Monday

Almost 13 hours on duty/driving.  I mean, I knew today was going to be very long and drawn out and I wasn't disappointed in that respect.  Up to Gurdon, thankfully the glue came out quickly today, the temperature was much warmer than the last load.

Then, off to Nacogdoches.  3-1/2 hours to there, no trucks ahead of me at the washout, they got that done in about 50 minutes, over to the plant, 40 minute wait before they could get to me. There was hardly any workers there, I didn't bother to ask why the plant was shut down, but whatever the reason was, the workers were not there.  I saw all of 2 people.  Normally see dozens at least. 

Out of there, over to the Love's for fuel and then back to the yard.  The foul weather hit about 10 miles outside of my town, on highway 43 south of Interstate 20.  The wind was blowing so hard, the trees were going over, well not quite sideways but tilting well over.  Loaded truck, it didn't push me around quite as bad as it would if it were empty.  Lots of water. I mean, these recent rains have been downpours.  Lots of flooding all over the place already from the previous rains, this is just going to make it worse.

Anyway, I hadn't done a full route in one day until today. I knew it was possible even tho the other driver said you can barely do it.  Nah, I had over an hour of drive/on-duty time left.  I mean, yes if you run into a problem at any of the 3 places you have to go, then you might end up staying in the truck overnight, otherwise it is definitely doable.  In other words, if I really wanted to, I could do a trip a day and literally double my paychecks.

No thank you.  Of course, they now know I can do it but I made the comment that "I can do it once in a while to help out when it's needed", not "I'll do this every week and so just dump me with this stuff".  But really, all it means is I don't have to do tomorrow what I got done today, meaning tomorrow is a day off.  It's not really a day off, it's just that I did the work already, they don't want me to deliver that load of blue until Wednesday.  I'm good with that. 

It's already 8:00 pm.  This is one of the biggest reasons I wouldn't want to do this every day.  Get up for work at 5:30 am and get home at just before 8.  

Well, let's back up here. I completely forgot about all the junk this morning.  I got to the park, pulled up to the mailbox as is my want before going into the park on any given morning, reached out to open the lid to the mailbox and lo and behold? Someone had run into it, bending it over and at about a 35 degree angle.  Of course, whoever did it didn't call me - the phone number is right there on a billboard at the entrance to the park, left no note, just: screw you.  At least an apology?  It was $125 for that setup, I'm guessing it's much more now with inflation crap.

Into the park, I pulled my SUV up to my parking space and got out. I heard a noisy generator, looked over and saw it was the new people. Why on earth are they running a generator? There is power right there! My mind wasn't working quite right this morning if you can't tell.  The power had gone out last night at 8:30 pm, no one called or texted me about it as they usually do so I knew nothing about it. 

Into the shed, there was a card from the septic system company. They come every month to inspect the system.  Fire ants - completely forgot about that and then a note that the entire system wasn't even working and another note: "I fixed a short in the system and got it working again".  I wondered how long it had been down and also why the alarms didn't go off? Well, probably because the short must have cut out power to everything, including the alarms. The final message?  "the tanks are full of grease and need to be pumped out".  

WTH.  Lovely. I think they charge $450 to pump the tanks out, it isn't cheap and that is more than just a bit annoying to find out people are just dumping grease down their drains.  What a bunch of idiots, whoever is doing it. They are not only screwing up my system, but they are going to have some problems in their pipes and their holding tanks if they keep up that nonsense.  There is no way to know who is doing it.  The only good thing, I guess, is it was 9 months ago it needed pumped out last.  

3 things hitting me within 10 minutes time.  I just wanted to get out of there, which I was doing anyway, getting the truck started, getting the pre trip inspection done and leaving.  Turning out onto the street, it's a steep hill.  A loaded truck, it's going to take some time to get the thing moving.  No biggies, but a man came out quickly at the top of the hill, waved some sort of stick or something at me, hit the ground with it and apparently wanted me to stop and talk to him.  He had a nasty look on his face.  

I'm like, why do I want to get into some kind of altercation with some dude I have never seen before and want nothing to do with?  Not after all of that junk hitting me.  Oh, and coming back into the yard today, I closed the lids to the dumpster this morning. So what did some wonderful person do? Filled the entire damned thing up with trash and left the lids open.  Who is doing this? I am ordering a hunting camera tonight.  I am tired of this s***.  I've tried the hunting camera thing before but the cameras, 2 of them, were old and didn't work.  I'll get a brand new one and I'm going to find out who is doing this stuff and if it's someone from the park, I am going to get right into their face.  If it's someone that doesn't live there, I dunno.  No way to identify someone I don't know.  Unless there's some way to get license plate numbers and report it to the Sheriff.  I have a sign out there that says the dumpster is for RV park guests only, all others will be prosecuted.  

So, I passed by the dude and just looked back at him.  Whatever he wants, I'll deal with it at some later date.  If his issue is the truck, I don't care.  There are a large number of trucks going up and down that street what with the logging operation going on and a small trucking company further down the street.  It's the county, the county doesn't care what anyone does either.  So, who knows.

Back to the tractor subject.  I am going to go to the town tomorrow if I get my @$$ out of bed early enough to see what they are offering and the package price and what I qualify for.  If it doesn't include a tractor with a bucket, a back hoe and a box blade, I don't want it.  I need all of those things and frankly a bush hog attachment would be good as well.  I am very good at getting up and walking out of dealerships, I've done it dozens and dozens of times when searching for my next vehicle.  I don't do it rudely - unless they start talking trash to me which some of them have done - I just say I'll go home and think about it, but unless you can come up with what I want at the price I want, I'm 90% no on this deal.  

I was going to take a pass on a backhoe and just do without it, but what is the point? It is a necessary tool that I greatly need and I don't want to have to go rent a mini-ex every time I need the use of a excavation unit.  I'm ready to get this machinery and get moving on at least getting the dirt work done on creating new pads.  It would take quite some time on a smaller tractor to get that done, but no rush.  Work on it here and there, I don't have the money to do any of it yet anyway.  

So that's where I am at with that.  I need it, I want it, I want to do a deal, but the deal has to be right.  I've noticed that all of the tractor dealers are taking desperation moves to get units sold and off their properties.  Zero percent financing on numerous units, longer term financing, zero down.  

What else? No clue, I'm listening to the endless sound of rain hitting my window AC unit.  The town is beginning to flood, pics being sent out of parking lots you could float a canoe on.  

And I think that's it.  It's after 9 and I want to get into bed and vegetate. 

 Sunday - evening

People come into the amenities shed sometimes at night, look at the camera and then turn off the light. As if the camera isn't going to show everything they are doing,   It can see in the dark and will show everything that is going on in the dark, lights, no lights, no matter.  So it was a while ago a tenant doing that.  He turned off the light, went into the bathroom, then grabbed something off of the table which as of yet I have to ascertain what (it isn't my stuff so I am not in a hurry to figure it out), went back into the bathroom and has been in there even since.  

Someone has been stealing toilet paper and I am not particularly interested in replacing all of that - yet again - excepting I have decided to put a 24 pack in the back of my SUV and I will refill it when I see the 2 rolls I am leaving in there from now on is gone.  I will probably end up buying a locked toilet paper dispenser as well.  I just never envisioned such a thing happening at a small park.  

I am eternally glad the tent people are gone. They paid some, the last payment was $50.  But, the constant irritants weren't worth it, especially hanging out in the laundry room for hours and hours.  

Anyway, I got onto the workamper's case, he hasn't done anything in a week?  You agreed to trim this and that and mow that and that over there.  He has a lot of excuses. He isn't all there.  His wife is intelligent and understands, he, however, is - well I'm not trying to diss or malign him at all, really, but - he's low IQ and his elevator doesn't quite reach the top floor. I got that the first time I discussed everything with him, but as this thing progresses, it doesn't get better.  

Now I've got people claiming he destroyed their sewer hoses.  Those things aren't cheap. I told him today to just stay away from the trailers, there is plenty of other things I can have him do - but - if he isn't going to do anything, they can put the monthly rate ... or they can leave.  

If you haven't been able to figure this out yet? I have no problem getting rid of people.  I give them several chances before I get to that point. I don't just go up to people and tell them they screwed up, goodbye, take your self and your @$$ out of here, bye bye. I'm not like that. 

But when I say the same thing over and over and over to the same person over an extended period of time, my patience runs out. I'm not there with these people yet.  I did tell him to get out there and cut the damned brush down hanging over the driveway.  It's maybe a 15 minutes job.  It was the 4th and was going to be the last time I asked him. I wasn't going to ask him again.  The next words were going to be: This isn't working out. You can either pay the regular rate or you can leave, I'm not going to deal with this anymore.

He started out good, I can say that.  He continues to blame rain for doing nothing.  Yeah, no. Been plenty of days that there hasn't been any rain. Foregone conclusion that if I get that tractor? He isn't going to be on it at all.  I can't trust him with 35k worth of machinery and I have had enough experience to understand that there are enough people out there that don't care that you should just say no.  I will do that myself, thanks, I was doing this long before you arrived, I will keep doing it long after you leave, Lord willing. 

I'm a little bit tired, that may be coming through my words here tonight. I didn't sleep worth a dead dog's awakening last night.  I woke up around 12:30 and it was after 3:30 before I finally got back to sleep.  

____________

Power went out while writing this. Not for long, but you know how it is. The internet has to restart, restart the computer, go through all of that nonsense. Thunder, lightning rain, then power outage.  

