Tuesday - 8:00 am

Their dog was injured yesterday, meaning it had a huge open gash behind the belly, so they took off to get the dog treated.  The only place open in these parts that late is 40 miles away.  I don't even know what time they got home.  Feel badly for James, he didn't get home from work until like 7:00 pm after leaving at 5:30 am and then having to do that with the rest of his free time before going to bed and getting up again for work this morning. 

I was asked to go to Ennis for today, I declined.  I am going to see a doctor, sorry.  Oh, that didn't sound good coming from the manager but regardless, my health is more important than this job.  He didn't argue per se, you could just tell with the sighing and sounds that the "easy fix" wasn't going to be so easy.  Whatever the case, I made an appointment for Tuesday, today, but then realized I didn't verify with them which Tuesday, for the lady on the phone made it sound like next week.  I'll still go next week if that's an issue, but I'll go to Urgent Care today. Next week can and will be an annual checkup as I stated that's what I wanted on the phone. I'm not waiting until next week to have this situation diagnosed.  

I did finally sleep last night tho. Like 8 full hours of sleep. For me? That's almost into miracle territory.  The throbbing pain on my right side has stopped, I don't know what caused it but for how long it went on, I still want it checked out.  Do your tests, do whatever, figure it out and get back to me. 

I don't much care for this doctor's office, however. I just spent 15 minutes on hold just to speak to the person at the front desk.  Maybe they're all like that, but the other issue I have is I am just now finding out this "doctor" is a nurse practitioner.  I have nothing against them, but I'd like a real doctor such as the last one.  I mean, I have this appointment and I also just found out it's for next week, so off to urgent care today I go.  This local urgent care is more like a mini hospital, I have always liked their service and expertise.  Oh, the the other thing about this nurse practitioner, the few reviews that are on there, one of them said he is rude.

However....people get mad about petty stuff and go instantly to the internet and start saying nasty things.  I need more than one bad review to make me think about going somewhere else. 

Anyway, Im going to sit here, drink my coffee, shave and shower and then off to Urgent Care.  I am almost tempted to say, nahhh, I don't need it now that the pain is gone, but what caused that pain? And is it gone permanently?  You want to think, it's not something serious and attempt to deceive yourself into thinking, no, it doesn't need checked out.  But I have insurance now, the co pay is only $70, and as much as I hate going to see doctors? I'm just not going to leave this to chance.

As it stands, everyone is gone this morning.  Taylor is going to do a setup for her work over at a splash pad 2 towns over, but since it's a splash pad, the kids went as well.  I would have gone but I didn't want to sit there for 4 or 5 hours and I also want to get this doctor visit done and over with.  I guess I could have driven myself over there.  

End of summer almost here.  The 12th is the first day of school for the boys and they really need to get back into something other than sitting around the house all day long. The 2 were going at it so badly yesterday that I demanded they get dressed, put on their hiking shoes and let's go! Into this horrid heat and humidity, yup.  The oldest didn't want to go, so I was just going to leave without him, but he started getting pouty.  He wanted a certain type of food for lunch and mama wasn't giving it to him. She made sandwiches, she didn't want one.  Both of those kids are so skinny because they fuss about food every single day.

It's ridiculous. We are making delicious meals and they can have as much as they want, but often times? A plate of food is set before them and they just sit there and stare at it. They used to get into trouble for it, but that wasn't working. Now? It's eat or don't eat, but if you don't eat, there isn't going to be anything else.  You'd be surprised at how many times I've watched them choose "starve" mode over eating. And they know none of the adults in the house are going to cave after the fact.  If we are serving steak or chicken nuggets, they will gladly eat the whole plate. 

Take that back, they'll eat the whole plate of steak or chicken, the rest of the stuff? Yeah, no.  And what set this all in motion? Being at grandma's for half the damn summer. She just caters to them, making double meals. One for what the kids want and the other for the adults to eat. NO, NO and NO.  That is stupidity.  You are just setting up for a miserable household being selfish like that and giving into young kids. She thinks it's perfectly normal.  It's great you are retired and can spend your time doing whatever you please, but please act normal and just feed them whatever you are eating.  It's not bad food by any stretch.

Sometimes, we do make new recipes that turn out questionable. I mean, we do new recipes all the time, some of them are definite keepers, others, well, it's not that the food tastes bad, it just isn't appealing.  But, we keep the regular meals as well. Tacos are always a hit.  But make those kids BBQ chicken like last night? I don't liiiiikkkkeeeee that.  Pouting, sour faces, moping: ridiculous.  Then, if they don't eat, they're asking for treats after the meal.  LMAO, good luck with that!  I don't cave to that at all. You didn't eat your dinner, why on earth do you think I'm going to give you a treat?  

I had to remove the battery out of the coach yesterday to charge it on a battery charger. Jump starting it did nothing.  It was dead and I'm afraid it may be ruined. Who knows, I left the thing in the shed, charging.  It will either be fully charged by now or it's toast.  It was showing 3 amps of juice in it when I put it on the charger.  At least there was a little bit of a charge in it, maybe it's not totally ruined? I don't know, but the next time poor people want to come in? I don't know if I'm going to allow it. 2 times in a row they have taken advantage of me, ignored park rules and made life miserable for certain people and otherwise just living like slobs, actually. I like helping people, I don't like helping people that are life long moochers and have no more motivation to do anything about their situation than to sit around all day, doing nothing and going to people's trailers asking for cigarettes and such.

I can tell ya, the next time people want to tent camp? I'm going to be asking a series of questions. For how long? Are you just coming to tent camp for the fun of it or are you looking for a place to stay, in your tent?  Tho that last lady lied to me about it, saying she was only staying a couple of days.

Anyway, the extent of my day today will be go to Urgent Care and then go to the park and see about that coach battery.  

The marine batteries arrived yesterday, the canopy allegedly today, the motor? A tracking label has been created.  It hasn't shipped yet.  I won't wait forever. There is no "delayed delivery" on it, so I'll give it a few more days and if nothing happens? Cancel that order and move on.  I dunno what it is about these trolling motors and getting them shipped after actually paying for them? Lol. I will be draining all the gas out of that tank and putting fresh back in - after everything else is completed.  It's been sitting too long, I don't want to try and treat the fuel, I wonder if that's half the problem I had before.  I wouldn't mind finding fuel without the ethanol crap in it, I think there's a couple of places in town that sell "pure" gasoline.  The trolling motor will be insurance that if the thing doesn't want to start, we can just use the electric motor. It is 24 volt so 2 batteries meaning on any given outing, you are going to get a lot of use out of it before the batteries are dead.  I should have ordered 3 batteries, tho, the battery for the regular motor is likely trashed by this time as well. 

No one said boating is cheap. I feel like if I do this stuff, the rest of anything else that comes up will be minor.  I destroyed the canopy by accident, I didn't know you can't take off going 30 mph on the lake with it up. The wind destroyed it and that was the end of that.  But, I will also have to put it on my insurance, just remembered.  I don't want to get into a boating accident and have a huge bill facing me without insurance. It isn't expensive.  

Interest rates for loans are still ridiculously high. 29%?  That's worse than credit cards!  I'm stubbornly waiting for interest rates to come down and if it happens at all, it will be next year at the earliest before they are brought down enough to bring interest rates back into the reasonable zone again.  If nothing else, I have that tractor (hopefully) coming this weekend. I'ma put that baby to use.  Anyway, I need at least 100k to do what I want/need to do to expand the park and eventually get out of trucking altogether.  I'm afraid it's going to take much longer than I originally hoped for.

Well, that's sort of it. I am dreading going to the doctor. Not because I am afraid of the results. I don't want negative news that drastically altars the direction of my life, obviously, but it's more of the looking at things, prodding, sticking needles in, things like that.  The Urgent Care doctors pull no punches. I am happy about that, actually, the deliver whatever needs delivered in terms of whatever is going on with you.

Oh, and Kamala.  Well, apparently she was officially made the democrat nominee "in the middle of the night".  No one voted for her, people that voted? Voted for Biden.  The undemocratic process that was taken here is appalling and I have to wonder how that sits with democrats.  The VP is usually a useless additive to the President, almost no one votes for or because of the VP/running mate.  This is why I wonder how this affects the vote coming in November.  And once the super Pacs start dishing out the realities of a Harris Presidency, I can only hope that those undecided will not choose her and that enough swings states can be converted into a red X on the win box.  Harris is far left, meaning Communist.  To me, anyway.  This makes her unpalatable to any moderate voters.

Enough of that and this post.  I am still just watching a little political news here and there and then shutting it off.  Too much negativity, too much name calling, too much hatred.

G'day.

 Monday - mid morning

I have some sort of abdominal pain, more like discomfort, that is coming and going - but isn't going away.  It's been going on for days now and I feel like it's time to see a doc and find out what's going on.  I'm not one to rush to doctor's offices at the first sign of a sniffle, but this pain is in the area where the Appendix is located, if there is something going on with that, I want to know about it before something happens.  

So, I'm sitting here drinking my coffee but in a minute I'm going to call the doctor and see if he has any availability. If not, I'll head over to urgent care and see if they can at least figure out what's going on.  

The Dow Jones is around a 1,000 point nose dive and apparently is continuing on from last week.  I was reading about the Sahms Rule, which is by so-called expert analyst statements is in effect now, meaning we are on the verge of a recession.  People have been calling it for a while now.  Harris is, of course, blaming Donald Trump for what's going on right now, in this economy...

Imagine being in power for near 4 years and still blaming a former president for the current state of affairs in the economy.  

