Wednesday - 1:00 pm

After being told it would be done last night, then "around 9 am", then noon, we are now getting well past the noon hour and going into the afternoon hours.  My company has been calling this place but that isn't going to help anything. My manager just called yet again, he has no one else to move loads besides a driver with his truck broken down in Shreveport. They are sending an office worker to pick him up, bring him up there to Eldo, get that old pile of junk truck, drive it down to Lufkin to pick up a load and deliver it tonight. 

There are no OTR drivers in the area.  I am pretty much being forced to get to Nac, get that loaded trailer and deliver it tonight regardless.  Manager is saying this is how we "lose lanes", lanes being contracts with companies to deliver whatever products.  If they lose this lane, I'm out of a job here.  I never refused anyway, I just told him I'd call him whenever they get me rolling out of this place. But, the longer these people keep me here, obviously, the later into the night it's going to be to get this done.

It's times like these the company would be well served to find an outside company or Owner operators and pay them to do some temporary work rather than lose a contract.  But, that's me and my view of it, the previous company I worked for did just that. The other option is just rent a couple of trucks temporarily, I don't understand these people's thinking but it does go to advance my thoughts about this company: They are broke and don't have any money..and who knows if they are on the verge of bankruptcy/insolvency?  

I sympathize with them, I'll do what I can but I am not exactly happy about it.  I am a truck driver, sort of. I kind of departed with the "drive all night and do whatever it takes" philosophy after I got out of it for a year. Your eyes are opened to the abuses of the trucking industry and how they don't give a damn about your personal life or if you even get to have one.  It's not like I'm raking in the dough here and have been given the lime life for the time I've spent working here.  

So, whatever.  These tent people are on the same track as the previous tent lady:  We like the camper (motor coach) and we want to buy it. But it with what money?  They must think the thing is going for pennies on the dollar. I am not desperate and I won't sell it for less than I have in it. Otherwise, it can sit until I get to it.  I certainly didn't offer the thing to them, not at all.  

I'm just getting a little cranky because I've sat here 2 and a half days and no end to it in sight. And when it does end, I will have to drive until however late in the morning to keep the plant workers - working.  They can't make plywood without the glue.  Just isn't a happening event. But as I have stated, this company hasn't done me any favors, not at all. I have no idea how much glue is left in those giant tanks but it must be getting close to empty for the kinds of calls I'm getting and the desperation.  

If I left right now, I could be back up there in ... 6-1/2 to 7 hours, there is a pre-loaded trailer but it's sitting clear down in Nacogdoches, 2-1/2 hours from here not including stopping at my park for the empty and stopping at home for clean clothes, a thermos of coffee, cold water and a couple of sandwiches.  I don't need a shower, I got one at the hotel this morning.  

And IF all of that happens today, I can expect no less of a rat race tomorrow.  It was Saturday I was up there and both tanks were full, at least. But, it's 4 days later and very few loads have been getting up there.  It doesn't help that the driver trainer won't work today.  He said he "can't do it", with no explanation.  He might have legitimate reasons not to do it, at the same time, he might want to consider saving his job if he likes this dedicated run.  

All I can say is I have been looking. Haven't found anything particularly appealing, but I have definitely been looking at other jobs available in the area. 

Well I don't know what else to say here. I'm just contemplating the prospect of a very late night. Wouldn't have been that bad if they had had this truck done this morning at 9 when they said it would be done.

 The service director walked in about an hour before their closing time with a look on his face: I'm sorry but I don't think we're going to be able to finish it today.  He was probably expecting me to get upset.  I'm sure my face lit up and I was in all gleeful land with a wee bit of exuberance and gratefulness that I was all-of-a-sudden not having to drive all night long.  

I informed him of such.  He was kind of on the fence about it until I told him how happy I was to hear that news.  No, you don't have to finish it today if you can't.  I'm not telling you what to do, obviously, but I was facing driving all night long and now I don't have to!  He smiled real big once I told him all of that and said ok!  He estimated tomorrow mid morning the truck would be done. 

I spent another over  6 hours sitting in that little driver's lounge today and no, I was not the only one in there.  There were 6 of us at one point.  If they would have told me this morning that it would be all day, I would have just stayed here and paid for it myself if I had to.  The man knew about it, but he doesn't answer the incoming calls phone.  

Lol, I was going to do laundry, I only came prepared for one night's worth of clothing.  So, the desk sells laundry soap  Is there a coin dispenser up there where the machines are? Yes.  So, I go to my room, get my clothes and go to the laundry room. No coin dispensers.  I go down to the desk, I need some quarters.  

I'm sorry sir, we don't have any here.  Blank look back at her. First she told me there is a coin dispenser up there and now they don't have any cash in a drawer?  You can go to a convenience store!  Ma'am, I'm on foot.  There are no convenience stores around here.  She just shrugged her shoulders and dispensed with me, that was that and nothing she could do.  I have 5 quarters on me, not enough to even start the washing machine.  Whatever. Not like it's days before I get home, I'm not walking to the nearest convenience store which is at least a half mile away. There are restaurants, I don't know if they'll sell me some quarters.  

If they even have any.  I think we're heading to a cashless society....

 So, they're telling me if it's done today, it won't be until they close.  Didn't care, really, just figured home later than I want to be but no big deal.  

Fast forward.  Dispatch calls.  How's it going with your truck? Well, they don't know if it's going to be finished today, but if it is, it's not going to be until closing time at 6.

Well, can you load today? What kind of question is that, I'm thinking.  It's an hour and twenty minutes to my park.  Hook the trailer and then an hour and 35 minutes to the washout, where there would allegedly be a cleaned out trailer for me.  Drop my trailer and pick that one up.  35 minutes to the plant in Lufkin.  An hour MINIMUM at the plant, could be much longer, who knows?  2 hours including fueling going back to my park. 

You're talking 1 am at the minimum and probably much later, more like 2 or 3 with all the trailer hooking and dropping plus loading before the "day" is over.  And if I am too tired to drive back to the park, where am I going to park overnight? It's guaranteed that both Love's and the Pilot parking lots will be completely full and all "creative" parking will be taken as well.  I guess I could drive to the washout for the night, they don't care if we park there and I wouldn't have to fight for a parking spot.  35 minute drive instead of 1 hour 45 minutes in the dark, late at night, sleepy and not wanting to drive.  

Then, it would be straight to Gurdon tomorrow, no stopping at home until I get back from delivering.  

You see, now I'm hoping they will not be finished with my truck today.  Like, the man said "my goal is to get your truck finished, I'll let you know in a while whether you're going to have to get another hotel".  Yes, please.  If I see him again any time soon, it's going to be "well now I don't care if you don't get it done considering the alternative".  It's an hour and 45 minutes until closing.  

I guess I better take a good long nap in case I have to do all of this night driving, for they are not going to let me out of it unless I can't leave here.  No rush, please! lol

I get the feeling it won't work out that way.  I get the feeling this is going to be an extraordinarily long day and get over it, deal with it, get it done and over with.  At least the AC in the truck will be fixed?  That would be a good thing.  

I dunno, but I didn't sign up for late night driving.  I just don't want to do that anymore.  I get sleepy and I have to fight to stay awake, I don't care how rested I am, it just does that.  

Watching hundreds of air crash episodes both they Mayday version, other versions, watching videos of Mentour Pilot and others, they discuss at time circadian rhythms and how it can affect your performance if you are trying to fly - or drive in this case - at a time of the night when you are normally or should be sleeping.  

Whatever. Nothing new to me, but I find the older I'm getting the less I want to stay up late.  10 pm is about as late as I like to stay up, going to bed at 9 is better.  But, that's also considering getting up at 5:30 am.  

Ok, well I'm going to try and take a nap.  It's the only thing I can do right now to help mitigate what is probably coming at me tonight.  

 Tuesday semi-early

I guess I never posted the entry I made yesterday, lol.  

The wait was as long if not longer than I expected after arriving up here and yes, I am glad I brought a change of clothes and my laptop.  I waited 5 hours before a man came in and informed me the evaporator is bad (I suspected this all along) and because it had been running in this condition, it also ruined the compressor.  I immediately thought at least 3-4 grand worth of repairs.  Well whoopty doo.  If they had taken this thing into a shop much sooner, they wouldn't have had to replace the ac compressor.  

I start contacting people.  Well, they have to make a decision, I am told.  

It was 3 hours later and they had made their decision to go ahead and fix it. 3 hours.  I called my manager and asked him what was going on?  He said that they wanted me to start driving that pile of junk that I was in last time I had the truck in their shop.  I had told him after driving it I would never drive that truck again, and I meant that sincerely, fully, wholeheartedly.  

So, Oregon - it's where the head honchos are - were arguing back and forth with him.  He simply told him that I had adamantly stated I wouldn't drive that truck, end of story.  Well what was their beef with fixing it?  I wondered and said out loud but I knew the answer before he said it: they're too cheap to want to spend that kind of money simply on comforts for drivers.  He said: it's 5 grand and they didn't want to spend that kind of money.  Yeah, 5 grand on a truck repair is nothing in the trucking industry. It's like a speck of dust comparatively speaking.  It doesn't make sense, but much of what this company does doesn't make sense excepting that if they are going broke and just not telling anyone about it.

