Finally..."Little Miss"

I had come up with the name "Tiffany" for our new RV, but after accidentally wiping out my last blog entry that took me over an hour to compose, upload photos, videos and comments, I decided to change it to Little Miss, because I'm still feeling the pain from the loss of all my hard work. If you've ever published a blog, you know the creative energy that is needed to make it interesting and understandable. A blog is similar to a diary, except, besides allowing your feelings to explode on the page, you need to be sure there are no typos and assure grammar and syntax are correct.  Since I am still feeling those shock waves from losing all my work, I decided that "Little Miss" is a sassy name that fits her quite nicely. Besides, we picked her up in Mississippi and I wanted to somehow tie that into her name.

This blog entry will serve as an update for anyone out there who is interested in knowing where, what, when, why and how we are doing.

Where:  Currently, we are settled in Sweetwater, TN at a very nice KOA. Besides electricity and a pull-through site, the only other amenity we wanted for the night was free WiFi, so with all those, plus water and sewer, we're all set. 

It was a long day's journey into night, but we survived the worst of our new RV mishaps (for now) as we leave Red Bay behind. Although a return trip is in our future, I'm glad to have escaped the madness for a few months.  

What: Well, what we have been doing was hanging in Red Bay, Alabama, a dry county, I might add, getting dozens of problems with Little Miss rectified. We spent three days in Repair Bay 49 with Ken, our service mechanic, who knows a lot about many different things that are "Tiffin" related. He's only worked for the company for about eight months, but you would think he was an old pro. He is quite humble and quick to give credit for his knowledge to his veteran co-workers. We discovered that he's married, has cats, eats breakfast with his mom at 5:30 am every morning, and loves to restore old cars. He was very kind and considerate with Miss Lucy Lu by speaking softly whenever he was near her hiding spots and asking about her every morning. We were fortunate to have been assigned such a wonderful human being to see us through the trials of repairs.

Ken had been assisted by Chris for two days. After the third day of working on Little Miss, he up and walked out, exclaiming, "I quit." Not sure if it was Little Miss or something else, but that darn Murphy's Law keeps hanging over us.

We  spent eight long, hot, sultry days sitting around waiting to either be called into service, in service, or looking for free WiFi. We used up our roaming allotment, so we had been limited as to what we could see and do with our laptops and phones.

Gratefully, the biggest of the problems with the RV have been fixed, like the installation of a new refrigerator, screen door and taillight. A few other issues with "grabber" latches, shades and screens have also been addressed, but all the woodworking repairs and body work will need to be addressed the end of September.

When: It is currently mid-June. We signed the papers on the new baby on June 10th. We spent three days at Sherman RV trying to get a few problems rectified before heading to Red Bay, AL, where we had about half of our long list of warranty items repaired.

Why: Hummm. While the original owner, Bob Tiffin, was an old-school type of guy, he is now turning his empire over to his three sons. It's obvious that he should have either had a daughter or another son. Someone assigned to be in charge of "Quality Control." Someone is dropping the ball, and despite the fact that they stand behind their product, no one should have to experience what we did after buying a brand new, custom-ordered motor home. 

I can't focus too much on the negatives. Instead, I want to begin to truly enjoy our time spent together because life is way too short to waste on someone else's mistakes. Chalk it up to a lesson learned and an extra test of our patience.

How:  Okay....I'll give an update of 'How We are Doing." While it isn't easy living in close quarters during stressful times, we survived it and can still turn to each other for a quick-witted joke or reassuring look. We are stronger than the challenges we face and we need to remember to keep all of this in perspective. There are bigger problems in people's lives. Things are just "things." Life and love are the ultimate possessions.

Below is a video of Lucy's reaction when we brought her into her new home for the very first time.

Little Miss in Repair Bay 49 (at least it wasn't 13).

Old fridge being squeezed out.

Driver's window being removed to accommodate old and new fridge.

Floor tiles being replaced by Chris and Ken.

The temps we faced...

23 miles away...East Fulton Wines and Spirits. Not many wines, but plenty of spirits.

My coup de grâce, the three most expensive bottles of white wine in the joint....

The night I composed the infamous "lost blog entry," I had sat outside where there was a WiFi connection. It was so peaceful and comforting watching the sun set and listening to the "cows coming home."

Deep thought for the day:  In the end, the style of your home in which you lived or the type of car you drove will be insignificant. Only the impact you have made on another person will truly matter. ~ vc