Almost guaranteed change of plan with that pond situation.  It never really crossed my mind to have a smaller version of one up front, just seemed like I would need all of that space for RV lots and amenities. But, a pond is an amenity in and of itself.  A water feature, right there.  

Speaking of that, I just texted the contractor.  I need some sort of confirmation they're coming this week - tho it's supposed to rain today and tomorrow, probably won't come til' after that is over with.  I also received my new "No Parking" signs replete with a tow away notice. Sound harsh? Well whatever, it's my property and I don't want that truck parked over there, period, end of story.  It's a nuisance both for tearing up the driveway and ugly.  At least if it was parked on the other side of their house it wouldn't stick out so much and wouldn't be destroying the driveway as well.

Heading over there in a few, whether the contractor says he's coming or not.  I want to take a look at where I might be able to sneak in a pond - probably right in the middle of where the RV's will be and have some pads encircling it.  

I'm not saying I want pads around it at the beginning, I don't have the money for more pads and I am still a go with using the existing driveway and setting up the first 14 pads in the fashion I already spoke about in previous entries.  What I could do is have that pond right there at the end of those pads with about a 25 foot wide driveway around it and create a grassy area somewhere next to it replete with a picnic table and a fire ring.  Preferably with a tree - which might cause me to think about locating it closer to the west side and have some trees for afternoon shade.  

The reason I want to go over there today is to get a real look at what something like a 75X100 foot pond would look like set up on the site.  Well, maybe not quite that big, 50X75?  I haven't decided that yet, hence the need to go over there and take some measurements and see what I can come up with.  It will be a streamless pond, meaning there is no fresh water source excepting if the water table is high enough (which it mostly is in this region) fresh water will seep up from the ground below it.  Just have to dig down into the clay.  It will need a fresh water source beyond whatever comes up from the ground tho, I'll have to have that well drilled as well.  

My walking trails will still be created through the rear of the property, giving people that want some exercise a good bit of distance they can cover, perhaps go around several times if they are really fitness gurus.  But, people just like to stroll as well, take their doggies for walks, etc.  It will create additional cleanup.  As far as I can see it, any park that allows dogs is also a park that has problems with owners not cleaning up the dog dung, even if you provide ample dog cleaning posts with a scooper, plastic bags and a trash can.  

I'd be inclined to tell those people to leave if I caught them doing it.  I still need to write up my rules, but it's a ways off so I'm kind of just getting ideas right now.  A lot of these parks have their rules right on their websites, many of the top priority rules are all the same, perhaps worded differently but the same idea.  No loud music/noise after 10 pm kind of thing.  That's a biggie - quiet time 10pm - 8 am or 7am, it's going to be one of those.  People like the quiet time, they complain about it not being enforced.  I envision an area with perhaps a canopy -down the road when I can get some more money together - that's well away from the RV sites where people can hang out after hours, enjoy a fire and do whatever, drinking probably.  I don't care if people drink, I just don't want flaming drunks creating disturbances and that will also be written into the rules.  

I struggle with amenities, because if I didn't want to install some or all of that right off the bat, I could have more spaces installed.  A septic system for more spaces will cost significantly more, because you of course need larger vaults and more pipe.  Oh how I wish the city also had sewer lines running through there.  Electricity is running about $2,300 per site.  Costs obviously adding up, I can just do what I can do.  At minimum there will be a dog park, walking trails and laundry.  I will also try to invent some way to sell pre-packaged firewood bundles for campers that want to have fires but didn't bring wood with them. 

If there is going to be anyone present there, it's going to be a very short amount of afternoon hours at first and I suspect there will be days when there is no one actually manning anything besides a cleaning lady coming in to clean the bathrooms if I can actually find a way to fund a decent bathroom setup.  Maybe 2 showers and that's it to start out with.  My mind says bigger is better, my wallet says no thanks.  I've scaled down my thinking on a few things that will cost too much to do with available finances and not taking out another loan. 

Another loan may be inevitable, but at least try to keep it a lower amount, no more than 20 grand. 

Weight loss: Still going. Down to 212 this morning.  Not substantial amount but the fact that is is still going down is what is important to me.  My gut is definitely starting to shrink - took a while to see that kind of result but I can now tell I've lost some fat.  I don't know why I let myself go like this, a bit ridiculous on my part.  Just eat whatever you want@! lmao Everyone knows the inevitable outcome of that particular scenario if you do it long enough lol

There. Spent the money on this new desk, spending the money on a leather desk top mat and natural wood coasters to protect the finish.  And with that, off to the property and then  - still have to build that wall desk, lol. We did other things yesterday, no work for me today.  Pretty glad too, other drivers are sending texts and pics of the loading plant. A long line backed up just to get into the plant and the scale house is running slow again, meaning sitting there forever waiting on paperwork.

G'day. 

 3 days worth of grueling driving over with as of last night.  Uneventful trip - that's the way I want them to go.  Just drive drive drive. 

Well I take that back. One accident after another after another after another yesterday.  2 of them huge traffic backups that took quite a while to get through.  I had extra minutes because I drove as far as I could before running out of time the night before.  That extra 50 minutes saved me, otherwise I would not have been coming home today.

But after thinking about it, coming home today would have been better.  It would have given me half of today off and all of tomorrow.  I'm on a 34 hour reset, but it will be done by 6 am tomorrow morning.  The other thing that may happen is that Mondays are usually doled out on Fridays, so there may not be any work Monday. All I need is an Oklahoma or Brownsville trip to go with the WV trip and my paycheck is set for the next pay period 2 weeks from now.  

Anyway, besides the two major accidents there were at least a dozen smaller ones.  Don't normally see that many accidents in one day's worth of driving.

I had replied to a local wrecker operator about a potential job with them. Are you local, regional or what?  I could learn the trade and be home after every shift.  I never heard back from them, instead, their competitor saw my comment and got into my Facebook inbox. We have been talking ever since. He is willing to train me - which is quite the undertaking, there is a lot to the business of towing large trucks. I have watched them endlessly while they have hooked mine up and hauled them off.

It's something I have always wanted to learn.  I'm getting a bit old to start something new, but this is trucking and I know how to unhook U-Joints and such.  You have to remove the drive shaft before towing a big truck.  There's a lot I don't know, but when he said the weekly paychecks are between $1,500 and $3,000 he definitely got my interest.  I flat out informed him I am building my own business and what kind it is, but it won't allow for me to quit working a regular job and just do that for probably years to come.  I haven't made up my mind, yet, I need a minute to think about it.

This coming week, the contractor is allegedly coming back to do the bulldozer work. Actually a bulldozer, a trackhoe and at least one dump truck.  The track hoe will be used to dig out a hole near the rear of the property.

I have also had a new thought about the design.  Instead of a pond way in the back, why not have one in the RV section?  It doesn't need to be huge and it would be a water feature right there for them to see and enjoy.  Yes, it would be much smaller, but I could still stock it with certain fish.  

I could literally have a small lake built in the rear later on when my ship comes in and I have "unlimited" money.  Lmao.  If I have a pond installed, I am also having a well dug for water. I will not pay the city the amount of money it would cost to fill up a pond or a lake.  A couple of thousand dollars for a well and a pump.  The water table is high here, they don't have to go down maybe one hundred feet if that to hit water. 

I dunno, but I just thought it a better idea to start with a pond in the front - I have plenty of room for a small version of one and it would be a neat attraction.  Nature's Design is the them, that is definitely something you find in nature. 

Today? My final piece of furniture arrived to finish my room project.  It's a wall console, they call it, I just call it a wall table. It's like 12 inches deep, 3 feet tall and 42 inches wide. It's for the stuff I need to have directly under my TV - the gaming console and the satellite receiver - and other things.  It has 2 nice, glass paned doors on the small cupboards and some drawers.  It's a project, yes, I have to put it together.  So I'm sitting here thinking about it, lol. Been putting stuff away all morning long, trying to get everything over and done with.  After that is done, I move my bed and finally, the end.  

Anyway, I sit here in hope that the contactor is actually going to show up this coming week and that he will show up earlier in the week versus later. It's a 3 day project at most and then I can stake out my lots and then - get the utilities installed. This is all holding me up from moving forward.  

The building I was wanting to buy? I saw the thing by chance driving through a town going down to Brownsville. I had known it was in that town but I didn't know where. Very small. Too small. It would only be big enough to maybe put a couple of showers in or laundry, but certainly not both.  It looked much bigger from the pictures.  For 15k, no thanks.  I can get a 12X32 for 12k - but then it needs all the interior.  

I'm actually looking for a used one, still in good condition, that has had a good, decent interior job done on it, not needing anything but perhaps additional electrical outlets and 2, small bathrooms built.  In other words, the walls and the flooring have already been installed. That would save a lot of time and money.  I found one a week ago, but the person selling it wouldn't send me interior pics of it and I wasn't going to drive 40 miles to see it without at least seeing pics of everything first. The price was right, the exterior looked good, but still.  

No huge rush. I suspect it will be months before they get the utilities installed and I don't even know if they have the pedestals yet.  They should have them, I really need to call that electrician and find out this coming week. There is a huge demand for them, we are still under supply chain issues and it's 2 to 3 months out to get them. I want them to buy them now, as I have already authorized and they said they would. Never heard any word back.  

Anyway, once they finish the dirt work I'm going to design a small pond and see what he'll charge to dig it out.  Preferably before they move the equipment, they'll need all of it to haul off the extra dirt.  I'll need a place to dump it.  

