The drought of getting any new overnight reservations or people moving in long term continues on.  And I have more leaving soon.  One guy paid up an entire month but asked if I could pro-rate for when he leaves. These companies that bring in out-of-state workers seem to be notorious for leaving these employees hanging.  They tell them they are going to move them somewhere else "soon" but give date for that to happen.  

I put on one of my ads a move-in special with $100 off the first month's rent for any new long-term coming in.  We'll see if that does any good. The other parks aren't giving that kind of incentive, that I can see on their ads anyway. I think it's time to do a facebook boost ad again. I haven't done one in a while. The last 2 I did had some inquiries and maybe one person came in because of them, so I stopped doing them for a while.

But, they are cheap ads and if it even gets 1 trailer to move in, it's worth it.  

So here I am writing this and some guy calls and we get into a very long conversation.  But, he's moving back to my area and he wants a spot sometime within the next week.  I mean, if you could give a predictability percentage to people's intention to actually come as they say they are, I'd be in the high 80 percentile range.  

I don't think I'd give anyone in the 90's, just doesn't work that way. But, even if he does show up, I have 4 more lots available and more going to become vacant.  This guy didn't even care about the $100 off, he just wants a quiet place to stay. Yes, that's here.  

Anyway, we went to a fireworks show last night at a place called Bear Creek Smokehouse.  It's a local tourist trap type of thing, it brings people in from far and wide but also local.  Well, I was chatting for a few hours with some folks I know, but I was also getting bitten by some kind of bugs that I couldn't identify for I felt them biting but I could see them. 

Yeah, well last night in the middle of the night that all took over. I woke up out of a dead sleep itching all over my legs, feet chest, everywhere.  It was horrible.  I couldn't sleep worth a dead Petunia's rotten petals.  I got up, fished a Benadryl out of my travel bag and took one.  That stuff sent me to sleep within about 30 minutes, maybe 40.  The itching all but went away.  

Fast forward to this morning and waking up.  Wow.  I couldn't fully awaken and I was groggy, like I had been drinking the night before or something.  I dragged myself out of bed, got some coffee and discussed it with James. He said "You're going to be messed up for 2 days at least". Huh? He explained if you don't take Benadryl like once a month or something, it will do a number on you for days. 

Great.  You know, whatever the aftermath, the itching went away and I needed relief and I will take it again tonight if I need to.  I'm not big on taking pills, but I'll take the damned things if they offer relief.  

I can't just sit here all day, I've got to force myself to get up and go over there and do something.  And anyway, the kids are coming home today and with them, the grandpa and grandma. Grandma is jealous of me because of my relationship with the kids, grandpa has reasons that he doesn't like me that I won't go into here.  It's nothing I've done, at all, but the threat I apparently pose to his wife.  There is no threat and nothing has or will happened/happen.  

I don't want to be here when they get here is the point.  They allegedly aren't staying long and I hope they don't.   If they do, I may have to figure something else out.  

I need the rv tech to get over there and diagnose the ac.  I don't have his number, it's on cards that are at the shed.  I don't know if he works weekends or not, but if he does I need him to come over. I just want a diagnosis. Can it be fixed or trash it and put in a new one?  I'm not going to go out and spend $700 or more for a new one without getting someone to check the existing one out and tell me if it's good or not. 

The one in the trailer has heating as well as cooling, I'm really thinking now that it may be that I need to have 50 amp service to run that thing.  There is a 50 amp plus in it as well as a 30 amp.  I was using 30 amp for 2 reasons.  1, because that's what the dude was using when I showed up, 2 because I didn't know there was a 50 amp plug in there until I started opening doors.  It's going to be easy to figure out if 50 amp will do the trick. Move that beast to one of my lots and plug the 50 amp cord in.  

Turn the AC on an see what happens.  If it works, I'll install a 50 amp outlet behind the shed. If it doesn't work, back to the "please, mr. repairman, come over and look at this" drawing board.  That's what I will do today.  At least eliminate that option off the table. The reason I think it might be power is because it has that built in heater.  I doubt a heater will work off of 30 amp service.  Heaters drink the juice.  

Yes, I'm guessing that's it. I looked up 30 amp vs 50 amp and then looked up that particular ac unit. It uses 1599 running watts, which means even more on start up and 30 amp provides maximum 3,600 watts. It's got to be the problem? I don't know, but I'll find out! That would be great if it was just that. Just wire in a 50 amp service to the shed and bam, it's done. Or, ask guests if the thing looks too old to be in the regular portion of the park?  The exterior is still in great shape. Could use a little buffing but I don't think it's bad looking. But that's me.  I'll ask the ladies in the park.  They'll probably say it looks horrible lmao, if they do I'll move it back behind the shed and that's where it will stay.  

Thankfully I turned the AC unit off yesterday.  I sort of thought, well, if it's a power issue and not enough wattage, I might be damaging the unit trying to run it off less than needed power.  It might answer why some of the lights in the thing don't work, either.  RV's don't use 240 volts on 50 amp. It's all 110 volt wired that way in the rig itself.  So, it's all about the wattage, not the amps.  

Well, anyway, I think I might be getting myself into an answer phase here instead of a "gee, what do I do now?" phase. It would be delicious if this was the problem.  No new AC unit, just figure out what to charge for lot rent since you know 50 amp service uses more electricity.  

Trying not to get my hopes up too high here, but if it saves me the cost of a service call, diagnosis fee and a brand new AC unit, you can bet your lucky - well anyway, it would be wonderful.  

Keto - going ok.  I was tempted last night being at that place and all of those delicious, carb laden foods but I resisted.  Next week I'll be going in to get CDL medical recertified, was just trying to get my weight back down before going in there.  Going to step it up today and the rest of the days left before I go.  

Well, the check arrived yesterday for the 3 trailers and another one just paid.  So 4 payments received, have to look at my book but I think there are 2 more due today. My book saves me.  I write down when a person arrived, paid and how long they paid for.  I can't remember all of that. I just know I need the money to come in so I can pay myself.  I've got enough in there right now to cover bills.  

Going to sit down and go through ALL of my recurring payments and figure out what I have to have just to cover everything.  

Well, I'm forcing myself out of here, regardless of how I feel. 

G'day

 A few things.

The circuit breaker tripped again on the rv after I turned the ac on - it had been on maybe 25 minutes before it clicked off.  I let it cool down a while and then flipped it back on. AC came on, but then the compressor kicked out. This time, instead of flipping the circuit breaker, it just left the fan on with no compressor. 

Yes, I got up on the roof, removed the cover and cleaned it out. There were wasp nests in it and a large accumulation of dirt on top of the compressor. But after cleaning that all out, there was still no change in the compressor status. I called a guy that's been coming in the park fixing people's RV's. He asked if it was 30 or 50 amp service?  I have it on 30 amp.  Well, if there's an electric water heat in there, that will cause that compressor to not work.  

Well, I don't know what's in there for a water heater, I haven't found it yet.  I flipped off the other circuit breakers but no change.  The compressor still not working properly.  I asked if he could come over and diagnose it, see if it's something repairable or does the entire unit have to be replaced? It turns out he was coming to the park today anyone. One of the guests has an AC that is also not working.  

After that I went and discussed this situation with the dude at the tent.  I guess he just sits out there all day long under trees and - bakes.   I had pretty much come to the conclusion they don't want to work, the alternatives are to pay or leave.  Pay, apparently, she allegedly was going to pay me this morning....I'll find out about that when she returns later on.  Apparently she is selling plasma for income.  Whatever floats your boat.

Onto the debt relief company.  45 minute conversation.  It's not really the greatest thing in the world after listening to the entire spiel - but it's not the end of the world either.  They go through all the options til they get to the one they like to do. Debt consolidation, which I don't qualify for, credit counseling, bankruptcy and finally their deal.

Their deal is that you stop making payments to the creditors - credit cards - and they take over.  Reduce your payment by half and they deal with the threat calls from the creditors.  You make the monthly payment into an account, when enough money is in there, they make an offer to one or more of the creditors, typically half of what you owe and they either accept it or deny it.  Your credit score takes a nose dive for awhile but allegedly after a year or so it comes back up and more than when you started.  

I had to ask how they keep the creditors from breathing down my throat?  "We've been doing this since 2002, we have dealt with every creditor on your file and we will handle the calls". 

I dunno.  Sounds a bit sketchy to me.  Plus, good luck ever getting a credit card again.  Certainly not with any of those companies.  The other solution? Just go back to work for a couple of years, pay the debt down at least a grand a beyond the minimum payments, pay down one card at a time.  One card down? There goes over $200 per months payment.  

One thing that call did do was shock me to death. I had no idea I was paying that much money in credit card payments every month.  Not going to go into specifics here, but it's very high.  The thing is, if I do go their route, will I still have to go back to work anyway? If the answer is yes, then there is no sense in doing this. Couple park income with employer income, pay a ridiculous amount of money per month to get the card debt to start disappearing and I could have it done relatively quickly. 

I dunno yet. I'm going to think about it.  Perhaps I could keep one of the cards off of that situation and at least have one credit card available.  One that isn't racked up too high and still has significant amount of credit available in case of emergency.  BTW, this is also including 2 loans on there.  As I say, I'll have to think about it. The guy said he would call back next week. Yes, please do, I'll hopefully have made a decision by then. 

But first? I'm going to research this company and see what others have to say about it.  Is it a scam or is it legit?  

