A few day ago was a good day. A few days ago I saw a fifth wheel trailer and tow vehicle stopped along side the roadway. This couple's TV was broken down. I pulled over to see if I could help in anyway I could. The gentleman seemed a little upset about the ordeal. With further questions and conversation, come to find out that the insurance he has tows one or the other that needs repair but not both. After talking with him I found that he was going to be staying about 40 miles from the breakdown point. I told him not to worry and I offered to haul him and his wife to the CG with the RV in tow, and the dealership can come pick him up when the TV was fixed, or he can get a rental car. Long story short.... All went well and they arrived on time for the CG and I helped them get settled...........Now I was thinking if we knew the general location of our members, i.e. I live in south East Tennessee or if you want to add your town that okay too. We could, in need, know who to PM if times were desperate. What do you think? I know a lot of us full-time but it seems to me someone maybe close.
First, you are to be commended for what you did. I would hope that if any one of us had the same situation, a good Samaritan would stop and offer a hand just as you did. If the person that needed help did not say thank you (which I am betting they did), we'll all say thank you for them.
Second and some time ago, a general map showing where we all lived was proposed. It was at the State level. Not so much at the local level. Although, if you're going to expose one, you might as well expose the other.
The main thing is privacy. When you stop and give it some thought, some/many or a few thought that this is a good idea but exposed another darker side. When the bad guys know where you live, and when you expose that you are on the road, this just gives them another way of knowing when to break in while you're on the road. In addition, the more information you expose, the likelier you are to become another statistic for cyber criminals and ID theft. These kinds of sites are often hacked by the underworld. Just the fact that we post the rally and talk about going there can create an unnecessary risk. I'm sure its just a matter of time before this is hacked as well. Once the information is exposed, its easier to get a credit card in your name and then have a field day.
I personally would have liked to have seen something like this. It gives us a common ground to work from. Many of us might live next door and don't even know it. Friendships can be made on proximity to each other. Some suggested that we pull the data from Redwood so that we could create the spreadsheet or map. But Redwood would likely be put at risk as this is private information. Exposing it could put Redwood at risk if they had not obtained a release from each owner.
Some say "who cares" what I have out there. Many are not willing to risk this. I guess even I have taken a risk by using the Texas logo for my "call sign". But I don't post anything other than that.
Thanks for being a good great awesome Samaritan. I hope that the favor is returned to you one day when you're on the road. I know I would appreciate the favor and I am always willing to lend a hand when needed. Congratulations on being human and having compassion for others!
As noted in the previous response, something similar was previously discussed, but due to privacy issues we are unable to action anything that lists member locations.
However, the first folder in Technical Discussions is "Urgent Assistance Required". A post in this folder, while not a PM to specific member(s) would be see by everyone logging in.
Yes, I remember the discussion about privacy.
I had suggested something similar to the map at Datastormusers, which I use when on the road to keep our family and friends up to date on our travels.
Input to the map is voluntary, and you can set an expire time, days, weeks or a month. While it still shows that you are on the road you don't have to post your home location, and with the GPS coordinates it gives an exact location, so you know exactly where you are (and others do as well) if you need to be located or have a problem.
Just giving it "second kick at the can!"
I personally like the idea. When you are stranded in unfamiliar territory and everything is closed it would be great to be able to contact someone in the area that could either provide assistance or be able to put you in contact with someone that can. Redwood is interested in the idea and it was brought up to them on the other forum. They are going to look into creating a phone app like Lippert has. It was suggested a directory with redwood/crossroads contact #s as well so a list of repair centers and dealers. We could also voluntarily ad our contact info into the data base as well
Shane,
If RW is already involved, can you give me a reminder in a couple of weeks and I'll sent a note to Tim. He is rather busy currently with the show circuit.
I'll put it in Outlook calendar, but a reminder wont hurt.
Andy
For the life of me I can not remember the gentlemens name that is monitoring the forums. But he stepped up on the other forum with some suggestions and seems keenly interested in this. Perhaps you can check with your contacts
Thanks
Shane,
Seth is the chap from RW that is monitoring the forums