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

Standing down. The cracked screen turned out to be nothing more than a damaged screen saver. It truly looked like a cracked screen. Taylor was looking at it today and said, umm, no, it looks like it's just the screen saver.  Huh? And sure enough, she took the screen saver off and walaah. My brand new phone still intact.  Went to Verizon after a Chili's visit and they put a new one on it.  

No work tomorrow. No work sent, no work taken.  Research into RV parks ongoing. As always. I take a break here and there and then I fire it back up.  

Talks with the wrecker service company owner ongoing.  Not sure if that's going to actually lead to a job.  He wanted to know if I live in Shreveport - no, I live 40 miles away.  I can stay in Shreveport tho for any shift. I mean, I'm out on the road for days, I work 12 to 16 hour shifts, this isn't going to be anything new to me. It's the only job that actually pays anything that I have had come along since I started looking.  The pay would be equivalent to, perhaps a bit less or even more than I am making now.

Winding down. Hoping to see something going on at the property tomorrow.  This contractor is doing his best to give me the lowest pricing he can give. He works my stuff in.  I could get someone else out there to do this stuff and it would cost significantly more.  As long as he doesn't blow me off perpetually, I'm going to stick with it.  

 So we're back to them having empties waiting on us in Brownsville. So beit. Back a few minutes ago, off to West Virginia tomorrow - 3 or 4 day trip depending on the loading plant, traffic, construction zones, etc.  I like to make it a 3 day trip and get it over with.  Whatever the case, I will be out of hours when I get back and will have at least a day off.  

Meanwhile, the diet is going well enough  - I am not eating a lot of food in these days and doing the intermittent fasting is helping. Progress seems painstakingly slow, but I try to remember I allowed this, engaged in this and now have to pay for it to get it off, lol.  Like, several months at least.  Maybe longer.  I did 20 hours between meals starting last night and going on into late afternoon - and then I only ate a salad. Now I'm going to have some talapia and call it quits for another 16 hours at least.  

I haven't been by the property since the rain day when I had the 7 year old out there and we weren't there very long before a downpour started.  The contractor said they weren't coming until next week and I didn't have time to go by there today - just to look, you never know lol.  My load time tomorrow morning isn't until 10:00 am, I can leave early and just drive by there. Even if they aren't there, I feel the need to see it to keep the hope and the dream alive.  

I have a lot of plans in the works ready to take off when we get close to getting this contractor's portion of the work done.  It's not totally in limbo right now, I am looking for the services and the things I will need to move on with the project after they're done.  

_________________

Thursday morning. Load time isn't until 10:30 am.  Unfortunately, the plant where I am supposed to deliver the product to is saying that there is a valve problem with the last trailer that was taken up there.  So now they are desperate for product.  When are you going to get up there?  Well I don't have a magic wand to make the truck appear on their lot in an instant's time.  I wish I did, this job would be much easier lol.  Their storage tank is small, it will only hold one truck load at a time.  

Of course, the consequences of a truck that cannot be unloaded is they run out of product and the plant shuts down.  I don't wonder if they have a truck closer by that could be diverted from it's intended destination.  But, I'm not dispatch and that's not my problem. I will get the truck there as fast as possible, but I won't tolerate being nagged to death about it. If they want to know where I am, they have several devices in the truck that pinpoint my exact location, what speed I'm going at, what gear I'm in, how many RPM's - etc etc etc.  Truck drivers are micro-managed to the nth degree.  

But I don't want to go into that for I don't have the time or the desire. I'm leaving for the yard earlier than I normally would and get to the plant maybe 45 minutes early.  That didn't work out the other day with the last trip to Brownsville, where I waited for hours to get loaded. I have no control over that.  

Oh, the diet.  The stall ended, at least temporarily.  I lost 17 pounds in  a 6 day span when I refired Keto.  Then I stalled there for 2 weeks. This morning? Finally down 2 more pounds.  I figured it would take a while to "catch up" to losing that much weight that quickly.  I'm still doing 16/8 intermittent fasting, tho some days it's much longer. Yesterday was 20 hours between meals.  It's not exactly keto, either, I had fish last night and that was it and a salad yesterday afternoon.  Keto is more about eating fat than proteins.  This is more of a starvation diet - tho I'm not really trying to do that, that's what it really is.

Anyway, off to the races.

G'day

 It's just a waiting game on the property. Phase 1 completed, Phase 2 to allegedly come next week.  After they get done with that, I will get out there and mark the pads with stakes.  I will also check to see the grade. There is going to be one unless I have a hundred truckloads of dirt (just guessing, really don't know how many truckloads it would take) to level it out,  

My views of how this park is going to be built change with the prospect of how much money it will cost to do certain things.  I can't seem to get this guy to give me a quote on digging out a pond. If he doesn't want to do it or just wants to do it after the fact, he should just tell me.  I can get someone else in there to do it.  But I'm not going there with him right now. 

What I have been doing is looking at other parks as I drive by them on my various trucking journeys and seeing what kind of grade/slope they may have.  Several of them, after taking a billionth look and actually looking at that aspect - are on pretty good grades.  This isn't desirable by any stretch of the imagination, but all of them are at least 75% filled up with RV's.  

I am starting to take these complaints online with a grain of salt.  I instead am looking at the sticking points the owners of the parks that have been in the business for a while are stating.  Dogs are actually one of the biggest complaints of both the park owners and guests.  Barking was my first thought, but no, that's not it.  It's dogs shi***** all over the place and their owners not cleaning up after them, even if you provide bag stations with trash cans to dump it into.  

That is a bit disconcerting and I can see how that would be an irritant for everyone but the dog's owner, apparently.  

Even WiFi. Yes I will try to provide it, but whatever you put up? Someone is going to complain about it.  It didn't work here!  Oh well! I put it up, provide your own! I might not tell them that, but it's really been a bit perplexing to me that people that absolutely must have wifi don't just supply their own? I don't rely on wifi anywhere when I'm trucking, I have Verizon unlimited with unlimited hotspot.  It works almost everywhere, there are a few places it cuts out, but my property isn't one of them. In fact, at the rear of the property I noticed the other day I have 3 out of 4 bars of reception. That's plenty, I can stream movies and youtube with that kind of reception.\

But, like any provider, there are weak spots on the property, still at least 2 bars tho.  

The bathhouse is still priority, but the real complaint about bathhouses is that they aren't clean.   If I can get one put up, it is going to be small to start with and it is going to have a once a day cleaning/restock.  

I definitely want a pool. It will be a standout attraction.  In this area, there are no pools at RV parks.  This isn't a must have for everyone, but it is a great amenity to put in for appeal.  Especially in hot East Texas summers. Now, whether that pool gets put in at the beginning or later one? I don't know yet. 

Dogs are going to be allowed, regardless of the problems they present.  Too many people have them and shutting them out would be turning away customers.  It will just have to be outlined in the rules that dogs are not to be left alone, all dogs must be on a leash everywhere in the park excepting in the doggy park and any time the dog poops, it needs to immediately be cleaned up with the caveat that any guests found leaving dog crap on the ground will be asked to leave. I will have a dog station at the park and one somewhere in the campground away from the park for people to deal with their pet's waste.  

I've toyed with the idea of building a dog run on a couple of the pads - chain link with a gate - for people to simply let their dogs have a little outside time without the owners having to constantly watch them or keep them leashed.  I would charge extra for that.  Or, have the entire grass area fenced in with gates.  I am thinking of things that won't cost a fortune that will give guests a better experience.  I've never seen any parks with fenced in lounge areas, I have only seen one with a chain link fence between the lots.  Yup, money. Not something I would want to do on every lot. Just a couple to see how popular it might be.  

Interestingly, some people want privacy at their site and some people want it all open for attempts at being sociable with other campers.  Again, my views of how this thing is going to be set up change as I come to a better understanding of what people really want versus a few people posting stuff on line. That is their personal opinions, which is fine, but they don't always speak for a majority.  If I had had this park built and done with a year ago, I would have had several mistakes that I would have regretted and would be trying to correct. 

Somewhere down the road a large canopy with sitting areas will be provided. That will not happen at first, it's just too costly.  I will focus on the sites and getting them nicely appointed with amenities that people want.  And if we're dreaming, a small hotel.  There are many people that want to have their guests where they are visiting be able to stay at the same place.  There are Park Model "RV's" that can be used for that - it's pretty much a mini-mobile home - or a flat out hotel with around 10 rooms - nothing huge - to put them up in.  

Anyway, I can dream all day long. Instead, I just wait lol.  

Went to Oklahoma 2 days ago.  Got back that day - out of drive hours with 7 miles to go, I switched to another mode and finished it out.  I'm not going to "stay" somewhere 7 miles away from the yard, government regulations be damned.  I made great time hitting most of the lights on green and not encountered traffic stalls anywhere.  Just what happens on a weekend.  I had yesterday off because of it and we are a day in between runs right now. So it's 2 days off, but I best be getting sent out tomorrow.  

And I took Addler out a few days ago with the 7 year old.  It was a light misting rain going on, nothing that stopped us. But after we got into the woods a bit, a clap of thunder and then it began raining, enough that the boy was soaking wet by the time we got back to the car and Addler wasted no time going straight to the SUV and jumping into the back.  It was just good to see Addler his normal self after that surgery and everything that occurred afterwards.  

