Silence of the "Bleep"

Ever started your car in a hurry and forgotten your seatbelt? That annoying bleep begins immediately. Now imagine that bleep torturing you for three and a half hours while driving an RV through unfamiliar territory!

Henry was driving but conveniently removed his hearing aids to escape the noise. The bleep wasn't about seatbelts—it insisted the emergency brake was on. It wasn't, but the relentless bleeping continued. We tried everything: blasting music, opening windows, cranking the fan. Nothing worked!

This morning we got desperate. Added brake fluid—nope. Fiddled with the brake release—nada. Called repair shops who either "don't handle that kind of thing" or had parking lots "too small for your camper."

Finally, NAPA agreed to help. Their code reader said "all is fine"—but it didn't read brake codes! So we bought a $160 brake code reader. Result? "All is fine." HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE WHEN WE'RE BEING BLEEPED TO DEATH?

Back at the campground, we crawled under the dashboard like demented mechanics, located the source, and Henry yanked out some wires. Still bleeping.

In desperation, Henry asked for socks. "Socks?" "Yes, to muffle the sound." We stuffed two pairs of our wooliest socks into the dashboard. The bleep dulled slightly, then suddenly—miracle!—it stopped. Golden silence.

We drove in terrified quiet, afraid to speak and jinx it. Success! We had silenced the bleep. Perhaps the socks suffocated it!

Silence of the "Bleep"