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Old 07-18-2003, 08:44 AM   #1
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A tale of two jerks and two generators

Ok, now, I'm not trying to upset any of our rich breathren with those quiet little Hondo EU2000 generators.

I mean, those rich Honda-owning-generator-folks would never be like this.

No, this is only to tell you of a sad little tale, about a guy and a gal who went to the mountains to seek a little peace and quiet ... to commune with nature ... listen to the birds and the cascading mountain streams.

Until the jerk in the neighboring campsite fired up his industrial strength generator at the crack of dawn.

Quiet hours in the campground, you see, were from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

But this guy apparently couldn't read, because he fired up his (had to be mufflerless) generator as soon as he got there and ran it late into the night ... well after my nerves were fried.

And then, after a few hours of rest, he fired it up before dawn.



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Old 07-18-2003, 08:45 AM   #2
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Pam ... seeking to keep her husband's sanity ... suggested we eat a quick breakfast and drive to a far-away trailhead for a long hike.

I suggested that I go over to our neighbor's campsite and break the windows out of his trailer ... but, as always, Pam's idea won out, so we left the campground.

Returning several hours later, I was really unhappy to find that the ear-drum-shattering generator was still running .... and continued to run until well after dark ... when I gave Pam two choices:

1. I mosey over and shoot our neighbor.

or

2. Pam go to the campground host and seek a remedy.



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Old 07-18-2003, 08:46 AM   #3
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Well, we go with #2 ... but Pam comes back and tells me that the host said quiet hours were from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. and that the man was within his rights to run his generator from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

So if I figured that I was within my rights to take a knife over to my neighbors campsite and cut his generator's gas line (but alas, Pam wouldn't let me do it!).

So we waited until 10 p.m. .... then 10:30, when low and behold, we saw the campground host pull up to the offending campsite and knock on the jerk's door.

Even then, the generator didn't stop for 15 minutes after the host left.

The next day, the generator jerk left ... and we found out from the host that the reason the man ran the generator so long was because he was using the generator power to electrically heat his water heater all day long.

And that the man refused the host's request to turn off the generator the night before (at 10:30 p.m.) was because the man's son was in the shower!

In the shower!

Using a generator to heat the water heater.

Man, this guy didn't belong in the national forest.

He belonged in a mental institution!



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Old 07-18-2003, 08:50 AM   #4
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I tell you, I was never so happy to see a neighbor leaving a campsite.

Surely lightning wouldn't strike twice.

Surely the next occupant wouldn't be a bad as the first.

God wouldn't be that cruel to me, would he.

Well, guess what.

Fate is a fickle thing.

The next occupant was worse.

Instead of running his generator a little before quiet hours to a little after quiet hours, the next guy decides to run his generator 25/8 (which is longer than 24/7 !!!!)



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Old 07-18-2003, 08:59 AM   #5
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This time, however, the constant generator use caught the host's attention before I could complain.

The new guy, who paid for three nights ... left after one night ... after a verbal fight with the host about running the generator at midnight.

Since we could hear the argument from our campsite, the argument went something like this:

Host: "I'm sorry, but you'll have to turn off your generator. It's after quiet hours."

Jerk: "Well, I can't. My refrigerator requires the battery be charged in order to run, and I'm having a battery problem, so I have to run the generator to keep the battery charged up, so that our food won't spoil."

(Note to those who don't know. Big refrigerators in big rigs have logic boards that even when you're running your refrigerator on gas, need battery power to power the logic boards.)

Host: "Well, I'm sorry, but we have a lot of tent campers, as well as other folks who will be disturbed if you run the generator after quiet hours."

Jerk: "I'm not going to let our food spoil, so it looks like we're at a stand-off" and started to shut his door.

Host: "Sir, I'm not an enforcer, just an informer. If you don't turn off your generator, I will have to call a ranger."

Jerk: "*!&@$(*!(^!(*#@)!@*$)"

A half hour later, the guy turns off his generator and then packs up and leaves before dawn the next day.

From that day forward, life was good.

Tenters moved in next door ...

And I could hear the birds chirp and the stream gurgle once again.



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Old 07-18-2003, 09:03 AM   #6
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Note to my rich Honda generator owning friends ....

Please forgive my anti-generator story.

I'm not talking cute little generators like yours.

I'm talking about the industrial strength generator ... the ones on skid rails ... that can power a whole house.

