Addler. My Great Dane dog.  Best companion ever. 2015-2023.  

Taylor went with me to the animal hospital. It was a very kind gesture and I really appreciated it.

We waited in the waiting area, then we were taken into a room. Addler was not in there.

A few minutes later, the vet came in. She was crying.  

She just threw up her hands, she didn't know how to tell us.  She was as much of a mess as we were.

She finally just said it: we were wheeling Addler into the room and he passed on the way in there.  

It was so heartbreaking. I didn't get to see my boy out of this life and world.

We all just broke down crying.  Can I go see him? They had him spread out on the floor of a small room with a blanket over him, only his head was showing.

His eyes were dimmed out. He was definitely gone.  Tears flowing down our faces, we pet him and scratched his head for a while.  It was hard.  I had to leave the room to go find tissues.  We sat maybe 15 minutes just looking at him, wishing him a big goodbye, petting him. We got up, gave him a final, loving smack on the butt, we used to do that with him all the time.

And then we left.  

He was such as sweet, loyal, trusting, obedient, playful and silly doggy.  He was so wonderful to have around. I've lost a member of my family. We have lost a member of our family.  Taylor loves animals and it hit her harder than I expected it to.

It was so nice this time to have someone with me, doesn't matter if they were crying too, I needed the support. 

The boys are next. They aren't home yet, they were going to be brought home this morning but Maria told Taylor she had forgotten that Taylor had to work today, so she would keep them til this evening. 

These boys grew up with this dog.  He has been around for the 6 year old's entire life and most of the 8 year old's life. Addler was a big part of the family and the 8 year old especially loved him.  

I know how he's going to take it, I don't have to guess.  He'll figure out as soon as he sees me what's happened,  because I am a total mess right now. That isn't likely going to disappear before they come home.  Just going to gently hug him and tell him.  

Addler.  He loved going over to the property and running free in the woods.  It was his favorite thing to do and fortunately I have several videos of him doing just that.  

I am having him cremated so I can spread his ashes around back there. I didn't want to bury him, I wanted whatever is left of his essence to become a part of the nature he so very much loved.  He was an amazing dog.  Everything you want in a dog, Addler was it. 

I truly wish I could have seen him pass, but I am relieved that he went out of this world on his own. No injecting drugs into him. No second guessing - could he have been saved? No, he left on his own.  That will be something I remember forever. 

The last time I saw him was on Monday morning when I left him there (it is now Wednesday afternoon). He wanted to go home with me.  At the time, I thought he was going to come out of this. I thought: they'll get him better and then I can take him home with me.  If I had known he was going to pass, I would have had him do it at the house.  

I have no regrets about it. I did what I thought best for him.  He was in the presence of caring people that love dogs, especially the vet.  I now know why she passed by the window in the back, looked over at us and looked sad. It's  a part of their job, I don't know how they can do it. I'm glad they do it, but I just wonder how they deal with seeing that stuff. They really like him too, they spoke about how sweet he was.  

Yes, that was Addler. Sweet and loving.  He would give you puppy dog eyes and plead for attention, of which he got.  

It is interesting that before his all happened, he was craving more attention than usual. I have to wonder if he knew.  It all happened so fast. One day he is vibrant, alive and  healthy looking, the next he's deathly sick.

I saw it, I felt it, I just didn't allow myself to register it. No, I thought, he's going to be alright.  I guess I lied to myself in the hope that he would pull out of this.

I've always loved you, Addler. You were such a good companion.  Always there for me, always at my side. 

Goodbye buddy.  

 So.

I went to Lowe's. Got the parts I needed, headed back to the park.  Checked the guy's trailer with the dog, nice and cool in there, dog is fine.

Went over to collect money - they had less than they said they did but I took it.  

Went to work.  Dug out the water line completely and installed the spigot assembly.  That is done.

Dug out the sewer line where I want the sewer hook up.  Cut 2 pieces of sewer line and installed them into the sewer Y.  My cordless saw ran out of battery power, so I plugged the battery in and went to work on the electrical outlet.  

I went over to check and see if they have a long enough extension cord to reach to where I want to put the outlet - otherwise I'd have to go buy more wire.  Looked good but I then saw they also have a 30 amp outlet.  It isn't running an ac unit, that's what the extension cord is doing.  It must just be supplying power to the rest of the rv for lights and such. 

I wasn't prepared for that, but, I just happen to have a 30 amp, outdoor, weatherproof box.  Anyway, that could be done later, I thought, I'll just go to work on the 20 amp outlet.  Got that all installed....

....and then the phone rang.  It was the animal hospital. I was expecting good news, I did not get it.

His white blood cell count is way down and some other count I forget the name of is so far down, they are sure it's cancer.  Prostate cancer.  She went on for a while about those numbers, what they mean and then she said: the dog has basically given up.  He has no fight left in him. She danced around the subject for a few minutes so I just went ahead and addressed the white elephant in the room: So you are saying he needs to be put down?  Yes.  I know, we want every doggy to be well taken care of, healed and go home but sometimes it doesn't work out that way.....I didn't hear the rest.  

Emotion started to take over and whatever else she said just didn't register excepting that they are closed between 12:30 and 1:30.  I said it's ok, I'm in the middle of a project, going to have to go home, take a shower and change.

So here I am, sitting in my bedroom, facing the prospect of watching Addler be put down.  I haven't had to deal with this since Duke was put down and that occurred while I was on the road.  I buried him at least but I didn't have the chance to see him go out of this world.  

I really thought he was going to come out of this.  I never thought he had cancer, but I guess I wasn't facing reality. He wasn't getting any better and that should have started happening by now. They say he looks like a dog that has totally given up, no fight left in him.  I expect he will perk up when he sees me but I know when it's time to go, it's time to go.

That doesn't mean it's going to be an easy thing.  I'll take care of the paperwork before they do this to him because I am going to want to leave directly after his eyes change color.  They always try to tell you he's gone, I always look in their eyes.  They go from whatever color they are to a greyish state and that, to me, is when I know they have passed.  And then, I leave and start sobbing.

And then there are these kids that aren't home yet that have never faced this before. The oldest is a very emotional person, he will be crying as well.  In fact, he will have a melt down in emotional stress.  I don't know who is going to be in worse shape, me or him. That dog has been around almost as long as he has been alive...and they like each other....he was petting him the other day before they left.  

The rest of the day is toast.  I don't care what I have to do, I'll finish it tomorrow.  I was going to get it all ready today, even going and getting the 30 amp breaker and wire I'll need, but that is just not going to happen now.  It won't take a lot to install that as far as time and the sewer setup shouldn't take but another 30 minutes.  

I can't anymore of this. I told Taylor and she came in crying. We are now both emotional wrecks. 

 I've been all up in the New Jersey people's business and will continue to do so. They have money.  If they can afford phones, cigarettes and fuel for a car they are borrowing, they can afford to pay rent.  She claimed last night after texting her yet again that she has the money she promised and that I can "get it in the morning". You're darn skippy I'll be over there, at their door, money please and thank you.  I don't want to have to contend with these people forever.  I have better things to do with my time than hunting down money from people who have to be prodded to pay.  I will ask them directly when they intend on paying next....I want a definitive date, if their story about SSI payment is true then they should have an answer by now.

Addler - no clue.  He's over there at that hospital.  I want to see him.  I don't care if they allow it or not, my dog has been in there 2 days now, I want to see him and see for myself how he is doing.  I will be insistent regardless of what they have to say about it.  I need him to start showing signs of improvement as well.  I mean, just a hope and desire of course, he just needs to get better.  I would think by now his system would start reacting to what they are doing for him?

Kids - coming home today. That was a short visit.  Not even 2 full days.  I know, it's summertime, summertime blues are hitting, school is starting soon and they can get back into a more structured - I should say much more structured - routine.  Anyway, I'm going to be watching them this afternoon, which is fine, it'll be hotter than Hades by then and I won't want to be doing anything anyway.  

It is early.  I forced my @$$ out of bed early to get to Lowe's get the stuff I forgot and get with it.  Well, that and I will now have to just install the whole setup for sewer.  I don't have the correct part and I don't have time to order one.  Lowe's doesn't sell anything like that and there are no rv parts stores in town. I don't have time to drive all over the place looking for it and hoping I find it. Buy the parts and know that I have the correct setup. More work? Definitely.  But there is an end game in sight with that versus chasing parts that I don't know if anyone has locally.  I am already dug down to the sewer line as it stands, just need to move up the line a couple of feet. 

Hard work, yes, hence getting up early.  Another 100 degree plus day.  I will be taking a change of clothing with me this time. I get covered in dirt, mud and sweat. My clothes get completely drenched in sweat.  It's ridiculous heat out there but I find I have no choice atm to do anything but get this done and over with, move that trailer over there and have the regular lot open.

One of the new people loves it here so much he is telling all of his friends that are also coming from Oklahoma that this is the best place in town.  Well that was nice.  He went on and on about how peaceful and quiet it is here and the fact that his son - in his 20's and staying with him - says the wifi here is "kick @$$".  Streaming video games, which is fairly impressive especially noting that fact that there are many other people on that system. 

It dawned on me that the potential reason people are getting kicked out of the system is that there are too many devices trying to be attached to it.  There is a button you press on the thing and it takes you through various screens, one of them tells you how many devices are hooked up to it  It can handle up to 66 devices.  People have lots of devices nowadays. It's not just phones.  There's at least 15 devices in this house alone using internet. 3 phones, music playing devices, smart tv's, cameras, everything else I'm not remembering.  

