Government Shutdown - Camping Outlook

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by LRL

And somehow these responses aren't political?

Originally Posted by steve dunham

I don’t understand it either , maybe we’re reading the posts incorrectly ?

Certain posts have been removed, and you're right that they were political. However, I'd strongly suggest that you use the report function when you see a rules violation in the future, rather than simply mentioning it in the thread. As much as the site team tries to monitor all threads regularly, we are more effective when we see a reported post. Thanks.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by padlin

I recall getting threatened with no pay paydays when in the service in the late 70's early 80's, seemed like government shutdowns happened every fall although I don't remember why. When you're living paycheck to paycheck like most of us were it was something you worried about.

One of my daughters , a RN at VA is very worried about making their mortgage payment . Pat

[sclifrickson]

Originally Posted by Patandlinda

One of my daughters , a RN at VA is very worried about making their mortgage payment . Pat

My understanding is that the Department of Veterans Affairs is not part of this shutdown and is fully funded until September 2019. Unless by VA you were referring to the state. In either case, sending best wishes that it’s a nonissue for her.

[Patandlinda]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

My understanding is that the Department of Veterans Affairs is not part of this shutdown and is fully funded until September 2019. Unless by VA you were referring to the state. In either case, sending best wishes that it’s a nonissue for her.

Sure hope so . It's Federal and she wasn't sure she was getting her check . They are very scared. She said there has been lots of things going on ,also there . Thankyou for the good wishes . Pat

[Donna D.]

During the downturn of the economy of 2008, a lot of good information was given about how to handle a temporary lack of funds, i.e. paychecks.


The FIRST thing to do, for anyone affected by the shutdown is to contact your creditors in writing, explaining the situation. Damage is done to personal credit when it's just 'ignored.'

[steve dunham]

Government , at least for us is up and working . This morning at 6:00 our township’s only employee (Jim) was out plowing & sanding the roads and waving to all as he went by .
We are predicated to have -16 below zero in a few days so things are really looking up !

Happy New Years

[Hilola]

Originally Posted by sclifrickson

My understanding is that the Department of Veterans Affairs is not part of this shutdown and is fully funded until September 2019. Unless by VA you were referring to the state. In either case, sending best wishes that it’s a nonissue for her.

That's my understanding as well. I'll post an update in a few days when my check is due!

[Slowpat]

Had Christmas dinner with a guy who works for the VA. Their funding is from a different source and they are not shut down and are getting paid.

On federal lands getting shut down--it would be impossible to shut down National Forest and BLM lands while the majority of employees were laid off. It would be difficult while fully staffed--signs would be put up. You'll most likely find only the campgrounds gated and boondocking available in the usual spots. Law enforcement people will most likely be at work so don't be cutting down oak trees, even if you replant them with maple.


In the 1990s, during that long shutdown, there were three of us deemed to be essential. We were told to do our normal work in the woods, but try to drive around a bit to keep an eye of things and "show the flag".

[cpaharley2008]

Steve, with those low temperatures, what is your heat source? I assume you have a wood stove going 24/7 in case of power failures?

[LRL]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Certain posts have been removed, and you're right that they were political. However, I'd strongly suggest that you use the report function when you see a rules violation in the future, rather than simply mentioning it in the thread. As much as the site team tries to monitor all threads regularly, we are more effective when we see a reported post. Thanks.

So noted, Captain. Thank you.

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Steve, with those low temperatures, what is your heat source? I assume you have a wood stove going 24/7 in case of power failures?

We heat with wood and have electric heat as a backup
We burn wood pretty much 24/7 from December to mid March
We can maintain indoor temps of 60 to 62 deg F even with outside temps in the 30 to 40 below zero range but it takes a lot of firewood.
The electric utility up here (small rural coop ) is somewhat unreliable , we lose power at least once a week and have lost power for up to two days in the mid of winter and for weeks at a time in the summer
Wood heat always works and a large pile of firewood is rather reassuring

Happy New Years

[Steve Clark]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

A number of posts have been deleted as they were clearly political in nature. Additionally, a reminder that questioning the actions or inactions of moderators is a violation of forum rules as well.

Thanks, Robert!

[mizterwizard]

Honestly, I'm amazed I haven't been banned or something. I never intentionally insult people, though these days is seems pretty easy to accidentally insult someone.

To me it doesn't matter who is in power these days. It seems that all they care about is getting reelected and going on junkets. Laws are passed on the basis of what will get the most votes back home rather than what is good for the country.

If talking about a government action that directly affects RVing is a political thing that is prohibited then what is the reason for this forum to exist?

