Thursday night

I am finally home.

The ending of the ordeal at the TA truckstop did not go without a hitch.  When I got there yesterday and we got past all of this nonsense with stripped wheel studs, I also brought up the fact that I need a new fuel cap for one of the fuel tanks.  It started leaking and I do not want fuel leaking out of the top of the tank, of which the tank was quite wet with diesel.  I brought this up at least 3 if not 4 or 5 times yesterday to cement into their minds that since I have to wait overnight, I want that fuel cap replaced as well.  

So it was today, near the end of this ordeal that I casually mentioned the fuel cap. The manager looked at me funny.  Fuel cap? Yes, fuel cap, I discussed this with them last night several times.  I know nothing about it.  That always irritates me when an employee dismisses your query with "I don't know anything" therefore, it doesn't affect them and yes, you are screwed.  I firmly responded that the discussion about a new fuel cap had gone to the point where they were going to measure it and would also ask Napa - this morning - about one.  It wasn't a figment of my imagination.

10 minutes later, a manager asked me about this fuel cap and acknowledged that it has been mentioned but for some reason the information hadn't been transferred between shifts.  

I looked her squarely in the eyes and said: Yes, well it was written down on paperwork, I saw them do it.  She replied that the paperwork had been "lost".  In my mind, this wasn't some person being honest, this was a person trying to cover their  and their employee's asses.  Be honest about it and I will be far more forgiving. Start lying to me and you are likely going to piss me off.  I became pissed, I had been there 25 hours at that point and I was in no mood for bs.  I was ready to leave, actually and didn't care about the damned fuel cap at that point, I would get one in Lufkin at the Peterbilt dealership.

But, that takes time and I had already spent enough damned time at this place, they should have dealt with this. Let me tell you here, that they had to send someone clear to Texarcana after they had exhausted all other resources to a place they hated to do any business with.  This is because, as they described it: the people that work there are assholes.  Their words, not mine.  I was not amused but I could believe that a place that has the parts are also full of people in perpetual bad moods. I have had my dealings with them in the parts industry in the past.  

You play their game to get what you need, no matter how foul they may be.  The point is that there is also a Peterbilt dealership in Texarcana and they could have also stopped for the fuel cap. Yes, it's important to not have fuel leaking, DOT doesn't much care for that.  It looks worse than the leak is, it doesn't take much diesel fuel to make the appearance of a major leak.  

I blew that cap off.  The wheel studs were coming, that place had all 10 of them, I was more than ready to get out of that place and leave it far behind. That lady disappeared and then they both came out 5 minutes later: we have a fuel cap coming.  I immediately asked how long? Because at that point, the studs were there, the mechanic had been banging on them for quite a while to get them seated and he was working on tightening down the lugnuts.  I was ready to leave that place.  "About 45 minutes" and "probably about the time the mechanic is finishing up with your wheels".  

I agreed to it.  What's a few more minutes to get everything dealt with? Well, a lot in my mind at that point but it was important to get that issue behind me as well. So, they got the wheels done but then decided to check the rest of the lugs on the rest of the trailer.  I did not ask nor did I want them to do that. What, find more problems? I want to go home, thank you, not spend another 24 hours at that miserable place.  TA's have gotten rid of their Country Pride restaurants at all or most of their truck stops and replaced them with things like Taco Bell and Subway.  It's the wave of the "future" to get rid of old style diners and trucker's seating at traditional restaurants and replace them with garbage food.  

So, I couldn't go sit down and have a nice meal to eat there and that takes away the allure of many of these places that are otherwise hell holes.  

Anyway, the lady finally arrived, she was on her way home. Where I was at is 45 miles from Texarcana, how far out of town does she live?  Anyway, I was glad she brought it, the mechanic "installed" it, it's just a fuel cap lol, tho there is a chain and a pair of "arms" that go down in the tank, when you take the cap off, the arms keep the cap from falling or going anywhere.  He adjusted the brakes and then?  I got the Hercules out of there.  

2 hours later, back at the park and I wasted no time getting out of there. I will deal with issues tomorrow.  

I was amazed the kids were still awake when I got home, it was far past their bedtime.  I learned that they are off today, Monday and Tuesday for Easter break. It is unbelievable the amount of time kids get off of school. 

Oh, there was a silver lining in all of this nonsense - remember, I only went to have 2 tires repaired. Not go through eternal hellfire trying to get wheel studs replaced.  

You see, the dispatcher was asking me all day long about "going down there after it's fixed".  Sure, unless it gets too late. It was getting too late. I would be arriving at the washout right about now, 9:30 pm. They said they would do a call out if I needed it. Then, I would arrive at the plant around 10:30 or later, sit there for at least an hour and then an hour and 40 minutes back to the yard.  We're talking 1 am junk here.  

So then, she said, well can you load tomorrow and bring it up here to El Dorado and drop it?  I reluctantly agreed. That is a very long day. I replied "you must be having logistic problems, so I will do it". or something like that.  It wasn't until I was about to leave the TA that she texted and said she had found someone to load today. THANK GOD ALMIGHTY. 

I mean that sincerely, thank the good Lord, I have had enough.  I don't know what I'm going to get paid for sitting around for 26 hours, but they are going to pay me and they are going to reimburse my hotel.  I couldn't stay in the truck last night, they wouldn't let me because it's in the shop and I couldn't have the truck running - because it's in....the....shop. 

I have 3 full days off now instead of 2 and I desperately needed them, thank you.  This was day 12 of being out on the road on a daily basis plus the fact I spent the night on the road, so to speak, done, toast, ready for a break and stuff needing to be done at the park.  Lots of stuff. Mowing, the post, the security system to name a few and the things that are on the top of the list.  

Enough. I am going to bed soon and I am going to relax for a few.  

 Thursday morning

It’s almost 9:00 am and they are just starting on finding parts after calling them to see where they’re at with this. They have to go to Napa to see if they have the parts and if they don’t, they have to go to some trailer shop in texarcana which will take significantly much more time. 

It’s not like I’m checking out if this hotel before checkout time at 11. And then I’ll head over to the restaurant to blow some more time off of the clock. 

After all the talking, the salesman hasn’t taken the price down at all and instead offers a pile of rubbish thing that would be all but useless to me. No bucket, no box and no brush attachment. So I’m not impressed and I’m not getting in over my head on payments. 

The dispatcher just called and asked what’s going on. I told her the same thing as I mentioned above. So she is going to have the head mechanic start making calls, see if he can motivate them to get their asses in gear. As I figured, they still want me to go get that load today. 

I replied that it depends on when they get me out of here. Cause’ at this point, I’m thinking it’s going to be quite a while before that trailer is fixed. 

-——————-

Left the hotel, over at the restaurant. Decent food, horrible coffee, waitress has  very sour attitude. I was polite, respectful and courteous, some people are just that way.  

Whatever. Will be walking the half mile back to the truck and start asking questions if they haven’t made any progress. Perhaps leave the trailer there and one of their local drivers can get it when they finish? But they probably won’t allow me to drop the trailer there and the company probably doesn’t want to have to interrupt yet another driver to deal with this. 

Meanwhile, after even more discussion with the dealer, I am not going to be able to do business with them. I told them I would think about it. That’s where it’s left. 7 years of payments that high just doesn’t set well with me. Maybe if the park income was double what it is now. 

______\___________

Many hours later. 3:30 pm to be precise, they sent a person to texarcana to search for the parts This person found them and is heading back here now. A mechanic coming on duty at 4, I hope to be out of here by 6. 

Enough. I get more worn out doing this stuff than actually working. 

 Thursday - evening - iPhone entry 

I was beating the tires on the trailer with a hammer this morning and one of them reported back with a “I am half flat” thud. I figured I could make it to a truck stop and I figured right. Filled the tire up to 105 pounds and hoped it would hold until I had more time to deal with it. 

A few hours later at the plant in Gurdon. Got out of the truck sitting on the scale and saw …a flat tire. This was a different tire on the trailer, I had checked all of them, it was perfectly fine this morning. It had a large metal spike in it. So the ordeal begins. 

I unloaded the truck, had agreement that I can drive it to the Loves 20 miles away and that is exactly what I did. When I got in there, they told me 4 HOURS before they could get to it. Screw that. 

I drove a few more miles to the TA truck stop where they got right on it. Fixed both tires and then tried to put them back on….

