On Friday, in the tablet for the loads to take, there was one load in the "available" slot.  I accepted it, this was early morning, wanted to be sure I got that in before they got the day rolling and handing out assignments for the weekend.  It wasn't really a choice, you take those or you get a label attached to you and not a nice label at all.  It's whatever, it would have been 2 full weekends working in a row. Instead, I got Saturday working but Sunday off, which happened to align with Father's Day. Yes, I am a father.  

Normally, they put the loads in the "accepted" slot, meaning it's assigned.  I kind of wondered about it Friday, but since I accepted the available load, it didn't matter. When I looked in the tablet again yesterday, there was a load assigned for Tuesday, nothing for this weekend. 

I thought it odd because when I was at the delivery plant yesterday, one tank was almost empty and the other had enough room for a truckload and a half.  My company didn't contact me, I don't care. It's on them to deal with their end of the bargain, I certainly put up with enough s*** on my end.  

So, when the phone rang this morning directly before leaving for church and saw that it was my manager, I knew exactly what was going on before I even answered the phone. He was going to ask me if I'm loading today, I'm going to say no, he's going to say well you're scheduled, I'm going to say no I'm not, there's nothing in the tablet.  Then the conversation would go on from there and I would say that there was no communication about it, it's not in the tablet, tough, no, I will not go load today. 

NOT SORRY. 

I was direct about it, if you want me to work and you know about it, LET ME KNOW IN ADVANCE.  After he asked if I would load today and I said nope, I went on to the fact I'm on my way to church and I have other plans. I'm going to be a dad who sits at the house and does much of nothing after I leave church, I thought but certainly didn't say to him.  I figured I had been direct enough, I don't want him thinking I'm being spiteful or disrespectful, but please.  

I don't know who did what, I sent him a pic of the tablet and what's in it - the one load for Tuesday, nothing before then. He didn't want to see it, he said he believed me but I sent that photo anyway.  I have no problem saying no nowadays.  I used to think you should just stop whatever you're doing and help them out - and I will if it's an emergency and I think it warrants me abandoning whatever I'm doing - but this was no emergency and wasn't created by me. 

The alternative wasn't much better but I accepted it for the customer will get pissed if we don't deal with it and for now, I'm sticking with this job until I find something that fits me better.  I will have to go wash out, load AND deliver tomorrow.  I certainly hope I sleep well tonight, I'm going to need it.  

Whatever the alternative was going to be, I wasn't going to just drop my plans for today. 

 Sunday - morning

So, I am home alone.  Until Friday I do believe.  I'm doing anything different, lol. I was supposed to work today but they took that out of my tablet and dumped a load for me on Tuesday.  I'm curious, tho, if they made a mistake on my load? They put it into a section on the tablet that is for drivers to determine whether they want the load or not.  They do do that sometimes, but not very often.  I opted to take it for what else is there to do? Church, sure, but other than that, there is just working at the property or seeing if folks are free to hang out with.  

I don't feel like hanging out with anyone.  In fact, I want to do a nice cleaning of my room. I already scrubbed the kitchen, it was sort of a mess. I am going to church today, I don't really feel like it tho. I'd rather just sit here and think about things. 

And now we have the Iran-Israel war.  We all knew this was coming, basically inevitable. The Iranian government enacts their evil in the name of religion, enabling them to mercilessly kill innocent humans all over the region.  We all know they do this through proxies, just another name for the IRGC.  Netanyahu has been hinting at military action against Iran for some time now and declaring their right to self preservation regardless of what anyone thinks. 

I agree with them on that stance and also that they are allegedly only targeting military complexes in Iran, not civilian populations. No surprise that Iran is just bombing indiscriminately the entirety of Israel and likely gleefully killing civilians.  It's the government in Iran that's evil, the citizenry is more against their own government than for it, at least if you believe the news reporting going on for decades now.  

Trump is no perfect man, but he's many levels higher in his ability to deal with world leaders and see things as they really are than Harris or Biden.  I can't even imagine the world scene right now with a Harris presidency.  Does anyone really believe the Cackling Clown could handle what's going on right now?  Everything is a huge joke to her, I think that was half of the reason she didn't get elected. She takes nothing seriously.

Trump, however, is dead stone serious about Israel, Iran, Russian, China, Ukraine etc.  he has a vision with the tariffs,, whether they work fully to the goals set remains to be seen, but the world has certainly stood up and taken notice.  

What's the end game for Israel?  I don't know how this conflict ends. If the US is dragged into this via Iran hitting any US assetts, it is likely game over for them if you believe Trump and his words spoken at the military parade about this situation.  

On to more mundane things.  A couple that has been living in the park maybe 6 months now asked for a deal to cut the grass and other tidying up things in exchange for rent.  She is allegedly looking for a job. I do have a heart so I agreed to it, spelling out the terms of the deal and that this is a one time thing only, it won't be extended for another month.  I made that crystal clear.  I also tripled the amount of work they initially asked to do.  For lot rent, they are doing more than a few hours of work, thanks.  

They aren't going to get any leniency either.  I want i done the way I want it done.  

I called the septic company again.  The man that is in charge of getting things done said he has no idea what is holding this up.  What? You basically run the office aspect of this company for the owner.  I just stopped short, became rather curt with him and said give me a call when you find out and hung up on him.  I then texted the owner, told him I'm moving on and then put a request in the local business/gossip facebook page asking for a reputable septic company.  A bunch of people tagged this owner and his company who came on there and said give us a call at X number!  

I didn't respond to anything but the people who said another local company was much better.  

A few hours later, the owner texted me and apologized. He said he didn't know it was my post until just now that he had responded to and informed me that RV parks are harder to get permitted now. Some new person is working at the county demanding plans and wanting more paperwork than is necessary. I'd say it's an implant from a democrat run city.....they like to make things harder than necessary and also more costly.  People get into power trips and think they know the best way to do things....He promised he'd find out what's up and that was that. It was Friday afternoon, I don't expect to hear anything until Monday at least.  I want to know if I need to do whatever to get this thing rolling, it's getting ridiculous. We're talking a septic system here, not a Space X rocket.  

The power company has already green lighted everything.  I'll be out there tomorrow to find out the size wire I need to run from the power company pedestal to my setup and get busy with that program.  I can get the power turned on to it, which will motivate me to get this thing rolling even more, let's go!  

I think that's about it.  I am home with a dog,  3 cats, fish and no one else lol.  

I'll go to church this morning but whether I go out to eat remains up in the air.  Not as much fun going alone.  I'm not feeling sorry for myself, not at all.  Just that we have ample amount of food to prepare here per the diet we are on.  I want to eat that stuff before it goes bad, it won't last until the other guy gets back the end of this coming week. 

Almost 2 weeks into this diet, I can't really say I see any changes and I haven't weighed myself at all.  But the food I am eating is definitely far more healthy for the body than the stuff I was eating before. 

Well, on to other things.  I think I will start cleaning after I get home today.  

 Thursday - morning

They offer use of desktop computers at this hotel, tho the keyboard is really bad.  And it's really slow, lol.

Anyway, they are still fixing the truck including installing a new windshield on the driver's side, I doubt they are going to be done before noon. I plan on staying at this hotel all the way up to checkout, which is noon.  When I get back over there, they are going to have to be as far along as they are going to get, I will need to be leaving. 

I want to see my friends off.  One of them will be gone a month, the other a week.  Yes, I will have the house to myself for an entire week while everyone is off on vacation.

Now that Swepco has informed me I can move along with that portion of the project, I need to dig up the cable a bit and find out what kind and size they are using. Then I can go buy however much of it I need and have that ready to go. I have the conduit already but I forgot to get the cement to seal it together.  

BTW, I'm sitting front of a window with the view of the indoor swimming pool they have here, it's empty lol. I was thinking about taking a swim, that thought has been dashed.  Why would you have an empty pool at any time of the year when it's indoors? 

Oh, I guess I can just open the panel on one of the meters and find out what size cable it is there instead of digging up the dirt lol.  

I'm not going to sit here long and I am not going to do too much on this computer, it's a public use computer and tho I am sure my info is scrapped when I shut it off, I don't trust it.  I can see personal stuff like bank accounts on my phone anyways. 

Other than that, I am still waiting to hear back from the contractor about the septic system.  I texted him yesterday, I am supposing he will call me back today after he finds out.  As I have stated, I knew this would take time to get this stuff even started, I did not expect it to take this long.  It didn't help his contractor flew off to Africa, lol.  I saw an ad from another local septic installer, he makes it clear he is "a little more expensive than everyone else" because of the "special" tanks he uses.  I'd rather have the old fashioned concrete ones, they pretty much last forever. 

I'll wait before paying a "little" more.  When a salesperson says something like that, you pretty much assume that means a LOT more.  

Alright, well it's 8:40 am and I'm going to see if they sell combs here. Forgot to bring one yesterday : )

 Wednesday - evening 

I’m on my phone so this isn’t going to be a long post. 

I’m up in El Dorado overnight waiting on the shop to fix a plethora of issues. I started texting with the mechanic this morning about everything that needs done and I jusy kept remembering more and more things. 

I do not have my laptop with me hence the phone entry. Anyway, the stuff that needs to be brought into DOT compliance will be resolved. Windshield replacement, fender replacement, fix an electrical short that was causing some lights not to work, landing gear fixed and more  

I found out yesterday that this company does not reimburse for medical card renewal. It’s not terribly expensive, I think around $100 but I’ve never heard of a company that doesn’t pay for it. 

