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BEATING THE ODDS
No, dear readers, we have not yet taken up gambling! Nevertheless, we
think we’ve beaten the odds. Or, to phrase it more accurately, the odds
have beaten us! Let me explain.
What do YOU think the probability would be that both of the slide-out
rooms in our fifth wheel would fail? And what, so you suppose, would be
the odds that they would both fail within days of each other? Well,
whatever the odds, that is exactly what happened!
On Mother’s Day we arrived at the Darke County (Ohio) Fairgrounds
early in the morning. In our hurry to get ready for church on time, we
didn’t bother to open the big slide. After church we drove to Dayton to
enjoy a dinner out with family. Exhausted when we returned to Darke
County, we took a late afternoon siesta.
When we got up, we decided to open the large living room slide. I
pushed the electric control switch as usual and, as the slide began to
move, it let out a series of unusual and alarming sounds: squeaks,
squawks, grinding and grating noises. We decided to let well enough alone
and seek some advice.
The next morning while I did laundry, Bruce phoned the RV factory in
Kansas. Then, according to the mechanic’s instructions, he carefully
cleaned and lubricated the bars underneath the rig on which the slide
moves in and out. When I got home, we worked together. Using the electric
switch and the hand crank, we moved the slide in and out several times.
We thought we were making progress until Whoops! The rear wall of the
slide was moving more freely than the front wall. We tried one more time
but, with a blood-curdling rattle, it died in mid-track, right before our
eyes!
With much pushing, shoving, straining of muscles and wringing of hands,
we were able to move it just enough to allow us access to the pantry
cupboard. Half in and half out, there it sat for the next four days as we
went about our necessary business in Darke County.
Finally, on Saturday, we had to find a way to pull the dead slide in so
we could continue our travels. I had visions of having to assemble an army
of friendly muscle power to "yo-heave-ho" it back into place.
Bruce, however, had a better idea.
He backed the truck up to about a foot from the outside wall of the
faulty slide. Then he took the hydraulic jack from the truck, turned it
sideways and wedged it between the rear bumper of the truck and the slide.
Slowly, inch by inch, we "jacked" the dead slide back into its
travel position. It took nearly an hour but strained no muscles. We
congratulated each other on our creativity
Sunday morning we were eager to get on the road to beat Monday’s
predicted rain. It was time to retract the bedroom slide so I pressed the
switch. The red "activation light" came on as usual, but nothing
else happened! For the second time in a week, an essential part of our
home on wheels had failed us, dying at a most inconvenient time.
Bruce tried repeatedly to override the switch but nothing worked. We
had hoped to be well along on our way in Indiana by 9:30 am. Instead,
Bruce was folded up and wedged underneath the bed, hand-cranking the
bedroom slide into its travel position! We did make it to our cousin’s
home in Elkhart, Indiana in time for supper, however.
So, for two days we sat in the comfortably furnished customer lounge of
Duncan’s RV Service Center in that "Mecca of the RV World."
The people there were friendly and helpful but resurrecting two dead
slideouts takes time and lots of skill. So, temporarily at least, the odds
had beaten us.
Somewhere in the mysterious depths of that repair bay, however,
miracles were performed and both of our slides were restored again to
life! We didn’t want to get impatient with those performing this
wondrous work, but at nearly $100 per hour, we were glad it was sooner
rather than later! Right on schedule, on Thursday morning May 20, we
resumed our planned travels west toward Illinois. Our rig was in tiptop
shape, and our wallets were lighter! We’d beaten the odds and we hadn’t
even been gambling!
5/22/2010 - mshr
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