Folks who come to a mountain top, and then run their generators to power a/c, satellite dishes, microwaves to heat tv dinners ... well, those folks belong in a commercial campground with services.



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Old 07-18-2003, 09:30 AM   #7
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gener-ation gap.....between the teeth

(Note to those who don't know. Big refrigerators in big rigs have logic boards that even when you're running your refrigerator on gas, need battery power to power the logic boards.)


Charles....the 6 cubic foot Dometic Fridge/Freezer in our BF is 3 way. Yep you guessed it, it has a logic board that requires constant DC for the "enviromode". It works great, but it's just overkill and continues to draw a trickle of DC with the mode "off" and on gas or AC.:shg



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Old 07-18-2003, 09:31 AM   #8
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>> those folks belong in a commercial campground with services.

:yep



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Old 07-18-2003, 10:03 AM   #9
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Mike>>6 cubic foot in BF has logic board

The tiny 2 and 4 cubic foot refrigerators in our little eggs don't. Fellow fiberglassrv'er and good friend Rick a while back told me about the Bigfoot refrigerator!

The rig next to me was a big 5th wheel ... with I'm sure a double door refrigerator full of food, and probably more logic boards than the Bigfoot 6 cubic foot.

While I feel sorry for anyone having trouble, I was a bit overwhelmed that he thought he could run his generator all night long to keep the battery charged so that the logic boards in his refrigerator stayed on.

The guy got really, really angry when the host told him to turn it off.

I have trouble even imagining the guy's train of thought.

I guess he figured his food was more important than my sanity.



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Old 07-18-2003, 10:09 AM   #10
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As I read Charles' note my stomach clinched up. How often have I been there. I don't think I'm very confrontational so I manage to tie myself in knots over these situations. My train of thought invariably runs down the same, well worn path;

When the jerk is revealed, whose job is it to mend his/her ways? Am I a pansy if I call the authorities? I'm not convinced I wouldn't make it worse. Why would I expect a jerk to change their ways just because I asked? That's why they're called jerks. Where does the line between his freedom and mine lie? Generator/Boom Box/Loud Hootin' and Hollerin' after quiet hours is WAY over the line. Just because they have something doesn't mean they have to use it. Retaliation is not far from vigilantism. Just because my way is the best way doesn't mean they don't have the right to be wrong.

Lately I've been fervently hoping that the statement that 'Everyone's different' is true. That means there's a fighting chance I'm not a jerk like the two Charles met. Of course, we're not taking a vote on that, if you don't mind. :nope



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Old 07-18-2003, 10:47 AM   #11
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>>tie in knots

Steve, you get tied in knots.

I've got scars in my palms, from digging my fingernails into my clinched fists as a result of the incident.

I don't have a dual mode, electric/gas water heater ... but still can't understand why the first generator guy decided to use his generator to electricially heat his water instead of running his gas.

By the by, a gas water heater, under the right conditions, can cause a "roar" that can be heard in neighboring campsites ...

Which is why my wife and I have an "on demand" hot water system.

When my wife "demands" hot water, I go out and light the water heater ... until I mean her demand, then I go out and turn off the water heater.

A very effective system ... which has worked well for years!



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Old 07-18-2003, 10:54 AM   #12
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Indeed. SWMBO!

My significant other was She Who Must Be Obeyed, Cheerfully. It wasn't enough that I agreed to do whatever... I had to act like it was the best idea I heard all day. (YAHOO! I was HOPING you'd ask me to take the garbage out!)



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Old 07-18-2003, 01:20 PM   #13
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Noisy neighbors...

Charles I have to tell you that even folks in "commercial campgrounds with services" don't want those kind of noisy neighbors!! And why would you go to the mountains if all you want to do is sit in your rig and watch the TV or whatever:shg ... but they do.

It would be nice if people would just learn to respect everyone's space but unfortunately much of the world attitude seems to be... what's mine is mine, what's yours is mine, give me give me and get the bleep out of my way. And all that TV that they are watching is reinforcing this way of thinking and telling them it is OK. But I'll jump down off my soapbox now and say 3 cheers to your last neighbors who knew how to enjoy the wonderful world we've been given to delight and marvel over.:sunny



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Old 07-18-2003, 01:47 PM   #14
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I just don't understand those folks who just can't sit in a campground without their noisy furnace blowers and water heater ignigters and reefer fans and a/c, plus radio and TV and the gensets to run 'em. Seems like the more toys, the more likely the operator will have a cheap GeneRacket genset.

