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The Adventures of Me & My Shadow # 78 in TN,VA,MD & PA 10/20/02 748 miles this trip, odometer now 29,179, total miles this year 33,639 From Virginia Beach, VA, Hi Everyone! The trip east from Nashville was a mess. It rained most of the way across TN and I didn’t find dry roads till I got to VA. I do not like to drive at night in the rain or on wet roads as the light reflects different than on dry roads. I spent a lot of time in rest areas and truck stops. One good thing, was no morning sun in my face. Another good thing was the luck I had when I needed fuel. It started a few miles east of Nashville. I saw the price was $1.249 (it was over $1.30 to $1.38 in much of Nashville) I topped my tanks off and saw it above $1.29 for 300 miles when I again found it for $1.249 and topped off. Every time I needed fuel the price would be down, I see it here in VA Beach for $1.219 at Sams Club. I see a problem. Yes I know we all see things differently, and something that is a problem for me, may not be a problem for anyone else and vice-versa. Many of my friends are no longer members of GMCMI because of this problem. Several years ago I was at a GMCMI rally with a cracked windshield and I had it replaced at a very reasonable cost. This is no longer possible and that is only one part of the problem. Another part of the problem was the $600.00 security force that was hired to make sure that no GMC owner could have his windshield replaced at the rally. And to make sure that none of the local GMC owners who for any reason did not register for the rally, could not sneak in and eat a catererd meal or partake of the ice cream. Now, if this dumb old Highschool dropout was in charge, I would mark the windshield replacer’s annual membership fee paid, just for providing a needed service to the GMC community. I would send out invitations to all local GMC Owners who were not registered, to come on in and I would have a box for them to put money in to pay for their meals and the ice cream. I’ll bet I would get more in the box than the $600.00 spent to keep them out. I learned a long time ago to trust people till they prove that they can not be trusted. I have also learned that a person who doesn’t trust others is one that needs to be watched. I can see why they didn’t register if they have received a site like I did at the KOA in Nashville. I have always checked the box asking if I would take a site without a sewer hookup, but never again. I paid the same fee as those who had sewer and I did not have enough power to run the air-conditioner or the microwave oven. One GMCer two sites over from mine ran his generator so he could have air-conditioning. It’s hard to think that I paid $60.00 for this site for checking in two days early. Another part of the problem as I see it, is in the News Letter with articles saying that one of the members did something to his or her GMC but his or her name is not mentioned except in a list of contributors. I might like to contact him or her to find out more about it but for some reason this is not an option. Now, I could do like my many friends have done and bail out. Eventually they could rename GMCM International, to GMCM First Timers, as that is all that would be left. However, many years ago when I dropped out of highschool I worked for a farmer across the road and I learned many valuable lessons. When a machine would break down we didn’t discard it or weld it and go back to work. We would study it and think of many things we could do to make it better so it would not break again. It worked then and it still works today. I am constantly making my old GMC better. I am sure the newly elected Board of Governors know what must be done to fix the problem. I’m also sure that the problem could fix the problem with a change in attitude. I don’t like the word "dictator" but it has come up several times and it seems to fit. One bad adventure begets another bad adventure. After the Nashville adventure and then the rainy trip east, on Monday morning I took my sister-in-law to work and headed to the Portsmouth Naval Hospital to get my defibrillator checked, in her car as there is no place to park a motorhome there. I am on the expressway in rush hour traffic in the rain. Just after the rain let up, the right rear tire on the car goes flat. I worked my way over to the outside lane and when I got to an exit lane the tire was coming apart and I would soon be running on the rim. I got it jacked up before a very nice guy in a pickup truck with flashing yellow lights parked behind me and put some red cones out. He informed me that I should have kept going till I was off the expressway. He helped me put the spare on and I am soon on my way. The bad adventures continue. I check into cardiology and I am told that the Doctors are all bailing out, there are only two left and they are very busy. I would have to go to a civilian Hospital. She recommended Norfolk Gen. the rules have changed and it is against the law for her to check my defibrillator without a referral from a Primary Care Doctor. I think that those little voices that are always telling me what to do must have said something to her. She whispered to me to come into the back room and she would check it one more time. With Sweethearts like her on my side I think my bad adventures just ended. She told me every thing was OK and to be sure to not wait more than three months to get it checked again and then I would likely have to have it checked in two months. It sounded like the battery should last till next spring when I can be in Sioux Falls, SD to have it replaced. I am sending this adventure story out early as I want the newly elected Board of Governors of the club to have time to do what they must do to fix my problem before the next spring Rally. If you GMC owners see the problem as I see it by all means let the GMC community hear your opinion. If some action isn’t taken by the next Rally then many more of my friends and I will have to enjoy the other GMC clubs and let GMCMI fade away. Till next time, Dallas or Dad if it fits. |