I think I might take him today, no rain and the temps are coming back up after a few nights of sub-freezing temperatures.  Other than that? Just working on my room. Slowly taking shape. It takes a while to go through papers and determine which ones I need to keep and what I can chuck in the trash.  

I also decided to buy no parking signs for the plot of ground where the trucker is parking his truck - on my land.  His truck is tearing up the front of the driveway and I don't like it.  I'm certainly not going to have this guy destroying it once I get it fixed. I haven't seen his truck parked there for a while - I was going to put a notice up on his window.  He's OTR and not home often, but his few stops at home are destructive.  Im very likely going to take down the gate as well. It's in my way and it doesn't need to be there and I don't have to allow it.  They can take me to court, I suppose, but my reply will be to move it in front of their operation, not a thousand feet away from it.  

Finally? No one wants a war with Russia. Well, not normal thinking people anyway. It's not something I relish in my mind as some sort of fun thing to engage in. But, Russia is pushing the limits with getting closer and closer to Ukraine's border and over into neighboring countries.  Some of those are NATO countries and any assault on them, even if by accident, really needs to be met with an answer.  Watching hospitals and schools being bombed isn't helping the situation.  So, is our President weak and yellow bellied not wanting to engage in a no fly zone or is he smart and wanting to avoid a direct war with Russia? Well, the experts are full of varying opinions, that's for sure.  About the time Russia asked China for help? That's where we should just say screw it, give them the fighter jets and see what happens.  

And what happens when this war is over and whoever wins? The cities are destroyed.  So much wanton destruction and the aftermath will be a large swath of uninhabitable structures that will have to be razed. Where will they get the money to rebuild all of this? I suspect that depends on who wins. If Russia wins, we are certainly not going to give the russian government money to rebuild what they destroyed. It seems impossible that the Ukrainians could win this war, but if they do, I suspect the world would pour out the money, materials and even the physical labor to help rebuilt it.  

With that, I'm offa here. I'm losing fat on the Keto diet - but these 16 hour stretches sometimes get a bit much. 15 more minutes and I can eat, lol.

G'day

 Growing increasingly unhappy with my work situation.  The only thing that keeps me there is the money.  But I will consider taking a pay cut to get away from the abuse that is going on there from that dispatcher and now her manager.  Her manager didn't even want to entertain the things this dispatcher is doing, proclaiming that she is going to continue dispatching and will continue to do the product we haul (there are many divisions hauling all kinds of different stuff) and she isn't going anywhere. 

I replied I am not one of the drivers going around declaring that she should be fired or "I will leave"  I just want her to back off.  Such as the other day, saying I didn't send a reply text and jumping on my case about it.  She ended up having to apologize after she realized she was wrong.  But whatever, this company would rather fire people than deal with them. I've seen it dozens of times and I can feel it.  That kind of scrutiny is on me and so be it.  Looking at local jobs currently.  

However, in our grouping of drivers, several have stated they will quit if they get pulled in to get "coaching" on their driving. One Owner Operator told the manager he won't allow them to install that new spy camera, if they try he will just quit.   

Honestly, I never thought I'd even last this long at this company with the way they operate and treat drivers like they are machines and nothing more than letters on a computer screen.  They literally don't care and they don't care if they are in dire need of more drivers, they will can your @$$ in a heartbeat. I've always been aware of this, I just figured I'd ride this out as long as I can stand it or until they get rid of me also.  I figure at this point? I've had about as much as I can handle and they are probably eyeballing me for "disposal".  

I have enough vacation hours to produce a very hefty paycheck if my departure is at hand.  I've really been wanting to try and ride this out until I can just do full time RV park - if it works out that way - but that's a couple years down the road, most likely.  I can't really imagine 2 more years of being with that company.  

There are plenty of local places - within a 60 mile radius - hiring, I have only been looking at the ones that actually pay anything.  And not even necessarily hazmat or tanker.  

As far as the RV park goes, they are not coming back out again until, allegedly, 2 Mondays from now.  I don't know how I can get him to get this done faster, I can't.  He's got a full plate - the contractor that is - and he moves equipment around from one place to another trying to keep up with all of it.  I can't do any better so I am just trying to patiently wait. But after this dirt work is done - and he thinks it will only take 2 days, 3 at most - then I will have to wait until he can come back and do the driveway and the pad construction.  

And only then can they start on the septic, electric and water installation.  This is dragging out much longer than I had hoped.  Really just want to get the money spent and all of that over and done with.  It's very difficult to figure out what I'm going to have left over until this is all done, costs keep getting added to the price tags and it's going to eat a lot more of what I have up than I had hoped.  

I'll tell you one thing, once I see how the electric is installed, I will likely do that myself on the next go around.  Well, maybe lol. Depends on time.  

Well, fresh back from Brownsville, no detention pay - really could have used a layover - and no work tomorrow. I dunno if that's related to the conversation today or just no work available. There were lots of driers hanging around the yard when I got back, I'll guess the latter.  My manager is on vacation until Monday, so if they were going to can me, it will have to wait until he gets back. Dispatch doesn't get rid of people.  No, the conversation wasn't horrible, I didn't let loose, they just can't take anyone saying anything.  Apparently a bunch of other drivers have already complained endlessly about this dispatcher.

This was my first real attempt at it and I figured it wasn't going to go anywhere, but there is a point where I"m going to speak my mind  - in a polite manner of course - and I don't really care what the  consequences are.  Saying that I'm definitely not the only driver that has complained about this lady but they are not having it.  I ended the conversation with "have a blessed day" instead of anything negative and that was that, she - the dispatcher manager - didn't reply to it.  I then texted the dispatcher "E003 is in the yard, have a great day!" and of course, she didn't reply to that, either.  

And there are other things going on, but it's too personal, people close that I am not going to discuss on the internet.  

If I don't get dispatched for the weekend tomorrow, then I'll know something is up and just start sending out applications. I know I can get hired somewhere quickly, that isn't an issue. Just starting all over again somewhere else and probably at a much lower pay scale unless I go OTR - which I will NOT do.  Regional is the best I would do and even then they still keep you out forever.  It's the lack of home time I object to.  

Whatever the case, I am tired and I'm heading off to beddy bye land.  

 Maybe I shouldn't be so irritated with work and the way I got shafted for runs.  The dog is apparently getting better. I only saw a few very small stains on the towels this morning.  It's been a week since the surgery. "All things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose" - or something like that, scripture in the New Testament.  

Actually, I dread going back to work this morning.  I got up early so I could sit around, drink a cup of coffee and attempt to get my mind back into the business of trucking.  I could also get irritated with them starting me out on the lowest paying run I can get, but, I'll be home tomorrow morning.  

Just going to get a lot more frugal with my money. Not only have I been off, tho I am using vacation hours, just enough to have some semblance of a paycheck - inflation is also eating away at everyone's income and now we have fuel prices skyrocketing.  

I think splurging on things is going to come to a halt. I don't regret getting that new desk.  It cost a bit, but I have always wanted a much larger desk to organize my papers in.  This one has a filing cabinet drawer, very large one and a smaller version of one as well. Plus two other drawers and of course the hutch with a lot storage compartments. 

I also bought an ottoman so I can kick my feet up - but that was $25 and now I just need to get a small stand for the TV satellite and the game console and I'm set. Get rid of this old desk - already have someone that wants that - move everything around to where I want it, clean it up and done.  

I didn't waste the time off, at least.  But I need to make an eye doctor appointment, I wonder how many days off I'll be unloaded with if I do that? Or a doctor check up with blood work?  Or when I need time off for the property? This dispatcher is a piece of work.  I'm either overloaded with work and no stop in sight or I'm at a standstill with little or nothing in sight.  Some of it is out of her control, but only a small portion of it.  

Anyway, I guess I best get my body moving, it's funny how fast time flies when you are facing clocks.  Then, when you get on the clock, how slow it goes by sometimes lol.  

Kind of stalled on the diet. I knew that was coming, I dropped way too much weight, too fast, for it to continue.  Stuck around 215.  Could take a way for the needle to move again.  Funny thing about Keto, tho, often times when you aren't losing any weight you notice that you are still losing fat.  A lot of people say this as well.  Dunno how that works, but it does.  The goal is to get rid of fat, so I'm all good with it.

TTYL

Now. there are talks about sending US fighter jets to Poland to send over to Ukraine.  Note I didn't say US military personnel.  Russia is making threats about any nation taking such an action.  Also making threats about any nation whose airports are going to be used for the Ukrainian military to operate airborne military excursions from.  I tend to believe Putin is evil enough to start bombing everyone and ultimately, start a world war.  I also believe he is capable of using his vast array of nuclear weapons. 

So, what will happen if Poland sends fighter jets to Ukraine?  I have no clue. Poland IS a member of NATO and as such, NATO is tasked with protecting it's member nations.  What the limitations of that are I have no idea.   Would Putin actually invade a neighboring country and potentially drag NATO into this warfare and ultimately, dragging the US into it?  I'm sure Putin isn't dumb enough to not understand what such an action could take.  

No crystal ball here, just going to continue to follow what's going on.

Addler isn't bleeding anymore, therefore I'm not going to get another cone.  He's still got leakage coming out - poop to be more specific - but not near as much as previous nights.  Still, I'm washing everything, every day until he's past this - if ever.  

