Tuesday - afternoon

Well, I've been a busy beaver today.  I didn't want to be but there's stuff that just has to get done, you know how that goes.  Over to the park to check on the grass, I paid James to do it and he did an excellent job. Then emptied out the quarter pans on the washer and dryer - complaints they wouldn't take any more quarters so I know there's over $400 worth in there, took out the trash and fired up the truck.  It did, indeed, fire right up without hesitation.  Picked up a bunch of trash people didn't quite make into the dumpster and left there.  

Over to Kroger's for food. The house is basically emptied out of everyday staples, so I spent some cash on that deal.  I was going to go wash the pickup after that but lo and behold, it started raining. Went over to Starbuck's instead.  After that, home and put away all the food and continue on with laundry.  My room smells bad, I'm washing everything to get that stench out of here. It's a dog thing, lol.  

Talked to Taylor - they're driving home Friday - they're going to a zoo there. Well, they're at the zoo now.  I sent a little money so the boys could go on the train and other rides.  It's going to be their last hurrah, once they get home, there ain't gonna be much else.  Maybe go to a splash pad or something, but we're talking cheap stuff.  

The sickness and evil in the mind it takes to say something like: "You got what you asked for" or "You got what you voted for" and other reprehensible statements about blaming the right for the Texas Guadalupe River catastrophe? Unfathomable.  My first thought when seeing pics of little girls who were swept away and killed by an "act of God" - tho I hardly blame the Lord for this, it's just a saying that it's totally out of man's control - isn't to think of democrats and how they somehow caused this.  

It's along the same lines as when democrats were mocking the right for saying "Our thoughts and prayers are with you" when   a mass school shooting occurred.  You people - if you read this blog at all - are sick minded and need help. I said that and I'm not taking it back.  You take an utter tragedy and turn it into some pitch for the mid terms? Go jump in an icy cold lake.  This is one of the reasons your side is losing elections more often than not.  You think it's perfectly normal to just continue on with this nasty, evil, immoral and totally depraved speech.  

It's cold hearted, it's bereft of any compassion or understanding or sympathy of the people who are suffering the tragic loss of a loved one.  

Whatever.  

I think beyond laundry and more cleaning, I'm going to take it easy today. The week long activities caught up to me earlier and I just need to rest and get recharged.  

 Monday night/Tuesday early morning (1 am)

I drove straight through, no hotel stop.  Almost 1,000 miles took me around 15 hours.  I stopped twice to nap - I haven't slept well in a week.  The room had no AC and was warm most nights, the air mattress wasn't my thing and the fan made too much noise.  I like fan noise, but not that one.  The naps only lasted 10 minutes each. The first time I don't know what woke me up, but 10 minutes was good enough to have me driving for hours after that. 

The second one, I fell into a good sleep only to have some nutcase decide to park next to me-  I chose a spot away from people - slam their door when they got out. Like a demon attempting to stop me from sleeping, it was totally uncalled for and quite ridiculous.  But I said nothing to them, sat up and started driving again.  I was going to stop in Witchita Falls originally, but had changed it earlier in the day to Decatur TX.  I wanted more miles out of the day before stopping.  

But I got to Decatur and just kept driving - I hadn't reserved a room for I hadn't really convinced myself that going home was a bad idea.  I got to Ft Worth and got on a toll expressway and zoomed through all of Ft Worth and most of Dallas.  I hit I-20 and had something like 140 miles left and said the heck with it, I'm going all the way home.  

So, here I am.  My room smells like hell tho.  I dunno what that dog has been doing in here or if he was accidentally left in here for a day while the dude went to work or what, but I am going to have to do a massive clean job in here tomorrow.  Didn't expect that at all.  I kind of figure he was left in here for the toilet was completely emptied of water out of the bowl.  Like,  Obi never does that.  I'm going to put out some carpet stuff that you sprinkle in a minute, I'm going to bed here pretty soon. It's 1 am and I just had to sit down and debuzz my brain of road buzz.  

At least I do have tomorrow off.  I think. Well I don't really care, I asked through the 8th and tomorrow is the 8th.  

I'm really tired. Not just from driving back but just bad sleep.  I'm hoping to get that smell masked in here for tonight and get some decent sleep.  

That's it. I am not going into anything for I am going to bed!

 Saturday - morning

So yesterday was pretty messed up.  It had been planned long ago, before I was even a part of this vacation.  It was a huge event planned with an entire roasted pig on a spit, of which a pic was even sent to Taylor yesterday before we had arrived.  

We got our stuff together, loaded it into the pickup. This is a 2 day affair, we needed our luggage and things.  We went to the store and got stuff to take with us to the event, then to Wendy's for breakfast/lunch combo and then over to her relative's land where the man has a large 5th wheel travel trailer that we were going to be staying in.  

Arrived there, got all of our stuff out and got situated in the trailer and then we headed over to the event at some other relative's land (she has a LOT of relatives up here).  I'm sorry, I forgot about the part that we visited fully 2 separate houses before we got to the place with the trailer.  

Anyway, the event was starting at 4 and we were on time.  So, it's a 20-25 minute drive over to this other property. We're almost there and then, Taylor's phone rang.  She puts up the phone on the holder and answers it. It's the guy that owns the land where we're going, in fact almost there.  Well, I'm sorry to have to ask this, but can I politely ask you not to come?  Huh? 

Aunt so and so. This aunt was at the property where the trailer is, they live in a separate mobile home.  She had come over to the trailer when we were in there setting up, noticed the ring worms on the youngest' face and asked about it. It didn't seem like a big deal to her, didn't give it 2 thoughts of concern. 

However, she went over to the event before we did and made a big stink about it to the other parents with young children there and one of them started having a meltdown about ringworms and she didn't want her kid exposed to it, they can't come.  We're talking ring worms here. We're not talking tuberculosis, the flu, a coughing cold, whatever.  Yes, they can be transmitted but also yes, they're pretty easy to get rid of. His are almost gone but they are still visible.  

I've had ringworms, I think probably most people have.  What was she going to say? We're just going to come barge the party anyway? She stopped and tried to call the guy that was giving us a place to stay, but he didn't answer his phone.  She the called her dad - where we've been staying.  She was both upset and angry, the kids were sad, the oldest became angry and I just was a bit ticked.

I know how families treat each other. I've been watching it on several fronts my entire life.  Families tend to have factions and grudges and long-standing issues of unforgiveness.  They don't give a s*** in some cases how they treat each other.  I mean, my family has 2 brothers who didn't go to their own father's funeral, citing "stuff" from the past.  What a horrid upbringing! No, we didn't have a horrid upbringing. He was absent a lot but it wasn't terrible. 

We had to turn around, go back to the trailer, get our stuff, load it back into the truck and drive all the way back to the dad's house.  

We stopped, however, got some fireworks, kid style stuff - I was trying to bring their spirits back up, there is no sense letting some people get the better of everyone - and we got some steaks from Safeway.  the folks were having a cookout - just the two of them, we sort of messed their plans up but they didn't seem to mind, they're pretty chill people.  

The fireworks changed the entire mood of the kids, mom was not happy the rest of the day, I don't really blame her.  Once nightfall came, I got all of that stuff out and started lighting it up for the kids to hold and run around with. But the, just around the corner, some people started lighting off an amazing fireworks show of their own. Down the other way, another family and yet another another direction, all within maybe 300 feet.  The entire city lit up with illegal fireworks.  

State and city law forbids it, people didn't care.  It went on for hours and hours. Those people would have had to leave the state to go get all of that and they must have dropped quite the bills to get enough to go on that long.  These were amazing fireworks shows, their own versions of it.  We didn't have to leave the house.  The boys were going on for about an hour before I ran out of things to give them to run around with.  They were in a totally different mood by the time it was over, then ran to their games and forgot all about the nonsense earlier in the day.

As for me, well, I am a very light sleeper and the fireworks went on until 1 am.  So my sleep wasn't particularly good but I'm in a good mood regardless. Excepting the youngest. He's been on a roll for a couple of days now - a not so good roll with attitude and ignoring requests and directives - and I put a stop to it this morning.  NO MORE.  He ignored me, I got up off the couch and got right in his face. I am not going to listen to another day of you going off, getting mad, ignoring adults telling you not to do stuff you know you shouldn't be doing anyway.  He sat there and looked at me and then started rolling around and that's when I told him if he didn't start listening, I was going to go get my belt and yes, I was dead serious about it. 

And that was the end of it. I told them to go to the local park, get all the energy out they want and that's where they're at. 

We haven't made any plans for today, the plan was to stay over at the trailer and then spend the day at a race track watching one of their kin folk racing whatever.  So I dunno and really not in that mind frame yet. I'm only on this laptop right now because a tenant texted me telling me "we only have $427 left in that account" and to please run their card for the rent.  Some people amaze me.  They can't, apparently, manage their finances so they just keep spending on their bank card and then I guess they get over drafts.  I dunno. The man quit working a while back, I'm assuming he must have gone on Social Security and she does waitressing somewhere.

I ran the card quickly. I want my money.  

