By Chuck Woodbury
At about 8:30 Thursday morning, my neighbor fired up his very loud diesel-powered Dodge Ram pickup. He was preparing to leave the campground. He was accompanying the owner of a fifth wheel trailer. Altogether, there were about eight people.
His pickup was parked close to my motorhome, maybe 12 feet away.
Some guys with diesel pickups think they need to warm their engines for an eternity. Not so, but don’t tell them that.
He idled his engine for 25 minutes! After 10 minutes Gail told me, “Tell him to stop.” And I would normally have done that. But I responded, “No, I want to see how long he will continue being rude.” Plus, there were eight of them and one of me. I figured it would be an opportunity for me to climb on my soapbox, as I have here, and complain about rude people. People get ruder every year, I swear.
Oh, did I mention that it was lovely sucking diesel fumes involuntarily into my lungs.
Finally, the owner of the noisy truck pulled out to follow the fifth wheeler (I think its owner idled his engine for about two minutes).
But “Mr. Rude” was also “Mr. Stupid.” Instead of backing out of his parking space he drove forward, slamming into the picnic table which buckled against a tree stump. The table was a goner.
I called the park office to report the damage. The park owner, came by 10 minutes later. He said the man had not stopped to report that he had destroyed the table. He said it would be nice to get reimbursed for the damage, but he didn’t think it was likely.
Humanity: Ninety percent respectful, 8 percent rude, 2 percent worthless.
##RVT930
In my own experience the same individual is also likely to often see himself as persecuted unfairly and put upon by rules and regulations.
This happens more often than we probably hear about. Some times you can mention it but now day you need to be careful as more and more people are carrying guns and don’t like people to give advise or tell them what to do.
Not so — Chuck’s idiot is just dumb. He doesn’t REALIZE he’s imposing on others. Rude requires volition in my opinion — to know you’re imposing and value yourself over everyone else.
As for guns: Also not so. EVERY gun owner *I* have known is incredibly polite, in part because we have to be. We DON’T start petty fights because we know we’ll have the upper hand and don’t invite it to escalate. We’re also smart enough to just not start stupid fights, generally. 🙂
Amen!! Totally correct.
Love your algorithm.
Stop complaining Chuck, , those people live in RV parks. Think I’ll keep my rent money and enjoy peace and quiet and beautiful sunrises and sunsets without neighbors.
I keep telling Chuck life is easier in the boondocks too!
I think your percentages are off. More like 15% rude and 20% worthless.
1% “smart” — Not popular, but the movers of society
50% gullible “sheep,” who just want blinky distractions — innovate little, strive for little, OK as galley rowers.
20% “busybody” who want the gullible in tow and the smart bridled.
– “Rude” is just a subset here, depending how obviously pushy they are.
– “politician” is the sneakier flavor, talking you into hurting yourself.
29% irretrievably stupid, used by the busybodies as the reason everyone else needs to be “cared for” by the busybody horde according to their misguidance.
That 1% still equals around 78 million people you would classify as smart … really?
I recently had that exact same experience. It also seems that those folks always have a job which requires them to leave at 5 AM which is great fun to listen to at that hour. But my main pet peeve regarding noise are the motorcyclists who believe that we all would benefit from the sound of their un- muffled engines being revved up and down while they are commiserating with their buddies. I have nothing against motorcycles at all but the unnecessary un-muffled noise is simply not fun!
If people were more tuned into what is going on them while driving the motorcycles wouldn’t need loud pipes. What do people usually say when they hit a biker? “I didn’t see them.” Just saying.
Loud pipes will not help me see you any better.
Noise does not help you see, but does alert you to the idea, fact that there is something, somebody else out there, there ie not empty space. Been riding for over 50 years and I can not tell you the number of people who “have not seen” me. Just a thought on safety.
One problem with loud pipes is people look around to see where the noise is coming from, basically making them distracted drivers. They do not know where the noise is coming from, only that there is noise.
My bike is about as loud as a normal car, but my eyes are constantly scanning for inattentive drivers.
The ones with loud pipes don’t have them to alert other drivers, it’s only to show everyone that the bike can be loud.
The park owner should charge the camper’s credit card for the damaged table if he has a card on file. When I fire up my diesel truck, I drive away within 15 seconds…..it will warm up faster if you get moving
Yep, I let my glow plugs warm, start the engine, make sure the oil pressure is up, then go…accelerating slowly up to speed.
