Rant from an old fart

[somewhereinusa]

OK, I started this as a reply to someone elses post but don't want to take over that post. I'm going to show my age here and probably upset people but, why do you feel the need to have TV while you are moving? Or in the bus at all? If it's to entertain kids why not just set them in front of a TV at home and not go anywhere? Isn't the point of taking trips/going/places/camping, to see and experience new things? When I was a kid and when my kids were young, we played games, talked about what we were seeing, learned how to read map etc.

A trip is an adventure. It shouldn't just be about whatever activity you have planned upon arrival. THERE ARE WINDOWS IN YOUR BUS. When I was 10 dad said we're going to Florida, here are maps for each state (gas stations maps were free and usually quite up to date), plan a route. I'm sure he checked on things but, I planned and navigated a trip from Indiana to Florida, there weren't any interstate hiways. Which brings up another point.

GET OFF THE INTERSTATES. You can't see anything. I have a million and a half miles in a truck, mostly interstate driving, but even then if there was another way to get somewhere I took state hiways, it's so much more interesting and much less boring.

My son and his wife don't have a TV in their bus either, he drives, she navigates, everyone talks to each other. We just got home from a trip, two buses, neither one of us tend to take the same route home that we used going and we both have fancy GPS units. My wife can't see a map very well anymore so my sons wife navigated. There were a lot of detours, and one small breakdown, but even with stopping for lunch and one stop at a store it still only took about 2 hours longer than the interstate route would have.

I have been married to the same lovely lady for 47 years, we still talk, and laugh (mostly at me and stupid stuff I do) I watch TV in the evenings, mostly because that's what she likes to do and I pretty much spend evenings with her. When we're in the bus in the evenings we talk, play games (I hate that) and spend time doing things with each other that we don't normally do.

The point I'm trying to make is. Use your bus/RV/camper/tent to spend time with wife/kids/friends. Kids do NOT need 100% of their time with electronic gratification. They also do not need to be entertained 100% of the time. I can't recall that my kids ever said "I'm bored" they learnde to entertain themselves by DOING things. Teach them to look out, see what is around and learn about more than what is on some little screen. I like gadgets and I have a lot of them, heck, there are 3 computers in the bus. I use them all the time to learn more about what we are seeing.

Rant basically over, although I reserve the right to add as I think of things.

Dick

[NowhereFast]

Good post! Totally agree, and I grew up in the 2000's...
Although a good movie on a long trip does sound pretty nice here and there.

[EastCoastCB]

I wasn't gonna say anything. Glad you did, Dick!
Leave the propaganda box out of the freedom machine!

[cadillackid]

I see nothing wrong with having electronics in a bus.. after-all not all are interested in the trip but, the destination instead...

Next, take a bunch of inexperienced bus drivers.. which most of us are.. the interstates provide a much safer environment for driving than a narrow 2 lane road that the first semi that blows by you coming the opposite way riding the double yellows causes said inexperienced driver to drop a set of tandems off the edge into the dirt... that driver is likely to over-correct and veer into the oncoming lane... great if theres no car there... well if there is?? anyone;s guess...

oh and animals.. Deer anyone? much Less likely to smack one on the interstate than on that back deserted road...


I myself use a Fancy GPS unit because I dont want to be one of the fools caught at a (9'5") bridge trying to back my way out... alas the interstates are also pretty safe against that too...

my, and others travel while they work which means internet access is a must... thats right i run a company that is built on technology.... im almost 48 and been using computers since the late 1970s... they are a way of life for me...

times change, people evolve... situations change... maybe said kids have ADD or are hyper-active and the only way to get them to sit down (and not make a dangerous trip for the bus driver) is to get them TV shows or X-Box games, or iPads...

not everyone lives in the pen and paper days... I know I dont.. I also dont have any kids.. so anything goes with my bus...

sometimes I run it on the interstates, othertimes the backroads.. if my "bars" on the internet network go to 'ZERO' .. roght back to the main road for me.. its my life, the reason I have all this $$$ to do such a thing as build and run a bus whenever i want..


I see your reasons for being upset at the thought of TV and electronics for the Passengers in a bus, but there are many reasons why people WOULD want them...

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

We're a varied collection. Some of us like to spend quality time with our friends and families, sharing a good meal and some great conversation.
Some of us wanna eat drive though alone and watch hours of TV.

[FlyboyHPD]

I agree with both Christopher and Dick. I think there is a time and place to have a TV in a bus and a time not to. In my case my bus will be my full time home so we're going to have a TV just like most households do. Will we be glued in front of it all day and night, hell no. But there will be times we will just want to sit in our recliners and watch a good movie together.

