Friday Mid-Morning

Her folks came in to town yesterday.  We all went to a local catfish dining restaurant and hung out chatting for the entire evening, actually, after leaving the restaurant and coming home.

They have gone to the Boardwalk over in Shreveport this morning.  It's a sort of tourist trap along the Red River where there's all kinds of different shops and casinos as well.  

I am heading over to the property to work on signs.  The metal stands that the shop gives me with those signs are - useless.  They bend easily, they blow over with the wind, I am constantly fooling with the things.  I bought some plain ole' 36 inch long wooden stakes yesterday, the hardware to mount the signs to the stakes and will be doing some of those this morning.  

Although, it's supposed to get to 106 today, I will be leaving soon to get some of this done.  the forecast is for over 100 degree days for the next 10 days in a row.  I can't imagine what my next electric bill will be over there.

I started getting this itchiness all over my body again, I think I'm going to stay away from the weeds for a while.  Pretty sure that's what's causing this.  It isn't poison ivy, I've been paying attention. There are a wide variety of different weeds out there, I don't know what any of them are called, I just think that one of them is giving me an allergic reaction.  

Anyway, the trucking company moved orientation to the original September 18th date.  I don't think I can make it that long.  Finances are getting low - tho there are numerous payments coming up. The thing is, you can't count on people staying.  RV parks are a "fluid" environment with people coming and going. You don't know when anyone is going to leave unless they have specifically told you.  

Well, anyway, the wedding is tomorrow, the grandparents aren't coming. Apparently she got sick and can't come. They were both going to come with the third kid tomorrow, stay overnight and go back on Sunday. I certainly don't with illness on anyone, but considering the situation I am glad they aren't coming.  No need to go into all of that, don't feel like and don't want to.

All I know is, it's almost time to start getting out the applications. Monday morning I will be sending out applications to all kinds of local trucking companies and trucking applications such as fuel and chemical hauling and see if I can snag something.  

I don't really have much to say atm. Just focused on doing what I need to do. Going back to trucking isn't going to be any fun, but it's a necessary thing that must be done in order to survive financially.  

As for now, I'm headed to the property to get some of these signs done.  

 I'm a naturally curious person, so I ask people questions about whatever they are doing. Most people will talk about themselves readily and without hesitation.  It's not just a way to show interest in a person, it's also a way to find out information out of that person that might have relevance to whatever you are doing, or perhaps someone you know doing the same thing and they might be interested to hear such information.

This is how I knew about the new RV park.  Straight from the horse's mouth that built the thing and also knew that they had sold it even tho the realty sites say it's under contract, which could mean anything. 

But the same for the Interstate project coming through here in a couple of years and the same with the alleged status of our town being a hotspot for pipeline workers next year - tho the people I talked to didn't know why it was going to be a hotspot, their companies had informed them as of such. I find it strange that people in the RV park industry around here don't ask such questions of people coming and going out of their parks. It can materially affect their operation  in a good way.  And perhaps get prepared for it. If it really picks up around here, I will be put in a position where I can raise my rates.  Why have a park filled with people paying $425 when I can have it filled with people paying $500?

I went over and collected from the people I should have collected from last night and then collected from the guy that showed up today. He is the boss of a crew of people that go around from town to town where Quik Trips are being built and installs all the networking and security cameras. Important work, I'd say,the heartbeat of a store like that is all of the wiring and electronics that make everything work. Not electrical wiring, but the wiring for cash registers, security cameras, everything that needs it.  

I have some things to do at the park tomorrow - more weeds of course but some stuff I want to get done in the shed.  I hooked a propane bottle up to the RV and the stove started working. Sprayed water/soap mixture on various connections to make sure nothing was leaking.  So, now they can cook.  They've been wanting that quite a lot, can't blame them.  They've been using a microwave and a convection cooker. Better than nothing, but there isn't really anything to replace being able to cook your own meals.  

Winding down with them. I still haven't finished the hot water line - it's probably an hour's worth of work that I will try to complete tomorrow as well. She said it's not a priority because they don't need to take hot showers right now.  Perhaps, I thought, but it will also pump hot water out the sink faucet.  You know, for cleaning your dishes?  

But, the pressure is starting to be relieved on getting things done.  14 lots filled, I need one more long term.  I have to keep at least one open for short term since I have some in there for next month.  Well, there is lot 7 pull through. They should be leaving soon.  Like, tomorrow morning actually. They came in for 8 days, 5 days, another 5 days and that is almost done.  Of course, they can stay as long as they like, lol, but it was a temporary deal where the guy was here for work and not that long.  

I'm always looking for more people.  I don't turn anyone down now unless I absolutely have nothing available.  There are 2 empty lots and lot 7 coming available, no need to turn anyone away. I can deal with the 4 days of reservations on one lot, no need to stop long term coming in because of that.  And that isn't until next month.  

The New Jersey people are behind ... too far behind.  They aren't contacting me, so I will contact them and inform them a minimum amount of money needs to come my way.  If you don't keep on people like that, you won't get anything. Or they'll give you very small amounts that don't add up to anything.  They have to understand that I am not a pushover or playing games.  I don't know if the guy is still working or what, I don't see him at all. They got another car from someone but that car isn't gone much. None of my concern excepting the part about money.  

I left my payment book in the car.  Need to add up what's coming in the rest of this month and see what i can take for myself.  It's a matter of survival at the moment, not just, gee I could use an extra few bucks.  

The trucking company didn't call me back today about moving the orientation date. Not concerned about that, they seriously want me working for them.  Maybe they'll give me the update tomorrow.  There's a couple local places I'm going to fill out full applications for Monday morning. If they perhaps want me to work for them, I'll need to be ready to go to work for them right away. I can't do that this week. They may not - I don't have the particular experience they are looking for.  That won't stop me from trying. These are local jobs that are only in this area, not huge trucking companies with orientations 2,100 miles away.  Truly local job - but it's still long hours. 

