My call to the new owner apparently worked. 

The guy that drives the green pickup truck in here every single day was going markedly slower than his normal pace.  I didn't even complain about him, I kept the complaint to the kid that was doing burnouts and running up and down the driveway like it's the Indy 500.  

Whatever works. I am at the property using my laptop. Everything is saturated with water, I can't do anything out here today.  I tried dumping diesel and gas on a burn pile and still couldn't get it to do anything beyond the initial flame up and then fizzle out.  

The fire pit is currently a mud pit.  Rain is unforgiving around here.  It also carried the freshly laid grass seed into piles of it.  Not useful. Not at all.  I'll have to get more seed and try over again.  I'm just not going to get anything done out here today and I will just have to deal with it.  

I also just noticed that the "Sabine Oil & Gas" sign, the one that was apparently run over by either a trackhoe or a bulldozer, has the new owner's name in it.  I thought it hilarious they wedged that sign into that crushed frame instead of simply putting up a new one.  Not my call and not my money.  It's a sign they have at the front of the property of which I left up.  The other sign - no dogs, guns, etc - was taken down a while back and is sitting at the rear of the property next to their operation. 

I have leads on 2 riding mowers.  One is $475 and the other came down to $600. The $600 one is nicer, but the $475 one they claim runs perfectly.  

As for firewood, there is a guy selling it at $190 a cord if I come pick it up - well he doesn't deliver anyway.  Is it a priority? Yes, if I get anything rented out here.  No, if I don't get anything until next year.  I don't have the campground software installed on this computer so I don't know if there have been any bites yet or not.  

Google postcard still not there.  If it doesn't arrive by tomorrow, I will be going to the post office to inquire if they are actually delivering mail out there yet.  They said they would......

A mower is an absolute priority, some of the first seed I planted is starting to get fairly tall.  

And sitting here gazing at the field full of weeds and 3 burn piles? I need that dealt with.  It looks trashy.  I don't really have "extra" funds for that, but I also don't have the luxury of leaving it looking like that if I want people to enjoy their stay here without looking at ugliness.  

It doesn't matter on that one, I can't do anything until it dries up completely and there is more rain in the forecast next week.  It won't be dry enough today or tomorrow for grading and plowing, it'll have to wait until Monday, when there is a 49% chance of rain.  

And whenever I have that dozer here, it's only going to be for a day - I want that gravel dropped.  I have thousands of more dollars to spend out here for bare minimum.  Yet, I will start renting out lots if people are interested.  I'm ready to get people out here, that's all I can say about it.  Get this ground dried up and I can finish everything and get with it. 

Currently the dates are blocked out for anyone wishing to stay now.  I may just change that.  I sent pics to the web guy this morning. The grass is finally starting to get pretty full, regardless of the water blowing out everything.  Anytime I put down the seed, it's a risk of whether the rain coming is going to be light, medium or heavy.  What can I say?  At least I found the seed pretty cheap now. 

I need to install a regular electrical outlet so I can have electricity out here - in case this place ever fills up.  That IS the goal, fill this place up and keep it full.  It might not keep me from having to work another job to begin with but it will certainly make it possible to not have to have an OTR or regional job that keeps me out all the time.   I've been looking, again, for jobs.  It's getting close to time to start filling out applications.  Well, a couple and a half weeks, it will be the beginning of January before I seriously start putting in applications.

If I were doing OTR, I could hired today. Local? That's a bit different ball of wax.  You have to sell yourself to the companies looking for the local drivers because there are a lot of people that want to do the same thing as I do - stay home.  I'll find something - I hope.  It's going to be tough to get back into that type of thinking and routine, I can tell ya that. 

Anyway, if I can get this park at least 80% full and keep it that way, I can more than just survive off of a lower paying local job. Of course, I might just say screw it and find something that pays well - but of course keeps you working all the time. 6 months to a year is the maximum I want to have to do anything like that.  

I've made my decision - just sitting here contemplating things.  The park will open at reduced rates.  Like, available now.  There are good reasons to not open until after everything is done, but I've paid out the money, I have nothing coming in, it's time to at least make it available.  It will mean reduced income if anything does rent out - but I"m hoping if I can get some spaces rented at reduced rates, I can get some reviews up on the board.  I desperately need reviews!  

I am busy removing the blackout dates - from now until the 1st.  Again, I am not going to be depressed if nothing happens, it's the time of year where everyone wants to be settled for the holidays.  There are still people traveling, yes and I expect the only real customers I could possibly get are long term rentals. Never-the-less, I am going to make it available and change the wording on the website. 

In fact, I have determined this to be my next reality to the point I am going home to do all of this on the desktop computer. I'm sitting here with a keyboard in my lap, the laptop on the console and trying to find room for the mouse, lol. 

Yup, I'm doing this. 

 I decided to lower the rates after giving some thought to it.

I need to give an incentive for people to check the park out, setting rates the same as everyone else might not be the best move.  I have no reviews, ratings, nothing from anyone because -no one has ever stayed there before. 

I lowered it by $5, which puts me below the only real competitor in town.  Although they have tight spaces and not that many - more than mine but for something that has been in existence forever, you'd think they would upgrade - they still manage to get decent reviews. They have a fishing pond which is a huge plus for them.  

Still, it's the worst time of year to be opening  a park. Winter and Christmastime. People up north have either already headed down this way and are wherever they are, or they winterize their rig and they are done for the season. The only real people I could possibly find right now are long term tenants.  

So, I didn't drastically reduce the rate but I did bring it down enough to compensate for other parks in the area. I need to get people in there and get some - good -reviews going. We'll see about the good reviews, it's lacking in amenities which is a definitely not a good thing.  No laundry, no clubhouse, no bathroom with showers.  I simply don't have the funds for any of that. 

I mean, I might be able to squeeze by a laundry facility after I find a job, go back to work and get some funds coming in.  But it's really going to take a large loan to get the things in there that I want and need.  

Whatever.

The kids woke me up at 6:00 am.  Mom was outside smoking and the boys were making all kinds of racket just outside my bedroom door, standing next to the toaster.  They know not to wake me up in the morning - or wake anyone up really that is sleeping.  I was never able to get back to sleep so I just ended up getting out of bed much earlier than normal.  Perhaps that's a good thing and I really need to start doing that every day?

It's cold outside, near freezing.  That isn't going to stop me from going over and working today, but it definitely slowed me down, lol.  

I did start listing the park in the directories yesterday.  There are a lot of them, I am only doing it in the ones that are free.  With only 14 spaces, it doesn't make sense to spend money on directories and some of the good ones are free.  This was highly encouraged by the site designer - but makes sense. You end up with "backlinks" that not only give your site more traffic, but also will end up causing your Google rating to go up.  It takes quite a bit of time, lol. 

I'm picking up more junk off the ground today if the ground isn't too wet - I need to be able to take the trailer back there and I'm not risking getting stuck if the ground is still too wet from all the rain.  The sun is shining and that's a huge plus regardless of what I get done today.  

Oh, I knew it was cold today without even looking at the temps. I don't run my space heater in the room at night, no point in wasting electricity when one can just pull more covers over yourself.  But, I sat up and it was freezing in here.  In fact, the heater has now been running for an hour and it has just started to warm up a bit.  

Well, I think I'll add the park to some more directories while letting it warm up a bit outside. Later on today, the older boy is in a choir thing at school - that's not until 5:30 but I am taking them since mom and dad are not going to be available.  Daddy will make it there in time for the actual concert tho, he just won't be home in time to get him to the school for the preparation.  

G'day. 

 Par for the course.

The forecast was for rain at 7:00 am, then 8:45 am, then 9:00 am and now? 

I have plenty to do out there, I just don't want a repeat of yesterday, where it started, stopped, started, stopped - until I was sufficiently wet.  

Whatever the case, I have had the statement that it is open for long term rentals installed on the front page of the website.  

Of course, this is a terrible time of year to be seeking people that want to move in semi-permanently, so I'm not going to be terribly shocked if none or not too many people inquire.

There was one yesterday - he was interested until he heard the monthly rate. I almost laughed at his response, but I guess that's not terribly professional, so I just said ok, bye, have a nice day!  I don't know what he thought was a good rate, but the cheaper ones in this area are trashy. 

I will have competition from that new startup whenever they get that going.  I don't think it's been sold yet.  

There.  I just blocked out the dates until the beginning of next month.  Asked the web designer to go ahead and install the link. that will make the website software "live" and people able to book dates for anytime after January up until - well January 2024 I do believe.  

This will set a fire under my feet to get everything else done.  Not that there isn't one lit there already - well there won't be any fires if no one makes any reservations.  I really have no clue.  

If there isn't any demand, it will signal the "time to go back to work" and find a trucking job.  Which I intended to do anyway, but it'd be nice to get some revenues in from all of this stuff.  My Google site is shut down to seeing any analytics, visitors, etc until that postcard comes and I get the code input into their system. 

Before that happened, it was over 5,000 views in the last 30 days.  

LMAO. NOW it says "Rain expected around 11:00 am".  Make up your d*** minds already!  What the Hercules Hondon! 

You know what I can do instead, since I am left clueless about rain or no rain? Find a good, used riding mower.  I've seen them going for anywhere from $250 on up.  This will be a better idea than just sitting around here wondering if I should go out there or not. YES I should go out there, to check the mailbox, check the property and make sure nothing has been tampered with.  I do that pretty much every single day.  I'm fortunate it's only 4 miles away!  

