Tuesday - night

I gave Trey Ultimatum 2 today. It was much more severe in nature than the 1st one.  This one is a "my way or the highway" type of deal.  After finding out he lied about selling firewood, that was the end of my patience.  I'm not going to give him hell, I'm simply going to give him a couple of weeks to show whether he's going to give me the hours of work in exchange for the lot rent and also clean up his act or he is going to be told in the final part of this deal that he is now leaving. If it comes to that, I'll give him 2 weeks to get him, his stuff and that trailer out of my place.  I'm afraid it is going to come down to that.  I've put up with his bs long enough. 

Unloading went quickly. 1 hour and 9 minutes, which is lightning compared to several previous episodes.  The driving sucked, people drive like idiots out there.  One person came flying up beside me, cut directly in front of me and slammed on their brakes.  I shut that truck down much faster than I thought it would considering it was loaded at near 79,000 pounds.  These stupid people then proceeded to put on their flashers, then flipped a u-turn in the middle of the highway, cutting off even more people and took off in the other direction.  

It wasn't the only driver that cut me off like that today and it just plain sucked.  

Lot 1 is available for overnights.  I just can't rent it out when I know that, even if it is 3 weeks from now and several other reservations in the future, I have all the other lots filled up.  The problem is that everyone in there now is "long term".  There is no set departure date. Could be a month, months, half a year, a year, permanent, who knows?  

What I'd like to do is just do that other thing I was talking about in adding 2 or 3 lots at the other end of the park. Overload the septic, yes, but as long as it doesn't need pumped more than once a month, we're good.  I just would like to figure out how I could make them pull throughs.  I mean, I can but it's a long way from where they pull in and getting back to the main driveway.  

No, that's out of the question.  It's just too much money in gravel.  I want to keep the cost down on this and I can do that by cutting a few corners.  Back in lots mean no new driveway.  2 truckloads at most of gravel for the pads.  I can install 2 separate outlets on each one for 30 and 50 amp - we're talking $250 for all of it instead of $700.  It's not bad or improper, just doesn't look the same.   Wiring not sure, it's expensive, yes, but I won't need a lot.  Well, probably 100 feet worth so still probably a grand worth of wire. Another panel, a meter and a 200 amp breaker, water and sewer line and connectors, mini ex rental.  

Even cutting corners? It still adds up.  I never did get over there to measure it out so I can come up with an exact length for pipe and wire.  I've been distracted by numerous things.

Regardless, I've got 20 more pushups to go and then bedtime. Yes, I'm still doing the 100 day pushup challenge.  It's going ok.

 Monday - night

Getting kind of late but I haven't posted an entry in several days.  In fact, the last entry didn't go through for whatever reason. 

Anyway, the park was completely full, but now I have lot 1 open and I"m not sure what I want to do with it.  I have some reservations I need to honor but they aren't any time soon. I'd like to rent it long term, however, everyone else at the park now is all long term.  Yes, someone could leave, no doubt, I have no guarantee of that. I just opened that lot up, the people staying there said their house purchase went through. 

They left this morning for Florida, then Minnesota and then to their new home in Nacogdoches.  Well, I might get some overnighters in there now that I've opened it up, we'll see. 

Trey has been gone 3 days now.  I am seriously considering revoking this park host setup with him and just doing away with it altogether. It wasn't my idea in the first place, that was Allen's, Trey's now-passed father.  He did ok, Allen that is, Trey is a liar and a thief I am just now finding out. 

I had my suspicions. He's cutting up wood from felled trees, splitting it and then selling it to people in the park. He didn't say anything about the fact that he is profiting from my wherewithal and actually lied about it. One of the guests has a huge stack of wood next to his trailer.  I was looking at it last week and Trey told me he bought it from someone who delivered it. 

I found out yesterday that Trey sold the wood he's been cutting to the guy. Trey is also one of the people throwing cigarettes butts all over the place.  Basically, he doesn't give a s*** about anything but his own desires, which is what he's doing now.  He went to Fort Worth to have sex with his best friend's wife.  Now, the best friend is dead. But that, to me, is just creepy.  Trey thinks I'm stupid. He doesn't understand I have eyes and ears in the park and people report things to me.  

Trey hasn't been doing much for the park, either.  We're talking mowing the grass once in the last 2 plus months.  It didn't need it. He tries to tell me he cleans the bathroom, but one look at the toilet tells a completely different story.  He doesn't pick up trash all over the place and basically, as I said, he's just doing stuff for himself. He'll happily do mechanical work and get paid for it. I'm sure there's more I don't know about, I'm going to confront him the next time I see him.  

How can you trust a liar?  He's completely unmotivated in life and I'm just getting to the point he needs to go. He does serve some useful purposes, but the cons are outweighing the pros. 

Yesterday, we went to the 50th anniversary of the church.  It was a truly great service, I really enjoyed it. They went through the history of the church, sounds boring but it wasn't. 

I'm just trying to catch up here quick. I need to go to bed soon. Going up to Gurdon in the morning to deliver.  I am working through Saturday and then presumably Sunday off. I actually have the second load tomorrow but the other driver said he has to be home by noon for whatever reason so he plans to be up there early.  He said he'd be there at 7 or 8. I figure if I arrive at 10, I should be safe. 10 is the actual appointment time for the first load and I typically don't show up until after 11 on the second run. 

Oh, the truck heater is stuck at one setting.  Vehicle heaters are pretty simple affairs. The hot coolant from the engine is diverted through hoses to a radiator type thing that the hot coolant travels through. Air is blown through that little radiator via a fan and then it blows out your vents. When you adjust the temp for the heat, you are actually just opening and closing a valve.  The valve restricts the amount of fluid traveling through it.  All the way open is hot air all the way closed is no heat at all.  Those valves get stuck sometimes, especially old valves, and then you have to go in and replace it. 

That's an hours-long job.  It hasn't been an issue until today. Why? Because it's been cold outside and so I've needed the heat.  But temps have risen quite  a lot and now we are going to be seeing 70's range temps, which is crazy considering the freezing cold we just got done with. 

Anyway, I've got to get off of here. 

 Tuesday - night

Today was a much easier day than yesterday's nonsense. Even tho it was the second load, I was still home by 3:00 pm, which is really good for second load time.  The deal is, the outside temps have risen considerably and so the product in the trailer doesn't cool way down at night.  I was done offloading in an hour and ten minutes compared to the 2 and a half hours 2 days ago.  

I am loading in Lufkin tomorrow, 1st run and hopefully that means I"m home by 1:00 pm at the latest.  I need to finish the laundry tasks I started yesterday before I got called out.  

As of tomorrow, the park will be full, including the 2 alternate spots. That because the power plant worker is coming back.  The family is coming back soon, not sure when, there is a lot opening up for them in a few days.  Then there's lot 1.  

Some people simply showed up.  They do that a lot more than I care for.  Is this lot available for at least 7 days? They ask Trey, I was still on the road. Trey calls me, yes, let them take lot 1 but I can't guarantee it's available until I get back and get in front of a computer.  But sure enough, the bookings were empty for the next couple of weeks, actually, for overnighters and I just blocked everything out for the next month.  I don't want overnight bookings when I don't have a place to put them.  If that family moves back in, the only lot available will be lot 1 for overnights. Or anything else for that matter and I have another guy practically begging me to move in to the park.

As I have stated previously, I have been trying to switch my theme to long term for quite some time now.  Besides lot 1, everyone in there is long term. The guy leaving on the 1st was there for some 6 or 7 months.  I just have too many empty lots trying to do overnight stuff, just wasting money to be had.   

I've actually thought about adding lots to the existing structure and not going the full fledged route of getting a massive loan. You see, I could probably put in 3 more lots near where the power meter stand is at and just add another meter to the stand. 

I've thought about this before, but I like the little area with grass and a nice pine tree.  My sewer system would be overloaded so I would have to have them come pump out the thing more often. That's the only drawback I can see.  This would be along the end of the driveway.  I have room there.  I just didn't like it because it's kind of a steeper drop, but I've seen parks with people having their trailers sitting up on blocks and such, they can make it work if they really want it.  I wouldn't use such lots for short term, but long term I think it could work.  

I pay the septic company to come check the system every month, it's required by the state because it's a business.  It's $30 per month, paid in advance.  They'll pump out just the first chamber of the septic set up for $120.  That's really what would end up filling up quicker, the rest of it wouldn't really need pumped out too often. 

Why would I do this? Because I want this park to make me more money than it is. There are too many expenses that add up to a lot.  3 more lots would be very helpful and cost a lot less than going out and starting 25 lots from scratch.  The driveway is already there.  That leaves installing a meter, a panel for the meter, the underground wiring, 3 pedestals, sewer line, water line, create the lots and gravel.  I'll have to do some figuring.  Let's see....probably a grand to install a meter, panel and run the underground wiring, but that may be conservative so lets' go with $1,500. $1,500 for the company to come out and run a line from the power company side to the meter.  3 pedestals @ $400 a piece.  Probably $540 worth of sewer pipe and another $200 worth of water pipe.  A couple truckloads of gravel. Rent a mini ex to dig out the trench.  

Try using the tractor that is at the property to do the lots.  It's about 7 grand to do all of that. Sounds expensive? It's 10-15k to have a contractor come out and do all of that, tho we're talking a new septic system included in that price, a whole new driveway, fix the main driveway and a lot of other stuff.  

