Thursday - morning.  

I was going to have one of the boys - the older one - out to help clean up today, but I was admittedly feeling lazy and canceled  At least for this morning. If he wants to come late morning, then fine.  I have a long line of debris along the driveway that needs to be hauled to the burn piles.  

I am wondering if the power company is actually going to show this week.  2 more days left and then? I will start ramping up the heat on this engineer.  You promised me after all the other statements that they would definitely be coming out THIS WEEK.  

Anyway, I don't want to dwell on that too much, it is a source of irritation and I just put it out of my mind as much as possible. I suppose it would be a good day to go get the machine to drill out the holes - I still haven't done that yet, I keep getting caught up in other stuff.  

Apparently the insurance agency hasn't completely given up on me - yet.  They texted yesterday asking me about what, if any, breed restrictions would I have?  I knew instantly they want to hear the "right" answer.  "Aggressive dogs (regardless of breed) will be asked to leave along with their owners. Rottweilers, Pitbulls and Dobermans will not be allowed. I think there's a couple of other breeds as well that just aren't coming to mind right now". 

A giant check mark was received back as a reply to that answer.  The reason any kind of business that otherwise allows dogs on their premises don't want those breeds there is because of insurance companies either saying no or jacking the price WAY up to allow it.  My encounters with Dobermans have always been nasty. The first one was when a man down the street sicked his 2 Dobies on my Great Dane (I was in my teens at the time).  My Great Dane was a total bad-@$$. The Dobies were running down the street at him, snarling and growling, obviously ready to pounce on him.

When my Dane saw these 2, he squared right up to them and was more than ready to take them both on.  I had no worries and I laughed when the 2 Dobies got close to my Dane, turned around, tucked tail and ran back home, lmao.  The man came running down the street, accusing ME of sicking MY dog on HIS. What an idiot!  I laughed at him as well and told him that if his dogs had attacked my dog, I would have let my dog off the leash and he would have mess both of your dogs up.

Not what he wanted to hear, he tried to get his dogs to attack mine again - to no avail.  They wanted nothing to do with him. 

On another Dane adventure at a doggy park, some dude with a Dobie came into the park, let the dog go and it immediately went straight for my black Dane.  His name was Prince and he was minding his own business, sniffing around. At the time, I had 3 Danes.  The dog attacked Prince blind side, Prince whirled around while my other dogs came to his rescue. There's a reason they call them packs.  

I've also seen very vicious Rottweilers and everyone has read in the news endless stories about Pitbulls attacking and even killing people, including young children.  I'd have to look up the other breeds, I think there are 2 more insurance companies don't like.  Yes, Pirhanese (spelling) are one of them.  My only encounter with a dog of that breed was when a tenant who claimed the dog was "very friendly" (I had never heard of the breed before so I had no idea) and it turned out to be very hateful towards everyone but her. That dog tried to bite me on several occasions before I informed her that the dog was going or they were both going, but I wasn't going to tolerate it. That was after the dog tried to bite ONE OF HER OWN FAMILY MEMBERS that were visiting her.  

I think there are legitimate reasons to not allow certain breeds, if people don't like it, that's not my problem. Those are breeds I will never own or want anything to do with just because of their reputation. I DO think Dobermans are very cool looking dogs, but good grief, it's not worth the risk.  

It's highly likely, at least from my thinking about this, at this point that the park will be a mix of long term and short term stays.  It would be awesome if the place would fill up daily with short term stays - I could live off of that without working another job.  Net profit would be in the 6 grand per month range.  My take would be what, $3,500 after paying myself and paying income tax on it?  Trust me, I could survive and then some off of that.  

It IS possible, especially with the help of this web expert ensuring maximum exposure on internet searches for rv parks in my area.  My listing is showing on page 4 of google search for rv parks in my area.  It was at page 6.. and while I was doing that, I saw that a brand new park has opened south of here.

38 spaces, it is actually at a location I was thinking about buying last year.  But I decided it was too far away from anything, out in the middle of nowhere and not useful if people want to live there and commute to work, if it comes down to that.  It was also far from the nearest utilities.  I was shocked to learn the price. Some investor apparently built it to instantly resell it.  They have it completed but haven't opened it up and already it's for sale.  At 1.5 million, I just balk at such things.  There is a building on the property and a fishing pond and that's it.  

What on earth.  I've seen the prices of RV parks going anywhere from 500k up to 8 million. They are hot investments right now, a lot of people want to get into it.  Not unfortunately, I'm not getting into this to resell the thing right away.  I think that would be - ridiculous.  Unless I could get a million dollars out of it lmao.  

Oh myyy. The insurance company just contacted me and told me "it was approved for binding". I assume that means they have okay'ed it and are sending it to me via email.  The price tag is what I'm afraid of. 

Score! Way better than she originally thought the quote would be! $251 per month includes everything! There are a dozen documents they just sent that I will have to look through, there are likely specifics in there on what I can and cannot do. But, I told them 2 tent camping sites to start with, 14 lots, a doggy park and walking trails.  

 Pretty seamless and easy job to install the "noodle" insulation around the pipes.  Much longer to spray out a gallon of weed killer with root killer in it.  I'm attempting to kill all the weeds that have grown on the pads before any gravel is laid.  I need a couple more gallons of that stuff.

Didn't get around to the post holes because I felt compelled to get those pipes insulated.  I don't know how hard the ground will be tomorrow after a 29 degree temperature night, but I assume after the sun comes up and starts warming things up, it won't be an issue for the machine to get it done, if I do, indeed, get around to doing that tomorrow.  

The insurance agent asked a bunch of questions, I answered all of them. I had already read in the rv park owners group on facebook that a person that has no experience managing an rv park may find it difficult to get insured.  I'm guessing it's just going to be expensive to start with.  I'm not ok with that but I have little choice in the matter. It's another reason I want to keep the number of amenities to a minimum to start with.  The more risk, the less likely I will be able to get insured. 

Would I open the park without insurance? Let's just say I don't even want to have to face that prospect.  I will contact as many insurance agencies as I have to get some kind of liability insurance on the property . Without it? I could be sued and literally lose everything if someone trips, falls on the trails and determines I should be held liable.  Or whatever - lots of potential scenarios.  

Of course, the power company was yet another no show today. How surprising.  

I'm working this thing down to the point of having little or nothing left to do but - open the park.  

I didn't finish the rules yet.  Working on it.  Lots of different rules parks have, I'm just attempting to figure out what I really want for rules.  

Facebook posted a memory for me to view, it was me walking the dogs on the freshly minted trails a year ago! Look at how long it has taken to get this far along with this project! Craziness, if you would have told me back then it was going to take a year to get to where I'm at now and probably a couple more months before opening, I would have balked at you.  

Why would it take so long? I would have thought.  Well, I found out.  Weather, contractors, supply/demand issues, utility companies - read: Swepco (power) - taking forever.  Long list of things that really made this project take much longer than it should have.  In my mind? This operation should already be running.

And now, facing this insurance issue, gag.  

Well, back to researching rules.

 A few things that will be added since there is plenty of room and at very little cost: Horseshoe pit and a large fire pit area with chairs.  Socializing is a thing, at least with some people, having a place to gather around will cost very little and add a bit of extra appeal.  There are other games that one can install that are not costly as well, but I'll have to look them up again. They aren't games I had ever heard of but were mentioned in a couple of posts that I was reading on Facebook.  

Oh, a corn hole game I could buy pre-made for around $50, I believe. Another cheap thing that can be near the horseshoe pit.  

I'm not adding a playground, at least not yet, it adds a lot to insurance costs.  There is plenty of room to play if a family happened to venture in, bring your own stuff to play with. Playgrounds aren't exactly cheap to build, either.  Perhaps I can put up a fenced in area and slowly start acquiring the things needed to have some semblance of one.  

However, that is not a priority and tho the park will be 'family friendly', there will be little for kids to do unless they like walking on trails.  Other than that, there is plenty to do in the area with lakes, museums, historical sites, plenty of already-built playgrounds, etc. 

There will be a list of all of the nearby attractions as well as a list of all nearby restaurants and stores that RV'ers may find handy including all of the propane service stations. There are 3 of them in our little town if I recall correctly.  One of them sells propane very cheap compared to others.  Tractor Supply also refills containers.  

Okay, well the insurance agent is "blowing up my phone". Welcome blowing up, she is attempting to find me insurance.  This is a local agent, I would rather be able to go to an office here and look at these people in the eyes with any problems than having to call some 800 number and get - lessor - service. We'll see what happens.  If this doesn't work out, then I'll attempt to use the nationally-recognized premiere leader in RV park insurance - so everyone claims.  

Plain, basic fire rings are 3 for $79 at Tractor Supply.  Perfect.  The employee is an outdoor enthusiast and told me that if I drill holes near the bottom of the rings, a "smokeless fire pit" would be created.  Apparently the air intake eliminates most or all of the smoke. Yes, that is highly desireable.  

I'm heading up to Lowe's to find some sort of tape or insulation you can wrap around the water lines to keep them from freezing and bursting. It's going to get below freezing tonight at 29 degrees predicted.  I hadn't even thought about this until I saw the weather forecast and was like, uhh, I better do something about that!  There's only 15 of them and 14 of the 15 are only maybe a foot up out of the ground. They did that on purpose both for freezing and for less exposure to damage from - people that don't know what they are doing.  