I haven't heard anything from the contractor, but then again, I told him I'm going on vacation for 8 days.  He'll put me off I am assuming and I'll have to start bugging them again after I get back.  No matter, I need to clean out the weeds over there where I want the thing installed.  It's a constant battle with the weeds. I wouldn't even bother with them if it weren't for the fact the septic system is sitting there and if something goes wrong, they need to be able to have access.  

I'm not concerned about that now.  I'll just make sure to get at them before any given Wednesday, which is when he says they make their orders for the next week for the tanks to install in the ground.  I want to get the 18 year old out there on the skid steer I will rent and get that whole thing cleared out.  I have a much better plan now which means I am going to have to move that pile of dirt that I was going to deal with "later" somewhere else. I think I know where i can move it to and have it out of the way of everything, but it's going to take a lot of time to move it.  The new driveway will go straight through where it is and I am going to set the park up so it's just one straight line all the way down from the U turn at the southernmost part.  There will be 28 lots along there instead of the 14 that now exist.  Maybe more, actually.  I can put 16 on the existing system.  That would get me to 32 lots instead of 28.   

I'm doing the math here.  Basically double the payments on everything and calculating what my monthly gross income will be if all lots are full, I've got $7,730 left with 28 lots filled up.  I did 28 to keep it honest, I don't know if I'll end up with 32 but I'm surely going to try.  With the new layout I'm planning on using, I will definitely be able to put in 16 lots with room to spare. I've been contemplating going down to 35 feet wide per lot instead of 40. People don't use their lots at all for the most part.  

That $7,730 does not include a part time employee, which I'm going to need.  That's going to cost around 2 grand a month.  That leaves me with $5,730 before taxes.  We're getting close to the part where I say, gee, why am I still driving trucks? Tell me that part again?  Oh, because I have to.  I won't stop driving with the 28 lots, I will only do that after I get more lots going and right now? I haven't decided on paying that money to that contractor and getting into a huge loan. 

Why not just farm it all out?  I can find someone to come in with a dozer for the back portion and spend as many days as they need.  It just needs leveled out and get all the brush out of there.  Then form the lots, have the main driveway graded from front to rear and get it ready to have a lot of extra gravel dumped on it as well as the new driveway and lots.  That's where the money will need to come in.  They figured 88 truckloads of gravel and I can see that.  We're talking a driveway that is 1,400 feet long plus adding another new driveway around 500 feet long plus 25 lots.  

I would need a loan to do that anyway, I just wouldn't need near as big of one.  We're talking 75k worth of gravel.  I dunno what I will do about that, I might just get the loan and pay the one company to do all of it and shrug it off.  Oh well, I owe money, the monthly payments will be easily afforded with all of those extra lots and still be taking in quite a bit of money off of it.  I can't imagine what my property taxes will look like tho.  

Insurance too for that matter.  Oops, forgot to add extra insurance into that first math.  14 more lots will cost more money.  So take another $150 off that monthly income, not a big deal.  

Anyway, I'm getting off of that thought process. I will very likely be leaving tomorrow and get home on Monday.  It'll give me an entire day after that to recover, rest really.  I haven't been sleeping well here at all.  I'm not complaining, free stay, but it gets warm in the room and it takes a while for it to cool down at night - no ac here.  It's nice in the mornings.  Plus last night I was up until 1 am and fitful sleep after that. I'm kind of ready to go home and get back into my own bed. 

G'day

 Thursday - late morning

Haven't posted because we have been extremely doing vacation stuff and getting ourselves burned out and going to bed rather early.  I got here on Monday early afternoon.  I had eaten some Mexcian food the night before and it wasn't agreeing with my system, so I kind of had to stay at the hotel until that passed.  I though, gee, driving down the road and having to find a bathroom out in the middle of Nothing, Nowhere? I would end up doing that business on the side of the road. I drove through a lot of territory with literally nothing but farmland, a few herds of cows and horses and much of nothing else. 

Whatever the case, we went to a water park on Tuesday, total blast. Not the biggest park on the planet but it was loads of fun.  It wasn't hot out, wasn't cold, just right for spending an entire day in water slides, pools and just enjoying the outing.  Yesterday we went bowling, arcade and eating out. Today we're going to some sort of Japanese mall, supposedly a lot of cool stuff.  I'm mostly browsing, I really don't need a lot more "stuff", tho something may catch my eye.

I'm staying at Taylor's dad's house, we all are.  On an inflatable queen sized bed, it's kind of uncomfortable so I am not sleeping all that great.  It's saving me $150 or so per night in hotel costs, I'll just eat it.  We're leaving here tomorrow for one of her other relatives up here somewhere, staying in a super night 5th wheel trailer.  But, as nice as it may be, I'm apparently staying in a bunk bed so I'll have to feel that one out, ie: I'll make a decision when we get there. I don't mind spending a night in a hotel.  

Just got a call from someone asking for a space for a month. There is nothing going on on lot 1, tho I am getting fairly frequent last minute requests for overnight stuff.  Glad I brought my laptop, checked and nothing reserved.  What with yet more money coming in, I will be able to finish out all of those next 14 lots relatively quickly.  The biggest expense I can see is the creation of yet another new driveway.  That will cost a lot in gravel unfortunately.  That's the 7 lots that will be created after the first 7, so I'm just kind of attempting to decide what to do with it.  I can't put 14 lots along the existing driveway, at least not without cutting down all the trees, something I really don't want to do.  Especially the pine trees. 

I'm not really dwelling on business stuff tho, I'm on vacation and leaving all of that behind me.  Definitely not thinking about trucking, excepting the desire to finish all of this and get out of that "profession".  There was a truck driver that fell asleep at the wheel down the road from us near Dallas that smashed into a pickup full of people, killed 4 out of 5 of them instantly and then a 5th died later (I think it was that, or it was 4 people in the pickup and 3 died instantly and one airlifted to the hospital who later died), I read that fully 6 people have now passed away and that truck driver? In jail for manslaughter and other charges.  They rejected bond.  

I saw a lot of stupidity in driving coming up here.  I'll see more going back. You really have to keep on edge and attentive, people take unpredictable and extremely risky actions while driving.  

Hmm, now that my mind is on the park....I could actually just extend the driveway all the way to the street, eliminate the curve back to where it currently exists and then create lots where that current portion of driveway is. That may be the best method, but that's going to cost a lot right up front what with having to instantly have to create that driveway and have it graveled and ready to go.  Still, it's probably the best use of the land.  I know where I would bring that driveway out as well, up near the front of the main driveway.  It would be an additional 400 or so feet, that's a lot of gravel.  

Hmm, going to have to look at satellite view of it now that I have sparked my curiosity, it's something I hadn't even thought of yet it make such perfect sense.  Just a lot of money up front.  I guess that's why I hadn't thought of it.  I need to do a calculation of how many truckloads up front.....

Ok, it'd be about 14k worth of gravel up front to create 14 new lots and a new driveway. Sounds expensive and it is, but there isn't a lot of choice around here. You can get it cheaper, but it's further away so you pay more for the trucking and in the end, saving nothing or even losing more.  I may be able to use a cheaper gravel tho. I think iron ore is cheaper than the SB2 gravel. It works pretty well, I have seen on the existing driveway.  

Well, I wasn't going to off into that, but what also just crossed my mind is there is an entire truckload at least sitting on what will be come the unused portion of driveway that I can reallocate.  I think I have a much more tenable plan now, or beginning of one, I can start formulating that when I have free time here. We do have a little, lol. Nights usually.  But I think tomorrow night is going to be busy, tonight however? Probably nothing going on.

I am enjoying this vacation.  it is nice not to go to work every morning and nice to have a break from that entire area. Just get out of there and just relax somewhere else.  

Well, we are fixing to leave for this mall thing or wherever we're going.  Shopping, that's what I know.  

G'day

 Monday morning

I drove 753 miles yesterday and ended up in a place called Lamar Colorado. It was a pretty interesting hotel that I stayed at. It’s an old-fashioned one that they had completely remodeled. And when I say completely remodeled, I mean something like what you would find in a Marriott or a Hilton we’re not talking Cheap accoutrements.

I’m using the microphone to put this entry in because I completely forgot about it this morning when I woke up. It’s gotten a lot better, it used to be filled with errors and it’s not quite so much now.

Anyway, the kids are not expecting me to be coming up there at all. I’m about two hours out and as far as they know, I’m at home in Texas. So this should be quite a surprise, especially for the older one that really likes me the younger one sorta does but he has mommy is his favorite.

There is one thing that this trip has reminded me of, and that is the fact that I do not like over the road truck driving. Driving seven 800 miles in a day is quite a lot and quite draining. I did not expect to drive completely through and I did not want to drive completely through yesterday, I had reserved the room in Lamar probably if you were 300 miles out once I figured out how far I wanted to drive where I wanted to stop.

Anyway, according to Taylor, there is quite a lot to do up there for they have already done quite a bit and I didn’t know if there was anything left for them to do after I arrived there. She just laughed at me and said there’s a lot so it sounds like we’re gonna have fun and I’m not sure how long I’m gonna stay up here but probably at least five days. I know for sure we’re going to a waterpark and an amusement park as well but after that I have no idea.

