Sunday mid-morning

I was at a birthday party yesterday when I got a text message: Attempted assassination of Trump.  I immediately opened up the news app on my phone and it had just happened.  It would be hard for anyone to miss what happened by now, the next day since it's pretty much on any and every news channel.  

I spent the rest of the night glued to the phone as I watched the news flow in and more and more info about the details flow in with it.  We are left with a lot of questions now that need to be answered.  I can tell you, I do not trust the FBI to do this investigation.  A politically compromised government organization, IMO, that has no business engaging in what could be a self-serving investigation to keep Trump out and Biden in.  

Keeping cool about this, I'm just going to continue to watch the news here and there - I'm going to shut it off for now, at least until after church.  I don't see revelatory info coming out in the next few hours, but even if it did, it's going to be there to watch later.  So many questions, hopefully answers, legitimate answer, will come out quickly and whatever the deficiencies are that allowed this to happen will be corrected.  

I'm just "news'ed out" right now as I have searched all over the internet for anything relevant and watching the news on TV and using the phone and computer to dig up any relevant info that continues to flow.  There is a lot to unpack and I'm just not going to go into that right now, it's an hour away from time to leave for church and I would rather get my mind into worship. The Lord is still God, He is still sitting on the throne and none of this startles Him or somehow changes His plans.  

With that, the hosts of the birthday party rented a giant, blow up slide thing where you climb up one side and basically fall down the other.  It has air blowing into it and it has a pump so the water is coming down the slide and a little pool on the bottom to slide into.  It was fun and crazy, lol.  See, the kids had the use of it all day long, but last night? Kids were banned from it and it was an adult only adventure. 

It was hard to keep my mind off of the assassination attempt, in fact it was impossible at the time.  You just watch the footage over and over of Trump standing on the stage, leaning on the pedestal, pointing at some graph, apparently, off to his right - the cameras weren't panning over to it so you couldn't see what he was referencing.  You hear a pop and you see him touch his right ear and then immediately drop to the floor and Secret Service agents just as immediately surrounding him, using their own bodies as human shields to protect him.

That's what they sign up for and they know there is a possibility of that happening.  

Then there is the red-headed man with a trump hat on talking about how he saw the shooter crawling up on the roof with a rifle. He claimed he was trying to get the attention of both police and SS agents and allegedly, they were ignoring him.  I think he saw what he saw, whether they ignored him or just didn't understand what he was referring to remains to be seen and fleshed out, if we can rely on the FBI which is allegedly spearheading the investigation can be trusted.  The bigger government gets, the less I trust that it's sole objective is for citizen' well being and good.  

The Founders never envisioned a giant, centralized, powerful Federal government that can harass, imprison and even take away citizen' livelihood at will.  Or impose restrictions and rules from unelected bureaucrats who believe citizens are stupid and that they, the bureaucrats, somehow know better. 

Ok.  So it's Sunday, church en-queue, the kids are at the birthday party house doing a sleepover but the mom of the birthday boy is going to take them to IHOP and then to church. Well, maybe. She was quite inebriated yesterday and as I was leaving, I stated that if she isn't able to take them today, let us know I'll drop by and pick them up on the way to church.  I haven't heard anything so I assume she was able to get out of bed and by now, heading over to IHOP if not there already.

IHOP, at least the one here, is pretty slow service. You'll be there an hour at least, especially during breakfast time on a Sunday morning.

AS for everything else, I've got 2 more loads to run which starts Monday - late load - and ends Thursday.  Then Friday through Monday off.  It turns out we aren't going to Galveston, we are going to some island next to it that was allegedly wiped out with the hurricane.  Some answers need to be forthcoming soon, it's a little late in the game to be attempting to rent out a different AirBNB somewhere else.  I was under the assumption that rental was going to be in Galveston itself, that's what we've done the last 2 times we went there.

But this is a group thing and it was placed under another person's control to rent the giant house and take care of the particulars.  She sent out a request to the AirBNB company that rents the house out, who, after a few days, finally got back to her and said "we'll have to contact the owner of the house to find out if everything is ok over there".  Well duhhh.  You just had a hurricane go through there and allegedly, the area has been decimated.  We do need to know if we are going or not. The days off have already been taken, it's a done deal. We can go somewhere else, I guess, if that doesn't work out. 

But once you get close to an intended arrival date for any vacation, even if you can find anything available, you know the prices of those places rise substantially.  So at this point, that whole deal is up in the air.  

Looking at Expedia, hotel rooms are over $300 per night for the intended dates.  That's not for 19 people, you'd probably get 4 adults maybe in one room. 

I dunno, if I were in control of it, I would have already found whoever owns the place and had a discussion with them about the property and if it's in one piece, in good condition and if it's even accessible.  But that's me and that's how I work.  Let's get it nailed in, not just try to contact some person in a company that rents the property out for the owner.  Especially getting this close to departure date.

Beyond that, you have people within our group that are refusing to get into the water, they are claiming, because sharks attacked people hundreds of miles away.  "it's too close for my comfort" to which several other people agreed. Well why did you want to go to a beach in the first place then?  I asked one last night, however, she said: I'm following you into the water, lol. Well unless there is a rip tide advisory or swimming is closed because of shark sightings, I won't even think twice about it: walk right in, dunk my head under water and have fun in the waves. 

Anyway, these people started talking about going somewhere else.  I guess that'd be ok, but if you are going to do that, do it NOW, we can't just wait.  As it turned out, however, the cost of going to that place now is beyond anyone's ability to pay for it.   We are just moving along, this household I should say, with the idea that we are going to the beach whether anyone else is - or not. 

The park? I have no idea.  I didn't hear from Allen yesterday about anything.  I drove in another out of there in the truck, I did not stop to talk to anyone.  If there is an issue, rest assured I will hear about it and usually either immediately or not long after whatever it is that's going on has occurred.  3 days from now, the workamper will owe rent. They talked about moving out, then they said they don't know how they are going to pay....after all I've been through with them, I am going to look up this 3 day notice, print one out and have it ready to go.  

Everything else? I'm just going to enjoy my Sunday.  I am probably going to watch the newest Planet of the Apes which is out for streaming. Mark Wahlberg stars in it, he's one of my favorite actors.  I have no great plans for today beyond church, is what I'm saying. The kids will have already eaten so I'm not going to try to make them go to Applebee's, I'll just take them home and find something in the fridge.

I am still on Keto, stalled out.  It happens.  I know that if I stick it out, I'll suddenly dump a bunch of weight overnight and then I'll be like: what happened? Lol.  The thing is, I intend on ditching Keto for the vacation.  No regrets, vacations aren't for dieting.  Take a break from it and get right back to it after the vacation is over. We're talking Friday through Monday, so only 4 days and I won't go overboard with sugars and carbs.  I just want some potatoes, lol.  If I get nothing else on cheat days, I want potatoes!

With that, it's time to take a shower and get ready to go.

Happy Sunday! 

The Attempted Assassination Of Former President Donald Trump

 I'm not going to mince any words here.  The constant rhetoric of the left is directly responsible for this event in Pennsylvania yesterday. From President Biden on down to average leftist citizen that regurgitates the endless, division-creating hostility directed at Trump and his supporters, that is what caused this situation to come to a head yesterday.

"The end of our democracy!".  "The end of our Constitutional rights!"  "A threat to our nation's security!".  The world is going to end if Trump becomes President again!  This and MUCH more hype that has been spouted off endlessly, this is what finally pressed some 20 year old lunatic to get up on a roof and attempt to end Trump's life.  

The 20 year old shooter is dead and now there are certain leftists making statements such as the shooter should have gone to the shooting range more (or something to that effect), Trump had it coming to him! and more.  

You leftists, instead of attempting to demonize Trump and telling us the whole damn world is going to end if he becomes President need to shut your damn mouths.  Argue policy. Argue what Constitutional rights you believe are going to end.  Argue the things that politicians used to argue about instead of constantly hammering a political rival to the point you provoke people to take action that ends up in tragedy.

Yesterday was a tragedy.  An innocent rally attender was killed, shot through the head.  2 other people are in critical condition.  Trump was grazed in the ear.  But what the real tragedy is, is the fact that this event illuminates and illustrates what the end result of this constant, hostile rhetoric delivers. 

There are more of those 20 year olds out there.  How are they going to protect Trump at the convention with tens of thousands of people in attendance?  There are a lot of questions that are floating right now, taking it to the next step, of how the shooter was able to get on that roof in the first place.  Why police ignored a man that saw the shooter crawling on the roof with a rifle.  If the report is true that a request for more Secret Service personnel was denied (one report blaming Mayorkas).  

I will give Secret Service kudos, however, for instantly using their own bodies as human shields to prevent any further injury to the President. For SS to take the shooter out within seconds (reported and heard if you listen to the reel of the incident).  The reports say one millimeter, some say 2, movement of the bullet and we would instead be discussing Trump's assassination, not his miraculous survival. 

Potentially even God's intervention that the shooter wasn't able to deliver the knock out blow.  Also potentially because the shooter may have been put on hurried mode because there were people standing there 50 feet away watching what he was doing and attempting to get police and SS to confront him. The shooter knew his life might end yesterday, this was more of a suicidal mission on his part to kill Trump.

Now let me ask you a question: What legitimate reason do you have to believe that Trump is going to become a dictator, end our democracy (Republic) and literally take over America as a tyrannical dictator? Did you see any of that during his first term as President?  I don't want to hear rhetorical nonsense for your reasons, what, specifically, are we discussing here? Who told you that he and his supporters are a threat to our "democracy" and how, specifically, is Trump a threat to our democracy? 