More job perusal has found several interesting things.  I will be keeping the names of these companies - all local work. Even if they take down their listing, I can still try to apply at these places whenever I'm at the point where I am ready to go back to work.  Not that I'm not working, folks, this stuff I have been doing is hard work and really takes it out of me!

Anyway, I need to get that tape and get that done.

G'day

 I will only do OTR as a very - and I mean a far distant - last resort.  That wording should indicate how much I despise the trucking industry.  It might make you a good deal of money, but you make a lot of sacrifices in your personal life to get that money.  

It's not worth it.  I'd take a drastic pay cut to be home every night if it comes down to choosing between staying on the road weeks at a time or getting home every night or near every night.  

I only say this because this dude that has been trying to get me to switch over to his company for several years now flatly stated that "we can't get you home that often" after I indicated I'd need to be home at least 2 nights per week.  I've paid the price, I've done the "live in a truck" routine, I'm sick of it and I am ready for a change.  

He suggested some other company he is apparently affiliated with that could get me home weekly.  Now, in terms of trucking companies, getting home "weekly" usually means 1 day per week. These companies are draconian and severely outdated in their views of how people that drive trucks want to live their lives.  The entire industry needs to be restructured. There may be people that actually like being on the road endlessly - more power to them!  Me? No thank you. 

I read these companies' ads all the time, they show up on my Facebook and Google feeds daily.  "Our home time is structured so that for every 7 days you are out, you get 1 day home!"....as if that is some sort of gleeful, glorious, wondrous gift from the company to see your friends, family, bedroom and dog once a week.  

Sick. They wouldn't ever dream of living their lives in such an arrangement.  

Folks, I could get a job right now.  Just call pretty much any of the major trucking companies.  I'm ready to go back to work!  They'd schedule me for an orientation and I'd be whisked away to some other state to sit in an office building for 3 to 5 days and informed - commanded - how I am going to live my life for this company. That's literally what it is, this is what your life is going to be working for us.  

The longer I am out of trucking, the more I abhor it.  I just hope that when I need to get back to work, I can find something decent.  I will start with home every night/day jobs and see what that gets me. There is a wood chip hauling company that is local here, I think their yearly earnings are in the 60k range. That's a 30k pay cut, but you have weekends off and you are home every night.  

 Company drivers - people who drive trucks but don't own the truck they are driving - don't understand how shi*** their lives are until they get out of it.  Well, I know how crappy it was, I just did it because I had to.  Now that I am facing and hoping for at least a partial income from the business startup, a part time job somewhere sounds nicely appealing.  Not even in trucking.  

I'd still like to find a lot somewhere nearby, flat and level with a big entrance and turn it into paid trucking parking. They line the Interstate at night in this area. Actually, they do that everywhere - can't find a place to park they end up on an onramp to sleep.  It'd have to be fenced in of course and have an attendant.  Big enough for at least 100 trucks, give a cheap rate that they won't scoff at.  Every place I've been to that charges for parking starts at $12 and goes up to $26! For ONE night, to park for 10 hours! Give a discount for a 34 hour reset and make it close enough to local business that one of the companies that picks up food and delivers to you will be in their range of delivery.  

Just a simple land lease, not ownership.  Limited risk, limited exposure.  I haven't been looking lately but I do have a place in mind. It's an old, abandoned truck stop, the building is gone but there is still all that nice room. It's only used as a - truck parking area - at night, lol. Free parking, of course, they take up what space is left. The land there has been abandoned so long, it's full of trees and brush, not a lot of area to park.  Trust me, I have paid to park in dirt parking lots many, many times over.  

))))))))))))))))))))

Enough of that.  It's Monday morning and I'm fixing to go get a bag of ice and head over to the property.  I will continue to cut the trees and shrubbery along the driveway.  I was over there yesterday during the rain - I got there about an hour and a half after it started.  There was no build of water anywhere. It was a medium-rate downfall of rain, apparently not enough to cause the flooding issues I saw a few weeks ago.

Unfortunate. I wanted to see where the issues are and address them directly.  Apparently, it must have to be a deluge, a very heavy downpour of rain to cause that kind of flooding. I am "promised" that the construction crews will come this week to put in the power poles and run the lines.  If we get to Friday morning and they still haven't shown up, I'm just going to contact this engineer again. 

I've been polite and professional with him to this point. I will continue to do so, but I will definitely be turning up the heat.  I need this done.

OH. The sign!

Change of plans. I will see this morning if the ground got wet enough to dig out those post holes. I'd like to save the $90 to rent a machine, for right now, it's just 2, 3-feet deep holes.  That's it. Put the 4X10's in there, dump the quickcrete in there, level them, make sure they are situated correctly and walaah.  Sign posts.  The tree and brush thing sort of blocked out everything else.

I was looking at it yesterday. In order for longer rigs to pull out of their spaces, all of that brush will have to be cleared out of there.  No choice in the matter, not a big deal, but it is hard work.  There really isn't any "easy" work to be had out there.  I can't really think of anything that has been on the "gee, this is relaxing, pleasant and doesn't require a lot of physical output" type of work that I have engaged in out there.  Maybe operating machinery, but after hours of being cramped in those things in hot weather, that becomes a chore as well.  

I don't think I'll get into politics today. I read the news - I'm not even watching it on TV anymore - and just become disgusted with the attitudes that politicians are taking against "the other side".  A "threat to national security" - that one will never be lived down. 70 million people in this nation are a threat to national security! 

I'd laugh but these people are serious about their rhetoric.  Socialism and communism are becoming more and more popular. The demise of America before our very eyes is starting before our very eyes and the only thing, in my view, that will stop it at this point is a revolution. Yeah, I don't favor that option, I'm just saying, with the push towards and authoritarian society with an elite ruling class that "takes care of everyone" that is becoming more and more popular?  

I dunno.  

I have a lot planned today.  I need to get busy.

G'day

 Enough of that.  The ground is hard - yes it poured rain 2 nights ago but the soil is so dry right now, the water just passes over it.  I tried to start digging out the 2 holes with the post hole digger and was getting no where fast.  I got about 5 inches down, got a bucket of water and poured it into the holes. Hopefully by tomorrow morning that will loosen everything up and I can also dump more water in them.  

I'm not going to torture myself in some sort of frenzy to get that sign up.  

Really, I just decided to come home and start doing rules research, incorporate other parks' rules into my own version of it and try to get that junk over with.  This is probably going to take the rest of the day. It takes a while just to find a park's rules on their website, many times they are buried in layers of pages and you have to keep looking to find them. I'm not sure why that is, are they trying to hide them?  

I need to get the dreaded paperwork stuff done. Stuff I have mostly been avoiding because I despise paperwork. Yean, I'm going to have to get over that.  I get it, but gag me with a giant wooden spoon, I really don't like it.  Maybe it will grow on me after I do it for a while and get used to it.  

I did learn that for Texas, I don't need a retail permit from the state unless I intend on selling products aside from renting out the sites.  Yeah, I'll bypass that one for now, I have no store and the only thing I was thinking of selling was firewood.  

I already have the required EIN number for the federal government, the website I used to get my LLC also signed me up for that . Of course the feds want their share - of everything.

On a different note, I was reading about the contention between current Texas governor Abbott and wannabe governor O'Rourke.  Beto claims he's going to use a good portion of Texas' rainy day fund - there's billions of dollars in there, I think near 30 billion now - to "pay down" property taxes by giving school districts more of the operating budget they need.  Yes, a vast majority of what you pay in property taxes goes to school districts. 

Apparently, Abbott says he is going to do something similar.  I'm all for NO property taxes whatsoever, so I am in full agreement with bringing the price tag down, at least.  Beto made an actual valid point: Why has Abbott not brought property taxes down before now?  I am NO fan of Beto, but this is one thing he said that I actually agreed with.  

Well, that was quick. I had saved to my documents a link to an RV park's rules. These rules are complete.  I think I am going copy them into a document and then adjust them to my liking - not everything in their rules applies and I don't necessarily agree with some of the rules.  Some things are a mystery - why do that want or not want that?  But, you get people that have been in the business a while and they come up with rules that work to keep the headaches down.  

Anyway, before I get too far into this post, I'm ending it and getting busy. 

 Well, of course, no power company. 

Daily statement here.  The sign maker came out this morning with the newly-made sign. It's 4X8 in dimensions and it looks exactly like my logo online. They did an excellent job and I am sure it will last as long as they claim it will.  

After she left, I immediately texted the power company engineer.  Can you give me a revised update since it's obvious crews aren't showing up today and it's been over 2 weeks since we last spoke? 

No reply for quite a while, I texted a question mark. That apparently got his attention and got an answer. "I check with construction. Will be worked next week for sure."  That's quoted as he wrote it.  

I'm definitely not getting gravel installed until the power lines are in and ready to go.  I just can't wait long between paying for the gravel and getting the operation up and running. I could probably go several more months without getting another job, counting pennies and getting extremely frugal. I've already started heading down that path because I want to have the operation going and the kinks figured out before I go back to trucking. 

After the sign delivery, I headed over to Lowe's to get the materials needed to install the sign. I want it up quickly.  I dunno why, but it always takes me a long time to stand there in Lowe's and figure out what I need.  Or find what I need that I've already figured out. 2 4X10 beams to hold the sign up with 4 bags or quickcrete, lag screws, machine screws and needed more chain saw bar oil and fuel.  