I'm going to take a look at that area tomorrow after work and figure out whether this is really doable, because I can probably come up with the money to do it.  I have no choice but to install another meter, the 2 I have are already well loaded up with lots and the shed and the alternate lots.  Can't add anything to it and really, since the meter setup is right there, it doesn't add a lot to the bill excepting having someone come out to attach a main line from the meter to the power pedestal next to the power pole. 

Be nice if I could add 4, but I'm not sure there's enough room there.  

I kind of get a little bit unsure about this stuff, tho, I had 6 lots empty for a while and it wasn't looking good. Then all of a sudden everything fills up and there's hope again?  It's weird, the RV park business stuff. 

The guy begging to move in? He's already at a park near town somewhere, he didn't say which one, but he did say he's right next to "a major highway and I'm tired of all the constant road noise".  He's on one of the ones next to highway 59 for sure.  He's been to my place, he got out of the vehicle, listened and said, gee, this is great!  See? People get sick of constant road noise, especially if you are living there. Overnighters take in stride for the most part, just part of the game when they're going from point A to point B. But, they do like it when they find a place that isn't noisy.  

I think I am getting closer to realizing the goal of long term - meaning really long term. Not just a month or two, but either retirees or people coming to the area on long term work assignments.  

 Monday - late

Today was day 2 of 2 days off - I only wanted Sunday off but whatever.  Started in on laundry, went to the bank and deposited checks, quarters from the laundry and cash into the business account. Over to Kroger's to get some stuff that we don't have at the house.  Pretty much we all pitch in for "main" groceries - dinners mostly but also some household goods, if you want anything beyond that, you are on your own.  

Which is fine, I don't expect anyone else to buy stuff I am eating to help lower cholesterol and eat less calories.  And other things I like that may not be so low on cholesterol or fat, I just have to have something here and there to make eating a little more interesting.  I'm also basically the only one that eats salads.  Others will eat some - infrequently - I like to have them often.  

After that, I went home, put all the stuff away and cleaned the kitchen.  In my bedroom, I was looking at - what was I looking at? I think it was the campground software. The park is now almost completely full.  Even the alternate spots - Jason, the guy that was living here while running the maintenance operation at a local natural gas fueled power plant - is coming back Wednesday.  I think.  The student taking back in lot 8 came in - yesterday? I have no idea, really.  They paid and then they showed up, apparently. Even Trey hadn't seen them come in and didn't notice the lot was occupied. Oh, I noticed alright.  

Lot 5 is leaving at the end of the month, which is only a couple of days from now.  Funny thing is, the people that bought a house - or rented? - that had been living there for close to two years are coming back. I had no details why they would want to move out of a house and back into a trailer.  I'd think you'd not want to go back to living in such confined quarters, especially with a 6 year old child and 2 dogs, but who am I to judge? I'm not judging, I just think it would be difficult attempting to transition back to a 30 foot long by 8 feet wide (plus a couple slideouts) trailer.  Maybe they are trying to save for the property they want, I will find out if they actually  move back in. 

Oh, well it's getting really late and I'll get to that.  See, I ended up back in here, at my bedroom office desk, thinking what I was going to do next, when the phone rang.  I looked at the caller ID, it's the manager.  What does he want, I wondered and thought: probably nothing good.  I said hi to him upon answering and he said, well you haven't left yet.  Left for where?  You have a load today.  Umm, last time I checked I was going on a run tomorrow.  

I got pretty irritated.  It was near 1 o'clock (afternoon) and he wants me to start now?  We went back and forth, I wasn't about to let him tell me that he hadn't changed the load information from the time he originally put it in there and today.  He had clearly changed it, I had double checked the dates to ensure I had it correct.  He finally apologized for not letting me know while I am sitting there telling him I'm in the middle of doing laundry and other things. 

Then he lies.  Well, so and so is off on vacation and the other guy's truck is broke down. I know and confirmed after the phone call that the other driver is not on vacation.  I don't know about the broken down truck, but I am coming to the belief that he just throws s*** out in the air and hope it sticks somewhere, ie: making up completely false stories to try and get sympathy for his problem of getting a load covered.  

I was disgusted at this point, it was obvious he wasn't going to give up and I was very close to telling him I'm simply not going to do it.  Why the fork would you wait until this late in the day to call me? I'm wondering. He even told me that he had seen I hadn't left at the normal time I would have left for the second load, but he thought it was too early? No. No. No. The man lies too much.  He KNOWS because he's TOLD ME "you normally do such and such".  The only thing that tipped the scales for me is when he finally resorted to offering me more money. Even that wasn't all that convincing, but it was better than nothing.

I abruptly ended the phone call, ran out of the house, got to the yard and got out of there. I didn't get back until after  7.  Most of the run went ok excepting coming back.  Road construction on 59 was funneling traffic from 2 lanes to 1 and we all know people don't know how to do that without backing up traffic for miles.  It was crawling speed for quite a while and then, there was a flashing sign saying "lane ends, merge left" or whatever it said.  The right lane was empty and I just kept on going down it all the way until the merge point.  It's almost universal that the lane that ends is also the one that goes much faster. In this case, it was over a mile.  Why sit in the left lane? There is no law saying I can't just stay in the right lane until I am forced over and that's exactly what I did. 

People will let you in, that's guaranteed.  

It's almost 11 pm.  I don't have to get up until 7 or even 7:30 if I really want to. I want to leave the yard by 8:30 am.  I would actually leave even later but I didn't get fuel today, didn't want to stop seeing how late it was already and the truck has around 100 gallons of fuel in it. I can stop at a Love's on the way up tomorrow.  Oh, the fuel gauge isn't working again, I just know how far I can go on full tanks.  

There is on thing that can come good out of all of this.  I can work the next 5 days and have Sunday off.  The church is celebrating it's 50th anniversary and I'd like to be there for it.  

Anyway, I'm getting tired, time to go to bed. 

 Sunday - night

 Haven't been posting much, not a lot to talk about. Well, there's plenty of politics.  Trump basically trolled Colombia after the leader over there turned away to flights worth of illegals being repatriated to their nation.  50% tariffs on all goods being shipped into the nation from there and a ban on any officials coming into our country. And whatever else.  

The FBI - new interim leader and weeding out the "untouchables".  Leftists are having a meltdown on Trump's nominee for the FBI spot, Patel.  I don't care anything about what leftists have to say about any of this, not after the last 4 years of shoving s*** down our throats and gloating and denigrating republicans constantly, day in and day out.  

Hegseth - another one the left didn't want. Well, they mostly don't want any Trump picks, it doesn't matter who he nominates, most of them would be unacceptable.  But we already knew that.  

ICE doing wide spread raids and collecting these illegal criminals and the left of course having more meltdowns. I've seen plenty of it online.  Farmers don't have enough pickers out there. I find it humorous that they want these people out there but don't care that they are getting minimum wage. Isn't the left all about a "living wage"? Doesn't it seem rather hypocritical to sit there and protest Trump's intention of rounding up millions of illegals doing the "work we won't do" at the lowest wages that exist legally while at the same time promoting a "living wage" everywhere? 

Why aren't these people worthy of a "living wage"? 

And the late night leftist comedians. LMAO!  They're SO confused.  They still don't understand why the left lost the battle. But, now many leftists are coming out and facing the reality of it. Harris was a flawed product and some of the more known names are finally admitting it.  I could go on about politics right now, I haven't even watched that much of it but I take it all in quickly.  

Oh! And the Secret Service dude that was right there protecting Trump during that first assassination attempt!  I put up a post in a mostly right filled political group with his face right next to Trump, calm, cool and collected even while bullets are flinging around him.  He's been nominated for the SS high post. I figure if anyone deserves it, that dude should get it as long as he has the decorum and knowledge, which he undoubtedly has being on the then-candidates detail.  

There isn't anything major going on at the park. I pulled in yesterday to find another tractor trailer rig parked in the back. I kind of need people to ask permission to do that, I really don't want a bunch of trucks rolling in and out of there.  I don't really even like doing it myself, but I don't want to pay to park somewhere when I can park on my own property for free.  

 Wednesday - mid morning

Delivery was halted last night because of an issue with the pipes freezing up and no product being able to go through them.  I was informed to call at 8:30 am, so I did.  Allegedly, a company from Shreverport is up there thawing the pipes.  Or already thawed them I guess.  Another driver was up there all day yesterday and apparently still up there now.  So, they want 3 loads dumped into their system today, including mine at 1 pm.  

There is no use showing up before then, not with another driver already up there and waiting to offload. It is so cold outside, it is highly likely going to take hours for each load to be dropped into their system.  I've basically given up on today.  I won't be home until 6 pm at the earliest if it takes as long as I think it will to offload the truck.  Last I checked, it was 15 degrees and it's probably colder up there.  I've got an hour and 45 minutes before I need to roll out of the yard over there.  

Whatever.  I greatly dislike this job but I'd probably hate other trucking jobs just as much if not worse depending on the scenario.  So I just stick with it.  I normally get home early so a day here and there not getting home until late isn't going to be the end of my world.  I hope not anyway.  

It's 22 degrees in Gurdon right now, lol the high is forecast 43. Lolol.  I'm taking hot coffee and maybe even some hot cocoa with me.  I have my winter camo jacket and a cap, gloves, just gotta tough it out and hope that nothing goes wrong when I get up there.  