I was also reading a story where Americans with children are facing the choice between buying the necessary school supplies for their kids or paying bills and are opting to buy the school supplies.  Or, put it on credit cards.  The folks here go shopping every week in advance of the coming work week for groceries and supplies. Admittedly, we hadn't really stocked up since the vacation, but still, the total of $451 was a bit much.  I pay half of it, we all eat dinners together really we are a family.  

If there is a recession, I do wonder how it will affect the industry I am in in delivering glue to a large manufacturer who uses it to produce plywood.  No clue.  I think this company ships all over the world.  

The jobs report is being slated as as bad as it was in 2021.  Why is this important? Well, obviously it affects all of us to some degree, but it also is going to affect this Presidential race. It's going to be hard for a nominee to win a race where she is part and parcel of the leadership that is in governance while this market and economy are going south.  

Anyway, I don't wish for a recession, no one should and I wonder how it might affect my business. I have some retired but mostly working class people.  Everyone needs housing so that helps but I am not supplying the housing, just the place for the housing to exist.  I'm not going to worry about it, won't be the first time and you do what you have to to make it through it.  Basically, that means if my trucking job went south, it would be time to find another one, if one is available and do whatever kind of route necessary.  

The property does not have a lot of debt tied to it per se, it's me the debt is connected to.  Not sure that matters in a court if things go so bad I couldn't pay my credit card bills and such.  Probably doesn't matter at all, being 100% ownership of the property.  I'll just hope it never gets to the point.  If it does, a lawyer will be necessary to wade through the legaleze and attempt to find some way through it without losing everything.  I only say this because that recession that we went into in 2008 was pretty bad. 

It's not helpful the fed didn't lower the interest rate.

Anyway, my plans for today will be put on hold for the doctor is more important.  I don't even know if Urgent Care can do anything about such a condition, I'd prefer that over going to a hospital.  Much cheaper.  I envision having blood drawn and whatever else, getting prodded and basically a miserable time while they attempt to figure out what's going on.  This urgent care has it's own labs and x ray abilities.  There isn't much in this town beyond that and the hospital. The hospital shut down several years ago, then started back up as an emergency room only, the rest of it has been leased for doctor's offices. You really have to drive either to Shreveport or Longview (I'd go to Longview) for a "real hospital".  

Oh, well I'm assuming my regular doctor will have no availability.  He never does, they book him up the entire day and the only way to slip in is if there is a no show calls in and cancels.  

My marine batteries are showing up today.  The canopy is coming today or tomorrow, the trolling motor just shipped this morning, according to the report. I canceled the other motor since it was indefinitely "delayed" and ordered another one that was cheaper in price and has better reviews.  The price tag goes up substantially when you need a longer shaft for the blade to reach into the water.  The recommendation was 60 inches and higher thrust power.  So, I got the 60 inch model of a particular brand and 86 thrust power.  It's a heavy boat and some heavy people will be getting into it.  

The lake and fishing sound good right about now.  

Not shocking the people aren't even answering the phone at the doctor's office.  And if they are so busy they can't even get to the phone, it is highly likely I will be going to urgent care and that's that.  

And, it's the only thing on my mind right now because it is rather uncomfortable. 

G'day.

 Sunday -night

No work tomorrow, didn't do much today.  Church, clean the kitchen, help make dinner, mostly just hang out. Well, I did get quite a bit of laundry done today.  

The tractor is confirmed.  Allegedly coming next weekend, I will use the thing after work until I get everything I need done or they want the thing back. I don't really know what size they boy is bringing - I call him a boy, he's 18 years old and legally defined a man, however...well he does have a good work ethic and isn't a mooch.  So, I guess I can call him a man by that metric.  He will get partial or full month worth of rent for free.  No restrictions on not being able to use it in brush like the local rental company does and I don't have to transport it to the Park or back.  That's a pretty good deal, especially if I can get use of it for several days.  Or even a week? 

I asked Allen about that, he just paused and said, well, as long as we need it?  I'm kind of psyched about that, it's still one of those don't count your chickens before they hatch deals.  I'll believe it when I see it...but he must have asked his parents about using it?  

Lot 1 is open again, I dunno if I want to leave it open or rent it back out. I'd like to leave it open for overnight stuff, but right now, there isnt a lot of that coming in. One last night and I think it was a week ago before that.  

Tomorrow I'm getting some gas and putting it in the coach and then will attempt to fire it up.  I should have taken the battery out and put it on the charger now that I think of it.  Well, if I can't get it jump started, I'll just have to do that.  Since Allen's wife still says she wants to refurbish that thing, I'm all for getting it moved back into position. Meaning, being able to plug it in and have electrical service available.  She'll need it for power tools and also to be able to turn on the AC. 

I have nothing else. Went to church today and it was pretty good, actually.  The pastor has been on a sabbatical or something - he's disappeared I'll put it that way - for a while now.  The man preaching today said he's fine, he isn't retiring but they are going to start the process of finding someone to eventually take his place. At 75 years old, I can see why the pastor would want to slow down the work schedule and hand over some responsibilities. 

I'm not going to take the situation with the friend of the family to heart against the church. There are 2 sides to every story.  I don't even want to go there, for I don't see it as anything major, at least not from my perch.  I kind of like the church, I just think it's too big for my tastes but I've gotten used to it.  I like the level of interaction you get with other people in small churches.  It's hard to hide somewhere in a church of only, say 50 people.  Pastors typically find out about you as well and get involved to some degree in your life. It's more personal.  I will have to start going to adult group meetings to actually start forging new friendships and so far? I have resisted it. 

Just my experiences with other churches.  

Anyway, it's getting late and I'm going to go to sleep.  Nice to not have to get up at any particular time in the morning for work.

 Saturday - early

Well, I have no idea what's going on with work yet.  One thing that was clarified is that the Ennis run is not gone.  My manager had told me the wrong thing and said as much yesterday. He had actually been referring to some new run that had been installed temporarily going to Malvern, which is also in Arkansas.  He did say, however, that the Ennis run also has dedicated drivers and that if we take those runs, those drivers are out those runs. He then said, but it is what it is, if we have to we'll take some of those runs away from them.

Yes, they do that to us as well.  The "if we have to" part, giving our runs occasionally to other drivers that are not a part of the dedicated "team".  There are only 3 of us dedicated to it. Well sort of a 4th.  

Anyway, I have 33 hours of PTO time available, I have no idea what the pay is and he couldn't tell me. "It's run off of hour many hours you have worked and divided by the pay that you have received" etc.  It's kind of hard to figure out how much time you can take off if you don't know how much the hours you have are worth...

What I do know is that I have tomorrow (Sunday) and Monday off.  I mean, if I have to take a paycheck from the business account, so be it.  I have resisted thus far.  

I am highly amused, changing the subject, at the story I just read about the NABJ (black journalists association or something like that) who invited Trump and Harris to a sort of debate but with the journalists asking the questions. Trump showed up, Harris did not and now there is internal strife about why they even invited Trump, who "questioned their blackness" and other ridiculous statements.  I watched the entire thing on YouTube yesterday.  Trump was typical Trump and the first person to ask hij questions was clearly a Trump hater.  

But now, some person on the board of their organization has resigned because of it and some dude is saying that Republicans have not accepted their request to come for many years in a row, so why is he doing it now and "there must be some advantage to him coming". Well duhhh.  Trump has been going into clearly blue states as well, doing rallies and attempted to win voters over.  If you didn't want his @$$ on that panel answering questions, why did you invite him? 

It's just full meltdown mode when it comes to Trump and the left, I have been watching this for years now and it started before he even became President the first time around.  But now? Trump is an "existential threat to our democracy". They love  to use that word existential. As if he's Godzilla and is going to come breath fire onto our cities and kill everyone and tear entire cities down!  He's a convicted felon! Yes, out of a court with an activist judge who nixed many of the things the defense wanted to bring into play and allowed irrelevant testimony that had no bearing on the case other than to try and make Trump look bad and still had an active gag order on him long after the trial was over.

I fully expect that on appeal, that entire case is going to be dropped. Or, Merchan will be "forced" to drop it because of the Presidential immunity decision handed down by the "MAGA Court" - LMAO - whereas it is evident that many of the things they accused him of were done as his "official duties" and cannot be prosecuted.  You see, I greatly disliked Obama, hated his policies, but I never acted out like most all of the democrat side of the equation does when it comes to Trump and I don't know any conservatives/Republicans that had full tilt meltdowns when Biden won.  

Leftists take the "moral high ground" yet in my view, much of which they support is immoral to the core.  Especially abortion on demand.  I could go into a list, but I neither have the time nor the desire.  It's old news and if you don't know what leftists stand for, then you aren't paying attention to what is going on in the political world.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, I guess, if you don't want to be exposed to constant negativity.  Both sides bash the other side constantly, unendingly, it gets old it's why I have limited the amount of exposure I place on myself to political news.  

Or there's this thing that just happened.  Several political prisoners were released in a prisoner exchange.  Which, on it's face, is  a wonderful thing.  Russia had accused them of spying and being pawns of the US military or CIA or whatever the deals were and then imprisoned them.  I don't know who or how many they exchanged, I just saw the story where Biden and Harris show up personally to greet them. Yeah, if you wonder if this wasn't a carefully executed plan to make them look wonderful - Biden and Harris - well believe what you wish. I won't pass judgment on you excepting to say the bias blinders are working well.  