My other one has far fewer people using it, but it doesn't have enough range to cover the whole park. I'm still going to ask people close enough to start using that one instead.  

Well it isn't getting any earlier. I haven't heard from the trucking company this week - yet.  It would be odd if they "found" something and just dumped me. They did tell me that they wanted a tax return to show what I've been doing for the last year. Sorry Charlie, I started business at the beginning of the year, there is no tax return showing any of this.  I have utility bills, I have the LLC structure, but they said they would work around it.

I have heard nothing back since, but, it's Thursday, they could still call yet.  If they don't, I may just blow them off as well and find something else. There's a fuel hauling gig that does training, I'm not sure where it's located at tho.  There's another one in Tyler - it's 52 miles each way, that's too far to drive every day, especially in a gas guzzling vehicle.  Even with a car or motorcycle with great fuel economy, I wouldn't want to drive that far 5 days a week.  And, a person got in on the comments and said: "And don't forget to mention the 15 hour work days".  

The company actually admitted that that was true, but if they could get more drivers that workload would go down since it would be distributed on more people.

No thank you. I've done my share of 12-16 hour days, I'd like to leave that behind permanently if possible. If you are working  a 15 hour shift, spending an hour each way getting to and from work, what do you have left just for sleeping?  7 hours.  You have to eat, do your normal home stuff - you might as well go OTR and have less stress.  I'm being a bit picky about what I will do, that may change if this situation gets to the point I am desperate and will just have to take whatever I can get. 

There's a small town east of here that is constantly hiring drivers. Large operation.  It's all hazmat tanker stuff and local.  There's another one 25 miles east of here, just into Louisiana that does a fuel hauling service. And yet another that is also hauling fuel.  I don't know if any of those places train. Lots of them don't, they want you to have experience loading and unloading, which begs the question: where do you get training?  You just have to find a company that does it.  

Well it's not getting any earlier and I dread the idea of being out in that extreme heat, I have a goal to get a certain amount done today and finish it up tomorrow. Addler is the top priority and if they need me to come get him, pay up to current, whatever, I will automatically drop whatever I am doing and go deal with it.

With that, I'm outta here.

G'day

 I'm just sitting here fretting, probably needlessly, but fretting never-the-less.  My dog is not here and it is making me a bit edgy.  It's a good thing the kids aren't here, I would probably get testy with them. It's summertime, it's hot outside and they get on each other's nerves which in turn gets on the adults nerves. I hope they are gone for  few more days, frankly, tho I'm pretty sure the youngest is going to start whining about going and seeing his mommy by tomorrow.

He's predictable and he is a true mama's boy. He is attached to her.  A couple of days and he'll have had enough. Especially considering they have much more limited TV options over there.  The older boy doesn't want to go out in the heat, the younger does but only for a short period of time.  I only say all of that to dream and hope that they can stay over there until at least Friday.  School starts soon and their normal school routine will crank back up, thankfully.

The wedding is a few weeks away and I need to ensure my tacos for the reception are going to be - made.  Like, have them ready for us, I will pick them up at such and such a time, thank you.  

I went back to the property and quickly realized the fitting I had bought is not what I thought it was.  It was cheap and I doubt it's worth returning it, I will list it on the local facebook groups at a reduced price and see if I can unload it.  I will simply have to dig down to the sewer line and set up a regular outlet.  I've already dug down to the sewer line anyway, but I'm about 2 feet away from where I would want to put another sewer outlet.  

It's that or drive over the Longview to that RV place and see if they have the fitting I need to install it.  The parts are about $35 for everything from Lowe's. I just didn't want to dig out that dirt in this heat, I guess I'll just do that now that my options are limited.  In actuality, that fitting I got is for a 5th wheel - the giant ones - that have 2 separate sewer lines running from them. I didn't know that and the description didn't say that.  

I have to go back to Lowe's anyway for that outdoor, weatherproof electrical box. I might just do that today so I can try, at least, to get up early in the morning, get over there and try to get most of this done. 

________

So I'm sitting here minding my own business and the phone rings. One of the new people. He says I have a bad 30 amp breaker. Well what's going on?  Says it keep popping. Ohhhhkkkaaaayyyy. I'm thinking, these breakers are not that old, there shouldn't be a problem with them.  I asked if he had a pigtail to run his 30 amp off of 50 amp? Yes, buy my friend a master electrician says that you shouldn't run those off of them, they can bump up electricity and fry stuff in your trailer. 

Yes, I thought, that's why just about everyone that comes in the park uses surge protectors. Big giant things that stop any fluctuations in power from doing in the trailer's electrical circuits.  He doesn't have one.  I'm going to suggest to him he get one if he's that concerned about it. Small investment to save a lot of hassle.  Anyway, he said he would use it overnight and I said let me know.

But, I decided to hop into my SUV and run over there. Removed the 30 amp breaker from the only empty lot, took it over there, asked him if he would mind me replacing it, it would only take a few minutes?  Okay. So, I take the panel off to gain access, grab the breaker and about burned my fingers.

That was the 30 amp had stopped using. So I touched the 50 amp - same thing. Uh, sir? This isn't a park power/breaker problem.  You've got something wrong in your trailer.  It's clearly drawing too many amps, heating it up and popping it off.  Thankfully they work, otherwise I'd have a burned down pedestal to contend with as well.  Touch it. He just looks at me.  You won't get electrocuted, lol, just touch the front of the breaker.  30 amp, ouch. 50 amp, double ouch. 

I put that to rest, not my problem, please have someone come take a look. We both agreed he probably has a bad ac unit drawing that much amperage.  He just so happens to have a "backup" roof ac unit that has it's own cord directly to it to plug in to the pedestal. Good thing, too, cause' it's still QUITE hot out there. I was sweating profusely just sitting there working on this stuff - the sun going down.  

Well, he asks if I'm going to be over here tomorrow?  Yes, I will be in and out. He has a little doggy that he's going to leave in there, wanted me to check on the trailer and make sure the AC is staying on. I will do that, but I told him if that backup unit runs all night long, there isn't really any reason it shouldn't work tomorrow as well.

He's lucky that thing didn't start doing that until after he got home.  Just baffles me how you can leave an animal in there without knowing if the ac is working.  They have setups where you can monitor remotely the ac and ensure it's going. Peace of mind. It would be horrible to come home and find your doggy had basically baked to death in a giant oven.  So I will definitely check it a few times to ensure that dog is good.

Next time this happens - and I'm sure it will happen again with someone - I will just go touch the breaker first. If it's burning hot, it's not the breaker. This isn't the first time someone has tried to blame the breaker for the problem and it's not.  But I am going to buy another 30 amp breaker for backup. It only took maybe 4 minutes to take it out of one pedestal and then go to install it in the other.  I switched them out anyway, but I am 100% sure it's not the breaker. They get that hot because the trailer is drawing too many amps through it.  The breaker is doing what it was designed to do: pop off when it gets too hot/too much amps going through it.  But now that he's done that to that breaker, I may end up wanting to replace it anyway.  That much heat probably damages them.  I'll have to look that up. 

The thing I worry about is this dude trying to hook it back up again.  I mean, that breaker was extremely hot.  I don't need this guy burning down my equipment.  It would trip the main circuit breaker on that side and then everyone is without power.  And then  I have to replace a pedestal, fix wiring and get it going again.  I think I'm going to contact him back and insist he not hook that thing back up.  kj

Well, I have been invited to go to Chili's, so Chili's, here we come! 

 Addler update.

They didn't call me so I called them.  I'm sure they're busy, wasn't saying there's an issue, but I need to know what is happening with the dog.  So, he's got a catheter to drain his urine and another giving him fluids.  He won't eat yet. His urine was bloody yesterday, they said it's less today.   The dog is obviously not coming home today. They didn't tell me that but they didn't have to.  He's already there, there is no sense in unhooking him to come home to do what? Die?  He's going to have to start feeling well enough to eat and drink again, IMO, before he comes back here.  And certainly, a plan to deal with this so it doesn't happen again?  

I really hope by tomorrow he is showing some serious signs of improvement.  I don't have an unlimited bank to pay for this stuff.  At the same time, it doesn't appear he's dying so if he can be fixed? I'm already well into this.

I've heard from numerous people who became enraged when they found out the first place sent Addler out without a diagnosis and just dumped it off onto somebody else....and then finding out that my vet used their x-rays to find out what was wrong with him. That's - outrageous?  I dunno. I haven't contacted them yet, it's on the list after I speak with my vet about it.  I want to find out what they would do - if anything - in such a situation and what they might suggest I do.

Meanwhile, the New Jersey people are either lying and being deceitful or they are honestly having problems. I started texting her on Facebook, but then I found her phone number and started doing real text messaging.  She claims that because they don't have an address, social security withheld their checks.  Simple, have them send it to the park as your home address.  End of story? Not at all. I want money and I want it today.  I'm at the end of the line with these people. I pushed back pretty hard.  

Well, we'll have $140 at 1:30 for sure!  Ok. I'll take that and give them however long they claim it's going to take for ss to send her check. She is definitely disabled, that is visible.  Her hands/fingers are all fused, she can't even bend her fingers.  So I know they are getting money. The question is: are they just spending it on something else or did they really not get it?  She claimed she is running around town trying to earn money.

Possible. If they are giving plasma.  She didn't say that but what else are you going to do? Stand on a street corner with a sign?  I'm not trying to throw them out on the street but this situation has to change.  

