a while, I decided to play blackjack on the thing.  I lost $65 before I won $120 and then back down to $100.  It was a bit of a reprive from the day, I went next door and got a sandwich from the convenience store and then went back to the truck. It was fully 2 hours before they called back to tell me it would be another 2 hours before a mechanic would show up.  Ok.  I was up til around 3:15 am last night. The mechanic got the air bag off and said he would be back asap after going to a parts place that is opened 24 hours.  

I dunno, I went to bed. 3 hours later, he's banging on my door.  I couldn't find a replacement so I fixed this one.  Okay.....It's holding air fine, no problems. He seemed to be a competent mechanic, so I figured to just take his word for it;.  He said you're good to roll! I thought, no I'm not, I'm exhuasted. I went back to bed for about an hour and a half and then - realized I was almost out of fuel.  Time to get up! Felt like crap, not enough sleep will do that.  But I drove the 60 miles to the Love's, fueled up and then drove the rest of the way back in.  

16-1/2 hours of breakdown pay, that's going to make this particular Oklahoma trip worth a lot more than the normal ones.  My dispatcher contacted me a little while ago - do you want to go to Houston tomorrow to pick up an empty trailer?  Sure, why not? I was otherwise facing 3 full days off because the loading plant is shutting down - today actually - for scheduled maintenance.  It's about 440 mile round trip, take about 10 hours which includes each end.  Not worth a lot but better than nothing. Then I'll have 2 days of sitting around and then back to work on Saturday - allegedly anyway.  You can never really take their word for it, stuff happens all the time in this industry and schedules change.

Yes, I couldn't resist, even tho I now know the surveyors won't be there until next week? I drove by there on the way home anyway, lol.  

Okay, with that I'm going to take a short nap, I'm just out of it today. 

 I have absolutely no idea what happened over there this weekend, but my dogs are worn out.  I mean, like they have just been walking all day long and didn't get a rest. Or like they've been awake for days.  Addler is grumpy as all get out, the dog is just out of it. Aspyn the same, tho she isn't grumpy. Neither of them want to eat.  The dog food I feed them they usually inhale, I've never seen either of them not hungry at all.  

Addler is so out of it, he just fell off the end of the bed, upside down.  He took his sweet ole' time correcting his body and getting back up. I tried to stop the fall but I didn't get over there til too late.  He wasn't hurt that I can tell, no wincing.  

Then again, the dog really doesn't complain about pain, as evidenced by his actions the other day. We went for a walk, the 3 boys and both dogs.  On our way back out, I was helping the boys climb over a big, felled tree, Addler had run off into some shrubbery.  I was walking off and saw Addler just standing there.  I called him - ADDLER! come on, let's go!  

He just stood there, didn't wince, cry groan, nothing. Addler?  ADDLLLLEEERRRRR!!!!  He still just stood there, I knew something must be wrong.  I hadn't noticed how entangled in this thorn vines he had gotten.  When I got to him, he couldn't move because he was completely bound up in those vine.  One of the vines was wrapped around his head/throat twice.  The pain that must have been inflicted on the dog trying to get that off of his head, as gently as I tried, there was no choice but to have to pull on it to get it off of there.

Then, his entire hips were wrapped up and one rear leg.  I was pretty taken aback this dog wouldn't even wince.  He was imprisoned in thorn vines and it must have been agony.  

Neither of those dogs were used to that place at all. The dogs over there - dozer and pepper - he knows them but hadn't seen them in a long time. There is yappy Chihuahua over there as well. Maria said they all got along well this weekend so it's a bit of a wonder why the dog appears like he hasn't slept the entire time we were gone. Aspyn as well.  

I had to wonder if Addler wasn't have a flashback to when his original family had to get rid of him. Like, being abandoned to a new place and people once again. Aspyn the same.  I dunno, but they're home.  I will be gone tomorrow but they'll be home, so hopefully they can rest up.  

Okay, well it's not late but it's time to go to bed. Try to rest for a long day tomorrow.  

