Rather hellish day driving back.  I'm not going to sit here and try to say it was a breeze feeling the way I do.  It didn't help the next door neighbor was complaining about the german shepherd jumping over their fence and getting into their garbage....The dog is more trouble than it's worth. It causes problems all the time, but especially when I'm not around. I had NO idea she was still jumping over their fence, I thought she had gotten over that.

One of the very few times in my life I would like to get rid of a dog.  I've tried and I've spent the money, trust me, I have dumped out the bucks trying different methods.  No one has control over her when no one is home.  

________________________

That was last night.  About an hour from now and I'm headed to court to try and get the speeding ticket either reduced or done away with altogether.  I had to sit here and think for a while all the relevant factors that I can and probably should say to at least give the judge a snapshot of where I'm coming from.  I'll even tell the judge I'm okay paying a fine, I just would really please and thank you like the ticket changed to something else/lessor so my driving record isn't stained as bad as it's going to be with a 15 mph over on it.

It's unfortunate but true that the system does not delineate between your personal vehicle driving and your commercial vehicle driving.  Whatever happens, it goes on the CDL and unless you fight it, there's nothing you can do about it.  It's was also true that you cannot go to driving school, but I"ve heard some saying they have changed that.  I'm going to look that up after I get done with this entry and see what Texas allows - if anything.

There is also a deferral, but I don't know if that applies to CDL drivers. It's basically a deal where they say if you drive the next 3 months and don't get any tickets, this one will go away.  Well, it's been over 3 months.  I haven't had a moving violation in over 7 years, that should help my case along a bit as well.  I'm not actually worried about this, whatever happens, happens and if worse comes to worse, I will ask for a jury trial, get a lawyer and spend the money to preserve my license.  I gave up worrying about it weeks ago when I thought, well, I'm just a human, I'm not perfect, never claimed to be, I make mistakes like everyone else. Sometimes I do stupid things, like everyone else has.  Shrugs shoulders.  

I remembered around 2 am - after waking up and hacking away, unyielding coughing that simply wasn't going to stop anytime soon - that the doc had prescribed me Prednisone the last time I had a cough like this.  Yup, out of bed, 2 of those pills as the directions say. About 40 minutes later maybe? I felt that stuff going through my system and all of a sudden- the coughing stopped.  I still have enough of those pills to last for several days.  I won't need to go to Urgent Care today, those two pills are good for 24 hours.  

Steroids have always helped when I have a dry hacking cough like that.  I dunno how it works, but it definitely does!

Family still up north, they're coming home tomorrow.  I am still not feeling all that great.  I really don't think I'm going to want to go to work tomorrow.  I definitely wasn't feeling it yesterday, it was a long day trying to just keep focused on the road and tough it out.  You start feeling like this and working is the last thing on your mind.  I went to Chili's after getting into town,  no one home meant no dinner waiting and definitely wasn't in the mood to cook.  Had a drink - that helps a lot too - stops the coughing somehow.  

I really don't know if I'm going to make any calls about the property today.  I guess it doesn't matter about talking to people on the phone but if per chance one of them wanted to meet over there today? Not into it.  If I didn't have to go to court I would have just stayed in bed.  I figured to get up an hour and a half early, take a long hot shower, get that steam down into my lungs - that helps a lot too.  Drink a cuppa and get mentally prepared to at least make a decent case for myself.  

I hope I can curtail the coughing while in there, yes the steroids are working but they haven't eliminated the coughing 100%, it's like they got rid of about 90% of the coughing.  I'm afraid they're going to throw me out of there if I am hacking away.  I figure at least wear a mask in there, I definitely could have Covid.  I've never gotten headaches with a coughing cold before but I've had them the last 4 days since this all started.  That seems to me to be a sign of Covid.  But the coughing? Pretty much status quo misery that occurs every time I get sick.

Yea I think I will make some calls today.  Especially that guy who said he could do all of it, it's been a week since I last contacted him with no reply whatsoever. If he for some reason doesn't want to do it, that's fine, just tell me so I can move on.  That's all I ask. The other 2 as well, It's been over 2 weeks now, they said they could come out and take a look, we'll see if they answer their phone and just give them a friendly reminder that I'm still here and I still need this work done....and probably drive by there anyway and see if the power company is ever going to show up.....

Funny how a cup of coffee slowly starts to motivate a person out of slack and slumber, lol. 

I'm enjoying my time off of Facebook, btw.  I moved the app on my phone to the last page, all by itself, instead of at the bottom of the screen where it always shows no matter what page I'm on with the apps. That way I don't just automatically click on it.  I was going to delete the app altogether, but decided against it. There are interesting videos that show up there from random people, it takes you to Tik Tok. I don't have a Tik Tok account and I don't have the app on my phone but you can still watch other people's tik tok videos, some of them are hilarious.  The Trump app is apparently coming somewhere around the beginning of the year?  Whenever it's rolled out I'm going to join that and see how it compares. I would like to ditch Facebook permanently....no longer in love with their propaganda and censorship.  It really has just become a tool of the left and the far left to tell people how to think and what you are "allowed" to say. And if you come up with anything they don't like?  Baaammm!  And they must flag accounts that get repeated suspensions.  

If they eventually ban my account? I dunno if I"ll start another one.  It might just be the last hurrah, goodbye, good riddance, am already getting used to life without it now on my 3rd 30 day suspension, them treating users as some sort of school children that need monitoring is ridiculous. It's not like I go around cussing people out and calling them personal names, I'm not a troll in other words.  What you see here is what you get on the internet. I don't act out like a 5 year old having a temper tantrum as many, many grown adults do all over social media.  You see in the news where some celebrity or media figure has tweeted or posted on Facebook some outrageous statement about people they don't like - and usually directed against Trump supporters - neither Twitter nor Facebook does anything about them.  

The double standards are glaringly obvious.  

But it's also amazing how Facebook can seemingly take over your life if you're not paying attention to how much time you spend on it.  What would the progressives do without conservatives to bash on that platform?  As it stands I don't even go into debate groups anymore, save one, very small group (:and no, it's not an echo chamber) that has diverse views but the people remain civil. Many of them have been banned from facebook and are using alternate accounts, their main accounts disabled forever.  

And on that thought, I am in trucking groups where people talk some serious s***, I come nowhere even remotely close to the things these people say that don't get banned.  I'm mostly in those groups to dispel the constant misinformation that many truckers dish out all the time. Seasoned, veteran drivers that believe things that are not true, at all.  Newbies looking for info, I like to try and help them out.  many will get on there and bash them, but I take a stand against the trolls and I give real life, useful information to people that are just starting out in the industry and really are just clawing their way through the menagerie of all the things they need to learn.

I wouldn't even like attempting to start out as a newbie, greenhorn in this industry.  It's so overloaded with endless regulations and trucking companies looking over your shoulder, watching everything you're doing and troopers pulling you over all the time and some of them giving you a hard time even when you're being respectful to them - it's no wonder more people quit than stay in the industry within their first year.  I guarantee you that if I get any kind of ticket out of this, even if it were reduced to not having a seat belt on in my personal vehicle, my company is going to try to get all over my case about it.  And I'm going to shrug my shoulders, ask them about their perfection and if they have ever gotten a ticket and tell them to do what they must.  If that's part ways, it's part ways.  I'm not going to be shamed or humiliated because I did one single thing in the last 7-1/2 years that I have lived in Texas, in my OWN vehicle.  

I'm not going to apologize, I'm just going to say I'm human, I make mistakes. Show me a single driver here that hasn't had some kind of ticket in the last 7-1/2 years and I'll buy them dinner.  It's really outrageous that they hold us to such high standards - these companies and the states - but they don't hold themselves to the same standards.  You literally have to be a perfect little driving angel.  If you get enough tickets, they will suspend your CDL.  2 15 over tickets I believe is a year suspension.  I don't have 2 of those, but saying if I got another one I'd be being dragged before some counsel and being told I can't drive anymore.  

Just one more reason I desperately want out of trucking - before that happens and they take my livelihood away.  I'm not going to sit here and proclaim that I'll never get another ticket again....that would be stupid to say.  But I can tell ya, if I were just driving to my property every day and taking care of business there? The odds of getting tickets would go down greatly since it's only a little over 4 miles away, versus the 32 miles to work and the endless driving in a truck all over the place.  I can just be a hometown boy, working my own thing, minding my own business, helping others as much as I can and not having a corporation breathing down my neck along with a state that is insane along with all the other states and the feds in doling out punishments to drivers.  You wonder why they say there is a driver shortage? 72,000 of them have been disqualified for failing a drug test.  A vast majority of it marijuana - which can linger in your system for 30 days. Then you have drivers being disqualified for ridiculous reasons. And you have drivers that are saying screw this, I've had enough and hanging up their keys.

It's going to get far worse.  Only when automation takes over will it ever get better.

That's my rant for the day, I'm offa here, get my mind into a neutral mode and head over to the court house.

G'day.  

Nope, no power pole yet.

Because breakfast 

Random sunrise pic

Something 

Today’s accident. No clue what happened here, looks ugly. 

And my iPhone got me into Paycom and I was able to finalize my health care selections! 