Anyway, I went over there and dug through everything. No more circuit breakers, but I did have some of the other stuff. I also had enough wire, surprisingly, to run down to the ground, bury it a few feet then bring it back up a 2X4 and install an outlet.  

So, I just realized? I forgot to get the weatherproof outlet box.  Wonderful  I am not going back up to Lowe's today, I am waiting on the Sewer y inlet to see what I will need to install it into my sewer line.  I don't think Lowe's has the fitting I need, which means I either need to order one or I'll have to drive to Longview if ordering one won't get it here in time.  That Y is allegedly arriving today, "out for delivery".  There is an RV parts store in Longview is the point. 

It's 100 degrees with a 110 heat index.  It is summer.  I hate it but then winter comes and we all complain about how cold it is, lmao.  Fall and spring around here are usually great, winter can get very cold but a lot of the winter here is fairly decent.  

I'm just drained.  Doubtful I will do much of anything else today.  

 I have no update on Addler.  He is at the animal hospital, hopefully he is recovering and doing better. They told me last night he is "doing as well as can be expected" and that they have him on both antibiotics and pain killers.  I don't even know if he's coming home today.  If they want to neuter him I would imagine he's staying another night.  Or if he's even recovering at all. I only know that they were able to drain his bladder "almost completely".  Imagine having a completely full bladder and not being able to drain it out.  It all makes sense now.

Too bad dogs can't talk and tell you what's wrong with them. 

I'm still out of it. I was so tired last night, I conked out at 9:30 and then woke up around 3:30 am.  Managed to get back to sleep but I am still so tired from the previous night and hardly getting any sleep at all.  

And I've struggled with keto the last few days.  Your mood can influence your eating habits. I haven't caved - yet - but a whole container full of chocolate fudge brownies sitting there was hard to pass by.  Or just go to DQ and get a Blizzard. Or sit down and eat a plate full of pasta and potatoes.  As I said, I haven't given into it and I'm trying not to. It takes way too long to get rid of what you gain during even a short binge, it really isn't worth it.

I have been reading about enlarged prostates in dogs and I even asked an AI chatbot to list the causes and the treatments.  It said enlarged prostate can definitely be caused by having a dog that is not neutered but there are medications that can treat it and bring the swelling down.  I don't know what the vet is doing about this or what the plan is yet.  I just know I can't afford much more of this, this is going on CareCredit as it stands and tho I had full credit available, it's just another payment that I can't afford right now.  It was take him to the vet or let him die, so I took him to the vet and financial consequences be damned.  I am still planning on going to work in September, but after this wedding vow ceremony for my friends, I am going to start dumping applications out all over the place.  I have found several, local jobs I am interested in.  

Anyway, if I don't get a call by noon from the vet, I will be calling them.  I don't even know how much they charge keeping a dog overnight plus everything else they are doing.   It is also a kennel facility, people board their dogs there for vacation, but I suspect a dog in the hospital area being kept overnight is going to cost more than the regular charges. Amazingly, they haven't even asked about payment yet. Most times, the vet asks right up front how you are going to be paying for this. I guess my history there?  

I'm trying to decide whether to go to the property and bake my @$$ off in this heat or just wait until something is decided on Addler.  The best thing I can think of is to go and get the stuff I need to hook up the 20 amp outlet.  But I need to go to the property first and see what I already have on hand. Pretty sure I have a 20 amp breaker, I know I don't have any wire left but I need to measure how much wire I need. Also need to check that I have enough 1 inch pipe to make the spigot and I also need an adapter for the sewer. I have the 2 -inlet thing coming, should be here today, but I need an adapter to screw it into.  

It's not as bad as it sounds. It will cost some money, yes, but the only real expense is the wire and since it's only for 20amp, I think 12-2 wire will work. Maybe 10-2 to ensure it can handle the load.  20 amps is all I have for regular outlet on the pedestals, so I don't really need to go any higher than that.  

I've got 4 days to get this done including today, I'm not worried about it.  I'm kind of a mess right now.  Everytime I go to the bathroom, I expect to see Addler laying on his bed and, of course, he's not there.  Then it hits me he's still in the hospital and I have no real idea what they want to do next. Now that I'm a bit better informed, I will guess they are putting him on some kind of medication to shrink the prostate.  Whether they want to neuter him or not is still unknown.  But, I miss him terribly, he's really an affectionate doggy and very loyal.  I don't think I'm going to lose him now, I was uncertain about it the night I took him to the first vet and then the next morning to get him, he looked horrible.

They didn't have to tell me I should take him to my regular vet, I would have done that regardless after seeing how bad he looked.  He was totally out of it, I guess you could call it a dog's version of being disheveled.  No, worse than that. Sickly.  Disoriented.  Then, leaving him at the second vet and seeing him wanting to go home with me.  I had to just leave and let them do their thing.  I wasn't going to be helping him by sticking around and creating a distraction.  

Okay, I think I am going to distract myself a bit and go to the property and take inventory of what I have and what I need. Counting pennies here, folks.  Went through my bank account to see what is taken out when from last month. As long as Mark gets the house rent in today, I will be good. I already paid that and it ate up a lot of available funds.  I have more coming in in the next week.  Just trying to get some serious money in the business account before I have to pay that $1,700 for electric which is due on the 10th.  Yes, I have the money in there and then some, my concern is to be able to pay myself another grand if not more.  I tend to like to keep 2 grand in the business account, if I have to lower that to a grand, so beit. I now have payments coming in throughout the month.  

It's not just the first anymore.  In fact, the New Jersey people said they would be paying me today, I will be on their doorstep for sure.  That can't go on anymore. I've given them enough grace period, the lady's money comes in today, they probably already have it, time to pay up.  In fact, I think I will text her right now.  

Alright, texted her, she usually does not respond right away. Time to get out of here and do something.

G'day

 One thing this is certain: Addler would have died sooner or later. His bladder would have burst and that would have been lights out. This isn't a situation where I could have just sat around and said to myself: "he'll get better, just give him time".  No, time was his enemy.  I can't imagine how much better he must be feeling right about now.  Maybe he'll even start eating again.  

He was given numerous compliments at the first place last night.  One of the workers said: "Your dog is so beautiful. We get other danes in here that are heavy, but that is because they are fat. Addler is not fat at all". 

  At one point he started putting on weight - fat - so I put him on a diet.  He lost it and has never gained it back.  He's a bundle of muscle.  The size and weight of the dog dictate it needs some good muscles to enable it to be able to move around at all.  

It really hits me how hard this would have been to take if he would have passed. I come into my bedroom and there is no giant dog laying or sitting there. No big doggie waiting at the door to be let in.  

I just ran up to the store to get a bottle of Cumin for Taylor - she is making some sort of chili stuff in the crockpot for dinner - and it is stifling hot out there. I also found out just how drained I am of any energy. My plans yesterday before this situation with Addler came up was to get the water spigot installed and finish with the hot water line.  I've ordered the dual sewer outlet.  

Then tomorrow, get the trencher and get that done.  Then the next day, get the parts to install a panel and get the project done and over with.  Now? I don't know if I'm going to have time to do all of that before the day arrives I need it done for.

I may have to just risk it and have another ac unit on there.

Wait a minute.  I just remembered - my thoughts are all over the place right now - we had a second ac unit in the window of the shed while James was installing the drywall!  It was on for many, many days and the compressor rarely shut off.  That's the only real drain that New Jersey people's trailer has.  They are using a regular extension cord for that thing, it isn't on a 30 or 50 amp draw.  

So there it is. I've just taken the pressure off of me.  I can get a 15 foot strand of wire and another 20 amp heavy duty outlet, set it up back there and good for now.  Still want to switch out everything, maybe even put the water heater on a new circuit and just take some of the load off of the west side circuit.  

However....even taking the pressure off, there is still a couple day's worth of work back there.  But I can get it done - I think. I say that and then often times I get caught in some glitch/s and end up taking more time, energy and expense than originally anticipated.  I actually think I have an extra circuit breaker somewhere, just have to dig and find it.  Wire is the only real expense on that now, probably $45 worth. Circuit breakers are actually not that expensive and neither are the 20 amp outlets.  So maybe $60.  The outlet will be permanent regardless if I do an east side circuit setup - I have no power outside of the shed and I have needed it.  

Well I'm not going to stress over it. Try to get back to it tomorrow depending on what happens with Addler. I'm actually glad they're keeping him another night.  

Maybe I'll start feeling better later on and can at least go to Lowe's and get the parts I need to do the electrical job.  I have the parts for the spigot, the Y should be here today or tomorrow.  

I think I'll just shut the laundromat down during this upcoming day with 16 units pulling power and 9 of them on one side plus the shed.  After that I'm going to have some vacancies and less of a drain.  Just one day of a shut down - sorry folks, no laundry today. There is a laundromat about 2-1/2 miles away.  Or just wait until tomorrow.  

That's it. I'm going to try to take a nap again, I just got hit pretty good with fatigue.  

 So.  I'm up at 5:15 - a little early so I could at least get a cup of coffee in me.  Drive over there, discuss everything,  they bring him out. He (Addler, my Great Dane) looks even worse than he did last night.  They don't know what's wrong with him, but they said I need to take him to my regular care provider (this place closes at 7:00 am). Well, looking like that, indeed.  Not only that but they still had the catheter in him to pump fluid into him and they handed me a huge bag of IV fluid to give to my regular vet along with all the paperwork to give the vet as well.