I don't really care about orientations being so far away, I guess, just being away from home that long isn't really appealing.

Next door neighbor flags me down after I got home from collecting payments.  What's up? I wanted to tell you this because of what you just went through with Addler. Her large dog - cane corso? - has elbow cancer and is going to die "within 2 months" she was told. Another dog has terminal cancer.  She is losing 2 of 3 dogs in the next few months. You get a dog, you get attached to it, you spend a portion of your life with it and then it dies.  

The boss of the other guy that showed up last week came in today.  I didn't even see him drive in. He picked the last remaining pull through lot, I figured he would, I gave him latitude to take whichever spot he wanted.  He stated he wanted to be next to or as close as possible to his worker. Well, he pulled in next to him.  I was going to collect rent, but the Lenova pile of junk was doing yet another update which usually takes as much as an hour to complete.  The other day, it turned on, off, on, off, on, off and on again before taking forever to load up and actually start working. 

I was appalled that after going through that a few days ago, here we go again!  That guy got set up and left before I came anywhere even remotely close to being able to take a credit card payment.  

I'll catch up with him later.

Meanwhile, I"m pulling weeds - story of my life over there - this time around the doggy park and also cleaning up dog s*** from whoever's dog running around leaving piles everywhere and it's owner not picking them up, when the phone rings.  I immediately recognized it as the trucking company in Oregon.  Same number calls every time, same recruiter.  She is always upbeat, lol. Helllllaaaaaooooooaaaaaaoooooo!  Hi there.  I have a quick question for you.  Okay?  If we could get you in orientation sooner, would you be interested in doing that?  It depends on when you want to do it?  The beginning of September (versus the 17th I think she said last time I talked to her).  Ok.  
Well, I am going into a meeting with the team and I will put it out before them and get back to you, ok? Sure.

Really need to start working sooner than halfway through next month.  I do have 12 of 14 lots filled right now plus the 2 behind the shed - but - I need a job.  I'm not going to pay down debt with that income and I have property tax and insurance payment coming up. I was going to start putting money aside for that, never materialized.  I was doing good just get the bills paid and for several of the last - well most of them actually - 8 months I never received a single paycheck.  I did give myself money last month and a little the month before.  I'll have to give myself money this month or I will go into default on several payments.  

I do have money in the business account and fixing to have more.  So I'll probably write an owner's draw check sometime soon and put that in the personal checking account.  

If they call back with the beginning of September, that's what it's going to be unless I find something better.  Don't make that kind of offer to me and renege on it, please.  

That's it. A few prospects in the offing but nothing concrete yet.

Oh! I did drive over to the new RV park. Signs saying "Grand Opening" and "Now Renting RV's and Cabins". The gate was locked and closed. That was the main entrance.  I went up to the back entrance.  It had changed. Someone is living in a building that is not on the RV property and it just didn't feel right.  There were no signs saying no trespassing and there was no gate, but I still felt uneasy. Took a glance over at the RV park, completely empty. In fact, just dirt and gravel pads.  That's all I needed to see. I can't imagine paying a million dollars for that.  Makes no sense to me at all.  Could buy the land and have that built for you for half that price.  

The business model is solid, however.  There isn't really any great demand for RV parks but there is if you are renting the units you live in.  If I had more money, I'd buy another RV and sell it as well.  Not renting tho. Now that I think of it, not the greatest plan on that new park's part. That leaves them responsible for everything in the RV if it breaks. Ok, Cabins I can see renting, obviously, but not RV's.  

It may well be that I have James build a tiny house from the frame up. He is looking for side work, that is something he could do.  I want things on wheels so it stays non-taxable. Once you put it on the ground and rent it, it's taxable. The only taxes I want to have to pay is income tax. 

Whatever. Nothing like that is going to happen without more money coming in and right now, that's just got to be a job.  And there it is, another inquiry about a lot. I tell him the requested info, he says "I'll be getting back with you".  Maybe he will, maybe he won't lol.  All I know is, if you don't answer that phone when they call, you will never hear from them again.  I answer every phone call nowadays unless it's specifically labeled spam. 

That's it.  Be going back over to the property later on to collect 2 payments.  I have no idea when this new guy will be home, he hasn't called me and he wasn't too interested in close contact when I told him I've been sick.  The other people should be home after 5:00.  

 The magic of having a house to yourself, even if only temporarily,.

Kid are at school - thank God almighty - parents are at work.  

Early - Tuesday.  I can't imagine the sacks of joy those 2 kids must have been this morning being awakened at 5:40 am after getting up whenever they  please, basically, for the entire summer.  They will both be cranky when they get home today, the youngest especially so.

Anyway, I've ramped up my ... I don't know what they call them. Mini-applications? I am getting all kinds of trucking companies looking for drivers showing up on my facebook feed. You fill out this short thing that prefills anyway and hit send.  Several tanker jobs I hadn't seen before showed up via Facebook spying on my personal activities and attempting to "fill the need" as the bots see fit.

This is the week of the wedding, which occurs on Saturday.  After that, I'm full tilt into finding a new job. Doesn't mean I won't take the one that is slated in Oregon in September, it means that I am looking at every option that comes my way.  Actually, I'm kind of full tilt into it already.  You can get hired today in trucking but you still have to go through an orientation which is usually somewhere far from where you live.

They schedule the next available orientation and off you go!  

I'm feeling much better, btw.  Not 100% but a heckuva lot better than the last what, 7 days? Longer?  Haven't really kept track.  A bit of a cough, still have this itchy feeling but the fever is gone and the icky feeling is almost gone.  Yesterday I was feelin better as well, but I was still getting waves of fatigue hitting me.  