I went over to the property earlier, a bit perplexed.  Because of the shift of the layout of the park, I decided to measure out the first 14 lots and see what kind of room I will have left on the west side.  If I don't move the driveway over to the east, I have 20 feet of contested property and 33 feet beyond that of - property I'm not sure what I'm going to do with.  The contested property bothers me a bit.  The most current survey saying it's mine, a 12 year old survey saying it's not - who to believe.  It isn't a battle I'm going to engage in anytime soon, I'm just working around it.  That property could house tents or small cabin setups.  

I was thinking of shortening the lots - pull throughs from 70 to 65 feet and back ins from 65 to 60 feet.  Then I thought, but anything I do to shift it is for future reference. And for future reference, I could have the first 14 lots all pull throughs by adding another driveway on the west side.  The rest of the park can be designed for 3 rows of RV's, the center being pull throughs.   

I have to work through this in my mind and come up with a solution.  Likely, the solution is just keep them at 70 and 65 and expand out to the 3 rows previously mentioned further south and shorten the rest of the lots.  50, 40 and 40 length lots. Wide enough a person could take their trailer off and park beside the RV if need be.  Mostly, tho, still having wider lots but the lengths shorter and still be able to have up to 60 lots without sacrificing the land for the rest of the amenities.  In reality, I would still have 500 linear feet of room for everything else.  There's lots of room to work with here and I don't want 100 plus lots.  Not this park, anyway.  

I'm actually not able to accurately measure anything yet, at least not with a wheel measurer.  I could with the tape measure, gonna have to go out there again. I'm guessing it's off by enough to make a different with the wheel going up and down hills and over things, adding length that it shouldn't be.  I would like to dream that they will start tomorrow, Monday, with the bulldozer work, but so far, they took out both of their excavators and haven't brought them back or a dozer.  They will need both. They are going to dig a hole at the very rear of the RV lot and bury the rest of the junk in it. I had no idea that is their modus operandi.  Apparently it's much easier to just bury the stuff with all the tree stems and twigs then to try to sort it out.  Meaning they also have to bring in a dump truck to move back and forth from one end of the lot to the other.  Hence the cost to have this portion of the project done.  And I'm only having 400 linear feet of the lot done. The rest will have to be at a later date. 

That's going to cost another - approximately - 20 grand.  I will reiterate here that I am not waiting forever to get the rest of this project going.  I want the initial phase up and running and see what happens. If it looks good, let's get with it.  46 more lots, more amenities, etc.  

So that's it. It's Sunday, no word from my dispatcher. However, one of the drivers reported loading this morning.  Out of some tank, not out of any freshly made product.  Yeah, that's bs. That guy worked on Monday, he should be in the very rear of the line.  I'm going to discuss this with my manager next time I see him. I am next in line, allegedly, for a load. I had the 6:00 am load for yesterday before they shut it down once again.  I can't imagine they have much or any product left?  Maybe they are saving some for the plants that don't use that much product. At least 3 I can think of only get one load per month.  

__________________________

So I contact this rather worthless dispatcher.  Any word?  She comes back and says, oh no, your Monday load isn't canceled.  ???Well THANKS FOR TELLING ME.  The last I heard from you you said my loads were canceled.  Ohh, nooo, not your Monday load, I was waiting to hear confirmation but - blah blah blah - and found out this morning that it was a go. I just sat there reading this stuff in awe.  Like, really? I just decided to shut my mouth, I'll take this up with the manager.  I was not prepared at all to go anywhere tomorrow.  Now, I have to get my mind into that mode -- that hasn't been in that mode for 12 days.  

Whatever. It's time to go back to work, that's a fact.  I just have to sit in wonder with a dispatcher that clearly has no clue what she is doing and after all this time, still hasn't learned much of anything.  It is not my position to have to contact her about loads, it's definitely the other way around.  Yet, here it is, I had to do the confirming.

I was talking to another driver about all of this.   He directed the conversation to those Lytx cameras.  He said he had heard that a driver had been fired for having a hooker in his truck.  Okay, folks, I don't do hookers, but if a driver wants to do that, it isn't my place to judge them.  He was making this statement because I had said that the claim was that the inward facing microphone isn't turned on. But, I also said, I don't trust it or them and I have it covered up anyway. 

He then said another driver, an owner operator who's been with the company forever, told the manager he is quitting. If they put one of those cameras in his truck, he's bye bye.  I understand, it's an invasion of a person's privacy and in this case, it is not the company's truck. But even if it is, most people have a fundamental problem with a company wanting to hear what's going on in side of a truck.  IMO it's just wrong.  I don't care what anyone else thinks of it, either, you aren't subjected to such nonsense. I am not subjected to it because I covered the thing up with gorilla duct tape and I flat told my manager to his face that I had done so. Just so we're clear and there is no ambiguity, I am not going to tolerate it either and now I'm hearing even more about other drivers quitting. 

They can sit there and claim that they can't hear what we're saying all they want, but that thing is equipped with a microphone and we have NO idea whether they are turned on or not, there is not way to tell.  What I'm saying on the phone or whatever I'm  doing isn't any of their damned business, period.

Anyway, off to Oklahoma tomorrow, so a low paying run to start after 2 weeks off.  yayyyy!

That's it, I'm outta here. 

Was dispatched for a load yesterday going to Brownsville today.  30 minutes later, I'm sent a text saying that the plant is shut down again, no load tomorrow, don't know when we are going to be back up and operational.

Several hours later, the dispatcher calls and asks me to be available today, the plant hopes it can get up and running today but they don't know for sure. Way to put a person's life on hold!  Hope....yes I do understand. These plants we deliver this product to cannot produce the products they make without the chemical we take to them. 

By now, they are all shut down.  I have no idea what is wrong with the plant over in Longview, I asked and my dispatcher just agreed, yes it's something serious.  I'm guessing the pump is screwed.  What else could take this long to fix?  Well, there's lots and lots of processes this chemical goes through, I will eventually find out for it certainly has my curiosity piqued.  

Well, anyway, we went to Chuck E Cheese's today.  I took my vehicle with my gear, had no idea whether they were going to get the plant up and running or not.  Turns out  - not.  Not only am I not working today, there is no clue whether it's going to be up and going tomorrow. Or when, for that matter.  I just know that as of tomorrow, I'll have been off work for 12 days.  

Played a bunch of games with the boys, then we went to the Harley Davidson dealership - not for me, not for me.  I haven't been on a street bike in a very long time and at the moment, I have no desire to.  We hung there for a while and then went to Bubba's so they could have the wait staff sing happy birthday to the 5 year old.  

Now, I just have to wonder whether there is going to be anything going on for work tomorrow.  They can't just keep us off work indefinitely.  Or yes, they can actually.  Up to drivers whether they want to stick around or go find a new place of employment.  I'm not interested in looking for another job right now unless I'm forced into that position.  

Still watching the Russia/Ukraine stuff, but something tells me that Russia shelling these cities is only going to go so far.  i didn't realize that there are vast underground subway tunnels under these cities where the Ukrainians can hole up.  "Experts" predict that guerilla style warfare could go on for a very, very long time.  At least the Ukrainians are getting military hardware from all kinds of sources all over the planet.  

Don't want to get too lengthy with this.  Hoping Addler gets past this - very soon. He is totally crashed out right now.  He hasn't been sleeping - that cone? He just sits there staring at me half the night, not sleeping, head held up.  I'll wake up at 5:00 am and then he'll finally have laid his head down with that thing on.  Poor doggy : ( He somehow got the cone off his head today - destroyed it actually - after we got back. I just thought, oh well. If the wound opens up and he starts bleeding again, he can go to the vet and stay there until he is past this.  

 "It is a war crime to attack a nuclear power plant". Russians have taken over the contested nuclear power plant and God only knows what they plan on doing with it.  Use it as leverage? I just sit in awe of what's going on over there, with Russians indiscriminately killing civilians as if they are nothing more than the buildings they are also destroying.  

Not shockingly, the dispatcher put other people up to load first before me - I've been off work far longer than anyone else atm.  Then again, I haven't contacted her.  But, it's time to go back to work.  The plant is actually still shut down for maintenance, they are loading out of railcars that were previously loaded.  And probably only giving priority to the biggest customers, there might be 5 or 6 truckloads sitting out threre in those railcars, after that, the plant will have to fire the rack back up. 

Down another 2 pounds.  Keto and intermittent fasting are working far better than just Keto alone.  It's like the first month I started Keto over 2 years ago.  When I finally got into ketosis, the weight started dropping off 3/4 of a pound to a pound a day.  The gut is noticeably shrinking, in less than a week's time I've dropped 17 pounds.  This isn't any narcissistic statement, it's an ode to the Keto diet that works where other diets don't.  People "try" keto and say it doesn't work, but then you find out they aren't following the plan.  They think they can sneak something in, like regular diets and it will be okay.  I try to explain to some of these people how it works, but it falls on deaf ears.

They simply aren't that serious about dropping the weight.  When they are ready, when they get desperate enough, perhaps they will reconsider.  I started getting desperate after I started seeing weight gains on a weekly basis - hitting the 230 mark was it for me.  A fit man most of my adult life, relegated to being obese and seriously overweight?  Taylor actually found this diet initially, I had never heard about it.  How can you not lose weight if you are cutting out most all sugars?  

