Sealing a Failed RV Slide Before Oregon

01J8T7R37GV4D272NF98VQCXJ8

PUBLIC

September 27, 2024 rswfire PUBLISHED

Temp 0.50

Density 0.20

Energetic Quality

focused irritation

Journey Phase

transitional / actively repairing

Directional Vector

toward a sealed, structurally sound home — away from manufacturer-designed compromise

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Transcript

[0:01] just waiting for the sun to come

[0:04] out oh my lights are kind of reflecting

[0:07] off the window so you can't get a great

[0:09] view

[0:12] sorry it is 6:00 in the morning I've

[0:15] been up for an

[0:17] hour I got to see the moon and some

[0:19] stars out there was very

[0:23] nice just waiting for the sun to come

[0:25] out drinking some coffee

[0:31] tested out my furnace today just to make

[0:33] sure that's still working it is nice and

[0:35] hot

[0:37] toasty notice there's a lot of cold air

[0:39] coming

[0:40] from um the door area so that's going to

[0:43] be a challenge mey says hello hi

[0:48] Bailey he want's out today this morning

[0:52] he's being kind of adamant about it but

[0:54] he's going to have to

[0:56] wait so

[1:00] I checked my schedule yesterday and

[1:03] tomorrow when I leave here I drive for

[1:05] 10 hours I drive right through Wyoming

[1:08] right into

[1:09] Idaho so it's going to be a very long

[1:13] day

[1:14] tomorrow I had trouble finding a

[1:17] campground uh that I could reserve in

[1:20] advance worst case scenario if it feels

[1:22] impossible I will

[1:24] just um I'll find somewhere along the

[1:27] way but I think I can probably do do it

[1:30] I did go from Kansas to the top of

[1:32] Nebraska I don't think it's that

[1:34] different I'm just looking at the map on

[1:36] my w kind of I'm kind

[1:38] of

[1:41] um so yeah I

[1:43] mean it'll be a long day tomorrow and

[1:46] then I'll be in Idaho for a day and a

[1:48] half and then I drive into Oregon so I

[1:51] am almost there

[2:01] I'm definitely very excited about

[2:06] it so today I'm going to be as focused

[2:11] as I can I'm going to try to fix this

[2:12] slide

[2:13] today I'm a little bit worried at even

[2:16] trying is a bad idea cuz if it got stuck

[2:19] or something I don't know what I do but

[2:20] I need to try to get this thing to come

[2:22] in all the way

[2:24] because it's not fully in you know the

[2:27] insulated it's not touching the frame on

[2:30] one side so that's really not good if

[2:34] I if I can't I can't afford to fix it at

[2:37] this point so if I can't get it to come

[2:41] in I'm going to have to weather proof it

[2:44] using eternabond and you

[2:47] know

[2:48] um which I might do anyways around the

[2:51] frame of um the slide mechanism I don't

[2:55] know I'm kind of thinking that one

[2:57] through still but if I Dida probably

[3:00] only on the inside um it is possible to

[3:03] gety turnab bond off just a very

[3:05] challenging thing to do if you ever

[3:08] needed to but I don't plan to ever bring

[3:10] this side out this is not how I

[3:13] live

[3:17] and I want an insulated space this is my

[3:21] home this slide

[3:24] is it distorts everything is the dumbest

[3:27] thing RV manufacturers ever made true

[3:30] because they are they're useless they

[3:33] might expand your space but at the same

[3:35] time they take away space because there

[3:37] was nowhere for storage when you have a

[3:39] slide taking up the whole side of your

[3:41] vehicle it's just dumb the whole thing

[3:43] is dumb it's prone to failures and like

[3:47] I'm having now

[3:49] and it compromises the insulation of the

[3:52] thing

[3:54] like they're just a bad idea they really

[3:57] are and I just can't see myself ever

[4:00] using it again

[4:01] so the only reason I kind of um hesitate

[4:06] is because you never know if I might one

[4:09] day want to trade this in or something

[4:10] like

[4:15] that but you know I don't think we have

[4:18] that kind of future honestly

[4:21] so I need to make the

[4:25] space into something that

[4:30] feels what is a word I'm looking for

[4:35] here structurally sound because it's not

[4:38] slides

[4:41] are slides compromise everything about

[4:44] your RV you just really need to think

[4:46] about that because they

[4:48] do I so much happier since leaving my

[4:52] sight and it has made my life so much

[4:53] easier I have so much more storage space

[4:56] above it you know because I just created

