Date: Sun, 29 Jun 1997 23:22:07 -0500
From: No Quarter <dl63832@navix.net>
Subject: Charlie Ford in Beatrice, NE
Oh man I'm blessed. I mean like really lucky, blessed, priviledged,
fortunate, and all those type words. This afternoon about a half hour
after I got home from work, I'm trying to get my dog to remember how to
shake paws on commands and the doorbell rings. I see a stranger but as I
near the door I see a bus in my driveway and immediately I know it's
Charlie! I didn't know if he was going to be able to stop or not but as
it turned out, a speaking engagement he had in Hays, KS didn't pan out so
he drove up here to Beatrice on his way to Chicago. (Mr. VW - if you'd
like to meet Charlie or have the time, I think he's going to be in
Chicago sometime next week). I think one of the first things I said was
like, "Oh man, Charlie Ford! You're my hero..."
We kicked off the evening by driving by Mead Lumber where I work and then
proceeding to Dairy Queen for a place to eat and cool down. Charlie
showed me where he's been and it appears that he's racked up well over
10,000 miles since Jan. 9 when he started the trip. We came back and had
him park the bus in the backyard and there we stayed and slung the breeze
for about 2 hours - Charlie in the reclining front seat and I in the bed
just relating stories about each other's lives and all kinds of neat VW
stories. Charlie's starter hasn't been working lately and it appears
that it's a victim of decrepit VW starter syndrome. We were able to get
the starter from an automatic bus tranny from the local guru and also a
switch so that Charlie can hook up the horn I gave him. I also had
some old speakers in the garage that ended up nicely replacing the broken
one that was popping and making weird noises. Charlie also spotted an
auto altimeter I had purchased awhile back that was now laying in a box.
I never used the thing and that's good for Charlie because I gave it to
him as well. He said he would trade me something for it and I got a nice
vintage, Charlie-owned Ford variety quick capo for my guitar. :-) Oh
yeah, and we jammed a little too.
We surfed a bit on the net and he showed me his Mindspring/MAC connection
and I showed him how I Amiga-On to the net. Later we looked at some pix
I had taken of junkyard buses and the real super nice condition
squareback that sits in the junkyard in Fairbury, NE just because no one
wants it.
After talking some more, Charlie decided to turn in and he's opted to
sleep in the bus instead of spending the night on the hide-a-bed in the
AC and you know what? I don't blame him - that bus is really darned comfy.
So here I am posting this. Tomorrow evening I drive to Cameron, MO to
spend the night at Dan Buser's and then on to KC to look at the 66
Westy. Charlie is debating whether or not to move on tomorrow or not I
told him he's welcome to stay here as long as he wants...
It seems that he'd like to kill a bit of time before heading on to
Chicago so maybe Charlie will even have a hand in working on the Westy
(if I get it) :-)
But anyway, that was the evening and I must say that this guy is
basically the epitome of what I think a lot of us would really like to be
- a free roaming soul with nothing but their dub to take them around -
free of the tethers and strings of life.
The Mothership is also one astounding piece of equipment - in great shape
of it's age and an engine so quiet I didn't know it was running. :-)
If any of you can put Charlie up for the evening, it's worth it!
I gotta turn in - gud nite!
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| NEBRASKA:~The Good Life //www.isip.com/users/kealoha/mexibug.htm
| Located in | 95 MexiShell |//garnet.acns.fsu.edu/~lfb8809/rmmw
| good ol' \ 72 & 74 SBeetle |Famous quotes: "You drive a what?"
|___ Beatrice, NE | 66 Deluxe Bus |"My friend got killed in a head-on
|40 mi. south \--------------------|in one of those." "You're weird."
|of Lincoln. |e-mail:Erin Lassley|"Wanna drag? HA HA HA" "Put a
|_____________*__\ silent@navix.net | small block chevy in it."