The other driver going up there is all kinds of whacked out.  He's got to be there even later than me.  I mean, I told him when I'm leaving because if he shows up an hour after I get there, he's just going to be sitting there waiting. Might as well wait at home?  It just throws off a day having to do this nonsense and I've had several off days in very recent times.  Like, it's getting old.  Oh, let me check my tablet and see what other kinds of joy and fun might be in there...

Another load in the am.  Oh well.  Not that I need time off, I'm just kind of being thrown out of sync with this junk, the electrical problem at the park, 2 days in a row of being out for hours on end waiting....yeah I'm ready for a break from the nonsense.  

So, with that and not in a particularly good - or bad - mood, I'm offa here.  

 Tuesday - night

The fiasco at Gurdon 2 days ago was, in a nutshell, a faulty air pressure gauge.  I had gotten into the truck to warm up - it was very cold outside - and got back out a while later as I normally do.  I looked at the pressure gauge and it ready 56.  Instant panic.  How the hercules did the pressure jet up that high that quickly? We're talking disaster zone territory here. Seals can blow out, the tank can allegedly blow up, etc.  

I immediately shut the air off to the tank and then unhooked the hose and started letting out pressure.  When it got down into the high 30's range I started trying to pump out the product.  Bypassing a lot of stuff, I made several phone calls/texts and tho I got good ideas from people, none of it worked. I got up on top of the tanker and saw that the gauge up there was showing a completely different reading than the one on the bottom.  

Well then.  I decided to let all the pressure out.  The bottom gauge was sitting at 37 pounds when I started doing it and it stayed at 37 pounds the entire time, even when the thing was almost completely depressurized. And there it was.  The pressure had never gotten that high, the gauge was erroneously showing it was. So, I pumped 35 pounds back into it using the top gauge - meaning climbing up and down many times over to the top of the tanker to check the pressure.  I got it unloaded.

Today? Nothing.  It went quickly. The manager was at the washout and he wanted it done as fast as possible, again, it was cold out there, still is.  Over to the plant, they took a few minutes worth of fooling around with hoses but they eventually got me loaded and I was home by 12:30? I think.  It was an early day.  

I get a call from some weary travelers. Do you have a spot available? I just so happen to have one, yes.  They showed up, hooked up and they are enjoying their cozy trailer.  

Then the manager calls. I never know what to think when he calls, but it's usually not anything I want to hear.  This time?  A driver has been up there all day long trying to offload a trailer.  The plant's pipes are frozen up and product can't get through.  Long story short: If I don't hear back from him tonight, call him in the morning.  Ok, well I usually leave around 6:30 am.  Oh no, try 8:30 am.  I have a loaded trailer at my Park, but I've had it happen before where it sits for a day before delivering it.  

It's pretty much guaranteed there are drivers not flushing the line out when they get done unloading.  You pump water through the lines, lots of it, to ensure the lines stay open.  

So, I don't have to get up super early, probably around 7:00. It's after 8 and I haven't heard from the manager and somehow I doubt I will.  You never know, I guess, if it's a go I want to know about it now, not at 8:30 am.  

Day whatever - in the 40's range - of 100 pushups per day for 100 days.  I'm at 40, will have the rest done within the hour.  I kind of forget about it sometimes, especially when things are happening that are complete distractions.  I always get them done, however, and I'm happy about that.  I have seen  no new, noticeable changes in the last week or longer.  That doesn't bother me, I am going to stick with it as long as I can. There are days when I really don't feel like doing it and today is one of those days.  

 I've been watching the Trump stuff. Quite amazing what can happen when there is a real leader in the White House.  The days of weakness are over. That's what Biden projected, a weak America that is spineless and dysfunctional.  National emergency declared at the border and a flurry of actions being taken there, including shutting off that app that helps illegals get in the country, basically. 

No need to go into all of the Trump stuff now, I'm watching both meltdowns and leftist outlets bash their own party.  Democrats are quite confused right now.  They still don't understand why they lost the election. Calling people racists, hitler, Nazis, trash, etc doesn't work.  People don't like that, at least not ordinary citizens.  The trans nonsense and boys in girls bathrooms didn't help them either.  

Anyway, the day is over, I'm fixing to go to bed here pretty soon.  Just tired, some nights I sleep great others I get 3 or 4 hours worth and that next day is pretty rough.  

Monday - evening

Umm, yeah, I was just writing out a  post and poof, hit the wrong button and there it went. Even hitting the undo tab didn't bring it back, ugh. 

I'll try again. 

I'm going to jump to today tho and not start with what happened yesterday, gag me with a spoon as older current generation says it (yes, it rather odd statement but I'm sticking with it).

Today, I'm thinking about going out to eat.  I worked all weekend and haven't been out since Applebee's 2 Sundays ago.  I'm cutting back but not completely from eating out.  I'm doing very well at that, btw.  It was still mid morning, I get a text.

Power is out on lot 3 and 4, maybe 1.  

What?!!! Jackon's went out last night and then 2 more.  I'm sitting here, where I'm writing this in my bedroom office on my computer, wondering why he didn't contact me about this earlier.  He said he was going to check the circuit breaker on the shed. 

Umm, that won't do anything. It has nothing to do with those lots.  Well...whatever he asked..I just said I'm coming over.  I'm not leaving electricity up to him or anyone else for that matter, it's a thing I want to see for myself and make decisions on my own observations. 

In reality, the entire east side bank of power was done and gone for.  One 110 volt leg was working, the other was not.  RV's are strange how they work and I'm not going into all of that right now. I tried to figure it out and thought, well this looks like an underground problem. I had Trey use the multimeter he came up with other junk.  I thought about it for awhile and said no, that's not the problem. Went to the main breaker and then back to the first pedestal it comes to.  Power at the breaker, no power on that leg at the pedestal. 

Meaning, there is something going on underground.  I called James to come over. I only told him what was going on, I wanted to see if he came to the same conclusion without my input.  He did.  I started thinking. Is this related to the people that ran over the pedestal last year? Perhaps some sort of residual effect that I didn't know about and therefore couldn't prepare for? 

James came to the same conclusion. It's underground.  He wanted no part of that and I didn't blame him at  all. Remember, it's literally freezing cold, 31 degrees and the wind chill much lower when the wind started blowing.  It wasn't particularly pleasant, but I had to stick with it until the end.  I then called the contractor, but I had Trey start digging out the pedestal.  He didn't agree with me, he thinks he knows everything.  I'm facing paying a contractor thousands of dollars to repair this, I'm going to do what I can to fix it myself.  

The contractor came, I asked him to check everything, he did, same results.  Trey was still busy digging it out, I was supervising. Trey can earn his keep, that was my thought, get down there and dig.  He did. He had his own ideas he was constantly bringing up, I rejected them. Bandaid type of "fixes" that aren't going to do anything but be a temp fix. No, we're this far, the contractor is here, we're doing this. The contractor left after lengthy discussion and said call him when you find out what's wrong.

Trey is just a mess. He tries to get out of everything with minimal effort - laziness - and not doing things right.  I had to correct and prod him the entire time. No, Trey, we aren't doing that.  We got down to the wires.  Big, thick wires.  He put his hand down on the ground and immediately pulled it back up. Hey, it's super warm thee! That's where our problem is, I replied, dig it up. The circuit break was off, btw, no chance of electrocution.  

After a while: behold.  There it was. A mess of white ash looking stuff. There's our problem! I was rather jubilant.  Maybe this thing isn't going to cost me a fortune after all. Sure enough, he got down to the wire and it was a melted mess. The aluminum had melted for whatever reason.  Melted aluminum, melted sheath. 

I texted a pic of it to the contractor and then called him. He replied that he is at Ellis supply right now, he picked up the lug we would need to connect the existing wire to a new piece of wire, went to his shop and got a section of wire that we would need that he had laying around and came back over. I'm going to tell you, that guy was over there very fast the first time I called him. I was quite surprised to see him pulling up that fast and then he was over there again quick after calling him for the stuff we needed.  

In the end, we installed a new section of wire via a lug and coated it with this this liquid tape and turned the power back on an walaah!  I profusely thanked the contractor and told him to send me a bill.  Umm, no? It was only $15.  I insisted, I'm not trying to taking advantage of him and frankly, I wasn't facing a thousands of dollars bill to fix it.  No, it was only $15, he said again and said I don't want these people to be suffering.   It was and is cold. There is no doubting that. It was seriously distressing to me about the temps outside and people not having power and it apparently affected him as well.  

BTW, it didn't just cost him $15.  He had to come over, go to the parts store, go to his shop, come back over and spent the time helping.  I consider a person doing something like that as a person that has a big heart. Trying to earn a living, of course, but when the time comes to do what you can to help people, he was all over it.  He could have charged me $500 for all of that and I wouldn't have balked at it.  You do what you have to do. This is not summertime where you can just go outside or open doors and windows.  

I could go into the fiasco at Gurdon yesterday, but I don't feel like it. I was so consumed by this situation at the park today that it just superseded everything, including the Trump inauguration. I came home in time to see James phone with it playing live and Justice Roberts swearing Trump in.  All of that had completely escaped me with this park stuff.  

What I know about Trump at the moment is that he was going to sign off on 200 Executive Orders --  today.  That dude has a serious work ethic.  He's going to undo a lot of Biden bs.  Woke.  DEI. EV mandates.  Drilling bs. EPA garbage. Etc.  I do believe that at least temporarily? The war on natural gas is over.  These people believe that invoking their will on hundreds of millions of people is completely acceptable.  It never dawns on them that many or most people don't think like them or even want their nonsensical declarations dropped like atom bombs on citizens. 