3 of the studs that the lugs screw onto were completely stripped. They tried screwing new lugnuts back onto it anyway, no go. They then discussed among themselves about whether they could put the wheels back on with 3 of 10 lugnuts not tightened and said nope. We cannot put those wheels back on there. 

Further, the Napa is now closed so we can’t get parts today. 

Yup. I’m stuck in Prescott, Arkansas until who knows when tomorrow, for they don’t know if the Napa will have the parts and  if they don’t, they’ll have to go to a trailer shop in Texarkana. It is likely I’ll be stuck here well into tomorrow before it’s repaired. 

I tried to get them to put it back together for the trailer is empty and could easily make the 70 miles to our yard. I understand, tho, they can be held liable for any accidents and so they refused. 

I qualified for a loan at the local John Deere outlet. They quoted me 2 prices and payment plans for 2 tractors, but the loan length was far too long at 84 months and payments higher than I want. It is an interest free loan, yes but I’m not willing to get into eternal payments. Maybe 4 or 5 years but 7? No thank you and I told them as such. I want used at a much lower price, that’s what I want. I don’t need to be getting into 35k worth of tractor. 

So I have texted them back my desires and they can either accommodate for me or not.

My dear mom sent me more money today. Totally out of the blue. It is almost enough for another septic system. 

It’s what I need first before considering expanding the park, I’m going to sit on the money for awhile, however and ponder this situation. I will also have to install another 200 amp electrical setup with meter as well. However, I can set it up myself only paying an electrician to hook the lines up from the power pole. Which also poses the need for the power company to install yet another telephone pole. Now, they will do this and no money up front, but it’s 2 month lead time. 

Just not there, yet, it will cost many thousands of dollars more than just a septic system to install more lots just because I will need the setup for electricity plus buy under ground cable, pipe, pedestals, gravel and whatever else I’m not thinking of. I would actually want to set up electrical first since there is a long lead time for pole installation. 

I may just hold the money and save towards down payment for a loan. 

Anyway, I decided to stay at a  nearby hotel. Pretty spartan but it’s not a dive and better than sitting in that truck for at least 14 hours if not more. I’m guessing they’ll still want me to drive clear to lufkin tomorrow if this thing is fixed in time to make it down there. They’re not going to care that I’ll be wearing same clothes for 2 days and all the rest of my dislikings for having to tolerate junk equipment. 

What I could really kick myself about is not bringing my laptop. I was going to start bringing it because I get so many calls for spots and I really need to see my reservation software to make sure I’m not giving bad info and having more people show up than I have lots available. 

I have nothing with me except a coat, a charging cord and the tablet. This room has, amazingly enough, an excellent satellite lineup including HBO. 

Well, I can only do so much of this in a phone before I get tired of trying to type out the words with one finger so I’ll end this here. 

 Wednesday - mid morning

The late load lasts 2 days. Going to fetch the glue from Lufkin and going to deliver the load in Gurdon. Well, all of the loads last 2 days, that's nothing new, it's just that I have to wait to leave to head up there.

I contacted the other driver a while ago, no reply.  My appointment time is 2 pm, but I'd like to be there around 11:30 am - if - he- is- going - to - be there.  He gets up late, he starts late and he makes multiple stops to use the restroom on the way up there.  That's all well and fine for him, it isn't for me. If he wants to be late, then take late loads for crying out loud.  A bit ridiculous.  

I suspect the reason he isn't replying - which he normally does within a few minutes - is because he has yet another late start which will push my day further and further back.  At this point, any late loads for me will have me asking him if I can just go up there super-early, get it over with and be gone before he even arrives.  I don't want late loads and I don't know why the dispatcher has put us on the same delivery days.  We are usually staggered so we can both have late loads.  I would be 35 minutes out from the plant right now if I were the early delivery...

I just applied for and was approved for a tractor loan with John Deere.  This does not mean I am getting a tractor.  It means I have been approved for financing for a tractor.  I am not taking the first thing they come up with, in fact, I want something used that is cheaper and lower payments.  I don't need brand new and I don't really want brand new.  It's probably like buying a new car, it loses thousands of dollars worth of "value" the instant you pull it off the dealer lot.  

I was looking around all over the place for financing, but it was mostly AG companies and they wanted me to be in the farming business. I altered the input to note that I want a "compact tractor", is what they call them now that I did enough looking around, that changed the google results.  There is a local John Deere dealership, it's a pretty big place with all kinds of different sized tractors out there. I don't know if they have used, I will be finding out.  

He finally contacted me back: 10:30 ish.  See?  He wants me to get there early on his late days so he can get done earlier but he won't accommodate for me. He should be arriving there at the latest 9:30 am, 9 even better. Instead, he isn't even arriving at the appointment time.  IF he wanted to do unto me as he would have do unto himself, as the Bible says it.  I find it odd in life that people demand things out of you that they are unwilling to enact, perform, engage in themselves.  This is what I call the actual definition of real life "privilege". It's not the color of your skin, it's your view and outlook on things.  

He's a real nice guy, don't get me wrong, but this hypocrisy is a bit much to swallow.  

Anyway, I'm going to get busy with getting out of here in about 10 minutes, leave the house by 9, leave the yard no later than 9:30 and be up there no later than 11:40 am.  I don't know what else to do for I don't know how long it's going to take him to unload. It depends on the temperature of the glue. It could be 45 minutes, it could be 3 hours depending on that variable alone.  

I have the park mostly filled up.  There is a 4 nighter staying in the overnight spot I keep open.  There are back over nighters coming on and off for the next 2-1/2 weeks.  It basically equates to a full month's lot rent for the intended lot.  I have a 3 weeker coming in for the open back in spot on Sunday.  The back in lot is available tonight butis taken for 5 days with various people after that.  People are traveling now, it's time to head north out of winter.  Yes, you heard that right, people love it up north during the summer time where the day time temps are much better than pretty much anywhere in the south.  

They'll plan their trips home -- or if full timers they'll plan their trips to whatever RV park they are intending to stay at - and reserve spots accordingly along the way. Many of them will not travel over 300 miles a day and a lot of those wont' even go that far. They are no hurry, which if you're retired, why be in a hurry anyway?  

Back to the tractor, the payments are going to have to be low which means they will have to give longer terms, like 5 years or something.  I will be out of the shed payments in 7 months, I think it is, it's either 7 or 6. The hard part is summer, when people are turning on AC units and leaving them on all day long at the coldest setting. That is what I surmise they are doing, anyway, simply by walking by their units and hearing the compressors going constantly.  It's "free" electricity. 

If this job pans out for pay, that will change eventually. I will install meters and I will target the people using excessive amounts of electricity. They will either pay for the excess or they can leave. I would rather have the lot empty than only making, say $50 off the lot per month. What good is that? I'm not here to do people favors.  People that conserve electricity won't even be approached, it's the hoarders, the people that don't give a damn, those are the ones that need to pay.  

Well, I guess I better get started on leaving. It's kind of a process where I double check I have everything, make a lunch, get some ice water and fill a thermos with coffee.

G'day

 It is interesting how my park's name is starting to get a - good - reputation and people are starting to call from all over wanting a space.  I have turned away a lot of people lately and unfortunately.  The stinger was telling that lady I couldn't take her 3 employees who would have taken up 3 lots for an extended period of time because I just don't have the space.  

What really gets to me is I tell people this and then bam, 3 people will up and leave unexpectedly and without notice.  Or, they tell you the day they are leaving, "btw, we are leaving today, I am being reassigned" or other such things.  

The farmers? I have no idea whether they will stay or go. They paid for a month and that was that.  They are there but whether they are going to stay longer? The family I also don't know about. They keep saying they are buying property - but they keep getting hung up on paperwork or whatever the title company is griping about.  

So, I can't tell people yes this lot is leaving so you can come without actually having that lot cleared out.  I can base short term on that, people staying 3 nights will need to leave the next morning for yes, there is someone coming in.  Not too many have tried to extend their stay in those circumstances, some have tried and I have been able to accommodate them. But, if someone else already made a reservation 2 months in advance, they are going to want their space they already paid for and I will tell the current short term that yes, you are going to need to leave today, so sorry, so sad, too late, too bad.  

No, I don't really talk to customers like that lmao.  

BTW, referring to the min-ex in the last post, those things have blades on them.  The worst of the driveway could be bladed and worked until the ridges and holes are gone.  I really could get my use out of a day's worth of a mini ex.  But, I won't even think about doing that until I get my next paycheck and see if what I am thinking it's going to be actually plays out.  My manager hasn't said the request he put in to have my pay increased was rejected, he had to ask a senior management person for approval.  But, it's my manager's pool of money he has to work with, so approval shouldn't be terribly difficult and I'd like to hope by now we have that squared away. 

