[Once the leak was found on the roof line, and the roof molding was removed there was absolutely no butyl tape on the unit. The butyl tape creates a water tight seal behind the screw holes so that water cannot enter the unit.]

Michelle Gagne wrote me today. If you don’t know her or her story, you should. Several years ago she and her husband bought an RV, an Endura Max 2007 Toy Hauler, a fifth-wheel travel trailer from Gulf Stream Incorporated. The problem was, the trailer was one that had been built as a showroom model, not as a trailer designed for actual use. So it leaked. And Gulf Stream lied. And refused to make things right. And they basically cheated them out of $53,000.

The joints were never sealed, there was no seal on the door to prevent water intrusion. Her website shows hundreds of photos. The techs and repair facility at the dealer told Michelle and her husband they’d been scammed and that the Endura Max 2007 was a lemon. But it’s been years and Gulf Stream Incorporated is still not doing the right thing. If the name Gulf Stream Incorporated rings a bell, it’s because they were sued for providing bad trailers to FEMA for Katrina victims.

Michelle’s been documenting, writing, objecting and talking to anyone who will listen to her story for more than three years. When she wrote me today she said she was tired and wanted to quit, that it wasn’t doing any good. I wrote her back and said, “Take a break, but don’t quit.”

The thing with going after a company, or evil, or anything else in life that you want, is you don’t quit. It’s not the hammering at a wall that will bring it down. It’s the steady erosion, the chipping and wearing down of the foundation over time that causes it to crumble. We all want half hour solutions that resolve after the second commercial break. But life doesn’t work like that. It rewards the man or woman who plods along for years, maybe even their whole life. If something is worth having or doing, it’s worth waiting and working for. This fight might take 5 or 10 years. But once Gulf Stream falls to Michelle, and it will, it will come down easier for the next person, and the next, until it is destroyed by its own evil cheating ways.

It’s the drip, drip, drip of our efforts, our prayers, our deeds, our words that wears down the walls, or that, conversely, builds up our dreams. Don’t think about what you are not getting. Think about the effect of your steady effects in time.

You don’t have to make something like fighting a company your whole life, but you can make it a part of your life. It’s like me and Apple computers. They gave me a lemon and have refused for years to do the right thing and replace it. They’ve replaced two hard drives, screwed up the optical drive, replaced three batteries (it’s a three year old computer). It sucks as a computer. Over three years I can say I’ve convinced 20 or more people not to buy an Apple. And by the time I die I’ll convince 200 more that buying a computer no one supports is a waste of time and money. Who has $50 to pay Apple every time something goes wrong (which is often)?

So, like I told Michelle, it’s a one day at a time thing. Tell one person a day about your experience and you’ve told 365 people a year. That’s a lot. Sure, it takes time to defeat an evil empire, but remember, the angels and God have been fighting the devil since before Adam and Eve were created. Surely we can be patient for a decade or two eh?