Didn't sleep worth a nickle last night, but had to get up early to finish out the job this morning. 

Yesterday, the entire day was spent moving dirt from the pile up front to the various places the dirt was needed out back.  Specifically: the bridge, the drop-off and another drop-off right where I park my vehicle whenever I'm over there and working in the back.  

The 2 drop-offs are the intended driveway to the rear of the property. The drop-off that I have been referring to for a while now? Took a lot of dirt and then a lot of gravel to get it to where I could trust it to drive my SUV over it.  If I can do that, certainly any pickup can make it over it as well.

No, I haven't tried yet.  I want to drive over it with the 4 wheeler for a while and get it compacted in there nicely.  I can't be driving in there and find out I can't make it back out.

Anyway, about 7 hours into it and I was done for the day.  I still had the drainage pipe at the front to deal with.  ON that, specifically, filling it back in with top soil and compacting it back in.  That took longer than I expected it would.  I was pushing the time limit for 24 hours by the time I finally got the machine loaded back on the trailer, went to the fueling station and filled it back up with diesel and then got it back to their yard.

I was fretting taking it back. There is a pretty good dent on the rear door that I hadn't noticed before I left their yard with it.  The fretting is having to pay a solid amount of money to replace that door.  I had backed into a tree, but not very hard. That door is solid, thick metal.  It was a curiosity to me, but I just came to the conclusion that I would have to face whatever music they would give and pay for it.

However, when I got there and told them about the door, the yard dude said: "Well, it's not that bad, it's ok but I'll has him". Him being the guy that manages the place.  He came out, looked at it, thought for a minute and said: "I don't think you did that" in a deep, Texas drawl, lol.  Oh? Yeah, I have a door on an old machine I am already going to replace it with.  

Sighs great relief and saying to myself: "Self, you best be checking out the whole machine next time you rent one and note any damage, take pics for that matter".  It's probably not the biggest deal ever, the machine is old and has dents and damage all over it.  Works perfectly fine, but definitely has been through the wringer.  

I have a crew of people out there clearing the trails right now.  I'm not supervising them at the moment because I am extremely tired and decided to go home and try to take a nap for a while and then go out and watch them - probably help as well.  The outside temps have come way down and even yesterday afternoon, I wasn't burning up in that machine.  It was a bit warm, but not hellish hot.  Makes a big difference.

No power company out there, yet.  If they don't show up this week, I'm calling the engineer and asking for an update on when they are arriving.  

I still have lots of cleanup work to do on the lots and I really want a dozer for that.  I'm not sure about the affordability of getting one, but I would have all that done in a day plus clearing weeds and leveling the ground plus, hopefully, doing some work in the back on the trails.  There is still a driveway I need to plow and a dozer would be the perfect machine for it.  It may be that I'll have to rent one for two days.  

But that's not now.  Now, I need to get a bit of rest and get out there and see what these people are accomplishing.  They just called and asked where to put branches for the burn pile? The burn pile is apparently large now.  I said just put them off to the side, I'll be out "soon" and light that pile on fire and start burning it up.

Note that it is an ex military lady and her 2 sons.  The sons are black kids - very muscular and obviously in very good shape.  I don't know what their work ethic is, but with mama there, it shouldn't be a problem keeping them working.  I noted to her yesterday that "some kids like to play on their phones" instead of working.  Yeah, she said, hence my boys phones do not have cell service, they can only use them with wifi.

There's a tough mama! lol.  I'm not racist, btw, noting their race, just  noting that they were quite muscular - 17 and 25 year old.  Not fact, gooey kids that you wouldn't expect to get much out of.  They were also very respectful.  I like that, I encounter lots of kids nowadays that have no respect for adults or authority.  

Anyway.  The sign is finally being made.  They found a "different supplier" for the shade of green they wanted to use. These people are self-described very picky about the materials they use.  As I said in a past post here, they claim that some of their signs have lasted over 20 years.  Yeah, I don't want a half-@$$ed job, number 1 and number 2, I don't want to have to be replacing a sign 2 years down the road.  So I'm hopeful that they will produce the quality they claim they will.  

I never heard back from the internet engineer. Not a priority atm.  Getting that done would mean incurring another monthly bill which I don't need right now.  I'll get back with them when I have a clearer idea when the park is actually going to open.

People are calling, btw, about the park.  Do you have a space available?  Twice yesterday and once the day before.  Google search puts my park in the map listing you see when you are looking for something and it shows all the available places in that town or area you are looking at.  I haven't checked where it is in the page rankings lately.  

My price is going to be $400 per month plus a flat fee for electricity.  It will be listed as $525 per month includes all utilities/electric (yes, I know electricity is a utility but some people don't, lol).  That sound high? Well, I'm in this for a profit.  My park will be unique in that it's over 450 feet from the nearest road.  It's in a beautiful area and it has those lovely walking trails.  I'm more about overnighters but have come to the conclusion that there is more of a demand for long term.  

The long term stays will be in the back in pads only.  I will attempt to reserve the pull throughs for short stays only. That's what they're for. Pull in, stay a night or however many  nights and pull straight back out. Especially appealing to those pulling cars or trucks, they don't have to unhook them to pull in.  There was no extra cost to making pull throughs, btw, excepting I made the pads 5 feet longer to accommodate longer rigs pulling either cars or even 20 foot utility trailers. I've seen them all over the place in my travels. 

Well, the day isn't getting any younger and I really need my nap.

G'day

 Woke up in a funk this morning, but forced myself out of bed anyway.  

Got over there, got to work leveling the drainage pipe. As with everything else, much more work than expected.  All by hand, the machine was only for one, 24-hour rental.  

I have one drain pipe at the end I can't install until I get another machine out here. That's because those pipes won't go into the bell end of the other pipe without being forced in there.  It's nothing unusual, I have been at countless job sites and track-hoes are always used to push one pipe into the bell end of another.  

I'm not sure when I'll get that machine.  

Tomorrow, a "military girl" is coming over to help start cleaning up the trail ways. She claims to be able to use a chain saw, we'll see.  I have other stuff to do, I don't want a supervisory job, but I'll have to in the beginning to make sure she understands what I want done.  Pretty simple concept: pull the felled trees out of the sides of the trails, cut them into moveable pieces, load onto the trailer, move trailer to burn pile, unload, lather-rinse-repeat.

I wasn't saying it would be easy work.  It's why I was hoping to get some high schoolers out there full of energy, but apparently none of those are interested in working this kind of job.  I wonder if there is a board for high schoolers to access for local jobs? I'll have to look. This isn't work that any machinery can do, it's all stuff buried in the sides of the trails that needs pulled out.  

Anyway, I may be able to get the Bobcat tomorrow after I get this person oriented to what I want done.  

The power company "should" be out this week. The engineer said 4 weeks, maybe 3. It's the 4th week.  

Installation of power lines will greatly increase my motivation to get everything else done.  I'm motivated, yes, but it's hard work and I can only do so much before I have to stop and take breaks or even quit for the day.  Makes me feel old.  

Oh well, not going to fret over getting older and I really haven't been the same since I got this last case of Covid.  I dunno what happened, but I had a lot more energy before I got hit with it.  Will my energy ever come back like it was? No clue.  

My search for tax rate I have to pay info got me nothing but advice on how to do it, not what percentage to charge or end up paying.  There is a form to fill out to sign up, I guess, for such payments to the state.  Perhaps that's where you learn what to charge? I guess I'm going to be forced to see an accountant. I wanted to save the money, but this isn't something I want to fool around with. The government wants it's money and it will do whatever it has to to get it from you.  

I have too many questions that I want an expert to answer for me.  Taxes and insurance, gag.  The rest is pretty predicable. Average $125 per month for electric, $30 for water and probably a couple hundred for wifi per month. 

Well, tomorrow is sealed. Taylor is going to be home in time to get the boys from school tomorrow, I can plan on being out at the property all day long with a machine. The rental place is holding a machine for me. Shouldn't take more than half an hour to get the person oriented to what I need her to do.  

With that, I'm ending this one.  I ended up going home after the trench work, just had nothing left in me.  Ribs in the oven slow cooking, make some home made mashed potatoes and french green beans for dinner. 

G'day

 Saturday, morning.

Received a text at 8:33 am: is James awake? Taylor asking about James. 

I dunno. Got up, went out the bedroom door, no-one is awake. I instantly knew what this was about: the 7 year old was supposed to be at a location to sign up for soccer clinics, sign-ups starting at 8:30 am.  

To save the household from a weekend of a 7 year old pouting and crying because he missed the sign-ups (yesterday he proclaimed playing soccer "is my dream")l, I woke James up.  A flurry of activity and they were out the door in a about 10 minutes time. Not bad, really.  

I decided to get with it and get the last stick of drainage pipe over there and also loaded up 4, 14-foot sticks of sewer pipe I have laying in the back yard.  

Whereas the RV section of the park could have 40-50k pound vehicles driving over the drainage pipes, the drop-off in the back will have at most a pickup truck worth of weight driving over drain pipes and the pipes will be deep under the ground.  No worries about them caving in, the pipe being free, I am using that old stuff to use for when it rains and you can clearly see water runs along the bottom of the drop off.  

I have my rates pretty much set.  $525 monthly rate which includes utilities;  $40 nightly rate for large lots and $35 for smaller lots and 10% off nightly rates for weekly rates.   These rates designed with everything else in the area.  

