Well, finially crawled under the van today to see what was causing that
spreading stain under the rear end. My 1982 diesel camper van has 150,000+
on it, so I guess its time for something to go wrong.  Its been using oil,
so I though perhaps the stain was due to motor oil.

Nope, got underneath and caught a wiff.  I had no idea tranny gear oil
stunk so bad!  My transmission is leaking, no very much, but enough to
leave a 6 inch spot it parked in the same place for 4 or 5 days. The leak
seems to be coming from, and I dont know the exact term for it, but its the
passenger side wheel drive shaft, right where the drive flange hits the the
transmission housing.  How hard is this to fix, given that I have
mechanical skill, but limited tools and time?  Should I take it to the
local foreign mechanic?

Thanks in advance.

______________________________________________________________________________

Kevin and/or Heather

Where have the years gone? Why, into the usual vices of the romantic
idealist: into sloth amd melancholy, each feeding upon and reinforcing the
other, into love and marriage and the begetting of children, into the
strenuous maneuvers of earning a living without living to earn, into travel
and play and music and drink and talk and laughter, into saving the world -
but saving the world was only a hobby. Into watching cloud formations float
across our planetary skies. But mostly into sloth and melancholy and I
don't regret a moment of it.

Edward Abbey.