Lost too much sleep this week, overslept this morning.  Now I'm half hurried to get out of here and get over there and get this done.  I'm not even sure those people are moving in - but - since I got all of this in motion - get it done.  There will be an overnighter coming in today, that will free up the pull through lot for them.  I can only hope that this won't take long as 1: I don't even want to do this right now and 2: church this morning.

I'm still looking for the dog.  Every time, I go by where he should be, he isn't there.  I'm sure it will leave my head eventually, at the moment it is rather disconcerting.  Just something I'd like to get past and not be lingering on, but it is automatic.  Here I am, there is the dog.  Oh, the dog. 

___________________

The main gist of that ordeal is now over.  Just everything has to be such a chore.  Like backing the trailer down the driveway hundreds of feet. It was that or pulled it 600 feet the wrong way, back into the street then pull in - with a man inside the trailer holding a freezer up that they were afraid was going to fall over.  Then, just getting the thing level.  About 4 tries for that.

Then seeing that they don't have the right adapter for the sewer outlet.  They just stuck the hose in the outlet instead of having a sealed connection. Just no. That eyesore is out of the park and I will be getting a LOT more picky about what comes in there in the future. I try to be anyway, but now - well really already - it's going to be "send me pictures of all sides of the thing".  I don't ever want anything in there that looks like that again.  

You have a few options in this business. Have people coming in with new/newer equipment, or have long term junky trailers that make the place look like a wrecking yard.  I do not want the latter . There's only 1 older trailer in my park atm and it is in excellent condition. Old does not automatically mean trashy. It just depends on if people took care of it.

Now, I have a 75 foot long pull through available for - anything else.  That trailer might be 22 feet long.  It's their home, I get it.  It's their escape off the street.  It's better than a lot of other options.  It was just nothing I wanted to do on a Sunday morning and unfortunately, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed as it stands.

I just feel cruddy and it's making me cranky.  The lack of sleep this week is the culprit -worse than other weeks. When I woke up and saw it was 8:15 am, I was just not feeling it.  I forced my @$$ out of bed anyway ,got a cuppa, instantly had kids in my face as soon as I walked out the bedroom door - please leave me along for a few minutes, it just woke up.  They don't understand that language but if you say it with enough "tone" in your voice, they will understand that you mean business.

It's over with, the hardest part anyway. My 30 amp setup works fine. Their ac is broken again.  I am going to loan them the one that Maria gave me.  It's small but it's better than nothing in this heat.  It's a small trailer, it will cool it down in there.  It's going to get up to 101 degrees with who knows what kind of heat index, I'll get it to them before church.  

I wasn't going to go home, instead just hang out at the park before church, but the kids didn't bother to eat this morning.  I'm not taking them to church on empty stomachs, that is a recipe for disaster.  

I've got lots coming available soon, this situation with needing the space was only needed for a day.  After that, there will be several spaces available.  It was the excuse, however, to get that ugly thing off of my pull throughs and out of site. Well, mostly out of site, the back end of it sticks out a little behind the shed, but no worries, it's a far cry better than what it was. 

 So, we went over to the property.  Took the boys, James drove us over there and we went on the same trail Addler used to absolutely love.  It was his favorite place, easily. He used to tromp around the trails like a miniature horse, sniffing everything and always running ahead of us.  The goal was to find a big rock that would be brought home and transformed into a memorial.  Well, we got almost to the bridge at the rear of the property when I spotted a large rock that was mostly buried in hard dirt. 

James started working on it and then I got a stick and started digging at it as well.  It took a bit, but that thing came out of there.  Nice sized rock, he carried the thing all the way back to his truck.  

I envisioned Addler running ahead of us the entire walk . Maybe he was there with us in spirit.  I dunno, folks, I'm just fumbling my way through time of missing my doggy and still wishing he was here.  

The rock is home, I'm trying to motivate myself to get to Lowe's, buy that wire and the circuit breaker and get back to the property and install that stuff.  It's hot, I'm highly unmotivated, but it needs to be done.  I got a call that some people want to bring a couple of trailers in, in the "next couple of days".  I hated to say it, but I don't have availability until Monday morning when 2 lots will open up for whatever, long term, short term, but short terms are far and few between right now excepting the 13 day stay and the 9 day stay.  

