Storm Brewing - Dropped New RV Deal

I got a call from the body shop to pick up the rig, they completed fixing the windshield sealant and repainted the gold stripe. They were hoping I could take the rig home so their parking lot would be clear for the big snow storm we’re due to get tomorrow through Wednesday.

I spent a good portion of the day at the doctor’s office for tests but told them we would pick it up after I got home. By the time we got there the snow was coming down but the rig started perfectly and so did the generator. I checked out the propane tank and sure enough the valve was closed so I turned it on and then turned on the furnace. A few minutes later the heat was going and everything was looking up.

I drove the rig to the storage place and found…… our spot was covered knee deep in snow… so much for they’ll keep the spot clear. We call them and they tell us you’re in spot 19, you should have told us you would be taking your RV out of storage because then we would have had you in spot # 7 or around there. I explain to her we did tell her we would be removing the rig and indeed have several times with her knowledge of it. Her response, if that were the case then you wouldn’t be in spot # 19, I’m beside myself at this point but I keep a civil tone with her.

I tell her I can’t explain why she put us in spot 19 when normally she would put us in spot 7 because we aren’t involved with that part but it sure would be nice to be able to park our rig, tonight. So story told as short as possible we end up in spot 7, which is only partially plowed so now the rig sticks out about 10ft further than anything else in the row.

To end the night perfectly, the passenger mirror started flopping around in its mount on the way to storage, just wow. So much for them being repaired, honestly, at this point I think this rig is cursed, nothing else can explain it. Every time we pick it up, something else has to be repaired, even if it’s small and I’m starting to get a bit irritated that I now have to take it back AGAIN to get something that was supposed to be repaired, repaired again.

I called the RV dealer and told them to kill the deal, I was put on a new expensive drug today so we can’t afford a more expensive rig. I’m going to take a few days away from here, I got somewhat bad news at the doctors office and it seems I only post about negative things because this past year there hasn’t been much positive to post about.

I am glad for the following to try and end this post on a positive note. I am glad I have my job, I am glad the only thing wrong with the RV is a loose mirror (that I know about). I’m glad they fixed the windshield gaskets and the gold stripe on the front end. I’m glad the generator starts right away and the furnace works.

I hope everybody gets through the storm safely and I’ll post back in a few days. Sorry for the negativity folks.

Not A Done Deal…. Pictures Of 2004 Santara

We decided if there was a good deal out there we would go for it, even though we have dumped more than a few bucks on our current rig. This Santara is 20k below NADA during a RV Show sale going on at Collier RV in Rockford so we decided to see what our options are. We’ll know more on Monday. It has 22.5 inch wheels, Chevy big block, Allison 6spd transmission, double wide refridgerator, 10 gallon LP/Electric water heater, 7.7k gennny, 50amp service so both AC Units can be used while plugged in, full body paint and only 14k miles. It’s 36ft like the one we have now, dual slides for the main living area plus bedroom with a small desk. The floor plan is more open than our current rig AND the couch is deep and VERY comfortable compared to the rock of a couch in ours. The drivers and passenger seats are insanely comfortable and the dash is set so you can see better and last it has a 5,000lb hitch vs the 3,000lb hitch we currently have and it will come with a real warranty.

Loki Being Loki!

 

Making 1st Reservations Of The Season!

Geneseo Campground doesn’t open until April 1st but I believe we can camp there on 3/31. I wrote the owners Shari and Craig and hopefully they allow it. This way we can stay until the 5th and can enjoy the cool brisk air that Spring gives and go walking, and whatever else strikes our fancy.

If you live in Illinois you have to check this place out. The campground isn’t huge or anything but it’s spotless, has charm and atmosphere in abundance.

                                  

RV Tidbit

When the RV was in the shop way back in September I asked the dealer to check the slide stop bolts because it seemed the wall was the stop which didn’t seem right. The slide would actually go in a bit too far and you could see this when the slide was in, the trim would bow out a bit so I would be outside and ask the wife to put the slide in and I would tell her when to stop.

The dealer checked and found that there were no stops installed by the factory. So they installed stop bolts and now the slide stops exactly where it should.   One of the good things the dealership did and I thought I would mention it.

Fixed Blogger!

I removed my profile picture and then re-added it and bada bing bada boom this time it worked! I can now follow more blogs again!