The thing is, the amount of stuff that has happened just this year alone in the political realm concerning running for the President is quite amazing.  The most amazing thing, IMO, is an attempted assassination of a former president and going through a lot of video footage and hearing testimony, one has to at least consider that there is the possibility of an inside job going on there.  If you look at the latest footage that has been released, it shows the attempted assassin clearly moving on the roof. The person taking the footage is in line with Trump's head and the assassin.  You see the clear line of fire and wonder, how could have the Secret Service made the decision without willful neglect to not call that roof a portion of their defined perimeter? 

Questions that may never be answered.

One thing that is answered? It's time to go to work! Up to Gurdon, get it done and come home for a couple of days.

G'day.

 Thursday - evening

Some days, it's enough to make it through a work day and go home.  

The people at lot 1 have left according to Allen. They were there when I was there earlier, apparently they left for Lufkin. They are paid up through the 10th. This is the situation where it was alleged the man is beating on the woman.   That problem just transported itself off of the property and I didn't have to do anything but collect their money when they showed up.  It's ok, I like having Lot 1 open for overnighters. Not getting a lot of that, but there are some reservations in the system. 

Allen is starting his new job on the 10th.  Unless his wife shows up to take his place, I am going to ask him to take the "Park Hosts" sign down. It is pointless to have a lot dedicated to something that doesn't exist.  He's going to be gone 2 weeks at a time, my guess is that they will end up leaving and moving the trailer to wherever he's working.  People can't go to a trailer to inquire about lots or whatever if no one is there.  

I have some leads on other people to move in, I'm thinking get Robert's - the workamper - lot re-rented.  I don't see the coach being worked on any time soon, it can just sit where it's at and I will eventually find someone to work on it.  Things that never happened for $500, Alex.  The riding mower is running again if nothing else.  I'm going to have to go mow lots, that's what I can say.  Allen does some stuff, but he's starting to peter out.  I think these people think I don't pay attention, perhaps they think I'm stupid or that they can just get away with stuff. Allen has been "acting" like he's been busy all day, but I know next to nothing has been getting done.  

It's why I want a person to keep track of the hours they have worked and record what they did during those hours.  I'm going to start that with him if he wants to continue on.  I'll have to figure out what his time is worth per hour for the deduction on rent, but I am not going to go through what I did with Robert again.  What it really is, I'm too small of an operation to need that kind of help. I love it, but I am not there to supervise.  I can't keep track of it.

But, at the same time, when nothing is getting done and the grass is growing tall, that becomes it's own tattle-tale on the person that is supposed to be doing that stuff. The grass between the trailers is tall now and I will do it myself if he won't.  And then, we will have a discussion. You don't want to work, fine, start paying rent.  Take down the sign and you can just be regular guests living here. Or whatever you want to do.  Then again, he did start out well enough, it's worth something for sure.

I just know that I have figured this out.  He hears my truck coming in, it's noisy. I crawl at 4 mph through the park as to not disturb people, but I see him "working" as if he's been "working all day long". No, he hasn't.  I'm going to move the camera discretely so I can see what he's allegedly doing "all day long".  I had the feeling he was trying to pull one over on me.  He did do a little bit of mowing on the riding mower today, but that stuff can wait, I need the trailers mowed out regularly. That's more work. 

Anyway, Lot 1 is vacated, lot 11 is empty but paid for, lot 16 - an alternate spot - may be rented back out. That's where the workamper was. A dude just called about a spot, I told him I do have a 30 amp lot. We talked for a bit but I need to ask him more questions. He wants to move in this weekend, I want to know about how many people are going to live there, how many vehicles, dogs, tell him about the park rules.  Etc.   

 Wednesday

Pretty much sailed through the work day.  The washout didn't take long and they got to loading me at the plant immediately. I was home before 1:00 pm, of which I was very happy for a long time Facebook friend and her daughter - neither of whom I have met in person before - were going to stop by for a quick visit. Traveling through, she had picked her daughter's friend up in Little Rock 3 weeks ago and then took her back to Little Rock yesterday, I believe and coming through our town today.

It was a very wonderful visit. I have not met a lot of people in person from the internet, but all of them that I have met have all been very wonderful people and a joyous time has been had, at least from my perspective. She lives near Houston, so not exactly down the street around the corner, but...

Taylor was here as well. Well of course she was, she only lives here, lol.  But she hung out as well, it's always a pleasure to have Taylor hanging out because everyone instantly likes her.  Anyway, at some point, Taylor is standing there staring at me, giving me a look. I knew exactly what she was thinking without her saying a word.  The friend that stopped is a little younger than me, still very beautiful and a very lovely daughter.  Young - going to be a Junior in High School, very intelligent, has her act together, she will have most of the credits she needs to graduate by the end of this next school year.  

Anyway, I never really thought about the situation with my friend turning into something a bit more than friends. I dunno.  Maybe? I really have put any thoughts of ever getting married again well out of my mind after the last disaster.  I am not going to go into that disaster excepting to say that the person was in seriously depression and I should have known better. Alas, the ideology of wanting something to work out, even when something inside of you is telling you it most certainly will not.

This friend, however, is not in depression, isn't fresh out of marriage, has her act together, has good employment, takes care of her daughter very well, she's a real class act IMO.  So who knows?  There is on thing I will say tho: I am not moving to a big city.  I have had my life long share of that junk, it is definitely not for me, not anymore.  Not to mention I have really set roots here what with my extended family I live with and the business I have created and is going well enough.  

Speaking of that, a lady is moving out today, another one is "moving" in.  He just paid.  It's actually a man who is setting everything up for his son to attend the state college here.  He is buying him a new 5th wheel, I assume setting him up with a nice pickup, I would suspect paying for his college, doing everything a parent can do to help their child succeed.  In other words, the man is quite rich.  I mean, I am not saying anything bad about it, I commend him for trying to give his son the best start in life he can.  A state technical college is absolutely a great way to go about doing that as well, as long as the kid has a good work ethic. Those types of colleges are for working men and women, out in the heat type of stuff, long, grueling hours at times or all the time, depending on the line of work you choose to get into. 

For me? He is saying his son will be staying at the park for a year at least.  Guaranteed income and one more lot that won't have high turnover.  It's the turnover of long term guests that throws things up for a loop.  I've had 2 lots leave in the last few days and I've had 2 people claim those lots right behind them.

I am facing probably 2 more lots worth to replace very soon.  The one monther that I knew wasn't staying long and these weird people at lot 1 that were parking and driving on the grass and letting their dogs run loose. To be frank, I want those people to leave.  They are strange and now I'm being told that several people think that the man is beating on the woman. They heard a lot of screaming and crashing sounds coming from inside the trailer last night.  That isn't necessarily proof that the man is beating the woman, but it is odd behavior to say the least.  No one thinks those people are "right in the head". 

Ok, but have they done anything since they were addressed about the dogs and parking? Any negative interactions with anyone else? No.  Then there isn't anything I can or will try to do about it unless the noise is disrupting anyone from enjoying their peace inside of their trailer.  If there is a strained relationship with abuse going on, I can't do anything about it. Unless someone actually sees the man hitting the woman, what am I supposed to do? I strictly forbid the park manager from addressing them about it, that isn't our place unless it turns publicly ugly.  Then you can call the Sheriff to do a wellness check and tell them the story about hearing the noises and screaming.  I mean, if I see the woman and she has visible bruises, I might be inclined to do something about that. 

I do not like men who hit women.  It is nothing I have ever done and it is nothing a man should be doing to a lady.   I don't care what the beef is, if the relationship is that bad, get out of it.  It is amazing that women do, indeed, stay in such relationships, but apparently studies have been done, lots of them, that say that they get caught up in a relationship to the point they don't feel like they can get out of it. Or they don't want to get out of it, making excuses for the man and thinking it will get better. I've seen this with my own eyes throughout the adult portion of my life.  It takes a support system to help some of these ladies walk away from it and get out of the abusive treatment.

But again, I have no proof that that is what's going on in there, what I am getting tired of is constant drama.  It has been one thing after another.  Gets old.

Well, anyway, they only stayed an hour.  She has to go back to work in the morning, getting up at 4:30 am so yeah, it's 3-1/2 hour drive from here to there and it was already almost 4:00 pm.  I really could have hung out for the rest of the day tbh.  

There isn't much else. The Park Host found a job - he's been broke so I understand why he wants to go back to work. He doesn't want to lose his position as park host, but he'll be gone for 2 weeks at a time. Not much help to me.  I'll have to have him keep track of his hours if that is what he really wants to do, I'm not giving a full month's rent for free if there isn't the working hours to back it up. An hour-appropriate discount, sure.  His wife still hasn't been back and I do wonder if there aren't marital issues going on there.  He says they're fine, that's as far as I wanted to take it.  She is a great worker and I really wanted her to work on the coach after she offered. I'm guessing that isn't going to happen and will think about re-renting that lot.  

Oh, wait.  Yes, there is something else.  It's the yearly 2 week thing where the plant in Lufkin shuts down for 2 weeks and then throws our work into chaos.  The Ennis run is no more, that's what I was doing when it shut down last time.  They were only given that run on a trial basis, but my manager told me the company was outbid by another trucking company and so, they lost the trial run and the contract.  

What does that mean? It means, if I'm going to work the next 2 weeks starting Monday,  I will have to load in Crossett, AR and deliver to Gurdon, AR the same day. Well, ok, it's like a 3 hour drive.  The point is, I come nowhere near my town.  It's just an Arkansas run.  It's another plant that is owned by the same company as the one I go to in Lufkin.