There is so much noise right now in my bedroom. It is POURING rain out there and there is a lot of water coming off the roof, falling onto my bedroom window AC unit plus the rain falling on it, crazy.  Note that there was not rain forecasted for tonight. Lol. 

Anyway, tomorrow is, as I see it, the dreaded day. Well maybe not that bad, I'm just not looking forward to getting up at 5:30 am and then getting home ... well there is no way I am getting home before 6 pm, probably more like after 7.  I agreed to it to help them out, that's all there is to it. I didn't say I liked it.

I will be going to the town 25 miles south of here to look at the tractor and what kind of financing package they can give me if nothing else happens. I see a tractor with a backhoe the key to expanding my park.  I may be wrong, that's fine. Won't be the first time, but at this point, it is imperative I get a machine in there to deal with the constant, deteriorating condition of the driveway. It needs regular maintenance. 

G'nite. 

 Saturday = afternoon

Took one hour and forty five minutes to unload, which is quite a long time.  First time unloading this trailer.  The thermometer on it is obviously broken, the glas shield is missing and it said the product was almost 90 degrees, lol.  In reality, it was so cold, there was condensation to the point it was dripping onto the ground on the outlet tube underneat the trailer.  It's where you hook up a line to unload it.

Like, about as cold as an ice cold cup of water.  So, I figured that was why it took so long, the other loads I've gotten recently have not been that cold.  They put the glue through a cooling process and sometimes they leave it in the cooling phase too long.  The glue thickens and it just doesn't flow as well.  

Getting back to the park, the family had moved the trailer to behind the laundry room/shed (I had given them permission to) and were getting the rest of their stuff off of the pad.  The original people who wanted to move in changed their minds when I told them they couldn't have 3 vehicles and a big trailer parked in front of it, you'd have to have 2 of those sitting over behind the shed.  No worries, another couple called and said they wanted it a day later.  They are coming in today.  So I just have one lot I want to rent right now after they are in, the other one I am keeping for ovenighters.  

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

We had fun at the grand opening, however, we did not get to go around to the different events.  We were all hungry - I hadn't eaten all day on purpose  - so we went inside the brewery and ordered food.  Yes, and a beer.  We sat there chatting for quite a while.  I started looking at weather for tomorrow - working again of course - when i saw that there was a storm moving in.  Not tomorrow, like right now.  We sat there and said, yup, it's going to rain. We left, by the time we got into the pickup, it started raining.

It rained for a couple of hours after we left there, those poor people having to tear down their canopies and putting all their stuff away in that kind of weather....

It dawned on me today when I got back to the park that the tent people left.  This because I take the truck clear to the back of the driveway to make a turnaround and I can see the tent spot from there.  Tent gone, they're gone.  I can't say that I will miss them and I can't say I will do this again.  Abused twice in a row, I only intended tent camping to be for people coming to camp overnight, not spend weeks/months there.  

Those people were a PITA and I think they were the ones stealing toilet paper. I'll soon know, it's all gone again besides a couple of rolls. We're talking a 24 pack that normally lasts at least 6 weeks? A couple of rolls left in there after a few weeks.  Yes, I have cameras in the laundry room, obviously not in the bathroom itself and people are always taking large bags in there to take showers with. No way to identify who is doing it. It will likely come down to me carrying toilet paper in the rear of my SUV and restocking it at my leisure.  In case you didn't know, the price of toilet paper, like everything else, has gone well up.  I'm not in business to give away everything for free.  

So, Democrats want to pass a bill that strips Donald Trump of Secret Service protection if he ends up in prison.  It doesn't take a brain surgeon or a giant leap to come to the immediate conclusion that democrats want Donald Trump assassinated in a federal prison.  There are a lot of people that hate him and I'm sure that includes some prisoners.  We all know what happens to certain people that go to jail and end up - dead - murdered by another inmate or inmates.  That's what I have concluded and I don't give 2 shits what anyone else thinks about it. If you want a man that was a President of the US to end up in prison without extensive security protection of the SS, you want him dead.  

If you really want to see this nation go berserk, send him to prison.  Add to that, send him to prison without the SS watching his back.  Top that with him being killed. You are concocting a recipe for an uprising, a civil war, whatever might happen, it will certainly send this nation into upheaval the likes we haven't seen since the Civil War.  I think the left should rethink this situation, because there is quite a bit of speculation that Merchan is going to sentence him to prison. It is only speculation, of course, but the man has shown his bias against Trump in a variety of ways that I could outline, but am not going to bother with here. 

I firmly believe that at some point in some higher court, could have to go to SCOTUS, that this entire kangaroo court fiasco is going to be overturned. But there can be a lot happen between now and then.  

Anyway, it's almost bedtime and yes, Sunday is coming and unfortunately, I have to work again.  3 Sundays in a row I will have missed church.  

And not looking forward to Monday where I will have to offload in Gurdon, then drive to Nacogdoches, washout trailer and then over to Lufkin to load. I normally only either load or unload on any given day, not have to do both. 

 The bs with a particular other driver continues. Not only did he dump me with a trailer with a huge air leak, I found out this morning that he hadn't even completely emptied the trailer.  There was an inch of resin on the bottom.  You don't leave the offload until it is all emptied and then you pump water into the tanker to clean out as much as possible and clear the drain line and manifold so that the glue doesn't set up in there and seal it shut.  

I told the manager about it.  It cost me an extra half hour to sit there and wait on them trying to clean all that crap out of there.  I more harped on the idea of pulling a trailer with a serious issue and not doing anything about it.  I won't likely hear anything back about what, if anything, the manager will do about it.  They have trouble keeping drivers and this dude has allegedly been working for the company near 2 decades.

Senioritis.  That's what I call people that have been in a company so long, they start to get the idea that they can do whatever the hell they please and no one will do anything about it.  And don't you dare tell him to his face about his bs, at least in his mind.  That doesn't stop me, of course, I don't care what he thinks about me and I am certainly not afraid of his skinny old @$$.  I'll give him credit for having a really cool doggy tho.  There, that's one nice thing I can say about him.  

I get a call while waiting endlessly to get loaded today.  The plant had only one loader and I sat there fully 2 hours, in fact, 2 hours right on the nose, before he could get to me to load me.  Umm, they are closing the plant for a few days next week, could you possibly offload on Monday and then drive down, wash out the trailer and load again in the same day?  

They are closing the plant that makes the glue, I should clarify, not the plant that uses it in Gurdon.  I quickly decided it would be in my best interests to make a sacrifice, for they have been giving me mostly early runs and I"d like it to stay that way.  I'll have Tuesday off.  It's a Tuesday load going Wednesday is the point.  So, I get a day off in the near future.  I'd love to get some stuff done over there, but what I'd really love to do is go get a tractor.  

Anyway, I'm 2-1/2 hours short of 3 full days of fasting and that is the goal I made for myself.  I am going off the fast pretty soon here.  I was going to start Keto again, but we are going to a grand opening celebration tomorrow in downtown, so I think I'll just eat something to get my energy back today, probably a couple of things, eat whatever tomorrow and then start keto.

I have been planning on going to this grand opening for a while, btw, hence the idea that I am just going to let it go until probably Sunday.  

Or not.  I could just say well, that's all nice and fine, I'll figure out stuff to eat there that isn't full of carbs and garbage. It is not likely they will have much that would fit that description. It is a brewery taking over the entire downtown with a bunch of activities and food trucks coming in.  Food trucks are not typically keto friendly, lmao.  

The farmers had someone over there presumably fixing the leak.  I had no idea they had a leak going and as soon as I saw it, yuck.  Grey water maybe, but the ground is black and nasty looking.  The idea that he wanted to "dig a trench to the storm drain" to let it run where, exactly?  Over to the lot on the other side of the driveway so that  lot could get nasty too? Not to mention mosquitoes and bugs of all types and likely a health hazard.  

I don't really care about the diet, going back to that, for today and tomorrow. I was more interested in a toxin cleanse and I am pretty sure that occurred to some degree, for I have had a metallic taste in my mouth that isn't pleasant.  I can fast again next week for one day to kick start keto.  I guess I should go test for ketosis, if I"m in it, I may change my mind about eating whatever today and tomorrow.  

That's it for now.  

 Friday - early

That alarm went off early and I woke up feeling like hell on feet.  Headache and a feeling of general nastiness.  Fasting - you don't do it for a long time and the side effects can be pretty gruesome one the first several days. Body ridding itself of toxins - which is one of the reasons I wanted to do this fast - but also start my diet up again.  And praying . 

But of the greatest interest to me regarding fasting is the idea that it can help prevent the onset of dementia/Alzheimer's.  I've read quite a bit of material about it, the only problem is there have been no clinical studies on humans, only on rodents.  Why, I have no idea, it would seem prudent that they would do testing on humans to see if there is any benefit.  

For a little info, AI comes up with this: "Intermittent fasting has been shown to improve dementia pathologies in rodents, such as neuroinflammation, synaptic dysfunction, and brain insulin resistance. It may also promote longevity, improve cognition, and increase the generation of new brain cells. In addition, animal studies have shown that intermittent fasting can remove beta-amyloid protein from the brain, which is a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease."

 I have been toying with AI because it is here and it is here to stay. Like it or not, you might as well get used to the idea of having it around and if it's going to be around, you might as well learn how to use it. Sort of like smart phones, they came out and I wanted nothing to do with them for many years after they were on the market and had already gained worldwide popularity.  My resistance was futile, as the Borg like to say it, smart phones are an invaluable tool.  I do believe that there are down sides to smart phones, one of which is not having to stuff things into memory so much and therefore, not using your brain as much to navigate through any given day.  

