Reason for giving me the manual (and not anyone else):
IT'S MY BOOK!

My wife threw it away after another of our heated discussions about what to
do with the Vanagon (which has been in 'restoration' for a few years now).
Actually, she threw ALL my stuff away, and my 'project' has been more like
ten
years now.
All those spare parts and specialized tools, the middle seat I never needed.
Every archive from gerry.vanagon printed out and collated in neat folders.
All of it gone now.

I was surprised by her zeal as she toted the V6 engine out to the drive too
(she must have been real mad). She's just a little thing.
I was going to convert it from a Westy, to a Vanagon, then back to a Westy
with the new powerplant. [She accomplished her own conversion, after the
third year in progress, making it into a potting shed for her geraniums].

"Every day I look out this kitchen window and see that damn van..." she said
the other morning as we had breakfast. "Why did you have to park it so close
to the house?" she continued.
I explained that the city would come by and tag it if they saw it lounging
in the back yard. It'd get towed away...
That's when she tagged me with the skillet and all heck broke loose.

I'm writing to you from my laptop, hooked up to shore power, here in the
potting shed. I really need my Bentley manual back, it's got some important
notes and telephone numbers in there (like "Vanagon Anonymous").
Thank your son for digging it out of the trash pile for me. It's great to
know I've got a neighbor so close who also likes loafs!

[oh yeah, it's saturday and I made that all up. I don't need the manual
either. does this make me the best liar? or better story teller?]