I think what most folks on this site forget to remember is that this is MY bus and my life, and how I choose to outfit it and decide what to do with my free time is nobody's business but mine.

[bansil]

Somewhereinusa I give you a solid 7/10

our CofC won't allow you to get another 3 points

[crazycal]

Originally Posted by bansil

Somewhereinusa I give you a solid 7/10

our CofC won't allow you to get another 3 points

Sorry, I don't follow.

[cadillackid]

I think if we had a Skoolie rally that was open and favored everyone we would find that the number of busses that showed up would Equal the number of UNIQUE busses at the event.....

these busses may have started their lives out as all identical non descript unnoiticedo n the street.. but I guarantee there are no 2 alike once any of us have gotten ahold of them...

-Christopher

[somewhereinusa]

Although a good movie on a long trip does sound pretty nice here and there.

I agree, sitting somewhere or on a rainy afternoon, although the "good movie" is part is getting a bit hard to find.

Christopher,
I think you missed the point. I love technology and computers, most of the time. I don't think they are bad. I too run a business out of my bus and it requires a lot of computing power. I also use the internet heavily in my business but, I can survive without it.
I can see where those who commute with kids and are stuck in the numbing traffic that some of you have to endure every day that a movie or TV would be nice at times. But, there are books (I have no problem with electronic ones) and other things that you can do.

You travel alone, I get that, and it is your choice, which is fine. Wouldn't it be nice to have some company to talk to on your travels? When all of the passengers have their noses stuck to a screen, the driver is basically alone whether he wants to be or not.

As to the ADD thing, I would have been diagnosed with it I'm sure, I'm not going to there.

I myself use a Fancy GPS unit because I dont want to be one of the fools caught at a (9'5") bridge trying to back my way out... alas the interstates are also pretty safe against that too...

If you are relying on a car GPS for that you're out of luck, I had 2 different truck GPS units that quite often were wrong about that.

I see your reasons for being upset at the thought of TV and electronics for the Passengers in a bus

I'm not upset about it, although I think we are ending up with a lot of kids who don't know how to DO anything.

Dick

[cadillackid]

would I at times Love to have someone travel with me? sure I would.. though screamin,cryin, pooping, rugrats wouldnt be my choice.. nevertheless yeah at times it would be nice to travel and talk about whats going on.. of course as a single gay man abused and disowned by his family that wont happen anytime soon.

as a kid our roadtrips were usually across the country.. from ohio to colorado, utah, wyoming, nevada, arizona, california, etc.. typically we blasted our way to denver or colorado springs and then did all kinds of cool stuff from there..

that blasting part.. that 1300 miles were dad drove it with mom straight through... night and day... all in an international scout.. Luxury? yeah we had A/C.. and AM-FM..

during the day we stopped some to sight see a little and of course to eat real meals.. going through missouri and kansas there really wasnt much to see... so I know we bugged the crap out of day "when can we see the mountains?? are we there yet.. we are bored.. hey he took my seatbelt.. hey he is kicking my leg...!".. then we got bored and go to sleep... sometimes a cool storm came along or we got to see neat cars.. then came the night..... no stops for meals or sight-seeing or such.. just a rest area to pee and get a drink of water.... yeah the night... where we were wide awake now.... really bugging the crap out of dad.. nothing to see out of the black windows except maybe a lightning bolt 400 miles ahead..

TV wouldve made things a lot smoother....

I get it... yeah thats one reason I got another bus.. after I let a beautiful Bluebird I started to build sit forlorn in a garage untouched for 6 years.. finally destroyed by 2 fools with a gascan and a chevelle...

yeah my way of roadtripping in the last 3 months has completely changed... I used to run those marathon runs... 1000 miles in a clip at 75-80 the whole time... but no! not in a bus i dont... my new bus drives 60 like a champ.. my "new" bus is old so it sways a bit at 70, the DT-360 strains if floored 100% of the time.. theres bump-steer and rattles and squeaks and bounce and other things that make a little guy like me get a tad tired a bit quicker.. so yeah my bus stops.. a lot... I am experiencing more diners and little greasy spoons than ever before... after all its not nearly so easy to put a burger-king bag on the dash of a bus and drive with the knees as in a brand new silverado.. so i stop and eat.. well if im going to go sit down and eat.. its not gonna likely be burger king.. also not gonna run a skoolie through a starbucks drive-through so ive been finding more Local coffee shops along my trips... often the Bluetooth speaker is off so i can hear the Diesel engine... I often open the windows.. (admittedly I'll usually continue to blast the A/C on my body even when the windows are open)

