Dear RV Shrink:
As many campers have expressed recently, we, too, find generators annoying and always opt for generator-free campground loops when available. Our unit has a generator but even we find it annoying when we have to run it. We would never consider running it around other campers who are enjoying a quiet camping outing.
My concern is yet another sound annoyance we have noticed – car alarms. Many cars now come standard with car alarms. Campers with unfamiliar rentals or new vehicles get into them at all hours of the night and you hear loud honking until they finally figure out what button to push. By that time they have already pushed all my husband’s buttons. He tells them all what he thinks, but I’m the only one that can hear him. I tell him it solves nothing and upsets me. Should I just let him vent and ignore it, or work on this issue until he goes deaf? —Horny in Havre, Montana
Dear Horny:
I’m all ears. It is annoying and a growing problem. The ironic thing is, car alarms are so common we are now programmed to think, “What an idiot,” instead of “Oh, someone is breaking into a car.” It is noise pollution, pure and simple.
I don’t think your husband is going to go out at oh-dark-thirty in the morning and catch the offender. Besides, this person already feels like a jerk. If it’s a real Yosemite “break-in,” he could be eaten by a bear. If he isn’t already deaf I am going to assume he wasn’t at Woodstock, so get him some ear plugs. You could also start taking him to Bob Dylan concerts. I did, and I lost a good share of the hearing I had left. Plus, as a side note, Bob can’t always remember how his songs go anymore. (Just sayin’.)
Time will heal everything. Just be patient and appreciate the fact that there are actually a few people who have read their owner’s manual. —Keep Smilin’, Richard Mallery a.k.a. Dr. R.V. Shrink
Can’t get enough of the Shrink? Read his new e-book: Dr. R.V. Shrink: Everything you ever wanted to know about the RV Lifestyle but were afraid to ask or check out his other e-books.
##RVT813
The panic button has to be the most pointless feature on key fobs. They are probably set off by accident far more often than intentionally and as you say people simply ignore them as a nuisance anyway I usually tear my fob apart and disable the button in some way so that I do not inadvertently create a panic for myself while trying to shut the thing off. I found our new truck has a neat feature. If you hit panic on one fob the other one cannot shut it off.
We have recently experienced our Ford F-150 alarm sounding without key manipulation nor interference with our vehicle. Is anyone else experiencing this occurrence with their vehicle? Talk about loud and embarrassing!!
I long for the days of having to push down the individual door lock buttons to lock doors. I’ve been guilty of accidentally pressing the “Panic” button on my 20 year old p/u’s key fob, and having the horn go nuts. I did this in a small campground, in a small town in Nevada once. There was a guy near by (at his house) who remarked, “You don’t need an alarm here boy – we take care of our own problems”.
MY kind of place – ha.
How about folks with outdoor TV’s blasting, just what we want to hear when enjoying the big, beautiful outdoors.
How about the folks who cannot seem to open nor close their auto/truck doors without using the “chirp” feature on their key fob instead of simply locking the doors with the inside door switch or a key. Love to hear those “chirps” (some of which will awaken the dead) @ midnight or 5 AM!