I'm not really sure what anyone charges for monthly rates, tbh, but I have to make a profit and electric usage is estimated around $100 per month annually.  There are large variables, of course. Giant rigs with 2 or even 3 air conditioning units will use much more electricity than much smaller rigs, but if you're going to live there, you're going to pay.  It really makes me second guess myself of why I didn't have power pedestals equipped with meters.  A lot of people say no, you don't need them, but if you're doing long term stays, then you really do.  

What I really have no idea about is what I'm going to get coming in there?  It's going to be advertised, yes, the advertisement is going to be nightly, weekly and long term stays.  

Anyway, it's the weekend and I am worn out from working in the hot sun, high temperatures and high humidity. I'm not doing any work out there today or tomorrow. The temps are supposed to drop considerably on Monday.  I have to see if I can find info on taxes and who to pay them to at what rate.  I'm not a tax dodger and I don't need the IRS coming after me.  I don't know if I have to pay federal tax on business revenues.  I do believe I have to "pay myself" out of the business account and deduct federal income tax accordingly (Texas has no state income tax).  Well, saying that I"m going to spend today and tomorrow doing research.  I'd like to cut my expenses if possible.  

Bookkeeping isn't my forte, but there's a YouTube video for everything, right? lol.  My list of known expenses beyond taxes will be electricity, water, wifi, lawn maintenance.  I can't find any info on how much a small park pays out in expenses every month, so I'm going to guesstimate and - probably be off but maybe close?  I'm guessing around 3 grand.  I'm guessing insurance around $500 per month, that's from reading other park owners, but they have much larger parks and I'm hoping the price will be lower than that. Whatever it is, it isn't something I will be going without.  

The last thing I need is someone suing me and then losing the park and property altogether because I didn't have insurance to cover everything.  Maybe a subscription to one of those legal operations would be in my best interest as well.  

I have so much work to do....I was walking around the trails today. There is so much wood to be cleaned up.  And some of the trails are powdery dirt, I'd really like some grass  in those areas.  Amazingly, there is natural grass growing near the back of the property where there was just trees before.  I didn't spread grass seed back there, lol, I have no clue how it got there. 

I have also determined how to get a road back to the "group campground", I'll need a dozer for that.  There is a lot of dozer work that needs to be done in the front and rear of the property.  I don't think one day rental of one will be enough.  There are mounds of dirt that have been there a long time when they made the easement passage on the west side.  They pushed the dirt well down the hill. I only need flatten those out and use the extra dirt for the drop off there to create a nice road back to the group campground. 

This group campground - if I can ever get it ready - will be heavily promoted locally.  There is enough space for probably  7 tents plus a large fire ring and a couple of picnic tables.  Promotion will simply be on local Facebook pages, nothing I will be spending money on. But there is one local group where, if I place an ad on there, it will spread around the region like wild fire. It's the local gathering spot for everyone looking for whatever they are looking for. Everyone is on there including the local Chamber of Commerce.  I'll gladly have port-a-potties brought in if I can get groups to come in. Boy Scouts, businesses wanting outings, just large groups of friends? Who knows.  

And there is another large area - which is flat, level ground - on the other side that I really would like to have for large groups.  It's all dozer work getting roads in there, I don't think I need the mulcher man back out for that.  

So, this coming week? I'm going to try to get another person out there with me that said he'd work every day for X amount per hour (not high rates, let me tell ya, but if he really works I'll give him a bonus to keep coming back).  I just have been putting off a lot of trail work with removing wood because of the high heat factor, I get worn out after only 3 or 4 hours and I'm toast.  Monday's high is 85 and low is 57!  This is the kind of outdoor temperatures where I can work and not get work out so quickly!  

Tedious work, the small trees have to be dragged out of the side pockets along the trails where the machine pushed them into, cut up into smaller pieces and hauled to a burn pile.  It's pretty unsightly and I can't imagine just leaving that stuff there.  Woods don't have to be "clean" per se, but all of that debris has to go.  And it's going to take a while.  

Gag, which reminds me, one of the chainsaws needs the idle screw set to idle higher. The thing won't idle. Runs perfect if you hold the trigger in a bit, nothing wrong but the idle setting.  Just have to take a bunch of stuff off to get at it, I could have brought that home with me to tinker with today.  The other chainsaw needs a new chain- I have the chain just need to install it. Maybe I'll go back over there today and get them and bring them home.  

Oh, and I am wondering if James will finish welding together my ramps.  I got the materials for it a long time ago, but he only has one ramp completed. The rental company only charges $30 for the trailer rental, yes, but I'm counting my pennies atm and every little bit helps.  

Enough for this entry. Time to get busy with research.

G'day

 Legit could use that mini-excavator - their name for it, I just call it a track hoe - for a few weeks and get everything done.  Okay, a couple of days anyway. 

2 days ago, I went to the rental place and got that machine. Spent the afternoon in the blazing sun and heat digging trenches.  But I noticed the efficiency of the thing dragging the blade along the dirt and pulling up weeds.  

So, yesterday, before attempting to complete the trenching project, I went ahead and dragged the entire doggy park, a pic of it on Facebook.  

Oh, prefacing that.  The machine wouldn't start yesterday morning.  This is an older machine and doesn't have all kinds of "weird" "stuff" you have to do to start it up.  An orange triangle with an exclamation point kept coming up on the screen.  Note that I was out there at the crack of dawn, ready to get my money's worth out of it, they allow 8 hours of usage per 24 hour period.  

The shop had to send someone over to fix it.  They already knew what was wrong before they even showed up: loose starter cable.  I mean, I got my time back for free, yes, but I got out there early for a reason: it's still hot and no one will tell me anything different, even if it is the first day of Fall today. Yes, it's nice and cool in the mornings but it's still going to be in the 90's today.  

Well, I didn't finish the drainage pipe project. No worries, the trenches are dug, I need to get the pipes on a slight downhill grade all the way the length of them.  I was well off on my projection of how much pipe I would need.  30 feet per trench? Try 40.  How I could have been so far off, I don't know, but I had "extra" pipe and ended up 1, 20 foot stick short.  I'm going to hook up the trailer after this and go get another stick, also taking 2 or 3 sticks of sewer pipe from our yard over there.  

Anyway, I still need to rent a Bobcat for a day and I'm going to have to work the trenches into that day.  It'll be next week, I'm not going to spend another day baking in the hot sun out there, it leaves me without energy and having heat headaches no matter how much water or sugar free gatorade I drink.  I did a little better yesterday, tho, by dumping cool water over my head.  

A dozer would take care of all of these weeds in a day's time, all 7 acres of it.  Well, not even that much now, around 4-1/2 acres of weeds.  Nothing I'm doing right now, the weeds will just grow right back up. With no rain in the forecast, it would be a waste of money.  I want to immediately spread rye-grass seed over the entire area after getting the weeds plowed up and try to get something other than weeds growing in there.  

The dozer would also smooth the dirt out and get rid of the little hilly stuff that seems to be everywhere in those weeds.  The goal is to have grass, not weeds.  Of course, that opens up a whole new can of worms of having to mow the grass.  But, you either have ugly weeds or beautiful grass.  Grass mowing can be sectioned into different days, it doesn't have to be "let's cut all of this grass in one day" type of thing.  No, to start with, I won't be paying someone to cut all of that. They want far too much money.  Money is a precious commodity right now and I am not even going to schedule the gravel install until I'm much closer to starting day. 

I don't need to be in a situation where I"m running low on cash and have nothing but to go back to work to get it back up.  This "free time" I have now is working my @$$ off out there attempting to get some semblance of a nice place going. If I could have only afforded double the spots I have now, I wouldn't have to go back to that horrid trucking lifestyle.  

It makes me wonder if I could just find some other kind of work that may not pay near as much but with the park income, it wouldn't matter.  I'm pretty handy with forklifts, all kinds and sizes, a bit rusty but it would come back quickly.  

BTW, that machine? Yeah, that took a minute to figure out.  It's been 20 years or so since I've operated a backhoe - which is pretty similar to operating a track hoe - and I really struggled with it for the first hour or so.  Plus, the controls are really touchy, barely touch them and the thing is jerking around.  

Oh, and waiting on gravel install? That could change, much has many other factors of this project has gone.  I'm weighing getting it done so I can finish the lots up versus keeping the cash until very near the end.  It may well be, ,tho, that the equipment they use to install the gravel will trash any grass I might have planted if they go off the pads to work on them.  It may only take a day or two for them to do the gravel, but growing grass? Well, Rye grass grows quickly, for sure, but it's a couple of weeks anyway before you start getting anything substantial.  

I also wonder about spending the time fixing the grass areas. By fixing, I mean smoothing all of it out and getting the rest of the weeds out. If they use a dozer to spread the gravel and that dozer goes into what-would-be my freshly fixed up grass areas, I would not be a happy camper.  

It's all about the money and the dwindling supply of it.  

BTW, I am going to have a glamping tent setup, but I'm not paying a company twice the money it costs to install it plus 20% of revenues.  My interaction with building the bridge and re-learning how to work with wood convinces me that I could build the platform that most of them use to put the glamping tents on.  It's a very large deck.  It not only has the tent but it has a BBQ, outdoor chairs and/or outdoor couches.  