I'll be collecting more money here soon and I will be able to pay the power - well I can already pay that, I have sufficient funds for it - but also be able to dump some more money into my bank account.  In fact, I've got several payment to collect in the next couple of weeks which should keep me afloat.  A couple more long term would certainly help with that. 

The man said well, he was coming in a couple of weeks but he has a worker that is coming in the next few days, I'll see if he can wait.  I hope they can, that's all I can say. They are going to be around awhile, guaranteed income I can rely on.  

I haven't heard from the trucking company this week that was going to hire me. Today is Friday, if they don't call today, I'm going to treat that as canceled for whatever reason.  If I were closer to Tyler, I could apply for that fuel hauling job that actually trains the drivers. It's just too far to drive 5 days a week. It would be something like 130 miles per day round trip just getting to and from work.  I've done that before but it gets old and it gets expensive. 

It's enough to drive hundreds of miles a day in a truck without having to do the same thing just getting to and from work.  There is another local job. It's long days, but it is, allegedly, 5 days a week.  It's just that they are pretty low paying.  48 hours per week for 65k per year doesn't sound particularly appealing. 

My park insurance will come due in December. I am being informed by people in an rv park owner's group that the particular company I am using tripled their rates for the next coming year.  Triple?  Like, at least so far, I haven't made a single claim on it.  I mean, if they do that to me, I will be calling every rv insurance company I can find to see if I can do better. Because, that will cost me $4,800 and that's too much. I won't go without liability insurance, that is ALL I have besides the shed which is insured but only at the cost I paid for it at $4,200.  

_________________

Over to Lowe's, property, hook up trailer, go to repair shop, get the mower he couldn't find for 5 minutes looking around for it, back to the yard, drop trailer with mower still on it - not fooling with that today but in case I get a wild hair this weekend, I can go cut those weeds - back to property.  Hooked up the entire 30 amp system without actually installing it in the ground.

IN other words, I did most of the work in the much-cooler-than-outside shed.  MUCH cooler.  Probably 25 degrees anyway.  I got the entire thing hooked up, including screwing the 30 amp outlet box to a 2X4 and then installed it into the breaker box.  Flipped it on to make sure I didn't get anything wrong - even tho I was sure I didn't - turned that back off and set the box to the side.  I then turned on the faucet for the new water outlet - that's working fine with no leaks. Dug out more around the sewer line, cut that out, installed my sewer y setup with the fernco couplers, got that nicely tightened down. 

The boy flushed the toilet, looks good, no leaks.  Cut out a piece of sewer pipe to put over that under ground valve.  IF you have the right tool, you can just stick it down in there and turn the water off in an emergency - versus turning off the entire park.  

Was burning up. Took several short breaks to go inside, cool off, get a drink and go back out. I'm not going to die of this nonsense.  We have a heat index, right now, of 110.  You can stand in the shade and still break out sweating profusely. If you are working in the direct sunlight - as I was - well, just no sense in risking it. I got a lot done. I probably have around an hour left tomorrow to finish it.  I'm going to remind them in a bit that I am coming over tomorrow to move them over there. They don't have a problem with it - they don't have much of a choice considering they are behind on their rent.  

I'm giving them a discounted rate now as it stands.  I'm thinking I'm going to have the guy do some work on the RV to help finish that up.  He appears to be a solid handyman and I could use the help with that thing. I could give them $100 off rent to get the propane line installed and check the drain system..

She - the tent camper - seems to think the shower drain is leaking underneath the carriage of the rv onto the ground.  She could be right, who knows. 

Now don't get me wrong, these New Jersey people are very nice and polite, they aren't thieves, they don't go around the park asking for handouts.  She is needy in that she is both poor and has severe rheumatoid arthritis.  I feel like when I go before the Lord, He isn't going to fault me for helping the poor. Christ specifically stated to help the poor and needy.  I still want money out of them, but only because i know they get money from the government.  But it's also why I reduced the rent. They aren't using as much electricity and if I get them behind the shed, they aren't taking up a lucrative spot.  And it's why I give them a grace period. They DO give me money, I have been writing down in my note binder everything they give. 

In fact, I write down everything everyone gives in that binder.  It all goes into the business checking account which is automatically transferred over to Quickbooks. I only do that for any auditing purposes.  Otherwise? I'm old school. Give me lined paper and I'll just write everything down.  It's much easier for me, I can just open it up, see who needs to pay what, when and be done with it. 