HOW will he even be able to become a tyrannical dictator?  HOW is he going to end the Constitution?  What is going to happen differently than what is happening now, besides us seeing the left engaging in hostile rhetoric designed to raise people's emotions to the point that we have an extremely divided country? 

 For once, the day went flying by.  They got me in and out of the washout in 38 minutes.  I think it was 40 minutes at the plant loading.  Nothing to hold me up. Police always give the "eye" at trucks moving by, I don't look at them anymore. I used to, not in a disgusted kind of way, but it seems if you look at them, they get annoyed and come chasing you down.  I don't know what that's all about, live and learn.  I don't hate police, I also don't want to be stopped by them.  Especially state Troopers.  

So I was home at around 12:30, which is about as good as it gets.  

The kids are not home yet, I cleaned up the kitchen nicely so we can at least have a fresh start.  It wasn't terrible, it's just if you clean it all up, it stays relatively clean for a while.  

Allen seemed agitated about something over at his place when I returned so I didn't bother him.  I do know his wife was having trouble getting the truck to start wherever she is at.  But that was yesterday and I don't know what became of that.  

New people decided it was fine to park their dually on my grass....we are going to have a polite conversation about that.  There is plenty of room for their truck in front of their trailer on the driveway.  The reason I made 75 foot long driveways....

Otherwise, life is grand! lol

T-Mobile - amazingly, it actually works at the washout, Verizon does not.  People saying T Mobile sucks? I dunno, maybe where they were at once upon a time?  So far, I've had no issues.  The difference is, I only have LTE service on T Mobile. Apparently you have to pay more for 5g service. I have 5g on Verizon and I'm wondering if, in places where 5g isn't available, it doesn't switch over for some reason.  

Whatever the case, so far I'm good with it and could switch over just on what I have seen.  But, I'm going to wait until we go to Galveston and see what happens.  The thing is, I'm already driving in rural areas and through small towns.  There is only one place where the signal dropped - but it also dropped for Verizon as well.  

That's it.  It's 2:30 and I may get some other things done today, but right now? I just want to kick back and watch a movie.  

 Friday - early

Have a few minutes here.

So Biden continued on with his screwups.  Calling Zelensky Putin and calling Harris...Vice President Trump and "her" is a him.  This isn't funny, not to me.  It's pathetic that anyone that is close to him would continue to urge him on to staying in the race.  People that like living in the White House and the taste of power, it's reported that his wife sits in on cabinet and other meetings where one would presume confidential and high security things are discussed, along with Hunter allegedly being in some of those meetings as well.

He continues to claim he draws these huge crowds and says Trump doesn't - which is a ridiculous lie.  Trump draws HUGE crowds everywhere he goes.  Biden? Not so much.  I'll be listening to any new news about this today, but apparently there are more Democrat defectors. I don't call them "democratic" because I don't think they are democratic at all.  

I'm afraid there is going to be a showdown come the 17th.  The workamper doesn't have any money, he isn't getting a job anywhere, they just sit in that trailer all day long.  I will throw them out if it comes to that.  I don't want to have some sort of showdown where I need to have someone videoing it for proof and having a witness...but...if it comes to that, you bet I will.  At this point, they are just mooching off of me and that doesn't set well.  The man won't get off his lazy @$$ to do much of anything.  They enjoy the luxury of the AC they are using for free using my electricity, that's what I know.  

So, it's Friday, the kids are coming back today.  I dunno when I'll be home, but if it goes as normal, I'll be back around 1:00-1:30.   I've thoroughly enjoyed the lack of screaming, fighting and yelling that goes on when you have 3 kids getting cranky with each other. It's pretty normal, especially being summer time and they start getting bored and taking their boredom out on one another.  Mom lets them play their games, even and it still devolves into this nonsense.  

We like the school year. It's disciplined and well all pitch in to make it work - dinners and homework and all of that stuff - but there is much less bickering.  

Well, I want to get an earlier start than normal just to get out there and get to the washout and hopefully beat other trucks in there. I will also be streaming off the T Mobile phone all day today and see how it works down south.

G'day

  I ran the old phone on T Mobile all the way up and back, streaming YouTube videos. I wasn't exactly paying attention to them, I was seeing if there were any stall spots, of which there were none. Further, it worked better than Verizon network at the plant.  

The next test will be going to Natchitoches and Lufkin tomorrow.  Verizon has - had - excellent service in Lufkin.  The hurricane messed that up but I'm sure they'll get it back up and running soon if not already.  

The third test will be going to Galveston - if we are indeed going there.  There's some discussion in the group that it will be flooded, of which I balked at. Then they said it's "going through Houston". I sent live cam pics, 59 and 45 are fine.  Not to mention we are going on the 19th, that is a long time from now.  People get things set in their minds and it's like you're talking to a brick wall, even with proof that the fears they are experiencing are not realistic. 

I dunno, if we don't go there apparently we are going to Broken Bow. The time is running short for making reservations and the prices go up the closer you get to any intended departure dates.  Just throwing my hands up, we are going somewhere, I guess.  

Allen is working on the front. It's slow progress, not exactly easy to mow over that stuff, but he is definitely making headway.  He's trying to get a clear line of vision to the dumpster.  The only thing about that is, if you see someone dumping in the dumpster that doesn't belong there, it's too far away. By the time he would get there to confront the person or identify their vehicle? They're already done and gone.  

Republic wants $201 to move the damned thing.  Like, will they have a problem if I move it myself? I can rent the trackhoe for the trench and move it with that and save myself a chunk of change.  They responded to my query to move and left a phone number in the return email.  It's late now, I will call them tomorrow and ask if they have an issue if I move it to another location and just let them know where it is?  I can just chain it, lift it with the bucket and move it without damaging it.  

I dunno.  I've got 3 more loads before vacation. Working tomorrow and Saturday, off Sunday and then work the 4 days after.  Then 4 days off and honestly? I'm going to have to consider using that Monday that I was going to use for recovery day and work at the park, dig the trench and get other stuff done with the trackhoe.  

_________

I'm sitting here watching this Biden press conference. He spent 7 minutes bashing Trump in a pre-scripted diatribe of complete and utter bulls***.  He cherry picked quotes from Trump - and when I say cherry picked, I mean he took a few words out of sentences Trump made or a sentence out of a contextual set of sentences that Trump made.  Just utter hogwash.

Then, I heard him refer to Kamala Harris as "Vice President Trump".  I did a double take, wondering if I heard that correctly and sure enough, 5 minutes later the news already had it on there.  He mumbles, he's incoherent on some of his sentences. I am curious to see how his democrat detractors - and there are a lot of them now - are going to view this presser.  It's getting boring, I didn't think I would last all the way through this, he's 33 minutes into it, but I'm going to stick it out to see how he handles a lengthy presser and how long it actually goes on for.  I also saw him start yawning but feigned it as picking at his eye to try and cover it up.  

Look, the man has no business being the Oval Office making decisions that can permanently affect the fabric of our society, that can affect our standing in the world, our economy, financial markets, etc etc etc. Do you really believe that he, as Commander in Chief, could deal with a China or Russian uprising? 

Enough of that for now.  A person called, missed the call (I was listening to content at the time on my old phone), called them back, no answer, then they texted me. We're here.  Huh? Expecting no-one, they just showed up to take a lot, lmao. I mean, if someone shows up and there's something available, they can take it. No guarantees on that, obviously.  But, it was the last available lot.  

I do not have a reservation until the 3rd of August.  So the place is long term. These people said they are there for a month, another is also a month, the rest in the park are either "permanent", very long stays or there indefinitely.  People come and go, that's a fact.  

Tomorrow is early load.  Up at 5:30 am, get the day done as fast as possible and get home to....well the munchkins are coming back tomorrow, I doubt they will beat me back unless I have another breakdown or some sort of ridiculous nonsense at the plant?  Load tomorrow, offload Saturday, Sunday off and then Monday and Tuesday - late loads again.  

 Thursday

Last day of freedom.  I think I'll go out to eat somewhere for dinner today versus eating at home. We will be doing that - eating at home - pretty much every day once the kids get back. Apparently the 3rd one is staying yet another two weeks. It's so wonderful! He sits there all day long arguing and yelling back and forth with the youngest....when things start flying through the air, that's about the time we go out there, put a stop to it and end the ridiculousness. 

But, it goes on every day.  Maybe not all day long, but enough of it to make me want to shut my bedroom door so I can tune that noise out.  Once the oldest leaves, things will return to normal.  Normal is not having that oldest one around, I can attest to that. His mother gives him no routine, no structure, no discipline, he basically does what he wants.  Which is why there was a huge clash the first time he showed up here. He didn't know any of us besides his dad, for one and he was not used to rules and having them enforced.  It took him several visits to start figuring out the rules are what they are and they aren't changing or going to overlooked for his sake.  Lol.  

So far so good with the internet.  I just wonder about people that can't afford even $50 per month for what they want the most: WiFi access. Literally, they could get their own T-Mobile device for that amount of money and not worry about anyone else having to supply it for them. I've had a few do it when they found out the price, but most people? I don't know if they're too cheap or too broke.  Some people in the park came in with their own internet and they are quite happy.

It seems you lose access to the internet and life just falls apart?  I was without it yesterday for several hours, hours where I would normally be looking at stuff on the internet because there is not much of anything else to do.  It wasn't the end of my world.  I could see not wanting that to last forever, tho.  