I honestly don't know why they don't just produce the product in Crossett permanently? Not that I want to lose my job, but that makes more sense than having to have it shipped clear from Lufkin.  Much cheaper shipping costs.  I don't get it but I'm not going to try and explore that question, why would I want to? My job relies on going to Lufkin, not going to Crossett. Crossett is a little over 3 hour drive from here.  

To do any work, I'd just have to stay up there and sleep in the truck.  Yeah, not really into that.  The manager suggested I take PTO time and just don't work.  He's already got 2 volunteers to do the runs and that is all he needs.  Well how convenient. One of the volunteers was hired after I hired on, so if I want to bump him, I can even tho it doesn't sound like the manager wants that to happen.

You see, I didn't even know the company gives out PTO and I have no idea how much I have earned if any.  I will find out tomorrow as that was left up in the air.  I don't want to take 2 weeks off without pay. That isn't going to work. I mean, I could draw a paycheck from the business account if I have to.  So this situation that was presented to me today and the first I had heard about it - last year that 2 week thing was done near the end of the year - is up in the air and oh well, thank you Lord, whatever happens I'll trust in Him.  What else can a person do?  

As it stands, I have delivery tomorrow and then he said he was going to give me a run for Friday to deliver on Saturday and then Sunday off.  

Enough. Getting late.  

 I, uhh, find it strange I guess. People who are married, one of them dies and the other one shows their emotional distress over it. That's not the strange part. The strange part is a month later and they are dolt in love with someone else like the passing of their previous mate never existed.  They are suddenly all happy and the world is all right with them.

I can't and probably won't ever understand that. 

On the same note, I have a friend whose wife died and he has been in such despair for going on 2 years now, you can tell simply from looking at pics of him that he has let caution go to the wind.  He is still crying daily, drinking heavily, I can understand that.  You're married for 30 years, your mate is the entirety of your existence and then that mate is gone . That would mess with me too.

But just changing gears and going on to someone else?  I think people need some counseling after such things occur. Not because they are psychotic, but because they need help walking through their emotions and their thoughts.  I keep saying I might go through another episode of counseling and I might actually do it. My life isn't bad or horrible, I just think it would help me understand what I'm thinking and why I'm thinking it.

Then again, a degree in business from a college would probably help me immensely. Sometimes I feel lost and tho I do ample research, I still don't feel like I have a grasp on it.  I haven't heard anything from the IRS on my tax return and that leaves me uncomfortable. Then today, attempting to deal with the state of Texas Comptroller office.  I try to fill out the fields as best as I can and I have to do Google searches to even understand what some of it is asking.  I don't want or need the government focusing on my for tax purposes. I've tried to be as thorough as possible, doing what they ask for tax purposes, but who knows if I got it right? 

__________

Verizon phone paid off, unlocked and ready to switch.  I was just up that way, not going there again today.  I'll try to get that done tomorrow after work.  I'm already having to pay Verizon another month's worth of service, so no great hurry.  Oh, well I was just up where the T Mobile store is. 

I'm contacting Mark at the house tomorrow - are you sure you are ready to have the internet turned off over there? I will be gleefully happy to rid myself of Cox Communications after they went from $99 per month for unlimited internet to installing "tiers" that have me over $200 per month.  I despise these large corporations for they are always greedy. Cox, Dish Network, Directv, even the smaller companies are upping their prices drastically to the point - who needs it? I want some in-home entertainment for sure, but at the prices they are dictating? They can keep it. 

Try going to 6 Flags with a family of 6 and spending under a grand for the entire day. Good luck.  I mean, if you want to drive there and back the same day and save a hotel stay, okay.  If you don't eat anything at the park and paying $18 for a frigging hotdog, okay.  I'm not joking about that hotdog price. It's a large corporation. Disney far worse.  They charge these prices because rich people don't care and will pay it out and everyone else? Suffers.  Average families can't afford to go to Disneyland or World anymore.  Not to mention the woke factor.  

I'm getting on a rant and I'm quitting.  Let's look at politics.  Nahh, let's not.  Same old s***, different day.

Let's look at the rest of this day?  I'm just relaxing now.  I've done the boat, potential tenants for the park, T Mobile and other things.  I haven't started laundry, I guess I best get busy with that.   

I'm getting offa here and going to watch a movie.                                                               

 Tuesday day-off

The problem is finding the right length shaft with enough thrust that doesn't cost 2 thousand dollars.

I am talking about a trolling motor that will be sufficient for a boat the size of mine that weighs as much as mine does and add the weight of 5 people onto it.  I'm thinking at least 90 pounds of thrust if not more.  Walmart has lots of 28 inch shaft motors, just not long enough.  The warnings are abundant: if you don't buy on with long enough shaft, it obviously is either not going to even go into the water or it will pop out of the water as you are cruising along. 

I also don't want a piece of junk, I want one with a lot of good reviews. Minn Kota is one of the top of the line brands but boy howdy are they also expensive.  Still, I don't want to get stuck in the middle of a lake and have no way to get back to shore.  I've gone the route of buying "cheaper" stuff before in other types of things I am doing and end up having to go back and buy something more expensive because the cheap thing - didn't work.  I don't want to make that mistake here. Most if not all of these companies that build these motors say once you put it into the water, there are no refunds.  

So, I'm just going through seemingly endless web searches attempting to find the right size - which I believe is around 54 inch shaft and at least 90 pounds thrust. We are big heavy people, lol. Okay, we're not that bad but still, you want enough thrust to move the boat at a decent pace.  This and a new cover are the last of the Mohicans on bigger ticket item expenses for this thing.  

__________

Done.  Ordered and gonna be a minute before it gets here.  They don't have what I need at Walmart, they had it online and I wanted to use Walmart for the protection plan. 

And, the State of Texas sent me an email saying they are going to cancel my ability to operate my business. Why? Because of some form I apparently didn't fill out and send in to them. That was a bit disconcerting : )  Form is printed out, I will fill it out today and mail it - today. I have until the 6th of August.  Nothing like a lot of pre-notice to ensure you have time to do it.

If they sent me a letter in the mail, I didn't see it.  It would not be fun to try and get my business authority back, it would cost a lot of money and completely unnecessary. It's a tax thing, but I owe them no taxes so there is that.  In fact, they tell you you don't owe taxes if your total income was below 2.4 something million last year. Yeah, I come nowhere close to that...unfortunately. It would be grand to be taking in millions of dollars per year! I could employ my own tax person to deal with that nonsense and I wouldn't have to worry about it.  My small time operation doesn't warrant the need for such a person and neither could I afford one, at least not if I want to make any kind of money off of this operation.

______

Well that was a PITA. I decided that "expedite" was the operative word for that form, turns out I had to fill out 2 forms and I had to look up a lot of information in order to accurately fill those forms out. Guess it's good I had the day off? Nahh, I could have done it after work.  

I'm guessing my work schedule is the next 4 days starting tomorrow, off Sunday and then work, work, work.  Probably a pretty accurate guess.  

As for everything else? Well, gonna eat something cause I have had nothing today beside a fingerful of last night's dinner, literally it was just what I could pick out with my fingers, it's afternoon and I'm starving.

 Let's take another look at tomorrow.

I'm going to bed here, it's 9:45 pm, and I'm double checking the tablet. I do that often for they change things often.  The manager has taken over dispatching drivers and fired the lady - I didn't think she was horrible, not great, not bad, in the middle I guess, as far as dispatchers go - that was dispatching our runs for usually a week in advance. A nice person if nothing else. 

He, the manager, doesn't do that. He might get 3 runs out at most, which is 6 days, but I have yet to see him go beyond that.  This was my fault this time.  I must have missed the part where I finished this current run today and then had tomorrow off.  I looked 3 times at the tablet before I took it out to Taylor, who was on the porch with James smoking, can you read that?  She gets this look on her face.  The 31st! You have 2 days off! No, just tomorrow but I wanted to confirm that I wasn't having lying eyes.

I know, or I think I know anyway, what the manager is doing. He is having me off tomorrow, work through Saturday and then Sunday off.  That isn't confirmed since I only have the next run to look at, but I suspect that's what he's doing based on previous weeks after he took over.  

I have a whole world of possibilities tomorrow.  That doesn't necessarily mean I'll do anything with it, I just have it available, lol.  I mean, I could retire and do much of nothing, which isn't good for you and you need to stay active in some way, shape or form if you want to live a longer life.  I've seen it far too many times. Retire, die.  Retire, die.  Retire, find something to do? Keep active? Don't die.  It may sound gruesome, but I have witnessed it with my own eyes beyond just reading about it.  Many times over, actually.  Why is my mother still alive? I believe because she goes for walks at least 3 times  a day. 

At her age? That's doing pretty good.  The dog keeps her alive, basically.  Some purpose to live for, something right there, with her.  Take the dog for a walk, she tells herself (I'm guessing of course, but I know for a fact she goes walking several times a day).  She's always intensely loved her dogs and takes care of them meticulously.  I grew up with parents that loved dogs and hence, it carried over to me.  There aren't many dogs that I have disliked, I could name those few dogs tho. The one that tried to kill the 7 year old here (not our dog, next door neighbor's).  The one I adopted that the owner didn't bother to tell me had serious behavioral issues including the desire to kill other dogs.  