I think I will just go away and join some Gypsies on BLM land, far from the bureaucracies.

A lot of bad things happened to a lot of different people between 1939 and 1945. You hardly had to breath funny and it was off to a death camp somewhere. Other times have been bad too, just not so much for so many.

Donna D. continues to be a voice of reason and wisdom around here. During the depression of the 1980s, which was called a recession because we didn't have the courage to call it a depression, I got fired between the time I signed a mortgage at 13.5% and the time the first payment was due. I had some resources that allowed me to make the first few payments of $812/mo but when the variable rate took the payments to $854/mo the writing was on the wall.

I called the bank and told them that I would do what I could but that I was likely to not make some payments eventually. They were flabbergasted. The lady I talked to said that they would work with me because typically what happens is that someone gets 6 months behind, they try to contact them and they won't respond. Then it takes several months for the foreclosure to become final and they get back a house that has been trashed. It was 9 months before I decided to sell the house back to the bank and it didn't affect my credit at all.

Since I had been keeping the bank in the loop about my situation they agreed to take the house back without prejudice in exchange for not having the expense of foreclosure. I lost a ton of money but I kept my credit and more importantly my honor.

I hardly think this will go on for more than a couple of weeks but if it does and it puts someone in a bind I bet if you went to your lender and explained that they would work with you to preserve your credit rating. After all, all they want is to get their payments. Late payments are not ideal but they prefer those to no payments at all. What they don't like is silence.

[John in Santa Cruz]

recession/depression in the 1980? huh, early 80s was when I was really getting rolling doing freelance software engineering and making good money... circa 1989, I went back to the 'silicon valley shuffle', working for a place for a year or three, go across the street, new job, more money, rinse, repeat. then I got a long term IT job near home, which I retired from last year. I remember the market hit in the late 90s when the dot com thing imploded, funny thing is, the computer hardware market kept right on going, it was just stocks that imploded. and of course, the crash circa 2008, that too took a big dent out of my retirement accounts.

[Donna D.]

The best advice I can give anyone on this forum, is you don't NEED to read anything nor POST an opinion. That's why we have free will. In some cases for some people, it would be best to use the scroll wheel and move along. It may be better for blood pressure too.

We attempt to be inclusive of people here on the EscapeForum. In 99% of the membership, I don't know members last names. I don't need to know someone's political affiliation, religion... nor how much money someone makes in order to enjoy the information members provide regarding modifications, camping experiences, etc.

Any trigger just becomes noise and distracts from why this forum exists. What would be bad is if an opinion causes a rift between members. In that case, we all lose. Mainly because it displays the worst in people and not the best.

Moderators and admins do not like to edit posts. We'd rather y'all put us out of business because there's nothing to be done.

Now, does anyone have any new information about what's open or closed that affects people here that are traveling?

[cpaharley2008]

Yes, agree Donna, if you have nothing to add to the discussion of the impact of the shutdown on camping, then move on....

[EdColorado]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

Yes, agree Donna, if you have nothing to add to the discussion of the impact of the shutdown on camping, then move on....

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by mizterwizard

If talking about a government action that directly affects RVing is a political thing that is prohibited then what is the reason for this forum to exist?

The main reason for me that this forum exists is primarily for help with our Escape trailers, whether that be with ordering options, making modifications, or doing repairs. I have learned a lot from others here and hope my contributions in turn have helped.

My secondary reason is that it is a community that shares things from photos of places they have been to the best place to get some yummy poutine. It puts a face to a faceless electronic community. Having met hundreds of forum members has been a wonderful experience for me.

I have stayed completely out of this discussion even though in a few weeks I head south of the border for a couple months or so. While great information on the topic can be shared to assist others in the current situation, as soon as you include 'government' in the subject line, there are some that just cannot resist the opportunity to get on a soapbox and express their opinion which is not often shared by all and only results in animosities between the good folks here. This latter action takes away from what is my secondary reasoning for being here, to be part of a friendly community.

If posts on this thread were only factual with no personal opinion interjected, then this thread can still remain effective.

[escape artist]

Hi: Jim Bennett... I just read an article that "Soapboxes" are being made much smaller an lighter in weight due to online shipping costs. That means they aren't good for standing on any more!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Iowa Dave]

Hi Alf
That’s the benefit of having hoarding genes and a shed. I still have one of those old heavy duty soap boxes that will even hold me and some full dimension lumber and square nails in case I have to build a new one! Spent some time closely examining the nice pictures on the new Escape calendar and seeing how the landmark dates for the year fall in 2019. Happy New Year to all.
Iowa Dave