 Okay.  So we got to Hot springs late, dumped our gear in the hotel room and left.  Taylor wanted to have drinks, so we just picked a place and went in.  Lol, I can say that I was not even in the slightest prepared for what would greet up.  It was a college bar hangout with all kinds of funky and old stuff hanging up on the walls and on shelves out of reach.  It was noisy and there were - oddly dressed - people walking in and out.  But, it was Taylor's music they were playing and we were having fun so I just went along with it.  

It wasn't until I was in there for a bit when I realized that these ladies I was seeing? Weren't ladies at all.  I've come to the point in my life to just accept these different lifestyles.  I don't have to agree with them, God loves everyone, tho Christ died for our sins, yet He didn't reject anyone.  He did tell the woman at the well to go and sin no more.  So there is that.  But the Bible even specifically states we are not to judge the unsaved.....leave that up to God.  I have enough problems in my life to be pointing out the things in other people's lives, at least in this particular realm.

But I did get to the point where I was trying to figure out which were actual ladies and which - were not.  I think they're called "passable", where they actually look good enough to fool even a straight man into thinking they are biological females.  Anyway, we closed that bar at 2:00 am - went back to the hotel and only then found out about the lack of a sofa bed.

A cot was brought up and by that time of night I was ready to go to sleep regardless of accommodations.  Taylor, however, was having none of it and we were moved to another room. It also did not have a sofa bed so I ended up sleeping on the cot anyway. At least we were out of the room with the giant cockroaches.  

Next day - yesterday - we were off to an entire day's worth of activities.  The Hot Springs Mountain Tower was fascinating.  You either walk up however many stories - lots of them - or take an elevator up - we opted for the elevator. You arrive at near the top in a room that goes around the entire observatory.  You can see for a long, long way on a clear day.  Beautiful.  Then up the stairs to the very top where you can look through telescopes.  

We then went and checked out the lake - with suggestions that we should bring my boat up there.  Yes, well let me get the thing into the shop and see if they can iron out the final problems with it.  The shop is 40 miles away and admittedly I have had my mind on property to the point it pretty much pushes out everything out.  I didn't really think about it this weekend tho.  We went into one of the infamous bath houses and enjoyed sipping on a board filled with small glasses of the different kinds of beers that are locally made.  Yes, it is a bath house but it's also a brewery lol.  

After that, we went swimming at the resort pool. It has 2 pools and a hot tub.  You can only access it on the 7th floor of the hotel, which was pretty unusual. Built on the side of a mountain, these pool butt up to the hotel but are actually in the ground, not on the hotel.  One of the pools is 6 feet deep the entire pool, which is the one we went in.  After that, it was just go get some grub at a local restaurant - Fat Jacks - good food - and then we were all burned out. It was almost midnight, so yea that's a long enough day, certainly for me.  

This morning, we got up rather late, got our stuff together and left, around noonish I think.  We ended up at Cracker Barrel for a nice breakfast and then off to one of their favorite stores they always check out before they leave.  James wanted to go to the Harley store but they have shut the place down and turned it into a Goodwill.  

I'd go again  - I just wouldn't stay at that hotel, or if I did, in a much cheaper room and get 2 rooms instead of one, so I can have an actual bed.  But stll, the rundown condition of that hotel - and the pics you see of the rooms are totally misleading.  They'd have to spend millions of dollars probably to fully upgrade it into a real resort hotel.  I did like the pool.  Taylor was able to talk to the hotel manager and get a few hundred taken off the final bill, so that was nice as well.  

Home, 4 days off are over.  Back to work in the morning, an Oklahoma run.  And then, the loading plant is allegedly shut down until Friday.  I intend - or at least hope - to get a good night's sleep tonight and hopefully get the run done in one day tomorrow.  I suspect a bit of fatigue after an exhausting weekend tho, I may not make it that late tomorrow.  The kids are gone and won't be back for a while.  Apparently they miss mommy already tho, lol.  I predicted that would happen I just didn't think it would happen so fast. It isn't helping that it's boiling hot outside and where they're at just as hot, outdoor activities curbed because of the heat.