What I am saying here is that I am not putting the mini ex on credit to pay for it. I hate credit at this point, I have over-used it and I am really trying hard not to use any credit at all for anything.  I was considering it for the property tax but that has worked out, albeit I haven't gone in to pay the second bill.  That's because I was super busy today and just didn't have time for it.  Hopefully I will be able to tomorrow.  Whatever the case, I just need it done by the end of this week.  

Meh. I was going to go to bed and I got tricked in my mind into writing another post.  But yea, it's time to get offa here.  

 Monday - evening

Another almost 3 hour offload.  Temp of product was at 50 degrees. Anything under 60 is going to take a long, long time to get out of the tanker.  The other driver was talking to the people at the production plant, they are going to try to see if they can start keeping the temp around 65 degrees.  This would be fantastic. At 65 degrees, I can unload that thing in less than an hour, maybe even 45 minutes.  

I dunno, but I just ended up going to sleep for quite a while after I was sure the pressure was good.  

I was in a fog this morning when I woke up and I could have slept for several more hours.  It's this habit I got into during the year off where as if I didn't sleep well that night, ie: awake for hours in the middle of the night, I would just sleep in until I was rested.  I tend to sleep much better in the mornings than at night, amazingly enough.  

So, being forced up at 5:30 am every day regardless? Well, you'd think after enough sleepless night your body would force you to sleep well at least once in a while. Yes, true but too many nights where I'm awake for 2 hours and nothing I can do about it.  

Anyway, I have the late load tomorrow morning and this time? I'm glad.  I won't have to get out of bed until 8:00 am, leave the house by 8:30, leave the yard by 8:50.  Hmm, that isn't early enough, strike that. 

8:00.  Leave the yard by 8.  Umm, no.  Let me think here, lol.  Yes, I think if I leave by 8 that should work out okay.  Or if I am sleepy just sleep in. I'm just trying to to end up getting home too terribly late.  The appointment time isn't until noon, but the other driver said he'd be at the plant loading by around 9:00 am.  I am working off of that.  Give that an hour load time, if I leave here by 8, I'm in nacogodches by 9:30, half an hour at the washout, 35 minutes over to the plant and I'm at the plant by around 10:40 am-ish.  

That's good enough. If I'm out of there by the latest noon I'm home before 2 pm.  So, if I were home by 3 that wouldn't hurt my feelings either.  It's the idea of getting up later and perhaps getting better sleep that is appealing after all of these days in a row getting up at 5:30 am.  

The dispatcher asked me today via text message: Hey Ben, are you working this weekend?  I thought, are you kidding? I'll have been working 14 days in a row and you want me to just continue on with working?  I flatly but nicely said no thanks, I will have been working 2 straight weeks, have missed church twice, I need a couple days  of down time.  Oh forget it, I was just reminded that this weekend you should have off. Yes, the manager knows what I want in terms of time off. At least every other weekend.  The other driver won't be working either, I guess their local drivers or OTR drivers will be taking care of it. 

I'm not sure I plan on doing anything this coming weekend. I just want the time off.  She loaded my table up with 3 more loads for next weekend beyond the 2 loads that were already in there for this week.  4 more days and I get a couple of days off.  

I just got a call from someone needing to stay for 3 weeks.  I offered him the monthly deal and he took it. Weekly rate he would have paid $50 more for 3 weeks over the monthly rate for 4.  The nature of the business, people coming and going and trying to stay on top of it and keep the lots filled up.  I've got the pull through lot loaded up for 11 days out of the next 23 days, I'd like to get some more in there, tho just 4 more days and it takes care of an entire month of lot rent for a month.  

Well, I'm beat.  I did see in the news today that an appeals court lowered Trump's bond money to 175m.  That's also ridiculous but not near as unbelievable as $450m.  They say he defrauded businesses by overvaluing his properties.  I listened to the real estate experts - lots of them - explaining the erroneous factors the judge used to come to his conclusions and the judge heard this stuff in his court room.  This judge cannot seriously be doing what he thinks is the "right thing" here.  I just think he's another Trump hater and using the bench to exact pain from a political opponent.  Yes, I do think these people are pawns for the Democrat party.  Especially this Leticia whatever her name is person.  

They must be terribly afraid that Trump is going to win the next election, they absurd declarations and accusations about another Trump presidency coming from them are surreal.  It's like living on a different planet, where do these people come up with this stuff?  

April 8th draws near. We will have a partial eclipse here, I am informed, to see the full eclipse we would have to drive about 60 miles down the road. No thank you.  Partial is fine, I am more interested in the 2 tailed comet that will be flying by.  No, it's not 2 tailed, apparently 2 horned. Well whatever, that would interest me far more than an eclipse.

The coach. Well, the glue traps are catching massive amounts of.....cockroaches.  So not only were they living with rats in their filth, they also invited in a cockroach infestation.  I'll be bombing the thing yet again soon.  I keep forgetting to do it for it's just not a priority right now. It's going to need work and money dumped into it.  In fact, I'm considering ripping the kitchen counter out with the sink and installing a regular house version that would look much nicer than the thing in there plus give me access to clean out the infestation underneath it and generally have a nicer unit.   

That wouldn't cost that much money, I see those things listed all the time on the cheap.  Same with the shower, would like to tear that out and put in a nicer thing, that one is old and ugly.  Basically, redo some of it, not all of it and have a nice unit I could rent out.  I might just save up the money and pay James to do it for me.  He does good work.  He gives attention to detail and doesn't try to bypass necessary steps to make sure the finished product is not only going to look good but is also going to work correctly.  He'll do stuff like that for pay and I don't mind paying him if I have the money to do so.  The thing has a brand new ac unit on it, I'm kinda stuck with it now.  

Well, besides just taking that ac off of there and getting rid of the thing, but who is going to want a rat infested, cockroach filled thing? Well, if I can get all of that out of there, no one need know.  Just clean it all up and start over.  New carpet, a good used sofa couch, maybe re-do the kitchen and bathroom, nothing terribly major.  

It's going to be a project and since funds are tight, that isn't a project I am going to start right now, hence no hurry.  Well, I want that bug infestation and rats out of there now, not later. Rats can chew up wiring, tear things apart, they are very destructive little ugly creatures.  Throw out the mattress she undoubtedly destroyed, I'm not going to bother keeping things that people that live like that were using.  It's probably disgusting, I wouldn't sleep on it and I don't want to think about having others  sleep on it either.  

Look, if my next paycheck is as good as it should be per the mananger's statement about my pay-per-load, I will no long have financial issues. Well, maybe at first I will trying to get caught up but after that I will be good to go.  Money will be saved to invest in this business.  I do not have stocks or 401k anymore, I got out of that to pay for the RV park.  

Oh, the tractor.  Haven't gotten into that yet.  Just depends on monthly payments, really. Need, yes, getting one? No idea yet.  I did qualify for a small, $6,000 business loan but the payback is a grand a month.  Yup, they take $250 or something near that every week for 6 months.  That's a really short payback scenario and I don't know if I can do that.  But, I could get a used tractor and hopefully some attachments with that kind of loan and the good news is the payments don't go on forever.  

Who knows, but the driveway is quickly getting back into horrid condition yet again, it's been raining all over again and no, I didn't put a drain pipe across the driveway. I haven't had time for it and frankly, it's likely going to take a mini-ex to do it. Mini-ex rental is ..... near $500 per day : )

Now, I could do the driveway crossovers and I could dig the trench from lot 1 to the shed with it, thereby getting some use out of it other than just a 25 foot wide crossover.  In fact, I could do a couple of places on the driveway with drainage and get it draining from where the trench on the side of the driveway ends and where it really needs a good sized pipe to drain into a culvert, through the pipe and over to the other side.  The only good thing about a rental like that, is, it would be a lot cheaper for me to do it that way than to pay someone to do it for me. Trust me, that would probably cost a couple of grand at least to pay a contractor to come in and do it for me.  

Let me just say here that I will be needing to do that trench from lot 1 to the shed pretty soon.  By the end of April anyway, before the heat starts hitting. That or do away with "alternate sites".  Nope.  They make me money, I have a long term back there now and he says he's going to be there awhile and no, he doesn't want a regular lot now that he's back there.  I know because I offered it to him.  This is all in reference to the lack of sufficient power getting pumped back there from current setup to provide for both the shed and 2 trailers. I would put the 2 trailers on it's on panel and take it off of the shed power.  