 

 Barnsdall, Oklahoma.  Remembered to bring everything with me this time, fortunately, as I'm stuck up here for the night and probably up until around 11 am or noon.  They shut down the plant - but didn't cancel my load for osme reason. It's strange because when I got up here, I saw 2 full trailers and no empties.  Why would they want to have 3 loaded trailers up here with a shut down plant?  

Apparently they told the last driver to bobtail back, they didn't give me any such instructions and I can tell ya, I'm pretty glad I don't have to drive anymore today. It was a struggle getting up here, this sickness is kicking my @$$ and I don't feel all that well.  But now, I can sit here for the next  - probably 15 hours and take it easy.  

Won't be able to use this computer too long tho.  One thing this truck doesn't have is a built in power inverter.  Really strange because all of our other trucks have them.  And when they go out, they immediately replace them - they know us drivers want to be able to use ac electricity.  Plenty of dc power outlets in this thing, but that doesn't help my computer any.  

Anyway I was coughing, hacking and not feeling very nice at all today.  I was wishing I was at home, in bed.  When the other driver that was up here called me this morning and told me that they had told him they weren't going to offload any trailers today, meaning I would be stuck up here overnight, that gave me at least a little extra umpf to get up here, drop the loaded trailer and get parked in their parking lot.  

So, the new system for payroll is a complete pile of unmitigated garbage and giving employees problems logging in system wide.  And some employees don't have email accounts and refuse to get them, so they can't even set up an account with the system.  For me? I just tried to log in about a dozen times and was rejected every time until it locked me out.  I have until tomorrow evening to make my new selections for my health care coverage.  The wonder minds at corporate chose to end the ability to make changes on a Sunday instead of a weekday where at least people could call in asking for help logging in.  

I want to add long term disability, something they took me off of last year without my knowing about it and something I definitely want at my age.  It simply means if I become incapacitated, I will still receive a paycheck every week for - years actually.  And they used to give short term disability away for free, not so now and I can't access it - at the moment anyway. It gave me a 10 minute time out.  I'm going to try on my phone maybe I"ll have better luck.  I will be very unhappy if I can't make those changes,  I will feel rather unprotected.  You never know what's going to happen to you, I'm working in one of the most dangerous professions that exist in America. I think it's number 7 on the danger scale.  

Well whatever.  It's detention pay time, tho my dispatcher called all concerned that I won't be able to make it back for Monday.  I'm not near as concerned about it as she is. I didn't bother to tell her I'm sick or that I have no desire to drive any further tonight anyway.  I just said it's not going to be a problem, they will likely have a trailer unloaded mid morning and I will have plenty of time to get back and be where I need to be Monday morning.  I also didn't tell her what I am doing Monday - which is going to court.  Information they don't need to know.  If the ticket is dropped, they will never know about it, if it isn't but is converted to something lessor, they will hear about that and tho the company won't like it, it won't be near as bad as a 15 over speeding ticket.  

Whatever the case, I'm going to get off of here, shut the computer down and save it for the morning so I can do some searching for things I need to find for the property.

G'nite. 

 Another day of automatic bliss. That truck is sooooo incredibly slow when it starts out from being stopped.  I shift at least twice as fast and probably faster when I am using a stick shift.  But, I made it down to Brownsville and came back up okay.  

But I am extremely bored with this job. Money is nice, but being along in the truck all the time is not so nice.  It just gets old.  I may start looking for a local job and at least see what's available out there.  Oil field trucking is back up - but we all know how fickle that can be, booming one day ghost town the next. They make good money tho.  Most of them want you to have experience with it. 

Like what I"m hauling now, you just have to find a way to get your foot in the door.  Having had hauled tankers the last 4 years without accidents is quite helpful, that's what I would be looking to do, haul the salt water and oil produced by the natural gas wells that are abundant in this region. 

I'm also not in love with what's going on at the loading rack nowadays.  One particular company is being given favoritism to show up whenever they please and load in front of whoever is there that is on time.  I show up early to the loading rack every time, the only exception is if something happens to the truck or the trailer at the yard.  Which is rare. So the dude telling me that "all of you" are "always" late was extremely annoying.  I flat told him I was 20 minutes early - that was the last load, I will be 30 minutes early today.  

We'll see just how early he wants everyone there, the plant has informed us that it's 15 minutes.  The problem that can and does occur with too many trucks loading too fast is that the plant runs out of product, they can't produce it fast enough to keep up with a constant stream of trucks getting loaded without any down time in between.

Hence, there is usually a gap between one truck getting loaded, completed and off the rack and the next one showing up.  The "privileged trucks" from that company are there right now, loading.  I know this because of driver reports.  Are they scheduled to be there at that time? Who knows.  I would venture a guess as to probably not.  Whatever the case, I intend on being at the rack at 11:30 am today, my load time is noon.  That's double the plant minimum arrival time.  

It will screw up any chances of getting back tonight, but that's ok, I wasn't planning to anyway. Taking a break from doing Oklahoma in one day since the manager got on another driver's case about driving on Personal Conveyance time too much.  He made a valid argument: You guys do too much of it and safety (department) will just remove it off the Quaalcomm and you won't have it at all.  My goal will be to make it back at least as far as the casino truck stop tonight and then 124 miles left to go tomorrow morning. Enjoy Sunday at the house alone and prepare myself mentally for going before the judge tomorrow morning and hopefully either getting the speeding ticket dropped completely or downgraded to something lessor.  

I was talking to the cop neighbor last night, he said it won't go beyond a pre-trial hearing -which is what will take place on Monday, they don't want to waste the time and resources to do a jury trial for a speeding ticket, but urged me to make sure I declare I want an jury trial if, for some reason, the judge won't budge.  I'm just go in there with hat in hand, so to speak, ask the court's forgiveness, inform them it occurred in my personal vehicle but counts against my CDL, will negatively affect my driving record to the point my company may even let me go, I've been watching my speed in my personal vehicle - not tickets since then and definitely trying to make sure I don't get any more - didn't know the speed limit had dropped on the Interstate (which is true, I had only heard about it, I didn't notice the signs had been changed) and can you pleeeeeaaaassssseeeee drop the charge altogether or reduce it to something much less severe?  

He also said the higher up judge he had spoken to about it had likely already spoken to this judge.  

I dunno, but if it does go to a jury trial, I'll have to get a lawyer and shell out the bucks to protect my CDL.  I've read a lot of posts online about this very issue, most drivers say that when they go to court, the judge just lets it off.  I personally don't care if I have to pay a fine, I just don't want a 15 over ticket on my record.  

No, there is nothing new on the property front. And this chest cold got much more severe yesterday to the point I was wondering if I'd even make it back to they yard. I just spent some 11 hours in bed. I wasn't asleep the entire time but I definitely didn't feel like getting up. It's another reason I won't be interested in finishing this run today, I won't feel like it.  It's 552 miles to get back to the  casino truck stop, that's plenty.  And I slept in this truck, it's clean at least and doesn't have awful odors floating around in it.  Oh, the property, well just saying that yesterday I did not feel like calling any contractors because of the chest congestion and feeling pretty cruddy. 

I will - maybe - take that quest back up on Monday after court. Court is 9:40 am.  I say maybe because it depends on how I feel. I'd like to hope that getting home tomorrow late morning and spending the day resting that I will be feeling better by Monday, but you never know.  I feel compelled to get this thing going, but I am at the mercy of contractors.  If I had a trackhoe and a dozer I could have already had all of this done, but alas, I don't own such expensive equipment.  

Inflation is hitting hard right now as well and I suspect the cost of all the electrical stuff needed is going to be jacked up.  I just want to get it done before it gets jacked up so high I can even afford 14 lots.....

And as I started the last entry out, now I"m looking into a "cash out" refinance that refinances the house plus gives you the amount of money it's worth over that. Well, as much money over that as the bank will allow anyway.  I should be able to get 80 grand if that is true.  I will definitely be looking into that on Monday, that's a sit-at-home-and-peruse-bank-sites-on-the-internet type of thing.  

James, Taylor and the boys are on their way up to Missouri for a 4 day visit to see family up there. The grandma just died and they are going to give emotional support. They just left maybe an hour and a few ago, they still have quite a ways to go.  

Dogs will be staying home. Maria offered to watch them, but over at her place. Discussing it with Taylor, we both agreed we'd rather have the dogs at home, protecting the property and giving some verbal warning to any wannabe thieves.  Addler is not a wimp, I can tell ya that, but when it comes to that back yard, none of those dogs are shy about giving notice that they are there and don't even think about coming back here.  I have a camera back there as well and it has a microphone.  

Finally? I really don't feel that well and going to work today is going to be a drag to say the least.  But, if it gets really bad, the most I have to do is get up to the plant, drop and hook and then just go find a place to park.  It doesn't matter as far as the company is concerned, they just want the trailer back tomorrow.  Speaking of that, one of the other drivers posted a pic from that plant's entrance last night. Another truck from another company had quite well misjudged the entrance and pulled the trailer into a ditch.  The pic was replete with 2 tow trucks in the scene and standing there assessing the situation.  

No, it's not funny, but that entrance is huge.  I know it was night time but we all pull in there at night. Just swing wide and you'll miss that ditch - by far.  It's not even close.  You see pics of this type of thing on the internet all the time. It's a wonder to me, your mirrors don't lie, they show you where you're at in the turn.  I hope I never make that kind of mistake, is all I can say.  