My vet not opened yet, I just drove straight over there. 40 miles so it took a minute. I get there, there are vehicles in the parking lot but no one waiting at the door.  I just got out, left Addler in the vehicle and stood at the door until they unlocked it. I figured I might have a better chance getting him in - I trust this place, they have always done Addler good. 

Up to the counter, tell them he spent the night in ER, he's clearly not right and they want him to continue the care, can you take him in today?  Behind me? A dozen people with dogs.  Some with numerous dogs.  I don't know how long I would have had to wait, but I was glad that I didn't have to make Addler wait and I was/am very very tired.  Like, today is going to be a wash type of tired, getting nothing done besides getting the dog over there.

I hand them the paperwork, tell them there should be an email from the other place.  She found the email but their internet is down, she couldn't look at it. "I don't know, the internet was down when we came in here today". Yikes.  Addler was sooooo lethargic.  However, when I was leaving? This time he wanted to go home.  Sorry buddy, but you are going to have to stay here. He wouldn't go with the lady, just kept staring at me.  I walked out the door - it gets easier if the owner isn't around.  

I get a call 3 hours later.  They said they had looked at the x-rays the other place took and saw that his prostate was enlarged so much, he could barely pee and that's what's going on with him.  Oh.  She went into detail and said they put a hole - somewhere in there - to drain him.  Well, why didn't the other place see this?  "We were asking the same thing".  Instead of all of these tests and everything they did - and costing a truckload of money - they could have just seen what the problem was on the X-rays, which is the first thing they did???

Well, the said it will take quite a while to drain all of that. It's still morning and they already told me he needs to stay overnight.  See, I would have waited til today to take him in, but he looked so terribly bad, I just felt like I was losing him.  Addler is a special dog, at least to me.  I've lost a lot of dogs in my lifetime - he is 8 and very healthy other than what's happening now. I feel like he's got a couple more years left.  3 if I'm lucky.  The cost of all of this tho....nothing I can afford, I have CareCredit but it's going to ramp up the need to get back to work. I can see grand for all of this at both places combined by the time this is over.

Well what is causing this? They said highly likely due to the fact he's not neutered.  I wanted to get him neutered but I felt as if his age was too old to be putting him through something like that. She said we're going to need to discuss neutering him, but that's not right now. We need to get him better first.  Well, knowing what is wrong and taking the appropriate action, that shouldn't take terribly long.  I don't know what it costs to neuter a Great Dane, but I can tell ya, whatever your little dog cost? It will be 50% again more than that.  

I'm just relieved that they found out what the problem is. This is why I trust these people, they know what they're doing. They are no more or less expensive than anyone else.  

I didn't have to stay, at all. Just told them my name and number, they couldn't look up my file, asked me if he's been here before? Many times.  So that's that - for now.  I am not even going to be doing anything with that situation til tomorrow at the earliest. And if it is decided to neuter him, I have no idea how long they keep a dog for observation.  

But it explains why he had to keep going outside to go pee.  I mean, a lot.  That dog can hold a bladder full longer than most humans. Yet, he was continuously wanting to go out and go pee.  I just didn't notice that it was short time of peeing. I did notice he couldn't even lift his leg, that's how poorly he is feeling.  I had a helluva time getting him into that SUV last night and then this morning getting him back in there to take him to my vet.  He tried, I'll give him credit, but he couldn't lift his @$$ end up that high, much more jump into the thing like he normally does. That dog is heavy!

Yesterday, the dog wanted to go out badly, long before I normally let him out in the morning.  How did he let me know? By laying by the door.  He won't whine, bark, yip, nothing.  He never does.  If he's in pain, you won't know about it - at least not until he shows the obvious signs that emerged last night. 

_________

I feel like I'm half here. I am exhausted.  Bed very late and getting up very early, I am not even going over to the property today. There is a pop- up trailer showing up - there is only one space available, they'll figure it out, tho I sent them an email and told them which lot. These people always call when they arrive "well the email didn't say which lot number".  Yes, it does. I am sent a copy of the automatically generated email, they actually have to choose a lot before they can even register online and it is plainly written in the email.  ???

I have money to collect but that's over the phone - and only if they don't contact me by say..3 this afternoon. Maybe 5.  I don't know, but I can't sleep. I tried when I got home, fell asleep for a short period and then woke right up.  So I'm just sitting here rather - out of it.  

I'm going to scrutinize my finances today and see if I can make it on everything that's coming in. I have a full house of trailers right now, but that's not going to stay that way. I'll have 12 long term in there when all is said and done and the current short stays are gone.  If I could only get more of the short stays to show up on a much more regular basis....

   Pretty strange to walk into your bedroom late at night and this giant dog that has been living with you for many years is not laying in his normal place. Addler is not dead, he's spending the night at an emergency clinic over in Longview. There wasn't anything here open.  This clinic has opposite hours of all the surrounding vets. They are open when they rest are closed. 

Anyway....Addler came in this afternoon panting. Well yes, it was hot out there.  He looked a bit odd and he was walking a bit off, but I just thought it was the heat. It's very hot here daytime right now, over 100 degrees with very high heat indexes.  I don't like to leave him out there in this heat.  

Well, an hour passed and he was still panting.  What? The dog never pants that long, my room is very cool, he stops within a few minutes - normally.  Then came suppertime, the 8 year old fed him.  I came in and saw Addler laying on his bed and a full bowl of dog food.  That is when I knew something is wrong. He doesn't leave his food in the bowl, he consumes it until there is nothing left.  He was lethargic and he was obviously having issues.

Taylor came in and looked at him and came to the same conclusion: there is something wrong with that dog.  So, I started looking up local vets, none of them have after hours. I got on the local gossip facebook page and many of the replies were for the place I went to.  They thought he might have bloat. I didn't think so, I've seen the videos of Danes with bloat  and also the symptoms.  Well, they did x rays and nothing wrong with his stomach, it wasn't flipped over but they said his intestines are full of gas and nothing is moving through them.

I have no idea how it escaped me that he had a tumor on his butt last year and it had to be removed, but I completely forgot about it.  Until I got to a gas station.  So I just called them and they are going to check that out.  The vet that did the surgery said there might be a chance of it coming back. But, he didn't have any symptoms like this when that occurred. He was just constantly licking his butt until it caught my attention.  You know, doing something he doesn't do all the time? 

I mean, it might be something related to that so I had to call.  

I just got home. It's 11:20 pm. I'm a bit wired, trying to just chill and relax a little. I have to be back there by 6:30 am - they close at 7am, so I'm not going to get much sleep tonight but what else is new.  

It is highly likely that I will do nothing at the park tomorrow and right now, I don't even care about that.  I busted my @$$ over there today, tho.  It was hot but I got half of the pipe installed for the hot water. However, I got to the part where the pipe would have to go over where the water line underground is. I want to install a spigot there. 

So I started digging where I remembered the end of it to be.  yeah, I remembered wrong. The pic I had was from a long angle so it wasn't really showing precisely where it ended. Yup, several hours of digging later and I found the end of the pipe with the valve.  I was burning up hot. Covered in mud, dirt, sweat and feeling a wee bit - not so good, I filled the area where the valve is up with water and just said to myself, self? Come back tomorrow to finish this up.  It was late afternoon anyway.  

However....I went over to the new trailer that showed up last night and knocked on the door.  I could hear dogs in there and I heard someone telling the dogs to be quiet. That person, however, never came to the door. I eventually left.  Wasn't sure why they didn't answer but the thought occurred that me looking like some sort of bedraggled homeless person might scare a person from opening their door.  

Well, this evening some people called looking for a lot for the night but said my reservation system was trying to force them to stay 3 nights.  Huh?  I haven't had time to check that, it's been a long day and even longer night. Addler scared me, he was looking really bad.  I've never seen him look or act that way before.  

Well, they showed up, I went over there to collect the money - they paid in cash and I gave them a discount because they were in a camper truck.  You know, those big campers they put in the bed of a truck? These newer things are like mini homes.  Nice people, leaving early.  The people that came in last night are next to them, so I knocked on their door. A guy opened up, said no one was home this morning, I thought better of calling him out on that - why bother, I just want my money -  and he paid up for a week. They are only staying a few weeks for a short work assignment.  

Now, I've got a pop up camper coming in tomorrow for where this camper truck is, lol and yet another person interested in moving into the tent camping site.  I just got through with that conversation with him - writing this post and texting lol.  

Okay, fatigue is finally catching up with me and 5:30 am is going to come early.  Try to get a few hours of sleep anyway.  

 Monday - not-as-early-as-I-wanted

Just too much fitful sleep.  Not so bad I can't get out there and get stuff done, just not near as early as I wanted.  But, if I wake up and it ain't happening, it ain't happening. I went back to sleep and now it's 7:20 am. I'm going to have to start forcing myself out of bed early anyway to get used to getting up for work. So I'll start shooting for 7 am - every day - to start with and eventually move it back to 6. 

Whatever the case, I'm on my first cuppa, get a second and then get out of here. Still good hours of not-so-ridiculous heat left to be able to get stuff done.  I just really want to get the little trench done for the water line, get the line installed and get that over with.  That will take hours - at least.  I have the ditch started, it was just so hot out there the other day that I gave up on it.  

Trump.  I'm going there.  Don't really care what anyone thinks.  All of these indictments and "investigations" are being led by Trump-hating DA's and DOJ "officials".  Meanwhile, the growing amount of evidence against Biden and the inability of the media or anyone on the left to say much of anything is astounding.  But I grow weary of politics. It never changes.  One side fights against the other and it gets old reading it - I mostly don't even watch TV news outlets anymore, a bit but not much.  Today, however, will be different with Hunter Biden's close friend set to testify before Congress and some pretty incredible testimony predicted.  