Still, it's just a deck. And right now? The cost of wood is so high, a deck worth of wood would probably in the thousand dollar range.  Folks, there is a  YouTube video for just about everything, including how to build decks, lol.  Deck -  around $1,300, tent around $1,500 and then you dress it all up.  It has to have power as well. It's basically a hotel room in a very large tent. The point? You get a lot more money off of those things for nightly rental and you quickly recover the money spent on them.  

I don't know if they heat them - cooler temps coming.  I'll have to check into that. It's on the "closer to the top" of the list type of thing.   The cheapest nightly rate I was informed of in this area is $60 going up to in the high $100 range.  Of course, there is a problem with them. You have to be available or find someone to clean it up nicely after each guest leaves.  

I also want it in the mid section of the property - there is a nice stand of pines and a couple of open areas where I could put the setup.  But - that would mean running water and electricity over the pipe easement and I dunno how they feel about that.  

It'll be something I'm thinking about how to work it while I'm doing everything else.  This would be an AirBnB type of listing.  The income if it worked would be substantial enough to make it a higher priority than tent camping sites.  I've still got some figuring and work to do for those. Even with the road I am going to have in there, there is still a parking issue which I didn't even think about - no place to park - and access to the group campground isn't possible - yet.  It will take the use of a dozer back there to level off some large dirt mounds that are in the way of otherwise having a driveway straight to it.  

If/when I eventually get to renting a dozer, I have to have all of this stuff figured out so I can go straight to work with it and get everything done. Not, sit there and think about how I should work and then get to work. With delivery, it's almost a grand a day for the use of one.  I think it's 10 hours allotted usage time.  I can get a lot done in 10 hours.  The RV and the entire front take priority over tent camping sites tho.  Those weeds are ugly.  I'll take pics of them today when I've over  there to give an idea of what I am talking about, but it's acres worth of - weeds.  This is not the first impression you want an RV'er to see when they are pulling into your driveway? Yea, I don't think so.

G'day.  

 Days getting longer.  

Bought the pipe for drainage today after telling the contractor I would just do that stuff myself.  He didn't mind and usually just says well, if you want to use someone else (even tho I am not saying anything like that or even hinting at it) I have no problem with it.  

I called the local rental place, yes we have the track hoe, X amount of dollars per day, etc etc etc. Great, I need it tomorrow morning if it's available. Well, sir, it is broke down.  We need to fix it first.

Couldn't he have just said that to start with instead of going through this entire conversation and wasting my time?  

The pipe, of course, was ridiculously expensive. Not near as much as every other place I got quotes from, but still quite high.  

I'm waiting on gravel install until the power is put in and turned on.  Actually, I don't even think I'll have the power "turned on" - meaning getting an account in my name and putting whatever deposit money they want up front - until it's just about time to turn the park on.  

I was working on hanging vines on the trails today.  They are ridiculous and they are very long. Some of them stretch upwards 40-50 feet up into trees.  Most of them are dead and rotting. Usually, you pull on them and they start pulling free from the trees they are entangled with. There is so much work that needs to be done on those trails - just clearing all the felled trees the grinder dude brought down but didn't grind up. 

They aren't ON the trails, but there is a large amount of that debris on the sides.  I started cutting some of that up as well.  I was thinking I could just cut it up and put it in place for people wanting to have fires.  I might do that but I don't know how long until the park actually opens and that stuff may start rotting on me.  

I could spend months back there.  I don't have months right now, the RV park takes precedence, I was mostly just working on these vines that hit you in the face when riding the ATV back there.  The pipe - that was of the "take-precedence" value and so, it's laid out on the lots.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do about a track hoe now that I know they don't have one available.  Not real interested in leaving expensive pipe sitting out there for unknown amount of time.  

I'll make phone calls tomorrow in neighboring towns, see what they have and how much.  

Definitely considering having 1 glamping site put in. It's $7,500 to buy the stuff and have them set it up.  At $60 or more per night, even only 10 nights per month would have me close to paying off the expense in 1 year's time.  The thing would have to have heating for winter and cooling for summer tho.  That would be "extra" expense, they aren't supplying that in that deal.  I'm going at $60 because that was the lowest nightly rate they said existed anywhere, the highest going into $300 range.  

Pretty sure no one around here is going to pay $300 to go glamping, but, there is money around here.  It appears from research that outhouses are actually allowed here, not the greatest solution but I don't have any desire to try and run sewer clear to a potential glamping site.  There is a perfect area in the back where I could put one.  Not far from the front and running an electrical line underground via a trenching machine would be easy.  

The problem? Going over the natural gas line.  I'd have to find out how deep they have it, tho it would realistically have to be at least 4 feet depth. An electrical line could be run a foot deep with no problems. Or, I guess I could do a makeshift telephone pole thing and run it over the top of the line.  

I just think it would be a far nicer setup to have glamping in the piney area with the natural grass.  Much better views and away from RV's.  These are different mindsets.  Eventually somewhere down the line and the Lord willing, there will be a glamping venue and at least 1 tiny house.  Or, a community of tiny houses with people actually living there.  Rentals, of course.   

Anyway, that's all.  Just waiting on power and still need to get into an accountant.  And figure out power for the shed.  And other things, lol. Lots of other things....

G'day. 

 I went to the local competitor for rock - I didn't know there was one here, it didn't show up in any Google searches.  His prices were considerably better, but after the fact?  By the time I have them deliver it, rent a dozer and spread it, I might as well pay the contractor to do it for me. It's simply amazing how much the price of gravel is around here. Maybe everywhere?

This guy has it brought in on rail cars, versus the other company has to truck it here from quite a distance away.  I only found this guy because the driver for the first company said "I should shop around".  I replied there isn't anywhere nearby to shop around with and once you get too far out, even if you find cheaper gravel price, it will be erased by higher shipping fees.  That's when he told me about this dude in town. 

I caught the guy coming out of his office.  He said he normally isn't there on Saturdays and was only there because of a railroad mix up and he had 7 trucks waiting at the rails to be loaded.  Long story short, this is the dad of the man that owns the other company, he gave it to his son who has run it to the ground, according to dad. So, dad said the heck with it and started a new gravel business lol. Anyway, the cost is better but it's still so high!  I have no choice. Finish the park or let all that money sit and rot.  

I've said it several times before, I'll say it again: the costs of this park just getting the basic operation going are so high, I dunno if I would have even done this if I had known the costs after inflation started hitting everything.  The real bummer for me is that if it hadn't taken so long to get the property, I could have bought all of this stuff before inflation hit.  I'm neck deep into this, I have no choice but to pay the price for the gravel and pray to the Living God that He pours out His blessing upon the operation and causes it to prosper.  

Well, anyway, I need to get the quote on the drainage pipe install and get the rest of this going.  Even after all of this money I have acquired, I still may have to take out another loan!  Gag.  

Why does it seem like it's been months since I lost my job? Yet, it's only been a month.  

 Quoted 28k for gravel.  For GRAVEL! "The cost of gravel right now is just crazy!"

Well what?  Did the earth run out of rock to crush?  Did the cost of fuel make the price go up 8-10K?  

I don't think so.  I don't know what I'm going to do right now.  Find cheaper gravel somewhere else.  This was the contractor quoting me that price.  He wants to put in 6 inch thick, which is preferable but right now?  I can't do that.  

It isn't the contractor over-quoting me, it really is the cost of gravel.  I'm going to have to go with 4 inch deep and a different kind of gravel that is cheaper.  I need at least 8 grand shaved off of that quote, that doesn't even include installing the drainage pipe - I thought maybe it did but after asking he said no.

The highest I wanted to go for gravel is 15k.  I mean, 28k is almost as much as installing the electrical lines and pedestals. In fact, it was the original quote for electrical until inflation started driving everything up.  I just can't see it and I'm doing a full stop right now and going to see what I can come up with.  

This project is not that big, I just can't see that much money in rocks!  

Watch YouTube videos on how to spread gravel?  Can it be that hard?  Go with crushed concrete?  What? Phone calls to any gravel producers within 50 - 75 miles will be made to see if they have something cheaper.  The local supplier has SB2 and Limestone. SB2 is what the quote is for, limestone is cheaper.  

Just going to have to sit here and think about this for a while.  

 A few thoughts.

The  Jeep - totally forgot about that thing. Not being used, would make a great property vehicle.  It's not a 4 wheel drive, but it's small and could pull the big trailer wherever I want/need and I wouldn't care if the thing gets scratched up. I wouldn't need to register it, it would be property only.  It's been sitting at Maria's house for a long time is the reason I forgot about it.  

The bridge - done.  Almost, lol.  I ordered a truckload of 1 inch river rock today, but they aren't coming until Tuesday "unless we can work it in sooner".  After they dump that on the property, I will rent a small tractor with bucket to move it to the rear.  It will be an all day thing using that machine for that, a 4 foot drop off that needs built up and after that, I can use it on the lots.  It's $240 a day, well worth the expense.  I might get it for 2 days so I can smooth out the lots.  I don't necessarily need a dozer for the lots, the spaces are not that big next to the parking pads.  It would likely take up the weeds as well.  

Weeds - I didn't do any of that today, tho I did get into it pretty good yesterday. Yes, a machine can move that stuff out but there is a factor to consider that pulling the weeds out, roots and all, will likely mean they won't come back.  I want to be able to get winter grass to plant now that we are getting closer to cooler temps.  Get the seed planted and hope it rejects any weeds from growing in it.  