RV Update

The rig is currently at the body shop waiting to get the front gold stripe re-painted and the seal around both windshields checked. Collier found that when they washed the rig some of the sealant was coming off.

We should know more within a few days or early next week, we hope. We aren’t in a rush, I prefer the job get done correctly than in a hurry. I also have to confirm the status of the furnace, I had the LP filled at Collier and had no heat on the trip to the body shop, we think the valve for the LP is shut off, a call to Collier confirmed that it is normal for them to shut the LP off when they fill up.

Funny Email From My Wife

Have you ever been guilty of looking at others your own age and thinking, surely I can’t look that old! Well, you’ll love this one.

My name is Alice and I was sitting in the waiting room for my first appointment with a new dentist. I noticed his DDS Diploma which showed his full name. Suddenly I remembered a tall, handsome, dark-haired boy with the same name had been in my High School class some 40-odd years ago. Could this be the same guy that I had a secret crush on way back then?

Upon seeing him however, I quickly discarded any such thought. This balding, gray-haired man with the deeply lined face was way too old to have been my classmate. After he examined my teeth, I asked him if he had attended Morgan Park High School.

‘Yes, yes I did! I’m a Mustang,’ he gleamed with pride. When did you graduate? I asked. He answered, 1965, why do you ask? ‘You were in my class!’ I exclaimed. He looked at me closely. Then that ugly, old, bald, wrinkled faced ,fat assed, gray-haired, decrepit son-of-a-bitch asked…

WHAT DID YOU TEACH??

This story cracked me up so I thought I’d share it, I’m still laughing!

Following Other Blogger Blog’s Issue

When I click to follow another Blogger blog my profile used to shows up as follows, even if I had to re-login. This is how it used to work.

              

    Now when I click to follow a Blogger blog I get the following:

                 

No profile picture and no blog name. After I have completed the “Follow” process I double check to see what profile is being used I get this, so I am no longer clicking the follow option until I get this fixed.

             

So, it states I am using my Blogger profile but doesn’t show my picture or my blog name. I have looked this up using the help system at Blogger and also using Google’s search and can’t find anything. Is this happening to others as well and if so, how did you fix it if you were able to? I have cleared my cache, logged out and back in and it’s still not working. So hopefully some of you know how to fix it.

Congrats Packers

Well, Hanie got them to 14 points but it just wasn’t meant to be. There was only a handful of Bears that played with the intensity needed to win and the rest of the team played like it was pre-season.

The better team won and will be going to the Super Bowl, good luck to the Green Bay Packers. I’ve had my fill of humble pie now..

GO BEARS IT’S GAMEDAY BABY!!!!

                       

              Ok Packer fans, get ready to see a lot of this today!!

                    

         It’s ok, you’re used to it, been happening a long long time!

                                  

          What better teams to go head to head for the Championship?

                     

   Old rivalry, I can’t imagine a better team to go up against. Good luck!

                    

RV Update – Saturday, 1/22/11

We picked up the RV, the people at Collier were great to work with and we’ll find out the next storm if they were able to fix the leaks 100%. I fired up the generator and then the furnace but never heard the burner kick in so no warm air came out during my drive to the auto body shop.

I had Collier fill the LP and I’ll lay odds they shut off the LP valve for safety reasons and I didn’t think about it until I got home. I dropped the rig off at the body shop so they can fix whatever happened to the windshield gaskets and to fix the gold stripe.

I don’t know how long it will be there but I’m confident they will take care of both the gaskets and the gold stripe.

I hope everybody is having a great weekend and Go Bears! 

 

RV Update – Price Is Lower Than We Thought! :)

I got the final pricing on the cost to leak proof our RV (the work has been completed). Just a tad over $1,500.00, this incudes 7 gallons of LP and 2 full sets of RV keys, something the original dealer was supposed to provide but failed to do so on several occasions so we stopped asking. 

So it’s about $200.00 less than we thought it would be!

While washing the RV after they completed their work gasket material started coming off the center of the windshield… so they contacted the body shop and now I get to pick it up from Collier and take it to Marengo. Since they have to re-paint the stripe anyway this works out, worries me that there was any kind of gasket material that could start coming off but I’m sure they’ll take care of it.

The RV spent well over 3 months in various shops last year, looks like this year will be no different. At least it’s during the cold freezing season so it gets over with! The warm months “should” be spent inside the RV enjoying it. The countdown meter to our first outing is 70 days, 16 hours, 53 minutes and 56 seconds. Not that I’m counting or anything!

