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

[basinbeater]

My wife told me a story this morning about back to school night last night which she runs with the PTA. She does a great job with the school. But the story. Went on for like ten minutes, and the end point of the story is some kid who was in my daughter's class last year is in another class this year. Could have been a 2 second story. Olive is in the other class this year. Oh, cool.
Reminded me of this...

https://youtu.be/hUs-x4UeMS4?si=ckK1NypnvV7w0f1S

[AK47bp]

My wife told me a story this morning about back to school night last night which she runs with the PTA. She does a great job with the school. But the story. Went on for like ten minutes, and the end point of the story is some kid who was in my daughter's class last year is in another class this year. Could have been a 2 second story. Olive is in the other class this year. Oh, cool.
Reminded me of this...

https://youtu.be/hUs-x4UeMS4?si=ckK1NypnvV7w0f1S

This is one of the hardest daily scenarios for me, I’m impatient and easily distracted so a tip is to just say this at the end and it usually covers most long winded wife stories.

“Oh my god, that’s nuts”

If it’s a complaint story.

“Jeeze, sorry babe” or “wow, I can’t believe he/she said/did that, what the hell”

Always try to pay attention to the ending of the story so if she accuses you of not listening you just repeat the last thing she said.



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[PB]

Yabut ...... how do you know when the story is about to end??

[AK47bp]

Yabut ...... how do you know when the story is about to end??

Nobody knows.


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[nickwm21]

“Karen got a parking ticket in that lot”

Vs

“You know Karen from Atlanta with her 2 year old boy Roberto and 4 year old girl Rebecca, well she got a parking ticket in her Honda Oddessy in that parking lot while getting her nails done at that Vietnamese place last June.”


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[basinbeater]

Yabut ...... how do you know when the story is about to end??

Seriously. Sometimes it seems like it's never going to end.

Using the Karen in the lot example, it might start with,
"So, you know Karen?"
Me, "Karen who?"
"Karen who is friends with Jane, the Jane with the two cute little boys that were in beas class two years ago, and also go to the pool?"
Me, "nope"
"Oh, well, she got a new car recently, and goes to this nail place over by blah blah blah. I feel like everyone is starting to go to these types of places instead of where they used to go, you know?"
Me, "yeah..."
"Well, she went there, and while she was..."
Me, "zzzzzz"
"And then.... And... And then ... And she got a ticket."
Me, "oh cool"
"It's not cool!"
Me, "yeah, thats what I meant, like, it's a bummer"

[ghwbuush]

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.

This advice is why most people that didnt grow up doing things with trailers cannot back

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.

Its missing a key part. You use your truck (left to go right, right to go left or hold the bottom of the wheel) to point the trailer where you want it to go, THEN you have to maneuver the truck to follow the trailer where you pointed it without messing it all up again. This is why bigger things are easier, because it takes more to move them, so its harder to mess it up.

couple tips.. turn the wheel toward the side that you see more trailer on to straighten out, and watch/line up your trailer axels rather than the back of the trailer when you are lining up because thats going to be your pivot point.

but, yeah. Practice in an empty parking lot to avoid an audience and inevitable embarrassment.

play with your kids toy truck and trailer, too. its pretty easy to see what does what.

[fomofo]

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

Yea, probably.

[plugboots]

That’s my favorite commercial of all time, and I know I’ve posted it at least twice on teh trg’s.
I back trailers using the mirrors. I learned it that way because most of the trucks I drove w/ trailers didn’t have rear windows.

[AK47bp]

Seriously. Sometimes it seems like it's never going to end.

Using the Karen in the lot example, it might start with,
"So, you know Karen?"
Me, "Karen who?"
"Karen who is friends with Jane, the Jane with the two cute little boys that were in beas class two years ago, and also go to the pool?"
Me, "nope"
"Oh, well, she got a new car recently, and goes to this nail place over by blah blah blah. I feel like everyone is starting to go to these types of places instead of where they used to go, you know?"
Me, "yeah..."
"Well, she went there, and while she was..."
Me, "zzzzzz"
"And then.... And... And then ... And she got a ticket."
Me, "oh cool"
"It's not cool!"
Me, "yeah, thats what I meant, like, it's a bummer"

“That’s crazy” is good because it can work for good things and bad things. Better coverage.

Karen got a ticket.
Karen called me a bitch.
Karen won the lottery.

Works for all of them.


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[waxman]

That’s my favorite commercial of all time, and I know I’ve posted it at least twice on teh trg’s.
I back trailers using the mirrors. I learned it that way because most of the trucks I drove w/ trailers didn’t have rear windows.

This is my kryptonite. I can back up/put a trailer anywhere you want. When I was till doing demos I could do it in ski boots and never got stuck at any resort. I have "rescued" people and their trailers from situations all over the place. I can not use mirrors to back trailers up, I have to be able to see the trailer. I think its because I learned on tractors and hay wagon style trailers but I envy you.

[DBdude]

This is my kryptonite. I can back up/put a trailer anywhere you want. When I was till doing demos I could do it in ski boots and never got stuck at any resort. I have "rescued" people and their trailers from situations all over the place. I can not use mirrors to back trailers up, I have to be able to see the trailer. I think its because I learned on tractors and hay wagon style trailers but I envy you.

i learned on hay wagons also. it's easier with a long tongue

[bobz]

Well, I'm in awe at all you guys who can back up trailers (my wife would have no hope either). What can I say, I did my first few dozen road trips in college in a VW Bug, so my talent is more for packing compact and having fun anyway. First time ever towing a trailer was last year.