I don't know where they got these predictions, but if any of it is true, it makes Joe Biden out to be compromised to the point I would call him a traitor.  We'll see. I'll have my ear buds on listening to it. 

I don't have much this morning, I've already talked myself out with current situations.  It's just time to get this stuff done, over with and behind me.  

We are under "Excessive Heat Warning" Yup.  The temps are over 100 this week for 5 days in a row, one day at 103  That's pretty warm for this area.  Must be climate change! Lol.  Oh, and let's shut down more power plants right when the highest demand for electricity is hitting us!  I think I read somewhere that they're saying this will be the hottest July on record.  People around here think that August is the hottest month - it never is. It's either June or July.  If you look at predicted temps for next month, it's hot but not near as hot as it is right now.

Interestingly, the new AC system in this house has brought the cost down by $60.  We are under the plan that keeps the price the same year round, so that is quite amazing.  

Anyway, my first cup is over with and it's not going to be more than a couple more hours before the heat starts getting up there, I need to get over there and get stuff done.

G'day

 The 9 day stay pulled in a few minutes ago. Itty bitty trailer, that thing doesn't look 20 feet long lol.  Not going to change my pricing, I'm the cheapest in town for daily stay rate, by far.  I lowered it enough to still make good profit off of it - if I can get enough coming in on short stays - yet still way lower than anyone else. I think the nearest competitor is $30 and then everyone else is higher.  

The people that "registered" over the phone - meaning they didn't put any stake in their game via putting up the first night deposit - are coming tonight.  I write notes when people call now, I get too many calls and I have to be able to remember what the content of the call is.  And what the phone number is.  I have a lot of phone calls on my phone, remembering who is who on there? Not without noting it - on paper, thanks. I have a giant, 160 sheet, lined paper notepad that I keep track of everything.  My campworks keeps track of guests coming and going. My cardpointe keeps track of credit card payments. but I'm old school - I have a pad that I write down when the people showed up, how much they paid, what lot they're in, how long they are staying, etc. 

Would I want to do that with 30 or more lots? Hmm. Depends. If it were mostly long term, that's pretty easy. You have a monthly payment.  That's it. Most people will pay up or contact you about paying up when it's due. I have no problems, however, making phone calls, texting or showing up at their door step on the day it's due if I haven't heard from them.  I am in business, them paying me is what I am business for.  Giving them a place to park and all the stuff that goes along with it is what they are paying for.  

I could run everything through my campground software and there is a place for notes on it. However. I would be getting charged a fee for every payment.  The credit card software can do automated payments as well.  I haven't tried that. I can look up any given person that has already paid via credit card and their information is on file.  

I think I'll just wait to get with those people, but the other guy that came in I want to run his credit card and get that paid up.  Paid. Once I go get the other people's payment, I'll have all lots filled up  - for one night lol. The purple people are supposed to leave tomorrow morning so that lot is empty until the overnight stay on the 6th.  I can only dream that perhaps someone will come along that needs a temporary stay. But if not, I'm sitting in a much better financial position now than I was a week ago and especially on the 1st I'll be collecting a good chunk of money as well.  

That will pay that high electric bill and allow me to finally pay myself again at least 2 grand.  Plus, providing she pays, I'll get more money on the 1cd, the 10th and other dates for payments due.  It's back to - gee, I can collect money again instead of looking at 5 and 6 empty lots and more people saying they are leaving.  

But, I have sealed my fate and I will have to get the other electrical setup up and going before the 6th.  So, I'm setting the alarm clock early tomorrow and if I sleep, I sleep, if I don't sleep well, I'm going to at least try to force my @$$ out of bed and get over there and get priority stuff done.  That's finishing the RV, digging up the water line and installing another spigot.  That will eat up the hours before it starts getting ridiculously hot.  In fact, I doubt I will get all of that done before the heat sets in and I'll just say no thank you and quit for the day. Well, quit outdoors anyway, I can do other stuff that needs finished in the shed.  

I will get it done.  And I looked up trencher machine rates in Longview, they are the same or even higher.  I just really thing $200 for a trencher is a bit steep but what choice do I have? I am not going to try and dig a trench that far with a shovel, that is a non-happening event.  

Because I couldn't take this person in long term, I texted them I couldn't get them a spot until the 7th. They replied they found another place. That's unfortunate, but I was pretty well settled that it wouldn't be right to just cancel a reservation so that someone else could take it.  It'll leave 2 lots open after they leave.  I have a few others that are interested, nothing concrete yet.  

That's enough.  I'm going to bed at 10 and hopefully can get enough sleep to get me going tomorrow morning. 

 I was interested in Groendyke Transport - until we got to the inward facing camera with microphones part.  Been there, done that twice and won't do it again.  The idea that these people sitting in an office cubicle somewhere can hear everything you're saying.  For what reason?  I don't really care what the reason is, but I would like to know how they justify listening to you.  I get why they think they must watch you, but I've been driving since long before cameras were even a thing, I just don't do it.  You can keep your job.  

But I'll tell all you weirdos what, if you - and you includes the CEO/President on down the chain - will wear a microphone that is on for 12 hours a day, every day, then I'll come drive for you. See? It's "you must have something to hide" or "you are doing something wrong while driving" crap until you turn the tables on them and tell them to put themselves under the exact same working conditions that you expect from your drivers.  I want to hear all of your personal conversations with your spouse, boy/girlfriend, everything.  That's exactly what they have access to when they put these inward facing cameras in a truck.  

"Oh, well the loading or offloading company requires it". Yes, because y'all have allowed yourselves to be railroaded into complying with excessive, ridiculous demands from companies that don't have any stock/stake in the trucking company at all. You want to know why you are begging for drivers? I'll guarantee you you are losing X percentage of us right off the bat with these cameras.  And now, they have AI technology!  They can tell if you're eating, drinking, smoking, if your seat belt is on, they even detect if you appear fatigued.  There are almost 100 parameters the AI in my previous truck could detect. 

I covered the entire thing up with tape and didn't care what the company thought of it.  Talking to Groendyke drivers in the scale house, they said but you'll get fired! Great, fire me!  There is a line that is crossed into dictating to drivers how they are going to literally live their lives and these cameras easily cross that line and go well beyond it.  If drivers want a company to allow to monitor literally everything they are doing, good for them! I don't care!  5 year olds get less scrutiny in their own homes than a truck driver does that is subjected to inward facing cameras.  

_______________________

That's my rant for the day, moving on.  I was looking at trucking jobs and some of them have it listed right on their ad: "Inward and outward facing camera".  They never tell you that those things also have a microphone.  ALL of them have them.  If it is an inward facing camera, 100% guaranteed there is also a microphone listening to all  of your phone conversations (that's perfectly legal as long as you are doing it with voice command), whatever your personal habits are, etc.  

Sunday - morning.  I was toying with the idea of buying my own truck and hauling local loads, such as materials such as gravel, dirt and sand.  But, you are married to a truck when you buy one. You can't just quit the job and walk away from it, once you buy a truck you are locked into the payments and good luck selling the thing.  You'll have to drive until you pay the thing off. If I had to do it all over again, I would get my own truck. But, being near 60 years old and trying to work a small business, I don't have time for that.  I'm still planning on going with the company I have agreed to unless I find something better.  

I still need to ask them a few more pointed questions that I keep forgetting, need to write them down and ask them next time they call. They are calling at least once a week to ensure I am "still going to work for us".  

But, I'm definitely still looking at thousands of trucking jobs.  Most of them are OTR and I just say to myself, nope.  Great home time! Home every 2 to 3 weeks! Would these people like to only go home every 2 to 3 weeks?  You will make $2,500 per week! Yes and you will live in that truck and have no social life and start to lose your mind after you've been in it long enough.  Even most regional jobs tell you home every 2 weeks. How is that regional?  

Whatever the case, besides church today, I have no plans to do anything unless something comes up at the park.  There are allegedly 2 trailers coming in today.  I need do nothing beyond charging the remaind of the bill for the one staying 9 days.  The system automatically charges their card for the first night and then has a total listed for the remainder of the stay.  In this case, it automatically gives them the discounted weekly rate for 7 of those days and then regular nightly rate for the other 2.  

The other one allegedly coming in didn't make an online reservation because they are allegedly going to be long term - well "short, long-term". Like a month or so.  I don't trust that those people will show up - until they actually show up.  I want them to show up, or not, I could get that actual long-term person in there instead.  Either way, I have determined from experienced RV park owners/managers that they don't think it's right to cancel a one-nighter to bring in a long term.  It doesn't really matter now and I have determined that I really need to run another line over there with a separate panel. It will cost some money but I'll get that money back quickly as long as the park stays full. 

Well, even if it doesn't, the New Jersey people will pay for it with their next payment. They are allegedly getting their monthly money on the 2cd. The man asked if I had any work he could do, he's trying to find a job. Nope, not in the position for it currently. Wish I could afford it, but even having him do work in exchange for lot rent won't work right now. I need the money.  

I could, however, see if he would help do the trenching and forgive the $120 they owe for the current month.  I offered them a reduced rate to move them behind the shed.  They are only using 1 window ac unit and a freezer.  They will probably get a refrigerator here sooner or later, that doesn't really draw a lot of amperage.  