I have determined to get the boat going and get it on the lake.  So, I will probably start working towards that end tomorrow. It needs a trolling motor, a couple of batteries, drain the fuel tank and put fresh fuel in it, registration.  Other things I can't think of right now, it's been sitting for quite a while.  Yes, I think the bilge pump wasn't working, they aren't expensive.  You kind of want that feature, if the thing starts taking on water, that's what is your hope that the water will be pumped back out.  I spent a lot of money on that thing, I'd like to use it while it's still hot outside.  

Batteries and trolling motor will cost some.  I spent a thousand dollars just installing a new steering system in the thing and putting a new battery in it some 3 years ago? I'll say this, now that I'm that invested in the damn thing, if I have to have the motor rebuilt, that's going to happen as well. Maybe not right now or if I can find a used motor, but it will happen.  

Some person showed up at the park today and wanted to know about moving in.  There are no lots available right now.  Not only that, but the person wants one of the "premium" lots.  The park host has one of them, the other? The people that said they were going to leave after being confronted about their dogs running loose and driving and parking on the grass. The thing is, after that confrontation, they stopped driving on the grass and they don't let their dogs loose.  If they've been living in a trailer in RV parks for any length of time, they would already know that almost every park has the same types of rules.  So are they leaving, is what I was confronted with?

Well how the hell would I know? If people clean up their act, my intervention is over with, they can stay as long as they like.  They are not sociable and I don't invoke myself on people that don't care for unwanted visits. Pay your rent, follow the rules I'm good.  You don't have to talk to anyone in the park if you don't want to, I'm all for freedom and the freedom to have your space.  Which is partially what I said to Allen: I have no idea. After they were confronted, they have been parking on the gravel and their dogs aren't running loose unless there is info about the dogs I don't have.

No, they have complied.  Ok, well I don't go bothering people that don't want to be bothered.  He doesn't quite understand that, but the thing is, he does listen to my wishes about how I want things dealt with and he goes by that, whatever that is.      I'm running a business, I'm not trying to drive people out of there. If I have to, I definitely will, but these people?  Not now. I'm trying to figure out how to ask them if they are staying without it sounding...wrong.  Then again, the man was informed other spots were coming available.  I dunno, if he doesn't want that, that's his choice, I lose enough sleep over nothingness, I'm not losing sleep over people that don't like what I have to offer. It's definitely not a resort park.  It's a quiet little community, the prices are good, the atmosphere is mostly great, but it isn't for everyone.  

Well it's getting late. Even tho I don't have work tomorrow, I don't like staying up to late. My sleep is too messed up as it stands. I force myself to keep a fairly tight sleep schedule excepting on some nights when I have no work the next day.

I can say that I've given it considerable thought and tho I was having sleep problems before I went to Oregon, it is nothing like after I left there.  Near 3 weeks of mostly sleepless nights, I really haven't recovered from that for unknown reasons. My mind went through that experience once again yesterday, I can't explain why I replayed that hellish nightmare, it just started up.  When you go through some horrid experience, you seem to remember every single detail, down to the specifics of things to the time of day or the specifics of everything that was going on around you.  Because it was that bad.  

 Monday - 7:45 am

Late load yesterday, late load today.  Leaving around 9:00 am.  Get me there around 11:30 am, I don't want to get there too early cause there is the possibility of the other driver still being there. Funny he can get his @$$ to the plant at 4:00 am to load but can't get up to the plant to unload by 10:00 am?  I don't get that.  But who am I.

It is what it is, I get one late load per week, some times two.  If I get two, they better not be back to back, because I will say something from now on. Can't do that, switch it with someone else.  4 late days in a row equals getting nothing much of anything done.  

Now that I have another moved in, I'm facing at least 2 more leaving.  If this man with his son needing a place to move into works out, it will only be one lot needed filled and that student will be there a year.  In this business, however, you don't count your chickens before they hatch.  The person has to actually show up...

My take on the mocking of the Last Supper of Christ? My two cents which is probably only worth a penny in this economy is: oh well.  People have been disobeying the Lord and attempting to mock Him for a long, long time now.  I see the people that engaged in that nonsense as people who need Christ.  The Bible tells us not to judge the world for they are already condemned. There is a place for taking issue with people doing certain things, as evidenced by Christ overturning the tables in the temple, but is this one of them?  I don't know.  No one was mocking Christ at the Last Supper.  Well, maybe there was?

Judas Iscariot.  He betrayed Christ for 30 pieces of silver, telling the "killers" where to find him.  Is that a form of mocking? Well, it's in there somewhere.  Christ knew all about it tho, not like you can deceive the Lord, He knows everything and there is nothing you can hide from Him.  It is a sad state of affairs that the Olympics would allow such nonsense and highly likely knowing what kind of feverish outcry there would be.  So what is the end game? I don't really know, except unbelievers love to make fun of believers in Christ.  I've been exposed to that on the streets of America all over the place when I was doing missionary work.  I had to remember that we fight not against flesh and blood....

And you have to remember that the devil goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  That pic they are showing endlessly of those people are a portrait of this world and how the world hates God.  "..tho they are in the world, they should not be of it".  I haven't said much about this subject because it's nothing new.  The only difference is it's the latest 15 minutes of fame type of thing on the world stage that everyone is talking about.  Let's discuss praying for those people's souls and all of those whose hearts are far from God. 

So the challenge I offer to my Christian friends that are outraged by this incident is simply this: Offer up prayer and supplication to the Lord of Hosts that He may get a hold of their hearts in whatever way He chooses and bring them to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. 

And I just copied and pasted that and put it on my Facebook page. Why not?  I have lots of Christian friends from all over the world on my friends list.  This page here? Not so much.  It's rather "private". I know it's on the WWW but there really aren't that many people that know about it and that is by design.  I just like to write out my thoughts. I find it useful to understand why I might be thinking the way that I am, read it over and perhaps make decisions or perhaps wait on a thing that is in front of me to do.  Or not do.  I don't mind people reading it, not at all, it's just that I have always like sort of explore what is going on in my mind by writing it out "on paper" so to speak. It also helps if something happens and I need to refresh my memory.

As for today? My agenda is to simply get up to the plant, unload and get back.  I need to get some gasoline for the mowers. Allen is trying to finish up the riding mower. Yes, it's still sitting there like that. For so long, in fact, the battery is dead.  I am feeling much better now and the coughing has died down significantly, to the point I don't need to go to urgent care.  If it continues to go away, it will be one of the shorter-lived chest colds I have ever had, really.

I have no business decisions to make. Tractor, buildings, things are on hold. I am seriously considering putting in a hot tub, I am putting out a request to an insurance provider to see how much that would cost adding it to the insurance portfolio.  I can get a whole setup for around 15k, maybe 20.  The reason I have given up for now on expanding the park is simple: interest rates are still ridiculously high.  But, I may go ahead and try to get a loan through the local bank, at least see if they will lend to me and what terms I might get. I think I asked them if I could get a 125k loan.  They said it's possible, fill out all of this paperwork and then handed me a thick packet of papers.  It's been sitting for quite a while.  

Actually, I could get another building up for around the same monthly payment as I'm making now.  Everyone is always looking for an "office". I don't really have one, I tell them.  Well, I do, here at the house.  What do I need with an office? I don't.  But I do need a storage shed to keep all of my tools and stuff in.  A place to store things in an orderly fashion and easily accessible. I don't have that right now, I am just balking at the idea of having another payment immediately after getting rid of one.

At least, if there is another payment, that it brings in money? Such as a cabin shed that is completely finished?  No decision being made for I have no idea what I should "really" do.  As I have often stated, I find it better to simply wait, put things on hold until I get that feeling that yes, this is the right thing to do, or no, I shouldn't do this at all.  Now that I've gotten rid of Robert and that trailer, I don't really need to run that underground line so I put that on hold as well.  It's just one trailer back there now and the shed stuff.  So far, there are no signs of the system being overloaded.  I think getting rid of that trailer, it will stay that way. 

The other Robert would love to move back there and I would love to accommodate him, but it's 50 amp for his trailer and I'm afraid it's too much draw back there.  

Anyway, it's just another day in paradise, lol.

G'day

It dawned on me today after thinking about what the current electric bill might be that the next bill should be somewhere near or even lower than what I might be seeing now. I say might for I had not even thought to look at the current bill, it isn't due until the 11th.  It's $2,200.  The reason I believe the bill shouldn't be as horrible as my thoughts were taking me is that the last week? We've had storms and it's been cool.  AC units not working so hard to keep trailers cool, less electric usage. 

Anyway, the dude that might or might not show up? showed up about an hour ago. He called from the park.  I looked at the video, huge trailer.  I'm actually not in love with them, they use far more electricity. I mean, I'm not rejecting them, I charge more but I can't charge that much more.  It just seems to me that I should target the 30 amp trailers - smaller and only one AC unit.  How do you target 30 amp? Well, if I really wanted to do that? Just advertise 30 amp only, sorry, we don't have 50 amp here. It's that or just jack the price of 50 amp much higher and if they want it, they can have it, but I suspect they would move on.  I can see charging $500 per month for 50 amp to make decent profit off of them.  I say decent, I didn't say greedy. 

I've changed my thoughts about a pool. I still want one, it's just not doable right now.  Interest rates are jacked up to ridiculous highs.  I'm instead thinking of a large hot tub.  Those are popular year round, even in hot summer.  Much cheaper, the entire setup.  You're talking 10k or so for the actual tub versus 50k or more for the pool. Both need a deck - or - many hot tubs can just sit on a concrete pad.  I dunno, this is still a thought process.  There are other things I am "thinking about".  ATM, however, the coach is in the works.  Well, it's not being worked on ATM and the lady isn't even staying at the park. I was informed she's staying at the "kid's house", wherever that is and why, :I have no idea.