Oh, and yes, I did stop by the property on the way home from getting the dogs from Maria's. Nope.  

Basically, I'm just going to check when I'm in town, but I'm not going to say anything more about it to my realtor.  It either gets done or it doesn't.  If it doesn't, I don't know what to say except gee, isn't that wonderful! lmao There is no use fretting over something I literally cannot change short of pulling out of the deal. No I'm not pulling out of the deal. It's just a ridiculously long wait to get anything done.  They'll probably have to check my credit score yet once again before this is all over.... 

And fatigue has just set in.  It is likely going to be an early night for me.  Just a weeee bit too early to be going to bed at 5:30 pm.  

 A quick update.

The surveyors never showed, tho that's not really been on my mind the last couple of days

We've been in Hot Springs, Arkansas enjoying a mini vacation.  Preparing to leave in a few to get home in time to get settled down and ready for - work tomorrow.  The dogs are at Maria's so there's going to be that as well.

We've done all kinds of things on this trip, the extent of which I will get into in a later post.

But I have to say that this Arlington Resort and Spa? Is one of the worst hotels I've stayed in in a long, long time. It's storied history is just that: history.  Smelly, nasty carpet.  Paint peeling literally all over the place, in the rooms, in the hallways, outside, dirty and filthy.  Giant cockroaches, daddy long legs and biting bugs of which I never identified.  Highly price facility, one would expect a much better looking and cared for place than what we ended up in.

And that was 3 room's worth.  We made the best of it, at least they have a nice pool and hot tub facility.  But the pics of the rooms are completely deceiving and verge on the precipice of false advertising.  James and Taylor have stayed here before and said the place has fallen into disarray since the last time they stayed here.  

Anyways, we still had fun regardless, just the sleeping part wasn't so nice.  

I will probably be going to bed early tonight, in my own bed, comfortable and hopefully sleeping well.  I think it's like a 3 hour trip back to the house.  So we should be arriving no later than 4pm, including a stop for breakfast/lunch.  

I will probably write a detailed accounting later on today when I'm home in my bedroom or perhaps in a couple of days.  I have to go to Oklahoma tomorrow, it's an early load so I hope to get it over with tomorrow.  The plant is shutting down for several days for scheduled maintenance, allegedly reopening on Friday.  Much more time off than I had expected, shrugs my shoulders and go with it.  Stay home, do some projects and mostly stay indoors, it's been sweltering hot!

Okay, time running short, we're fixing to leave here and head home.

G'day. 

 Friday - morning

No, I haven't gone to the property yet, I will do that after the grandparents leave with the boys. Just want to be here to wave goodbye, cya - apparently not in two weeks.  There is an extended family member that has some sort of critical illness that may - be on their death bed, it sounded like. So who knows how long that trip will actually be for them.

________________________

Long interlude. Been to the property 3 times and gave up on it for today.  It's 2:00 pm and there is no sign of the surveyors.  I saw a pickup parked back in there with the gate open a few minutes ago, though yayyyy, they're here!  Only to find it was just another employee checking the chemical level in one of the barrels for the natural gas.  

I texted my realtor: Unless they work on weekends, I don't think they're coming this week.  She replied she'd check. I have no idea who they are using for the surveyor company, otherwise I would have checked it myself.  Regardless, it's undoubtedly going to be next week - if they show up at all - to get this done.  

Meanwhile, we took the dogs to Maria's.  There was a bit of adjustment for her dogs and mine to get acquainted again plus a Chihuahua thrown into the mix - another tenant living there.  It was basically the only choice for a dog sitter as others would not be available.  I did go take a look at one of the properties that I bought at tax lien sale - someone has been cutting down trees and I wanted to see if they were continuing on with that - operation that has no permission from the owner.

