My reaction to the video being circulated around showing farmers who are saying the government is paying them to destroy their crops - and ensuing conspiracy theories - is always the same in such situations.  I always try to keep enough food in the house to last us quite a while in the event of an "act of God" or man made emergency.  We already have two freezers full of food. In fact, I have been asking that we clean them out, eat all the food and even give some of it away so we can put fresh stock back in them.  

We are a bit low on canned food - I was looking at that yesterday, easy fix. Go to Kroger's and deal with it.  There are lots of stories in the news right now about the supply chain for certain products being disrupted.  It also isn't anything new that the government is paying farmers not to farm for certain crops.  I think it's ludicrous to pay farmers not to farm or even worse, destroy their crops.  There are plenty of hungry people in this world that would gladly eat that food.  Of course, that opens up another discussion about how we ship relief to other nations and the food/supplies never get to the people they were intended to get to.  

Regardless, it's not a panic thing for me and this reminds me - we have a generator but I never did get the hookup installed to plug it into the house - versus having to run a bunch of extension cords. If the power goes out, you just fire it up, plug it in and the power goes into the main power panel. Well, you have to shut off the main circuit breaker first and turn on the generator circuit breaker, but that's all you have to do. You don't want the power coming back on and frying your generator is the point of that, I assume the possibility of fire as well if you don't shut off the main breaker.  A trip to Lowe's or Home Depot today and buy the pre-assembled kit.  Well I dunno about today, just saying I have plenty of off time.

Off time I'd like to be using clearing land, btw.  And so far, both realtors are pulling their hair out attempting to get this title company to do their job and get this over with.  I'm not the only one being affected by this title company's lack of due diligence to simply finish this, get it over with and be done with it. I can and will do nothing with that land until I have a piece of paper saying it's mine.  Obviously.  The deal could still fall through. I haven't been going to the property, either, I don't want to keep going over there with this hanging over my head.  I'll be back when this deal is done.  

My realtor is completely exasperated at this point.  She has dumped a lot of time into this venture and has received nothing out of it.  Oh well. The other deal is being worked on, perhaps that will go through and she can get her take out of that at least.  But, if that deal goes through, that's fine, she can have the flat fee, that's sort of a payback for going through all of this with me that she has gone through and not just with this property. After that, tho, it's back to the normal percentage she would get.  She doesn't really have to do that much to sell these properties.  

I'm not sure why there isn't a tax sale up for next month, I've been checking.  They have it every 3 months.  Doesn't matter tho, I'd rather go to the end of year sale where the properties that didn't sell earlier in the year have a starting bid of $30.  Many properties looked quite appealing as far as acreage but the price tag going with them was way too high.  

So, today, I - still - wait for any word on the land deal.  I have not had clarification of whether tomorrow is the last day I can still close without getting a fresh credit check - or tomorrow is the day when I have to have one.  My realtor apparently didn't understand my question when I asked her yesterday, she is really stressed out over this.  I'm not stressing, I just want it over with one way or the other.  It's either yes, it's mine or no, it never will be and I can move on.  

Moving on? There is a 53 acre lot for sale at $143,500.  That's cheap for land, especially around here. That would mean a much higher down payment tho, around 29 grand.  Still, it's on a high traffic volume highway and as far as I know all utilities excepting sewer are there.  Much more property, I could do a lot more with it.  It's the only property that sticks out right now and I don't know if I could get the lender to give me a loan for the total amount which would be the 143 minus the 29 grand.  

You say why are you doing this? I'm doing nothing but looking. I'm not going and looking at properties, I'm just perusing what's available.  There isn't much, I can tell ya that.  That is the only one that sticks out -both because of so much more land and because of the low price per acre.  I'd definitely have to go walk that property and find out why it's priced low.  OH, well that was easy.  They had the county ID number on one of the photos. About 1/3 of the property has been cleared of trees, a huge pond and a waterway that is apparently part of the pond, the rest trees.  

Well I'm not going to get too much into that, I've been doing that for a long time now, not really too terribly interested in more of it. But, even tho I was lamenting not long ago about giving up - the reality of trucking and my desire to get out of it is much stronger than the idea of having to start looking for properties again. 

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Still Thursday lol.  My lender responded to my inquiry.  They are now waiting for the county to file and record the new deed that the seller signed before they can move forward.  Then it goes to the title company for final confirmation, hopefully by the end of tomorrow.  Then the lender says it will take 24-28 hours to edit the loan documents and then we can close.  So, it sounds like Tuesday at the earliest.  

And with that, I will move on with my day.  

 And now, just after posting that last post, this news in:

"The form has made it to the title office!!! So - hopefully we can wrap this up"

Yes!  I AM going to Oklahoma tomorrow - Lord willing of course - but I hope to see a closing on Thursday. They should be able to get this ready tomorrow for a Thursday signing/closing.

IN other, much more unpleasant news, the 6 year old went to the docs office - they're still there actually - and after a bunch of tests and finding nothing, they checked him for Covid19.

Yes, he tested positive.  I knew this would happen sooner or later, especially living with kids, now to deal with the reality of it.

I have a life long friend that is just coming out of having tubes stuck down her throat and extended stay at the hospital. I have a co-worker who was off 14 days but only sick for 3 and didn't feel bad. 

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Well that was fast.  I am now off work for 14 days.  I called the manager asking him because I didn't know what company policy is and the place I am going to tomorrow - or was going to - does not want anyone that has covid or has come into contact with someone that has it coming into their plant.  

I've actually been placed on leave of absence.  Not my doings, just the way they are dealing with it.  Interestingly, if you have the virus, they only have you off for 10 days.  

So now I am faced with what, exactly, do I do with 14 days?  And not really wanting to spend any money, mind you, since I am not working.  But, there is a legitimate expenditure of money: starting work on the property.  If the deal goes through, which it appears it should, I could clear the west side of the property along the property line of trees and get a driveway cleared out.  

So it appears a skid steer - a much smaller machine than a bulldozer and much less expensive rental cost - can take down small trees - with ease actually. Was watching numerous videos, there aren't any trees bigger than what I was watching on the videos.  They just take the bucket part, hit the tree about 5 feet up or so, get it pushed over a bit and then lift the root system out of the ground.  

This was quite the revelation for me, trying to figure out how to keep the tree clearing affordable was getting a bit exasperating.  

I've heard nothing back from my agent yet today.  If I don't hear soon, I will go ahead and text her.  Seems like a bit of a push to ask her to get any updates is what's needed, the same with the boat. If I don't call them, they just do whatever and then it sits - until I call them lol.  

Of course, clearing out trees not only rests on the idea of the land actually becoming my property, it also rests on the idea of staying healthy.  I have been in close contact with the 6 year old, there is no social distancing with kids.  They wouldn't understand and frankly, I think it a ludicrous idea that a person should be social distancing from everyone that lives in the same house.  That is what my employer was asking me off a pre-scripted list yesterday.

Do YOU social distance at YOUR home? lol Please.  I could have lied I guess and kept working, but I didn't want to lie about it.  I actually don't care about being off for 14 days, the hard part will be going back to work after being off that long. It's quite easy to get used to not driving trucks when on vacation.  The idea of going back is a miserable one and nothing I will be contemplating any time soon.  I'm on leave of absence and that's that. 

And with that, I must be off of here.  I was going to take this new chop saw back to Home Depot the other day but I got sidetracked.  It needs to go back, it's an almost $300 piece of equipment that is useless to us.  

With that I bid you a good day.  

 I have come to the conclusion that if this property deal falls through, I'm not going to be looking for any more properties. I just can't put myself through all of this again.  And I have also concluded if it doesn't happen this week, I'm either pulling out of this deal altogether or they are getting an ultimatum.  The property was up for sale on the listings for quite a while, it's not like anyone was clamoring to buy it.  I've made up my mind that I'm done with this for now, the amount of energy directed towards just getting property has taken it out of me and I can't do this anymore, at least for now.

Instead, I will wait for the December tax lien sale and see if I can get a decent sized parcel of land out and out for cash. Yes, it means waiting 6 months after that and then going through the title process to see if I can actually get the land cleared, but at least that is a much easier thing to deal with.  You just go look at the land, see if it's suitable, mark it on the sheet as a property you want to buy, show up at the auction and hope the rich people skip that particular auction.  

Actually there should be an auction next month, now that I think about it.  It isn't showing up in the listing on the lawyer's page yet, but they don't normally list it until it's like a week and a half before the auction takes place. Doesn't leave much time to research anything, I dunno why they don't list it sooner like the rest of the counties do.  I take that back, it's the 24th already, maybe I have my months mixed up. I just know they have an end of year sale at the beginning of December.  

It's Tuesday.  In my mind, they have 3 more days plus today to get this thing done and over with.  If not, I'm assuming the seller isn't serious about selling and I want all of my money back, even the option money.  Why would this person or these people go to all of this trouble to sell a property - including paying $1,800 for a survey - and then not sell it? Perplexing to say the least. Frustrating as well.  

I had to go back through my journal, this property "deal" has been going on since the middle of June. It is now August 24th. So over 60 days has passed since I started with this property and all of these people involved with this.  My realtor and their realtor aren't going to be happy campers if this thing falls through - but I am giving her a concession by giving her far more allotment for the small property I am selling than her percentage would normally give her. She's been through a lot, not just with this property but with me going and looking at all kinds of properties in general.  I'm not going to tell her of my intentions today, but if we get through tomorrow and hit mid afternoon and nothing has happened, I'm going to let her know I"m done with this. They either get this thing done or I'm out.  