Looks like about 80% of Texas is in some phase of drought.  Amazingly, it lists my county as "none".  It hasn't rained here in a while. Grass everywhere is turning brown.  Walking over our front yard, it's crunchy, like walking on Captain Crunch cereal or something.  It's dying and unless we start watering it, it's not going to make it.  There is no real chance of rain in the next 15 days. I mean, there are very low percentages listed, nothing that would make one think, gee, it's going to rain! 

It just solidifies me not doing anything about grass right now.  I take that back, if I had the money, I would get a well drilled and supply my own water for grass.  The city water is great! Until you look at the bill.  It would cost a small fortune in water bills to start trying to water grass seed 4 times a day or keeping sod wet. I've thought about it tho, doing just a lot or two and seeing what happens.  They want over $200 for a pallet of sod which is enough for maybe one lot.  

I can tell ya that at some point in the future, there is going to be a well drilled. There is plenty of water underground in these parts, there are no restrictions on it if you aren't trying to use it for tap water so basically, after you pay to drill it and have the pipe and pump installed and run your own water lines from it? It's free water, minus the cost of electricity for the pump.  

I guess I need to go get Addler today.  "Addler is back".  That sounded weird when they called and said that. His ashes are back, Addler is gone.  Not really motivated to go get them, just another reminder he is no longer around.  It's still fresh in my mind that this giant dog that used to love to be at my side is gone forever.  

The high today at 92, I'm leaving in a bit to go do work on the lots.  Just cutting down weeds and making it look as presentable as it can look without any grass.  Ok, there are bits of wild grass growing here and there, doesn't really look like anything since it's not a solid sheet of it.  In fact, it just grows in giant clumps and is just another thing to do on the "cut it down" list.  Amazing that stuff isn't dying without being watered.  I don't know what type of grass it is, but it's quite hardy.  

And that's it. Besides the very strange world of politics and endless Trump indictments.  Or the lack of Hunter investigation from the Democrat side or even interest in carrying one out, regardless of the mounting evidence that is showing that Joe Biden sold out his country for millions of dollars.  

Well that and this oddity of this new RV park, the revelation of the two biggest contenders I currently have in town are struggling and the idea that I still have a fighting chance to keep a decent market share of the business.  I'm going to look at this with as much positivity as possible, doesn't help anything to get ultra-negative and get into a 'woe is me' mindset.  

But yes, I do need to drive over there and maybe this morning before I do anything else and see if I can drive in there and take a look. Or whatever I can see from the roadway.  I dunno if they have the place gated and locked.  

Yes, that's a great idea!\

Off to the races.  BTW? I've done 3 of those mini-apps since I started writing this blog entry, lol. 

I thought I was going to bed early.

I was commenting on the manager/s/owners forum on facebook for rv parks about the new park that recently sold (in context with a thread about such things) and the owner of the 2 major competitors replied to me. "Oh, did they sell that already?". This conversation on the page went into some depth before she contacted me via Facebook DM and then it went on even much longer. 

They are doing very poorly, I'm finding out. Not wishing that upon them, but the idea of having a sardine lot style RV park is catching up to them.  And tho they have a lot of great reviews on Google, they have plenty of not-so-flattering reviews that tell the story about driveways in dire need of repair, long term that stay up making noise and the sardine can style of park that many RV'ers are steering clear of.  I really don't wish ill-will upon my competitors, especially when they are reaching out asking things that clearly point to the fact that they are hurting.

She is ready to walk away from the RV industry and upon finding out that the new park sold for so much, she wondered out loud if it were the right time? I can't tell her that, but I can say that parks are going for high dollar amounts right now. Whether it stays that way, who knows?  I am not in this to build and then flip, I'm in it for long term income.  We're 9 years away from receiving 75% of Social Security. This isn't guess work anymore, it's nine years. Well, I won't even qualify for SS until 2026.  So what does that leave me? 

It leaves me a government that doesn't give a rat's @$$ about the citizens it is supposedly serving and the fact that all of those politicians that continue to ignore this problem are also getting rich off of the system they are allegedly in it "solely" for the purpose of making citizen' lives better.  Can you imagine if any of this TRILLIONS of dollars that have been spent in the last several years would have been spent to address SS insolvency?  And if SS is facing a chopping block, you can bet that Medicare will be on that list as well. 

Anyway, they are apparently in such dire straits that they are trying a new approach to attracting people by combining 2 of their lots to make one. She said that so far, there are no takers.  She was jealous of my park's layout with 40 feet wide lots.  I was listening to her story, so I didn't bother to tell her mine.  The reality is, it's a tight market and it's fixing to get a lot tighter.  I'm going to "save" myself by getting a job on the "side", I doubt any of these parks will do that.  My motivation is to increase the number of spaces and amenities to make it much more attractive place to live. Plus, get rid of ALL of the acres of weeds and have grass there instead.  

I informed her another competitor that also has a sardine can setup is completely full.  I made the supposition (the act of supposing, you can access that in Meriam's, thank you) (or if you will, I assumed) (perhaps the correct word is figured) ("I felt") (and endless other words/combinations I could insert here)..that they are charging less and probably far less to get those people in there. There is no other explanation for people willing to cram themselves in so close together that they can literally (yes, I do mean literally) touch their neighbor's slide outs while standing directly next to their own trailer.  

I really had no idea they were doing so badly.  

I can say curb appeal at the main park is atrocious.  I could give them some help in that department and it wouldn't cost a lot of money, but I decided to zip it.  

Well whatever. One can wonder about things to come forever and just waste a lot of time in doing so.  It's now very late and yes, finally getting sleepy.  

