Wednesday, August 30, 2017

What To Do When You Do Something Stupid - The Memory Challenge Problem

Bad Door!
I was in a hurry. I know that's no excuse for being dumb, but it's true. I had to get a whole bunch of things done before the storm front traveled through my area. One of those things was taking a few photos to use in my articles. I took the keys down to the RV and opened up the door to get some airflow (like I do every week) while I got a few other things accomplished. Here's why stupidity takes over. I got distracted by someone asking me to take a car out of a tightly packed garage which took longer than expected. I then drove the car back up to the other house. And wouldn't you know it, forgot to close the RV door!

RV Minder A Great Idea...Most Of The Time!
This could have ended very badly for my little RV. Think of all the consequences of my bone-headed maneuver. Animals could get in. The oncoming storm could soak the interior and ruin the door or someone could get in and "hang out" inside. All bad things. So, what do you do about it? Well, I have seen lots of reminder tags that you can put on your steering wheel. They remind you to pull in the slide or the steps, disconnect water, sewer and electric, even crank down your antennas. None of them would have worked in this situation since I didn't actually go anywhere. Now that I think about it, I did something I never do, I took the keys with me instead of leaving them on the counter next to the sink. I wonder why? Probably distracted enough to not notice.

Locked Up Tight Again!
Is this a sign of things to come? I hope not! This has really got me thinking about some basic stuff, like making sure your doors are locked when you leave the RV. I often think, "Did I lock the doors?" Honestly, sometimes I can't remember, but of course, when you go back and check...they are locked. I once had a flight surgeon that told me his wife would let him go to work as long as he wanted to when he got older. At least until he couldn't remember where he was going! Now THAT I understand. As long as forgetting something doesn't cause an unsafe condition, like not turning off the gas valve on the stove when the flame is out, it's just an annoyance. better to be careful than dead.

I believe that small changes in behavior will alleviate most (if not all) these kinds of issues. Like the aforementioned "put the keys on the counter" thing, other changes would be good too. Nothing drastic, mind you, just enough to jog the old memory and fire off a few reminder neurons. Hey, maybe it was just a lack of coffee this time.....perhaps not.

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

9 comments:

  1. I hang my truck keys on the TV antenna crank so I don't forget to put the antenna down before hitting the road. I got everything disconnected and hooked up ready to go but I couldn't find my truck keys. This has become a bigger problem in recent years, forgetting little things. My wife said they would turn up in some unlikely place. She gave me her set of truck keys so we could get going. I went out and started the truck. The neighbor stepped out and said,"Don't forget to lower your antenna." Bingo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. eeyore,
      i know EXACTLY how you feel. They used to call them, "senior moments."

      Rich "The Wanderman"

      Delete
  2. I was thrilled to read that "The Wanderman" puts his RV keys on the counter. When we're loading up for a trip we leave the trailer keys on the counter all the time. Our trailer sits in our side yard when not in use. We always lock it too, but when loading or unloading, the keys are "on the kitchen counter".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. MrTommy,
      As they say, "Great minds think alike!"

      Rich "The Wanderman"

      Delete
  3. Would love alink to the set of RV Minder Strips.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi John, I bought a set of them myself a while back. The pack I bought comes with a couple of blank ones so you can write things like 'shut the door' on them :) Here's the link.
      http://www.rvminders.com/

      Delete
  4. For those simple things, like you mentioned .... Keep one of those wide rubber bands with your RV Keys. Whenever you go to use the keys, put the rubber band on your wrist. When finished with RV and ready to put keys away, attach rubber band back to keys. NOW, when you see the rubber band you'll remember about the RV.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous,
      OK...so what do you do when you forget what the rubber band was going to remind you of!

      Rich "The Wanderman"

      Delete

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