Enough of that. The mental energy I have devoted to this thing is too much and I need to clear my head of it for a while.  I have today off. Didn't ask for it but I've been running pretty good lately so I don't mind. I had Saturday off as well, but that was supposed to be a 2 day run, I just got it done in one day. That's the way they look at it, it's a 2 day run and they won't give you one for the next day after the 1st day unless they are desperate and need a driver to haul something somewhere.  

I have no idea what's going on with the sick kid.  He had a slight temp yesterday and the school demanded he be taken home.  I haven't seen Taylor so I dunno if he's home or gone, or if he has covid or nothing, perhaps just a quirk.  99 degree temp is not high, at all.  But, anytime anyone gets a fever nowadays the first thing everyone thinks is covid.  The new world we are living in, I have my doubts it will ever get back to pre-2019 status.  Government officials are in love with the powers they received under emergency acts and dictating to people how they should live their lives.

A news story about Pelosi and other politicians having a party somewhere in California - all of them without masks on and not social distancing while at the same time her telling us that if you don't wear a mask, you aren't a man - is indicative of the elite class ruling the peasants.  I can only say I'm glad I'm in Texas and Governor Abbott has grown a set and is taking a stand against the Federal government.  The power is supposed to lie with the states, not the Feds. Anyone that has read the constitution should know this.  Apparently half the country or even more is quite fine with these dictatorships springing up all over the place, starting in Washington.  

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The boy is sick. Throwing up, can't keep food down, a bit of a temp, they are off to see the doctor.  I'm just hoping whatever he has, I don't get it as well.  I usually have about a 50-50 chance of it.  Either getting it or not.  He says his ears are hurting, but that doesn't explain the throwing up.  Flu or something I guess, maybe Covid but I don't remember reading ear aches as a symptom.  

My realtor says the other realtor has a query in about signing the form. The excuse was given that the person lives in Maine (I said Atlanta in another post, but it turns out the parents lived in Atlanta).  Fedex can have that paper up there in 24 hours and back 24 hours after the signing.  We're 5 days into this now.  

Well I got a little boost in my view of this whole situation.  I am subscribed to an RV Park owner's group, they write stories on the various aspects of owning an RV park. This one was all about why should you own one? And goes into the various pros of having one, there are very few cons to it. Even the part about "very few RV park owners manage the park themselves", meaning you can still work your career while your park is hopefully taking off and growing a customer base.  That was my plan, to initially have someone else running it while I continue working - just in case monthly revenues aren't quite what they need to be to be able to go full time into it and quit trucking altogether. 

It was a good read. Another story they put up recently was the subject of trees.  Most people like shade and the appeal of trees .  I'm on the right track, I think, I just can't get the land to start this challenge and opportunity out with.  I guess I'll go through all of the properties for sale again, perhaps there's something in there I missed or there is something I looked at once and perhaps a second look would give me fresh perspective.  

________________

And finally some good news.  It's still Tuesday, lol, I just get distracted by things going on here - sick kid wanting to play his game on my phone, a pond plant I had completely forgotten about and still not replanted into the pond, making wings for lunch, going to the store for dinner stuff, getting text about tomorrow's work - etc.  

Anyway, there was much more to what this seller had to do beyond what I knew. I figured as much but still, this situation is starting to wear thin on me.  She had to have it notarized and file it with the county.  AND, it was lost in the mail, apparently.  I have no clue, I just know that the paperwork is being sent to the realtor to send to the title company.  That really should be able to happen today, since they are sending it electronically.  I have until Friday to get this done before the lender has to redo my credit - again. Happen today meaning the title company should receive it and let's get this thing done  - well not tomorrow, I have a run and I'm not turning it down. It's just an Oklahoma run, I can do this on Thursday and still beat the Friday deadline.  

So, the realtor just texted fingers crossed.  I don't think I want to rely on luck, that isn't working out too well. I'll just have to trust in the Lord. Sometimes that's really easier said than done, but it also provides a growing opportunity in trust and faith issues.  What this texting with the realtor just now did for me is renew my hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel and it's really close.  Like, you are almoooooost there, just hold on a little longer!  

Okay, this can't happen tomorrow, I have a run to Oklahoma tomorrow and I am not turning it away, not with everything that has already happened with this deal.  Hopefully tomorrow they can say, yes! We can do this on Thursday!  I have a 16 hour exception available, I will drive half the night if I have to to get back so I can be at a potential closing on Thursday.  I truly expect to hear back either today or tomorrow that closing is now a thing, let's get it done immediately.  

If this thing goes through, I'm going to have a nice, stiff drink. Of ice water lmao, I have beers here and there but we aren't drinking anything for 3 months.  And I will probably extend that to the rest of my life. Maybe on special occasions have a few beers but other than that? I'd rather focus on my relationship with the Lord, Jesus Christ.  Eternity is more important than a few pleasures here and there.  Part of this thing I want to do with an RV park is give a portion of the proceeds to mission/outreach work.  I don't think I'm currently connected with any real missionaries but that can be easily fixed.  Or even orchestrate food outreaches coupled with the preaching of the Gospel in foreign lands.  

What about America?  I don't feel the calling for here. I am more interested in areas where there is abstract poverty in large regions with people living in wanton hunger and not being able to feed themselves.  This is part of the instructions Christ gave to us - to feed the hungry.  I have been kind of lapse on that besides helping out here at the house.  It's mostly that I'm on the road all the time and I just can't stand it anymore.  I really despise driving trucks and it takes a lot of distractions to keep my mind off of it while I'm driving.  

Anywhere, here's to hoping the outcome of this particular property deal is going to take a turn for the bright side of thigns, the glass half full, we are almost at the closing date, see you on the other side type of thing! 

 No one has any answers as to if/when this lady is going to sign this single form she has to sign to allow this property deal to go through.  It's been 5 days now since this information came to light about the need for her to sign off on it.  There isn't really anything else to say about it excepting if it doesn't close by Friday, my lender will have to do another credit check and a new interest rate depending on the market. 

The boat.  I called them since they don't call me and found out they couldn't find anything wrong with it. They said they ran it for a long, long time in their shop, turned it off. Then fired it up, off, on off, etc and it simply wouldn't do what it did to us on the lake that last time we were out.  I mean, if they can't get it to - not work - they can't get it to not work.  They then said they would come up with an estimate to fix the steering which he agreed was pretty bad and I also asked them to see if they had an old ladder on one of their junk boats they could install on mine.  

Can't jump out of the boat for a swim without a ladder to get back onto it.  Or if a person accidentally fell off?  They'd have to be hoisted back in cause' honey, there ain't no way most people are going to be able to climb back onto that thing without a ladder to climb up on it.  Once I get it back, I'll install a second, separate battery for a trolling motor which I will also need to buy.  And we need to get the bluetooth stereo working on it, there is no music to be had and that's kind of - important, depending on what we're doing.  If that thing that's on there won't work, I'll buy a new one and put new speakers on it as well.  

I'm too far into that boat to not finish it now.  It's old but it doesn't leak and the upholstery was all redone on it.  I figure if the motor won't start again like it did last time, we'll just use the troll motor until it fires back up. I don't know what else to do. I've had it in that shop twice now and another one once.  Keep my eyes and ears open for someone that knows those BlackMax motors.  If we got into a real pickly, my insurance will pay for someone to come out and rescue us lol.  

So far, they have been keeping up with empty trailers in Brownsville. I know my company got tired of having drivers tied up waiting down there - most of us were quite fine with it.  I haven't gotten any detention time in a couple of months now, no one has.  The plant is back up to 2 loads per day, about the first time they order 3 loads in one day is the most likely scenario of them getting behind again.  It was always nice to have a reprieve of sitting around doing nothing and getting paid for it.

I suppose there's more going on but it's late and I'm tired.  Long two days - was up til 1 am getting down there last night and now it's almost midnight.  

 Saturday - late morning.

I wasn't sure if I was going to just drive the entire route to Oklahoma yesterday and back or not. I was pretty tired.  That last Brownsville run took it out of me.  16 hours the first day, didn't sleep well that night and then 12 hours the next.  But, about the time I got 50 miles out from the yard - I was seriously considering stopping at a trucksop in Pittsburg, TX - I decided to get it done.  I'm glad I did.

Got home and slept 7 straight hours without waking up once. That is akin to being miraculous in my little world. I wake up every single night in the middle of the night, sometimes several times, and getting back to sleep is the luck of the draw.  I didn't sleep any more than 7 hours lol, I just laid there awake at around 6:00 am until 9:00 am, just laying there wondering how I could be so exhausted? Well, 43 hours in 3 days will probably answer that question.  That doesn't include drive to and from work time or hooking up to the truck and doing inspections before I get on the clock.  

So today, well, the dogs apparently decided that my bed was their nesting place while I was gone and totally trashed it. I had just washed all of that - the comforter, the sheets, the pillows and the thing I have underneath everything that catches any spills that may occur while in bed. The last one I really don't need, I don't drink anything but water in bed.  But, the people that sold me the bed talked me into it lol. So now, I'm back to washing the entire mess all over again.  The bed cover - it's a giant blanket I bought specifically for the dogs to lay on when I'm not here and they are going to sleep on my bed whether I like it or not - was covered with dirt.