Contractor - said he was doing a bid for my gravel 2 days ago and haven't heard back.  I don't know what that means.  In his world, it could be that it's going to take a bit to figure out - probably not - or, more likely, he's distracted by other things he is doing.  I just texted him a little while ago, please get me that quote.  

Sign - they updated me and said they are still waiting on a certain shade of green paint.  

Signs - I went to a local sign place today to order some of the "yard signs" - the small ones you see on the side of the road and a "RV PARK ENTRANCE" with an arrow. The entrance sign is a permanent sign so it cost more, a lot more.  

I haven't done the accountant yet.  The website designer says he wants pics of the finished product before attempting to do the rest of the website.  He knows what he's doing, but at some point? I'm going to have to have that site up including online registration whether it's the finished product or not. I am looking to get this thing going sooner than later.  I've spent the money, I need the electric and the gravel, after that, it's just minor stuff I am already working on.  Well, not so minor, just not huge cost stuff. 

Headaches - I get horrible heat headaches almost every day now after working out there and sweating like a pig.  I stop working when those hit. Taylor thinks I need to hydrate more - but I am drinking water all morning long. I know it's from working because on any day I might not do any work, I don't get those headaches. This all came about with this sickness.  I still have a minor cough, I don't know if it's still a contributor to headaches or not.  

Wifi - I happened upon 2 of the local internet company trucks redoing some wiring next door to the property yesterday, so I chatted with them for a while. They are going to get the info to their engineer, who will come out, see what needs to be done and give a quote.  I'm still leaning towards waiting for Starlink locally. But, I can get a quote and see how much they will charge me.  Starlink would be buying equipment and having it installed.  Fidelity - the local wired company - would be having it wired along the poles that are coming and the on already installed and then having to set it up.  

Which means I need power to the shed/office so I can have the equipment in there.  I have asked the contractor several times about getting his co-contractor over there, he said he would. That was over a week and a half ago.  I may just run a line myself, I've done it before. I need to look at the setup and see what it's going to take.  This contractor really drives me crazy with how long it takes for him to get anything done.  I will get someone else to do it if he doesn't do it soon or I don't do it. 

The city water department - sent a termination of service notice. Note that I just had it turned on last month, replete with a huge deposit and a $700 tapping fee.  There were no bills sent to me before they sent me this termination of service notice. I went up there yesterday. Sour-faced people with the personalities of a rock.  Started giving me grief right off the bat after I explained to them that I had never received a bill before the termination notice.  I mean, they went straight for the throat for no good reason, I wasn't giving them hell, I just wanted an explanation of why they would send a termination notice before sending a monthly bill?  

Yeah, I didn't take it too long before I started dishing it right back to them.  "I just came in here last month, shelled out $2,200 of  which I will never see again and you think I am going to not pay the bill?!!". They first blamed me then said I would have to take it up with the post office, they didn't get any return mail so it's not their fault. It wasn't necessarily what they were telling me as it was how they were delivering the message. Hostile and in-your-face.  I raised my voice to equal their raising of their voices to the point a cop came up and stood next to me, staring at me.  There are city cops in the building as well, which didn't phase me, I didn't start this altercation and I was actually there to pay the bill so the service wouldn't be cut off.  

However, if I don't foresee the park being opened within the next 2 months, I will have the service cut off, get my deposit back and save myself the monthly service fee. The problem with doing that is that they charge a disconnect fee and a reconnect fee.  I don't know how much it is, but it's probably as outrageous as everything else they are doing.  It's a dude that comes out with a tool and turns the water off - probably 2 minute job.  Reverse for turning it back on.  

Those people must get people in there too often that are in a bad mood because their water is being shut off and they can't afford to pay the bill or something like that.  It was amazing how fast they went into "assault mode".  

Anyway, that situation is at least temporarily taken care of until I see when the power company is going to get the power to the property and also about this gravel ridiculousness.  I've literally been asking for months for a gravel quote.  

I still want drone footage of the property to put on the site.  And I'll need a map on the site as well of the RV park portion and of the walking trails.  It can all fit onto a one page map.  And I need insurance - commercial insurance.  It takes a while to get it - but I don't want to get insurance until I have a start date.  I really want a start date within the next 2 months, this doesn't need to drag out forever.  

Oh! and I will need picnic tables and fire rings.  There's  a couple thousand right there.  I'm getting first-hand knowledge and experience of the statement that "it takes money to make money".  Yes it does.  I'm neck deep into this now, there is no turning back.  Whatever happens, happens.  

And, since the oil and gas company reneged on their offer to pay half the price of having fresh gravel installed, I'm going to have to foot the bill to have it installed at least up to the where the RV park is. The rest can stay the same.  I figure around 4 to 5 grand worth?  I don't really know, I just want a couple of inches added to it because there are plenty of bald spots that have nothing but dirt or very fine material that isn't really doing anything. I don't want RV's getting muddy on the way in. They wouldn't get stuck but that's not good enough.  They would complain and get on Google and start writing negative reviews - Oh the driveway is mud and it got all over our rig!  

It would actually be a legitimate complaint.  I just remembered I have a gravel quote.  Figured it out, 2 inches would only cost $2,400.  That isn't installing it, but I think I can get the company to just chain open the rear door a couple inches - they do this all the time - and drive while dumping it.  Less than 3 grand tho, that's much better than what I was thinking.  That's a real relief right there.  I just need this gravel quote to install on the new driveway and pads from the contractor, it's eating at me. I need to know how much more money I'm going to have to have to get this operation up and running.  

That's enough for one entry. Just an update.  Lots on my plate, trying to organize and deal with it all.  Really need to make another appointment for the accountant - I cancelled last one because I was sick.  I want all the tax info set up and ready to go.  Trying to establish a new discipline with receipts and paperwork, I thing I have never been good at.  

  It's a good thing I'm not working a regular job right now. This version of Covid that hit me has me attempting to work on the property with little energy and unable to work more than 3 or 4 hours before I have to call it quits.  It likely doesn't help that I'm not exactly fit and in shape.  But it got much worse after I got sick. At least I could hang out there for 5-7 hours before this virus crap.  

It's almost 1:00 pm and I'm done for the day.  At least working on the property anyway.  Maria was out there helping me pull weeds.  No, I don't intend on pulling 7 acres worth of weeds, I do intend on pulling the weeds on all of the lots, the doggy park area and behind the lots.  Probably less than 2 acres worth.  It's hard work - even if the weeds are mostly pulling out relatively easy.  There are lots of them and I could only wish that it had been raining when they did the dirt work, I could have planted grass all over the place and a lot of this weed issue wouldn't exist right now.  

The grass seed I put down last week is growing.  It's been raining so everything is growing.  

I did go and get a 5X9 trailer yesterday.  I put the generator on it this morning and dragged it to the bridge work site. Easily pulls it, nothing near as hard as the 4 wheeler trying to pull that much larger trailer.  No, I didn't do any work on the bridge, getting that generator to the work site was all I wanted to do with that today, I headed to where Maria was working to help her pull weeds and haul them off to a burn pile.  The RV portion of this project is more important right now than building that bridge.  

I want the bridge done before all of that wood warps, tho.  

I'm going to Lowe's to get more grass seed.  I can have it growing and thickening up before the summer grass seed time is over. I have about a month before it's rye grass season.  You just sow the rye grass over top of the Bermuda grass.  I'm simply not going to pull all of these weeds and not have something growing in it's place and right now? I'm on a time pressure situation.   

The pressure is self-perceived but it's real.  Get this operation up and running asap.  It doesn't have to be perfect, it does have to be operational and have the bare minimums in place.  I can't get the contractor to return my calls/messages again, as normal.  I have half a mind to just use another contractor to get the gravel installed. There is one local and that person runs the company that sells the gravel to everyone in this region to begin with.  I didn't say he's cheap, I just know he's far more available.  And he responds to messages.  

I'm working on the campgrounds but they do not take precedence.  There is a lot of work left to do back there to make it possible for tents to be pitched and vehicles to be able to access it.  I need a dozer to do some finish work and that isn't going to happen right away.  A dozer could clear the front weeds and level it while doing the finish work in the back. I want to wait until winter grass season is here before I get a dozer to clean up the front.  I can shove the weeds into a burn pile and then seed the rye grass.  In the rear, there is a drop off that needs dirt dumped and then spread out to be able to have much of anything driving back there. 

There is that steep, long hill, but I don't think that's a particularly good route for campers to have to take.  If they don't have a pickup truck, they'll never make it back out of there.  The dirt road going down that hill is nice and smooth but it's nothing a 4 door nissan sedan is going to handle.  Or any low riding vehicle.  The other route is where that drop off is. It's about 4 feet high, I'd need a couple dump truck loads of dirt brought back there. I do have a pile of dirt, but it's not close.  

I suppose I could rent a small back hoe for a day to just take buckets of dirt from the pile.  That would likely take hours - it would need a lot of buckets worth. But, it would very likely save money over having a dump truck bringing in dirt, the dump truck couldn't make it to that drop off either, at least not a semi-truck version of one.   

I dunno, but I need those drainage pipes installed and I need to know if the contractor will do it or if I need to get with it on my own? I can't get the dude to reply.  