So I have gotten nothing done today. Addler had "stuff" coming out his butt overnight and it was on the new carpeting.  Gag and gross. I threw him out the door - not literally folks, I escorted him out lol - got out the carpet cleaning machine and got busy.  No stains, thankfully and it's all thoroughly cleaned up.  If I had known this dog was going to have that kind of problem after surgery, I would have just left him at the vet in their kennel.  For like a week anyway, I don't care how much it costs.  I'm seriously considering taking him over there today.  I think the bleeding has stopped at least, but all the nastiness is just oozing out of there.  It's not his fault, obviously, and the surgery had to be done, I just wish this vet would have given me a bit better picture of what was going to happen after the fact. I wouldn't have even gone over there to pick him up.  

He's ruined the new doggy bed that I spent $200 on, it's going into the trash can.  But today, I'm going to have to wash the thing off as best as I can get it - if  - I keep him home.  In fact, I need to get out there and hose it off, it will take all day to dry it.  It has warmed up considerably here at least.  

And that's that. A drive by the property since it's Friday and who knows if they might show up today with equipment and the off to a hike and then back to the grind in the bedroom - desk almost finished, just need help to lift up the giant hutch -I could do it myself but I'd be afraid of dropping it or letting it tilt and scratch or even ruin the finish on the rest of the desk.  

G'day

 I finally got to the bottom of why I am not getting any runs dispatched to me - today is long after I should have had to go back to work - can't say I miss it. Instead of contacting the dispatcher I just asked other drivers. 2 of them replied that the chemical plant where we load has been shut down.  I think it was for scheduled maintenance, tho it's a strange time of the year for them to be doing that. 

I mean, I could never go back to trucking and be quite joyous, but of course I need the paychecks - for now.  So I have no idea when I'm going  back to work, but scheduled maintenance doesn't typically stay down for too long, the plants that rely on this chemical will also end up shutting down if it goes on too long.  I'm ready to get this misery over with and head back to work.  I will miss the 4 turning 5 year old's birthday on Saturday, unfortunately, if they send me out Saturday.  However, everyone has been sitting now. There is no way they can load all of our trucks in one day, even on a marathon day they couldn't do it. If I could just get Saturday off too,  I would be happy.  

Yes I could have found out sooner about work, I didn't want to.  I have been enjoying my time off since getting back from vacation.  And renewed Keto diet has me a bit sluggish - it goes that way at first.  Plus I have been putting this giant desk together for days now. The desk is done, the hutch that goes on it is almost done as well. My room is in a shambles because of all of this. Tomorrow, I will have the hutch up on the desk and then I can start to move everything around. Bed and dresser are going to be moved, the little desk I have for my lap top is going to be rehomed to someone else's house.  

Oh, and the 7 year old wants to go hiking tomorrow.  I'll be happy to help him out with that, unfortunately I won't be able to take Addler.  I might take the boy to a state park not terribly far away that has trails that are pretty interesting.  I've taken Addler and the shepherd there before.  Just something different than going to my property all the time.  Different things to look at and experience.  I don't really want to take the 4 year old, he just isn't ready for hiking trails yet.  He gets - flummoxed is an appropriate adjective here - he doesn't understand why things are the way they are out in the wilderness.  You know, vines tripping you up, tripping over logs, getting stuck by thorns, mosquitoes, etc etc etc.  I try to pay attention to him when we get into the thick of things, but even then he still has meltdowns.  

I did go over to the property today, it's hard to get the contractor to tell me when they're coming, so I just go over and look. I'm looking for at least one trackhoe and a bulldozer.  Nothing yet.  As stated in an earlier post, I was thinking about changing this plan completely in order to accommodate for the increased amount of spending.  I have all but made up my mind that the existing driveway shall be used.  It will save probably ten thousand dollars in creating it and putting gravel down on it.

Yes, that sounds exorbitant for a driveway, you have to understand this is a large project and gravel might be cheap, but when you are talking hundreds of tons of gravel, plus delivery, the cost goes way up.  I used a calculator - it will cost around 22k just for the gravel if I am building 2 driveways.  I lose minimum 6k using the existing driveway.  

Anyway, the whole layout of the park will change. Actually, I'm going to go back out there tomorrow and measure out one site, then mark 25 feet across - the driveway that needs to be built - and then 65 feet and see where I'm at with any land left over going towards the west.  It is at least possible there might be enough land left to put in smaller lots in the future and have 3 rows instead of only 2.  

I wrote my letter to this truck driver - but his truck wasn't there today.  I believe he's an OTR driver considering the odd times he shows up and the fact he's gone for some period of time in between his home visits.  The letter wasn't in your face stuff, it was politely asking him to please move his truck elsewhere, sorry for the inconvenience, etc.  I don't need or want neighbor wars. If he wants to start one, that's up to him. I will try de-escalation tactics if he does ramp it up.  

I guess I've filled up tomorrow with finishing this desk, going on a hike and going to the property. The idea of having a 3rd row in the future is just something I want to find out to satisfy my curiosity.  These things start taking up space in my brain and I have to resolve them, or at least figure it out.  Much smaller lots can be made and can be filled up. I've seen it at the sardine can parks where a lot of the spaces are maybe 40-45 long - at most.  And there are smaller units occupying those spaces.  

All of this increased expenditures have me thinking about this SBA loan or some kind of business loan from a bank again.  I dunno. Just thinking about it.  Just kind of wait until I get to the cutoff for my finances where I say, nope, I can't spend any more of this money, I will leave myself broke and vulnerable.  I'm certain, tho, that I have enough money to get the pads, driveways and utilities installed. 

It's the bath house - if I even put one in now - the fire pits, the picnic tables, the doggy park, these are the things that lie in jeopardy of not having enough finances to cover it and then, having to take out some kind of loan.  

Whatever the case, I'm not stressing over it, it's just another bridge I will have to cross when I get to it.  But since it IS a possibility that I may have to go that route, now is the time to start looking at my options.  I have plenty of personal loan offers, I want to explore business loans as well.  They may laugh me out of the bank, fine and well, just tell me what I need to work on to get to the place where they will seriously consider giving me a business loan. 

Yes, I have been watching the war. The last several days I have had the news on all day long.  Some of it is repetitive, yes, but a lot of new stuff keeps coming out in a fairly steady stream. Such as the nuclear plant that that Russians apparently targeted.  They hit an administration building, they didn't hit any of the reactors - but I would suspect they did that on purpose.  It literally makes no sense to me for them to take out such an important part of that nation's infrastructure? If they want to occupy it, why would they destroy one of the largest nuclear power plants in the whole of Europe?  Yet, I'm sure they could have destroyed the entire thing if they had wanted to. A bit perplexing.  

Another interesting thing that has come out is that the companies in the US that buy oil - have not bought any Russian oil for the last week. Beyond that, there is a huge and growing list of US companies that are cutting ties with Russia and shutting down operations over there or stopping shipping goods to them.  Targeting Russian oligarchs ships and planes was also an interesting development.  I doubt any of that is going to slow Putin down for now, but if these companies keep this up for an extended period of time, it will eventually wear on Russia and it's citizens who may get tired of living without things.  

Anyway, time for bed.  

 Addler. Fresh blood coming out of his butt where the stitches are.  This isn't good. I may have to take him back to the vet tomorrow.  I've been off work for 7 days, I was supposed to go back yesterday but.....apparently plants are shut down. There hasn't been a driver posting in the texting group for 3 days now about getting loaded.  I dunno, but if he has somehow opened the wound up? I'm likely to leave him there at the vet.  I've done my best to keep him from being too active and definitely to stop licking it, but I must have failed somewhere along the way.  Whatever, I can't have this keep happening is the point, as much as I don't want to leave him there in a kennel atmosphere, I more don't want this to be an ongoing problem.  It needs to heal and get it over with.  

The electrician for the construction company called today.  He has a very deep Texas drawl.  The owner does as well, lol.  It's kind of funny listening to them speaking.  

Anyway, he said there is going to be a problem with the pedestals.  I was under the impression they make their own, apparently they do not.  That's not really what I wanted, really have no choice tho.  The other electrical company is far too busy, they wouldn't even send someone out to look at the property. They did tell me they wouldn't be able to do anything for a while - but after months of waiting I wrote them off.

Well, the problem? They can only get X amount of the pedestals at the price I was quoted, the rest of them they will have to acquire elsewhere.  Further complication? These other pedestals are from a different manufacturer and cost substantially more.  I'm shrugging my shoulders with this situation.  When I get down to around 15 grand left in the bank? It's going to stop.  Well, maybe 10 grand. I don't like not having a cushion of money to be able to fall back on - rainy day fund, just in case stuff.  I normally have 8 to 10 grand in the bank anyway, before I got all of this other money.  

The deal: they are ordering pedestals and they wanted to know if I wanted to get them now, while they are available?  Yes, please.  I already knew pedestals are on backorder everywhere. People talking about months before they receive their orders of them. I want them to have them now, not wait months when the electrical is ready to install.  Yes, I have to pay for them in advance, a simple receipt is all I need and I'm good. I do trust these people, they have an excellent reputation in this entire region.  

But, it's an extra 2 grand.  Doesn't sound like much, but everything is eating away at my finances here.  What else am I going to run into with higher pricing? I don't know, hopefully nothing but I did recite the pricing the contractor gave me back to the owner of it the other day to ensure we are still on "that" page.  The page where he gave me, in writing, quotes for the various aspects of this installation.  

I wish I could get at least 20 lots in right now, instead of having to wait.  