No word about the papers that need to be signed. It could have been done in a day - easily - if the seller was motivated.  I mean, sign the papers in front of a notary, FedEx them back.  Simple stuff, yes?  I did start searching again, for property that is - nothing that stands out. Not for the prices anyway.  There's some decent properties, my lender won't approve overpriced properties and I don't blame them.  I don't want over priced properties no matter how nice they are, just not worth it to me.  

So if this deal falls through, I have nothing else as a back up.  Finklea would be lovely, but I doubt we'll be seeing that one back on the market any time soon - if ever.  I actually prefer this one - Cooks Road - because of it's proximity to town and home. It' sonly 3-1/2 miles away. Any emergencies could easily be dealt with quickly.  Any work at all is an easy drive over there.  

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Sunday morning. 

We celebrated James birthday yesterday, had fun at El Taco when one of the servers brought dessert and started shoving whipped cream into his face lol.  It was funny, trust me, all in good humor.

Anyway, fixing to head out to the yard, get the truck hooked up and head over to the loading plant to eventually go down to brownsville today. It will be a late day, considering load time is noon. That puts me at midnight getting down there and getting done with everything.  I get a 34 hour reset out of it, but I didn't really need one.  There was enough hours to do that entire run without having me have to load so late for this particular run - I like to get the 10:30 at the latest load time for Brownsville. 

There might, however, be a possibility of no empty trailers down there.  Likely not going to happen, they've been keeping up with it, but it puts me behind anyone/everyone else that may be doing down there. Sometimes on Sundays they load up 3 trailers for a Brownsville run.  

I can't say I'm looking forward to this coming week, there is no indication of getting anything done on that property and everyone has thrown their hands up in the air.  

But, I put my trust in the Lord. Whatever happens, even if a letdown, it is what it is and move on.  Whether moving on means continuing to look for more properties or if it means let this thing go and find something else, I have no idea.  Not at that bridge yet, but the entrance to that bridge is near and a decision will have to be made if this heir doesn't follow through and finish all of this up. 

That sounds dark and dire, it really isn't. Just matter of fact.  Stark reality, a thing we all deal with all of our lives.  

With that, I am going to finish preparing for this trip - I am finally restarting Keto after taking extended time off of it - and get rolling.

Happy Sunday : )

 Truck being done, they sent me down to Brownsville on a two day run so I could get back up here in time - today - to be able to get to closing - tomorrow.  My dispatcher has taken care of me in that regards and hasn't even complained or anything about it, I just apologize every time I tell her it's been canceled and she is good with it.  Or if she isn't, she at least acts like she is lol.

It came as no shock to me today that my realtor contacted me late this morning and said the closing for tomorrow has been canceled once again.  The paperwork had all been approved but had been sent off to a title company in the county where the property is - by law it has be to be done that way - and that title company said that the "gift deed" was improper and that the heir - the daughter and lone heir to her parents fortunes - had to sign off on a different paper.

I wasn't exactly happy about this prospect, obviously, this is the third cancelation now.  It not only keeps my company in limbo, it also means I lose runs I might otherwise get that might be good runs. Or any run for that matter. So it was surprising, after I contacted my dispatcher yet again, telling her about the deed problem and that it would have to be resolved and of course apologizing yet again, that she sent me a run for tomorrow shortly after that. 

Well, I don't want you to miss out on any more work this week! .... referring to the 2 days I had off in between using another driver's truck and waiting for my truck to get finished being fixed. I was happy that she thought that way and even tho it's an Oklahoma run, I said thank you, I need the work. And I do, that wasn't a lie or embellishment of the truth and actually was happy to get anything at all after thinking I would be sitting home another day this week.  3 days off doesn't make for good paychecks, let me tell you.  

I got back too late to go home.  About an hour ago, pulled into the yard, parked, unhooked, hooked up to different trailer for tomorrow and then did my paperwork. It was almost 8:30, I would get home at 9:00, have no time to visit or do much of anything but go to bed to get up early to be back here early.  I just thought that would be a waste of time and sleep.  I can go to bed later sitting in this truck and get up later and get more sleep.  I don't do this that often, but I just didn't see much benefit to driving round trip 64 miles and wasting that much time.  Everyone would have gone to bed and tho I could have seen my dogs, they have seen plenty of me this week.  Plus a nice hike over at the property the other day.  

A bit warm for that, I'll welcome cooler temps when we can go for longer walks and their tongues won't look like they're about to fall out of their mouths.  I'm telling you, Great Danes have giant tongues!  

I have no idea, whatsoever, if/when the closing is going to take place now. Not tomorrow and definitely not this weekend. The daughter will have to sign the new forms in the presence of a notary public and then send them back to the title company.  She doesn't live here, I presume she also lives in Atlanta, tho I don't know that for sure. Whatever the case, I didn't even try to give my dispatcher another date for this.  I literally have no clue.  

I did tell my realtor that I was going to start looking at property listings on the internet again.  Why? Because this deal is starting to smell like the failed Finklea deal.  It's only one heir, tho, my realtor informed me more than once, it really shouldn't be that big of a deal to get this done.  No, I replied, it shouldn't and don't take my words wrong, I still want this property. It's the most acreage available at the price per acre, in the location it is in near the Interstate and just outside of the city yet definitely the woodsy feel to it, plus all the utilities right there including internet and cable, I want that property.  I'm just saying I"m going to see if anything new has popped up regardless. 

She agreed a good idea, and after looking, I found nothing new that was worthy of my attention.  Giant properties are out of my price range.  There were several of those, 127 acres, 200 acres, etc. Just not in the cards. I'd love 100 plus acres, don't get me wrong, I could do a lot more with that much land that just building an RV park.  There were also numerous, small properties listed at outrageous prices that had popped up.  My property I'm selling? It's under contract.  The title company has it, the buyer is having the survey done, so I hope it doesn't fall through for if it does, I'll be on the line for that survey cost.  I'm not sure about this sheriff's deed, if there are faults I have no way to cure them.  

So, here we are again in the same situation as we were with Finklea.  But, don't give up until they say it's impossible. Finklea has not come back on the market.  That's been many months ago, as I said then, anytime you get heirs involved with disputes over who gets what, that stuff can be tied up in the courts for a long, long time. So, perhaps this is different in that it's just one heir and I assume that is the person selling the property?  My realtor isn't too keen on details and I would have to call the title company to find out more.  I won't, I'll just wait until next week and see what anyone has to say about finishing this deal.  

I had asked Taylor about James helping out with the development of this property - he's pretty much an all around handy man and can figure new things out.  I'd pay him, of course.  She said she had talked to him and he didn't feel right about getting paid considering what I do around the house.  I hadn't really thought about that, the living situation is a completely separate thing in my mind. This is a business proposition and I cannot possibly think of asking people to work for free?  That wouldn't set right with me. It wouldn't bother me to get a deferment on paying all of it at once if he would be good with that. In other words, put some of the wages off until the property is up and running and then pay him back.  But, I dunno if I'd even feel comfortable with that - tho it would take some financial strain off of this situation.  

TBH, I wouldn't mind getting the tent camp sites set up for fall camping.  They don't need water, electricity or anything else.  Just build a driveway back there, clear the pads, put in picnic tables and a fire ring and walaah. You have a money generator without much money spent.  Maybe a couple thousand dollars what with clearing a driveway and the pads and buying the tables and rings.  Heck, I could have James build the fire rings. 

How much money is there in tent camping, you ask? I dunno, I don't know what the demand is for it.  Of course it would mean having to get more liability insurance, getting a business permit/tax number, setting up the LLC, etc right off the bat as well.  Even so, I'm thinking about it.  

Anyways, I have spent a lot of time at the property looking it over and making plans for it to simply go away and have nothing.  It's not really a palatable thought to think that this deal may fall through the cracks. So, I will remain hopeful and trust the Lord and pray that if this is the right thing to do, in God's will that is, it will be done regardless of what it "looks" like at the moment. 

Well, it was a long drive today - I pushed it hard because I needed to get back in time to get off the clock so I could get started again in the morning on time.  In other words, I drove 8 hours straight, only stopping to use the restroom  and once to stop and grab something to eat. At the fueling station I both fueled up and took the 30 minute break, at a salad and left after the mandatory 30 minutes was up.

That makes for a long day, yes, but it also gets the run over with faster.  

Anyway, saying that to say it's time to go to bed.  And being left in limbo until next week, lol.  And since that's the case, I hope my dispatcher sends me a run for Sunday as well.  Surely, if this person signs the new documents, this thing can be closed next week?  

G'nite

 Hot! So muggy outside, even 85 degrees felt like well into the 100's.

Nevertheless, I trudged the eastern part of the property where the rear of it begins looking for those 2 elusive corner markers - and found both.  The one near the driveway was hidden in some brush, the other one at the far east corner was much further east than I thought it would be.

In fact, having so much difficulty finding it, I got out the survey notes, noted that it's almost 300 feet from the corner marker I had just found and walked around 95 steps that direction and then started looking.  It was well up the other side of a hill - it goes down, there's a stream at the bottom and then back up.  It wasn't terrible far off the easement I just hadn't looked that far east to find it. 

After that, go find the hunting camera.  I found it, brought it home, downloaded 285 pics and found - nothing more than the trip over there and to the point I had hung it up on the tree, it took a pic of my face and then I realized that the camera is well off angle, there is no way it would be able to take pics of wildlife on the ground. The pic of me was my face and I was looking down at it.  

