I love my wife and all, but Jesus Hercules Christ...

[plugboots]

I've heard some ladder horror stories, including meeting a guy with a full leg cast who said he only fell about six feet, but landed on concrete and broke multiple bones. If ladder stuff gets even a little squirrelly, I hire someone, Mrs. PDX isn't a ladder fan either

My old boss survived climbing into tunnels in Vietnam with a handgun, but it was a ladder that causes him to carry his x-ray with him through airports.

[nickwm21]

That reminds me.

If I am backing up the car into a super tight spot or something similar - my wife will offer to hop out and help. But she’ll just end up standing there - no hand signals, no verbal cues - just stare at the back of the car…. Thanks babe.

Kinda opposite….

If you’re trying to move something large with a buddy - like a couch - you might make a simple statement like “we should try to roll this on its back to get it through the door” but otherwise you just get on either side of the thing, pick it up, and get after it.

Moving something heavy with my wife is a different story. I need to start by providing a kind compliment. Then I need to explain, step by step, every detail; where to grab it, which direction we are going to rotate, etc. Then I need to narrate that plan as the move is underway, slipping in a few words of affirmation. I’ll end the operation with a compliment. Otherwise it will get all fucked and it will be my fault.


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[Danno]

Man I WISH I could offer to help people at the boat ramp, I just want you to get your damn boat in the water, no matter how it happens, so I don't have to sit there watching you mangle if for 20 minutes while I wait to put mine in. That sucks for both of us. I have no choice but to wait for you to clear the ramp so you WILL have an audience, which I know people hate, so which is worse, me watching and judging you as you fuck it up over and over, or me helping you get it done quickly?

All that being said, I don't offer to help because I realize people feel like Danno, so I just sit there silently cursing my ramp arrival timing and praying the person will luck into a decent launch and get the fuck out of the way.

Yeah, I get that, but I'm not a boater. I'm talking about campsites, where nobody has to watch and nobody is actually waiting for me to get out of the way.

[Diamond Joe]

Hmmmm so does the boat ramp change the calculus of offering to help??

Moving something heavy with my wife is a different story. I need to start by providing a kind compliment. Then I need to explain, step by step, every detail; where to grab it, which direction we are going to rotate, etc. Then I need to narrate that plan as the move is underway, slipping in a few words of affirmation. I’ll end the operation with a compliment. Otherwise it will get all fucked and it will be my fault.

Ohh man this is so true lol. and GOD FORBID she scrapes her hand or gets her fingers pinched a little bit or anything. That is 1,000,000% your fault and will jeopardize the whole operation, resulting in the piece of furniture being abandoned in the position it was in wherever said injury occurred.

[Danno]

Hmmmm so does the boat ramp change the calculus of offering to help??

no, probably not, lol. But at least it better justifies your desire to offer help.

Just know that it isn't me who is making you wait.

[gravitylover]

Lol yup. That's why I try hard not to ask the wife to help move bulky shit.

[muted reborn]

I blew out my back skiing the week we moved into our current house and the wife and her girlfriends packed up the rental place and moved everything in with no issues. I was regulated to things like pillows and boxes not much bigger a pair of shoes as they moved bulky couches and beds, and more, it was kinda nice.

[halliday]

Mrs Riser4 grew up on a farm. She can back a whole hay wagon train, with the baler still attached, with an ancient tractor that has a janky clutch. I can't back up things that articulate. Straight body truck of max length? I can slot it in all day. Trailer or wagon? Nope, I'm not your guy. She's a bunch of decades removed and she's still a feisty farm girl.

Mrs h grew up in the West Village. she aint backing up anything. Although if you get off of a subway anywhere in Manhattan she knows exactly which way to go when she gets to the street level. Ive always been mystified by this.

[Foggy_Goggles]

A lot of this could be alleviated by learning to back a trailer. It fall under "I've got this thing and I don't know how to use it". Trailers, chopping wood, changing a flat tire should all be taught and learned at a young age.

Pray tell, what is helping somebody back a trailer? There are the standard redneck hand signals (flair optional) that reference what you need to do with the back of the trailer. Other than that what are you gonna do?

Some people are better at it than others but the concepts are pretty straight forward. I'll put on the flame suit and ask what actually are the challenges? Turn the wheel the wrong way? Can "see" the line ahead of time? Don't know how to use your mirrors?