This news today wasn't actually shocking.  The dirt work on top of the land clearing was a bit of a surprise, keeping a level head about this.  One thing is for certain, at least at this point: If I get a building - which I must - it's just going to be one building.  If there is going to be a bathroom and showers and laundry, it's all going to be in the one, same-said building.  

Unfortunately, the competition is increasing in this area - I know this because this company is off building even more RV parks all over the place.  I have to have something that is of appeal to people to choose my place over some other place.  The pool is going to have to happen, somehow.  

Because if I can't get the type of people in that I want to target, I will have to do something different. 

Not going to go into that atm, the park will open when it opens and hopefully the wider, longer lots with grass, fire pits, picnic tables, walking trails, a doggy park and probably a swimming pool depending on the financing will be enough to get people in there.  Oh and wifi.  It's getting to the verge of the precipice of a small loan - 20 grand probably - to finish it up.  It's that or immediately get to work on a SBA loan before I spend too much more money........but I might go approach the bank I have all of this money at and see what they offer in terms of business loans as well.  

And we have word that tomorrow, the price of gas in this region is jacking up .25 cents per gallon. Well, it's very likely going to get worse with Biden ending US self dependency on oil.  And government spending causing inflation to hit everything.  We're already averaging $3.21 per gallon, so yes, if that .25 cents happens, that is going to crank the cost of fuel well up there. It's going to hurt the paycheck to paycheck people more than anyone.  I find it interesting that Biden said in the SOTU address that we should all be buying American - yet he can't find it within himself to get us back to American oil? 

Anyway, the electric installation situation was the point of this post.  I can only hope there isn't anything that's going to go the same route.  Septic is pipe and vaults.  There are several concrete companies in the region that make the vaults, whether the price is going to go up? No idea.  I have a quote from this contractor, I wouldn't want to get into a pissing match with him about it, I am just going to hope his quote will stay the same. At the same time? Let's get this stuff installed, sooner than later!

G'nite.  

 What stops Putin from advancing on if he defeats Ukraine?  You don't think this man is capable of simply moving right on to neighboring nations which are equally as impotent as the Ukraine to stop the carnage?  NATO is an interesting organization, but Putin is starting to get old and I doubt he cares.  When he starts posturing with talk about his nukes - he may be playing the cards and bluffing, or he may be at a point in his mind where he doesn't care. I don't know.  I'd like to think he would never think of using nuclear arms against an inferior nation militarily speaking but I don't put anything past this man.  Not at this point. His actions have always been reckless, but we have an update of how evil this man is in targeting civilians.  

And all of this blah blah blah about condemning the man, give the people of Ukraine what they need: the armament to stand up to this malevolent actor.  Not worth going too much into this, but I am watching the video and pictures of the destruction the Russian army did overnight, especially on Karkiv (spelling?) and it's horrible.  

Regardless, Addler is miserable right now, he hates that cone but if I take it off? He goes straight to licking the area that had the surgery and we just can't have that.  He's on pain pills until they are gone, so hopefully he's not too uncomfortable.  His appetite is gone, he barely eats and then lays down.  

The contractor sent me a quote to do just the first 400' of the property.  I can only say that to do the entire property is going to be very costly and we are definitely not going that route. I gave the ok to get it done, the range is between $6,500 and $9,700 for just the 400 linear feet of it and it is what it is.  I have no choice.  For the money it will cost to do the rest of it? It would be cheaper for me to buy my own bulldozer.  I doubt I'll do that, just the thought of how much money this is all going to cost to get to the eventual finish line with a fully developed park.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars, easily.  

Get the thing up and running, see what happens and make decisions from there.  Right now, the decisions are to move along with whatever I can afford and get it done.  I authorized the work and that's that.  If this thing turns out profitable, I will be able to secure a loan for somewhere in the 300k range and finish the rest of it.  I'm still going to be good with getting the rest of the pad work done and the utility installation - but - I haven't received a quote on the gravel.  I can easily see another 15k, even with the use of the existing driveway.  Plans are being altered to make the project affordable.  

I'm somewhere around 80k to do everything that this contractor will do to get this park going.  That's 24k more than I expected.  That 24k is the building and everything it needed.  Gag.  Very possible I'll have to take out a loan to finish this thing.  Not my first choice but I'll do whatever I have to, we are already knee deep here, might as well jump all the way in. I have, lol, jumped all the way in. I'm not worried per se, just wanting to get this stuff done so I can get the money spent on the things I need.  I feel like I'm racing against an inflation clock. The longer it takes, the more it's going to cost. 

I spent most of yesterday working on putting this rather large desk together. I knew it was big, I didn't realize it was this big.  Because it took them so long to get the thing to me, they took off almost $300 from the original price. I've put it off because - I knew it was going to be quite the project and I wasn't wrong.  There were a huge number of parts.  The desk itself is almost done, then put the hutch together and call it good. 

I'm back to my pre-trip weight.  I weighed in at 219 when I left, I was up to 232 when we got back.  That doesn't mean my gut is gone, lol.  Just came back to the weight I started at.  I'm looking to lose 35 pounds, well I'm looking to lose all of this fat.  

Well, back to the desk. Get it done and get my room back into some semblance of order.  Can't take Addler for a walk today, tho I guess I could take the shepherd.  Addler is going to forego walks for a couple of weeks as far as I'm concerned, I want that healed enough that his romping around all over the place isn't going to open the wound.  

 Addler is ok, is the good news. The unpleasantries of shoving even more pills down dog throats hits home as Addler needs 2 antibiotics, twice a day and a pain pill every 12 hours until they are gone.  He wasn't a particularly hungry dog this evening and he has a cone on his head.  He isn't allowed to go running around all over the place outside, so his outside ventures are to be just enough to get a drink and potty.  We are in for a tough week and I won't be here for all of it.  We already are shoving 2 pills down the shepherd's throat once a day before meal time, every day for the rest of her life. 

I hate to have to leave that cone on his head all night long, but he licks his butt - all night long.  Just can't have that, it can open up the wound and then back to the vet and another big bill and no thanks.  He isn't enjoying life right now, I can't do anything to change that.  

The vet sent the mass she took out off to have it tested.  She said it was connected internally and she had to take out a lot more than she had expected, including the anal glands on one side.  She knows what she's doing, I can't imagine having to do surgery on any animal or human in that particular region of the body.  I do hope this is the end of it, whatever it is and that we don't have any further action needed to be taken.  

One can hope.  

I did not hear back from the contractor, he stated he would get me a quote by the end of the day, I figured he wouldn't end up being able to do that. In fact, he doesn't even do that particular quote, he says his lead foreman would have to come and work up a quote on that.  If it's less than 10 grand I'd be shocked.  I'm not saying I want a bill that high, but yea, I can see it going way up there.  Which is why I am considering changing the parameters of my pre-determined route of doing this setup to save money.  The pre-existing driveway is looking better and better all the time.  

A fresh, light coating of iron ore on the existing driveway, fix a problem spot and it's done.  Now all I have left is another driveway to be built and I'm going to have to give notice that that truck simply cannot park there anymore. I  am not going to fix all of that only to have him come and destroy it.  That would piss me off.  The next time the truck is parked there, I'm simply going to put a sign on the window.  "this property is being converted into a business and as such, this driveway is going to be used for such purposes.  We cannot have this truck parking here (this is private property) and continuing to tear up the front of the driveway and taking up space.  We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we can no long allow you to park here.  May I suggest the storage place at the corner of 80 and 390? It is only $50 per month and a truck could easily fit in there." Or - they can build their own driveway and spend the money, that's on them. They are renters, so I doubt they would want to do that. 

Some day - well down the road, I would want to approach the owner of the house and make him an offer to buy. Tear the house down, get rid of all of that junk and either replace it with cabins or just have nothing there.  It is something of an eyesore. There are natural ways to block the view of it - but growing plants takes many years to get big enough to do anything.  A 6 foot fence would also help to block the view - and that may be something in the works down the road a piece when I get a better financial foothold.  A 6 or even 8 foot tall fence might actually be a better route.  Cheaper and blocks out the view and sets the perimeter. This is my land, thank you, not trying to be an ass, but I am taking possession of it.  I really don't know what kind of potential trouble I am going to run into with these people, they are not friendly.  I've tried waving at them dozens of times, only once did a person wave back and she doesn't even live there.  

There is plenty of unused land on the east side, 3 different tracts.  It's all the same owner who also owns the house.  I could see someday making an offer for the portions that have towering pines.  

Anyway, I'm only musing about that because I am going to have to deal with it and after I get this entry done, I am going to write out and print a letter to the truck owner. I don't know how long they've lived there, but no one has ever done anything with my land besides the gas well so i guess they just figured they could do whatever they wanted.  The truck is a total eyesore besides tearing up the driveway.  Yes, I'm a trucker but yes, this truck is ugly.  Dollar General plastered all down the sides and the back of it and an old, ugly looking tractor pulling the thing.  

One thing I would like to do is avoid court battles and even sheriff's deputies having to get involved.  If I were parking on someone else's land, I would have asked the owner beforehand if I could park there.  I guess that's just me, but having a tow truck come out and tow a truck away? The owner is going to pay 1 to 2 grand for that service and they are probably not going to be too happy about it.  I will always go back on the fact that that house has plenty of land to build a driveway on the other side of it if they so desired.  They just put in a huge garden over there, like a mini farm type of thing.  