Anyway, I have discussed the fact that there is Alzheimer's in my dad's family lines including my dad himself, who succumbed to symptoms that arose out of having Alzheimer's.  His dad as well.  There's 3 of us brothers, I hate to even think it, but it seems likely that one of us will end up with it.  I hope not, that's for sure, but I have given thought to what, if anything, I could do to prevent or slow it's arrival at my doorstep if I do, indeed, acquire this dreadful disease.  

If you have ever watched anyone going through it, it is one of the most vile and evil (imo) diseases a person can get.  It takes the you away from you.  When you can look at your own offspring and not even remember who they are, that is evil. Not that the person is evil, but the disease itself it from the pit of hell as far as I'm concerned.  They FDA approved a new drug last year that slows the onset of Alzheimer's.  I guess what I really want to do is have on of those tests to determine your mental acuity, cognitive ability, etc.  Whatever they do, they can determine if you have dementia or are going to get it.  

Yes, I think about such things considering my age, tho I started thinking about it long ago, watching my father go through it.  If fasting can help - there isn't any real proof yet that it can - but if it can help, I'm going to do it.  A side effect is weight loss and toxin removal. In fact, there are many benefits to fasting that I am not going to go into because it's very early and I am about to leave for work.  

Nacogoches and then Lufkin this morning.  

Speaking of that, yesterday.....

That dude was there before I arrived at Gurdon.  I got rather irritated rather quickly.  This guy doing this 2 days in a row?  I decided I would contact management to find out what's going on because I had already confronted him yesterday about showing up before me.  He is basically doing one full run a day, or something akin to that depending on how everything goes everywhere he needs to go.  That's all well and fine, if he wants to spend his life in a truck, have at it.  However, I am a "senior" driver as the manager likes to put it, I've only been there since September but since I was hired before this dude, I have seniority over him. 

I do like the seniority system. It only works, however, if it is enforced.  Turns out he had been there for quite a while, after the manager called me back, the driver got in his truck and left. I'm glad I didn't confront him again, there is no sense in lighting up a firecracker to stick into someone's mouth if you don't really need to.  The manager said this is actually the dispatcher's fault, he went off on her.  This is really poor dispatching, he continued after an introduction to what this driver is doing.  I'm sure they must love him doing all of that work, perhaps they should give him a better truck.

They don't have better trucks and apparently aren't getting better trucks. This is how you lose contracts.  

I did ask the manager if he never does late loading as the driver claimed.  When the driver said that to me yesterday, that just irritated me even more. "I don't care, this is my loading time, which means this is also my washout time".  I let him know in no uncertain terms that I am not intimated by his speech and I am not going to tolerate him jumping ahead of me.  If you don't put your foot down with people like that, they will not stop. They will think they got away with it and they will get away with it for eternity.  

Well whatever.  I'm not trying to be totally negative here, it's just that situation came back into my mind.  I'm actually trying to be positive that this is going to be a great day, everything is going to go smoothly and if it doesn't, that's just part of the deal with the trucking industry.  I have a different trailer and I don't think I've had this one before.  It looks like everything is good on it at least.

With that, I must depart hence for hither yonder lands.

G'day.  

 Thursday - evening

No lack of excitement around here. Tornadoes, ultra-heavy rain, flooded streets, constant lightning, park is half flooded.  When I got back from this ridiculous run, I ended up putting on my boots, getting out in the driving rain - and that is no exaggeration - and unplugging several pipes that were underwater and hardly any water going through them.  I was quite wet even with an umbrella by the time I got through.  I gave up quickly even trying to stay dry, useless waste of time.

So, let's back up.  First, Trump has been convicted on all 34 counts and I'm sure leftists/communists everywhere are all gleeful.  I'm also at least fairly sure that there are a large number of things that will be put on appeal.  Mostly, the way that judge behaved himself and the "instructions" he gave to jurors.  But make not mistake, that jury was probably filled up with Trump haters.

Anyway...After getting unloaded in Gurdon, I headed to Crossett.  The problem? You have to go through El Dorado to get there, the other route was an hour plus longer.  Crazy.  I get to the washout over there, drop my trailer so they can wash it out and then someone will haul it back to the yard to do the repairs and the inspection.

I was instructed to look up into the manifold (the valve assembly where the glue comes out the bottom of the trailer) to make sure they had cleaned it properly.  Now I know why that trailer unloads so slowly:  The valve does not go all the way down.  In fact, it only goes down about half way, greatly restricting the flow.  So I called the manager and he decided he wanted that trailer back at the yard to fix it.  Great.  Take that other trailer,  it hasn't been washed out, you'll have to have that done tomorrow at the normal place. 

Ok.  So, I hook up the air lines, electrical, etc., open the service valve to let air into the tanks in the trailer.  I hear the air passing through the valve, all normal well and fine. However.  It never stopped going through it.  I just sighed.  I knew what that meant: there is a massive air leak somewhere on the trailer.  Mind you, that trailer had just been brought in there by the "king of truck drivers", an old, whiny, cranky bastard, sorry but that's what he is.  This dude said nothing to no one about this huge air leak. 

I had to crawl underneath the trailer to find out what it was.  A brake chamber, they call it.  It's the can where pressurized air goes in, pushes against a rubber diaphragm which pushes a lever, turns other levers, pushed and S-cam, which pushed the brakes against the brake drum.  HUGE air leak.  I mean, even if you couldn't hear the air going through the valve in your truck - which anyone surely could - you would definitely hear that racket outside of it. 

This is one of the biggest gripes I have against this company: jerkoff drivers that don't give a damn.  Tires, brakes, lights, this thing, out of inspection, all kinds of stuff I have endlessly encountered.  I made sure everyone knew that that dude that claims he's the king of all truck drivers or some self-made trucking god did nothing about this situation and just dumped the trailer in the yard over there.  

So, I had to drive the damned thing back to the yard in El Dorado where, at least, the mechanics got right on it. That because the manager was all over it.  You can't have that many trailers down, you have to keep some of them going at least.  It took him maybe an hour, not terrible, but I had already been out on the road many more hours than normal.  Like, around 6:45.

Then, faced with trying to get the drain pipes to - drain.  Oh, btw, the power is out at the park. The entire street is dark.  There are fully 5 power company crews out there working on restoring power, at least they're trying.  I don't envy their jobs in inclement/foul weather.  They are required to work out in it unless there is something dangerous going on, such as tornadoes.  But, I can tell the power is still out cause' I turned the light switch to the on position in the laundry room. Apparently, my battery-powered cameras are using the sim cards to send out the signal.  Cause I can see both the outside and inside cameras, they are both working. 

The park is literally flooded. I mean, once it gets to the west side of the setup, it all drains away, but those east side lots are full of water and there's nothing I can do about it.   It's just ultra-heavy rain and it doesn't happen that often, it is what it is.  I will add here, my property is on a hill.  I'm nearer the bottom of the hill and a vast amount of water comes down the hillside, even if thick woods, which is why the park gets flooded out in these heavy rains.   

I'm not watching the news.  I don't want to hear the gloating.  Leftists got what they wanted: Trump is a convicted felon, they are already saying.  How can you vote for him? Easy, look at the alternative. Trump is not going to destroy our constitutional rights, if he were capable of doing that, why didn't it happen his first four years? I will guess that this situation will only solidify Trump's base and probably sway undecideds his way.  I can tell ya, I'd vote for Trump even if he were sitting in a jail cell. Another 4 years of Biden WILL destroy this country, it will be unrecognizable.  

I made it all the way up until now not eating. That's 48 hours.  I'm not sure I can make it until tomorrow, I'm awfully hungry, it was a long day and I really want to eat something.  It doesn't help the folks are making these awesome looking sandwiches...amazing what kinds of food look the same as a steak dinner when you are extremely hungry.  

That's it for now.  I have another couple wanting to move in, they came and looked, said great and that was that.  I told them I don't have a lot available until next week, they were fine with that. 

Anyway, time to wind things down. Almost 8 pm and bedtime isn't far behind it. 

 Thursday - early

Going to bed last night, the hunger pains completely disappeared and I have no hunger this morning.  I feel like I should continue on with this fast, so I am going to try.  3 days would be the ultimate goal, having made it this far wouldn't upset me as to the idea of being a quitter or something like that.  

It doesn't take near as much time to get ready to leave for work in the morning without having to deal with making a thermos of coffee and lunch, so I have extra minutes sitting here lol.  

Well, that's it.  I just sitting here looking at all the news about Trump and one juror who analysts sitting in the court room are saying may be a Trump supporter.  They also concede that most of them are Trump haters. Well of course, look at where this trial is taking place and why the attorneys wanted it to be moved elsewhere where there might be a better possibility of finding a jury of his peers that won't think: "Orange man bad".  

Anyway, gotta go! 

G'day

 Wednesday - evening

I started a blog entry yesterday but didn't get far with it. Too much going on here.  Today I am relishing in the peace and quiet of no kids.  I got home at 1:00 pm, which is super early and I very much like it.  I was going to stop at the tractor dealer in Carthage, I just wasn't feeling it. Wet feet (it's been raining here again) and just wanted to go home, lay down on my bed and enjoy the time without kids around.  I love those kids, don't get me wrong, but it is nice to have a break from them.  They aren't allegedly coming back until the 14th of next month, we'll see how that works out.