That's it  It's already 3:00 pm. 95 degrees with a heat index of 107. Getting into my SUV after being over there for several hours it was the same feeling as getting into a hot car in Arizona.  I can't leave windows down, those wasps will fly in and try to make a home somewhere.  The shed is nice and cool anyway. 

That's all for now.  I'm going back over there and see if I can find the water heater. I know it's not a propane heater because previous owners filled the exhaust hole in with bondo type substance.  

 I'm going to get on the roof of the thing and check out the AC unit - after I find out whether the circuit breaker has tripped inside the RV.  I didn't check it because it was hot in there and I had had enough of the heat.  It could be dirty coils that are overheating the thing and causing it to shut down.  Overloading the circuit, in other words.  It was working for quite a while. Might as well try the things I know to do before calling out service repair people.  I'm trying to keep the expenditure on this to a minimum.  Get the ac working and I can probably figure out what's going on with the lights.  

Those are the 2 known issues.  The rest is minor cosmetics and needing a deep cleaning and airing out.  I really don't think beyond the AC that it's going to take much to make this thing livable.  

____________

Guess I should have done my homework a little better on planting grass. Turns out I should have started summer grass many months ago.  March would have been optimal.  Now? Is not so optimal, not the correct time of year to be trying to plant it.  At least from everything I'm reading from the pro's.  I don't know that that's going to stop me from at least trying to grow some grass on a few spots and see what happens, but I was correct that preparing the soil is absolutely necessary.

Including tilling the soil.  I'm back on the seeding thing because I talked with the tenting man yesterday and he seemed to agree to doing the work.  I mean, if these people don't either start working or paying, they are leaving.  

Just another hot day in East Texas, I will be all over that RV today looking for the circuit breaker panels.  There should be one for interior 12 volt and another for the regular outlets. I dunno,I'm just going to take my drill in there and plug it into outlets and see if there is power.  If there is, at least the thing is powered up and possibly the AC is a localized problem, not an entire RV problem.  

Who knows.  I will just get busy trying to save money paying someone to come find the problem for me, but if it turns out to be the AC unit itself, I can do limited actions to try and fix it. After that? I either just install window AC units or pay a pro to come out and find out what's wrong.  The pro may very well come back and say it needs a new roof unit -which is where I would go buy a 12,000 BTU unit, pull the 8,000 one out of the shed, install that in the RV and put the 12,000 in the shed.  

I've pretty much decided that I will take either option.  Sell it on payments or rent it, whichever comes first.  I need my money back out of it.  

I think James is going over there today as well to continue work on the mudding. Not sure about that, that coming from Taylor yesterday. Typically, James works a 4 day work week.  

I'm not going to spend a lot of time with this entry, it's time to get out there and get on the roof of that rv before it gets blazing hot.  It will be hot anyway, but by mid afternoon, it gets ridiculous.  I was burning up yesterday, I'm sure I'll be burning up today.  Life in hot country.  Heat index values expected up to 112 today.  

I mean, I guess expect this for the rest of summer? This is what is causing me to scratch my head about planting seed. Some of the sites say you need to water new seed up to 4 times a day!  Besides a LOT of watering, that is going to jack my water bill up pretty good.  

I got irritated yesterday - sorry, I'm just human - after seeing that lady in there for hours yesterday and texted her. Sorry, I can't have you taking over my shed for hours out of every day. It drives others away from doing their laundry.  She didn't complain, said she understood and left.  I don't know how many times or how many different ways I have to say it to her.  I can see an hour in there charging stuff.  Maybe twice a day, once in the day light and once at night.  But to spend the entire afternoon in there?

People simply don't want to contend with her - or anyone really - when going in there to do laundry.  She still contends the dog was just trying to find her when the other guest found the dog in the bathroom with the door closed.  Do dogs open and shut doors? Better question: can a dog input a 4 digit code on a small keypad, then open the door, shut it then go to the bathroom, open that door and shut it as well?

Hypothetical question?  Obviously it cannot.  I didn't take her to task on that explanation, it was obviously a fabrication (lie) and she could have just been up front about it. It annoys me even more when people won't just tell the truth about something simple. Plain and simple: I do not want the dog in the shed, AT ALL and CERTAINLY not being left alone in the bathroom. Especially a dog that growls at people.  Screw that.  I've been pretty on top of this situation with them.  We'll see if they ever come into line with my wishes.  It won't be much longer, tho, if they don't do any work and they don't pay, they will leave. I'm giving it til Saturday, which is tomorrow and also marks a week that they have been there.

Speaking of Saturday, the little monsters are coming home.  I actually had a lady take me to task for calling them little monsters a while back. It was a joke, ma'am. She didn't care, she wanted to tell me about myself. No thank you!  Have a nice day! C'ya! Okay, the kids are coming home, does that make y'all happier?  I've thoroughly enjoyed the time away from them.  It was getting pretty tense in this house with the power off for 7 days and everyone crammed into bedrooms.  And generally it's summer time so the kids get bored and start asking the adults what to do?  I'm bored. 

Find something to do. Toys, play outside, watch tv.  

I've been looking for those elusive snakes every single day, a couple of times a day.  I don't know where they're hiding but it's a good hiding spot.  I monitor the pond every day as well.  I tell Addler to "go find the snakes!".  He just gives me a look, lmao.  When we had the water snakes in the back yard a few years ago, he didn't bother them even when they were laying out in the open right there for everyone to see.  

Well enough. Time to go heat up, sweat profusely and try to figure some things out.

G'day

 Well that was .... interesting.

Got to the guy's place, Taylor took me over there, couldn't find the keys. He had parked it off his property on the side of the street.  No worries there, it's all country and country roads, not much traffic.

After locating the keys, it fired right up, albeit running rough. Took off hoping it would make the 20 mile trip and get this over with.  Well, first off, the brakes were working but not all that great.  I'm guessing a master cylinder leak from the way it was acting. 

But, they worked enough to stop it, just had to make sure you had plenty of room before any stop signs.  

Then, the roughness got worse. Sounds like a bad exhaust manifold gasket.  Unlike new vehicles, I'm pretty good with determining what's wrong with old stuff.  It probably had bad fuel in it as well.  

Any little hill? And I mean even the slightest upgrade?  It would start bogging down.  Like, bad. 30 mph on a 55 mph, 2-lane highway.  Fortunately, no traffic besides Taylor was behind us.  The situation got worse and worse, tho, to the point I was lightly feathering the gas pedal to try and get it to keep going.  My thoughts turned towards: Gee, I hope I won't have to be calling a tow truck out here.  

I dunno, but i was committed, there was no turning around. Some cars car up to us on that 2 lane highway but not until we were near the end of the road. They were stuck maybe a mile and a half and then it spread out to 4 lanes.  No one flipped me off or honked so I guess we were all good there, lmao.

Originally going to take it home, I decided against that.  Every time I had to stop the thing wanted to die.  Way too many turns and lights to go home, I just drove it straight to the property, parked it behind the shed and left for home.  

I think whichever route I take - selling it or renting it - it's going to get parked behind the shed.  I'll just need to run a water line closer than what the nearest one is. Not a huge deal, dig out where it's buried and there is a valve underground, add a short stick of pipe, a T, 2 sticks out of the T, cap off one end and run a 90 up above ground and get a spigot on it.  I'm going to try to situate it tomorrow, I'm done for today, that adventure took it out of me, I was quite apprehensive about it breaking down and having to deal with the aftermath.

It does, however, handle quite well.  And the power steering works quite well on it too.  I certainly wouldn't take it on a road trip without fixing the power and braking issues, obviously, but driving it wasn't bad.  

The only other thing that = got me = was the steps.  I pushed and shoved on them and I couldn't get them to go in.  I had no idea that these were/are automatic steps. When I opened the door at the park to get out, the steps came out by themselves.  I don't know what triggered them to go in? Perhaps the ignition? 

I feel like I want to try renting it first after I make sure everything works and the thing is cleaned out.  It needs aired out badly.  A musty smell in there from being closed up all the time, it needs a good dose of fresh air and maybe some air fresheners in it.  I'll have to measure the area for the couch area and see how long of a couch I can put in there.  

That was my excitement for the day.  I will reposition it tomorrow, hook up the electricity and start trying to turn things on.  The AC came on, need to run it and see if it's going to blow ice cold or just cool.  Just cool?  I can either have a pro come look at it or, with those old ones, you can just pump freon in it through fittings they used to put on the things. Put a can in it and see if it gets colder. If it does, then just run the ac for a few days and see if it holds.  

As for the rest of the day? Well, I was going to talk to the tent guy but Taylor had to go home - I wasn't going to try to make her wait anyway.  She's going with a friend to the movies this afternoon.  I actually might go back over there and hook it up to electric today. I know the ac comes on and the refrigerator and freezer works.  

I just needed to sit here in my room for a bit and recompose. It was extremely hot in that thing, I don't know if the coach ac works and I was too busy trying to keep it running to find out.  But even if it did work, I wouldn't have turned it on anyway for as bad as the thing was running.  It would just drag it down even more.  Plus I couldn't get a temporary tag for it - I tried.  And I was just afraid I was going to have to go through an  afternoon long ordeal trying to get it to the park.  

It kind of messed with my head a bit. But, whew! It's over with, I've got it there, I don't have to worry about it now.  Yeah, I think I will go back over there. I'd take Addler but it's way too hot to be going for a walk. 

