some surly underaged grasshopper squeeked:
> What's a Vanagon? Is it some sort of shape? Like a hexagon?

yes, Virginia, a Vanagon is a shape. a pentagon has five sides; a
hexagon has six sides. a Vanagon has 18,342.6 sides ... and all of the
sides are curvilinear, taking after the shape of Vanna of television
fame (well .. til she got pregnant and widened out in the vanAgon
area).

the numbers and shapes of the sides of a Vanagon are the primary
reason for the lower-than-you-would-hope fuel economy: while traveling
in a straight line (the shortest point between two gas stations), the
shape(s) of the Vanagon tend to confuse the air molecules ... and the
confused molecules tend to bump into each other, trying to traverse
the multitudinous surfaces of the bus. all this contributes to what
humans call 'wind noise', which in actual fact is really just the
hasty and short conversations of the air molecules as they ask each
other for directions and say "excuse me" when bumping into each other
(air molecules are generally a very polite group; only when they
become statically charged with negative ions and turn into
thunderstorms and/or tornados do they become really nasty).

waxing your bus every so often helps, as the little air molecules LOVE
a slip-and-slide ride ... and the length of the bus makes it even more
fun for them. however, they tend to squeal with delight, so the 'wind
noise' may increase ... a small sacrifice for giving so much pleasure
to the little ones. :)

> Thank God my week is over!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh, nooooo ... Grasshopper! your week has just begun!! :) didn't you
get the memo about working the weekend shift??  ;)

unca joel
just a walking contradiction,
partly truth and partly fiction ;)