Meanwhile, back at the park, the kid – he’s an 18-year-old – was using the tracker yesterday to help me get this project going and he said he’d rather if I went out and rented a skid steer. No, I don’t mind doing that for a 24 hour period but I told him that yes that would probably work better but you would have to have at least eight hours to use it in a 24 hour period. 

What’s motivating him is that I just told him I would pay him cash. I need to get this project moving along so when I get back apparently he’s down for doing eight hours worth of work on the thing if I’ll rent a thing for him. I figure 8 hours on a skid steer should easily knock that all out and get it prepared. He can operate the machinery and I will be directing him what I want done well when it needs to be done and marking out the lots after he gets it nice and smooth out if that’s even possible with a skid steer. 

But I’d really like to get a hold of a bulldozer, but I’ve kind of given up on that. You can rent an operator with a bulldozer that cost about $1500 a day. No make that $1700 a day. At least. Regardless, I don’t even remember what I wrote to my last blog entry so I’m just going to say again that the permissions for installing the new septic system have been granted as far as contractor has told me anyway and he’s ordering The tanks next week to come in the week after. I told him I wasn’t going to be there for eight days anyway, and I really don’t want him installing that stuff until I’m there. We haven’t even decided where to put the thing and I want to have the final sale on that.

This area I am driving through with some of the most baron land that I have seen in a long, long time. It’s all grassland and basically nothing else. There’s a few trees here and there, but you don’t see any houses are very few of them once in a while. Some of it is farmland I think, but where are the silo and the houses and the barn and things? I’m looking as far as the I can see and I see nothing but land some trees and nothing else. This is somewhat like the deserts in Arizona and West Texas where you just drive for miles and see nothing.

Well, I think I’ll call this one quits. I want to look at the news and see what Trump is up to now. The last I saw they were trying to get the big beautiful bill through the Senate. One thing is correct that bill is huge. I don’t know why we need to be spending trillions of dollars of money that we don’t have? But I don’t wanna get into that right now. I’m just gonna take a look at it and see what’s going on and perhaps try to get some clarity on what is in this bill. Apparently Schumer forced the court recorders to read the entire bill, attempting to light delay. Any progress through getting it passed.

Another day in the life of American politics. Sorry for the grammatical errors and things in this post, but I don’t have time to go through all that and fix everything.

Good day.

 Friday - evening

Well, getting closer to departure day.  I am still sort of teetering on the idea of just flying over there. It would cost more but it would get the traveling over with quickly.  I'm not afraid of driving that far, I could drive to Amarillo the first day, stay at a hotel and finish it the next.  I have more time off than I initially realizing. They tried to dump a load on me that delivers on the 1st.

I asked for the 1st = 8th off.  This morning, after telling my manager I'm not happy that another driver was there when I arrived - I was first load, what the Hercules is this dude doing here? - I also informed him I cannot deliver on the 1st.  So,  they could have given me Sunday and Monday work, but they didn't.  I mean, yes I need the money, but having 10 days off instead of 8 is fine by me as well. I need a break. Last time I was off, I was sick, hardly enjoyable time off. Staycations are ok, but going somewhere is going to be nice for once.  

I wish I had a traveling companion to pass the time, I'll just be doing what I do in the truck: listening to the news and listening to YouTube videos. More distinctly, Mr Ballen who tells stories, mostly of people dying in strange ways, Mentour Pilot, another dude I just found that tells these strange stories, a lot of conspiracy theories - it's entertaining, lol, that's what I need while driving - and other channels.  

Good news finally came today: the septic contractor got the okay from the county to install the system.  He said, and I quote: "Yes sir, I'm glad she didn't make us do all the other bullshit".  What BS? A new person working in that department demanding businesses give written plans of their intentions both current and future.   And construction plans, apparently.  Yup, I would have taken a sheet of paper, drawn a crude outline of the park and just marked where the septic system is going and where the lots will be. I'm not paying thousands of dollars for something like that, this isn't some high rise commercial building.  

He further stated they turn in their tank orders on Wednesdays so probably the week after next - I said no problem, I'm going out of town for 8 days.  I'm gonna need to spend some quality time on that tractor trying to get the entire area as smoothed out as possible with that box blade.  I kind of hated telling the dude I'm leaving town for 8 days, will that mean they will drop the ball again?  I have no idea.  I just realized I'm going to have to run an underground wire from the meter assembly over to where I want the septic system.  That's probably about 150 feet of wire, gag.  I have work to do but it's going to have to wait. 

Tomorrow is the last day of work, when I get back I'm cleaning out my pickup and getting it ready to leave.  Sunday, I intend on leaving mid to late morning.  Or not.  I might wait until Monday to go, not sure really.  I could go to church and then leave after that, around noonish.  I'll figure that out tomorrow afternoon or I will just play it by ear and leave when I feel like it. It IS a vacation after all and I will be driving with no rush on arrival time. Apparently there are family members that want to meet me.  I have been with the family going on 11 years now. 

I'm still on this alkaline diet.  It's been kind of rough for the small amounts of meat and no red meat at all - no pork and no beef.  I mean, that part isn't that hard, it's just the idea they really don't want you to eat much meat at all, get  your protein from alternate sources.  Salmon, tuna. They don't even want you eating chicken, but I have shunned that idea, I'm going to eat at least a little here and there. And on vacation? I will probably have some cheat meals for sure.  

Let's touch on politics for a minute.  The biggest news is the Supreme Court basically rebuking lower court judges who were enacting nationwide injunctions on the Trump administration's various actions they were taking against illegals and other issues that need direct attention.  I will keep saying it because it's true: the left have literally lost their minds.  Some of them are facing reality, many of them are still sticking their heads in the sand as to why they are losing. 

They just voted in a Communist mayor in New York City, a person that hates Trump, hates Jews and is anti-police. He wants to substantially raise taxes on corporations and rich people and engage in absurd ideas such as city owned supermarkets.  What on earth, where do they dig these people up and more importantly, how can voters install such outrageous people with such outlandish ideology?  How do you, in your right mind, vote for a communist to run your city?  New York is going to be a bad place to go to with this defund the police notion.  I have no plans of ever going back to New York City anyway, but I will watch with interest what this dude will get passed in terms of laws/ordinances and how it affects the city.  

You can expect more rich people to flee that place.  And then there was the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities and the propaganda news sites saying that "they didn't sustain that much damage" based on a leak from the government.  These people are literally stupid.  Hegseth was having a meltdown over it on a press gaggle.  I have to say that I have a fairly positive view of Hegseth now that I have seen him in action.  

I don't want to touch on any more politics right now, the stuff the left condones and prioritize is absurd at best.  

I just thought about it, I think that kid at the park would do some of that tractor work I need done if I just gave him an entire month's rent off plus some cash.  I just texted him - he's extremely busy but he's young and full of energy and likes to do extra stuff for cash.  I was hoping James could do some of it but I don't think he's really all that interested in it. He's talking about switching his career to driving trucks.  He fully understands the rigors of driving trucks, I certainly haven't tried to sugar coat it.  

He's going through some stuff that I need not get into here but I can say that not having money to do the things you want to do can start to drag you down. I went through that until I started with the cryo company hauling Ethylene and starting making substantially more money than I had ever made anywhere else in my entire life.  I was loving those paychecks but over time, I was hating being out on the road all the time.

I guess that's what concerns me with him having 2 young kids.  But, people have to find their own way and I have no judgment about it.  

Just checked my next power bill - $1,500ish.  I mean, not bad for going into July.  

I'm sorry, I just realized this communist didn't win the mayoral election, he won the democrat primary.  New York is far more democrat than republican, just wondering how that is going to play out.  I'm watching some info, he's also for rent control (never works, has the opposite effect than what they think will happen) and he has literally stated he is anti-capitalism. Well duhh, lmao, he's a communist.  

I know I tend to just jump around on this blog, but new info: the kid is going to do whatever he can with the limited free time he has.  If he does a good job - which I am sure he will, he has a very good work ethic - I will make sure he doesn't regret spending the time on the tractor.  

And I am lightly considering having this couple doing the grunt work. I haven't asked them to, haven't even hinted at it. In fact, I espoused a completely opposite statement about it, but I have watched their work.  They completely removed the tree that fell over the rear of the doggy park and did an excellent job of repairing the fence.

The problem I am leery of is that people start out well and then they just digress.  They become complacent and think they can get away with doing next to nothing, as if my eyes aren't functioning and I don't understand that they are doing almost nothing to nothing at all. I confront them on it and all hell breaks loose.  Whatever, you don't want to work? Start paying rent, thanks.  Been down that road far too many times.

Well, a load of laundry in the dryer now with my new clothes.  I'll do another load of wash tomorrow for the trip and then...try to decide when to leave lol.  The bug will hit me at some point: LEAVE NOW!

G'day

 Wednesday - evening

Oops, been a minute since I've posted, Saturday was a long time ago lol.  Ah yes, I was headed off to the Park last post.  Indeed, I cut up the tree in the driveway and hauled it off.  Got out on the expansion section and did several hours of work there and then ended it with dragging a portion of the driveway with the box blade.