So, I will have to go back and try again.  Not today, thank you, I was boiling, roasting hot by the time I left there.  A bit disappointing, but not the end of my world, the next day I have off I'll go back and hang it again, this time making sure it's at the correct angle.  It is interesting tho that it didn't take ANY  pics at all, no birds, branches moving in the breeze, I wonder if I had done something wrong in it's setup? yet it too pics all the way from the time I turned it on to the time I hung it up. 

I've got it set up on my computer desk, I'll leave it for the day like that and then check to see if it's taking pics of anything throughout the day.  A red light comes on when it's activated tho, and it's coming on, a bit perplexing.  

The rest of the day? Well, I ordered the wrong chop saw from Home Depot.  When I realized the mistake, I immediately canceled the order - but they still sent it to me anyway : ) So now, I have to drive 2 cities over to return it to the nearest Home Depot. That or get stuck with a saw I will likely never use.  At $285, I don't want to pay for a saw I'll never use....

But I'm feeling highly unmotivated.  I'm sure I have a while to take it back, but at the same time I don't want kids getting into it, tearing open the box and then having Home Depot say no thanks, you opened it.  

Well, that's it. No word from anyone about anything.  I even texted my dispatcher about Friday and heard nothing back from her.  Well, that's all nice fine and dandy, but she needs to acknowledge she received the text and a yes or a no. If it's no, I'll contact the title company and ask them to move it out until next week.  

 Today's musings.

The news is rife with the situation in Afghanistan.  I'm watching a little here and there, mostly reading info off of various news sites.  We went in there to find Osama bin Laden. That should have been the extent of our incursion over there.  If these people want to fight and kill each other, who are we to stand in their way?  We can do intelligence gathering operations 24 hours a day over there if we need to for any terrorist threat activities, we don't need a military presence over there getting our troops killed, maimed and messed up in the head for the rest of their lives.. for what purpose? The Russians of all people warned us about going in there.  We probably did some good over there, from what I've been reading it was far more than military incursions, they were actually helping the people.  Still.  

  It's probably the only thing I have agreed with Biden on, but the way he had the military go about doing this withdrawal is abominable at best.  Is it Biden's Saigon moment?  I don't necessarily agree with that assessment. But make no mistake, Biden has been around for all of these wars and incursions we have gotten ourselves into.  You'd think this dude would have a little more sense to see what was coming than what he did.  

I could go on for hours with my views on the military operations we have gotten ourselves into, some of them warranted, many not, IMO.  A  lot of it gives credence to the idea of the US industrial military complex, the people that have enabled it - namely politicians with something to gain by it - and the extraordinary amount of money we have spent on such.  We MUST keep those industries alive and kicking! Anyone else yearn for Christ's return?  

Enough ranting.  Today was the day - the third time now - that we were supposed to close on the property. The lady at the title agency made it exceedingly clear that that was not going to be a happening event today and gave solid reasons why it wasn't.  Information I wish my realtor would have given me.  But whatever.  Temps are not supposed to get exceedingly high today, I want to go to the property and get my hunting camera.  The boys are in school/daycare so I won't be taking them this time, but the dogs can go. It won't be a long trip anyway, just hike back in there, retrieve the camera, come home and load the memory card and see what, if anything, shows up.  Hopefully some entertainment from that.  If there is any animal life to be seen, I'll be posting that on Facebook later on today.  

I don't really feel like going hiking, tbh, lol, but I really want that camera. My curiosity is definitely piqued and that thing has been sitting there quite a while now. If there is anything back there, it's going to show up.  The property was listed in the real estate listings as "Prime Hunting Ranch".  Realtors do like to embellish and make things up tho, lol, those people would have no idea what is back there beyond just guessing because of the terrain, the region and the forest.  

And whether I feel like it or not, exercise is a good thing, especially for a trucker that spends more time sitting in a driver's seat than much of anything else. They really like you to get out and walk every day.  I do try to do that even on the road, but sometimes I'm so tired after 14-16 hour day it's all I can do to finish my paperwork for the day and drag my happy @$$ into the sleeper and go to bed.  

One thing is for certain: It's nice to have the kids back in school.  I am not being awakened by screaming and running around at any point of the morning at all.  I can sleep in without those kinds of disruptions. The dogs lay in my room and make no noise whatsoever until I get up.  They know better lol.  Ugh.  I forgot.  All of my truck gear is in the back of the SUV, to take the dogs I'll have to either move it to the passenger seating or take it out.  My truck was in the shop and it is always locked when the mechanics go home, we have no access to it.  

Other than that? I might go 2 towns over today and get some more Koi. Might being the operative word. Most of the fish have been moved to the pond - they appear to be doing well.  But I only have 3 Koi, the rest are goldfish. I'd like about 10 Koi at least. Goldfish are good distractions for any predators, Koi are smarter and will hide.  I'm not sure raccoons can fish in that pond setup with it being 2 feet up off the ground, the same with birds. Snakes, however, totally different story.  I have been looking for them for a couple of months and so far haven't seen them or any sign of them.  

The best sign being when they shed their skin. Used to see that frequently enough last summer, I've seen none of it yet this year.  Their favorite place to bask in the sun has turned up nothing.  Mind  you, I don't want any water snakes back there now. Before I didn't care, but now, they'll just eat the fish happily like a snack in the refrigerator.  We are all wondering if the super freeze event earlier this year killed them off.  Or for unknown reasons they left the property.  That doesn't seem likely, there is a small stream in the back of the property and there is ample wildlife including rats for them to eat.  

Whatever the case, I best be getting out of here, moving all of that stuff in the SUV and getting the dogs loaded in - or I will change my mind and not go lol.

G'day.  

 It isn't any secret - at least to me anyway - that autonomous trucks are a thing and they are coming soon to a highway near you.  In fact, I saw one at a truck stop on the West Virginia trip I did last week.  It has cameras mounted all over the front of the roof, it's obvious what it is.  

How long will it be until they are actually driverless?  Unknown.  Right now, the technology is required to have a human behind the steering wheel.  So it isn't really going to answer the demand for more truck drivers, not until they can actually drive themselves. Even then, the technology is only good on interstates, they can't navigate city streets, they can't fill themselves up and they can't back into loading docks. 

About the first time one of these monstrosities takes out a family of 5 in their SUV, there will be instantaneous public demand for regulation and demands for guaranties of safety.  I suspect there will eventually be lanes on the interstates devoted entirely to these vehicles with concrete dividers to ensure public safety.  All of this is a ways down the road, autonomous trucks are coming,, but I am not concerned about it right away. It's the major trucking companies that will buy the things up, companies hauling hazmat such as what I do will probably not be real interested in it until it's safety is more or less guaranteed.

I only say all of that because I was thinking last night about this RV park nonsense - it's become nonsense in my mind because of all of this ridiculous trouble just trying to acquire land, even tho I already have approval for a loan, a good appraisal, a completed survey and an incompetent title company.  I don't even know if autonomous trucks will be a threat to the current choice of hazmat hauling in my lifetime, I'm not exactly a spring chicken and I have no aspirations of continuing on in this "career" forever, but it's just another thing driving me on towards finding something else to do to earn an income beyond trucking.  

I could always do a forklift job and make less than half the money I'm currently making lol.

It just crossed my mind that I put that hunting camera up over a week ago.  I need to go get that thing, take a look at what may be roaming on the property back there.  And also in case this deal falls through, it was a $130 camera, I'd like to get it back lol.  

And my realtor just called them - they are listed as open on Google - they should be it's Monday morning during normal business hour - no answer. So I called them as well, no answer tho I did leave a message : )

____________

A few conversations later....the lady that is running the title company went off into personal issues, namely, her husband having medical problems of which she didn't identify (I didn't ask,, that's none of my business), how hard it is to get good help due to covid (true), the fact that this property is not in her county (she has to use the services of another title company to get things done) and that there is a trust issue.

She said trust issue and my heart sank.  NOT again. THIS is what happened with the Finklea property.  I sympathized with her husband's issues, listened to her rant about a lot of stuff and we ended the call. She said she was trying to get the property to close on Friday.  This is far more information than I'm getting from my realtor who apparently knows all of this.  She has been short on info but I think that's just the type of person she is.  I want details, to the nth degree details, that's who I am.  I'm not going to fault her, but it's a bit more reassuring to hear the whole story and understand that no, everything is not completed and therefore that is why it's taking so long.  

I did ask why they would have chosen a title company in another county? She said it's because of people moving here from California and the overload on title companies with them buying up properties.   I watched this occur in Arizona, not just in Phoenix either, they bought up all the good properties up in the mountains and drove property pricing up drastically in all markets.  Hence my house being worth around $275k.  

I'm wondering if this is why these people at the tax lien sale auctions are bidding up prices.  Yet, those over priced properties don't sell, it's only the ones like the one I'm trying to get that sell quickly - tho mine was on the market for a while.  They took horrible pics of it.  Did nothing to show the beauty of the property at all.  You actually had to go see the property in person to see the potential for it and that it's not near as ugly as the satellite view makes it look.

Regardless, I'll just hope for a Friday close.  She didn't give a guarantee, it was just "I'm trying for Friday".  I don't want to contact my dispatcher with that info right now, I doubt I'm working tomorrow since the part wasn't coming in until tomorrow. I'll give another day to see if anything changes, otherwise I'll just let my dispatcher know it's "tentative".  

