you might also appreciate that when vanagons first came out,
a few gas station attendants flipped open the license plate door at the
back.........
( since many cars of the era had their gas cap back there )
And when they saw a cap and filler neck, they  put gasoline into engine .

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Rodgers" <inua@CHARTER.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2008 10:07 AM
Subject: Re: Are Today's Young People Mechanical Nitwits?

> Congrats on your daughter's derring-do in the mechanical world!
>
> I can't tell you how many times the guys at the various auto
> quick-service places have asked me where the engine was in my van.
>
> I never ceased to be amazed.
>
> John Rodgers
> 88 GL Driver
>
> Jim Arnott wrote:
>> Warning!!! Proud papa alert.... and NVC
>>
>> My eldest dau, 27, came home from visiting friends the other night. Walks
>> into the house and asks me, "Do you ALWAYS get hurt when you're
>> working on
>> cars?" I respond that mechanical things frequently demand blood
>> sacrifice.
>> She goes on to comment that when she was putting the front suspension
>> back
>> together on her friend's Mitsu, she pinched her hand. Did papa proud!
>>
>> Want to give your kids a clue?  Make their first car a Beetle. Give
>> them a
>> Muir Bible. Help them maintain it but don't do it FOR them. Worked for
>> me.
>>
>> So no, they're not all clueless. But the vast majority are. Of the 20-30
>> kids that float through my home, there are about three that could show me
>> where to check the oil on their rig.  Those three could also change said
>> oil. The rest? I'd have to show them not just how, but THAT the hood
>> opened.
>> Id10ts.
>>
>> Jim
>>
>>