Date:         Wed, 18 Aug 2004 11:30:52 -0700
Reply-To:     Shiva Polefka <shiva@EDCNET.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Shiva Polefka <shiva@EDCNET.ORG>
Subject:      through sickness and in health?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Howdy.  As a newer GERRY subscriber, i'll provide a brief intro to lead into
my first ever question/post: I expect i'm among the youngest members of the
list at 25, with a two-tone 84GL that i bought with 90k a coupla years ago.
Many trips to, up and down the west coast, one great wandering from CA to Bar
Harbor Maine and back (chasing wind and women back and forth across the
country), and a recent trip across the Mojave from SoCal to Northern Wyoming
has my van up to 120k.  With kiteboarding (think wakeboarding+windsurfing) a
central objective to many of the travels, my brother calls the van
"kitemobile" which i like, though its picked up a handful of other nicknames
from the affectionate to the profane in its short but storied tenure as my
baby.

Maintenance records were well kept by the original owner, and i've done my
best to improve on both record keeping and general maintenance.  Until
recently its been the best running round-headlighted Vanagon i've come
across.  Recently however, its begun absorbing gobs of money (1k in the last
month) and yet remains afflicted with a mysterious condition i and
experienced mechanics have yet to figure out .  I'm considering querying the
list on that, but first I'd love to read any thoughts on whether sticking
with my kitemobile will prove fruitful: am i approaching a phase in its life
where $2-4k in part replacement and major overhauls is par for the course?
Or should there be some increase in longevity to reap from the assiduous
fluid replacements and TLC lavished on the van thus far.

I realize this is essentially a mystical and unanswerable question, but it
may be that i'm in need of a pep talk, and I'm sure that if it compells any
replies they will be informative.  I'd really like to keep the van going, and
if its going i want it going the best it can, but i'm feeling uncertain about
what such a committment will entail.  Any thoughts, coldly realistic or
reassuring, would be greatly appreciated.  thanks in advance.  sp.  oh, and
peets beans are the best period.