The power company engineer just called and said it m good to go. Not only that, but I don’t have to b pay a contractor to run the wiring from their pedestal to my 200 amp service. Just run the wire yourself and leave 2  extra feet for them to be able to connect to their system.

That is amazing news for it was going to bust me a few thousand dollars to pay the contractor to do it. I’ll still have to rent a mini ex to trench it, but I can also dig out the rest of the trenching to the 2 or 3 lots I’m starting out with and also trench along the main driveway. 

Those rentals are for 24 hours I can do a lot more than just the 15 feet between their pedestal and my 200 amp service meter. 

BTW, I’ve turned away several people in the last few days. It slowed down for a while but it’s picked back up again. My place is full and the sooner I get more lots in, the sooner I can get even more lots in. 

That’s all for today. I don’t feel like pushing these tiny buttons in the phone. I have my Nintendo Switch with me, been here for several hours but didn’t feel like playing. That’s changed lol and I’m going to play a few rounds of Battle Royale. 

 Monday - mid morning

I have to admit I didn't go to bed until 1 am last night.  I was getting too absorbed in playing the season of Fortnite, I didn't have to work today and there was some serious weather going on outside. All perfect elements to just relax and chill.  And because of that, I didn't get up until almost 9:00 am, lol, just a little while ago.  

My plans to mow again today were dashed by the excessive rain last night.  The grass will be wet and it's just going to have to wait.  I probably can get some tractor time in on that mound I have been ignoring for a week since I last was slowly moving the dirt.  So I might get out there today and resume that operation for a few hours anyway.

But really, I'm fresh off of working 6 days in a row.  I did go to Applebee's yesterday - but late.  It was 5:30 pm by the time I got there, yesterday was a real mess.  Let's get into that.  2 days ago, I sent a message to this new driver asking him when he would be arriving at the plant in Gurdon. I asked because he had shown up at the trailer washout at just before 10 am 2 days ago when he should have been at the loading plant. 

I got a message from him at 7:57 am yesterday morning: I'm leaving at 8 and will be up there at 11.  Wut.  This dude is first load and not showing up until 11?  I became irritated quickly. Apparently, appointment times are mere suggestions to this individual. If I had known that the night before, I would have just gotten up at my first load time, been up there and gone before he even showed up.  That threw the entire day off. 

When I arrived up there at past 11 am, he was only half empty!  He came over and said he was trying to get out of my way, but he couldn't get the pressure up.  I got out of the truck, walked over and confirmed it was only at 21 PSI, far below what he needed to get that product out of there quickly.  I asked him several questions and then headed inside the plant, asking him to show me how he was turning on the air pressure, for I found the problem immediately: the air pressure handle was only partially open.  

He pointed at a blue handle and said that's how he was doing it, he didn't mess with anything else.  It turns out, no one trained him up there.  He didn't know how to operate the pressure and he didn't know how to turn on the water.  He claims that someone at the plant actually told him that they don't use water anymore and no one cleans out the line after they are done delivering. 

That is, of course, utterly and completely false.  If we don't clear out the lines, the glue is just going to sit in them and dry up.  Over time, it will close in to the point that delivering will take hours and at some point, nothing will go through them.  He didn't seem to understand this.  I made it exceedingly clear that the lines need to be flushed out every single time.  Anyway, I got the pressure up to 35 pounds and it took about 20 minutes to offload the rest of the glue.  

Yesterday was a bust.  By the time I got back, I just decided I was going to go to Applebee's anyway even if I didn't go to church.   I sat down in my usual spot, took a pic of the empty seat beside me and sent it to the 10 year old - I'm at Applebee's and sent him the pic.  He sent back a teary eyed emote and said he wished he was there.  He only wanted to stay at the grandparents for a week, we are at 2 weeks as of today I think.

He will be even more surprised to find out he isn't coming home at all after that.  They are going to take the kids to Texarcana where they are going to drop them with the parents and then they are going straight to Colorado.  Which reminds me....

Ok, just sent the vacation dates to the manager. I'm going July 1-8.  I now have to decide whether I am going to drive there or fly.  It's a hard decision for flying is obviously faster, but driving gives me a vehicle while I'm there and 8 days is an awfully long period of time not to have wheels available. Renting cars nowadays is an extremely expensive proposition.  I'm leaning towards driving even tho I absolutely hate driving. It would be better if I had a traveling companion to keep me company, that's just not going to happen.  

There will be no hotel expenses, I think. I have been offered a room in her dad's house.  They have stayed in my bedroom in the past, so I really don't think it's a bad tradeoff. When I was working for that other company and out on the road all the time, I would just allow guests visiting my friends to take my room.  If I narrow this trip down to just gas and eating, it's not going to cost much. However, there are the recreational things...I want to go to the mountains, I haven't been in ages and they are right there. At least one day trip.  I want to see if I can connect with old friends that live in Denver.  And then whatever else is to do in Aurora and Denver areas, I will be looking into that today.  

I'm actually excited about the prospect of having some time off and not having to drive that damn truck every day.  Yesterday got worse, tho.  I informed my manager that this driver hadn't been trained and he got quite testy with me.  I shoved it right back at him, I will not tolerate a manager talking to me like that with information that is vital to the operation.  This isn't petty or minor stuff, not flushing out the lines can cause serious problems..  After I got testy back at him, he called me and went into this thing about how he is getting too many calls - which is why I texted him, it helps, I know this for a fact with this business I'm running - to not get burnt out.

I suspect that's what he's experiencing: burnout.  He hasn't had a vacation in almost 2 years.  There is only one other person in the office to help run it and he says she can't handle the pressure of having to deal with drivers literally all night long. When you get super burned out, good luck getting rid of it.  Whatever it is that's burning you out, you need an extended time away from it  He said another person finally showed up from Oregon that can take over the office while he's gone.  I at least understand where he's coming from, he's just tired of getting phone calls literally all day AND night long.  I rarely bother him and when I do, it's always a text.  

I was discussing this with another driver who said he got testy with him a few days ago as well.  It's all signs that the man needs to get away from the  desk, turn off the ringer and get some serious time off.

Meanwhile, I still haven't heard from Swepco.  I am going to call them yet again today.  I have no idea what's going on with the permit and the engineer and all of that nonsense, I will be texting the owner of the company a few days from now and see what's up. He said last week that the dude that approves plans will be coming back Monday, which is today.

I figured there would be a process to this, I didn't figure on all of this garbage delaying everything.  

So that's it for now.  I'm just sitting here enjoying a nice hot cuppa, thinking about what I might get done today - if anything, I'm feeling pretty unmotivated right now - and think I will start looking at what's to do in the Denver area. 

Fortnite live event!

 Saturday - evening 

If you came here looking for what I am discussing about Fortnite, skip the first 3 paragraphs.  

I don't really want to go too much into today's junk. It's just another day of trucking with all the bs that goes with it.  The biggest nonsense was showing up to the trailer washout at almost 10:00 am and finding the first load driver sitting there also waiting for the washout people to show up - you have to call them in on weekends and I had called 10 minutes before this guy called them.  I'm like, this dude should be at the plant getting loaded by now, not sitting here at the washout.  

The other thing notable is it's getting very warm in that truck.  I want it fixed and I discussed it a little while ago with my manager.  He said some things - good things - but things I won't divulge here since it's the WWW and who knows who's reading this blog. Not that anyone could definitively identify who I am I guess, but the company knows I have an RV park.  So there is that.  

He also suggested I bring the truck up on Monday - my day off after what will be 6 days in a row working after tomorrow  - so I kind of didn't go for that - at all.  He also gave me insight on vacations: of course you can take a week off, just give me enough time in advance to get another driver to take your place while you're gone.  10-4.  Plenty of time for that, I need to make  a decision on that.  Soon.

Today was the Fortnite live event!  I've been looking forward to this. Today was the end of the Star Wars theme with all of the wonderful, cool and funny things that this shortened season had to offer.  

My favorite aspect of all of it was Darth Vader.  You could to go an island filled with red trees and a hangout for Vader up on top, get into a battle with him and if you win, you get to have him on your team!  His typical insults and quips are hilarious.  I had him with me or us (if playing other than solos) at least 30 times. I would ask him all kinds of questions. Stupid, intellectual, mathematical, meaning of life stuff and I would get the usual stuff from him that I expect, lol.  

The other thing was the Star Destroyer.  It's this GIANT ship that would shop up in the skies, it must have been at least a 4th the size of the entire map! When it came available, a pop up would show the portal is open and then if you got there first, you and your entire squad would get into it and shoot lasers from the ship and destroy the portion of the map you were hovering over, including enemies combatants.  

Well and another thing I liked were the Light Sabers.  A character from Star Wars would show up - several different ones - all over the map. You get to one, go into the portal and it gives you a light saber. They all had different abilities - push, pull, throw, and the one I liked the most:  lightning.  

Anyway, today's event,, which is now over, was hyped up for quite a while in advance. I was letting my nephew know about it because he's on vacation at his grandparent's house and he wouldn't have any way to keep up with it - he loves Fortnite.  So I let him know in advance about today's event, he could ask his grandparents if they'd let him get on to be a part of it.  I kept reminding him and finally, today, the grandpa relented with his plans to take them fishing and let him be a part of the event. 