I was going to rush back over there and get this process started - but I realized my stomach growling and right now? I'm eating at home almost entirely.  1, to save money and 2, because it's hard to find Keto friendly items at restaurants or fast food.  It's there, but usually it's higher on the carb count than I'd like it to be.  

Instead, yesterday I went to Kroger's and bought a bunch of Keto friendly coupled with low-cholesterol foods. 

I'm really putting stuff on hold until the power is in.  I will be very busy after it's installed and ready to go.  I suppose I should make an appointment with the accountant today for next week. Really need to get the bookkeeping part of this thing settled.  It's a bit unnerving for me for I have never done anything like this before.

I also stopped at the post office and asked for service at the new address.  Not sure what that process is, I just know that I have an official address and I'm ready to get that service established. Not a high priority, but since it was on the way home.....

And, now that I'm thinking about it, I'm going to have to haul a bunch of stuff from the bridge setup to the front to install that sign.  Post hole digger, generator, cord, level, etc.  Yeah, good thing my 4 wheeler is working but that adds a lot of time to the equation. I may just get the post holes dug out today and then get the generator out there tomorrow.  I can pick up where the 25 year old left off yesterday in cutting down the shrub next to the driveway that is sticking out.  

This weekend, I think I will go through all the websites I did before and come up with my own list of rules and get that done.  These things are all time consuming and I need to start working on it.  I've chosen the online payment company to take reservations online, but I will forward that to the web designer.  He can put the rules, the calendar with "available dates", the online payment, etc on there.  These are things out of my expertise and I don't want to fool with it, he knows what he's doing and the money spent is the money saved. 

Well, off to the races.  Start prepping that sign for install.

G'day. 

 Power company - no show. Even my contractor was in disbelief.  I contacted him asking him if it's ok to put down grass seed or should I wait until the gravel is spread? Please wait!  I kind of thought so.  I did put the seed down on the doggy park tho, the gravel operation won't affect that area.  Tomorrow marks the last day that the engineer said they would show up to install the poles/lines.  That's 3 weeks later than what they said they were going to do.  

I had the 25 year old back today - but he brought his younger brother (without letting me know) to work on the main driveway.  The gas company isn't adequately maintaining it and I think I'm going to send them a bill for half of the cost to get all of that brush out of there. Yeah, I doubt they will pay either, but it's worth a try.  If anything ever goes to court, there will be an email-trail of attempts to get them to do anything. 

Anyway, the younger was "helping" the older by standing around with a big pair of clippers - doing nothing. Clippers irrelevant and useless for that operation, the only thing that's needed is a chainsaw.  So, I called him over and informed him I needed him to pull weeds, showing him what I wanted done.  I got busy on the machine, even tho it rained heavily last night and the ground not in great shape for doing any dirt work, I had the thing and there were a couple of things I really needed to get done, mud or no. 

I get back to where they are working after completing those tasks and where is the younger brother? Back with his older brother.  Doing nothing, again.  Well, I had to leave with the machine to return it. When I got back, of course he's standing there.  So, I drove up to him and informed him that "I don't need you over here, I need you pulling those weeds over there" pointing at the back row.  Your brother can do all of this by himself, as he was doing so yesterday.

The boy made excuses and walked over to the weeds and started pulling them. I had to leave. Upon return after they left? Yeah, very little done - by either one.   Irritating.  I told them I didn't need them tomorrow.....probably won't "need" them again.  I got some work out of them, just not what I'm paying them worth'.  

I took that ridiculous sign out.  They can have it back.  The one that says no hunting, dogs, guns, fishing, alcohol, etc.  They aren't having such signs on my property, period.  I get to determine if there is hunting, dogs, guns, fishing, alcohol, etc.  It's laying there on the ground, they can recover it if they like. The sign wasn't even on their easement-meaning it was on my property that they have no control over. 

  I also cleared out 2 spots for the new sign up front.  I haven't decided where to put it and I don't want to be fooling with weeds if I decide one location is better than another - they are both good locations.  I think I need a second set of eyes to help determine which one is best.  

And because it poured rain over there last night, I got to see this morning if the drainage pipes are working. Yes, they are working but there's 3 more places where I am going to need to install drainage pipe, very much unfortunately.  At $125 per stick, that's an expensive proposition.  But it's clearly in need of it.  It'll just eat away at my driveway - gravel or not - the money spent is the money saved.  I was going to dig out the trenches for them at least while I had the machine - but it was far too muddy in there, no way was I going to destroy the driveway driving that machine over it.  I can probably do that stuff by hand, I guess, I don't really want to spend another near-$400 for a day's worth of that machine just for that.  

That's it, really. I did manage to start Keto yesterday and am on it again today. I think I can get back into it again, just limiting it to chicken, turkey and certain types of fish.  Lots of salad.  I'm at an unhealthy weight and it's time to get serious about shedding it.  

Well, here's to hoping that tomorrow? The power company will finally show up.

G'day. 

 Half decided to go back on the keto diet today. Half because I've been eating rice and potatoes for months now and they are so delicious.  Getting off of the "good" food again isn't going to be an easy task. The motivator is the fact that my belly has grown larger than it's ever been in my adult life.  

I think I'll start out Keto and start researching other kinds of diets. The Mediterranean diet seems to have great appeal to it's followers. 

Of course, no power company yesterday.  I have plenty to do, however and I will be getting about it today - if it doesn't rain.  Not a high chance of it, but it would be a waste of money to rent a machine and then have it start pouring.  You can't level overly wet land, it just doesn't work.  

I also identified yesterday on the fence line on the east side of the property a large swath of area about 100 feet long where I need to take out all the shrubbery and some small trees. This will enable people to park on the main driveway without blocking it. It will also eliminate any potential for scratching the sides of beautiful rigs.  THAT would get me some pretty bad reviews.

Amazing I hadn't seen that before yesterday.  But, my mind is full of stuff and there is still a lot left to go here, I'm working on it one thing at a time.  I'm going out there shortly to check to make sure the light rain yesterday didn't mess my plans for today up. If it did, I will simply get out the chain saw and start working on that driveway instead.  

I feel like I'm getting close, even tho the power isn't installed. IF they come this week - 3 days left in the business work week - then it's all downhill from there. That will be the key to unlocking get the rest of this done and getting it done quickly. It will also give me a fresh dose of motivation.

It's been a hot summer out there and I've really gotten tired of it. It's going to be 90 degrees today, allegedly, even tho it's currently overcast.  

I just really need to get the lots leveled so I can get that grass seed out there. It's going to rain this weekend - supposedly anyway - and that will get that seed growing and hopefully quickly have a nice ground cover of grass where there will be no gravel instead of dirt.

Oh, the 15 foot wide RV parking pads.  I've got all the dimensions of the sites written on paper and I've now got the sites numbered, at least on paper, not at the sites themselves yet.  No sense in doing that until the gravel is installed, I imagine a dozer running over signs I just paid for and that wouldn't set well.  

I asked in an RV owners group about those wider pads.  There wasn't a single negatory on it. They all said the wider the pads, the better. Note that I am not talking about the width of the entire sites, but the pads where they park.  Why, I asked?  Because people put out big rugs and their own tables and chairs and they like it all to be on the pad instead of half on the grass.  They just like it better.  

I've seen them doing this before - the main reasoning is that their awning gets put up and then they can sit in the shade. If they're sitting in the grassy area, unless there are trees, they aren't going to get shade at all.  Makes perfect sense, but I didn't know.  Some even said to go all gravel on your lots. 

No thanks. I've seen lots of pics of all gravel parks, they just look like giant parking lots, very unappealing.  At least to me.  Grass adds a touch of nature to the scenery that gravel certainly doesn't do.  Grass is an integral part of the plan regardless of the hassle of having to keep it cut.  I'll probably spend several days a month cutting grass.  It will be a chore, no doubt, but that's what my original plan was and in that sense, I am not deviating from it. 

I also read one person who said "they will absolutely LOVE it".  This person says their park has NO amenities but GREAT reviews on Google because their parking pads are so wide.  Yup, my amenities are going to be few in number at first.  So hey! That might work for me, because in the beginning? It's going to be a bit spartan beyond walking trails and a doggy park.  

I can adjust my pricing accordingly at first, just to try and get people in there and get some hopefully good reviews going.  I have so many ideas - but the money just isn't there yet and I'm not in the position to get a decent business loan - yet.  I keep telling myself, plug away at it, keep moving, keep on getting things done, you will eventually get there.

And on that note, I was in the local gathering group - just a place where people dump everything from restaurants to eat at to lost dogs to local business attempting to get some people heading their way.  I was scrolling down and a pic grabbed my attention. My  mind thought, that looks like my logo? Is  someone else putting up a business with the same design?

Silly me, lmao.  It IS my pic, they are painting it and it's looking really good! They are using it as an advertisement to attract more customers. That's how I found them in the first place, that group and a pic of a billboard style sign they had made over 20 years ago that was still in very good shape.  Go local! That's what I try to do.

Oh, and picnic tables? Do I really need them to start with? After that discussion about people putting their own tables out, I wondered if picnic tables at every lot makes good business sense on a dwindling money supply, or, perhaps, carve out an area maybe 30X30, put in a large fire pit and also put in some tables near it?  Just a gathering place people can go to socialize if they so desire and cooler weather is coming.  I could even start out with supplying a cord of wood for people to make the fires in it - to start now, not permanent.  