Anyway, I just got the rest of the week's schedule. Right now, I just got loaded today and delivering it tomorrow.  I had no idea until a little while ago what the rest of the schedule is, as you may or may not know, I am going on vacation starting Monday.  However, today I found out my schedule is working the next 3 days and Sunday off. I can't work 1  day at this job unless it's a full turn and I ain't doing a full turn on a Sunday.

I'll leave on Sunday instead of Monday and give myself some extra time to get over there.  Meaning, drive 10 hours and then stop at a decent hotel somewhere.  I won't be in a rush and I'm a fan of at least decent hotels.  Marriott Residence Inn comes to mind.  

Yesterday I got the oil changed in the pickup, got a hair cut and some other stuff done.  I still need to clean out the truck and I need to dig my laptop out of the Ford - I rarely drive that anymore.  It's just sitting for the most part lol. I might get rid of it.  I checked Kelley on that thing, it's worth between 10k and 14k.  I don't really need it and if I were able to sell it, that would help my expansion project right along. It needs brakes and the rear ac fan fixed tho. That's probably a grand.  

I bought some new clothes - I am losing weight on this diet, slowly but surely. I only know this because yesterday I also had to get my med card renewed for my CDL.  I am down about 8 pounds, actually.  I'm going to try and mostly stay on the diet on this vacation with a cheat here and there.  My biggest thing has been to stay away from red meat and really, not eating much meat on any given day at all.  I just ate the first meal of the day, a little chicken (I do mean a little) and the rest was veggies and some corn on the cob.  

Oh, well the clothes showed up today.  They are just the size I'm wearing now, if I do indeed ever get back to 34 waist, I don't think it's going to be any time soon.  I've got a lot of work pants, not a lot of casual attire.  Jeans are my thing so 3 pairs of those and 3 new shirts and a new pair of shoes, all ordered online.  Just need to open all these boxes and make sure it is all what I ordered and the right size.  

I have heard nothing back from the contractor about the septic since his last text that now another person is on vacation - but they should have been back on Monday.  I'll call them Friday. No rush now, I'll be on vacation for 8 days and I am not fooling with it.  I assume the design engineer will need to meet out there to figure out where to put the thing, at this point I don't really care, my mind is on vacation, not septic systems. All the rest of THOSE people went on vacation, I'll put them on hold for once. It still think it's quite ridiculous the amount of time this thing has taken, like they really don't care if they get the business or not....

I completely forgot Saturday to find out what size cable the wire needs to be for the meter setup.  I was hot and sweaty by the time I got off of the tractor.  I wanted out of there.  I'm not doing that this week either.  I do need to get on the new riding mower and get the large portions mowed down.  

My freedom is fixing to be eliminated.  The father and the oldest boy who lives in Arkansas are on their way home and after looking at Life 360 right now? They are less than an hour out.  

With that, I'm closing this. Will try to update before I leave.  

 Saturday - 8 am

Sleeping in late today isn't an option.  Unfortunately.  I can do that tomorrow, church doesn't start until 11.

Yes, I have today off but it isn't really off per se.  This is why I need more 2 day off stints in a row than what I am getting and that is apparently going to happen, at least temporarily.  I didn't ask for it, no.  It's just that all 4 drivers are up and running now.  This last several weeks of grinding away working every day or skipping one day - last Sunday - but having to do Sunday's work on Monday and Monday's as well has worn thin on me.

The fact that I am taking 8 days off in a week and a half is of little consequence at this particular moment.  And vacations are usually more tiring than every day life.  I am looking forward to it, yes, I'm just tired and want a break.  That ain't happening today as I was informed a tree fell over the driveway last night, the driveway itself needs dragged with the tractor yet again and there is grass to be mowed not to mention the mound of dirt. 

I doubt I will do all of that today, but I"ll get as much done as I can before the heat melts me into a puddle of dried up bones and I drag myself home.

I would really love to just have the park to deal with an nothing else.  

The day isn't getting any younger and I am leaving here in about half an hour, I just want a few moments to drink some coffee, reflect a bit and set my mind to the tasks at hand.  

As you know, the family is on vacation and the dude won't be back until next week with his oldest kid - that's a product of another relationship before this current one.  That's a long story not worth going into right now.  I can say that it is nice to not have the sounds of screaming kids - well one in particular does most of the screaming - and not having to hear the constant dealing of parents talking with children attempting to instill some wisdom into their tiny brains.  I have been taking care of 3 cats, a dog and the fish. 

The cats are a chore in and of themselves, I am finding out.  I have never really dealt with them, they aren't my animals and they really don't spend much time with me, they are mostly Taylor's other children in a sense and they take care of them.  Water, food, clean out kitty litter, one goes outside, comes in at night, etc.

As for anything else? Well, I will work for 5 or 6 hours today and then I will treat myself to eating out.  I have been doing very well on this berry and vegetable diet.  Nuts, salmon, cutting back on tuna since I am reading that they have levels of mercury that can be dangerous if you're eating a lot of it.  Canned salmon it is!  Alright, oven cooked some frozen filets last night and they were very delicious.  The only red meat I have eating in the last 3 weeks was on father's day and that was a hamburger. 

I will very likely eat a small steak with potatoes today and I won't regret it at all.  I think if I could incorporate this diet semi-permanently, my internal health will be much better, especially cholesterol levels.

Speaking of that, I need to get over to the Health Expresscare place and get my DOT thing done.  I really should do that today, it's just  going to have to wait until Monday.  That is the absolute latest I want to wait for that.  Mostly, I just want to get as much of the 2 years out of that as I can.  You go in a month early, you just lost a month on that card by updating it early.  I have to pay that out of pocket..

And this ridiculous notion that now another person is on vacation trying to get approval for this septic permit. I am very dissatisfied with this septic company.  They did great the first time around, this time they are slacking and making ridiculous excuses. "I don't know what happened!". 

BS. You dropped the ball, you put my file in a cabinet somewhere and forgot about it.  I'd rather they admit the truth about it than making up stupid, unbelievable stories.  Meanwhile, the owner is on the local gossip group posting photos of their "current work" they did this week installing 3 systems.  Nonsense.  Take care of my situation and I'll get back to you on reviews.  Right now, I'm just not reviewing this experience, I'll let it go for a myriad of reasons.  Mostly, because if I put up a negative review, that may end up hurting me with the installation.  If they decided they didn't want to do it because of it, I wouldn't care, there are other players in town and in the region.

I don't know what else. Need to order some jeans, that's what else. I can't find my size at any Walmart.  They rarely carry my waist size and apparently they are snatched up when they do. I order them on line.  I am trying to lose weight/fat, yes, but that is apparently going to be a slow process, in the mean time I'd like some new digs to wear for this trip.  Maybe 3 new pairs of plain Jane jeans, we aren't talking anything fancy here, I am not that kind of person at all.  I like my jeans and t shirts.  I can afford more expensive clothing, I just choose not to.

In fact, I really don't live a fancy life at all.  I don't really care anything about that. Probably because I was brought up in poverty.  Old house with no AC at all - I didn't even know what AC was until we moved to Arizona.  Just plain food served but it was good.  Nothing fancy, one TV in the house, all the things you might remember as a child if you have been around for a while.  Playing outside was our thing and we loved it, contrary to what's going on with kids now.

Parents let their kids play unendingly on video games. The ones I encounter are spending their entire summers just playing video games.  There is a saying that has been created by gamers that is called "Touch Grass".  It is used when a person shows their stats on a game, in this case Fortnite. It shows their wins, hours played etc.  Other come on and say you need to touch grass, meaning get your @$$ out of the house and do something else, like touching grass, lmao.  Every new season on Fortnite, you start at zero again in your games won, hours spent etc.  You see people with ridiculous amounts of hours and then they look at mine and I'm like, yeah, I have a job, a business and a life outside of gaming. 

I like to play but my whole life doesn't revolve around it. It can't. I have goals and I want those goals realized.  That doesn't happen sitting at a desk behind a computer monitor. I'm not even in the game right now at all, it's completely shut down but Epic - the owner of Fortnite, is sending me notifications that I am invited to so and so's party, in this case "Strong Guppy". They come up with really weird names lol.  

The thing is, a lot of these people have aspirations of becoming champs and winning money at the game.  That is possible but highly unlikely. You have to be really good.  You watch the pro's and they are worlds ahead of me on that game - but I don't play the game to win money, I just like playing the game.  It's fun and there is a social aspect to it as well if the other players have mics.  If they don't, it's still fun albeit reduced level of experience.  

Anyway, I'm not even playing that this morning.  I'll get wrapped up in it and I need to get to work.  My coffee is done, just need to make some ice water, heat up some coffee for the thermos, have a piece of bread - toasted with fake butter and get out of here.  Oh, and put that new chainsaw together I received weeks ago and still have yet to use, lol!

G'day 

 Thursday - evening

Well, the schedule is "allegedly" in. Finishing up this route tomorrow - Gurdon - then off the entire weekend.  I say allegedly for we all know whoever reads this blog that my company changes things, doesn't inform me and then acts surprised when I know nothing about those changes and have made other plans...