They have plenty of time, btw, to go fishing, they (both nephews) are going to be there for another 2 weeks I think.  

 Friday - afternoon

Just got home from Arkansas delivery.  The trip was going uneventful - besides the usual idiots driving on public highways who have no more business operating a motor vehicle than a dead man has telling people how to live - and it happened. 

I see this shiny metal flashing out my side mirror, going under the trailer tandems (tires) and then spit out the side.  It was a fender on the tractor that decided it was just going to up and depart from the truck.  I was very fortunate that there wasn't anyone passing me, that might have been ugly.  

No damage to the truck or if there was, it wasn't of any concern, I got back in the truck after pulling over to inspect any damage and in case any vehicles that were nearby wanted to contest anything and drove back to my yard.  

James was on the roof of a person's 5th wheel applying a coat of sealant.  We got to talking, he'd love to just come work for me after I get the business up and established at the 56 lot number, if I do indeed ever get it there.  I told him that at that point, I'd need help anyway - but - there will be no benefits.  I mean, possibly there could be depending on the income, but I can't make those promises right now.  I can't even promise I'll ever get the place up to 56 units, that's a dream, a goal, but is it realizable? Only time will tell.   

Taylor invited me to spend a week with them in Colorado.  I hadn't even thought of such a thing, I figured they were gone for a good portion of the summer and that was that. I didn't even say I'd think about it, I replied I would ask my manager about getting an entire week off to feel out how they might think of it.  

I'd love to go tho, I love Colorado, I've spent a few vacations there and I've driven through it countless times. The Rockies are beautiful and I haven't been in the mountains in quite a long time.  TOO long.  I think I'd have to start walking again every day just to get into good enough condition to be able to go on hikes with the kids.  

I'm giving it serious consideration.  I would have to get a few things determined first. Such as - drive there or fly?  It's a 15 hour drive, much cheaper than flying.. or is it? I'm seeing round trip from the airport 40 miles away at $358.  That's very basic and doesn't include the checked luggage, but that's not that bad.  I won't have to pay for a hotel and so the only things I'd be paying for after airfare is eating and recreation.  Recreation, of course, can be expensive if you want to do things at amusement parks or similar attractions.  

I'm gonna think about it, but not for too long. I'll have to make a decision quick and then ask for the time off.  I dunno what they think about giving a week off.  I also want to spend a 3 or 4 day period with my mom in September if I can make that work, specifically: be there for her 90th birthday!  

I just got "proposed valuation" for this year from the county tax office. They have appraised it much higher than last year.  Like, ridiculous.  Where are they coming up with this nonsense?  The thing is, if I try to fight it - they sent the proposed valuation and a form to fill out if you want to fight it - would I end up with a worse horror story about them raising it even higher? What are they basing these numbers off of?  What makes that property worth that much more than last year? There have been no additional upgrades to it since then. It's just the lots and a 12X20 shed/building/whatever you want to call it.  

Such things annoy me and cause me to get distracted. I'll have to raise lot rent if I get hammered with higher property taxes.  I know they'll raise it once I add more lots, but this is a bit ridiculous.  

I dunno.  I'm going to take a nap right now.  I didn't sleep well last night tho I was definitely in deep sleep when that damned alarm went off this morning.  Tomorrow won't be so bad. I have to work this weekend but it's the second load.  It'll be the first time in quite a while that I miss church.  

 Tuesday - afternoon

The owner of the septic business called me earlier today. 

This guy is above board, doesn't make up stories and is level headed.  He's chill, laid back, doesn't let a lot bother him.

He told me that after I had called him, he found out that the person that they send their designs to for septic systems - not a part of his company a separate entity - has taken a trip to Africa.  "I sometimes don't find out about things until after it happens and I start getting phone calls".  Now he understands why he doesn't have anything lined up for the next month or so.

The design person is allegedly coming back on Monday.

He then told me that the county is forcing business to give a development plan with any of these projects.  This county is pretty lax, having them impose themselves on people like this may cause quite a lot of inconvenience, but more importantly: money.  

He said he's going to try and get her to approve it anyway since it's an existing business. I hope so.  

Swepco? Nothing. I'll be calling them again shortly.  

Dish? Came out.  Bad connection on the line.  I don't believe in having to be responsible for rented equipment or the lines that provide that equipment the input it needs to be able to work.  It's a scam and I told them - on the phone anyway not the tech - that right to their ear drums.  The techs are usually cool and I don't give them a lot of hassle. I don't really want to give the people on the phone a hassle either, but they won't shut up about stuff I don't want to hear about.

In this case, it was the insurance.  I don't want your insurance.  Fix this for free or shut off the service.  I had to literally interrupt the lady yesterday, she just kept going on about the insurance.  I said:"If you don't approve this tech coming for free right now, go ahead and cancel this service, RIGHT NOW".  This after I asked her over and over to please stop trying to sell me insurance.

Anyway, it's fixed and I didn't pay anything for the service.  I've been paying them for years, ridiculous to me that they think I should have to pay them to fix their system.  Even the lines, yes.  

I got done early today.  I got to the plant, they got me right in and loaded me right away. I was back to the Park by 12:15 pm, which is really good.  

Day 2 of the diet. I now know it's called an alkaline diet and will be doing ample research on it.  Low on proteins, high on fruits and vegetables. 

 Let the diet begin.

I didn't eat until 3:30 this afternoon - which is a few minutes ago - because I wasn't hungry until I got home.  It consisted of 1/4 cup of protein mix, which has nuts and raisins and things in it,  a plain slice of toast, an apple and a few berries.  It was actually filling, I do not feel hungry at all right now.

If I were to stay on a diet like this consisting of this kind of food, I would definitely lose weight over time.  I think.  

Dinner will be wild rice with some fruit.  No eating 4 hours before bedtime.  It's about as plain jane of a diet as you can get? I think so.  Calories severely limited, that in and of itself should cause weight loss.  

If you can imagine calling about the septic permit and finding out they haven't even sent it into the state yet, the surprise and near shock to find this out after somewhere around 40 days time passed.  In other words, they just filed it somewhere and forgot about it.  I had to stop myself from getting angry.  

I informed the man on the phone that if they don't have time for it, I will find someone else to do the install.  He said no, he'll contact his boss to contact you. Well I know his boss and he hasn't contacted me so I just texted him.  

Then, I find out Swepco engineer was given the ticket for my project 35 days ago. He was supposed to call me to set up a time to meet out there - which he didn't do. The lady apologized and said she'd send him an email to please expedite. 

Incredible nonsense, both of them? The power company and the septic place?  I'll be calling them every day now until I get the results I need.  If they don't want me calling them, get the s*** done like you said you would.  Just ridiculous.

I also called Dish Network. I absolutely abhor calling them, I know what kind of runaround I'll get and I was not let down in the department today.  I simply asked them to send out a tech, we've done all the troubleshooting that can be done without tech support actually coming out here.  3 different people and the last one wasn't that helpful. She insisted I had to pay for it unless I get their insurance program.

I don't want your insurance program.  We haven't had tv for 3 weeks now, I want a tech to come out, fix this problem and I want it for free.  We went back and forth on that one for probably 30 minutes before I had had enough. "Either get me a tech out here for free or cancel the account right now".  I was dead serious about it too, I don't even care that much about satellite anymore.  She hemmed and hawed and I just shot back that I want this situation resolved either way, I've wasted enough time on the phone with you.

Tomorrow, they are sending out a tech for free and no, I didn't sign up for their insurance scam.  She asked me how it could be a scam? Because most people will not even have to use it, meaning your company is making money off of this insurance, I replied to which she agreed but thought that absolutely normal.

No, thank you. I remember the days before insurance and they sent out techs - for free. I pay enough money for their service, I'm not paying for an insurance program for THEIR equipment.  She apparently hadn't run into too many people like me. I just wanted it over with and she couldn't understand why I didn't want to listen to her endlessly droning on about insurance and blah blah blaaaahhhhhhh.  

Now for today's other doings, namely: going to get a trailer.  I was informed a dude that was on our detail delivering glue is being reassigned so I am to go to a washout facility in Haughton and pick up an empty trailer.  

Skipping straight to the point: The trailer air pressure gauge was broken.  No way to know how much pressure is in there while delivering.  The tank was pressurized with air - big no no.  It should be bled off immediately after offloading.  The driver dropped the tanker in the washout yard but didn't tell them about it.  In other words, it didn't get washed out and it would have never gotten washed out, it would have just sat their indefinitely.  And, this driver had put clear tape over a marker light on the rear of the trailer to hold it in place - versus buying the rubber grommet that is supposed to be there.  I told my manager all of this, yes I did.

I don't care if the driver gets mad that I snitched, this is absolute incompetence. 

I had to stop in Bossier on the way back to pick up a new air pressure gauge, which I will install tomorrow.  I don't deliver until Wednesday, which is when I'll need it to know how much pressure is in the tanker at any given time.

Enough for now. 

 Monday - mid morning

I have heard nothing from the manager about a trailer.  Not sure I expected to.  I'll wait for him to call me, but I won't be waiting all day long. I have stuff to do at the property - lots of stuff to do - work can wait until they get it figured out.