This would eliminate the problem back there when ac units are pumping away all day long in the summer heat.  I already have everything...but...the....trench.  It's about 175 feet of digging, I can tell ya that isn't happening with a shovel.  Not me, no way and no thank you.  I can use a ditch witch, but if I need a mini-ex for the driveway? I'll just get it all prepped and get it all done in one day with the mini instead of a trenching machine.  There are other things I could do with the mini ex as well if I had time left over after doing all of that - tho I doubt there will be time.  I'm pretty good at digging trenches with those things.  I could probably dig out all of what I need in a couple of hours.  But, you have to lay the pipe and back fill it and lay the electrical line and backfill all of that so you add more hours to the process.

Well, I'm done here.  I'm going to go to be around 10:00 pm and set the alarm for 7:30 am  instead of 5:30 am : )

G'nite.  

 Sunday - early

AS the continued work load continues on, I find myself getting into the "I don't want to go to work" rut.  A person needs time off here and there.  14 straight days of working, which is what this will be if it goes all the way through Friday, is too much. Not that I don't need the money, but I'm at an age where I just don't have it in me.  Especially the getting up early part, I got quite used to sleeping in on nights when I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep.

I did that for a year and I was well enough rested.  Now? there are time I feel like a walking zombie.  Besides taking sleeping pills, what does one do to get their sleep back? This started a long time ago after the first divorce and the church split.  I went through depression, sleeplessness and then finally got some sleep back and over time, it improved but never actually returned to normal, where you sleep 7 or 8 straight hours without waking up.  

I just don't want to take sleeping pills, I don't feel like drugs are always the answer to all of life's problems.  I'm not against medicinal drugs, don't get me wrong, but taking something for every last thing I don't think is helpful.  

Anyway, my doggy bags on the second order came in. The other box of "bags" is going to be sent back to them and they are refunding my money.  Or if they don't refund my money, I will dispute it with Ebay and they will take care of it.  I don't know how those people thought a person isn't going to notice that you ordered and paid for 10 boxes of bags and you only receive 1.  

The family decided to take it upon themselves to mow 3 lawns plus the doggy park and edging.  I didn't ask them to do that, the rain has caused grass to grow at a crazy rate.  I still don't see any of the seed I put down coming up, but then again, it may be that those smaller blades of grass are actually Bermuda grass that sprang up quickly.  

The AC on the truck is still screwed and they finally admitted that it will have to be brought in and half the panels on dashboard area will have to be taken off to get at the evaporator to find out what's going on.  I can tell ya what's going on.  Either the coils are full of dirt and just need cleaned out or there is something clogging the system up and again, needs cleaned out. There's plenty of freon in the system, that isn't the cause of this problem.  

So, I have to "look forward" to taking that thing up there and switching out trucks. You don't do all of that work in a few hours, that's at least a day right there and if they have to order parts, that may drag it on for several days.  The plus side to that is when I do it, I'm going to ask for another trailer as well.

The one I now have takes hours to unload.  One of the problems is it isn't rated to pressure up more than 30 pounds. You go over that and the pop off valve lifts and just lets the air right back out.  I'm used to previous trailers and pumping them up to 36, 37 pounds which makes a huge difference.  The other problem isn't trailer related, the product is cold and it gets thick and just doesn't move that fast.  Regardless, I was up there 3-1/2 hours offloading that truck yesterday.  That's just too long.  A long offload is 2 hours, anything over that is ridiculous.  

Tomorrow, Monday, I will be going up there and paying this ridiculous property tax.  Just kiss that money goodbye I guess.  

I'm watching this Trump drama with this bigoted DA or whatever her title is.  He has until tomorrow to secure a $454m bond. He has stated he has come up with the money.  Is this whole situation that has occurred with Judge Ergeron making his decision before the trial even started just?  Is this how we want to see citizens being treated?  When you look at the case and you see the banks that did business with Trump saying they are happy and would lend again and real estate experts saying Ergeron greatly unvalued his properties using flawed basis for coming up with that decision, do you think that this decision for almost half a billion dollars was a good one? 

I know Trump haters will say yesss!  Be careful what you wish for.  

Meanwhile, the IRS sent me a large package yesterday.  I was really not liking to see that, I wondered what was in it while I was opening it up.  Am I being audited?  See, I woke up at 3:30 am today and that stuff came into my head and that's why I couldn't go back to sleep and finally just got up out of bed super early and sitting here drinking coffee and pondering things.  

But, it wasn't anything terrible.  It is a packet of papers with envelopes to send in quarterly payments for this year - 2024 - with estimated taxes.  I was thinking about the fact that last year? I did take some money out of the business account, no doubt, but it was somewhere around 12k.  That and trucking income was it.  I actually will probably be in poverty rate with the income I had.  It was surviving off of loans that kept me going.  My tax burden will not be very high.  I don't know what taxation is on "poverty" rate, probably not much.  

Now, if this raise is what I think it will be in terms of paychecks, I won't be taking any money out of the business account or certainly very little and I won't be paying any income taxes on it. That's the goal anyway.  We'll see next paycheck, this is when the promised pay increase will start showing on my checks, at least according to the manager. That will be April 7th.  

Since Intuit has all of my business info, I am going to use Turbo Tax to do my taxes for 2023.  I haven't quite gotten that far with it yet....

Oh well.  Let's get Sunday work over with.  It's no use leaving early, I can't get there before 8:00 am, if I do, I just wait for they won't show up until 8. And on Sunday, you have to call them and they will tell you, yes, we'll come - at 8, lol.  

G'day

 Friday - night

I wish I could tell everyone that calls that I have a spot for them. Especially the lady that called today asking if I have 3 spots available for long term? Business looking for space for employees.  I wish I could have told her yes, for those are the types of people you really want for long term. They stay a long time and no issues. 

No, I can't take 3 right now. 2?  Well, I might be able to in a week.  Ok, well they aren't coming until the 28th.  I can get back to you in a few hours? I was driving, no access to a computer. Sure!  Well, 30 minutes later I get a text: we found a spot.  The RV industry. Get them in when they call or lose them. I couldn't take them in I knew that. You know, people come and go, maybe some are leaving in the next week? I couldn't tell ya.  Maybe on lot is, for they were only staying 2 weeks. But as it happens often, people say they are leaving and then end up staying much longer.

The park is full.  But it's not going to stay that way.  I've also had to turn away lots of overnighters.  If I'm full, I'm full.  One asked, well do you have anything that has 30 amp hookup? I did but it's that motorcoach and I don't know what she did with the keys to it.  I could move it out of the way and have a spot there.  Anyway, I didn't tell them that, they asked if I had any recommendations so I gave them the name of a competitor across town.  

I've come to the determination that I absolutely need a tractor with several different attachments.  It's just a necessity with land.  It's that or endlessly rent one at near $400 per pop.  I don't know about getting into payments right now, but the driveway is messed up again with all this fresh rain.  I wouldn't rent their tractor again, their box doesn't have teeth and I won't waste my time and money with another stint without those teeth on there to tear up the soil.  I don't know what I'm going to do about this need, if anything, but it's been raised up to a "top priority" situation.  

Work again tomorrow.  This is going to continue on for another week, when i will - tell them - I am taking 2 days off for that weekend.  I'll have missed 2 weeks straight of church, the kids going on 4 weeks.  And time off.  I don't mind this job that much, it's light on hours at anywhere from 6-1/2 to 8-1/2 on a typical day, but it's still work and I get up at 5:30 am for it.  

This paycheck was absolutely pathetic.  I mean, so small it was a kick in the teeth type of thing.  The work I am doing now is allegedly going on the new pay scale.  We'll see.  I've been patient waiting on this, but my patience is wearing thin. I have a couple leads on new jobs.  I wasn't really looking, they just come through either social media, text message or my inbox.  One of them claims a local job and yes, I am researching that one.  

Well it's getting late. I am tired and I want to go to bed early. Gurdon in the am, hopefully a uneventful day, meaning nothing weird, wild and highly time consuming occurs. 

 Thursday - mid afternoon

Pretty typical day going to Gurdon and back. Product was a bit warmer so it came out faster, I was done about 35 minutes earlier than what it has taken for the last 3 loads up there.  