Today, however, I confirmed this with them.  I have the weekend off, or so the schedule says, are we  on the same page with this?  Half an hour later, why yes, it appears you do, don't get into too much trouble! Lol, I have -plenty to do and none of it entails getting myself into any kind of legal perplexities.  

I intend on getting out to the park by 8, 9 at the latest and attempting to finish off that mound of dirt. The driveway is all messed up yet again for the recent rains. We're talking many hours of work and in case you didn't know, it's hot as blazes around here right now.  I should say, it's very warm with extremely high humidity, thick, nasty air that makes it feel like you are sitting in a heavy duty sauna and staying in that sauna entirely too long. 

The contractor texted me today.  The inspector is on vacation.  I mean, I just glared at the phone.  They could have had this done long ago.  Instead, they sat on it for unknown reasons and the only way I got them moving is sending the owner a text followed by an ad in the local gossip group for a "reputable septic installer".  I didn't mention this company at all, I just asked for suggestions.  Probably 90% were for that company, a few were saying some other company is better.

Anyway, I need to get that dirt mound moved so I can measure out new lots, stake them out and then figure out where my trench is going to be and also stake that.  I also need to find out the size cable for the power company pedestal to my meter stand.  I am going to rent a mini ex sometime in the future and do that trenching and also dig a trench along the main driveway and also install a large drainage pipe and attempt to channel rain water under the driveway instead of all over it. 

After that, I will order a couple truckloads of fresh gravel to cover that area.  

There's a lot to do, as you can probably tell.  

James isn't returning until next week. I had thought he was coming back on Friday, but that isn't the case at all, he's coming back Tuesday or Wednesday I am informed.  

I'm still on this alkaline diet, mostly following it to the letter.  Which means I do eat chicken here and there, which is an apparent no no, but I haven't been eating red meat in many weeks now.  The diet I'm eating is consisting of berries, fruits, vegetable, nuts and fish.  A few slices of bread per day as well.  I haven't really noticed any visible fat shrinkage but I can only imagine that my cholesterol count will go down if I stay on it for many months.  Almost no dairy content at all.  Even my coffee creamer is fat free. 

Do I feel any better? No particularly.  But I have been concerned about the "extremely high cholesterol" count, as they identified it, and this is a really good way, I think, to bring that down quite a bit.  I have heard from people who don't believe high cholesterol is anything of importance but there is substantial information that suggests otherwise.  Why take a chance?  Let's get it down.  As you can imagine, there isn't much fat in this diet and that's what the instructions were to reduce cholesterol without their pills that made me feel like hell on feet.  

What I really need back is my sleep. That 13 hour work day the other day had me sleep through the night, first time in quite a very long time.  

Just looking forward to having a couple of days off in a row.  Getting one off here and there doesn't work.  They had yet another truck break down and it - is still down 9 days later.  They finally put that driver in an "older truck" I was informed, to which I replied that ALL of their equipment is old!

Anyway, I'm going to kick back, enjoy a movie and then go to bed.

 Tuesday - afternoon

I was doing my thing this morning getting ready to go to work. I actually slept through the night without waking up but woke up very groggy., The effects of a 13 hour work day.  I don't do much of those anymore.  I'm half asleep putting the dog bowl back outside full of food for Obi when something in my peripheral said look up.  I wasn't paying attention to anything, just not there yet.

I looked up and there was this giant tree that had fallen - whenever who knows - and was laying all over the back yard.  I'm guessing around a 70-80 foot tall tree.  Nothing severely damaged excepting the fence. It demolished the portion of the fencing it fell on.  Minor damage to one shed - but damage never-the-less.  

There are many more of these trees that are MUCH larger than this thing surrounding our house and I fear if one of those comes down.  Those giant oaks could easily destroy a house and anyone in it's path.  I love trees, I don't love these. They are old and they are falling apart.  

Anyway, I went to the washout today and found one of our drivers ahead of me.  Annoyed, I got out to find out what's going on. I was there at 7:45 am, not like I was any semblance of being late.  Long story short, this dude was slated to be AT the LOADING plant at 8 am, not at the washout.  They wanted to do 3 loads tomorrow. His trailer was so bad, they had to call the manager in to get inside of the trailer and chip out all of the dried up glue in there.  I was glad, for the third employee showed up just then and said he'd wash me out under the canopy.  I left  and apparently that dude was stuck there for many hours.  

___________________________

When the septic comes through and they are going to schedule a start date to put it in - took 2 days on the last one - I will then proceed with the other stuff I need to get done.  Monday I was supposed to have off, I was going to go to the electrical supply house after figuring out what size electrical cable and get that ready.  

Really, tho, I need to find the time to get on that tractor and get busy getting some lots ready.  I have them marked out in my mind, I need to clear it all and then actually physically mark them out.  

I'm kind of in a holding pattern right now with that until I get the septic in, can't really do anything without it.  

Anyway, it's getting later in the evening and I have stuff to get done. Going to Gurdon tomorrow, I'm kind of hoping for a day off afterwards, they haven't filled my tablet with anything yet. 

 Monday - evening

An extremely long day.  Instead of having the day off as was anticipated, I ended up doing a full turn.  I think I said something about this last night.  

I mean, 4:30 am, up, out of the house with my diet food - took a small cooler today to keep my stuff chilled - down to the washout, over to the plant, loaded, up to the fueling station, then the long drive up to Gurdon.  

I tried to take a nap in Gurdon but I really didn't have the time for it.  The product was flying out of the tanker and it was only 50 minutes before it was empty. But just getting to Gurdon....gag.  Drive drive drive, reminded me of the days of the last job I had where I was out on the road all the time and running out the 14 hours clock....allll....the...tiiiiiime. 

I don't miss those days and don't really care about the smaller paychecks now.  They are still good enough for the hours spent.  

Driving back from Gurdon, however, was brutal.  I only got like 6 hours of sleep last night. It figures that one of the very few nights where it takes me a long time to get to sleep occurred last night.  I laid there for an hour starting at 9:00 pm before I just got up, took a pain killer - I don't know why but they help me sleep and no, we're not talking narcotics here, we're talking 500 mg of acetaminophen, and fell sleep maybe 20 minutes later.  So not even 6 hours of sleep last night.

I can tell ya that when I got home? I fed the animals and went and passed out on the bed for a while.  I feel better now, I had to force myself to get up, way too early to be going to bed.  I have to go right back down tomorrow and load again.  Excepting this time? Just go home after loading, not all the way up to Arkansas.

I have no idea what's up with the family, I haven't heard from them today and I really didn't feel like talking to anyone anyway.  I had texting sessions with several people and the manager called, I told him I wasn't interested in doing these full turns in one day very often.  I didn't complain, I just made it clear that this is an occasional thing at best.  If there is an emergency, I'll help them cover it.

This was not an emergency. This was lack of communication the company engages in regularly.  I was to load yesterday, I found out and then deliver today. In that respect, loading and delivering on the same day had the same net result, so no loss of service there.  

Anyway, I heard back from the septic guy's office today.  The man thought it wonderful to tell me that they were just now starting the process.  Paraphrasing, we're sending the permit over to the design engineer, after he gets done, then he'll send it back, then we'll send it to the state and if/when they approve it we can get started on it. Shouldn't take too much time". 

I think we're close to two months since  I went in there, gave them $650 for the permit and then waited, fruitlessly I might add, for them to do their job.  The owner got back to me and said "I didn't think you were in a big hurry" to get this done. Well what the fruity pancakes did i say? I said I wanted to get 2 or 3 lots going at  the beginning and then work up from there. Not, let's take months to even get this install going?  He didn't respond to that reply and I don't blame him, what is he going to say? Well an apology for one thing.

I mean, seriously, I'm going to spend almost 9 grand with them and they are putting me off because why?  I dunno, but after I placed that ad in the local gossip/business facebook page and he realized it was me, that got the ball rolling. Because honey, there was a couple of definitive leads for a different company in town whose people who replied said were better.  One of them said they had tried both companies and this other company was far better.  

I really haven't had a bad experience with this current contractor until now.  The only thing I want to do right now is get the meter energized.  I am not spending another penny on this thing otherwise until that septic system is in the ground and ready to connect sewer pipe to.  It's going to cost me thousands of dollars for the rest of the stuff and I don't want to be down on the count too long. I want some lots up and generating fresh revenue. 

No, the sky isn't falling and my world isn't falling apart, these are setbacks not major hurdles.  I just want to get that septic in the ground and paid for, over and done with quickly. Now.  

Well, an hour plus later, time for bed.  Long day, no free time, lol, bye bye!

 

 On Friday, in the tablet for the loads to take, there was one load in the "available" slot.  I accepted it, this was early morning, wanted to be sure I got that in before they got the day rolling and handing out assignments for the weekend.  It wasn't really a choice, you take those or you get a label attached to you and not a nice label at all.  It's whatever, it would have been 2 full weekends working in a row. Instead, I got Saturday working but Sunday off, which happened to align with Father's Day. Yes, I am a father.  