[4:59] this storage alol across the whole top

[5:01] of my RV but if I didn't have a slide to

[5:04] begin with that would have just been

[5:06] cabinet storage that's what the

[5:08] manufacturers would have made and that

[5:10] would have been so much

[5:12] better

[5:17] and so yeah that's what's on my mind

[5:19] this morning is because I got to deal

[5:20] with this slide and I

[5:23] just hoping for the best

[5:27] so other than that I

[5:31] um I really don't have a lot to do in

[5:34] here I mean I always can Tinker around

[5:36] with organizing and stuff like that but

[5:38] it's

[5:41] not it's not super important hello

[5:46] baby

[5:48] and plan out my rock for tomorrow and

[5:51] just that's really it so I'll just leave

[5:54] it there oh I'm going to make some

[5:55] breakfast that'll probably be in my

[5:56] video cuz I'm making that thing I'm

[6:00] definitely want to start eating

[6:02] breakfast in the mornings I'm so far out

[6:04] in the middle of nowhere that I have to

[6:07] rely on what I have so some water in my

[6:10] tanks and whatever food I have here but

[6:12] we're only here for the day

[6:14] so

[6:15] um really enjoying this very frustrated

[6:20] this slide will not come in I'll show

[6:22] you so this is the front of the cab area

[6:27] this will not come in this part just

[6:28] will not move and I'll show you but you

[6:30] can see you know just letting the

[6:32] elements in I mean it is terrible

[6:35] because this is how they designed them

[6:38] this is just it's

[6:40] crap I need to insulate seal all of this

[6:43] up I really wanted to get this SL in

[6:45] first though I mean that's just it's a

[6:47] piece of

[6:50] there's no way I can get to the

[6:52] other side until I get stuff back up

[6:55] there but

[6:59] me Le outside when I do

[7:06] this if I try to bring the slide in or

[7:10] out just this part starts coming out but

[7:14] this does this part's just stuck it

[7:17] doesn't so it starts going like this you

[7:22] know nothing I can do can't afford to

[7:25] fix

[7:27] it um I like I can do is seal this up

[7:30] somehow pipe insulation

[7:34] and some kind of tape there's nothing

[7:37] else I can

[7:41] do this side seals up well the

[7:44] back that explains why it gets cooler

[7:47] back there I was trying to figure that

[7:48] out yesterday it's cuz this is sealed

[7:52] up um if I seal all this

[7:56] up maybe that will help inside and

[8:01] out would really like to get that in but

[8:03] I can't I

[8:06] tried it's difficult but I managed to

[8:09] squeeze pipe insulation all the way

[8:11] inside of there I don't know how well

[8:14] you can see it but it's all the way down

[8:16] I've got to seal these spots

[8:19] where I don't know those racks or

[8:21] paintings I don't know which one those

[8:23] are real things I'm going to have to

[8:26] deal with those spots

[8:28] but I'm going to want to do the same on

[8:30] the

[8:31] outside this will make a difference

[8:35] and underneath I can probably put some

[8:38] pipe insulation down

[8:40] there and then deal with the

[8:43] outside so I started here at the

[8:47] bottom see that black piece in there I

[8:51] WRA the pipe around that and I just kept

[8:54] pulling up took a while it's very hard

[8:57] to do I can't get it further than this

[9:00] um I don't know if you could see it but

[9:02] that's where the

[9:04] top um I don't know chain thing whatever

[9:08] the that is so there's a hole there I'm

[9:11] going to have to fill that from the

[9:12] inside and over here I guess

[9:14] just not as tightly as this is cuz this

[9:17] is not going

[9:18] anywhere this is very

[9:21] tight I'll do the same under here maybe

[9:25] let me

[9:27] see I'll do something under there

[9:30] might be able to hear Bailey complaining

[9:32] he's over on the other side of the RV he

[9:34] wants out of his carrier so best I can

[9:37] do there should make a difference

[9:39] though because it's a roll like you can

[9:41] kind of roll it in on both sides and

[9:44] kind of push it in there but that's as

[9:45] good as I'm going to be able to get it

[9:47] I'm turnab bonding this

[9:50] because you

[9:52] know these things are

[9:55] crap and it would cost thousands of

[9:58] dollars to repair it and I don't even

[9:59] want the slide

[10:03] so I don't like RV manufacturers and

[10:06] it's not just because of this problem is

[10:08] because everything on this thing is a