The only thing of note was when the other driver contacted me.  The company hired a new driver and my driver trainer - who is the "other" driver - said he's an early bird the other day.  When I hear that, I think: this dude is going to play games trying to get there earlier than the first load  - when he's been given the second load.  My guess was correct.

He already delivered before the trainer the other day, but since it didn't affect him, he didn't say anything about it. However, today?  The driver trainer pulls into the trailer washout facility and lo and behold, there is this new driver in the office, getting his paperwork so he can go get the trailer washed out.  The driver trainer just drove straight to the washout area and bypassed the office. You don't have to do the paperwork first, lmao. 

This new driver became infuriated.  He immediately called the manager to complain about what the driver trainer had done.  He apparently was raising his voice with the manager over the phone, so the manager just said "we can talk later when you cool down a bit".  Then, the driver trainer called the manager to inform him of what happened, the manager said yup, he already called. The early load goes to the senior drivers. Lol, I've bee there since September and I'm already a "senior driver".  That's because people don't stay at this company for very long and if you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you will understand why people quit and I don't feel like going into all of that right now.

In fact, the last guy that was pulling this stunt frequently, cutting in front of other drivers on appointment times, he also quit.  I'm not shocked at all if/when people quit.  

I thought it was hilarious the newbie was getting all kinds of angry because of circumstances created by his own selfishness.  I'm guessing he won't last long, either.  I don't know how the company keeps up with the schedule from the plant with people coming and going like that. 

The lady texted me yet again - 3 piles of poop she said she found at the doggy park today.  It makes me just want to shut the damn thing down, take down the fencing and be done with it. It's really annoying that people just don't give a damn and let their dogs s*** all over the place and they can't be bothered to clean it up.  Unbelievable. 

The new people that moved in yesterday didn't stay in the trailer last night. I know this because there were no vehicles parked in front of the thing either early this morning or this afternoon when I got home. Was trying to collect rent.  I'm not worried about it tho,

________

Night time. It's been raining on and off since I got home.  The new people called back. You can tell they are well up there in age.  Nice sounding, hopefully that pans out.  The man is ex-military, Marines.  

Anyway, it's time to relax, take in some show - I think I'm going to start watching Shogun, it looks interesting and the Japanese are of a great curiosity to me (not in a bad way) - just really interesting culture.  

G'nite. 

 Wednesday - night

Mostly won't write entries in the morning if I'm off to work on any given day, there's just too much to do and usually don't have enough time to write anything.  I'm not saying that is going to be a strict rule I'm putting myself to. 

It's 8:24 pm and we just got home maybe 15 minutes ago.  Baseball for the youngest alternating with soccer with the older child, that's 3 days a week right there plus a guitar practice plus games on the weekends.  This is what they are just now plunging themselves into.  An hour long practice went over 1-1/2 hours.  Too long for those kids, they lose interest quickly.  

I'd like to give the coach some advice, but that probably wouldn't go over too well so I'll keep it zipped.  He should be doing stations and keep all the kids active continuously instead of having a batter at the plate with a bunch of kids in the field standing around picking their noses doing nothing and getting bored.  I spent a lot of time perfecting that craft, keeping kids involved and focused.  You have 3 or 4 stations depending on how many coaches you have - or just parents willing to volunteer - and you move them around.  An intense hour of that non-stop and they are good to go.  

I spent 10 years doing that and much of it I still remember, what I've forgotten I would quickly get back.  

As for today, it started early as most of them do.  I have 1 run I'm currently on and 4 more in the tablet.  There is only one run that starts late, I don't remember which day, not really interested in late starts but since all the rest of them are early, I won't complain too much.  

I ordered off of Ebay a 10 box set of dog poop bags for the doggy park.  The ad says 10 boxes, the boxes are 200 count, it should have said 2,000 bags.  Instead, it says 6,000.  Honest error there, no biggies. However, they shipped me one single box of 200. I paid $47, I want all of it.  However,  Ebay didn't have a return tab available yet since they just arrived, I started a return. They can have their single box back, I want my money back.  

We'll see how that goes, meanwhile I can't keep waiting, the doggy park ran out of bags yesterday.  So, Chewy it was.  Better price than anything on Ebay anyway, excepting this set of bags.

I finally got to the front yard today. It was just too much.  You know, pushing a lawn mower is good exercise.  

I'm tired, therefore not terribly chatty right now.  A person called today saying that they were at the park, can we move in?  I was driving, I didn't have my laptop with me and I had no idea if I could accept a full timer in today or not.  Long conversation - they wanted to chat, I didn't feel like it but I obliged.  A few hours later, they are at the park again, they want in! Lol, I told her I was at Kroger's, I'd be at my computer in 20 minutes.

Well, they are still sitting at the park.  Haven't seen anyone so determined to move in like that before.  I got home, checked, saw that I could get them in, I have a 2 week stay leaving before I'll need a second lot available and I really hate turning long term away, I try to "figure it out" if it's at all possible.  I call her back, she says great, where do we pay? I'll get the money later, I'm busy atm, you can just go ahead and move in. 

It wasn't 15 minutes? later and there was a travel trailer being pulled in and they were backing it into lot 9.  

Yesterday.  Up to Gurdon, 2 hours to unload - it's this trailer, I can't do anything about it, it's going to take at least an hour and 45 minutes every time and there's nothing I can do about it.  Hope I get into a different trailer sooner or later. 

Down to El Dorado.  The lead mechanic is like, well we'll take a look and see how long it's going to take.  Oh? The manager said he just wanted me to switch trucks.  But, if you think you can get it done today....2 of them jumped right on it while basically telling me to go somewhere and come back in an hour.  They have a driver's lounge, I went in there, no one else around thankfully, and took a nap.  

They did a lot more than what I had asked for.  The oil leak was from a plug that had come out of the side of the fuel pump. The plug was wedged on top of something up against the engine block, the mechanic found it and just put it back in.  He said if he hadn't been able to find it, they wouldn't have been able to fix that yesterday.  Anyway, oil change, oil leak, AC, giant pin that hold the front end assembly together, light, hood cable, annual inspection, new windshield wiper blades and more and they were done.  

2 of them had jumped all over it and got it done pretty quickly considering the amount of work they had done.  I was happy to not have to switch trucks, especially after they told me "yes, that truck can go, but it's pretty bad inside, it hasn't been cleaned out".  The mechanics are cool people, we hit it right off.  Once I came back from my hour respite, we talked for quite a bit longer than that while they were working on the truck.  It was after 6:00 pm when I got back and even tho it was late and I started early, I was happy to get it over with and not have to go up there again, at least not for now.

They also recommended using an ozone generator to get rid of cigarette smoke smell inside of the camper.  We got onto that discussion somehow. They said they use them all the time and the work miracles, especially on cigarette smoke smell.  They were surprised I even knew what it was, I just said well I've been researching the best way to get the smell out and I read about it on an RV group Facebook forum.

Well, it's getting late and I want to head off to bed.  I made lunch for tomorrow, definitely don't want to deal with that at 6:00 am.  

Oh, and Medieval Times is set for next month.  It's a field trip for the school.  I already have the day scheduled off for it.  The 9 year old is going on a school bus, I have to drive over there, the only drawback to it.  But still, it's highly rated and people say it's a lot of fun.  Mom and dad couldn't go, they are both busy and asked if I wanted to? 154 miles, 2 hours and 15 minute drive.  

It's in Dallas.  I don't miss big cities anymore, but they do have offerings you don't find elsewhere.  Like, once in a while, a big city is fine.  Living in them? I doubt I'll ever go back to that unless I am somehow forced to do so.  Of course, if I had started an RV park 35 years ago when I first started thinking about it, in Phoenix metro area, I'd be a very rich man right now.  

I'm seeing more and more RV park construction all over the place.  Sorry, I don't really think there is that big of a demand for it. There IS demand, but not THAT much.  I still marvel at how I ended up with the property I have now that I initially rejected.  

Uhh, yeah, I was going to bed.

G'nite. 

 Monday - afternoon

The oldest was in a very bad mood this morning.  Out of character and amazingly, the roles were reversed. The youngest was as happy as a bug in a rug, of which he normally is difficult to wake up, slow to get out of bed and often times moody. 

So much for a total of 9 days off for them.  

The alarm went off this morning and I was in a very deep sleep.  I could have slept for several more hours.  Took a while to get into the swing of things, but I was good to go by the time I got to the washout.  