__________________

She is occupying the shed again. This time over 2 hours.  I went to meet the brother. He's in his 60's from his appearance.  The tent wasn't actually in direct sunlight, it just appeared that way from the angle I was at the other day.  There's a breeze blowing today so with the breeze and start sweating it's tolerable. Not optimal, but a person can deal with it if they have to.

Except her, apparently.  So, now I'm going to have to get even more blunt.  I spoke to the brother that we are going to have to discuss this situation because she is driving away people who want to do laundry. It doesn't take that long to charge batteries.  If after what I said to him doesn't do anything, then it's just going to be face to face either stop hanging out in there or you can just find another place to go to.  

The AC. I plugged in the RV, the ac came on, I felt cool air coming out, figured I'd leave it on and come back later. 
Which is what I did, probably spoke with the brother for 45 minutes - yes out in the heat. Came back, the ac was off. Blown circuit breaker? Not on the shed.  It was still on.  So, either the AC is bad and needs repaired or replaced or who knows what.  I am going to have a service guy come out and take a look.  If it needs replaced, that will be a bummer. If it can be repaired, that would be ok.  Those things aren't cheap and it wasn't part of this plan.  I was looking at everything. Carpet and a couch.  Figure out why some of the 12 volt lights aren't coming on.  The refrigerator works, the toilet works, there isn't much to it to have to work. I didn't try out the stove, I don't know if it has propane in the bottle and I was boiling hot by that point.  

Plus it's getting late in the day.  Which reminds me, I forgot to bring the card home of the guy that is mobile RV repair. He fixes/replaces ac units.  He really fixes anything if it's fixable.  I don't know what he charges for a service call or hourly but a few people in the park have had him out, well 3 now that I think of it.  

Whatever the case, I'm going to get AC in there one way or the other. I could always put a large window unit in. People do it all the time, one of my guests has 2 of them on his rig.  Again, not optimal but it will cool an RV down nicely if you get a big enough one and can place it where it can blow throughout the rv.  The other guy has one in the rear window and in the front side window.  They run all day long.  I don't know how much that is costing me in electricity, but it's probably jacking that bill up nicely. 

They aren't as efficient as the newer roof mounted AC's.  

They have a huge tent out there.  They have their own beds in it but they are not sleeping in separate tents.  That must get a little - strange.  I mean, it's getting down into the mid 70's at night, that's not terrible. Not great, but not terrible. 

 The guy was refreshingly honest.  This is what's wrong with it. The Motorcoach that is.  Minor stuff. I think the AC might have issues but if that's it, I'm good.  The thing is pumping out cool air but not supercool air. Now, is it that the thing just needs to run for awhile after not being used? Or is there something wrong with it? Well, I'll find out when I get to the park, plug the RV in and fire up the AC and just leave it run.  The compressor is working - it was 100 degrees and there was cool air coming out so at least that's a good sign.  Those older units usually have fittings to pump in freon.  

I mean, I inspected that thing pretty good.  The bedroom, the shower, the toilet room, it's old school cooking with a propane gas stove and stove top - oh well! I used to like cooking like that but it also means having to refill propane tanks periodically. Pretty sure the water heater is also propane. That can actually be upgraded to electric inline version, but why would I want to do that?  Uh, well, to keep people from complaining.  One thing to cook with propane, it won't use that much, but to keep a water heater going? I've been there and done that.  

These are all things I need to ensure are in working condition and I reveal that upfront/ Yup, it's propane cooking and water heating.  If you don't want to have the water heater on all the time, you can use the shower in the amenities shed. I don't remember how much propane it uses to keep a small tank hot all the time. I think I was using hot water pretty frugally - referring back decades ago when using a travel trailer.  Same thing here, different layout.  

________________

Started that yesterday.  Thursday morning. 

Trying to get  a temporary tag to move the thing 20 miles.  Texas online system won't even acknoledge the VIN number on the title.  I may just drive it bac without one and make sure someone is following me. It's almost all 2 lane highway and the unit does, indeed, have a license plate on it. Just not current.  I get it to the park I'm not driving it anywhere else.  

I've put up on my business Google and Facebook account about the fact that I will be having one available to either rent or sell on payments.  I've had one person interested so far, she wants to see pictures. Fair enough, but I'll be taking my own pics instead of using the ones on the ad.  

Anyway, I was going to pay for a ride over there this morning, folks here are busy, but I had second thoughts. I really want someone to follow me back in case something goes wrong with it. The man said he drove it from another place to his house and it was a bit of a distance so at least I have some confidence that it will make the trip - but still.  I don't think the lady driving me for pay over there would want to do that or if I asked her to, she would probably ask for more money.  I'm thinking maybe wait until James gets home from work and have him follow me home. If something happens, there are at least some tools available to try and fix it. This thing has a 454 in it, I believe, carbureted.  This is stuff before computers were installed to run vehicles or just around that time.  

This is something I have some expertise in, actually, I used to work on vehicles all the time until computers took over everything and I just flat gave up on it.  

Well, the couch is missing out of it. The guy says he has it but it would need a covering put over it, it's not in great condition.  I think I need that couch, it was made specifically for that unit.  Maybe get it reupholstered if it doesn't cost thousands of dollars. Otherwise, find something used on Marketplace and stick it in there.  It kind of needs a couch/sitting area.  It also appears to be missing a small, fold-out table. Nothing I'm going to replace. You can buy small tables cheap, if someone wants one in there they can do that themselves.  

Dang. The guy has "a" couch but not the original one that came out of it.  Probably trashed the original owners must have chucked it.  I am finding jacknife couches for reasonable prices on Facebook marketplace, I'll just have to go with one of those. Or a regular sleeper couch, the foldout style.  

The only thing is used couches are difficult to buy on the internet. The pics never really show cosmetic issues with them, you have to go see them in person. Another deal where I wouldn't want to drive too far to see one considering that possibility that a pic online isn't really showing what it looks like in person. 

Well whatever. I'll deal with that after I get the thing parked on a lot.  I am looking and there are some available in my town. Needs to be a sleeper bed in case more than one person want it, ie: a mother with child or small family.  

Ok this thing is diverting my attention away from issues that need to be dealt wtih.  Namely, these tent campers.  I told them to NOT have their dog in the shed at all anymore.  So what did the guy do? Left the dog in the bathroom with the door shut.  Someone went in, found the dog and returned it to the dude, the lady was off property.  I contacted her about it, she tried to tell me the dog was not in the shed but was with her brother. Uhh, no, I have a video of it, lady getting the dog out of the  bathroom.  She tried to get around it but with video proof, I don't have to have any other evidence.  

These people.  The dude just now texted me back after I tried to contact him yesterday about getting some work done. They are not staying their for free.  I already told her that if they aren't going to work, they need to pay the rent retroactively.  She directed me to the brother.  Like, why should I have to go chasing these people down?  The tent? It's not under the trees, they put it out in direct sunlight!

I clearly don't think like these people. With as hot as it is, one would think that putting the tent under shade would be the way to go.  Perhaps they don't stay inside the tent during the day and use the shaded area for - existing - during the hot parts of the day.

I have been getting more and more direct with them as each incident occurs. At this point, it's follow my rules or get out of my park. It's really that simple.  She isn't hanging out in the shed for hours on end now. She's in there an hour charging a large batter to run a fun at the site and recharge their phones.  They have some money because she has a car and drives it every day.  They have phones, those aren't free for monthly service, well I guess the government gives out phones.  Probably disability or something like that.  

I'm going to keep on her about finding a job as well. I don't want them sitting back there endlessly with no hope in sight to do anything about their situation. She can go find a job, there's PLENTY of them in town.  She has an address to use - my park - she has a phone and she has access to a shower and laundry.  She has transportation, there really isn't anything else.  Life sucks sometimes, I've been in poverty, I know what it's like.  It's not fun.  You take the steps you need to take to get yourself out of poverty.  It's why I"m considering going back to trucking. I'm not going to sit around forever wondering if I'll have enough money to pay bills and live my life.

Screw that. I'd rather work a regular job and have a reliable income.  

The dude finally texted back something beyond gibberish.  He said ok, but I thought it was the trails you wanted done? No, that isn't priority, I need the lots plowed up. I have a machine.  He replied "cool".  LMAO. Ok then.  I just need to go over there and get into their personal space and discuss this whole situation.  I am a person that tries to help people, but I have parameters and rules for such things. Reasonable rules, nothing dictatorial.  It's why I set them out to her before they ever moved in.  She ignored them and then I had to get direct with her.  I wish for their sake it was fall, the temps would come down. Instead, we have 3 months of hellish heat in our way.  

If the guy does enough work, I can slip him a little - not a lot - extra cash.  If he doesn't do anything, they're gone.  She won't even lift a finger to help keep the damn shed clean, but the brother might - might - have a different mindset.  

Ok, Taylor is on her way home. I presume she means that she can take me to the coach. I hope so, I'd like to get this over with.  

G'day

 I stayed up way too late last night.  Like, why did I even do that? Oh, because I got in so late.  Well, I have a lead on a motorcoach - older one - they had listed at $4,500 I offered $2,800 and they are debating it.  I'm sure they want to wait to see if anyone else contacts them with a higher offer.  