Oh, and I have a high quality video camera coming for Christmas!  Thanks mom!  I take a ton of videos, a lot of them turn out pretty poor because Iphone videos aren't that great. I was hoping I would get a better camera and video system with the Iphone 13, I was wrong, hope misplaced.  

This thing I'm getting works on either wifi or cable connection to upload to computer or purportedly direction to facebook - not sure how that works.  

Actually, I'm hoping I can just do live videos on the thing via facebook - but I have no clue really. It's probably more of an "upload to facebook" and anywhere else I want it to show type of thing.  It's probably more work - but - it will be much video quality.  I will be able to use it to do a tour of the walking trails and upload it to the website.  

I need to get some help out there.  I just don't want to today because I feel like it might be a waste of time.  Alright, I have something to do now that I have decided to wait to see if it's going to rain.  Off to Facebook Marketplace!

 Pretty much a waste of time. 

I took Addler out there (my doggy) and started picking up all the sticks and digging whatever out of the ground. Then it started to rain. So I went into the shed and waited it out. Back out, pick up more sticks.  More rain.  Back to shed.  Out, pick up sticks.  About the 4th? time, I was 300 feet from the shed and it started raining enough to get me wet is when I decided it's time to pack it up, call it a day and try coming back tomorrow. 

Unless the forecast has changed again, which it well may have, it wasn't "supposed" to start raining until this afternoon.  Whatever. I'm not gong to stand out there getting drenched.  Yes it needs to get done, just like a lot of other things.  I was 5 lots finished at least before I left there.  

Now then, just a few minutes ago, an obviously older gentleman called me, responding to the voicemail I left them last night.  We had a pleasant conversation.  I simply said that I didn't appreciate whoever it was speeding up and down the driveway, getting an attitude with me and doing burnouts on the driveway out onto the street.

That was no exaggeration and I have a witness that could "testify" the same.  You could tell the man was none too pleased to hear about that and said he would take care of it.  Then he said if he had to, he'd put up a gate and that would be that.  No sir, we can't have any gates out there (unless automated with a passcode to get in), I'm just asking these people to slow down, please.  

Anyway, turns out they own a lot of wells around the area, I totally forgot to ask him why Sabine sold the well on my property?  Just out of curiosity, nothing else.  It's interesting that a company would sell off a money maker to someone else.  Why would they do that?

Well, I hope to not have to have another conversation with this gentleman, I'd prefer that that was the only discussion we needed. I don't want to push it.  I did inform him that I had already had an agreement worked out with Sabine, I did not tell him that I have all of that in writing.  I don't want to end up in court, I can't afford that.  You're talking tens of thousands of dollars to hire an attorney with experience with land lease disputes between landowners and oil/gas well operators. 

It's just not worth it.  I had thought of putting speed bumps in but I don't think that's such a great idea with some of these motorcoaches nowadays being so low to the ground, I wouldn't want them bottoming out.  The end result may be that if this man wants to force the issue with a gate, I will have to force the issue with an automated gate.  This would be okay with me, the passcode could just be added to the reservation system. 

There are lots of RV parks with automated gates, it's nothing new or special. I just don't want to have to deal with it. 

Okay, well anyway, I can do nothing else today beyond doing online research on certain things of interest about rv parks that I haven't delved into and also further acquainting myself with the online reservation software.  Or I can just sit in solitude, listen to the rain pattering on the house and have quiet time, something that doesn't happen often around here with kids running around, making lots of noise and demanding attention.  

I need to figure out how to block out dates between now and January 1st and then go ahead and go live with the software.  There is a block out "thing" on there, I just haven't tried to use it.  Then, I can go ahead and get it live, up and running and if anyone is interested, they can reserve dates as far as a year in advance.  

Why so long? Well, I can start earlier if everything is good enough, I just want it up and going so people can start reserving spots. RV'ers do this stuff well in advance, especially if they're coming from northern states heading south either for the winter (now) or heading for locations south or east of here in the spring or summer.  I'm serious, these people do this so far in advance because a lot of the campgrounds fill up to 100% capacity.  You can't take a chance that you are going to just find a place that has an open spot.  

They figure out their destination and then they figure out the route they're going to take and after that, they figure out where they want to stop - and then they start looking for RV parks in the general area that have decided to stop along the way.  Number 1, if you don't have online reservation system, you will lose a lot of potential business. Number 2, when you have that system, it will automatically block out the dates the customer is choosing.  

Well enough of this.  I need to sit here and think for a while.

\

 Typical for the weather forecast.  Severe weather with potential for tornadoes, heavy winds, yada yada yada was supposed to start early this morning. Then it moved to 9 am. Then to noon. Now it's at almost 2 pm.  These so-called forecasts are annoying.  

Since it's not going to rain for a while - quite a while allegedly - I'm going over and start picking up all the sticks on the lots.  Stuff I just haven't gotten to.  I need two full days of sunshine preferably before renting a dozer - and hopefully on that day also have the gravel brought out so I can spread it.

Yeah, I have no clue how to spread gravel, but I'll be learning! lmao 

I watched the dozer operator spreading gravel when they put it all down on the new driveway and lots.  It helps, doesn't make me an expert but I at least have an idea.  How hard can it be? Well, once you get behind the controls of any piece of heavy equipment, having no clue what you are doing, you will find out.  

I have operated a grader in the past - far past.  It took a while to figure out what all of those controls do. There are lots of them on graders as you can angle the blade to any pitch, move it sideways, move it up and down, angle the wheels - lots of things you can do.  Dozers don't have near that many controls and I don't really think it's going to take long to get the idea of it.  

The driveway is the final hold up to opening. It's currently muddy and I can't have that.  There is a 500 foot stretch that absolutely must have a layer of fresh gravel put down.  

Oh, I'm going to call this "new" company that owns the production well today and have a conversation about their employees.  That one yesterday? If I see him out there again pulling that bs, I'm going to get video and I will call the sheriff's office to find out what, if anything, I can do about it.  

Just another annoyance.  People that don't give a s*** about anyone else.  

No sense sitting here wasting valuable time, I'm off to the property. I think I'll take Addler today.  Marc is on his way to Fort Worth and said he could come back next week.  I'll be here!  Lol.

G'day

 Ridiculous.

I had to call the gas company - more than once I will tell you that - to finally get a reply from the man who said I would never hear from him again. I wasn't calling him, I called the main office in Houston.  They reroute it to him and I'm sure he's glad to dump this problem on someone else.

But why, oh why, didn't he tell me this information long ago? What did I find out? The gas company sold the well to some other company last December!  What the Hercules hondons is this nonsense?  

Why would a company sell off a gas well that is producing?  I have no clue. They must have their reasons, maybe it's not projected to put off that much more gas, maybe they don't want to deal with me, maybe a lot of things.  I was going to call them today, but....

This dude comes flying up the driveway today. He's going 25-30 mph - which is a lot for this driveway.  I yelled at him even with windows closed. When he comes back?  He stops. What's up? Could you please slow down?  Instead of saying yes, he asked how fast I think he was going.  At least 25, if not 30, not now on the way back but when you went in here.  

Nope, wrong.  I wasn't going to play with this kid.  I just threw up my hands and said do whatever you're going to do. I didn't bother to tell him I would be calling his company. So what does this idiot do?  He goes flying down the rest of the driveway, slows down but doesn't stop at the street and then does a burnout staring in the driveway, tearing up a portion of it and then flying down the road. 

Yeah, that is NOT going to work. I did not address him with attitude, I asked politely if he could please slow down. I had NO idea this is a totally different company and that explains why everything with these people has changed.  This stuff is pushing me to the edge. I had had enough of this nonsense long ago, today escalated it to another level.  

I'll be calling "them" tomorrow. I looked up the address of the business, it is a house in a residential neighborhood. The address the old gas company gave me. So then, I looked up the name of the company on Google and it came up with the same address.  I hesitate to believe the man at the old company was playing games with me and the name of the company did show up on a Google search, indicating that it is a company involved with gas exploration, so I guess? 

Marc was out there before I arrived this morning.  He was trying to get X amount of the cleanup done.  I spent hours dumping more grass seed. Over all the lots and then working on the back end where Marc has already cleaned up.  That's all dirt and I definitely want grass back there - weeds WILL grow eventually if I don't have something ELSE in it's place. There is no sense in doing all the work and not dealing with it right off the bat.  It will take several seedings, this I know, just like the lots.  But the end result will be worth it.  

Anyway, he is all but done with everything behind the RV pads, he is heading out to Dallas tomorrow.  We left early, around 1:00 pm - last week just didn't get behind me or him. "We are getting old" he stated after I said my legs are aching again. I don't know why my legs are hurting so bad when I'm doing that work - maybe my shoes need upgraded.  I don't have the problem any other time....

The rental place sent me a pic of a dozer today.  I have been asking them for months about renting one, not in a hurry to spend that much money, but I did keep in communication.  Their other unit's engine went out and apparently the cost is more than the thing is worth. Sounds about right. A diesel engine replacement in a semi tractor is at least 30 grand, I can see it costing much more in a huge piece of earth moving equipment with a much larger engine.  They went out and bought another one. It's not new but it looks in decent condition.  I don't care how old it is, I just need the thing to do what I need it to do. 

I replied awesome! And then proceeded to say I would be renting it after the rain stops and the ground dries up.  I am not going to spend that kind of money with wet soil. I want to take down the weeds - and - level the ground.  And then sparsely seed it with the ryegrass. I say sparsely because we're talking at least 5 acres worth.  Just get some grass out there growing. It doesn't need to be thick to start with, I just want to get something going.  