Anyway, it's getting late and yes, I have pushups to do, which I completely forgot about until just now, gag. But, I'm going to get them done : )

 Thursday - night

A person called today, said he's on his way over to the park to take a look. Lol.  Uhh, I just left there 10 minutes ago and my park host is out of town for a couple of days, but you are welcome to take a look, it's lot 8 that is available at one of the ends. 

We talk awhile, he goes over, calls me back, says he wants it.  He had gone to my main competitor and they were asking him a million questions.  Now, I do ask some basic questions about felonies and type of dog/s, but I don't get carried away with it.  He was turned off by that but even more so by their high prices.    They apparently have greatly raised their lot rates, I haven't checked in a while.  I am not raising or lowering mine, not at the moment anyway.  

In fact, I've got 3 people in there on the $200 off deal.  Hey, it worked to get people in there and all of them are allegedly "very" long term.  That special is over, I'm not giving out any more of that. My goal at this point is to find "permanent" people.  That's never going to really be true, of course, but people who are retired or just live in the area and want a place to call home indefinitely.  This will reduce the amount of constant turnover and it's no less money.   

Anyway, he said he's moving in Saturday or Sunday. Of course, I have to see it to believe it, but I will hold it for him since that's only a few days away and I have no other prospects for it.  I didn't tell him that.  He didn't even consider that new player in town.  I'd like to take a drive over there and see how many people he's been able to move in to the new section he built adding on to the existing park he bought out.  

The ever changing forecast. Tuesday, it was supposed to snow. Now it's Thursday. We're all thinking, yeah, right, it's not going to snow at all.  The thing I'm not going to much care for is the 18 degree low temp on Tuesday and a high of 35.  Sunday and Monday will be super cold as well.  I have to deliver tomorrow, load Saturday, deliver Sunday and then Monday off.  Tuesday allegedly going to load, but we'll see about that.  The washout is already saying that if the power goes out - which apparently happens in that kind of weather for them - they will not be open. 

And then what? If the customer still wants their product, am I supposed to drive clear up to Crossett to get a washout?  I suspect the Gurdon plant will cancel loads tho.  No guarantees on that, but that's what they did this last time it got super cold.   

Regardless, the forecasters can't ever get the conditions right regarding rain, ice, snow, etc but they are usually pretty close if not spot on on the temperatures.    

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr day, everyone will be home. Schools shut down, the folks are also not working.  I'll be happy to not have to get out of bed early....

All of my expansion plans are on hold right now.   Trump will be sworn in soon but also, I think the Fed is meeting again very soon? I expect them to reduce the interest rate and subsequently, everything else should come down with it in terms of not only loans but also credit card interest rates.  

Amazingly, I'm on day 39 of the pushup challenge and I have only missed one day and that was not that long after I started doing it - and I made up for it the next day.  But now? I don't care how late it is, if I forget, so sad too bad, I'm getting down and doing the 100 pushups.  Not all in one set, I'm nowhere even remotely close to that.  But now, I'm trying to get at least half of it done when I get home instead of waiting until evening or night time.  Just easier that way.  I have seen no noticeable changes. But, that's not going to stop me from continuing on.  

I have nothing else for I am very tired. It's 9:30 and it's time to go to bed. 

 Thursday - early

6 hours of sleep, woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, got up early. 

I'm not sure about the owners of the dog doing the dumping in my dumpster.  I drove over there yesterday and there is a residential can next to their house.  Now, we use 3 cans here at our place for 5 people. 2 regular trash cans and one recycle. So I dunno if that's sufficient for a family and I'm not sure how many people are living there.  The saga may never end if I don't move the dumpster, I guess that's the end of that story. Just they want $200 to move it.  

The manager called me and said I need to "beg" you to do something. He isn't really begging, of course,.  He's in a hard spot created by a company that doesn't exactly treat it's drivers that well.  He has no control over that. He wanted me to work this coming weekend and I just said yes. I assumed he would be doing that anyway.  I told him I do not want to do another 3 week in a row stint of weekend work.  That's my issue with it.  He knows.

He has a driver out that does the Ennis run, so one of our drivers is over there doing that one and then there is another driver out.  He has to refill that Ennis position before he can bring that driver back.  They have good contracts, they just don't want to invest in decent equipment.  That's the biggest issue. That guy switching over temporarily to the Ennis run probably won't want to come back. Less money.

I'm back to having one lot empty and I have no prospects currently. I get calls but I don't count anything a done deal until people show up and really, none of the people I've talked to sounded like they were actually serious about showing up.  There's a lot of competition, I'm just not lowering my prices any more than where they're at now.  It's not worth it and I will have an empty park before I just start giving it all away. 

Life goes on, the holidays are over, kids are back in school...and Trump is fixing to be sworn in as the next President.  Meanwhile, Biden is tripping on giveaways and all kinds of actions being taken that he thinks will be "impossible" for Trump to undo.  Obama said the same thing on his way out.  Hundreds of millions of acres of federal lands - taxpayer lands in reality - tied up for no drilling for oil.  And more student loan forgiveness.  Etc etc etc, ad infinitum.

Trump has 100 executive orders he wants to put out in the first days of his Presidency.  And don't be deceived by the media or the current White House, Biden had very little to do with this deal being made between Israel and Hamas.  Biden desperately wants a legacy beyond HIGH inflation and a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.  And other notable things that will go down in history as him likely being one of the worst presidents that ever occupied the Oval Office.  

And they all hate Hegseth because 1. He's a Republican but 2. because he was a Fox News host.  The left hates Fox News.  Whatever, it wasn't Fox News that was perpetuating the Russian Hoax bs or covering up the Hunter laptop fiasco....I'm not the biggest fan of Fox News anymore, they are managed by leftists and they have been creeping in leftists commentators and "news" reporters for a while now.

Anyway, I have first load today and I am - at least for now - working the next 6 days including today.  I need the money so I hope it sticks. He also gave me first load on all of them.  Something I don't tell other drivers.  In fact, I only really talk to one other driver and the rest? are "as*ho**s" according to the lead mechanic.  He will get my stuff done because we see things alike.  Including old school trucking.  There usually isn't any good side to getting nasty with the people that are trying to help you, but stupid truckers do it all the time. You mess with the mechanics, good luck.  There's only 2 of them up there and they don't take kindly to being treated like dog s***.

I don't know what day I'm on in the pushup challenge. 30's at least, maybe 40's now.  I've been doing 100 pushups per day, every day. Some days, that's a real challenge, other days not so much. I forget to do them sometimes until it's approaching bedtime and then it's, dang, I've got to get them done!  Besides larger triceps, I haven't seen any noticeable change beyond a bit of flatting in my chest area, others are saying differently. 

It isn't likely that I'll stop doing pushups after the 100 days is up unless there is some physical reason why I can't.  

Well, my time is up here. I have to think about getting my stuff ready so I can leave here.  Starting Sunday, we've got 3 days in a row of extremely cold weather, down into the low 20's.  Tuesday, snow is predicted. We saw what happened to their last prediction. 

G'day. 

 Monday - mid morning

New people moved in 2 days ago, late.  Just now getting caught up on things here.  I think they are staying a while - quite a while. You never know tho, they might find some place they like better or buy a house or whatever.

The house should have closed so the lot 8 folks should be leaving today.  

The teacher is also leaving at the end of the month. He says he found a better gig in Beaumont.

You get people in you get people leaving. It's constant, just the nature of the business.  I don't have any leads on replacing them but then again I'm not running any ads atm.  Facebook ads will be placed as soon as the people buying the house leave.  Lot 1 is still occupied until next week.  That's the transient lot, at least for now. If I find someone willing to pay enough for it, it could be a long term lot as well

I had the weekend off.  I was thinking about that yesterday, I am not going to be this manager's weekend slave.  I'm getting every other weekend off as agreed to. If he is going to break that agreement, I am going to force the issue even if it means having to leave.  It's what employers do. They push it and push it and see what they can get away with.  You have to push back and I did.  I'm not saying having another 3 days off is great, but at the same time, he was setting it up so I would have to work weekends in order to get any runs into the system.  

I know how he works, he thinks he's sly but he really isn't. These other guys need to be rotated into the full weekend system, that's all. The manager claimed it was broken down trucks and people out sick. But, a pattern was set that i was watching and I just had had enough of it.  

The 10 year old birthday celebration sort of went on all day long Saturday.  First it was a birth day party, then people showing up late - he forgot to put the time on the flyer he handed out.  So they were hanging out. Then we had the group over and they gave him presents and then we played cards until almost 1:00 am.  

Sunday was church, followed by Applebee's, then home.  That's all I did yesterday. I'm doing very well in the "not eating out department" besides the after-church visit. Yesterday it was only the oldest kid with me, the other left church with friends to go to Shreveport.  He changed his mind, lol, after he found out what they're doing - shopping. I'm sure they were going to eat as well, but he wanted to go home.  It was a pretty lazy day yesterday, just the way my Sundays are perfect.  

I do have work tomorrow, but the truck is now fixed. I don't have to worry about getting an inspection. Tires, lights, all kinds of stuff were fixed/replaced and that makes for more enjoyable driving not having to worry about that stuff. 

We've still got cold overnight temps going and notable, this coming Sunday and Monday are going to drop down to 20.  I don't know about you, but that's cold in my book.  I have everything insulated so I'm not worried about it.  I  am kind of getting irritated with people setting the heater in the shed to 75 degrees and have decided to see about a heater with an app where you can monitor it remotely and just change it back to 65 - 69.  I don't want that thing heated up like that all night long, it's a complete waste of my money on electricity. 