With that, I'm going to message the contractor again.  If I don't get a reply, I'm going to consider going and buying the pipe myself. The rental place in town has mini-trackhoes and I can install it myself and at least get that part of this deal ready to be graveled over. 

 I completely exhausted myself this morning digging out the last pole holes for the bridge.  It's a lot more work than what it appears, digging almost 3 feet down, wide hole and tons of roots to cut through.  Then going and getting the bags of quickcrete from the middle of the property, hauling those back, dumping 2 bags in a hole and the making sure my measurements are right and that it's level.  

I was hoping to get more done today - and I very well may after going home, taking a shower and getting wet-with-sweat clothes off of me.  I am clearly still not 100% and I still have this metallic, nasty taste in my mouth.  Covid? Probably, that's definitely one of the symptoms.  I've had a lot of symptoms including being up half the night coughing my lungs out.  Only after I got up and moved around at 2:00 am and then sat down, but upright, did it stop.  I was thankful that after that, the coughing stopped for most of the night. 

But, that doesn't help  my energy levels and lack thereof, being awake half the night. It's a pretty nasty mixture of sleeplessness and sickness and I am just hoping these symptoms will pass soon.  It's been a while.  

Anyway, I am happy that the poles are in and I can finally progress to the "rest" of the project.  I'll have to lug the generator out there for power tools. Some of them are battery operated, but my circular saw and another saw are both ac electric and also my battery tools need to be recharged as I go along. There is going to be a lot of holes that need to be drilled and a lot of star screws going in to hold the decking in place.  

I don't think I'll get back to that for a few days, I want the quickcrete to be able to dry out and solidfy.  The ground is damp I don't expect an real drying to occur before a couple of days.

No matter, I have the doggy park to install and that is going to be a lot more energy needed to do that work than the bridge.  Well, maybe they're equally as draining.  

Oh, I was complaining about the size of the bags of ice at a store where I go locally to get ice for my cooler. I will not go out there in this heat without ample, ice cold water and gatorades to keep  me hydrated.  Well, I went in there again today to buy 2 bags of ice. Remember, these bags shrunk from 8 pounds to 7 pounds.  The guy rang them up - or tried to anyway - and got an odd look on his face. He ran into the back and then came back saying "apparently the price went up for bagged ice since yesterday".  Oh?  

These 2 bags? $8.64!!!! TWO 7-pound bags of ice for almost 9 dollars?  I looked him funny back. Are you serious?!! I walked out without the ice, went to another gas station half a mile away. They had 10 pound bags of ice - refreshing to see they even had them - for $2.15 per bag!  I guarantee you that  if everyone raises their prices up that high for ice, I will buy my own ice machine and be done with it.  

I asked the contractor yesterday to order enough pipe to do the drainage situation at the property.  I just said that if he doesn't have time to install it, I will do it myself but could you please order the pipe and I will repay you.  I then went on about getting electricity run to the new shed/office.  And a few other things.  He finally replied that he would see about getting his guy out there for the electric, he has been running him around all over the place.  He did not even respond to the request for pipe, which means - nothing in his world.

It could mean he is ordering it or it could mean he is not ordering it.  I have no issues driving two cities over to get it myself if it comes down to that and I don't want to be waiting forever.  This needs to be done, it is not a wish list or some pie in the sky thing.  You can't have campers occupying a space that is half under water!   Trust me, I'm counting my pennies right now since I'm unemployed. I'm nowhere near being broke but foolish spending could cause that to happen quickly. 

It's why I haven't yet bought a trailer or some sort of weed destroying machine.  I'm trying to wait until after the gravel is installed and I see what I have left.  The sign is being made now and I have need of getting that doggy park built - I already have the stuff to build it with sans the two gates you need at the entrance.

Had to think about that one for a minute.  Why do they all have 2 gates?  Simple, I think anyway.  You enter from the outside, close that gate and then open the other one.  This eliminates anyone else's dogs that happen to be near the inside gate from getting in there and then running free.  It's also a good area to leash up your dog on the way out.  And if I feel so inclined, a doggy watering spout.  I can at least put in a regular spigot and run a drainage pipe away from the park so people can water up their dogs. Maybe.  That is a future thing that doesn't need to happen right away, the gates I will have to install once I get the rest of the fencing up.  

Why do you need a doggy park with walking trails?  Because people like to be able to let their dogs run free without having to worry about them running off. Not everyone has their dog voice-trained like I have Addler. Once I learned how to train dogs to obey voice commands without leashes, every dog since then I have trained to do so.  The dog could be full-tilt charging after a cat, another dog or even a human and you need only yell their name and they stop, turn around and come back to you.  

I have yet to decide when I'm going to tackle the shed project.  I don't think it prudent right now to spend thousands of dollars doing what it will need. Not in my financial situation.  RV's have their own bathrooms and I am content, on a soft opening anyway, to give them the full-hook up which includes the sewer connection and they can use their own bathroom. It will be on the website that there is no bathroom yet, please consider accordingly.  I do want electricity to it tho, that will cost around a grand I am guessing, with a meter, running the underground line and a circuit breaker panel.  Sounds expensive? Yes, it is.  But I do want the option to have power in there at least.  

I can run the electrical lines inside the unit myself if it comes down to it.  Also any plumbing.  I'm just not a "build a bathroom" person, that takes a few skill sets I don't claim to have and would rather pay someone to do.  Installing a shower, the tile or whatever that goes in it, the plumbing on the floor, a toilet setup? Yeah I don't do that stuff, find a handyman and have at it.  

Really would like a washer dryer set up in there tho, regardless of showering facilities.  People want stuff like that so they don't have to go sit at a laundromat somewhere. And a soda machine at least.  

Well, these are things I will be pondering for a bit.  I have other stuff to get done and it's not mandatory to have such amenities.  There is a laundromat - a big one - about 2 miles away.  I have no money tree and I have to watch my expenditures now.  

On another note, my business shows up in a Google search.  It also shows up on the first page now.  And it shows almost 1,800 hits since it started, which wasn't all that long ago.  What?  I was a bit surprised to see it had had that many views!  I've looked a few dozen times, yes, but it doesn't show a hit when I get on there for I am listed as the business owner and I watch the counter.  

I've still got this weed problem/headache I need to figure out. Gag.  I want a field full of grass.  But no way I'm spending that kind of money on grass seed when we're heading out of summer and getting close to fall. That means rye grass - which grows ohhhh so much easier and quicker!  Just have to have enough rainfall.  

And finally, the oil and gas company reneged on it's offer to pay for half the gravel. Why? I have no clue.  But I was pretty aggravated after reading from this dude that the company said they weren't going to pay for it - after the company said it was going to pay for it.  

I just said fine, there are going to be changes.  First off, your vehicles are entering and exiting my property with no insignia on the sides of the vehicles.  I have no idea who they are and I am not going to continue to tolerate it. The other companies DO have their company name on the side of their pickups, it's pretty much standard practice especially when contemplating entering private land.  Please deal with it because if you don't, I will, and basically telling him that I will be calling the county sheriff from now on if I find a vehicle on my property that I don't know who it is.

Second, your vehicles are speeding up and down the driveway well beyond the posted speed limit.  It's 15, I think.  THEIR company imposed speed limit. MY speed limit is 10.  Why? Because tearing up and down that driveway only serves to erode and destroy it.  I'll likely have to pay to have some gravely dumped on the main driveway to ensure hassle free access to my new driveway.  It shouldn't need more than 2 inches since it's a well established driveway to start with.  

I"m going to have to go out there and measure the distance from the street to the end of my new driveway and then calculate how much gravel I will need.  I'm going to want my contractor to spread it.  Or I guess I could spread it myself if I can get a piece of equipment out there to do it with.  Actually, if the dump truck driver is good, he can crack the rear dump door open a few inches and drive down the driveway while it falls out, spreading it without any machinery.  I've seen this done on numerous occasions and would save having to rent machinery or having to have someone with machinery doing the spreading for me.  

The new driveway? No.  You have to have it dumped on there and then they spread it with whatever machine of choice they use to do it with. A grader, a dozer, whatever.  

Okay, well, I feel better now that I've had a nice cool break at home. My hair has run wild and I need to get a hair cut and get something to make for dinner. Taylor started a new job today and we are back to doing dinner with whoever is available to make it.  That would be me today and I told her I would just make basic din-din, in this case?  Hamburger Helper, the Stroganoff stuff. 

TTYL

 They are at the property installing the new septic system. It has 2 small tanks and one large one - tho the small tanks aren't exactly small, it's just how I'm describing it looks. The small one is where the waste solids go into.  The second tank is where the "water" gets pumped from one tank to the large center tank to treat it.  After that, it goes into a clear water tank and then pumped out into lines to be sprinkled out.  They're well on their way to being finished with it already.  

Unfortunately, they decided to install it right along the path of where the power lines were going to go.  It's far too late to tell them anything differently now, One would think they would consult with me before determining a location to install the setup. I would have directed them a bit further south and away from where the power lines were going to go.  Now, I will have to contact the electric engineer and ask him if that's going to be an issue, and if so, we are going to have to go with his plan B - whatever that was.