[10:09] problem

[10:12] always I'm not going to pretend

[10:15] like like it's acceptable too many of

[10:19] you guys are just like this is life on

[10:20] the road with an RV No it shouldn't be

[10:23] that's

[10:24] so I ran out of pipe insulation

[10:26] but I got most of it

[10:30] oh I was able to slide this up let me

[10:33] see if I can show you it's under here

[10:36] there's the sun is everywhere it's very

[10:39] bright I couldn't get over to this area

[10:42] I got as far as that it's very tight

[10:44] even if it doesn't look like it in

[10:46] spots um there's you can see where

[10:50] there's you can see the problems in

[10:52] there

[10:55] um I'm just going to turn on all this

[10:58] because that's all I can

[11:01] do I need to be able to survive the

[11:03] Pacific Northwest

[11:06] and you know I have to prevent water

[11:09] damage needs to be

[11:12] insulated at least it's you know not

[11:14] worse I

[11:19] guess one day I will get it fixed

[11:22] properly it'll cost a

[11:24] fortune and I will never bring this

[11:26] light out ever

[11:29] worst thing that the RV manufacturers

[11:31] ever made were

[11:35] slides so from the inside even with all

[11:38] of that pipe

[11:39] insulation you can still see where it

[11:42] lets the environment

[11:43] in these are just a bad

[11:49] design they're terrible I don't know why

[11:51] people accept this I had known if people

[11:54] have been complaining about this I would

[11:57] have spent way more time looking for one

[11:58] that did not not have a slide truly

[12:01] these are the worst things that RV

[12:03] manufacturers make they truly

[12:06] are from the moment I got it I've been

[12:09] doing stuff to kind of insulate

[12:10] underneath of it whenever I was

[12:17] parked I know how frustrated I sound and

[12:19] I want you to hear that because this

[12:21] could be you one

[12:22] day this is

[12:31] if you want an RV don't get one with the

[12:32] slide I'm serious don't do it one last

[12:36] thing this is how much of the elements

[12:39] they let in when it's inside because the

[12:41] other side is the same way it's got

[12:43] these these areas

[12:47] where this is not cool I mean when you

[12:51] have the slide out you just you're

[12:53] letting in the outside air all the time

[12:55] insects get in um there's just it's

[12:59] completely inefficient and they're not I

[13:01] mean they're just not nice like I I had

[13:05] I was constantly reconfiguring this

[13:07] thing whenever I had to move you know my

[13:10] stuff had to always be moved around uh I

[13:12] had no storage space because this

[13:14] slide doesn't allow for cabinets you

[13:18] know across the whole area I turn the

[13:20] top of my slide into just a giant

[13:24] cabinet the bed for 6 months my back was

[13:27] killing me because the thing is in two

[13:28] pieces pieces and they're not flat like

[13:31] these slides are they just are

[0:01] just waiting for the sun to come

[0:04] out oh my lights are kind of reflecting

[0:07] off the window so you can't get a great

[0:09] view

[0:12] sorry it is 6:00 in the morning I've

[0:15] been up for an

[0:17] hour I got to see the moon and some

[0:19] stars out there was very

[0:23] nice just waiting for the sun to come

[0:25] out drinking some coffee

[0:31] tested out my furnace today just to make

[0:33] sure that's still working it is nice and

[0:35] hot

[0:37] toasty notice there's a lot of cold air

[0:39] coming

[0:40] from um the door area so that's going to

[0:43] be a challenge mey says hello hi

[0:48] Bailey he want's out today this morning

[0:52] he's being kind of adamant about it but

[0:54] he's going to have to

[0:56] wait so

[1:00] I checked my schedule yesterday and

[1:03] tomorrow when I leave here I drive for

[1:05] 10 hours I drive right through Wyoming

[1:08] right into

[1:09] Idaho so it's going to be a very long

[1:13] day

[1:14] tomorrow I had trouble finding a

[1:17] campground uh that I could reserve in

[1:20] advance worst case scenario if it feels

[1:22] impossible I will

[1:24] just um I'll find somewhere along the

[1:27] way but I think I can probably do do it

[1:30] I did go from Kansas to the top of

[1:32] Nebraska I don't think it's that

[1:34] different I'm just looking at the map on

[1:36] my w kind of I'm kind

[1:38] of

[1:41] um so yeah I

[1:43] mean it'll be a long day tomorrow and

[1:46] then I'll be in Idaho for a day and a