With that, I think I will leave even earlier than I originally planned, go get some breakfast, drive by the property- I do that a lot lol and looking to see if they installed that pole yet.  And just to keep the property in the forefront of my mind.  I also need to go over there and get some good pics of the trees and stuff and see what the site developer thinks. Not today, tho. Maybe Monday. 

G'day

 I knew nothing about refinance cash out until today.  I only knew about HELOCs.  A Helco is a second mortgage, a cashout is refinancing the house plus getting whatever they will give you for the value of your home beyond what you owe on it.  It's basically starting from the beginning on paying for your house.  

————————

In the automatic and forgot my keyboard. Just a quick statement. Facebook suspended my account again. For 30 days. They didn’t have the alleged offending statement available so I had no clue what they were even referring to. 

Fast forward several hours. Facebook didn’t even give an option to have it reviewed,  but they ended up reviewing it anyway. They then said that my comment did not violate Facebook standards so the comment was put back up. 

What comment? Where? So they took the suspension off of that but then decided to suspend me for 30 days for “offenses” going back a full year that I have already been suspended for. 

Yes, you read that correctly. They are suspending my account twice for offenses I have already been banned for!

Unbelievable. 

I am beginning to despise Facebook. 

No long entry tonight, don’t have my keyboard and don’t feel like writing anything out on iPhone keypad. But, my new site is up. It’s just a single page. Says coming soon! And the name of my park. 

This guy is an expert at what he does and his prices are quite reasonable. It will take a few months for my park name to actually come up in any searches without having to dig for it. So it’s good to get it going now. 

I’m going to take some pics of areas of the property that will make it look very nice. Just tree pics. I’ll send him a few dozen different pics and see if he likes any of it. 

Well enough. I’ve got a deep chest cold thanks to the 4 year old. Won’t come down on him too hard but he wouldn’t stop coughing everywhere and not covering his mouth. Not feeling too great and just got into Brownsville. Just gonna go to sleep and hopefully get some good rest. 

G’nite. 

 Of course, the company shorted me a great deal of break down pay.  My tour sheet that lists all of that was quite well detailed.  They send out settlement sheets that show a break down of what's being paid where.  So, I immediately contacted my manager, sent him all the info and a copy of the tour sheet and informed him that I am not interested in a repeat of getting shorted such as what occurred that night several months ago where the airbag on the trailer broke and they refused to pay me for it.

I will await his action on it and see if he can get this taken care of.  If not, I informed him I would be talking to the powers that be directly about this situation, as I am not going to be sit around dealing with getting their ancient equipment fixed - some of the trailers we have are 30 plus years old - and think that I should just be doing it for free.  I'm actually to the point that I would consider getting a lawyer and suing the company for failure to pay worked hours - however that would work out.  

This stuff irks me. Any time I have a break down after that incident, I wonder whether I'm going to get paid.  If they screw me again, the next time it breaks down I will contact my manager and tell them to send someone up to tend to the truck or trailer for free, as I will be refusing to do so.  I won't call the break down number, I won't do anything but tell them to deal with it.  Or give me in writing a guarantee before I do anything, that I am going to get paid for every single minute that I'm dealing with it - whether on or off duty. This isn't my policy, I didn't make this up, this is their policy and there is no valid reason not to honor.  I'll give my manager a chance to see if he can get this changed without all the - friction that will likely ensue if this company refuses to pay up.  

Telephone pole still not in, never received a return call from the power company about an estimated install time.  I'm not going to call again for at least another week. Just let it ride, I don't have to have this right away.  I need it in - somewhat soon - but not right now.  You do it now because you find out it can be up to 2 months before they actually show up to do the install.

I did talk to the website designer at length on the phone.  He doesn't just do web design, he engages in getting google traffic steered towards your website.  He knows how to manipulate the algorithms that determine whose sites show up at the top of the searches.  This guy has been involved in helping businesses grow for 27 years, he definitely has a grasp on what he's doing, I think I found a winner on that level. What we are going to do is have up a prototype stie that won't really have any info on it, but it will be on Google. It apparently helps to have it up months in advance to get the ratings up. 

Well, hurry up and wait.  Just can only give friendly reminders that I am still here, still needing all kinds of work done, please don't forget.  

It will get done sooner or later.

Brownsville run tomorrow - in the automatic truck.  It is a better driving truck than the previous automatics I have driven.  I'm not in love with the thing but it's tolerable.  My truck is currently being repaired, I'm hopeful the thing is done by the time I get back from this next trip and go up and get it.  Even the drive back from the hotel and repair facility - they switched it to hourly instead of mileage, losing another $70 or $80.  I was shorted around $400.   

Today, i found out from an old associate from Ferguson that the manager there had been fired. This is the guy they enlisted from a purchasing position - where he was alone in a building and not interacting with anyone excepting on the phone because he can't deal with people without getting angry.  His immediate first actions as new manager was to get lividly angry and shout at the top of his lungs at everyone.  And so on and so forth - of which I eventually turned in as well as another for abusing employees. The "investigation" turned out that "no one else can corroborate your story".  And I said at the time, of course not, they are afraid of him and losing their jobs.  

Why was he fired?  Because he not only threatened to beat an employee's ass, he actually went to the guy's house!  Some level of vindication is felt at this point in time. The guy has anger issues, everyone working around him knows that, but people are afraid of losing their jobs so they won't rock the boat.  

Well enough.  I have stuff to do.  It's already late afternoon, dinner to be made and other stuff I need to get done before I go to bed to get up early for loading tomorrow morning.  

 This dude with the construction company was wanting plans, so I made plans and sent them to him.  My version of plans, not some engineer that wants 2 grand and way up from there to do it.  I don't  need plans for a loan since I'm not going that route - yet -  I therefore don't need professional plans - at the moment anyway - and balk at the idea of giving that much money for something so simple.  This layout, especially for only 14 sites, is not that complicated.  

But I get the need for seeing the dimensions of everything in linear feet to be able to give an accurate quote.  I put that together while waiting at the loading rack this morning.  

The dude didn't even reply when I sent it.  I also sent it to the dude that set up the water install. He didn't reply either, but he typically doesn't right off lol.  I'm not sure he even does text messaging.  

When I get home tomorrow, I'll try again on a larger sheet of paper - much larger - and try to get the nuances more visible and easy to understand. 

Im sitting at a cheap hotel in Paris, Texas.  I am in yet another truck, this time an automatic transmission - hate those things.  Anyway, I completely forgot to get my second set of truck bedding this morning. I have 2 sets in case of - stuff just like this. I mean, they did clean out this truck, I'll give them credit for that, but they did not replace the mattress and I am definitely not sleeping on a mattress with no sheets or blanket. Not in something that has probably been slept in by a dozen different people - or more - and who knows what they are all about.  

It's standard to throw away old mattresses and start with new when you get a used truck into a yard.  Apparently they missed that memo.  I was going to stay at a nicer hotel, but the truck parking was all filled up and I couldn't find another place to park.  Not without blocking cars in and such.  I drove across the street to this place. It's not bad, actually, a bit of road noise but that should die down the later it gets.  It's almost midnight.  I figure to get 6 hours of sleep hopefully before the noise starts up again in the morning.  

The AC in here doesn't have continuous fan like most hotels.  That noise helps me sleep.  

Well, I didn't realize I had blown an hour and a half until I just looked at the clock. I got here around 10:30.

Think it's time to get to sleep. 

 As I bumble my way through this RV park mess, I decided to take another, fresh look at the the RV parks in the area.  Refresh my memory, it's been quite a while since I looked and I do remember looking at them gave me inspiration. Not only to have as much of everything they all have, but then some. 

One thing the whole lot of them is lacking is a swimming pool.  I could not find one in any site, even the more "luxury" parks didn't have one.  Some of them have small lakes - something I have plenty of room for in the back of my property, tho I think I'm just going to start with a large fishing pond.  Something like 50 to 100 feet in diameter, so to speak, but I don't want a perfectly round pond. That doesn't look natural and I will be looking at pics of ponds all over the place to see what I want to have dug out - if/when I get there.

Well, not if I get there, it's a necessary part of the operation.  The drawback is the pond will have to be in the rear of the property, people will have to walk a fair distance to get to it from the park area.  I don't know if that's going to cause problems.  From the rear of the RV park it will still be another 700 feet off, the rear of the park will be around 1,350 from the street.....

Still, quite intriguing there are no pools. In fact, there is only one public pool in the entire town.  Some of the hotels have pools tho.  The reason I want a pool wasn't because no one else had one, I wasn't really sure about that until I started looking, but because it gets hot in northeast Texas in the summer and I can't really see a way to get people to want to come without some activity outside of the RV that isn't going to have people dripping with sweat.  You have to give them something to do, that's all I'm saying.

A pool is definitely not in the cards from the get go unless I can get financed for one.  

One of the supposedly better parks in the area had a giant gravel area for the rv's to park in.  There were spaces, I guess, but no grass, no picnic tables, no fire rings, just dirt and gravel.  It had a man made lake. It has a huge laundromat.  I can't compete with that right off the bat but I can put a few machines in.  Other than that, there is a large laundromat about 2-1/2 miles up the road.  I just thought that park, touting itself as the best around, had a long ways to go to make them competitive.  Maybe with the other parks in the immediate area it's better.....everything I plan on doing right at the start will make my park better than that place in many ways and when I eventually get done with upgrades, it will hopefully resemble an RV resort without the RV resort nightly stay prices.  