Yes, he had a plan B but I never asked him about where it would go, exactly, because it became unnecessary.  There's plenty of room to re-route the electrical, I'm just a bit miffed they didn't ask me about exactly where I wanted that set up before installing it.  As I have said repeatedly, they do great work, but their communication skills suck.  The lines will probably have to go another 15 feet east, eating up even more land for easement.  I have some plans for the front, I should still be able to do it but it's not getting any easier with this setup.  All I can say is any future septic installs will be going in there - somewhere and definitely not towards the south.  

I really want around another 50 spaces before I call this thing done and over with.  I figure I can go 3 rows tho, so it shouldn't be a problem, speaking of goals for the future.  

Regardless, I tried to get some work done on the bridge this morning.  Digging out just one hole took it all out of me.  Yes, I am starting to feel better,.  No stamina, or very little, but I don't feel near as miserable as I was feeling.  I got one hole done and left.  No sense in wiping myself out to the point I will be bedridden another week.  Yup, I have plenty to do, but I can only do so much right now.  

I'm waiting until this septic is done and I am billed for it before doing much of anything else.  Well, excepting starting work on the doggy park.  The local rental store rents a walk-behind bush hog  No way I'd try to use it for the entire front, but I can use it to hack the weeds down where the park is going to go.  I'd like to rent the thing, hack down the weeds and then spread grass seed over the 100x100 plot before putting any stakes in the ground.  There is an area where they used the dozer to level off a spot where it can go and won't interfere with either the power, septic or the lots themselves.  

The rest of the weeds? Well, the only thing I have found so far that is "cheap" is a pull behind setup you put on the ATV.  It has a tow hitch you hook the machine up with. The machine is 48 inches wide and says you can do an acres in an hour.  It claims it can cut down up to 3 inch diameter trees.  These units are not cheap, starting in the mid 2,000's, but a tractor and bush hog attachment are far more expensive.  At the rate they want to have someone come out and do the cutting? I'd eat up that's $2,500 in 4 or 5 months.  

I'm not pulling the trigger on it just yet, but I'm very close to the point where I need to do something.  I can't have 7 acres of weeds, that will not be very appealing.  I don't really see any good alternatives to this setup. I've looked. If the local rental would rent a tractor with bush hog attachment, I'd go that route for a while. But, they don't.  

The sign maker finally got the board in. I am going to meet up with them today to give a deposit and get that sign made, installed, over and done with.  Again, this ;is a hand painted sign that will give a much better feel for what the park is going to be about then a sign made in a sign shop with machinery.  I will have small signs made at a local sign shop to put in the ground out by the main highway and perhaps down at the Interstate.  If they're cheap enough anyway. The one on the main highway will stay, there are numerous signs there that the county doesn't remove, but the Interstate signs? 

I don't know if they allow those or if they tear them up and throw them away. If a sign is $10 and they do that, no biggies. If it's more? No thanks.  

As I try to ponder how to go about doing this, I really feel that I will just start with a parking pad with full hook ups, a doggy park and hopefully have the trails cleaned up by then.  There is a lot of cleaning up to do.  Felled trees, branches, just a lot.  And it has to be hauled to an area where I can burn it.  I'd prefer not to have multiple burn piles all over the place back there, so there is really only one place I want to do that, which means, back to the trailer.  The trailer I want is around $600 and I just can't get around it.  I 've made offers on used trailers and they just laugh at me.  I laugh at them back.  You want almost as much as a brand new trailer....

Oh, well I want grass next to the pads, a picnic table and a fire ring where feasible.  For future reference, all pads will be 50 feet wide.  40 feet simply isn't enough.  I thought it was, I thought wrong.  There is one pad that is 50 feet wide by design and it's about perfect.  The end lots also have a lot of room.  Live and learn.  It is what it is and it's all installed now, there is no turning back on the 14 I have in there already.  

Well that's about it for now. Take a short nap, try to get some energy and then go meet these people for the sign down payment.  

 It dawned on me that with the right numbers, this RV park even as it currently will stand, could keep me out of trucks for the rest of my life.  

There's a lot of ifs involved, however. If the power and septic are installed within the next month.  If I can get it up and running in the next few months.  If I can keep it at at least 80% occupancy.  If I can make the tent campgrounds work as well.  I'm thinking to look locally for that venue.  Advertise it in a couple of the local facebook groups that everyone in town and in the county uses as more of a gossip board than anything else.

Those gossip boards are extremely effective in getting the word out.  There's lots of land in this area, but all or most all of it is privately owned.  People the don't own land? Come to my park and enjoy a beautiful Fall night under the stars! I wonder how much the demand is for tent camping anymore tho.  People probably want electricity and wifi now.  They aren't getting wifi, if they want access to the internet, they best bring their phones with them. I have enough service in most areas in the back of the property to be able to stream live video.  Some locations it cuts out, but just a few.  

Electricity? I don't think so, not to start.  It would cost a fortune to have electricity brought all the way back there.  Now, if people wanted to bring quiet generators, I could possibly allow that.  Actually, I guess it's not going to cost me anything to have the power company install those poles and bring the power to the meter stand.  Or if it is going to cost me something, they haven't told me about it and I ain't asking. It must be the same deal as the first one.  They install, you start using electricity, they eventually get their money back.  

However.  I wouldn't want the power company to run poles back to the back. That's a 30 foot easement they demand and they get it.  I'm losing 30 feet to the RV park - but it's land that I have determined I can only use for say, a swimming pool or the doggy park.  Too much of a grade for me to consider putting rv pads there.  I could also put tiny homes there -  a thing I'd love to do but there is quite the investment to just put up one of them.  But you get me a tiny home at the front and that thing will be rented out on a month to month basis, not an overnight situation.  I'd rent the thing out, fully furnished, for $700 a month plus electricity and that's that. They'd have their own fenced in yard and parking area.  NO access to any RV facilities that may be coming in the future, however.  

Anyway, I have plenty of room for spaces going towards the back of the property for future expansion. The front of the property is just an undetermined space of land about 450 deep by 200 usable feet wide.  90,000 square feet minus the 30 foot wide easement for the power poles.  Still plenty of room for a pool, doggy park, clubhouse, whatever I want to put up really.  I do have some lofty goals, admittedly, but if you're going to dream, dream big.  This can be done with the SBA loan.  I'm definitely going for it after the park is running for a little bit and hopefully show some decent ROI, profit margins and net income.  

I really need to take a business course.  In an attempt to bypass that, I am going to see an accountant Monday afternoon.  He is all of a block away from me, lol.  I need help to set up the books, show me what to do and direct me to whatever learning information I may need and take it from there. Need to get that started now, I have no idea about any of that.  Collecting taxes? Keeping books? I'm a truck driver, not a CPA.  I know, people learn this stuff for their small businesses. I get that, I have no idea where to even start.  I guess an expense ledger would be a good start. I am keeping all the receipts from all of my expenditures and have decided that I need to get an app where you  can scan the receipts in so they aren't lost.

Receipts? They fade over time and then they are useless.  I am going to spend tomorrow (Sunday) writing down a list of questions for the accountant and hopefully this guy can help me out. He comes highly recommended by the GM of a national restaurant chain that has an operation here in town.  She went to this guy for whatever purpose, not really sure since I would assume a national chain would already have accounting procedures in place?  

Well, anyway, I'm starting to feel better.  Not all there yet and definitely not ready to start the heavy lifting, but I'm on the road to recovery.  I've wasted so much time this week laying in bed doing nothing.  Time is of the essence right now and sitting around doing nothing - well I'm doing what I can towards the business end of things - doesn't set well with me when I know I have so much work to do over there.  

There is simply no way I can start working again today.  The most I did this morning was unload the dishwasher and that was enough.  Just forcing myself to get up and walk around and start feeling human again.  

But yes, I will at least keep the idea in mind that if I can get the park going soon enough, I will forget trucking and focus entirely on the business.  If not?  Well, you know what that means. Go around filling out applications and find something to tide me over til' the park can be my sole income.          

I'm highly motivated to get the park up and running regardless of whether I have to work another job - or not.  I am spending a lot of money and getting nothing in return.  That's to be expected but no one would want that situation going on forever.  The loss of employment just happened to occur at a time when I am starting to get close to an opening day.  If it was 6 months ago? I would have already started looking for another job.  Now? I can take the time I need to get everything done that I am not going to pay other people to do.  I dont' want to spend 5 or 6 k on a basic bridge.  I've spent $800 on materials and that should be it.  

There is a trailer at harbor freight I am considering buying for the ATV. It's like $400, much smaller than my other trailer and much lighter.  It's a thing where you have to buy the wood and install it yourself.  I have to get a lighter trailer.  I burned up the drive belt on the ATV using the other one. The ATV will still move but it takes a minute and it will get worse.  New belt ordered and yes I do know how to install it, fortunately. Pain in the @$$ but I can get it done.  I just don't want to have to keep doing that.  

Anyway, I'm doing better but far from whole.  Time to get offa here. 

 Day 5.

Sick. Corona going around here again, I didn't bother to find out.  This particular run in is extreme body pains, headaches, sore throat, coughing but not incessant, weakness, loss of appetite. The ability to lay in bed and that's about it.

I'm finally starting to feel a little better.  Sick of laying in bed, I went out to the property today to spread a bag of grass seed I bought previously.  A couple of the pads are small lakes.  I'll be getting pipe and renting a mini trackhoe when I get better. I just have no energy right now. I lasted out there about 15 minutes, just long enough to spread the seed and leave.  I need about 4 more bags to finish everything out. Perfect time to do it, everything is wet and there is rain in the forecast.  