It was very nice to see that there are dual inlet sewer connectors.  I won't need to add another sewer Y and accompanying fittings.  That's around $75 worth of fittings I won't need, getting a $13 fitting instead.  And saving all of that work...

I will need another panel and Ill probably go  with the same thing I put on the shed, 125 amp.  I will run both of those units off of it and take a lot of load off of the shed circuit and the the west side circuit.  I'm pretty much decided to go ahead and do this.  I'm going to need to dig down to the water line that I have capped - actually I think I put a valve on it. I hope I did so I don't have to shut the entire park off once again.  But, if I didn't, I'll just put another valve in and eliminate that problem from that point forward.  

I'm going to put the panel somewhere near where I have the one mounted on the shed. That way, I don't have to buy more wire for my rv - it can be disconnected from the shed and rerouted to the new panel.  

The trencher is $200 per day. So, I can rent it in the evening and then use it early morning.  It's going to be 102 tomorrow and over 100 several days after that. We're in the high humidity and super high dew point range right now.  Electricity will no longer be a concern with that shed and the only other factor is the sewage.  

It's a plan.  I am not 100% committed to it right now, I need to think about it today.  If it works, I have another lot paying and another pull through available.  I'll need to go over there and look at the New Jersey people sewer line.  I'm not really interested in buying them a new sewer hose if theirs isn't compatible with the intended, dual-setup.  But, at the same time, it's money and they don't appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. 

Of course, they need to pay their bill....

First point of order is to get the RV hot water going and get a connector for the propane so they can cook in there.  

I honestly need another shed for all of my tools. I have that "extra" one that was damaged when they shipped it, but it's much too small.  I need something like a 10X10 walk in type of thing.  I didn't say I was ordering one today, it's out of budget but it's really something I'm going to need as soon as I can afford one.  Far too many tools, chainsaws, extension cords, fittings, etc to put in that tiny little shed.  I have a few things in the other shed but that is mainly dedicated to housing the water heater.  

All of this is why I'm getting a job.  I hate the idea but I've mentally prepared myself for the daily grind.  I don't particularly want to be away from home for 2 or 3 weeks in orientation....most trucking companies will keep you at least 5 days.  In this case, it's orientation week and the training on the type of trailer I will be hauling. Loading and unloading.  They say it takes at least a week to learn the loading/offloading.  Somehow, I doubt it will take me that long to catch on. I'll have to find someone on-call to go over and deal with any issues.  I suppose I could ask the NJ people - not sure about that.  

I'm discounting what the purple people owe so I can get them out of there.  Fixed incomes are fickle.  You have X amount, in this case, to pay whatever park you are moving to and you have to pay the extra days beyond what they paid for the lot they are staying at in my park. They are allegedly leaving tomorrow and promise to pay before they leave. Their money doesn't come in until tomorrow and they can't move into another park until they get it.  I figure I'll let them pay $15 per extra day instead of the $25.  It pays for the electricity, helps them out a bit and I have that lot freed up.  

Here's the thing. If these people that didn't pay anything but "reserved" a lot over the phone show up today, that will kick my butt into high gear to mitigate the upcoming situation with too many trailers and not enough lots. It's only 1 day's worth, but everything I'm seeing? It's not right to cancel someone out like that.  All respondents in an RV managing group I am in said they would never cancel out a 1 night stay in order to let a  long term in.  Just not good business practice. I agree, I'm just kind of under pressure right now to get as much money flowing in as I can.  But, that shouldn't and won't take precedence over doing the right thing.  

Phone notifications flying off the hook, there is a new person in there taking a shower.  I tend to look at them - looking at the stuff I have in there.  Tools and such, under the table mostly but there is some of James stuff still in there, I am going to box that up and bring it home.  Pretty expensive equipment, I don't want any of it disappearing. I have been lucky so far that even the poor people aren't thieves.  

This is why I need a much larger equipment shed. I simply don't have room for everything in the small one and I have to keep a lot of it in the amenities shed.  I don't know, but if I could find one cheap enough, I'd buy it.  But they aren't cheap and are pretty much $600 and up . That stuff will just have to stay where it is for now.  The shed is always locked unless I'm there and there is a camera. 

I am going to go take a look at this million dollar RV park that is under contract.  The pics of it are showing it unfinished. No gravel, nothing, just the dirt work has been done for the lots.  They surely didn't sell that place for that much money unfinished.  I want to see if they've added anything to it.  I dunno if the property is gated/open or what.  They have plenty of room to add more spaces and to put in whatever amenities they want to dump more money into it that they want.  

I'll just try to reassure myself that even if they are able to take away a bit of clientele, they aren't going to get everyone because of the location.  I'm just going to have to up the ante at my place and get more stuff in there.  It will take time, the things I want are expensive.  And if I put in 15 more spaces, I will invariably have to add another laundry room. Or find a way to add several machines to the current setup.  Like, having 3 washers and dryers in there. There is room for that, but I don't have it set up for it. I would have to tear out drywall to install more pipe and electrical outlets.  

I dunno, not a bridge I need to cross right now. I'm getting good experience right now in learning how to deal with all of this on a smaller scale basis.  Really had no idea what i was doing and I learned quickly that - I had no idea what I was doing.  I'm getting better at it.  I could have told the guy yesterday that no, I can't have you staying longer, but then that money walks out the door.  I'll get the situation mitigated and have another lot to boot.  

Well, this is getting long. Time to take a shower and get ready for church.

G'day.  

 So, with the guy asking to stay additional time, I got the same amount from him for 13 days as I would for someone moving in long-term with my $100 discounted ad rate. Now, if I could get people doing this all the time, my financial problems wouldn't even exist.  But, as long time readers probably know, it simply hasn't been happening that way.  This is what I was erroneously basing my income off of for the 14 lots initially.

Like, the park would instantly fill up with people for overnight stuff and I would be living in paradise. If my 14 lots were constantly full with short term - whether a few nights or at my weekly rate - I would have no need to go back to trucking. This is a fact.  My net income would be around 5k per month.  It was a pipe dream, I soon found out and not sure why I thought I could just "instantly" fill up a park. There are SO many factors to getting a park full, as I found out the hard way.  

And now, I am going to have even more competition when that new, 36 spot park opens.  My discussions with that other park owner 20 miles away, however, had him thinking that they can't really compete with me unless they go "crazy ridiculous" with the amenities. Well, I found out the people buying the park have multiple parks already, they know what they need to do. Paying a million dollars? I figure they're going to go crazy with the amenities. 

But, with that much of an investment for only 36 spaces, they are going to have to have high rates to make any net revenues off of it. The payment as it stands will be somewhere around 5 grand a month.  That's no upgrades, just a plain jane park.  Now, you start adding pools, clubhouses, restrooms, etc and you have a lot more invested.  The only way you really jack up the income is to add more spaces.  I really don't think that many people are going to want to rent at a park that is way out of the way for higher than everyone else near town prices without some serious amenities.  

You know, I mentioned "luring them in" a while back and people jumped on my case about using the "wrong" word and appealing is the appropriate word. Uh no, it's not.  You are literally trying to lure people away from other parks by offering amenities that will be so appealing, they can't resist. That is, IF they have the money to spend on such things. 

I used lure and appealing correctly in the same sentence, thank you.  

The focus when I get this job and start paying down debt will be to add another septic system, add more rv spots and build cabins.  Actually, more like tiny homes on wheels. If you keep it on wheels, you don't have to pay state taxes.  What's the difference? Technically? I guess it's not a permanent foundation, considered a vehicle that can be moved.  Reality? Ridiculous.  

James just happens to have a 20 something foot long trailer in the back of the front portion of my property.  It's just the frame and axles with wheels. The structure is gone - it was a travel trailer at one point.  You start from the frame up, you can build a tiny home that never has to be moved anywhere.  Get a set of plans for it - easier to let some engineer who knows what they are doing than trying to guess work it.  James could build the thing. I could probably do the electrical if I have a schematic.  And the plumbing for that matter.  

The goal with this job is to get debt paid down but at the same time start investing in upgrades and the very first upgrade that has to happen is another septic system. At 7 grand, it will take a while to save up that kind of money. It's another 15 or more spots worth.  Get me 30 spots in that place, get it filled up or mostly filled up and I can quit trucking.  I can quit corporate life. I can quit being treated like an animal by abusive management. I dunno, this company I'm going with here - if i can last that long financially - sounds decent.  It's a smaller company but they've been around a long time.  They flat out admitted they have older trucks.  Do you have a automatic transmission only on your CDL? No, I don't like automatic transmissions in trucks.

Good, because we only have manual transmissions.  I'm all good with that.  They're going to have to give me a few minutes of "gee, I haven't driven a truck in a while, let me get reacquainted with shifting" when doing any driving test.  Pre trips are easy.  None of it is hard. The hardest part I think is just learning loading and unloading a new type of product that I haven't dealt with before. This is a hazmat tanker job.  

Anyway, I'm a lot more upbeat now that I will have some money coming in. It was a dry period for a while there and it totally sucked.  I hope not to have to go through that again, at least not that bad.  You get 6 empty lots in such a small park? You're kind of screwed. You don't take a paycheck for a month or more and you wonder if it's going to last forever. You start to second guess yourself. Was this a bad idea?  It's hard to imagine that all it took was re-wording everything? Was that the only reason or is it just happenstance that I wrote that ad and people started calling at the same time? It could be a bit of both.   