The plant, however, a different story.  There was a crane service there that had blocked the loading bay with a bunch of scaffolding stuff and they had parked their vehicles in such a way that made it difficult to back in there while avoiding their trucks and trailer.  It took a while for them to get a forklift out there and and move that scaffolding stuff, why they would put that junk in an active loading bay? No idea.

The loader was in a bad mood, very visibly scowling and not having a good day. I said a quick prayer for him instead of condemning him.  I was sitting there an hour and 10 minutes before he even started loading the truck.  But, I was out of there in about 2 hours, nothing to really complain about, I just go in there with the hope that I might have a quick load and get out.  It was 2:00 by the time I got home, not terribly late.

I texted the dispatcher about the truck needing repaired after I looked at how much work they dumped in there.  12 consecutive days worth of work, I am not going to drive that long without getting the thing fixed.  My manager called 2 minutes later after that text.  We have 25 something or another and you can just get into that truck while they fix yours.

These people have no clue how much trouble it is to switch trucks.  Or the huge inconvenience it is to do so. MOST drivers in the trucking industry despise slip-seating, which is the practice of a trucking company to not have assigned trucks for the drivers and they are constantly moving from one truck to another.  This is a little different, switching temporarily to get my truck fixed, so much for sitting around and waiting for them to do it. 

As much as I hate the sound of that, I hate the sound of switching trucks even more.  So I'm supposed to drive over there after delivery tomorrow, it will add hours to  the trip. It adds another hour and forty-five minutes to the drive time, plus switching stuff out between trucks, plus discussing with the lead mechanic what's wrong with it and please fix it all and fix it correctly this time.  The AC, specifically, was given what amounts to a band-aid last time and called it good.  

But I can't keep driving this truck like this, so I just have to suck-it-up-buttercup and take it over there.  

____________

Many hours later.  I am considering getting up even earlier than normal to get up to Gurdon early enough to get out of there - earlier than normal - and get moving towards El Dorado. I really would like not to have tomorrow drag on literally ALL day long concerning work factor.  

 Sunday - early

20 minutes until departure time.  I don't much care for delivery on Sundays for it takes a while to get security to the scale to open up the scale, print my weight and then I can go offload - and then come back and wait again.  

It has rained so much that when I got back to the park yesterday, I drove through the park instead of down the main driveway, turned around and backed into my spot versus driving to the end of the driveway and potentially getting stuck.  

I've got 2 more runs scheduled after this and then on Friday, if they are available, I need them to fix this truck.  

The latest report on the many ways the government went wrong with their approach to Covid 19 is out and the governments from Feds to local governments basically blasted for their approach.  We all knew this.  No, we didn't all know this.  The government is always right!.. people blasted anyone that spoke a differing opinion, qualified doctors with a different view of it were silenced and we were all silenced on social medial, most notably Facebook, for saying anything different than what Lord Fauci had to say about it. 

It was an unprecedented and outrageous period of time where the spectacle of governments with unfettered "emergency powers" told everyone to stay home, shut down business, wear masks, shut down schools, etc. We were called conspiracy theorists and lunatics at the time for saying something different.  Well here we are, and now they predict that the effect on school children will have impact on society for decades to come. 

Meanwhile, we have an illegal "immigrant",  more properly titled illegal alien, who was the cause of a Sheriff deputy death was let go because "no speaka" and didn't understand what they were trying to tell him to do.  If you went to Guatemala, where this man is from and the police were trying to arrest you and you resisted, do you think you'd be walking a free man out of the jail house after causing an officer's death?

Yeah, I think not. And here comes the conspiracy theories again, at least what leftists say: WHO, exactly is coming across the border that has escaped capture and roaming free on the streets of America?  We already know some crazy Venezuelan gang is running loose in our nation.  But talk of terrorists cell groups isn't exactly conspiracy theories when you start looking at the startling amount of "gotaways", they call them.

Back to reality. The kids came home, the grandparents with them, of course.  The kids wouldn't leave me alone but I knew that would happen. 

Well, time to go. I can hear the rain dripping off the roof onto the window ac unit in my room.  

G'day.  

 Saturday - early

Got up, took a shower and then realized - check the damn tablet.  Did they pull another cancellation on me? The answer is, no, I just looked for I just got out of the bathroom. 

Apparently it's St. Patrick's day, the news just informed me. I rarely turn on the tv in these early morning hours before work, but wanted to see the headlines.  It's just another excuse for people to get rip-roaring drunk on green beer.  No thank you.  

So, I should be going for the next - 6 days? I think is what's in there.  After that, I want to take the truck up there and have them fix everything.  It will be a get-up-early day, get up there early and hope they can get it done quickly.  But I figure several hours at least, so I will take my laptop for entertainment and online work purposes.  

It's supposed to rain again today around 1ish-2ish.  Good for the grass seed? Sure if it isn't already washed out lol. 

I dunno, my head is a bit foggy this morning, I'll move on with this one and do some more later.  

Time to go anyway.

G'day 

 Friday - late morning

It rained half the night last night and we're talking a major downpour.  My pond was at least 5 inches below the top and now it's completely full and obviously was running over the sides of it.  Nice, fresh rainwater for the fish and the dogs! Yes, the dogs drink out of it.  In fact, they like it so much I don't even put a bucket of fresh water out there anymore, they just drink straight from the pond.  

Anyway, I slept in.  Til about 9:00 am. 2 days off that I didn't expect, rainy days are good days to sleep in and just enjoy the luxury of not being forced to do something that you probably didn't want to do anyway. I will be back to trucking tomorrow morning- unless they pull another trick on me.  I just checked the tablet, it's all still the same after they changed it to drop the last load.

With the check from the AG loan company, I can go pay the rest of the property taxes.  I might do that today just to get it over with.  I was expecting to have to pay myself a grand or so out of it, it appears I won't have to do that and I will get another paycheck before I run out of money in the personal account.  Now, that paycheck probably won't be so much, but hopefully it will be enough to hold me over until the new pay scale is put into place and I can start making some decent money and not living paycheck-to-paycheck.  

I guess that's not an absolute, I always have money in the business checking account to pay myself with when it becomes absolutely necessary.

Today? Well, I got the monitor and I hooked it up here, at my desk at the house to make sure it works. It's bigger than the old one so I'm just going to keep the new one here and take the old one over to use for the surveillance system.  I still don't get why I must have a monitor. The system has an app for my phone, which I installed but it wouldn't let me get past a certain point in the setup stage without being able to take a pic of a QR code.  I guess it's a safeguard to keep anyone else from accessing it, just think it's more than needed. I already had to verify the account by confirming the email account was mine.  

Then there's that pole that I just left there to - rot, lol.  I stopped because the people that came in for a couple of weeks need relative quiet to do their work-from-home job and I was going to be making a lot of noise cutting the board and putting in the screws. The workaround is to move the posts to the shed, get the setup completed there and then install the post into the ground.  

Yeah, that means hooking up the trailer to move it over there or carrying those posts all the way to the shed.  

 I'm afraid it rained too hard and too long last night for the grass seed. Meaning flowing water probably carried a lot of it away.  I "wanted" a light rain to get everything wet but no flooding.  Rest assured there was a lot of water flowing through both sides and that isn't good. However, I do expect the seed that ended up in the existing grass to be able to do something other than flow away and seed the area behind the west side trailers.  I guess I'll have bermuda grass out there!  Lol.  

Nope, I'm not going to sit around watering the stuff. It's too much time and work involved. If it grows, it grows, if it doesn't, it doesn't and another summer of mostly barren lots with no grass and a lot of dirt.  Not idea, not even close, I'm just not that motivated to be walking around all day long watering everything.  It's going to rain again later on today and tomorrow forecast even more.  Give it 7 days or so and see if anything comes of it and make a decision then.

I've got a 2 night stay coming in today sometime, I will have 2 lots open tho even with that 2 night stay.  I've run the Facebook boost ad and it only netted a couple of calls from people saying they were interested and even 2 of them showing up at the park, but didn't convert into anyone moving in. Disappointing at best.  I'm undecided as to whether I should run another ad.  Google is actually the best resource for new customers, but running ads through them is expensive.  I can say throwing away $20 for a Facebook ad, I can't see throwing away $100 or more on Google and potentially getting nothing out of it.