Marital issues?  She hasn't been around in almost a month.  She's very handy, I'd love to see her back lol. 

Not my call and certainly not inserting myself into other people's issues.  However, I do need word either way if she's going to repair and fix up the coach.  If she's not, I will head other directions and leave that thing be until I find the right person to do the job.  Other directions are my continued focus on "cabins". They aren't really cabins, that's just what they call them in the RV world. Much of it are sheds, they call them to keep them out of housing designation.  

What I want and what I need aren't that far apart.  I need something finished or very close to it, not just a shell. Finished as in the interiors being completed or certainly much of it done. Electrical, plumbing, flooring, walls, insulation, etc.  It needs to have heating/cooling or a built in area to install it.  It obviously has to have financing. Something finished like that is at least in the 20k territory.  I would pay that much and more to buy one unfinished and then have the interiors installed. Doing it myself would save money, but I am not there right now.  I don't want to do that kind of work atm.  It's enough to run the park and work a trucking job.  

The park host, so far, has been an invaluable tool to keep my head on the right side of sanity.  He deals with stuff I don't want to do.  I just plain don't want to do it and losing a month's worth of lot rent to have it done for me is fine by me, as long as I can keep working.  I say that because no one is granted tomorrow, and even if you get tomorrow, no one is granted the health to be able to do what you want to do tomorrow.  I keep that in mind always, not in fear but as a general way to keep myself in check.   I'm starting to get old and I am starting to need naps.  Not that I haven't always wanted to take naps, especially in trucking, driving 8 hours and getting a 30 minute nap in, now it seems like I need those naps. It isn't unexpected, I've watched many people growing old and the things that happen slowly, over time.

But whatever.  I just wish this inflation s*** would end and the fed would start lowering interest rates.  I need a loan to really move forward.  I can do stuff piece meal, that will take a long time to do it that way.  Now, if I could get a cabin under financing that's basically instant income.  No guarantees, but the local housing market is hot and on fire for places to rent.  And we aren't talking cheap.  I've been watching the market for some time now.  

Anyway, the washout took much longer than necessary.  There is a guy that does washouts on other types of trailers that feels like he needs to get every last bit of anything out of the trailer.  He spends far more time on it than anyone else and it's completely unnecessary and a waste of time.  He carried on almost to the point of having to go a second hour on it, which costs more money.  It's a mixed bag on Sundays, the place is closed but you can call them out 24 hours a day.  I rarely even see this guy, apparently this was his day to be on call.   After that and getting to the plant? They got me in and out of there quickly.  

Anyway, the park is full again, but on Wednesday another lot is vacating. And 2 more potentially vacating.  I have that guy saying he'll move his kid in - or will he? He never called back. People do this stuff all the time.  They say they'll call back, they don't and then...they just show up.  I don't argue with them, of course, but it seems a bit of a chance to just leave the park on hold and hope? that there is something available?  No clue.  I just go with the flow here, or at least I try to. It's the nature of RV parks? Yes, but you are more on the overnight side with people coming and going, not this type of thing where a long term just up and leaves without notice or a long term just shows up without notice. Or they tell you they might be coming, and then 2 weeks later, you hear back from them - at the park.  

I'm not going to feel bad if one of these people shows up and there isn't anything available.  Confirm it or don't, but if you don't, it isn't guaranteed that a lot will be available. When it comes to long term, it's pretty much first come-first served.    

It's starting to get late, I sort of stopped writing on here and ate dinner and tended to other things.  

 Sunday 7:30 am

I'm slowly starting to feel better. These chest colds have always kicked my @$$.  It's nothing new, but they allows pack a serious punch and just take me down for a while.  I've been working the entire time, thusly making the punch even worse. I get home from 7 or 8 hours of trucking and I'm toast, done, wiped out and ready to lay down.

The college kids up and left - I dunno if I reported that last post or not, I don't think so.  There was no advanced notice, it was: "School is over, we're going home!".  You know, while I'm turning some people away because I have no spaces available?  They literally said nothing until they were ready to hook up and leave.  Whatever.  A "dad" called yesterday going in an extremely long explanation of his kid, what the kid is doing, how well behaved he is, the fact that he, the dad, is buying him a brand new trailer and one that will "last for a long time", etc.  

Daddy is rich, I can tell ya that just by that conversation. We're talking a 150k trailer, not some hunting stand type of camper.  The kid will be going to a local college, there are 3 of them here (it still amazes me after living here 10 years that this bitty little town has 3 colleges, one of them is growing exponentially, another was part of a movie of a small town versus Harvard, I think it was, the other is a state college that churns out people who are instantly offered high paying jobs).

He wants to start paying rent on a lot on the 1st, even tho the trailer won't arrive until the 15th.  You got it!  I don't care what they want to do and so far, the college kids have, actually, been the best behaved of anyone.  Speaking of behavior, the park host went around after I told him I was getting disgusted with people parking on the grass and told everyone to get their vehicles off the grass, please and thank you.

And sure enough, people did it, with one threat of moving out.  Bye!  Those people would drive on the grass up to their front door.  Absolutely appalling behavior, as if they just bought that lot.  Even if they had purchased the lot, they would still be under what amounts to HOA rules.  How many people do you see parking on their front lawn?  Not many, hardly ever.  I may lose people, I'll take it over people who feel entitled for some unknown reason to abuse the privilege.  I'm not making money hand over fist here, folks, I'd need a lot more lots to do that.

I am watching the construction of a new RV park about 30 miles up the road, I pass by it every time I go and return from Gurdon.  They put the gravel in which really made it stand out. Stand out, however, as one of the worst set ups I've seen. It's old school setup where they cram as many spaces in as the possibly can in a very small area.  I mean, if you get a trailer in there with slide outs an dyou get another trailer next to it with slide outs - and most trailers being built now have the slide outs, I have to wonder if they could even do it without hitting the neighbor's slideout. 

I don't know who designed the thing, the only thing I can think is maybe they are just going to off cut throat rates.  Even then, having them that close together is very unappealing nowadays.  I've done my own polls and I've seen the stats, people don't want to be crammed in if they're paying. If they aren't paying, they don't care as much, think: truck stops where RV'ers think it's perfectly acceptable to park their rigs in truck parking spaces and then flaunt truckers who complain about it.  You won't find signs at places like Love's Travel Centers saying trucks only, they don't care.  If you go to a big mom and pop place, they very well may enforce trucks only, but those are few and far apart.

Anyway, there is allegedly a man moving in today.  I am not sure tho, he seems to be wishy washy about it, I am not counting on him arriving.  I have the college student spot empty and another is leaving on Wednesday and there is a one monther that should be leaving soon as well.  So just like that, down 3 spaces.  Oh and the people that said "we'll just move". Well move your @SSes out now if you're going to have that attitude, I don't need that s*** in my park.  They don't drive or park on the grass now, however and they aren't letting their dog out to roam freely around the park.  

I'm loosely following politics, it's really a circus act.  I'm amazed that democrats think they are pulling anything over anyone's minds.  Biden was sharp as a tack, now he's stepped down and this person that has no clue what she is doing and certainly has no business being at the helm of the country has been pumped up to the point you'd think she just invented electricity, made all the appliances for your house and you are experiencing the wonders of dishwashers and electric waters heaters all at once.  

And, of course, the left is calling anyone (read: Republicans) that opposes her racist and misogynistic.  Literally, they are doing nothing but using identity politics. She must deserve the position simply because she is black and a woman.  Virtue signaling on steroids.  What I know is, leftists engage in ad hominem attacks regularly online.  You can't have a conversation with them about politics without them attacking you personally.  You bring up something that is factually correct and can be verified with various articles from a myriad of different outlets both left and right leaning and they will still dismiss it, call you names and that's the end of the conversation and yes,  they won!

It's amazing how fast they change the narrative.  Did you see where Biden now wants to impose term limits on Supreme Court justices?  This is a change to the Constitution itself.  He's a self-imposed lame-duck President.  You do know that fully 3/4's of the House and the Senate PLUS 3/4's of states have to vote in the affirmative to ratify a change to the Constitution?  That is, if my memory serves me correctly.  The point is, in this political environment? That is literally impossible, especially with such a ridiculous proposition.  I don't recall Republicans wanting to change the structure of SCOTUS simply because leftist judges were installed?  If I am wrong, feel free to correct me, I don't have the time to look that up right now.  Nor the desire, it's absurd to think because you don't get your way, you are going to start crying like a baby and demand that you get your way! And wanting to impeach 2 of the longer tenured justices because...reasons.  

100 days until the election. What else can go off the rails?  And they are floating Gretchen Whitmer for the VP! You remember this chick? She banned stores "over 50,000 square feet" from selling gardening supplies, saying they are "not necessary" because of the Coronavirus.  You want to talk about Communism, there is a grass roots start to it right there.  Let's tell everyone when to piss and eat while we're at it!

We will become the laughing stock of the world, previous generations will all turn over in their graves at once creating a worldwide earthquake and the end of mankind as we know it. Ok, that might be a wee bit of an exaggeration. Lol.

I just wonder what 4 more years of this chaos will do to our country and what kind of poisonous, toxic, hateful environment we will be living in if Harris wins and ends up with a VP such as Whitmer?  