 Monday

Not so early

Oh well.  Woke up in the middle of the night and took hours to get back to sleep. I've been trying to force myself to get out of bed earlier but I just said screw it today and slept as long as I could. 

Last day of summer for the kids. School starts tomorrow (why they start on a Tuesday is unknown to me, but most of what goes on in schools nowadays is a curiosity to me as it stands) - apparently they are being made to work around the house today.  

I"m trying to figure out whether I can last all the way until basically the end of next month before I get a first paycheck.  I'll have to get back to ya on that one.  It's not the greatest job, a bit lower on the pay scale and definitely smaller weekly paychecks than previous job, the upside is that it's home daily and can't really be that much of a day (at least by trucking standards) if it's only 350 miles of driving.  But, you add a couple hours to that for loading or unloading.  

I'm not sold on that job yet.  It's just the one that stood out for home daily (or most days anyway).  There are other home daily jobs, but most of those are 12-14 hour days.  So, the concept of "home" is go there, go home, eat,  go to sleep and get up for work the next morning.  Doing that, might as well just do the same type of job I was doing before.  

There are other types of jobs, such as propane delivery.  I don't know how to do that, of course, but it's just another learning situation.  Methodology.  There is some sort of winch truck position available, they are always posting for it but they demand experience.  Well, apparently there aren't that many experienced drivers for that particular role since they are always - and I mean this has been going on for years - posting that particular job.  Fuel delivery, hauling salt water or oil that comes from gas wells, all kinds of stuff. 

I will be spending ample time this week and coming weeks putting in applications and exploring what I can get myself into that makes decent money and still gets me home.  

Today, however, I am still intent on going over there, weedeating more lots and getting the place looking a little more presentable.  I'm still not happy about the lack of grass. Oh, and I want to drive over to the new RV, Cabins and Tiny Homes park and see if I can get in there and take a look at what they have done with the place. The only pics atm are old and only show where they've done the dirt work. No gravel or asphalt down, you can make out the lots.  

_________

Yay.  The boss of the guy that just moved is coming tomorrow "for at least a month".  I'll take a month over nothing. It's the way it's been working at my park and right now, I need whatever I can get to pay park bills and pay my personal bills.  I've got to go get my payment book and see who owes what - when.  Pretty sure there are 2 payments due, just need to look them up.  No, just one due as of yesterday, already contacted them and awaiting their reply. But, they are long - long termers, at least by their statements. They've just completed their first month. So far, they seem happy?  I dunno. I just talked with the man the other day for about 30 minutes.  The lady is pregnant and they eventually want to buy their own house, but he deferred and said "that won't be until sometime next year at the earliest".

My job is to try and keep everyone happy.  Try being the operative word.  Do what you can.  

It is hard, however, to try to deal with a person's unhappiness about any given thing if they don't say anything to me about it. The 3 I wouldn't have known about without the bartender relaying the info to me - tho I would have cleaned up their lots anyway.  It just gave a sense of urgency - they like to call it that in the corporate world - to get it done sooner than I was going to.  

___________

I decided to do nothing today.  Hang out with the kids (this is their last day of summer, rise and shine bright and early at 5:40 am for school, I can only imagine what tomorrow afternoon when they get home is going to be like),  give myself more rest time, watch a couple of movies and take it easy.  There isn't any real point in pushing myself to do "stuff" that can wait another day.  Just more tending to lots and a little more cleanup in the shed.  

I have spent hours, however, looking at local jobs.  The jobs that pay the most are the jobs hauling cryo and all of them have cameras and microphones.  One of the companies is so desperate for drivers, they are willing to hire new drivers 6 months out of driving school.  Next time you see one of those cryo tankers driving down the road hauling hazardous materials - and many of them are highly flammable - understand that the person behind the wheel could be a greenhorn to driving.  It is quite amazing that they are even allowed to hire drivers with little experience behind the wheel.  

But, many drivers are terrified of hauling hazmat (I know I was at first) and won't do it. Most of us have been duped into believing that getting your hazmat endorsement is next-to-impossible. In my case, it was backed up with several drivers I knew that had tried to pass the test but failed.  

My method is pretty much fail proof. The job I have lined up is some version of hazmat tanker, just not cryo. Cryo doesn't require wasting time with washouts.  Where you have to take the trailer to a professional washout facility to have the trailer cleaned out.  Cryo is just easier.  But, I have no desire to sit in a truck being watched and listened to.  I think people sitting in an office somewhere listening to you talking on the phone or whatever is the worse of the two.  Just creepy. 

I dunno. I still have time to change my mind about that, but it's a lot of time sitting in a driver's seat with those kind of ridiculous conditions constantly present.  

The high tomorrow and Wednesday 92 and 93 and then right back into 100 plus highs the rest of the week.  I will take advantage of that tomorrow for sure.  Even get the chain saw going and cut some felled trees.  Not on the trails, stuff around the perimeter of the park.  One tree especially annoying for where it fell. Well, take that back. Where it fell would have dumped on a trailer if there had been one parked there.  Very grateful that didn't happen.  

But it got moved out of the way at an end lot and it needs to be gone.  

It's just that I have lost yet another chainsaw tool. The kind that has a sort of socket wrench on one end to loosen the nuts on the chain bar and the other is a screwdriver on the other end to tighten the chain up once you loosen the nuts. It was on the 4 wheeler - but it's not there anymore and I've dug through everything I have looking for it.  You have to adjust chains frequently enough while doing a cutting job that the tool is really required. Otherwise, you are lugging around a socket wrench with a socket and a screwdriver. Doesn't sound like much, but the actual tool just slips into your back pocket.

Anyway, enough of this.  Going to bed early tonight.  

 Sunday

Feeling better.  Card night last night, some families showed up for pool time and then card game.  I knew they were coming to swim, I didn't know we were having card night.  Went on until past 11, it had been so long since they've done it that I joined in.  