Finally, I don't disagree with America getting out of Afghanistan. But what kind of stupidity is it to withdraw our troops and leave all of those Americans stranded over there and the embassy with sensitive documents?  It's just another sign of the lunacy we have occupying the White House.  You would THINK they would have thought of this before just saying goodbye.  You would think that at the very least, the generals would have thought have this right off the bat. And now, Biden is babbling in an address to the nation.  I think I"m going to switch off of that, the guy lies, embellishes and changes his tune more often than a hummingbird flaps it's wings in a second. 

With that, I'm outta here.  

 Sunday - morning.

Hotels have been using the ever lasting excuse of Covid to not serve any kind of breakfast, this hotel is no different. They have coffee and that's it.  Well, that's better than nothing!

I have 40 minutes until I can even got on the on-duty clock.  I didn't sleep well last night, not because the room wasn't quiet or the bed wasn't comfy, I'm just tossing and turning.  That's ok, Sunday drives are usually the easiest, get this trip over with and go home - hopefully anyway - and get some sleep.  

The property can stay on a shelf until I hear anything new.  I'm doing no research and haven't been looking for any other properties, that got old long ago. I've already got a pre-determined path for the property anyway, I've written about that several times, I'm just on hold at the moment.

Adventure and challenges are what interest me, tho, hence the property sort of takes close to the top position in my mind.  Everyone needs challenges to stay ... involved in life I guess I'll put it.  Without new challenges, adventures or something to pique your curiosity and perhaps confront you with decisions and things you have to do to get past that challenge, life can get pretty boring.

Goals are also good.  I've always had goals and have pursued them until either realized and done or to the recognition that they are unachievable and create new goals for something different.  My trucking career has been a continuous goal of sorts until I got to this job and have stopped looking for anything "better".  Money and home time were the goal, I've got a bit of best of both worlds going.  Not that I'm happy with this career, but at least I've got it as good as it's going to get.  I think.  Lol, no, I'm not looking for a new job either.  If the company decides at some point my services are no longer needed, that is about the only time that I can think of in my current state of mind that I would start looking again.

There is a Facebook group filled with our company's drivers and many of them are of the thought that there is no job security in this particular company.  I don't believe anyone thinks that after seeing them let go managers, dispatchers, drivers without, in most cases, any good reason.  Ok, the drivers were probably warranted. One ran over an automatic gate and did 10k worth of damage. They didn't get rid of her at that point, but her productivity was in the tanks.  She'd take several days longer than anyone else getting trips done, pull over and sleep for long periods of time.

Turns out she was just trying to make it until the end of last year when she would qualify for the level of Social Security she wanted before retiring.  This lady boasted how she had "nothing" saved for retirement.  Several times over, I heard her bragging how she literally had zero money saved.  I just couldn't fathom that.  

The other driver was a drunk.  He would sit in the office after hours with half a gallon of Wild Turkey and sit there drinking until he passed out.  One day, he forgot about the bottle and got up and went to his truck. A middle management guy found the bottle. They couldn't prove it was him but they had their suspicions.  They were just looking for a good enough reason to fire him and they found it after the driver started cussing out a shop manager at a Peterbilt repair facility.  He was pissed because they kept calling him, telling him the truck was done and then he'd show up and - the truck wasn't done.  Although I can see getting a bit upset, he went off on this dude.  

That's really the liquor speaking tho.  I would see him at the yard in Brownsville so lit up he didn't even know where he was. He'd brag about how he got up at 5 am and started drinking.  Insanity.  He even had the gall to tell the manager that he was a "functioning alcoholic".  She never reported it, but the company fired his @$$ after that deal with the Peterbilt shop.  

The point is that I have no job security regardless of how well I behave myself.  I don't expect it with this company and therefore I won't be shocked if they come to me one day and say it's time to part ways.  I probably won't even bother to ask why, don't really care. If you're just a number/name on their computer screen and nothing more, I'm not going to bother hearing a lecture on whatever their reason is.  Many trucking companies are - or were anyway - like that. We are in a different trucking landscape now, tho, with companies begging for drivers to come to their greener grass and experience higher pay! and better home time! Better home time is an empty promise that most companies won't honor. Recruiters will bald-faced lie to you about home time, new trucks, perks - whatever they think you need to hear to quit your current job and join up with them. 

I don't even have it in my mind what I would do if they let me go, tbh.  Just a bridge I would cross if the bridge presented itself.  Probably look at local jobs tho.  Maybe try to get on with a fuel hauling company. 

Well, I stopped keto diet when we went on vacation and never went back on it.  Amazing how fast the fat piles back on!  I'm thinking to fast all day today and tomorrow and maybe even the next day. Not just for dieting sake, tho, but for seeking the Lord.  Haven't decided on that yet, hence it's good there isn't any food downstairs for breakfast.  I usually do drink coffee - black - on a fast just to keep the caffeine headaches away.  It's enough to stop eating, coffee isn't off the list, just can't add any creamer.  

Kick starting Keto is relatively easy if you just don't eat for a few days, your body is going to go into that mode by itself.  Instead of who knows how long before you get into ketosis.  I'm ready for another diet, tbh, but I haven't decided which and right now? I need to get this gut back off of me.  I don't wear fat well lol.

With that, I bid you a happy, enjoyable Sunday. Don't forget to worship your Creator today!

G'day.  

 Day finally done at 11:20 pm

I've been to Brownsville, dropped the loaded trailer at a "new" yard and then picked up an empty at the old yard.  Contacted my dispatcher, told her I would be in Raymondville tonight, please get me a room at La Quinta.  Drove the 50 miles back north to get up here and walaah, in a hotel room, sitting here just winding down.  

I spent a lot of time contemplating this property situation today and the idea that I seem to get doors closed at every turn.  

It could just be coincidence.  It could be the Lord saying this isn't my plan for you.  It could be the enemy attempting to thwart these plans for unknown purposes.  

Whatever the case, I just let it go.  Into God's hands that is.  If it's meant to be, it will happen, if it isn't, it won't.  I can't sit around getting excited about property and then having the let down every time.  

I'm not going to continue to allow this title company to mess with my life.  If they do, indeed, come up with a date to close, I'm going to demand a written guarantee that it will happen or they can pay a fine.  No, they probably won't go for that, but it will send the message that I'm tired of their games and I am at the end of the line here.  Get it done or I'm moving on.  

This seller can find someone else to buy the property - which was on the market for a long time - or they can find another title company - which there is a much better one in town. Better by customer service standards anyway. I'm not currently looking at any other properties online.  I only have looked at my listing for the little property I am selling in town. By now it should say under contract or contingent or something similar on the ads.

I'm just tired of this property searching. It is going to be over. Either with or without actually acquiring property, I am done with it.  

So that's it.  The realtor can deal with this nonsense, I'm just going to kick back and wait and see what happens on Monday. I canceled the Tuesday day off because of the title company dropping out again and hopefully I will have another run, even if it's just an Oklahoma run, I want more work.

Strike that, I need more work, wanting is a stretch lol.  

I guess there's lots going on - lots of people I know have been dying lately and sadly.  One of them had his whole body stricken with cancer. Another also had cancer and my cousin died of a heart attack.  I hope that's the end of it for a while.  

There's all the politics going on, which I am definitely not going to go into right now.

There are good things going on everywhere as well. My pond seems to be doing well and my aquarium is staying nice and clean now that I got most of the fish out of there and into the pond.  It was getting dirty quick, I was replacing filters at least once a week, they are supposed to last a month lol.

Tomorrow is Sunday, I won't be able to start driving until 9:20 am, which is fine, I'm quite tired and one of those beds sitting behind me is looking pretty inviting right about now.  Not to mention the fact it's 12:30 am, much later than my normal bed time.

Hope everyone is doing well.

G'nite.  

 Coming up from Brownsville. 

First thing's first tho.  Dispatcher sends me another run for Brownsville in the morning.  "Is my truck fixed yet?".  She didn't know, even tho she promised to find out yesterday.  She instantly replied she didn't know but she will get me a hotel room tomorrow night - obviously intending me to drive this other driver's truck again.  I didn't refuse, I just don't want to drive his or anyone else's truck.

My truck apparently isn't going to be fixed until Tuesday - at the earliest.  But hey, if she's going to get me a hotel room I'll just take that and run with it. Probably stop at the same town as I did last night - with one change - they can pay for either a Holiday Inn or a La Quinta room instead of the Deluxe Inn.  I'd do the Deluxe Inn again under the same circumstances and if on my own dime, but on the company's money they can pay for a major brand chain.  

Next:  My realtor.  Uhh, I don't think they legally can close on Tuesday, the rules say they have to give a 3 day notice before closing and they haven't sent anyone....anything.  She went off on that title company and said she would never use them again even if it meant losing a sale.  I finally lost it - well, not full blown melt down but I've had enough of this shit with this title company. A bunch of incompetent idiots.  So I took the bull by the horns and said "How about we tell them Friday and if they don't like is they can kiss my a**. I'm not going to have these people dictating my life like this".  