Meanwhile, I am watching footage of Israel striking back at Hezbollah in Lebanon.  Apparently Hezbollah fired off a rocket that hit somewhere in Israel and killed 12 children that were playing on a playground.  Imagine the outrage of these idiots that hate Israel - the people in this nation that are anti-jew and anti-israel (and who also hate America as it stands, tho most of them will never outwardly admit it) taking a stand against anyone that supports Israel in it's quest to defend it's own borders.  

The deadliest single attack against Israel since October 7th, I am hearing now.  They're showing a blurred pic of a child laying on the ground, but even blurry, you can see his legs are covered in blood.  

Well, anyway.  There is evil in this world and that's not going to change until you start to see the book of Revelations coming into play. When that happens or if that is going to happen in our lifetimes? I dunno.  "there will be a massive response ot this attack in Lebanon" and questions as to whether that will lead to a broader war.  Well, my guess? Of course it will. Hezbollah is evil, they might as well have the devil as their leader. They are just another extension of Iran the same as Hamas.  Israel, btw, has stated that they are going to take out Iran's nuke capabilities.  Sure sounded that way, anyway, listening to Netanyahu speaking during the speech he gave to Congress.  

You know, we live our lives and experience things like this and wonder, what is the end game of all of this? Well, I have the answer! Just start reading the Bible.  If you believe, you understand. If you don't believe, well, live in ignorance. I can only say that God gives the "peace that passes all understanding".  

I keep thinking "I need to leave now" and then I think, oh, yeah, other drivers who don't show up to appointments on time, which has a cascading effect.  The plant will say screw it and start loading their own trailers and then, when that late driver shows up, they will have to wait for the plant to finish loading the other trailers.  I was out of there at 10:36 am 2 days ago. I have the late load today, which sucks, especially on a Sunday.  I might leave early anyway just to get there and even if I have to wait, I will be en-queue to get loaded as fast as possible.  But still, it makes no sense to show up there before 11:30 am.  

If any of those other drivers were to show up on time regularly, I would already be on the road right now. 

But, I am going to get out of here anyway.  Leave by 9, at the washout by 10:30, over to the plant around 11:45 am.  I won't get home until 4:00 pm at the earliest is my best guess just from historical perspective.  Not that bad, I guess.  Not great but not bad.  2 Sundays in a row of missed church.  Kids haven't been to church in 3 weeks including today, unless mom gets up and takes them.  

And with that, I am getting offa here. Make another cuppa to go, a glass of ice water, maybe stuff something to eat in my mouth and get this day rolling.  I almost called in sick.  Just because I want the day off, lol, and because my sleep has been not-so-great.  

However...bills are calling me.  ONE more payment on that shed and I just keep putting off paying off the phone, I need to get that done.  Pay it off and rid myself of a monthly phone payment that is rather pricey.  Couple those with no more internet service at the house - however they are doing that, more power to them.  They will  have internet there, I just haven't heard how they are going to do it, some other plan that I don't know about because I am not there. Local deals aren't going to show up 1,300 miles away.  I fully look forward to ridding myself of a little over $600 per month in payments.  

G'day

 Friday

Haven't been feeling good, hence the lack of posting. Don't really feel all the great right now, in fact, but I'm sitting at the desk anyway.  Yes, I have worked the last 3 days including today, it's about all I can do to make it through that, get home and sit or lay down. 

The kid that brought this sickness with him from Arkansas was coughing all over the place and I started getting on him about covering his mouth and turning his head, at the very least.  He started arguing at the time that he only had allergies and it wasn't contagious. This boy is, in fact, extremely argumentative about most things when you tell him something else is true and what he has stated is not correct.

He gets offended and either storms out of the room or just starts getting whiny with the arguing nonsense.  Anyway, 2 days later after that conversation and I came down with what he has and then I said something to him again, wherein he stated once again he only has allergies. Well, you are the only sick person I've been around, it's not allergies.  9 times out of 10, he retorts, it's allergies.    WELL THIS TIME IT'S NOT ALLERGIES. 

It was 3 weeks of the 2 kids here going to grandmas, then 2 weeks here, 2 weeks back at grandmas and then a week here.  Basically, the entire summer.  Grandma came and got him today stating he had to be home with his biological mother today.  Maybe all the whining around here will stop, or at least a good portion of it.  Regardless, I am feeling quite miserable and it's likely that I'm going to head over to Urgent Care to see if they can give me some meds to at least make me feel better.  I am just glad that kid shuffling is over, tho there is still 3 weeks or so until school starts.  It's just one of those things that when summer comes near an end, kids start getting cranky and really need  to get back into school again.

The park was full for a little while, but one lady is moving out because she bought her new house and the college kids came and told me today they are leaving - today (no advance notice).  I just happens that way all the time, unfortunately.  I'm just a bit cranky right now so dealing with that stuff isn't high on my list of things I want to do. The things I want to do right now? Nothing. I want to do nothing at all. I don't want my phone blowing up with complaints and I don't want to have to deal with people moving in and out.  But, allegedly, there is a man coming tomorrow to move in so one of those lots will be rerented.  

Actually, neither of them had left when I left after returning back in the truck today.  

So that's where I'm at and watching a little of this nonsense with Biden stepping down and Kamala being inserted.  The problem I have with that is that people actually voted for Biden to be the nominee, no one voted for Kamala.  People are arguing that since she was on the ticket, they were voting for her too. Uhh, no.  Most people aren't voting for the VP pick, they are voting for the person that is going to occupy the Oval Office.  The VP might visit that office but it certainly isn't theirs.  That whole thing should have gone back to Democrat voters to decide for themselves who they want next.  

Of course, the whole thing is ridiculous to begin with. Biden is our man!  he is sharp at a tack!  Now, Kamala is our woman!  Whatever the case, they are both very poor candidates and I doubt she is going to have an easy time winning enough votes to insert her into the White House.  I sincerely hope she does not win.  She was the one that had set up a fund to pay for rioter's bail if they got arrested during the rioting.  She has said anti-Israel statements.  She is a complete tool and I can't imagine her representing this nation to the entire world.  She's also a liar, but I guess that isn't remarkable since most politicians lie.

Well, enough. I can't sit here very long, I'm going to go nap for a while, it's still mid afternoon. I got done early today being back before 1:00 pm.

 Tuesday - 8:00 am

Final day of vacation.  I am going over to the park today and moving the motorhome back to where it was before I moved it for these "workampers" to come in.  A mistake I won't be quick to repeat.  I wasn't really bringing them in for working in the first place, they just wanted it that way and I was too quick to be open to it, like, yes! I could use some help around here. 

Good riddance. That's what I can say about them.  

As for the other people, they are, so far working out fairly well.  He's a little authoritarian with people and I'm going to have to gently try to get him to bring his tones down with people several notches.  Yes, people do stupid and/or selfish things, yes, it is annoying, but also yes: I am running a business and I don't need to be running everyone off.  Neither does he.  Not that he's done that, I just see a tad too much bossiness. Not terrible, but if I don't put it in check, who knows where it may lead to.  Then I'll have another mess to deal with.  

However, people get this from other parks they have stayed at where management just tells people like it is in no uncertain terms and they can like it or leave.  I know this from being in numerous RV 'ers groups and also in several RV park managers/owners groups.  I can be that way as well, but only when I am forced into that position.  For example, I became pretty angry yesterday when I saw beer cans, a beer bottle and an empty cigarette pack laying on the trail in the rear of the property.  My mind went straight to: let's shut these trails down to everyone.  I didn't do that, I just don't understand people doing stuff like that.  I've seen it all my life out in the wilderness where people just chuck their trash on the ground like it's a giant trash can.

I have a trash can back there, located where I was going in and out where I was working on the bridge and such.  I'm going to relocate it to the trail head. At least give the opportunity to put the stuff into the trash.

Speaking of the bridge, the last rain?  Washed out one of the footers and the entire bridge fell on that corner. I'm talking that big bridge.  I was shocked to see it, actually.  I mean, I had that footer well into the ground and away from the creek.  It's why I bought 16 foot long spanners. With as much erosion as what happened, that creek must have been a river going through there. I promise you, the creek is barely a little bit of running water during the summer, no way would I have ever envisioned that much volume of water going through there to get up that high. 

I am not even sure what to do about it.  Get a hydraulic jack out there, I guess, jack the thing up and then figure out a way to put blocks under it. Hmm, thinking about it, I think I'll have to drive some rebar into the ground and pour a concrete footer that won't go anywhere.  I dunno, but I'm going to have to do something about that soon.  You can still walk over the bridge and such, it's just obvious that it's going to start to fall apart if left like that very long.  

What a pain.

There's always something.  Like the person saying there are dog tracks coming from the shower/bathroom, as if someone had given a dog a bath.  

On and on.  I've got eyes in there and I will be reviewing however many days worth of footage to figure out if that person is right in their assertion or if they're seeing things that don't exist.  I do not want people washing their dogs in my shower stall. There is a hose outside, it's warm out, they can wash their dog outside.  That's what I do with my dog.  

Allen's wife is, allegedly, finally coming home today.  She's been gone at least 3 weeks.  Trying to sell a trailer and traveling around doing what else? I have no idea. None of my business and there would have been no way for her to work in that coach before Saturday anyway.  I don't expect her to work in a very hot coach.  

Enough of that. Just daily nonsense.  Not near as ridiculous as the nonsense going on in DC right now.  Biden steps down as the nominee, Harris takes over, Biden disappears and walaah, you have a new nominee, yes I know it's not official yet but it highly likely will be and you have conspiracy theories that Biden is dead because he disappeared.  I doubt Biden is dead but I do wonder about a nation being run by Harris.  