Now? I have the old phone loaded up with T-Mobile, a service I am paying for but wasn't using. It was for the cameras and the internet.  I am going to be checking it throughout the day to see if it's as bad as people say it is.  "The internet works great, the phone service sucks!". I've heard this forever from numerous different people to the point I decided I would just keep the services I need (I am saving many hundreds of dollars per month using their internet over Verizon and other options) and not use the phone.  

Actually, I'm just going to have it streaming stuff all day long and glance at it here and there and see if it's working.  And, see how it works in Gurdon where Verizon service isn't very good.  What if T-Mobile is better?  I'm fixing to dump about $300 per month in the AZ house with them paying for their own phones - I was helping Mark with it because a second line wasn't terribly expensive and he claims he is going to get internet. It is costing me over $200 per month for internet over there. It's a ouch-factor to me every month seeing that kind of money going out.  I tried T-Mobile but they didn't send it out with a sim card in it and they wouldn't send one for I didn't have a T-Mobile phone to verify that it is actually me.

That's where the local store comes in, at least for stuff around here. They just look at my ID and that's that. They were so helpful yesterday, I didn't know they could deal with as much as they can, the plus is that they are a corporate owned store so they can pretty much do anything that I "can" do over the phone.  You try talking to those people on the phone, offshore call center with people whose English is spotty and whose attitudes suck. Not all of them, but enough.  I was amazed they just went into the back room yesterday,  pulled out a new router without my asking for it - I just wanted them to try a new sim card and if that didn't work, just send it back and ask for another one - pulled it out, set it up and walaah, here ya go, thanks.  

But yes, I'm going to contact Mark today and tell him I'm ordering another T-Mobile internet device and this time, if they don't send a sim card, I can verify over the phone who I am with a T-Mobile based phone and that should be the end of that problem.  

I'm just happy to get to dumping expenses.  ONE more payment on the shed, they took the next to last one out yesterday and there goes $221 PLUS a $3 "convenience fee".  That fee? They charge  you to pay them. It's an auto-withdrawal, who else charges their customers to pay them with auto-pay? It's not a credit card, they are not encountering credit card company fees, it's fairly outrageous in my view even if it's a small amount of money.  

Whatever the case, saving money is high on my list of priorities right now, the more I can save, the faster I can move forward with my expansion desires.  But, I doubt I'll take out a loan before the election.  Or, if Biden is going to do something to make him look favorable and somehow attempt to get the Fed to lower the interest rate?  I just balk at the idea of high interest loans.  I don't see how a HELOC at 11.99% is a good deal.  I remember those rates being much lower before the FED started all this interest rate hikes and basically destroying our economy while they were doing it.  

Well whatever.  I'm going to leave a bit earlier than normal for the second load, I just feel like getting out of here, getting up there and even if I have to wait, being there for whenever the first load is done.  But if I get there at 11:20 am, which is what I am shooting for, the first load should be done and gone.  Should be being the operative words. 

With that, go make a lunch, get some more coffee for the thermos, fill up the cup with ice water and outta here.

G'day.

 Wednesday - 7:45 am

I posted the Umpire post, btw, for a little information to the masses who visit here out of searches to let people know that there is something they can do about unruly parents in leagues, regardless of what kind of league it is, actually.  But it seems the baseball parents can be the worst offenders. 

Late start today, late run.  I will have to jump start the truck, but if it's like 2 days ago, it just takes a little extra boost. The batteries or one of the batteries is bad I'm guessing. Taking it to Love's, they will end replacing all 3 of them.  I'm not doing that today, however, for an internet friend is coming through town and I'm hoping to make it back in time to visit with them. They want to see my RV park.  

Kamala Harris just sunk herself, again, with a comment she made that, reading between the lines, basically says she supports pro-Hamas "antagonizers"/protestors and therefore, one would have to assume, she is on the anti-Semite train.  I think that if Biden stays in the running, with Harris, Trump is going to win and by a relative land-slide.  If he drops out, all bets are off.  Biden is adamantly stating that he's not dropping out and now they have this "performance" of his at NATO, I think it was yesterday.  He's reading off of a teleprompter and he's still mumbling and messing up words regardless.  He is probably pumped up on whatever drug, most experts say Adderall.  

Can you imagine this man sitting in the Oval office in say, 3 years from now? I still stand in awe of a party that will support a person that clearly is not fit for the office.  If it were Trump, I would not support him, at all.  I would be in the mindset of "replace him and replace him quickly".  But it would never get that far, people would see the signs of it and start questioning his ability to actually make it through 4 years of another presidency, which is obviously highly demanding on both the mind and the body and probably the emotions aspect as well.  George Stephanopoulos, a staunch Trump hater, says Biden should drop out, that he can't make it 4 more years.  That sort of sent shock waves through the democrat realms of political reaction.   

I find it hilarious that these people say "it's going to be the end of our democracy!" and others STILL saying he's in Putin's back pocket - all of that nonsense has been thoroughly and completely debunked but if you ask people about it that still believe it, they have no facts, they just turn it back on you, the person questioning them, to prove it. Well let's start with the Steele Dossier and we can work from there. But it's a waste of time, if people still believe that crap, they are hopeless in any attempt to get them to see differently. People are free to believe what they wish, the same as people not believing Jesus is the son of God, not just a prophet or a good person, he is actual part of the Deity, God.  It is amazing how many people that are Democrats are also self-described atheists.  

Anyway, I want to be pulling out of the park at around 9:00 am.  I am not going to get the batteries replaced today unless my friend will have already traveled through here.  I can jump start it tomorrow and I don't turn the truck off at all on the Gurdon run, I will have to turn it off at Lufkin, they have their own shop there and they have jump started other trucks in the past, so I'm not worried about that.  After unloading, I can stop at the Love's on the way back and see if they have a1 hour wait, an 8 hour wait, whatever and if they actually have the batteries on hand.  

The internet is out at the park again, that's a new router so unless I damaged the sim card (I might have), there is no reason for it to not be working.  I will check it this morning for any fault words on the top of the unit to see if it is self-diagnosed.  Whatever. It's always something.  I didn't know it had been out for several days for no one contacted me - until this morning.  I try not to get too stressed about things at this point.  I do get worked up about some things, but even that stuff I'm trying to say no, I'm not going to let it eat at me.  Not worth it. 

Hmm, I think I will leave even earlier than I was going to so I have time to look at that router and be prepared to call T-Mobile to see what they say is wrong with it.  They can send another one if it comes down to that...

Yes. Get another cuppa or a little more, get the thermos filled and get over there.  

G'day

Umpire Shortage - Little League Baseball and Boards of Directors (and any other youth leagues by different names)

 In the early 2,000's, my son had just entered Little League in the teeball league of Little League.  I was approached and asked to be a coach, they pretty much do that all the time in LL, it's all volunteer, learn as you go. 

Fast forward several years and I was approached to be an LL umpire.  I didn't want to do it after seeing how umpires were being treated but I eventually caved in but I told myself I wouldn't allow myself to be abused like some of these other umpires were. 

Basically, our league was a lawless madhouse of parents that would get into fist fights with each other during games, call the other team's coaches and even 10 year old players foul names and direct cussing at them, yell at umpires the entire games and basically make it a very miserable experience. 

I ended this when, as also being a board member, I initiated a zero tolerance policy (this is a really shortened version here).  It was probably a thousand words long, had very clear policy directed towards behavior and intended action that would be taken against anyone violating the policy.

The first game we started this, I had the entire board out there.  As parents started in on their ridiculous nonsense, I would stop the game, point at the offenders and have them removed from the premises completely.  Probably half the parents were escorted out to the parking lot where they were instructed they could wait for their kid.  

One set of parents hit one of the board members and the police were called. I don't recall if the parents were charged with assault, I do remember that after that night, the amount of bs from parents declined dramatically.  

Fast forward again. I never claimed to be the greatest umpire on earth, but I was definitely all about crowd control. It wasn't really umpire's job to do that, but the situations we were encountering were drastic, outrageous and often times criminal in nature.  The district administrator would have me officiate championship games, usually the ones with the most potential for unbelievably bad behavior being exhibited by parents.

I had the fortune or misfortune - depending on how you look at it - of being assigned as field judge for a do or die game.  This game would decide who went to the state finals and who took their balls and bats - and went home.  I was warned in advance by the district administrator about the potential for very bad behavior and so I thought, maybe it was a good idea if he found someone else to do it? 

No, he replied, it's exactly why I want you to be involved with this game. Whatever people thought about me at the time, I had acquired the reputation for not putting up with parental or coach abuse at games.  And so this night was one that I will never forget.

The game started, there was some 500 people in the stands and standing around watching the game.  The stakes were high and emotions were high with it. These people took their Majors league championship game quite seriously and I didn't have a problem with that. 

However.....

It was about 15ish minutes into the game and the yelling at each other started. It was so loud that players couldn't hear their coaches trying to yell instructions at them.  What I heard was appalling. Grown men and women yelling insults at both the other team's coaches and cussing out other team's players, this was going both ways.  They were cussing out the plate judge for his balls and strikes calls. It was so bad that I just stood there, looking around at this nonsense and wondering why the plate judge wasn't doing anything about it.

Well, it's because he was mortified. After a while of this I couldn't take it anymore and I stopped the game, got into a huddle with the plate judge and asked him why he was tolerating all of this, even with the game stopped loud yelling back and forth at a feverish pitch.  He said "I don't know what to do!".  Well, I did.  I stopped the game and ordered the team back to their dugouts.  