Pete, tongue in cheek, hoping to get a solar panel or H1000 someday so I won't have to run the truck every week or so when boondocking to inefficiently charge the trailer battery so I can have lights at nite.

PS One of the nicest CGs is at BigBend NP, where they have "No Generator" and "Generator" zones

PPS Or I might just get two identical Deep Cycle batts with the marine terminals so I can just take the partially depleted battery off the trailer and swap it with the truck battery to recharge when I go for groceries or laundry or whatever

PPPS One thing that may be possible to use against a really loud genset owner is that many forest areas require chainsaws, gensets and other engines to have USFS-approved spark arresting muffler systems...



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Old 07-18-2003, 01:51 PM   #15
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>>USFS-approved spark arresting muffler systems

You're right on, Pete (as usual) ... but when I mention this to campground hosts ... i.e.

"Hey, I don't think the guy's generator in campsite 46 has a spark arresting muffler, which is required in the National Forest."

I usually get a blank stare in return.

PS -- think I was running a week ahead of you in Silverton.



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Old 07-18-2003, 01:51 PM   #16
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steve

quote
. It wasn't enough that I agreed to do whatever... I had to act like it was the best idea I heard all day.
:banana
Well of course, Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?:thumb
Now if we're really up to snuff we will make you think it was your idea in the first place and you had just forgotten.:thumb :thumb Jean



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Old 07-18-2003, 02:02 PM   #17
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I've never understood why the noise doesn't bother THEM. Can they not hear it over the TV? Or maybe since they own it, it sounds like a purring kitten. I draw them like magnets. I've never asked anybody to shut it off but it sure does kill my nature buzz.



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Old 07-18-2003, 02:03 PM   #18
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Again, I'm not picking on my rich Honda generator owning friends.

I'm talking about the big monster generators, that are usually encased in heavy metal frames.

You know, the kind that shake your fillings loose when the guy in the next campsite fires it up.

And, speaking of that ... how in the world do these people stand being in the same campsite with these monster generators running.

I saw one guy, once, who was seated in a lawn chair, not 4 feet from the generator, reading a newspaper, apparently unaffected by the roar of his generator.

I figured he was just doing it for show, because of all the dirty looks fellow campers were giving him. (Probably had ear plugs in!)



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Old 07-18-2003, 02:26 PM   #19
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Jerks & Jenerators

I'd hate to think I am a jerk, even though I do have a generator-- although the implication in this thread seems to be that generators and jerks are somehow gene-spliced and thus inseparable.

I am reluctant to make any noise whatsoever in the woods. I have firearms in my truck and trailer, but am loathe to do any shooting whatsoever unless severely provoked in some way or another. (Cutting my gas line might qualify, but I would only shoot to maim in such a case and certainly not to kill. What a humanitarian, huh?) I don't even much care for the sound of a radio in the boonies and whenever possible I try to use the National Forests' wonderful capability to let me camp anywhere I can reach in order to get away from everybody, generators or no. I would think that anybody who is allergic to gensets would do the same. (I think the human voice is probably the ugliest sound to pollute the woods, BTW.)

You gotta face it, though: there does seem to be a touch of PC GenPolice running through this thread. On the order of All gens=All bad=Anti-nature idiots, versus GenHater=AllAroundGoodPerson.

My gen is a Honda E2000 and I don't carry it because I can't be without some witless, laugh-track polluted sitcom. I carry it because my work requires that I be able to charge and operate still and video cameras and computers wherever I happen to be. Even so, I'd like to think I am considerate to a fault about its use. Once, in VA, I went to next campsite one morning (about 80' away) and told them that I needed to run my gen for an hour or two and hoped that it wouldn't bother them. Mister cupped his hand to his ear and said it must have quit cuz he couldn't hear it. I thought he was right, cuz neither could I. When I got back to campo I found it happily purring away on econo-mode. See? I , too, can be purer-than-thou!

There are slobs and there are slobs, and we have all met them. But not all genset owners and users are in that category.

There. I done spoke my piece.



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Old 07-18-2003, 02:40 PM   #20
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but Robert, Honda Gens don't count. It's those 15,000 something or others he's talking about.



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