"It" being a trailer. As noted in previous entry, my trailer is broken down, another trailer is out of inspection, the inspection facility it's parked at lost their accreditation to do such inspections and another trailer is waiting on license plates to arrive. 

I will guess that either the trailer I've been pulling or the one with missing plates will be the one I end up taking.  When? I: have no idea.  When are the plates expected to arrive? I would like to think very soon?  I don't run that company, if I did, some of this wouldn't have happened. Especially the facility that they own losing it's accreditation simply because the "due date" for them to reregister came and went? I don't have the full story though, pretty sure there's more to it.

Meanwhile. today marks the first day of a new diet that I didn't even know I was going to be doing until yesterday evening. I heard a remark about James starting a new diet and I was all over that - I'll do it with you!  They went to Walmart for weekly shopping and when they got back, he gave me the run down.

Lots of fruits, some nuts, salads, salmon and tuna are the only things on his meat list.  2 meals a day at most.  He doesn't actually need to lose weight, he is experimenting with the diet for the purpose of trying to get a clearer mind.  I do think the junk we Americans shove down our throats isn't exactly good for us, but it sure does taste good!  l'm especially suspicious of all the chemicals they dump into the everyday foods we eat.  It's hard to find stuff without them. I think organic vegetables are pesticide and everything else free?  

I'm already only eating 2 meals a day, but the dinner meal is usually pretty heavy with meat and pastas and such.  That will be a drastic change -but one that's definitely needed.  I need to dump some serious weight and get my cholesterol count down. 

Unbelievable.  I paid that fee - $650 -  what, 35/40 days ago? for that septic system. I just got off the phone with them.  "We still have to do the design for the system". WHAT?!!!  I became a little agitated right off the bat. "It's been at least 35 days since I was in there, filled out the paperwork, I would have thought you would have had this done long before now".  He acknowledged the frustration, but I took it further: "If you all are too busy to do this job, I'll go find someone else'. 

That's not a threat, it's reality.  I can't believe I've been waiting this long on this permit only to find out they've done literally nothing.   

I'm calling SWEPCO as well - but I know they take forever.  They are in no hurry, they'll get to it when they get to it.  Nothing I can do about that.  Well, except call and light a fire under their feet. 

The septic people are allegedly going to call me back, if I don't get a call today I will be calling them and asking for my money back. There are other players in the region that install new systems...

My credit score for Equifax has  jumped 76 points since I paid down the credit cards.  I haven't paid everything down yet that I want to, but I'm ahead of what I would normally be paying if it's just paying the credit card monthly payments and the 2 loans. Those loans are gone and that was almost $700 a month right there.  Another $900 for the credit cards I've already paid down, so yes, I'm already "saving" money.  Actually am, the interest rates are so high right now it's ridiciulous.

As it stands, with the new credit scores, I am being offered much better rates.  The catch 22 is I couldn't get the better rates without getting the loan with higher interest rate than what I got.  I need to read the fine print on it and see if I can pay it off early without any attached fees.  

Not much else.  I have been moving that dirt pile, I've spent a couple days on it.  Still plenty to go. That tractor isn't huge and it has a smallish bucket, so it's a lot of moving back and forth between piles.  I intend on doing at least a couple more hours of it today if I am not going to get a trailer. I am only home this late because I was having trouble waking up this morning.

Like, I woke up rather early but I was totally groggy.  I went back to sleep, woke up again later on, still groggy. Went back to sleep again - groggy and finally ended up forcing myself out of bed.  I'm hoping this new diet will have the intended effect, tho apparently even if you stick with it, it will take awhile for that to happen.  I think fasting will also help with that. I have already been doing intermittent fasting - my last meal of any given day will be around 6:30ish and then I won't eat again until the next afternoon and sometime not until the next evening. 

Starting the pushups back up was harder than I thought and some days I only do 20-40 of them.  I just forget about it and go to bed, remember after I get into bed and think, well I'm not doing them now.  Too late for that.  I'm getting there and once I get back to the 100 per day on a regular basis, I will add more stuff to the regimen.  

I think that's about it. There is plenty of politics to discuss. I just am tired of the mudslinging. The anti-Semitic nonsense is only ramping up more now with an alleged terror attack?  We're no long talking a disagreement and a difference of opinions, now we're into the violence.  It won't be long before a counter group comes along to take the law into their own hands to smack down these people engaging in the violence.  I'm not advocating for that, it's just human nature. I advocate for peace, frankly. I can see Israel defending it's own borders and I know they aren't - or believe anyway - they aren't committing any acts of genocide.

That is the narrative the far left news media, politicians and other people in high places are pushing into the minds of gullible believers.  These people completely ignore the reason this war started in the first place: Hamas killing 1,500 innocent civilians.  They don't care, they firmly believe Israel wants to eradicate the Palestinians from the face of the earth.  If that were true, wouldn't Israel simply have destroyed the entirety of the strip by now? If they didn't care about who dies, they would have just started indiscriminate bombing of everything over there and this thing would already be done and over with.

Well that's enough for now.  I'm going to call Swepco and Dish - our service isn't working and it constantly says "acquiring signal" - we've checked everything, the wiring somewhere is toast and they need to come replace it. That or cancel the service.  

 Saturday - morning

Sitting in my bedroom, watching the news, they are still going on about Biden's autopen and who was in control of it, ie: who was running the country?   Well I don't believe Biden was in control of everything. That's all I will say about that, I will let this investigation pan out and see what becomes of it.  

Anyway, today I was supposed to have off, then yesterday told I was needed for work for a person that called in sick.  Then the problem with the trailer. Then the problem with the trailer I went to get.  They're down at least 3 trailers right now.  The one I was using is the only one that shows any hope of actually being able to use again, unfortunately.  I don't know where that sick driver is, but it is in the company's best interests to send  a driver to wherever that person parks their truck and take that trailer from them.  

But, I don't run that company neither do I want to.  Apparently the washout in Arkansas license expired and they haven't renewed it for unknown reasons. Meaning they can't inspect trailers and they can't enter trailers.  Well just do it like the other washout and don't enter the trailers.  Just use wands to clean them out.  I tried suggesting that to the dude yesterday and he just shrugged me off. It was after that I realized the trailer I was taking is out of inspection and the loading plant will not load a trailer that is out of Visual inspection.  

So, Monday, who knows what will happen? I am left hanging up in the air with no direction. That's pretty much what the company does and I do not like it. 

________________

10 hours later.

Went to Lowe's, got some supplies, over to the property. Replaced a bad circuit breaker on one of the pedestals and then proceeded to start spraying weed killer around the pedestals.  I did most of those but wanted to get some driveway work on the tractor in, which I did and then resumed working on removing that giant mound of dirt.  

I think I'm about half done with that, also had James over to show him how to use the tractor.  The coolant reservoir cap is missing, the reservoir is empty because it all just gets splashed out of there and consequently, it starts to over heat when you are pushing it for power.  I ended up ordering this tiny, plastic cap for $22.  

And now that I've done that, I thought, I could have just rigged something on there.  Oh well.  I don't want to burn up the engine and I don't know if that thing has any protective shut down stuff on it, probably not considering it's age.  It runs strong, just needs that cap so I can fill the thing up with coolant and work it away. 

I've got James on board with me, we looked over the land and determined approximate places for lot sites, I got 7 of them identified and that was that.  I need to measure it all out and paint mark it. 

So, there is a decent start on that project.  I have a person moving in tonight or tomorrow, probably tomorrow since he said he might not make it until 9 pm and probably will stop somewhere along the way, the other is just coming to make a deposit. I'm no longer holding lots for long term without a non-refundable deposit.  You want it, you can have it, but you're going to pay a portion of the lot rent in advance. If you decide you don't want it and I've turned a dozen people away? Yeah - no.

 The lots that will be created along the drive way will be 90 degree back ins.  I was going to make them angled ... it won't work with the trees I want to keep up.  I haven't gotten to the other 7, that's a ways off and a lot more money.  It will mean creating a whole new driveway.  

 Friday - night

It's getting late, almost 10 pm, but I am just not ready to go to bed. Today was one of those days.  

Got up early, got out of the house, got myself up to the plant in Arkansas.  The truck was lurching badly every time I hit an even medium sized bump and it was quite uncomfortable. Felt like something on the truck suspension had broken.  

So, when I got up there, I got the paperwork signed, got the truck hooked to their system, started offloading glue and then went and started looking for a problem.  Something  was wrong, I just didn't know what.  I searched that truck from front to back to front again, underneath, I was stumped. What is going on here? 

I started thinking, could the trailer possibly have that kind of effect on the truck?  So I started looking at the trailer.  Springs, tires, wheels, everything.  I eventually found it.  And it was bad.  Very, very bad.  Like, so bad that had that assembly finished falling apart, the axle could have ripped out from under the trailer.

What was it?  A spring set on the rear axle, passenger side, had come apart.  It was obvious that one of the leaf springs had busted and fallen out.  There were 4 leafs, now there were 3.  The bottom leaf was on it's way out of there, there was only maybe 3 inches left before it  also departed for thither yonder lands.  None of that was attached to the axle, the only thing holding the axle on was the torque bar.  

I was shocked when I saw it, but I knew instantly that this is the problem. There was no way I was going to drive that thing home.  A disaster waiting to happen. I knew it was going to be an ordeal for the company to even find someone to come out and fix it and I wondered if such a thing could even be fixed on the side of the highway. I doubted it.