The reason most of us RV is to get away from the big city. Please don’t bring your big city practices to the wild places, and that includes outdoor TVs, loud music, lighting a rig like a Christmas tree, barking dogs, loud conversations late into the night, unsupervised and loud children, unmuffled vehicles, and drunkenness.
A particular pet peeve is porch lights that are left blazing all night in locations that are specifically noted for their dark skies. Are you that insecure?
Well said, Willie! May I add wind chimes to the list?
Ditto!
You absolutely may add them!
And what about those motor home drivers who leave their engines running for 15-20 min before pulling out at 6:30 A.M.? Out of curiosity, do motor homes actually need to run like that before pulling out?
We/I do need to run the engine to charge up our air tank for brakes. My coach only takes maybe five minutes tops to do that. Once aired up I turn the engine off and don’t restart until I’m ready to pull out.
Our motor home has air suspension and brakes therefore it requires several minutes to bring the air pressure up before the suspension is raised enough to travel and the brake pressure is enough for driving. However, we are never up that early and leave a park normally around 9:30 or 10AM ……. after all we ARE retired and have no need to hurry. I’ve never understood the hours folks leave diesels running though since my manual states specifically not to allow the engine to idle for long periods of time and it is a 2000 coach.
The key words you said were “since my manual says”. On average few people read the owners manual. My own Dad who is no longer with us always traded vehicles every 2 years because he never read his owner’s manual and didn’t know manufacturers went to 36 months/36000 miles bumper to bumper and 60 months/60000 miles drivetrain warranties. He thought they still only warranted 24 months/24000 miles like it was back in the 60s. We sold our motorhome last summer, I went through the entire coach with him and explained all the info was in the two big manuals that came with it along it. He was still calling me 5 months later asking about how something worked. I finally told him it’s in the manuals READ THEM! I then blocked his number.
Back in the days of carburetors and chokes (remember those things) you would have to pump the gas pedal a few times to squirt extra fuel into the intake manifold and set the choke. Then you could start the engine which would run really rich until it warmed up enough to release the choke. And there was little actual power at that time, so starting up the engine and putting it in gear would often result in a stall. And that’s where the warm up process began. But nowadays with electronic fuel injection those days are over. So unless you need to pump up the air supply for your air brakes or suspension bags, you can probably drive off after 30 seconds or so. But everyone (including me) likes a warm car to drive in, which is why I had a block heater in many of my diesel vehicles. I put a timer on it that would start warming it up a few hours before I needed to leave, and within a minute of starting there was heat. Espar engine heaters can be set to do the same thing from diesel fuel, not electric. But be aware there’s a psychological warming effect for a few owners of big diesel trucks, and hearing their engines throb is part of why they bought a diesel in the first place.
I’ll add to the others who have mentioned this, simply because the more times it’s mentioned, the more believable it is. For diesel pushers with air brakes and air bag suspension, it takes 5-10 minutes of idling for the coach to raise the suspension. But be assured, you will NEVER see [or hear] me leaving at 0630! I’m more of a 0930-1000 kinda guy. And you will see me disconnect the utilities, bring in my slides and make my walk-around safety check BEFORE the ignition key ever turns. That way, once the jacks retract and the suspension inflates, I’m ready to release the airbrakes and go. But yes, it can take 5-10 minutes of idling to achieve readiness for a bus to move. When you hear my coach go PHSSSST that means the air system is fully inflated and the relief valve opened.
People like your neighbor exist all over. We work camped in SD this past summer. We had a guy that started his diesel truck remotely two doors down. You know the type. He had a supercharged engine with an exhaust outlet the size of a small garbage can.
The truck ran for nearly two hours. It started around seven in the morning. It went on until I finally meandered into his camp site to confront him on behalf of a half dozen complaining campers. When I knocked on the door there was no answer. Puzzled, I knocked again I then heard muted shuffling around in the RV. The RV’r appeared in pajamas, I told him about the complaints and he was puzzled. He went to find his key fob and started laughing.
I was puzzled at that point. I mean why was this situation funny? He came back carrying a pair of pants. He said his dog evidently wanted to lay on his pants and had drug them off a chair and laid down on them. He further theorized that the dog had hit the remote start button when he laid down.
Ok so that guy gets a pass. LOL
You said he was not only rude but also stupid. Seems to me the two always seem to go hand in hand.
Chuck, I think your Humanity percentages are reversed. We’re presently at our brick and mortar house in Lake Havasu …. cold, but fun watching the hot air balloons today. Join the fun.