___________

Wednesday morning. Whatever it is, I've come down with some sort of chest cold with sore throat.  I'm not in the throes of death, lol, so I'm going to work today.  I got from the manager that he doesn't have anyone to take my place today and I've been off 5 days, just going to tough it out, get it done, get home and go to bed.  

 Sunday - late

Vacation over. Didn't post anything the entire time because we were just plain too busy. Got up at 5:15 am Friday, got the Galveston before noon.  We ate at a seafood restaurant which is on the water, there are even docking areas for boats to pull up, get out and eat. After that, over to the main strip.  Up and down there, it was pretty hot out but it was nice.  To the AirBNB house, got situation and then to the beach for a couple of hours.  Back to the house and then to a Chinese restaurant which had great food, back to the house again and then settle in for the evening.

Day 2/Saturday: I got up and made breakfast. 3 meat breakfast casserole, it was a hit.  I mean, I was glad it was a hit because the ingredients cost a bit and it took quite a while to make it.  Double recipe for 18 people. After that we were off to the beach.  I mean, we weren't there even 2 hours, tho and they wanted to go to Galveston for lunch at Rainforest Cafe.  It was great and it was fun, but I wanted to stay in the water, lol, so did most of the kids.  

In fact, I spent more time in the water than anyone, kids included.  The 9 year old was in almost as long as me, but he was getting in and out and I was just enjoying the water.  By the time we got back, there was only 2 hours of daylight left but yes, went back out into the water until sunset and then back to the house for tacos.   

This morning was probably the most interesting part as far as memories go.  Well, first off, we were all in bedrooms and I was in with other adults.  One of them snores heavily and non-stop, all night long.  Friday night to Saturday morning, I might have gotten 4 hours  of sleep, I think it was more like 3.  Last night? No thank you.  I got my ear buds out of the SUV, fully charged thankfully, looked up green noise, found one that says continuous play with black screen for 12 hours, turned that on and turned the sound up until it drowned out the sound of the unbelievably loud snoring.

It canceled it the entire time, I slept 7 hours and I felt good today.

Ok, so we got up this morning, cleaned up, packed and left by 11:00 am.  Over to the beach for one last time getting in the water. This time, it was just me and the kids and they all got out after I saw a jellyfish.  Like, run for your lives! No thanks.  Takes more that to get me out of the water, but yes, I did get out of the water after being in it for about an hour and a half.

You see, I was out there with the 9 year old, pretty far out actually, he was trying to learn how to use a wake board and I was trying to teach him. Took a while but he started getting the hang of it. At some point, I noticed this very large man attempting to get my attention.  He was yelling something and frantically waving his arms.  You don't have to yell at me very long out in the ocean, especially as far out as we were, to get my attention and get me moving.  I don't know what he was saying, but in case it was sharks, I got the boy and we moved quickly towards the man, towards the shore.  

Sure enough, 2 sharks, large fins sticking well out of the water were spotted numerous times near us and actually closer to the shore than we were!  I'm not a beach person, we go infrequently, I don't care what kind of shark it is, I don't want to be anywhere near them. I didn't panic, exactly, but I got the hell out of the water.  These people all came running up to us, sorry we did that but "the sharks seem pissed off this year biting people everywhere" I never saw them, but the man showed the size of the fins sticking out with his hands and I was decidedly not going back into the water. There was a storm coming anyway, plus it was getting late and it was just time to go.  

Over to Taylor where they were hanging out and they had seen the 2 sharks as well.  I don't have any feelings of "I could have died today" and doom and gloom, I'm just glad I don't have a limb bitten off or in a hospital somewhere.  The boy as well.  He was also done and didn't want to get back in.

Is that going to stop from ever going back into the water? Of course not.  Just nice that people were watching and actually went out of their way to get our attention and get us out of harm's way.  

Well, the adventure continued today. James and Taylor wanted to go off on their own, which was fine by me, they wanted some alone time, we were going to head home.  Just wanted to take that ferry across the bay.  On the way to the ferry point, Taylor asked if we wanted to go to that Naval Museum, I took a poll, 3-1, we one.  So, it's raining heavy, we have to drive through residential area - large one - in Galveston to get over to the road that leads to the place. 

Well, we were in  4 inches of water after turning into there, I didn't think much of it. Then 6 inches, 8 inches, then water all the way up to the step rails on my SUV.  I wanted out of there but we were already in the mess. Small cars low to the ground were getting flooded.  One car driving through it opened their doors!  I ended up getting off the road, those people were all freaking out and went down other residential streets that were completely flooded out.  What have we gotten ourselves into?  

I finally made my way out of it and to a major street where all the cars were sitting up against the center median, some cars were broken down, most of them just sitting there. I had to flip a U-ey to get out of there, but we did, indeed, make it back to the road that leads to the naval museum.  The road goes up onto an  elevated highway which takes you out of that flooded mess, I as surprised more people weren't going that way. That elevated highway takes you out of there, I guess they didn't know it was right there.  

We toured an old sub and an old warship, then headed out of there to the ferry. That highway took us there without hardly any water, a little but nothing near the extent of those residential streets.  The ferry was free, amazingly enough.  Operated by TXDOT, they have several of them moving back and forth all day long. I'd never been on one. Just drive onto it, get out once it starts moving and do some sight seeing.  

Met up with James and Taylor at a restaurant on the other side and then we parted ways. They wanted to stay and have a few drinks, I decided we wanted to go home.  The kids in full agreement, they had lots of fun but it was go, go, go the entire time and they were worn out.  Not 30 minutes later, Taylor calls asking if it would be ok if they stayed another night?  Not ready for vacation to be over and just those 2 alone, I thought that was a great idea for them so I readily agreed.  

We're home now, I'm letting the kids play video games for a bit - they weren't allowed to take them on the trip - and then they are going to bed and I'm hopefully going to get as good a night's sleep as I ever get. I can't really complain too much about last night tho, that noise "barrier" worked great and I don't wonder if I should try doing that again even at home?  I might.  There is nothing tomorrow, I have no plans to get up early for anything like we have the last 3 days.  

I wasn't paying hardly any attention to the political chaos going on right now, my mom actually contacted me via text and asked "are you watching this?".  Huh?  Biden dropped out of the race.  I'm not getting into that now, I will catch up on everything tomorrow.  I've only seen that Kamala wants the nomination, lmao, Manchin is talking about running and who knows if this might reinsert JFK into the mix?  

So that's it for now. It's late and I want to go to bed. There are details in the trip I forgot but not going to go there now, time for bed.  

 Friday - early

Lmao.  It got ridiculous last night to the point I just let them know how I felt about the situation and ended my end of the conversation. The "lady" had to have the last words, of course, but what she said had me busting out laughing this morning.  I should transcribe the text here to get the full measure and dose of the influx of a woman's anger about something that if she had the sense of a dead cow, she would understand that what she texted to me? Made her look l like a sluggard, a family full of people that can't be bothered to get up off their @$$ and go out and do something about their situation.

"Today has been the first time I have left the RV since the 4th" was part of the text.  Today is the 19th.  LOLOL. She just admitted they haven't got the motivation of a sloth to do something about their miserable existence.  She said that Allen does nothing but "snitch" to me all the time. Yes, yes indeed he does, I encouraged him to after he started telling the the things he sees and hears. 

Some things I will ask the people involved about, other things I let go.  He's on the same page as me, if I'm letting something go, he doesn't pursue it any further.  "You have to pick your battles" I tell him and also said right now, the battle is to get these people gone.  2 things I will say that annoy me are people throwing cigarette butts all over the place and people parking on the grass.  I'm not sure which one annoys me more, I think it's fairly equal.  But if you start getting into people's faces, you risk the result of losing people and it takes time to replace them.  I had 3 empty lots for several weeks before all of a sudden, they were filled back up again.

I am facing losing at least 2, maybe 3 more right now.  It's just the way it goes, of course, the dynamics of an RV park are much different than what you see in a mobile home park. People love to compare the 2 but in reality, they are nowhere near the same thing.  You can't just hook up to your mobile home and move it the same day to another mobile home park.  Etc, I could go on about the differences but I'm sure you can surmise what I am talking about. 

Anyway, we are leaving soon, just wanted to get something thrown on here.  The Sheriff went to their trailer last night - I don't know why they called them excepting I had told them that if they follow through with their plan to "get their trailer out of there and if they damage that other trailer, it's not their fault" I immediately told them if they do that, I'll call the sheriff out there and give him/her your names.  Apparently they decided they would call the Sheriff on me, I guess? I don't care, I didn't say anything beyond business to them.  

The point was, they decided to leave today instead of Saturday, tomorrow.  I had contacted the owner of the trailer and informed him last week they were planning on moving out Saturday.  Now, these people say they are leaving Friday so I contacted him again, if you don't want your trailer damaged, I'd move it out of their way.  

Drama. Just what I don't need or want. 

Just a few more things.  Watched the speech, well I watched a little bit of it, it was a bit odd they had Trump giving his speech at 10:00 pm last night.  I mean, that's too late for me, I had to go to bed.  But, he gave his rendition of what happened during the assassination attempt. You could see on his face it had affected him greatly. That or he's a great actor, but I don't think he was acting.  They panned to people with tears running down their faces. I'm sure the left will say  that was all staged...whatever. But after that he went on into stuff I"ve heard him say continuously and didn't feel the need to hear it again, I understand his intended policies and have seen him in action already. 

The kids? They were just awakened since we are leaving. I need to get my thermos filled with coffee and things are moving quickly, so, I am out of here!

G'day