The youngest will likely start clamoring to see his mom after a week or so.  It will grow in intensity until they either relent and bring him home or, somehow, they talk/bribe him into sticking it out.  No idea.  Probably try the bribery thing.  I "bribed" them at 6 Flags by telling them I'd buy them each a souviner at the end of the day if they behaved all day long.  It was quite amazing that both of them actually kept their cool, so to speak, for it definitely wasn't cool outside.  

Anyway, at the Lufkin plant this morning, well they always look at expiration dates on various inspections required for tankers. One of them is expiring after the 31st.  Well, that forces it, I'll have to drop that trailer off at the washout in Crossett tomorrow and pick up another one.  Going to Crossett is far worse than going to El Dorado.  It will add a minimum of 3 hours to the day tomorrow.  So, not looking forward to tomorrow and not looking forward to that trailer they have for me: it's a slow draining thing for whatever reason and takes much longer than the other trailers to empty out.

I don't have a whole lot right now. Lots on my mind.  That workamper was supposed to trim back some brush along the driveway, I've asked him twice and he says yes he'll do it, but hasn't.  I'll ask him one more time and if he still doesn't do it, I'll consider his services to be minimal and will reduce their rent but not eliminate it altogether. He was also going to install the new parts on the riding mower, going on 2 weeks now. He keeps saying he'll do it, he doesn't do it.  Apparently all he wants to do is mow and trim grass. All well and fine, but not worth a month's worth of rent including free electricity. Not to me anyway.

Oh, the Trump trial, one of them anyway. It's been handed to the jurors with "very complex instructions" given by what many accounts is a completely biased judge, Juan Merchan.  It will be interesting to see if there is anything that comes of this concerning the judge's behavior in this trial.  It will also be quite interesting to see if the jury can come to a unanimous agreement.  I would suspect there are Trump haters lurking in that pool of jurors. No way to prove that either way, of course, but I can tell you from ample experience that people that hate Trump are more than willing to lie or do most anything to make life miserable for him.  The experience is just watching this nonsense going on the last what, 8 years now?  The ends justifies the means in their thinking.  4-1/2 hours so far of deliberating, I have to wonder what are they talking about?  I can't imagine this jury going on for more than another day or 2 to come to either a decision or a hung jury. I'm guessing the latter.  

The jury wanted the instructions read to them again, I'm guessing they're trying to make sense of the instructions and how to apply it. If this ends up in a decision against Trump, it appears that an appeals court would highly likely overturn it for a myriad of legal reasons that I am not an expert at, but have been listening to these people for a while now.

Was looking at the specs of a tractor at TYM they want me to buy. 25 hp, 3,500 pounds give or take.  I was looking at the specs of another brand it was much lighter.  I don't want a light tractor, you have to have some substance to bear down on the box blade that will fix the driveway or dig into a hill full of dirt or handle digging out trenches.  

I have started my diet again.  After getting rather fat and uncomfortable, I decided to kick start it today with a complete fast, no nothing excepting a few sips of black coffee this morning (no sugar or creamer) and water the rest of the day.  I only drank a little coffee to avoid headaches from caffeine withdrawal.  I really do not like the Keto diet, it is very restrictive and you have to watch every single thing you eat including gravies, sauces and condiments - but it does give results.  I dunno, I just can't keep getting fatter, I'm about to have to switch from 35 waist pants to 36, that was sort of the line drawn in the sand: I can't be going there.  

I haven't been on the diet in quite some time.  Just tried to limit my eating.  It isn't working, obviously, as the fat just seems to pour on week by week.  So, I'll have to get into the discipline again of watching carbs on everything. No more pasta and potatoes, those are my weaknesses and the reason I stopped doing Keto altogether for quite a while now.  I can live without pasta, but I like my potatoes. All kinds of potatoes.  I thought a good water fast would also help clear out my head and body of toxins.  It won't help my need for potatoes, oh well.  It's only a 24 hour fast and almost over, I might go 2 if I can handle, 3 if I'm really brave lol.  You go 3 days fasting you really experience a place where you start to feel better physically and even psychologically.  For me, anyway.

I suspect having to drive all day long tomorrow will cause me to want to find something to eat, however.  No biggies, it's the diet I am trying to get started again and I have always found this is the best way to do it.  24 hours is almost up but I won't be eating until tomorrow.  

Fasting and praying is also a thing the Bible directs us to do. 

__________

Several hours later.  Fasting is always the hardest the first day and boy is it hitting me.  It's 8:30 pm so I am just going to go to bed at 9 and forget about eating.  

And anyway, I have a very long day tomorrow, if I wake up early I might just get an early start on the day. I don't think they care what time you show up there at the lumber plant as long as there is room for the glue in one of their tanks.  

And that's that.  I'm outta here.

G'day

 Monday - night

Late for me.  People called and said the dryer isn't working.  Ok, well try checking the circuit breaker.  I get a call back: I tried to open the box but a wasp came out and stung me on the chest.  

I got a flashlight, a can of wasp spray and headed over there only to find....they had opened up and sprayed the wasp nest anyway, after I told them I didn't want them spraying anything inside the breaker box.  It's great having people that give no cares about your stuff.  You can imagine what could possibly happen sprayer something on breakers that can conduct electricity...

I'm going to put a lock on that box now that that happened. I would have to guess a wasp short circuited the breaker for the dryer and that's what kicked it off.  

But, it reminded of that project I keep putting off and now that it's heating up? I can't put it off anymore.  I need to get 2 days off and get that situation squared away.  Probably next week.  I want to get over to the tractor place and see if we can work a deal first. If we can, I might as well use that to dig the trench versus renting a machine for over $400.  Put it to good use right off the bat. 

Anyway, it was around 5 pm and I was informed the grandma is "on her way".  I don't get a lot of info on what's happening around here, I found out most things when it happens.  I bid my goodbyes to the kids, I will be up and gone before they even get out of bed tomorrow.  Grandma tested negative for Covid so she came right down to get them.  

Anyway, the drive today was mostly uneventful.  No tires popped, the vibration is still there, I'm told I can "just stop by, we can get that done quickly".  Yeah, sure you can, while I waste 3 hours just doing it after I offload at Gurdon tomorrow.  I have little choice in the matter.  Anyway, in between Nacogdoches and Lufkin this morning both going to the plant and coming back, there were at least half a dozen state troopers out there.  

No, they don't normally do that. They were up and down that highway all over the place, pulling people over and I would assume handing out tickets.  They're good at that, the handing out tickets part.  I had one come racing up on me, but he kept going and got behind a tin can car.  Sat there beside the car for a while before he just turned off and let them keep going. Not sure what grabbed his attention.  I assume they were on Memorial Day detail looking for drunk/impaired drivers. 

Well it's getting late and I have a long day tomorrow what with having to go to the yard.  I am hoping they have a pressure washer there, I'd like to at least clean the wheels, tanks, grill and bumper.  Looking pretty dirty.  Just spray the stuff off of there, nothing fancy or taking too long to do.  That or get permission to take the thing to a truck wash.  That has neve even been discussed much less offered. I don't find things out in the company until I need something or don't do something I'm "supposed" to be doing.  And then I get this situation where I end up telling people, I had no idea, no one has ever said this, please discontinue with the lecturing.  

If they had told me all of these things when I spent 2-1/2 weeks in "orientation" in Oregon.....You know, the whole reason going up there to find out how they do things and want things done? 

Yup, the end. I'm tired, time to phase out.  

 Sunday - afternoon

Yesterday morning, we headed over to 6 Flags. The parking fee was excessive and shocking. I mean, I was shocked: $45 to park a vehicle in a parking lot for one day.  I was on the far left pay booth lane and was looking at all the traffic heading into another parking area much further away...then the entrance to one right there It was the only entrance, immediately to the left, to that parking area that was opened, but people were going in there. Yup, I got in there and saved a lot of walking.

It was hot yesterday, there was no denying that.  We were all sweating all day long.  That didn't stop us from having fun, we had lots of fun on lots and lots of rides.  We didn't just do kiddie rides either, the boys did many "adult" rides that I thought they would be terrified of. Well, they admitted some fear but they worked through it and were glad they did.  The only ride of any visible fear was the Pirate boat one.  It's a boat that glides through an underground cavern with a pirate theme and also a them of "Spleelunkers" that don't like pirates.  Besides being a fun ride, it was very cool in there and I wanted to go again, lol.  

Actually, we tried to go on that ride in the morning, it closed down after waiting for around 40 minutes. We were close to getting on the boat, but, one of the boats was sinking, yes we could see it was submerged in water.  In fact, fully 7 rides we were going to go on had closed down either when we got to them or while we were waiting in line.  Others were closed for "refurbishing".  

The plus side was the fun, the downside is the excessive prices you will pay regardless of what amusement park you go to.  Disney, MG, Six Flags, mom and pops, they ream you. It's why we don't' go very often. Actually, we don't go on vacation often at all.  It's just too pricey, spending $18 on a glorified hot dogs with fries? $18 for a double cheeseburger?  

We were there from the time it opened until the time it closed. If we gonna pay that much, we gonna take advantage of it. The problem for me was when it was time to drive home. I thought I was good to go, the kids were still with me. But 30 miles down the road I said no.  The kids wanted to go to a hotel again anyway, so in Terrell, TX, I got off the Interstate and started going to various hotels. They were all completely filled up. There were only 2 places left after I went to the better hotels:  Motel 6 or Super 8.  I used to like Motel 6, they were obviously lower end but they took care of the places. 