Wow how we all trend towards the same enjoyments in LHC, Az . I just got back to the house from the freezing temps watching the low count of Hot Air Balloons this morning. Opened up RV travel to find this tread to be interesting. I always try not to over idle my older diesel truck in RV parks I have always thought it rude. The newer equipment is much friendlier. No smell no noise, but at a high end price.
The worse we ever had was a young couple next to us in a forest service campground here in WA. They were tent camping and I swear every couple of minutes he would hit his car remote and the car would beep that it was locked. He kept up until they finally went to bed but even late at night he would hit it every time he woke up or perhaps roll over as we heard it at least 5 times during the night in our trailer. The first afternoon they also hiked around the lake leaving their tiny dog tied under the picnic table…dog crying the whole time. I then noticed its water had spilled so I did go give her water and un tangled her. In the morning the guy continued beeping his car but down to about 30 minutes between honks. They built a fire ~ started breaking camp and pulled away with the fire burning.~ BONEHEAD~ eastern WA, summer and high fire danger. We put out the fire and I left a note at the pay station to let the Ranger know when he came around that the camper in that site had left a fire. As part of your registration you are suppose to write down your license plate. I hope they got at least a warning letter…My hubby and I sure wondered what was in the car, drugs, money, a body~ ?
I have a serious problem with diesel fumes, I get within 10ft of a running diesel my sinuses completely plug up. You are right they seem to think they have stay running all the time.
I hear this all to often, that cars and trucks need to warm up. Well, they don’t and anyone with a modicum of common sense would know this. I could see warming up my car if it’s below freezing as you need the windshield!!! But that’s 2 minutes. I live in the mountains and even with a foot of snow on my truck two minutes is enough. It’s called CONSIDERATION, and the concept of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” seems to be lost.
I’m with you John … so many people still follow Grandpa’s advice to warm up your engine … no gas engine with fuel injection since the late 80s needs to “warm up”. That advice was originally intended to warm up carburetors that need to be a little warm to function properly.
I have a diesel and I do warm it up, just like I would if it was a gasser. But NEVER more than five minutes. Ever. I hope that’s not considered rude.
Warm up 2 minutes or less and pull out in a pickup truck. Air brake coaches have to idle until air pressure builds enough to pull out – so that is understandable.
I always warm up my vehicle in cold weather. But warming up my Tesla is quiet, and it never produces any stinking poisonous exhaust. Won’t all this be so much nicer when we stop burning all this stinking stuff just to move around?
And the moving around is a lot nicer in an EV – quiet, quick when you want to be, clean. When I leave my spot in my Cybertruck you won’t even wake up 12 feet away.
Good luck towing a RV with that. Or do you own a motorhome and thus your claims are pretty much null and void?
And just how are you going to provide electricity with no diesel generator?
He will use windmills (which require enormous expenditure of energy to manufacture and install) and will also use unicorn farts.
Right, and let’s see how many birds we can kill with those windmills. Oh, and let’s see how many farms can be converted to solar fields so we can’t grow our own food anymore. And, I like the way the way the beautiful views from the beaches are being destroyed by windmill farms offshore, along with the once well managed fisheries. The list goes on and on. Best of all is no more fossil fuel and nuclear electric generation, so we only have barely enough electric supply on the sunniest cool days and none at night. Where is all the electric supposed to come from to power a nation with only electric vehicles? I know, we can run giant underwater cables to China and Russian, and import our electric from them! That way all the bad stuff can stay in their countries instead of ours. We’ll import all of our food and energy. Don’t get me started! Oh, I already am!
Reading a variety of research articles from neutral sources will calm your fears. This is all fake news and scare tactics.
You are delusional man, get help, now!
There, there, … take a deep breath and enjoy being in the less than 1/1000% of people in the world that can afford an RV.
Have you always been a complainer? And how do you feel about global warming?
There’s tons of non-farmable land for solar. They are also experimenting with veggies that tolerate some shade planted WITH solar panels. Food? Global warming is drying up most of our irrigated farm land. Burning more oil won’t fix that.
And how much do you pay to support the roads you drive on?
I am somewhat in favor of electrical vehicles however they do come with some limitations. Currently where is the energy coming from to charge your vehicle? Most people don’t care or think about it, they have their blinders on and only care about the pollution to make plastic and build the batteries and charge them is not in their back yard!
Renewable energy in the U.S. is lacking and has some big issues in growing more. With a little research one will find that we trade one pollution for another, mining for the elements that are in electrical vehicles and solar panels is a filthy business.