[1:48] half and then I drive into Oregon so I

[1:51] am almost there

[2:01] I'm definitely very excited about

[2:06] it so today I'm going to be as focused

[2:11] as I can I'm going to try to fix this

[2:12] slide

[2:13] today I'm a little bit worried at even

[2:16] trying is a bad idea cuz if it got stuck

[2:19] or something I don't know what I do but

[2:20] I need to try to get this thing to come

[2:22] in all the way

[2:24] because it's not fully in you know the

[2:27] insulated it's not touching the frame on

[2:30] one side so that's really not good if

[2:34] I if I can't I can't afford to fix it at

[2:37] this point so if I can't get it to come

[2:41] in I'm going to have to weather proof it

[2:44] using eternabond and you

[2:47] know

[2:48] um which I might do anyways around the

[2:51] frame of um the slide mechanism I don't

[2:55] know I'm kind of thinking that one

[2:57] through still but if I Dida probably

[3:00] only on the inside um it is possible to

[3:03] gety turnab bond off just a very

[3:05] challenging thing to do if you ever

[3:08] needed to but I don't plan to ever bring

[3:10] this side out this is not how I

[3:13] live

[3:17] and I want an insulated space this is my

[3:21] home this slide

[3:24] is it distorts everything is the dumbest

[3:27] thing RV manufacturers ever made true

[3:30] because they are they're useless they

[3:33] might expand your space but at the same

[3:35] time they take away space because there

[3:37] was nowhere for storage when you have a

[3:39] slide taking up the whole side of your

[3:41] vehicle it's just dumb the whole thing

[3:43] is dumb it's prone to failures and like

[3:47] I'm having now

[3:49] and it compromises the insulation of the

[3:52] thing

[3:54] like they're just a bad idea they really

[3:57] are and I just can't see myself ever

[4:00] using it again

[4:01] so the only reason I kind of um hesitate

[4:06] is because you never know if I might one

[4:09] day want to trade this in or something

[4:10] like

[4:15] that but you know I don't think we have

[4:18] that kind of future honestly

[4:21] so I need to make the

[4:25] space into something that

[4:30] feels what is a word I'm looking for

[4:35] here structurally sound because it's not

[4:38] slides

[4:41] are slides compromise everything about

[4:44] your RV you just really need to think

[4:46] about that because they

[4:48] do I so much happier since leaving my

[4:52] sight and it has made my life so much

[4:53] easier I have so much more storage space

[4:56] above it you know because I just created

[4:59] this storage alol across the whole top

[5:01] of my RV but if I didn't have a slide to

[5:04] begin with that would have just been

[5:06] cabinet storage that's what the

[5:08] manufacturers would have made and that

[5:10] would have been so much

[5:12] better

[5:17] and so yeah that's what's on my mind

[5:19] this morning is because I got to deal

[5:20] with this slide and I

[5:23] just hoping for the best

[5:27] so other than that I

[5:31] um I really don't have a lot to do in

[5:34] here I mean I always can Tinker around

[5:36] with organizing and stuff like that but

[5:38] it's

[5:41] not it's not super important hello

[5:46] baby

[5:48] and plan out my rock for tomorrow and

[5:51] just that's really it so I'll just leave

[5:54] it there oh I'm going to make some

[5:55] breakfast that'll probably be in my

[5:56] video cuz I'm making that thing I'm

[6:00] definitely want to start eating

[6:02] breakfast in the mornings I'm so far out

[6:04] in the middle of nowhere that I have to

[6:07] rely on what I have so some water in my

[6:10] tanks and whatever food I have here but

[6:12] we're only here for the day

[6:14] so

[6:15] um really enjoying this very frustrated

[6:20] this slide will not come in I'll show

[6:22] you so this is the front of the cab area

[6:27] this will not come in this part just

[6:28] will not move and I'll show you but you

[6:30] can see you know just letting the

[6:32] elements in I mean it is terrible

[6:35] because this is how they designed them

[6:38] this is just it's

[6:40] crap I need to insulate seal all of this

[6:43] up I really wanted to get this SL in

[6:45] first though I mean that's just it's a

[6:47] piece of

[6:50] there's no way I can get to the

[6:52] other side until I get stuff back up

[6:55] there but

[6:59] me Le outside when I do

[7:06] this if I try to bring the slide in or

[7:10] out just this part starts coming out but