And the more that I think about it, it seems to me that my area is more of a "seasonal" thing with travelers - not the  long term people.  It's nice in my area for the most part in the winter. Yes, it can get very cold and even snow and ice, but for the most part, it's pretty darn good weather.  It will be something I will be heavily advertising once we get back to the cooler season.  Perhaps Hipcamp could come into play in decent weather.  Dunno, that's pretty much off the table for now.  I rode the trails today, too hot to walk that stuff. Lots of downed trees, growing weeds, it's bad.  It will need the mulcher man back and I won't even bother with that until weed growing season is done and over with.  It's not cheap and no one is using the trails now anyway. 

I'm learning.  I've been an employee all my life, this kind of thinking is all new to me and it's taking quite a bit of time for me to understand how this works and what makes it work.  What comes naturally to someone in the business for 20 years .... they don't think in terms of not knowing the things that they have learned to the point it is second nature to them, so they don't really think to give you the parts about certain situations that you don't know about.  And then you strain your brain, why don't I understand this? Or why isn't this working?

Well whatever. It's bedtime.  

 I always love when an entire post just goes poof! and disappears into the clear, blue cyberspace. Doesn't happen much anymore, but I guess I didn't double check before shutting down the laptop.

A few things. The purple people went to the hospital last night. I got a notification for around 1am and saw an ambulance coming through looking for the spot.  I found out this morning that his lack of insulin caused to have - whatever it's called - event and ended up in the ER and after, in the ICU.  Supposedly they are moving out Monday, he has a job in Longview he is starting and they will have to move closer to it.  They are waiting on government checks to pay for their lot rent and be able to move into another park.  These people paid the 7 days in advance initially.  

The 7 day stay people showed up early - and parked in the wrong lot.  They didn't bother to stop at the shed, so I ended up walking down there and asking them if they are so and so?  Yes  Ok, y'all were supposed to park at lot 5, but it's no big deal.

The reason they took 7 is because the dude in lot 6 had his pickup parked in lot 5.  So I knocked on his door and informed him I have 2 more coming tomorrow, you can park there today if you like but please have it parked elsewhere tomorrow.  The people at lot 7 said they want to extend their stay - from 7 days to 13.  It's hard to tell people no, especially when you have been in a dry spell, so I just said, ok.  I need the money. 

Well, that in turn created other problems on down the road.  If they are staying in that lot, then the people that are coming for that lot will need to be relocated to a different lot.  The issue?  Well, at first I thought there wasn't an issue excepting there is a person wanting to move in - like right away.  I'd rather have the long term. So, I figured when the purple people leave, there will be a space for her to park her trailer.  But I remembered that another couple is coming tomorrow - the don't have an online reservation, they are allegedly going to stay for a month or more.  

Things start getting complicated when people who are leaving - don't leave. The dude at lot 10 said he was leaving but I had to find out by contacting him myself that he is working for another company but at the same job site (those oil field sites can have multiple companies working in them) and that he's staying for another couple of months. Is that ok or do I need to find another place? Uhh, it's ok, I said immediately. I'll take the 2 or 3 months over whoever that I don't know how long they're staying. Just seems a silly idea to ask someone to leave because you want someone else to take their place?

So, to take this person in and still have enough spaces would mean opening up another space.  But after I started scrutinizing it, there are 2 trailers coming in on the 7th, I think. Even without this new long term coming in, I still have an issue with too many units and not enough spaces.  

My mind drifted back to the idea of moving the New Jersey people back behind the shed.  They are only using 20 amp, 110 volt service.  Can I run an outlet out there off of the shed and still be safe on that circuit or do I need to run a line from lot 1?  If I have to run a line from lot 1 (which I should do anyway), I'll need to rent a $200 trencher and buy things I don't necessarily want to have to purchase right now.

Namely, a small breaker panel for the new service and wire to run the 20 amp service off of it.  I'll have to build some sort of frame to mount the thing to - I can't do it on the shed now, I have no access to the inside to install a cross board for the screws to dig into.  I don't necessarily think it would be terribly difficult to install, but it's so hot outside.  So, we're talking renting a machine, buying a panel and whatever I can find to install it on, a circuit breaker and wiring.  We're at $350 easily.  I have the direct bury line, if I didn't have that, add another almost $300 to that price.  

Can I afford $350 right now? Uhh, if the place fills up with 17 spots because of it, yes. The extra lot rent will pay for it and the the next month start making some money off of it.  

There is one thing that could change that will change all of this: if the people that didn't make an "official" reservation don't show up tomorrow.  They called on the phone, asked questions, said they'd like to make a reservation. But, they didn't pay anything so you know sometimes people are no shows if they think they found "something better".  

It still makes no sense for me to pass up moving the New Jersey people back there with my RV and have an extra pull through. Their trailer looks to be about 22 feet long.  If I run a wire from lot 1, I won't have to worry about overloading the west side circuit.  I will have to think about whether the septic system can handle 17 units when it was vocalized it's good for 14.  

I think that's what the state mandates?  I don't think they really care if I put extra stuff on it, as witnessed when I asked about putting a washing machine and shower/toilet setup on it as well. Nope, it'll handle it.  

The electrical load is what I'm concerned about mostly.  I'll price everything out, if I can do it for $350 I'm probably going to get with it and get it done - early.  It's way too hot out there, I just get heat sick when I'm out there doing anything. I will likely do nothing tomorrow and then Monday, I'm going to set the alarm at 6:00 am get, up, drink my coffee and try to be out there by 7:00 am.  I can install the hot water setup for my RV and then start thinking about this other setup.  

I was mowing more weeds today and it just took it all out of me. The temps are rising, tomorrow slated to be 100, Monday 101 and Tuesday 102.  

Yup, from the answers I'm getting, I will have to run that underground line off of lot 1 or risk circuit breakers tripping or even the main, west side, 200 amp breaker tripping.  I don't want to move those people over behind the shed and then find out it's not going to work. I know it's "only" 20 amp service, but I'm asking a lot on that circuit and there will be yet another RV in there tomorrow.  

Fortunately, if they do show, it's only 1 AC on 30 amp.  But during the daytime, there are a lot of AC units running continuously on that circuit.  10 of them I can think of right now, including the shed and my RV.  

I guess I could just plug another window unit into the shed and see what happens. That and a small freezer are all that the New Jersey people are running.  

___________

Tomorrow is Sunday, but I'm seriously thinking of getting up early and getting some work done over there before the heat of the day hits. Church doesn't start until 11:00 am.  I don't know if I will succeed in getting up that early, depends on my sleep. I'd like to make a dent in what needs to be done with my RV hot water setup. That's really all I'm trying to accomplish, but it's quite a bit of work.  

If not tomorrow, definitely going to hit it Monday.  Early. Force my @$$ out of bed early, 6:00 am, get my mind into working mode and get over there and put in some good hours before that 100 degree mark hits.  Long before that hits.  

Just finish the trench at least?  I'm not going too deep, not even a foot. It's only to protect it from being stepped into/run over.  

I dunno, but it's getting close to bedtime. 

 I'm not going to wait.  We were supposed to be cooking crab tonight, but instead, they are going to a thing that is for "the family" - 3 families I think - but I'm not invited.  It "used" to be that I was family, I haven't heard that in a while and I've seen completely different going on in the last several months.  So whatever.  I live here, that's it at this point.  

Anyway, crab out the window, it can wait until tomorrow I guess, I'll go get myself something to eat.  Probably some keto friendly, blackened salmon at Applebee's.  Yup, I'm feeling dissed and that's fine, I will get over it but I will also adjust my view of where I am living and what I am doing here. It always happens this way anyway.  I've been watching stuff like this going on my entire adult life, nothing new under the sun.

Well wait, I have a turkey in there that needs to be cooked. It's finally thawed and it needs to get into the oven tomorrow.  It appears from online info anyway, that you can keep thawed crab in the fridge for several days before it starts going south.  

Anyway, let's steer away from that subject, kind of aggravated right now.  Whatever this person is doing - a lady that announced a get together for "family" and since I am not involved with it, I no longer consider myself a part of this family - I got some stuff done today.

After I determined that I was going to just use the already existent water heater that is sitting right there for hot water in the motor coach, I went over to measure and figure out the fittings and pipe I will need. I already have a 10 foot stick of 1/2 inch pipe.  Lowe's, got the pipe, the fittings and left. Back to the property, started digging the trench. 

It was sooo hot out there, I was sweating profusely quickly and not in the mood for it.  I worked on that for a while before I decided I would do something else - which is mow the Hipcamp area.  It's not really that anymore, but it's what I will refer to it as to delineate what I am referring to.  It was overgrown with weeds, I went to a lot of trouble to clear that area so I decided to get the push mower and get busy. 

I got most of it done, but I was getting very, very hot.  Like, go inside the shed, plop down on a chair in front of the AC unit hot and try to cool down.  

That didn't work and it was getting late, I came home with the boy and then found out that today was the day for this "family" thing. I didn't know until a few minutes ago that I wasn't a part of this deal. Note that not that long ago, anything going on at any of these people's homes, I was a part of.  I'm just feeling like I need to reassess my living arrangements and whether  I am even still welcome here.  It may be that I am being given "subtle" hints to go find a new place to live. 

I don't want to act rashly, but I have been observing this for a while now, as stated.  It may be a "taken for granted" situation where people just look at the status-quo and think that person is fine with whatever, but that's not me.  I haven't much posted about this because I wasn't sure if this was the case. But now? Yeah, it's getting pretty evident that the mood is shifting.  

I just don't know how far it goes.  Like, get out shifting or, oh well, you're here and whatever shifting or - who knows what.  