The yelling got much louder at that point, most of it now directed at me.  I just stood there in the middle of the diamond.  Like at least 5 minutes if not longer.  I talked in a normal tone, which, of course, no one could hear for the noise of people still yelling insults at each other.  But, people finally got a clue and once people were stopping with the bs, I yelled loudly that nothing will happen until everyone shuts up. 

Yup, I told them to all shut their mouths.  At that point, they didn't deserve and respect.  The entire crowd of people eventually shut up.  That's when I went off on the whole lot of them. Yelling at coaches, cussing out 12 year old boys, threatening to beat each other up.  I gave them all a choice: You can either stop with the abuse or you can go out to the parking lot and wait for the game to end.

Did I actually have that authority? I didn't care, I did have the authority to stop the game and the league would have to make it up - quickly actually since it was finals.  I didn't want to stop the game, I wanted these people to act their age.  Be the role models they should be for their own kids.  At this point, and alleged umpire in the crowd started calling me out, saying I couldn't do that and then, after I didn't back down, alleging that "you aren't an umpire at all".  

Instead of arguing with him, I appealed to the crowd. You can either tell him to shut up or everyone is going to go home, the game will have to be decided by the league on how to move forward with it.  This turned the attention away from me and on to the alleged judge whom everyone started yelling shut up!  

Everyone just slumped and sort of caved at that point.  You can't yell at other people's kids or coaches! Well what CAN we do? one vociferous lady yelled at me?  You CAN cheer your kids team!  Be as raucous about good behavior as your about acting out. Your own children are more adults than you are right now.  I was laying it on them, it was quite disheartening to see people acting out like this. I know the stakes were high, but that doesn't excuse acting infantile at a youth sporting event.

I mean, this went on for probably 20-25 minutes.  Everyone finally agreed - I made everyone that I could speak up and agree to my terms.  I called the teams back out, the coaches figured out where they were when the game was abruptly ended and they actually thanked me. The coaches were no part of the ridiculous behavior, for their part, they were acting more professional than anything and definitely were focused on their players playing their best game, not chewing them out for mistakes or striking out.

Yes, it got loud again, but this time you could hear the parents yelling for their team.  If there was any cussing or threats, I couldn't hear them and yes, I was listening.  

You see, I was reading stories about how there is a shortage of umpires for Little League and other youth sporting events and even high school umpires.  Well, nothing has changed after reading these stories. Umpires don't want to be subjected to that kind of abuse where parents are dissing them and disparaging them for whatever call on balls and strikes or plays made at the bases or home plate.  Why should anyone have to tolerate that?

I know you need thick skin to be an officiate at a game, but this is beyond that.  It is really up the league admins to deal with these problems and it's obvious they are not. I could teach a course on how to handle a league with bad parents, mostly it's get in their face with a list of rules and a zero tolerance policy and call the police where appropriate.  There was a time when the police would park in between fields and wait their for the violence to begin, it was that bad.  Our zero tolerance policy and heavily enforcing it got rid of that element.  

It's the kids that suffer in the end if there isn't anyone that is willing to literally step up to the plate and volunteer or even get paid to put up with that kind of verbal and even physical abuse. It's hard enough to learn all the rules - Little League had some different rules than you see with MLB or higher up level of play.  But regardless of the league or whatever name it is operating under, you need to deal with this situation head on.

If umpires know you have their back, you won't have a shortage of them for long.  Umpires typically do the best job they can without bias towards one team or another. "Bad calls" tend to even themselves out with bad plays by one of the teams poorly executing plays during the game resulting in them losing. You might get a parent attempting to diss you on that one bad call until another parent from the same team says, yeah, but look how our team played tonight. They wouldn't have won regardless.  

I have made bad calls. Not on purpose, it just happens.  I had a parent follow me out to the parking lot, threaten physical violence on me and actually went to his vehicle to get a hand gun.  Yes, you read that right, he was going to shoot me over a game.  Well, I didn't wait around, I hopped in my truck and took off - and called the police.  I did make a bad call and realized it after the fact.  I apologized but that wasn't good enough.    

This was a long time ago yet obviously, the situation hasn't changed at all.  If you are involved in a league on the board of directors and you have a shortage of umpires, it will do you well to consider why you have that shortage. If it's anything like what I've been reading about abuse being heaped on to the official's heads and the league doing absolutely nothing to stop it, you can go look in a mirror and point the finger at yourselves.  

Do something about it. It's your responsibility to enact a code of conduct and apply it to everyone attending games.  In our case, it was a zero tolerance policy that ended our problems.  After we applied that policy to everyone at one particular game and a couple of them afterwards, parents started policing themselves.  If one parent did happen to lash out at anyone, the rest would tell them to stop.  Get the parents on your side and you will see effective change.

BTW, if you have a kid on a team, considering volunteering. For Board, for umpire, coaching, whatever.  These leagues don't run without an ample supply of volunteers making it all happen!  

 Tuesday - 9:30 am

I didn't make any plans for today, just going to wing it. I knew I would want to sleep in and laze around this morning, which is exactly what I've been doing. It helps that there are no kids here to constantly get into my personal business asking for this, that or just be with them.  In fact, this is likely the last day I have to have in freedom, so it's probably going to be a lot of time spent at home.  Today was just marked off for working, there were no canceled loads.

Yesterday.  I was a little apprehensive about working yesterday for the tornado watches which turned into tornado warnings and apparently several tornadoes did touch down in the region, we, fortunately, didn't get any of that.

Beryl came barreling through here with winds and heavy rain, yes, but nothing horrible. The power went out for quite a while, but not like a few summers ago when the power went out after an event like this and stayed out just short of 7 days.  

I think I will continue on with cleaning out the vehicle. I have used it as a work truck since I started the process of building out the park and it's got a lot of stuff in there I need to find a place to store it and organize and pull some stuff out of there.  I just need it cleaned out for the upcoming trip and I just want it clean regardless of vacations.  It's going to need a carpet cleaning as well.

Mother says I shouldn't come until September, it's too hot to drive back here and why take the risk? I didn't bother to tell her because I dunno if she's going to be alive in September, I thought that would be morbid and cruel, she seems to be doing pretty well, actually.  Apparently she doesn't think life is ending soon?  She'll hit her 90th birthday in September if I have her age correct.  She is still up in the mountains anyway, my oldest brother is taking care of her in that he's giving her a ride up there and back and making sure her needs are taken care of.  It helps that he has a full blown cabin maybe 7 miles away down a forest service road. 

I mean, I'd rather go when it cools down for several reasons. I just feel a little uneasy about waiting that long.  

I spent a little time praying for a 6  month old little girl who is in surgery as I'm writing this.  There's something wrong with one of her kidneys and nothing short of surgery was going to fix it, apparently. She's the daughter of one of the friends in the group.  Just got a message from mama that they have started the "robotic" portion of the surgery and it is going along perfectly. 

There's certainly things I can do at the park today as well, I just don't know if I want to waste a day off going over there and working.  Allen has done a great job of taking care of things and I'm happy so far with his work.  I laid out the amount of hours I want him to work each month for free rent in exchange and so far, it appears he will actually do more than that.  He was out there cutting a tree in the pouring rain yesterday.  I advised him that I have no expectations whatsoever for him to work in inclimate weather nor do I think it's a great idea for him to be out there in the heat of the day (yesterday was great temps, just was commenting on overall working conditions).  

Im not paying him anything, just giving free lot rent. It's worth something, definitely and especially considering the lot he has, but I've needed the help and I've got a job supplementing my income.  For now, as long as he continues like this, I'm good with it.  

My bank account is doing pretty well considering some of the recent expenses.  Just paid the $465 to have the septic sucked out. They just empty all the vaults. It should be good for quite a while now.  

I'm going to buy another bridge for the small creek area.  It's small but the span is about 8 feet if you really want to get above the water line when it rains.  It's a 6 footer in there now and it keeps getting washed downstream every time a downpour comes, it's fairly well ruined unfortunately.  I found a metal 8 foot long bridge with rails on either side for around $200.  I won't try to have Allen do that, that's my deal.  They don't come fully put together, it comes in a kit and take a couple hours to put it together.

The news has been come repetitious - extremely so - in calls for Biden to step down, speculation on Biden stepping down, who would take his place if he steps down and Biden adamantly stating he is NOT going to step down. Ridiculous nonsense, I am not watching much news right now for they don't seem to be able to unglue themselves from that story and actually cover other things that are going on. The only thing that does seem clear is the Biden has the delegates, enough to override all of his detractors and if he doesn't want to step down, I don't see them having a path to do so except for invoking the 25th amendment.  

I would say I would go along with that, but then you have Harris running this nation until election time? Does anyone actually believe she has the capacity to be able to deal with world leaders? What, is she going to go cackling at them, perhaps, to somehow force them to do something different? I expect Putin and Xi would just dismiss her as a pile of nothingness, insignificant and not even worth considering.  America is not in a good place right now, that's what I will say.  

I finally saw the number for this tractor dealer near Nacogdoches.  I thought I was calling them already, then found out who I was talking to is a different dealer with similar name that is maybe 5 miles away.  They only deal in brand new tractors, I wanted to try to ask about how much this place wants for one of their tractors and if they have any kind of financing.  

The dumpster. I have finally come to the point where it is definitively time to move it.  I am done with these neighbors just helping themselves to the use of it, dumping large amounts of their household trash into it and not caring.  They have been caught several times now and the guests told them to leave and that they can't do that.  I would have pulled the trash right back out of the dumpster and dumped it on the hood of their car.  And now that I reminded myself of that, request has been made to relocate the dumpster. It's not free, but neither is the overage charges I'm getting for these people overfilling my dumpster. It will save money in the long run.  This is why I've been calling it a theft of services, it's not free for me and it's pretty awful looking seeing the thing so overloaded that trash is piled high and even sometimes leaving bags of it on the ground.

