"Perfect is the enemy of good"?
15 bonus points if you said "Voltaire."
Yep, an old guy in my neighborhood, Walter Voltaire, said that when I was mowing his lawn. I told him I would make it look perfect. That was 10 year old me selling him on paying me to mow his lawn.
"Perfect is the enemy of good" is an aphorism that means insistence on perfection often prevents implementation of good improvements.
Today was "Clean the Van Day" - I have been wanting to get at this for quite a while. We've only had the van out twice since we got back from the Tetons. Having driven through rain on that trip, and a couple monsoon events (blowing dirt and rain), the RoadTrek was in dire need of a thorough washing.
Adding to that: there is a RoadTrek Group on Facebook. While some people post about their travels, a good portion of the posts are from owners who are having problems. Many of those problems stem from the unique battery systems on these vans. RoadTrek was the first in the Class B industry to utilize lithium batteries. There is a learning curve with this battery system, and some owners don't understand how to best charge the lithiums, how to best store the van, and even the procedure to use with the batteries and inverter when plugging into shore power. Add to that, RoadTrek has continuously updated the batteries as technology changes... so, the owners of a 2020 model year van may have a different use procedure than those with a 2025. Questions and issues get posted on that Facebook group.
I like to get our van out regularly, to make sure everything is working and that the batteries, solar, inverter, air conditioning, under-hood generator, and motor get regular exercise. And, it has been so damn hot that we haven't taken the van out in a while.
We got after it reasonably early, heading to pick up the van around 7:00. It was already 90º. We put it in the driveway at the house and went after it, with both of us cleaning...
Starting early, besides being a bit cooler, there is some shade in our driveway. Some parts of the van, like the entire front end, the front of the awning (where Joan is scrubbing in the photo above), and the lower 1/3 of the sides were especially grubby, due to smashed bugs and driving on wet roads. The solar panels on the roof needed rinsing. Everything got soaped, scrubbed, rinsed... and repeat as necessary.
Looking clean and shiny when we were done. We then put in the floor liner Joan had ordered a while ago...
Seems to be a good fit, but we'll see as it gets some use.
We finished up just after 9:00 - hot, sweaty, and tired. Time to clean up ourselves and take on the rest of the day.
2 comments:
Looks good! A lot of work in the heat but worth it. I always thought that quote was attributed to TR - Theodore Roosevelt, who hated "Teddy" BTW. But I will take your word for Voltaire. 101° here today after a nice weekend in the mid-80's.
Today was supposed to be "the end of our Extreme Heat Advisories" for a while. It wasn't. Mid-80s? I am told it will get down to that for an overnight low... soon. A check of the internet says that saying is attributed to Voltaire. And I think we all know that the internet is never wrong. Hahahahahahahaha!
My old buddy Theo (we were in Jr High together, then he moved away) had some good quotes, though: "The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything" and "Speak softly and carry a big stick - you will go far."
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