I would rather be overseeding existing grass in the spring than starting from scratch and trying to beat the weeds.  

 Last week pretty much blew me away.  I stayed out there and just worked until I couldn't do anymore.  After Monday-Friday of that, I had nothing left on Saturday.  I went out there, looked at everything and then went to install the mailbox.

The concrete wasn't set, but I decided that since the weight of the box would be on top of the post pushing down, I could still safely install it on the post.  Normally I would just wait until I'm 100% sure it's set, dried out and not going to have to start over.  But, that pesky postcard from Google is coming and I needed to be sure the box is there, ready and waiting.  I need that Google account.

Anyway, there has been lots of rain -good for the grass to grow. I am going to put out another 100 pounds of seed I have left today.  Over the existing grass - a light seeding to try and thicken it and also over the far rear of the back in lots. I have grass going maybe 10 feet back. Beyond that it's just dirt.  Yea, I know, I "should have" seeded it before.  Priorities.  Time. Energy.  

Well, maybe cancel that.  I'll have to check the weather. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and allegedly it's going to be a gully washer.  A waste of time and money to seed it when the rain is just going to wash it away.  However, that area is where all the seed would go to when it does wash it away. I dunno, I'll just have to make a call on it when I get there this morning.  

I think Marc is coming for half a day today.  I was going to light up the burn piles but I suspect everything is still quite wet. That leaves just doing a lot of cleanup work.  Sticks everywhere, I need all of that gone.  Tomorrow may be a rain day, I'm try to get as much cleanup done today as possible.  If it is a rain day, I'll just spend it going over the software again - and again - I'm trying to learn all the different aspects to it. There is a lot to learn.  There are dozens of training videos as well.  

I need to write down what's left to do.  Add up all the costs and see how that is going to leave me financially The big one is gravel - more gravel gag - and getting the weeds cleared on the rest of the land.  I just ordered a dispenser for the dog waste bags, just need a trash can.  I want more picnic tables - I'll get them as I can afford them.  Oh,; and the walking trails.  Just need to do a final clean up.  A good, solid day should finish that off.  

Wait. Hopefully tomorrow it does rain. I need to get Christmas shopping done and over with!  

I'm just trying to get the negativity of the word "monday" out of my head. It is the day that the Lord has made and I will be glad and rejoice in it!

Did I say I went to church yesterday?  I'm pretty sure I wouldn't even be going but now the kids are hooked on it and want to go every single Sunday.  This particular church isn't exactly my cup of tea, but it's a good start.  The boys love it - they get dressed and are ready to go Sunday morning before I even get out of bed. They are still of the age that they really have no sense of time - so they think when they get up it's time to go, lmao.  Uhh, no, it's still 2 hours til church.  

Ohhhh, the look on their faces as they face the prospect of having to wait for 2 hours lol.  The service is only an hour long, the church has a few adult programs but nothing on the scale of what you would expect to find in such a large place with so many people.  They are definitely geared towards children's ministry, all well and fine, I was looking for adult social meetings/clubs to engage new people.  And, the few adult meetings they do have? Are on Sunday morning! Lol, they have 2 regular services, I guess you go to adult meetings during one service and go to the church service after. 

They have a Wednesday service - well bible study - in the AM as well.  It's just strange their setup. Maybe that's just what they found would work?  There are 100 other churches in the area, but now that the kids are hooked on that church, it would be difficult to tell them we are going somewhere else.  

Anyway, it's still early. Coffee time, I got up early to get my thoughts in order, have a cup or two of coffee and prepare myself for a day full of the wonders of picking up branches, lol.

G'day.  

 Yesterday, we stopped at around 5 hours of work. That was enough - for both of us.  I had to leave early anyway and none too soon, as far as I was concerned.

That doggy park ......

There are roots growing up out of the ground from the trees that used to be there - all over the place. There are thorn vines growing - all over the place.  Pull them with hands, dig with shovel, try to cut with shovel and when all else fails, get out the chainsaw and cut that stuff out of the ground.  It's just that there's so much of it.  I can't have dogs running around getting cuts and potentially tripping and getting hurt. 

Dogs are usually very agile but I just couldn't leave it like that.  Not a good look.  The point? I was totally exhausted and my legs were hurting again from all the up and down all over the place.  Not to mention installing signs, tightening up fencing, cutting down tree limbs elsewhere and generally getting stuff done.

Marc was none to slow to agree with me that it was time to quit.  He was also pretty well worn out. He has a trip to Dallas on Tuesday, then down to Houston and then over to Galveston, he doesn't want to be so worn out that he can't enjoy himself.  He's hauling some cardboard out to the property today - I still have huge burn piles and they will likely be there when the park opens.  Not everything is going to be taken care of, I just want the RV park portion done right or as right as possible anyway.  

I'm going out today to install the mailbox.  I might redo the fire pit. I don't like the way it turned out and want to redo it. Marc made it into a big rectangle, but I think I just want a plain old round pit like everyone else has.  I can use the work he did in digging down a bit, I'll just have to dig out to the sides a bit more.  I'm looking for about 48 inch diameter.  

I'm taking the weekend off after that.  I have had enough and it's going to start raining today and supposedly through tomorrow anyways. I need a rest.  As I have stated repeatedly, but it keeps creeping into my mind, this is probably not the best time of year to be opening an RV park anyways. 

Regardless, when the Google pass code arrives, I will enter that, get my site showing again, get the gravel dumped and open the park. The gravel for the old driveway that is.  I am limiting it to areas that absolutely must have it - which is about 500 feet worth of alongside the RV park itself.  5 loads will be around $2,700.  Scaling it down from what I was going to do, in other words.  Much of the driveway alongside the RV park is just dirt, the gravel has been ground down so long it's nothing but fine powder, but in this area, it's not even there anymore.  

Haircut day.  Inconsequential things a day of the life in...lol.  Boys as well. I usually take them to get haircuts when I go - get the mailbox in, look at the bricks, look at them again, leave lmao.  No, I might stay and at least dig out the rest of the hole.  I just don't think a rectangular fire pit looks - normal.  I have 2 picnic tables built, the firepit won't take maybe a couple of hours to form it and then I'll have to use special glue to hold the bricks together.  There is some more cleanup and there is a field full of weeds and the driveway.  Put down more seed in the doggy park - I did some yesterday but I have 2 more 50 pound bags. 

We are, in other words, getting this almost done. A lot of the grass seed came up, not all of it but I think  at this point? Yeah.  I can put down more seed, of course, but waiting on that any longer isn't going to happen.  So, more grass seed and there is cleanup on the lots to do.  I'd say 4 hours of cleanup on the lots.  I just need some decent help to get past the finish line.  I can do it myself, of course, it will just take longer.  

If I can find some decent help - and yes I have been looking for people - I could probably have all or most of this done by the end of next week.  Go live on the campground reservation system and get her rolling.  If there is no or little customers to start with, that's not really going to shake me up too much considering the time of year it is.

G'day

 Lmao @ the forecasters saying there was a 57% chance of rain this morning.  How about a 99% chance they are wrong. They are always wrong.  Even if it does rain, they are way off by when it will start and when it will end.  Well, there's no rain. The sky continues to be overcast, something that has been that way a lot lately.  

But, it's good news for working.  Let's keep moving forward with this, shall we? I have 2 stops to make this morning before I can get to the property and since I have the trailer, I want to get there early so Marc can continue with  his cleanup stuff while I continue with signs, the doggy park, etc.  

The boys replied to an ad I put out for workers.  I had to laugh. No mention of running the ATV into the brand new shed!  I didn't even reply to him.  He is probably too dense to figure out that people that destroy other people's property while working for the other people and don't even fess' up to it? Probably aren't going to be welcomed back with open arms.  

However.  It may come down to me addressing him about it and then seeing if he admits to it and apologizes or not.  I could use the help and if he is under supervision, he'll work. The other one not so much.  I am referring to the 25 and 17 year old brothers.  The 17 year old started out well, but digressed into watching his brother work while he stands there holding a rake or whatever.  

Anyway, I don't get a lot of replies for this kind of work. Why would anyone want to actually work for some money?  Well, at least there is some replies to it now that I had a spare moment to take a look. And lookit that! The rain that was supposed to start in the middle of the night? Just now started! Won't last long, but maybe enough to water the grass/seed.  

Not going to stop me from heading up to Harbor Freight for some drill bits and then over to Lowe's for the remaining blocks for the fire pit.  

Besides gravel, I should be getting down to the point of "I don't think I need anything else but some people to show up in RV's".  

Oh, but that damn Google postcard.  That's just a bit maddening.  Why don't they require that right at the start? You know, while you're setting it up, a prompt comes up and says, "Oh, by the way, we need to verify your address. We will send you a postcard with a code on it, your account will be inactive until this is accomplished".  Yeah, you know, something along those lines?

I'm tired. I need a break, lol.  It's just constant go go go. There is an end in sight, it's just still a bit far away. 

Oh well, sitting here complaining accomplishes nothing. Off to the races!

G'day

 The post office this morning. They were not busy, but they made me wait close to half an hour to speak a manager who turned out to be the postmaster and made sure that I understood who she was, lmao. I'm sure I was at that post office for an hour trying to figure out what I needed to do. This lady said well THERE'S your problem! You don't have a mailbox installed yet! Yes, I know that, but I was informed there were other things that need to be done to get mail delivered?