I also found another place to rent me a dozer for 24 hours - that's about all I want to spend on it. Pricey, having it delivered, using it and having it picked back up.  Necessary, but pricey.  I see no good reason to pay someone else 3 or 4 times what I'll pay, however, for the same work. It's nothing more than going back and forth along the entire 7 acres and leveling the ground.  

I have far too much to do and really don't have time to be sick.  Lol, that's funny I guess but it's true.  Get this stuff done so I can find another job and get back to work.  

I really need to get that bridge done before the wood starts warping.  And it would be great if I had the energy right now to go ahead and pound those fence posts into the ground, the ground is super wet and would be easy. Not to mention the temps have been much nicer since the rain came.  And here I am, stuck at home, doing nothing.  I sort of resolved myself a while back that living around kids that are going to public school and daycare? I'm going to get sick more often.  

Yeah, no, I haven't looked for a job beyond perusing online applications and driving around town seeing what's here.  

The elimination of employment has closed the need for another loan to finish the portion of the project I need done in order to open the park.  Really, the time line is closing in on me.  The electrical lines will be installed in less than a month.

The septic, however, has not been installed yet.  First it was the  manufacturer not having the tanks done in time, then it is this rain and the fact that if they try to drive the truck over to the intended site, it will get stuck.  I texted him earlier asking about next week. 

It's the middle of the day and I'm laying here yawning as if it's 11:00 pm.

Time for a nap.  

 Rainy day.

Been raining most of the night.  About a medium level amount of water coming down, I decided even tho I am not feeling all that great, I needed to go to the property and take a look at water issues in real time versus looking at patterns from streams and running over trails and such after the fact.

Foregone conclusion there would be large pools of water on the RV pads next to the driveway. There is no place for the water to go, except to pool up and wash over the new driveway.  Completely unacceptable, the water quickly erode the dirt and the next thing you have is a channel running through your driveway.

Pipe is amazingly expensive right now, it was almost shocking to look up the pricing of it.  I don't know what the contractors are getting - they usually get better pricing since they are buying in volume year round, but whatever the cost, it has to be addressed. 

Anyway, I went to Walmart to get full suit rain gear, waterproof (a lot of what they sell is "water resistant"], went to the property and was met at the other end with a set of headlights staring back at me.  I'm telling  you, these oil and gas companies really need to have their trucks labeled with signage on them to ensure the property owner and other interested parties know who they are.  

At least the dude waved at me this time.  A spirited, hearty wave at that.  I waved back, this is really all that these people need to do: be nice and act sociable and I will be nice back. Giving me glares every time I drive up on them doesn't work in my world, especially since it's my property and even more so that they are there consuming natural gas which is transiting through my property yet I am getting nothing out of it.  This is why I have been pretty straight forward with my desires that whatever portions of the property they are using, they maintain it and maintain it well.  

Well, as I said, it's been raining most of the night and into the morning, it's now 9:00 am with no let up in sight.  I got the 4 wheeler running and started slowly riding all over the walking trails, looking for any areas where I might need to address it if I have campers back there.  Amazingly, there were very few glitches back there. One intended camp sit had a very small stream of water running straight down - I'm not sure I'll do anything about it.  I might just not use it as a campground and save myself the hassle.

The "group" campground had no water issues. I mean, yes, there is water running over all of it, as expected.  But running  evenly and just wet ground, no pooling anywhere. That was good news for me. Another intended, large campground on the other side the same thing. Just wet ground, but no water streams or  pooling water.  Yet another one in a naturally grassy area in a stand of pines was fine as well.

The new road where it drops off and I figured from looking at it that there would be water issues? Yeah, not that much and I still have my 4 inch sewer pipe I can run a couple of stick across it and then build up the dirt to get rid of the drop off and get rid of the drop off.  I haven't really determined how I am going to do that, but they rent bobcats at the local rental place, the only issue being having to run 500 feet back and forth to the dirt pile.  I could use it to smooth out some of the trail areas that need a bit of leveling.  

That isn't going to be today.  I am not working out in the rain like this, number 1 and number 2, I have a really bad sore throat going right now that is just telling me to stay home, relax, listen to the rain pattering on the windows and get better.  The boys had it first and they got over the worst of it in a bout 3 days. Taylor has had it longer and has been feeling really cruddy. I don't know, but when the sore throat goes away, I'm going to have to get back at it.  I'm figuring I'll have to spend nearly what I have left in the bank for the septic install and the gravel, I'll have to cash out the other 401k to have operating money.  

The only other "issue" for running water beyond the stream that runs through the property and should have water running through it is the trail that the mulching man cleared back out.  There is a plateau where the gas operation sits and it's a large swatch of land. All the rain water runs to the southeast side of the plateau and runs down the hill in a pretty good stream.  It goes right across that trail. I see no reason to address that situation.  If you want to hike when it's raining, be my guest but you'll obviously encounter water!

No, I'm not looking for jobs yet.  Just not there.  I'm sick, as I figured I would get after being in close contact with other sick individuals and I have a lot of work on the property I need to get done.  My other 401k will save me from having to go back to work right away.  Once I ever get this thing rolling, I won't need an OTR or regional job.  I will look for local only and something that is flexible.  It doesn't have to pay a lot of money with park income coming in.  It's a gamble, sure.  I have people interested in moving into the park already. They want to live there, tho and I'm not sure I want to go that route yet.  

Regardless, I am going to contact the media dude and tell him to go ahead and start putting that website together and do whatever he's going to do to get my park on the first page of any rv search for my area.  I was given a ballpark of around $500 for the sign, ok, let's get it done, please and thank you.  Wifi - going to wait until the telephone poles are installed, they won't be able to do anything before then.  And I need the electrical contractor to come out and install a meter and run a line to the "shed" I want power in it and I want power accessible beyond the RV pedestals.  I asked him about this a while back, didn't get  a reply, will be asking him again today.  

Well I'll be!  My park is showing up on Google search.  Like, if you put in rv parks and the name of the town and state I live in, it comes up on that listing that Google does whenever you input such a request and it attempts to come up with every such business in the area and shown on a map.  That was quick.  But, the separate listing of the park doesn't show up until page 6.  Not a big deal for right now, at least it's on page one of the google search for all parks in the area.  

And, as always, the idea of applying for an SBA loan still lurking around in my head.  But, I'm unemployed at the moment and that probably wouldn't look good on paper.  I think the park would have to be up and running and bringing in decent revenues before I could get a serious look at a loan that large.  I'd be going for 400k or more. They'll want the property on that loan as well as the park sitting on the property.  A row of tiny homes, another 60 spaces or so, a pool, clubhouse and whatever else lacking.  Yes, the tiny homes sounds really good.  They could be short term rentals, or, they could be month to month rentals and separate them from the rest of the park with fence and gating. 

I won't need a down payment, everything I've spent on the property is the down payment, at least according to the guy that is in the SBA loan center who helps you put these applications together and make them look as good as possible on paper.  I'm going to pull out all of that application stuff today and just look at it and think about it.   

Oh, and a trip to Lowe's - again - is in order. This time for some kind of pruning shears to start cutting down those annoying vines that are sticking down all over the place.  They hit you in the face while you're riding the 4 wheeler and they are in your face while walking.  That stuff needs to go.  It will be quite the effect to have those vines coming down from high up the trees, yes, but cut high enough they aren't going to bother anyone.  I figure to pull the trailer through, stand on it and cut vines on top of the trailer. Or I could even stand on the back of the 4 wheeler to access enough height to make it a non-issue.  

So much cleanup to do.  

Anyway, I'm offa here. Gonna get busy with the things I can do from the house.

G'day.

 Another long, hot day in the books. As stated, I will be working every day or pretty much every day until I get some of these major projects completed or at least close to done.  I only got one side of the bridge ground work done today. Too many distractions, too many roots to dig through.  In fact, some of the roots were so thick I ended up using the chain saw to cut through them. 

I get the other side foundation done and the rest of the project will be - easier.  Not easy, but easier.  

I'm told if I'm out on a certain street at 6 am, there are a bunch of illegals that hang out there that I can hire for a day's work.  I have done that before.  The problem is understanding how much they expect to be paid.  If you ask them, they ask for an unreasonable amount of money per hour.  But right now? I need the help.  A crew of 10 could work on the trails all day long for days picking up the sticks and logs and piling them up in areas predetermined for burn piles if the burn ban is ever lifted. 

I don't wonder if a day's worth of a small Bobcat would do the trick and help build up the areas that need some extra dirt dumped on them.  

I dunno, not tomorrow, lol, tomorrow is Sunday and the local rental store is closed on Sundays.  

3 out of 5 people in the house are sick. 2 kids and Taylor.  I would like to wish I wasn't going to get what they have, but I've been around the kids too much.  Coughing and spreading germs everywhere, I popped vitamin C, multi-vitamin and zinc earlier.  Feeling no symptoms - yet - but if I get hit with it, I'll be out for a bit.  Getting nothing done : (

Oh well. Supposedly Wednesday they are coming "again" to install the septic.  A  month away on the electric and who knows about the sign. Supposedly they found the board for it, now they are coming up with a price.  They tout their work well - too well I do suppose for it sounds like they want a small fortune.  They claimed that some of their signs they put up in another town have been around for over 20 years.  I don't guess they have any reason to lie, I just need to understand how much they want for this high-quality project.  If we're talking hundreds of dollars, fine. If we're talking $500, maybe, anything more than that and I'll find something else, somewhere else.  