At some point in time, they let the chain degrade into dive hotels and I refuse to go there unless there is no other option. Super 8 had many rooms available, I got one with 2 queen beds. I don't want to sleep with kids, thanks.  They move around all night long, they take up space, I want my own bed.  But, they were as exhausted as I was and they fell asleep at 11 pm and did not wake up until 9am. I didn't even try to get them up, I just decided it would be better to let them get a full 10 hours of sleep, there was no agenda for today, I blew getting home in time for church off.  

Oh, and Marriott, well I wrote about that in the previous entry but my, I just love those places. This one didn't disappoint. An indoor pool.  See, I was looking at satellite pics of that place and didn't see a pool, I thought a "mandatory" inclusion on those properties was a pool. I had never been to one with an indoor pool and thought didn't cross my mind.  We had as much fun playing in the pool as we did at 6 flags.  

The drive home today was uneventful. There was an IHOP in the area we stayed, so we went there for breakfast and drove straight through.  I was figuring on stopping on the way back for the kids to go pee, but I made them go to the bathroom before we left IHOP and they didn't say anything about a bathroom break all the way back, which was nice, we got it over with. It's really not that far to Dallas, it's the constant traffic on I-20 that I despise.  It's one of those highway corridors where they need to have 3 lanes on each side. There are many Interstates in the US where an upgrade to 3 lanes is really quite needed.  They spent all those trillions of dollars in the last 5  years on what, exactly?  

I did realize, however, that I need new tires.  One of them is vibrating but they are all in need of replacement.  I won't do that until next paycheck. I only need drive around town right now, 10-15 miles max on any given trip.  It also needs an oil change and the rear brake rotors are pulsing the brake pedal when I hit the brakes, so those and new brake pads.  Talking $800 worth of maintenance.  Oh well.

Maybe I will take a paycheck from the business after all to pay for that stuff.  I especially dislike driving around with a tire you know is going to fail sooner or later. If it fails in the way of the tread coming off, that can do extensive damage to your vehicle. It's cheaper to just replace the tires than to have to have body work done AND replace your tires.  

Home.  I can tell you I have nothing else planned for today.  I don't want to go anywhere, I don't want to do anything but kick back, relax, recover, rest and get myself read for another work week. Cause' honey, 5:30 am comes awfully early and I have issues with the truck that need fixed. However, I don't plan on dealing with that until Tuesday unless a tire blows out.  Love's broke a lugnut and I still have the tire vibration going on that Love's was supposed to fix - until they broke the lugnut in half.  I'm going to have to take it to the yard and Tuesday will undoubtedly be another very long day.  I won't be surprised if they don't want me to wait for them to do the repair and replace the tires that need replacing.  

But, as I said, that tire could give way before then. I'm just going to take the chance and hope that it won't.  It will pass any DOT inspection, it just did in fact even after telling them a tire is bad.  It's just I know a tread is going to come flying off sooner or later unless, of course, I get it fixed first.  I tried!  

Farmer bill called yesterday and said he has some "good news" for me.  No idea.  I haven't had any problems with them after I gave them a direct warning to cease and desist or vacate the park. I haven't heard a peep out of them or from anyone complaining about them, so if they want to stay, that's up to them.  As long as they follow my directive to keep the laser gun junk to themselves.  They are going to - and already have - find that no park anywhere wants to deal with that kind of nonsense. If you want to entertain conspiracy theories, that's your business....until you make it everyone else's. 

I dunno what else. Trying to think.  It would be nice tomorrow to go up through Carthage and stop by the tractor place.  But I dunno if I will, depends on the truck and whether it's giving me hell or not and also how long it takes to get done.  If it goes like it has been going, getting done is going to be early and very well received.  

Well enough.  Already 4:00 pm, the day is flying by.  

 It's been quite the day, lol. 

Drive up to Gurdon, offload, back home, get the kids out of daycare, back home again, get stuff, get in the car and leave.  

I-20 traffic was horrendous as usual, but even more-so today with holiday traffic.  We got here alright, even with idiots doing stupid things on the highway....

Got our room , got a free appetizer card for a steak house, went over there, which was all of maybe a 1,000 feet away and at steak dinner.  I thought it amazing they had a steak meal on the kids menu  I don't see that anywhere else we go and yes, I check. These kids love steak.  

I ordered medium rare for all of us, most of it was in the "raw" territory.  I can eat it like that and totally enjoy it, I wondered about the kids? Turns out, one of them had very rare steak and the other was cooked to near medium rare.  I cut and served the near-raw stuff to the 7 year old, he merrily downed it without a hitch.  I didn't say it was undercooked, I wanted to see if he would eat it like that.  

If you tell a 7 year old the meat is not cooked well enough, they will just reject it. If you tell them nothing and see what happens? Who knows.  

It turns out this hotel does have a swimming pool. And indoor swimming pool and yes, we went swimming.  These boys love pools and we are on vacation.

There was another young boy in there, they all hit it off.  However...

I got into a conversation with what turned out to be the stepfather.  Their house just burned down. Been there, done that, I could totally empathize with them in a way that they might not find with other people, my house burned down in 2004 and it's and experience I'll never forget.  I'm not going to go into all of that now, excepting to say it's a miracle my son wasn't killed in that experience.  Their story went further with the lady having just gotten done with chemotherapy.  Him quitting his job to take care of her.  

I could go on, you get the picture, they are in a living hell right now.  They are actually living here in this hotel.  It is a residence inn and they do have rooms with 2  separate bedrooms that have their own doors and bathrooms.  There is a kitchen with a full sized refrigerator, a stove top, microwave, Keurig,, dishwasher and all the tableware, cookware and plates/glasses you need. There is a kitchen table, a desk area and a living room.  This is one of those types of places corporates like to put up their people that are out on travel and have to stay somewhere for a while.  

The boy attached himself to me quickly, which I thought odd. His father is in prison, but his stepfather was sitting in a chair right there  The boys wanted me to get into the pool, I didn't feel like it but they pleaded lol.  Ok, Ok! We had fun, but after an hour and a half? I'm ready to go to the room, settle down and relax for the rest of the evening. The boys didn't disagree, so we dried off and left.  I felt sorry for that entire family situation, but, their needs are being met.  Just the emotional stuff got to me, brought back memories of that fateful Sunday 

__________

That was yesterday.  It's about time to check out of this hotel and head over to 6 flags.  Going to be hot today, not sure how that's going to work out lol.  

 Friday - early

About 300 more miles of driving plus offload the truck and I'll be done until Monday.  I can only hope and pray that I don't have any tire issues today, things I can deal with next week. No one can say I didn't try to get it dealt with, that's a fact.  I am driving the truck around 65mph when loaded to keep the vibration down.  You keep it up at 72 and it feels like the truck is shaking apart.  Something, somewhere, is definitely not right!

I wanted to keep it a secret from the kids about going to 6 Flags but mom let the oldest know.  Oh well. He didn't tell his younger brother, tho, so that one is totally in the dark about what we're doing.  We were talking about it and the younger thought we were talking about going to El Taco - a decent Mexican food restaurant in town.  No, that's not what we're doing.  He's clueless.

However, the older also doesn't know that I am taking them from the daycare today and heading over to Dallas today.  They like hotels and I am relatively sure they will very much like the one we are going to.  I'm not telling either of them.  We'll just hop into the SUV, get out onto the Interstate and away we go! Where are we going? Just out to eat - that's what we'll do after we get to the hotel, get checked in, get the rooms and get done with everything.  Oh, btw, you might want to play your games or something, the restaurant is about 2-1/2 hours away! lol!

Yes, I'm a bit psyched. Be nice to get out of town and go somewhere other than trucking.  I mean, I go out of town on an almost daily basis, just none of  that is appealing, at all.  

Well that's it. Not a lot of time here, just drinking a cuppa.  The other driver said I didn't need to show up up there earlier than I normally do, he won't show up before I leave anyway.  I'm just thankful that he agreed to switch. IF I DO have a problem, at least I'll have some extra hours to deal with it. That was mostly why I asked him to switch, the other reason is I can get home in time (hopefully) and get my stuff done, load up the vehicle and get an earlier start. Maybe get over there by 5 or 6ish, really would like to get out of here as early as possible and try to beat Dallas Rush Hour Nightmare On Elm Street With A Dosage Of Chucky Added To It traffic.  

G'day.   

 Thursday - evening

The vibration got worse, enough so that I got permission to replace the tire that I think is causing the problem. So, after loading, I went to Love's and they got right on it. Well, I had been sitting there an hour and the dude hadn't even jacked the trailer up?  They don't necessarily have experienced tire workers there, in many cases it appears they are brand new to it and just out of "training".

Well, it didn't get any better. The guy came in after a while asking if there was an adjustable wrench somewhere. He was informed by the manager where one was but then asked why he needs one?     A lugnut had busted in half taking it off and they couldn't get it off of there.

The manager eventually said, well, we'd take responsibility for this but look, all other lugnuts came off of there without a hitch.  Yes, I thought, the kid probably had the impact wrench set to turn the wrong direction and it snapped it. Please don't try to pull one over on me.  I said nothing, however, and just let it go.  He also said "we can't go any further with it", meaning they weren't even going to replace the tire.  Look, I've seen plenty of tire hands take tires off of rims that are still bolted to the trailer, many many times I've seen this.  Most of them prefer to do that versus taking all of those lugnuts off of there.