It lends to the idea that this company is broke and barely scraping by.  I wonder if it's on the verge of bankruptcy or selling out cheap to some other, larger company such as KAG?  My truck is working for them, bringing in revenues, lots of it, or is it?  Who knows what their profit margins are on any given load.  Not my problem, if the company fails, it fails and I will be looking for another job. It certainly won't be shocking to me if they come along some day sooner or later and say you're out of a job, the company is shutting down. In case you haven't noticed, trucking companies large and small have been shutting down all over the place.  It's a hostile market atm.  

The conversation must have come to the point that it's either keep him or lose him, up to you, but if you want to keep him, fix the truck.  Because my manager knows I will not stick around.  There's plenty of companies with much newer equipment that doesn't break down every time you sneeze at it.  Or look at it funny.  Or touch it incorrectly.

So, they decided to fix it, but the evaporator has to be ordered.  If you don't remember, I have been calling it on this problem being the evaporator for months now.  The mechanics said they would look at the evaporator, they didn't. They didn't want to be bothered with having to do that much work to be able to access it.  I wasted all of that time going in and out of that yard and switching trucks and such for no good reason and the compressor, which costs thousands of dollars to install wouldn't have gone out.  This is all on this company.

I ended up in a Comfort Suites. Not great, not bad. At least the carpet isn't nasty and the bathroom is ok.  They have a good breakfast here for a place like this.  Nice cubed potatoes, sausage, eggs, good hot coffee. For free I'm not complaining. I was going to go to the Cracker Barrel some 200 feet away, but when I saw what they were serving here, I decided to can the idea of spending money on food and eat the free stuff.  Some hotels serve a cheap, not very good breakfast, that's basically what I was expecting here.  

I did eat the Ta Molly's (mexican food restaurant) for lunch yesterday. Very bland food, not good at all. I just ate it because I was hungry and that kept me full for the rest of the day.  I dunno why people think that place is so great. I should have just waited and went to the Texas Roadhouse right down the street. I haven't been treating this as a mini vacation thus far, so I'll just stick with that idea.  Unless I'm here another night.

You see, we're waiting on a part and tho they said it would be here today, who knows what time it might arrive? Or if it will even arrive at all? They didn't get the order in until late afternoon yesterday, I wonder if it was made in time?  I don't really want to spend another night up here or if I do, upgraded hotel.  I just found out that another driver is preloading for me and dropping the trailer at the washout.  He wasn't terribly happy about it, I don't blame him since he had made plans for his day off today.  Then again, he just took 5 days off last week.....I'll be happy not to have to washout even if I have to drive to it.  Drop and hook is a quick operation. 

So this Cohen debacle is going to get interesting.  They are predicting today, perhaps, for the defense team to pick his story apart.  Mostly, they are going to bring out all the lying he's done and even being convicted of lying.  The man could actually be telling the truth now but it won't matter.  Once it's established he's a "serial liar", I like to call it, his testimony cannot be believed by anyone.  Certainly, if I knew nothing about Cohen or Trump and hadn't been watching all of the news coverage for  years now and presented with the evidence the defense team is going to present, I wouldn't believe a single word the man says.  You wouldn't know where the truth begins and the lying ends, if there is any truth to it at all.  

This Bragg trial is even superseding the Israel/Hamas conflict.  Tho, there is plenty of coverage at the universities, including the bright ones walking out on their own graduation ceremony in "protest" and even one tearing up their diploma while stomping off the stage.  

Whatever.  The nation is a mess.  Atheists take the public stage and given microphones, declaring their views devoid of morals or ethics, attack Conservatives because most are god-fearing people.  Everything that is going on here with all of this wickedness is from the enemy of our souls, satan.  There is no other explanation for it.  His days are numbered, I can say that. How much longer I don't know, but it won't go on forever. 

Some folks are coming over today to take a look a the park.  I am trying to fill the back in space and in a few days, another one coming open. That will be 3 spaces I need to fill with long term.  I probably won't be there, hopefully they'll either find someone, namely the workampers or they will just look and make their own decision.  I'm not desperate by any stretch of the imagination, but I am in business and the business is renting out rv lots, so lets get them filled. I will be running another ad after the family leaves.  I'm thinking of keeping the huge lot open for overnighters.  The only exception is if someone is willing to pay more for it, like $75 per month more over regular rates.  Otherwise, it is the "ultimate experience", the best thing I have to offer for people traveling through.  No one is going to say: "I hate this lot, it has too much space!".  

HipCamp is still shut down. I really don't think I want further involvement with it until I get something set up that definitively addresses their needs, which is not just a bathroom and shower and electrical outlets, it's also a full kitchen.  Many also want water and electric at their sites.  Note I did not say sewer. I've tent camped hundreds of times in my lifetime, no campground had sewer outlets for tent campers, a few of them did have water, most didn't have electric either.

But, times have changed and people want to be able to charge their electronic devices.  I need a whole area devoted to them and I have the space out front for it.  Would it be worth it? I have no idea.  The ideal spot is out back in the trees, but it's too far from water and electric sources.  This is nothing I have in the works now, it will cost money to do it and I am unsure if the return on investment will be worth it. Maybe if I had a nice setup and just advertised it all over the place.  However.  Summer is just around the corner and I don't suspect people will want to tent camp in 100 plus degree heat.  It's really a seasonal thing in my mind.  

And one wonders, if you're going to go to that much trouble, why not just build a glamping setup?  I have 7-1/2 acres for all of that, 2/3rds of it is going to be lots.  Out front, tho, it's too much of a grade to really think about putting lots in there without having to haul in a bunch of dirt and a lot of drainage pipe.  Too much money.  

No, the idea right now is to figure out how to start putting in more lots.  A bit of conundrum.  I have the money for the septic system, I don't have the money for anything else.  I don't know if it makes sense to install a septic system that may not get any usage for some time.  I'd need another 5k at least worth of gravel, 5 k for electric and a couple thousand worth of pipe to put in 5 lots.  This stuff ain't cheap, especially in this current market.  I mean, would it make more sense to see if inflation ever deflates and get prices back to "normal"? Or are these current prices on everything here forever?  Supply and demand, baby.  If there is too much supply, prices drop.  Well, extraneous things are probably out the window for people who can barely afford to pay their basic bills, buy groceries and put gasoline into their vehicles.  

It will probably be that: wait and see.  Prices can only do what? Go up even more, unfortunately.  

I've got an hour and a half left here.  If they tell me it's going to be done today, I'm going to ask them - the Peterbilt shop - to come get me. They brought me over here I would like to hope they'll take me back.  It's somewhere around $15 for Uber, might as well save every penny I can, where I can save it.  

+++++++++

I really am feeling like it's time to start trying to get a little more involved in church than just going to a Sunday morning service and taking the kids to occasional events they have for them.  The bible study on Wednesday morning sounds interesting.  A bit early, one at 7 am and one at 8, but I am thinking about going to that one when I can.  The other is an adult group that meets at 9:30 am Sunday morning.  Go to that and then get out and go to the 11 am service.  

Christianity wasn't meant to be walked alone.  There is strength and support in getting yourself surrounded with other believers.  It's actually, usually, a mix of different types of support where people might pray for your situation if you're going through one, another might give some exhortation to a situation you might have created where you need to refocus and take a different direction and then there's always the Word (Bible).  It's a thought that's been growing strength for some time now.  I certainly wouldn't mind people praying for me about making decisions of what to do next with the business.  But that's just worldly stuff, there is so much more. 

This one has gone on long enough.  I just know that a trailer is being preloaded as I write this so I can load it tomorrow.  That, if the truck is actually done today...

G'day

 Monday - early

I might have gotten up a bit too early.  I figured I need to be up at 4:30 am to take a shower, get some coffee, kick back for a bit and wake up.  I still have half and hour before I need to leave lol.  Actually, I woke up without the alarm anyway.  It was going off but I couldn't hear it.  The alarm was muted somehow, only on vibrate.  Well, with ear plugs in, I'm certainly not going to hear that and will now have to figure out how it was muted so that doesn't happen again.  It was 4:37 am, no big deal fortunately.  Knowing me, however, I could have slept a couple of more hours before waking up.

Mother is going up to the mountains.  She is not driving, the oldest brother's wife is taking her up to her property as she goes up as well.  My oldest has a cabin about 7 miles away from mom's property.  So, she still gets to go up there, just not as much as she used to.  She's going to be up there 2 weeks so that puts my trip off.  I figured it was far better for her to go to her favorite place on the entire earth than put a trip off for me.  I don't know how many opportunities she's going to have to go up there, but my brother/wife is being very generous in helping her out with that. 

Every year, there are always forest fires somewhere up in that entire regional area and it's simply not safe to drop her off and go back to the valley (Phoenix metro area) and come back up for her when she's ready to go home.  Otherwise, she knows how to pack for a month or longer, she's been doing it for decades. I'm very happy she gets to still go up there.  That was concerning to me for I think it would have degraded her spirits to stop driving and never be able to go again. 

Well, I think I'll leave out of here  a bit early now that I think of it.  Showing up at Peterbilt gates 10 minutes early isn't the end of my world.

 Sunday - late morning

Happy Mother's Day to any moms that read this blog!  Happy day for you!  Y'all are awesome!