My intended nightly price is within the parameters of anything around my area.  Low priced, but I think the reason it's that way is because these parks have been around forever yet apparently aren't interested in upgrading to appeal to a much larger audience.  Much of the parks I am looking at here are nothing more than over night parking lots, to put it simply.  

It just reminded me that I'm  on the right track, I think anyway.  I'm going to have to find these parks on satellite and see if I'm missing something. One of them lists nature trails, but it didn't look like much.  I'm going to spend a couple thousand more in getting the trails I have done leveled and completely cleared and finishing up the rest of it.  The websites were pretty spartan as well. One of them had a - half-assed - description of their park and the rest had much of nothing. Probably because they have much of nothing to offer. I can only surmise they are either content with just people traveling through the area staying a night or - probably a lot of it - people living in those parks.  

Monthly rental rates that I saw are highly unappealing to me.  Not much money in that.  That's the old model - cram them in as small an area as possible, give them the basic amenities and call it good. 

I may not know as much about how to go about getting everything done as I would like to - but I do know what I want in terms of the end product.  That's the key. Old school, old model business platform.  People stay at them because there aren't a lot of other options in some or even many places.  Large corporations are getting into the RV business, building giant parks with water parks and all kinds of amenities that I can't compete with.

But not everyone wants to stay at mega parks.  Fortunately.

My first attempt at drawing a plan was a resounding failure.  I made everything too big on the paper and I couldn't show the entire park on it, just the spaces I need to put in at first.  That simply won't work.  The drawing has to show both driveways going clear to the back with a turn around back there - even if it's just cleared to begin with.  These people are pushing to clear the entire 7 acres, which is okay if it doesn't cost a fortune.  But to do that, I have to give them my proposed setup.  

I decided where to put everything - whether it at the beginning or future project - so I have to start all over and try again.  And again and again until I get it right.  

Well enough of this.  I have work tomorrow in a truck that I have no knowledge of it's condition.  I will show up early and see what I'm getting myself into.  Still irked about that driver telling lies so he could get his own way. I don't care about that truck, I do care that a person is attempting to taint another person's image for no particularly good reason.  

At least I corrected that nonsense with the people he was telling it to.  Rigidity and unwillingness to adapt doesn't work well with this particular company.  Being branded such a person - doesn't get that person very far.  

With that, g'nite.  

So the new dispatcher calls me today and we get into a conversation that leads to her saying, Oh, well Joe tole Ryan that you wouldn't ever drive that truck, at all.

What.  Joe - he called me yesterday and he discussed he wanted the truck the were going to give to me while my truck is being fixed - Peterbilt hasn't even given my company a quote yet on the repair cost . 

He had been told what I had said to another driver beyond him about not wanting to drive that truck - caveat: until it's cleaned out and detailed. 

Joe heard what I said yesterday. The same thing was said several times over, I WILL drive that truck after they clean it out, for we went into the specifics of a cleaning lady that is used to clean trucks out.  I said in no uncertain terms, several times over, the fact that I would drive the truck AFTER it's cleaned.

JOE flat out LIED to the company about MY desires and that s*** pissed me off.  I said to Amanda - my new dispatcher - that I never said any such thing and considering how much the conversation was hashed out, I had to conclude that that driver was lying about what I said.

It makes me look bad if I absolutely refuse to drive a truck without ANY concessions about what it would take to change my mind.  I don't feel like I should have to drive someone else's trashed out truck.  The company has the onus to make sure it's cleaned out and yes, throw out the mattress and start fresh.  

Note that this other driver said the exact same thing, the truck needs to be cleaned out before I will drive it.

The reason he  lied about what I said became quite clear yesterday: He wanted that truck now and I shouldn't have it, he should get it right away.  I was polite to him about it but I am quite firm when it comes down to what dispatch is telling me.  He also lied about what he said dispatch told him.  

I'm not going to call Joe up about it, we don't talk on the phone often, but if he ever calls me again? I'm going to call him out on it and I'm going to tell him I do not wish discuss anything further with him - about ANYTHING. This is pretty much my status quo with drivers because this is what they do.  They twist and contort other people's words to not only make them look bad but also to help that driver in their cause, whatever that may be.

I don't talk to other drivers much on the phone, I can tell ya that.  I have ample experience with how this works.  

What my dispatcher told me was that Joe had told the lead mechanic that I had said that I would never drive that truck and of course word got out to everyone after that about it.  I texted the mechanic and informed him that that is not what I said and informed him of what I did say.  Didn't push it too far, just enough to come to the understanding that what he said and what is truth are two separate things.

This stuff irritates me to say the least.  It's not just that he got his way, I don't care about that at all. Let these people be petty, it comes back to bite them in the @$$ down the road.  

Onto other things. 

The 4 year old came down with something. Whatever it is, he has a 102 fever.  Hacking/coughing away, he's a miserable little boy right now.  He decided he wanted to sleep in my bed lol, with Cartoon Network on, I couldn't just tell the little soul no so I let him.  It's early, Mama just gave him a cocktail of stuff to bring the fever down.  

Am I afraid of getting sick? Well, when these boys get sick, it's pretty much a granted the whole house is going to get sick right along with them.  Hence, we've all had Covid.  There is other stuff floating around there besides Covid, people, there are other illnesses that cause incessant coughing and fever, just saying.

Anyway, I do have work tomorrow. Another truck opened up - same deal tho I didn't say anything, they are having it detailed. Should be done by now, actually.  It's an Oklahoma run, if the thing is nasty I will only have to tolerate it for a day or overnight at best.  And, if it IS nasty in the sleeper, I will get a hotel and send the bill to the company. I'm not attempting to sleep in some nasty, gross, smelly sleeper. Been there, done that, won't do it again.  

Property.  The dude that said they can do everything? Finally responded. "Can you send a drawing of how you want it done"?  Oh? You've been waiting this long for that?  Never asked for it, apparently their electrician wants it.  Fine, I will do my version of drawing it out I just have to wonder why they would wait until I had to call them to give me that information. Tells me they aren't in need of the work and tho I will send them whatever I come up with, I will also wait until the other contractors can come out and give me their quotes as well. 

There is no point in getting into a hurry to do something that might have a better price or even a better price and better results.

I called the power company and the guy called me back later. He said he would give me a date of their intended installation when he gets back to his office. It's almost 5:00 pm, I'm assuming I won't be getting that call today.  It's just being persistent I guess, I'm a real customer with cash, please get back to me.  

So, will I spend the rest of today drawing up the plan? Yes, I think I will.  I have this thing mapped out in my mind, included distances in linear feet, I can put something together that will show them exactly what I want to do.  It is pretty simple stuff - but it's in my mind and I understand they aren't mind readers, they want to see exactly what I intend on doing, I will do my best to make something that they can easily understand without having a lot of questions.  

Whatever I need to do to get this thing rolling, I will do it.  

Well whatever.  I need to finish making dinner, get my stuff ready for the morning and some other stuff that needs doing around here.

G'day. 

 It is finished. After getting the car from the airport, I went back to the hotel, spent the night, got up - earlyish - and then headed out.  A normally around $500 trip turned into around $1,400 with 3 vehicles of driving and a lot of hourly breakdown pay.  I'm sure I'll have to fight and claw for all of that pay, it's a huge mix of different vehicles and times listed for breakdown pay plus normal pay;  Tho, on the last breakdown trip, my manager did his due diligence and I received all of it without any problems.  

I did drive by the property in the hopes of possibly seeing a brand new telephone pole installed - but not yet.  Monday I will be calling several places about an update on getting bids or doing work.  

Oh, and I checked the truck that they were allegedly going to have detailed - not done.  They have a lady that comes to the yard and does it, with accolades and high praise for her work.  I won't drive that truck without it getting cleaned out first.  If they demand I do, it will be with the caveat that I am not sleeping in it and short trips. I'm back now, my truck will likely sit up in Tulsa for at least a week if not longer.  That's just the way it works. 

Now, with leaving early the other day. Remember the dispatcher called me and had me racing out of here to try and get to the plant on time for the earlier load time?  Yup, I forgot to both make my bed and put objects on it to keep the dogs from getting on it. So, my bedding was disgustingly filthy. Already in the washing machine, thanks.  

So,; I assume (possibly wrongfully so, I'll find out soon enough) I have tomorrow off.  I'd really like to get out there and start marking trees I don't want taken down in any land clearing endeavor.  I'm hoping land clearing is coming soon, within  the next few weeks anyway, but the price has to be right.  Ididn't originally earmark a lot of money for land clearing, but as with most other things about this proposition, my thinking has evolved.  I would like this operation up and running for the Spring season.  That means we gotta get busy and get those contractors installing everything.  

Which also got me to thinking about the bath house. As the old saying goes, One Chance To Make A First Impression.  People want that thing and they want it from the get go. Excuses don't wash.  And the consequences could very well be negative reviews all over the internet - no bathhouse, 2 star property, blah blah blah.  You know, those reviews never go away unless the author retracts them - which I doubt hardly ever happens.