BUT .on my trip from st pete to C-bus the other day when that phone call came in from my biz partner that we needed to have a pretty impromptu conference call, webinar, and video conference.. I saw that "rest area 1 mile" sign... pulled off.. popped up my work surface copped a squat on a skoolie seat, left her idle in the 97 degree heat with 65k BTU of A/C.. kicked on my DUAL aggregated LTE hotspots and bam!! did business right there right then.. from some who-knows-where in northern georgia... (and got great Kudos from the customer who saw my background as a school-bus seat and school bus windows during the video conference..)...

so Yes I do "GET" it... I also know as much as we drove poor dad CRAZY (he deserved it and more as i look back but thats neither here nor there)... TV in that thread's Bus just MIGHT be for those long boring Night-rides across NoWhere..

-Christopher

[bansil]

Originally Posted by crazycal

Sorry, I don't follow.

He could of gotten 10/10 if he dropped the "F" bomb a few times and maybe used an old board with rusty nails in it or maybe a trusty cactus for "impact" or "compacting"

I laughed...inside...

[cadillackid]

P.S. I do use trucker GPS... 2 of them.. a garmin and Co-pilot.. at least in the strange areas... if its a route I know the obstacles on i dont bother using the GPS.. I'll sometimes put the screen on the traffic alerts just to help me avoid jams if i can or wther to bypass cities or not...

ive been doing alot of C_bus to st pete and miami lately since ive got the new apartment in st pete.. miami is where we have a lot of sites ... I do like to see all this software and vision I create being utilized in the real world.. so I often visit sites unknown to them.. or I should say without telling them who i am... (the end users have no idea who i am)...

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by bansil

He could of gotten 10/10 if he dropped the "F" bomb a few times and maybe used an old board with rusty nails in it or maybe a trusty cactus for "impact" or "compacting"

I laughed...inside...

[PNW_Steve]

I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of "less TV and more conversation".

We do that at home. Given we do not have cable, satellite or OTA reception.


However.....

Try spending 3 weeks in your bus with six kids and NO TV. Especially traveling in Northern climates in the Winter.

As much as I do agree with the merit of actually interacting, talking, playing cards etc. I would not look forward to long travels without the ability to play the occasional DVD for the kids.

I do not condone using the TV as a babysitter for hours a day but find having it available for an hour or two here and there can be a good thing.

Just my $0.02 worth

Good discussion!!

[cadillackid]

at risk of creating a massive conflagration.. I dare say I wonder at times why some couples choose to have kids at all when they work careers that have them almost never home with the kids.. (families started AFTER the careers...)...
and the kids spend almost all their time on the XboX and TV

-Christopher

[Lamacose]

When I was a kid we loaded up the family Truckster and headed off to Wally world.4 kids and 2 adults crammed in the car with no A/C.I always joke that if we had a mini-van back then my siblings and I might still be talking.While we did see the world’s largest Ball of Twine & the House of Mud, Stuckey’s Restaurants, and Chico’s South of the Border, a bit of electronic entertainment would have been nice.Even though we would have only had one single DVD.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

at risk of creating a massive conflagration.. I dare say I wonder at times why some couples choose to have kids at all when they work careers that have them almost never home with the kids.. (families started AFTER the careers...)...
and the kids spend almost all their time on the XboX and TV

-Christopher

I may not be in the best position to comment on this as I have no kids of my own. All of my experience come from borrowing other peoples kids

I do agree.

When I was still of a mind that I would, someday, have kids I was firm in the idea that I would home school. I have friends that are raising their kids "on the road" and homeschool. They have been a mobile family since before the kids were born and just carried on. They have extremely bright, well adjusted and well behaved kids.

My own observation has been that parents that spend significant time with their kids, especially doing learning activities, generally have the brightest and best behaved kids. The ones that depend on public schools and cable TV to raise their kids are less likely to have the same outcome.

Should I put on my flameproof suit now?

[M1031A1]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I myself use a Fancy GPS unit because I dont want to be one of the fools caught at a (9'5") bridge trying to back my way out... alas the interstates are also pretty safe against that too...

-Christopher

Thusly the exact reason I trust trucker's atlases above all else. Old school? You bet! However, those pieces of gold do not require electricity to work. I'll take a trucker's atlas over a GPS any day and twice on Sundays........ Well worth the $50 investment.

[bansil]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

.... I dare say I wonder at times why some couples choose to have kids at all when they work careers that have them almost never home with the kids..

-Christopher

Without us the kids could of ended up overseas in the middle east.......or eaten in a central American restaurant

So we "saved" them, as long as they have water, food and get brushed once a day, they seem happy...