Anyone Just Overwhelmed by it All?

[GoodScout]

This morning my wife is outside and notes that water is collecting on one of our slide covers.
"No problem," I say, "I'll just retract it and reopen it and get the water off, then we'll figure out how to tighten them.
Using Compass Connect, I retract the living room awning - until I hear the crunch.
I hadn't moved my desk chair out of the way, and the slide mashed it into our pantry & cabinet, punching huge holes into it.

So now I have to order a whole new cabinet and pantry and reinstall them.

This is the second or third stupid thing I've done in just over a year. Does it ever get too much for people? Do you just tell yourself "There's too much to keep track of, too much to remember. Hitch weights, connecting things in order, hitting the buttons in the right sequence, checking tanks, etc.?"
I use checklists for arrival and departures, and yes, it was stupid to just retract the slide without going in to check. But after I while, I just get overwhelmed and wonder if I'd be better off just spending my money on plane tickets and hotel rooms.

Am I alone in this?

 

[Timmer]

We all become more forgetful and less aware when we age. It's part of life. My parents somehow mastered the ability to shake these kinds of things off, even laugh at them. It's a work in progress for me. I have to mentally go through a little checklist - "Well, what's done is done" "Is this the worst thing that can happen? No" "Will it financially break me? No" etc

I wish you a better day!

 

[Soundsailor]

Sorry to hear about your mishap, as you say checklists are helpful. The good news is that since your experience with the slide was painful, you're less likely to make that mistake again. Oh, doubt your slide cover would suffer if you just left the water there.

 

[orbsah]

You’re not stuck on the side of the road and still able to roll. Call it a win or at worst an inconvenience.

 

[poohbear]

You’re not stuck on the side of the road and still able to roll. Call it a win or at worst an inconvenience.

When I was flying there was a saying, any landing you can walk away from is a good landing, if you can still use the plane it was a great landing .

 

[BadDogPSD]

You are not alone. I find myself having to be much more deliberate and 'forcing' myself to be very present when doing things now.

 

[ajg617]

I feel for you. Two weeks back I was hitching up to take the RV to a Lippert shop for repairs. Raised it to hitch height, lowered the tailgate and watched in the TV cargo camera as I slowly backed up. Crunch. Top of tailgate has a nice depression in it now. Last week I tripped over a dog gate and landed on my hip (the one I already had replaced due to an earlier episode). Trying to do things too quickly and just need to slow down a bit. Not as young as I used to be.....

 

[trailrydr]

The only way to avoid the "aw-sh!ts" is to ALWAYS check, check, check and recheck again. No special sauce, secret, or magic... just plain endurance to ensure no self induced mistakes where over-looked and caused.

Unfortunately one needs to be constantly aware of the fragility and safety of operating these vehicles. Then, either a handyman, rich enough to pay and wait on services, or someone not afraid to learn on the go and attempt to find/fix the boo-boo's themselves. Otherwise, ownership of an RV is not recommended... and would stick to hotels and mass/personal transportation. RVs are just too thought provocative, fragile, costly, and maintenance oriented for some folks.

Eventually, will come a day for all of us to consider leaving them behind.... Know some good longterm fulltime friends now contemplating that same exact thing.

 

[IBEW Sparky]

[MENTION=53767]GoodScout[/MENTION]

I feel your pain... but don't sweat the small stuff life is too short to fret over things you can't control or in this situation things that have already happened. After pulling travel trailers for years and years I purchased our 5th wheel and was a little nervous. Day 1 coming home from the dealership while backing up into my driveway the power cord cut hung up and pulled the entire junction box down from above. Then 10 minutes later while attempting to disconnect from the truck for the first time I didn't realize the pin didn't pop out of the opposite side of the front landing gear and proceeded to bend stuff up. I wanted to take it right back to the dealership and trade it in for a travel trailer.
Now we love it and still have mishaps from time to time... all part of life.

 

[IBEW Sparky]

[MENTION=53767]GoodScout[/MENTION]

On a side note don't try and adjust the slide toppers tighter... the only thing you will accomplish is making it harder to open your slide outs. The toppers have extra fabric for just that reason... to allow the to collect water without stretching and tearing. Once the water is off of them they go back to being taught.

 

[WhittleBurner]

I think we have all done things that cause damage. We just had the bedroom slide trim torn right off the lower corner due to something falling and getting in the way upon our return back from FL.. needless to say nothing gets set near there any more. The framework got torn partially off and the drawer slides were also ripped off the back wall.. Gary has gotten most of it back together, now it's just the slides.
Now I'll add checking that slide to the opening.