So, they put the mess back together, minus one lugnut and the manager said "it's perfectly legal to run with one broken lugnut". I was afraid they were going to try and tell me that they couldn't put it back together, much the same situation that happened last month in Arkansas where the lugnuts were stripped and they wouldn't put it back together without replacing them.  

I got out of there and then got pulled into a Texas CMV inspection station (Commercial Motor Vehicle). However, 2 of the troopers were standing out there chatting by one of their cruisers, looked at me, the truck and waved me on.  They couldn't see the busted lugnut, I'm pretty sure that even if it is legal, they're going to pull me in for that and probably write it up.  

The vibration was even worse after leaving there, to the point I slowed down to 65mph to keep it from getting too much, I was afraid a tire would bust apart and I can't do that right now. I needed to get home and I need to get to Gurdon, offload and get back home again.  It can be dealt with next week, drop the trailer at the yard and they can fix the damn thing.  

This whole thing irritates me because the previous driver knew there was a problem and just dumped it off onto someone else.   

The whole scenario has changed for the kids.  They will go to grandma's at some point, but it turns out they have Covid.  So, they aren't going to be around anyone for a while.  James and Taylor are leaving tomorrow after a meeting she has at work and going to Medieval Times, the venue I went to with the oldest kid last month for a school outing.  She said the tickets are non-refundable. I had mentioned after finding out grandma isn't coming, via text message I should add, that we could just bring the kids. I will hang out with them on the kiddie rides.  

Back and forth and yes, we are going to do that.  Tomorrow, they will leave for Dallas for their fun and I will go to work, get that load off the trailer, come back, go get the kids from the daycare, come home, get their stuff and also leave for Dallas. The 6 flags adventure isn't until Saturday, but I decided to get a nice hotel - Marriot Residence Inn - and stay the night in a place I really like to stay in from time to time.  That's already reserved.  They are buying the tickets tonight online, apparently they are having sale but you have to buy the tickets in advance. Anything to save a few bucks, but I am splurging on the hotel room.  

Meanwhile, the tent people.  They crossed my last line today and I told them to leave.  You are spending far too much time in the amenities shed, I have repeatedly asked you to keep your time in their limited, you have repeatedly ignored my wishes, I want you gone.  She took umbrage with that, the lady that is, and said they - the kids - were "only in there 45 minutes" today.  No, ma'am, they were in there for many hours, I have it on video.   What annoyed me was that yet again, I went in there to go use the toilet after driving and they were in there, again and had been in there for a long time. I'm talking the bathroom now.  I spoke loudly: Y'all are in that bathroom every time I come in here!

After that, she blew up my phone with basically pleading to let them stay.  The 19 year old blew up my phone with insults, I contacted the lady and told her if he doesn't stop, I'll call the sheriff out there.  If you don't think I'd do that, think again.  I will not be abused by guests mouthing off to me about things they know they are doing wrong.  I made it crystal clear to them I didn't want them hanging out in that shed when they first showed up. And then I had to ask again and again.

Just got to my limit.  It is decided to give them one last try.  They can take 15 minute showers and they can recharge their phones - OUTSIDE.  But, I required the boy to apologize, if he wasn't going to do that, no go. So, he texted and apologized. He had been telling me I had been "treating them like trash" and on and on, just wasn't interested in reading all of it, it was 5 paragraphs of bs.                      

Do I expect a different result? That depends on how bad they want to stay there.  They obviously have nowhere else to go.  I am sympathetic to a degree, but I am also running a business and I told her that: this is mostly an RV park business, not a tent campground. Also, the tent sites are primitve, meaning now water and no electricity.  How many times have I gone tent camping in my lifetime with no running water, no electricity and no toilet? Probably in the hundreds.  

So, that's the plan anyway. Oh, and I asked the other driver if it would be possible to switch delivery times.  I told him what was going on but also said "feel free to say no", not pressuring him but I really want to be home at an early hour, not at 4 or 5 in the afternoon.  He agreed to it and I told him I would gladly give up an early load next week if he wants it.  I will be leaving here even earlier than normal for he wants to be able to arrive around 11 and get done and out of there and back to the truck stop where he parks.  If he gets there too late on a friday, all the spots will be taken.  

One of the tractor dealers texted today - are you still looking or did you find something? Still looking. Told him what I need and said I really want a hoe attachment.  Yes, he replied, that will jack the price up, but I can get you that and all the other attachments you need and still keep it under 30k.  It all sounded good until he told me a 20 horsepower tractor.  That's not enough. It doesn't have the power I will need to move dirt around like I will need to.  The TMS dealer was quoting me 28 hp, which is much better. Actually, his first one was 42 HP, which sounded wonderful but the terms were too high. 

BTW, I could actually dig out a small pond in the stream out back with a machine like that.  Nothing huge, maybe 5,000 gallons.  Put some fish in it and see if they can thrive.  There is running water going through it mostly all year long with a few stints in the summer where it either is drying up or it's just going underground.  

Well enough.  I am getting up at 5:30 am tomorrow, but I'm just going straight out of here instead of sitting for a little bit to drink some coffee.  Get up there maybe half an hour earlier to accommodate for the other driver who so graciously let me step ahead of him.  

I haven't watched the news at all today, just glanced at some headlines but decided I didn't want any part of that.  News mostly sucks nowadays, negativity times negativity.  I know what the left world thinks about Trump, I know Biden has an issue telling the truth or that AOC mouths off a bunch of stuff that she doesn't even understand is false, etc.  Put something new in there that will catch my attention? There is a whole, big wide world out there, Trump, Biden and politicians in general are not the only newsworthy things going on?      

 Thursday - semi early

On the day that I could  sleep in if I wanted to, of course I wake up early and can't get back to sleep.  Tuesday and Wednesday?  Woke up in a fog, had a headache all day from getting my sleep interrupted by the alarm and having to go to work early.

Today is different. I have the late load and I'm not really unhappy about that. I've been doing early loads for many moons in a row and tho it's nice getting done early, I don't particularly like that alarm going off in my ears that early in the morning.  I have an hour and 45 minutes before I have to leave, italics for I don't really have to leave that early, I just want to get things started. You never know how long you may have to wait at the washout at that time of day.  

Paycheck came in yesterday, of which I started to write a blog entry but was too tired to finish it so it will sit in the halls of "drafts" along with a thousand other entries I either never finished or forgot to post, lmao.  It was good.  The paycheck that is.  It was around where I wanted and needed it to be.  If I could get a paycheck like that every time or most every time, I would be sitting pretty in a few months, even if there are going to be ridiculously high electric bills at the park.  I am not going to want to do this double-work-life forever, for now it's a necessary - I won't call it evil, I am thinking in different terms nowadays as I try to get myself together with the Lord and not cave to the throes of fleshful thinking in terms of worldliness and anything but heavenly thoughts.  A blessing in disguise? I'm 8 months into working for that company and it hasn't been a joy ride by any stretch of anyone's imagination, at all, nilch, nada, nein, no thank you. 

Regardless, the money is necessary to pay my bills and try to get ahead to be able to go ahead and start park expansion.  I have no idea how much fixing that truck is going to cost, but I'll assume it's not going to be more than a grand and I'm just considering it "the cost of doing business" and a write-off.  In fact, the man hasn't responded to me since I affirmed I would pay for the damage the mower caused, that doesn't mean he isn't going to do anything about getting it fixed, simply that he hasn't gotten around to even reading my reply to him yet.  I dont need the kind of negative review I would receive from "this park put a small dent in my brand new pickup and refused to fix it", there are ugly reviews I can deal with, that isn't one of them.  People see that and they see "unethical business, steer clear".  I wouldn't have considered not fixing it anyway, but my mind tends to wander down all the rabbit trails of "what ifs".  

So the train horns on the truck.  I'm afraid I take far too much pleasure in dealing it back to idiots on the highways cutting me off, slamming on their brakes and driving like jackasses for no more apparent reason than their stupidity or perhaps they are playing chicken, let's see what it feels like to get run over by a fully loaded semi? And when my truck is fully loaded, we are talking the real deal at near 80,000 pounds.  Not every truck running down the road weighs that much, they like to talk like all trucks are at capacity but in reality, much of it is not.  So yesterday, driving back from Gurdon, this person comes flying around me, gets in front of me and I just let that one go.  Then another one, then another one. It was the third one that really cut me off to the point I couldn't even see the highway in front of me. That is a big-time cutoff. 

I didn't honk the horn or do anything, a bit irritated at the ridiculousness of it, what is the point of driving like that and taking those kinds of risks? I think some drivers out there are just plain stupid.  Others are playing on their phones or otherwise distracted, yes, but that doesn't account for people who are fully aware of what they are doing.....and do it anyway.

Well, we get off that highway, onto a short loop and onto 59. I get over in the passing lane immediately, there is a light ahead and the right lane always fills up.  No, the truck wasn't loaded, don't want to mislead on this,  I can get back up to speed quite fast when empty and already moving.  So it was, I got up to the speed limit and then a few, got past an oversized load truck that was going very slow  and then got back over into the right lane. 