Church in 20 minutes. No great plans here today, parents are going out together, the kids are going to church and then coming with me - to Applebee's, our weekly outing.  They made it right from that horrible experience there and the new GM got rid of a bunch of deadbeat employees who have no more concern about the customers than they do a dead snake in the middle of the road.  That was a good move.  Finding people to replace them, however.....pretty hard in this area.  One of the worst after-effects of Covid and the government giving away "free money" is the fact that a lot of people will not work now because they think they are being underpaid, especially in the restaurant industry.

We are quickly heading towards Communism in this nation and I wonder what it's going to take to stop this parade.  We are already well established in Socialist ideology - at least with the "ruling elites" who think us peasants should just listen and obey. Pelosi is still mouthing off about stuff like this even tho she is no longer the House Speaker.  It's not just her, she was the first one that came to mind after seeing an article last night about her going off yet again.  She thinks we're all too stupid to think for ourselves, the federal government just make decisions for us.

The end results is a nation with a large swatch of people who have become completely lazy and have zero motivation.  Who have been led to believe that the government can just print money endlessly and give it away.  People actually believe this and that the money is "free".  You have Biden continuing on with his college loan forgiveness executive orders that are helping to cement this belief.  He is simply trying to buy votes. We all know this but they would never admit to it. 

Anyway, Applebees has improved, it remains to be seen whether they can get the type of help working there that they need to actually turn that place around.  Applebee's announced they are going to be closing some restaurants this year.  I actually hope it isn't the one in town here.  Their food is great, it's the service that needs substantial improvement.  Anyway, if the kids decide they want to go to El Taco today instead, I'm good with that as well.  I like that place, their Mexican food is authentic. 

I'm both looking forward to and dreading tomorrow/Monday.  Looking forward to having a working AC system, not looking forward to getting up at 4:30 am.  And sitting in a trucker's lounge isn't conducive to taking naps.  Usually a lot of noise with a TV blaring and drivers on phones talking loudly.  Maybe I'll get lucky?  I wonder, if I'm having to stick around there half a day or longer, if I shouldn't be getting an Uber and going and checking out some tractors?  They have a couple of dealers in town if I recall correctly.  It's something to do....

Some people called late yesterday, do you have 2 spots available? This was after the people called before that yesterday asking the same thing.  Except, the first wanted the lots for last night, the latter wanted them for tonight. Yup, 2 lots rented for 2 nights in a row.  It's money.  

The family of 3 is moving out Friday, allegedly. They keep moving it back, that's the bank/mortgage company playing paperwork games.  That's going to leave 3 long term lots empty.  I am going to post another Facebook ad here probably today when we get home from church and dinner.  Well, maybe I'll wait until they leave so I can take pics of it and tout it as a huge lot - which it is and highly desireable. It's because that's the last lot on the south side.  So, you come out of your trailer door and and you aren't looking at the side of another trailer, you are looking at a large yard and then the doggy park.  I charge more for that, $50 more to be precise.  If I can get it, I do it. 

The workamper did a bunch more work yesterday and the wife asked what else he can do? What do you need done? Well, the overhanging branches along the driveway need trimmed and a tree cluster needs a few trunks taken down.  Note I didn't say take the entire tree down, I better explain that a bit better.  He is a good worker but his listening skills aren't all that great.  Still, it's a pleasure to have someone actually doing something for the exchange of free lot rent versus others I have had that won't even work for pay, they just sit there when I turn my back and play on their phones.  I stopped using paid help quite a while back, more trouble than it's worth.  These people are getting about $450 per month in freebies so I don't expect him to be working every single day.

At the same time, I don't want to say that to him.  You give people an inch and they take 100 miles in this current environment of entitlement.  I don't suspect he feels entitled to anything, never know. 

I'm thinking of advertising the huge lot for $500.  It's the one across from the family of 3. Those 2 end lots are the prized lots to have.  I figure to try it for a while, I'm looking to get money out of the prime lots, not just give them away at the same price. Many RV parks do this, there is nothing unethical about it in case you think it is. It's just a way to get a little more money.  Many of the people coming into my park are not poor and broke. Some are, yes, but most are well off or middle class on the upper end of the scale.  

Anyway, it's time to leave for church.

G'day

 Saturday - evening

Just another day in paradise? 

Got up an hour later than normal for this run. Just wasn't feeling it and decided to get a little more sleep.  I did sleep well last night, at least.  That doesn't always happen.

Drove up there, it was nice and cool this morning, but it quickly got warm after I got up there, parked the truck and ended up shutting it off. I normally leave it running to keep the ac going, but since there is no ac, the only thing a running truck will do is heat it up inside of it even more.

I spent most of the time outside where it was much cooler.  Fortunately for me, this trailer can pump up to 38 pounds and the glue was relatively warm, making it come out of there in 67 minutes, which is quite good, really.  

Of course, what is a day owning an RV park without some sort of situation? I get a text: Mr B, this is so and so, this man is pacing around all over the place with a gun.  I don't feel safe, etc., so forth and so on. I wasn't there, I advised her to call the Sheriff's department.  She did, but they didn't come out that fast, so they must have ascertained in talking with her that it really wasn't as bad as the initially made it out to sound.  

I get that these people are a little wacky, I don't really think they are the next mass murderers to be seen on the nightly news.  I contacted him directly, are you walking around with your pistol in your hand? He denied it and denied having said anything to them. I didn't know what to think about the pistol, I didn't believe him about not saying anything. He's already admitted he's spoken to people already.   

I was pretty short with him.  Stop the nonsense or leave, is the basic message I gave him.  I'm not going to have those people running everyone out of the park.  The Sheriff deputy showed up just before I got back to the Park, he was there talking with the man while I was driving by.  I got the truck parked, brakes set, shut it off and...the deputy left before I could get to him.  

Anyway, that's it.  I got sidetracked with the freebie people - I'm calling them workampers for that is exactly what they are doing.  He had mowed a bunch of land today, I was happy that I had offered him free lot rent after I saw all the work he was doing.  He's taken a huge load off of me in terms of keeping the property looking nice.  The lady asked what else he could do?  Fix the riding mower, trim the trees and bushes overhanging the main driveway, since they asked.  They asked a bunch of other stuff but I finally broke free from them. I was ready to go home.  Not that I have anything grand to do, I've just been working all the time save for one day this week and will have tomorrow off, ready for some relaxation. 

Home, nothing going on here, just as I desired it to be.  Relatively quiet, the kids are home of course but they are busy with their games and mostly keeping the noise levels down.  

Now, what could I get done today? Go over and trim a couple of pull through lots.  He's mowed the main grass but didn't take down the grass on the edges.  He's afraid of throwing rocks. I just set the height adjustment all the way up and that does it. I can mow over the rocks without slinging them everywhere and it really doesn't matter, those 2 lots are empty atm.  

But, they won't be tomorrow and I want them looking nice. A man just called asking for 2 pull through lots for tomorrow and yes, he already paid for them.  I gave a small discount just because I can, a few dollars per lot, I don't normally do that but since they are empty and no calls on filling them so far, I don't mind getting something out of them versus the nothing they would have brought in.  

The family has now stated they are leaving this coming Friday.  Well, sorry to see them go, they need to pay up tho.  I'll be pushing that the closer we get to their departure date. They are paying pro-rated per my agreement to keep costs down.  They've been paying full price for what, 8 months now? And anyway, the lot is likely to be empty for a spell.  I just am not getting calls right now. I did fill up 2 of the lots that emptied out, but I have more to go.  Like, losing half the park all at once, that isn't something that will recover quickly.  Or will it? You never know.  You think, gee, I guess it's going to be empty for a while and the next thing you know, there are 2 people wanting long term lots.  It happens that way, more often than not. 

Well apparently it's card night. No idea when that decision was made, sort of want to, sort of don't.  The idea of just relaxing in my bed and watching movies sounds really good, especially on a night before a day off.  Of course, Monday won't be work laden, but I will have to get up earlier than normal but getting up to the shop, I will just be sitting there waiting.  Taylor has already offered me a ride home, lol.  I don't know if I'll need that, I just think I'll sit there til around noon and if they don't have it done by then, ask them how long they think it's going to take?  Because if it's overnight, I don't really mind staying at a hotel if the company is going to provide a decent one.  

Well, just made dinner and cleaned the kitchen, other things to get done such as laundry before the day is over.

 Friday - late

So. Just had to wash the trailer out with a garden hose this morning.  They washed it in Crosset, AR but there were flakes on the bottom. The plant doesn't like flakes in there, just wash it out into a buck at the park, a couple of gallons of water and that was that.  Skipped the washout ordeal altogether and drove straight to Lufkin.  I wasn't there long, the loader was working on a formaldehyde truck but he got to me only a few minutes after checking it.  That's the way it's supposed to be, load more than one truck at a time. 

During all of this is texting and phone calls about getting the ac fixed.  Because honey? I ain't driving that truck without functioning ac.  End of story, there is not going to be any arguing about it, it's unreasonable to expect someone to do so and endless "bring it up here" crap isn't going to work anymore.  I didn't say I would quit to them, but I'm telling you, this is something I would quit a job over, definitely without hesitation. If it comes to that of course, I'll work through the process first.  