They are only 20 miles away if that.  He said he'd ask his wife. There's one other one in there that a guy did about a 75% rebuild of the inside of the trailer.  It's not bad looking. It needs more stuff in it but for the price, it might be worth it.  He want's $1,500 and he's had it up for quite a while.  I asked him if that was his bottom dollar?  Maybe, do you want to come look at it? Sure. 

That one is in Shreveport, a bit further away but not ridiculous like yesterday. I texted those people yesterday telling them they should be more honest about their ad. They had told me it was in great condition and was worth more than they were asking for it. In a pig's eye. That thing is worthless.  They texted me back in the middle of the night telling me to F off and other niceties. These people are you classic example of trailer trash.  I didn't call them that in the text.

It's not that they live in a trailer that makes them trailer trash. It's the whole mentality.  Junk laying everywhere around both properties.  Their mobiles falling apart. Even if they are poor, they could reattach skirting and possibly find a can of paint somewhere and fix the roof instead of draping a tarp over it.  AS soon as I saw the house and then the trailer, I knew I had driven up there in vain.  Well, live and learn. 

If a trailer or coach is close enough by, I don't need a lot of pictures, I do want some.  The rest can just be inspected in person.  I'm good at saying no thank you, turning around, getting into my vehicle and leaving.  

Well we agreed on a price so now I just wait until he gets home from work.  The tent camper just went into the shed yet again.  I feel for them, it's hot outside.  I would think living in such conditions would motivate a person to do whatever it takes to get out of that predicament.  It would me, I'd gladly drive a truck all over the place than be without a place  to live - or living in a tent.  But I still don't want her in there all day long. Her presence drives away people wanting to use the machines and I can't have that. There are plenty of places she can go to in town to cool off that don't cost anything and she does have a car.  

Got sidetracked. I have notifications on whenever someone is driving by or is in the shed.  I want to see who it is and what they are doing in there. We still have tools in there that I think I may just move to the small shed outside and put a lock on it.  

Anyway, this guy went into detail about the coach.  Said he was on the roof cleaning it up and using a hose and that noting leaked inside of it. He also said the floors do not have any soft spots.  In fact, he just said the only real things wrong with it are that some of the clearance light don'ts work and the generator apparently doesn't work. I don't care about either of those issues.  It doesn't need a generator and lights can be fixed.  But driving it back to the park in daylight I don't need lights either.

He said he wanted to be upfront about the things wrong with it.  Finally, at least in appearance, an honest person.  Again, the little town it's located in is only 17 miles away after looking on GPS.  I hate to sit here and say that I'm just going to buy it after all of what has happened at previous places, so I won't lmao.  But if it is in as good condition that this dude is saying it is in, I'm driving it home today.  It has some sort of floor covering that previous owners put down in it, he said. 

Yes, you could see it in the pic.  Looks kind of weird.  Maybe just install some carpeting.  

Well I don't want to get too involved with talking about that until after I go see it and potentially drive it home.  Well, not home but over to the RV park.  

Okay, she's taking a shower. I know that because there is a microphone on the camera and you can hear it. I'm not a peeping Tom, but I can see taking a nice, cool shower. It's going to be a very hot day again today and all the rest of this week and - summer.  I need to get over there today and discuss the work situation with her brother.  She dumped it off on me to go find him. This is just one thing that irritates me.  I shouldn't have to go chasing these people down, they should be contacting me up front.  

Whatever.  If she's still in there when I get over there I'm going to gently remind her that I said at the beginning of this that I didn't want y'all camping out in there. At least she is keeping the dog out of there now.  Apparently she's putting him in the doggy park and yes, there are some trees for shade.  She spent 5 hours in there yesterday but it was doing laundry.  I think she just dragged it out so she wouldn't have to leave. She did not bring her batteries in so I am assuming she is going to drag it out even further for even more hours to do that. People not doing what they agreed to do and me having to foce the issue. 

It's aggravating and I probably should have thought this out better.  Like, don't do this again.  If someone is coming in to tent camp for a few days, great.  There is a family that is coming to our town for 4 days that wants to tent camp next month. Crazy.  It's so hot.  I can deal with 4 days and just monitor the situation.  

As it stands, I've got yet another guest leaving. He was told they are sending him somewhere else in the next few weeks but they won't give him an exact date.  My park is slowly emptying out and I don't have anyone coming to take up another space.  It's frustrating.  I don't know what else I can do beyond what I've already done to get more people in there.  I put up another Facebook post and took down 2 others with different wording. I think I'll put up another Facebook post with a different picture and remove that one as well. 

And update the Google business statement.  But beyond that, I have no clue.  There aren't any other amenities in the foreseeable future without the finances to be able to do it.  I really wish I could get a pool loan. No guarantees, but putting that up as an amenity in the park would very likely fill the park up. And at slightly higher rates to cover the cost of maintaining it. I don't know, I haven't tried to get any loans in a while because I have too much debt and it counts against me.  It counts against me too much.  America has a debt crisis with credit cards going right now, lenders probably are looking at any given individual's credit report and seeing how much is on there.  I am not late on any payments, but it's pretty high amount.  That is the biggest thing that would help me right now, if I could get a debt consolidation loan, put all of it on there and have a lower monthly payment than what I am paying now for all of it.  

I might try again.

As for now?  I need to eat something and then get over to the property. 

G'day

 Well. Lots of driving today, been a long time.  

I went up to Arkansas with the hopes of snagging a nice trailer.  Umm....I got the idea this wasn't going to turn out too well.  The address was a very old, trashy, singlewide mobile home.  The house was falling apart at the seams and there was junk laying all over the place.  They had already informed me the trailer wasn't there but close by.

So, they loaded the entire family up in a mini van - there was a host of them I can tell ya - I followed them up the road about 500 feet to an ever worse situation.  The lady comes running out of the car: Don't get out, the dogs will bite you!  Little scraggly things, albeit a lot of them, I wasn't concerned.  The mobile home on this land was in even worse shape than the first place. 

There were 3 junky looking trailers out there, surely none of these are it? I thought.  I think back now with the pics they posted and what I saw in front of my eyes. They had carefully taken angled shots to conceal the shittiness of this trailer.  It was disgusting just looking at it from the outside.  I decided I would force myself to walk inside the thing since I had driven so far. 

It was far worse disgusting inside. The pics they had taken - I'm looking back now - were high up. The ceiling, the cabinets on the wall. The ceiling looked good - the portion of it they showed.  It was sooo bad in there. You step inside the damn thing and put your foot down on a raised hump, the toilet 20 feet away - lifted up!  Wait, what?  The remnants of furniture was gross.  I did a quick inspection, but it was obvious before I even entered the relic that I wasn't going to give them anything for it. 

If anything, they would pay me to haul that pile of useless junk out of there. 

What a waste of time! Not exactly.

You see, there has been this thing in me. It has been nagging at me.  If I have to go back to trucking, can I even deal with it?  How am I going to handle driving all day long? You know, if you' read this blog before I got out of trucking even if temporarily, that I now despise that occupation. There's FAR more to it than just driving, but even the driving part had become loathsome.  

It was actually a nice drive. Close to 300 miles round trip, up there over to Shreveport and then back to the house. It's actually this reason that I wanted to go on this trip, honestly.  I had no idea if the pics would equate into a trailer that is as nice as what they showed.  I did care, yes, but I learned something about me in my current state of mind. 

I will despise going back to trucking, but yes, I can deal with it. It was helpful.  

I wasn't particularly happy that these people had misrepresented this trailer. They had it listed at $3,500, I deem it worth $0.  You would spend that much money fixing it.  You would literally have to gut the entire thing, put in new flooring, bathroom, furniture - it isn't worth fixing, it's a pile of s***. 

I can tell you 2 things about any future trips to see trailers. 1: they will show me pictures of the entire thing from floor to ceiling on the inside.  If they won't, I will move on. 2: I won't drive more than 50, maybe 60 miles to see anything listed.  

Down to Shreveport, I wanted to see the inside of this trailer.  This dude showed me the receipts, the bill of sale and the title.  He paid a lot of money for that thing. Amazing he knew he had just let it go and didn't really care. It served it's purpose at the time and saved him money on hotels. I guess. 

It's a 2016 trailer, the cabinetry in it is beautiful, still in great condition. However.  The bedroom ceiling has a leak, the flooring is soft the entire walk through the trailer from the entrance door to the rear of the bedroom. It is likely just a leak around a roof vent, that appears to be where it comes in.  The roof damage - at least visibly - isn't that bad.  But the entire floor would have to be replaced. 

The refrigerator doesn't work - beautiful wood work on the doors - but who cares if the damn thing doesn't work?  The AC unit doesn't work either.  Blows hot air. Well, at least it blows! LMAO

He came down to 2 grand, he'd have to come down another $500.  He definitely won't sell it for $3,500.  He likely won't sell it for 2 grand, but who knows. He has had only 2 people show up and they didn't want it. I get that - walk in the thing and your feet start sinking.  But the cabinetry! Beautiful! The sink and counters are also in great condition. It would be worth fixing if I could get him to come down another $500. I could fix the roof myself, I'd ask James to replace the flooring and I'd look at the ac unit. Sometimes you can figure out what is wrong with it without paying a pro  I've done it. 

The refrigerator? That same pro would have to look at that, I have limited knowledge of refrigerators.  

