Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 21:25:36 -0600
Reply-To: Terry Kay <CTONLINE@WEBTV.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Terry Kay <CTONLINE@WEBTV.NET>
Subject: Re: Why I ask "dumb" questions By: Joel Sell
In-Reply-To: Steve Schwenk <steve@SYNCRO.ORG>'s message of Tue, 13 Nov 2001
17:54:11 -0800
Content-Type: Text/Plain; Charset=ISO-8859-1
HK---
Now I see how Swenky get's thing all cranked up here------------
He lays in the weeds for awhile, and then starts casting dispersions,
stoking the fire a little, and then bails for awhile---
You can't take your eye's off him for one minute-----
New handle for Schwenky ---Crankenstein---:>)
From--Steve Schwenk
I should not have made assumptions or cast you as a novice/green. And I
sure did not intend to connote anything negative about being a new owner
of a vehicle about which you know little, if that had been the case. But
i could not miss seeing in the brief words of your post the image of a
new owner of a new van, new to the list, posting one of those first
basic questions all new owners face, how do i fold down the bed. It is
like the first step on a journey to...well, you know from your
history....or just read the list for a while and you'll see. So, it was
that image i was responding to. Sorry if you felt i cast you in a
negative light. I sure did not mean to and did not see the question as
being dumb. steve
Joel Sell wrote:
Volks,
where do I begin...
In '97 I bought my
first car, a '71 Westy. I knew NOTHING about auto mechanics and even
less about VWs. Turned out that bus had cracks in both heads.
Compression was down in the 40s. With the help of a new friend (who had
worked at a VW shop for years) we rebuilt that engine and bus in his
garage. Then I moved to Chile (South America), where I went to Auto
Mechanic's School and worked at a VW garage there. I only saw aircooled
stuff, and even stuff we don't have here (see that "Brasilia" in VWT
last month? I worked on a few. 411s? 412s? Those, too. Mexican beetles
and buses? yup. Even drove a '98 Mexican Beetle off the showroom floor
for a test drive and almost got clobbered by a public transportation
bus. You should have seen how white the salesman's face was!) Came back
to the states, sold the '71. Bought a '74 Westy and totally restored it.
Put 8k miles on it, driving all over the East Coast with my wife and
little boy. Sold it a month ago. During that time I restored a friend's
bus, a neighbor's bus and my sister-in-law's bug. My wife wanted
something more "modern" and comfortable,so we stepped up to a Vanagon
this past weekend.
I am a Teacher in the
Philadelphia Public School System. My wife stays home with our child,
expecting our 2nd one in March. I live in a row home. That right there
should explain why I don't have more than one VW at a time
;-)
Now, why do I ask "dumb"
questions- Well, I've already made hundreds of dollars' (maybe
thousands) worth of "dumb" mistakes that I could have avoided if I had
just done my research first. Looking it up in the manual, asking a
friend, or asking the lists. I saw this problem with the bed a potential
expensive mistake. I couldn't find the owner's manual in the Vanagon, so
I figured I would ask the list. Thank you to those who responded. I now
know how to make my bed (and sleep in it). To Tim in SJ- what the heck
are you talking about? (that damned silver thing next to the steering
column)
My ignorance shines again.
See you guys on the road,
Joel
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