I'm still at the 100 day pushup challenge.  My arms started getting bigger but it has sort of stalled.  I'm just going to continue on with it and see what happens. If nothing else, the exercise is good.  

That's really it for now, I have things I need to get done today and sitting here isn't going to accomplish that.  Hope everyone had a good New Year and going to have a blessed 2025.  

Oh, wait - the Biden era is almost over!  They sentenced Trump - to nothing.  This completely proves, at least to me, that it was a politically motivated attempt to tarnish Trump's name so he wouldn't be elected.  I knew that all along, but if you have 34 felonies and literally NOTHING is done with sentencing, not even community service? It will be appealed and I suggest it will be overturned by a competent court once you get out of New York. 

Trump has stated that he is working towards issuing 100 Executive orders in the first days of his second term.  Probably a lot of stuff undoing Biden's outrageous nonsense, especially the border and drilling.  

Honestly, I didn't watch any news this weekend but I did read some online.  I just have had my share of it for now.

G'day

 Friday - night

It's actually Monday morning and completely forgot to post this, didn't finish but there it is anyway. 

Well, it was forecast 5 hours of snow for this morning. So I didn't know whether I was going up to Arkansas to get the truck fixed or not.  This morning, it was apparent that the "storm" turned out to be a dud. Sure there was rain and there was a half hour of "snow", small flakes melting before they reached the ground so it didn't stick.  

So, I ended up heading up to the yard rather late in the morning  by my standards and getting up there in time for them to - go to lunch.  They have their ways and they don't bend those ways for anyone or anything. I'm not saying they aren't nice people, they just are unyielding in their routine.  I knew I'd have to wait so it was whatever to me.  

I gotta say they got those problems resolved far faster than I expected.  It wasn't even 3 pm and they were done with almost everything, the only few items they couldn't fix were things that have to be ordered. Things I don't need for a safe truck and have been living without anyway.  

So, I started heading back.  They had to put the dog down today, she was pretty down.  They decided to go to a bigger town and have some lunch and use their Christmas gift cards.  But, I found out, they went to Texas Roadhouse for the late birthday dinner for the older kid.  That really brought me down quite a bit, that they would do that without me.  That kid hangs around me alot, I let her know that I wanted to be there for that. 

At least she apologized and said the kid was unhappy because they didn't him a birthday dessert as many restaurants will.  Do we need to do another one? I thought about that. It isn't about me, I just wanted to be a part of it.  But, we are allegedly doing another one at the place he decided to go to after he originally said Texas Roadhouse: Applebee's  I take those kids there after church and some weekends when we can't make it to church but have time when I get back from a run.

Speaking of that, the manager was asking me to work yet another weekend. There has been a lot of days off lately either with holidays or cancelled loads.  Meaning small paychecks, but at the same time, I've worked every weekend for quite a while now, I haven't been to church in a month.  I asked him if he could find other drivers to take that junk instead of it always being me.  He agreed, fortunately, because I was ready to force the issue, come what may.  I'm not going to be his weekend warrior slave.  Everyone else is getting weekend time off to do what? Go to church in most cases.  Why should I have to eat this nonsense all the time?  Well, he said, because trucks were broken down or people were sick.  

Every weekend? 

Anyway, I have the weekend off and the plant cancelled loads again anyway, I don't work again until Tuesday.  Which sucks, actually, I wanted to work Monday.  

Ok, it's been awful cold here and it's still down in the low 30's. It's 35 degrees - just looked it up - feels like 28.  Low of 24 degrees overnight with a high of 46, it's not terrible I guess.  

The new people from up north didn't make it today, they said their trailer was snowed in and they had to dig it out. They are sick of those types of winters. It doesn't snow here much, at least, but it does get cold here.  I think the guy found a job somewhere around here.  I fixed the 30 amp set up on the porch people before I left for AR this morning thinking these new people were coming in. It takes about 3 minutes to get into the panel, pull off the breaker, unscrew the line and switch it out. Ok, maybe 5, at most.  They make it really easy and those breakers, even tho the cost of them has gone up, they are only $8.  

Another lady contacted me today: we need to move in today. Ok, I have an alternate lot available.  Yada yada yada later in Facebook DM and she disappears after I told her the price. It was quite reasonable, lower then my regular lots.  I waited about 10 minutes and then bid her good luck in her search since she stopped responding and wrote that person off. I don't know what they think they are going to find for cheaper than that and I wondered why they had to "move today".  Lack of funds would be my guess and I'm just not taking people in if they don't have the first month's rent up front, all of it.  

IF that couple shows up tomorrow, the park will temporarily be full, at least the regular lots with 1 alternate open.  But, I will have 2 regular lots coming available soon.  Back in lot 8 should be vacated on the 12th or 13th and lot 1 added to their stay by a week.  So, there will be 2 lots available and tho I like to keep lot 1 open for overnights, I will rent it out if it comes down to it.  But, I will try to get the back in lot rented first.  I won't be advertising that until those people actually leave, they are allegedly closing on their loan for their house on the 12th, but we all know how that can end up being delayed.  

  Tuesday - early afternoon

Oh the luxuriousness of having the house all to myself. No kids on "holiday" (read: Christmas) break whining, screaming, fighting with each other, tattle taling, etc ad infinitum, ad nauseum.  That doesn't happen all day long, in fact, it's mostly just one of them that causes all of the problems.  It was beyond time for them to go back to school. A week off is sufficient, I think 2 weeks plus is too much. They get ample time off during the summer time, they really get distracted and out of focus with that much time off.  Today is their first day back.  

I did get out today.  My hair was looking incredibly bad - thanks to that last haircut and my Keurig is throwing fits and has been for a couple of weeks.  It's stopped working altogether a couple of times and today it stopped pumping the air through the needle to force all the water out of the k cup. That thing ;lasted 5 years and I've had probably thousands of cups of coffee out of it so I'm not going to complain.  I went to Walmart, they have a combo unit that not only does k cups but also brews a pot of coffee.  There are times I want a fresh brewed pot, not a k cup.  

Day off today due to cancellation. I pickup up a load of glue yesterday but not delivering it until tomorrow morning.  I'm hoping I can get done early enough to get over to the shop and get some of this stuff wrong with the truck repaired.  If not, I'll have to take Thursday off driving and go up there and spend the day up there.  That's the thing, if I don't get over there early enough tomorrow - or should I say if I can't - there is no point in going.  I have a long list and I want all of it fixed.  It's minor stuff but it's a lot of minor stuff.

I'm pretty content to sit in my bedroom today until the kids get home and then, well, it's back to normal.  I have 3 more hours : )

There is nothing pressing at the park, at least not that I know of. It's cold, 33 degrees right now and it's afternoon time,  I'm sure they're over there running up the electric bill using electric heat and oh well. Electricity is the biggest down side to that park in terms of costs. If I didn't have that, I"d be making some pretty decent money.  I"m just stuck with it. Install meters and people leave.  

___________

Like 8 hours later, lol.  Made dinner, only left the house today to get a haircut and a new coffee maker. Some people called, came to the park, checked it out and decided it wasn't for them. Whatever, I know I can't please everyone and I don't even try.  I just do what I can and if people don't like it, there are greener pastures from their viewpoint elsewhere.

And with that, time to go to bed. Oh! 20 more pushups and I'm done for the day : )

Monday - night

Still quite cold and it's going to stay that way through Friday - when there is currently showing a 71% chance of snow.  It's not going to be much warmer the days after that, just nothing like what we are experiencing now.  

Today marks the final day of Christmas/New Year's break for the kids from school. It is about time, frankly.  The youngest has been sick the entire time, only starting to break out of it a little yesterday and today.  I will be glad to see them going back to school and having that particular structure back in their lives.  The youngest hates school and clearly defined that yet again to me today.  The oldest likes it well enough. 

Today. I was on my way to the trailer washout in Nacogdoches when my manager called me.  No idea what he wanted, I answered and he told me: your load has canceled. Looks like you're halfway to the washout, might as well go and get it washed out? Yes.  At the washout, he called me again.

2 more loads cancelled, but then they changed their minds and put one back on the board for tomorrow. Can you do it?  Of course, I had planned on working.  But the discussion immediately went to - can I load it today even if it's not supposed to deliver until Wednesday? I'm already down here....let me email the rep.  By that point in time, they had finished the washout.  

I waited, hoping it would be allowed for why come all the way back down here for something I can get done today?  It would also allow me a full day off tomorrow.  The answer was yes after yet another phone call, but I paid for it. For whatever reason, the first load driver was still at the washout when I arrived.  He was already late for his loading appointment time, I wondered why he was there and my manager didn't know either.  He didn't ask, apparently.

When I arrived at the plant, he was still in the bay, I expected that tho.  What I didn't expect but probably should have considering the loader that was working today is that I had to sit there almost 2 hours before his was loaded and I could even get in there to start loading.  By that time, the first loader had gone home and the dude who kicks @$$ showed up, got me loaded quickly and then I was in the control room with him getting paperwork. 

I asked him how things are going? It was going good until I got here and all of  this bs was going on.  I guessed out loud it was the fact that there was a bunch of work left to do that that other guy didn't get done.  YES! He replied quite loudly and went off on that dude.  You 2 have been here for hours, what's the problem? It's 30 minutes and it's done.  I suggested he's the slowest loader there and not very motivated.  He went off on him again, lol.  It's like the guy tries to go as slow as he can.  