[7:14] this does this part's just stuck it

[7:17] doesn't so it starts going like this you

[7:22] know nothing I can do can't afford to

[7:25] fix

[7:27] it um I like I can do is seal this up

[7:30] somehow pipe insulation

[7:34] and some kind of tape there's nothing

[7:37] else I can

[7:41] do this side seals up well the

[7:44] back that explains why it gets cooler

[7:47] back there I was trying to figure that

[7:48] out yesterday it's cuz this is sealed

[7:52] up um if I seal all this

[7:56] up maybe that will help inside and

[8:01] out would really like to get that in but

[8:03] I can't I

[8:06] tried it's difficult but I managed to

[8:09] squeeze pipe insulation all the way

[8:11] inside of there I don't know how well

[8:14] you can see it but it's all the way down

[8:16] I've got to seal these spots

[8:19] where I don't know those racks or

[8:21] paintings I don't know which one those

[8:23] are real things I'm going to have to

[8:26] deal with those spots

[8:28] but I'm going to want to do the same on

[8:30] the

[8:31] outside this will make a difference

[8:35] and underneath I can probably put some

[8:38] pipe insulation down

[8:40] there and then deal with the

[8:43] outside so I started here at the

[8:47] bottom see that black piece in there I

[8:51] WRA the pipe around that and I just kept

[8:54] pulling up took a while it's very hard

[8:57] to do I can't get it further than this

[9:00] um I don't know if you could see it but

[9:02] that's where the

[9:04] top um I don't know chain thing whatever

[9:08] the that is so there's a hole there I'm

[9:11] going to have to fill that from the

[9:12] inside and over here I guess

[9:14] just not as tightly as this is cuz this

[9:17] is not going

[9:18] anywhere this is very

[9:21] tight I'll do the same under here maybe

[9:25] let me

[9:27] see I'll do something under there

[9:30] might be able to hear Bailey complaining

[9:32] he's over on the other side of the RV he

[9:34] wants out of his carrier so best I can

[9:37] do there should make a difference

[9:39] though because it's a roll like you can

[9:41] kind of roll it in on both sides and

[9:44] kind of push it in there but that's as

[9:45] good as I'm going to be able to get it

[9:47] I'm turnab bonding this

[9:50] because you

[9:52] know these things are

[9:55] crap and it would cost thousands of

[9:58] dollars to repair it and I don't even

[9:59] want the slide

[10:03] so I don't like RV manufacturers and

[10:06] it's not just because of this problem is

[10:08] because everything on this thing is a

[10:09] problem

[10:12] always I'm not going to pretend

[10:15] like like it's acceptable too many of

[10:19] you guys are just like this is life on

[10:20] the road with an RV No it shouldn't be

[10:23] that's

[10:24] so I ran out of pipe insulation

[10:26] but I got most of it

[10:30] oh I was able to slide this up let me

[10:33] see if I can show you it's under here

[10:36] there's the sun is everywhere it's very

[10:39] bright I couldn't get over to this area

[10:42] I got as far as that it's very tight

[10:44] even if it doesn't look like it in

[10:46] spots um there's you can see where

[10:50] there's you can see the problems in

[10:52] there

[10:55] um I'm just going to turn on all this

[10:58] because that's all I can

[11:01] do I need to be able to survive the

[11:03] Pacific Northwest

[11:06] and you know I have to prevent water

[11:09] damage needs to be

[11:12] insulated at least it's you know not

[11:14] worse I

[11:19] guess one day I will get it fixed

[11:22] properly it'll cost a

[11:24] fortune and I will never bring this

[11:26] light out ever

[11:29] worst thing that the RV manufacturers

[11:31] ever made were

[11:35] slides so from the inside even with all

[11:38] of that pipe

[11:39] insulation you can still see where it

[11:42] lets the environment

[11:43] in these are just a bad

[11:49] design they're terrible I don't know why

[11:51] people accept this I had known if people

[11:54] have been complaining about this I would

[11:57] have spent way more time looking for one

[11:58] that did not not have a slide truly

[12:01] these are the worst things that RV

[12:03] manufacturers make they truly

[12:06] are from the moment I got it I've been

[12:09] doing stuff to kind of insulate

[12:10] underneath of it whenever I was

[12:17] parked I know how frustrated I sound and

[12:19] I want you to hear that because this