First it was - we're going to have you take it to the Peterbilt right there in Lufkin. They treat us well there...Ok. I would have rather taken it to a shop in my town, but I'll deal on their terms with this.  A little while later: Well, they don't know if they can even get you in today, we're trying the Peterbilt in Texarcana.  Maybe half an hour later, the lead mechanic calls and says yes, you can can take it there, is that what you want to do? Of course I want to. Ok, we're setting it up for Monday, make sure you contact Jenn (dispactch) and let them know you aren't working on Monday because you have to take the truck in.

So that's set up.  I'm to be there, at the shop at 7:00 am.  GPS says it's 1 hour 16 minutes, I'll drive out of my park at 5:30 am.  That gives me a little leeway in case of whatever on the way up there.  Means I have to get up at 4:30 am.  Whatever, this is do-or-die for me in terms of my continued working at that company, it's getting very uncomfortable  in that truck as the days start to get warmer.  Like, high 80's with high humidity and dew points.   Combine that with a giant engine sitting in front of you and it likes to heat everything up very nicely.  

So, I'm toodleedoodleeing my way home on Highway 43 and suddenly I hear a Kablaaaaam! followed by seeing the entire ring of a tire go flying out on the highway surface.  Yay!  A blown tire! Just what I needed only 25 miles out from my park! I am out in the middle of nowhere.  In between small towns, one of them 10 miles north, the other 12 miles south.  I text the lead mechanic, he's like dang.  But, he finds a truck to send out, they show up less than an hour later. Not bad considering they were coming from 45 miles away.  

I just stood in the shade of the trees, certainly not going to sit in a hot truck.  He changed out 2 tires and switched out a third.  Switched, meaning moving from one axle to another.  Remember, I just picked this trailer up.  People don't care about tires, they just run the things until they blow.  There is another tire on the trailer that needs replaced, it's wore down to the wear bars.  The mechanics don't even look at them, as far as I can tell.  As I have stated, it's a 3rd rate company. They'll deal with stuff with confronted with it, otherwise, who cares.  

Whatever.  I am delivering that load tomorrow and then Sunday off.  Monday is sort of off too, really, since I am only going to a shop. I will be taking an extra set of clothes with me.  If they have to dig into that thing and tear the interior out, it could take more than a day to fix the thing.  I expect to be there for many hours, that's all I can say about that.  

What else. Well, people have been getting into the mailbox and it's gotten too much.  I don't know who's doing what with the mail and someone damage the lid. That's when I said no more. I have already printed out a paper to put inside the mailbox - RV guests are not to get into this box.  My plan to go to Carthage was eliminated with the tire problem.  

I can try again on...Tuesday if the truck is fixed on Monday.  I will not continue to drive that truck without the ac working as it is supposed to.  I got back to the yard, got in my vehicle and blasted the ac.  It cooled right down and kept blasting out cold air, just as it's supposed to, just as the truck's is supposed to.  

As it stands, I will take my laptop with me Monday and at least have something a little more interesting to do than playing on a phone.  

I don't know what else, my mind kind of stops there right now.  It just is amazing how much I have had to go through to get them to yank this situation out from shop mechanics who clearly can't fix the thing or don't want to be bothered to do what it is going to take to fix it. I literally had to tell them I am refusing to drive until the thing is fixed, save for taking this load I am on now.  This truck's ac hasn't actually worked correctly since I got the thing in Oregon.  It's just that it was cool weather for the most part driving back and then yes, it heated up a bit, took it in, they didn't fix it, then was going to take it in again, a cold front hit, winter came and I just blew it off. 

But it's been months now since I fired this thing about getting it fixed back up.  

Enough for now. 

 After getting the tanker unloaded and scaled out, I headed directly to the yard. It's an hour and a half drive. It is only 62 miles, but it's Arkansas, with painfully slow speed limits and lots of small towns that have even slower speed limits.  

They tried the same thing all over again.  Pathetic waste of time, if hadn't had to have gone there anyway to drop the broken trailer and pick up another one, I would have been pissed.  I'm not all that happy anyway, their fix did not, if you can't tell already, work.  The mechanic said his AC machine must be broken and not pumping out the correct amount of freon.  So get a new machine! 

Let me back up here. The AC quit altogether this morning.  I mean, at least I was getting something out of it before, sporadically but that's better than nothing.  Now? It lasts longer for cooling before the air volume starts to diminish and the air temperature starts rising, coming out of the vents.  But, it's still the same situation.  The manager promised me we could take it somewhere else if today doesn't work.  

I am scheduled to work until 2 Mondays from now, with this coming Sunday off, but not the next one.  I assume/hope this will change, I wanted more work but not this much. No, I didn't ask them for more work, I was just hoping. Go from one end of the scale to the other.  But, something always happens when they are putting this much work into the tablet. One plant or the other will shut down, it's almost inevitable.

Well what if you have to work all of that? Well, not much different than what I've done since 2 Mondays ago.  I had yesterday off but that was it.  I do like some time off here and there tho.  Basically, I figure if I work all of this, I can then tell them I need to go to AZ and sorry, I'm out of here.  What are they going to do? It's not fake, a lie or exaggeration. 

So what about getting the truck fixed? No idea, but I told them I will not be driving this truck like this.  I have 3 shops I have found local, they can call all of them and decide which one.  Or, find more, there are more than 3 truck shops in this little town, amazingly.  I'll go get the load tomorrow, deliver it Saturday but after that? We need to have an immediate plan, it's getting warm out there and I'm not interesting in driving anything that is hot inside of it.

I do wonder how long it will take to load tomorrow.  I could actually drive the truck through the small town and stop on the way back.  Stop where? Why, TYM tractors of course, in Carthage. It's a different route home but Google actually always tells me to take it even tho it takes me about 6 miles out of the way.  I am no longer being paid by the mile so mileage shouldn't be an issue.  

Yes, I just looked at satellite view of the dealer's yard, there is a huge dirt lot out front and in that pic are 2 dually pickups with what appear to be very long gooseneck trailers attached to each one.  That area should be ample big enough to fit my truck in there.  This would save me 30 miles each way of driving  and I'd like to see what they have, what kind of deal they'll give me and consider signing on the line of - eternal payments lmao.  

I just sent the dealer a message about that, make sure they're cool with it but it's obviously a huge area that I can turn around in, shouldn't be an issue. Yes, if I get one, I'm going to want them to deliver the thing to my place.  I expect Taylor will want to ride the thing, lol, she's already alluded to that. 

I haven't made my mind up, I have slowly been persuading myself to do what needs to be done and hope it all works out in the end.  Certainly, my current business bank account wouldn't hurt terribly much with a $400 payment going out of it.  The difference now is working a full time job.  If it were just business income I was living off of, I wouldn't even consider this as an option.  However, as I have stated previously, that shed payment is going away later on this year.

___________

So the other driver is having problems as well. Regen issue, he spent the day at a shop, who finally released him to go load.  He got to the plant and the thing was stuck below 1000 rpm.  He didn't load.  I'm supposed to load tomorrow morning, highly unlikely he will be fixed and loading before me.  

Now here's the kicker: He says he's going to load later tomorrow but will "have to unload Saturday morning".  You know, he is one of the ones that refused to change his schedule to allow for me to not have to do 2 late loads in a row.  That never materialized because the plant canceled after I loaded 2 days ago and the second late load went away. They instead scheduled me early load tomorrow and of course, Saturday.

He didn't ask me and I didn't say I was the early load on Saturday.  But I am sitting here thinking, why should he be allowed to just butt in front of me?  Especially after that?  

Anyway, it's getting late and 5:30 am comes awful early.  I hope to sleep a bit better tonight versus last night.

The forecast of thunderstorms has given way to almost nothing.  Typical of their forecasting around here.  One minute it's 90% chance of rain, the next, nothing.  

G'nite. 

 Sitting in Gurdon using iPhone. 

AC has now completely stopped working. It was working sporadically, giving me some relief but now? It’s hot in here. Currently 82, feels like 85 and going up to 87 today. 

I called the manager and let him know in no uncertain terms that I will not continue driving this truck like this. I also reminded him the thing has been in their shop 3 times now. 

He’s proposing a 4th time but I’m done with it. He’s still wanting them to assess the situation before making any decisions. I interjected: what is there to assess? They already had their chance. 

Yes I am unhappy, it was sitting there a week and they still couldn’t fix it? 

Anyway, product is coming out so fast that I expect an hour to offload. Thank God. 

 Thursday - morning

Just didn't sleep well again. I mean, I got some sleep just not quality sleep.  

Got up a little later than normal for the early load, they don't want me there before 10 am because they need time to drain out one of the giant tanks enough to be able to accept a truckload into it.  In reality, they wouldn't have taken this load at all if they had been able to call it in in time to cancel it before they loaded me in Lufkin.  

So, the TYM dealer sent me a credit application (I asked for one). No sense in driving down there to find out potentially that I don't even qualify for a loan with whatever lender they are using.  No, I haven't filled it out yet, I just got home and I am certainly not filling it out on my iPhone.  

____

Filled out the initial prequal app and it came back saying I am prequalified. What it didn't say was for how much.  That doesn't help me and I don't want to fill out the full app without knowing first.  They do a hard credit check which shows up on your credit profile.  It's usually only 1 or 2 points, I just don't want it on there. The thing that too many credit checks in a short period of time will do is lead lenders to believe that you are desperate and really won't be able to pay back your contractual obligations.  They say credit inquiries are nominal impact, but over the years I have read enough info to assert that in reality? It can seriously ruin your chances of getting a loan for much of anything if there are too many of them on there in X amount period of time.