I had, in that action, moved past this threesome of cars that also got off on that exit. So what does this threesome do?  The lead car passes, starts to get off in the center lane, then gets back into the left lane, than cuts over in front  of me.  Yup, you guessed it: the other 2 did the same exact thing and yes, the cutoff was severe enough that I got over into the passing lane, got right up beside the 2 trailing cars and hit the train horn switch.  And these horns aren't those fake train horns they sell at auto zones and stuff, these are actual train horns and yes, they are  very loud. I mean, if my passenger side window is open when I hit the switch, the noise is deafening.  

Hands start popping out windows, lmao.  Other drivers are laughing, I'm assuming they had seen what these "drivers" had done and thought the whole thing amusing.  I felt no small sense of "there, gotcha"...until this morning, when I realized that this is extremely childish behavior on my part.  At least, that's what I'm thinking and also the Lord "Uhh, we need to have a discussion" I am sort of feeling in my inner man. Like, why don't you just let it go?  I dunno, sometimes I get angry in traffic. Not road rage or revengeful type of angry, such as wanting to do physical harm, but just mad that people take such ridiculous actions in front of my truck and cause me to have to severally smash the brake pedal in hopes I don't rear end them.  You try to predict this stuff in advance, sort of the 6th sense of things. There are times, however, there isn't any forewarning. A person pops out in front of you that you just didn't expect they would take such a risky move in traffic.

So, maybe I'll go get some more counselling. I did it in my 30's, I think it was, it was very helpful.  This isn't psycho stuff, it's just a person that helps you walk through your thought processes and takes you back as far as it needs to go in your life to help you understand why you do or think some of the things that you do.  Then they make you do exercises in your daily life, such as in traffic, when something happens, you do whatever they suggest. Take a deep breath, do something different.  I might do it, I have lots of things I would like to sort out in my mind that seem to impact my life.  I wouldn't mind a business mentor as well. Don't know where you would find such a person, don't care about their age or gender, if they are a successful business person and know what they're doing? That's what I need.  I make decisions based on my limited knowledge of how business works and some of those decisions are definitive fails.  Really, a college course for business degree would be helpful, I'm thinking I'm getting a little old to go to college.

There are plenty of them around here tho.  An ever expanding Baptist university, they are taking over downtown, so to speak, have acquired several old buildings and ramping up their sports program to become more nationally recognized.  There is another mostly black college that is also a nationally recognized college and there is a TSTC, Texas state college.  I don't think that one would teach what I need and I don't think the black college would necessarily welcome me with open arms, the baptist university, however, that might be interesting.  I would imagine they have such courses?  

Why discuss this? Because it's on my mind.  I just really have no business experience beyond what I have been learning in the last couple of years with this RV park.  I feel like I'm at a huge disadvantage.  I mean, I know about supply-demand and how it works to be competitive with the other parks in the area.  To an extent.  I am limited in my amenities and that is a real disadvantage there.  It would take a truckload of money to install what I would need to bring in local money, an event center, large building with a full kitchen and probably a mini bar (event planners bring their own alcohol and servers of course, I want nothing to do with that, just make it available) to have weddings and giant parties and such.  I have plenty of room at the front of the property for just such a thing.  

I don't have plenty of money to afford that, tho, I just keep wishing I would have been able to start this venture like even 10 years ago, if not longer.  Where would this business venture be right now if I had that much time behind me and ever thinking about expansion, plus doing it when the cost of everything wasn't so high? 10 years ago I could have built 30 spaces for the cost of what these 14 cost me now.  

Anyway, apparently grandma is sick and she isn't coming tomorrow for the kids.  The best laid plans of men....that means we are probably not going to go to 6 Flags. I am considering offering to take them and the 2 adults can still do their thing while I deal with the kids. I don't remember if 6 flags has a ride area for little kids, but I'm sure I can find out by looking it up.  

Yup, if you have read this blog for any length of time, you probably expected me to pause here and look it up. Turns out they have numerous rides for kids that age.  I don't mind taking them there, I don't really feel like getting on all of these crazy rides atm anyway. In fact, I feel like this unexpected "she's not coming" is a lifeline.  I don't have to go. I wanted to go, but i didn't want to go, if that makes any sense.  It won't be cheap, but it's only one day so spending several hundred on a very rare outing isn't really out of the question.  I haven't been on a vacation in a while...I mean, I went to mom's house last year, that was the last time I was on a "vacation" and that wasn't really vacation stuff. It was seeing mom, visiting friends, etc.  

Yes, it's going to cost me going to AZ, or is it? I will be able to get free airfare with my credit card points, I don't have to pay for hotels and the only ride I will need is from the airport to my mom's house. About a $40-$50 uber ride. It's a long way from the airport to where my mother lives, lol, the Phoenix metro area is spread out, what 100 miles from east to west?  Maybe a little less  than that, but it gives you the picture, it's a massive, sprawling affair that I sincerely do not miss. I  do miss the mountains, I don't miss the "Valley of the Sun". 

Ok, it's going to cost me fuel driving that pickup home and I will spend the night in a hotel somewhere, I won't drive 1,300 plus miles straight through.  I'm not going to get a truck, that is an after-effect of going to see mom.  And friends.  One of which I have an open invitation with.  He's still off on a land of - grief, confusion, whatever you want to call it with his wife having passed away.  That was a few years ago, she had cancer that they were going to begin treating with chemo, but then she got Covid. If you remember, people that had cancer and then got Covid were at a high level of risk of death.  Like, extremely much so.  They were married almost 3 decades and were truly in love with each other, he has given up on life to some extent and is drinking heavily on most days.   I get it, I hope he can find a path through all of that.  Like, you don't really care if you live or die, your life as you know it has been stripped of you.  He may still be in depression and obviously alcohol isn't helping with that at all.  But I can't judge him and I won't, it's a hard place he's in right now.  

Anyway, I just texted Taylor with my option of just taking the kids.  We can go separately as we were going to do anyway. They have other things they are going to do over there as a couple, nothing I need to be involved with lol.  It was just a day trip, maybe going on to 2 days.  Monday would be back to work, but that could be worked out with taking them to daycare if they were planning on spilling it over into next week.  I can take them to daycare, pick them up when I get off work which is well before daycare closing time, I have first run Monday so that makes it easier.  I dunno if they'll even want to do this at all, but it's at least an option.  Or, they can just stay home with me and we can go see movies or something while they go off to do what they had been planning to do.

I guess the point is, I'm not let down by this interruption to the plans and I have stuff I could do if we aren't going to go at all.  Like, stay home, do nothing and enjoy a staycation.  Or, if everyone leaves somehow, go find my favorite hotel, they have one in Shreveport and they have one in Tyler and spend a night enjoying nothingness in a place I love to just hang out at.  It's a bit pricey, but again, I don't do that much recreation stuff beyond a few trips to restaurants here and there.  It's because I work so much I just don't want to do anything else but come home, take care of whatever and do nothing.  

I feel like I'm going to have to do this trucking thing until at I at least turn 62, but I also have resolved in my mind that it may have to continue on to Medicare age at 65?  Retire, run the park, yes, but nothing else.  

This workamper has ideas of using the riding mower to chop down everything up front. I had similar ideas until the thing broke down. I have the parts, he was supposed to fix it but he hasn't.  I'll end up doing it at some point sooner or later.  It's just more work that needs to be done.  He was then contemplating doing it with the push mower, I'm not sure how that would even work out, however. Probably ruin the mower, but it would be a good tradeoff to getting that ugliness out of there.  There is real grass growing there now, it just needs all the junk growing up there, weeds, to be hacked down.  

My real concerns right now are, who's leaving and when?  I know the family is leaving, actually they have already left, they just haven't moved their trailer out of there .  They had gone 2 months without paying, they were supposed to leave weeks ago and wanted pro rated balance due.  I was fine with that until we hit and entire month past due and then I started pushing for my money.  I don't know what they are going to do with that trailer, but since they are leaving, I want it out of there so I can find someone else to take that spot and get it off of my mind.  I  assume the farmers are also leaving when the rent is due. I didn't tell them they had to leave, I told them they can't be going around accusing people of shooting them with government issues laser guns.

They completely stopped, of course, I wasn't playing.  I actually used the words cease and desist or get out of my park.  They will move on to another park, I am assuming, and start their laser conspiracy theory with someone else.  So, I have at least 2 spaces that will need filled and another that needs filled but i think I have a renter for that.  He is the brother of a friend that lives maybe 7 houses away.  She runs a restaurant here in town, I won't mention the name of it, but it's a national chain.  He goes to her house all the time for reasons i also won't specify here.  Anyway, he wants to move closer and my park is only 7 minutes away from her house.  Hopefully that pans out.  I just can't rent out the space until after this week, I have both open pull through lots rented for short stays.  

One thing that I am grateful for: I may not have business experience but I have ample experience dealing with renters via my house and renting out rooms.  I've had all kinds in there and this isn't any different when it comes to dealing with people on a face-to-face basis and telling them they can't do this or that. It's in my rules, you can't do this, please stop.  If they get offended and leave, shrugs shoulders. I am running a business and this particular business, people expect the rules to be abided by and if certain people don't, others want me to enforce them.  I neither like nor dislike confrontation, it's just a fact of life and especially in the rental business where people are living. 

What else? I dunno, I still have time before I need to leave here. If I end up getting to the plant to load too early, they'll just make me wait. Might as well wait at home.  

Well, the boy is up.  He's feeling better already and doesn't have a fever.  Apparently that's not the case with grandma.  I take that back, he still doesn't look very good.