[12:21] could be you one

[12:22] day this is

[12:31] if you want an RV don't get one with the

[12:32] slide I'm serious don't do it one last

[12:36] thing this is how much of the elements

[12:39] they let in when it's inside because the

[12:41] other side is the same way it's got

[12:43] these these areas

[12:47] where this is not cool I mean when you

[12:51] have the slide out you just you're

[12:53] letting in the outside air all the time

[12:55] insects get in um there's just it's

[12:59] completely inefficient and they're not I

[13:01] mean they're just not nice like I I had

[13:05] I was constantly reconfiguring this

[13:07] thing whenever I had to move you know my

[13:10] stuff had to always be moved around uh I

[13:12] had no storage space because this

[13:14] slide doesn't allow for cabinets you

[13:18] know across the whole area I turn the

[13:20] top of my slide into just a giant

[13:24] cabinet the bed for 6 months my back was

[13:27] killing me because the thing is in two

[13:28] pieces pieces and they're not flat like

[13:31] these slides are they just are

Photos · Sep 13, 2024

Sep 13, 2024

Photos · Sep 13, 2024

Sep 13, 2024

3:07

Clarifying Platform Use and Unheeded Unsubscribe Request

Sep 15, 2024

2:11

Testing Threat Response After False Bear Alarm

Sep 16, 2024

14:12

Explaining Direct Address and Preparing to Depart

Sep 18, 2024

10:57

Crossing Into Kansas, Assessing RV Water Leak

Sep 18, 2024

1:38

Observing Ripple Effects at Truman Lake

Sep 19, 2024

9:42

Touring RV Office Build and Route West

Sep 20, 2024

10:32

Driving Kansas Backroads, Documenting Landscape

Sep 20, 2024

9:49

Removing Teeth on Camera, Rejecting External Judgment

Sep 22, 2024

9:48

Naming Integration Versus Fragmentation in Process

Sep 24, 2024

6:36

Disinfecting Ear Piercings Before Long Drive Day

Sep 24, 2024

Photos · Sep 25, 2024

Sep 25, 2024

22:33

Restocking and Rebuilding Systems in Chadron, Nebraska

Sep 25, 2024

17:02

Entering Wyoming, Naming Matthew Shepard

Sep 26, 2024

Photos · Sep 26, 2024

Sep 26, 2024

49:39

Crossing Wyoming Toward Oregon, Naming Matthew Shepard

Sep 27, 2024

Photos · Sep 27, 2024

Sep 27, 2024

18:28

Morning Walk to the Sand Fish at Glendo

Sep 27, 2024

13:35

Sealing a Failed RV Slide Before Oregon

Sep 27, 2024

First Time Boondocking

Sep 28, 2024

25:13

Driving Wyoming Toward Oregon With Bailey

Sep 28, 2024

9:46

Recording Night Sky at Wagon Trail Pullout

Sep 29, 2024

9:04

Approaching Oregon Without a Plan

Sep 30, 2024

4:07

Naming the Unguarded Man from the Gas Station

Sep 30, 2024

22:41

Crossing Into Nevada En Route to Oregon Coast

Sep 30, 2024

2:31

Driving Into Elko for Supplies and Laundry

Oct 1, 2024

13:42

Contemplating Rootedness and Exploration on the Ruby Mountain

Oct 2, 2024

Photos · Oct 3, 2024

Oct 3, 2024

6:05

Facing the Mountain Without Medication

Oct 4, 2024

23:25

Driving Chimney Rock Mountain Road, Integrating Fear Response

Oct 4, 2024

10:44

Weighing Reopening Comments While Cooking Chili

Oct 5, 2024

48:33

Solving Off-Grid Battery Charging in Nevada

Oct 5, 2024

2:54

Charging House Batteries Through Solar Inverter

Oct 6, 2024

11:41

Weighing Nevada Against Oregon While Handling a Mouse

Oct 6, 2024

19:02

Deciding on Oregon While Hiking in Nevada

Oct 7, 2024

19:18

Last Day in Nevada, Preparing Departure for Oregon

Oct 7, 2024

Photos · Oct 8, 2024

Oct 8, 2024

Photos · Oct 8, 2024

Oct 8, 2024

Photos · Oct 8, 2024

Oct 8, 2024

32:45

Driving to the Southern Oregon Coast

Oct 10, 2024

PUBLIC

September 27, 2024 rswfire PUBLISHED

Temp 0.50

Density 0.20

Energetic Quality

focused irritation

Journey Phase

transitional / actively repairing

Directional Vector

toward a sealed, structurally sound home — away from manufacturer-designed compromise

Narrative

He had been awake an hour before the camera came on. Six in the morning, somewhere east of the Rockies, far enough out that the only water was in his tanks and the only food was what he'd already stocked. He had watched the moon and the stars from the window and was now waiting on the sun, coffee in hand, the interior lights throwing his own reflection back at him across the glass. He apologized for the view. He had tested the furnace already — it ran hot, it ran fine — and in the testing he had registered the other thing: a steady draft coming off the door area. He named it as a challenge and moved on. Bailey was awake too, and adamant about getting out of the carrier, and would have to wait.