Called my company and the mechanic confirmed my suspicions: This is bad and this is going to be hard.  Let me make some phone calls. No matter, I was still unloading the truck, I was hoping by the time I got done with everything, they would come up with an answer and I wouldn't have to sit around waiting.  Sure enough, when all was said and done, they had to have it towed back to the yard some 2 plus hours away. 

I dropped the trailer at a lot right down the road from the plant and headed to Crossett to the washout as  my manager instructed me to, to get another trailer.  

2 hours 15 minutes later and I was there.  After much ado, the trailer was out of Visual - a yearly inspection required by the Feds for tankers.  My manager was at a loss. He said there is another trailer at the yard, but it doesn't have a license plate, it's coming but hasn't arrived yet.  In other words, I wasted all that time going to Crossett only to find out the trailer is out of spec - and - they could have seen it was out of spec if they would have bothered to look at their data online for it.

It doesn't really matter, that trailer had been sitting for months, the dude at the washout said and it hadn't been washed out because they were allowed to get inside the trailers.  Why?  Their accreditation had run out and for whatever reason, they hadn't renewed it.  There was dried up glue in that trailer and that stuff wasn't going to come off by just spraying it with a high pressure wand.  

So, I basically wasted a little over 4 hours today doing that nonsense.  I ended up driving the tractor back to my Park, otherwise known as bobtailing.  I am not working this weekend and Monday I am supposed to call my manager to find out what's next.  Monday is going to be a waste of a day as well, I can tell right now.  I dunno how long it's going to take them to fix the trailer I've been using, but they will be under pressure to get it done quickly. 

That took up  the entire day.  A person wants to move into the park and another person that said they were moving in - no show.  No biggies, I guess, I just think it strange how people do this stuff sometimes.  

Tomorrow I am going to get on that tractor and do the driveway again - well if the boy doesn't take the tractor again - and resume operation on moving that mound of dirt.  It needs moved out of the way.  At some point I'll have to move that moved mound again plus the mound I'm moving it to now.  

I also have more grass to cut.  

I am wasted tired now, it just hit me. 11 hour day, I don't do those too often anymore and it catches up to me sooner or later.

 Tuesday - evening

My whole weekend worth of work including yesterday - so 3 days - was cancelled.  Too much product not enough room.  I was thankful. Means I could spend time with the kids before they leave for - the summer basically. Yes, they are coming back in 2-1/2 weeks but then leaving for a month directly after they get back, I've heard within hours.  I dunno if it's actually going to work out that way.  

I do enjoy not having them around, frankly.  They're good kids and all, but a little peace and quiet is nice as well. It's pretty constant stuff day in and day out with all the noise, questions, tv blaring, etc.  When it's adults only here, we really just enjoy the silence.  I'm not sure how I will feel after a month and a half however.  They're with one set of grand parents atm and they spoil the stuffing out of those kids, so I'm sure they're having as good a time as can be had.

I haven't been writing with any regularity for frankly, there isn't a lot new going on.  I'm still waiting on permits and Swepco.  I've got a couple of empty lots that need filling. One is allegedly going to be re-rented this week. The other? No calls. 

Funny how that works. You don't need people and you get dozens and dozens of calls. About the time you do? Nothing.  lol 

The only irregularity today was taking the truck to a local shop to get a wheel hub cover replaced.  It has been leaking for going on 2 weeks now and the oil level in it was very low.  Meaning, potential to burn up bearings and the entire wheel assembly coming off.  That can kill people actually.  Don't worry, I was keeping an eye on it, it was just time to get it done today.  The other thing that can happen is the bearings heat up to the point a fire starts in the wheel, brakes and spreads quickly. The trailer can burn down fast and can even spread to the truck if you don't act quickly.

But why let it get that far?  It's leaking, get it fixed. It's fixed. The only other issue right now is the AC and the place I took it to said if Peterbilt can't figure it out, we aren't likely to be able to either.  At least they were honest about it and gave some recommendations.  

I would have done some work at the property today, but that repair took a couple of hours.  Just that they didn't have the part - even tho they said they had ordered it - they had to get a place to deliver it and then had to wait for the repairman to get back from a run.  I wasn't going to leave at this point, that thing needed fixed.  It's almost 5 pm and I just got home, hence the reason I did nothing at the park. 

Tomorrow is deliver to Gurdon and after that? I didn't check. I saw that there is a load in there, I am assuming it will be for Thursday and Friday and at this point? I'm going to need to work the weekend, way too much time off here.  I mean, I could not work the rest of my life and be very happy about that, lmao.  Yea - no.  Not a happening event, at least not right now.  

Oh, it rained all night long.  There was way too much noise even with the fan on high and ear plugs in, I didn't sleep worth a dead Petunia's petals.  I passed out at the loading plant and fell asleep again at the repair place doing the endless waiting thing.  I feel fine now, lol.  

So what's with the rest of the day? Dinner, pushups, probably a little gaming, some tv and then bed. 

 Friday - evening

James is going to start helping out at the park.  His normal side gig is done for  now and I could definitely use some extra hands over there, a person that I can trust and will actually do what they say they will do and not lie about it or try to steal from me, or whatever.

I've been getting back late every day from trucking so I haven't really gotten much done.

However.

I was up at the plant ready to deliver, had to go find a supervisor. Took quite a while, it's a large plant and there are a lot of moving parts all over the place and foremost: it's extremely noisy in there.  The sound of hydraulic presses, conveyor belts and all kinds of devices constantly moving, you have to wear ear plugs.  I found him way in the back, I had never even been back that far before. He signed off and I was good to go.

I'm outside doing my thing about 15 minutes later and here comes the plant manager - not the dude that signed off. He's looking at me making motions about how full the tanks are and asks if the supervisor checked  the tanks? No, but I did, there is just enough room for another truckload in there.  He's going to go look for himself, of course, I don't work there and I don't pay the price for any consequences if I'm wrong, but he trusts my word anyway. We both went in and looked.  

It's because the first driver was just finishing up when I got there, this manager had looked when he was unloading and didn't know if there was still enough room in there.  Thankfully, there was.  So, this glue is flying out of that tanker. It's 70 degrees inside of the thing and when the product gets that warm, it flows nicely.  I get a text message from the dispatcher: Your load for this weekend just cancelled.

I was ecstatic.  I didn't want to work this weekend but I didn't say that to them at all. I just accepted the work and resolved myself to working both Saturday and Sunday. The reason I really wanted to get this weekend off is  that the kids are leaving for grandma's for 2 weeks and then they're coming back, but leaving within hours of returning with the folks to Colorado.  I basically won't see them for a month and a half so I wanted to spend some time with them.  

At the end of the delivery, I went to find the plant manager - another trek through the place searching for him. I found him in the break room, I said I'm done, there's about a foot left in that tank, we're all good. He said great and that he had just cancelled a load, too much product.  I said  yes, that was my load and you just gave me the weekend off! Thank you! He smiled real big, he's a really nice guy and humble.  

\

 Uhh, Thursday?  

Yeah.  I had yesterday off, which I spent the entire morning mowing grass. That got me good because I am not used to this heat, more specifically: High humidity.  It just drains the energy out of you.  I got what I wanted done, done. More to go but it looks much better now.  I started mowing the area where I want to begin installing lots, didn't quite get that done, the goal was to get the lots done and then I could start working on the other stuff. 

Well, not just the lots but all along the driveway and the front area where my signs are.  

Today is late load day. I'm totally not liking how many 2 loads they are giving me and if they continue, I will have a conversation with them about it.  I don't care what other drivers want, they ask for time off all the time, I don't do that so the tradeoff should be I get to get more 1 loads.  Or not.  The more bs I have to put up with this company, the more it motivates me to get these other lots in and get it started.  

I've got someone leaving on the 25th and someone else moving right back in - on the 25th. Tentatively anyway.  I'm also considering just doing away with an overnight spot, I'm not getting a lot of that and it's really wasted money.  

Today is the last day of school for the kids.  They will be here until Saturday or Sunday, that wasn't really made clear and then grandma is taking them for 2 weeks.  Once they get back? Allegedly they'll be home a few hours and leaving for Colorado.  I'll have the house to myself for 2 weeks before James comes back with his oldest kid - that one doesn't live here - who will stay for 2 weeks as well.  I won't be seeing the other 2 for basically a month and a half, which is kind of odd but it is what it is. 

I dunno, but I am going to fire up a diet while everyone is gone.  I can make whatever whenever and not have to worry about what everyone else is going to be eating for dinner.  I am really kind of stuck on Keto even tho I will have to drastically adjust it for low cholesterol, meaning getting rid of most dairy products and not eating  as much meat as I used to.  Pastas and potatoes will also go by the wayside, but I"m pretty much ready for it.  

I'm kind of leaving late today, they have been taking forever down there to load trucks and I don't really care to sit in a truck for hours waiting to get loaded. It's a bit ridiculous.  As I have stated many times before, we have appointment times - they mostly don't keep them. Sometimes you get lucky and get in and out of there, more often than not, you don't. 

Considering I had 4 unwanted days off not long ago, my paycheck today was healthy enough.  If I'm not taking home after taxes, 401k, medical etc at least a grand a week, I'm not happy.  I know, this is a part time job in the trucking world, that's not relevant to me.  They're making their money, I want mine.  Otherwise, I consider it a waste of my time. 

