It's an eyesore!
Not that it's a broken down piece of junk or anything.....it's just that this huge metal box sits parked in his not very long driveway....
All.
Year.
Long.
It takes up the whole driveway and they barely have room to squeeze their 2 suv/trucks into the driveway next to it.
To say it's visual clutter is an understatement......
And here is the improved view when it's not parked there.....
I should say it sits in their driveway except for the scant 2 weeks a year they take it out somewhere and stay in it....if they take it out for that long each year!
I know they never take it far away since often while they are 'gone' for the 2 weeks, the husband will appear at the house to get the mail or something. I know he's not driving home from a far distance to do this and then drive right back to wherever the RV is parked.
Even though we are on a hill, I feel like that big cluttering monstrosity blocks the sunlight and makes me feel claustrophobic when I sit out on my front porch since I can't see down the road beyond that behemoth.
It's like having someone's house sitting right on the edge of their property, since you can see no sunlight between the garage and the RV, and the RV ends maybe 2 feet from the side of the road at his mailbox. Heck, when he puts his garbage out each week, it sits at the end of his driveway and the front end of the RV overhangs the bags of garbage. God help the sanitation worker who forgets to duck when he/she goes to retrieve his trash......
So anyway, for 2 weeks out of the year, I am blesses with clear sight lines and not having to look out at the ugly ass huge hunk-o-metal of a vehicle. Every year, my soul gets sad when they bring it home to sit for the other 50 weeks of the year.
Why don't they store it somewhere...you know, somewhere appropriate, with other overgrown toys of it's kind? I bet it gets lonely and feels unloved most of the year and would be much happier playing with it's own kind.
If they can't afford to store it somewhere appropriate, they could at least park it in their backyard, which they never use anyway....or at least store it lengthwise on the other side of their house so it's not sticking out like the big ugly sore thumb it is in my visual life.
So I got excited this summer when the Behemoth RV disappeared and was gone for 4 WEEKS!
As week 3 and then week 4 passed a small glimmer of hope grew in my being.....a glimmer that maybe it was gone for good, or at least gone from the driveway where it sits for 351 days out of the year.
But, my hopes were crushed last month, when the old Behemoth was replaced with a brand spanking new 2011 RV model.
Just as big and ugly but shinier! and maybe a tad bigger since there seems to be less space/light between where the garage ends and this overpriced/underused piece of shit vehicle begins.
I looked up what this baby costs new.
Can you say in the neighborhood of $45,000?!?!
Hey, that's great if you can afford it.
And I am sure on the surface this guy CAN afford it, since he owns his own insurance agency. I don't know if he still has a mortgage and if his 2 later model vehicles are paid for....but they don't seem to spend money on groceries or go out to eat much, since his wife NEVER leaves the house at all! and they only have 1 kid to pay for/raise.
So spending their money on a big ass toy is not my problem with them.
But it a problem for me to spend this kind of money on something that you park in your driveway and DON'T USE for 50 WEEKS A YEAR!
Maybe it's just "me" but.....it doesn't sound like a good use of your money, unless your last name is Gates, or Buffet or King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia or something.
Doing this is like buying a new BMW luxury car and only driving it 14 days out of the year.
Seriously......who does this?!?!
Who spends $45K on something so it can sit and rust year after year?
If you want to vacation in a luxury RV for only 2 weeks a year, why not RENT ONE!?
I am sure it would be scads cheaper than buying one and letting it rot in your driveway for years between your infrequent trips in it.
If he thinks he is 'impressing' anyone by having it parked in his driveway, he needs to think again.
All he is doing is pissing ME off!
And he shouldn't be pissing me off right now......I have colanders filled with ripe tomatoes and I know how to throw them..... ;-)
I'm off to go warm up my pitching arm.....
Sluggy
Seeing an RV like that parked in a neighbor's drive wouldn't bother me at all...beyond the fact that it would make me want one even more. And you can bet I'd use it if I had it.
ReplyDeleteIn our town, it wouldn't matter what we thought, anyway, as the code reads, "You can park an RV or trailer in the driveway or on a paved surface attached to the driveway. You may also park one RV in the backyard on an unpaved surface.". Having it in the driveway is perfectly legal here, although we do park our pop-up camper in our back yard.