So I'll wait for the rep to contact me back and presumably have access to that application and tell me how much the qualification is good for.  If I drive down there and find out I can't get what I need, what is the use of it? Waste an hour driving there and back and the fuel.  Why do I want to go down there? Because I have been slowly selling myself on the idea of monthly payments in order to satisfy the need for this particular piece of machinery.  It was a want at first, now it is an absolute need.   

_________

I am approved for a zero interest loan, but only for 60 months, I am told.  And for 25 hp tractor instead of the 40 plus he was proposing.  Just depends. Does the price of the tractor come down accordingly for this 25 hp and therefore, the payments are still good regardless?  I have to fill out the full credit app to find out, apparently.  I'll think about it today while driving all over the place.

First, up to Gurdon to offload, then to ElDo to switch trailers and then back home. Because of needing to dump this trailer in ElDo, it will put me getting home at 5-6 pm instead of the 2-2:30 I normally do.  Unfortunately, the trailer must be fixed. I will not just keep pulling that thing around with the defect on it and I don't feel like waiting at a repair facility for who knows how long before they figure out all the parts they need and then actually locate those parts. Remember, these are old trailers and finding parts for them has proven difficult, as I have found out first hand. 

It can sit in their yard until it's done and anyway, I'm hoping whatever I end up with today? Will actually have air ride on it, not this spring suspension garbage.  You just get bounced around all over the place with that junk. 

I can tell ya I've fairly well sold myself on getting a tractor, btw.  As I said, it's not a want, it's an absolute need and renting one every time, having to get it, use it and turn it back in all in 24 hours gets old.  If I could just get on the thing, do what I need to do and then park it, wouldn't that be better?   I can start clearing the land that has trees growing on it again, undesireable types of trees and even if I wanted them, they are growing all over the place.  Most of them would have to be removed again regardless if I do (will, hopefully) indeed expand the operation.

An online FB group for RV park owners/managers netted me a conversation with the main competitor.  Back and forth, he is not full and apparently no where near it. Many people in that thread complained there are too many RV parks opening up - new ones - and they take away market share and are more desireable for older parks weren't built for these mammoth sized trailers they make nowadays. Way back when, trailers were what, 20-25 feet long? Now they're 42-44 feet, especially fancy 5th wheels?  Those things are literally homes on wheels. They have everything in them.  

Well, fortunately for me, I have a newer park and designed it for those rigs, so my place stays full or if partially empty, it doesn't stay that way for long. The welder vacated 2 days ago, I need that lot filled and another lot vacated yesterday. So, I have 2 lots to get refilled.  

Next lot I install may be even 5 feet longer than what I have now.  Same width tho, I can't afford to lose too much width on each space, I need X amount of lots and that doesn't happen if I give them too much space. And the further you space them apart, the more pipe and underline wire you need, making the cost that much greater.  

Anyway, it got to the discussion about these crazy farmers.  They had stayed at his place last year and he eventually booted them. I am headed the same direction with them, one more instance of them harassing anyone and they can leave.  People in the thread thought they have mental illness.  I dunno, I don't make such judgments online based on limited information and I am not a doctor or psychologist. It's amazing some of the judgments people make on line that have no expertise, skill or education of things they are making judgments about.  But, it's easy to do, I guess, sitting behind a computer or phone screen with no repercussion for your words.  Say whatever, whenever, who cares, right?

Well, it's close to departure time. I intend on arriving right at or just before 10.  I have the extra time to spend today to go to Eldo so I don't want to get there too late.  

G'day

 Wednesday - 10:00 am

Yes folks, I am just now climbing out of bed and drinking my morning coffee.  Why? Because I can, agenda for the day be - well anyway, I don't care about today's agenda I made last night.  I woke up early this morning thinking, gee, I don't have to go to work today and have worked 9 days straight.  So I went back to sleep and thought nothing of time, for once.  It helps that the kids are off at school and the house is completely quiet, the only noise was one of the cats meowing at me.  She likes me, lol, not my cat but she is currently sitting on my leg.

Will I get anything done? Likely, I just have to get moving here.  I just figured I wouldn't have another day like this where there isn't anyone home, peace and quiet and might as well take advantage of it.  They changed my schedule, tomorrow is offload day but I'm loading Friday and delivering on Saturday, so my weekend is cut in half. I still have Sunday off, I insisted on that since I worked last Sunday, but sleeping in on Sunday is not the same as sleeping in during a weekday.  

I am tempted to drive down to the tractor place, tho.  I just wonder if that's really a good idea or not.  Of course, I could always go to John Deere, which is in town....it's not like they have a bad product, it's just limited in their proprietary ownership to the point apparently aftermarket products to attach to it aren't allowed.  So, you can't buy stuff cheaper.  The backhoe attachment is 12k for a john deere, it's around 6-7k for most other brands.  The TYM tractor they want me to consider is a much higher horsepower machine than what John Deere is offering and that's one of the biggest reasons I would rather do the TYM. They also seem to have good ratings/reviews.  

I'm just going to take the trailer up to the plant, unload it and switch it out tomorrow.   That thing has been in that condition for unknown amount of time, but looking at it, obviously quite a while.  

Now then, CVSA roadside check coming next week I think.  Yes, Tuesday through Thursday.  This is where they target certain systems on trucks and do highly extensive inspections.  However, after reading their website, it almost sounds scary.  They are going to be checking everything. I mean, for the list they have on there, just how long is one of these inspections going to take?  And people with controlled substances or alcohol in their trucks best beware: they will be searching the interior of trucks for such said contraband. That is "lose your CDL" type of thing where your license is suspended for at least a year and costs a truckload of money to "repair".  

I dunno, I've checked the truck, Love's did an intensive check of the truck yesterday as well and found nothing wrong with it.  There's only so much you can do before you just have to call it good.  The brakes are good, no audible air leaks, nothing leaking underneath, tight steering, the AC doesn't work that great but that's not anything they care about.  It has 2 horns and they both work.  I mean, I could go on and on with the endless list....and it's not automatic that I'll get pulled in anywhere, it's just something to think about and prepare for. I have everything, that's all I can say about it.

Well, I think I will go to Lowe's for some supplies, get a lunch and then go to the park.  I have tent people wanting to give me money, yes, please, you owe me.  I also need to deposit a sizeable amount of money into the business checking account, it's slowly growing, the amount of money in there I mean.  It's nice that the electric bill is already paid and it's out of there.  It's just that summer electric bills are coming.....There's still money to be made, just not as much as now when there is a mostly full park and the power bills are "low" comparatively speaking.  

Well, enough.  I just realized I need to go to Kroger's and since I have the time, might as well go get my hair cut.  

G'day

Sooo.....

After fixing the brakes on the trailer myself, I headed down to Nacogdoches. After getting the trailer washed out, I was talking with the guy that does the work. He said the earlier truck had come in late, after 10:30 am. He's supposed to be at the plant in Lufkin getting loaded at 10, not showing up at the washout at 10:30. 

Upon arrival at the plant, he was still there, claiming they had made him wait and they hadn't even started loading his trailer. I was suspicious of that statement and found out the truth after he left, they loaded my trailer and I was in the control room getting paperwork. He was so late to load, the loader had started loading some of their trucks instead.  Makes perfect sense, they only have so many hours in a day.  Basically, the other driver lied about it and he apparently doesn't think I find out things. 

I am a very inquisitive person. Not to find out junk on people, I just like to ask questions.  Always have since I was a kid.  If people don't want to answer, I just back off.  

Anyway, pulling out of the loading by I saw it.  A tire bulged out well beyond the other tires.  I have a flat, I thought, without even getting out to look at it.  I don't have to, a loaded truck will give a flat tire away even in the mirror clear at the front.  I did get out to get the paperwork and took a look.  Completely separated from the rim, I had no choice but to go to Love's and get it fixed.

I was dreading that, Love's typically has a very long wait list, you can sit there for many many hours waiting for them to even get to your truck.  I lucked out today, tho, the didn't have any waiting at all and a bunch of people standing around, very bored.  The tired was repaired, good luck for the company not having to pay to replace the entire thing. 

However....the man called me over.  He pointed at a U-bolt.  The giant nuts holding it secure? Were completely loose and the mount was cracked. I wondered how long this had been like this and how many times mechanics at our shops had not seen this?  I can attest, tho, when I was underneath the thing, I looked right at it and it didn't register.  

That's because it's been like that so long, it appears normal, like it's supposed to be that way.  I didn't see the cracked mount tho, shame on me. However, I wasn't doing an inspection underneath there, I was on a mission to get the brakes adjusted and get out from underneath the thing.  I asked them if they could fix it - noooo.  I asked him for his opinion on driveability, tho I had already come to my own conclusion. He agreed with me without knowing it: It's obviously been like that a looooong time, it'll make it.  While I was underneath the trailer, I was tunnel-visioned: get these brakes done and over with.  

