Date: Tue, 24 Jan 95 15:27:49 CST
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject: From Ennui to Tedium ... & Return
>From Ennui to Tedium .. & Return
by Bob Thomas
Road & Track, May 1965
On the East Coast the distance between New Haven and New York is a
commuter train. In Southern California the distance between San Diego
and Lost Angeles is two Volkswagen buses. In either case, it's too far
to drive to work in the morning ... and then back home again in the
evening. However, there are 16 hardy souls who do it every day of the
week ... from San Diego (that's home) to Downey (a suburb of Los
Angeles) and their jobs at North American Aviation.
By the calibrated odometer, it's a 102-mi and 2-hr journey north to
Downey and a 102-mi and 2-hr trip south to San Diego, five days a week.
"It's really not so diagreeable," said Bob Boomer, the gregarious
"wagon master" who joined the group in June 1963, several months after
it was organized. "We've only had one fellow drop out because he
couldn't take it. And two of the original group are still with us."
Boomer admits, though, that it isn't an overwhelming desire on the part
of these extraordinary automobile commuters to live in San Diego that
keeps them from moving closer to their jobs at North American, where
most of them are engineers. He blames a low real estate market in
San Diego for creating the pool.
"Economic necessity had something to do with it," Boomer explained, "In
fact, everything. I bought my house as an investment. I didn't buy it
to lose money. Most of us are in a period of adjustment."
The average commuter, he explained, stays with the troupe about three
or four months. New members usually materialize as quickly as old ones
sell homes in San Diego and relocate in the Los Angeles area.
The group picked VW station wagons for several reasons ... price,
economy, low maintenance and the fact that they'll hold nine people.
The first wagon was acquired in April 1963. By early 1964 it had
covered more than 50,000 mi. Growing pains necessitated buying a
second bus in July 1963. It passed the 40,000-mi mark not long ago.
Maintenance has been low. "A few valve jobs," Boomer said. "And we're
still running on the original tires."
Boomer admitted that when the "pool" was set up it could have been
done on a more realistic basis. It started out as too good a thing.
A recent readjustment in rates was necessary ... a 30 percent boost
over the original figure of $30 a month.
It takes roughly 100 gallons of gasoline to keep the two wagons on
Highway 101 for a week and the buses average 21 to 23 mpg.
The contingency fund established to take care of emergencies hasn't
proved quite adequate ... like the $100 that had to be coughed up for
a minor "rear-ender" accident on the freeway. Damage amounted to $230,
but the group's insurance policy is the $100 deductible variety.
Also they're trying to liquidate the indebtedness on the two VW's as
quickly as possible. They've ruled out, for the time being at least,
trading them in on later models. The later bus has a wider rear
window but gone are the small windows on the left and right rear
corners which, according to Boomer, has produced two "blind spots" for
drivers.
Two of the members, Boomer and Scott Smith, share shot-calling duties
because the buses are registered in their names. They are selective
about which pool members do the driving. "Not everybody is allowed to
drive," explained Boomer, "and, for that matter, not everybody wants
to."
A driver's turn comes up two, sometimes three times a week depending on
attendance, but no driver ever makes the round trip.
The two buses leave at 15-min intervals from a common location in San
Diego, the first at 5:30 a.m., the next at 5:45. They arrive at the
factory about 7:30, in time for the 8 a.m. shift. The trips home begin
at 4:45 and 5:20 p.m.
Most of the trip is nap time. "We catch up on the hours we lose at
home," Boomer said. "We read a lot, too."
Boomer, in fact, is taking a correspondence course. "I do my studying
on the way and still find time for an hour's sleep."
Bridge playing, usually a favorite commuter pasttime, hasn't caught on
with the VW commuters, as they never seem to be able to get a steady
fourth. Occasionaly a member comes along who would rather talk than
sleep but those types are firmly discouraged.
The 200-mile-a-day commuters may be doing fellow San Diegans a great
service. An editorial ... "Jobs are needed in San Diego!" ... appeared
in the San Diego Evening Tribune, jabbing at city fathers over an
industrial situation that forces San Diegans to drive 102 mi to work.
Boomer is considering writing a book. He'll call it, "How to Get Up
Car Pools."