The flip side is that there are a lot of jobs that are local being posted, the hours are ridiculous. Typical trucking jobs that consume your entire life, basically.  

Not going to do that, yet.  Had a pretty crazy interaction with another truck on 30 the other day, but I don't have time to write about that right now.  I don't want to wait in a truck foreever, but I still have to drive down to Nacogdoches, get the trailer washed out and then head to the loading plant. 

With that? G'day. 

 Monday - evening

Toast.  4 hours waiting at the plant, just wears me out.  I know it's just sitting but I just don't like sitting around doing nothing. I did have my Switch with me and played a few games, but I can only play so much of that game before I have to put the thing down and do something else.  

I had been sitting there for and hour and a half before I went and politely asked the loader when he thought he would get to me.  He got testy and showed me all the trucks he has to do. Ok, I get that you're loaded up, do you have an estimate? 2 hours.  2 HOURS? Dang!  He didn't like that reply and I just thanked him and left.  It's not his fault the plant doesn't have enough loaders tho there are 3 of them being trained, it takes months before they can let them go on their own.  

Anyway, the dude has a temper, not that I'm particularly afraid of him, I've seen him throwing papers, his hard hat, etc all over the place, come storming in saying "I'm just one person". Yes, life is rough and then it got hard.  I dunno what to tell you, deal with it. 

I was supposed to go get the trailer wheel hub replaced, but it was way too late, no way I was doing that today. I had the wheel cleaned at the washout so it doesn't look like a cop--magnet to get pulled over and get written up for a leaking seal. They'll write you up for any and everything.

The IRS sent me a  large envelope today.  I opened it up with no emotion whatsoever.  It is what it is, I thought, if they are going to audit me, I'll do my best to pass muster.  It was, however, my tax return, saying I failed to sign it. Oh.  Guess I forgot.  It also asks to list where I got 5 plus k from that I listed as income.  Yup, that would be Cashapp, I think. I'll have to go through all of that again, tally it up and make sure that's where it actually came from.  They didn't ask for anything else, I'm wondering if that's a good sign? 

Oh and some form I didn't bother to look at, I'm tired and I don't want to deal with that today. I have Wednesday off, I'll mess with it then.  Why do I have Wednesday off? I have no clue unless they are going to try to dump me working an entire weekend.  They tend to make you pay for having weekends off, like I had last weekend tho I didn't ask for it.  I did ask for Monday, but not the weekend.  I don't typically ask them for weekends off for this is the nonsense they throw at me.  I'd rather just keep working Saturdays and have Sundays off like they have been doing, mostly, for quite a while now.

And then there's the kid who was demanding to know why I was charging him X amount of money when it was cheaper last month?  I had to explain to him that that was what we agreed upon when he moved in. This was one of the people who took advantage of my $200 off deal.  I took off X amount per month for 3 months adding up to $200 and now he's having to pay the normal price. Which is still cheaper than any or most other places around.  

There is no word yet on Swepco or the septic system.  

 Friday - late afternoon

Late load today exacerbated by a blown brake chamber.    You hit the brakes, the air goes into the chamber, pushes a diaphragm, pushes a road which does a bunch of other stuff not worth going into that eventually pushes the brakes shoes against the brake drums.

It happened close to the park, I just drove it in.  Not like it was going to crash, the rest of the brakes still worked, I just got it to the park, parked it and now there is a mobile mechanic company working on it.  Yes, I'm home. It was amazing tho. They sent a person out immediately upon calling them..  It was bam bam bam and the dude showed up. 

He also informed me that a famous tik tokker is at my park.  I won't mention names but I did look it up and sure enough, it was him.  Anyway, if that brake chamber had gone out on the road somewhere, I would be sitting there right now and would continue to be sitting there for many more hours.  What was perplexing was the dude at  our shop.

"Are you going to get it fixed tomorrow then?" Huh?  No, I want it fixed today, I don't want to spend my entire Saturday messing around with this nonsense and I need to leave early morning.  He said ok, call those people and give them my number.  I'll do whatever to save myself a lot of grief and headache.  

That was the other thing today. The first load driver showed up at the loading plant and they rejected the tanker. Said it's not insulated and they require it to be insulated so it doesn't get too hot and end up going out of spec for their customer which is Georgia Pacific.  Poor guy had to drive clear back to the yard in Arkansas, get another trailer and then go back down.  

My manager called me with this info to let me know I could just go up there at the first load time tomorrow. By the time this dude is done today, he won't be able to get up there until early afternoon.  Thank you, I will do that!  So, I don't have to have all of Saturday eaten up by this stuff.  That is, if they can fix it today, which I'm sure they'll try to get it done quickly, they no more want this dragging on any longer than it has to than I do.  

As for other things....well there's always the Trump hate constantly emerging from the shadows.  Comey wanting the President assassinated is the newest headline, at least on Fox news. I'm sure CNN or MSNBC either have it labeled as something different and insignificant or haven't reported on it at all.  Then there's the Supreme court ruling that they can't deport illegals under that Alien Act without giving them enough time to file a grievance. Well whoopdee doo. The news framed it as some sort of huge setback but in reality, the court said it is only saying that they need to give those people more time.  

And then, there's the 400 million Boeing 747.  It's not the President's personal airplane, lmao.  The left are begging for a way to "legitimately" impeach Trump again.  It's such a waste of time, there is no way there would be enough votes to remove him from office. But, they want to use whatever they can get - which isn't much anymore, they've already done everything to him - to either get rid of him or show that he is a bad choice for the nation and therefore, vote democrat for every election from now on! Lmao

Politics in this nation has turned into a giant clown show. If it wasn't so pathetic it would be amusing.  It's sort of amusing anyway just for the sheer desperation of democrats losing their woke initiatives and all the rest of the nonsense they have introduced into society that is drifting away into the sunset.  They lost power and they hate it.  

No, I've heard nothing from either Swepco or the septic company.  I'm really just patiently waiting.  It'll happen when it happens and I can do nothing to rush it faster.  As it stands, I still need to meet up with the septic people - same people who built the park - figure out where to put the system and also ask for pricing on running the line from the power pole to the meter assembly and also what they would charge to do some dozer work.  They're experts, they aren't exactly cheap but no one else is, either.  

Anyway, it's getting late and I'm getting up at 5:45 am. So, g'nite! 

 Thursday - afternoon

I started writing a post on Tuesday but I never finished it and not enough to post, so it's just going to sit along with the 1,000 plus other drafts that have never been posted lmao.

Today was uneventful excepting the International Road Check they have going on - everywhere  - where troopers and other officials are pulling trucks over - all over the place, not just weight or inspection stations - and doing high level inspections.  

So, the first one I was dragged into  - I did not get the bypass sign that I was hoping for on the tablet, it instead said "Pull In Unless Closed".  And lo and behold, 2 troopers were standing on the porch waiting for me - everyone - to drive through.  I was the only truck there at that point in time tho, I figured I would get pulled in for inspection.  

The porch elevates them so you can see clearly into the cab of the truck, best have your s*** together when going through there.  I slowed down to 5 MPH, their posted speed limit, opened the passenger window and was bracing myself for the inevitable.  They glanced at me but looked away, talking among themselves and examining the truck as I passed on by.  And kept going, waiting for them to either say something or hit the green light to red.  

It never happened.  It was almost shocking.  I don't fear them anymore. I used to get extremely nervous about inspections and troopers, but now? I just shrug my shoulders and whatever happens, happens, don't care really.  I don't get to control anything, I am completely under a trucking company and federal regulation control,  a thing I have always hated once they introduced CDL's.  I remain respectful - until they start disrespecting me..  That doesn't happen as much as it used to, troopers used to treat truck drivers like s*** all the time, low-class citizens that weren't worth anything more than to be pissed on type of attitude.  

Now, in the days of the internet and Facebook, public shaming and all of that cool stuff, they don't get away with it so easily and they usually - not always but usually - behave professionally and even if they are bending you over and screwing you with tickets, at least they aren't demeaning to you while they're doing it.  That hasn't happened to me in many, many years, thankfully.

The other 2 weigh stations on I-30 I was bypassed on the tablet. They were both opened and they both had reams of State Police in there with a bunch of trucks stopped and as usual under such circumstances, a lot of tire trucks in there replacing tires.  Drivers put out of service, not a good thing on their record.  If that happens to me? I really don't care about this line of work anymore, I actually, greatly despise it Just motivate me even more to get the 14 lots going and get closer to my goal of financial freedom from working for paychecks from someone else.  

Write my own damn paychecks and live my life accountable to guests, yes, but management lording themselves over me or police harassing me? No.  

I got back and decided to do some mowing with the new push mower.  Did 35 minutes of that and was toast.  4 lots worth that were greatly over grown, they needed done worse than anything else.  It's muggy out there and I am not used to that yet this year. There is a conditioning period I go through to try and adapt to high humidity combined with high temps.  I'll probably do more tomorrow. Good exercise if nothing else, lots of walking. 

And now? I am at the house, in my room, not even 2 pm.  I have a lot of daylight left to hang out, think about things and get nothing done. The tractor isn't at the property and neither is the trailer the kid brought that hauls gravel. I would have gone to get a load of gravel if he would have left it.  He's doing work for someone somewhere on our road, he's a go getter, but I did tell him I'm going to be using that tractor to help build lots coming soon, is it going to be available? 