Normally, they put the loads in the "accepted" slot, meaning it's assigned.  I kind of wondered about it Friday, but since I accepted the available load, it didn't matter. When I looked in the tablet again yesterday, there was a load assigned for Tuesday, nothing for this weekend. 

I thought it odd because when I was at the delivery plant yesterday, one tank was almost empty and the other had enough room for a truckload and a half.  My company didn't contact me, I don't care. It's on them to deal with their end of the bargain, I certainly put up with enough s*** on my end.  

So, when the phone rang this morning directly before leaving for church and saw that it was my manager, I knew exactly what was going on before I even answered the phone. He was going to ask me if I'm loading today, I'm going to say no, he's going to say well you're scheduled, I'm going to say no I'm not, there's nothing in the tablet.  Then the conversation would go on from there and I would say that there was no communication about it, it's not in the tablet, tough, no, I will not go load today. 

NOT SORRY. 

I was direct about it, if you want me to work and you know about it, LET ME KNOW IN ADVANCE.  After he asked if I would load today and I said nope, I went on to the fact I'm on my way to church and I have other plans. I'm going to be a dad who sits at the house and does much of nothing after I leave church, I thought but certainly didn't say to him.  I figured I had been direct enough, I don't want him thinking I'm being spiteful or disrespectful, but please.  

I don't know who did what, I sent him a pic of the tablet and what's in it - the one load for Tuesday, nothing before then. He didn't want to see it, he said he believed me but I sent that photo anyway.  I have no problem saying no nowadays.  I used to think you should just stop whatever you're doing and help them out - and I will if it's an emergency and I think it warrants me abandoning whatever I'm doing - but this was no emergency and wasn't created by me. 

The alternative wasn't much better but I accepted it for the customer will get pissed if we don't deal with it and for now, I'm sticking with this job until I find something that fits me better.  I will have to go wash out, load AND deliver tomorrow.  I certainly hope I sleep well tonight, I'm going to need it.  

Whatever the alternative was going to be, I wasn't going to just drop my plans for today. 

 Sunday - morning

So, I am home alone.  Until Friday I do believe.  I'm doing anything different, lol. I was supposed to work today but they took that out of my tablet and dumped a load for me on Tuesday.  I'm curious, tho, if they made a mistake on my load? They put it into a section on the tablet that is for drivers to determine whether they want the load or not.  They do do that sometimes, but not very often.  I opted to take it for what else is there to do? Church, sure, but other than that, there is just working at the property or seeing if folks are free to hang out with.  

I don't feel like hanging out with anyone.  In fact, I want to do a nice cleaning of my room. I already scrubbed the kitchen, it was sort of a mess. I am going to church today, I don't really feel like it tho. I'd rather just sit here and think about things. 

And now we have the Iran-Israel war.  We all knew this was coming, basically inevitable. The Iranian government enacts their evil in the name of religion, enabling them to mercilessly kill innocent humans all over the region.  We all know they do this through proxies, just another name for the IRGC.  Netanyahu has been hinting at military action against Iran for some time now and declaring their right to self preservation regardless of what anyone thinks. 

I agree with them on that stance and also that they are allegedly only targeting military complexes in Iran, not civilian populations. No surprise that Iran is just bombing indiscriminately the entirety of Israel and likely gleefully killing civilians.  It's the government in Iran that's evil, the citizenry is more against their own government than for it, at least if you believe the news reporting going on for decades now.  

Trump is no perfect man, but he's many levels higher in his ability to deal with world leaders and see things as they really are than Harris or Biden.  I can't even imagine the world scene right now with a Harris presidency.  Does anyone really believe the Cackling Clown could handle what's going on right now?  Everything is a huge joke to her, I think that was half of the reason she didn't get elected. She takes nothing seriously.

Trump, however, is dead stone serious about Israel, Iran, Russian, China, Ukraine etc.  he has a vision with the tariffs,, whether they work fully to the goals set remains to be seen, but the world has certainly stood up and taken notice.  

What's the end game for Israel?  I don't know how this conflict ends. If the US is dragged into this via Iran hitting any US assetts, it is likely game over for them if you believe Trump and his words spoken at the military parade about this situation.  

On to more mundane things.  A couple that has been living in the park maybe 6 months now asked for a deal to cut the grass and other tidying up things in exchange for rent.  She is allegedly looking for a job. I do have a heart so I agreed to it, spelling out the terms of the deal and that this is a one time thing only, it won't be extended for another month.  I made that crystal clear.  I also tripled the amount of work they initially asked to do.  For lot rent, they are doing more than a few hours of work, thanks.  

They aren't going to get any leniency either.  I want i done the way I want it done.  

I called the septic company again.  The man that is in charge of getting things done said he has no idea what is holding this up.  What? You basically run the office aspect of this company for the owner.  I just stopped short, became rather curt with him and said give me a call when you find out and hung up on him.  I then texted the owner, told him I'm moving on and then put a request in the local business/gossip facebook page asking for a reputable septic company.  A bunch of people tagged this owner and his company who came on there and said give us a call at X number!  

I didn't respond to anything but the people who said another local company was much better.  

A few hours later, the owner texted me and apologized. He said he didn't know it was my post until just now that he had responded to and informed me that RV parks are harder to get permitted now. Some new person is working at the county demanding plans and wanting more paperwork than is necessary. I'd say it's an implant from a democrat run city.....they like to make things harder than necessary and also more costly.  People get into power trips and think they know the best way to do things....He promised he'd find out what's up and that was that. It was Friday afternoon, I don't expect to hear anything until Monday at least.  I want to know if I need to do whatever to get this thing rolling, it's getting ridiculous. We're talking a septic system here, not a Space X rocket.  

The power company has already green lighted everything.  I'll be out there tomorrow to find out the size wire I need to run from the power company pedestal to my setup and get busy with that program.  I can get the power turned on to it, which will motivate me to get this thing rolling even more, let's go!  

I think that's about it.  I am home with a dog,  3 cats, fish and no one else lol.  

I'll go to church this morning but whether I go out to eat remains up in the air.  Not as much fun going alone.  I'm not feeling sorry for myself, not at all.  Just that we have ample amount of food to prepare here per the diet we are on.  I want to eat that stuff before it goes bad, it won't last until the other guy gets back the end of this coming week. 

Almost 2 weeks into this diet, I can't really say I see any changes and I haven't weighed myself at all.  But the food I am eating is definitely far more healthy for the body than the stuff I was eating before. 

Well, on to other things.  I think I will start cleaning after I get home today.  

 Thursday - morning

They offer use of desktop computers at this hotel, tho the keyboard is really bad.  And it's really slow, lol.

Anyway, they are still fixing the truck including installing a new windshield on the driver's side, I doubt they are going to be done before noon. I plan on staying at this hotel all the way up to checkout, which is noon.  When I get back over there, they are going to have to be as far along as they are going to get, I will need to be leaving. 

I want to see my friends off.  One of them will be gone a month, the other a week.  Yes, I will have the house to myself for an entire week while everyone is off on vacation.

Now that Swepco has informed me I can move along with that portion of the project, I need to dig up the cable a bit and find out what kind and size they are using. Then I can go buy however much of it I need and have that ready to go. I have the conduit already but I forgot to get the cement to seal it together.  

BTW, I'm sitting front of a window with the view of the indoor swimming pool they have here, it's empty lol. I was thinking about taking a swim, that thought has been dashed.  Why would you have an empty pool at any time of the year when it's indoors? 

Oh, I guess I can just open the panel on one of the meters and find out what size cable it is there instead of digging up the dirt lol.  

I'm not going to sit here long and I am not going to do too much on this computer, it's a public use computer and tho I am sure my info is scrapped when I shut it off, I don't trust it.  I can see personal stuff like bank accounts on my phone anyways. 

Other than that, I am still waiting to hear back from the contractor about the septic system.  I texted him yesterday, I am supposing he will call me back today after he finds out.  As I have stated, I knew this would take time to get this stuff even started, I did not expect it to take this long.  It didn't help his contractor flew off to Africa, lol.  I saw an ad from another local septic installer, he makes it clear he is "a little more expensive than everyone else" because of the "special" tanks he uses.  I'd rather have the old fashioned concrete ones, they pretty much last forever. 

I'll wait before paying a "little" more.  When a salesperson says something like that, you pretty much assume that means a LOT more.  

Alright, well it's 8:40 am and I'm going to see if they sell combs here. Forgot to bring one yesterday : )

 Wednesday - evening 

I’m on my phone so this isn’t going to be a long post. 

I’m up in El Dorado overnight waiting on the shop to fix a plethora of issues. I started texting with the mechanic this morning about everything that needs done and I jusy kept remembering more and more things. 

I do not have my laptop with me hence the phone entry. Anyway, the stuff that needs to be brought into DOT compliance will be resolved. Windshield replacement, fender replacement, fix an electrical short that was causing some lights not to work, landing gear fixed and more  

I found out yesterday that this company does not reimburse for medical card renewal. It’s not terribly expensive, I think around $100 but I’ve never heard of a company that doesn’t pay for it. 