Yes. A litany of things- but none of which are my responsibility and not worth going into. The end story is that they are going to deal with it on their end and I started the process of installing a mailbox today on mine. The process is putting in the pole, lol. I cemented it in but it may take days for it to dry enough to put the box on top of it. But it's vitally crucial that I get that thing up and probably just going to do it tomorrow and be careful not to disturb the pole too much. 

That's because of this Google situation where they want to verify the address by sending a postcard before they will reinstate my account.  OK, I just clicked on the stuff to get them to send the postcard.  They say 5 business days that means Thursday next week, gag.  I'll wait to put up the box since I have time and I'd like the concrete to have time to dry out.

The posts I put in for the gates aren't even dry yet. 

Much more grass came up as of today. It isn't a full lawn on any of them, but it's much closer to looking full than it any point up until now.  

Did I say I am totally worn out? We went at it for 8 hours today - I haven't done anything like that since before I got Covid the last time. But, Marc showed up again today and was there long before I got there. Because after the post office, Lowe's. I was dragging the 7 year old with me, who was begging me to get him something to eat.  Lowe's was an hour.  Another $128 worth of stuff there and then over to Walmart - out of dog food. They didn't have Addler's food, the Iam minichunks. Addler absolutely loves that stuff. I got him the Chicken adult chunks instead. Sorry doggy, they didn't have your stuff.  

Getting hot again - or very warm I'll call it with high humidity - I stopped for ice and then off to the races. He was there with the trailer, loading up leaves, branches - whatever.  I got busy digging a hole for the mailbox post, put the post in, cemented it and moved on to the picnic tables.  Horrible design and ridiculous to put together.  I ended up switching from their screws to the type I use for wood projects - goes in much easier.  After putting those together, I checked the posts for the doggy park gate. 

Still visibly wet.  To the shed, I finished up the remaining fire pit rings.  Off to the rear of the property, installed more signs for the walking trails.  By the time I got all of that done, it was close to 4:00pm and I went over to ask if he was done for the day. YES!  So, we unloaded all of that stuff on the trailer at one of the burn piles and we went home.

My legs are killing me.  It's been a long day and there are many more of those to come.  I would like to get all of this over with - the hard part stuff that I won't have to do again any time soon.  There's a chance of rain tonight and tomorrow, in the 50% range.  I'm not looking for excuses not to work, especially with this guy helping me.  I intend on cutting out all the stuff sticking out of the ground in the doggy park tomorrow.  Roots, twigs, all kinds of junk.  It's chainsaw work.  Clear everything out - that will take a good portion of the day right there.  

But, I have to go back to Lowe's yet again and get the rest of the block to finish the main fire pit.  And a set of drill bits.  I'm trying to not spend money, but these things? I have no choice.  I'm not going to have a half-assed set up with what little amenities I have.  It would have been nice if I had remembered the game I was going to get for near the fire pit.  Oh, and I need stain for those picnic tables.  

All I can say is it's coming together.  2 more weeks max.  I hope anyway.  I need Google going again, that's a bit ridiculous. They could have asked for this verification long ago.  I also changed the address for the park today - it was at my house for when I started the LLC because I had no address over there at the time. 

I've got to get all of those tall, dead weeds mowed down and I need a riding lawn mower, used please, less than $500 preferably, please and thank you.  Very likely going to rent the heavy duty machine to get rid of the weeds - it's less than what anyone wants to come out and do the job and after the last dude I had out there to clear everything? I'd far rather do that stuff myself.  

And, of course several thousand more dollars worth of gravel gag. 

Cleanup - including getting rid of the weeds - is the biggest energy consumer left to go, I think.  It's just long days, that's all I can say about it.

 It was not my inaction that caused this problem. I went to the Post Office and asked to speak with whoever to have an address listed for mail delivery.  Okay, it was my fault. They never called me back and I put it out of my mind - until last night.

That's when I realized my Google business page is gone. Well, not gone, just not showing to anyone but me.  They want to verify the address by sending a postcard. Never heard of such a thing.  So, I just changed the address with Texas Comptroller - but that will take up to 7 business days and I suspect I will have to show paperwork proving it's the actual address to the Post Office to get mail service started.

I wonder if I can just change the address on Google and have them send the mail here to my house.  Google is very important to the success of this business, it's what everyone uses to find campgrounds in any given area.  "We're going to stop somewhere around here" and then they look up campgrounds in the area.  Literally, a lot of them do it like that. If they are on their way somewhere, the full timers typically drive around 300 miles per day (max) and then stop somewhere for a day, several days, whatever they wish.  

It's a lot of retired people and there many who have jobs where they can "work from home".  

Anyway, told the boy to get out of his pajamas, get some clothes on cause' I have a lot of stuff to do. He was sick with fever yesterday, he hasn't had a fever since yesterday morning. However.  The school system requires a student to show 24 hours of no fever before returning to school. It's just a requirement they have - he can't go back to school today and mom is out working.  I am able to drag him along with me, she is not.  She goes to people's homes to visit in person with the program she is doing with them.  

I don't mind, he likes "adventure" aspect of it and he usually tries to help out of his own volition with whatever I am doing.  

After the post office, Lowe's is required. 

Texted Marc and told him I won't be out there until after 10 am.  Post Office takes priority, even if they tell me things I don't want to hear, I need to know what they require to get postal service over there.  I need it in the business name, not my name - or a combination of both I guess.  Or I guess getting mail delivered to me personally there would be my name and then C/O the rv park?  

Who knows.  

I have a list of stuff to do at the property today, tomorrow, until it's done basically. I'm starting the thing up after everything is done regardless of Google. If I can't get any business without Google, so beit, it's not going to cost me anything more to have it opened with no customers. The grass is an issue, hopefully all of that seed will sprout soon!  I dunno, but after I get everything else done, I am highly likely just going to open up and be done with it, grass or no grass. I have like half of it growing and the rest is dirt with seed on it.  

Well, off to the races.

G'day

 I spent a solid hour this morning - well maybe more actually - going through the campsite software.  I saw the things I needed to change and started working on that. This is hardly my forte.  Just burdensome to me.  I couldn't for the life of me remember how to get to the refunds page. It took me almost the entire time I was perusing things and trying to get the software into my head to remember they have training videos - a LOT of them - and sure enough I found one.

And then remembered why I couldn't find it. It's only to be found on an existing reservation.  Yeah, no one is staying there - yet.

As it stands, the 7 year old was sick this morning begging me to stay home with him. But, the friend of Maria's was coming out to the property and I need the help.  Mom had already determined he could go with her so I was out of there.  Well, I sat with the boy for a while - he was just clingy, pretty much his nature.  

We spent a good portion of the day getting stuff done. Marc started on the fire pit but ended up getting the big trailer and working on cleaning up the west side of the property. Oh, how badly that needs to be done!  I just haven't had time for it and frankly, I was going to just let it pass even with the opening -whenever that will be. 

I dug out the other post hole for the gate, put the post in, cemented it, leveled it and done with that.  Then I put all 8 of the fire rings together - well mostly, some of the screws had damaged threads. In fact, some of the rings themselves were slightly damaged.  Nothing I'm going to report, I don't have time to be returning stuff and I got it all together. I just need to go to Lowe's in the morning, get some extra screws/nuts and finish those.  

I also put together a dump wagon - it's a thing with 4 wheels, a tub that holds whatever you want in it and tilts to dump it.  After that, I went to look at the picnic tables. I was going to start putting those together - but - I need a carpenter's square and clamps according to the front panel.  I don't have either, but James does have some clamps. I'll have to go get the square.  

I then looked at the firepit.  Put the second layer of stones on it.  I think it's going to need some mud to hold it together.  I need to look that up. I can't have them loose, they'll just get knocked over by people. It won't take much to cement them in, not a big deal. I need 25 more stones and the mud and that's finished.  

As I said, I got a lot done today and the friend got a lot done. It's really motivating to have someone out there with a good work ethic helping.  At the end, I was using the new dump trailer to pick up sticks in the doggy park. There are several roots sticking up out of the ground I need to cut with the chainsaw, but that is 75% cleaned up.  I'll be out there again tomorrow, of course. There is a 22% chance of rain- meaning if it does rain, it's not a death blow for working. I'll finish the rings, work on the picnic tables and if time permits, cut out the roots.  It does need to rain, tho.  The ground was wet today, I didn't bother to water the seed, it was clearly moist.

Some of the seed has popped out.  I'm not sure which batch it is that popped up tho.  

I can tell ya, if this seed doesn't want to play nice, I will end up opening the park with half-grass and screw it.  I need to get this thing going, waiting eternally for grass to grow isn't going to cut it. I'll give it another week - while I'm finishing everything else. It's really just everything else that I'm working on now before I go ahead and get the thing posted as open for business.  I'm not going to be dismayed if there isn't a lot of traffic coming in at first.  It's almost Christmastime. 

Oh. Well there is also cleanup to do in the walking trails. It isn't a lot, but it's just more time and energy.  

Oh yes.  I waved at the gas operator employee as he exited the property today. I mean, waving big and smiling big. What was his response? Ignore me, as is their want. These people are total jackasses.  Whatever. I'm going to just continue waving at these people, if they are miserable people, they can be miserable people.  I'm not going to be miserable with them and more importantly, now that they've said they won't communicate with me further, I'm going to do my thing. I won't be informing them of any changes or alterations or usage of going through "their" setup.

They are not going to stop me from having tent camping sites back there - excepting the driveway.  That's a sticking point.  If these cost overruns hadn't gone so high - inflation kicked my @$$ in this venture and it's still biting me - I would have easily had enough money to have the entire driveway dumped with fresh gravel and also have a boondocking site going with gravel as well.