And finally? The tractor.  I've all but sold myself on it.  Just finding the time to get there and look at it, discuss finances, sign on the dotted line and get this over with.  It's something I absolutely need and I get tired of renting machines every time I need one.  I could keep the driveway constantly maintained instead of having to wait for rains to pass.  It's in horrible shape, I just am not going to pay for more than one rental a month.  If I'm doing that, I might as well just buy one, right?  Fix up the driveway, get the pads started in the back and at least get them looking like, wow, I have this much done, might as well find the money and do the rest!  

See how that works? You set goals and you take whatever steps you can to fulfil them.  Once you get the ball rolling, well, there may be flat spots where the ball stops, just give it a good kick and get it started again. I just really want to get this done before I get much older.  The old bones tell me about it after a day of working over there doing physical labor.  If I get the tractor, then I'll plan the rest of the park, or at least the next 15 spaces.  I'm not sure how I want to do it, but it seems that I will have to move the doggy park somewhere else.  

It's a lot of measuring I need to do and I'm not fooling with that until I have something in hand that makes me say, well, I have this now I might as well do that.  So, I have a tractor, might as well get this planned out.  However, I don't need to plan anything out to clear that land out again.  I definitely have space for 15 more lots back there, probably more like 25.  Any more lots beyond that? Would have to go up front. Not anything I would imagine doing any time soon. It would take many truckloads of top soil being brought in to help level it out and then have to build retention walls and serious storm drainage. Talk a lot of money just in that stuff alone.  It's just too steep of a grade to consider putting in rv lots.  Now, I could do other stuff like tiny homes and just clear out space as needed, leveling it and putting up small retention walls.

I dunno, that's just not something I have the money for right now and my plan is going towards the rear of the park with more spots.  I have to get the business well established and bringing in minimum amounts of money per year before I can take out a huge loan.  A huge loan would pay for an event center, a pool, more spots, maybe some tiny home spots, etc.  They want 2 years of income that meets their minimum amount to be considered for say, half a million. And a business plan, would need an expert for that.  Property appraisal as well.  

Yeah, this is what I face when I start thinking expansion.  Or, the piece-meal, do it small bits at a time as i can afford it type of deal.  I'm thinking the latter, at least for now and get ramped up for the Interstate construction that will be starting sometime next year and the almost guaranteed business it can bring to my park - if I have the room for more trailers.

That's enough for now. Just being a bit chatty today.  Watching the news as the lunacy of what we call politics in Washington careens on.  Like a bunch of zoo animals running the show, they only know what they want and they don't care what they have to do to get it.  Power/money.  "The love of money is the root of all evil".  Yup.  Especially in Washington in the halls of Congress and the White House. We have a Trump presidency looming, if nothing  changes before November, it isn't likely Biden is going to win (and neither do I want him to).  Trump is controlling the Republican party right now and that isn't going to change until November. If he wins, 4 more years of it, if not, I would think others will have to start rising to the surface.  I don't despise Trump as all of these people calling him a Nazi, white supremecist and all the other nonsense like to call him. I do think he could do a better job with his demeanor, but, that's New York and he certainly fits that descriptor.  I'm positive leftists have more tricks up their sleeves, one wonder what an October surprise might look like.  

G'day

 Tuesday - late evening

The only thing that woke me up this morning was the motorcycle being fired up for James to take off to work.  My alarm was going off but there was no sound.  I was in a very deep sleep when the noise woke me up and my head was pounding.  I could have slept many more hours.  My head never really felt any better until maybe an hour ago, after 14 hours of feeling like this.  I've had this happen before so really didn't think anything of it....until...

The oldest boy's head hurts.  He is feeling very miserable and he has a sore throat.  I do not have a sore throat but I'm wondering if my pounding head is something more than just having had been awakened very wrong.  Not that I'm blaming James, it would have been the same with the alarm clock, it's the deep level of sleep I am referring to.  Others in the house are coughing, not feeling well....may not bode well for this weekend.  Or the kids going to grandma's house all sick.  I'm guessing grandma will take them anyway if the oldest isn't feeling better by the time they have to leave - in 2 days?  I think it's 2 days.

Meanwhile....I drive to Nacogdoches with my head like that, take a little snooze while waiting for the tanker to be cleaned up and then over to Lufkin to load.  I pull in the yard and I get a phone call.  Can you check the annual inspection sticker, we think it's out of date.  I didn't know what the date says on it, you can't read it. Those things never last that long before they become illegible.  

It's an OOS violation.  Out Of Service.  They catch you, they put it out of service and you ain't pulling that trailer until it's inspected again.  You can call someone out to do it on the road, but if there's something wrong that has to be repaired, you may be screwed.  Regardless, I have never thought of those inspections as the driver's responsibility. This is totally on the company you are driving for.  They keep records and obviously someone saw, finally even if 22 days after it had expired, that it needed done.  

It doesn't end there. I now remember the driver who was pulling this trailer saying he had gone to Love's but the wait was long so he didn't get it done.  In other words, they knew about it and this other driver knew about it but it didn't get done.  They told him to get it done so I guess they decided it was done and done.  This driver drove into this month over 2 weeks before he dumped that trailer at the washout and I ended up taking it.  He undoubtedly knew that the tires were low on tread and that one ore more of those tires were vibrating.

Anyway, I pulled the thing to the nearest Love's with a Speedco (shop).  Well, I got there and fueled first.  There were no trucks in the bays in the shop.  So I'm standing there fueling and I get this sinking feeling that if I don't get over there now, other trucks are going to show up and I will have to wait however long.  So, I finished fueling but left the truck parked at the fuel aisle and walked over there.  The tire guy that does the inspections wasn't busy, thankfully  It was only a couple of minutes later and another truck showed up, then another, then another, in 15 minutes time I think 5 of them appeared out of nowhere, just like magic. 

Waiting any longer to get in there would have cost me many more hours of waiting.  It's first come, first served at Love's.  I told them I needed the annual inspection and also said there is a vibration coming from one of the tires, please check them.  The only thing they came up with is that "all of the tires really should be replaced", but that only because it's getting near the minimum tread depth.  You can take trailer tires down to 2/32'ds.  Most of them on there are at 3/32's. They are legal, but it will be soon and they won't be legal.  

I already knew what our shop would say and yup, I was right: You can bring it up here and we'll put tires on it.....yeah, just what I want to do, waste 3-4 hours for something I could have done right here, right now and get it over with and have it done maybe in another hour or so.  Obviously I didn't go up there today, but the trailer passed the inspection so I didn't have to worry about the CMV inspection station right up the road that was, btw, doing inspections.  They had several trucks in there when i drove by, but they had shut off the lights to force you to pull in and I was very glad of that, regardless of the status of the inspection on the truck or the trailer. 

Another thing today was these people that showed up for a 3 day stay. They called saying they were there, where do they go? I told them take lot 1, which is the biggest and nicest lot in the park. Ok, thanks! They pulled in there, I was watching them on the camera.  Oddly, they did not get out.  I sat there and watched for a few minutes and just gave up on it. I would check back later. Instead, they called. Well, we aren't really that far from home so we're just going to drive on through.  Talking as if they were only staying one night and leaving in the morning, but acknowledging that they reserved 3 nights and go ahead and keep the 1st day that they paid for.  I asked them if there was something wrong with the park? Ohh noooo, we just want to go home.  

Ok, they might be telling the truth, but I found that odd considering they were a 3 day stay.  Regardless, I did, indeed, issue them a refund for the first night excepting what I am charged by the CC company and the reservation system.  I could always use the money, obviously, but I can also use the word of mouth people spread around. Oh, well we showed up there, but we decided to go home. They issued us a refund anyway!  Oh, we'll keep that place in mind if we are traveling through and need to stop overnight! 

Stuff like that.  Some things I won't refund, especially in a hostile situation where a person is causing trouble, read: Mark, the drunk.  I don't despise him for being a drunk, I was disgusted by him for his constant vulgarity and vile, foul behavior.  

I haven't heard back from the man whose truck was damaged. I'm sure I will sooner or later and I'm sure I will be eating that bill.  C'est la vie.  And shrugs shoulders while I'm at it. No sense in crying over spilt milk, the money is going to go away and I will give it a hug on the way out.  So to speak.  Nice having you for a little while, c'ya later!

I have come to an agreement with the man that he simply isn't going to be mowing in between the trailers.  He can mow everything else, of which there is plenty to do.  Or, he can go find a job and pay for their space or..they can go find another place to live. Up to them.  

The tent people actually got their space rent caught up. I was amazed by that, but then again, I haven't exactly let them on to believe that I am a softie. They are certainly consuming my resources.  The boy is much more respectful now than he was. I call him a boy, he's actually 19.  The lady is working somewhere, I am not going to even begin to entertain them moving into that coach until I have a long conversation with the lady.  In fact, it would be better, in my view, if they were to find an apartment somewhere.  Or perhaps the local housing authority, they have public housing tho the place always looks full when I drive by there.  

Or perhaps, the 19 year old can go find a job, or at least go to school, do something besides hanging out in the trees all day long.  They are hardly coming into the laundry room now for I got stern with them about making it their second - or first - home.  

Anyway, it's getting late.  I am wondering if I am coming down with something. I dunno, I don't feel bad and the head pain has all but gone away now.  But, I do feel some drainage going down the back of my throat.....Pop some vitamins and minerals at least?  And what's the OTC stuff you can buy at the first sign of a cold or flu? I can't remember the name of it.  

Other things going on in my mind if nowhere else, but I think I am going to go to sleep a few minutes early tonight.