So, if my business got negative reviews for that from the start, they are going to stay there and even if I have a big banner saying "BATHHOUSE IS NOW HERE!!" .....it's not going to change those reviews and probably the first thing a lot of full time RV'ers look at and get no further.  So, I really have to make it happen, the bathhouse that is.  A swimming pool can wait, it's not a necessity such as a bath house.  A pond? Not really, it's part of the appeal. The walking trails? No, not that either. Muist be completely.  And a doggy park.  

So, I have new resolve to figure out  how to make these things happen on limited funding and get it done before any grand opening occurs.  I figure 10 grand minimum probably more like 15 to 20 for a decent bath house.  Yup, I changed my mind again but with a good reason to do so.  I will find the financing, some how, some way. If it's a loan, so beit.  To that end I'm going to start contacting construction companies on giving me a price for one. 

Well actually, I need to find some plans for one if they're on the net somewhere and see what designs are already drawn up that can be purchased.  I need to get some idea of how much it will cost.  I will wait until the land is cleared and the utilities installed before I make any decisions on what to build and where to build it.  Somewhere along the row where the pull throughs will be. 

I'm truly not trying to come off wishy washy changing my mind about things - several things so far - but I am learning as I go and I would rather eat the humble pie now. Yes that was a bad idea, but no harm done for nothing has been done yet type of thing.  

I'd actually like to go to the property today and take the dogs for a nice walk. Absolutely gorgeous day out there, but I think I will hang out with people and maybe go over tomorrow with doggies. And maybe try to decide where to put the doggy park.  I'm thinking bath house on one side of the main drive way and doggy park on the other.  

A lot of this stuff will be easier to envision, tho, when the land is cleared and I can walk along and get a better picture in my mind how it should all go. And deciding where a swimming pool will eventually go. There is no point in putting in lots where you intend on building in the future.  But, the first 7 lots on each side will have no bearing on that so not a huge concern right off the bat.  Yup, the next obstacle right now is just getting the land cleared.  

Well, it's not really an obstacle, more like the next step.  Just its in the way of my making several other decisions and I'd like to get it done.....

Well, it's Saturday afternoon and I'm just going to relax - besides doing some laundry lol.

G'day.  

 Lounging around in a hotel room. Super 8 - not trashy actually, it was the closest thing to the Peterbilt repair shop that would take me in early - like many hours earlier than normal check in time. Otherwise, I would be at Comfort Inn.

Because of the fiasco at the yard and getting loaded yesterday morning, I completely forgot to put my clothing/toiletries bag into the truck before leaving the yard the second time heading up to Oklahoma.  Of course, it would be the one time I forgot that the truck also - broke down and had to be towed to Tulsa. 

I only know that something is wrong with the actuator/s that help engage the clutch when you push the pedal down. I came very close to crashing into a another truck at the Love's in Okmulgee last night when I went to push in the clutch to put it in neutral and hit the brakes to stop for the other truck.  The pedal would not go down at all, no matter how hard I pushed on it. At the time of panic and you are wondering what to do next, you are pushing very hard on that clutch pedal.

I ended up killing the engine, which probably wasn't too helpful to the system in itself but I had no choice.  I wasn't going that fast, at least, maybe 5 mph, I was just leaving the Love's after fueling up so I could get down the Indian Nation Turnpike, stop at the casino truck stop for the night, get some breakfast at the casino the next morning and then head back in.  

Anyway, the truck is at the shop and presumably they have or are looking at it now. They said it would only be a couple of hours before they could get to it - rather unprecedented in the world of Peterbilt repair facilities.  I'm going to wait til' around 3 pm and then contact the lead mechanic and see if they have contacted him with what the problem is and eta for repairing it.  If it's going to be too long - days - I suspect my manager will want me coming back. The company doesn't much care to pay breakdown pay, it's an hourly wage the entire time you are broke down.  

Fortunately for me, I had a dirty set of clothing I had forgotten to get out of the truck from the last trip - that is in the laundry right now, another hour and I will have fresh, clean clothes to put on. I've had the same clothes on for 2 days now, lol.  Otherwise, I'd be taking a Lyft to the nearest Walmart Supercenter and buying new clothes.  It's one thing to wear the same pants for 2 days, entirely another to be wearing the same socks and shirt that long.   

16 hours of breakdown pay so far.   I always measure how good the getting is by the average amount I get per day driving.  So if I left now, I"d have 3 days worth of driving pay - for 2 days worth of work. I'd actually love to have to spend the night here.  I notified everyone excepting my manager - he doesn't really like dealing with anything. My dispatchers would have let him know by now.  If I contact him, he's going to find a way to get me back and an overnight hotel stay with restaurants nearby is more appealing to me. But, I don't make those calls and I'm just waiting on word for what's next. 

Paid for a year's worth of the domain name for my RV park earlier.  Wanted to get that done. It's obviously nothing that anyone is chomping at the bit for or it wouldn't be available, lol, but that's the name I like and no one really suggested anything else - I was definitely open to other names as I'm not the best name-maker on earth - but no one said anything.  I think it's a good enough name and it's going to have to work.  I sent that info to the web designer.  

Now onto the disturbing news that came from the White House that has truckers riled up all over the place.  The issuance of directives from OSHA to force employers to force employees to get vaccinated or get tested once a week.  I feel that's an outrageous intrusion into citizen' personal lives, the government seriously has no right or mandate to be demanding such a thing. To inject a foreign substance into one's body should solely be the decision of the person getting the shot, NO ONE ELSE.  The only exception I can see is parents wanting kids vaccinated for things like polio.  

It's not like you can just "opt out" of work. Well, you can but what are you going to do? And now, they are considering making the same mandate for employers employing LESS than 100 employees. In other words, pretty much everyone.  If anecdotal evidence would serve any useful purpose, the truckers in the various forums I'm in are almost all saying no thanks with ensuing explicatives.  I do believe many truckers would quit before taking the vaccine tho.  I've been saying I will quit my job before I get that stuff injected into my veins.  

So, it was interesting to get a statement from our company's CEO, I believe it was, stating that the company has no intention, whatsoever, to force any employees to get the vaccine.  They kind of alluded to it in a previous email some months ago, but nothing that was this direct, to the point and explicit about it.  What they probably understand is they will lose a significant enough amount of their work force that would effectively shut down plants all over the place.  Hospitals getting their oxygen - might not get their oxygen.  I'm not really for that, but everything else can go, such as nitrogen, helium, Co2, a long list of stuff we haul.  

And apparently, there is an exemption for people that "mostly" work outside and aren't around others that much.  Well, truckers are sort of outside, in their trucks, definitely alone or with a co-driver and not much interaction anywhere, really.  Shippers and receivers mostly want nothing to do with truckers, just take or load the trailers and please leave.  In fact, many of them are quite hostile to truckers, not affording them use of restrooms and other facilities that they may have.  The towns they are in don't want trucks parked anywhere....this nation has become a rather hostile place for a truck driver and his or her truck.  

The CEO spoke of that exclusion and the idea that truckers are likely to be exempted from this mandate.  The CEO also spoke of lawsuits - of the like I already know about, states are either already filing them or have them ready.  The daily wire - Ben Shappiro media outlet - has vowed to take the feds to court and also refusing to comply regardless of the consequences.  That guy usually puts his money where his mouth is, the rubber meeting the road, he's going to back up his words.  Gutsy move taking on the government that has vast, virtually unlimited resources when it comes to court proceedings and actions.  

I do believe an injunction from a federal judge somewhere will occur quickly.  If the federal government can force us to inject liquid into our veins, what else will it be able to do?  Unbelievable powers to force their will upon citizens.   

And in better news, beyond the astounding losses the democrats were handed in the recent election, Pelosi and her bellicose, controlling and self-aggrandizing attitude has been put down yet again by House moderates who apparently are not in love with this reconciliation bill and want the CBO estimate on how much it's actually going to cost.  I was watching a video from a republican representative who put a huge stack of papers on her desk and informed everyone they had just given them to her and yet expected a vote on it without having time to read through it.  This is Pelosi's style and I am glad that finally some of these politicians are getting some back bone to stand up to it, even from her own party.  The infighting the democrats are engaging in may spell the doom of the bill altogether. 

Remember the "let's pass the bill so we can see what's in it" or similar statement she made a long time ago? Apparently that approach won't work anymore.  On the Senate side, Manchin is firmly entrenched in the idea that this bill will cause more inflation and have consequences that Americans aren't going to like.  He actually states he's representing the will of the people that elected him, not Washington bureaucrats, progressives and even citizens that are harassing him at every turn.  The man needs his own security detail, judging from some of the video I have seen.

________________

And of course they are now saying the truck probably won't be fixed until the end of next week.  That isn't good news.  I found this out from the mechanic and then my dispatcher calls me and tells me the same thing, when do you want to come back? One said leave today the other said leave Monday lmao.  I just said leave today - but that was hours ago and they still haven't gotten any rental car info to me.  Most of those places close at 6 and it's 5:09 pm. I have to be able to get there in time.....

I'm just going to leave tomorrow even if they get me the info in the next few minutes.  It's legit, if the manager dispatcher says it's okay, which she did, then I can stay the night here, collect more breakdown pay and then go home, collecting mileage pay while driving (on medium length trips, mileage pay pays better than hourly wage) . 

