Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 15:34:30 -0700
Reply-To: wilden1@JUNO.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stan Wilder <wilden1@JUNO.COM>
Subject: Living without my 83 Westy
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Having sold my Air Cooled 83 Westy of eight years of ownership and many
hundreds of thousands of miles of happy travels, I decided to think
through the daily differences in my life and here is what a came up with.
The lawn is getting mowed, more regularly, the hedges also got trimmed.
I don’t have that feeling of wanting to go find Larry Chase and race him
coast to coast anymore.
I no longer have that feeling of wanting to hit the road every time that
I had looking at the Westy.
I’ve given up going to garage sales buying unneeded camping gear.
The small cluster of freckles, cause by an oil drip on the drive have
been removed.
My entrepreneur’s collection of Vanagon and Westy parts seems to have
grown disproportionately for a person owning just one Westy.
I’m feeling like selling off some of my most treasured NLA Westy parts.
Others have also noticed a change in me:
Mom (87) says (never rode in the Westy). It sure was a cute little van.
Good you still got that 66, I’ll always know where to find you if you’re
not in the house.
Older Brother says. Boy you sure took good care of that van, everybody
really liked it.
Younger Brother says. Hope I can get that many miles out of my Mercedes.
Dad (94) said. That thing was always broke.
Poppy (the 7month old dog) said. I much prefer the luxury of the Crown
Victoria rear seat and the quality air conditioning. I notice that I
salivate less and sleep better in the back seat of the Crown Vic.
Neighbor said. Wish I knew it was for sale, I been thinking about getting
one.
Local parts vendor. He was speechless and couldn’t speak because he was
sobbing so badly. Said something about closing up and just selling out.
Local Bar Owner “Bobby Joe”. He’s been trying to sell me his ancient
Porsche for two years. Bobby Joe says; Well Stan now you can slip around
on that girlfriend of yours, that big green van was like a giant waving
red flag. Every crown Vic looks like a NARC car, she’ll meet lots of nice
cops running into bars looking for you.
Those numbers behind Dad and Mom are their age; I haven’t given them team
player numbers like the NFL.
So here is where I’m at these days.
I’m thinking about buying Wasser Boxer Westy with a dead engine and
installing an Air Cooled engine in it (Heat, we don’t need no stinking
heat and I’m severely blessed with more than enough parts to do the job.)
I’ve been cruising some local Wasser Boxers that have Acme bricks behind
the back wheels and I’m thinking about approaching one of the owners and
insulting him with an offer.
I’m getting closer to getting the Engine Ceramics thing up and running
and I’m going to need a test vehicle for my first super FuFu fully
ceramic enhanced engine.
Stan Wilder
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