The USA gets apx 20% of its power from renewables. Solar 3%(filthy to build and dispose, can be undependable also the electrical grid has issues due to an electrical condition called VARS however technology is being developed to somewhat correct it), wind 8.4% (not dependable), Geothermal .4% (regional and hard to expand upon due to drilling laws), hydro 6.6% (new dams? I don’t think so), biomass 1.4% (requires burning plant type fuel). Drive your Tesla but remember currently 80% of the energy to charge it comes from fossil and nuclear power, both are filthy!
What’s dirty about nuclear? Zero carbon emissions and the spent fuel can be buried underground and in the mountains of federally owned land in the desert west. Nuclear power is what has powered our aircraft carriers and submarines for over fifty years with no accidents or problems for their crews.
I live within the immediate area of 3 Mile Island in south central Pennsylvania. (Harrisburg Penna) I have many friends and also my wife were employees of the plant for many years. Some of them including my wife were very involved in the operation and cleanup after of the accident. I also was employed in the power production business for 40 years. Currently there is no central storage facility for the high level radioactive waste from power plants which is stored on each site in dry caskets. Not only is there an issue with the high level waste but also with the lower level waste that comes from material that was used inside the containment building such as protective suits, respirators and etc, water filtration media from reactor water, the list goes on and on. So yes nuclear power does come with it’s filthy garbage and high level waste that the government keeps kicking the can down the road!
Bill, I forgot to ask you, how do they burn high level radioactive waste?
Your Tesla pollution you don’t see because it’s in China where they process the lithium minerals. It’s the most polluting mining process there is with 100’s of square miles of scorched earth with the leeching process. There is no free lunch.
Just think that 80% + of the power to charge your Tesla comes from the filthy fossil fuel and nuclear power plants, not exactly driving a clean energy vehicle! Mining for your batteries also comes from a filthy process and mostly not in our back yards, plastic for many parts comes from oil.
Mostly trading one pollution for another but it makes people feel good since they don’t see or care about issues of providing materials for their electrical vehicles from other countries outside their back doors
I know the post is a year old, but, that’s cute how Gregory thinks his Tesla makes energy out of sunshine and rainbows. That electrical juice comes from a stinking coal plant, nat gas plant, or nuclear reactor. Or maybe some hydro dam that’s dried up a Western river?
I’m all for alternative energy but let’s not kid ourselves.
In our travels, when we have rigs on either side of us and I know I will be leaving around 8am or so in the morning, I will tell the people on either side that my Detroit 6v92 will be making some noise in the am.
Normally, the evening before, I start the bus and air up so it doesn’t take me but a few minutes in the am to get on the road.
This is how we have been doing this fulltime now for 17 years.
Chuck and all. If you are familiar with Newmar Motorhomes, since about 2015 or so, they have to be started to put air into the air bags because the company requires the coach to be at “ride height” for the slides to come in correctly. That also allows you to retract the hydraulic jacks. Since when you extend the jacks, the coach dumps all the air, it can take several (as long as 10) minutes to get the system back to it’s recommended height/level. Food for thought. Dog owners make me the maddest, why, no one needs 6 of the things barking all the time, and leash rules apply to all owners, even those who don’t think it does. Trust me I will talk to the office every time I see your dog off the leash period.
But pickups do not need to idle for any where near that long. Building air pressure is one thing. Thats not minded. But to do it while getting ready is not acceptable!
Every dog owner seems to have several now, I had one tell me “If you would stay in your camper he wont bark at you. if he cant see you he wont bark at you” pitiful pet owners. Its really not bad pets but terrible pet owners.
We had a Newmar mountain air. You can bypass the dumping of the air bags by “manually” deploying your jacks instead of just hitting the auto level. Comes in handy many times. Try it.
It could be much worse. If you were living in a bricks and mortar house and he was your neighbor you’d be stuck with him forever.
As full-time travelers, we find that such annoyances are short-lived. Either they leave or we leave with a day or so.
I live by one of those people that have to start their truck and let it warm up before leaving. Today is a good example 80 outside but he had to start up the truck and idle it for 30 minutes before he drove away
I have had the misfortune of dealing with these “dead beat” campers. They do not care about anyone or anything. Normally leave without paying or “repaying” for damages done!
Safe travels…………..
Howard
One of the worst campers we’ve run into was the camp host.