Oh, yes, back to the bad part: putting me in another dude's truck.  I drove that truck to the plant and back yesterday morning, it was disgusting.  The dispatcher was telling me how I could drive his truck and I said no thank you. Whyyyyyy? Because it's freaking disgusting, that's why.  Gross.  She said she'd get it detailed and cleaned out.  Well if she does that then ok. Apparently this guy got fired. I asked her, she said she had heard he is no longer with the company.  I asked another driver and he knew the whole story, but would only tell me he "was terminated" from the company.  Again, and as always, there is no job security with the company I'm working for.  I learned that not long after I started working there, I just play along with it and if the same happens to me? Oh well.  I won't be happy, I try to do whatever they want, but in the end, they don't care if individuals come and go.  

They should, tho.  They have a very hard time replacing drivers in this current driver's market. Doesn't really make any sense. 

                                                                                                      

 This nonsense started yesterday in Brownsville.  When they finally showed up with a trailer, they came running up to my truck, telling me there is something wrong with it. Okkkkkaaayyyyy.  

I get over to it after they had just dropped it, got underneath it and then went to see what they were talking about.  The landing gear on the passenger side. It wouldn't crank up.  They cranked on it, it'd go up a few inches and then drop - like, drop drop.  I'm looking  at them repeatedly trying to get it to go up and wondering why they just dropped this trailer like they just had with this gear doing this - and they knew about this problem before they dropped.  

What would have happened if the thing had just let go and gone down? I can tell you exactly what would have happened, the whole trailer would have fell over onto it's side and right on top of us, that's what would have happened.

So they get two guys with long metal bars to lift up on the bottom of the gear while another guy was cranking and eventually they got it to go up.  After a certain amount of cranking, it was fine.  I texted my manager, mechanics and 2 dispatchers in one group text. Told them what was going on with it and that I would not be dropping the trailer in the yard when I get back.  There is no way I'm going to have a catastrophe like that - a trailer tipping over on it's side and costing tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage and possibly getting hurt or even killed in the process.  

So last night, late, I got back to the yard, left the truck hooked to the trailer. I had already been given a run for today, but it wasn't until noon, apparently the mechanics figured they could replace the gear before then.  

This morning. Woke up earlier than I needed to but I was rested.  Got in the shower, got back out saw a missed call from the dispatcher.  Called her back, she was telling me that the plant wanted me to show up at the 10:30 spot instead of noon and that my truck was still indisposed because the mechanics were not well inclined to be dropping that trailer in that condition, either, and were in the middle of replacing the gear on the trailer.  So, I had to rush to work, get into someone else's truck - a total slob, I must add, nasty inside that thing - go to the plant, load, come back to the yard, drop the trailer, park his truck and get into my truck and hook up to the loaded trailer.

Yes, they had fixed the trailer, the thing was sitting in the yard when I got back.  So I got my stuff, got in and drove off.  I had this nagging feeling that I had forgotten something, but oh well, it's only an overnight or even a day trip to Oklahoma.  It was 130 miles later when I stopped to get a sugar free candy bar out of my clothes bag that I realized that my clothes bag? Is still in my SUV at the yard.  No biggies, right? Just have to wear the same clothes the next day, not the end of the world.  

Fast forward to the highway that leads you up to the plant.  It's highway 11, you turn right off of highway 20 near Skiatook.  Well, there was a big state highway truck parked in the middle of the street when you turn, lights flashing, no one is going through there.  Gag.  I pulled up to him and he jumped up on the steps.  What's going on?  Well, there's been an accident.  Oh, do you have any idea how long it will take for them to clear the road?  Well, I can tell you, the coroner just showed up less than 30 minutes ago, it's probably going to be a while.

The coroner?!! At least one fatality, that's going to be a while.  It's always said to find such accidents and see people dead, I've seen it several times in my trucking career.  Come up on an accident before first responders have arrived and see - bodies.  And in at least a couple of cases, they were obviously dead. The lady's head that was crushed into the steering wheel - and I mean the steering wheel was a part of her head - she was dead - dead.  

Anyway, that eliminated any hope of making it back today and I didn't really care at that point.  I had to go all the way back to 75, head north up to Bartlesville, back over to 123, and then back to 11 and the to the plant.  Dude at the plant looked at me wide eyed when I told him about having to go around and the fatality.  "You haven't heard anything about it?". He looked at me funny and said no, but I'm sure I'l hear about it before the night is over....

Out of there, I drove to Oklmulgee, I usually stop at the Love's Travel Center there to refuel, get some ice water and a guac burger, lettuce wrapped. Did all of those things and then headed out of the parking lot to the street......

I got to the turn to go up to the street - it's an L turn and there are trucks parked everywhere here, including along the entrance/exit.  A truck was coming in just as I was about to make the turn, so I pushed the clutch in to get into neutral.  The clutch made a cracking noise and then? Wouldn't push in! I'm starting to panic, I'm headed straight at this truck and I can't get it out of gear to stop it!

Under normal circumstances, I could have just pushed in the accelerate, sped up a bit and it would have allowed me to float it back into neutral. But I needed to stop, not accelerate.  I ended up hitting the brakes and killing the engine by forcing it off through braking it down to the point it died on it's own. 

I am now stuck here, partially out into the lane and there is nothing I can do. The clutch will not push in. This truck isn't moving unless it's either fixed or it's towed. I'll guess it ends up getting towed, who knows. I was on hold for 45 minutes with the repair line for our company - no one answered, hung up and tried again.  I'm over 8 minutes now.  Annoying.  Everyone complains about this company our company uses to get roadside help in event of breakdowns but it falls on deaf ears.  

And here we go again.  After well over an hour, a lady finally answered the phone, got all the info, said they would have someone come try to fix it - just like last time not that long ago - and do that instead of having it towed. Last time, it was pretty obvious that the truck would have to be towed. This time? I have no clue what's wrong with this thing, none whatsoever. I don't know why the clutch won't push in and the engine compartment is so filled up with engine and related junk all around it, you can't even see the linkage for the clutch pedal.

And I can tell ya, I'm not getting on my back on the asphalt in this dirty truck stop to look.  I don't care that much, this isn't my problem. I am paid to drive the truck, not repair it. I will fix minor stuff if I can, yes, but something like this? Nope.  They want us to drive trucks with mega miles on it, they are obviously also enamored with the idea that they are going to break down and they are going to be dishing out money for repairs on the road.  It's already 11:13 pm - this is going to be another long night.  Excepting for one thing: If the mechanic isn't going to be able to get here for hours, don't bother.  I'll take my 10 hour break so I can get on the clock and they can pay me my breakdown pay versus them attempting to tell me that "you were off duty" so they won't pay me.  

I'm more unhappy with myself for forgetting my gear.  It figures that I would have to go through this when I don't have anything with me but one set of dirty clothes besides what I'm wearing.  But who knows, maybe a mechanic can come out here and magically fix it! lol!  

Well, fatigue is setting in. I'm going to try to catch a few winks before this ordeal starts. It will be a mechanic, showing up at 2 am or something, wanting to know what's wrong, trying to figure out what's wrong and then telling me whether he can fix it - or not.  And if not, then I will be waiting for a tow truck.  And then, it will be towed to Tulsa, the closest Peterbilt shop to me.  Actually probably only like 50 or 60 miles away, and then a hotel, take the dirty clothes, wash them at the hotel and at least have some clean clothes to wear : )

Or whatever happens, lol.  

Editing: Was about to post this and then the repair lady called back. Everyone telling her at repair shops that that is a dealer issue, have it towed.  How would I know?  I don't, I have no clue what's wrong with this thing.  So now, wait for them to find a tow truck, come here, hook up and haul it back up to Tulsa peterbilt.  If I recall correctly, there is a hotel right across the street from it.  And if it's going to take more than a day? My manager will find a way to get me back without the truck, even if it means renting a car.  

G'nite

 I spent some time correcting the new dispatcher in her thinking without coming off as obnoxious or otherwise superior.  She was upset that other drivers had to wait over the weekend for empty trailers to show up.  She thought it "sucks for you guys".  My reply?  Uhh, if you ask everyone, 90% of drivers are going to say they absolutely adore and love waiting down here, getting paid to sit around doing nothing.  

I got here - Brownsville - last night and much to my delight there were no empties here or the other/new yard.  The driver ahead of me got the only empty and that was quite fine by me.  I haven't had a detention stay down here in months, ever since the got use of a second yard and however they worked it.  

But there is always one factor that will come into play, sooner or later: The receiving plant in Mexico.  When they start getting behind, they still order more product and don't care how long it takes for empties to get back up to the border. They are leasing our trailers - they have the sole use of probably 10 of our trailers and they are paying through the nose for it - plus they pay wait time for both the driver and to the company - they are the customer and one of our biggest ones - they are in the driver's seat here.  Which is totally fine by me, it wouldn't bother me if they never got caught up.  It wouldn't bother most other drivers, either.  I'm told there will be an empty here soon, it's almost 11:00 am, a nice chunk of pay for sitting around, it's an entire day's worth of driving. See how that works? I get a day's worth of work for doing nothing but waiting overnight and part of the day.  If it does get here soon, I will get back late tonight, have tomorrow off and be happy as a bug in a rug.  