I'm being informed the person that called all of this together is going to "inform us of something" and then head back to their home, near Dallas.  Whatever. I'm feeling pretty put-off at the moment and I'm not going to even ask whatever it is that she said to them.  

I suppose I could just go back on the road and live in a truck again.  I am not going back to Arizona, I hate it there, tho I do love the mountains I don't want to live at my house and I despise the place.  It's just another giant city that has slowly turned towards democrat/progressive politics, replete with gangs, crime, big city angst, neighbors that don't know or care to talk to their next door neighbors, etc.  

Whatever the case, even more calls today. I hope to get some of these people in there. One is from the city 30 miles away, another is looking for a place for her mom - I don't know what that's about - and others.  Fill my park up, that's what I want, that's what I need. 

I'm going to get off of here and try to cool myself off both physically from baking out in the heat and internally. 

 TCAS worked. Well, I assume it was TCAS that directed the Allegiant flight to go up and the Gulfstream jet to go down.  I've learned a few things watching various aircraft disaster shows and the ensuing investigations they do after the fact.  This was the near "nose to nose" collision, as the news described it would have been if the pilots hadn't immediately responded to TCAS instructions.  From what I have seen in those shows, TCAS takes precedence over any ATC instructions.  This became the point of an investigation in an air crash disaster where TCAS gave instructions for a plane to immediate go up, but the ATC gave them instructions to go down.

The aircraft collided mid-air killing everyone on board both planes. But the description of the event that was reported yesterday sounded fairly - terrifying.  The passengers all got to go home in the end, that's the important part.  You don't, however, expect a plane to suddenly take a nose dive or start nosing way up, they said the flight attendants fell on the floor and were apparently injured.  I tried not to think of all of these air crash disaster shows I've watched when I flew to Phoenix and back, lol.

Kudos to the skilled pilots for saving a lot of lives.  

________________________

So, I figured out where the water heater goes - and obviously (at least to me since I'm the one attempting to find the thing) and there isn't one there.  I have now found a tankless heater online and will be finding some way to install one of those things instead.  It's the best I can do, I'm not going to put a tank heater in there, there's nowhere to put one.  Trust me, the cubby hole where the propane water tank used to be will not fit a 5 gallon water heater in there, lol.  I will probably have to run a 20 amp line off the shed to run the thing.  Fortunately, they only come on when the water gets turned on, saving electricity and really don't need to have a lot of use. 2 showers a day and some dishes.   

 The propane is something that may turn out to be much easier than originally anticipated.  Well, anyway, I'm going to find a low priced water heater and the hose for the propane tank shouldn't be terribly expensive and then hopefully, I'm done with any expenses for that thing.   Basically, I can unhook the line going into the regulator on the built-in tank, find a hose with a fitting that can screw into the hose that has a regulator on it and screws into a propane tank, walaah.  Probably $30 worth of parts.  She said she'd buy her own tank.  

So, we're narrowing this stuff down and trying to get it taken care of. Fortunately, they can still take showers in the shed.  Just need to get the propane going so they can cook on the stove top.  The oven was filled with pots and pans, something that she very much liked.  

What else....I need to check lots today and clean up any messes.  I will have a full park at least temporarily soon, some of the lots haven't been used in weeks.  One of them has rocks and branches that the boy threw onto them while cleaning out the freshly-tilled ground.  So just some basic clean-up but it shouldn't take much. Maybe get the chain saw going if I can find the adjusting tool....been a while since I've seen that.  

The boys got with it yesterday and cleaned out a lot of the weeds around the septic system. Considering the size of those weeds, I was impressed.  The people in the purple thing are leaving this morning.  Their AC broke and they are staying in that thing without any cooling. Unbelievable. I would rather sit outside than in a hot vehicle like that.  In fact, I would just head over to the shed and cool off in there. But, I don't really like people hanging out in the shed, tho I never said anything to them about it.  It's something I would allow temporarily since they are leaving anyway.  

I have plans just need to execute them.  Getting the RV finished is a top priority, just because I want it over with and yes, I don't want to listen to people complaining.

I've got 200 feet of direct bury wire.  That's done and paid for, been sitting there for months. The length should be enough to go from number 1 lot to the rear of the shed, where I can install a second, small electrical panel.  The only drawback is I will have to trench through the lot and then through the driveway.  I'll have to measure that and make sure 200 feet is enough, but it should be.  A decent tankless water heater is 240 volts and requires a 60 amp breaker.  I don't think I want to put that kind of load on the already well-loaded shed setup.  I can put the entire RV on a separate panel on a separate circuit.  The drawback is $200 to rent a ditchwitch. That seems expensive for an hour's worth of use.  I doubt it will take long to trench it.  I might call a few places in Longview and see how much they charge.  

They make 110 volt tankless heaters but from reading the reviews, they are not that great.  If the water output of the sink and shower are slow, then I might work okay - and save me a lot of money.  It might just be that I do that for now and if they don't like it - well - there's always the shower in the shed.  The water output of both the shower and the sink are quite low, they do that intentionally so you don't fill up the holding tanks too fast.  It's just that if I do put one of those in there, they also have to turn the thing on and off when they want to use it. 

So what happens if they turn it on and forget to turn it off? Do those things have an auto-shut-off? or just that the water heats up to a certain temp and it shuts off because it isn't moving through it? The plus side is they have remote controls, you aren't flipping switches on and off.  

Since the thing isn't going to move anywhere, I'm sitting here thinking, hmm, my shed water heater is only a few feet away from that RV.  Instead of spending a lot of money on a water heater, why not just put a tee into the hot water outlet and run a pipe over there?  Just put a flexible hose somewhere so it can move with the rv going up and down with people walking around in it or getting in and out.  

This is so simple and there isn't a huge demand on that water heater as it is.  It's just half inch cpvc line, I can insulate any of it that is above ground, spend $30 or $40 on line and parts -well maybe a little more to get a flexible line - attach it to the RV, walaah, we're done.  I don't know why I didn't think of this right off the bat. 

Anyway, outta here. Got to get over there before the purple people leave, they owe another day's rent. 

G'day

 Hot water was coming out of the faucet.  I couldn't find a water heater anywhere in that thing.  So I don't know.  The propane line, a new water hose, a sewer hose and a few other minor things and I"m calling it good.  She was fine with the toilet setup.  In fact, she declared emphatically more than once "I want it".  Not in soft tones, it was definitely saying this is something I need in my life.  

I informed her I wasn't charging her any interest - the price tag for that old thing is high enough as it stands, but I've got it down to 22 months of payments.  That's not bad.  Just short of 2 years, she'll have to keep working of course, but she seems motivated. 

She also said her brother could get SS benefits if he had an address he could use, can we use yours? Of course.  Please.  Get some money, get a better lifestyle going.  I completely broke her taking that $325 off of her card, I know that because I tried to run it and it declined.  She called her sister to look it up and it was 20 cents short. They fixed that and the payment went through.

I'm not trying to break her bank, but I do want the money.  She will be easier to deal with than more picky people.  The water hose I have hooked up to the thing now is definitely not going to work. It's one of those cheap hoses I bought to water a long time ago and it looks like it's ready to burst under the pressure.  I'll spend another $100 or so on the thing and tack it onto the bill.  I just wish the ac would have worked and I didn't get laden down with $1,700 worth of debt.  A little bit ridiculous.  

The new guy is here, he has this small trailer with 2 ac's mounted on the roof. Never seen anything like it.  As if that thing actually needs 2 roof mounted ac units.  Oh well.  I'm just taking $400 per month and be glad that I've got another lot rented out.  I have 15 lots in reality now that I am going to leave the old rv behind the shed and no, they have no problem with it. A lot of privacy back there, actually.  

I didn't tell her I may end up moving the other people back there as well

It's $200 per day for the trencher.  That's a lot.  I think it is anyway.  It'll probably take me a couple hours or less to trench the ditch.  I'll immediately run the line and just leave it dangling on either end, backfilling it right away so I don't have an open trench running for people to trip into it and - sue me.  

Yes, I do plan on doing it.  I don't know when, but soon.  I want that old trailer out of there and it can sit next to my RV.  I can run the electric for bother rv's off of that side of the park and equalize it out to 2 different circuits.  I just think I'm asking alot out of the current cirbuit what with also have the shed on it.  As I say, I know what I'm doing now.  

It will open up another lot and if/when all lots are full at any given time, there are the dollar signs racking up.  

It's as much strain as I dare put on that septic system.  Those aerobic sprinklers must be getting some use tho, what with this laundry setup - but I did get the ok from the company that installed it to add it onto the system. And so far, nothing. 

Now it's crunch time.  Add up everything coming in in the next week and see if I'm going to make it to the next month.  I think so.....maybe.....lol.  I'll get another $325 from her in 2 weeks. Provided she can do that of course.  She's already moving in, it's nice and cool in there.  That AC doensn't have a lot of cubic footage it needs to cool and isn't straining it at all.  

Next time I buy one of those things, however, I'm going to have them run everything, including the ac for at least half an hour and see what happens.  I feel like I got ripped off with it being sold as an rv with a functioning ac unit.  

I'm just sitting in the shed waiting for the new guy to show up. He has the money, I'm sure of that.  He wanted to go into town to open up bank accounts, get supplies etc so I just told him  ok, go ahead and do your thing we can meet up later.  

Anyway, I need to go to Lowe's and get the rest of her stuff.  That is probably going to be a longer than shorter visit to that store trying to find the things I need to fix small stuff.