

| Subject: | Re: Why I ask "dumb" questions By: Joel Sell |
| From: | Terry Kay |
| Date: | Tue, 13 Nov 2001 21:25:36 -0600 |
HK--- Now I see how Swenky get's thing all cranked up here------------ He lays in the weeds for awhile, and then starts casting dispersions, stoking the fire a little, and then bails for awhile--- You can't take your eye's off him for one minute----- New handle for Schwenky ---Crankenstein---:>) From--Steve�Schwenk I should not have made assumptions or cast you as a novice/green. And I sure did not intend to connote anything negative about being a new owner of a vehicle about which you know little, if that had been the case. But i could not miss seeing in the brief words of your post the image of a new owner of a new van, new to the list, posting one of those first basic questions all new owners face, how do i fold down the bed. It is like the first step on a journey to...well, you know from your history....or just read the list for a while and you'll see. So, it was that image i was responding to. Sorry if you felt i cast you in a negative light. I sure did not mean to and did not see the question as being dumb. steve Joel Sell wrote: Volks, ��������where do I begin... ������������������In '97 I bought my first car, a '71 Westy. I knew NOTHING about auto mechanics and even less about VWs. Turned out that bus had cracks in both heads. Compression was down in the 40s. With the help of a new friend (who had worked at a VW shop for years) we rebuilt that engine and bus in his garage. Then I moved to Chile (South America), where I went to Auto Mechanic's School and worked at a VW garage there. I only saw aircooled stuff, and even stuff we don't have here (see that "Brasilia" in VWT last month? I worked on a few. 411s? 412s? Those, too. Mexican beetles and buses? yup. Even drove a '98 Mexican Beetle off the showroom floor for a test drive and almost got clobbered by a public transportation bus. You should have seen how white the salesman's face was!) Came back to the states, sold the '71. Bought a '74 Westy and totally restored it. Put 8k miles on it, driving all over the East Coast with my wife and little boy. Sold it a month ago. During that time I restored a friend's bus, a neighbor's bus and my sister-in-law's bug. My wife wanted something more "modern" and comfortable,so we stepped up to a Vanagon this past weekend. ����������������I am a Teacher in the Philadelphia Public School System. My wife stays home with our child, expecting our 2nd one in March. I live in a row home. That right there should explain why I don't have more than one VW at a time ;-) ����������������Now, why do I ask "dumb" questions- Well, I've already made hundreds of dollars' (maybe thousands) worth of "dumb" mistakes that I could have avoided if I had just done my research first. Looking it up in the manual, asking a friend, or asking the lists. I saw this problem with the bed a potential expensive mistake. I couldn't find the owner's manual in the Vanagon, so I figured I would ask the list. Thank you to those who responded. I now know how to make my bed (and sleep in it). To Tim in SJ- what the heck are you talking about? (that damned silver thing next to the steering column) My ignorance shines again. See you guys on the road, Joel
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