This is where a lot of our "extra" pay comes from and jacks up our wages every year.  No one was particularly happy that they had arranged it to get rid of detention pay, but I knew and said so a while back, that the plant in Alta Mira will get behind or shut down, all the while ordering more product and we will eventually see at least some detention pay once again.

Moving on, I had a local website developer create a logo for my park.  It was very nice, I thought, until I posted it on facebook and one person pointed out that the door on the travel trailer is on the wrong side (correct) and another agreed that there should be a doggy somewhere on the logo to identify that pets are welcome.  Everyone instantly understood the gist of the logo tho, it informed you without actually saying it that trailers, tents and camp fires are welcome.  Hence the need for a dog and possibly a family with kids waving?  I dunno, he's going to fix the trailer, move the fire and add a doggy. If there appears to be room for a happy, elated, wonderful family (lol!) waving then I will ask him to do so. 

If not, it will just be mentioned in the description of the park, families welcome. That will turn off some of the older generation and so be it. I'm not going to discriminate against any particular grouping of people excepting obnoxious drunks and slobs.  Neither grouping of people is welcome and especially drunkards making life hell for everyone will be asked to leave immediately. I don't care if they drink, that's their choice, but not to the point of harassing other guests and making too much noise etc.  You know how drunks can get, especially the boisterous ones....

The fact of the matter is, a lot of the older generation drinks.  Beer, liquor and wine.  To exclude them would be negating a lot of income.  And again, I frankly don't care as long as a person doesn't go too far with it and is in control of themselves.  

I have to get the domain name and get a site reserved and I'm going to have to do that quickly.  I don't want anyone else getting that name, in fact if I have time I will do that after I get done with this entry.  Yes, I know,  no one has ever used it before why would they now? I don't know and I don't want to find out the hard way.  

I decided to contact one of these endless mulching companies to see what it would cost for them to take down the trees and underbrush.  His pricing was nothing short of outrageous, far beyond anything I've heard yet at $2,800 per day. Where does this guy even come off attempting to charge prices like that? He even admitted a trackhoe and dozer would cost less than that, but the advantage is that I won't have a huge burn pile to spend "months" burning.  

He does make a point I would have to tend to the fire, but months? Douse a pile with diesel fuel that has been nicely stacked and it will take days, maybe, not months.  Maybe months to finally get all of it down to nothing, but I can assure you that the lion's share of it will not take months to dispose of and I won't have all of that mulched material all over the ground.  An advantage of a trackhoe is the tree and it's roots are completely gone.  A dozer will be able to push dirt around and get it some semblance of level (doesn't have to be perfect, just want it close).  

This guy sold me on the trackhoe and dozer as soon as he made his case for his mulcher and saying the other say is cheaper.  The other way also gets the roots out of the ground.  The roots are of concern because these trees can possibly make a come back.  Even if they don't, the roots will be in the way of the dozer to flatter everything out.  I don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that the track hoe method will be the most advantageous, regardless of giant burn piles.  I like burning things lol.  And anyway, I'm not doing the whole park right off the bat.  The burn piles can go in areas where I will eventually put in sites, there is no immediate need for it all to be gone, poof, just like that.  

So, however long it takes, it will be fine.  

I'm still waiting on quotes, one from the water install dude - but he said a couple of weeks before he could come out and walk the woods and get me a quote. The other from the guy that already looked at everything.  His quote might take a while since he is coming up with all the utilities and the land clearing.  

I'm figuring around 11 grand worth of gravel not including spreading and compacting it.  So around 15k just for gravel alone.  12k for septic, at least 12k for electric, around 4k for water and 15k for gravel and that's the park without anything else.  That's $43,000.  

That doesn't include a small building, a couple of washers and dryers, installing a dog park fence, signs, some lighting, finishing the walking trails.  There is website design costs but I'm just figuring that out of my normal paychecks, not money out of 401k.  That will include the online payment and reservation option.  In fact, you won't be able to stay at my park without online reservation, most all of the parks do it that way and it's quite efficient. On top of that, if I can do it, is a pond.  A small lake/large pond will have to wait until later, but I really want to get something in there. Was already looking at costs for bass to stock it with.  Not bad pricing, but I'm going to want hundreds of them dumped in there at least. Some will die and they aren't big fish at all. 3 inches to start with, apparently that's what you can get around here. 

I haven't done a lot of searching on that tho, I would like to see if I can find some larger stock fish. 3 inch fish will take years to grow into nice sized bass worthy of any fisherman's time to try and catch - and release, thank you.  

What I can say is I'm working on everything at this point.  Everything that I can think of that I will need I'm getting done.  Or I should say, getting a start on and getting some pricing and picking the brains of those that know.  

I'm still qualifying for large personal loans.  Up to $100k. Some of them are ridiculous interest rates, the lower rates are much higher payments - but - they are on shorter terms and no longer than 6 years to pay off.  A last resort, yes, but it's an option at least.  If I find I must go that route, I will not do it until I have all the utilities done, sites set up and then be able to quickly get everything done and get the park up and open for business.  I don't want to be forking out that much money on just my paychecks alone.  And, if that kind of loan is needed, it's going to be the smallest loan necessary to finish everything off.  Keep the payments down as much as possible.  '

I could see getting a 2 room bath house done tho and get a broader appeal out there to a greater market. And nothing quite too fancy, just a shower with a toilet and a sink, heating and cooling unfortunately but I can't see people being happy in an ice cold room or a sweltering hot room and of course hot water.  Something small, simple and to the point.  Lumber costs are still through the roof, tho, that's the thing that would run the cost up of even a small structure. It's in my mind tho, I may see about getting some quotes on building one and see what I am facing to get it done. 

I'm slowly working my way through this menagerie of decisions and waiting for so and so to give quotes and come out and look, etc.  

As for now? Just gonna sit back and wait for trailer. Hoping to make it back to Longview today -but they're gonna have to get here soon with it to do that.

Walmart, at least, had several pair of my sized jeans!  So I bought 4 pair lol.  Just throwing that in there, I couldn't find any at the walmart in my town.

G'day

 October 1st.

Been off 4 days. 

Expecting to go back to work tomorrow.  If they don't send me a decent run by 2 pm I'll be contacting them.  They really should have sent me out yesterday - but who am I to complain about time off? My only concern after a while is slim paychecks.  

Anyway, I've been making phone calls about getting stuff done on the property since last week and this morning was no different.  I was actually deep asleep before I heard little feet pounding on the floor in the living room going into the kitchen - that didn't make Uncle Ben too happy, I went out there to find another little kid Taylor had brought home. Turns out the power was out and the kid was actually there with his mother, I just didn't see her at first.  

The power wasn't out at our house but apparently a lot of the town was blacked out.  I guess I feel people bringing their kids over to other people's homes should exercise just a bit of control over their offspring and mind some manners.  It was a pretty rude awakening and I'm still out of it. 

Regardless, I got up, sat down at the kitchen bar and started making more phone calls.  The last call I made was back to a company I had called the week previous last week and the gentleman had informed me to just call him next week - which was last week - to have him come out and give quotes.  He called me back after I made the initial phone call and we ended up meeting out at the property.  

We discussed everything.  Literally, everything it was going to take to build the first portion of the park including clearing out all of the front land.  His ball park quote for septic install for 14 sites was $7,500 give or take and another $4,500 to put in the sewer pipe to each pad and run the water line to the sprinklers.  That was an astounding difference from his first quote over the phone.

Note the first quote was for 25 sites.  My next quote I originally thought 10 sites, then went up to 12.  But he said it wouldn't make any different between 10 and 14, so you might as well go with 14.  Hearing that price tag was the first really good news I've heard yet.  A far cry better than 26 to 30k.  After hearing that, I just said fine, let's get a quote for 14 sites and a quote to clear out all the land.  

The quote will include installing the septic, lines, water line and electric.  At least I had the right size water tap installed, he said they only deal with 2* line - which is what I have installed.  He was impressed that I had already called the power company to install a pole.  He went on saying most people don't even think of that.  Well, I did, I was going to do all of this myself, just be the general contractor and tell everyone what I want done.  If 1 company can do everything at competitive price that's even all the better. Any problems? Call that company up and tell them. Power ain't working, water line broke, septic is backed up, please come and fix it.

Oh yes, I fully expect some sort of guarantee on all the work if I go this route.  It just really depends on what the quote comes back at.  I'm hopeful, I'll say that much.  He also said electric parts prices are all over the board right now, just like the other electrical contractor stated and that it would be impossible to give a ballpark on that, prices are going up and down. Let's get this done before the prices go up so high I can't afford to do any of this.  The 4 thousand dollar power pole kind of gave me  a clue.

I've got that guy's number, the power company - he's local - if I don't hear back from him by the end of the week I'll call him at the beginning of next week and see where we're at with it.  The man today said they take their sweet ole' time and you are on their schedule, lol.  Yup, not the first person I've heard that from and I suspect my rather incessant phone calls to them is the only thing that got me to getting that guy out there as fast as he did.  I don't have til' the second of never to get power out there.  