The power company engineer just called and said it m good to go. Not only that, but I don’t have to b pay a contractor to run the wiring from their pedestal to my 200 amp service. Just run the wire yourself and leave 2  extra feet for them to be able to connect to their system.

That is amazing news for it was going to bust me a few thousand dollars to pay the contractor to do it. I’ll still have to rent a mini ex to trench it, but I can also dig out the rest of the trenching to the 2 or 3 lots I’m starting out with and also trench along the main driveway. 

Those rentals are for 24 hours I can do a lot more than just the 15 feet between their pedestal and my 200 amp service meter. 

BTW, I’ve turned away several people in the last few days. It slowed down for a while but it’s picked back up again. My place is full and the sooner I get more lots in, the sooner I can get even more lots in. 

That’s all for today. I don’t feel like pushing these tiny buttons in the phone. I have my Nintendo Switch with me, been here for several hours but didn’t feel like playing. That’s changed lol and I’m going to play a few rounds of Battle Royale. 

 Monday - mid morning

I have to admit I didn't go to bed until 1 am last night.  I was getting too absorbed in playing the season of Fortnite, I didn't have to work today and there was some serious weather going on outside. All perfect elements to just relax and chill.  And because of that, I didn't get up until almost 9:00 am, lol, just a little while ago.  

My plans to mow again today were dashed by the excessive rain last night.  The grass will be wet and it's just going to have to wait.  I probably can get some tractor time in on that mound I have been ignoring for a week since I last was slowly moving the dirt.  So I might get out there today and resume that operation for a few hours anyway.

But really, I'm fresh off of working 6 days in a row.  I did go to Applebee's yesterday - but late.  It was 5:30 pm by the time I got there, yesterday was a real mess.  Let's get into that.  2 days ago, I sent a message to this new driver asking him when he would be arriving at the plant in Gurdon. I asked because he had shown up at the trailer washout at just before 10 am 2 days ago when he should have been at the loading plant. 

I got a message from him at 7:57 am yesterday morning: I'm leaving at 8 and will be up there at 11.  Wut.  This dude is first load and not showing up until 11?  I became irritated quickly. Apparently, appointment times are mere suggestions to this individual. If I had known that the night before, I would have just gotten up at my first load time, been up there and gone before he even showed up.  That threw the entire day off. 

When I arrived up there at past 11 am, he was only half empty!  He came over and said he was trying to get out of my way, but he couldn't get the pressure up.  I got out of the truck, walked over and confirmed it was only at 21 PSI, far below what he needed to get that product out of there quickly.  I asked him several questions and then headed inside the plant, asking him to show me how he was turning on the air pressure, for I found the problem immediately: the air pressure handle was only partially open.  

He pointed at a blue handle and said that's how he was doing it, he didn't mess with anything else.  It turns out, no one trained him up there.  He didn't know how to operate the pressure and he didn't know how to turn on the water.  He claims that someone at the plant actually told him that they don't use water anymore and no one cleans out the line after they are done delivering. 

That is, of course, utterly and completely false.  If we don't clear out the lines, the glue is just going to sit in them and dry up.  Over time, it will close in to the point that delivering will take hours and at some point, nothing will go through them.  He didn't seem to understand this.  I made it exceedingly clear that the lines need to be flushed out every single time.  Anyway, I got the pressure up to 35 pounds and it took about 20 minutes to offload the rest of the glue.  

Yesterday was a bust.  By the time I got back, I just decided I was going to go to Applebee's anyway even if I didn't go to church.   I sat down in my usual spot, took a pic of the empty seat beside me and sent it to the 10 year old - I'm at Applebee's and sent him the pic.  He sent back a teary eyed emote and said he wished he was there.  He only wanted to stay at the grandparents for a week, we are at 2 weeks as of today I think.

He will be even more surprised to find out he isn't coming home at all after that.  They are going to take the kids to Texarcana where they are going to drop them with the parents and then they are going straight to Colorado.  Which reminds me....

Ok, just sent the vacation dates to the manager. I'm going July 1-8.  I now have to decide whether I am going to drive there or fly.  It's a hard decision for flying is obviously faster, but driving gives me a vehicle while I'm there and 8 days is an awfully long period of time not to have wheels available. Renting cars nowadays is an extremely expensive proposition.  I'm leaning towards driving even tho I absolutely hate driving. It would be better if I had a traveling companion to keep me company, that's just not going to happen.  

There will be no hotel expenses, I think. I have been offered a room in her dad's house.  They have stayed in my bedroom in the past, so I really don't think it's a bad tradeoff. When I was working for that other company and out on the road all the time, I would just allow guests visiting my friends to take my room.  If I narrow this trip down to just gas and eating, it's not going to cost much. However, there are the recreational things...I want to go to the mountains, I haven't been in ages and they are right there. At least one day trip.  I want to see if I can connect with old friends that live in Denver.  And then whatever else is to do in Aurora and Denver areas, I will be looking into that today.  

I'm actually excited about the prospect of having some time off and not having to drive that damn truck every day.  Yesterday got worse, tho.  I informed my manager that this driver hadn't been trained and he got quite testy with me.  I shoved it right back at him, I will not tolerate a manager talking to me like that with information that is vital to the operation.  This isn't petty or minor stuff, not flushing out the lines can cause serious problems..  After I got testy back at him, he called me and went into this thing about how he is getting too many calls - which is why I texted him, it helps, I know this for a fact with this business I'm running - to not get burnt out.

I suspect that's what he's experiencing: burnout.  He hasn't had a vacation in almost 2 years.  There is only one other person in the office to help run it and he says she can't handle the pressure of having to deal with drivers literally all night long. When you get super burned out, good luck getting rid of it.  Whatever it is that's burning you out, you need an extended time away from it  He said another person finally showed up from Oregon that can take over the office while he's gone.  I at least understand where he's coming from, he's just tired of getting phone calls literally all day AND night long.  I rarely bother him and when I do, it's always a text.  

I was discussing this with another driver who said he got testy with him a few days ago as well.  It's all signs that the man needs to get away from the  desk, turn off the ringer and get some serious time off.

Meanwhile, I still haven't heard from Swepco.  I am going to call them yet again today.  I have no idea what's going on with the permit and the engineer and all of that nonsense, I will be texting the owner of the company a few days from now and see what's up. He said last week that the dude that approves plans will be coming back Monday, which is today.

I figured there would be a process to this, I didn't figure on all of this garbage delaying everything.  

So that's it for now.  I'm just sitting here enjoying a nice hot cuppa, thinking about what I might get done today - if anything, I'm feeling pretty unmotivated right now - and think I will start looking at what's to do in the Denver area. 

Fortnite live event!

 Saturday - evening 

If you came here looking for what I am discussing about Fortnite, skip the first 3 paragraphs.  

I don't really want to go too much into today's junk. It's just another day of trucking with all the bs that goes with it.  The biggest nonsense was showing up to the trailer washout at almost 10:00 am and finding the first load driver sitting there also waiting for the washout people to show up - you have to call them in on weekends and I had called 10 minutes before this guy called them.  I'm like, this dude should be at the plant getting loaded by now, not sitting here at the washout.  

The other thing notable is it's getting very warm in that truck.  I want it fixed and I discussed it a little while ago with my manager.  He said some things - good things - but things I won't divulge here since it's the WWW and who knows who's reading this blog. Not that anyone could definitively identify who I am I guess, but the company knows I have an RV park.  So there is that.  

He also suggested I bring the truck up on Monday - my day off after what will be 6 days in a row working after tomorrow  - so I kind of didn't go for that - at all.  He also gave me insight on vacations: of course you can take a week off, just give me enough time in advance to get another driver to take your place while you're gone.  10-4.  Plenty of time for that, I need to make  a decision on that.  Soon.

Today was the Fortnite live event!  I've been looking forward to this. Today was the end of the Star Wars theme with all of the wonderful, cool and funny things that this shortened season had to offer.  

My favorite aspect of all of it was Darth Vader.  You could to go an island filled with red trees and a hangout for Vader up on top, get into a battle with him and if you win, you get to have him on your team!  His typical insults and quips are hilarious.  I had him with me or us (if playing other than solos) at least 30 times. I would ask him all kinds of questions. Stupid, intellectual, mathematical, meaning of life stuff and I would get the usual stuff from him that I expect, lol.  

The other thing was the Star Destroyer.  It's this GIANT ship that would shop up in the skies, it must have been at least a 4th the size of the entire map! When it came available, a pop up would show the portal is open and then if you got there first, you and your entire squad would get into it and shoot lasers from the ship and destroy the portion of the map you were hovering over, including enemies combatants.  

Well and another thing I liked were the Light Sabers.  A character from Star Wars would show up - several different ones - all over the map. You get to one, go into the portal and it gives you a light saber. They all had different abilities - push, pull, throw, and the one I liked the most:  lightning.  

Anyway, today's event,, which is now over, was hyped up for quite a while in advance. I was letting my nephew know about it because he's on vacation at his grandparent's house and he wouldn't have any way to keep up with it - he loves Fortnite.  So I let him know in advance about today's event, he could ask his grandparents if they'd let him get on to be a part of it.  I kept reminding him and finally, today, the grandpa relented with his plans to take them fishing and let him be a part of the event. 