Kind of woke up late this morning for church, but we went anyway.  I don't know if church is going to be a thing when I get this or some other job.  I have still completely forgotten to ask them about that, they didn't call last week but they did call this week and I was distracted with everything going on.

The new owners of the new RV park have a sign out on the main highway over there, as reported by Maria and she sent me a pic of it.  It's going to be a RV, Cabin and Tiny Home resort.  Resort intones pool, water park, clubhouse, all kind of amenities.  I don't know if I should be relieved or nervous about that prospect.

A resort also intones much higher pricing and affordability out the window for lots of people who are living in these things to save money.  It is more of a niche that is offered to retired folks who have 200k 5th wheels or 500k coaches and have plenty of money.  Also weekend warriors - families going for a weekend just for the amenities. Party stuff if the park allows such types of rentals.  

I cannot compete with that and won't even try.  I barely got to where I'm at now and it's still greatly lacking in the curb appeal department considering the lack of grass.  

However.  Cabins are something that I have on my horizon.  Because people will rent them.  Either for weekends or just long term, it's pretty much guaranteed if you build them, they will rent out.  But, that's money I don't have right now.  I'm not getting into more CC debt for anything beyond absolute necessity and that has dwindled well down to almost nothing.  I would have to buy grass on credit as well.  It's mandatory at some point.  Whenever we get some serious rain in the forecast, there is nothing but very small percentages of chances of rain going on as far as the forecast goes.  

I'm going to focus on the curb appeal and getting the place looking better. That's really all I can do atm.  Competing with a company that just spent a million dollars on a 38 space facility isn't anything I'm going to try to do.  At least, not head to head. I've got location that is far superior to them and all the rest of them actually.  I've got pricing in the very affordable range.  I've got the basic amenities now, nothing fancy but the people that are there are happy with it.  

If I had my way, I'd have the driveway paved with asphalt, install 40 more spaces, put in a pool, a small clubhouse with pool table and kitchen, a gathering area with BBQ pit and a separate bath house from a laundry facility, separated by gender (we're talking male and female here, thanks).  About half a million would cover that..no, probably more than that. 

So, face reality, do what I can and hope that I can at least add 15 spaces sometime in the next year.  Then add a pool.  There's 140k right there.  Maybe more - maybe less, haven't really priced pools, figuring around 50k.  The only way I do that is to get my debt ratio down and credit score back up in the 700 range.  That's basically my goal with getting a job besides covering everything, pay down CC debt.  One card at a time and lose high payments.  4 cards that are pretty well racked with high balances.  I figured out that I have around $1,200 per month CC payments and then on top of the $232 for the shed, $219 for the laundry machines and other payments such as the land payment and a loan payment.  I'm at least done with the car payment, that's a relief.  

That's where I'm at right now. My plans will never become reality without a sizeable loan and that ain't happening until I get rid of a lot of debt load.  Just resolved to get it done.  

Other than that, I've taken it easy today and plan to do some work tomorrow, as much as I can handle.  I'm better - but not that much better.  Just get out there and get more weed eating done. James ended up with an extra battery pack that he gave me today so I can work longer at trimming everything up.  

As quickly as everything filled up is as quickly as some of it is leaving again. I've received calls about long term but nothing converted into a person showing up with a trailer - yet.  It was just amazing how fast things turned around.  I long term out of that influx of people but one of them left today - they paid for a week and still had 4 days left - another is leaving soon - they were the 8 then 13 then 18 day stay.  I think another one going out as well.  

I've listed the option of moving in tiny homes.  Might as well, as long as they are in good condition, I really don't care about it excepting it has to be on wheels.  If it's not on wheels then we are bound under mobile home park rules and I don't want or need that, plus it's taxable.  Just a whole different set of rules that I am not that familiar with for I am not running a mobile home park, but evicting a tenant requires the whole court process, can be expensive and in the end - many old mobile home parks are bought out by RV park investors and transformed into RV parks.  The infrastructure and pads are already there, just need get rid of the mobiles and upgrade landscaping. 

Well enough of this. I don't need to get too far down rabbit holes and into too many tangents.  I do that to get the goals listed in priority in my head and long term goal front and center in my mind. I can go on and on and on. For now, it's enough to get a job, do what I have discussed doing and get the next phase of this rolling along.  Well, more like rolling down the highway.

 Friday - early

Still feeling quite miserable. Plus, my face broke out in this swelling/rash/bumps, very ugly and very uncomfortable. No idea what is causing that, but the last time I got sick, the same thing happened.  

Never-the-less, I'm going to go over there and continue to work on lot weed and grass clean up.  I"m going to Lowe's for a new weedeater/trimmer and get as much done earlier before the wicked heat hits as I can before my energy is gone and I can do no more.  

Guaranteed my energy will be gone long before the worst of the heat hits this afternoon. 

++++++++++++++

Lowe's, weedeater, lasted all of 2 hours out there but it was enough to not only finish the 3 lots but get started on others as well.  What actually happened is the battery ran out - I bought battery powered weedeater - charged it for 20 minutes - ran out again and just decided that I had had enough and left.  The battery will be fully charged by the time I get back either later today or tomorrow. 

My face is so itchy. This giant rash or whatever it is is getting to me I took a Benadryl last night before bed to help alleviate the itching - which it did - but now it's back with a ferocity that was no there yesterday. Lady at the park asked if I had the Rona?  I dunno, didn't go to the doc.  You probably did, I just got over it. I informed her that I am far from well, just came over to take care of some weeds/grass that people were complaining about. 