I'm done with that and it's going to be place about another 200 feet back, around  a corner that the garbage truck will actually have to drive through the park driveway to access.  They would have had to come back and go through there to turn around anyway.  

If all I were doing was the park and not working a trucking job, I would just get about 4 residential cans and just take them out front every week. Save the money and have them near the amenities shed. I just don't want a dumpster back there because it's severely ugly, attracts flies and rodents and then the predators to come eat the rodents.  That would be snakes and cats, for the most part.  The cans aren't quite so ugly and more manageable.  There is another refuse removal provider that operates in the area, their cans are significantly cheaper than Republic's but they don't offer dumpster service.  

Anyway, it's getting near 11 am and I can safely say I have done nothing but lay in bed and then get up, let the dog out and now drink coffee.  No regrets.  I think I will get another steaming cup of coffee and some ice water and the mosey on over to the park and see what's going on over there.  Robert's wife blew up my phone last night long after I had gone to bed, I turn the ringer off so such calls don't affect my sleep.

She left a long message about how her son has "left the park" after I texted her much earlier about him speeding through the park and also doing a burn out in the driveway.  I didn't ask him to leave, I asked him to slow down, thanks.  Then she went off into "we have never disrespected you, we have always treated you with respect" and "I don't know why Allen is treating him that way" and all kinds of other stuff that I just listened to, rejected and ejected out of my mind.  What it really turns out to be is the fact that Robert - and her - are no longer going to get free rent and that the lot rent is due on the 17th.  That's 8 days from now.  I'm assuming from her tones that they aren't going to have the money.

This isn't my problem, there was no expectation of giving them a free lot when they moved in and that only occurred after I saw Robert doing a lot of work. "Well, if you are going to continue to work like this, I'll just give you the lot rent for free". It was after that that he almost completely stopped working altogether, maybe mowing the doggy park every week and perhaps taking trash out once a week as well.  Maybe 2 hours a week if I'm lucky out of him. I've already gone into great detail of the other nonsense he was engaging in so I won't do that again here.  

Beyond that, at the time we were discussing the lot rent, Robert stated that it would be no problem for him to go out and get a job and that he would walk to one if necessary. Those are his words, not my rendition of them.  Well Robert, if y'all intend on staying there, you're going to have to go get that job that you proclaimed would be so easy to get.  I won't wait, tho, he's lazy and sits inside of that trailer all day long.  I get that it's hot, but he said he would work in the mornings or evening.  Yeah, 45 minutes per week spent on the doggy park comes nowhere near what I want for working and he fully knows what I expect out of him.  

The whole situation is rather annoying at this point.  Like, I don't even want to discuss this with them any further, I've made my intentions, desires and expectations exceedingly clear both in person, face to face and in writing, texting and over the phone.  

Enough.  I'm getting off my chair and going to get moving. Definitely go over there and see what's up and what I need to do.

G'day

 Sunday - early afternoon

Up early, washout - took a bit of time there, over to the plant, got loaded quickly and got home at a reasonable hour.  

Yesterday.  I get a call from Allen (park host).  Tells me Robert's electrical cord burned up, burned up the box, etc. 

I didn't want to hear anymore, I got into my vehicle and hurried over there before anyone does anything stupid.  Upon arrival, I see their trailer plug is completely melted. That is a thick block of plastic.  It also burned my plug in and  the box it is housed in.  

The immediately blamed my side of the hookup.  No, no and no.  THAT was caused by something going on YOUR side. It was either a bad plug, malfunctioning appliance (which would likely be an ac unit going out) or a short circuit. Robert was getting pissy so I just shut him down. I have had enough of his bs as it stands, hearing more of it was a non-starter. He tried to blame the sun after I dismissed his ignorance on electrical systems.  

If the sun could do that to a hardened piece of plastic, what would it do to us walking around?  I just sent them the bill and I expect them to pay it - today.  

There was a glimmer of hope coming from them, however. First off, Robert agreed to help Allen start cleaning up the front. He did no such thing and never appeared out of his trailer excepting to go to the shed and check the mail.  So I had texted them that that deal is off and the rent is due on the 17th.

She texted back that they expected to have to pay the rent and that wasn't important, this occurred while I was at Lowe's.  Lowe's no longer sells the outlet box I wanted, I opted for what they had which was a lone outlet with nothing, no box, just the outlet and a plate to hook to whatever.  

I hooked that up, turned on the power and had witnesses to show that there is nothing wrong with my side of the equation.  Im just not paying for this and it was telling, looking back and others saying the same thing, that they came out of their trailer yelling "it's not our fault!" before anyone said anything to them about it or even knew what was going on.  Robert continued to whine in a high pitched voice about that and blaming the park before I basically told him to shut his damn mouth.  As I said, he crossed my line long before this and his denial of everything got old a month or more ago.  

He did shut up, btw.  I wasn't playing. I had listened to his bs for a good 15 minutes or more before I finally just had had enough of it.  

Here's the good news: they can't afford to pay the rent on the 17th and his wife - who is actually sweet and nice even if she's a bear in the house (you can hear her yelling at him) - announced they were moving closer to where their son is and yada yada yada.  I hope it works out for them, but in this particular case? It's the same as Mark, if you remember him? Good riddance.  

If this actually materializes, I can park the motorcoach there, plug it in and Allen's wife (Brenda I think is her name) can start her work fixing it up.  I don't know how long it will take her, she's pretty efficient but there's a lot to do in there.  I would think a month at minimum.  I'm not asking her to get it done in any particular time frame, but once she starts, I do want it completed.  It will cost me several thousand dollars, but if the work is good, it will pay itself back quickly.  

I'm thinking $700 per month, I need to get back the investment on it.  Yea, I'm not wanting needy people, I want someone who has an income that can make the payment and be happy living in it.  But it's gotta be nice and functional.  That will be her challenge, I do feel that she's up to that challenge.  She made need some help with certain things, electrical is what I'm thinking, still I don't think it's something she can't handle. We'll find out,  I think. 

The remnants of the hurricane will be passing through here tomorrow.  A couple of inches of rain forecast, the washout dude in Nac said it's expected 6 or 7 inches? That's flooding conditions right there.  I say this because my manager, unexpectedly, gave me Tuesday off. There is a 36% chance of rain projected. IF it is just spotty rain conditions, I will rent the excavator or the ditch witch, haven't decided which one yet, and get that trench dug out, lay the wire and fill it back in.  I need it done.  

I hate to spend days off working, it's work work work, but I do have a vacation coming up on the 19th. Speaking of which, half the group that's going to Galveston is either afraid of sharks killing us off or that this hurricane is going to cause flooding. Well, it probably will, but tomorrow, when it's passing through there, is the 8th, not the 19th?  A bunch of fearmongers, for goodness sake.  Maybe another storm will come through, hopefully not! Haven't heard of any shark attacks in Galveston!  

They were talking about switching it to another place up in Oklahoma that they've gone to before, I bowed out of that conversation.  Not up to me, I'd rather go to the beach, but whatever, we'll have fun regardless, I think.  Taylor wasn't exactly happy about the phone blowing up with all of those texts coming in all at once.  

I missed church today, but something cool did happen. One of the members of the group that we all hang out together started going to my church maybe a month ago.  She wanted to start going back to church, she didn't want to go alone so she figured to go with me.  Anyway, she has a 6 month old little girl and that little girl has surgery - tomorrow I think.  Tomorrow or Tuesday anyway.  So, she drops the baby off at the nursery and had asked them to pray for the surgery.  When we went up to ask the pastor's second hand man - he preached I dunno where the pastor was, maybe on vacation, he already knew about the situation and said yes, we are praying for her.

Today, she went without me (I'm happy she's going regardless and has started dragging her husband to church if he's not working - another person with odd shifts), they presented her a giant basked full of goodies and useful items. She posted a pic of it on her facebook, it was pretty cool, to me anyway, that they had done that for her.  

So here I am at home. The kids are gone, not back until this coming Friday.  We do enjoy the time away from them, I'll admit that.  Cooking is not a thing, I guess, when the kids aren't here.  I'm going to do my normal after-church thing in a few minutes and go up to Applebee's and enjoy a blackened salmon dinner.  It's that or Wingstop and get some delicious wings.  I dunno, I'll figure it out lol.  

And then, I'm going to think about what I want to eat this week. If they don't want to do the normal dinner menu, that's fine, but I need to have food available. I can't just go to the freezer and pull out frozen food, not on this diet.  A nice roasted chicken would be good, I could actually just buy one of those pre-cooked I think for the same or less than buying a raw version.  I've got lots of recipes saved, I'll get some of that ingredients and keep myself fed this week.  

Speaking of food, it's 2:00 pm and I've only had 6 medium sized shrimp today.  Yea, I'm hungry and fixing to get out of here...

G'day

 Saturday - mid afternoon

Internet back up, James must have fixed it for the internet company wasn't coming out until Monday. 

I said I wouldn't ever get involved with 401k's again, but here I am, contributing close to $100 per paycheck to it.  Whatever.  It won't be a lot when I quit this job, but there will be a little bit in there for whatever.  I won't be charged a penalty fee, either, I'm beyond the minimum age now for that to happen.  