Whatever. I'll contact him tomorrow. Unless he comes down on the price, I won't take it.  Someone could spend 3 grand on it and come out with a trailer they could resell for 10k or more. I don't have the time or the resources for it and I have to draw a line.  If I can pay people to fix it and I do minimal work, then fine, I'll take it.  k

Otherwise, I'll just keep looking. 

,Well, got home late. Stopped for dinner after leaving Shreveport. Nothing fancy or expensive but I was hungry for I hadn't eaten since this morning.  It's almost 10:00 pm.  I'll ask the dude if he'll drop his price even more, if he will I'll go get it and park it behind the shed.  If not, well, I have other things to do.

Yes, the tent lady finally texted me back. Today, this afternoon actually, long after I texted her. She said she'd put the dog in the dog park and tell her brother to stop parking in front of the shed.  She told me to talk to her brother and gave his number. No thank you, I want to talk to him in person.  Well, he's "always there".  She's a nice lady, don't get me wrong, but there are a lot of nice people that will trample over the top of you and take you for everything they can get. That isn't going to happen here and I do believe she got that message today. 

I will hopefully be able to go meet with him and give him an agenda of things to do that start - immediately.  Screw the walking trails, get with that tiller machine and start churning up the soil.  Let's plant grass, you can do the work!  I'll find out how motivated they are. She certainly doesn't seem to be, maybe the brother is different.  

The family is leaving sometime next month to go to Missouri. The Florida trip was cancelled so they decided to go visit a different grandma.  I didn't actually know this until tonight being asked to deal with their dog and cats.  Yea, I don't mind. I'll have the place to myself.  It could get a bit strange being in a house that is normally loaded with all kinds of noises, but yes.  

That's the thing about driving trucks. It starts to get lonely.  You start craving human interaction - whatever you can find.  I don't mean sexual stuff, but even communicating with odd people becomes something better than nothing. Phones, texting, email are ok but don't replace the in-person interaction.  

No idea about tomorrow until I hear back from this guy about the trailer. Except - I wasn't even over at the property today.  I'll be over in the morning and checking out their tent site. Do they even have a tent?  Are they trashing the place or do they keep clean? Is this dude really willing to work? What kind of attitude does he have? It'll be an adventure, lol.

Enough. Getting late. 

 Tuesday

Another trailer popped up on the Marketplace which is quite clearly in excellent condition. Listed price: $3,500.  They immediately went down to $2,700.  I agreed to buy the thing for $2,700, however...

It's 112 miles away and it was already 7:00 pm.  I can't come right now, without stating that little fact but I can come tomorrow morning.  Well I have to work, she replies, are you here in ****ville?  No, I'm a little bit away from you but I really want that trailer.  I get off at 3:30 tomorrow afternoon.

Now, did they sell it between the time I spoke with them and now?  No idea.  I will be trying to contact her soon.....just messaged her.  Not going to let the day escape and have her change her mind with someone else.  She confirmed the time but said she would give the address after she gets of work.  That makes it a bit sketchy.  You know other people will be contacting here. She might tell them there is a pending offer, they might offer more, she might take it even tho she has promised it to me.

I think I will drive up to Linden and be ready to move up north by the time she gets off.  There is a meat distributor in Linden that sells all kinds of meats at excellent prices, I've been wanting to go up there anyway. If it turns out to be a dud - them selling me the trailer that is - I can at least justify it with going somewhere I already wanted to go which is right on the way up to where the trailer is.

I will not, however, drive all the way up to the location without her confirming her address first.  Her not giving it to me now could mean a lot of things. Perhaps she's afraid I'll go and try to steal it or something.  Perhaps she wants to ensure someone is there with her before a stranger comes to their house. Or, perhaps, she is holding off to see if she can get a better price. That thing had just popped on there and I immediately contacted her. 

These trailers that are in good condition for a great price move fast.  One minute they're on there, the next, poof, it's gone "SOLD" on the post.  

Been feeling sluggish in the mornings.  Maybe because I got fat all over again, lol.  I stayed off the diet far longer than I was going to and a lot of fat piled right back on.  I'm going heavy duty into Keto right now to get some of it off. I need to get my medical card renewed before July 12th and I don't want my weight to be anywhere near the obesity level.  

The federal government has reached it's tentacles well into truck driver's lives, a thing I don't want to go into right now, just to say they basically dictate when you drive, when you pee, when you stop.  And they dictate your health and if it's not good enough in their estimation, you lose your CDL.  It is converted back to a regular driver license.  

They even know that I am not driving now.  It was in the verbiage on the letters they have sent me telling me to get it renewed or lose the privilege.  Maybe people new to the industry can deal with all of this, they haven't been in the game. I've been in the game when they gave out chauffeur's licenses that simply gave you permission to drive a truck even if you didn't know how to drive one.  The driving test wasn't any different for those tests, the written exam had more questions. CDL's came along and eventually, over the years, the Federal Government has become truck driver dictators.  There is no exaggeration there and there is no other way to adequately put it.  

Now, will I go back to trucking? At some point I think I will have no choice.  If I do get back into it and at least find a semi-decent company, I will probably stay in it for quite a while. Get debt down, get a pool built on the property, etc.  At least the shed will be done.  

Speaking of the shed.....

These people......

I don't know if they don't like to listen or if they have comprehension problems, but I'm already at the verge of telling them to leave.  Try to help people and what happens... These people are parking their car directly in front of the shed, in front of the door.  I told her yesterday to please stop doing that and she agreed. Last night? They were out there parked the same way.  I also told them before they moved in that they weren't going to be making the shed their home.  How many hours did they spend in there yesterday? Over 5.  Further, they were either to pay $5 per day - I was giving it cheap to help them out - or do work. 

They opted for work, yet haven't lifted a finger.  In fact, she was sitting in the shed yesterday, half blocking the door, using my electricity to charge 2 phones and a battery and had turned the ac down to 72. I turned it back up from afar.  Her dog got up and started growling at me when I walked.  

Ok. I was annoyed enough by their behavior that I just sent them a text.  In a nice way, it was shape up or ship out.  No speeding, no hanging out at the shed, pay for your stay, keep the dog out of the shed, etc.  

 I woke up this morning not feeling all the great.  Weird sleep patterns.  

The man with the trailer contacted me - I went over there after taking the money out of the bank and looked at that thing and left. It's pretty easy to take flattering pics of these trailers and make them appear as something they aren't.  

I just left there instead of bartering with him, I had already bartered but I didn't expect it to be in the condition it is in.  I offered him $1,500 for it, that's about what it's worth. There will be repairs needed.  

Hasn't really been any new ones coming on there in the last few days that are in my price range.  I have cash in my pocket now and might keep it there a few days, see if I can jump on something that might come up.  If not I'll dump it back into the accounts I got it out of. 

I wasn't in the greatest mood. Getting notifications, that tent lady had come into the shed with her dog.  She went straight to the AC unit nd turned it down to 72 degrees.  I went to my app and turned it back up to 78.  She plopped herself down in the chair right at the door and partially blocking it, facing the door and her dog plopped itself down in the middle of the shed.  

I was still heading back from Shreveport and I decided to stop and have a meal before going over there. I wasn't in the mood to talk to her - or anyone else for that matter.  But, she was there when I got there and her car was parked right in front of the shed.  So, I asked her to not park there anymore, there is already a place to the side of the shed where people park.

Oh, forgot about the dog. It got up and started growling at me when I walked in there. I wasn't particularly afraid of it but that is not what I want RV'ers to be exposed to when they walk through the door. A dog growling and a lady sitting there facing a person.  I was in too bad of a mood to address her about all of that and the fact that they are neither paying me to stay there OR doing some work as originally agreed upon. I will deal with her tomorrow if I see her.  I'm not going to do it through text messages and such, I want a face to face event that hopefully will stay civil but at the same time, I'm going to lay out what she said when she came in there and what is actually happening.

I don't want her in that shed for literally hours at a time.  She was in there 2 hours, that's way beyond anything I imagined.  If they want an amicable solution and stick around, they can start paying me or start working immediately on the property and they can keep their time in the shed limited and NO dog.  I can even install an outlet on the rear of the shed for them to use to charge their devices.  

I did ask her about whether she was looking for a job.  She said something about finding places that are hiring. I rattled off a dozen names right off the bat. "Well, I put in applications online but I never hear back from anyone".  Did she think I am stupid?  If you really want a job somewhere, you put in your application online and then you go visit the place, find a manager and tell them you put in an application and that you are really interested in working there. You do your homework about the place and get some kind of basic knowledge of what they do and discuss it with the manager. 

She then said she had spoken to the manager of a gas station that is about a mile and a half away.  Ok. After that I didn't have much to say to here, she was in my way, I was trying to clean up the shed, she apparently doesn't get clues either. I hate to have to get blunt with her but this situation isn't going to fester with me. I will deal with it civilly but I WILL deal with it.  She finally did get a clue after some point in time, got her devices, her car battery, her dog and left.  It was a bit unbelievable, really.  

Lol, now someone else has turned the AC down in there, but only to 76. I'm interested in keeping it slightly cool in there when there is no one in there, but if they are doing laundry and actually have a valid reason, I have no problem with them turning it down.  I just don't think they'll remember to turn it back up, that's basically why I got remote access to it.  They leave, it's going back up to 78 or even 80.  

I have 5 empty lots and no leads for people coming in. We're near the end of the month so that's a bit disconcerting. Regardless, paying high electric bills for that shed is not a part of my plan, especially when income is limited.  

