By Emily Woodbury
Oh, hello! It’s so nice to see you again. Thanks for stopping by! *In all seriousness, how neat would it be if we were all together right now? I imagine us all leaving our RVs, walking through a fog-swamped campground to join together around a blazing bonfire, coffee in hand. Do you know how much we’d actually learn about each other if we met in person and had a good, long conversation?
I work from home, as does the rest of the staff here at RVtravel. We meet up a couple of times a week (every Tuesday is our big staff meeting), but otherwise we’re all on our lonesome. I’m sure most of you are alone right now too. Or maybe you’re with your partner or spouse, or the kids or grandkids, or just the pooch. I encourage you to get outside today and talk with someone you wouldn’t usually talk to. Ask them what books they’re reading, where they last traveled to, if they know of any good restaurants in town, etc. I guarantee you’ll learn a little something, and you’ll be glad you made a new friend.
Jeez, I’m starting to sound a little bit like Chuck, aren’t I? Oh boy. Better get to work before that becomes any worse… 🙂
Well, after typing all that about making friends with your neighbors, I realized Saturday’s poll is a little hypocritical of what I just said. Whoops. We asked if you’ve ever moved from your campsite because of a bad neighbor. Thankfully, the majority of you, which was 74 percent, have never had to move campsites. However, sorry to say that 26 percent of you have.
On Sunday (our second Sunday poll in a row – woo!), we wanted to know how long you leave your porch light on when you’re hooked up to power. Just about half of you only leave it on when you’re outside the RV or away from it, but 17 percent of you leave it on in the evening until you go to bed. A tiny 4 percent of you leave it on all night (but we’re making sure it’s not blazing into our neighbor’s windows, riiiiiiiight?), and another 17 percent of you only turn the light on when you’re answering the door. The remaining 12 percent of you answered, “Other.” Most of you that said “Other” commented that you have a motion-sensored light.
Do most of your friends call you by your given name or a nickname? That’s what we wanted to know on Monday. I’m actually pretty surprised that 70 percent of you answer mostly to your given name, and only 30 percent of you answer mostly to a nickname. I figured it would be closer to half and half. See, I’m learning things here!
I’m disappointed to learn from Tuesday’s poll that 71 percent of you won’t be carving a Halloween pumpkin this year. Another large 20 percent of you said you probably won’t carve one, and 4 percent of you said you probably will. Another 4 percent of you said yes, you’ll for sure be carving one, and a small 2 percent of you already have. If you’ve already carved a pumpkin, or decorated your RV for Halloween, will you send me a photo here? We’re collecting photos for an upcoming story, and I’d love for you to contribute!
What do you call a person that chops up their cereal? A cereal killer! Wednesday taught us that 14 percent of you eat cereal for breakfast every day. Another 19 percent of you eat it a few times a week, and a little over a quarter of you eat it only sometimes. Another quarter of you eat it very rarely, and surprisingly 17 percent of you never eat cereal for breakfast. I should add, though, that many of you commented that you eat oatmeal for breakfast (it’s aaaaaalmost the same thing….sort of…).
I apologize for all the numbers this week. I’ve been throwing a lot of them at you! We’re almost done, so stick with me here! Thursday’s poll taught us that 5 percent of you hardly drink any water in a day (this is not good, people!). Another 18 percent of you only drink “a glass or two” in a day (do I need to repeat myself?), and an additional 28 percent of you only drink a few glasses (…..ahem…..). I’m thrilled with the 34 percent of you who drink several glasses, and I’m even more thrilled with the 10 percent of you who drink so much water that you lose count of how many glasses. My eyes have rolled so far back into my head that I can’t even see whhat il’m tryping rightt no w because 7 percent of you said, “Does coffee count as water?” OY! Maybe I should buy all of you this water bottle (paid link) that lights up to remind you to drink.
OK, finally we’ve reached Friday. We asked if you drive or tow your RV. Just a tiny bit more than half of you, 51 percent, drive it, but 49 percent of you tow.
Well, I hate to leave you on such a dull note, but I’ve written nearly 900 words, and it is time to run! And I do mean run because I’ve got to use the restroom very badly. You know why? Because I drink my water! Humph! I challenge you to drink a full 8 glasses of water every day until you read this again next Saturday. Challenge accepted? Great. We’ll talk then. 🙂
We have 20 oz thermo mugs that we drink from and they are kept full of ice water all the time. We probably refill our mugs 3-5 times per day depending on our activity. We never go anywhere that we don’t have our water with us. Before we got married 3 1/2 years ago I was that way about ice tea, never leave home without it.
I think the old adage about drinking eight glasses of water – no matter what, is, well, silly. I drink when I’m thirsty, and my ‘thirst’ changes with the seasons. I drink gallons of water in summer when we’re hiking or bicycling, or working in the yard. Come winter when we’re bundled up and chattering our teeth, drinking eight glasses of water is out of the question.
Several years ago when the water drinking craze hit, a friend carried an 18 oz water bottle with her all the time, lifting it to take a sip constantly (or so it seemed). It drove me nuts!
I always take a couple gulps when I get up in the middle of the night. I guess I’m just replacing what I just ‘lost’ . . .
During many years as a volunteer firefighter (where dehydration can be a problem) I learned that if you don’t feel like you need to pee you haven’t drank enough water.