I'm stuck at around 5 truckloads of gravel now.   That's close to 3k.  It's going to be one of the last things I do before I open the park. It would only take a few hours for them to deliver it and they can get it done without a lot of notice.  It doesn't matter about weather, either, it's an existing driveway.  

So what's left.  The grass, of course.  Cleanup - that's a big one and a lot of time and energy being spent on that.   Sign installation - about 8 signs that need to be put up . Wifi - totally spaced that out, I have been so busy with everything else.  Get the property cleared/bush hogged.  I dunno what else, missing a few things I just can't think of. Laundry will have to wait, unfortunately. Probably a deal breaker for some.  Picnic tables, finish fire rings and install them - which is just place them where I want them.  Corn hole - that's a trip to Walmart.  Benches - build a couple and order one for the doggy park. Good thing I just thought of that, I can order that one for the doggy park tonight.  

Every doggy park I've every been to has at least one bench and a dog waste station.  You might be surprised how much money they want for one of those stations - and I have endlessly looked. My answer is just a plastic bag dispenser mounted on a pole and a regular trash can.  I don't want to come off cheap - not trying to at all - but some of this stuff is just too much money and I can't deal with it right now. Put something out there to deal with it that actually works.  "Pretty" things will come later.

BTW, this guy that has been helping me? He's in his 60's, not in the best of condition but not terribly bad. He far outworks that 17 and 25 year old set of brothers I was having out there previously. I don't put any pressure on him at all, he can work at his own pace and quit when he wants to. But today? I got 5 hours out of him and that was solid work. There were breaks, of course, but I couldn't be happier.  He's coming again tomorrow and I hope he will just continue on with the cleanup he's been doing while I get the other stuff done. 

I need to get up early and get to Lowe's, get the blocks, the mud and the screws to be able to finish those projects.  I don't think the post concrete will be set, I'm going to let that go a couple of days.  It's a semi-permanent setup, I want that concrete solid.  

And with all of this going on - I need to get presents for people for Christmas! Dang!  Talk about spacing things out.  

Oh well.

G'nite. 

 Another hour and 20 minutes on the phone today with the campgournd software dude taking me through a bunch of stuff and pointing out things I still need to do - which I have since finished half of it - and helping me how to figure out how to do certain things. Such as a refund - I couldn't figure out how that works but he walked me through that one. There was a lot of ground covered and I did take notes but there is so much to this software.

I am spending free time just trying to remember what he showed me today.  Some of it is fairly simple, some of it is rather complex.  It's a lot of different things you have to click through to get something done.  Right now, I need to work on my letters.  These are cancellation letters, thank you letters, policy letters, etc.  And I need to add a disclaimer to the form they have to click on when registering for a lot.  This is that mumbo jumbo no one reads but is necessary inclusion that a person has to agree to before they can pay.

And there is an entire grid for the lots, showing which is available on whatever days and what has been rented. And the ability to block days on certain lots - or all of them if you needed to - to have it available for whatever. I can't imagine that, but you never know.  

I'll figure it all out eventually. Just have to keep going through it and get it all in my head.

Anyway, I put in one of the posts for the gate today but I didn't have enough concrete for the second post. Instead, I went around putting on bailing wire to hold the fencing to the posts.  I still have a bit to do on that, but it's almost done.  

The grass seed still hasn't popped up.  

The friend of Maria's is coming out tomorrow, I'd like him to finish the community fire pit.  This is all him volunteering, Maria said he doesn't want paid.  I don't really want to be taking advantage of people or even feel like I am tho.  Anyway, the signs were done so I went up and got them, went to Chili's - I won a gift card at the Christmas party - over to Lowe's where I spent quite a bit of time looking for everything and trying to get the two picnic tables. 

I did get them, but they are kits. All of the wood is in them, I would assume the screws and whatever else as well. I have no idea how long they take to assemble. 

I'm going to put in the other post tomorrow for the gate, assemble a dump wagon - it's a plastic thing on wheels with a handle that holds whatever you want to put in it.  I need something to pick up sticks as I'm walking around with it and shovel dirt to move elsewhere.  Just something I really need. There are sticks literally everywhere and there are small mounds of dirt that need shoveled and gone.  

I have my 15 MPH speed limit sign, there is already a nice, wood post near the front of the driveway to mount it to.  And other signs I needed as well.  

Anyway, I got what I could get done today, tomorrow is another day.  

I don't really have anything else. It's been a long day. 

 That was easy.  It's all quite wet out there and I'm not sinking into the ground trying to dig out post holes, I definitely don't need to water anything and the only thing I could have really done out there is start putting the fire rings together. 

However, I am called to Longview in a little bit, so I will either start on those this afternoon or get a jump on it tomorrow morning.  I have the trailer hooked up, I am going to get 2 picnic tables tomorrow morning as well.  I would get all of them that they have at Lowe's - but I don't think it's prudent to spend that much money right now.  

If people want an outdoor picnic, they'll have to go to the community firepit area for use of picnic tables.  That's where I'm putting the 2 tables, near the what will be built-in firepit.  I actually need 16 tables in total. That's $2,704 plus tax, call it an even 3 grand. Nope.  That money is going to gravel.  I'll spend $350 instead on 2 tables and call it good - for now. 

I'm looking for that grass seed to germinate and pop up soon.  The next couple of days, hopefully.  I decided to list rentals available on my Facebook page at a discounted rate.  I'm not getting many views on that page yet, last week was like 12 views.  

But, if someone wants to rent a lot, they can do so in person.  Hand me a check, cash, paypal or cashapp. Lol.  When the site is up and running - and it should be this week - it'll take credit cards.  

Since I'm getting close to opening, I need to ask the septic dude if there's anything I need to do before turning the switch to the on position.  I have no idea and they didn't tell me.  

Well Longview looms.  I don't think we're going to be over there all afternoon tho if we are, I might as well look at Home Depot in person and see if they have any tables. They are usually cheaper than Lowe's - but online it looks like they are $40 more expensive.  

I did stop at the sign place today, I'm having a permanent 15 MPH sign made for the driveway which will be posted near the front, a sign with the address only on it and I needed another walking trail sign.  There is a place where it may be confusing where to go.  Just a $10 sign make it worth it for people to understand that one of the 3 directions they can go? Only one of them is going to take them out of there the same way they came in.

Now, if they want to explore the other trails, be my guest.  It's all safe for walking.

Anyway, I need to get ready to leave - again.

 Well lit rained overnight.  It didn't sound like a heavy rain - I surely hope it wasn't.  As I have stated before, heavy rains just wash the grass seed away, wasting time, money and energy.   I'm out of time, money is going down and energy levels come and go.  I have no desire to have to reseed that entire thing all over again as if starting from scratch. 

I don't mind reseeding after all of this current seeds pops up.  It's all about motivation.  You'd have to put yourself in my shoes to understand where I'm coming from. This has been a very long road with a lot of obstacles.  Many of the obstacles are gone, it's just getting everything in place now.  

There is one continency that isn't going away anytime soon and that's that gas company.  The manager that I was communicating with is a total jackass.  We aren't talking anymore and I am going to do my thing.  If they don't like it, they can come out there and tell me to my face.  More likely, they'd take me to court.

The RV park is safe. It's in front of the "Production Unit" area and they can't do anything about that. I have, in writing, their "permission" to use "their" driveway.  Those emails aren't going anywhere. In fact, I think I'll store off-computer.

But, the man alluded to the idea that "no one is allowed on the production unit".  I didn't ask his permission and we weren't discussing that, he was just being an @$$.  Previous conversations with him - long ago actually - had him stating that owners on other properties were driving right through those production areas and he thought it "dangerous" Meaning, at least to me, that they really can't stop you from driving anywhere on your property.  

We've already been down this path of him attempting to tell me that I had to build a separate driveway next to the existing one. In a pig's eye.  

Anyway, I am done with those people.  The only thing I am going to address now is their employees speeding down the driveway.  I've been putting that off because I really am not wanting to get into physical confrontation with them. Not that I'm afraid of confrontation, but it may open up a Pandora's box - the worst case scenario them taking me to court. They have millions of dollars, I do not.  Highly likely they have a legal team - I do not.  But they trash the driveway every time they go speeding down it with no cares in the world. 

Why should they care? Those employees don't care about my operation and they are basically immune to any idea that I can somehow force them to slow down.  Well, I can, actually.  I have thought about what I can do and one thing I can do is install speed bumps that will send them flying if they go over them at 25-30mph.  

Anyway, I'm going to get a 15MPH sign made up - that was the original speed limit that their company had set on that driveway.  I wanted 10. I'll go with what they had.  And now I'm hearing from fire department that they would "like" me to have a sign out front that has the actual address written on it.  It's a $10 sign, I'll be happy to indulge them.  Basically, one of my friend's friends was over yesterday asking about if they had come out to inspect the line installation?

Uhhh, I called over there twice and they said I didn't need permission to do anything out there besides septic.  This is when you feel glad that you used a contractor.  If there is a problem, it's on the contractor. If they were supposed to show someone line installations, I'm not paying for it to be dug up to show them.  

I'm not concerned about that. I paid enough money for that stuff, the contractor will have to deal with it.  But I doubt he will, the county has said nothing about any installation of pipe. The contractor has been installing septic systems for 30 years, I'm sure he has some sort of relationship with the county. 

Shrugs shoulders.  