I need to find some kind of advertising ploy to get people to consider my park versus those that are right next to the Interstate.  My prices are low, I have done enough looking around at what everyone is charging currently.  I still only have 4 Google reviews, that's not helpful either. 

I think I am going to read other's ads and maybe get some clue about what I can do to get people to my place.  I have that in my ads, but I do think that I am too wordy  I am going to create an ad that is not overly wordy but makes the pertinent points. 

Enough of that.  There is plenty of work to do at the property and that is why I offered those people free stay in exchange for work.  Pull weeds, rake dirt, clear the trails, something. 

It's so hot out and it's going to hit above 100 degrees at least 2 days this week. I can only imagine what the "feels like" temp will be. It's muggy and nasty out there.  

Anyway, I'm going to just keep checking every hour at least for new trailers. If something good comes on there at a good price? They go quickly.  I'm trying to create business by offering something to live in.  A slum lord, however, is not my idea of running a business like this and so, it has to be decent both inside and out. Doesn't have to be perfect, but it needs to look good enough that it doesn't catch people's eyes by being too dilapidated.  

What else is going on....kids are still gone and won't be back until Saturday. I'm more than enjoying them being gone. They could stay out another week and I would be great with that. Love those kids but I also love the peace and quiet.  

That's about it for this one.  

 There was just no way for me today.  It's Sunday and I hate working on Sundays.  Totally out of it, I went over there, did a few things but basically just didn't feel it.  I don't feel the need to work every single day of the week. James is all gung ho and I'm happy for him, he's got lots more energy than me.  The older I get, the less energy I have.  Coupled with that miserable stretch of Covid last November where I really have never felt right since then. It just drained me and tho some of my energy came back, certainly not all of it. 

We ended up going to Lowe's to hopefully buy the last of the supplies to finish the drywall portion of this project.  I figure he'll get this done next weekend. If he has tie of course, but if he does have time, he'll get it done. I take that back. I think he's going up after work to where the kids are but he's going to stay to visit a couple of days. So, I guess a couple more weeks.  I am not going to leave all that mess in there that long since the drywall is done, I can throw all the stuff out and just one more area I need some of the leftover insulation. 

I'm going to scrub the stuff on the floor up, pine sol it and get it as clean as possible in there.  Once he gets all the tape and mud on, I expect the ability of that shed to stay cool without the compressor on the AC to have to be running continuously to occur. Maybe.  If I had known it was 20x12 shed versus the 16X12 I paid for, I would have bought a 10,000 BTU unit. Mind you, the 8,000 BTU is enough to cover the square footage and then some by quite a bit.  It just seems a tin shed needs more.  

I'm home now.  Just counted and packaged the last batch of quarters I got from the shed. Around $300 total.  It isn't near as much as I really need to cover having AC running in there, water heater and monthly payments.  Amenities don't always make money, in fact, they often times show a net loss on the ledger.  It's more in keeping people happy to stay at your park.  That lady last night complaining about there being "only one bathroom?!!" irritated me.  

I know, you can't please everyone.  Just all the work and money spent in putting that bathroom in there to end up hearing that nonsense.  

I was looking at that new park 20 miles up the road's amenities and pricing. I'm just amazed how much money they are asking for lot rent and apparently they must be getting it.  Here I am at the bottom of what I will charge and still have 5 lots empty. Well, they just emptied out, it would be nice if some more people came in. They've got location going for them. I have location for certain things. ETBU being one of the biggest ones.  But, ETBU is out for summer break and so are the rest of the colleges.  

I only got one person in because of the storm, he paid up a month.  

I don't really know what else I can do to get people in there beyond what I've already done and within my budget.  Well, yes, get some rental trailers in there.

Still working on that.  This person I wrote about last post had a no-show. I contacted him this morning and he said yes, still have it, but have "lots of people" coming to look at it. Well, he still has it and it's afternoon time now.  Who has $2,500 sitting around in their drawers?  I know I don't. It's Sunday, ,I tried to get that much money out after seeing that Chase bank allows it. Nope.  

_________________

So, the first people didn't show up, another set of people showed up but didn't want it, the wife didn't like it.  What's wrong with it? I asked.  He said nothing, she just didn't like it.  Oh.  I'm hoping beyond hope this thing doesn't sell to anyone else and that I can go look and probably buy it tomorrow morning.  It's getting kind of late to be showing it now, but who knows.  It's the only one in my price range that even looks doable.  

But, as always, more keep popping up on there. There's several that are just junk.  I might take one of them if they were giving it away and just do it as a longer term project.  You've got floors missing, walls missing and roof troubles. IMO they are totally worthless in their present condition and apparently everyone else thinks the same as they don't sell.  

Well anyway, we went to  a place called Fire & Dice today to shoot off propane powered handguns at basically laser guided/acquired targets. It was fun. A bit pricey but the dude gave us double the time he told us we get. Target shooting, competition shooting and moving target shooting with scorekeeping.  I was doing pretty good if I do say so myself.  We don't go shooting near enough so I thought it pretty good to get such good scores shooting a target 50 feet away with a pistol.  

The end of the day. The tent camping lady was in there again today, but this time she spent about an hour.  Her friend wasn't there, the one that was complaining last night tho she was talking it up with another RV tenant.  I'm going to ask her about this person and how she feels about having that kind of setup in the park. I don't know when they are leaving, they have been working on getting septic, electric and water on their land, I have no idea where they're at with it or how much longer they will be around. I've only really got 4 actual long term tenants left in there, the rest are here for short stays up to a month and then they're leaving.

Yes, I'm saying I need a pretty good influx of people to come in and soon.  

Or not and whatever.  The shed is being finished to get it finished, it isn't going to have any more effect on getting people in there than it already has.  I want it done and James has been getting with it.  Another 6 days of no kids.  It's really been great, lol.  I talked to them on facetime - the older one wanted to talk about nothing in particular, just connect I guess.  

Well enough. I am on hold.  The man says he doesn't know yet whether he will have to work tomorrow. If he doesn't, I can go look at the trailer and potentially buy it. If not, he says he won't be back until evening. Welp, I'll go over there in the evening.  

Sunday - early

James left a few minutes ago, I'll be behind him after I get a couple of cuppas down my throat.  

11 hours at the shed yesterday netted in getting all of the drywall installed. Now, it's tape and mud time.  I think he's trying to get this done today Ambitious, but there's a lot of taping to do.  He's motivated.  

Tent camper lady showed up last night.  Like, how do you show up at night to start your tent camping?  She went into the shed with someone else who had come in another vehicle - who was complaining about the bathroom.  "Is he only going to build one bathroom?!!"

What.  This person that doesn't live there and never will complaining about the facilities.  You can take your happy ass and you can get the Hercules off of my property, was my first thought.  The tent camper decided she was going to back her vehicle in in front of my shed, help herself to an extension cord run through the window and park there for an hour and a half like that. 

We'll have to have a talk.  First off, she can park to the side of the shed.  Second off, I informed her before she moved in that she wouldn't be taking over the shed.  I personally wouldn't want to tent camp in this heat, that is her decision.  I'm going to be all over this situation and monitoring it right off the bat.  Her brother - alleged - was nowhere to be seen.  

I don't care if she spends an hour in there charging her phone and taking a shower, but that's the limit.  After that, she needs to vacate. People won't want to do their laundry in there if she's sitting around in that shed in the middle of the floor.  

There is plenty of space in there, I may end up putting a small desk and chair in there.  I'm just getting really happy that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that this project is near completed.  It's been a very long road and I can say some of it wasn't so pleasant. James will be leaving there now that I think about it to help his friend move, I think that's why he's starting so early.  I don't really think it's going to be done until next weekend.  Whenever he finishes, I will buy some paint, paint the walls and call it good. There are other things that need to be done, but they aren't priority.  

I found a trailer.  It's $2,800.  It appears to be in excellent condition.  The dude just texted me and said the other people who beat me to it didn't show up.  They had offered $2,800 with his initial asking price of $3,500.  Oh well.  He just said "Few more people coming..so anything can happen".  

Whatever. I'm not racing over to Shreveport to find an RV that's already been sold.  It happens every single time.  Had my hopes up on that one, from the pics it's in really good condition.  I was second in line, but that doesn't mean squat to these people even if you say you're coming. If someone else shows up, they will just sell it and that's that and you can go jump in an icy cold lake.  

I'm half tempted to try - it's still early and it's Sunday, are people really going to get up this early to go get a trailer? Probably lmao.  

Outta here. 

 No kids Saturday. We all slept in lmao

Not a lot of time here, I think I'm holding James up.

Back to the  property after a couple of cups of joe and get this drywall completed. 

Well, after a trip to Lowe's.  Since the shed is 20 feet long, not 16, I need another 2X6 to cover the extra distance on the ceiling and an extra sheet of drywall, some more drywall screws and other drywall rleated stuff.

Anyway, I'mnot going to linger on here, just have to get back to the blog later on today.  

 Friday.  Morning. Not exactly early. 

For whatever reason, I'm out of it today.  It was hard to wake up and it was hard to get out of bed.  No, I didn't get drunk last night lol. I did have a glass of wine tho.  That wouldn't make me feel like this.  It's usually because I haven't been sleeping well so finally, one random night, I'll sleep like a log and then feel like hell the next morning.  

