“What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done while RVing?” BY LARRY MacDONALD, Powell River, BC
2012 RV OOPS Awards “Well to be honest,” replied one fellow when I asked him the above question, “in 19 years of RVing, I’ve never done anything stupid …
until this year.” He then proceeded to tell me his woeful tale. Nearly everyone I asked could recall one or more mishaps that they wish hadn’t happened to them. I recorded these mishaps and ranked them on a 10-item scale from dumb (No. 10) to dumbest (No. 1). Usually, dumber things are more costly: for example, last year’s winner totaled his rig by driving into a tollbooth with a slide extended. A wise person once said, “Experience is the best teacher.” Maybe so, but a wiser person noted, “It’s better to learn from other people’s
experience.” So let’s have a look at this year’s list to fi nd out why these dumb things occurred, and how you can avoid repeating them. Most of these folks would probably agree that nothing spoils a perfectly fi ne day of RVing like an avoidable blunder.
No. 10: UP ON THE ROOF Alan decided it was time to clean the roof of his motorhome while it was parked in the driveway. Since his model did not have an
attached ladder, he propped his extension ladder against the side and climbed up with a hose and cleaning supplies. While spraying down the roof, his hose caught the ladder and knocked it down. OOPS! Alan’s wife was not due home for another six hours but quite a few cars were passing by in view of the rig. He fi gured he would just wave and someone would stop to help. For more than an hour, he waved. T e few motorists who noticed him waved back and kept on driving. Finally, a man stopped and put the ladder back up. Alan sheepishly thanked him, and decided to clean his roof another day. When Alan reported this mishap to me, he still hadn’t fi gured out how to prevent a re-occurrence. I suggested several options: use
a distress wave (crisscrossing arms above the head) rather than a friendly “Hi there” wave; carry a cellphone aloſt to call for help; tie a rope to the ladder and secure the other end topside; or clean the roof for six hours until his wife got home.
No. 9: WAIT FOR ME! (in next RVT) WHILE AWAY O Y T
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