I've got to get creative on a limited budget.  Give as much as I can give for appeal without spending a fortune on it.  I even thought about building an outdoor shower.  I was looking at designs, pretty simple setups that don't need anything but a water supply and a water heater that doesn't need electricity.  Of course, it would need a propane tank to fuel it, but still.  Dunno, just thinking.  There is natural gas running down the street, but to run a line that far back would cost some big bucks, no thanks, not at the moment anyway.  

Well, anyway, off to the races!

G'day. 

 The Tractor Supply nightmare has finally ended.  Unsatisfied with the outcome - which was simply that I ended up going to my home town store and paying $6 more PER BAG for the rye grass seed, I decided to call them one more time.  This time, I spoke with a headquarters manager.

Word salad, excuses, etc was what I heard.  I'm very persistent, however, when it comes to things like this.  Going to a store to pick up an order that I had already paid for and having them tell me the order was thrown into the trash can, so sorry, nothing we can do for you, bye-bye?  

No.  That doesn't work in my world, especially for a company that proclaims it's "great customer service" value and ethic.  I spent half an hour on the phone with this lady who said I had received a gift card via email - which I was never told about nor did I see in my inbox because I was receiving a lot of emails from them on both orders.  I eventually found it going through all the emails - with her on the phone - it was for $50.  

Although that's nice, I didn't ask for neither did I want a gift card, I wanted a discount on the price of the seed since I had gone through quite the ordeal.  More word salad until she became exasperated with me and asked, well what is it that you want me to do?  I want a discount.  I didn't even get the price from the Longview store, they charged me $6 more per bag.

Well, let me call the store and find out if they can do anything.  Why does she have to call the store? This isn't something they empower their headquarters employees to do? Apparently not.  After another lengthy wait, she got back to me and told me the manager of the store in MY town, not the store where this fiasco originally started, said he would give me the seed for $40 per bag, which is over $15 per bag discount.  Now I got happy. Thank you!  I am getting $60 plus back on that purchase plus I have the $50 gift card.  I am rather soured by this experience, but I will spend the gift card money and I know exactly what I need: 2 ratcheting chain binders.  They have them there for $32 (I think? ) a piece.  This will bring that price down to a very  minimal amount and I can start using my trailer to haul the equipment from rental places instead of paying an extra $30 for the trailer rental as well. 

I just couldn't let that thing go, not without trying one more time.  

No power company. Yup, my normal update, lol.

Dozer rental place doesn't do it anymore, told me to try another place. The other place is still under construction and they aren't open for business yet. 

Another place rents them but the cost is a bit high - like really high. $450 per day plus $350 for delivery and pickup. Gag, that's a lot.  I think I'm just going to rent that mini-ex again and just get the area around the pads finished and get a good 50 feet area cleared around them on either side if possible and save the rest of that for some other date.  

But it's getting late in the day for renting one, just wait until tomorrow morning.  I have not been having those boys out there to do anything, I'm good with the trails for now, it's the front area I need to focus on.  

Now, I knew something was off.  I couldn't figure out what it was.  I had all of the lots meticulously measured and marked with stakes.  I didn't mark the pads because the contractor said he would do that after we were discussing it.  

So I was sitting there looking at the pads this morning.  Just something said no, this isn't right in my brain.  I drove the 4 wheeler to the back of the property, got my 300 foot tape measure and also my level - I wanted to see how much of a grade there is on the lots - went back to the pads and start measuring the lots and the pads on the back-in/west side.  The lots are/were 40 feet wide.  Now? 37 feet wide here, 45 feet wide there - measuring from water spigot to water spigot. The pads? that was what was really eating at me.

The contractor said 12 feet wide.  No.  Most of them are wider, some of them are much wider.  Now I understand why there is less room - psychological effect anyway - between the pads.  What anyone needs with a 15 foot wide pad is unknown.  It's just a lot more gravel and waste of usable "grassy" space.  I don't know if I can alter that stuff with a mini-ex.  I am going to contact the contractor and ask him about why they are so wide?  I could maybe see 12 feet wide, I cannot see 15 and wider.  

I'm going to ask in a couple of groups if anyone has wider pads and what the advantage of it is?  I do remember seeing one park owner saying if he had to do it all over again, he would have made the pads 14 feet wide, but his only explanation was that "the campers will appreciate it".  

It's just a little bit interesting that they didn't meet my design specs by clearly set stakes that were easily visible from the inside of a dozer or trackhoe - the two pieces of machinery that were being used for that operation.  I'm not real happy about that and yes, I will ask the contractor directly.  Need to back out there today and measure all of the lots all the way around and the pads and write it all down on paper. I need to number the lots as well so I can reference any lot to the size it is.  

Anyway, that's my day.

Happy Monday!

 Sunday.

A lengthy ordeal 2 days ago with Tractor Supply that I am not going to bother going into great detail here, just to say the experience was ridiculous.  In a nutshell, I ordered 4, 50-pound bags of rye grass seed from the store 30 miles away. We were going there anyway and the price was $5 per bag cheaper than in my town, so why not.  I got to the store after receiving an email saying it was ready to be picked up - and found out they didn't have any of the grass seed, had thrown the printed order in the trash and left it like that, while hitting my account for over $200.  

Yeah, as I said, it was a lengthy ordeal and the charge is still showing on my PayPal account.  I ended up getting the seed in my town, probably at the higher price, I don't know, I didn't check, I was disgusted by the time I got to that point.

This is definitely a nothing day.  I will take the seed over to the property, put it in the locked shed, perhaps go for a walk with the dog and that's about it for today.  Tomorrow, I will be over there early enough looking to see if the power company is there yet - I do this every day now - and then I will make a decision about which machine to rent.  Basically, I will call the place renting a dozer and see if they will even rent to me. If they won't, I'll get the small machine at the local rental place and do what I can with it.  

The dozer will be more expensive but it will get so much more done, with a better result.  As I said, I will just have to make a decision tomorrow.  

My $1,500 property tax bill isn't going to be officially late until February of next year, that one is going to sit there a while.  Bracing myself for whatever the power company is going to want for a deposit, I'm imagining thousands of dollars but hoping for something smaller.  I'll have no choice, whatever they tell me.  

The shed is going to wait to be transformed into a vending machine/laundry/shower.  It's just not in the cards right now for the money situation.  I want to get everything done that I have to plus the doggy park. The materials for that are paid for, I just need a machine to do a bit more leveling before I run the fencing around it and get some grass seed down.

There is a medium chance of rain coming this week on Wednesday and Thursday. The chances of rain go up and down every time I check.  But, I got the grass seed in case I get these lots leveled and ready to plant - and - if it's going to rain.  The seed will sit in there if it isn't going to rain until there is rain definitely coming.  

The week after this, rain is forecast with varying percentages most every day.  This will not only water the grass seed, but if it rains enough, I can see if my drainage pipes are going to work.  Adjustments can be made. Not without a lot of work, of course, but if necessary, I can pull one or more out, do some more digging and hope for the best.  Really shouldn't be an issue, I think I got it right, but who knows until we get a nice, heavy downpour?  

We went to a local parade yesterday and then there was a carnival and a bunch of food and trinket tents set up.  Spent 5 hours there, lol.  The 7 year old went on his first ferris wheel ride. Except, this wasn't a normal, relaxing ferris wheel.  This one, you get into a cage and not only does the entire apparatus spin around (like normal), the cages also spin separately - whether you want them to or not. The poor child was screaming, crying and carrying on the entire time! 

I got a video of it, lol, sent it to the parents.  Sorry, but there was no death or injury, we all got a laugh out of it.  The boy laughed this morning at a pic I took of him after he had gotten off the ride - you'd think he'd just gone through a war zone! He got over it after that and went on far less - exciting rides. 

Well, I'm going to continue my "tax research" today.  I know, I need to see an accountant but it's just more money to spend.  Money is a factor here.  Getting down to the nitty gritty.  

 Today.

It is a beautiful day.  The sun is shining, the birds are chirping - the dog is looking at me funny lol.  Probably wants to go for a walk.  I was reading an entire meltdown in a Facebook group from members of a ministry I  was involved with in the 80's. 

People were bashing the founder of that ministry, who is also in that group and tho I suppose on an earthly level, he may deserve it, how long do people have to hold onto their grievances against other people before they just decide to let it go?  The man has apologized repeatedly for his words and actions.  

But, I started thinking of the times I had in that ministry, learning how to drive trucks and hauling food, medical supplies and clothing to the border and taking it across.  Going into Juarez so often with pickup truck loads of stuff to give out to the people living in cardboard shacks that I actually learned that city!  Take a look at Juarez on a map, it's like someone took a large handful of spaghetti noodles, threw it on a big piece of paper and then said "There! That's how to build a city and it's roads!". 

Those were marvelous times, much simpler, much less complicated. Yes, there were extreme hardships, but I wouldn't trade the experiences I had for anything.  We saw God move and do things that only the Lord can do!  I could go into a long list, but I don't really feel like it. Was just musing that particular portion of my past.  

At least I learned a valuable skill that I used for a good portion of my adult life after leaving that ministry. That particular skill I feel I must get back to, it's hard to hold out for this power company to get out there and get this stuff done. I already have the contractor saying he can come next week if I so desire to have the gravel brought over and spread.  