James is on his way home.  He didn't get out early because they had drained the oil and the coolant out of the motorcycle.  Why would you do that?  Whatever, I guess he had to go buy both, fill them up and then he was able to leave. He's hot on the trail of wanting to get the shed done and told Taylor that he intends on going over there today when he gets home and get with it. 

I'll be over there with him, that's what I can say.  Let's get that done and I can wrap that project up for now, clean it all up and start something else.  

I intend on asking him if he would be interested in another side job.  Namely, if I buy one of these trailers that have "soft" floors, would he be interested in tearing up flooring, replacing the wood and the flooring?  There's a few of them on there at the right price.  I'm tired of making bids on trailers and not getting them.  I know, some of it is low-balling, I don't expect to get those. But when I offer full price and they still sell out from uner me? 

There's a motorhome in Nagodoches that is selling cheap and needs work.  There's several bumper pull trailers, everything works, but cosmetics and new flooring and probably a bit of roof work needed.  I need to get some other methods for making money in this park beyond just renting spaces.  I need to keep it full and that can happen if I have at least a couple rental units.  

As I was pulling in there today, a trailer was pulling out. He was only temporary, said he actually was pulling out a day early.  So right now, I have 3 open spaces. One of them is allegedly spoken for, showing up on Sunday. That leaves 2 empty spots I need filled up for there are more going to be leaving.  It's the nature of the business, yes, but the business needs to operate at full or very near full to be profitable.  

Here's where I went and said to myself, well if I"m going to do that, why not just do this instead?  I was thinking of building a cheap cabin. This would be a small, basic structure with no more than a bed, a couch, a small kitchen and pretty much nothing else. I don't need a bathroom in it, there is one in the shed. I would have to install heating/cooling as well. So what do you have invested into something like that, even just plain Jane?  Thousands of dollars.  Lumber, shingles, windows, doors, electrical, plumbing for the sink and running water in kitchen.  Etc.

It would be listed as a camping venue, but it would undoubtedly rent out monthly . Anyway, looking at 5 grand minimum to do that.  Or, buy a trailer that needs work for a grand, dump a grand into it or even 2 grand and I have a place ready to go in much less time and much less money.  

I haven't made any decisions yet. There was a trailer that was pretty nice, until I saw how they had pained the interior. This ugly, dark looking blue paint, it was just a repulsive look in there.  Of course I could repaint it.  I'm just going to have to rethink this.  The trailers in my price range: they are decent but usually so far away that I can't just get over there quick to get it so they sell to someone else or they are in various stages of disrepair and need a little to a lot of work.  

I just really frown in roof damage.  It just does so much damage to the interiors. It rains a lot around here, 

No noise in the house. It's a miracle. The kids are gone, there was no screaming, yelling, loud laughing, etc this morning.  There is still none of that noise and there will be none of that noise until next Saturday. The grandma is keeping them for 9 days instead of the 7 she originally spoke of. It's all good with us, we need a break.  The roughest part about this type of situation is when they come back. We brace ourselves for the noise and the torrent of kids clamoring for attention, but it never works. Lol

Just counted quarters and wrapped them.  Next time at the property, I'll empty the receptacles again and wrap those, take them to the bank, get the cash and stuff it in my desk drawer.  Keep doing that until there is enough to pay off the machines and get that over with.  Then start all over and save the money to pay off the shed.  

I've been looking at solar, but so far I am not impressed. Very pricey systems. As much as 70k.  That's for my house, not the property.  The payments supersede the savings in electricity every month.  I don't see the allure of them unless you are somewhere where there are no power lines.  I signed up with a company that gets quotes from different companies and you get to compare. Well, so far, the cheapest system is 19k and gives you estimated half of the electricity you use.  The payments, however, are higher than amount of electricity saved. So what's the point? 

___________

Many hours later.  James headed over to the shed and I met him over there a little later.  He got some trim done and then we got started on the ceiling.  We got 4 large pieces up - with odd cuts and just a bit trying to get in, but we got them up.  I expect that all the drywall will be done tomorrow and then there's the tape and mud to do.  Once that is done - and I have no idea whether that's going to be this weekend or not, but if not, it's okay I can still clean the shed up -  I can primer and paint the walls and call it done for good. Well at least for now, lol. There's other minutia I'll get done over time.  

Anyway, we got those 4X8 sheets up and I was looking at what wasn't covered yet. Huh? This shed is supposed to be 12X16. Uh, no, it's 12X20.  It's what's been throwing me off for a long time. I just assumed it was 12X16. My mind couldn't quite gather why more stuff was fitting in there than it should.  

It means more drywall than I originally calculated, but really, I think we only need one more sheet than what we've got.  

James was commenting that I should put a vending machine in there, there's plenty of room.  Yes, I thought the same a long time ago but I put that out of mind.  I started looking for fun.  You can get used ones relatively cheap.  The question is, will it be worth it?  I haven't decided on that and it's definitely not a priority.  At some point I need an official sign mounted to the shed that says laundry, bathroom, shower vending.  Well, I don't want to get a sign made until I decide on vending.  I wouldn't mind getting one of those machines that sells both soda/sports drinks and candy/chips. 

Anyway, James also said he would fix whatever trailer I buy.  Not only does he want to do it for the funds but also so he can take before and after pics.  He wants to go full time as a pro-handyman at some point. So I'm now looking at cheaper things that need work. Like, new floors, new walls, things that he can fix up and I can rent out.  There's one I'm looking at that they have listed at $1,200.  It need new flooring half the trailer and new walls for same-said half. It's something that might be worth a few hundred dollars, I'm gong to make an offer on it.  

I think I'm just going to save the quarters from the machines until there is enough there to pay them off.  It will take several months to do that, of course and meanwhile making payments on it, but that will speed up the pay off date and get another $216 a month worth of payments off of the books.  It shows I have 8 more months of payments, not ridiculous really, I just need to dump some payments.  

The shed is still a ways off.  Probably 2 years.  It may very well be I'll just do the same with the machine quarters for the shed.  

Another tenant supposed to show up today - tho I haven't seen him yet, I am going over there in a while to verify.  Need to have it written down what day they show up for payments sake.  

The kids finally left for Arkansas.  The oldest - who was here from Arkansas visiting for two weeks - sat on the couch all day long, pouting.  He wouldn't talk to me or Taylor at all.  The middle brother was lamenting all day long how he didn't want to go.  Too bad.  The youngest was the only one that was talkative and all over the fact that he gets to go to grandma's for a week.  Grandma spoils him and she changes the rules over here when she comes.  

I had a falling out with her today and we didn't talk the rest of the day either. One of them wanted to go with me to the property to deal with a tent camper that had shown up.  So, walking out, I informed her he was going with me. She got a smirk on her face and spouted out: No, he's not.  Oh? Why?  Because I don't get to see them that often and I want them to stay here with me. 

It wasn't that she wanted him there with her. It was the way she was talking down to me and ordering me around as if I were also a child.  Not too many people in this town that have met her like her.  She is crass, bossy and impudent.  Her feelings supersedes everyone else's.  I instantly had had enough of it. She has been doing this forever, I have bit my tongue forever.  Today?

I flatly informed her that they would all be with her for the next 7 days, he is going with me.  That was it, instead of just blasting her as I felt like doing, I just refuted her and left.  We went to the property, met the lady who wants to move in semi-permanently.  We went to the tent site, she approved of it and said if I need any help, her brother could help. I dunno how that setup is going to work, but I do hope they have 2 tents and that these siblings that are in their 40's or 50's aren't actually sleeping in the same tent?  I don't really care that much, but they will be signing an agreement to cover my ass.

I just don't want people claiming squatter's rights.  I have read too much of that going on and that isn't going to be a happening event on my property.  A signed document declaring them as temporary guests that are being allowed the use of the property in exchange for daily payment, tenancy can be revoked at any time.  Or something along those lines.  

And then another guy here on work assignment.  He's working at the same power station that several before him have come in on.  He's coming Sunday, or so he says.  

Anyway, just like that, there is peace and quiet in this house.  It's amazingly wonderful.  It's summer, the kids get too antsy, start squabbling at a moment's notice with each other, fighting, pouting, crying, etc.  I mean, the power being out was the real problem and everyone crammed into 2 bedrooms.  Sometimes the kids would be out in the common areas in the heat playing, most of the time they were in either bedroom and driving adults up the wall.  

I've already started cleanup.  My desk has been cleaned off, the bed linens have been washed and that's it for today.  Tomorrow will be the kitchen, another area in my bedroom and anything left in the front yard.  When James gets back - he's on his way up to Arkansas with his mom/ the grandma and the 3 kids - he says he intends on continuing work on the shed. Good, I will gladly go help him all day long - it will be the worst of it, putting the sheets of drywall up on the ceiling.  Let's get that thing done and over with, I want to get it all cleaned up. 

It will likely be a busy weekend with all of this stuff to do.  I'm heading over to the property in a few minutes to see if these folks have shown up. They paid $100 in advance, I would assume they would be, but who knows. 

Well enough. I got my book up to date on who is where and what.  Didn't fix the campground software yet, I will just wait until a person leaves tomorrow instead of trying to move everything around.  

 Thursday, mid-morning

I didn't get up late per se, but I've had the kids cleaning up their messes. They are leaving today for a week, Taylor went to work, the grandmas is here but I made them completely clean up their room.  We're going to completely clean up this house now that the power emergency is over and their room? No, they can do it, not the adults. The adults didn't make that room dirty.