It may just be a dry season for people moving into the area.  It may be that I'm being undercut by someone, somewhere, potentially that new park.  I haven't check other's rates in about a month so i guess it's about time to go through all of that and see who is doing what.  I will not lower my rates any lower than they already are, I don't care if I don't get anyone new at all.  It's not worth being in business to just barely be scrape by.  People will have those AC's cranking  - they already are actually but the temps aren't that high - and summer is coming.  I'll face up to $2,500 per month electric bills. I'd rather have less people in the park than more who aren't paying enough to make a decent profit.  It's just my thinking for right now.  I know I'm one of the cheapest in the area.  

I'll probably keep it there for a while, brand recognition is what I am shooting for. In other words, I need to be around for a couple of years or even longer to get that recognition.  Word of mouth helps and I am getting a much larger share of the overnighters than I was getting last year.  It just takes time and now - hopefully - that I am set to get more money for the trucking job - I can deal with that.  

My goal at this point is to save up 20 grand in the business account for a down payment on a loan. Or more, maybe, depending on how much of a loan I want to get.  The other option I have discussed endlessly: just start building out as the money is saved up for each phase of the expansion.  I have no idea about that right now, I'm just trying to get this ship on the right financial track.  

And it's raining again.  The forecast? Showed no rain until much later on today, lol.  Now it's showing a medium to heavy rainfall going on until around 1.

So, that gives me the excuse to not deal with that pole today. I really don't want to do that right now and I certainly won't do it out in the rain.

As for right now? I guess I'll start working on bookkeeping. 

 Wait, one more thing today! 

I gave that giant dog a bath!  

It is 80 degrees outside, that dog smells HORRIBLE.  It was FAR past due time, I just haven't done it because it's been too cold.  NOT TODAY!! 

It is actually the first bath I've ever given him.

I give him an A+ for his participation.

Instead of fighting me about it, he just stood there the entire time while I soaked him nicely with water all over and then scrubbed him down with shampoo.  Washed it all off and the let him run free as the driven wind to shake it all off. 

Of course, the animal immediately started rolling in the grass, which I made him stop doing.  

He will be getting bathed once a week now that better weather, or at warmer weather I should say, is finally here.  We have thunder storms coming tonight so I dunno if that's "better" by any standard. 

 I'm being entirely too wordy today, but I just had to mention this.  I was trying to put the surveillance system together, right? And I needed a monitor for the system. So I found one on Marketplace and the guy is bringing it over and selling me the cord as well (those are never included unless you're buying brand new then they have one in the box) for $5 which is cheap. 

Okay, so I have to go to the bank to get cash out. I pulled out the mail from the mailbox on the way to my vehicle and lo and behold:  A letter from the AG lender for my property.  It's a non-profit, once a year they send out checks to everyone for whatever is "left over"  after all expenses are paid. It was $614!  This couldn't have come at a better time!  

I took that check up there, deposited it, got out the cash and now I'm sitting pretty enough with enough cash in the personal account to last until my next paycheck. I won't need to take any money out of the business account this month for personal paycheck! yayyy!  That turns this property tax nonsense into a completely doable situation. I'm still going to wait until my next paycheck anyway, just to ensure I have money laying around in case "something" happens, but I'm not sweating this now.  The entire bill will be paid by the end of the month and that will be that. Over with until the beginning of next year....

IF I can save $300 per month out of business account for this junk, I won't be caught red handed the beginning of next year.  I KNEW this was going to happen this time around, there was not a lot I could do about it - well I could have started working a job sooner I guess.  What's done is done, let's move on.  In fact, I knew I was going to be screwed for money quite a while before I actually ran out.  I mentioned in this blog that I expected to run out of money in September of last year and that's why I went looking for a job.  It's exactly what happened. That first paycheck I got was quite healthy for it included a 2,500 mile drive and weeks worth of work. 

It came at the exact time I absolutely needed it.  Just like this check today, I knew it was coming sooner or later, they do this every year.  I just didn't know when. Today was THE day I needed that check, even tho I wasn't exactly expecting that blessing to be sitting in our mailbox, it was indeed there, and I think it's a good time to thank the Good Lord for taking care of my needs.  Thank you Jesus!  Amen and amen.  

I'm just sitting here waiting on this guy to show up, I need to run over to the park and collect some money from overnighters.  These seniors - like much older than me in their late 70's and 80's - like to pay for everything in cash.  The generation they grew up with, I have no problem with that except it makes me have to drive over there after I was already there today.  I guess I could finish setting up the surveillance system if/when this dude shows up. 

What else...well, we've been enjoying a quiet house since Sunday.  It will continue on until sometime Saturday, but probably mid to late afternoon.  Unless they change it yet again, I will be going down to Lufkin to load on Saturday. So, tomorrow is off.  The dude just texted me he's on his way over, I think I will just finish up that project tomorrow instead of today.  Don't really feel like it at this point.  I don't hate going to the park, per se, at the same time I'm not a fan of multiple trips per day.  Sometimes it's necessary, if I don't go get that money from these overnighters, their stay will be free.  I saw the rig they drove in with their new 4 door pickup and a very nice bumper pull trailer, they have money lol.  

Ok enough for now.  I'm just a little bit excited about this pay raise.  Things will start to get much better in the financial department.  

Well that was fun. Not.

I know there are 2 separate places to pay taxes, one at the ISD and the other at the County.....I thought they had the entire amount owed on one site.  I thought wrong. The $1,900? That's what I owe the ISD, that doesn't include the $722 I just paid to the county. Now, that includes a late fee and 3 other properties, but the other properties only amounted to $32 worth, they're undeveloped and not worth that much.  

So, that was a blow.  I paid the county, I did not pay the ISD yet. Entirely outrageous tax rate for a county whose seat is only 23,000 people and not that much of anything out here, really.  I have decided to wait until my next paycheck and then I will probably pay around $1,200 of it out of the business account and the rest? I"m going to have to put on a credit card. There is no way I am going to go into next month where they will add $175 to the bill for a penalty fee.  

After my pay raise, I will be able to just keep the money in the account for any profit and that will fund the property taxes and insurance at the end of the year.   

It's basically making me rethink my overnight prices.  I might raise them at least a couple of dollars per per night.  I already did that once and it didn't affect occupancy, people are using the lots I have available right now.  I have 4 available and 3 of them have temp people in them.  One is coming tonight for overnight.  

My monthly prices are also low, I just can't charge higher, I won't get anyone in.  I had a guy call me 2 days ago complaining about other parks in the area and how "high" their prices were.  He thought $450 was outrageous.  Might be a bit high if electricity weren't included, but, electricity IS included in their price, I know because we talk occasionally.  I didn't want to waste time with him, he's likely found out by now that everyone charges at least that much and some much higher.  I mean, you are giving them the spot to park on, electricity, water, sewer, trash and WiFi.  

The lady contacted me again today - this is the one with the German Shepherd puppy - and said she found 3 piles of dog poop in the park.  I looked last night before I left, there was nothing in there.  The tent lady is gone, so it's not her dog as they continued to allege.  This is why I couldn't do anything about it, I had no proof.  And now I'm glad I didn't. I didn't throw those people out, they left on their own volition and left me hanging.

So, I am pretty sure whose dogs are doing it and I am going to have a discussion with them about it.  

However.....I just went and started hooking up the new surveillance system. Just one camera for now with an extension cord instead of going through the trouble of installing outlets.  It is aimed directly at the park and it's kind of hidden on the shed.  I don't want to tell anyone it's up there, hopefully they won't see it.  

Unfortunately, it needs a monitor, I didn't know that I figured I could just use my phone, but it requires a monitor to set it up.  Already found a used one on Marketplace, I can just keep it over there.  

Anyway, that's today doings so far. I'm not done yet, I just came home to get some lunch.  

 So. 

The manager calls me. At 8:30 am.  Now, on the first part of this run, I would already be at the washout getting the tanker washed out by that time.  Oh, we had 2 load cancellations, he tells me.  Yea, I went and got everything ready to go this morning, then go into the tablet and found the load gone.

This happened last night, they didn't bother to give me a head's up.  By the way Mr. Trucker?  Yes, you don't need to get up at 5:30 am. I do have an inkling of an idea of why.  The other driver said yesterday that when he arrived up there to offload, they told him they were having a glue problem and wouldn't be able to get to him right away.  

Yeah, well one tank was completely full when I was up there and after I was done offloading, there was probably enough for one more load in the other tank.  

There was good news, tho, in that phone call, I won't lie.  He told me he was finally able to get to the pay raise and that he was going to give me X amount per load (just not gonna say what I'm getting paid on here for a variety of reasons) and that would be a substantial raise by going per load instead of per mile.