This is ugliness I just don't want to deal with, but I have no choice.  I was going to do this over a week ago and simply spaced it out what with the vacation that was coming up and getting a bit excited about the land being cleared and the timber being burned.  But yes, it's time to take the initial steps and attempt to at least work this out without any kind of confrontation. Just a polite, please find another place to park your truck, give a suggestion of a place that is about 3 miles away - and cheap monthly rate - and thank you very much. Here is my phone number, call with any questions.  It all came back into my mind once I saw where the truck had been parked and after this last rain, he had put a large number of deep ruts into the driveway starting at the street and coming back probably 100 feet worth.  It is obvious he was doing backing maneuvers to get the truck in there.  

Look, I don't take my truck home, I have no choice but to park it at the yard in Longview, 30 miles away.  

Ohhh and the lock on the gate.  I dunno who did it, but the lock was cut off and discarded on the side of the driveway.  There is nothing back there worth stealing so it was either the contractor or the county fire department - both of which have the gate code for I gave it to them.  But, a worker might have tried to get back there and didn't know the code and just decided to cut the thing off.  I dunno, but I suspect I will be hearing from the gas company about it.  Of course, the main gas company never replied to my email about their employee speeding down the driveway......

Anyway, enough of this.  I am going to bed early along with the rest of the house that apparently is already in bed.  Like, it's only 8:30, lol

g'nite

Ukraine is basically being destroyed. It's heart breaking to watch, the people of Ukraine have giant balls and are standing up valiantly to the evil oppressors, I hope they can win.  There is always hope. Things can happen that tip the scales in favor of the underdog.  I'm no Biden fan, but the people bashing him for not doing - what else? - I'm a bit unsure about.  If we send in troops, we have WW3.  If Ukraine had been a NATO ally, this Russian bullying would never have started, IMO.  I also do agree that the world stage looks at our current President as weak. That's all I have to say about this war that Putin started, completely unprovoked and totally unnecessary.  And invoking some special powers statement to raise the level of nuclear readiness?  This dude isn't that dumb to start a nuclear war, is he? 

    

Whatever the case, the first large check has been issued.  Part 1 of land clearing is done.  Part 2 is dozer work.  I am waiting on a quote on that, I just met with the contractor at the property.  He's trying to save some money for start up costs and I can't help but think about his suggestions.  Using the existing driveway for the beginning would save probably 10 grand right off the bat.  I hesitated to use it because it's the gas company road.  Yet, there is very little traffic on it.  Just one pickup truck per day and occasionally a few other companies going in there. I'm going to think about it.

He also suggested dozer work on just the portion of the property that needs to be done for the first 14 pads.  I mean, getting those trees down, the size of this rather huge expanse of property is much more than I really expected.  I knew it was a quarter mile long, but now being able to actually see all of it.....

So his proposals are to use the existing driveway - which cuts out half the amount of new driveway I need to build and simply just get the dozer work done on the portion of property that needs to be done for the lots.  There's probably a 20 grand savings there, maybe more.  Maybe much more, probably nothing less than that.  Instead of 1,400 feet of dozer work, we get around 450 of it done.  These are decisions I will make based on my money supply.  

I can say after cutting a 12 thousand dollar check? I'm going to rethink this a bit.  It's going to disappear quickly if I go the route I intended on going.  The dozer work wasn't anything I had thought I would need to pay extra for. I don't blame the contractor, it's ignorance on my part.  The contractor gave me the lowest bid on land clearing of all of them, easily, hands down. I could -and may - get a second quote on the dozer work, but based on all of the quotes I've received for everything else? It's highly unlikely this guy is going to be beaten in price. His knowledge through experience of building parks is also worth a mint in itself.

He said he doesn't have a bobcat for clearing trails but he has a contractor he uses whenever he needs work like that done, of which he texted me the man's phone number and then cautioned me: a lot of these mulching companies around here don't do it right. They will run over a small tree, mulch part of it and left the rest laying there. That isn't the way mulching is supposed to be done.  I agree. There should be nothing but a pile of - mulch - laying there, not a tree trunk.  I'm not going to get a bunch of quotes on that, it shouldn't cost more than a couple thousand dollars with an experienced operator to clear through a trail that isn't any wider than the machinery being used to make the trails.  At most a days worth.  But, I will probably have a driveway mulched in to tent camping sites.  So that will up the price. 

But I think for now, I'm going to wait and get these pads done.  Meaning the driveways, the pads, the utilities.  Or mostly done anyway, and then get my building and get started on that.  I just want one building if I can get away with it that has a bathroom, a shower room and a small laundry facility, get that all in one building and hopefully have a little space left over for a small office where I can put all the wifi hardware.  I am planning on all transactions being done on the internet.  

My focus in attracting clients is going to be on amenities. Dog park, walking trails, hopefully a fishing pond right off the bat and still wanting that pool.  The pool would need a loan and it isn't on the top of the priority list, but it's on there.  Things for people to do.  I'm not sure how any of this is going to turn out, I'm feeling my way through this. I'd really rather have the entire plot of dozer work done right off the bat.  

I would really love to put in some cabins as well. Those are money makers beyond RV spots - of course they cost a lot more money.  I see them at lost of the parks that wanted to find other ways to increase revenues and it's a no brainer for those that have either the working capital to build them outright or get the loans needed.  

There's lots of things swirling around in my head about this venture, right  now? I'm waiting on a quote to do the blade work.  One thing I won't change my mind on, at least for these first 14 spots, is the 40 feet weed aspect.  That is non-negotiable in my mind, it's one of the biggest complaints you will see: ROOM.  Smaller lots can come in the future, a bit less wide, maybe 35 or even 30 feet and less length since many rigs are not that long and don't need that much space.  

So there it is, for a Monday. Addler is at the animal hospital, I would assume by now the operation is done and over with and he will be recovering.  They figured they wouldn't call me to come get him until he is fully awake. Good, because I don't really want to have to try and lift him into that SUV. Right now? No news is good news, meaning there weren't any complications for if there were, I would have heard about it by now.  He hasn't passed away, it's all good. He was very friendly this morning with everyone, that was a good sign at least.  Hopefully get him back into not having a painful growth on his butt and feeling whatever pain or discomfort that must have been giving him.

And finally, my credit dump 79 points again.  Credit scores are complicated, at least the way they determine it. In this case, my thought was that your overall credit use being less than 30% is good, less than 10% is optimal.  Over 30% and yes, your score will take a dive. What they do NOT tell you is that you can't have individual cards over that 30% threshold, either.  So, if you have a low limit credit card and you basically use it for anything, good luck with that.  

It took me a minute to figure this out today.  Look at Credit Karma and then click on "see what changed" and then go through everything. 3 of them said "balance decreased by", 1 of them said account paid off/closed and then the culprit:  I paid something for $599 on it plus I had around $500 on it already and it showed "using 49%" on it.  That's it.  This stuff sometimes eludes me, they don't actually tell you a lot of specifics.  You have to figure it out.  So, I paid that down to less than 30% of card use and that should change my score back up the 79% I lost.  

We'll see, but I'm pretty sure that's what caused the nose dive.  You go from excellent to fair range in one, fell swoop.  Ridiculous.  Not like I've missed any payments on anything in over 3 years. Over all credit usage is well below 20%.  I can't have this stuff, not if I'm going to get a pool loan or personal loan if I need one to finish off the setup. Which is why I am probably going to take this guy's advice and just use the existing driveway.  I've got loan offers for personal loans, one of which is particularly appealing - but only if I need it.  

Well I'm going to end this one.  I did get a $533 credit from Bank of America for using my points towards the vacation.  Which is good, lol, that wasn't a cheap vacation.  San Antonio Riverwalk area is a tourist trap with tourist trap pricing. Next vacation I'd like to simply rent a cabin by a lake and have a bit more natural outing and much less expensive.  

G'day. 

 San Antonio

Cold. High floor in the Marriott, 34th floor to be precise.  Not too shabby.  I like the Grant Hyatt across the street better tho, lol. Maybe some other time.

We got here late, like 2 am late and we all just came up to the room and crashed.  It's just that we got a late start since James didn't get off work til - normal time - which just pushed everything up.  Hindsight? Probably should have just slept at home and gotten up early this morning. 

But whatever.  I have a heavy winter jacket and we are going to see whatever there is to see.  At least today, for tomorrow there is a high chance of rain.  That will just have to be indoor stuff.

Spend much of yesteday running around town, getting stuff done, 4 year old in tow.  Considering we were out most of the day, he did surprisingly well, without too many pouty face moments and no meltdowns whatsoever. Of course, uncle Ben spoiling him a bit to keep him in that mood might have helped lmao.

But I did get Addler and Aspyn in yesterday.  They did an exam on Addler's rear end, declared he has a growth right on his butt end and he needs to have surgery to have it removed.  Okay?  We'll get a quote worked up for you for that.  I was expecting thousands of dollars for some reason - attach the word surgery to anything a vet does nowadays and you have a hefty bill.

So, once she came in and was - a bit apprehensive about giving me the bill - I just asked to look at it.  Whatever it is, unless it's 20 grand or something, we're doing it.  Turns out it was only a grand.  I looked at her, well this isn't even that much, I'm good with this.  Big sigh of relief?  I guess people are broke and can't afford such things right now?  I dunno, but I'll easily spend that much on my beloved doggy to get him well. He's 7 going on 8, hopefully has some good years left in him so yeah, let's do this.