Noisy grandkid with what sounded like a cap gun, a smoky campfire from 3pm until evening, loud talking, a dog that barked at every passing car or walker.
I think your percentages are off a bit.
Ditto, more like 90% rude if not more. Last year I made a post on fakebook about this class a diesel getting ready to leave, idled a good 40 minutes…oh boy did all the haters come out of the woods with every absurd comment about why they must idle so long lol yeah right. By the time I got around to looking at my post again the moderator had cut off comments, guess they thought my feelings were hurt or something, not, but dangit, I wasn’t able to hurt their wittle feelings with a response.
Of course, it’s not just diesel engines; it’s also the people who have to talk in outside voices before 8 am right next to you. Had a neighbor in a park once who talked on her phone, outside on her patio, at 6:30 every morning, right beside our bedroom. I’m the early riser, but married to a very grumpy don’t-wake-me-before-9-or-my-day-is-ruined spouse. I would leap out of bed and turn on the A/C to drown her out so I didn’t have to deal with the fall out.
People who warm up their diesel trucks and rv’s for more than just a couple of minutes are not only being inconsiderate but stupid. They are wasting fuel and polluting our atmosphere at the same time. I had a neighbor in an rv park a few years ago who had been running his diesel motor coach for like 25 – 30 minutes early one morning. I told him he was being inconsiderate and to either turn it off or get out of the park. Stupid is as stupid does!!
I agree, the percentage is way off. We once had a neighbor that told us “ I’m getting an early start tomorrow “ he fired up the diesel at 3:30 am….then started packing up, all the while yelling back and forth to his partner instructions on what to do.
I think this subject should be a daily voice, maybe a few, of the idiots will read it and see themselves.
Least he wasn’t blasting the radio too!!
I’ll pull my soapbox up next to yours. Diesel engines and their exhaust systems produced in the last fifteen years are not all that loud. Shade-tree boneheads spend a lot of time and money altering these systems in the name of supposed gains in horsepower and freedom from the tyranny of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF).
I recently stayed at an RV park where one driver – a resident – owned a diesel that was so loud, you could hear it from the other side of the park.
The other offenders are the “rollin’ coal” morons, who take great pride in their ability to spew vast clouds of black smoke. Sometimes these subsets overlap. I asked one of these miscreants why he modified his truck’s systems. “I get a lot more horsepower!” The truck didn’t even have any kind of hitch installed and the bed was pristine. I guess he used his extra horses to go to the grocery store.
Finally, I start my nice, quiet, well-maintained, Duramax, drop it into D, and go. Warming an engine is a waste of time and fuel.
“Society is controlled by the Lunatic Fringe”
All the issues mentioned below, at some point, will trigger someone to “Make a law” to stop it. One person does something stupid and a Politician will decide to gain votes by making an issue out of one incident.
My bid – A couple that parked next to us seasonally for a few weeks would leave every morning before 8am. They would take 27,000 items with them each day, placing each item individually in the car, slamming the door to the coach coming out, slamming the car door shut, slamming the coach door going back inside…with each item…every time…regardless of the weather conditions…within 6ft of our bedroom slide.
Oh, BTW…. My air bags fully inflate within 5 minutes. Cummins says extended idling is harmful. “Truckers do it” is not a valid argument. I’ve delayed leaving campsites because my exhaust was pointed at the neighbor.
The world is full of idiots… Don’t be one.
Idling a modern diesel with exhaust after treatment systems is not good for them at all. Of course a lot of owners “delete” the emissions system. It amazes me how these same people who delete their emissions systems have kids and grandkids growing up into the same environment they are selfishly polluting.
Revenge is a dish best served early in the morning…… we had the noisy diesel pick up truck neighbor who would start his engine before 7:30 am every morning, let idle for 15 to 20 minutes each time before leaving his campsite. On the day of our departure, I fired up my Cat C7 at 5 am! I let it idle long enough to bring in the 4 slides, lift the jacks and fill the air bags…… about 15 minutes. The real reason for the early departure was to get on the road to our next destination before the daily temperature got too high.
In the smokies last month for 5 days..beautiful camp site two rental RV’s come in behind us with six dogs..two small yappers that barked 15 hours a day. After three days I asked them to stop they said sorry can’t do anything about it that’s the way they are. Spoke to the ranger he came over still nothing..when they left the campground cheered…
I thought it was just me getting older getting more intolerant to the “me” generation, but I guess not. It seems that some people just don’t have common sense anymore, or think about how their actions affect others.