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Date:         Sun, 29 Jan 2006 19:11:46 -0800
Reply-To:     Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Robert Fisher <refisher@MCHSI.COM>
Subject:      Re: The hah hah of good living...
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
              reply-type=response

I can't decide if that's an interesting story or too much information.

Cya, Robert

----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeffrey Olson" <jjolson@GWTC.NET> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2006 6:53 PM Subject: The hah hah of good living...

> Hi Malcolm, > This is just me bud, but I'd rather be a campin than a buildin ? (also, > would rather not re-invent the wheel...) BTDT, & now, the darn t-shirt > shrunk !!!???!!! :o) > > Regardless of this fellow's kind and weird answer - campin rather than > buildin - which it is to someone who loves to work with wood/composites > - there is another ethos - build your interior. (I love the guy's > attitude though...!!! I have to take a drug test to maintain > employment...) > > The Westy grey walled stuff is really lowest common denominator when it > comes to defining how you want to move through space inside your camper. > > I owned a 66 SO-42 westy camper for years and years, and now that I'm > putting my subie engine in the vanagon, will spend a number of months > crafting the interior. I want the bed/seat frame. But I think I may > just build my own interior for the pure, rapacious joy that creating > something engenders... > > Recreating the wheel? If that's what I do and know where every bolt and > screw, every mistake and unique attibute is - then the time I spend is > well-worth it. > > I'm going to spend $6000 on an engine and installation, and $1400 for > the vehicle itself. I know what I want - and, what I want is in large > measure, a product of making love in the 66 westy... > > I remember being parked in a rest area of I-84 in 1974 when the freeway > was brand new. My girlfriend was totally weirded out about going to > Hampshire College and having me around. She was the archetypal upper > middle class beautiful blonde woman who was 19 years old and very, very > neurotic. > > One of the ways she showed that she really "did" appreciate me was being > willing to make love whenever I wanted. I never felt she initiated > getting naked, but she was "always" willing to look me in the eye and > follow the direction my hands were moving... > > I'd driven from Alabama to Virginia in one long day - 1000 miles, and > was seeing stick figures running in front of the bus as I drove my 60 > MPH. The stick figures looked backwards and gestured me to move > forward. There I was, in the middle of the night, with five or six > little stick persons leading me one. What was I to do??? > > The upper layer to this was that two days before we'd driven through > Albuquerque. My 66 bus had a 1300 in it. The interstate out of > Albuquerque is uphill. The wind that night was blowing 40 mph plus. I > was driving in second gear at 30 mph - on the freeway... > > Annie had prepared the back of the bus and taken off all her clothes. I > could look in the rear view mirror and all I saw was her naked body > diffused under the weak domelite. She presented herself in about as > many positions as I could ever imagine. I continued to drive - nowhere > to stop. > > Needless to say, I loved every moment of her getting loose. But I > couldn't find a place to stop. NO rest area, no side road, no place for > us to reaffirm being-in-the-present, meaning there was no future. For > the 15 minutes she did her rapacious act I was a danger on the freeway. > I only monitored being in the lane. My eyes and heart and surging, > testosterone driven lust overwhelmed being safe. > > 30 years later I marvel at my decision to continue driving. Annie went > to sleep and I continued to drive. I drove to somewhere in Alabama, > pulled over, crawled back to the bed, and passed out. Annie was out, > and so was I. > > The next day was filled with sexual tension and we stopped at a couple > rest areas to relieve ourselves. The one I remember involved moving all > the luggage onto the floor and into the front seats and putting down the > bed. > > My 66 had curtains on springs that hid what was happening inside from > outside view. I think I like this memory because I was 21 and Annie was > 19, and we were on a voyage of discovery. Annie eventually freaked out > and I had to leave, but until the day before we got to Amherst, she was > present and using her anxiety to be really, really present. > > This anxiety made making love a couple orders out of the ordinary. We > parked at one of the rest areas and lustily moved the stuff on the rear > bed to the front of the bus. We grabbed at each other and spent > precious minutes kissing and holding each other, our breathing slowing > growing louder and shorter. > > Towards the end of making love we heard a small, piping voice that > couldn't have been more than ten feet from the bus say to her mom, "Why > is that car jumping up and down?" This is while we were making the bus > jump up and down. > > We smuggled our laughter and slowed our rhythm so as to hide what we > were doing, knowing full-well the child's mom was envious of us... > > So why do I want to put a subie engine in the vanagon and build an > interior based on my expectations/vision? Why does the fellow's quote > above seem slightly absurd? > > Owning a vanagon is nothing. Investing meaning in owning a vanagon is > very much something. I got an e-mail earlier today from a fellow who > thought, based on my question, I wasn't competent to do a Subie > conversion. > > He doesn't understand, or his comment doesn't reflect understanding. > Why does anyone own a vanagon/westy/synchro??? > > It's not rational. I don't think a person can make an argument that is > rational unless s/he is moving to bio-diesel propulsion. I am lusting > to spend the hours necessary to wind my way through a complex mechanical > process. I have no doubt that I will be successful, and drive my 165 > horsepower subie driven vanagon to the west coast to find a westy bed > and rear cabinet... I will craft an icebox that sits behind the > passengers seat, and I don't care if someone else thinks I'm stupid or > obsessed. I am... > > I think young men easily dismiss - a judgment, yes... They don't > realize that craftmanship is pretty much all there is outside of the > love of a good woman... > > Jeff Olson > Martin, SD


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