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Friday, March 9, 2012

Arm Wrestling With Verizon

I was going to write about the "fun" we've been having with our Verizon MiFi, but something else more intersting took it's place, so that'll be for another post.

I guess sooner or later we were going to have our luck run out, and it finally happened.We ran into our first nasty camper this evening.  Here at the nice little gem of a campground where we're staying at, you are allowed to have campfires as long as you keep the fire in the site fire ring.  So we invited grandsons Andrew and Owie for a sleepover in Mimi and Pa's camper and we'd cook hot dogs and make smores over the fire.



My next door (site) neighbor had a bit of a fit when I informed him that we were going to have a campfire in case he had some windows open, he might want to close them.  He told me no way could I have a campfire, he had replaced his slide topper on his fifth wheel last year and didn't want any holes burned in it from flying sparks.  He said that if I still wanted to have a fire, I'd have to go somewhere else.

Now to explain, even though the sites are not huge, there was about 20 feet between the Journey and the fiver, the fire ring being 15 feet away from the neighbor.

That's exactly what we did, we went somewhere else, to the campground manager.  She came over to our site and between us, we found a new location for the fire, moving it about ten feet further away from the original location.

She left and we started building a small fire.  In no time, the neighbor came flying out and said we had to stop making the fire, we had to move it further away.  At that point, I told him (nicely) that we had checked with the manager and she already okayed the moving of the fire to this new location.  He wasn't satisfied and went storming off to see the manager.

We had a nice little fire (three small logs) going when he came back and said the manager was coming down to talk to me and  tell me I had to ensure no sparks hit his awning or rubber roof.  I told him that we'd be very careful and would make sure no sparks flew.  He spun on his heel and stormed off to his trailer.

What I felt like saying was I had already moved the fire a few feet closer to my $225K motorhome and if I wasn't concerned about damaging it, then he shouldn't be concerned about his old, beat up, piece-o-crap fifth wheel.  I just bit my tongue instead and smiled. 

A little later the campground manager came down with a big grin on her face and tried hard to suppress her laughter when I told her I had already been informed by the neighbor that  she was coming to tell me I had to make sure no sparks hit the fifth wheel.  She said she had quite the conversation with the gentleman, who angrily told her since he was a long time customer he had the right to demand I couldn't have a campfire.  She replied this was a campground, not a fancy RV resort and there have been campfires at my site for years in the previous fire ring location without any problems.

He got huffy and told her he was going to check over his trailer in the morning and if there was any damage he'd hold both of us responsible.  Sheesh!

But anyway, we had a nice little fire, no sparks went flying, the very slight breeze actually blew the smoke away from the neighbor and over the Journey.  The boys had a blast, cooked great hotdogs, loved the smores and went  to bed in the Journey full and happy.  Before we called it a night, I doused the few remaining embers with water to put the fire out cold.

I'm looking forward to seeing the neighbor get up on his roof tomorrow and look for "damage".  Bet he'll be even more happy when we have another campfire tomorrow night.  Yep, we've got more firewood.  ;c)

Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.

19 comments:

  1. what an ole grump!!...if we were your neighbors we would have been the first ones outside asking if we could join in the fun!..hot dogs and smores all round..hey, maybe you should have made the old grump up a plate and taken it over?.. enjoy the time with the grandtreasures!..life is always an adventure!!

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  2. Now that was worth writing about! We've met a few but nothing like you just experienced. I've posted pictures of rigs a few times when folks are crude or rude. Glad you got to have your campfire!!

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  3. I would almost bet that he already has some damage and is going to try to make you pay for it. Some people are always looking for a free ride. Nice job of controlling your temper!

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  4. Glad you kept it under control for the Kids sake because it truly sounded like Somebody was missing their Fiber. Enjoy the Grands it makes it Worthwhile.

    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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  5. Somebody needs to get a life.

    Glad y'all were able to have a nice little campfire with the kids.

    Enjoy!

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  6. I think you were being very nice by letting your site neighbor know that you were going to have a campfire. The smell of smoke bothers some folks but he was way too grumpy.
    Syl

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  7. Gosh, there are all kinds, aren't there? What a poop. Bet he doesn't have much fun in life..

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  8. Sounds like a bond fire is in order:)) It just goes to show that there are idiots and jerks everywhere, and it is amazing how often they wear the same skin.

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  9. Nice, bitting your tounge is hard sometimes, glad you did infront of the little ones. Good role model (wow, I actually called you a good role model) what was I thinking.....lol

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  10. Well, it takes all kinds;o( Perhaps he was just cranky because he hasn't had a smore in a long time;o))

    At least he will only be your neighbor for a short time!!!

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  11. Well that was fun. Guess that puts the double meaning into "stoking the flames", eh?
    *snort*

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  12. What the heck makes someone want to go camping if they don't like sitting around a campfire!?? Glad you won't be this guy's neighbor too long. :) He'd be putting up a fence. LOL

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  13. You had the courtesy to let him know you were going to build a fire ... none of our camping neighbors have ever given us that courtesy. Not that we've expected it. After all, if there's a fire ring, there's bound to be a fire. From his reaction, you'd think you were going to build a bonfire. Good job on holding on to your temper.

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  14. Have a big campfire tonight! Geez, old grump!

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  15. Sounds to me like you went above and beyond. Can't wait to hear "the rest of the story".

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  16. Lol. Can't even imagine how hard it was to 'bite your tongue'. I think I would have told him, look buddy..move to another site :)

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  17. Perhaps you could sing "Hit the Road, Jack" tonight as you're building your next fire? :)

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  18. it takes all kinds to make the world go round my friend...hard to believe theres a nasty Rver out there isn't it....oh well one out of a million gazillion billion isn't too bad for odds is it...hopefully he didn't have pre damage that he will try blame on you...have a super campfire tonight and I can't wait to see the followup...take care dear friends and enjoy those grands....

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  19. Good grief -- someone got their bloomers in a bunch! Can't wait to hear how tonight's campfire went.

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