Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 15:27:09 -0800
Reply-To: YauMan Chan <YauMan@CCHEM.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: YauMan Chan <YauMan@CCHEM.BERKELEY.EDU>
Subject: Re: Sniveling Lurkers
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>>> Budd Premack <bpremack@WAVETECH.NET> 12/11 9:38 AM >>>
However, an issue that I have not seen raised here is whether there are any other quasi-official designations. Do we have any List Gurus, Honored Contributors, Venerable Vanagoneers, or are we all simply Members? Do we have a hierarchy? Should we?
>>>
I humbly submit the following for your consideration:
On the top,are the VanaGods. There are the ones who not only have memorized the complete Bentley manual front to back, but they also know the size of each an every nut and bolt used. They can also recite the complete list of Tech Service and Factory Recall Bulletins from the first production model of the Vanagon. But they don't get their hands dirty. They don't have to do anything. Others just come within their aura and get inspired!
Next are the Vanagonauts. These are highly trained Vanagon repair entities who spends most of their waking hours working on or under their Vanagons. They are well prepared for all possible contingencies....they are totally self sufficient in their Vanagons - they might as well live in it permanently.
Then there are the Vangaoneers. These, like the pioneers of the old day, are the ones who will push the Vanagon frontier to the limit. They drop Chevy V-8 engine in the bus and upgrade the transmission to the Posche 6-speed. Replacing R-12 refrigerant with propane in the A/C system definitely qualifies one for elevation to this status.
Then comes the Vanagonians - the peasants and the masses.. proding along complaining about their misfortunes and leaking engines.. but always somehow just getting by till the next oil, gas or water leak and/or electrical short. Among the Vanagonians are two opposing fractions: The Vanacrates and the Vanalicans. Vanacrates still have peace symbols stickers on their windows - left over from their VW Bus days. The Vanalicans proudly displays their gun racks and NRA stickers on their windows!
And finally, the VanaGones. Their beloved Vanagons are dead but still parked next to their Ford Areostar. They are too tramatized to send the dead on to the junk yard.. too far gone to accept the reality of the situation.. They stay on this list just to soak in the aura from other owners... ownership by-proxy! (In the next general meeting of the American Psychiatry Asso, "Vanagon Ownership ByProxy" will be certified as a recognized disease and will qualify the affected for protection under the ADA - American's for Disbility Act)
Yau-Man Chan
87 GL