Chase Bank – New Meaning Behind Crooks

Every business is in business to make a profit, even the ones noted as “non-profit” require more money coming in than going out. I’m a capitalist at heart and believe in the free market system.

HOWEVER when credit card companies are allowed to charge enormous fees and hike rates to 29.99% at their whim they become crooks interested in making as much from you anyway they can under the guise that it’s perfectly legal to squeeze their customers for every penny for as long as possible.

For example, our Chase Visa which they changed over to Chase “Slate” Visa went from 14%, to 16% to 18% finally all the way in one fell swoop in Jan ‘09 to 29.99%, the maximum allowable by law. Their reason? We were late on our payment, we called our bank to ask how a payment made 2 weeks in advance was somehow late? Their response, Chase held the payment until after the due date, then processed it.

This is illegal right? Not at the time it wasn’t, Chase claims they did no such thing and basically said prove it. Anyway fast forward to Jan ‘11 and I’m still fighting to get our rate lowered since we are NEVER late and they know it. Their response and this is a direct quote “It is not Chase Bank policy to adjust interest rates at customer request”

My response, so what is it going to take to get Chase to treat us like customers and not like someone who visited a card shark? What is it going to take to get Chase to lower the rate? They respond, we may review your account in the next few months but can’t promise anything, why don’t you just pay more so it gets paid off sooner?

We owe at this time $17,000 on that card, we have knocked off 8k in the past year so we’re trying BUT 29.99% adds up faster than we can pay if off. The Chase supervisor tells me “it’s not Chase policy to keep you paying for years on end”. Oh really?!?!? Funny, because that’s what 29.99% does!!!!!!  My wife and I have made a promise to them, we will NEVER do business with Chase in any form ever.

Their latest ploy to get people at 29.99% is the new Chase Ink card, this is a business card that they are pushing on consumers. Why you ask? Because the new rules enacted in 2009 known as the “Credit Card Accountability and Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009” aren’t enforced on business cards, so Chase sent out 47 million offers to get people to switch over to this card so the second you slip up, or they slip you up the card defaults to 29.99%.

Their other tactic? Lowering your limit to BELOW what you already owe, this also sends your card into default status and they can demand FULL payment no matter how much you owe, they have tried this ploy with us as well and all we got, was a weak apology but since the system can’t reverse this “mistake” they can keep you at the elevated rate indefinitely. There are more sites dedicated to trying to expose Chase for the predatory lender they are than I can count. I can’t wait until we are done with them so we can tell them to close the account and shove it.

Sorry for the rant, but I needed to let this out or my brain was going to explode. 

The Viking Ninja!

I played Semi-Pro hockey for a lot of years and when I walk in the ice and snow I don’t fall down. If I slip I always catch myself somehow, others might be falling around me but somehow I keep my footing.

Today the sidewalks and bridge by my office were all ice, try as that bridge could I did not fall down. There was a few close calls, the angle of the sidewalk gets steep and I slid a good 6 feet or more but did I go down? NOPE!

Therefore I am now known to my wife as THE VIKING NINJA! Of course, walking around in my own house seems to be another matter entirely since I have fallen down twice and hurt myself once!! But outside, I’m Niking Vinja!   Errrrrr I mean Viking Ninja! 

                                                       This is how my wife see’s me.

              

RV Update, We Can’t Wait For April 1st!

I received a call from Collier this afternoon, they found that when they removed the passenger window there was some rotted wood. They replaced it and sealed the wall and re-installed the windows. They also fixed the many other leaks they found.

I am waiting for a final price but it has to be near $2,000.00 including filling up the LP. The good news is they claim the RV is 100% not leaking anywhere now. I pray they are right, my brain hurts contemplating other issues that may come up this camping season.

I’ll be picking the rig up this Saturday so we’ll see, I am going to ask for more than 90 days warranty. I just made reservations for April 1st at Geneseo campground. Sugar Shores doesn’t open until May 1st so we’ll take Geneseo for now, it’s an awesome location .

Bears VS Packers

Yeah Baby!!! GO BEARS!!!! Bears WIN!!! WooHoo!!

The Bears are ROCKING THE HOUSE!!! Watch out Packers, you're coming to our house!!

RV? What RV? It’s Sunday, Bear’s Football Day!!

The wife and I are ignoring the fact that we own an RV and that it has caused us enough stress to make most people grab a bottle of whisky and go on a weekend long streak of alcohol abuse…..