I had to cancel the day off with my dispatcher again.  I was very apologetic.  What else could I do?  I can't control these people at this title company. The thing that is even more frustrating is they have all kinds of rave reviews from people - it's a mom and pop type thing and is locally owned and operating.  She said it's okay! and said no problem. But I don't owe her anything, I've done all kinds of favors for her and got little in return until I got the bobtail to West Virginia and now 2 Brownsvilles in a row.  And if I"m lucky, something else on Monday since I don't have to have Tuesday off.  

The whole thing pissed both of us off - the realtor and I - and we started mocking this title company.  She's going to have her say, I will wait until it's done and over with - if that ever even happens - and then I"m going to let them know exactly how I feel about them in on uncertain terms and that is going to be face to face or a phone call. Then I am going to blow up reviews with statements that no one will look and say, gee, he really likes them!  This nonsense has been going on waaaaaay too long.  

I don't really know when this is going to happen. I've all but given up on this shit show I call a "search for property". I'm disgusted with the whole system and the incredibly lethargic way you have to crawl through it to actually get land.  I made it clear to my realtor, tho, that I am in control of the closing date now.  They can suggest a closing date and I will have to agree to it.  Here I was getting excited that Tuesday was finally the end of this incredibly long road to getting property and now?  

I'm really at the verge of giving up on this.  Maybe this just wasn't meant to be. There's been way too many roadblocks.  What kind of hell am I going to go through to actually get the operation up and running if I do actually get property?  How long does a person contend with a dream before that person says screw this, the dream isn't obtainable?  

The only thing that is actually stopping me right now is the fact that I also despise trucking and very much want out of it.  I don't care how much money I am making doing it, it sucks and I'm done with it.  But I can't BE done with it until something else takes its place.  

Whatever. I'm just a wee bit disgusted right now. 

Just going to go to bed.  

 Welcome to Friday the 13th!

I don't give the number of the day correlated with a particular day of the week any specific credence, but some people think it's bad luck.  

Because of that, I figure I'll have good luck! lmao

Sleep last night was absolutely delightful. This cheap hotel that I've passed by hundreds of times with a huge truck parking area? Hit the spot. I know I wouldn't have been able to sleep in that sleeper last night and I would have been miserable this morning.  

I wonder what traffic will be like today......

My 10 hours is almost up, time to get out of here and get on down the highway.  Hey, at least I'm already 50 miles headed in the right direction!

Have a great day!

 Brownsville, TX area hotels are pretty strange with their hotel pricing.  One day it's a good price - at any of them - the next it's ridiculous.  Today was in the ridiculous range.  

See, I got in this other driver's truck today, with no small amount of aggravation attempting to remember everything I absolutely have to have from my truck and making several trips back and forth until I was satisfied I had everything I needed - and headed to the plant.  Got in the sleeper to snooze while they were loading.  Horrible bed.

Horrible bed.  Like sleeping on jello or something, the thing was so soft it was more than just  a bit annoying. I can't sleep on beds that soft, I feel like I'm sinking or something, I just don't like them. I already knew I would be getting myself a hotel tonight and oh well, eat the cost and move on.  Not to mention the smell in that sleeper.  Just a non-happening event.

Also of note was the tires on the trailer that I was assigned to that I have reported in the past and that haven't been replaced. They don't need fixed, they need replaced. Last two times I pulled that trailer, there was a severe vibration with other drivers reporting the same.  Well no duh, some of the tires have flat spots on them, someone must have locked them up.  I texted the lead mechanic - he was all of 100 feet away but I have no interest in face to face contact with him at this point after the meltdown he had last time we went through something like this. 

He was cordial at least but told me they don't have those size of tires, they aren't our fleet.  Yes, I know these mexican trailers don't belong to us, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be prepared to fix them and bill the customer.  They do it already anyway.  He wanted me to go to a tire shop to have them replaced.  I just blew that all off, didn't lose my cool and contacted my dispatcher, can I take E001 instead?  This trailer has several bad tires on it.  Sure! Please tell Ryan about the bad tires! Already have, I replied and thank you.

Easy peasy, bypassed, Ryan and got a trailer with decent tires.  Anyway, it only took them 45 minutes to load the trailer and I was only at the scale house for maybe 30 minutes, so I made really good time today. 

Back to the hotels.  No way I am spending the night in that truck.  If I had the misfortune of being permanently assigned to it I would be demanding a new mattress.  I just couldn't believe even normally low priced hotels were in the $70 range and everything decent was well over $100.  I only need a place to sleep for the night, I don't need a fancy hotel for that, just a comfortable bed and a quiet facility.  

After checking all of the places, I finally decided to cave in and just get a pricey place and eat it.  But then I realized I had an hour and a half left on the clock.  I could make it back up the road somewhere before getting to no man's land - it's like 60 or 70 miles of nothing but ranch land, literally nothing else there excepting a miniature post office and a immigration check station, they like to call it.  

Raymondville!  There's a place I have been seeing forever with truck parking, cheap prices and at least some decent reviews.  So I drove the 50 miles here, got the trucker discount and paid $55 plus tax.  The room is nice considering this is just a mom and pop place, the ed at least look comfy, I'll find out in a few, I'm really tired.  Long day and everyone woke up tired this morning.  How that hit all of us the same I have no idea, but it did.  I was half awake/half asleep for several hours after getting up today.  

So that's it.  I'm here, in my room, the drunks out in the parking lot apparently decided to go into their rooms - thank God almighty, not in the mood to have to go ask for a different room away from those people, they were being obnoxiously loud out there. They looked like workers staying here on some work duty, so they have to go to sleep at some point, it's only Thursday there's at least another work day left in this week if they are Monday-Friday workers.  

There is nothing else.  Well, the 6 year old had his first day of 1st grade today.  No masks.  The 4 year old was driving Taylor crazy because his older brother isn't around to play with.  Summer is over, at least school wise, still plenty hot out there. 

I'm just counting the days.  Waiting to be sent the info on how much money I need to bring with me - well bring cashier's check/s and get this property over and done with.  The property I am selling I've heard nothing back, I signed off on the paperwork dunno what's going on with that, I assume the lengthy process I am going through now.  Survey, appraisal and title company.  Title company should be interesting since this is a sheriff's deed.  My realtor sort of stopped when I told her this is a sheriff 's deed. OH, well let me do some research on that!  Apparently she thinks she can get it done - really it's all the title company. If I have to come up with "anything" other than the sheriff's deed?  I dunno what I would do, I have no other documents.  Just that the property taxes are paid up on it.  I'm assuming these title companies have experience with these sheriff's deeds since the sales are every 3 months and people have to have the titles cleared to be able to sell them.  

Speaking of tax lien auctions .... lol no, I don't think I'll be going to the next one or any of them any time soon - unless - this deal with this property goes through seamlessly or close enough to it and make it worth the trouble.  Actually, now that I think about it, the next auction is likely done and over with.  There won't be another one until December. That's the one where they try to sell all of the properties that didn't sell during the year.  They start the bidding out at $30 and it goes from there.  If I can sell 2 of these properties before then I'd likely go to see if I can get more at cheap prices.  

Anyway, enough of that talk, I have no desire to do any of that right now, this 25 acre deal is all that is on my mind for worldly things.  

And sleep.

G'nite

 Although I do want another run tomorrow, I do not want to do it in someone else's truck.  I reported mine yesterday when I got back with a broken off quarter panel. It's a plastic cover that goes over the tires, the bracket broke off and the panel was just dragging on the tires.  No idea how long it was doing that, it wasn't making any noise and impossible to see from the rear view mirrors.  It had small holes rubbed through it so it was doing it for awhile.  However, that is an easy fix.  

When my dispatcher told me to take Dusty's truck, I asked what was wrong with mine?  That panel isn't even a DOT warning or ticket, it isn't legally required on there. The only thing I have to have on there is a mud flap at the rear of the tires on the rear axle.  "Ryan said the sensor needed to be replaced and and it is on backorder". What sensor, I thought.  I have been reporting an engine light on on the truck for -  2 months now. Apparently they found that after writing up the panel.  

I actually don't really care about reporting things anymore, but I do it because it is mandatory. What I don't do is keep giving the reports to the mechanics, over and over, for them to ignore. I just give it to them once in their mailbox as required and that's that. The report gets sent into the headquarters via email when I send my trip paperwork in and that's it after I give it to the mechanics once.  I find it annoying and aggravating to continuously give them the same problem to have them do nothing about it.  I said something to my manager and that mechanic about it once. Why do you want us to write up things wrong with the trucks and you don't fix it? Or you don't even read the reports, you just trash them or file them?  

No answer.  

Anyway, I asked if this driver knows that someone else is taking his truck? Why isn't that driver driving?  It is a big time no no to be driving other people's trucks, at least among drivers, in the trucking industry.  I don't want anyone else driving my truck and I know - especially those that keep their trucks clean - they don't want anyone else driving theirs either.  She replied she didn't know, it was Brandon's (manager) call and that Dusty is out of surgery recovering.  Surgery?!!  She didn't elaborate on what it was, I didn't ask, not my business.  He keeps his truck immaculate, I can say that.  

So I said to her I don't like driving other driver's trucks, especially Dusty, he's particular about his truck.  She replied that she didn't have any choice, she's down 5 drivers otherwise she wouldn't have asked.  Well fortunately, it's a 9:00 am load, I'm going to need to get there early to get stuff out of my truck to put in there. Paper towels, my laptop, charging wires, bedding, water, etc.  That's the other thing about switching trucks, all the stuff you want with you on a trip? You'll have to take out of one truck and put it into the other. I won't be using any of his stuff in there, it's drive down to Brownsville and hopefully come right back up the next morning and get that over with and hope that my truck is finished for the next run.  