[plugboots]

That reminds me, it will be my fault.

FIFY
Kidding, kinda.

[Diamond Joe]

Pray tell, what is helping somebody back a trailer? There are the standard redneck hand signals (flair optional) that reference what you need to do with the back of the trailer. Other than that what are you gonna do?

I'm gonna "help" you by getting in your truck and fucking doing it for you.

[waxman]

That reminds me.

If I am backing up the car into a super tight spot or something similar - my wife will offer to hop out and help. But she’ll just end up standing there - no hand signals, no verbal cues - just stare at the back of the car…. Thanks babe.

Kinda opposite….

If you’re trying to move something large with a buddy - like a couch - you might make a simple statement like “we should try to roll this on its back to get it through the door” but otherwise you just get on either side of the thing, pick it up, and get after it.

Moving something heavy with my wife is a different story. I need to start by providing a kind compliment. Then I need to explain, step by step, every detail; where to grab it, which direction we are going to rotate, etc. Then I need to narrate that plan as the move is underway, slipping in a few words of affirmation. I’ll end the operation with a compliment. Otherwise it will get all fucked and it will be my fault.


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Finding anyone that knows how to lift and move anything seems to be a challenge.

[Danno]

A lot of this could be alleviated by learning to back a trailer. It fall under "I've got this thing and I don't know how to use it". Trailers, chopping wood, changing a flat tire should all be taught and learned at a young age.

Pray tell, what is helping somebody back a trailer? There are the standard redneck hand signals (flair optional) that reference what you need to do with the back of the trailer. Other than that what are you gonna do?

Some people are better at it than others but the concepts are pretty straight forward. I'll put on the flame suit and ask what actually are the challenges? Turn the wheel the wrong way? Can "see" the line ahead of time? Don't know how to use your mirrors?

Growing up in a big city, there weren't any opportunities to learn how to back up a trailer (or chop wood for that matter, but I figured that one out). But I definitely learned how to ride the subway! And until you buy a trailer, there aren't opportunities to learn after that young age. So my trailer backing up experience started in my mid-40s.

As for it being easy, well no doubt there are people naturally good at it, and people who are good at it after lots of practice, but if you don't understand how it can be challenging it's been way too long since you learned. The motions are not intuitive. And given the trailers I pull are all quite small, it can be even tougher (everyone says big trailers are quite a bit easier, but I have never tried). Even though I understand how to move the steering wheel initially to get the trailer moving the way I want it, what comes next is more difficult. How to keep the trailer moving on the trajectory you want, and straighten out where you want it straightened out. So not flaming you, but your statement is pretty high horse for an activity that is routinely understood to be difficult for those who aren't well-practiced at it. Hell, they even have t-shirts and other forms of camper art (one example), it's not like we're making this shit up and everyone else thinks it is easy.

As for what people do to help, they want to stand back there and tell you what to do "ok cut your wheels now, straighten out, yadda yadda yadda". Even if you already have someone back there giving you signals. And if that "helpful" person is Mrs. Boissal, great, but you have no way of knowing who they are and whether they really know what the hell they're doing. Because "helpful" people aren't always helpful. So I prefer to stick with the person I traveled with.

[Danno]

I'm gonna "help" you by getting in your truck and fucking doing it for you.

And there's no fucking way I am letting a stranger at the campground get in my truck and start messing with my camper.

[Danno]

And while I suck at it, "suck" for me is defined as "sometimes it takes a few tries", I do always end up with the trailer exactly where I want it.

[Foggy_Goggles]

You practice and you learn. You go to a big parking lot and you do it until you've got it.

Most people do best by grabbing the wheel at the bottom, looking in the side view and moving your hand the way you want the rear of the trailer to go. Given the choice, all ways put up to make your back as straight as possible. If you have to back up in an arc, you need to "follow it". Once the trailers arc is established, you need to match that with your front wheels. Same principal. Look in the mirrors. Move the hand the direction you want the back to the trailer to go. If it starts going bad, pull up a bit. It doesn't really get any different until you have restricted space for the tow vehicle.

[old goat]

I don't know what to comment other than

who is putting up with whom?

edit: but really we are all better at something than the other so why not let the better person at the job do it ?

