Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 00:20:57 -0000
Reply-To: Leif <Leif_Abel@T-THREE.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Leif <Leif_Abel@T-THREE.COM>
Subject: Demographics
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Hi All;
Doing this demographics thing makes me feel like I'm introducing myself at
"Vanagon Junkies Anonymous Support Group" :-) Well here goes; I'm Leif
Paulsen and I have been a Volkswagen Addict for 7 years, my drug of choice
is Vanagons. Whew... that feels so much better to get it off of my chest
after all these years!
My first VW was a '91 Jetta, it was my first car and I really did go
driving just because I liked the way it drove. I sold the Jetta When I got
married and drove a Subaru Station Wagon, Then a Volvo 740 Turbo Station
Wagon (Wish I could swap that Engine into my syncro), One day I saw a
White '86 Westfalia Wolfsberg Ed. (67,000K, immac.,no kitchenette) for sale
in the parking lot of the grocery store. I fell hard in love. I was a
student at the time and my wife refused to part with her Volvo, so driven
to desperation and lust I took out a Student Loan and bought it for 4K,
what a deal (I hope no one from Financial Aid is on the list). We named
him "Fletch" after a character from Jonathan Livingston Seagull because
driving that camper was total freedom and self-contained Independence.When
we bought Fletch I had to promise my wife that if the money got to tight
the first thing to go was Fletch. That all Changed when while camping 3
hours from nowhere she went into labor with our first son. She Laid on the
bed and we timed contractions while I drove at breakneck speed to the
hospital for 2.5 hours. We made it to the hospital in Logan Utah. After
my son was born she swore that she loved that vanagon more than
anything...from then on a Vanagon has always been a member of the family (
I wanted to name my son Fletch, but that isn't really a Norwegian name, so
I had to settle for Thor-Leif ). Sold the '86 for a fully loaded '91 Westy
When I got a good job. I loved all of the amenities in the full Westy, but
we really needed a daily driver. I bought an '86 Syncro GL; charcoal grey,
weekender pkg., blue interior, 100K, Awning, Sunroof (that thing is the
size of some convertibles). I'm in the process of having the body
completely redone and painted Tornado/Toronado Red. I'm also having some
"bull bars" and matching rear bumper made. I sold my '91 Westy 'cause we
needed more seating room and we still have the bed which is what we really
use anyway. We have since added another member to our family, Stein Erik
was born in December and I must say I love those little guys tons. Today I
bought an 84' GL for 700 bucks That I'm going to use for a work truck and
hauler (I build water gardens in my spare time). I work at a software
company, CMC, as the NT network engineer, and administrator of the AS/400.
I am politically conservative, I love Rush Limbaugh, and Dr. Laura
Shlesinger. Only four types of music are allowed in my van (in order of
importance); Neil Young/CSNY, Grateful Dead, Irish/Celtic folk, Willie
Nelson. I love Skiing and Golf (+5 Handicap). Well that's all about me.
Leif
'86 Syncro GL
Take a Liking to a Viking Because Leif Landed First
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