And if there are no empties down there, I will be getting myself a hotel room and just do that instead of staying in someone else's truck.  I dunno if that truck has a refrigerator so I won't be taking any food. Fortunately the Brownsville run has several options going down to find decent food to eat along the way.  

As for today, the boys played in that pool for hours.  Phoenix didn't even want to get out until mama said time to get out. Us old folks had had enough - it's really hot outside.  5 foot pool that's less than 2 feet tall, only little kids are getting in there. Those of us on the porch - sweating and just nasty. The pool was a good idea, but it's welcome had worn out lol. 

The gentleman that brought the other boy was asking why I wanted to build an RV park?  Umm, just a dream of mine that I've had for a long time.  Yea but there's several parks in the area. Yup and they're full or mostly full.  True. Cooks road? Yes.  He named the former sheriff.  that lives there and another RV park.  Yes, there is another RV park but it's private, membership only thing. You can't just get online and book it.  It's no competition at all.  I knew the Sheriff lived on that street, I didn't know where.  Apparently a few hundred feet from where my intended property lies.  Oh, that's interesting.  

He lives up the hill on the other side, my traffic won't be coming by him, fortunately, I don't need people starting trouble.  RV parks are generally quiet, an exception might be families with noisy kids or drunks making loud noise and blaring music.  The latter will not be welcome.  Drink if you please, but if you get drunk and start trouble with people, you are going to be thrown right out of there. It will be clearly written in my park rules.  Quiet hours will be from 10 pm til 8 am, the general rule of thumb I have found for parks, tho some say 7 am.  

I dunno, I have thought about conflicts, I have addressed several of them, I can't foresee everything.  I'm not going door to door asking people's opinions, there is a reason people move to the county - get away from city restrictions and more importantly, do whatever you please.  There are no HOA's, no associations, that was determined right from the get go.  All the things I have found that could be impediments to progress I have addressed. There may be other things that I don't know about, c'est la vie.  

 Well, that was a decent trip, 3 days and even home relatively early.  That run usually doesn't go like that lol.  

So, one of the properties I bought at auction that I put up for sale has already had 2 offers on it.  They are lowball but I'd still make money on the second offer.  Maybe $750.  I don't really consider that bad for spending an hour at an auction and  the time spent researching those properties.  I figured if I put it up low it would sell, versus a bunch of other properties that are of the same approximate size that have been listed and for sale for a long, long time.  

I hope they don't believe they are going to put a mobile home on that property, because I know the city isn't going to allow it. But whatever, they didn't ask and it's up to them to find those things out in advance.  I didn't do my due diligence on that particular part of it, but then again, I bought those properties so cheap I figured I could resell them for a profit if nothing else.  

This is a test run.  If this property can sell, another one will go up.  If that will sell, the third one may or may not go up - I like the one by the railroad tracks and I still want to do something with it.  Totally out of the question right now, all of my finances will be tied up in this RV deal if the land goes through. I know, I say if because it's - if.  No chickens are counted before they are hatched in this particular situation.

Even the realtor proclaimed "I have learned A LOT working with you! Lol".  

_____________________

Tax sale auction property apparently going under contract.  I'll make around a grand on it.  I'm good with that.  At the end of the year, they'll sell all the properties that didn't sell during the year, if I can sell a couple of these, I'll buy more.  The bidding starts out at $30.  Obviously I have to check all of them out - which is a pain I normally don't check out small lots in town - but it's the only way to ensure there isn't an old house or structure on it that is either condemned or otherwise would need to come down if you are trying to sell it.  

Small lots mostly don't sell, or they might get bid up a little bit, but the people bidding are the rich folks that want to buy the land that sells way higher than it's worth.  I mean, I really don't understand these people bidding up properties like that at a tax lien auction where you are hunting for bargains.  They will sit on those properties forever, no one wants to pay that much, or, if they do, the don't have the cash and banks will not finance properties that won't pass muster with an appraisal. 

Regardless, it's a day off and I'm doing much of nothing.  I have plants for the pond that need potted and put in there, which means a trip to Ollies to buy some more pots.  Other than that, I have no intentions of doing much of anything. Wait and see what kind of run I may get tomorrow.  I'm guessing an Oklahoma run if anything.  I've had 3 good runs in a row, which is miraculous in itself, unlikely I will get another good paying run after all of that.  

There is nothing to report on the 25 acres.  There won't be anything to report until Tuesday of next week - unless - they push it out yet again.  There doesn't appear to be any reason to do that, but the title company seems to be good at finding ways to make things not happen.  I've got that day off now and canceled Friday off is all I can say about that.  

_________________________

Wednesday.  Didn't get up early, lol, I had 3 days of getting up early and being rather fatigued to catch up on sleep worth.  But I did manage to get some stuff done today.  It's still early I just ran out of desire to be outside in the stifling heat.  A day of rest isn't a bad thing, I worked all day Sunday, the traditional day of rest.  I just brought the dogs in too. Call it spoiling them, but Addler was huffing and puffing pretty heavy.  We let all the dogs in when it's getting too hot outside.  I'm sure they can survive it, but I just don't feel good about leaving them outside when I'm literally chillin' inside. 

Anyway, a friend of Phoenix's (the 6 year old) was coming over today so Taylor went out looking for a slippery slide for them to play on. They were originally going to go to a water park, but it turns out that park is closed on Wednesdays.  Seems a rather odd day to close a water park.  She went to unknown amount of stores looking for one and after hitting them all up, came back with water balloons.  She tried.

After she got back and my babysitting stint was over, I went to Ollies to get some flower pots - on sale and far cheaper than Lowe's or anywhere else for that matter. Like half priced.  After that, I thought, why not check the Dollar General? They might have some water play stuff.  Sure enough, they had one kiddie pool left, the kind you blow up with air versus those hard plastic ones. Yes!  Something for them to actually do, Water balloons are fun but they only last so long.  I was amazed there was anything left, especially at the dollar store.  

Got that, went home and found everyone elated about that little pool.  They have been playing in it for well over an hour now, as long as it lasts a day, I'm good with it.  Tomorrow, school starts.  BTW, did I say it's Texas and they aren't mandating little kids to be forced to be wearing masks all day long?  You do realize that masks do not prevent the virus from coming through the pores in the mask?  They are not all that useful and the science isn't there for forcing kids like that to have to wear such inhibiting things all day long.  I'm grateful the governor is taking a stand against Fauci and Biden.  Biden is busy attempting to subvert state's right and force masks on kids anyway.

I think the only thing he could possibly do is threaten the state with holding back federal funding for schools.  I don't know if that's possible, but that's the only thing I can think of, federal funding being withheld in some way, shape or form.  You know, that thing about state's rights, as the Constitution was written? The federal government being limited in scope, size and nature?  We are headed towards totalitarianism.  We are headed towards civil war as far as I'm concerned, this defund the police crap, cancel culture, CRT and every white person is a racist garbage got old long ago.  What a thing it would be, if Biden made that threat and Texas said, fine, we'll just not send our money to the feds.  

Now what?  It can go both ways.  These threats should not be bowed to, the President doesn't have the authority he thinks he has, we only give it to him/feds/white house if we succumb to it.  I didn't say it was a good idea, but neither is the president attempting to threaten 2 states with some form of retaliation if they don't comply.  Florida is the other state, in case you haven't been watching the news and Governor DeSantis is a rock star as far as I'm concerned, snubbing the white house and taking an equal stand to the biden administration bullying.  Basically giving them a middle finger.  

Cuomo, the nursing home murderer, is about to be a goner.  Newsome, the California governor being recalled - may actually be put out according to new polls, it's much closer than anyone had predicted.  These are people - and others like them such as Whitmer of Michigan and Lightfoot of Chicago - that need to go. They take their powers and go well beyond those powers with these emergency powers or just sheer stupidity.  Minneapolis and Portland the same with this defund the police nonsense and now seeing murder rates higher than they have ever been. That was an easy prediction when they first started talking about defunding police, an insane, barbaric idea that has no place in modern society. An THEN, you find out these big name politicians have spent uber amounts of money to hire their own security!  

The hypocrisy and blood lust for power is astounding.  And now, Mnuchin is standing in the way of the 3.5 TRILLION dollar budget democrats want to force through. Thank God for any semblance of a real mind in that party, this guy understands this kind of rampant spending will destroy the American economy as we know it and introduce hyper-inflation into a scenario that is already seeing inflation at exorbitant rates.  I predicted inflation as soon as they started talking about all of these stimulus bills last year and here we are.  It's not just Biden's fault, Trump can take some blame in this as well. No amount of money appears to be too much for these people.  I'm ranting but I'm pissed off about the state of affairs in this nation. College students proclaiming they are ashamed to be citizens of this nation? Then GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE if you don't like it! 

Patriotism will never die in a large portion of the population, thankfully.  God, flag and country.  Freedoms that most other nations can only dream of.  People come here from communist nations and warn us about all of these power hungry politicians and what their intended legislation will lead to.  We already knew this, we studied history, they didn't have to tell us, they are trying to inform the masses that are being lied to by mass media, lunatic politicians, hollywood elites and whoever else can get a platform that will garner attention.