Anyway, let's get to the meat of today's matter.  On Saturdays, the plant in Gurdon is normally "closed".  That is, no logging trucks so the scales aren't opened either.  The plant is open 24 hours, it's just that certain things aren't opened.  So, when we show up on a Saturday or a Sunday, we pull up on the scale and call security, who sends someone over to weigh is in and out.  

1st call sitting on the scale: I'll send someone right over. 15 minutes, 2cd call: I'll call him again.  3rd call, half an hour.  Are you going to send someone over here? It's been 30 minutes.  Hemming and hawing, the man says there are only 2 of us here today and I can't get a hold of the other guy and I can't leave here.

Well what are you going to do? I can't sit here all day long waiting for you to weight me in, it's a 60 second operation.  Well what do you suggest? Call the plant and have an plant employee come out here. 

20 minutes later, call again. Well a lumber person was supposed to come out there...I had already talked with my manager who was just shuffling it off on me.  But at this point? No.  You need to call someone at the plant.  I've been here 90 minutes, this is absolutely ridiculous.  

Next thing I know, there is a massive search going on at the plant for this security guard for he had disappeared off of the face of the planet.  We got ourselves a winner! Hiding in a security car somewhere on the (huge) property, sleeping.  2 hours and this dude shows up.  What happened?  He doesn't answer. Why did it take you so long?  He had nothing to say, I didn't know at that point he had been found screwing off and doing nothing.  

He doesn't even know how to operate the scale printer, so I had to help him with that, but at that point, my goodness.  

Oh, I forgot to add I ended up leaving the scale and going to the plant supervisor who tried making calls on his radio to both the plant base AND the security guy. Even the plant was responding!  I went back to the scale and that's when my manager started making phone calls.  Yes, if I'm going to suffer with this ridiculous nonsense, everyone else is too. That includes the plant manager who was off for the weekend and his lower level manager.  In other words, make this such a big deal that they won't ever want to have to deal with this again.  They can deal with the security company who most assuredly doesn't want to lose a cash loaded deal with a company like that.

Welp, I got over to the offload shack, got signed off on, hooked up, started unloading and got back into my truck.  The boss of the security comes driving up profusely apologizing.  I accepted the apology and let it go, the damage was already done. I had lost 2 hours of my day and his company was going to get reamed by the plant.  

I don't know if he fired the dude, but he was sent home, the dude caught hiding out.  When I got done, the security boss came over after he had called another security guard to come into work and did the paperwork himself.  I mean, what the hell were these people thinking?  They know we are coming in there every single day of the week regardless of whether everything else is closed or not.  They know we need to be scaled in but now? They ALL know.  Kudos to them for doing a massive search, everyone started thinking maybe something bad had happened to the dude.  

I was the person that paid for it, but a massive correction has been enacted so the end result should be that I never have to go through this again.  

I was heading home after the 3-1/2 hours in that place and got a text from Allen: the park host is moving in.  I looked at camera footage and sure enough, there was a clip of the trailer being pulled in and a very nice looking trailer at that. 

That's what I want, decent looking trailers. I don't want trailer trash appearance, that just drives people away.  I didn't get to meet them, the student and his mom, they left to go get cash, apparently.  I dunno, I'll collect from them at some point, I'm not worried about that. 

Meanwhile, Robert was out there weedeating the doggy park and I'm asking Allen why is he doing that? Allen shrugs his shoulders.  Wasting his time. Yup, I'm fixing to get into my notes and find out when they arrived and then, give them a date to either pay or leave.  Well, I think I'll do that search right now.....

 Saturday - early

I was typing out a blog entry yesterday, when unbeknownst to me, a large branch broke off of the tree out front, fell on top of the cable that brings internet to the house and of course yanked it to the ground, ripping it out of the socket it was attached and effectively ending internet for the house.  

The political scene has erupted into some form of chaos, mayhem and heterdyne.  AS more and more democrats demand Biden step down and Biden continuing to refuse to budge, I just sit back and watch in amusement.  Sorry, but democrats brought this upon themselves. The "coverup" of Biden's mental condition has been no coverup to anyone that has been watching him for the last 4 years.  It's only getting worse.  

I'm really not making fun of the man, but he can hardly string a line of words together to make a coherent sentence.  Why would democrats back this man up until almost the point of no return?  Like, who are they going to bring in at this point if they so choose to do so that will "storm" the country? "I'll beat Donald Trump in 2020" he is seen declaring in a "rally" recently.  

Anyway, I'm hoping today will be better than yesterday?  I don't want to spend 3 hours sitting somewhere waiting for a problem to be fixed on a truck that is 20 years old.  

I don't have a lot of time here, it's just that I would have rather stayed home, stayed in bed, slept, lazed around, whatever.  The other driver is taking yet another weekend off.  I don't blame him, I'd do the same thing in his shoes but they could bring in more OTR drivers to cover the lapse.  

So, with that, I'm outta here.  At least the truck AC is working for the most part, better than it has been. 

G'day

 Friday - evening

 The day started at 5:40 am.  It just ended some 20 minutes ago, now almost 5:00 pm.  

Of course, that is not a typical work day for me, so some explanation is warranted.  

The issue started after I left the trailer washout, unbeknownst to me. It's about a 30 minute drive from the washout to the loading plant.  I did, indeed, look at the truck and trailer before I left the washout, there were no issues.  

I'm cruising down 59, maybe 15 minutes from the plant and a trooper comes racing up behind me with his lights on, gets in front of me as if pulling over the vehicle in front of me, who starts pulling over to the shoulder.

Nope, it wasn't for that person, he was for me.  Well, he wanted me to get into the U-turn lane and follow him.  ??  As soon as I stopped, I saw a lot of smoke coming up from the bottom of the truck.  Wait, what?  I wanted to get out and find out what's going on, the trooper wanted me to follow him instead. I was thinking, what if there is a fire going on under there? 

Well, I followed him several miles back to the inspection station.  I stopped over their pit, got out and saw diesel fuel gushing out all over the place, it was already pooling up in the pit it was coming out that fast.  I shut the thing off immediately.  He, however, was afraid the thing was going to catch on fire and burn their entire station down so instructed me to move the truck "over there!" immediately.  

Shutting the truck off shut off the flow of fuel coming out onto the ground and there was no fire.  Quick discussion, this trooper decided he was going to do an inspection on the entire truck ??  So, we did that and then went inside the office.  He handed me 3 business cards from 3 different mobile mechanics. 

I called my manager, who called the lead mechanic, who called me, got the numbers found one that was open and that was that.  Play the waiting game.  Well, the Troopers were a chatty bunch and one thing I have found with the various Troopers I have encountered, they love to talk politics.  So I just blurted it out about Biden, Trump etc and making it obvious I am not a Biden supporter.  I could tell by the way they were looking at me that they didn't want to open that potential Pandora's box if I were the opposite.

I mean, we talked for hours while they were doing truck inspections on and off.  They were also BBQ'ing chicken.  It was probably 2 hours and 20 minutes and they brought in a huge mess of cooked chicken, informed me that there is plenty there, please feel free to eat.  I hadn't eaten anything, I was hungry so I gladly wolfed down some chicken.  

The mechanics showed up, determined it was a busted fuel line, went to a local parts store, got replacement parts and had the truck up and running relatively quickly.  Thanked the troopers for their hospitality and the chicken and left.  Amazingly, I didn't have to wait long to get into the loading by and they started loading quickly. 38 minutes later they were done and I was drenching in sweat. 

It's hot out, the truck can't run while they are loading and it's just the feeling of sitting in an oven.  

I did get the one and only call today from the park: allen informed me that Robert once again did not come out to work as he had agreed. How shocking.  I didn't expect anyone to work yesterday, but there are still 2 days he hasn't done anything regardless.  

 Happy Independence Day!

I'm tempted to go into some of these debate groups filled with far left progressives (communists) and kids (college students) and ask a poll question: what war took place April 19, 1775? And then give all kinds of ridiculous answers that are real wars but obviously not the answer you would be looking for on July 4th. 

I see people randomly stopping people on the streets and asking them simple questions about American history that literally every American should know at the top of their heads and - it's mostly college students but still - they can't come up with an answer.  Or they take a guess that isn't even remotely close to being the correct answer.  It's just bewildering to watch these videos.  

Meanwhile, Robert, the workamper that was given a second chance by the behest of the new park host? Nothing new under the sun there and hence why I was done with him.  Allen was out there and started on the front acreage yesterday. His current goal is to be able to see the dumpster from his lot so that's what he started working on.k

Where was Robert, who agreed to help him? In his trailer, of course, doing nothing.  He said last week that "I was in my trailer doing things that needed to be done" in answer to a question I posed. Oh, I see.  All day long? I wondered but didn't say.  Anyway, if Allen spends another day out there working alone, I'm just going to give the date to Robert and his wife when the rent is due again.  Which I need to look up, but rest assured I'll have that date which is coming up soon and they can start paying rent.  She gets disability.

I don't know if Allen is working today, I'm not asking him to do anything on a national holiday of great importance to American History, at least in my view of things.  The park is mowed, things are looking good, no need to work on what is historically a day off for many citizens.  I would have been working today if my load hadn't cancelled, the flip side to that is now I have to work the entire weekend starting tomorrow.  

I'm also happier that I have a check in my wallet from another new guest and hopefully Saturday yet another after that.  It will be short-lived full park minus the one I leave open for overnighters/short stays, but, it's a good feeling anyway.  Bills are paid and the bank account continues to grow. Slowly, yes, but an upward trend regardless.  I say short-lived because 2 newbies are only there for a month. Not the man who moved in yesterday.  He has a friend in town that has breast cancer and she asked him to be around for emotional support.  He had a kidney transplant a year and a half ago, he understands what she's going through, whoever his friend is. 