I have no idea if my efforts will get them to change their mind about leaving - they never said this to me, it was the bartender at the restaurant that overheard them talking - but at least i can say I tried.  I've spent several hours working on their lots, pulling weeds, grass and cleaning up.  It doesn't look very good without real grass in there, but that, allegedly, wasn't their issue.  It was just the overgrowth.  I'll find out at the end of the month.  Tho, I will go back in a week or  so and freshen it up for them a bit.  

I dunno, but when I got home 20 minutes ago, I headed straight for the shower.  Wash my face off and clean up.  

Just remembered I have a tube of anti-itch cream.  Stuff actually works.  Pretty miserable with a face itching all over.  I'll be keeping that stuff around today... 

__________

So already, all 3 of those renters were back at that restaurant and again, my bartender overheard them saying I had gotten all of their lots.  I'm not sure if that means they're staying or not - my bartender seems to think they are.  I didn't know those guys were going to that restaurant so frequently.  I hope so. I"ll be visiting those lots on a weekly basis to ensure they remain happy.  In fact, I'm just going to make time every week to visit all lots and work on them.  

On another note, I actually don't think this face rash has anything to do with the sickness.  It is highly likely that I am having an allergic reaction to one of the various types of weeds out there.  I was thinking about it. Pull weeds, got hot and sweat, wipe the sweat off my face - and whatever is on my hands onto my face  and walaah.  It's just that it's coinciding with being sick.  

I have a problem getting my hands into gloves being sold from lowe's or Harbor Freight. They don't fit.  My hands are apparently larger than average sized hands because I have to tug and pull and try to force them on.  So I haven't been using gloves.  Time to change that and try to just force the work gloves on.  Maybe they'll stretch once I get my fingers into them.  

That's all. I have done nothing else today besides sleeping and resting.  I'm starting to feel a little better at least.  

 Due ot mowers being broken I hadn't mowed in a while. The other day, I got the riding mower back and got the tall weeds behind the west wide trailers mowed down.  Needs a second pass on a lower deck level setting, but it's good.

My next thing was to go ahead and hand mow all the lots after getting the push mower working.  But, I was going to wait until I feel even a little better to do so.  Well, the friend that is a bartender at a local restaurant overhead the 3 that came in as a group some 5 or 6 months ago talking about moving out of my park because of the grass and weeds not being cut.  

They have a point but they have no information why it got like that. Doesn't matter, really, people don't care about the reasons, they will just move on and not even say why they are moving on when they get disgruntled.  So I forced my sick @$$ out of bed and went over there and mowed 5 lots and pulled weeds on 2 of them.  It may or may not make them happy, who knows, but I have got to at least try to appease them. Losing them would be losing 3 lots worth of rent and I just can't afford that right now.  

I'm going to go buy a battery operated weed eater that I can't afford to do the edging, probably tomorrow. Right now, I'm absolute toast.  It's hot out there, I was feeling hellish when I left to go over there, probably being out in the heat and sun actually helps, but right now? No thank you. 

I will get the grass around the pedestals out and pull more weeds tomorrow and then just make it a point to make sure I get to them once a week or so.  Not that it needs once a week, there has been no rain and nothing is growing really - except the weeds. It's like they don't care about water.  They aren't growing fast but it does look pretty unpresentable when they get 6 to 8 inches high.  Well, they were 4 to 6 inches high, just saying they start popping up they start looking ugly.

I dunno, but I'll get every last week off of their gravel areas - I got most of it today anyway - and around the pedestal - mower won't do it around those - and call it good.  It's 20 days before they would move out, they are paid up through the beginning of September.  Maybe I should get a pallet of sod to make them happier.  Another chunk of change I can't afford.  

Dunno.  Anyway, that's it.  I'm going back to bed.  

 I kept that kid away from me. He was/is sick and I didn't want it. But he was still going around coughing without his mouth covered all over the place and I finally ended getting.  Whatever "it" is, it's hellish.  My lungs feel like a layer of asphalt have been added to them. My head is aching, sneezing, body aches galore. 

So, yesterday I just stayed in bed and today will be the same. I only forced myself out to drink a cuppa, I've been in bed 12 plus hours.  Well, okay, I went to the park quick yesterday to collect money from weekly stay.  They were 2 days behind in paying up - that was my bad, getting distracted with the dog - and I wanted to collect my money before they leave. They ended up paying for another week. 

I have 2 payments to collect today, but both of them should be able to be done without having to go over there. 

Other than that, I don't really have much to say today. Pretty much feeling miserable and going back to bed.  

 I'm still looking around for Addler all the time.  I just can't shake it.  I look, then it pops in my head: he's not here.  His ashes are back, I am going to go get them but I am not going to spread them until the memorial is created and whoever in the family that wants to go - has the opportunity to go.  

The trucking company called today.  They are still a go for me to join their company, so for now at least, it's a go for me as well.  I don't much care for the idea of being out of town for 2 or 3 weeks........but if it works out, it will be worth it.  You never trust everything they say.  In fact, you pretty much don't trust anything they tell you.  Some of them lie, some of them exaggerate, others are told what it is and they just relay that info on, notwithstanding the fact that information is false or misleading. I'm referring to trucking company recruiters.  

You end up finding out what the truth is when you start working for them and get into the routine and see what they are actually about versus what they told you on the phone.  

I've got the propane setup ready for the RV. It was a pain but I got that line off of there, got it attached to a new line and now just have to wait until she is off work and can test it.  Not today, she's working today and she told me she is off work tomorrow.  So tomorrow it is.  

I went to Jucy's today to find out how to go about getting the taco kits ordered for the wedding reception.  There were 20 teachers in line in front of me and 6 more came in behind me.  They were in for training all week long and were let go for an hour for lunch, so I let the teachers behind me go ahead of me.  I know what it's like to have a rushed lunch because there isn't enough time.  