But, that was yesterday on the day of leaving for San Antonio, I asked if they have a  kennel. Yes we have large kennels we can keep him. Still, I thought, I'll be out of town and far enough away I can really do anything but authorize more procedures if something goes wrong. I decided to wait until we get back and take him in on Monday - if my dispatcher will give me an extra day off.

I was pondering that and then the dispatcher sent a group text.  Plants have shut down because of the weather, looking like a slow week next week, etc etc etc.  I immediately texted her and asked for Monday off as well.  She said she'd have to look in th morning and would get back to me.  I need to know today so I can call the animal hospital and let them know they can prepare to get this done on Monday.  

So, other than Aspyn getting a rabies shot and fresh license, that was that.  Addler didn't get any of his shots yesterday, for they said they could just give them to him while he's knocked out.  Makes sense, the dog doesn't much care for shots, I can tell ya that. 

I also went by the property.  I always drive by the property, I want to see if they're out there doing anything. It was raining so I didn't really expect to see them. But half a mile from the property I said big plumes of smoke rising into the sky, I got excited lol, are they burning the piles?!!

Yes!!!  There was a different man out there on yet another trackhoe they had dropped off, he had 3 of the largest piles burning. I dunno why he didn't just light them all, but whatever.  He said he hopes to have it done today. I was smiling seeing that getting done, a little more progress.  I went back later on that after noon.  2 of the piles had burned down to giant piles of ashes and he had lit another one and 2 of them were burning pretty good - and he was leaving lol.

I didn't bother to tell the fire department that those fires were going to be left unattended.  They were sitting squarely in the middle of the lot and it had been raining all day long, there wasn't much chance of a problem.  He had repiled the fire I had started and it was smoldering from days ago.  Hopefully that one was going to catch as well.  

I also got a new phone yesterday. Between the horrible video and picture quality and the fact it runs really slow, I just buckled down and said yes, it's time to do this.  They wouldn't let me pay cash for it, but I didn't get any discounts anyway.  They were only giving discounts for an Iphone 12 and they didn't have them in stock, but, they had the Iphone 13 in stock, just no discount.  Ok, I'll buy this thing and sell my old one on Ebay.  That's my plan.  It's an amazing phone. I don't regret waiting this long to get one, but I'm super glad it did take the plunge and go ahead and get it done. 

The 4 year old was entertaining pretty much everyone in the place, so it was fun to boot.

Anyways, I think my peoples are waiting on me, they went down - 34 floors down lol - to smoke and get coffee.  I just wanted to put up a quick post and report the wonderful news of the property being worked on and not so wonderful news of Addler having that problem - but I am hopeful that will turn out okay.

Time to get out of this room - tho I can tell ya? I could just sit in here all day, alone, with no interaction with anyone and just relax and enjoy myself.  However, Taylor has other plans lol so off to the races!

G'day

 This laptop has to be the most worthless pile of electronic garbage I have ever owned. I keep thinking I need to buy a new one. It just took 20 minutes to start it up and actually have it get to the main page and then try to get the internet up and running. It's been like this since shortly after I got this heap of unmitigated dog dung and it's really time to get a new one. I will never buy a Lenovo again, the next one will probably be an HP.  I am also unhappy with my phone.

I tried to buy one the other day, the newest version of an Iphone, the store wouldn't sell it to me. They told me that I could only get one on payments at the store.  I said ok, fine, if I get one on payments and then pay it off? You will lose the $300 credit, I was informed.  I politely said no thank you and got up and walked out.  I will find one online and be done with it.  I hate to spend the type of money I'm talking to buy a new phone and a new computer, but I feel it's time to get rid of this garbage and upgrade.  The issue with the phone is limited memory and not-so-great photo and video quality.  All of that is allegedly gone now with these newer phone and 3 lenses on the back taking pictures and/or video.

Anyway, I was "surfing the web", namely, I was on Facebook and the reel section.  It just puts up random, short videos of this and that.  Well, it apparently tries to give you content that you like, because it is always showing businessmen/women giving business advice and showing how to do things.  Things that I don't know, btw, an in some cases, didn't even know I should be doing.  

So today was one of those moments. A lady was on there telling you what to do with a business start up. It was a 15 second video.  She went through the list so fast I had to wait for it to replay and then pause it when the bullet points were all up on the screen, for there was an item at the end that I didn't understand what she was referring to.  It said "apply for a duns number".  

Okay, that was strange.  I looked it up on this computer after writing that and it said there is another business name registered at our address.  Well, I'll have to look into that later, there are no businesses established through our address as far as I know it. I'm using home address for business address to get everything started and will switch to real address when I finally get a street address for the park.  

Anyway, it's an account with Dun & Bradstreet.  I've seen this site many times over, I've used it to look up info about a business, usually a corporate headquarters phone number.  I had no idea it was necessary to get an account with them to start building your business' credit file.  I thought the EIN number issued from the state was all that I needed.  I'm very glad I stumbled across this info now.  You don't build credit over night, that's a fact.  Capital One is also asking for more information, I will finish that when I get home.  

Yes, still sitting in Brownsville, it's 11:15 am, they just told me a truck is coming but the wait at the bridge is long.  It's been long for a few months now.  That's one of the bridges commercial vehicles use to come back into the States. I don't know what the holdup is, these people here never know, they just tell me the bridge is holding everything up. More intensified scrutiny of vehicles coming over? No idea.  I know they have dogs sniffing all of those trucks coming across and random FDOT inspections.  That's a federal level truck inspection, those are the worst in terms of time taken.  I got stuck in one of those for an hour and a half one time.  

Anyway, I have my homework set out for me when I get home, well actually tomorrow. If they come within the next few hours with that trailer I will make it home tonight. After that? It'll be tomorrow afternoon.  

Still have this cough.  It's not the worst cough I've ever had, nothing like the last one I went through where I was constantly hacking 24 hours a day for a week straight.  I have the remnants of some prescription cough medicine that's working quite well with this. I may go to the urgent care tomorrow and see about getting more of it.  And yes, they'll probably want to do a covid test and as long as it's free, I don't mind them doing that.  Which every time? It costs me nothing.  Whether that's my company paying for it, the insurance or the government, I have no clue.  

I guess the point is whether this trip to San Antonio is still a go.  Yes, as long as it don't start feeling any worse than this.  It's a vacation.  I don't have to do anything. We are just going to be wandering around looking at the sites and things to do.  Oh, well if the urgent care tells me I have covid I will cancel the trip and it will have to be put off to later date.  I won't knowingly go around spreading a virus to everyone.  Except driving the truck. I don't care about that.  My only interaction with people is at the truck stops.  Even then, I don't have to interact with anyone.  And the loading plant has been making us stay in the trucks to load ever since covid started.  Places like this yard in Brownsville? Yea, I don't have to interact with anyone down here, either, if I don't want to.  

Trucking is actually a pretty lonely life unless you have a companion traveling with you, hence the reason many truckers have dogs if their company allows it.  Mine doesn't. Mine doesn't allow humans, either, unless they are employed by the company.  So, if one of the boys wanted to go on a trip?  No can do.  I guess I could "cheat" and take one of them with me on a Brownsville trip, but if I were caught I would get fired immediately.  Just their policy and they are rigid about it.  They cite the dangers of hazmat and the possibility of "terrorism" and people wanting to commandeer these trucks to use for nefarious purposes.

Of course, you haven't read about any of that happening any time recently.  I'm not sure it's a completely unfounded fear, but I do think it's a bit overblown to not allow family members to ride with you on a trip that does not require you to go into secure facilities that have security personnel.  You know, such as Cheniere, that has multiple, way overblown layers of security?  A place I am still so happy that I never have to go back to again.  My manager has tried to get me back in there, but the dude at the company that runs the plant said nope, he's not coming back in there. As if my feelings are hurt? NO ONE likes going to that place. 1. Because of the way your are treated by security and 2. Because of the way you are treated by the company that runs the plant.  3. Because it's a very low paying run. It has "no" miles to speak of and you are wasting a lot of time unloading.  The only way it is profitable is if they make you sit there for half a day, waiting on them to get their act together. 

And war.  Russia has entered the Ukraine with military forces.  Now, apparently that doesn't necessarily mean they are going to war, as some "experts" have stated, but I think we all know what Putin is doing. He has indicated he wants the Ukraine back for quite some time now.  I doubt sanctions will do much of anything to thwart his intentions.  He has China covering his back, at least it looks that way.  I don't fear world wars, per se, but if another one happens, we could see nukes being used and the end of our existence as we know it.  No amount of survival preparedness will do any good if nukes are dropped unless you happen to own an underground cave that has it's own air supply and is not dependent on anything above ground.  I don't even know if that will save you, but it sounds like a very dull existence.

I live within 60 miles of Barksdale Air Force Base, I would assume that would be a primary target.  So, walk outside, wait for it to come, and get it over with.  Might sound a bit drastic, but if you get China involved with any of this and partnering with Russia, we will see a war the likes of which this world has never seen.  The US would have to fully engage in it at any point it goes beyond just Russia and Ukraine and then?  A lot of people are going to die. I'm just very curious if Russia has any guarantees and backing from China in any of this.  

I just watch the news as it unfolds....

Hmmm, guess I need to start a business email account as well.  

Getting offa here. Hoping the empty is coming soon.

G'day