It's just that those 3 lots in a row - they were all lots next to each other - made the park look half empty even tho the rest were full.  I like the presentation that yes, this is a great park, look at all the filled lots! Versus empty lots and who knows what goes through people's minds.  Hmm, wonder why those are all empty?  I'm very happy to have thrown that young couple out after a few months of contending with their constant nonsense.  They removed their Google review which was a good review but they did not add some garbage.  

Speaking of garbage, we now have 3 separate people confirmed as sort of scofflaws that are entering my property to dump their trash, even with a sign posted right there saying the dumpster is only for the park and it's guests and that all violators will be prosecuted. They obviously don't believe anything will happen to them so it's time for action.  I can't believe the park host didn't bother to get a license plate number. He said he didn't have time to get his phone to take a video.  All well and find, just get his license plate number.  That's how the sheriff's office will find them, a video of them doing it would be icing on the cake but not vitally necessary if you aren't going to be able to get any thing about who they are via the license plate identification.

However, now it's being reported that one of my guests says he's seen the next door neighbor dumping trash.  Uhh, those people are rude and I don't much care for them.  I wave at them, they just stare at me.  I haven't done anything to them and besides cars going in and out of my driveway, there isn't any noise or disruption. But let's clarify that: they have been that way since long before the RV park was built and trailers and cars going in and out.  They do not own that property, they are renters.  

I asked the guest why they would need to do that? They have their own trash service.  Yes, but when their trash can gets full, they come over and use ours. I like the idea that this guest thinks that the park is "his" in the sense of taking ownership of community pride and wanting to help out. He's been there about 6 months now.  

But that's just one of them doing this.  I just find it amazing that people who don't live there think they can actually enter my property, drive 100 feet into it, get out of their vehicle, dump their trash and leave as if they had done nothing wrong.  It's the reason I offset the dumpster back there, to keep people from thinking they can just stop along side the road and chuck it.  So now, I have to consider moving it another 200 feet back in full view of the park.  I just didn't want it back there because it's ugly, it attracts rodents, bugs, flies, smell, etc.  

No one seems to mind that idea tho so tomorrow - I was going to call today but the office is probably closed - I will be calling them about moving the thing much further back. They charge $200 to do that. I can do it myself of course, but I don't know if they require them to do it so they can see if the truck can access it wherever the intended point is and give the driver new instructions?  I'll pay the $200 begrudgingly, the long term savings will outweigh the initial output of cash.  

I have to say that if I had the financial wherewithal, I would consider starting my own dumpster service. This Republic Services is high priced and business owners are constantly complaining about them.  There are other players in the region but they don't service our area.  Get a truck, screw the trucking job and start acquiring accounts.  People have to have their garbage removed and business especially aren't going to want to do it themselves, hence paying exorbitant fees to have this particular company remove it.

I have considered just having the competition regular trash cans and get rid of the dumpster.  But that would mean the other company would have to agree to drive that far down the driveway, or, that we would have to move them to the front every week. 

I think I'm going to ditch the diet for one meal today and have potatoes.  It won't set me back far and I just want potatoes lol.  I'm also ditching it for the entirety of the vacation. We are all dining together and it's just not worth the hassle trying to maintain a diet that no one else is doing.  I can rigidly follow Keto for long periods of time, but then? I have pent up food anxieties lmao.  Like, okay, I'm stopping it for awhile, so now I can eat potatoes, pasta and other things I can't have daily.  I know it kicks you out of keto, but if it's only a meal or two, ketosis will come back quickly.  

I'm not looking forward to working the entire weekend.  In fact, I could sit here at home for quite a while and do nothing. I will probably go over to the park today only to check in and leave.  I am cleaning today, actually, seemed fitting since I'm home.  Bedding, dog bedding, clothes, rugs, everything.  

I have been invited to go see a TYM tractor at a different place tomorrow.  I may well stop by there as long as I can find a place to park the truck without it being on the highway.  I didn't notice whether I could pull the truck into their lot. One would think you could considering they sell tractors and those things are delivered to them on trucks, but then again, they may stop on the highway shoulder and offload there.  I just get concerned about DOT seeing it and not liking it.  

I need a new bridge. The wooden one I put over the creek has been washed away several times now.  When we get a gully washer, that thing just gets smashed against some trees.  It's not long enough, it was 6 feet and it was cheap, that was what I was looking for at the time. But, my thinking has evolved and I need at least and 8 foot wide bridge to raise it up high enough that heavy water flow won't carry it off.  People are using the walking trails and a certain individual living in the park has been keeping the trails cleared for his purposes, of which everyone else benefits.  

__________

Cleaning day commenced and I have been busy. I let my room go a wee bit and it just becomes intolerable to the point I go stone wild crazy cleaning everything back up.  I still have a pile of papers - mostly business related stuff - to go through and I may do that later, but for now, it's break time.  Going through those papers means getting on quickbooks and taking pics of receipts and that can be tedious. I don't have a lot of that tho, I got caught up during tax time and there hasn't been anything near the volume of receipts like it was when I was building the place out. 

Anyway, back at it.  Dog bedding washing, a couple of bathroom rugs and all of the wash is done.  But I'm running out of steam.  Going on 7 hours of this and tho there are several other things I could do, the worst of it is over.  I have to go to work tomorrow and since it's a little after 2, I think I'll finish up the wash, put that stuff up and relax the rest of the day. I may forgo, now that I think about it, going to the Park unless something comes up that requires my presence over there. 

The park host is doing well, but there are issues that I will deal with and have informed him if there is confrontation that needs to be done, that's on me.  I'll take that heat, it will work out better that way.  

Oh, btw, the new vet I took Obi to is cheaper than the animal hospital I normally take my dog/s to.  I would have never even considered using anyone else, but they attempted to put me on a 13 day wait just to get in and get shots? No thank you.  That's ridiculous, I'm a long time customer and now, they are charging a walk-in fee.  This all happened after they combined with another vet clinic in town who shut down their operation at their building and moved over to the vet hospital.  

Whatever.  They couldn't make time for me yesterday even with walk in fee and today they're closed, I was like, welp, time to look elsewhere.  So, I'm glad I did.  

 Busy.

Bank, deposit cash and checks.

County courthouse - they passed a bill here recently that vehicle inpsections are no longer needed.  What I didn't know is that that doesn't take place until January next year.  So, over to a place that does inspections, which took all of 5 minutes, over to T Mobile to turn in the malfunctioning device, Lowe's to get supplies for the park then back to the court house to get the registration done for both my SUV and the trailer.  

Over to the park, a person was finally caught in the act dumping trash into the dumpster.  This is a big deal because there are several people doing it and filling the thing up every single week.  It's NOT people from the park doing it. If it were only people from the park, it might get 2/3rds full every week at most.  So, they didn't get the license number as I had asked them to, but they saw where they went.  

_________

Hours later, the dog was stuck with needles fully 4 times.  He never flinched, growled or otherwise showed any signs of unease.  So that part was great. The bill wasn't so great, almost $500 for all of that stuff, but I had to get him the full fledged everything, including an injection that will guard his heart from heartworms for a full year.  Ball park, he said was around $450 to $500 to neuter him.  I'm going to plan on getting that done soon.  

After getting him home, I tackled the pond pump. It hasn't been working and I got a new one to replace it. I went to unplug the thing, lifted up the outdoor weather cover over the outlet and.......WASPS.  A hive of them things in there. I quickly left the area, went into the house, got a spray bottle of wasp killer that sprays some 25 feet and let them have it. They definitely picked the wrong place to build.  Pond pump going, I got a call.

This lady has called 3 times now.  She wants to know everything.  I told her everything more than once, but I'm fairly patient when trying to get new people in there. She is calling about her boy who needs to move here for college.  I'm not sure which one, I didn't want to get too nosy but I did ask about any felonies?  She was actually relieved I asked that question and said no, there is no legal trouble at all.

So, I assume/hope they are actually moving in on Saturday.  That will leave 2 lots left, I need one more long term, the other one I am still going to leave for overnighters even tho the overnight reservations are spartan.  They will pick back up eventually, I just want at least one of them open for overnighters.  And the lot I leave open is the highly desireable end lot with a huge yard.  

So, it's been a productive day and I think I'm done. The heat index is what I guessed it would be: 110 degrees and after spending some time out there cleaning out the pond filter and installing that new pump and dealing with wasps? I'm going to call it quits on this day.  I'm still seriously considering....

cancel that.  I was going to rent a ditch witch, but they're closed tomorrow and I'm not paying for 2 days worth of a rental for a few hours worth of work.  I don't want this thing to drag on forever, I'll have to get a day off either weekday or saturday and just get up early, be at the rental place at 7:00 am, haul it over there, dig out the trench and get the machine back to them in the 4 hour time frame.  I really don't see it taking more than 2 hours, but I'll give it 4 for the entire circuit of getting it, bringing it, using it and returning it.  They're only 6 miles away from the park.

I'll have Allen out there backfilling the driveway while I get the machine back to the rental place and also will just have to block the entrance, people will have to come and go through the exit, no biggies. 