Gripes about my spouse?? How about this one: 1) She asks a question. 2) I answer it. 3) She argues that my answer should have been something else. 4) Actually I don't care either way, but Jesus Hercules Christ.

[halliday]

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

She can do that just fine.

[fomofo]

That’s my favorite commercial of all time, and I know I’ve posted it at least twice on teh trg’s.
I back trailers using the mirrors. I learned it that way because most of the trucks I drove w/ trailers didn’t have rear windows.

Backing up anything using the mirrors is often the best way to go. Backing a car into a driveway with a tight entry, for example. Also, helping someone back up using mirrors is becoming a lost art as well. (If you can't see the driver in the mirror, they can't see you. Duh.)

I never realized Errol Morris made so many of those Miller commercials...

https://www.errolmorris.com/commerci..._ducttape.html

[Danno]

Its missing a key part. You use your truck (left to go right, right to go left or hold the bottom of the wheel) to point the trailer where you want it to go, THEN you have to maneuver the truck to follow the trailer where you pointed it without messing it all up again.

It's your second part where I have difficulty. I can back it up straight, I know to go slow and make micro adjustments, but camp spots rarely give you the opportunity to back straight in. It's the maneuvering the truck to follow the trailer without messing it all up that messes me up!

[old goat]

but, yeah. Practice in an empty parking lot to avoid an audience and inevitable embarrassment.

.

Empty parking lot? Like the empty mall parking lot where I learned how to manage a skid on ice on Sunday afternoons?

While my wife can back our little sailboat into a double wide boat launch or a 3 car driveway, getting into the garage for the winter is tough. Until we got a swing down wheel for the tongue and realized we could push it in by hand a lot easier than by car.

BTW Praise the lord for backup cameras. I'm jealous of my wife's, which also shows the expected trajectory when you're backing with the wheel turned. It is to backing up what the automatic transmission was to going forward. Or at least synchro mesh.

[plugboots]

I never realized Errol Morris made so many of those Miller commercials...

https://www.errolmorris.com/commerci..._ducttape.html

I have that as a tab, (or whatever), on my devices. My Dad and uncles looked exactly like the typical guy in those commercials, (slightly overweight with the buzz cut, etc.).
I thought those commercials were genius.
OK, why not?
Here’s a pic of my mom and dad from probably 1962 :

[XXX-er]

you can setup an F-15 150 with backup system where you just turn a knob on the dash, I think you have to setup reflectors on the trailer but it sure works

When I shuttled some steelheaders from montana I just got out of the truck and left it in the middle of the road cuz my job was done and nothing was gona come along all day so i figured buddy would go up the road to find a turnaround instead he backed across a 1 lane forestry bridge way up in the air at what I would call high speed using the system and I was impressed

[Diamond Joe]

“That’s crazy” is good because it can work for good things and bad things. Better coverage.

Karen got a ticket.
Karen called me a bitch.
Karen won the lottery.

Works for all of them.


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"Woh, are you serious?" works pretty well also, can also be used in any of the above scenarios PLUS if posed as a question, which is kind of what she wants anyhow, allows her to carry on/continue/expound on her story, which usually allows you to figure out what the story was all about in the first place, if you lost focus on it somewhere along the way

[muted reborn]

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.

That's crazy

[m2711c]

^^^ golf clap…

[AmmergauerTele]

Start working the BLUF statements with your old lady military style:

BLUF (bottom line up front)[1] is the practice of beginning a message with its key information (the "bottom line"). This provides the reader with the most important information first.[2] By extension, that information is also called a BLUF. It differs from an abstract or executive summary in that it is simpler and more concise, similar to a thesis statement, and it resembles the inverted pyramid practice in journalism.

BLUF is a standard in U.S. military communication[3] whose aim is to make military messages precise and powerful.[4] It differs from an older, more-traditional style in which conclusions and recommendations are included at the end, following the arguments and considerations of facts. The BLUF concept is not exclusive to writing since it can also be used in conversations and interviews.[5]

[AmmergauerTele]

Start working the BLUF statements with your old lady military style:

BLUF (bottom line up front)[1] is the practice of beginning a message with its key information (the "bottom line"). This provides the reader with the most important information first.[2] By extension, that information is also called a BLUF. It differs from an abstract or executive summary in that it is simpler and more concise, similar to a thesis statement, and it resembles the inverted pyramid practice in journalism.

BLUF is a standard in U.S. military communication[3] whose aim is to make military messages precise and powerful.[4] It differs from an older, more-traditional style in which conclusions and recommendations are included at the end, following the arguments and considerations of facts. The BLUF concept is not exclusive to writing since it can also be used in conversations and interviews.[5]

[Rideski]

"Woh, are you serious?" works pretty well also, can also be used in any of the above scenarios PLUS if posed as a question, which is kind of what she wants anyhow, allows her to carry on/continue/expound on her story, which usually allows you to figure out what the story was all about in the first place, if you lost focus on it somewhere along the way

How does that make you feel?