It's perfect weather for camping right now.  The sooner I get this thing up and running the sooner I can hopefully start seeing guests coming and spending a day, several days, a week, whatever.  I've contacted an online reservation company.  They charge $2 per reservation to do everything online.  My price for a stay will go from $30 to $32 plus tax.  The going rate around these parts is around $30 to $35 with a few places much higher that have a lot more amenities.  But I doubt I will ever raise my prices unconscionably high, I just need to be able to make a living off of this and hopefully give some out to the community and God's work.  If I ever did put a pool in, the rate would go up $5 per night to pay for the maintenance of the thing.  And yes, I absolutely intend on putting a medium sized pool in some day - Lord willing and I'm still breathing and alive on the face of this earth.  

He said somewhere around 5 grand to install a half acre pond.  Not bad. I'd rather have a full acre. If they bring all that equipment out here to clear the land I'm going to want to have them dig out even a small pond to start with just to get something going back there.  A much larger version - as with any other upgrades - can come in the future.  

And another thing I just learned yesterday after reading through SBA loan documents.  Yes, that's still in the offing -- at some point I actually intend on going that route I just want to get an operation up and running nowish, not a year or two years from now.  That the info says is that any money spent on start up costs goes towards the down payment........keep the receipts.....of course, receipts are necessary for tax write offs.  You don't think I"m not going to take advantage of any tax write offs I can get?  Lol, I don't even think Biden is trying to do away with that (he's now officially one of the most unpopular presidents of all time, even democrats are turning against him because of inflation). 

Anyway, that was great news.  If I spent all of this 401k on the property, all of that goes towards the down payment for the SBA loan.  I don't have to come up with yet even more down money on top of what I have already spent, something that lingered on the edge of my mind while I was attempting to decide what to do.  So now that I have that established, yes, I do feel like I'm on the right path.  But if it's in the financial realm of possibility right now, I would like to get all 7 acres cleared to start off with.  But if it saves a bunch of money to not have 2 or 3 acres done right off the bat, so beit. 

I'm going to make this work - Lord willing - and get this thing going.  I always say Lord willing because that's what the Bible says about people going to a village to earn some kind of profit - you're tiny little self - me included in that description and calling myself nothing more than dust from the land "And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes" You are not guaranteed tomorrow, you have today.  I had today, I made the calls, I feel like I got something done, we'll see.  I expect he'll have a quote for everything fairly quickly, he had ball park numbers off the top of his head, that's his job is the numbers game, he should be able to give a specific quote for everything in short order.  

I'll say it again, because it's what it is: I really have no idea what I'm doing here.  I change my mind about things because I get new information.  I consider the new information and make decisions based off of it.  By the time I'm done with this, I"ll know exactly what to do if I ever wanted to start another park - or more specifically - buy a smaller property and put some mobile homes on it.  Pretty much the same difference as an RV park excepting your septic system has to be bigger per unit.  

I know what I want in terms of the finished product, it's the path to get there I am completely unfamiliar with.  I still sit here in wonder, after all of that research I did it's still like wading into unknown waters, wondering if there's a drop off I can't see I'm about to step into and really just hoping I meet the right people who can give me the specific information I seek at that point in time.  I can tell ya right now, if this guy comes back with a price I can afford, I'm going for it.  I'll have the whole thing built quickly and have the lion's share of it done with.  

Then, if need be, take out another loan, pay off 2 loans that are now down to a grand a piece - and $300 per month total payments, knock those payments out plus finish the project. One of the loans is for the crowns I had put in the other is for credit card debt consolidation. I could go through a list but I think I need not go there right now. I do need to write all of it down and start looking at the things that I need to get to work on now versus later.  

But yea, I definitely think I want at least a small pond dug out back there right off the bat.  It's just a part of the setup that I feel needs to be done at the beginning.  I can get a small business operator out there to finish my walking trails. I went out there again today since I was already there and walked around the trails.  Pretty nice, actually.  If I need to, at some point, have a well dug back there to supply the pond then so beit. I'm hoping that tiny stream will be enough, especially when it rains it grows in size substantially . 

Well there it is.  Eternal waiting games are plenteous in this proposition.  But the ball is rolling, if ever so slowly. It will gain momentum.  I hope, lol.

As for the rest of today?  I just need to hear about tomorrow's run, for there needs to be one.....

g'day

 Soooo.

Took the dogs out to the property and met up with the power engineer. 

He looked at where I want to put the pole - which is right there where the power lines are already running.  He said, ok, good we won't need to run a lot of line.  Great, how much do you figure this is going to cost? 

$4,000.  Four thousand dollars?!!!  I mean, I didn't give him any lip or anything, but that was a much higher price tag than what I anticipated.  I was guessing, of course, but I figured around $2,000 to $2,500.  

But what can I do?  I can't have a park without power.  I really can't do anything out there, even if just on a personal level, without power so I just agreed to it. He said I would probably cost less than that, his estimate was on the higher end.  Whatever it ends up being, the power company will give a credit to my account to make up any difference. 

I have no idea when they are going to install it, he said he was going to go work up a work order and they will get it done.  It will include a power line running down the pole and into a pedestal right there at the pole. Shrugging shoulders, moving on with this.  Whatever the costs are, I just have to pay it. If it means I run into a road block getting other stuff done, it is what it is.  

He also said I didn't have to pay that up front, I could make payments for up to 60 months.  That was a bit of relief, I won't have to dig into my savings just to get the pole installed.  He figured a minimum payment of $150 per month plus whatever the electric bill for any give month is. I opted for that, whatever I can do to save as much of my working capital as I can? Let's do that.

Next, I called the water install guy and started discussing with him about clearing the land.  He said it costs the same amount to move the equipment in whether it's an acre or 50 acres.  What he was alluding to was the idea that you may be better off just getting the entire 7 acres cleared right off the bat.  Yes, but how much money is that going to cost? 

I don't mince words when it comes to the cost, I want/need to know that upfront.  He finally said look Ben, I never walked past the front of the property.  I need to drive on back in there and walk the woods and see what I'm getting into before I can give you a price.  Fair enough.  I'm going to guess right up front that he's gong to quote me 15 grand to do all 7 acres and I'm probably just going to shrug my shoulders and say fine, let's get it done.  And I'll want a quote on a 1 acre pond dug out while we're at it. 

He doesn't want to use a dozer, his experience - and mine for that matter in removing those trees - is that those small trees don't just fold over in a solid line, they twist and bend and they're hard to get out with a dozer, they prefer to use a trackhoe to pull them out of the ground.

The last guy that came out to give me a quote said the same thing.  So I am going move forward under the idea that anyone that wants to come out and do this project is either going to have to pull the trees out with a trackhoe or they are going to have to mulch them down with a large Bobcat style machine that has an attachment on the front of it.

Whatever the case, I'm going to have this guy give me a quote for the pond as well.  I'll start small, no more than an acre and see what I can get it done for.  He will already have the equipment out there.....or even a smaller pond, whatever I can get done without spending a fortune, a half acre pond is better than nothing.  

It dawned on my today that the surveyor has yet to come out or even call me back. He was supposed to have already been out there, now I'm going to have to find his number and call him and ask if he's still going to do it or not. 

And I never heard back from the septic installer I called, they said they would call back the next day - that's obviously not happened yet.  Septic can't be installed - or water or electric for that matter - until the land is cleared.  

The funny thing about this land clearing business? A neighbor told me that after the trees were harvested off of the front portion of my land, the owner had a hay field going.  That means at one point the entire lot had been cleared with no trees or underbrush at all.  Oh how I wish that were still the case at this point, I would have nothing but some leveling to do.  Just plant more trees and be done with it.

Anyway, he's not going to call me back for a couple of weeks. Everyone is busy right now.  Nice that they are staying busy in a rather rancid economy, everyone I know is broke right now.  When I say broke, I mean living paycheck to paycheck type stuff. Been there, done that, hated it.  But, even in the worst economy there are still plenty of people around that have money.  The ole' rich get richer and poor - going broke type of thing.  

So, moving along at a snail's pace tbh - but I sort of expected that.  You can only do so much at once.  There is nothing I can do further until I have the driveway cleared and the lots cleared out and hopefully leveled a bit.  Well, I could probably have the septic installed since I want it in the rear/back western corner of the property, land clearing probably won't affect that installation.  

Well, here's a bit of good news: The realtor just stopped by, she said the check for me would be around $1,500.  That's $500 more than I expected.  She originally told me my profit would be around $900. 

That could pay my way to AZ and back if I decide to go.  I have to decide today, the funeral is tomorrow and no, I haven't made any reservations.  I wasn't sure if I was going to go or not.  I dunno yet, tbh, I've found ok airfares it's just a lot of traveling in the span of 2 days and then probably back to work the next morning after I get back.....I'm feeling pretty exhausted right now with all of the late nights on my last trip.....

The only other thing of note going on is the friend of the family that was in a bad accident yesterday. He's a volunteer firefighter with the county, he was traveling 50mph somewhere with his lights on.  He has a full set of emergency lights that are highly visible from all sides - yet the person that ran into him said they didn't see him. His pickup was totaled and it was reported he had to be extricated with the jaws of life to pry open the door to get him out.  He survived the ordeal and is already at home recovering.  It put on quite the scare yesterday for everyone, wondering what his condition was.  He already has pre-existing conditions tho, I suspect this will make those worse. 

Anyway, that's enough for now, I have more phone calls to make.  If this process is going to be at a snail's pace, at least make sure the snail is moving even if - very slooooooooooowly.  

G'day.