I want his wife, Brenda, to get on that camper asap.  I've really racked my brains about getting that thing fixed up and now I have a person that wants to do it - for an hourly wage of course but I was already prepared to do that anyway - and I think she will do a good job of it. I want a good used, refrigerator in there and she will build a frame around it.  I want the entire sink/cooking area discarded and replaced.  It needs a new RV toilet and the shower - I dunno what she can do about that. In my view, the entire thing needs to be torn out and replaced.  The carpet needs replaced and a sofa bed needs inserted.   A new or good used queen mattress in the bedroom and whatever else needs to be done.  It's going to cost a couple thousand.  I'm not opposed to that if the job is done right and I have a unit that someone can call home via renting and actually like living in it.

She already has a vision for it, that's the kind of person she is.  She is definitely the optimist.  

I don't know what they got done over there today. When I arrived, he was heading to his trailer. He was visibly over-heated and I don't want people dying on me just to get some work done.  It's the kind of thing where you either work in the morning or even, mornings better because it's much cooler out.  Working in mid day heat with the sun blaring down on your, 90 plus percent humidity and heat index at 110? Just not optimal, putting it mildly.

I am optimistic about another renter coming in and staying indefinitely, according to the mother. I do hope that materializes.  Just need another one....well there is another one that said they wanted to move their daughter in there mid-July - another student.  Hey, I'll become EBTU's second dormitory lol.  I don't care who moves in there, with some exceptions (definitely don't need the felons or the drug abusers or drunks and a few other types that come to mind).  Ok, I do have a felon in there, Felony DUI. She's been there for quite a while now and doesn't bother anyone.  She found a boyfriend recently, he's staying with her but he seems ok as well.  

So where am I at with my slowly forming agenda for park expansion?  Umm, if those guys can get all of that brush and small trees cleared out, I can do a version of leveling it with a bobcat.  I suppose I could pay someone to run a dozer there for a day, it wouldn't take a good operator long to smooth and level that out.  You get me that done and I will sit on here thinking of every possible avenue to move it along.  Get 5 more lots in there to start with.  And get a pool.  I'm sold on the pool, doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks. That and a hot tub.  

Still awaiting word on the address of the person dumping trash into my dumpster.  I fully intend on having the sheriff's office go over there and inform the person if they do it again, they will be arrested for criminal trespass and theft of services. I don't want people going to jail over trash, I just want them to STOP dumping THEIR trash into MY dumpster. If they can afford to live in a house, they can afford to get a company to do weekly trash service.  

I think this is enough for now.  I have no clue what's for dinner, we have tomorrow covered but we bought nothing for today, lol. 

 Wednesday - mid morning

Of course, I didn't bother to get out of bed particularly early today and likely a repeat tomorrow.  I decided against renting a skid steer today, it's going to be projected 99 degrees which means the real feel, I'm guessing around 110 if not higher.  Yea, screw that.  It can wait until these guys clean it all up first anyway.

I did not ask them to do all of that by hand, btw.  The workamper is headed out the door, so to speak, without his work opportunity so apparently he talked with Allen about working with him to clean up the front and the rear.  I was quite blunt with him, Robert is his name.  After thinking about it as I said in previous blog entry, I flatly told him that Allen is your supervisor and you will do whatever he says.  He gave me a look that almost had me telling him to go away, your opportunity was lost and now after that glare, you can go jump into an icy cold lake.

But I didn't. The man is low IQ, something is wrong with the cables and motors that bring the elevator up to the top floor, it makes it midway and stops working.  I am not saying that to mock the man, I am seriously saying something is screwed up in his head.  You say something and you can tell it did not resonate with him. He just has the blank stare like you were just talking to a telephone pole.  So, with Allen, I am going to tell him that if he wants that man to work with him, fine, but keep an eye on him constantly for he doesn't listen.  He'll do his own thing.  If his "own thing" was grounded in any semblance of common sense, I might go along with it, but it doesn't and I have no more time to waste with him nor have to deal with the frustration of attempting to deal with a person that simply is not all there.  

I will be over there later. I just got out of bed and I do have plans. The dog needs his shots, I need to go renew the registration on both my SUV and my trailer, I need to stop at the bank, I have to pick up some supplies at Lowes (business related, not personal) and I need to get some steaks that are on sale at Kroger's for a little cookout tomorrow for the 4th.  Patriotism is not evil, as the left/woke tries to make it appear. A lot of men and women have died for this nation including the American Revolutionary War  "The regulars are coming!".  These people that want to change the fabric of our society into some communistic horror show care nothing about patriotism, God or the American culture.  

Some people believe we are already in a cold civil war. The country is definitely divided and there are lines that have been drawn.  I hope it never comes to an actual war being fought with firearms and citizen' death.  We have a president running our nation that is clearly not all there. No idea what is wrong with him, but it would appear he is not aging the way I have seen others aging that are older than him. My mother is much older than Biden yet her mind is definitely still all there.  She is in her "winter years", but that's relating to the condition of an aging body, her brain/clarity of mind? Still intact. Biden? Not at all.  When people discuss risk to our nation's security, it's discussing a person that is Chief of our nation's military yet cannot be counted on to make decisions that are in the best interests of our nation.

That is NOW, not in the next election.  If the Russian or Chinese - or both combined along with Iran and other hostile actors - against the US, do you really believe Biden could make the decisions needed to be made, quickly, in order to defend our nation? No.  Other people are making decisions for him, that is my belief at this point.   

Anyway, I digress.  A simple statement about going to Kroger's and I go off on all of that, lol.  It's just that this nation is not headed in the direction that many of us would like to see it going and that's of great concern. God is still in control, I have to remind myself. Whatever happens to the US, it's by design.  

I'm carrying around far too much cash, I need to get that stuffed into the business bank account and besides, I have a huge electric bill coming due.  Not that the money isn't already in there, I just would like to see the number continue to grow as far as cash on hand versus outgoing bills (accounts payable I guess).  

I don't even know if they can get the dog in today, he needs rabies, parvo, Bravecto, etc.  Whatever they say he needs, that's what he's getting.  He's a good doggy, I've grown to like him. He's quite rambunctious and he's very strong.  After all of this time trying to fatten him up, his rib cage isn't sticking out so much but he's still a skinny beast.  I mean, at his age Danes usually fill out. Not this dog! Not yet anyway. I also want to get him fixed, not today but I do want to discuss how much it will cost including kenneling him at least overnight.  I can only guess at at least $500.  

I also need to get the ride ready to go for vacation. Apparently we are taking 2 vehicles.  I don't care either way, it will be a very cramped ride for 5 hours if we all try to cram into the pickup.  Getting it ready is just cleaning it out nicely and detailing it.   And possibly taking it into a shop to see what's wrong with the rear ac. It just doesn't come on at all.  No fan, nothing.  The good thing is that my front ac blasts out cold air, all 4 vents have a large volume of cold air that come out of it, it takes a bit but after a while it will cool the entire vehicle. Just have to aim the vents towards the rear.  

Still, I'd like to have it fixed. 

I think I'll go to the bank and the county building first,, get that stuff done, head over to the property, ask what they need: gas, a gallon of white paint and a new 2 gallon sprayer at the least.  I need to get that power going over there, that's not happening today but maybe ... maybe... tomorrow. It's just so darn hot out there.  Gag.

I best get moving.  

G'day

 Well...

Sometimes I hit Publish on the blog and it says it published and come back many hours later, like after work for instance and there it is sitting as a draft.  I have hundreds and hundreds of blog entries that were never published, including the last 2.  

 Anyway, Allen (park host) has a hernia.  He's had it for a while, apparently, soon he's going in for surgery.  Well, you know what that means: he won't be able to lift anything for months.  I dunno when that operation is going to take place, I was going to ask him today but the whole conversation got sidetracked.  He wants to clean up the entire front and rear acreage - by hand - and wants Robert, who was acting like a giant child to Allen - to help him.  I instantly thought, no thank you.  But I didn't say that.

Gave it some thought while we were sitting there discussing everything going on and decided that if Robert will work and be under Allen's direction, I will go another month of free rent.  I mean, if they can get it done, the money saved is substantial.   And Robert came up behind Allen while we were discussing this and other things, so I told Robert to his face: you will be under Allen's supervision. Etc.  He gave me a look and I don't care. I was already done with this dude, I want nothing to do with it. If Allen can get him working, I'm fine with that.  

An older couple just showed up today, do you have a lot available for the night?  This was with Allen, they didn't call or anything, lol.  People do that and I don't mind at all.  I've got 3 empty lots and only 1 is possibly rented - the middle of this month.  

Okay. Allen's wife. She is quite handy.  She has built a mailbox, installing a door next to the shower, made all kinds of signs that are already hung around the park, I mean, what else could I ask for in an older lady that has a better work ethic and skills than many people 40 years younger than her?  Well, she is offering to fix up the coach.  I never even thought about that.  She could fix that thing up so it's nice enough to rent out and take in some decent money out of it.  That thing is sitting there, collecting dust and yes, I really don't want to do that work. Someone motivated to earn some money, however? That does a great job?  That can also put the woman's touch on it? 

That sounds like a win-win to me.  If she could get that thing nice enough inside of it, I could get $700 per month for it.  Lot rent, utilities and the place to stay? Yes.  I'd have to add it to the existing septic system, the only real drawback. It would mean having that system pumped out probably every 6 months or so.  

Sounds like a plan. The local rental shop has a ditch witch to rent and it's not cheap, but it's not ridiculous either.  I think it was $225 per day, but I only need one for a couple of hours.  I'm trying to think if I need a mini ex for anything else, more money but get everything taken care of? No.  I'm not going to spend 2 days just working outside when I want to take some time off for nothing.  But, if I want that motor coach to be fixed up, I will have to be able to get her some AC going in there.