As for storing it elsewhere, I have no idea how it works in your state, or even how it works for RVs here, but I do know that the liability insurance costs involved with putting a boat in storage here are astronomical. Above and beyond typical vehicle insurance, the storage unit business make you buy additional insurance of their choice so that they can't be sued if a third party gets hurt while in or around your parked/stored boat. Crazy, but true.
Sluggy, you live across the street from my Mama?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, my mom and her Bob bought an RV several years ago (on a spur of the moment). They had been talking about getting one and we all said the same thing, "Rent one and see if you really like driving it". But no.
They bought one. They have spent a small fortune on that beast, outfitting it, new dishes, pots and pans, linens, etc. And her HOA won't allow it to be at their house, so they have to pay to store it at a place about 90 minutes away.
Since then, I would guess they have used it once a year. Granted they are usually gone about a month or so each time. But once a year?
I can not even fathom the amount of money that gets sucked in to the black hole of an RV. If you sold your home and all your worldly belongings and lived exclusively in it, maybe it could make good fiscal sense?
If you couldn't tell, this is a sore subject in our family.
LOL! I've done the rotten tomatos in the garden fight before. I can't believe the neighbor kids still talked to us after that! Or that my mom seriously thought we were going to can rotten tomatos...
ReplyDeleteMaybe they're retire or lose their drivers license or something and have to get rid of it...
AnnieJ-I guess what I wrote came off sounding mean toward people who own rvs, huh? That's not what I meant. I don't have a problem with people parking them on their property at all...it's just this ONE GUY and because of the juxtaposition of his house to mine with the layout of the roads, putting it on his driveway blocks my sightlines of the road. OK, so I am being OCD here. I much prefer if he parked in on his front lawn, painted it neon yellow, decorated it with plastic flamingoes and strung lights on it than park it on the driveway.lolol
ReplyDeleteI still think if you spent $45K on a toy(and if it's financed he spends waaay more that that!), you should use it more than 14 days a year if you have the opportunity...and this guy can take off anytime he wants since he owns the business and it's not a "I need to be here 24/7 to run it" type business so this guy has opportunity up the wazoo. ;-)
I can understand the added cost of storage & insurance given the sue happy nation we are.
LisaPie--At this point I WISH I lived across the street from your Mama. I now know where to go to get a good deal on a used RV when we are ready to retire to one and see the country.lol
McVal--I would wish them ill in order to get that thing out of here....but not really. They are younger than us & he needs the $$ to support his lazy wife's lavish lifestyle and habits so I don't think retirement is in their future anytime soon.
If you like tomato fights, you need to come here in August for the Pittston Tomato Festival. The key activity is a massive tomato fight modeled on La Tomatina in Spain.
You'd love it!lol
Read my blog post for today and you'll see just why I'd trade neighbors with you, RV and all, in a heartbeat.
ReplyDeleteOur neighbors have a huge motorhome parked 4 ft from my girls room and their driveway is elevated above our property so literally when you look out my girls window you can't even see the sky just that piece of sh@# motorhome. Not one bit of anything else. I hear you sister. I own a trailer but I store it. If you can't afford to do that than you can't afford it.
ReplyDeleteI don't really understand why you need to see down that road. Besides, the house and RV are so far away. But, I do understand limits to patience and how far people can go. I will nieghbors trade and a hunk of steel with you. Someday, I will post a picture of the neighbor's yard, my yard, the street in front our homes and the devastation wrought by their garbage being strewn about. I had to pick it all up. They never even picked it upin their own yard. Just to show it was their garbage and not mine,I left the street trash and had my yard clean. The situation would test your sanity.
ReplyDeleteAs for the RV up against the fence and blocking view of the sky from daughter's bedroom, that is probably against some sort of ordinance.
A guy across the road from me parks his huge motor-boat (20ft long) in the street all year long. He takes it out fishing in summer for a few days, that's it. Rest of the time I open my front door and there it is day after day. It's the first thing I see every day. Some people are so inconsiderate.
ReplyDelete