Back to the Production area, there is no access to the rear of the property without going through some portion of it.  This is what he meant the other day when he said "you should have done your homework".  Sorry, jackass, I did my homework when I originally contacted you about setting up an RV park and if there were any objections.  There was no mention of traveling through the production area - either yea or nay.  All of that is also in writing. This is why I don't really like talking to these entities on the phone, you have no record of it.  

I don't really know what the future of any tent camping sites is, it's on hold anyway.  I just can't spend the money on spreading gravel that entire driveway.  I'll do what I have to up to the RV area, but the rest of it is just going to have to wait.  I really wanted tent camping and some day I may very well get it, but it's not going to be right now.  

I do have "permission" to us the corner of the production area to have hikers use to access the trails.  Again, I'm trying to stay out of legal trouble with these people.  I'm sure they are well accustomed to dealing with land owners that are doing things they may not approve of.  One thing I do know, I have found online access to all kinds of information about the well, who owns and operates it. I just have to find any records of a lease agreement.  That well is 10,000 feet deep, according to the graph, lol.

Anyway, time to be off to the property.  Take the rest of those fire rings over there. If nothing else (if it's muddy out there) I can start putting those together. 

G'day

 That was fun. We drove the trailer around all dressed up with Christmas lights, a blow up Grinch, a real Grinch and the entire trailer loaded with people plus more walking alongside it, waving at the huge crowds lining the shut down streets of down town.  Really had a great time, I love the small town atmosphere here, tho it literally IS a small town. Like 22,000 population.  It was amazing how many people showed up to watch the parade!  Easily thousands of people.  

Anyway, all of my fire rings have arrived, 3 of them a week earlier than what was listed for a delivery date.  

It is Sunday, but I have stuff to do over there, unfortunately. At bare minimum, I need to go water the grass seed.  Realistically, probably start putting those rings together, dig out the holes for the doggy park gate and whatever else.  But, Sundays are doomed for working long hours, I just won't do it. The boys want to go to church this morning so I'll probably do that, drop them off at the house afterwards and then get the watering done.  

Oh how I wish it would just rain today.  It's really a lot of work, moving a hose from one outlet to another, turning that on, then going over to another hose, moving that one, back to the first hose, back and forth for a couple of hours and a half until it's all done.  It's a lot of walking is what it is.  I can say, at least, that it's overcast so water isn't drying up off the ground shortly after it's sprayed on there. So that's nice, at least. 

I'm just motivated enough to work on a Sunday.  

Tomorrow, I am supposed to do a conference call concerning the website and installation of the campground software.  I need that done and over with. It's just a distraction for me, a thing in the back of my mind that doesn't go away. Once it's installed, I therefore have the ability to determine when I will start taking reservations - if any indeed come my way. 

I have been a bit - nervous - about this whole affair.  My mind goes through the gamut of what ifs. What if no one comes? What if I can't fill it up and keep it mostly full? Lots more, the point being, the fear of failure.  

Well, I have way too much money on the line here to have a failure, so that isn't even a possibility, but I did go through that thought process last night, laying in bed, wondering what the future holds.  I'm doing my best to put together the best outcome I can possibly have with the resources I have in place.

Taking out another loan right now is not in the cards, I simply won't do it.  I have enough debt and it's too much as it stands.  $350 per month will be gone in 8 months, the nearest recurring payment thing I have going that is almost done, which is the car payment. I'd pay it off now and get it over with - but - that would be that much more money I don't have available for the here and now.

Ok, well enough of that.  Time to get ready to go worship the Lord.

G'day. 

 The finer things in life is a euphemism that is often used to describe fancy houses with marble inlays, maid service and handcrafted wood appointments along with a half dozen or more bathrooms and bedrooms.  It refers to fancy, expensive sports cars, having one's own private jet or helicopter.  Perhaps dining at lavish restaurants with $1,000 bottles of wine and extraordinary wait service with the finest chefs the world has to offer.

And while that may be true for those that see it that way, there are other ways to view the finer things in life.  

The other day, the friend of Maria's came out and did some work for me - free of charge - he is basically a very lonely, older man who has no friends in this area.  He has lived a loner's life, he is also a truck driver and that is the way of many drivers who spend days, weeks, months, years, lifetimes on the road.  You see your friends and family infrequently and tho you can text them or talk on the phone, it is far from being the same as being there with them, in person.  

I've seen more than one retired driver's writings on the internet about the regrets they have in not seeing their children growing up, missing important dates for them, being away from wife, not being around friends - the things "normal" people take for granted.  

You see, I was sitting here in my office desk chair musing such things after being invited to be a part of a local Christmas parade. Participants have to be there in - 30 minutes actually. Yes, I am going, the starting point is a 5 minute drive from the house. I did donate the use of my trailer for these people's part in the event tho I did not ask to be any part of it.  They are doing all the work in dressing up the trailer to make it look Christmasy.  My small portion of simply loaning the vehicle with which they will use to partake in said event gave me no thoughts of being automatically presumed a part of it.

On the other hand, many of these people are the same people that we do card nights with rather frequently.  I'm slowly coming to know some of them, it's not like  I would have ever met such people in life if it hadn't been through Taylor/James.  I'm not at all saying these are bad people, not at all, we just wouldn't have ever met in any social circles.  

The whole circumstance with which I came to know Taylor and James is rather unique  in itself, at least as far as I'm concerned and isn't something people have happen every day. I won't be going into all of that here, that would take many paragraphs of text.  Most people that I come to meet or talk with online or wherever do not like the idea of living with other people.  That's probably more on the normal side of things.

I just happened to have lived with strangers in my teen years after getting thrown out of the house and then ending up in an evangelical missionary organization for 5 years after that with completely shared living in all aspects.  Housing, bedrooms, bathrooms, eating, everything.  No, it wasn't sexual in nature, it was just a modicum for people like-minded to come together, stay together and do what we believed the bidding of the Lord was.  

I did live with wife and son for 16 years after that with no shared living, but after that marriage ended, I was all about renting out rooms. Not out of desire but out of necessity. To have a house and actually live any kind of normal life, it was necessary to invite complete strangers in to pay a monthly rent in exchange for a room with everything included.

That went on until I moved out here, to Texas and ended up "temporarily" renting a room out at James/Taylors house which eventually led into a permanent situation.

I don't know if this arrangement will last forever. Things happen that you don't expect and circumstances change that you wouldn't have even dreamed of happening, much less actually foreseeing it. Been there done that.

But, while I'm here?  I enjoy every moment of it. Even the pouting kids crying over ridiculous nonsense, not that I enjoy that but it's an everyday part of living with a family with young kids. I get to partake in such things and for the last almost 4 months, have been living that life without spending it on the road.

I can tell you, I do not miss the road. Not even a little bit.  I am in various trucking groups and see videos all the time and I actually cringe at the thought of going back to that life.  I may very well have to, but I won't want to. I will work to have that time spent on the road as limited as possible.  6 months to a year at most, if I can get the business up and running and turning a decent profit. 

Well, it's time to leave.  I just was meditating on life and all the things that happen in it.  And not missing the trucking lifestyle.

 Sign posts in.  The 4x4 was clear at the back of the property so I cleaned most of the mess up back there while I was at it and had the trailer back there.

Of course, the trailer popped off the ball hitch - again - and it's not because I don't have the ball locked in.  It's just  bad hitch needs to be replaced.  Yeah, not right now, that thing can stay on the property for now.

Fires started.  Still smoldering.  Will have to take a chain saw, cut some stuff and repile it and relight it after it's all done smoldering.  

It's very lightly raining.  Not terribly much, but enough to cancel having to water grass seed today - thank God.

Oh, I moved all the stuff that was on the trailer into the shed before going back to the rear of the property to get the 4x4.  Just no reason to leave it out there, I have to keep it covered and it's just a pain. I am not going to be turning the shed into a laundromat until I have more money.  I'd like to get that done but it just isn't in the cards right now.

I then started on the fencing.  It's a pain, to put it mildly.  I'm probably 2/3'rds done with that setup, I'll work on it again later today.  

I had to come home, get some ice water, get some food and take a break.  I just don't have the stamina or energy I used to have before I got Covid for the - 4th time I think it was.  Something happened that time and it seems like I am slowly - ever so slowly - getting back to normal but definitely not there yet.  I just lose energy so fast now, it sucks.  

It's a really good thing I don't have to drive trucks right now, I'm not sure I could last 12-16 hour shifts.  Hopefully by January I'll have more of my energy back. I dunno.  Life offers no guarantees on anything excepting the fact that some day, you will die.

Anyway, I"m getting stuff done.  The grass seed will hopefully shoot up early next week.  If it's enough, I'm going with it.  I did buy even more seed, but I'm waiting on dumping that until all of this other stuff decides what to do.

OH, and I did find picnic tables at Lowe's today. They have 2 pallets of 10. They raised the price yet again, from $165 to $169.  Yup, they just keep raising the prices on them - and everything else.  I only want to get 2 of them for now, the rest will have to wait.  5 of the 8 fire rings have arrived, the rest are supposed to come in next week. 

Those are not preassembled and I won't be seeing what's up with them until I get the doggy park done.  I just want that doggy park over and done with, thanks. I have the second roll of wire fence out. I will hook up a strap to the 4 wheeler, strap the fencing tight and then I clamp it to the fence post.  I'll have 2 more rolls to go after I get the one I"m working on done today, with the first one over and done with.  