I am not committed to them yet for any work.  Price is everything.  

I did drive around the southern portion of town yesterday and took notes of every yard that has trucks in it. Surprisingly, there are a lot of them.  If I'm going to get a local job, I want a local job, one that starts in town and ends in town every day.  If I have to drive to Longview every day, that's 60 plus miles of driving and a lot of gas just getting to and from work. Same with Shreveport/Bossier City.  I'm not ready to start filling out apps just yet.  Besides wanting to get a lot of work done, it's possible I'm going to get sick and if that happens, well, a new job would be a disaster.  Uhh, sorry, I know you just hired me? But I'm sick and can't come in today.

Well, company is here and we are playing some sort of games again tonight. They are doing this every Saturday now, or at least every Saturday it's feasible.  

Work tomorrow? I might now that I think about it. If I'm still feeling good I really want to get that other side done, then it won't be near as much energy to finish the rest of the project. 

G'day. 

 Officially unemployed. 

For a post put on a YouTube channel - mine - which has no views on most of the videos I put up on there - my company somehow found it and said I had to "go home" after I showed up for work.  This was - Tuesday.  I already knew what was going to happen, regardless. The manager told me I wasn't being fired but that safety department had to do an "investigation".

The video said nothing about my company, had nothing to do with the company and showed nothing about the company.  As I have said repeatedly over the last several years, this company fires people for petty stuff and goes out of it's way to make people's lives miserable. 

The "termination of employment" was done over the phone.  This is how lame that company is.  Not enough balls, apparently, to do it to my face.  I laughed at them - there was more than one person on the phone.  

I may miss the income but I most certainly do not miss that company, whatsoever, not even a little bit.  And the only way they could have found that YouTube site is to be stalking employees over social media.  There is literally no other way they could have found it.  Well, there MIGHT be other ways, I dunno, but it's not like the video went viral.  

Anyway, I really don't care about that job or losing it, I had the thought from day one that I wouldn't last very long there, making it near 5 years was a pretty good run.  

Meanwhile, I am still in the driver's group.  It's not a company operated group.  They were b******* and complaining about the dispatcher for hours.  I said nothing, I am not sure they even know I no longer work there.  I was working on the bridge area on the property and watching these texts coming through.  I just shook my head.  A company that makes people miserable is not a company worth working for and I had seriously contemplated finding another job after the last pay cut.  

I got a paycheck today and I'll get one next week and that will be the end of it. 

I haven't started looking for another job.  

I've been spending every day out at the property working on the bridge and getting other things done, I have more time to get stuff done now than I did before and I am taking advantage of it.  If I go looking for a job and find something I like, they will want me to start immediately. That's the way trucking works and I would rather get these projects done first.  

And frankly, I am also contemplating a quick trip back to AZ to see mom. If I start a new job, I won't have any time off any time soon.  I have enough points on one of my rewards cards to fly to AZ and back out of the local airport and still have points left over, the trip would cost nothing to get there and back.  I would stay at mom's house and she would give me the use of one of her vehicles, the trip would cost next to nothing.  

I don't know, but it will be weeks at least before I start looking for a new job, that's what I can say about that. Not because I am sitting around the house doing nothing. I have too much to do over there and it's obviously going to take quite a bit of work to get everything ready for a soft opening.  

Now that I am unemployed, I want to get the thing up and running ASAP. 

The water is now on over there. After turning it on yesterday and having a 30 foot geyser coming out of a pipe, I shut it back off and contacted the contractor.  He sent a couple of guys over today to fix that and turn everything on, bleed the air out of the system and they sat there quite a while to make sure nothing else would happen.  

Before that, the power company engineer came out, I was not expecting him.  He called me - he didn't know I was at the back of the property clearing trees and brush to get started on that bridge project.  I told him I was there, at the property and would be up there in a few minutes.  

He laid out a proposal for a path for the power poles.  He wanted to be out further from the property line than I would have liked, but he wanted away from the huge trees. I didn't fuss with him, it's whatever to me at this point, let's get this rolling.  So, he told me about 4 weeks before they will be able to come out. I said thank you, have a great day and proceeded - to eat lunch actually lol.

When I showed up at the property, before everything else, today>?  There was a large crew of people in the back with numerous trucks sitting back there.  

I had no idea what they were doing until I got back there. They were surrounding the tanks and the well with cattle panels.  I was amused.  They had originally wanted me to put up fencing around their operation, apparently the idea of me driving around there with my vehicle, ATV and the fact that the park was obviously going to be a go, well, I guess they don't want people messing with their stuff.

I had no idea they were going to do that, nothing was ever mentioned.  I am definitely not opposed to them doing that - I am very happy I don't have to worry about that now and I don't have to pay for it.  It must have been the email I sent several days ago about a hiking trail going off to the left of the operation and a driveway to the right.  I have no access to the rear of my property except through their operation.  They have sucked untold millions of dollars worth of natural gas out of that property for almost 6 decades now, not like I'm feeling sorry that they have to spend a few bucks to upgrade it.

The back breaker tho, was all of the work it's taking just to even get to the bridge-building portion of that operation in the rear of the property.  I mean, I'm just now far enough along where I can dig out the post holes, put the 4x4's in and quick crete them into place. I am hoping to get that done tomorrow.  The rest of the project is drilling holes, cutting boards and putting in bolts.  In fact, the first part is the hardest - trying to make sure you have everything set right so it doesn't turn out funky.  

As I said on my Facebook page, I am very, very happy that I have a running 4 wheeler to get me around.  I can't do that much walking, it's far too much and would take too long. I just don't have that much energy and that thing is saving me right now. 

Definitely worth the money it cost to get it running.  

Oh, well reading my last entry, yes, I got the ATV back there with the trailer. Unloaded it and then? the ATV wouldn't back up.  I ended up having to get my SUV back in there the next day to pull the thing out of there.  Yes, the SUV made it back up the hill - this time I was going forward instead of trying to back up that thing.  The ATV pulled the empty trailer out of there as well.

I also went to Longview and got most of the materials needed to build the doggy park.  I haven't even started on that yet, the bridge needs to be done first.  

I have so much to do.  I mean, there is a lot.  The trails need cleaned up - there is a lot of twigs, branches and small logs that need to be picked up.  There are vines hanging down everywhere that need to be cut up as high as you can reach. They hang down from way up high on those trees.  

I still need to figure out a bush hog and the office building needs done.  

This is why I don't care that I'm not working right now. I AM working, just not at a paying job.  I'll be back out there again tomorrow - and every day - really, until I get some real progress and get some stuff done and over with.  

As for now? It's almost 10 pm and I'm going to bed.  

Editing: kids are sick. I can’t afford to get sick right now! 

 A dog barking - I think it was their dog barking at someone at the front door - woke me up out of a deep sleep this morning.  I tried to get back to sleep for an hour and a half to no avail.  I finally just got up, got the dog and went over to the property.  My trucking life.  I often times don't know which day of the week it is. I know the date, yes, but the day? Not always.

So, I thought today is Wednesday, which it obviously is not.  The septic install is Wednesday, which is tomorrow lol.  

It's fine.  I fired up the ATV, drove it with the trailer down the steep hill, loaded all that stuff back up on it and tried to get the trailer to the back.  I made it around 5 turns, I think, until I got to 2 tall trees.  I figured when we were out there the other day I wouldn't be able to make it between them and I figured right.  

I just parked the ATV there and will come back to it the next day off.  It's just not prudent to start getting into all kinds of heavy labor and then have to go to work.  AS it stands, I may try to go back to sleep for a while now that I am a bit worn out from loading all that stuff and walking around the property.  Or not, who knows. I do believe I'm not going to wait until noon to eat, I am going to be out far too late and just need some energy. That is in reference to the intermittent fasting I have been doing to try and lose some weight.  

Besides the work I need to get done that I can do myself - or with help if I can find any, people really do not want to work even for good money right now - I am sort of in limbo. The sign, the power, the water, the septic, fresh gravel on the main driveway are all waiting on other parties to do what they're going to do.  

Still need to discuss everything with a lawyer and an accountant and get the accountant to set up software for me or give me the software to set up to have proper taxes taken out upon any fees I may take in - or sales for that matter, firewood being the only real thing that I can see I will have to be able to charge an on-file credit card for.  Also need to get the interior of the shed done, but that's going to be put on hold for now until I get everything else done and see what kind of funds I have left over.  

The point is that there is still quite a lot of stuff left to do.  But, it's only August.  The first day of fall is September 22, pretty much guaranteed I won't be in any position to open up the park by then unless I'm just going to do RV parking only and nothing else to start with.  I might do that with reduced rates, just try to start getting some finances coming in from this venture.  

I'm not real in love with the fact that a couple of giant piles of ash were left after the tree burning that I apparently am going to have to deal with. They could have hauled that stuff to that giant hole they dug and buried it there along with everything else.  

Anyway, that's it for today and probably the next couple of days since I'll be on the road and likely not going to make it back until Thursday, depending on if I can drive straight through today or if I'm going to have to call it quits and just get there tomorrow morning, Brownsville that is.

Have a great day!