So, I thought nothing of it.  I want to be rid of that trailer, I hate that thing. It unloads ever so slowly and it has spring ride, not air ride. An ancient thing, it is quite bumpy because of the lack of air ride. It's old and dated.  I drove it back to my place without a second thought. It's not like it's going to break off and cause a major collision, if I thought it was going to cause danger to the public, I would have had to find - or the company would - some place there to fix it.  As I said, it's obviously been like that for a very long time. I"m dumping that trailer on Thursday. 

You say, but today is only Tuesday.  Yup, they cancelled all loads for a few days,  I don't know why. They have no choice but to deliver mine for it is loaded, but, it's not going tomorrow.  Because of that, my schedule obviously changed and they asked me if I wanted to do a Friday load/Saturday offload run? Not particularly, I thought, but I'll take it since I need the money.  

I'm done with credit cards, I don't use them now.  Okay, once in the last several months I've used one, otherwise they are off limits.   When I say "I need the money", this is one of the reasons why. I'm not getting into any more debt and have been trying to find a decent loan to pay this CC debt off for some time. With interest rates so high, that's been difficult.  

Well I take that back. I will get into more debt if I get a tractor, my statement is towards credit cards.  No tractor yet, lol. 

The tent people contacted me today, they have more money for me and also asking about the motor coach.  The motor coach is unavailable for I want to gut the thing.  I thought anyway.  I replied back that there is no way to plug it in anywhere, tho I am running a line soon that I probably could put a 3rd trailer on it back there.  You cannot stay in a coach or a trailer like that without AC running out here in the summer. It got very warm here today.  I don't know what she's doing for money, she's working somewhere or maybe giving plasma or who knows what, but she leaves most every day.  

It isn't the worst idea to let more people in it in the condition it's in - them knowing full well about it for I have told them several times and I let them go in and look.  If they can pay the lot rent every month, why not.  It would take that burden off of me.  No running water or sewer, they would have to continue to use the amenities shed.  I am considering it.  

Tomorrow would be a great day to rent that mini ex and git-er done! Excepting I have the parts to fix the riding mower and I want that thing back on line. I also want to take the 4 wheeler to a third shop that is highly acclaimed and see if they can get it running properly. It won't even start now.  It hasn't started in a while.  I need the use of that thing, I am missing it greatly. It helps me around the property with all kinds of chores.  Even these old ones are now going for thousands of dollars and I have dumped some money into it.  

The newest dude paid today.  The family of 3 hasn't paid and are now saying the house they are getting has some sort of paperwork issue. Yea, they need to pay, thanks.  They have had nothing but problems getting their own place since they moved into the park the middle of last year.  The one monther who stayed an extra week is leaving tomorrow and one of the welders left today.  I have 2 lots available right now, one for overnighters which I always keep open and one for long term.  I'll have another long term available tomorrow.  Not what I want, but it seems that people come in when you need them to.  

So, I need 2 more trailers to come in.  I think it will happen and not take too terribly long.  I get random calls out of the blue.  And usually it's people either almost there or already there.  So you just showed up? I always wonder but don't say out loud, lol. My ads do say to come by and take a look! And, I am hearing the other parks are booked as well.  I mean, totally filled up. Well, my main competitors anyway. I have thought about driving over there to take a look, but it's nothing important and is only a curiosity thing.  My competitors have such small spaces to the point they decided to combine 2 into one to give bigger lots, they were getting a lot of complaints about it including very negative Google reviews.

Did I say that the farmers with the conspiracy theories started their nonsense again today? Banged on one person's door and accused them of shooting lasers at them all night long and banged on another door and accused them of draining the oil out of his pickup to try and burn up the engine.  Yeah. They had tempered down for quite a while but I can't have these people chasing everyone out of my park. Better an empty spot than one full and the rest empty.  

Yup, the driveway is in terrible shape. It makes me want to pull the trigger on a tractor.  I might take a drive to Carthage tomorrow to look at the TYM tractors.  Of course, if I drive clear down there, it would be highly probably that I would come back after having had signed a contract.....if I look at my intended agenda tomorrow, I would be busy the entire day. I was more looking for a partial day of work and the rest taking it off and taking it easy.  

It's getting late. 

 Still Tuesday morning

I went over, fired up the truck, got the air system pressured up and then pulled off the service glad hand.  Pushing in the valve, plenty of air coming out of that.  Hooked it back up, went back to the rear of the trailer, observed where the slack adjusters were sitting, pushed both valves in, back to the rear of the trailer and saw that they had moved considerably.  

So, that means the brake system is working. What does that leave? Well, that leaves brakes that are so far out of adjustment that they aren't doing anything to stop the trailer.  Found some tools, got a piece of sheet metal to lay on, turned the bolt head to bottom out the brakes on one set.  Shocking, actually. Three full turns to bottom it out! You say, what does that mean?

It shouldn't have taken a turn, turn and a half at most - and that's for brakes out of adjustment - to get the shoes to bottom out on the brake drum.  All of them were that way.  It means that the brakes haven't been adjusted on that trailer in a very long time.  It's also out-of-service material, you get caught with them like that, they will put that trailer out of service and you will have to call a service person out there to adjust them. They won't let you do it yourself, you have to have it signed off by a certified mechanic.  

It also means these "mechanics" at the yard aren't checking anything. That trailer was sitting in that yard and was given the all green to take, that they had checked it out and everything was good to go when I picked it up.  THIS is why I checked them to begin with, I wondered if the shoddy atmosphere in this company also translates over to the equipment? Brakes are the number one thing they should be checking.  I mean, that part isn't shocking and it lends to why this company racks up so many CSA points when drivers are pulled over for random inspections.  

So whatever. I adjusted all 4 sets to half a turn and saved myself hours and hours waiting at a Love's to have them do something I can easily do myself and save myself the torture of sitting there, waiting forever.  Yes, I checked them after I was done.  I got the truck moving and pulled the trailer brake lever, the trailer brakes instantly locked up, just as they should.

I won't get paid for doing that, but I should. It's not my job as a driver to be fixing trucks, for goodness' sake.  Well it sort of is.  They certify you as a brake adjustment "pro" at the orientation.  You have to get under a truck in the pit in their shop and adjust them, then they sign off on you and you are now good to adjust them yourself. I wonder if that would translate over to Troopers giving the clear if I got caught with them that way?  I just don't believe drivers should have to be doing anything besides minor stuff to trucks, such as replacing windshield wipers or fixing broken running lights or brake lights and such.  

I never agreed to adjust the brakes.  Not in writing or verbally, I just did the training - a thing I already knew how to do anyway from my years as a truck mechanic - to make them happy. They obviously think that drivers should be getting on their backs in mud, dirt, asphalt, whatever and adjusting brakes. Not like I have a "portable pit" to take with me.  I don't own a creeper, either. I don't do work like that anymore, I have rid myself of that mentality altogether.  And yes, I am dirty, hence I came home to change plus let an hour and a half pass.  There is no reason to end up arriving at the loading plant too early, they will just make you sit there and wait, even if there are no other "outside" trucks. They'll load one of their trucks for a pre-load and screw you, basically.  So, I intend on leaving here at 10, get to the washout at 11:30 and then get to the plant around 12:30 or later.  I mean, I'd love to get there early and get loaded right away, experience shows that doesn't happen and unless a person likes to sit in a truck getting bored, might as well wait at home.

Meanwhile, one of the welders was hooked up and leaving when I arrived. He said he'd let me know, he did not. So I don't know if that means the other guy is leaving or if he's the one that was picked to stay or not.  What I do know is that both of those lots are paid up until the first and it's only the 7th.  I have plenty of time to get them rented out.  It also enables me to let a repeat customer come back for 4 days, he wanted to come in but said the system wouldn't allow him to.  Yes, after checking, because someone else had the overnight lot rented.  

However, with this dude leaving and another short term leaving tomorrow, I'll have 2 more lots to fill up and if that other welder leaves, that makes it 3.  This is why I try not to turn anyone down if I can help it.  I'll let someone come stay at the overnight lot if it facilitates getting a long term guest in there and if the lot is available long enough to have another one available when the next overnight guest is slated to show up.  Besides the overnight lot - which has people coming and going on random days - I had the entire place filled up yet again until this morning. 

The nature of the RV Park business.  

Oh, and yet another RV park has opened.  It's not terribly close to me, but it lends to the idea that the market is becoming greatly over-saturated with RV parks. They must have spent many millions on that place, looking at the pics. It's a "resort" RV park with several pools, one of which has a bar that people in the pool can come up to and order drinks.  It has a huge lake with rubber, apparently floating, play gyms on for the kids.  It has all kinds of stuff. Those parks are multi-million dollar operations and very risky in this current economic environment.  They'll have to be bringing in a truckload of money every month just to make the mortgage payment.  And I know from experience, you don't fill a place like that up overnight.

And yet another park is being built about 30 miles up highway 59 from here.  It's a pretty bad design tho.  They are cramming in the spaces and they aren't even angling them.  Unless they are going to be charging on the cheap-cheap, I don't see them as a major threat.  It's next to a safari of sorts, where you walk and drive through and see all kinds of "exotic" animals, perhaps that's what they are doing that for, try to get more business in.  

What all of this leads me up to? I need a pool.  It doesn't have to be a resort style pool, I just need something that people will say, wow! they have a pool! let's go there! even if I raise my prices to cover the costs.  So what I really need is a pool and more spaces.  We're talking a medium sized pool and it will have be approved by the county.  I have no idea what it will cost, but 70k is probably a good number to start with.  So I need around a 170k loan to add more spots and build a pool.  