Well, no, it's not.  It's just temporarily hooked to the posts, I need to put a lot more clamps on all of them.  I"m getting the fencing up first and then I"ll deal with that and the proposed gate.  That's the other thing. I need all the fencing up so I can install the gate, the gate will need 2 posts cemented into the ground. Yea, I want to get that cement in and have a few days for it to dry out. 

Well whatever.  I'm take a short nap and get back out there.  

 I'm just over here doing my thing.

You know, as the country is in political turmoil and seemingly being rocked about by every piece of minutia that comes along and magnified by the media.  I read some of that this morning, then I just said to myself: Nope, not going to fill my head with all of that nonsense today, I have things to do.  

It's still early, lol.  There was a slim chance of rain and the forecast still says "rain will continue to 7:45 am".  Well, sorry folks, but it isn't raining here and the radar isn't showing its' raining here.  I want a job as  a forecaster.  I can just make things up and then portray them as fact. ...... .  ..... .  ...... and get paid for it, lol.

I am starting to force myself to get up early.  Whenever I go back to work, it is rest assured it will include early rise and being thrust back into that without giving my system a chance to "work through it" is not a wise decision, IMO.  I haven't been sleeping that well is the reason I have been sleeping in later. It seems that once it hits around 5:00 am, I can sleep like a little baby in a fantasy land of dreams and - well the dream that woke me up last night wasn't so great.  

I was being accused by a person I don't know and presumably have never seen before of taking a pickup truck that I "wasn't supposed to take". That person was angry for some reason, there was no context in the dream to understand why they were angry.  I responded that I haven't driven that pickup since I came back...came back to where, I have no idea, lol.  I just know that I became agitated with these person's insistence that I had taken the truck to the point that I, in turn, got angry and then - I woke up.  It was strange, yes.

Presuming no rain today, I am going to continue on with the doggy park fencing.  I need something to pull it tight. Well, we have tie down straps and I am going to see if putting a couple of those on the end of a roll of fencing will work to pull it tight enough to go ahead and clamp it down to the fence posts.  

Oh, and watering the grass seed, gag. That takes hours.  Literally, hours and you don't take a break from it.  You start on one side, get one positioned, then walk over to the other side, get that positioned.  By the time you get back to the first one, it's time to move it.  So and and so forth until all of the area in between and behind the pads is watered.  It's a lot of work. It's worth it, I hope anyway, but it's a lot of time and energy.  I get little of nothing else done while I'm doing that, but it takes precedence over everything right now.  

There is grass growing now, but it's not near thick enough to call it good.  All the 300 pounds of seed I put down is what is getting watered now.  If most of that will grow, I will be good to go.  No pun intended.

That's probably about all I will get done over there today.  Well, I take that back. I'm going to Lowe's before I go over there this morning to get some ether. I cannot get that 4 wheeler to start, it's totally cold blooded.  I need to use it to trample down dead weeds around one of the burn piles.  I also need to unload the tools on it included the generator and get to cleaning up all the sticks laying all over the place.  

I figure a small shot of ether should help jump it back to life. Foregone conclusion that I am going to need a newer 4 wheeler or something to pull a trailer around, but presumable an ATV.  I can't afford that right now, it isn't in the cards, I just have to try and work with the one I've got.  Whatever the case, I need to get all of this stuff done and get that park opened, my finances are running out quickly.  At least get the park paying for itself and then some. I have high hopes, at least remaining optimistic about getting it filled up and generating cash.  There is no sense in wondering if the place is going to be empty or not have that much business for "a while" while it gets up in the Google ranks and such.

So why am I sitting here at home, doing nothing? I got up early today, I'm still trying to adjust to that and I'm drinking my morning coffee. If you don't have any coffee, you might as well just go back to bed lmao.

What else is there to do? Well, I could go into the list, but it's just not a good time for that.  It's days and days worth of work I still need to do.  The guy came out yesterday and dug out a big hole for a fire pit, at least that got done.  I'll finish that as soon as I get the doggy park fencing and gate up.  I'm still reeling at the costs of just a plain old gate. $89 for something that cost in the 50's range a year ago? What the Hercules helpings is that all about?  

I bet if I could have started building this park say...2 years ago, I would have spent a little more than half of what I have spent now buying the same exact things.  I'm very much motivated, even pressured, to get all of this done quickly and get this thing rolling, that is what I can say. 

With that, off to the races!

G'day

  This inflation stuff is eating me alive. It is unbelievable the prices or literally everything now compared to even just a year ago!  Water hoses and sprinklers not off that list!  It's just absolutely astounding. The one thing I did find for "cheap" is more of that grass seed, at the same place I bought it last time for $37 per bag, now it's $35!  Yayyy! I bought 3 more, 50 pound bags.  

It's taken me all day to get materials, go to the bank, unload the trailer, drop it off at a daycare center (they want to use it for a Christmas parade on Saturday and I think I won't need it before then, but if I do, I'll just hook up the smaller one) and everything else.

I'm debating whether to go back out to the property today or just get an early start tomorrow.  

The grass seed planted last week is coming up over there.  That's 2 seedings now that are growing. The latest seeding - no of course not, that was just done 2 days ago.  I need to get it watered and get it to start germinating.  To that end, yes, I probably will head back over there but...

I met a friend at Kroger's when I was done with everything else who said she has a friend living with her (she rents out rooms) that is bored, has nothing to do, has no friends in this area and has offered to help me out there.  He is retired and independently wealthy, this isn't about money, or so I'm told anyway.  So I sent him a text message a while ago and if he doesn't respond to that, I'll actually call him.

Some of the older community don't like text messaging, they want an actual phone call. I get that, it took me quite a while to warm up to the idea of texting over talking to people on the phone, but it really is much easier to text when you are busy. Send a text, when they reply, you reply, but you don't have to sit on the phone for 5, 10, 15 - longer minutes talking to someone. I've got the materials - I think anyway - to finish the doggy park, build the fire pit and water the grass seed.  The fire pit rings are showing up within the next week - allegedly anyway.  

Get all of that done, get the grass growing thick and get the weeds cut done and I will open the park.  Ok, it makes no sense to waste daylight, I'm back off to the property. Think I'll take Addler with me this time....: )

 Tomorrow was intended opening day.  I do  have a lot of what I need done, done, in order to do so. But that pesky grass?

Well, the weather didn't help yesterday. Instead of hours and hours worth of rain, we barely got a light sprinkle. I'm not even sure it was enough to wet the seed.  I have no choice but to go up to Lowe's and buy 2, 100 foot long garden hoses and the fan sprinklers - if they even have that stuff this time of year.  I'll be spending days out there just watering grass seed until all of  that stuff starts growing. 

I don't want to know how much that stuff is going to cost, I just have to eat it, grow the grass and move on.  

I got all of the fence posts in yesterday.  I need to buy the gates while at Lowe's, might as well get all of that stuff while I'm there.  Which means I have to go to the property first and get the trailer.  I guess while I'm there I should buy the block to build the large fire pit.  There isn't any good reason to go Lowe's and not get everything I need from there, save me trips, gasoline and time.  

I have no idea when the fire pit rings are coming. I just know that I ordered them. I also know that you don't have to do anything special to "install" them. You can do stuff with blocks, sand and other materials but it isn't required. I literally don't have the time or even the desire at the moment to build a fancy setup for each ring. It's going to be put on the ground where I want them and that will be that.  

My sleep hasn't been the greatest lately and I find myself waking up much later than I should be.  It's now 9:00 am and I should have been out there by now. Instead, I just got out of the shower, writing this post and drinking a hot cup of coffee.  It's going to be cool out today, but I will be working so that isn't going to bother me.  I think I'm going to start going to bed at a set time and get up at a set time regardless of how good or bad the sleep was.  

I'm just going to keep plugging away at this park until it's ready to go.  When it's ready, it's ready. I'm not going to stress over it. I'll hope in 2 weeks enough grass has grown that it looks presentable and I can move forward.  And then, it's going to be close to Christmas - really close to Christmas - so I'm not even sure I'll get any guests to start with.

The web designer/expert finally got over this ridiculous nonsense about the campground software and moved on.  I mean, seriously.  I'm the customer, I am paying him, I don't need this kind of attitude from him.  As much as I didn't want to do it, I was definitely ready to fire him and find someone else!  

Now, there is the next situation.  This involves the oil and gas company.  This guy told me that "no one is allowed on the production area".  Lmao.  I'm just going to shy away from these people and do my thing. They have already reneged on their offer to pay for half the gravel - note I didn't ask for the concession, they offered it.  Shrugs shoulders, moves on.  Pour 2 inches of gravel along the part of the driveway I need it for - about 850 feet and forget about tent camping and boondocking for now.  It would be 15 loads of gravel to do the entire driveway, I can probably get away with 7 to do the portion I need.  

Getting to the walking trails doesn't need gravel, I'm not concerned about that. But there is a good portion of the driveway beyond my park area that just turns into mud when it rains and a much thicker base will be needed there. I just don't have the money for that right now and I will just put all of that other stuff on hold.  I will put up my signs pointing hikers to the trailhead but that will be the extent of it.

But this guy telling me that I can't drive over the production area? That didn't even stick with me.  I don't care what he thinks at this point, not after he engaged in the unprofessional behavior that he did the other day.  I don't care if they don't want me on the production area.  I don't know what the contract says, I only have a copy of a contract that is 60 years old.  He sent  that last year and stated that was the contract they are operating from.