Anyway, I finally got out of there and didn't get back until around 4:30.  Still, even with 3 hours at the plant, it was worth it to get tomorrow off.  I would go up and get the truck fixed tomorrow, the thing is, the trailer is loaded and it just adds a lot of time, fuel and just slower progress getting up there and back fully loaded.  It would be like, well, I am up here, I might as well just stay up here and deliver early in the morning.  

I don't want to do that, especially in this icy cold weather.  If that truck breaks down while attempting to sleep in it somewhere, I'm going to be one very cold individual.  So it's likely I will take it up Thursday, hopefully work Friday and Saturday and then basically demand Sunday off. It will have been a month since I went to church and I just am not going to continue to have to work entire weekends all the time.  I'll do them, but not so many in a row.  If that throws them off, tough, that's on them.  I'm not their weekend warrior.  I'll risk getting "moved" to "routes you don't want" to get my church in if it comes down to that.  

I wasn't particularly happy when these people finally showed up - after dealing with them on the phone and text incessantly and then finding out they didn't like it, thought it was too small. The lot is 60X40, it's not as big as other lots I have but it's still quite large plus ample room behind the trailer for another 50 feet to do whatever.  Not to mention that wasn't going to be their permanent lot, which is much bigger. 

But whatever.  It happens I just thought I had spent far too much time dealing with these people to have it turn into a dud.  As far as I know, the lady from - Minnesota? - is coming on the 10th.  

100 pushups done for  the day. A bit late getting them done admittedly, but taking another look, my man boobs are actually slowly starting to straighten out.  I think I'm a but too critical of myself in this drama of trying to lose the gut and the boobs and actually look like some semblance of a man again. Ok, that's probably a bit much, lol, I'm just saying.  I was lean and trim from the age of around 12 to near the 50's and then the fat started piling on.  Then I got a job that was mostly driving 11 hours a day and really getting no exercise whatsoever, which really set this over the top.  

It was just that tipping point, I guess, 33 days ago? where I said enough. This is getting bad and it's not good for you to be that fat.  That's scientific study that will back that up all day long on hundreds if not thousands of articles online.  

Oh, the oldest got me started on the game Fortnite. It's a battle game where you basically just go around killing everyone - 100 people in any given match - until everyone is dead, the last person standing is the winner, Victory Royal!  I find the royal word strange. It is pronounced as royale and royale is the correct word?  Why don't they have an e on the end of it?  I dunno, but you can play alone or with teams of 2, 3 or 4.  

The only thing is, if you want to talk on there with your team mates, you find out that most of them don't have microphones and the ones that do are kids.  Acting like kids. Yeah, no. I've only encountered a few adults actually speaking. I had to look this up: LOTS of adults play the game but I guess they either just do the solo version or they just don't speak on the microphones.  I can see how people get addicted to gaming with stuff like that, you have to develop a skill set that you definitely do not have if you don't play video games.  Which I don't.  Or didn't. I only play that one and I just limit myself, but it is adventurous and entertaining.    Honestly, I am bringing the Switch with me on these runs in case I get stuck somewhere as I did today.   

Enough. It's 10:00 pm and I'm going to get into bed, watch a movie and drift off into sleep. No kids to make a bunch of noise in the morning - well they will when they are leaving for school but I hope that I can get back to sleep....

 

 9:00 pm and it has dropped down to 31 degrees.  I was wearing a T shirt this morning when I went to get into the truck. I always love Texas weather doing stuff like that. 

Today was interesting as it stood. 3rd Sunday in a row I've had to work, first off.  In Gurdon? Thunderstorms, rain, tornado watch which eventually turned into a tornado warning.  I didn't hit any tornado warnings but people were driving like mad Max.  

I have second load tomorrow and I'm actually fairly happy about that.  I don't much care for getting done with the day late but I also don't much care for ice I can't see on the road because it's too dark.  Just makes for some white knuckle driving at times.  

Day 31 of the 100 pushups per day for 100 day challenge and I"m still at it. 80 done today, only 20 left to go.  My arms are noticeably bigger.  My chest? Not so much.  I wasn't looking for miracles, I figure it would take all 100 days and then some to get rid of man boobs.  Plus eating right.  I'm getting the eating aspect into post-holiday stuff that means eating smaller portions and more good stuff with low calories and low cholesterol/fat content.   

As for work, I have 2 days to go and then up to the shop for probably most of a day.  That is because there are many things on that truck and trailer that need repaired.  A small oil leak on the power steering pump, the lights that are shorting out, the fuel gauge, heated mirrors, a spot mirror that just flops in the breeze, a trailer tire that is beginning to show steel cords (funny wear for the trailer), a bad u-bolt, several air line  gaskets that need to be replaced and whatever else I'm not remembering.  They'll probably do an oil change while I'm there as well.  

When I let them know in advance, like a couple of days anyway, they drop whatever they are doing and focus their attention on the truck.  They work on it until it's completely done, tho nothing will stop them from taking an hour long lunch break lol.  That's kind of a tall ticket of things to get done in one day.  If they don't all get done, I'm ok with that but they need to get the priority stuff fixed and that would start with those lights.  I have looked all over for a short and I can't find one.  It may very well be in the fuse box or the switch itself.  

I'm going to take my laptop up there and my Switch with me, that will keep me entertained for however long it takes them.  

The people showed up to move in their very large trailer.  Looked like a cross between a mini-house and a park model.   A park model is more like a mobile home but they call it sort of an RV. it was pretty big and it was new.  They didn't stay. They thought the lot was too small.   That was a back in lot about 60 feet long and 40 feet wide.  I don't know where they went, but I doubt they found anywhere with lots that big excepting a couple trailer trash parks. Maybe they don't care, I dunno.  

The bummer part about it was they said "we were going to be there a very long time and need more room".  I do have that giant lot but it's not available.  It's 2 more weeks before those people leave, they just contacted me today and asked for another week.  I typically don't force people out.  

The lady is still coming in - allegedly - on the 10th.  That will fill that lot but then another back in lot is opening up on the 12th.  It's a constant shuffle.  

The old man is probably leaving.  He is obstinate and won't put his dog on a leash and throws his cigarette butts everywhere.  I'm at my wits end with him, I've had a couple of discussions with him about it. He just walks off grumbling and then....lets the dog run everywhere. I doubt he's picked up a single piece of that dog's poop since he came in there.  "He goes out in the woods". Oh? I wonder because I see dog poop lying around and it's a larger dog doing it.  

I hate to see him go, he's a nice guy otherwise but this nonsense has to stop.  His dog has actually run up into other people's trailers who had their doors open. It will just run up to everyone and anyone. He's a totally tame dog but not everyone wants dogs running up on them and I have rules.  It's just that it means having to have yet another lot empty and who knows how long before I can get someone in there? I dunno, maybe not that long. 

I feel like my business ethic is better followed than pandering to a person who doesn't want to follow basic rules. Most people understand their dog needs to be on a leash, not just in my park but in society in general.  There are many exceptions of course, like on your own property or out in the woods hiking. The RV industry is full of RV'ers who expect rules to be followed by everyone and they get upset if they aren't enforced, that is one of my biggest issues with this dude and his dog AND his damn cigarette butts. I'm really tired of it.  And most people but definitely not all understand that if your dog poops - well when, not if - you need to clean it up immediately, which means carrying the bags around with you.  

If only the 3 welders were still around.  Guaranteed income.  

Well enough of this. I'm going to do my last 20 pushups for the day, watch some tv and then go to sleep.  

  A long night of below freezing temps coming up starting tomorrow night.  But, we seem to have everything covered. The people living there? Well I hope so.  I wasn't feeling so spunky when I got back so my visit was short and sweet.  I dunno but that shed will definitely have both heaters going. On low, but going in case one can't keep up with it. Saving my pipes/seals/gaskets from damage is the point.  

I won't have to drive night time hours in the icy road conditions. Tomorrow morning is regular nice weather - well a bit cool but nothing like what's coming.  Monday I have late load.  I guess thank the good Lord for a late load considering it's a bit dicey driving in the dark and not being able to see the road surface knowing it's 24 degrees and black ice/ice/frozen bridges might be ripe for serious problems.  

Today went relatively well. The guy that takes forever to washout trailers has apparently been given the revelation that most people don't want to wait an hour and a half to 2 hours for the same results as the other guys doing it in 25 minutes.  The loading plant was crazy.  One of the plant's drivers took the wrong product to a similar place as what I deliver to - and same product I deliver. He  got under the wrong trailer, went down there, unloaded and of course all hell broke loose.

2 jobs ago, I was taking pipe and product down there to build that plant.  At the very beginning when they were working on storm drainage and such.  And really, throughout the project we took down  truckload after truckload of stuff. Those types of plants use a lot of water.  I don't know the outcome, I assume they would have had to shut that plant down, drain everything out, clean everything out and refill before firing up again.  I am guessing the plant is going to have a big bill coming their way.  

Well, there is no possibility of that for us. The only product coming out of the hose that fills our trailers is the glue for various plants - mostly GP plants - making plywood.  This driver had the right paperwork but the wrong trailer, that was the issue.  

