Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 19:06:41 -0700
Reply-To: miguel pacheco <mundopacheco@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: miguel pacheco <mundopacheco@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: How To Disable Steering Wheel Lock
In-Reply-To: <3d35438b1003071432u6bc9bc99u1e2f8f1b4a462b8e@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Thanks for all your replies! As you may have read, I did actually have
a hide-a-key already in place, with key, included. As far as the log
of services performed, I do have one, but I'm not meticulous, as I
should be. As it turned out, we had several mysterious occurrences
around the house, prior to my departure. My wife did mention that
there must be a spirit and that spirit didn't want me to go. In
typical fashion, I responded, 'hshaw!!' or something like that, though
I don't know how it is spelled. I ventured out into the winter canvas.
Well, it turned out to be pretty hellish. It snowed, rained, blew like
hell, rained like hell, snowed like hell....wondered, at some point,
when that windshield wiper was going to go out and, while I was
watching and wondering, it did! Suddenly the passenger side wiper was
still swiping, but the one under my nose was stuck outside the A
pillar.....I was able to just turn wipers off because I had waxed the
windshield and all rain just flew off. Once the rain stopped, I pulled
over and, being the genius that I am, I jumped out with all the right
tools and was able to make quick repairs.........then I pushed on (my
daughter slept through the whole thing, all four hours!)
I dropped my daughter in Grand Junction, at her mother's house and
pushed east. After several hours, I turned south, towards Leadville.
The premonition that I would be trapped in my 2wd, by a snow storm,
was overpowering, but I pushed on. Once there, I completed the
transaction for the SVX motor, but once back on the highway,
everything closed around me. It suddenly became dark and started
snowing so hard that 20mph was all I could do, comfortably. All this,
in my 'new to me' Westy, that was performing flawlessly. With that big
SVX motor in the van, I pulled into the Alps Motel in Leadville, for a
comfy night indoors. Well, the bed was pretty comfy, but the two fish
tacos I ate nearby, left me hurting, so, the next morning, when I was
trying to make a safe exit, I could hardly think of getting in the
van. When it finally began warming up, I forced myself back into the
van and I made my way out of the area. The passes were clear and I
called my daughter to tell her that I was out.....then I saw the big
plow blocking I70 Westbound. Turns out there was a big rock slide and
I had to go around. The trooper said I wouldn't be happy and that the
detour was six hours! I responded, 'I won't cry!', pulled out and
started crying, but pushed on. The whole time, I'm wondering, when is
this 'new to me' Westy going to do some crazy classic Westy breakdown?
No sooner had I cried that question to myself when the odometer quit!
I said, 'is that all you have?' I pushed on and made the trooper's
6hour detour in 4 and a nice warm dinner at my ex's house that
evening.
So here I sit, awaiting dinner at home in Durango, savoring my
experience and lesson learned.......Lesson learned? Not a damned thing
(other than the whole documenting issue!) Just push on, onward through
the fog, damn the torpedoes and all that jazz! It's the same as it
always has been. Just get in your van and drive!
Miguel
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
- Thomas A. Edison
On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 3:32 PM, Alan Felder <dieseldoofus@gmail.com> wrote:
> I keep my records with miles/dates on Google Docs, so I can access it from
> any internet connection. I have also started to build a "narrative" with
> essentially the same information. That's a text document and eventually I
> will import it into google docs or a webpage, etc.
>
> Paper reciepts are kept at home.
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 12:29 PM, John Rodgers <inua@charter.net> wrote:
>
>> Hey Miguel!
>>
>> All aircraft have airframe and engine maintenance logbooks where ever
>> maintenance activity is recorded. Why not a Vanagon maintenance log book
>> kept in the glove box.
>
>
>
>
>> Alan Felder
>> Austin TX
>> 82 Diesel Westy
>>
>
| 