If I had 100 spaces, that would be a challenge with that system.  

Whatever the case, I got as far as I could before I told myself - enough.  I was out in that heat during the hottest part of the day and the only reason I did it is because I need that trailer over there tomorrow.  It will stay there until they leave.  

I will likely go ahead and trench from lot 1, I just don't have to do that right now.  I really don't want as much load as I'm putting on the west side, but there IS one lot empty right now over there.  So, there isn't as much being drawn off of that side as if there were full lots over there. But, come Sunday, it will be a full house overnight for 16 lots.  Just for 2 days. After that? I'm hoping to get more calls on long term. I'm blacking out all lots except 2 for long term.  In fact, I'm going to do that as soon as I'm done with this post. 

As I often do, I'm writing post, mention something I need to do, say I will do it later  but then....I just stop writing and go do it. Those lots are all blocked until the 1st of October.  I'm leaving 2 open for overnight, but rest assured, if I get everything filled up and someone wants one of those short term lots? It's going to them. The only other reservation I have now in the system is for December 19th.  They placed that reservation many months ago. It's paid for and I intend on honoring it.  I will pretty much keep at at least on spot open for overnighters.  

And when we get into cooler temps, it may be that more people are coming through or coming here. The colleges will be fired back up as well.  They get the sports teams fired up and parents come in their trailers to see the games.  I had lots of them earlier this year.  

Going back to work, even if a local job, is going to necessitate that I find someone at the park that I can trust to deal with issues.  Well, that isn't anyone in the regular lots. I can trust them but they have full time jobs, all of them.  They aren't going to be interested in dealing with my stuff.  The tent people - the lady now has a job and the dude - he doesn't do anything but sit in the rv all day long, smoke cigarettes and play on his phone. 

He has absolutely no social life beyond her, brother-sister.  It's kind of weird. He seems to be a decent guy, he can hold a conversation but I don't ever see him come out of there.  

The 8 year old is now acting as if Addler is here  in ghost form.  Who am I to tell him anything different?  It's a phase he's going through to help deal with the loss so I'm just playing along with it.  He'll get past it eventually.  I'm not one to tell people to "just get over it" when it comes to grief. I would suspect a psychologist would tell me that it's a perfectly healthy way for the kid to deal with it.  They would also likely say - unless it goes on too long.  

I don't know how long it's going to take to do the rock memorial, I'm going to build a simple cross and we can post Addler's pic on it in a plastic shroud to keep it from deteriorating too quickly and maybe hang a leash around it.  The leash maybe a bit symbolic, but he really wasn't on leash too often.  Maybe some day I'll find his missing chain in the back yard and we can loop that around the cross as well.  I'm going to let the kid decide where to put this memorial, I only want to stipulate it's on the trail.  We can put it to the side and when I get the ashes back, some of it can be buried by the cross. 

Addler was one of a kind dog, at least to me and yes, it's worth all of this effort to remember him by.  It's not a lot of money, in fact none of this will cost anything but the time to do it.  The kid will have something to remember him by, I will too.  I've seen remembrances like this on trails before, I didn't think it tacky. I just thought, someone really love that - dog, horse, whatever.  

____________

One of the overnighters canceled. They could have done this days ago and spared me losing some long term.  I called a man that called earlier back immediately. I have a cancellation, your worker can come here if you are still in need. Oh? That's great.  He didn't commit to it but I had to at least try, he's coming to town in a couple of weeks as well.  I promised him a space, too.  I'm not playing around with losing people.  

 Yesterday wore me out.  It's after 9:00 am and I just feel like going back to bed.  Emotion drains you more than most anything.  

When the boys got home last night, they all came into my room and the news was given to them. As expected, the youngest didn't seem to care one way or the other, the oldest burst out into tears, sobbing greatly which went on in waves for quite a while, while questions were proceeding from his mouth.  

I don't know if dogs go to heaven, but there is mention of animals in heaven with the lion laying down next to the deer, I think it says.  It's easy to just tell them yes, but if you don't really know what happens to them, it's easier to let the child think it through themselves, come up with their own conclusions and let them believe what they will.