That may be old news, but it's holding me up.  Once I get that gravel in, I want things to move very quickly and get the operation up and running regardless of what stage of completion the project is in. The trails need a bit more attention, but they are good to go. I only really need to dig around some small tree trunk stumps that are jutting up out of the ground and cut them out with a chain saw.  This so people aren't tripping and falling.   The hand rail for the steps - tho that can wait.  This is something that is dependent on James getting done and that is entirely up to him whether he wants to do it or not.  

If not, I can just put in 4x4 wood posts and put 2x4's on top for a hand rail. Not ideal but it will work.  One thing is for certain: I am not working on that today. I have had more than enough of it, the thing has taken up so much time.  I've got a good tan going from being out in the sun working on all of that back there.  I guess I need to have some signs made up - small ones - to direct people which way to go.  I only want them on the main trail, the rest of the trails are off limits.   Well, I don't really care if they go off on the other trails, but if they get lost, that's on them lol.  The area is not that big back there, but it's forested so you can't just see your way out of there.  

No, I'm going over there this morning to take off the electrical panels and see what it will take to run power line to the office building. 

You know what I do every morning I go over there? Hope in high expectation to come down the hill and see the power company trucks out there - probably will be 3 of them - and I am disappointed, every morning.  I have to laugh, I know they probably won't be there, if it's like the last time, they may not be there for another 3 weeks!  Can I afford to be off work that long? Yes.  I can last a few more months, actually, if I just keep my spending tight and just paying normal bills and such.  Actually, even longer than that.

But why press it so close to getting close to nothing in the bank? I can tell ya, that the cost of this project went FAR beyond anything I imagined. Inflation made this project costs go way up.  That SB2 gravel should be around $25 per ton, not $37.  It's close to a nine thousand dollar difference in the end price for all the gravel I need. Electricity, pipe, everything!  

I could sit here and second-guess myself, should I have just waited for a year or longer to see if prices would come back down? No, I tell myself, I shouldn't have. Maybe prices won't come back down, maybe they will. Who knows? Why wait?  The sooner I get this thing up and running, try to get it filled up and keep it that way, the sooner I can show in my books that I am operating at a decent net profit and please, Mr. Banker, loan me more!  

Half million dollar loan, that is the eventual goal.  Pavillion, 30-50 more sites (with all the utility installation that also entails), swimming pool and other things.  Glamping is the future of the industry and I fully intend on getting into that aspect of it at some point, Lord willing of course.  

You have to say Lord willing because the Bible teaches you that.  You have no idea if you'll even be alive the rest of this day, much less tomorrow or the next year or 5 years to come.  Life is grand, make the most of it while you have life in your bones!  I have big goals for this operation and I intend on fulfilling all of them if my health stays good and the Lord allows it and puts His blessing on it!  If there's something I need above all else, it's God's blessings upon this operation.  

Anyway, off to the races! 

G'day

 I installed 12 sets of steps and I am done with that stuff for now.  There is cleanup to do, which I also started on today, but I'm just done with it. Give me a few days off from it.  I can go back refreshed, finish it up  and smile that I did a decent job.  The main walking trail is almost completely cleaned up and ready to go. I would love to sprinkle some grass seed back on some of the more dusty parts, or even put down a thin layer of gravel to just have something to walk over besides the dust.  Or both, actually.  

I could put in a few more sets of steps, but I think it's good to go.  The steep part is covered and that was the situation of concern.  I cut down a lot of junk around it and started piling it up this morning. But, I eventually ended up going to where the boys were working to supervise.  I get that they won't work as hard if someone isn't watching them. Their contribution, however, has been worth the money I spent on having them help me out.  

The rest back there is just trying to get access to campgrounds.  There is more that needs to be done in that arena and that isn't anything those boys can accomplish. It's mostly dozer work and yes, I"d have to have the mulcher man back for half a day.  Or, cut down trees with the chain saw and try to cut out the stumps below ground surface.  I might do that.  I have identified at least 20 trees that need to come down.  

_______________

That was earlier today.  I'm going over there tomorrow and see about running my own electrical wiring to the office building.  There is no power hooked up to that setup so I don't have to risk getting electrocuted, lol.  I got too caught up working on the trails and getting things cleaned up, the front should really be the focus.  I just wanted to have those prized walking trails done or at least done enough that people could walk through them and enjoy the beauty of nature and have that available. 

But I'd like to at least get wiring run to the thing and just put the twist line connectors on the ends and have it available.  I don't see any good reason to pay someone a thousand dollars to do that.  That's easily what they will charge, if not more.  Probably more, the wire has to run a fairly good distance from that meter pedestal.  I'll take the panels off that setup tomorrow and see if it's something I am comfortable with hooking up.  

I haven't done anything with that office because I just don't think I have the money right now to dump into it.  However, if I could put some flooring down in it and just get the basics in, I could at least have a washer/dryer setup going.  Yes I'll have to run sewer and water lines, but that's not really all that hard and the nearest place to hook up to those lines are only like 40 feet away.  I dunno, but beyond electricity, that project is definitely on hold.  Let's get the park up and going, get some revenues in and then we can discuss spending that kind of money on that thing? 

I could also turn that thing in to a mini-house and rent it out for $600 per month, utilities included.  A shower stall, a toilet, a mini-kitchen and a bedroom living room combo.  I could do that for 3 grand worth of materials and get even more income going.  

The contractor didn't waste any time today after texting him informing me that he could be out there next week to do the gravel. I told him I wanted him to come after the power install and that is either this week or next. So I was more thinking the week after next week.  Let's get this thing going, get whatever I can get started and get some income coming in!  Screw all of this uncertainty about taxes and everything else, I'll get it figured out!  I want to get the thing up and running, come what may.

And I figure 2 grand with of gravel will put a fresh coat over the existing driveway all the way up to the entrance to the RV park. The rest of the driveway leading to the back? Yeah, don't care about that, not my problem.  Just 2 inches should do it. It's an existing driveway, it doesn't need a 6 inch coat, 2 inches will suffice.  That's using SB2.  I don't know what iron ore costs, I didn't get a quote on that per ton.  

Well enough. I am just really chomping at the bit to get this power situation finished so I can move on. 

G'day 

 After texting the Swepco Engineer once again today, he finally responded.  As I had guessed, they have sent crews to Florida to help with repairing and reconstructing the power grid in Florida. They still have a construction crew left here, but they would have already had gotten to me if Hurricane Ian hadn't come into play.  

He said they would be here this week or next week at the latest.  

I've got to get the lets leveled, weed free and plant grass seed, rain or no rain. It'll mean spend a lot of time over there watering the lots.  Probably go buy several hoses and at least do several lots at a time versus attempting to do it with one hose and 14 lots.  So, I am going to call the dozer rental place and see if they'll rent me one.

If they won't, I'll get the mini-ex which really did a good job of clearing and leveling with just the blade it has attached to it and use that instead, but I'm going to get it done one way or the other.  Yes, I'll be planting before the rock install. I will ask the contractor to try and mitigate going into the actual lots themselves to keep the ground level and the grass from being destroyed.  

A little bit of it won't bother me, but if they were to just gut everything? Yea that wouldn't go over too well.

I need to find out Taylor's schedule and try to get a machine on a day when she isn't working and doesn't need the boys picked up from the bus stop.  But see the dozer costs only a little more than the mini-ex - tho I don't know how much they will charge for delivery and pickup. It's about 25 miles away, so I'd expect  a few hundred dollars.  It's just that a dozer will make quick work of the entire front portion of the property.  It will level the ground better than the mini-ex - tho I really have no great complaints about the mini.

Anyway, the boys are over there - the boys that have been over there - today sans the mom.  I told them what I want done, not what she wants done and they got to it.  They have raked up most of the main walking trail and it's looking very nice.  I am going to end having them out there after today, I might have them back in the future if they want to work again, but I can't afford to keep having them over.

Whatever's left I'll have to do myself.  I did get the stone pavers today and went through the pain of getting them to the bridge (it's quite the ordeal to get anything back there that needs a trailer with the 4-wheeler in the shop). I didn't do any work on steps today, once I figure out when I'm doing the dozer or mini, I can work on that and try to get that finished.  James is going to go out and measure for installing hand rails.  

I don't know what that will cost, the pavers only cost $57, enough for 15, 2-foot wide steps.  I'm not making them huge, just enough for one person at a time right now.  I want to get that stuff over with, it's really taken up quite a lot more time than I ever expected.  If I decide I want to widen them in the future, so be it. 

This is where we're at.  I need to finish up the doggy park - I am waiting until I get another machine and do a bit more leveling work there.  That's 2 days of work at most, I figure 2 days of work at most on the stairs, I already spent half a day working on them and then a day for the dozer.  

In other words, I should easily have all of that done before the power gets hooked up.  I'm going to try to coordinate with the contractor about the gravel install. I want to get this stuff done pretty soon, I need to get back to work - unfortunately. I need to take out a loan and pay all of my credit cards down to zero, get my score back up and ready for yet another loan application.  

I'm going to try, at least, to get a large loan not terribly long after I get this park up and running.  Add 30 or so more spaces and more amenities.  

Oh, I also have more trees to cut down in the rear along the driveway that was built. I hate to do it but they are in the way, I'm afraid people will run into them if/when I get the tent camping spots going.  z

There's lots to do!  I've been warned by numerous professionals to not get Quickbooks. They will fee you up the rear end and you aren't getting that much in return. I'm glad I'm in those groups,  I glean a lot of info from those people - they have parks running and many of them have been in the business for decades.  I asked what they suggest to use - but I forgot about that and need to go back and take a look and see what kinds of replies they have given.  

