dear life savers of all flavors

Nothing to do with Vanagon except i got there in one ...
indeed
first question i ask perspective vanagon owners and dreamers is ...
how resourceful are you ...
how do you react in a crises...
can you fix things ...
can you fix with tools at hand ..minimal knowledge and lots of advice from
semi knowledgeable others who are passing by ...

there is a reason most people drive new vehicles ...
in the old days a vehicle required 1 hour of service for every 8 hours of
use
that has changed considerably and the ability of the users has not changed
at all ..

because in those days ... a chauffeur was hired to care for the motorized
automobile

and yes even in a marina full of boaty people who are often more engine
smart then most
more than likely the latest model Stripper or Boston Whaler with a Honda
engine that cost as much as any of our vans .... no maintenance required ...

i think that you arrived in a vanagon is very germane to the story ...
yours

On Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 5:27 AM, Jim Felder <jim.felder@gmail.com> wrote:

> About a week ago I was in South Alabama at a meeting in the restaurant
> of a small marina, trying to get them a grant for fuel. We were all
> sitting at the bar (drinking tea, thank you) when this woman started
> screaming that her child couldn't breathe. I turned around to see this
> little kid, who reminded me of my nearly-four-year-old grandson,
> leaned back in the booth with a tray of chicken in front of him and a
> blank look on his wide-eyed face. The mother clearly didn't know what
> to do. she began crying, and she and another woman were patting him on
> the back. It wasn't helping, the child still couldn't make a sound.
> Nobody did anything so I grabbed the boy and turned his face to the
> floor and beat on his back. That didn't help. I held him in the same
> position--it had been a long time by now--and put my knee in his back
> and squeezed his chest with both arms. I heard something go pop and I
> turned him back upright and asked him to say something. He said weakly
> "OK." So I knew he was alright. The mom said she had to sit down, she
> was shaking so bad, so she did, and the boy went back eating, and I
> tried to rejoin the meeting but got a phone call I had to take and
> when I got off, the were gone. It was all a blur but I could swear the
> mom never even thanked me!
>
> She was really upset though.
>
> Nothing to do with a vanagon except I got there in one.
>
> Jim
>
> On Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 12:45 AM, Jake de
> Villiers<crescentbeachguitar@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Nice going Craig!  =)  That's good citizenship in action, something
> that's
> > faded from modern urban North America.  Its good when we take care of
> each
> > other.
> >
> > Thanks for the tip on the mouth barrier. I'll check Dixie's First Aid Kit
> > tomorrow.
> >
> > On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 10:14 PM, craig cowan <phishman068@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> >> So I just got off from another long day of work teaching both youth and
> >> adult sailing lessons at the Marina today, my summer Job in Reno Nevada
> >> 2009, and I headed over to the local Chevron station to grab a cool
> drink.
> >> On my way In I see these two nice people, well dressed, sitting in the
> >> grass
> >> with a sign and a guitar. The sign read "$20 to get us to Truckee". I
> >> pulled
> >> my VW Bus into a parking spot and walked over to engage these nice young
> >> and
> >> surprisingly well dressed transients. Upon talking to them I stated
> "Well I
> >> don't have much money, so I can't help you to Truckee, but I thought i'd
> >> offer to buy you guys a cool drink, if that would help?". We got to
> talking
> >> and they said they were actually offering $20 for someone to drive them
> >> just
> >> over the border to Truckee, as I guess the cops in Nevada hate hitching
> >> rides while California is cool with it. They've been transient for 4
> years
> >> now, from New Jersey, playing guitar along the way to get by! Well I was
> >> talking with them, and an older gentleman whom I later found out was 65
> >> years old comes walking over and says something softly. I said to him
> >> "What's that I can't hear you?" as he grasps his chest and gives a
> breath
> >> asking to call 911!
> >>
> >> Sure enough I bust out my trusty Cellular Phone and start dialing the
> >> numbers. I got some voice message and static, It didn't seem as If i
> were
> >> talking to anyone, so I ran inside the building instead. I get inside
> >> (Leaving Philip, the 65 year old heart attack victim, with the young
> >> couple)
> >> while I grabbed their phone. I spoke with the gentleman clerk and asked
> to
> >> borrow his phone to call 911, as a man was having trouble in their
> parking
> >> lot. I talked with 911 which had dispatched paramedics as I ran back out
> to
> >> see our man, at this point sitting on the curb having an awful lot of
> >> trouble breathing. We pulled out some paper and started writing down
> >> everything He said As we asked him a series of questions. We got a list
> of
> >> his current medications compiled, his past ailments, his name, etc while
> he
> >> drifted off and had further trouble breathing. He said he had open heart
> >> surgery years ago, had a history of chronic heart failure, and had just
> >> taken 3 "Nitros". His heart was definitely fibrillating based on his
> pulse,
> >> it was erratic and strange. By the time the fire department, followed
> >> closely by an ambulance arrived, he was in poor shape. I asked the Gas
> >> station attendant for an AED or even just a mouth barrier should I need
> to
> >> start CPR, but these words seemed very foreign to them.... yet they
> spoke
> >> perfect english.
> >>
> >> The Paramedics took Philip away on a stretcher, after hooking him up to
> an
> >> AED and providing him with Oxygen. I do hope all is well with him. They
> >> arrived promptly and were top notch. It pays to have first aid training,
> >> and
> >> be in the right place at the right time!
> >>
> >>
> >> I stopped to help to transients with a cold beverage, and ended up
> helping
> >> a
> >> man with a failing heart.
> >>
> >>
> >> When I went into the store to purchase said beverages for my new
> friends,
> >> the gentleman clerk praised me with many graces, wished God's blessings
> >> upon
> >> myself and my family, and wished me a wonderful day. Safe travels were
> >> awarded too, and from, the transient couple.
> >>
> >> What a way to end a long day!
> >>
> >>
> >> Things would have been all that much less worrisome if I had a good
> >> firstaid
> >> kit in my Vanagon. Be sure to get a mouth barrier device, should you
> ever
> >> need to do CPR (and they are currently teaching just chest compressions
> >> though....).
> >>
> >> Good day to all!
> >>
> >>
> >> -Craig
> >>
> >> '85GL turned WESTY
> >>
> >> BOSTIG in the back
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Jake
> >
> > 1984 Vanagon GL
> > 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
> >
> > Crescent Beach, BC
> >
> > www.thebassspa.com
> > www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> > http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27
> >
>

--
roger w
From Proverbs:
Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: a
servant who becomes king ...
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