That isn't a lot of money for a business loan for an already existent business that is making at least decent income in correlation to the number of spots I have.  I'm just waiting for interest rates to come down and so far, the Fed has said no, they aren't lowering the rate.  If I could get enough, also build a jacuzzi. The other option was what I mentioned a while back: an above ground pool but built partially into the ground.  I dunno how that would work for the "tackiness" gauge tho. YES, they have a pool! And get there and frown, but it's an above ground pool! Gag!  I really don't know how people feel about them, but I do know they make huge versions of them.  IT would still need a deck built around it and I'd have to have a shower (required by state) and a fence surrounding the entire setup with a keypad entry door.  So that will still cost a chunk of change.  

All I know is, if I want to stay competitive, I'm going to have to up my game.  

I'm slowly firing myself back up internally to get the motivational gears churning to try and get this thing moving along.  I need money, that's the bottom line.  I'm thinking to switch my business checking account over to a local bank and get some history going with them.  Austin bank, to be precise. There is a man there that bends over backwards to try and help people get business loans.  If I get an account there and start showing some income, that is certainly going to help.  I don't have too many auto-payments going out of it so it wouldn't be the pain it would be trying to move my personal account to another bank. 

Yes, that's a great idea and I think I will plan on doing that soon.  Very soon.

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't had a lot of motivation lately. It's 'get the minimum stuff done' and that's that.  There's a lot of "minimum stuff" to do. I just got tired of constantly going, going, going.  I am still going, just not as much as it was while building out the park and afterwards, getting stuff done. Always stuff to get done.

I need that last hurrah! to get beyond the stalling point of 16 lots and nothing more, get myself at least 30 in there, a pool and move on.  30 lots would provide around 7 to 8k per month income after taxes and expenses.  That's enough to live off of, even with paying $800 per month for health insurance coverage.  It's why I am wanting more spots, quite a bit wanting more lots.  

And with that, it's time to be out of here.  I am very happy I could fix the problem myself, regardless of grease and dirt, the time saved was the time earned.  

G'day

 Tuesday - semi early

I am getting up earlier than I need to for one purpose: get down to Lufkin and get the trailer checked out early rather than late.  I would have gotten up at my normal early load time, but then I would be arriving at the washout at the same time whoever else should be there and then....

Well, I'm not trying to cut anyone for washing out or loading.  I don't play those games.  So, I'm putting an hour and a half lag time in between to make sure that whoever is first gets their stuff done first. 

The farmer dude called 3 times this morning, missed all of those calls and finally called him back. Are you coming here in the next hour or so?  Yes, I plan on leaving at 8 so I need to leave out of here fairly soon.  Ok, well I have some news for you.  ??  Okay? was my reply.  Well I promise it won't take more than a couple of minutes.

This could be entertaining considering their past at the park lol.  We were shot with lasers full of kryptonite!  Or something surreal and completely fabricated along those lines.  Not that I don't think that they believe all of this.  I'm sure they do.  

So you tell me: Is the gag order on Trump a violation of his First amendment rights or does the court have a legitimate axe to grind with him going off as he always does?  From my perch? His 1A rights are being violated and I say this in light of the fact that they, the opposition that hates him and are involved in this nonsense, can say whatever the hell they please without any consequence.  Do I believe this judge is corrupted? I have no idea.  He is threatening jail time after once again finding him in violation of the gag order and ordering him to pay another 1k fine.  A thousand dollars is a lot of money to me, I guess to a person like Trump it is pocket change.  

I would love to see this judge throw in jail. Not because I believe Trump should be imprisoned, but to see the aftermath.  It isn't just Republicans that are seeing this trial is a politically motivated, banana republic style circus act, there have been several polls now that show even some Democrats think this trial is a bad idea.  Regardless, I think it would propel him into the White House this coming election and also would motivate the base in ways that we may not have seen any time in recent history. 

I suspect today to be a very long day.  The paycheck deposited into my checking account overnight wasn't near as bad as I thought it was going to be. In fact, it wasn't bad at all.  I looked at it a few minutes ago and wondered what a paycheck would look like with working most of the 15 days such as I am slated to do now?  It was actually refreshing to see that in there. Gave me hope that perhaps all the nonsense I have to tolerate with this job may actually be worth it.  The hours are the best thing, I am not normally working all day long, today will be one of those exceptions.

You know, a company with very old trucks and trailers that are constantly breaking down and needing attention, grumpy drivers - some of them anyway not all of them - that like to start trouble, management that doesn't communicate very well, hardly at all actually.  I often wonder why they don't just buy newer model trucks instead of having to deal with constant breakdowns. Is the money saved with this old junk really more than just having newer equipment that needs far less repairs and down time?  It's why the major trucking companies have set limits on mileage on trucks before they get rid of them and get new ones.  

This, obviously, isn't a major trucking company. I think they have something like 100 active trucks/drivers.  Definitely not huge, but not a new operation with no stake in the game, it's been around for a long time.  In their heyday they had over 300 drivers and lots of trucks.  That still isn't a huge company, not when compared to the likes of Swift, Werner, Prime, TMC, etc.  It does make me wonder if they aren't winding down the operation.  Apparently they have rejected a few attempts at a takeover, ie: large companies making offers to buy out the operation.  I can imagine KAG has tried, that's all they do, go around looking to buy small operations.  KAG is my former company and a company I wouldn't work for again for a plethora of various reasons.

KAG isn't doing so well, I have discovered from reading a Facebook page with KAG drivers end office personnel.  They are cash-starved and apparently trying to find a buyer for the entire operation.  If you wanted me to give you the biggest reason I wouldn't go back to work for them? Inward facing cameras with microphones.  After that is the constant threats from the safety department that go out to everyone.  The constant fighting over trying to get detention pay, that was an almost weekly event.  Call the manager who calls payroll to get into a battle over it.  They would almost always deny it, they would have to be sent proof - the proof is right in front of them, the apparently can't do simple math or read notations on the trip sheets.

This job I have now is my version of winding down a rather long trucking career that has seen a lot of "stuff".  There is too much to list right now, the things I don't like about the trucking industry.  Safe to say that a lot of other drivers in my age range are also quitting because of the distaste the industry is giving us.  I think a lot of it is on purpose, these giant companies are chomping at the bit to get those driverless trucks out there.  

Ummm, well, I have money to deposit into the business checking account, give me a day when I am not so terribly busy and I will get up there lol.  Tomorrow, I will have yet another space vacated and trying to fill.  And who knows when the welders are leaving, they are paid through the 1st.  3 more leaving that I know of, is what I am saying, the challenge is to fill those spots.  So, in reality, if that man that called yesterday was to show up on the 1st, I definitely should have a spot for him if/when those welders leave and those spots are paid for.  No loss there.  

I guess I best be about getting out of here.  i figure to show up at the Love's around ....10:45 am.  Long before second load but in time to hopefully wait their waiting period - usually a few hours before they can even get to you - and maybe figure out what's going on. I hope it isn't something that I have overlooked. I would feel stupid if it was something as simple as reversed air lines,, which I know it isn't, but still.  I forgot to simply pull off the lines and push in the valves to check that air is even getting to the trailer. I will do that when I get over there this morning. 

G'day

 Monday - evening

Just got back from kids baseball game.  The boy hit a single to get on first base, but that was it, the next batter up struck out. Their team did horribly against the other team and it showed on some of their faces.  Frankly, the coaching on the boy's team isn't that great.  They need to teach them the basics of baseball and there are drills and sets to perform that will do accomplish that and give them a fighting chance to win some games.  I did that stuff for 10 years and I spent a lot of time researching it.  I mean, kudos to the coaches for volunteering, but please take the time to educate yourselves on how to teach the game to young boys.  It isn't rocket science but there are methods that will get it into their brains.  

I finally contacted the head mechanic about the trailer, I don't want to keep driving it like that.  Are the brakes adjusted? ...after telling him that there is literally nothing happening when I hit the trailer brake lever.  Even if they were out of adjustment, something would happen, it would slow down at least a little bit, not just keep freely rolling.  I asked him about the main valve, that is the only thing I can see that could be doing this, it's located underneath the belly of the trailer, the air lines go in and out of a plastic setup and apparently there is some sort of valve in there. He said no, not likely. I mean, he then said, it is possible but not likely.  

Well, you tell me.  There are no air leaks when the brakes are hit or not.  To think I picked this trailer up from the shop in this condition.  If they even try to blame this on me somehow, I'm going to point out that it has apparently been this way since I got the thing. I didn't realize it because at the same time I was picking up the trailer, I was also getting into another truck. I just thought, boy, the brakes suck on this thing!  But when that trailer is loaded, I'm having to push hard and way down on the brake pedal to get the thing to stop.  

I checked everything there is to check.  He had no suggestions excepting to "bring it to the shop" or "take it somewhere".  These people don't care about your personal life, they don't care how much time it digs into your personal time to deal with this old garbage, it's rather annoying.  I just said I would take it to Love's tomorrow after loading. 