I don't know what this last sickness I had did to me, but I still have this funny taste in my mouth and my head doesn't always feel - right.  I've been affected by that illness since long after I "recovered" from it, but full recovery? Never really happened.  I've read that Covid can have life-long after effects.  

Whatever.  I have stuff to do, I just do it at whatever pace my body will allow for.  The boys left at noon, I am informed, I left the property earlier to get other stuff done.  I'm going to head back over and see what they finished and what's left to do.  For now, I just want the walking trails cleared and one campground cleaned up.  I don't know if campgrounds will be popular and I don't want to spend a lot of time and money on them until I find out what the demand for it is.  If they take off, I have 6 more spots that need - not too much more work really - and they can also be rented for camping.  I'm informed the going rate is $25 per night, that's what I'm going to ask.  Put in a fire pit, a picnic table and see what happens.  

Ugh. Picnic tables!  That's another $1,500 worth I need, gag.  But it's necessary, almost all RV parks provide them at every RV and camp site.  I can't skimp on the things that are vital to the appeal for people to come to my place.  The only caveat is if I get long term renters, a lot of amenities won't necessarily be needed.  A doggy park is more for overnighters.  Walking trails are for anyone, really.

The pull-through spots will be reserved for overnighters and short stays, that's what they are designed for. 

Actually, those picnic tables are probably much more expensive now.  Everything has gone through the roof in price.  A bottle of Cholula hot sauce today at Kroger's?  $7.49!  A large bottle of ranch dressing? Over $10!!! Unbelievable!  I'm almost afraid to see how much those picnic tables cost now, lol.

G'day

 Sunday, morning.

Got up a few minutes ago and amazingly, everyone is still asleep.  It's after 9:00 am lol. They did go and watch a movie with their crowd of friends they normally play cards with last night, tho.  I was invited but I didn't feel like doing anything but staying home, watch a movie and go to bed.  

My fatness has grown to the point where I can no longer stand  it. I will be starting some version of Keto up again this week.  221 pounds needs to go down by at least 30 pounds.  I've been doing intermittent fasting but it's not enough by itself. 

I'm also getting a bit antsy about getting back to work. Meaning, I feel like I need to get a job and get some money flowing back in.  It may be a bit irrational fear considering I still have plenty of money in the bank, but with the prospect of 28 grand worth of gravel, that money will be more than cut in half.  

I'd like to stay in the tanker business since it's relatively easy work and usually pays a lot more.  But, I'll take whatever pays well, at least 70k per year.  I won't go below that, you're really cheating yourself if you're not holding out for the best paying jobs.  I'd start looking now, but if I find something? They always want you to start immediately. Or, they put you down for an orientation and that is usually within 2 to 3 weeks (at most).  

Although I don't really want to do it, flatbed work is the best for staying fit and in shape.  I've been wearing heavy work boots at the property to get used to having them on all day long in case I end up getting a job where that is required.  Whatever the case, my goal will be to find local work, home every day/night and not spend endless time out on the road.  That is what was getting old about the last job. 

The trucking industry in general was really irritating me tho, not just the job I had.  I'm not missing it, at all.  

I'm not sure about how I feel today. Feel as in work. I'd like to go to Lowe's get the pavers and get them - somehow - to the back of the property where they're needed and then continue on with that work.  It's because I don't have the 4 wheeler.  I could possibly get them on the big trailer, transfer them to the small trailer and attempt to try to back it in a few hundred feet to where the bridge is.  No way can I drive straight in, I'll just get stuck with no way out back there.  Well, there would be a way out by unloading the trailer, unhooking it from the SUV turning it around by hand, etc, no thanks.  I've got about 8 steps left to cut out and then get them nice and level, pack them in and put gravel around them.  Fortunately, I have plenty of gravel back there! lol

Who knows, but this is the end of this one. 

G'day

 Well I didn't get much done today.  Went to Lowe's got the signs and string to put the signs up and looked at stone pavers for the steps.  Those pavers are still cheap, actually, compared to everything else on the planet anyway. I wasn't going to go that route because I assumed the prices of those things would have gone up astronomically just like everything else.

For example, a 25-pound bag of rye (winter) grass for $40?  Goodness gracious!  If the price is like that everywhere, that'll grind my ambitions of planting grass on all of that acreage to a complete and total halt.  Spread it very thing and hope it takes?  I can do it for the lots, that's all I can say. The rest of it? I doubt it. Rye grass isn't permanent, it's just winter grass that burns out and disappears after the heat of summer starts settling in. 

Then your summer grass comes back to life. Well, there is no summer grass. I take that back, there are pockets of area where there is natural grass growing.  Oh how I wish that grass could cover the entire land!  I doubt this setback will stop me from doing the dozer work. It will rid ground of weeds and more importantly, level the ground. At least it will be able to be bush-hogged if nothing else.  

These are things I have no answers for.  Bush hogging? How, with what money?  Thousands of dollars worth of grass seed?  Yeah, I guess, but I'd only spend that on SUMMER grass; not on temporary winter grass. I can see buying maybe 10 bags of it for the lots and the doggy park. The rest - will have nothing I guess and it is what it is.  Or maybe, just covered the entire area from east to west side where the lots are and maybe 20-30 feet beyond it and call it good.  I ain't doing 7 acres for that much money, no thanks. 

Anything to do with the office is completely on hold as well.  If there are funds available when everything is else done, then great.  I will have to have electricity run to it, but that's it.  I may see about running it myself before they hook up power to those meters.  The septic company hooked a small, underground wire up to it for the septic system, doesn't seem to be any reason why I couldn't run a line to the office as well.  I'm just looking for power to run wifi equipment and that's it for now.  

I had totally forgotten about that until I started thinking about this post and what is on hold and what is priority.  Even doing it myself, it will costs thousands of dollars to put in flooring, drywall, plumbing, etc in that office.  I just can't justify that at the moment.  It can be a storage building for now.  I'd really like to put in a washer and dryer.  A grand or more for a set and then have to run sewer and water to the setup plus 220 volt. RV's don't run on 220 volt so I don't even know if that's available out of those meters? I haven't opened up the panels and taken a look at it yet.  

Far greater priorities, beyond the gravel and electricity? The books!  Accounting, legaleze, setting up online registration. I've selected a host for that, the website guru can add it to the website.  

Well whatever.  I don't call this day a total wash, I got some stuff done I just was out of it. There are nights where I don't sleep well and I feel it the next day.  If I was still driving, I'd just go and drive through it. Now? I force myself out of bed and get out and do stuff and then, come home and take a nap.  

Enough.

 I basically fired the lady yesterday.  Not a decision I would make lightly, but I'm tired of people taking advantage of other people.  First off, they broke one of the chainsaws. I showed them how to tighten the chain before they ever used it and also to keep the bar oil reservoir full - meaning check it rather frequently.

On most chainsaws, to tighten the chain, you loosen 2 large nuts and then you turn a small screw which moved the bar forward or backward, depending on what you are doing (you'll move it backward in order to put a new chain on it).  

Well, they ignored that tutorial and tried to adjust the chain without loosening the screws, which in turn stripped the adjustment screw. That chainsaw is out of commission . I have 2 others, fortunately and they are both running.  Had to put a new bar and chain on one of them, but I already had that from a previous purchase.

Anyway, the second thing they did was sit around a fire I had made and burning wood.  I didn't ask them to do that and more importantly, I didn't want them to do that. A huge waste of time, I can burn the wood myself over time and get rid of it.  When I saw what they were doing, I asked them to please stop doing that and start cleaning the debris off of the trails.  

4 hours later, they were still in that area. It's one of the areas I have designated as a campground, but it isn't any kind of priority at all. Getting the walking trails cleared IS.  So I asked again, please pick up the sticks and just throw them off the side of the trail. These are small twigs but they need to be moved and any large branches and also the vines.  In fact, the only one that actually followed my directions was the 17 year old, who spent the entire time until he had to leave for homeschooling at noon.

The biggest issue I had with her, however, was the fact that I came up on her around 7 times spread out throughout the day, sitting on her @$$ doing nothing.  Other times, I came up on her just standing there watching the boys working while she was doing - nothing.  

The final straw was when she asked for 8 hours of pay for each person - when they had left the property and taken the 17 year old home and were gone quite a while. They didn't know I did this because I hid my vehicle in the woods on the other side to see if they were going to be honest or not? No, is the answer.  So, I texted her, you can stop now at 4 pm.  That's all I said in that text, then she apologized for not doing what I had asked them to do, which is when I sent a text outlining all of the facts I wrote above.  I won't be needing you back, thank you.

Yup, she showed up at my house wanting full pay for all hours and I was disgusted, but I said nothing to her, just paid her and said bye bye.  She pleaded with me to still have the boys work over there on Monday.  I thought about it and said, ok.  SHE was the problem, the boys were actually working and getting stuff done.  But, I'm not paying someone to stand around and supervise and she knew this fact quite clearly.  I'll try Monday to get these boys on MY page, not HERS.  The 17 year old listened to me yesterday anyway, he was doing exactly what I wanted done, which was clearing out the tree debris from the sides of the trails and hauling them to a burn pile.  