Seriously, all of you that love communism or socialism please go spend a year living in Communist China and then get back to me.  Or go live in a nation that is mostly citizens living in abstract poverty. You don't have to go far, Mexico is full of poverty-stricken people that don't know what it's like to have running water or electricity.  Try India or Bangladesh.  Head down to Venezuela or over to Cuba.  You think it's so great, yet you haven't done anything to find out for yourself about how these people are  currently living under communist and totalitarian regimes.  We have it far too good in this nation to allow it to be destroyed by people like you that think that government in control of everything is somehow a good idea. 

I'm done.  For now.

I have some plants to go pot and then put in the pond.  I also have a cover for the pond - the water is heating up, got to get that hot, beating sun off of it and infuse some cold water from the hose into it. I wasn't concerned about it until I put the fish in there.  Those goldfish can withstand some pretty serious extremes, but warm water? I don't know about that.  The dogs are lazily enjoying my cool room.  Addler is content to pass out on his bed on the floor, Aspyn is on the couch sitting there staring at me lol.

I'm waiting on work assignment for tomorrow, if one is coming. I dunno about that, hopefully tho.  The yard had about 7 trucks sitting in it yesterday when I got in and several of those are now on the road.  As much as I hate driving trucks, I need to earn some serious money. I'll take whatever I get and run with it.\

With that, I'm outta here.

G'day.  

 Monday, August 9.

My dispatcher never sent the run on Friday and waited until Saturday afternoon to send it, telling me it needed to be there Sunday night, even tho she said it is a Sunday run....."So this is a Sunday run, correct?".  "Well they said they needed it there Sunday night but Monday morning will work".  Bypassing everything, I got there late morning today - just stuff happens on the road you have no control over - and they said they weren't expecting me until tomorrow morning and they didn't need it out of there Sunday or today.  

I just - whatever.  I busted my @$$ to get up there, I'll say that, leaving early Sunday morning and driving almost 700 miles the first day, getting up very early today and finishing it off.  After a minor breakdown that cost about 2 hours to fix, I was back on the road.  I'm 606 miles from the yard, stopped at a Truckstop in Cross Plains, Tennessee - I've stopped here many times in the past.  It's small, it's clean and it's not far from Nashville.  I couldn't make it any further, the break down cost me on duty hours and anyway, I am in good position to make it back tomorrow.  I'll be left with around 3 hours on the 70 hour clock after I get back so I will definitely have Wednesday off.  

Not that I want it off, I need to drive and make some money right now and get caught up from all of this loss of days of work and low paying runs. This run is a decent paying run at least and it was easier because I bobtailed all the way up there - the plant is shutting down their ethylene rack temporarily so they can clean their tank out and they are doing some sort of construction there as well.  I had originally thought our competitor had managed to steal the account from us - they've been doing that a lot.  This is a decent run and tho it's only once a week, I think anyway, might be 2,  it keeps us busy.  

On to other things.  I find that I have to make phone calls and text messages and send emails to get this thing moving along. The property that is.  My realtor is a nice person but she really isn't well versed in land deals.  Not that I am, but this thing is dragging on and on and ooooonnnnnn.......

So I texted her today about the title company, Then I emailed the lender about the appraisal. He said it would be finished today. Today? I thought, wow, he originally told me it would be 3 or 4 days after they got the survey to finish it.  Several emails later and he came back with one saying the appraisal is finished and the land values look good. I was a little surprised that he made it sound like they were spot on. I was expecting it to come back that the price per acre is less than market value - seriously.  In that area, land is going high.  Well, it's for sale high, doesn't mean it sells I guess. If you can't get a lender to give you the money, well, those sellers are going to be holding on to those properties awhile.  

After that, my realtor texted me back, saying she had called the title company and the lady on the other end of the phone had been extremely rude with her. If what she said is accurate, then yes, that lady was a real piece of work, to put it politely.  Friday is definitely a no go for closing.  My realtor said the only person in that title company office that has authority to close on files is on vacation until Monday.

Figures.  Closing date is  tentatively Tuesday of next week, time of day it will occur is unknown.   I had to cancel Friday off with my dispatcher and inform her that Tuesday is the tentative date, sorry for the inconvenience and last minute stuff, but this is important to me, please make it work.  She said no problem and that was that.  So I informed her Tuesday is tentatively the date, she said fine, just keep her updated.  

We are, hopefully, getting closer folks.  That doesn't mean I'll have an RV park magically appear, it just means the start of a process that is going to take a while to work through.  I'm definitely not getting an SBA loan to start this thing off.  They want to lend too much money and as tempting as that sounds, I don't want to be drowning in 400k worth of debt.  Just not my style.  I'm going to have to make it work with what's available to me. 401k, a personal loan and then credit cards.  I could cancel the last two if I can find a bank to give me a HELOC loan on my house.  About 75 grand would do it.  Well more would be better but I'll take what I can get.

I just have read that banks are hesitant on HELOCs right now so I'm not holding my breath on that one.  I can't think of any other sources of income beyond selling my house, but that is, at least currently, out of the question.  Just by my choice, not because I have to keep it. 

I will start this thing out by going to the road and bridge department of the county and finding out what permits I may need.  I will be contacting all the utility contractors and asking for bids.  I will find some way to get a 20 foot wide drive way cleared out on the west side of the property and get that started. Actually, I think I'll go 15 feet to start with and see if that looks like enough room.  Clear out the front - it will all have to be cleared of trees as there will be an office building there and a small parking lot.  

I've got the beginning of this started in my mind.  The rest of it I will work through and make decisions as the decisions are forced in front of me to make.  I want around 20-25 pull through lots and the rest will be back ins.  RV'ers are used to both, many seem to prefer pull throughs but I have determined that I can't have all pull throughs.  It's likely the east side lots will have to be leveled - meaning dirt removed to make them level lots meaning a wall - small block wall - at the rear of those lots.  That's not a disappointment for me, I had originally thought of doing all pull throughs but after looking at a bunch of RV parks both online and in person I adjusted that view of it.  

It's been difficult to try and come to definitive decisions about things because I've never done this before.  And I don't want to make the wrong decisions.  Wrong decisions cost money.  I am going to have an electrical engineer design the electrical portion of the park, blue print and at least attempt to install it myself.  I just need the experts to show me how to do it, I don't need their help installing it.  I don't think, anyway.  It's really a matter of affordability.  Without a huge loan right at the start it's going to have to be a lot of do-it-yourself stuff.  It will take longer - much longer - yes but in the end I actually have a functioning park. Not a partly completed park and gee, I'm out of money, now what?  

I'd definitely prefer a 150-200k loan and just get it over with.  In reality, if I can get this thing up and going eventually and hopefully some degree of success, I can then take the park's revenue and records into a bank and say, here, I built this, I am generating this much money, etc etc, can I please borrow  X amount of money.  I really would eventually like to have a swimming pool and a jacuzzi on the property and that will cost some serious money.  

OK, well, my ankles.  My hikes through the woods have resulted in my ankles being severely bitten by insects. Namely: tics.  Those things are horrible.  My feet and ankles are all itchy and not feeling so good because of it.  I hiked the other day with the 6 year old through the entire property - I have videos up on my Facebook of that.  I sprayed him with insect repellent, including on his shoes, I did the same for me but I forgot to hit my boots with it.  I won't be forgetting that again.  

I was impressed by the 6 year old's tenacity. He never once complained and the only thing he wouldn't do without help was to cross the stream on a giant, felled oak tree.  Why do we have to cross here over this tree? Because we are on an adventure boy, have some fun!  So he did it with the condition that I hold his hand the entire time.  Of course, I am not going to let you fall off the tree lol.  About half way across he let go of my hand, gaining new-found confidence in his ability to stand up on it.  Again, it was a huge tree.  I had to pick him up a few times and carry him over the  ridiculous thorn bushes and vines, but other than that, he did very well.  I guess I was doing that kind of thing at his age too, now that I think of it.  I'm trying to make the hikes with the kids into the woods an interesting adventure, something they will learn to like and perhaps go off on their own when they grow old on their own hikes.  It's fun, it's adventurous, it is great exercise and it's far better than sitting at home watching tv or playing on computers or phones all the time.  

But I've given up on the 4 year old, at least for now.  He just isn't tall enough to get over the thorn bushes and he cries and screams the entire time. I have another property I am going to take him to that doesn't have all of that nonsense and he can have a bit happier time hiking.  He didn't ask to go this last time anyway, I reminded him of his very bad time the last 2 hikes and he said I'm good, I'll stay home lol. 

I have not found all of the corner markers.  I am going back without the kid next time and search through a portion of woods he wasn't too keen on going into.  I have no choice, there are 2 corner markers I really need to know where they are at.  Both on the east side of the property. The first is at the end of the driveway - somewhere in the trees there is a pipe, so the survey says.  And then on east of there, an easement that goes along that side of property, there is supposed to be another pipe.  I was looking for both of them but without going into the trees, I couldn't find them.  

Well, it's getting time to go to sleep and I  am going to have to move my truck.  A refer unit pulled in next to me. They are noisy - extremely noisy - I have no idea how those drivers can sleep with all that racket.  A lot of them are starting to nose into parking spaces to keep that ridiculous noise away from other drivers, this one chose not to. I will either pull out into the driveway and get away from it or pull out, turn around and nose in myself.  

With that, I am offa here.

G'nite.