He said yes, he's just doing a side job.  

There isn't much else unless you want to delve into the world of politics, the latest outrage that democrats have against Trump being the Saudi's gifting the US (note I didn't say Trump, it isn't a gift to Trump as far as I'm reading it) a Boeing 747.  It's unconstitutional! It breaks the emollments clause! and on and on.  I'm sorry, but these people are stupid.  

Oh and this morning. The youngest got of bed and then laid on the floor wrapped up in his blanket.  I don't do anything to help get him moving unless I'm asked and today? I was asked.  He wouldn't get up and he wouldn't get dressed and mom just has her limit, when she reaches it, she asks for help. I have no problem in the department. I walked into that bedroom and ordered him up off the floor, NOW.  He started crying which I completely ignored and ordered him up again, which is when he started moving. 

You see, no one else  in the house wanted to get up and go to work or school this morning either, but we all got up, we all got dressed and we all got ready to get moving.  This kid isn't somehow immune to the effects of the clock and how life revolves around it.  He was crying and carrying on, but he was getting dressed so I backed off a bit.  He went to bed in time for near 10 hours of sleep, it isn't like he isn't getting enough sleep time.  He's just lazy and doesn't want to go to school.  It took several minutes but he finally finished dressing and that was the end of that.  

And now? I'm going to take a nap and then probably play some Fortnite after that and then get some more work done in my bedroom. 

G'day

 Monday - early

Got up to see the boys off. No work today but we're leaving at 8:15 for the amusement place in Tyler to spend the day with the oldest.  Well, everyone was up making noise so I just got out of bed. I was going to sleep another hour or try anyway, but the sound of the refrigerator door slamming shut ended that hope.  People don't tend to think about how their actions may be affecting other people.  

On that note, Fortnite was introduced in 2017.  Many of the people playing in the game have been playing - since Twenty Seventeen.  I mention that because they are quite good at the game including the kids that parents let play the game endlessly with no supervision.  I throw that little tidbit in there because you can always tell that they aren't being monitored.  They start cussing out other people and getting into pissing matches with each other about who is the best and then they start demeaning each other.

I started playing at the end of last year and I don't play all day long. In fact, there are many days where I don't play at all, too easy to get bored with the game.  Or days where I only play a couple of games and that's that. 

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

Many, many hours later. The field trip was fun.  It was bowling, a movie and arcade games.  We opted to not see the movie since the boy had already seen it and we wanted to bowl after the kids groups got done.  It was a nice day albeit it took most of it up.  I have tomorrow off as well and that will likely entail working on the driveway and moving more of the dirt mound in the morning and then cleaning the carpet in my bedroom which I have kept putting off for I have definitely been busy. 

It's also useless to clean it when the kids are home.  I'll figure out tomorrow when tomorrow gets here. As for now, finished the kitchen, made dinner and eating soon.

Since the man stole my chainsaw, I went ahead and ordered another one.. Lots of cutting needs done over there to get some limbs down over the main driveway and other things.  There is a tree that fell over onto the doggy park, a small portion of it but it needs cut up and moved/burned.  I figure I'll keep this new chainsaw at the house. I need a large storage barn to keep my stuff in over there, end of that story.  Locking doors and at least one security camera if not a couple.  

I'm going to get one, I'm just not sure yet where I want to place it.  Chances are good, however, that it will be near the power pedestal setup so I can easily access electricity for it.  

That's about it for today.  It's 6 pm and I'm going to settle in for the evening and relax.  

 Sunday - night

The new mower works great - after figuring out how to start the thing.  It wouldn't start, I couldn't find a choke so I called the dude that sold it to me, who immediately told me where the choke was and that fired the thing right up...

Spent a lot of Saturday running the tractor up and down the driveway.  Every time it rains, like a good down pour and especially if it's several days in a row, the driveway gets trashed.  I also started clearing a mound of dirt, it's about 30X20 in size. The tractor can do it but it's going to take a minute. 

I am off work until Wednesday. We went to church and Applebee's today but after that, nothing besides doing the dishes.  Tomorrow Taylor and I are going to the oldest boy's field trip over in Tyler. Some sort of place with all kinds of things such as bowing, zip lining, arcade, etc.  I went to one of the younger's field trips so I just thought it would be cool to go to the oldest's. 

The youngest is now jealous and was throwing a hissy fit earlier - he wants to go and if he doesn't get his way?  Temper tantrum.  He has always thought that he is equal to adults and that he should be able to do everything adults do - except the working part of course.  He won't do that, tho he is forced to do chores.  I have offered him to earn money on many occasions, he works for 2 minutes and says he quits, doesn't want to do it anymore. Anyway, he isn't getting his way, obviously, he's going to school tomorrow and that is that.

James has the meter and panel assembly installed.  Which reminds me, I need to pay him for his work. 

The wait continues for the permit for the septic to be approved (hopefully anyway) by the state and the power company said it's a 2 week lead time for the engineer to come out. And after they come out, I will need to get a contractor over there to hook a line from the power pole to the meter assembly - that's not cheap.  This is why I didn't do this myself before, I simply didn't have the money, but now that I do, we are green lighting this thing.  I've turned even more people away in the last several days....long term. 

I still need to spend a few more hours working on the driveway.  I have Tuesday off as well so that's probably what I'm going to be doing with it, over there moving dirt and finishing the driveway.  Again, lol. 

It's mother's day and I obviously called my mom and wished her a happy day.  The flowers I sent her near 2 weeks ago finally dried out, but she says they still look good.  One of the my brothers sent fresh flowers as well so she has nicely fresh flowers and what she says is good looking dried out flowers.

That's it.  I'm tired, stayed up way too late last night and woke up too early this morning, time to think about heading to bed.  

 Thursday - night

Just a quick one here, it's getting late and I've been busy literally all day long. Just the last 2 hours or so I've had some down time. Well not even 2 hours.

Started out going to Nac to get the trailer washout, then Lufkin to load - they got me right in and right out thankfully. That doesn't happen every time and when it does, I start planning what I'm going to do with all of that "extra" time.

Well that's easy. Got back to the Park, hooked up the trailer and went 2 towns over to get the new riding mower.  Was almost home when the repair dude for the dryer called.  "I'm here".  Mind you, no one ever called me back yesterday to schedule a time and day when they were going to come out....

So instead of going home, I went back to the park and hung out there until he fixed it. Some sort of thermal fuse.  Plus, I had him change the price. It was $2.50 for the washer and dryer combined.  Just not enough money for washing, there are too many costs involved with running just those 2 machines.

First, the electric water heater. Second, the water.  Third, the AC in the shed.  4th, electric dryer/heat. And then there is the occasional septic pump out that costs a small fortune whenever it's got to be done.  I'm actually hoping the usage of it will go down, The laundry is just a convenience.  I don't know how much they are charging at laundromats, but the dude told me I am not charging anything near what I should be.

All well and good, but I didn't raise the price as much as he was suggesting.  It's now $3.50 to do a load of wash - that includes the washer and dryer.  It was $2.50. Sorry, I'm not in business to lose money and I really don't care if anyone doesn't like it, there is a laundromat 2 miles down the road.  

After that, I took the new mower home, backed into the yard and that's where it's spending the night. I do not trust leaving that thing over at the property, to leave it at home will be a huge pain to load it up and take it over there, I just don't have anywhere to store it safe over there.  I suppose I could at least put a giant chain and padlock around it over there?  I think I'd lose sleep.  

In the house, ended up making dinner. After dinner, we went to the 10 year old's class performance, they were doing it at the local high school auditorium. And finally? Home. 

That's it.  I'm outta here, time for bed.  

 Wednesday - afternoon

The day off that isn't a day off.  

I called a place yesterday to have the dryer fixed, they said sure, bring it down we'll be there in the morning.  It's 25 miles each way.  I got there and....no one there. I called and called and called them, left them messages and even got on their facebook page and dm'ed them.  That was hours ago and I still haven't received a reply.  

I started making a lot of phone calls in their parking lot, I need to drop this thing somewhere and get it fixed.  I was going to just buy another one and keep this one for the expansion, but lo and behold the soonest any kind of coin operated dryer can arrive is at the end of the month. That is quite a long time from now and I just can't have that at all.  

I was directed from one place to another - via phone of course - until I finally found a professional repair place that only services business.  I do not have an appointment with them, I was told the field techs set their own schedules and one of them will be getting back to me.  I'll give it til 4:00 pm, then I'll call back again.  I never heard back from anyone?

After driving all the way back from there, I went to Tractor Supply to pick up the assembled push mower, took that to the park, unloaded it and the dryer.  Way too wet to mow today, it was raining heavily yesterday and it's gonna be a minute before everything is dry again.  

I then headed 2 towns over, discussed a Bad Boy riding mower, zero turn with the salesman and then signed the paperwork. It's $155 per month versus at least $400 per month to pay someone else to do it.  Unfortunately, the trailer I took over there isn't wide enough for the mower, I'll have to go back tomorrow. Yes, I could go back today but I've wasted an entire day with stuff that just grinds at me and I'm done.  At least with that stuff.  