That's my world currently.  It's just dealing with people and their stuff. Like, whoever is blowing up the toilet. No way to figure out who is doing it, but it really sucks to walk into a bathroom and see dried liquified poop all over the bowl  

The truck still has the issue with the bank of lights not working. I'm not going into the fuse panel to try and figure it out, not my job. I do minor stuff, sometimes mid-level stuff but that's more than I'm getting myself into.  Our mechanics will have to figure it out and I will end up wasting many hours on whatever day that's going to happen. Soon, I can say that, I can't be driving it like that forever. It's not a safety issue, it's just a lot of extra lights for looks, not for law.  But, if they're on there? Troopers want them to all work.  I would guess there is a raw wire touching the frame somewhere the way it instantly blows the fuse.  But it really could be a lot of things.  Not my job, as the old saying goes and in this case, quite the truth. 

That's about it.  A few birthdays going on around here, one a few days ago and another coming up in 4 days.  

As for me? Time for bed. 

 Saturday - early

In trying to keep a park full, you try to keep track on people and when they think they are leaving.  If there is a long term wanting to go, I want to know about it. Not to try to talk them into staying, they are free to leave whenever, but to understand that that lot is going to be empty and I want it full. 

So, this lady is moving - from Minnesota? =- I think she said.  She's coming on the 10th.  I have one open lot right now, btw.  Even the overnight lot has someone staying in it for another week or so.  I had a family come in late last night - "we just want a place to park overnight and then leave" - yes, you mean you like my rates and don't care about the extra trouble it's going to be to get that thing parked in there.

In there- meaning one of the behind-the-shed spots.  It was all that was available at the time.  And they did, I am dumping a lot of stuff on Trey now, he's going to do his job or he's going to leave.  I gave him some money at Christmas as well. No great amount, and nothing that's going to be repeated over and over, but I've finally gotten it into his mind that he has a job to do and sitting around his house doing nothing isn't a part of that equation.  

Anyway, this other person called last week and told me he wants to bring his family even if that means he has to move once to make it work.  Unfortunately, it actually means he's going to have to move twice after I found out the people staying for a month at the end lot are staying until the 12th.  That's 12 more days than expected for them, but I wasn't going to make them leave because I have someone else wanting to come in.  Then there's the people at the huge lot, they are there until the - 12th I think.  It means a completely full park and no where to put him excepting in the spot I am holding for the lady moving here from Minnesota. 

So, he wants to move in to that lot, then over to the behind-the-shed lot for 2 days and then to his "permanent" spot.  He's actually a worker but apparently it's going to be an extended stay.  For what, I have no idea, we didn't get that far with it. He had contacted me via text message yesterday asking me if I could take him in or not?  I found out all of the info and informed him the only way I could make it work is if he moves into spot 11 until the 10th, then over to lot 15 - behind the shed - for 2 maybe 3 days - and then to his spot he can stay at for however long.  I told him that and 4 hours later he agreed to it and said he's coming - today actually. 

Yes, he's coming in late tonight.  2 reasons I won't put him behind the shed right now versus 6 days from now.  1, because he's coming in late.  It really needs to be daylight to park back there and 2, because I don't have 50 amp setup back there - yet.  I don't really want 50 amp back there for it's a huge draw on that power system.  The fact of the matter is, however, is that it's winter and AC units aren't running all day long, it's heating units that will turn on and off.  At this time of the year, the power system running over there can handle it, it's during the summer it definitely cannot, at least not with the current setup. I can fix that problem but not without a lot of work and some money spent.  

I have projects I need to do and it's the money situation that has kept me from doing it. It's a business expense and I'm not spending personal finances on that stuff anymore. If the business can't afford it, it is going to be put off until it can.  With most lots full, I can get back to getting some real money in the account.. 

However...property taxes. Let's not go into that, I have a month before it's not going to be late and tho I have the finances in there for that, it would drain it down pretty good.  Get 15 or so lots bringing in money and that will change.  I have to pay property taxes before I do any of these projects.  

Speaking of heat, it's going to get down to 24 degrees tomorrow night and it's going to keep doing that for 4 nights in a row.  That's hard freeze territory and I've been warning people that they need to do something about their hoses and such.  If they don't, they may end up with a costly mess on their hands.  I am definitely not responsible for anything after the spigot.  That's all on them.  What I have to do is cover up all my exposed plumbing. 

I instructed Trey to do that yesterday and he claims he did. Most of it is still covered from last year, not that much to do, but I will be inspecting all of it today after work.  

Yes, I have to work again for the 3rd weekend in a row.  Someone is off sick. I actually was asked to do a full turn yesterday and today, but that went away after the second person off got his act together.  He forgot to get his medical card updated and sent in to the state.  I wonder about this company and not keeping up with that and sending notices to drivers about it. I dunno, but I fully expect this company to pay for mine coming up later this year.  The driver - who has been destroying equipment as well - got his card updated in their system and I didn't end up having to do all of that.  I agreed to it just to make him happy - him being the manager.  otherwise, you get into his unfavorable district in his mind and he can just shuffle you off to OTR stuff.  In other words, you will quit and he doesn't even have to fire you. 

I would definitely quit if I was placed into the OTR system.  They have runs going into Canada and they were begging me to take one of those routes when I first signed up for this place. No thank you. But you have a passport! Yes - no thank you.  

Well, I got up half an hour early.  Not on purpose, I just woke up, decided I wouldn't get back to sleep and got with it, hence the time to write this morning. I didn't get up early to leave early, I just got up to start the day. 

The FOMC meets again on the 28th of this month.  Wondering if the interest rate will be lowered and by how much.  And then, ensuing interest rate reductions on loans.....

Enough. I'm leaving a little early.  I'm out of coffee pods for my Keurig - totally spaced that yesterday - so I need to stop somewhere and get a cuppa this morning before getting to the truck.

G'day. 

 Wednesday - night

What a hoot New Years Eve was!  I took one of the boys to the Piney Park place - the other one is still sick and didn't want to do anything.  He's still coughing his lungs out and we're finding out this can last months. It's a good thing he doesn't have to go to school until next week, but what if this thing goes into next week? We're talking a good 2 plus weeks of this already!  I just hope and pray he gets better before then, because right now? He doesn't nothing but sleep all day long, won't eat much, coughing all the time, etc. 

In other sad news, their dog has torn an ACL, it costs 5k plus to fix it and they're going to have to put her down.

And even more unbelievably sad news, a former pastor's wife from AZ that was a really sweet, loving and kind person passed away.  I didn't know anything about it until today, actually. Well, she apparently passed away today.  I wasn't keeping up with them so I don't know if this was out of the blue or some illness or disease type of thing.  The pastor and her such wonderful people.  She will be missed by a lot of people. 

2 people moved in today.  Behind the shed. I wouldn't have them in the regular part of the park.  Their pictures made the thing look better than it is. But, the door is good, the windows aren't broken, it's just old.  I gave them a list of thing to do to make me happy with the place.  She wasn't particularly pleased with my decrees, shrugs shoulders.  It may be out of sight for the most part, but I want it looking as good as it possibly can be.  Which means painting some things and just tidying it up.  

I don't really have much time here. 25 more pushups to go today, that doesn't take long but we stayed up until 2 am last night, I slept in this morning but I'm still tired.  Really didn't do much of anything today.  ]

I couldn't figure out what's wrong with the bank of lights that went out and the fuse box keeps blowing fuses.  I had Trey look at it, he said he couldn't really pin it down but thinks there is a short in or behind the fuse box itself.  That's too much.  I completely forgot about that until today.  I wish I would have thought of it sooner, I could have taken it to a shop, perhaps.  I'm afraid they'll want me to bring it to the yard and that's going to be a sucky day, I haven't even told them about it yet.  It isn't actually illegal, it's just a bunch of running lights for looks, not for legality.  But, if they're on there, most cops are going to say they have to work.  

It isn't going to fix itself.  I won't even bother telling them until tomorrow after I get back to the yard.  Then they can tell me what they want to do. Tomorrow will be the first day back at work after 3 days off, sitting at a shop for hours isn't on my list of things I will want to do. It won't even be visible excepting in the dark and that is only for maybe 40 minutes tomorrow morning.  After the sun comes up, I can turn the lights off and I won't attract attention.  I don't figure I'm "due" for another Trooper inspection for a while, only meaning that I just had one done recently, hopefully that means I won't get pulled in again any time soon.

Yeah, I have to get off of here. 

It's 9:15 pm and it's almost time to go to bed.

  Sunday - late

I've been neglecting my journal.  Again. Lol.

Last night, we had the annual Christmas party at one of the friend's houses. This was an assigned-gift affair with a $25 max.  I don't think anyone kept to that, most of us spent over $50.  I think the lady that gave me stuff was in the $100's range.  A Trump inauguration shirt, a very nice pocket knife with my name engraved on it and several other items.  Actually it was her husband but she did all the shopping.  I had her on my list and I gave her everything on the list she wanted excepting Hobby Lobby - just wasn't wanting to go over there and I spent plenty of money on her stuff.  

It was a fun time together.  

The water heater fiasco/ordeal plows on.  They didn't sent out the part on Thursday, they did get it out on Friday - but even with the $30 expedited delivery, I still am not getting it until tomorrow.  Which is absolutely ridiculous and got into it with a very combative person on the phone with Rheem.  She was being ridiculous.  I mean, just rambling off company policy to the point of crassness.  

So I started giving her a dose of her own medicine, which caught her by surprise.  It got to the point where i said, hey, why don't you come over here and join the hot-waterless party? Kimberly?  ?That is her name.  At the end, she asked me what I wanted her to do?  Isn't it obvious? I need a functioning water heater? This one is only a year and a half old and it's already failed? I've seen them last 20 and longer years!