He talked through tomorrow while the light came up. He had checked the schedule the day before: ten hours of driving, straight through Wyoming and into Idaho, a long day by any measure. He had not been able to reserve a campground in advance, and he set that against what he already knew he could do — Kansas to the top of Nebraska, not so different — and decided worst case he would find somewhere along the way. Then Idaho for a day and a half, and then Oregon. He said he was almost there. He said he was excited about it. And then he named the day's actual work: the slide.

He was going to try to bring it in, and he said plainly that he was a little worried trying was itself a bad idea, because if it stuck worse he did not know what he would do. It was not fully seated. On one side the insulated edge was not touching the frame. He could not afford to fix it. So the fallback was already drafted in his head — Eternabond, weatherproofing, sealing the frame from the inside, reversible in theory but only with great difficulty in practice. He was still thinking that one through. What was not in question was whether he would ever extend the slide again. He would not. This is not how I live, he said. I want an insulated space. This is my home.

From there the assessment widened and sharpened. The slide distorts everything. It compromises the insulation. It is prone to failures — like the one he was having. It claims to expand space while consuming the entire side of the vehicle where cabinets would otherwise be, so it takes storage away in the same motion it gives floor area. He had already proved that himself: since retiring the slide he had built a run of storage across the whole top of it and was, he said, so much happier, his life so much easier. And if the manufacturer had simply built cabinets there in the first place, it would have been better from the start. The only hesitation he named was resale — that one day he might want to trade it in — and he set that aside as unlikely. I don't think we have that kind of future, honestly.

Later, in direct morning sun, he took the camera to the failure itself. The cab-side front section would not move. He worked the mechanism and only part of it responded — one portion beginning to travel while the stuck portion held, the whole assembly going crooked. He filmed the gap. Just letting the elements in. He noted, almost in passing, that the rear of the slide sealed well, and that this explained something he had been puzzling over the day before — why the back of the RV stayed cooler. The diagnosis arrived as a byproduct of looking closely.

Then came the hands. He forced pipe insulation into the seam at the bottom, wrapping it around a black component down inside and pulling upward, working it all the way in, a long slow squeeze. It was very hard to do. He got it as far as it would go and no further, and marked the places he could not reach — the hole where the chain assembly ran, the racks or brackets he could not name precisely, the underside he would pack next, the exterior he would seal after that. He ran out of pipe insulation before he ran out of seam. Best I can do, he said, and then: it should make a difference though.

He was frank about the sound of his own voice. I know how frustrated I sound, and I want you to hear that. The frustration was aimed with precision — not at the road, not at the trip, not at himself, but at a product he judged defective and at the normalization of that defect. Too many of you guys are just like, this is life on the road with an RV. No. It shouldn't be. He said it would cost thousands to repair and a fortune to fix properly and that one day he would, and in the same breath that he would never bring the slide out again. He listed the rest of it — insects, constant air exchange, having to reconfigure his belongings every time he moved, six months of back pain from a bed built in two pieces that did not sit flat. He set the standard he was working toward: structurally sound. Sealed. Able to survive the Pacific Northwest without water damage. Then he turned back to the seam with what tape he had, one day's drive from Wyoming, with Idaho and then Oregon ahead.

Summary

Recorded at 6:00 AM during an overnight stop in the middle of nowhere, mid-route westward. rswfire is an hour into the morning with coffee, having watched the moon and stars, waiting for sunrise. He tested the furnace and confirms it works, while noting significant cold air infiltration at the door area.

He reviews the remaining drive: a 10-hour day tomorrow through Wyoming into Idaho, a day and a half in Idaho, then Oregon. He states he had trouble reserving a campground in advance and will improvise a stop if needed, comparing the leg to a prior Kansas-to-northern-Nebraska run.

The day's stated task is the RV slide. He documents that the slide will not retract fully — the front cab-side section is stuck while the other end moves, leaving the insulation not touching the frame. He states he cannot afford the repair, estimated in the thousands, and decides to weatherproof rather than fix: pipe insulation forced down the cavity from the bottom up, remaining gaps sealed with Eternabond, inside and out, with more work planned underneath.

He delivers a sustained structural critique of slides as an RV design category — failure-prone, insulation-compromising, storage-eliminating, element-admitting — and states he has no intention of ever extending it again. Bailey, his cat, is present and wants out of his carrier. Breakfast and route planning are the remaining items.