The other one, was spending more time with her mother - tho, he was working at least, but he was cutting stuff up to put on the fire.  Again, I just need a large pile made, I can burn the stuff over time, this is not something I want to pay for. 

If I can get them to finish the main trails on Monday, I'll be done with them and I can possibly have them back at a future date when I'll want more stuff done that really can only be done by hand.

But, I got so disgusted yesterday at the property watching this lady doing nothing that I just threw my hands up in the air and determined I would end up having to do all of that work by myself.  Hiring people off of Faceboook and Nextdoor and such is basically a waste of time, people don't want to work anymore as most of us know watching the news. It's just very hard work and after several hours of it, I'm done. I have to take a break from it - a long break - and get my energy back.  

I never said it was easy work.

Regardless, I started cutting out ledges to install stairs at the bridge yesterday. I got 6 of those done before quitting. I'll need about 8 or 9 more of them. It's painstaking work because the ground is full of roots both large and small.  Some roots are so large that only a chainsaw can cut them out of there. But, using a chainsaw in the dirt ruins the cutting edges on the chain rather quickly.  I'm going back today, it's kind of late in the morning but I was sitting here watching videos of various different materials being used to build stairs.  I was going to use the left over wood from the bridge, but it really doesn't sit in place very well. 

I guess I could drill holes in them and put 12 inch stake nails through them to hold them in place.  I dunno, I'm going to look at pricing on stones and pavers and see what the cost is.  I would just use rocks from the property - but there are very few rocks in the region. You dig into the ground, you aren't digging into rock. It's regular soil and then clay. I just didn't want to spend any more money on this stuff, it's getting expensive and I have other things I need to be doing.  

I contacted the power engineer again yesterday asking for an update.  He finally texted back and said he would ask the construction crew department. He never texted after that.  We're at the 4 week mark he said it would take to get them out there. I know, the last time it was closer to 2 months before they came out. I'm just going by his assessment when he first came out to propose a route for the power lines and inform me that that will necessarily give them a 30 foot wide easement.  Yes, I knew that, I don't have the money to pay for underground wiring from the pole to 450 back, that would cost a small fortune and I"m counting my pennies. 

I'm trying to hold out on going back to work as long as I can so I can get this stuff done and over with - AND - get the park up and running. I want to be free to address any beginning issues that may arise.  I'm sure there will be some, I just don't know at the moment what kind of issues I might face.  I do believe I should get some fittings to replace broken water lines.  This is a problem other park owners say they run into with people running them over or otherwise breaking them and that it's wise to have such parts available at the property.\

I don't know who or why, but a tractor trailer rig drove right over the new driveway yesterday. I didn't see the truck, but the tracks it left behind are unmistakably a large truck.  They drove it right over the top of my new pipes, part of each are sitting level with the top of the ground.  It was necessary because otherwise, going too deep, the water would just sit in the pipes and stagnate.  There will be a 6 inch deep layer of gravel over the top so I'm not worried about damage. But whoever this person was?  I would have loved to catch them because I would have trespassed them from the property.  I really need video surveillance out there.  No power - no surveillance.  

Kind of pissed me off, but it doesn't appear the pipes were damaged.  I hope not, that was 2 grand worth of pipe. I'm getting cones today to sort of barricade the entrance off on both ends.  Just 2 cones and signs - no entry, authorized personnel only.  Or whatever the store has.  I can't be having people driving heavy equipment over that driveway, end of story.  Sooner or later, enough times of heavy trucks and it will break that pipe.  

Well, off to the races. Put in inquiries on dozer rental and waiting to hear back.  Nothing local, they don't rent them to people who aren't contractors around here.  It will cost a small fortune for the delivery since the nearest places are 30 miles away.  I have little choice, I need one if I can get one, I really don't want to have to use a bobcat to do all of that work. I dozer will do the work 4 times faster and with better results.  

G'day.  

 At 48 degrees this morning, we can safely say that Fall is definitely here.  Temps still getting up into the 80's, pretty much the way I like it, actually.  

Still waiting to hear back from the power company. I've been trying to contact the engineer for an update on when they will come and install the poles and lines.  It dawned on me that they may likely be sending crews over to Florida.  With millions of people out of power, it is very likely that other states will be sending personnel to help with getting it restored. I've seen it in Texas where crews from states far away come in caravans.  The icing event 2 years ago was one of those situations where you saw all kinds of different companies showing up that were from other states.

So, if that's the case, I will patiently wait until they get that situation handled.  But, I don't really know and I'd like at least an answer.  

Meanwhile, I'm having the people come back today and continue working on clearing the trails.  I will be out there as well, lighting up 2 separate burn piles and feeding it with the wood they will be bringing in.  That stuff needs to go and frankly, all of those woods chips from the mulcher man operation need to go as well.

That stuff lights up like dried out pine cones with a match put next to it.  I want to get a steel rake out there and have them clear out the intended camping sites of all of that stuff. I was just going to leave it but the flammability of it told me otherwise.  I will also be assessing the bridge area and installing a set of stairs. 

I was hemming and hawing about that one but that hill is just too steep. People will slip, fall and slap lawsuits.  I was watching several YouTube videos on it, looks like a pretty simple affair to cut out the stairs and lay some flat rock on it.  

Yeah, there aren't any flat rocks around.  In fact, there are hardly any rocks in this region, I was just noticing yesterday.  You know, just use whatever is around to build natural style steps? I saw a few videos where they were using logs, but they look tacky and they also don't look very safe.  Likely go to Lowe's buy the cheapest stuff they have that's flat and be done with it.  

BTW. I didn't say this would be easy work!  This whole "hey, let's figure out a way to cross the creek" affair has become a nuisance.  A bridge, a truckload of gravel, a machine to bring the gravel and now this? And then a handrail after that? Gag.  I wanted walking trails, lol.  I'm neck deep into it now, no turning back on it.  

But now? I don't have the 4 wheeler to move my equipment around back there. Fortunately, I haven't moved a lot of that stuff from the bridge area. Something told me that I would have further use for all of it.  I can tell ya now, if this 4 wheeler situation doesn't improve, I'm going to get that Jeep over there, put a new battery in it and use that instead.  

Anyway.....Dozer, I think next week.  I'm just going to get it over with and done.  I would this week, but it's Friday and I don't want a whole weekend worth of rental. Too much money.  Try to get the stuff done in one day.  I'm going to have to go back to work here sooner or later, this dozer work needs to get done and over with.  

Well, that is if I can find a place that will rent one. I think I found one, but who knows?  I don't want to pay someone to bring and operate one, they'll add thousands of dollars to the bill for that.  It doesn't need to be a professional job, at all.  There is nothing to run into, for the most part excepting if I use it to level out the areas next to the pads, then there are pedestals and water and sewer outlets.  There is  a place two towns over that will rent me a bobcat.

I can't use the local place bobcat because for whatever reason, they don't want their bobcat to clear land.  Note, they didn't say that about the mini-excavator.  I only say that because I used it to clear the doggy park area.  Just some weeds, tho, no trees. I think it's the trees they don't want people tearing up their equipment with.  A bobcat could clear out the land but it wouldn't level it like a dozer will. 

Guess I better get outta here. Those people are showing up soon and I intend on supervising the operation today.  Beyond supervision is working while I'm doing it, I intend on getting some stuff cranked out, over and done with.  I don't want to have to have these people coming back too many times, the bill after a day's work is a bit up there.  Worth it, yes. They aren't lazy and they aren't playing on cell phones all day long.  

I'll take the pick and see how hard it's going to be to dig out those steps!

G'day. 

 Yesterday just one of those days. The chainsaw tensioner was broken - there is no way that just "happened", those people must have done something to it.  Not intentionally, I'm sure, but that chainsaw is out of use at the moment. 

The 4 wheeler issues started 2 days ago, that is also out of commission. I have more chainsaws, I do not have another 4 wheeler and right now? I don't want to buy one. Even old, used ones are double the price they were late last year.  The market in this area for anything with a motor and wheels is outrageous and off the charts.  

You see 20 plus year old trucks going for 30, 40 and 50 grand.  ATV's are also off the chart.  Something that might have cost $1,500 last year is in the high 2's or 3 range now.  I tried to fix the thing but I couldn't get the fan to come back on.  So, I took both of them to the local shop and he told me 2 week turnaround time.

2 WEEKS?!! I replied, probably choking a bit.  I can live without the chainsaw since I have others, I can't deal with the idea of not having a 4 wheeler to get me all over the place in a few minutes versus a lot of time spent walking.  I don't mind walking, it's just the time spent going from point A to point B to point C and back to point A and then back out to the front -etc etc etc. It's a true time saver and it also pulls the small trailer all over the place. 

It's an indispensable piece of equipment that I must have running, is the point of saying all of that.  The shop owner looked at me and said, well, do you need something fixed faster?  Yes, the 4 wheeler. I'm trying to get a business going and I must have it.  I can put it on rush, saying that without saying whether there is an extra charge for it, but it's whatever, I need it and I said yes.  

Shortly before I lost my job, I had purchased a new chainsaw in addition to the one I already have from Harbor Freight.  I also have another one out there that I might be able to get running as a back up.  

I sent the people home yesterday after all of this and they said please call us when you are ready to have us back. These are the people that are cutting the trees and dragging the stuff by hand to designated burn piles or areas to stack the stuff up.  The 4 wheeler was down but they were gleefully hauling the stuff everywhere without it.  They truly got a lot done and I was happy to have them, but at the time, I thought the other chain saw was also not running properly. 

