Date:         Mon, 23 Sep 2002 16:32:31 +0200
Reply-To:     Truls Erik Johnsen <truls@PLANETJOHNSEN.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Truls Erik Johnsen <truls@PLANETJOHNSEN.COM>
Subject:      Newbie presentation
In-Reply-To:  <000201c26305$3bad61c0$e31cad8e@bc.hsia.telus.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

Hi!

-Just joined the list, and thought I should make a short presentation.
Bought my first VW Transporter Camper a few weeks ago (for the hilarious
sum of 2000 nok (= 250 $)). It's a well-running '84 (148k km), camping
equiped, but without a fold-up roof. Took a few pics of it when I bought
it, and I've updated the gallery with new pics after the fixes and the
repaint. Have a look here: www.superelectric.net/transporter

It was painted really ugly by a youth travel agency, and there was'nt
really any way to remove the paint. The solution then was to repaint it
myself. It was also leaking oil, and the sliding door had nearly fallen
of. The oil-leak turned out to be a loose oil-filter, and the door
mechanism was worn out. A couple of runs to the local junk-yard solved
that. I even "upgraded" to the newer mechanism, so now it slides "oh' so
smoothly" :-) The next thing do to was to cover up the ugly
paint/grafitti/tags. The color of choise was bright green due to the
fact that this is the base color of the mountain biking net-magazine I'm
working with (part time, working as a researcher/ph.d.-student full
time), so logo's should be painted on later (the web-zine is in
norwegian, but for those interested the adress is: www.terrengsykkel.no)


The camping-equipment worked pretty fine. The only thing that needs some
work right now is the fresh-water-pump. My mother insisted that the
curtains and pillows needed a wash, and unfortunately she took care of
that without asking. I wish I could have done that myself... ;-) After
dealing a wee bit with a friend of mine, I traded a few bike parts for a
CD-player, and a trip over the border to Sweden gave me some cheap
speakers. The next thing now is to install a set of Bosch ekstra
headlights i bought at a flea-market last saturday (30$), and get some
heavy-duty bike-racks. Got a couple of Thule rails, and some
quick-releases that I'll use to make my own rack. I'm also considering a
rack on the rear door, but I have'nt decided on wether it's a good
solution or not yet. Got a used one offered to me for about 125$, so I
might go for that.

Well, thats about it. Ohh! Who I am? ASL? 30/M/Oslo, Norway. Ethnologist
by training, working at Agder University College on a project regarding
mobile services/mobile solutions, with a focus on use and user-aspects
(behaviour/culture/social-networks and such). This will (hopefully)
result in a Ph.D. in four years time (we're paid to do Ph.d's over
here). One of the four years will be spent in the states (Cali.), so I
might be in the market for a Vanagon when I'm coming over in january
2004. Ohh!: Avid mountainbiker. Been riding 12+ years. Current rides
includes a Turner XCE, a Fat Yo'Eddy, and a Specialized singlespeed.
Mountainbikes + Transporters (Vanagons), what a brilliant combination!
:-)

Well, that's about it. Ohh... This turned out to be pretty long...
Sorry! I'm allready enjoying the list (and the archives), and I'm
looking forward to be a part of it.

Regards

Truls Erik Johnsen
Oslo, Norway