Date: Tue, 7 Jun 2005 23:10:48 -0700
Reply-To: Karl Wolz <wolzphoto@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Karl Wolz <wolzphoto@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Subject: Re: Lighthearted Vanagon content - Boy or Girl? / Peh-leeeez,
Kill Me
In-Reply-To: <8e.28e04dd9.2fd7db2f@aol.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Every six months or so someone proposes that we go through the "data
dump" and extract the truly useable information and publish a CD for the
consumption of list members. I believe this would be a truly worthwhile
endeavor (with some reservations about copyright issues); I have
volunteered to contribute mucho time to the project, but after my
experience with volunteerism on this list (remember the stickers?), I am
not inclined to head the project up. Said project has had many false
starts and hiccups, but so far no one has gotten so far as writing an
outline (Bentley's would make a reasonable model).
The spirit of vanagonism, I believe is very similar to the kind of flux
that you get at a large family dinner, with conversations ebbing and
flowing - touching on some very salient points and occasionally
reminiscing or telling an occasional joke or two. It happens. This is
not a business meeting with an agenda (except for some of us, but they
usually leave or are banished); it is a group of friends with a common
interest.
The archives are what they are. No one has edited them for content, and
no one has been (or should be) policing the list membership as to
posting content. The thread in question is on topic, and rather fun to
read. A bit of fluff? Yes, but more fun than a question about tires or
paint color codes or . . . If you'd like a truly useful tool, volunteer
to work with me and the three or four others who would be willing to
donate their time to creating that very useful CD. I hereby waive any
copyrights I may own regarding the content of anything I've ever posted
to THIS forum.
Karl Wolz
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On
Behalf Of
> George Goff
> Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 10:25 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Lighthearted Vanagon content - Boy or Girl? / Peh-leeeez,
Kill Me
>
> In a message dated 6/6/05 3:38:33 PM, digidoll@COMCAST.NET writes:
>
> << Anyone else out there refer to their V'gon as a boy? I know the
tradition
> is
>
> to call all things mechanical (cars, boats, etc) "she," but to me, my
van is
>
> a "he" - nothing feminine about him. >>
>
> Now, this is a perfect example why there is no such thing as a Vanagon
List
> Archive. Let's just refer to it what it is --- a data dump. And,
even that is
> using the word "data" as loosely as possible.
>
> The Vanagon "Archive" makes me think of my Sweetheart. She just had
to have
> a file cabinet. I told her to use the single, full-depth file drawer
of my
> drawing table since I no longer had it filled with the plans for the
flux
> capacitor. She said that was not NEARLY big enough to contain all her
vital
> documents. She wanted a four drawer, full-depth office filing
cabinet. I dragged
> my
> feet on that number until I came across a nice three drawer,
> pistachio-colored Steelcase file. She didn't appreciate my downsizing
her
> specifications, but
> I knew she would be a sucker for the color.
>
> A couple of weeks ago I figured that since that hulking file cabinet
is
> sitting there anyway, I might as well stick a couple of things into
it. One thing
> was a single expandable file envelope which contained every warranty
and user
> instruction sheet from every power tool or household gadget which has
come
> into my house in the past 20 years, three to four inches of the stuff.
I knew as
> soon as I felt the inertia of rest of the top drawer of Big Green that
there
> was no point in using that level. I took the escalator down one story
only to
> find the same Tokyo-subway-at-rush-hour conditions. In a panic, I ran
down
> the stairs to the bottom level, but I stopped short of opening the
drawer
> whenever I saw the "NO VACANCY" sign.
>
> To gain accommodations in my Sweetheart's archive, I did the unseemly
thing
> of purging some of her vital files while she was sound asleep with our
pugs
> snuggled to her. All that I had to remove were the programs she had
saved over
> the past dozen years from an annual amateur production of "The
Nutcracker" in
> which a niece's name appears.
>
> The way they are now, the Vanagon Archives are like Fibber McGee's
closet (do
> a web search): whenever you open the door, God-knows-what will tumble
onto
> you. The Nutcracker programs need to be purged or, better yet, never
saved in
> the first place.
>
> George
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