Tuesday, August 6, 2013

thoughts...

As I mentioned earlier, we moved out of our camper in March and into a rental house in Florida.  Our camper has been in the repair shop for almost five months now having warranty work done on it *sigh*.  At least it's warranty work and we aren't having to pay for it.

The house we are renting did not come furnished.  Had we been needing a place through the winter months, we could have probably found an affordable furnished rental (off season at the beach).  Since we were needing to move into a home at the beginning of the busy season...spring break, summer, etc...we chose an unfurnished place and used our own things that had been in storage.

the uhaul truck we used to move our things from storage...

...apparently I'm not the only one that dislikes moving ;) ha!

It has been rather interesting going from our camper back into a "regular" house.  Fun... to be living close to family and friends, getting to decorate and enjoy a new to us house, being able to share things and places from our childhoods with our children (we both grew up in this area).  Sad... to be moving out of our camper, ending our travels for a while.  Scary...  to be going back to a "regular" lifestyle. 

Scary?

Yes.

I'm scared of going back to the "old" me.  The old me wasn't bad, that's not what I mean by that.  The old me was what most people would consider normal... and I don't want to be normal (I can hear my husband's jokes now, hehehe).

For example:  When we moved into this house we needed a washer and dryer because we had sold our old set when we moved into our camper.  I had every intention of buying a decent used set, cheap and functional.  Unable to find a used set, we went to a big box store still planning to get a plain, affordable top load set.  Well, I walked out of there with a brand new set of shiny, fancy front load steam whatever (I don't even know what all) laundry machines.  I was happy for about one day.  Then it hit me...I bought those machines because "every body else has them so I want them too".  Gag.  I was very disappointed in myself for so quickly falling back into "normal".  (Please don't think I'm judging anyone else for having things like that, I'm only talking about my own personal convictions).  So, we returned them and got our money back.  This time I was a little more patient and we were able to get a set we found on Craigslist for about 20% of what the new ones cost.  The real kicker?  The cheap and functional set, while not new and shiny themselves, clean the clothes better :)!

I feel like our life has been a journey, a series of events and circumstances, that led up to us taking the step outside the box and deciding to live differently.  It was not something that we just woke up one morning and decided to do, it's more like we were slowly nudged farther and farther in that direction until it became obvious that was what we were supposed to do.

Letting go has been a process.  At times a very painful process, but so worth the end result.

4 comments:

  1. 5 months for warranty work? Serious stuff or just waiting for parts...

    Oh I didn't want to hear that...we just ordered a new rig...we are planning to keep our current trailer until we're happy with the new one.

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    1. Yes, it has seriously been nearly 5 months. Pretty unbelievable that it's taking so long. As far as the repairs being serious...yes and no. Structurally our camper is sound, which is great. The main reason we took it in this time was because of water damage and possible mold (it was starting to smell quite musty when closed up, not good!) in the "innards" caused by our many water leaks we had last fall/winter. Every porous surface that was soaked with water...wood, fabric, etc...has to be replaced (all in the under part of the camper, no water was in the living areas). According to the repair shop, they have been waiting on new fabric covered panels to put in the basement of the camper. Supposedly they are special order or something and it's normal for it to take this long. I have a hard time believing that, since they are in so many of Jayco's units...but that's the story they are giving us. We are trying to be patient since we do have another place to live right now with hopes that they will fix everything correctly this time (this is the 6th time we've had the camper in the shop for warranty work since we got it last summer...mostly for the leaks that keep springing up, but also because the 2nd a/c died and had to be replaced). There are some other things that they are fixing while it's there...trim that was never installed in the master bath, a problem with the kitchen floor, sofa has a seam coming apart...little stuff like that.

      That was the long version of my answer to your question...short version: waiting on parts ;).

      Please don't let our crazy repair experiences discourage you in the purchase of your new rig! I have never heard of anything similar happening to anyone, so it's probably not a common thing.

      It all works out :)

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  2. Holy cow that is serious stuff..:( And unusual to hear about Jaycos. Are you talking with Jayco too or just letting the dealer handle it? I'm not a confrontational person by nature but am learning to be when required..;)

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    1. I absolutely know what you mean, sometimes you have no choice but to "speak louder" to be heard ;)...

      We have been talking to Jayco as well as the repair guys. We have a file or case or something like that with the warranty department and there is a certain man assigned to us that we have to talk to each time we call. The man we are required to talk to is blunt and rude, *sigh*. He actually tried to lay blame on us for not going behind the repair techs, keep in mind we have ONLY used Jayco approved warranty shops, to be certain the leaks were fixed the very first time we had an issue. There's no way we could do that...the leaks were so far up in the hidden parts of the camper bottom that the hot water heater and furnace both had to be pulled to fix them. After each leak issue and following repair, the techs would get it all put back together and pressurize the system to check for stability. Each time it was all good...until days or weeks later when another leak would pop up. So frustrating!

      We were told by the first repair shop that the problem was "incorrect crimping at the factory...in dozens of places...", so it was just a waiting game as they failed randomly. What I wish they would do, and we have asked them to do but they refuse, is just go ahead and replace any thing to do with the water lines that even hints at being "incorrect". The Jayco warranty guys response to our request? We have to wait for it to break before warranty will fix it...even when we can see a line with a bulge in it that hasn't broken but appears close to it. Argh!

      The positive thing that I can say about all this, is that Jayco HAS fixed every single thing that has broken. I have heard horror stories about other manufacturers refusing to honor their warranties, so I'm glad they are at least doing that part. Now if they would only do it with a pleasant attitude, that would be even better ;)!

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