I did a little quick math in my head and figured it would be anywhere from $1,200 to $1,500 more per month. This is exactly what I have been needing from them.  Actual pay, not some pauper's pittance.  Ok, it wasn't quite that bad, but you get the picture.  It isn't a done deal yet, he - my manager - has to get permission from the CEO, but the parameters of pay for the drivers falls in my manager's lap for the drivers he is over.

In other words, he is given X amount of money to pay everyone, out of that pool he has to figure out who gets what and who might get a raise and who won't.  He strictly forbade me to discuss my pay with anyone else.  Rightfully so, I suspect I will be making a lot more than my trainer driver, tho I have encouraged him to ask for a raise as well.  He doesn't know I'm getting more money and I'm not telling him. I have no desire to mess up what very well may turn into a lucrative and very good setup for me, finally, after all the hell I've been through with this company. 

IF the amount of the raise equals to about another $1,000 give or take per month in net pay, I will no longer have to take pay from the business account.  And therefore, no longer pay taxes on those self-written checks.  Remember, I am an LLC and I don't pay Federal taxes if I'm not paying anyone including myself.  If it just sits in there and grows, that's not taxable.  It's business money and it will be used for business purposes.  This is what I have been wanting to happen for several months now.   This is entirely good news, regardless of the bad start today had.  

He said the new pay would start in April.  So, one more check of these low wages and then the new pay structure begins.   There will be no more detention pay - which doesn't bother me because with detention pay I wasn't making much.  It helps a little, but nothing like an actual pay raise that is substantial such as this is going to be.  

On to other things.  A man made a reservation through HipCamp for the tenting area and then 15 minutes later, cancelled it saying "inaccurate description".  Huh?  Inaccurate description of what, exactly? So I wrote him and asked what the alleged deception is?  He writes back and says that I have the town name correct, but in the wrong state. Arkansas instead of Texas.  Huh?  No way.  I didn't believe that for even a millisecond and went straight to the HipCamp software to check it out.  And I was correct: it doesn't say anything  about Arkansas.  To further cement my conclusion, I went into incognito browser on Google - meaning I would be visiting my HipCamp site like anyone else and not showing all the "host" stuff on there. Plain as day, it has the entire address including TEXAS. 

I wrote him back and informed him he was incorrect.  I don't care if he cancels a reservation, but making a claim like that? Please.  

6 rats so far.  I thought they were mice but upon closer observation, those aren't mice in those glue traps inside of that coach. Those are baby rats.  Rats have disgusting tails that are really cringeworthy, at least to me.  I put in 4 more glue traps and left those traps be, still room for more on those other ones, come join your brothers and sisters! By the way, mama, you are invited too!  I haven't caught the mama yet.  I'm going to blast that thing with fumigant again today.  It wasn't just rats, honey, there were cockroaches in there as well.  They came crawling out when I set off those bombs and many of them are on the glue traps as well. 

I am not going to bother doing anything to that coach until I am sure that all of the infestation of rats and roaches and whatever else is out of there.  Just a waste of time to do anything with it until that is completed.  The carpet - new carpet - will have to be thrown in the dumpster and I'll probably chuck the fridge as well. It's disgusting.  It works, but it's totally puke-worthy.  I mean, how could those people live in such squalor? The beds are getting thrown out as well.  Then it will be scrubbed with a soapy bleach mixture as well as vacuuming everything and throwing all their junk out.  Ridiculous.

I think the family of 5 should be pleased today.  They are in town for their daughter's acrobat tournament. They thought it was going to rain today - we ALL thought it was going to rain today. You know, those things called forecasts?  Yea, that completely changed. Now it's showing rain after midnight tonight. 

The family thought it was going to rain all day long today, they are outdoorsy type people, very active the entire lot of them.  The kids love going into the woods on the trails and have named some of the spots, lol.  They are leaving tomorrow, but at least they won't all be cramped up inside that little trailer all day long.  They had a bunch of people over yesterday evening.  I was leaving the park and there was a group of them out there and yes, they did ask for permission first. 

If I would have thought about it, I probably would have taken the truck up to El Dorado today to get it fixed.  Actually, I did think about it and thought, well, I can't go up there without them telling me if they can get to it today. The man told me he can't tomorrow/Friday, he has a day off. And they don't work weekends.  So It's going to have to be next week.  I dread having to sit up there for untold hours waiting on them to fix everything, but that's what they say they intend to do.

That will be a long day. 

The power bill cleared the bank and upon looking at my finances, yes, I am pretty sure I can pay the property tax this month.  Waiting for the trucking paycheck to come in on the 22cd before I make that move.  I have to take a paycheck out of the business account today - I have no choice in the matter. Take the money or bounce auto-pays.  Otherwise I would just go up and pay it today.  If I do that, that only leaves $600 in that account after taking a paycheck.  

Hmm. Going over my prior activity, I don't actually have any more payments this month for the business account.  I could go ahead and get this over with today. $600 is enough to cover any emergencies.  

Wait what?  It's showing I only owe $1,900 and that is with the penalty incurred for late pay.  Huh?  The last time I check, and yes I scrutinized it, it showed I owe $2,400. Now THAT is doable today. That leaves me over $1,200 in the business account even after paying myself, I'm good to go, that is today's "project", tho it usually doesn't take very long.  I just didn't want to leave myself too short on available finances in case something comes up.  There is nothing I can think of that would cost me more than $1,200 or even anything close to it.  Frees up money to get more grass seed, but again, I'm waiting on the results of what I just spread before I spend more money on that stuff. It's just too expensive to take that kind of gamble on it working or not.  I could buy stuff for the coach, but again, we aren't anywhere near that yet.  I don't know how long it's going to take to get all of those rats out of there, just going to buy more glue traps if these new ones get filled up and bomb the starlit Jupiter out of that thing. 

What is really amazing about this, is that my house in AZ is valued more than my property yet the taxes are something like $800 less per year.  My property is in the county, outside of city limits, the city itself is only like 23,000 population, but they feel the need to tax citizens this high?  What are they doing with all of this money? Because rest assured, it's not being used to fix any roads.  

 Lovely.

Just absolutely wonderful.

These people.  

They change runs frequently on me and usually say nothing about it.  Exactly what happened apparently last night.  I get to the park, turn on the truck, lights, etc, do a pre trip, get logged in, go the loads on the table and there it was.

No run today or tomorrow, working the weekend.  I was originally scheduled for 10 days in a row, trust me, I check this stuff all the time now that I know they are just going to change things up. 

I guess I should have checked this morning before leaving here and no, they didn't give me any notice that they had changed it yet again.

Irritating? Oh yes.  Ridiculous, actually.  

Because of daylight savings, it's still dark outside so I just decided to go home and now, this entry and then? I'm just going to plop my butt back in bed for a few hours.  Might as well.  I've got plenty to do over there but I wouldn't dare start making that kind of noise in the dark and this early. Talk about a good way to piss people off. 

Maybe I'll write some more later. 

Thursday - early

Well, I guess the rain today isn't going to happen, but it allegedly is going to start later tonight at around 2 am.  That will likely change as well, I need a nice, light but steady rain to come down and get the grass seed nicely saturated, for yes, I did put that 15 pound bag down yesterday.

It covered most of 14 lots.  I'd need another bag to cover everything.  I'm not doing that, yet, I'll see what happens with this $83 15 pound bag.  If it works, I will probably get another one but that's too much money to gamble  getting another bag before seeing what kinds of results I am going to get.  

IF everything stays the same, I should be able to make that property tax payment before the end of this month.  I think there is one more payment coming out of that business account this month, the rest I can spend on the property tax and, unfortunately, having to pay myself.  I'm wanting to my trucking pay to the point I don't need to pay myself out of the business account and just save that money for expansion or loan down payment, either-or. 

They don't seem too keen on collateral loans in this current lending atmosphere.  I'm not keen on high interest rates and wouldn't do it right now anyway.  I'm trying to pay down debt as it stands, not get into more of it.  

Anyway, I have no choice but to take a check out of the business account in order to stay afloat.  I'm gonig to dump Verizon here pretty quick as soon as I can afford to pay off the phone - it's down to $239 owed on it - and then I won't be spending any more on phone service for I already have it covered under the T Mobile plan for almost nothing more than what I am already paying for the other services.  

Well, I got started late today, it's time to go - Nacogdoches and Lufkin that is.

G'day.