What we learned about you last week (March 24-30)

By Chuck Woodbury
EDITOR
How much is “too much” to pay for dumping your RV’s holding tanks? That’s what we asked you in last Saturday’s RV Travel Newsletter. Forty percent of you said $10 was tops, with 28 percent willing to pay $15. Three percent of you, 51 readers, are not happy about paying even $1. Eleven percent of you, 213 readers, said $20 is okay.

And speaking of money, we asked if you would bend over to pick up a penny. Wow! More than 3,500 readers responded, with two-thirds (66 percent to be exact) saying they always or almost always bend over to claim the puny bounty. But for 208 of you, three percent of those who responded, bending over for such a tiny reward is just too much trouble. “Nope, never,” they responded.

Now, about pets: How many do you bring with you on your RV trips? With 1,800 responses to our question in last Monday’s RV Daily Tips Newsletter, it’s just about even between no pets and some pets. Thirty percent of you bring along one pet, 16 percent bring two and 6 percent bring three or more. Forty-eight percent of you are pet-less.

On Tuesday, we asked if your RV has an outdoor television. Exactly three-quarters of you do not even have one. Another 20 percent have one but seldom or never watch it. Only 5 percent of you watch your outdoor TV often (if that’s you, a request: keep the volume down if neighbors are close by, okay?). 

How do you support your RV lifestyle? That’s what we asked on Wednesday. Actually we asked what’s the main source of your income? More than a third of you, 35 percent, said pensions. Social Security was second with 33 percent, followed by “my investments” at 17 percent. Income from working rounded out the voting at 13 percent. Some readers cited other sources, but not very many.

On Thursday, we asked the question everyone wants to know — “Does your RV have a junk drawer?” About 80 percent of you said yes (I actually have a couple because I am soooooo unorganized), with 20 percent being so well organized you don’t even have one (how do you do it?).

Dr. Deanna, our pet vet columnist, asked her readers if they had ever observed aggressive dog behavior at a dog park. Personally, I was surprised that more than two-thirds of the nearly 400 readers who responded said they had observed such behavior. If you take your dog to such parks (and that includes campground pet areas) please read Deanna’s article about dog parks and how to keep your furry friend safe while at one.

Finally, our RV electricity expert Mike Sokol asked the 8,000 readers of this RV Electricity Newsletter this question: “Have you found or plugged your 30-amp/120 shore power cord into a pedestal that was miswired with 240 volts?” Of the 800 readers who responded, 10 percent had come upon such a situation, with three percent saying, “Yes, I plugged into one without measuring first or using a smart surge protector, and my RV was damaged.” Ouch! Please sign up for Mike’s excellent RV Electricity newsletter, where you will learn all about RV electricity and hopefully never have a horror story to report about blowing out all your appliances (or hurting yourself, which happens).