But, after thinking about it, why do that? I have the second load, I can take it to Love's before I load.  I'm just afraid Love's is going to say "it is a 3 hour wait".  And then, that they may not be able to figure out what's wrong with it. But, I am going to try at least.  I am also going to take my laptop with me this time, might as well have something to do while waiting. 

So, the dog lady moved out and now a man moved into her spot.  That's good, because I'm fixing to lose even more people.  The one month stay decided to stay an extra week, but that's up Wednesday and he said he's going to be out of there.  And then the 2, used to be 3, welders.  At least one of them has to leave, maybe both.  So, that will be as many as 3 open spots.  I did get a call today from a man saying he wants to move in - but not until the beginning of next month. Well, that's a long time from now.  I can live without the money?  I'll rent all of my lots as people call, I'm not holding the lot for him for 3 weeks and lose that income?  No thank you.  Unless no one comes in.....

I just juggle the stuff the best I can.  It's a lot of on the spot decision making.  This person wants this for x amount of time, another person wants to come in right now, do you have a spot? And I have to sit there and think about it for a minute to understand who is coming in when.  I have a lot of overnight reservations booked in the next month.  

Anyway, not looking forward to tomorrow in trying to get that trailer fixed, preparing myself for a long day.  

Yes, the tractor is still on my mind.  Every time I drive down that driveway, it is so terrible right now with potholes and washboard grooves.  I think the rain has finally stopped, but I don't have a day off for quite a while now and anyway, I need to get over to AZ. Now that I've talked to mother, this situation doesn't sound near as dire as it sounded at first.  It's not good, tho, that's for sure.  I am still going soon, just have to figure out the best time when.  

Oh, well the tractor.  I'm thinking, why can't it wait? If the monthly payment is the same as renting it for 8 hours, might as well rent one for 8 hours - well it's 8 hours of use allotted, you can have it up to 24 hours - and put that off for a while?  I'm just stuck on 7 years worth of payments.  Ouch.  At the same time, if I had a tractor, I wouldn't have to wait until I have days off to do it. Just get on the machine after work, run up and down the driveway for awhile, smooth everything out, good to go. 

And grass.  Why won't grass just start growing on the pads like it is everywhere else on the front portion of the property?  

I'm fixing to have around 6k, maybe more, in the next several days in the business account. Haven't seen that in there in a while.  This after paying all but one bill for this month, the shed which is $221.  

I feel like I am getting overwhelmed by this stuff and I just have to stop.  Stop thinking about it, stop stressing over it and just hand it over to the Lord.  That's what I would like to say anyway.  And I do. I just put it out of my mind and focus on other things until I can get back to these matters and try to get some fresh thinking about it. 

I still wonder if the IRS is going to target me for an audit. I am certainly not one of the rich people that they have flat out admitted they are going to target for increased auditing. But, who wants to get targeted by the IRS? No one, regardless of income.  I dunno, I think I have that tax return right, whether it is or isn't? Who knows. It won't be shocking to me to see them start using AI to scan every single return.  They won't need all of those people, they can program AI to scan everything in a fleeting moment.  

Should you worry about an agency that literally funds the US government?  IE: collects the money to make it run?  I dunno, what do you think?  They can put you in a world of hurt.  Hence, I have done my best to keep everything on the up and up.  I have hundreds and hundreds of paper receipts and all of it has been uploaded to quickbooks as well and categorized.  The high expenditures for supplies is what Quickbooks said might be a red flag.  Shrugs shoulders. I had a lot of expenses and I'm not going to shy away from listing them simply because the IRS might do something. I don't want that kind of encounter with them, at all, but I am not going to lose out on reducing my taxes legally, either.  

Well whatever. I don't want to get going on that either.  Not a pleasant subject, really.  I'm just gearing up for tomorrow.  And maybe longer than that, to get that trailer fixed.  

G'nite.  

 Sunday - afternoon

No church for me, but Taylor went again with one of the family friends.  I don't know what is causing her to want to go to church, but it certainly doesn't bother me.  The oldest child has been impacted by the teachings he has been subjected to - voluntarily, they don't have to go to church - and his speech is beginning to reflect it. The younger gives no sh*** about anything (this is how the parents put it and I fully agree) and then only reason he goes there is to play and get the treat at the end of the time in the kids ministry.

So, someone or more than one someone is stealing rolls of toilet paper out of the bathroom.  There are a few options here.  First off, I will start buying the cheap stuff. I was buying the stuff at Lowe's and it definitely isn't cheap.  2cd, I will just leave one or 2 rolls in there at a time and have the rest locked up in one of the outside smaller sheds.  3rd, probably a sign.  I don't want to make everyone that uses it pay for one or a few people's bs, but I am not footing the bill for external toilet paper use.  I mean, it must be more than one person? What does one person need with a dozen rolls of TP?  The sign would read something like ..if this continues, the Park will no longer supply toilet paper.  You are on your own, this is nothing the Park is required to do.

And frankly, the bathroom was built for me, not everyone else.  

The newest tent lady was in there - for several hours - but in the middle of the night. Like 2 am stuff. So, as long as the noise doesn't bother anyone else, I don't really care. 

Someone showed up at the park today wanting a spot. They were talking to the people I will start referring to as the workampers.  That is a term RV parks use for people that exchange work for free lot rent.  The lady seems to have her wits about here, the dude...well he seems to be a nice guy anyway. The lady called, telling a man was here wanting to rent a lot. Sure!  Long story short - very long story short - he is allegedly showing up tomorrow with his trailer. I have zero information on him, so, that remains to be seen.

Getting up early on a Sunday was not much fun, driving in heavy rain even less so.  All the way to the trailer washout facility.  Amazingly, as soon as the guy showed up to do the washout, the rain subsided.  And stayed away until he was done.  Over to the plant, I sat there for a while, showed up 30 minutes before my appointment time. Eventually, a man came up to the truck: someone was supposed to show up at 10 to load trucks, he isn't here. I'm a bit rusty and haven't done it in a while, but I'm going to load your truck.  Thank you!  He was off by a thousand pounds, underweight.  They didn't say they wanted to load more into the trailer so I took it and went to the fueling station. 

It was odd, however. I come up to a stop sign and had to push the brake pedal wayyyyy down to get the truck to stop.  Heavy foot on the brake pedal, what is going on here?  This happens again and I finally pulled on the Johnson bar.  I don't know what they call it now and most newer trucks aren't even equipped with them anymore, it's a lever you pull to apply the trailer brakes only.  I don't know why they got rid of them, I have found over the decades it to be a useful tool in certain situations.  In this case, I pulled the thing alllll the way down.  When you do that, the trailer brakes should be locking up the wheels.  

Instead? Absolutely nothing happened.  I tried again.  I checked the air lines.  Did someone play a trick and stick a quarter in one of the glad hands?  It would stop the air pressure from going into the line on the trailer to apply the brakes.  Careful examination of both of them revealed no blockages.  I followed the lines to the rear, looking for a potential valve somewhere that might be turned off? I have seen them on other trailers, this one doesn't have one, or if it does, it must be invisible.  

This is a head scratcher.  I got under and looked at the break shoes, they were definitely close enough to the drums that some kind of braking action would be had when the brakes are hit.  I'm completely stumped by this one, I have never had this happen before.  

Ok, doing some checking, there is a round container where the airlines all go into, apparently there is a valve in there.  I don't know what else would be causing the entire brake system on the trailer to stop working, that might be the problem. I'm not going to fix it, however, I just wanted to get an idea of what's wrong with it.  Those valves are common on trailers and should  be a simple fix for a repair facility.  

The CVSA Internation Road Check is coming up soon, I want everything working as it should.  But even if it weren't, I wouldn't want to drive this trailer around any longer without a shop fixing it.  I am not fooling with it today, it is Sunday, it is the 6th day in a row working, I am tired and I would probably get rather annoyed by having to deal with Love's personnel or whoever trying to get the thing repaired.  And, they may not have the part and if they have to get one, they probably wouldn't be able to until tomorrow.  I made it home just fine, it just takes a lot more braking action on the tractor to get it to slow down or stop. 

I think I've got 3 more days in the system for working. Tomorrow is offload - it will have to happen so it is likely to be a long day trying to get the trailer fixed and offloading - then Tuesday and Wednesday are late load/unload.  

No, folks, I haven't decided on a tractor, however...my driveway is once again totally trashed. It rained again last night, it's been raining.  If I had my own tractor, I could fix it and just fix it again if it rains some more.  There is no way I'm going to rent a tractor at over $400 to fix the thing and then have it - get screwed up by even more rain that is slated to come.  There is a definitive need for a tractor over there, that's what I can say.  I am getting closer to pulling the trigger on one.  

I wanted the payments to be around $300, looks like I'll have to bite the bullet and be more around $400 if I go through with it.  But there are other things that this could affect. Namely, getting a business loan, if I do, indeed, want to go that route.  I'm not going to discuss all of that right now, I'm too tired to think about all of that.  

I'm thinking maybe sell the SUV once I get the truck, it's worth around 6k private sale value.  Why would I want to do that? Well, to finance building more lots, of course.  

Anyway, there is nothing else today for I am not doing anything else today.  I don't feel like it, it's wet outside even if the rain has stopped and I was up in the middle of the night last night.  I mean, another early day tomorrow, it's Sunday, no good reason to do much of anything unless something comes up.

G'day