This is NFL playoff time!!! Our big worry for today is which Bear football team will show up? We have no idea but we hope it’s better than the team that showed up for the Super Bowl!!!

So today, our RV doesn’t have leaks, or rotted wood, or mice or…. anything, in fact it doesn’t exist!! After having family over on Saturday and cleaning house we are going to just sit back and watch Da Bears! Win or lose I am going to sleep in, get up around 7:30 or hey, maybe even 8:00am, go down, make some coffee, eat eggs, bacon and potatoes and have some more coffee, do a little work because hey, I’m a work-a-holic and then we’ll watch Da Bear’s!! Have I mentioned that we’re going to watch, Da Bear’s?      

Good News – Bad News

Good news is, the leaks look to be fixed, bad news is, they found some rotted wood that they are investigating to see how bad it is. I’ll know more on Monday. This just looks like it’s never going to end.

As for the warranty, no update there, the dealer hasn’t responded yet but Collier has been very responsive and helpful. But if the original dealer doesn’t respond we have to play the waiting game and see what card he plays.

We thought about trading it in on something else but really, who’s to say that one won’t be perfectly sealed but mechanically has issues? We’ll see what happens this coming week, I’m trying to think positive and hopefully something positive will happen.

RV Warranty Quotes – HOLY COW Batman!

This is what it’s going to cost to replace my dealer’s warranty. I think I’m going to be sick. I currently have/had 4year 20k for around $2,000, to replace it, who can afford this?

1year/10,000miles   $1844

2year/20,000miles   $2500

3year/30,000miles   $3148

4year/40,000miles   $4120

Got The Quote To Seal The Rig - $1,600.00

Collier RV ran the seal tech test and found that the dealership didn’t do anything to seal the coach except for the one spot that I pointed out to them at the time we purchased it. They have to remove both the driver and passenger windows and seal up inside the walls and the roof leaks as well as the rear cap and all marker lights. So I approved getting the work done because, well, what choice do I have really and it should be ready by Monday or Tuesday.

I also received a response from the dealer about the warranty, they claim that I never had leveling system or slide out coverage even though it’s in my paperwork. He ended his letter saying I could get a refund check for $1,850.00 which would be sans slide out and leveling jacks coverage. I responded that my paperwork states they are covered and I only want what we have now, no more no less. Collier RV recommends Route 66 for the warranty so I am going for a quote from them since we’ll likely have Collier service the rig from now on.

More later as I find out. I consider this good news because we can finally get the leaks taken care of and we will be completely unplugged from our dealer and can move on to enjoying our RV finally.

Also, Collier will be at the Chicago RV & Boat show this week and weekend so we’re going to look at possible trade ins if the deal is right. I doubt we’ll be able to afford trading up but it can’t hurt to look right? Check out Collier at booths 6530 and 6735, might as well plug them!

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Response To Carol “Facing50Blog.com”

I have never responded to a comment as an actual blog posting before so here is a first for me.

Remember how people were the days after 9/11? How amazing it was to live here and everybody was saying hi to each other and opening doors, they suddenly became courteous. It's so unfortunate that it takes such tragedies for people to come out of their cocoon and realize that it takes very little to smile or show a kind gesture such as tipping a hat to a lady, opening a door for a stranger or offering a helping hand if somebody falls.

A lady walking in front of me today fell on her butt in the snow, I offered to help her and she smiled back and said thanks but it’s ok. Nobody else moved a muscle, it gets to me when people are rude and it builds up I guess. My wife reminds me to try and be positive instead of focusing on the negative and she is right, it’s why I posted that smiley face yesterday. I have been focusing too much on the negative, partly because that seems to be what’s happening, issues with the RV, my sister, hurting myself and many other things that I let weigh heavy on me.

I used to blog about Politics and Amateur Radio, I didn’t allow my blog to be found on search engines or even in blogger so it was me venting to myself and family generally. I found that there was rarely something nice to say about either topic so stopped writing about them.

I’m finding that it seems to be much easier to find something negative than positive to say and yet when I’m walking by people I’m saying hi and smiling often. What a strange thing to figure out about myself. I guess I just write about what’s going on and since too much of it’s negative that’s what gets aired.

So thank you Carol for the nice words and I’m going to try when posting to think and post positive, who knows maybe others will pick up on it and try it themselves.