So, it's clean by my standards but I'm sure Taylor will have them doing other things in there.  Just the main bulk of the ridiculousness has been cleaned up. I'm totally out of sort with the park.  I am going over there in a while and getting my notes straightened out on who is in what lot and for how long.  My reservation system is all in a mess for people have pulled in to whichever space and I have fixed that either.  

But, I need to go there first, lay eyes on everything, write it all down and then fix the reservation system.  I know I have 2 back in lots available. The rest of the lots are taken. But, some of those are only temporary.  I need to fix the reservation system to show which lots will be available when so I can still keep getting reservations in if anyone so chooses.  

We can finally cook in an oven and a stove top again, the days of eating out are one, as far as I"m concerned and I'm going back on my diet now that I can cook what I need to to my specifications.  

But my do we have a lot of cleanup to do. Extension cords laying everywhere, 2 trailers backed up onto the front lawn near the steps, the kitchen a bit dirty, just need general cleanup and get this place spic and span again. I have a bunch of receipts I have to upload to Quickbooks and get that stuff filed away and just general cleanup in my room as well.  Kids were crammed into 2 bedrooms for almost a week, it became pointless to try and keep it the way I like it.  I just tolerated this situation.  

Most of the businesses in our city are powered up and back to normal again. But there are still a lot of houses without power.  We got lucky, but I found out that's because one house on the next street down which is also on the same leg (power) as we are filed a complaint with the State of Texas. They have a special needs child that is listed with the state as such and as such, their power should have been priority to be restored. The child has to have 24 hour monitoring. When the parents aren't at work, they have to have a licensed nurse in there watching the child.

We don't know that is the reason for sure, but it likely had something to do with it. All I know is, I saw a SWEPCO pickup driving through our neighborhood and then an hour later or however long it was, the power was back on.  It actually stopped at our house and took note of the 2 generators on trailers on the front lawn.  

All of our friends had their power restored before we did, some of them many days ago, so there's no helping them, they don't need any help.  My bank account depleted from all of the gas and eating out.  We are thankful for the church feeding us, tho, it saved us a chunk of change.  If they're doing it again today, we will go for dinner.  There don't stand at the door and ask if you're power is out, they welcome everyone in.  My church is still without power, at least as of yesterday, haven't checked today.

I am fairly certain that if they had had power, they would have done the same as others of these churches.  Yup, their power is still out. The church is located on the same highway my property street is on. Everyone is still saying they don't have power down there. 

Well, it's time to get with it.  So nice to go into the bathroom, hit the switch and the light actually goes on.  Or not have to have the door to my bedroom perpetually closed. The whole house is nicely chilled. And I know I keep saying this, but it will be wonderful to have those kids gone for a week. After the week we've had with everyone going through what we've been going through, the adults definitely need a break from children.  We can have some peace and quiet and go about the business of restoring everything to normal in here without constant nagging and asking questions and such. 

 So...(yesterday, Wednesday)

I get a call earlier. You have any lots available? Yes!  Good, my husband is coming through Gilmer he'll be there in a little while.  Ok, well he can just pull in and take whatever empty lot he likes.  Well what about payment? I'm in the middle of something right now (sweating my ass off while I was doing it), I'll catch up with him later.  These people are apparently not used to hearing that. I don't need payment right away if I'm busy doing something else, I WILL be at their door at some point, they will pay.  I have no doubt about that.  I know my rights as an RV park owner, they show and don't pay, they leave.

So far, no one has ever tried to not pay.  I may run into it some day, but up until now, it's been a non-issue. They pull in, park, hook up. I come by later, they pay, we're good. 

So, they pulled in while another person called.  They live on the street that connects to our road - not the main highway end but the other end where our road crosses the Interstate and ends.  It connects to another county road. That entire road is not serviced by SWEPCO, they are serviced by a rural coop and these people were being told it could be weeks or longer before their power is back up.  They have a travel trailer and say they are tired of paying $75 per day for electricity when they could come to my park and pay much less.  

Makes sense to me.  We've been going between $48 and $90 per day.  I just filled the tanks back up maybe an hour before the power came back on.  I had no choice, it was time to refill, I couldn't bank on the power coming back on, you have no idea when it's going to happen in these dire circumstances.  I can use the fuel in the mowers at the property, James can use it in his welder.  Not like it's going to sit around for a long time and go bad.  

They grumpy texted today as well. They said the area they were sent to, all the RV parks are charging around $1,500 per month. Some with no amenities at all.  Port Sulpher, Louisiana.  Apparently they are building a new power plant down there, which of course would mean bringing in workers from all over the place.  Imagine that, actually building new power plants in this energy hostile environment the White House is creating in this nation.  

I replied that I expect prices to go well up around here when the Interstate starts getting built.  They always bring in a huge amount of crews and those people have to stay somewhere. Some will stay in hotels, yes, but I always see trailer parks filled up and even temporary trailer parking at the job sites themselves.  It was a bit strange to even hear from them again.  I figured they were done with me, lol.

____________________________

5 hours short of 7 days, we finally just got power back on. 20 minutes ago.  We are hoping beyond hope it actually stays on this time. We did shut the generators off, they have been running almost the entire time and need a break.  But, we are not rolling up extension cords, not at all. I am not doing that again and then having the power go back off 20 minutes later.  In fact, I suspect we'll just leave it all like it is all night long.  Or, as far as I am concerned anyway, my extension cord going to my room is staying put.  

And, confirming it's going to take hours for the house to cool down.  It's been on half an hour now and only down 1 and half degrees.  13 degrees to go.  

We'll see if it stays on, it would be wonderful if it did. 

The grandma just showed up as well. I was asking why she was coming here when there is no power on?  It makes literally no sense.  It's hot in the house, there would be 6 people sleeping in that bedroom.  I don't understand her thinking, at all. James can't go back with her until after work tomorrow.  She hit it lucky with the power going back on.  The house will finally be cooled back down after all of this time.  

I keep walking out there to see if it's cooled down yet, lol. The doors have had to been slightly open with all the extension cords, lots of flies in the house, gag.  I was thinking we could just fumigate the common areas of the house and leave for a few hours.  The kids will be gone and we can just go do something, like watch a movie we wanted to see.  

Whatever the case, there will be a major cleanup operation.  And laundry.  Sweeping, cleaning, vacuuming, etc.  Wait til the kids are gone tho.  

The internet is out once again.  IT comes and goes. We went and toured some more of the destruction today.  A mile away, there was an area we hadn't seen that someone told us about. It was insanity.  Trees had fallen and destroyed several houses, fallen and pulled down lines, fallen and snapped telephone poles in half like match sticks.  You just can't describe such things, you have to see it with your own eyes. HUGE trees EVERYWHERE. 

And my property!  I hadn't gone for a hike in the back 15 acres since the storm hit. I had NO idea there would be that kind of destruction back there!  Trees down all over the place, some of them huge trees. I'm going to need to do a cleanup effort back there but with all of that, we're talking days worth of work, maybe weeks.  

 8 hours into day 6 of no power.

Yup. We're done with this. We have all been trying to keep a good attitude but this situation has us all in each other's business what with only 2 bedrooms being cooled.  They are still saying Friday for our power to be restored.  I am not blaming the power company by any stretch of the imagination, that isn't the point.

The point is, yes, we should be grateful. We have 2 generators - albeit we have spent somewhere near $500 keeping them fired up.  But...it's just old.  I think I might take these kids to the movies today to distract their attention to something other than getting on each other's nerves for a little while. Just one more day. Well, 2 days really.  The grandma isn't coming until tomorrow afternoon and she isn't leaving until James gets off of work. He is going back with her. 

There's a couple of movies that are kid friendly showing in the local - and cheap I might add - theater.  I can get all 4 of us in there for less than $20.  Now, eating popcorn and drinks another story.  If we go, I will get them popcorn but the drinks will be limited to water only.  I've spent enough money.  Went through my records yesterday, I have a lot payment coming in on the 25th after that, it's the 1st.  The only other things have been some short stays here and there.  They help, definitely. One dude lengthened his stay by 5 days.  

He said they weren't finished patching up a gas line pipe they were working on. A short section, it was the only reason he came to town and then they are leaving.  They being the rest of his crew, staying where? I have no clue.  The Asplundh workers said they have to drive clear to Shreveport every day after work.  If I had rental units I could easily fill them up - temporarily anyway.  

I am still looking for a trailer.  I'm just not letting myself get carried away on price so the options are limited.  Most of it needs major work and really, aren't worth anything at all. There is utter junk being sold for 2 grand that has no value in their current condition at all.  Like, those things just sit on Marketplace, who in their right mind is going to pay that much money for something that they will have to dump thousands of dollars and untold man hours worth of work into? Not me.  I can see a little work, but nothing like replacing walls, entire floors, leaking roofs that have caused major damage inside the unit.  

If these people had bothered to at least rolled some rubber sealant on those roofs, they would have something that would be worth 2 or 3 times what they are asking for.  

Today's agenda? Keep generators running. Head to Lowe's.  Price the parts to install a breaker for the generator. If' I can get it around $50, I"m getting it.  No matter when the power comes back on, it will be available for future reference.  But if it's going to cost $100 or more, no thanks.  It just really depends on the cost of the breaker, the wire will cost around $25, the male connector around $10. This is a different type of circuit breaker than what I used on the shed.  

I have nothing else right now.