It never gets bad enough I want to throw it in, I dislike hotels and love having my own bed that no one else slept in the night before

 

[traveldawg]

I suppose everyone had done at least one silly thing. I dropped my 5th wheel on my truck bed one time. Even while wondering what was going wrong as I watch it come off the hitch in a rather noisy manner.

I'm not overwhelmed tho. One just has to slow down, think, look, consider reactions to any action and then take care of things.

One of the worst things for me is to be distracted when getting ready to hitch. DW and I pretty much don't do that until we have both taken a walk around and she is watching while I back up (and under).

Hang in there.

 

[LanerC]

It never gets old, hearing other folks OH brap moments. Thanks for support. Myself has torn up a hierloom tv tray, and dropped the 5th wheel on the truck bed....Twice! Both im going to say from being distracted during hook-up. No one got hurt and were still road worthy so on we went. A camping we will go...

 

[g8rvet]

Ah heck, if you find another hobby, you will just have these same moments occasionally with different issues. For me, I like fishing (which means boat which means lots of oh pooh moments), woodworking (also lots of oh pooh with some involving self injuries) and duck hunting (which involves lots of gear and plenty of those). Turkey hunting is low key, not a lot of issues, but they still happen. Don't sweat it and just decide where your level is located. If you are no longer having fun, it is time to move on. We felt that way about our beach house and so we sold it and bought an RV. One set of headaches for another.

 

[JKellerJr]

Am I alone in this?

Nope. About the time I realized my black tank was draining through the choroplast and onto the ground while in the middle of nowhere Canada it definitely crossed my mind

But then I fixed it and moved on.

 

[Timmer]

Ah heck, if you find another hobby, you will just have these same moments occasionally with different issues. For me, I like fishing (which means boat which means lots of oh pooh moments), woodworking (also lots of oh pooh with some involving self injuries) and duck hunting (which involves lots of gear and plenty of those). Turkey hunting is low key, not a lot of issues, but they still happen. Don't sweat it and just decide where your level is located. If you are no longer having fun, it is time to move on. We felt that way about our beach house and so we sold it and bought an RV. One set of headaches for another.

Well put. And by the way, you sound like you have my dream retirement - fishing, woodworking, turkey hunting, but I'd replace duck hunting with trap shooting.

 

[RV2600RB]

I might add that I’ve never used the App. I always use the buttons on the cabinet. That reminds me to check the slide before deploying/retracting it. Your main problem will probably be distractions during setup/takedown. If you’re interrupted just stop until the distraction is gone. Trying to setup/takedown while talking to someone can spell problems.
As long as you’re able to motivate, the rest can be fixed.
No matter how much experience one has, Mr. Murphy is always lurking.
Safe and happy travels.
Rich

 

[lineman1234]

Yep sometimes things dont go right for me. Same as when owning houses, or duplexes, even renting. Best place i ever owned was a brand new trailer house, simple and perfect for a single guy.
My past cheap TT i hooked up and didnt notice i unplugged the brake away switch, a few miles down the road, early morning and dark, light rain, noticed smoke comming out the back after a couple miles. The tires never locked up, didnt have enough drag to notice. That ended up with all new set ups on each spindle.
Now im going on my 9th year full timing, 8 years with the past cheap TT and now my reflections 273mk. The only problem with it so far, is getting just the right setting for the barrings, it doesnt want to find a sweet spot for not to tight, not to much play.

 

[Najataagihe]

No blood, no worry.

If you're not bleeding, it's not serious.

 

[JFF&KRN]

I will add my few:
a few mishaps in the over twenty years with TT's and 5th wheels. Things happen and we continue on.
Last year A/C was fixed and this year it went out. Installed price was quoted at just under $1800. Got one here locally for $850, super lucky, installed myself with neighbor help to get r on the roof. So excited with the savings and the accomplishment that Saturday, Sunday morning I decided to slide the fridge out to see why the he!! the light worked sometimes and other times not.
I figured I could reach the wires and find a bad spot. Well wires are not accessable, (I had to remove the top panel to access screws that hold fidge in). Figured I best unplug on/off switch so it didn't hang or put stress on wires or little circuit board. Well guess what, you are supposed to disconnect all power, 12 volt and shore power. So I fried not just the switch, but also the mother board, estimate about $800 and yesterday they called and said my fridge has not only 2 but 3, yeah Three boards. so we will probably be at $1000 if I am lucky. Cabinet doors borken duringslide operations, etc. It's all in use but sitll wouldn't trade it for a motel room.
And like others, some day will come to move on, but for now as willing and able, we will keep on keeping on.
worse part of having an RV is making time to get on the road. even being retired. !!!!
Good Luck - Have a Great rest of your RV Days!!!