But it was quite simple, really. You don't have to order 2 weeks ahead. They will make as much as you need the day you need it. I said, well, it's going to be enough for 40 people, you can do that right now?  Yes, we do it frequently.  Ok!  So, I will call them the day of the wedding when they open, tell them I want to pick them up at 4:30 sharp and take them over to the Elks Lodge. The ceremony is at 5, it is going to be short, sweet and to the point and then the food/reception directly after, right there.  There will be fixings for tacos, Chili's chips and salsa and canned soda.  Simple, enough food for everyone, leftover will go home for us to devour lol. 

September 17. Unless I find something different, that's when I will fly off to Oregon - at their expense, eating and housing at their expense.  One thing a company drives doesn't do? He/she paying for orientation expenses. Any trucking company that doesn't pay for everything is worthless and I wouldn't drive for them to begin with. 

____________

Not feeling good. Haven't been all day long but haven't said anything to anyone about it. Hoped it was just the weather, but I'm afraid that's not it. The youngest has been sick, coughing for many days now.  I have kept him well away from me.  I hate getting sick, it just puts the brakes on everything. The older I get, the worse even a common cold affects me.  

But I can tell.  My throat has been mildly sore all day, my head has had an ache and I have been feeling like sludge.  Unless it was the weird weather today? Could be.  I'll find out soon enough, the amount of phlegm in my throat a pretty good sign it's not just some allergy junk. 

Oh well. The wedding is still 8 days away and trucking well off.  I won't do anything but the bare minimum when I'm sick and if it's bad enough, I won't do anything at all and I don't care what happens. Send someone over there, tell them I can't, whatever. But I'll try tomorrow to go over and get that propane going even if I feel like hell. Just because they need to be able to start cooking. I don't know what they do for food. The tent people that is. The hot water can wait.  There is a bathroom, there is a shower with hot and cold running water, I'm good.

Hotel room style portable units.  This is what the guy is saying their company sells.  I'm interested.  I have no down money so I dunno that I can get anything like that, but I would be interested in the info for future reference. What I have seen is some pretty cool looking stuff on their site. I wouldn't want to do anything like that until I'm out of trucking if it means daily cleaning. Unless it's a setup people can live in.  I just know that I need to expand my operation by at least double if not triple.  I have plenty of room for it.  

I'm really just thinking when I can get another septic system, I can devote a portion of property to small cabins and pay someone to build them.  James would probably do it on the side.  20X12 cabin, just like the size of my shed.  Or just get another shed built on site and turn it into a cabin.  I just don't want to do all of that work by myself again.  You know installing the sewer, water and electrical? And doing the entire thing?  Doing stuff that I didn't know how to do and watching endless videos on it and reading endless material?  Lol  I don't need all of that now!  I need so much stuff to turn my operation into a bit classier operation. 

I have a question  running now in a very large facebook RV group.  The question is simply, if you could tell an rv park one thing, what would it be? The usual suspects.  Larger spaces - I have that.  Good wifi - I have that when it works, lol, but no complaints in a week now.  Level sites - sorry, it's the hill country, most places around here don't have that.  Good electrical, yes I definitley have that.  Pool. Nope, don't have that.  

I'm getting really tired even tho it's not late. Another sign.  

 The riding mower works.  I got most of the weeds down behind the west side trailers, mowed the doggy park, alongside the driving coming in, out front in front of the signs and beside the street ad the back behind the shed along the driveway where I have over flow parking.  There is more to do but the lion's share of the riding mower stuff is done. All the lots need push mowed again - even tho it hasn't been raining. Whatever kind of grass that is growing there naturally doesn't care and the weeds? Certainly don't care.  

I was asked to watch the boys so I came home to babysit - a much needed break and lunchtime anyway. 

The new guy said he'd call at lunch break to pay. That hasn't happened yet. Not overly concerned, just want to get that tucked away into the business bank account.  I think someone else owes today or tomorrow, need to get out my notebook and take a look. 

++++++++++++++

He didn't call at lunch, he called tonight. He's in Houston and left his trailer at my park.  His company is paying the bill, he doesn't care.  I just wonder about all of this stuff, but if the money is green, I'm taking it.  Like, he isn't even coming back for a week or so.  Whatever the case, I got a month's rent out of that one, keep em' coming, please.  Got two more leaving in the next couple days, two more needed!  

The New Jersey people ran out when I was over there and handed me $50.  It adds up, I immediately log their payments to keep track of what they have paid.  They are paid up for the first month, somewhere around half way paid up for the month they are in and fast approaching another month payment.  But, he is now working and I assume/hope a mechanic will make some kind of decent money.

___________________________________

Tuesday - morning]

An actual chance of rain popped up out of nowhere. Grass is dying everywhere, we really need it to rain and saturate the ground nicely.  The radar showing rain just north of us. 

Sleep - went to bed at 11. No idea why I went to bed that late, I just did. Woke up at 3:30 am, back to slep at 4:30 and then awake at 8.  That's a decent amount of sleep and third day in a row.  I actually feel sluggish, like I could just go back to sleep for several more hours. 

No, lol, I'm not doing that but I bet I could.  The kids are making a lot of noise, sleeping is impossible at this point.  And anyway, I have stuff to do.  First thing's first, some people that came in for 7 days, extended it to 13 are now wanting to extend it another 5 days. Fortunately, I have a back in lot available, but the overnighters wanted a pull through. Well, I guess fortunately as well the 9 day stay is leaving this morning.  They are in a pull through spot and check out time is noon, check in time is 1, I think.  If the overnighters show up early, I'll tell them the check out times clearly listed on the website - but - they can have the back in lot if they so desire.  

