I love hearing from blog readers, and in an average week I will get well over 100 personal emails. Many of those emails have questions about RVing or other things I’ve written about, and I’m always happy to answer to the best of my ability. If I don’t know the answer, I try to refer them to somebody who can help them. But occasionally I get an email and I have to ask myself, “Really? They had to ask me that?” I’m no rocket scientist by any means, and most days I’m just striving for mediocrity, but sometimes I do have to worry about my fellow man. Here are some examples of recent emails or text messages I have received.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
The other day, a woman contacted me wanting to know how they could get their money back from their Thousand Trails membership. She said they bought it a year ago and have not used it yet and probably won’t because they decided RVing really isn’t their thing. She contacted Thousand Trails, wanting a refund on their purchase price plus the year’s dues that they paid, and they refused. She can’t understand that because if you buy something at a store and never use it, you can return it for a full refund. Sorry, dear, it doesn’t work that way. And it’s not just with campground memberships. Buy a new car, park it in your driveway and don’t use it for a year and see if the dealership you purchased it from will give you a full refund.
Another email was from somebody who is into genealogy and wants to prove her husband is a full-blooded Cherokee Indian so he can be put on the tribal roles. But she said they couldn’t find any documentation to support the claim. She said a DNA test did not reveal any Native American connection. I asked if his parents or grandparents had anything that showed their Cherokee bloodline, and she responded that no, the paternal grandparents had immigrated from Germany and that her husband’s father had married an Irish girl from Philadelphia. I replied that given that information, he’s not a Cherokee. She was quick to shoot back a response that said yes, he is. He’s full-blooded Cherokee. He’s got black hair, high cheekbones, and an “Indian nose.” She said she didn’t need me to argue with her, she was getting enough of that already. She just needed me to tell her how to go about proving it. How do you answer a question like that? I chose silence.
The same day, someone texted me saying he was going down the highway when his motorhome seemed to lose power and a dashboard light came on that said Stop Engine, along with a loud buzzer or alarm. He said he pulled off the road and shut the engine off, then walked to the back to see if he could find a problem. Nothing seemed wrong, so he had his wife start the RV up again, and after a few seconds they got the same alarm sound and the same warning light. He said he was standing at the back of the rig with the engine compartment doors open and something didn’t sound quite right, but admitted he’s no mechanic. He had his wife shut the engine off again, buckled everything up, waited a few minutes and started the engine and it took about two minutes for the alarm and light to come on again. He said the last time he had to call road service it took them three hours to get there, so he decided since they are only 50 miles from home he would continue on and deal with it when he got there. About three miles later there was a loud sound from the rear of the coach and the engine seized up. He said he managed to get it off onto the shoulder and went to the back where there was oil sprayed everywhere. He asked me what I thought he should do. Well, gee. My immediate thought was that I would have called a mechanic or a tow truck the first time I got the message.
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
And finally, a while back someone contacted me about a travel trailer he was looking at and he said there were big bubbles in the gelcoat on the sides that you could push in several inches. According to him, the salesman said that what he thought were bubbles in the gelcoat were actually put there intentionally at the factory to allow it to expand and contract in different temperature extremes. My advice then was to run away and don’t look back. He didn’t take that advice because the salesman goes to the same church and is a “good guy” and purchased the trailer because the salesman assured him it was a “great deal.” When he showed it to a friend who has been an RVer for years, he told him it was delaminating badly. Now he wants to know what he can do to get his money back. As the old TV commercials used to say, “Sorry, Charlie.” You got burned.
It’s Thursday and time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an autographed copy of Terry’s cookbook, Miss Terry’s Kitchen. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
Thought For The Day – The bonds of matrimony are only a good investment when the interest is kept up.