I am no lawyer, but that thing says it's good for 5 years.  There must be a new contract along the way there, dude.  At some point I would think there is a 100 year  contract since that is apparently the norm in the industry. Even if the now-60-year-old contract is a 100 year contract, it won't end in my lifetime so I'm stuck with it.  When the contract ends and if there is still gas flowing, then I could get royalties. Now, how long will that well pump out gas? I have no idea - maybe there's enough down there to last 100 years, maybe there's enough for another 10, I have no way of knowing. If it dries up, they'll close it down and abandon it. 

Then I wouldn't have to deal with them.  For now? I am going to enforce a 10 MPH speed limit.  I followed one out not long ago to clock him, he was going 21 mph.  

I am going to have to find out what the contract says about the production area.  There was a conversation I had with the gas guy on the phone last year where he was commenting on a land owner that was driving right through the production area on his land.  The gas guy was not happy about it but apparently his hands were tied.  

I doubt they can stop me from driving on MY property, whatever portion of it that I'm on.  They are only leasing the land. Obviously I can't interfere with their operation or mess around with their equipment. That's a granted.  But that production area would cut me off from the rear 15 acres of my land and that is not a happening event.  I can see them trying to install a locked gate to keep me from going through there. That's  how arrogant and crass that company is.

I would just cut the lock. I already have a padlock cutter from the last time we went through this. THAT gate has been taken down, thank you very much. The gas workers weren't even closing it, much more locking it shut.  That went on for over 6 months before I had all of that taken out of there.  

I don't need or want contention with those people.  It doesn't serve any good purpose. But, they are the party that acts out, makes outrageous demands and attempts to dictate the conversation. HOWEVER. They have FAR more money than I do and going to court isn't really a great idea.  Lawyers cost a lot of money and I don't have tens of thousands of dollars to waste on that 

What I do know, is that they cannot touch my RV park. It is not in any easement area, excepting using the main driveway.  I have written permission from them to do that. At first they said no, but then they relented and said okkkkkkk. Lol. It is in writing, that's all I need.  

Well, enough of that. It's time to get out of here, get the supplies and get to the property.  Hook up the hoses, get that going and then start working on the fencing part of the doggy park.

G'day

 To say that I slept poorly last night would be an understatement.  It's a hellish feeling trying to get out of bed after a night like that, even if I do not actually have to get out of bed for any pressing reasons.  I do have pressing reasons but not enough to overcome feeling like this. 

I watch with amusement as Elon Musk tears up the woke world in his alleged attempts to herald free speech on the Twitter platform.  The White House is now saying they are "keeping an eye on Twitter", as if anyone in the federal government making such a statement is somehow a good thing.  

The left can no longer control the platform, the narrative or attempt to manipulate outcomes of elections through Twitter without having the "opposition", ie: Republicans and Conservatives, coming back and giving their full version of what is actually going on without being censored by what amounts to Communist management at Twitter dictating the narrative. 

The White House is allegedly concerned about Twitter becoming a "vector for misinformation".  Twitter is a social media outlet, not a government platform.  Twitter is a landscape - or should be anyway - of anyone and everyone giving their opinions and ideas whether they are correct or wayyyyyy off.  Twitter instead became the right hand of progressive/left politicians, media pundits, commentators, the ABC media outlets - etc ad-infinitum - and I definitely believe they had a hand in the outcome of the 2020 election in suppressing the Hunter Biden story.

Remember, there were polls were taken after the election that indicated that enough of a percentage of voters didn't know about the Hunter story and if they had, they would have voted differently and who knows who would have been elected?  The government has no business interfering with free speech.  There are few exceptions - but threatening with physical harm would be one of them. But people saying aliens landed on planet Earth and went to the voting polls? Who cares what anyone else thinks?

I just stand in awe of such a gullible voting public that doesn't inform itself to vote based on facts that are created through doing actual research on any given item on a ballot, whether voting for a politician, a referendum or some action that the governments at whatever level want to take that need voter approval. 

People don't even know who are what they are voting for, they just know that someone on a TV ad told them that they shouldn't vote for the other side because of "dire consequences". Such as Pelosi and her ilk constantly saying that Republicans want to gut Social Security and Medicare.  Find a single Republican running for the House that has said that in this current election cycle.  I'll wait. If there IS one, I haven't heard about it and I do try to keep up with this stuff.  They make these outrageous claims, using fear tactics to try and drive voters to vote for them over their opponent.  

Not because of facts, but simply out of sheer emotional response.  It isn't shocking that the PACs spend so much money on advertising.  They know that most people don't spend 2 seconds looking into any of the initiatives or politicians on the ballot. If they can get their message out over the airwaves and social media, they win the election.

It is astounding and appalling at the same time.  

Well that woke me up.  Musk is all over the news and has been for weeks now.  It's amazing how a few, leftist voices can dictate the narrative for the entire nation.  The left doesn't really believe in free speech, that is the takeaway for me from all of this nonsense.

So now that I'm awake and at least partially motivated, what am I doing today?  I'm going to the property, of course. If it's not too wet and if it's not raining, I am going to work on putting the rest of those fence posts in.  That really needs to get done and over with and behind me.  

Which reminds me, I need a dog waste station.  Actually, I just want a plastic bag dispenser - those kind you use to pick up the dog dung and then chuck it in a trash can.  I don't need a $300 setup, that's ridiculous. It's just a metal stand with a dispenser and a small garbage can built onto it.  I saw a dispenser only on a stand that is $52 and that's what I'm getting.  Put a plastic trash can out there and done.  

I guess that's my goal today, get a lot of that done if the ground isn't so wet that my boots sink into it with every step.  Just another reason I need that grass to grow out there, to eliminate that problem.  

Well enough of this, off to the races.  

4 hours out of me. That's all I could muster. After walking all of that land pushing that seed spreader? I was toast.  My legs are hurting. They aren't just sore, they are in pain. Well, not so much now that I'm sitting down.

I'm resting the rest of today and if the rain doesn't start early tomorrow, I'll go back out there and start pounding in fence posts.  I dunno, maybe if my legs stop giving me the "don't even try to do anything else today" message, I'll go out back and start cutting the pieces of the benches.  

I doubt it tho. 

As it stands, I did end up going to 2 rock places to get quotes on crushed concrete.  The end story is - it isn't worth it.  The first place - which is the place that sold the gravel to my contractor - doesn't even carry it, but, he will sell some other stuff, which is much better quality, for $550 per truckload delivered.  

Now look, I just spent 28k on gravel, I'm none too keen on having to spend another 4k plus on even more of that stuff. He said there was only one place in town that sells crushed concrete, named off the place and then said he had some "stuff" in the back that he got from a concrete plant that he would sell me for $250 per load, delivered.  

It was weird, sticky stuff.  He said there was some kind of "oil" in it but said he didn't know the deal about it. Yea, I believe that, not.  Whatever it is, I don't want it.  It stuck all over my shoes and plastered itself to my rubber floor mat in my SUV. I said thank you and left.

Went to the other place.  They want $503 per truckload for crushed concrete, delivered.  That's very high for material that they don't produce. Crushed concrete is made from old concrete that has been removed from wherever, taken to a crushing operation, put in a giant machine, crushed and out comes the product. They don't have to mine it like everything else.  

Everything else they have to mine it and still have to put it in a crusher and all the rest of it.  I was pretty appalled at that quote.

I then called another place that only does crushed concrete.  The guy told me $900 per 25 ton load, delivered.  But if you do the math, that's $36 per ton. I mean, I am getting the shaft regardless and since that's the case, I might as well just go with the guy that supplied the SB2 and get that iron ore stuff he will sell for $550 per load.  It's much better material and is actually the stuff that's already on that driveway.

It's just the stuff already on the driveway? Has been there so long it's no longer gravel. It's just fine powder that is getting worse and worse as each day passes and their pickups drive back there and mine as well.  

So kiss another $4,400 goodbye.  I have NO choice. It's not "I have very little choice". It's a big no at this point.  I either do that or have some pretty pissed off customers driving in over dirt and mud, getting their rigs dirty and getting their tires all muddy every time it rains.  

There's some places in Shreveport and Longview that sell, but even if they are selling it cheaper, the shipping costs will negate any savings.  

Oh well. Just eat it I guess and move on. 

I dunno, but I'll wait on that until closer to opening day for that. I mean, opening day was supposed to be in 3 days, but there is no way that is happening.  Tomorrow it's supposed to rain and I surely hope it does, but at the same time, I hope it's just a light sprinkle, nothing heavy.  

 

 This is today's agenda. I feel that if I write it out first, I will get more of it done than if I just haphazardly go over there and start a little here and little there.  This stuff needs to be done and I'm in between rain days. The only thing that will slow me down is if the ground is still muddy/overly wet.  

But, I need to put in the rest of the fence posts.  Dump the next 300 pounds of grass seed.  Cut the 4X4X8 in half and quickcrete into ground out front for the ENTRANCE sign.  That should be enough for one day's work. If time permits, go see the gravel guy and ask him about his price for crushed concrete, if he even sells that stuff.

He doesn't have a website and I don't remember one way or the other whether there was any out there when I was over there a few months ago. I was looking at his giant pile of SB2.  

Not sure when I'm going to make the benches, grass seed and other things take priority, but especially the grass seed.  

That's it. Not going to get overly ambitious and try to get too much done or sit here wishfully thinking I'm going to get it all done.  I just know that the 1st for an opening day was stretching it and now I have no idea when I'm opening.  When the grass is done growing lol  

I really need the next rain day to be a light rain, not a gully washer.  Gully washers just send the seed floating away to the other side of the property.  I'm sure the grass will be very nice over there! lmao

G'day.