That last truck wrecker er i mean GF would give me shit for things i wasnt good at but there was a whole bunch of things she wasn't good at eitehr and backing a truck would be one of them

In any case all that shit I used to do for her now she can do it all herself

It's understood that she does the plumbing and electric, I do the carpentry and concrete. The house hasn't burned down, flooded, or collapsed in 41 years of marriage so I guess our system works.

Same in the Boissal household. I have never tried and have 0 reasons to learn at this point, Ms Boissal is just too good at it. Our neighbor made fun of me a few years back for it. Dude's as nosy as they get, always spying on everyone and offering his invaluable opinions freely. He saw me get out of the truck and walk into the house as Ms B was backing a load of compost through a gate that isn't much wider than the trailer. He ran over and starting directing her, she told him to get lost (she hates an audience). He came to find me huffing and puffing about it being a man's job. He was scandalized that I would let her do it and even more that she dared to refuse his help. I was assured she'd destroy the fence and most likely the house (more than 100' away). He was in the middle of telling me I wasn't a real man when Ms Boissal came over asking if he needed anything, perfectly parked trailer visible behind her. He looked at her like she was an alien and scampered away.

If you were half a man you would have beaten up the neighbor. jk

I feel like we argued about trailer backing and man cards about a hundred pages ago

That's something my wife would say.

I've heard some ladder horror stories, including meeting a guy with a full leg cast who said he only fell about six feet, but landed on concrete and broke multiple bones. If ladder stuff gets even a little squirrelly, I hire someone, Mrs. PDX isn't a ladder fan either

My wife was up on the roof blowing off pine needles. "What would you do if I fell off this roof and killed myself?" "Hire someone to finish."

Mrs h grew up in the West Village. she aint backing up anything. Although if you get off of a subway anywhere in Manhattan she knows exactly which way to go when she gets to the street level. Ive always been mystified by this.

I would never let anyone who grew up in Manhattan drive a car, let alone back a trailer.

[Danno]

Although if you get off of a subway anywhere in Manhattan she knows exactly which way to go when she gets to the street level. Ive always been mystified by this.

like anything, it takes practice

[Falcon3]

... she aint backing up anything .

That's too bad, knowing how to "back it up" is a requirement for any woman I'm with.

[TahoeJ]

And while I suck at it, "suck" for me is defined as "sometimes it takes a few tries", I do always end up with the trailer exactly where I want it.

It’s all relative. I’m a pretty damn good trailer driver but after helping a buddy put his 30 foot boat back in water the other day with my truck (which has a 6 foot bed and it’s a super cab) and trying to find a place to park when the trailer spots were all occupied I was definitely sweating it a bit. Like where the fuck can I park this damn thing? Nearly got stuck in a tight squeeze and embarrassed myself, but just barely pulled it off. Phew!

Major respect for those who can effortlessly handle that kind of setup.

[old goat]

Friend of mine in college got a summer job driving a full size moving van with no experience, figured he always be able to drive forward on residential street. First job was in a cul de sac. He got so stuck they had to call an experienced driver to get it unstuck. He couldn't do it--wound up with a tow truck hauling it out backwards. It was also his last job.

[Core Shot]

You practice and you learn. You go to a big parking lot and you do it until you've got it.

Most people do best by grabbing the wheel at the bottom, looking in the side view and moving your hand the way you want the rear of the trailer to go. Given the choice, all ways put up to make your back as straight as possible. If you have to back up in an arc, you need to "follow it". Once the trailers arc is established, you need to match that with your front wheels. Same principal. Look in the mirrors. Move the hand the direction you want the back to the trailer to go. If it starts going bad, pull up a bit. It doesn't really get any different until you have restricted space for the tow vehicle.

Yep.
Hand on the bottom of the wheel. Left is left right is right.
Don’t overturn. And if it gets wonky pull forward and straight and try again.

[gaijin]

Saw a guy in his boat, circling the marina, awaiting his wife to back the trailer down the ramp.

He used a whistle to communicate commands to her in code. She backed it in, he drove his boat onto the trailer, she clicked it in, and then drove up and out the ramp. He never got out of his boat.

My dad turns to me— “That couple knows how to communicate. Take notes.”

[old goat]

This couple knew how to communicate.


19 year old Lauren Bacall

[gravitylover]

I finally got my wife to start backing into the driveway this year. I think she got tired of banging her door into the stone wall when she got out of the car.