He decided he would get a rock - a big rock - and make a memorial for him.  He wanted a pic of him from the printer, so I took the one from my Facebook post and printed that. Next, it will be put into a plastic sheath and sealed and it will be at this memorial he wants to build.  Then, daddy said they could go to Hobby Lobby and get (fake) flowers to put on the memorial.  If we are going to that much trouble, I am making a cross with his name and birth and death dates on it.  

You have to remember, this is the first death this boy has experienced in the family, even if a dog. And, this dog has been around his entire life.  He decided that I needed to do something with his full dog dish, so I dumped it back into the stainless steel container.  He then started moving his beds - no.  I'm not ready for that yet.  So he put them back.  I'll get rid of them when I can fully release him and right now, that hasn't happened yet.  

He then started discussing getting another dog.  I said yes, I probably will, but I'm definitely not there yet.  Give me some time.  He didn't understand that, which is fine, he doesn't have to.  I would feel like I'm somehow betraying Addler to just get up and go out and get another dog, like I just threw his memory in the trash can.  I did tell him if I get another dog, it's very likely going to be another Great Dane.  It's my favorite breed and even tho they don't live as long as other breeds, it's just what I  like.  

That's a bridge I will cross when I get there.  I don't want to spend 2 grand on a dog, so getting one usually takes some time.  I like to adopt other people's throwaways.  People that get a big dog and then realize they weren't prepared for all of it. Space, food, everything. I've only done one Dane puppy and that was the first one the family had. It tore everything up including a 9 foot long couch and was a disaster zone his first couple of years. It's why I like to adopt somewhere around a year old.  Get some of that puppy stuff out of them.  

I just got really lucky when I got Addler. He didn't do hardly any of that even tho he was only a year old.  He learned quickly my rules and he gelled into the family atmosphere quickly.  This is why it will be a minute before I get another dog. It will be starting all over from scratch. Have to teach the dog how to walk on a leash and more importantly, how to be under voice command.  That means that you can let the dog off of a leash and he won't go running off and have to chase him down.  He will stop in his tracks when called and come trotting back. 

It takes quite a bit of training to get them there, but after I figured out how to do it with Prince and Duke (other Danes that crossed the Rainbow Bridge long ago), I decided all of my dogs would learn that.  

Regardless, we all seem to be in much better control of our emotions today. I'm just worn out from yesterday. I feel like I had the same emotion as I would have if a person had died that is close to me.  Addler and I were tight, close, he was always at my side, leaning up against me, practically knocking me over lol.  

Unfortunately, sitting around the house and just taking it easy is out of the question.  I have a 30 amp box to install and finish the sewer line.  That's "it", but that will entail going to the property, determining where I want the outlet, measuring the distance and then going to Lowe's for the appropriate length of wiring.  I have today and tomorrow to get this situation completed, including moving the trailer.  

Soon, however, I will have 4 lots available?  But I'll have 12 lots filled with at long term.  I have one guy going around telling all of his friends that when they come down here? Move into my park.  I have another that was extremely appreciative that I checked in on his dog yesterday - he said most park owners wouldn't do that.  He also said Lyle - the RV repairguy - would be out tomorrow checking everything.  Although I disagree, the man seems to think it's the power company's issue. Not my park wiring, but the amount of power coming through the lines.  

Although I could agree with that, no one else said they had any problems.  Further, the breakers were frying pan hot, meaning far too much amperage trying to flow through it. I have spoken with SWEPCO workers in the past who say that somewhere up the line, they increase the power to deal with the other RV (private) park down the road.  Well, they at least know that a lot more power is going through those lines and even more so now with my park there.  Maybe they'll up their game and install another line. We only have 1 power line and a neutral line coming down our street. It is out in the county and lots of streets only have 2 lines, but we have businesses on this street and they use enough power.  They said at some point they will probably do that.  

Of course, that will cost a lot of money and they just got through a huge storm and having to bring in crews from all over the country, spending a lot of money on such. At the same time, they just upped the electric rates by 8% by some people's info, 28% by others. I don't see how you can hike rates by 28%, I wouldn't think the utility oversight would allow that. 

Well, I guess we're going rock hunting for this memorial, I have been informed. I guess I'll just do that stuff at the park later on today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And then we left.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Goodbye buddy.  

 So.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

With that, I'm outta here.

G'day

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

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

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

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

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

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

________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Addler update.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

G'day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 Monday - not-as-early-as-I-wanted

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

G'day

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

_______________________

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

G'day.  

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well whatever. It's bedtime.