Environment

Interior of a Class C RV parked at a remote campground east of the Rockies, pre-dawn, roughly one day's drive from Wyoming with Idaho and then Oregon ahead. Lights on inside reflect off the window; moon and stars visible earlier; sun rising over the course of the recording.

Self-contained conditions — water in onboard tanks, only food already stocked, furnace recently tested. Bailey the cat is present, confined to a carrier. Later portions move to the interior slide wall and the cab-side slide seam, filmed in direct morning sun during hands-on insulation work.

Substrate

rswfire holds the position that a dwelling must be structurally sound and thermally sealed before it is spacious, and evaluates the RV slide against that standard rather than against industry norms. The architecture being built is an enclosure — sealing seams, converting the slide from a moving mechanism into fixed structure, permanently retiring a feature the manufacturer designed as central. What is being dissolved is deference to the manufactured product: he names the design as defective, declines the framing that such failure is simply the cost of road life, and states the repair standard he is working toward while operating inside a hard financial ceiling.

Actions

Performed

•recording pre-dawn from RV interior
•drinking coffee
•reporting furnace test result
•identifying cold-air infiltration at door area
•greeting Bailey
•reviewing route on map
•attempting to retract the slide
•showing the stuck cab-side section on camera
•packing pipe insulation into the slide seam
•documenting remaining gaps and hole at the chain mechanism
•naming the design failure directly to viewers
•issuing a purchase warning about slides

Referenced

•woke an hour before recording
•observed moon and stars
•checked schedule the previous day
•searched for reservable campground without success
•drove Kansas to northern Nebraska
•built storage across the top of the slide
•slept six months on the two-piece slide bed
•insulated underneath the slide at prior parkings
•reconfigured interior each time he moved
•ran out of pipe insulation

Planned

•10-hour drive through Wyoming into Idaho tomorrow
•day and a half in Idaho, then into Oregon
•find a stopping point en route if no reservation
•apply eternabond around the slide frame
•seal remaining gaps inside and outside
•add pipe insulation underneath the slide
•fill the hole at the top chain mechanism
•make breakfast
•plan tomorrow's route
•never extend the slide again
•have it repaired properly at some later point

Entities

beings

Bailey — Cat traveling with rswfire; adamant about being let out, confined to carrier during work

places

Wyoming — State to be crossed in tomorrow's 10-hour drive

Idaho — Next stop after the long drive; day and a half stay

Oregon — Destination of the westward route

Kansas — Prior leg reference point for gauging tomorrow's distance

Nebraska — Northern edge reached on a comparable previous drive

Pacific Northwest — Climate the RV must be sealed to withstand

systems

the slide — Failed retractable RV mechanism; stuck at the cab end, compromising insulation and seal

eternabond — Sealing tape intended for weatherproofing the slide frame

pipe insulation — Material forced into the slide seam as the available remedy

furnace — Tested and functional; heat output confirmed

RV manufacturers — Named as the source of the design defect and of recurring failures throughout the vehicle

water tanks — Onboard supply; part of self-sufficiency at a remote site

Symbolic Elements

Represented archetypes or recurring motifs.

threshold

seam

seal

enclosure

cold air

dawn

moon and stars

westward road

insulation

stuck mechanism

Ontological States

Expressed modes of being or awareness.

in transit (mid-route, days out from Oregon arrival)

self-sufficient (relying only on onboard water, food, and stocked materials)

constrained (repair bounded by a stated financial ceiling)

sovereign-declarative (naming the product defective rather than accepting road-life normalization)

Engaged Subsystems

Architecture engaged in this transmission.

infrastructural (slide mechanism, insulation, furnace, water tanks)

logistical (route planning, campground reservation, drive-time budgeting)

material-economic (repair cost ceiling shaping the chosen remedy)

somatic (cold air felt at the door, back pain from the two-piece slide bed)

documentary (filming the failure and the fix as public record and warning)

relational (care for Bailey, direct address to viewers)

Dominant Language

Core motifs or linguistic fields.

slide

insulate / seal

structurally sound

compromise

can't afford to fix it

this is my home

bad design

Narrative

Queryable Personhood

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Sealing a Failed RV Slide Before Oregon

Energetic Quality

Journey Phase

Directional Vector

Tags

Summary

Environment

Substrate

Actions

Performed

Referenced

Planned

Entities

Symbolic Elements

Ontological States

Engaged Subsystems

Dominant Language

Hand your life to anything that reads.