However, the trees are rotted and would have had to come down anyway.  In fact, one of them looks like they fell on a house and the house has a new roof on it.  The tree is still laying there lol.  There's another very tall and rotted out tree on the property that must come down.  Yes I have a chain saw but I'm a bit out of practice. That tree falls the wrong direction and it's going to take out a roof.  Possible hurt people.  I'd rather get my name on the title and go cut down a few trees at the "new" place and get practiced again.  

I was musing about putting up a small house on the property. There is a property up the street where a guy had a new - but small - house built.  I can't imagine it's more than 800 square feet.  I can still imagining it costing a bit of money tho.  

Whatever the case, my fresh hair cut over with, I'm packed and ready to leave for vacation.  Oh, wait.  I got the camera going for the back yard, need to set it back up.  The dogs aren't here, there is nothing to stop anyone from stealing stuff. Well, there is a heavily armed next door neighbor cop lol.  

With that, I bid you a g'day. 

 The surveyors did not show up today, either.  It's Thursday, if they are going to do it this week as they promised? They are going to have to get over there tomorrow.  I don't think they work on weekends.  But who knows what their schedule is.  

I took both dogs and 3 kids over there today and yes, we went on a hike to the back of the property.  I took them the "easier" route, tho admittedly there aren't any really easy routes, you still have to climb over logs, through bushes, over thorn vines, etc.  Jaxon - the 4 year old - wasn't doing too well. He insisted on coming, but the outcome was the same as the last hike. 

Except this time? I didn't help him. I told him before we left that I wasn't helping him do anything, if he really wants to come he's going to have to find his way through there.  So yes, we had some screaming moments of DON'T LEAVE ME!!!! even tho we were just standing there watching him attempt to get over or through stuff.  

The only thing that I saw that was of intrigue that I hadn't noticed before is at the rear end of the driveway, to the left/east.  There is plenty of room along there for smaller/shorter RV's to back into with a very nice view, actually.  

Depending on where the surveyors - if they ever get there - put the stakes in, I think I could get 5 to 10 small units in there.  

But that's all a foreign language right now as the endless wait for these people to show up and do there job continues on.  I will definitely be over there tomorrow morning. If they don't come tomorrow, I don't see them getting it done this week.  Maybe they can get this stuff done in on day? I suppose they can.  

The grandparents just arrived.  They will spend the night here and then they will take all 3 boys off to Arkansas for 2 weeks.  Yes, 2 full weeks.  The 3rd boy has been down here a total of a month this summer.  We are leaving tomorrow evening for Arkansas as well, tho not to see the kids lol.  I imagine the 2 that stay here are going to get homesick after a bit, we'll see. The older boy from Ark has had a few moments of homesickness but nothing serious so maybe these boys will adjust as well? I dunno. They've been up there before but not for that long.

I don't really have much to do to get ready to leave tomorrow and we have all day long to do it.  The dogs are going over to Maria's instead of her coming over here.  She actually was able to get permission from the judge - who owns the house they live in and lives next door - to have them over for a couple of days.  Perhaps the judge will warm up to Addler.  He didn't want Addler staying over there all the time, hence Addler stays home.

Which has, actually, been quite convenient.  Instead of having to load them up every morning when I'm going on a trip as I used to have to, they either stay in my room if it's too early or they get put outside.  Either way, it saves a lot of time and driving.  

I sort of stopped the diet today for a 4 day off deal.  Ate a hamburger and fries. Took the kids to Applebee's after we got done with the hiking - we lasted all of an hour out there before the heat overtook all of us and it was definitely time for all of us to cool off including the dogs. Took them home, left them in my room to cool off and we all had a good time, actually, eating.  Kind of a sending off meal, c'ya in 2 weeks! lol

I don't actually care what we do on vacation. I just want away from home and from work.  A mindless atmosphere where I don't have to think about anything and will shut off the property thoughts - try to anyway.  Not necessarily going to be all that happy if these people don't come get this survey done - this week.  

Well I guess I should go out and be sociable with the grandparents. 

G'day.