They have plenty of time, btw, to go fishing, they (both nephews) are going to be there for another 2 weeks I think.  

 Friday - afternoon

Just got home from Arkansas delivery.  The trip was going uneventful - besides the usual idiots driving on public highways who have no more business operating a motor vehicle than a dead man has telling people how to live - and it happened. 

I see this shiny metal flashing out my side mirror, going under the trailer tandems (tires) and then spit out the side.  It was a fender on the tractor that decided it was just going to up and depart from the truck.  I was very fortunate that there wasn't anyone passing me, that might have been ugly.  

No damage to the truck or if there was, it wasn't of any concern, I got back in the truck after pulling over to inspect any damage and in case any vehicles that were nearby wanted to contest anything and drove back to my yard.  

James was on the roof of a person's 5th wheel applying a coat of sealant.  We got to talking, he'd love to just come work for me after I get the business up and established at the 56 lot number, if I do indeed ever get it there.  I told him that at that point, I'd need help anyway - but - there will be no benefits.  I mean, possibly there could be depending on the income, but I can't make those promises right now.  I can't even promise I'll ever get the place up to 56 units, that's a dream, a goal, but is it realizable? Only time will tell.   

Taylor invited me to spend a week with them in Colorado.  I hadn't even thought of such a thing, I figured they were gone for a good portion of the summer and that was that. I didn't even say I'd think about it, I replied I would ask my manager about getting an entire week off to feel out how they might think of it.  

I'd love to go tho, I love Colorado, I've spent a few vacations there and I've driven through it countless times. The Rockies are beautiful and I haven't been in the mountains in quite a long time.  TOO long.  I think I'd have to start walking again every day just to get into good enough condition to be able to go on hikes with the kids.  

I'm giving it serious consideration.  I would have to get a few things determined first. Such as - drive there or fly?  It's a 15 hour drive, much cheaper than flying.. or is it? I'm seeing round trip from the airport 40 miles away at $358.  That's very basic and doesn't include the checked luggage, but that's not that bad.  I won't have to pay for a hotel and so the only things I'd be paying for after airfare is eating and recreation.  Recreation, of course, can be expensive if you want to do things at amusement parks or similar attractions.  

I'm gonna think about it, but not for too long. I'll have to make a decision quick and then ask for the time off.  I dunno what they think about giving a week off.  I also want to spend a 3 or 4 day period with my mom in September if I can make that work, specifically: be there for her 90th birthday!  

I just got "proposed valuation" for this year from the county tax office. They have appraised it much higher than last year.  Like, ridiculous.  Where are they coming up with this nonsense?  The thing is, if I try to fight it - they sent the proposed valuation and a form to fill out if you want to fight it - would I end up with a worse horror story about them raising it even higher? What are they basing these numbers off of?  What makes that property worth that much more than last year? There have been no additional upgrades to it since then. It's just the lots and a 12X20 shed/building/whatever you want to call it.  

Such things annoy me and cause me to get distracted. I'll have to raise lot rent if I get hammered with higher property taxes.  I know they'll raise it once I add more lots, but this is a bit ridiculous.  

I dunno.  I'm going to take a nap right now.  I didn't sleep well last night tho I was definitely in deep sleep when that damned alarm went off this morning.  Tomorrow won't be so bad. I have to work this weekend but it's the second load.  It'll be the first time in quite a while that I miss church.  

 Tuesday - afternoon

The owner of the septic business called me earlier today. 

This guy is above board, doesn't make up stories and is level headed.  He's chill, laid back, doesn't let a lot bother him.

He told me that after I had called him, he found out that the person that they send their designs to for septic systems - not a part of his company a separate entity - has taken a trip to Africa.  "I sometimes don't find out about things until after it happens and I start getting phone calls".  Now he understands why he doesn't have anything lined up for the next month or so.

The design person is allegedly coming back on Monday.

He then told me that the county is forcing business to give a development plan with any of these projects.  This county is pretty lax, having them impose themselves on people like this may cause quite a lot of inconvenience, but more importantly: money.  

He said he's going to try and get her to approve it anyway since it's an existing business. I hope so.  

Swepco? Nothing. I'll be calling them again shortly.  

Dish? Came out.  Bad connection on the line.  I don't believe in having to be responsible for rented equipment or the lines that provide that equipment the input it needs to be able to work.  It's a scam and I told them - on the phone anyway not the tech - that right to their ear drums.  The techs are usually cool and I don't give them a lot of hassle. I don't really want to give the people on the phone a hassle either, but they won't shut up about stuff I don't want to hear about.

In this case, it was the insurance.  I don't want your insurance.  Fix this for free or shut off the service.  I had to literally interrupt the lady yesterday, she just kept going on about the insurance.  I said:"If you don't approve this tech coming for free right now, go ahead and cancel this service, RIGHT NOW".  This after I asked her over and over to please stop trying to sell me insurance.

Anyway, it's fixed and I didn't pay anything for the service.  I've been paying them for years, ridiculous to me that they think I should have to pay them to fix their system.  Even the lines, yes.  

I got done early today.  I got to the plant, they got me right in and loaded me right away. I was back to the Park by 12:15 pm, which is really good.  

Day 2 of the diet. I now know it's called an alkaline diet and will be doing ample research on it.  Low on proteins, high on fruits and vegetables. 

 Let the diet begin.

I didn't eat until 3:30 this afternoon - which is a few minutes ago - because I wasn't hungry until I got home.  It consisted of 1/4 cup of protein mix, which has nuts and raisins and things in it,  a plain slice of toast, an apple and a few berries.  It was actually filling, I do not feel hungry at all right now.

If I were to stay on a diet like this consisting of this kind of food, I would definitely lose weight over time.  I think.  

Dinner will be wild rice with some fruit.  No eating 4 hours before bedtime.  It's about as plain jane of a diet as you can get? I think so.  Calories severely limited, that in and of itself should cause weight loss.  

If you can imagine calling about the septic permit and finding out they haven't even sent it into the state yet, the surprise and near shock to find this out after somewhere around 40 days time passed.  In other words, they just filed it somewhere and forgot about it.  I had to stop myself from getting angry.  

I informed the man on the phone that if they don't have time for it, I will find someone else to do the install.  He said no, he'll contact his boss to contact you. Well I know his boss and he hasn't contacted me so I just texted him.  

Then, I find out Swepco engineer was given the ticket for my project 35 days ago. He was supposed to call me to set up a time to meet out there - which he didn't do. The lady apologized and said she'd send him an email to please expedite. 

Incredible nonsense, both of them? The power company and the septic place?  I'll be calling them every day now until I get the results I need.  If they don't want me calling them, get the s*** done like you said you would.  Just ridiculous.

I also called Dish Network. I absolutely abhor calling them, I know what kind of runaround I'll get and I was not let down in the department today.  I simply asked them to send out a tech, we've done all the troubleshooting that can be done without tech support actually coming out here.  3 different people and the last one wasn't that helpful. She insisted I had to pay for it unless I get their insurance program.

I don't want your insurance program.  We haven't had tv for 3 weeks now, I want a tech to come out, fix this problem and I want it for free.  We went back and forth on that one for probably 30 minutes before I had had enough. "Either get me a tech out here for free or cancel the account right now".  I was dead serious about it too, I don't even care that much about satellite anymore.  She hemmed and hawed and I just shot back that I want this situation resolved either way, I've wasted enough time on the phone with you.

Tomorrow, they are sending out a tech for free and no, I didn't sign up for their insurance scam.  She asked me how it could be a scam? Because most people will not even have to use it, meaning your company is making money off of this insurance, I replied to which she agreed but thought that absolutely normal.

No, thank you. I remember the days before insurance and they sent out techs - for free. I pay enough money for their service, I'm not paying for an insurance program for THEIR equipment.  She apparently hadn't run into too many people like me. I just wanted it over with and she couldn't understand why I didn't want to listen to her endlessly droning on about insurance and blah blah blaaaahhhhhhh.  

Now for today's other doings, namely: going to get a trailer.  I was informed a dude that was on our detail delivering glue is being reassigned so I am to go to a washout facility in Haughton and pick up an empty trailer.  

Skipping straight to the point: The trailer air pressure gauge was broken.  No way to know how much pressure is in there while delivering.  The tank was pressurized with air - big no no.  It should be bled off immediately after offloading.  The driver dropped the tanker in the washout yard but didn't tell them about it.  In other words, it didn't get washed out and it would have never gotten washed out, it would have just sat their indefinitely.  And, this driver had put clear tape over a marker light on the rear of the trailer to hold it in place - versus buying the rubber grommet that is supposed to be there.  I told my manager all of this, yes I did.

I don't care if the driver gets mad that I snitched, this is absolute incompetence. 

I had to stop in Bossier on the way back to pick up a new air pressure gauge, which I will install tomorrow.  I don't deliver until Wednesday, which is when I'll need it to know how much pressure is in the tanker at any given time.

Enough for now.