They said it was.  I am going out there this morning to fire it up and see if that's true.  If so, I can survey the work they've done and identify further areas that need more junk hauled to burn piles.  I want to make sure and keep them busy. It's an ex-military mother with her 2 sons. One of them is 17 so he works half a day and then goes home and does home schooling, the other in his 20's, excellent health, big beefy guy with lots of energy and mama keeps him busy.  

I could hear them laughing and giggling with each other while they were working yesterday, it really was interesting to hear the amazing chemistry this son and mom have together.  I did, however, get into business mind and tell them from the get-go that I expect productivity.  I did not supervise them, I didn't have the time for it.  I was busy finishing up the front with the Bobcat, taking the 4 wheeler and chainsaw to the shop and other things I needed to get done. 

Also making sure the burn pile I had lit up wasn't spreading anywhere.  

Business mind - that's something I'm trying to get. When it comes down to where the rubber meets the road, it's all about the dollars spent versus the money generated. I just want the walking trails finished and over with and there is still a bit to do with that bridge setup. They were telling me yesterday that if it rains, it's going to be pretty slick going up that hill on one side of the bridge. Yup, I am going to have hand rails installed.  Well, I'm going to install them, I'm just saying there is going to be something to hold on to. They were suggesting building steps, something I have considered and just haven't gotten myself to quite get to yet. 

It will be a lot of work digging out steps going up that hill. Yet, for safety's sake, it's probably warranted.  I don't want people falling and suing me because I had an unsafe condition that I should have taken care of.  Yes, it's an LLC which shields me personally from liability, but that whole property could just go away to someone else's hands in such a situation.  I'm very conscious of liability and needing to have everything I can have in place to mitigate it.  Safety is key, so is good insurance and legaleze on a registration form.  I may have online registration, but I want one of those things where you can't register until you click on the dot that says I agree with above stated restrictions/rules/regulations, etc.  

I need to get working on that.  I'm curious if I can just find something online with all of that, perhaps online lawyers to reduce the cost of having one made up.  I'll be searching that out soon.  

The news of the day is Florida and the devastating hurricane, of course and I've had trouble ungluing myself from ongoing TV coverage of it.  But, I need to get out there and get some more stuff done.  And contemplate the renting of a dozer.  Take a walk around the entire property and mentally note - once again - where I have the issues that need the dozer work. Most of it is out front, but there are areas in the trails and campgrounds that need minor work as well.  

I have to have everything I want done in my mind or even written down before I'm going to spend the money it's going to take to rent a bulldozer.  And I'm still undecided whether to do it now or wait until rain is forecast so I can get it done, put out grass seed and get some grass growing.  Yes, I could get it done and just be ready, but what if weeds start growing again? All that work and expense wasted.  Maybe it isn't the time of year for weeds to be growing, since we just hit Fall? 

I dunno.  It's a tough decision for me. I'm not made out of money.  I know I was discussing a refi-cashout on the property yesterday, but that's after everything is done and the business is up and running.  You don't get an appraisal before hand.  It's a grand, basically, maybe a little less but thereabouts, to have a dozer delivered to the property.  I can't haul a dozer, they weight 30,000 pounds for a light one, lol.  

Well it's time to get out of here. The situation in Florida isn't going to change much, flooding, destroyed homes and business, downed power lines, the things you expect to see happening in a major hurricane event.  My heart goes out to all of those people, even the ones that ignored evacuation orders and stayed in their homes - and then had to put rescue crews lives' at stake because they ended up calling for extraction.  I don't understand that, well maybe I do a little, but when they tell you that storm surge is going to flood your home, you should probably get out of there at least for a few days and see what happens. I don't want to sound heartless, I just don't really get these people making decisions like this. 

I think I'll take Addler today. I usually don't take him when I'm working out there, I can't keep an eye on him and get anything done. But today? I'm going to take notes of what is left on the table for needed done.  Get a sense of the magnitude of everything left to do and try to work a plan on finishing it all, step-by-step.

G'day. 

 Didn't sleep worth a nickle last night, but had to get up early to finish out the job this morning. 

Yesterday, the entire day was spent moving dirt from the pile up front to the various places the dirt was needed out back.  Specifically: the bridge, the drop-off and another drop-off right where I park my vehicle whenever I'm over there and working in the back.  

The 2 drop-offs are the intended driveway to the rear of the property. The drop-off that I have been referring to for a while now? Took a lot of dirt and then a lot of gravel to get it to where I could trust it to drive my SUV over it.  If I can do that, certainly any pickup can make it over it as well.

No, I haven't tried yet.  I want to drive over it with the 4 wheeler for a while and get it compacted in there nicely.  I can't be driving in there and find out I can't make it back out.

Anyway, about 7 hours into it and I was done for the day.  I still had the drainage pipe at the front to deal with.  ON that, specifically, filling it back in with top soil and compacting it back in.  That took longer than I expected it would.  I was pushing the time limit for 24 hours by the time I finally got the machine loaded back on the trailer, went to the fueling station and filled it back up with diesel and then got it back to their yard.

I was fretting taking it back. There is a pretty good dent on the rear door that I hadn't noticed before I left their yard with it.  The fretting is having to pay a solid amount of money to replace that door.  I had backed into a tree, but not very hard. That door is solid, thick metal.  It was a curiosity to me, but I just came to the conclusion that I would have to face whatever music they would give and pay for it.

However, when I got there and told them about the door, the yard dude said: "Well, it's not that bad, it's ok but I'll has him". Him being the guy that manages the place.  He came out, looked at it, thought for a minute and said: "I don't think you did that" in a deep, Texas drawl, lol.  Oh? Yeah, I have a door on an old machine I am already going to replace it with.  

Sighs great relief and saying to myself: "Self, you best be checking out the whole machine next time you rent one and note any damage, take pics for that matter".  It's probably not the biggest deal ever, the machine is old and has dents and damage all over it.  Works perfectly fine, but definitely has been through the wringer.  

I have a crew of people out there clearing the trails right now.  I'm not supervising them at the moment because I am extremely tired and decided to go home and try to take a nap for a while and then go out and watch them - probably help as well.  The outside temps have come way down and even yesterday afternoon, I wasn't burning up in that machine.  It was a bit warm, but not hellish hot.  Makes a big difference.

No power company out there, yet.  If they don't show up this week, I'm calling the engineer and asking for an update on when they are arriving.  

I still have lots of cleanup work to do on the lots and I really want a dozer for that.  I'm not sure about the affordability of getting one, but I would have all that done in a day plus clearing weeds and leveling the ground plus, hopefully, doing some work in the back on the trails.  There is still a driveway I need to plow and a dozer would be the perfect machine for it.  It may be that I'll have to rent one for two days.  

But that's not now.  Now, I need to get a bit of rest and get out there and see what these people are accomplishing.  They just called and asked where to put branches for the burn pile? The burn pile is apparently large now.  I said just put them off to the side, I'll be out "soon" and light that pile on fire and start burning it up.

Note that it is an ex military lady and her 2 sons.  The sons are black kids - very muscular and obviously in very good shape.  I don't know what their work ethic is, but with mama there, it shouldn't be a problem keeping them working.  I noted to her yesterday that "some kids like to play on their phones" instead of working.  Yeah, she said, hence my boys phones do not have cell service, they can only use them with wifi.

There's a tough mama! lol.  I'm not racist, btw, noting their race, just  noting that they were quite muscular - 17 and 25 year old.  Not fact, gooey kids that you wouldn't expect to get much out of.  They were also very respectful.  I like that, I encounter lots of kids nowadays that have no respect for adults or authority.  

Anyway.  The sign is finally being made.  They found a "different supplier" for the shade of green they wanted to use. These people are self-described very picky about the materials they use.  As I said in a past post here, they claim that some of their signs have lasted over 20 years.  Yeah, I don't want a half-@$$ed job, number 1 and number 2, I don't want to have to be replacing a sign 2 years down the road.  So I'm hopeful that they will produce the quality they claim they will.  

I never heard back from the internet engineer. Not a priority atm.  Getting that done would mean incurring another monthly bill which I don't need right now.  I'll get back with them when I have a clearer idea when the park is actually going to open.

People are calling, btw, about the park.  Do you have a space available?  Twice yesterday and once the day before.  Google search puts my park in the map listing you see when you are looking for something and it shows all the available places in that town or area you are looking at.  I haven't checked where it is in the page rankings lately.  

My price is going to be $400 per month plus a flat fee for electricity.  It will be listed as $525 per month includes all utilities/electric (yes, I know electricity is a utility but some people don't, lol).  That sound high? Well, I'm in this for a profit.  My park will be unique in that it's over 450 feet from the nearest road.  It's in a beautiful area and it has those lovely walking trails.  I'm more about overnighters but have come to the conclusion that there is more of a demand for long term.  

The long term stays will be in the back in pads only.  I will attempt to reserve the pull throughs for short stays only. That's what they're for. Pull in, stay a night or however many  nights and pull straight back out. Especially appealing to those pulling cars or trucks, they don't have to unhook them to pull in.  There was no extra cost to making pull throughs, btw, excepting I made the pads 5 feet longer to accommodate longer rigs pulling either cars or even 20 foot utility trailers. I've seen them all over the place in my travels. 

Well, the day isn't getting any younger and I really need my nap.

G'day