She felt the need to lecture me that most water heaters don't last that long. Yes, that is probably true, but also true that most water heaters last longer than a year and a half! 

So, the parts are being delivered tomorrow but I can also go get a free water heater. I'm opting to  get over there tomorrow, unhook the heater, drain it and haul it back to Home Depot where they will allegedly give me a new one when I show them the PO number in the email Kimberly sent me.  I'd rather just get a new heater, even if it's going to add several hours to the end result of having hot water again. People are grumbling a lot, but short of buying a new one out right for almost $500, there isn't much I can do about it. Sorry, I'm not shelling out a bunch more money.

Today was the second run.  Well, yesterday, I got to the washout and the first load driver hadn't arrived. I got to the plant and they hadn't been there either.  So I contacted the manager who informed me the first load had canceled.  Thanks, I thought, for letting me know. The day wasn't terribly long so I just let it go.  Today, I took the first load slot since I knew no one else would be up there and got it done quickly.  

I have 3 days off starting tomorrow and tomorrow is definitely going to have a good portion of the day spent at the park.

I told Trey today I was tired of having to discuss the trashed out lot. Clean it up or else. Else being goodbye.  That was this morning while I was on the road, by the time I got back, he had moved the whole cooking setup to the rear of the trailer, which we had agreed on and another tenant was helping him clean the rest of it up.  I was just fed up.  I can't deal  with it.  I am operating a business and an RV park is not a mobile home park.  People expect them to be clean and tidy.

I also gave the porch people their second notice.  Clean it up, I just gave the other lot in the park that looks like that an ultimatum.  You have FAR too much stuff out there.  On the porch, below the porch, underneath the trailer, behind the trailer. Get rid of 75% of it and I'll be happy.  She responded a few hours later that she is trying to sell her excess stuff to get rid of it. Apparently the previous park allows people to have all kinds of junk laying around. Now I understand why they have problems getting people in there.  

MOST people do not want to pull into an RV park and see disarray and mobile-home-park-style-trailer-trash-sh** going on. It really sets me off, especially with Trey of whom I have discussed this situation dozens of times. Today was the final straw.  Nothing changes. He says he'll do it and then he doesn't do it.  Screw that.  I didn't stay long, I chatted with him a couple of minutes and left. 

That's because I am very tired. 2 nights ago the storms kept me awake, last night some noise woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep.  I've had 3 nights of very poor sleep and I am hoping tonight I can get some quality sleep in.  I'll stay in bed tomorrow morning as long as it takes to get enough sleep.  Screw the water heater, it will wait.  

13 of 14 regular lots are filled, another is coming tomorrow, allegedly anyway, another long term.  There is also another one allegedly coming tomorrow to look at the lot behind the shed.  Well, there's 2 lots but I'm thinking of one specific lot.  She sent me pics.  She took close ups of some damage on the rear.  I'm not concerned about that, the rear will be backed up to the shed and hardly noticeable and certainly not visible to the main area of the RV park.  The rest of the trailer looks good.  So, if they both come, I will have the park full except for Jason's lot who said he will be coming back in January. Those 2 lots in the rear are hard to fill, I don't actively try to fill them anyway unless all other lots are in use.  

In fact, if the lady that wants the regular lot tomorrow shows up, I won't even have an overnight lot available for 2 weeks. I just charged the dude's credit card that came in that is using the giant lot 1.  

Lot 8 will come available either on the 7th or the 14th. I finally found out why they are here: they are closing on a house but not sure exactly when they are going to close on it.  Makes sense.  They don't really talk to anyone in the park at all.  The are on the far end and just keep to themselves. I have no problem with that, if that's what they want, that's what they get.  

Anyway, I have worked it out that I don't have to turn anyone away and I only have one problem coming up on the third with an overnighter.  I'll wait until tomorrow and see if the new long term is coming in. They said they are coming from Alabama to put down roots in this area. I always wonder why people would want to move here. If I said the name of my town, unless you are from this area, you would not know about it.  

Pushups. Somehow, I am still doing this 100 pushups per day for 100 day challenge. I don't even know which day it is.  I have it recorded in this blog, I can go back and figure it out.  I've had days where I really, reeeaaallly, reeeeeeaaaaaaallllllllyyyyyyyyyy did NOT want to do ANY pushups and today is one of them.  I just got done with 20 of them. 80 to go.  It's 8 pm, I want them done by 9 so I can get into bed early.  As I stated in a previous entry, I don't even think about trying to do 100 in one set or even 2 sets. I'm still stuck at 5 sets tho I do 25 here, 30 there at times.  Tonight, I struggled to do 20 on the first set, so it's going to be 4 more 20 pushup sets.  As I said, I'm tired and I don't feel like doing them.  I've made it this far, it's at least. ....20? .... days now.  I think, lol.  lemme look now that I've gotten started on it.  

Wow. I've made it 24 days.  Amazing.  For me, that is amazing, lol.  I'm behind on the bicep workouts, oh well. I'll do a protracted workout on them tomorrow.  And the pushups, lol. Yup, you aren't "supposed" to do triceps and biceps on the same day.  Nothing can be done about it. I can't end up with huge or very toned triceps and nothing biceps. 

I am starting to actually feel muscle in my "boobs", lmao.  It doesn't look like it - yet - but it's definitely there.  I don't know that it will look like it.  This challenge is not a New Year's resolution, I may do a 30 day extreme diet to help along with this pushups tho, starting January 1st.  A lot of people are talking about it, but you know how that goes. People start diets or whatever January 1st and 2 weeks later? they are done.  In fact, there is a day for people to quit: Quitters Friday.  The second Friday in January is where most people quit.  That's apparently a data-backed fact.  

I fear making a resolution out of a diet for this fact alone.  I have made New Year's resolutions and have not kept them. Haven't we all? Lots of us anyway.  I didn't make any of them last year knowing that I would fail and I'd rather not try than make one and then start bashing myself for failing.  But, I could ride the quitter's train who start and give up, at least start with them and hopefully just keep on going.  

I have already resolved to lose the boobs and the gut, this is what keeps me going on the pushups.  I don't even know if they will end up helping me get rid of them, but I can definitely tell you they are building muscle.  

Enough. I need to get on the floor and do some more and other things needing to get done. 

 Christmas Day entry sort of ended abruptly. 

Oh, it's Thursday - early afternoon

I was cooking a brisket all day long yesterday and then I switched gears to cooking a rather old ribeye roast. Like, 3 years old lol. I had it labeled from 2021 and I had no idea we had meat in there that had been sitting in there that long. The brisket was from earlier this year.  I don't think they recommend keeping food frozen that long, eat it within a year or so?  So I kind of was out on a limb on that one, was it going to taste okay or taste like puke?  

I seasoned that ribeye roast quite well. I pulled it out at 122 degrees internal temperature and frankly? It was delicious.  No freezer burn - tho I had quadruple wrapped it when I put it in there. The Brisket was very fine as well.  I cooked that pretty much perfectly. I kept the fire temp around 250 all day long. Note that this is not a pellet smoker, this is  a wood fired smoker and a small enclosure so it takes time to figure out how to set the exhaust flap and the air intake flap to get you to where you want to be with keeping the fire down enough to not torch the meat.

Having not had smoked anything in quite  a while, I was pretty proud of myself.  

Today was a relatively easy day.  It's usually like that when certain people are working at the washout and the plant, I was blessed at both places. The manager said the stuff wasn't coming off of the walls, oh well. I said oh well too, hope they don't reject it. No, the dude that was loading didn't care.  I was out of there in 49 minutes total.  It wasn't a surprise when I pulled into my yard at noon.  I mean, literally at noon.  That's about as good as it gets. I've beaten that time by maybe 15 minutes a few times before. 

The only glitch today is that I lost the fuel card.  I couldn't fuel, tho that's not really an issue for I have over half tanks whenever I leave the loading plant.  Yes, I can go 2 full rounds on full tanks, but that's all I can do. Last time I tried that, I left the loading plant and ran out of fuel 2 blocks from the truckstop.  

I searched high and low in my vehicles for 20 minutes (at least). I went back to the truck and there it was, laying on the floor, right there in plain view.  Face slap.  No worries, I can get fuel tomorrow, it just wasn't so great. Now I have to waste time tomorrow fueling.  I don't ever fuel on the Gurdon portion of the trip. Well, almost never lol.

And now? It's raining.  I have zero plans for today.  The only thing I would do is install the water heater parts - but they aren't here yet. I knew they wouldn't be, the order was placed Christmas Eve Day, late. They probably aren't open Christmas Day - I don't blame them - and who knows about today? I was informed they would be emailing me when the parts are shipped. Well, nothing yet. I paid for 1 day shipping, that's all I can say.

To my friend that sent the airplane pic that was a great story.  I am considering a trailer but it'd have to be at a good price and at the same time not need a lot of work.  I don't want a project trailer, I already have one of those and just don't have the time for it.  Park it, set it up, use it.  Those are usually much more expensive, at least if in decent condition.  I have not been able to find anyone to renovate that coach.  I suppose I could get in there and start tearing stuff out - that's what needs to happen first. The entire kitchen center and the shower stall, it's old, junk and needs replaced. Preferably with regular household style stuff. Much cheaper and looks nice.

Yes, I have been looking at pics of how other people have fixed up old stuff and if you do it right, it is charming and looks incredibly inviting.