Now, when you've got a full park all the time, you can shift trailers around, but mostly, you stick with whatever they signed up for.  So for example, if these people that keep extending their stay were at my park with it full and always full, people coming and going, I'd have no choice but to tell them the space was reserved long ago and they will have to leave. And yes, they will leave. Anytime people start asking to extend their stay, they always ask if they can do it.

I only know this from reading about other RV parks that are always full during the summer time and what they do. Parks near major attractions stay full during the summer.  Then you have seasonal parks - open spring and summer, closed somewhere in fall and all of winter.  You know, areas where it's too cold to be camping.  It's really never too cold to camp, but there are challenges such as freezing pipes. 

Anyway, I've got more en-queue that need to pay and I've got at least one person considering whether they want to move in or not. It's the dude that was run over by a car while on his motorcycle.  They came this morning very early to look. Like, there is zero chance I would be there that early unless there was some sort of emergency.  Thankfully, emergencies are far and few between. 

And, the dude that was claiming it was a power issue with either the park or the power company was proven wrong by the RV tech yesterday. I knew something was wrong with his trailer when I touched that circuit breaker and it was very hot to the touch.  Like, I'm surprised the thing didn't melt.  I saw the rv tech coming in so I stopped at the trailer.  Told him about the hot breaker.  He figured it out.  The owner had left the water heater in electric mode.  He was supposed to switch it to propane mode while parked and having AC unit running so it doesn't draw too much amperage.

There was nothing to fix.  Just switched it over and that was that.  I may not be an electrician, but I have a good working knowledge of how it works.  If the circuit breaker is scorching hot, there is too much power going through it.  I'll own up to anything wrong on the RV park side  if it is, indeed the park problem.

I don't expect anything like that to happen unless the west side circuit gets overloaded. One of the west side back in spots is empty atm, so that shouldn't be an issue.  This is referencing adding my RV and that old trailer to the system.  I also need to inspect the guy that left for 9 days. I don't know if he left his window units on or not.  If they're off, that's even more of a reprieve, tho something tells me they are probably both on. 

 Last 2 nights in a row, I've gotten some solid sleep. And when that is happening, I don't care what time I get up.  I'll take the sleep, schedule be damned.  

So, it's not particularly early at 8:20 am, but not incredibly late, either.  

Getting the dog out of my head to see him where he "should" be  and isn't is still an elusive feat that may, apparently, not happen anytime soon.  

The trucking company did not call last week. If they don't call by Wednesday this week, I will call to confirm they have dropped me as a potential candidate for driving for their company and move on.  I won't word it that way, of course, I'm still interested but if they found someone else or couldn't find a way past this tax return that doesn't exist and won't exist until next year, they could have called me back and told me so.  They made enough calls otherwise.  

The reservation system has no new reservations in it save a 3 day stay at the beginning of September.  I'm going to have 3 lots empty soon. The overnighters - I don't know what they are doing.. the people looking for a mobile tech.  They gonna just drive on or stay until they get the problem resolved? No clue.  They sounded very worried about whatever the display said about the trailer in side of their pickup.  I told them there is a mobile tech but he doesn't work on weekends.  They are, of course, welcome to stay as long as they want, lol. 

The new guy showed up yesterday evening, parked his trailer and apparently left for Houston. I guess?  I have to go over there this morning and confirm that he actually did, indeed, drop his trailer.  If he did, he owes me a full month's rent for apparently they are staying awhile. Security for a new QuikTrip that is opening up, it's still under construction. Must be having theft problems over there?  Or possibly just expensive equipment that the company wants guarded until the place is up and running.  Who knows, I'll take him and his boss when he comes down.  

I get all of these different scenarios for reasons why people are coming into my park.  There are much closer parks to where that store is being built. But, they are both trailer trash parks and one of them is completely filled up.  Some people just don't care what kind of place they stay at, apparently, as long as the hookups are there.

I have another person coming today to take a look at the park and see if he likes it.  This would be a more permanent person who lives here locally, on a fixed income and needs a place at a reasonable rate.  He wanted an end lot, the only thing I can give him for that is a north end lot, meaning the end is on the driver's side.  I think when people say an end lot, they want it on the passenger wide where the trailer doors are.  If he stays, great, it's basically guaranteed income what with him getting a government check. He sent me pics of what happened to him (unsolicited) I really didn't need to see pics of his face and neck all cut up with huge gashes, laying in a hospital bed, life basically ruined after someone ran him and his motorcycle over with a car.

This is why I don't ride street bikes anymore, people are paying attention to their cell phones, not the road ahead of them.  I have toyed with the idea in recent times, I do wonder if these pics were some kind of supernatural warning: don't do it.  Who knows, I don't have money for motorcycles right now anyway.

Anyway, if I could get him in there, I would have 14 longer term in there and 2 lots for overnighters.  I have to tell you, tho, that if long term comes along and wants one of those as well? They are getting it.  My short term stuff hasn't really paid off, it's not the time of year for it anyway.  People aren't coming to Texas for the heat. They will come when the winter months fire back up.  Maybe  then I'll have some lots open for overnighters, right now, my focus is fill the park up.  None of the long term I have now are actually "long term" as in permanent.  It's all transient, they just stay for various lengths of time.  The father, son and their friend occupying 3 spaces have been a cornerstone for "guaranteed" money coming in every month.  I have no idea how long they are going to stay.  

All I know is, I need around 90k to add double the spaces I have now and wave goodbye to the trucking industry forever.  Well, more than that for other amenities but you get the idea, it isn't free, not by any stretch of the imagination.  

We're getting close to the wedding day and I will be flooding out applications within a week of it.  So, in about 3 or 4 days I'm going to start sending out applications and making phones calls to places that seem like they'd be somewhere I want to work.  Certainly not waiting until September if that isn't even going to work out.  

Well, it's time to get out of here, go sit on a mower and sweat my butt off. 

G'day

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