It's just gonna be this way with everything until I get it all over and done with.  I actually planned on spending half the day mowing today, that just went to pot when it started pouring rain yesterday and there is still water running down the driveway at the park.  That's another project I'll need to fix and it will be done when I have to rent a mini ex to dig  the trenches for the utilities for the new lots. . I'll dig a trench across the driveway and lay some pipe that will drain the water so that it doesn't keep destroying the driveway surface every time it rains.

 Tuesday - afternoon

Rain, rain, don't go away, we are now appreciating your presence today!

It's pouring rain. Not just a little drizzle or even moderate, it's pouring down rain replete with lightning and thunder.  I know, people say thunder and lightning, but doesn't the lightning come first? Why yes, yes it does!  I met up with Taylor at applebee's for a bit of lunch. When we left there, the downpour had begun and yes, we both got wet just running to our vehicles.

There will be no visit to the lawnmower dealership today, thank you.  I found a place that fixes commercial dryers - 30 miles away.  To save a $130 service call, I have to take it there. Yes, I'm going to put the thing on a trailer and haul it down there. There is nothing else in the area that fixes these things and I hope they can!  It will save me buying a new one - at least for now.

I have found a device that you hook the washer and dryer up to and you pay it instead of a coin op thing.  That means you can just buy regular washers and dryers for half the price (or less) and they pay a machine that turns the power on and off to the machines.  The devices cost $179 a piece, but if they last a long time, they will be worth it.  

____________________

So many hours later.  Swepco. Southwestern Electric Power Company, otherwise known as AEP. You don't just call them once, or expect that you are going to resolve an issue with the first person you talk to. No, you know that you will be approached the 7th circle of hell before you are through with attempting to even get something started, much more trying to get it  completed. 

The worst part, actually, is trying to get past their automated system.  It doesn't understand anything you are saying and starts asking you for your account number. Are you serious?  I just run around with that in my brain all day long.  They certainly don't ask you for that when you are talking to a live human being.

I eventually got through to the right person after many calls and on the final call, being transferring to fully 4 people.  And when I did finally get to that dude, I was asked a lot of questions.  The end result is that it's going to land on the desk of the lady that called me before all of this and she will direct it to an engineer who will determine whether the system is sufficient for another 200 amp setup.  

The meter stand isn't even set up yet. It's been raining, James hasn't had the time and even if he did, the rain would have stopped it.  Hurry up and wait? Patience.  I have patience.  I knew what I was getting into starting this stuff up all over again and I will face it again when I get to the last 7 lots and will have to have yet another 200 amp meter installed, albeit off of a different transformer.  That transformer is still up there on the front pole, not being used as I was going to start building at the front of the property. 

I have since reconsidered the grade and angles.  I have seen so many parks with people living on steep angles and this one not near as bad as any of those, that I am content to install lots in that area and just let people know in advance.  The trade off is that they will be getting a cheaper rate and a very good location.  If you need to be near town, my park is where it's at.  

I'm slowly getting there.  

If I can't mow grass tomorrow - don't know until the day is started, I get the mowers over there and see how wet the grass is - I will be working on measuring out lots.  I may do the lots regardless.  I'm going to try to get 3 going initially, but 2 is ok to start with as well.  

I've got another animal I'm going to have to tackle down and put in a cage: another laundry, bath and shower room. 

I really don't want to spend a lot of money on it for at some point, I want a main building - a large thing that isn't made  out of tin - that has a men's and women's bathroom replete with separate showers, a laundry room with at least 4 washers and dryers and other things that amount to amenities. A game room, maybe a sandwich shop/coffee bar, things that make people happy and they don't mind paying for.  I'd still like to get a pool in there at some point, just not a  priority right now.  

When I talk about that big building, that would be after or during phase 3 and adding 25 final lots.  I don't want to go too far down that rabbit trail right now, I just want to get this phase 2 expansion going and I've taken the steps necessary to get it going.  But, we're talking a significant investment once we're talking about a large building with all kinds of amenities/upgrades.  A couple of hotel rooms wouldn't be bad.  

Why? People come to visit their loved ones.  They could be luxury rooms that rent to locals.  It could be anything, but I have a vision and I would love to see it through before this life is over and then, hand it over to my people that might want to enjoy not working for large corporations and taking things on by themselves.  

As I have said before, I started a bit late in life on this project.  So, I dunno how far I will get before life says no, you can stop here, it's too late. There isn't enough energy, or perhaps health, or just desire.  Well, the desire is definitely there.  I don't want to live off of SS monthly payments, it's a pittance of what I get now.  I'd like to be able to say screw living off the government altogether, yet, I paid into that system for many decades.  

No, the goal is simply to have enough income from it to pay the bills, pay for health insurance and have money left over to enjoy the little things in life that cost money. I'm not looking to get rich tho the man telling me the place will be worth 2 million when I'm done was intriguing. Still, I'd like to leave something for people that will carry on with it.  I dunno if my son would want to do that.  I don't even know if the folks here would want it or just sell it off after I leave this earthly world?  

The only thing I've heard is the 10 year old wants to work there when he is of working age.  I'm teaching him some stuff, just the lawn care for now, but it will expand if he's serious.  He's going to learn how to operate the riding mower.  He's doing pretty well with the push mower.

Tomorrow is, indeed, off.  It's just weird to have a middle-of-the-week day off after working 6 days a week for many weeks in a row.  

And finally, we have the political world. I am watching and reading it.  I am not doing a lot of commenting on it for there is a lot  going on and you really won't know the outcomes of many of these issues until it runs through the court system.  Dems are fighting Trump's agenda through the courts with endless legal battles.  But, as Trump does, he's trolling them. Do you really think Trump just decided to revive Alcatraz because nothing?  

 Monday - evening

Started out ridiculous.  I couldn't find the Elog tablet last night, I searched high and low.  I finally gave up and decided I must have left it over at the truck at the park.  But, I remembered having it with me in the pickup when I went home?!  Regardless, I went over there and it was nowhere to be found.  Got in the semi and just drove it home, no sense in driving the pickup back only to have to turn around and go back to the park again.  

I finally found the thing - behind the bed on the floor.  It wasn't a huge setback. I had to sit down and think for several minutes because I had torn the place upside down looking for it.  "Where could it be that I haven't searched? What impossible place could it have gone that I wouldn't think of because...not possible?" And that's when the Eureka! light when on and I found it.

Got back, went to Lowe's to search for a mower. I didn't like any of their selection. Just the same old junky mowers that don't last more than a year or much less and then they're toast.  Over to Chili's - across the street - to visit a friend that works there, hadn't been in a while and my reasoning for not going anymore became glaringly evident once I saw the menu: very high prices.  I just don't think I need to pay Texas Roadhouse prices for a local bar and grill restaurant type of thing.  Been trying to stay away from restaurants besides the Sunday Applebee's outing anyway.  

Over to Target and found one I liked. A bit pricey but a solid workhouse with a big engine.  The park looks like hell right now, btw, the grass is very tall.  I asked them - at Target that is - if I could have the display model? I don't want to build it, I just want it put together. "Well, no but we can put it together for you". Yes, thank you.

Go to the register and pay and then we will have it put together.  Sure thing. She grabs some dude to go over there and put it on a cart, he starts wheeling it to the register.  She got hold of him before I could speak, for she guaranteed me that they would put it together.  No, he wants it built first.  Oh. Is he going to wait? He's on the other side at another line of people waiting and didn't know who was buying it.  I spoke up, yes, but can I just come tomorrow and get it, would that be ok?

He got a look of relief over his face, YES! Ok! lol.  

Home, took the oldest to his guitar class, waited outside playing what else? Fortnite on the Switch tethered to my Iphone.  

I also finally heard back from SWEPCO (power company).  A long conversation finally clarifying the steps I need to take to get the power turned on. The call was to find out if the transformer is going to be big enough to supply everything. The lady explained that yes, she understands what I want to find out but the way to go about it is to start a ticket to turn on the power to the meter.

But I'm not ready yet.  No problem, we still need to get a ticket going first.  I wasn't going to argue with her, let's get this going.  She further explained to call a number she provided, open up a ticket and then it ends up on her desk anyway, which is when she will forward it to an engineer.  Ok.  Whatever hoops I have to jump through, I'll do it just to get it over with. James should have that thing up and ready to hook the line to sometime this week, tho it might be raining a good portion of this week.

I knew this power thing would turn out to be an ordeal, hence getting started on it right away.  Still waiting on the state to hopefully approve another septic system.  I'm not in a rush - yet.  But once that septic system is set in the ground and ready to go, I'm going to want everything to fall into place quickly and get at least a couple lots up and ready to rent out.  I could have rented out 3 lots in the last 3 days. Yup.  Calls keep coming in, I just hope that happens once I have a couple ready to go.  

I'm going to take a different approach to the lots than what the contractor did. I don't have the equipment they have.  A dozer, mostly.  I think it's just going to be a 4 inch thick pad.  I'm not there yet, just thinking ahead.  I do need to have the lots formed before I install the utilities to them tho.  

One of the kids is getting sick and was coughing all over me.  I'm like, dude.  I fear it too late and I'll be getting sick for the third time in a rather short period of time.  I hope not, that's all I can say.

I need a couple days off. This 6 days a week thing is getting to me.  I have to deliver tomorrow and then who knows what, preferably load wednesday and friday and then get sunday and monday off. Or something like that.