| Author |
Message |
R TERRY (205.188.208.39)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2003 - 3:22 am: | |
When we left Arizona the previous week, I honestly had no idea what we would encounter when we got to Tennessee. My inner feelings ran the gamut. I was thrilled to be on the road --as always--, yet terrified that it would turn out to be an enormous waste of time and money, and that the bus would be unstartable, undrivable, unmovable, unfixable, and everything about the it would be undoable.
As the states rolled past and the miles added up and the sandwiches disappeared, I forced myself to believe otherwise. We were going to have fun no matter what, and when we got there, we'd just do whatever we had to do. Yet, the uncertainty lingered.
That feeling persisted right up until the engine was coaxed to life (more like, held up by its ankles and spanked until it cried), proved that it was "born to be wild" and begged on its bended flat tires to be let out of the barn. From what I could tell, it wanted to go for a very long drive. (I kept whispering in its ear, "Arizona, Arizona".) Unfortunately, that was not to be, but it wasn't the engine's fault.
Small towns are unique in many ways. Common to most of them is that close-knit community fabric that causes pretty much everybody to know pretty much everything that goes on. This is contrary to where I live, a place so monstrously huge, impersonal and uncaring that your bus CAN be stolen in broad daylight and no one will take notice or give a damn one way or the other. Only five cities in the United States are larger than Phoenix. (Here's a funny fact: The majority of people who leave California, move to Arizona. The majority of people who leave Arizona, move to California.)
So, for a small town in Tennessee, I was not too surprised when a man working behind a truck parts counter said, "You mean that old bus behind the Laundromat, that's yours?" (What, that bus is some kind of LANDMARK?) "Well, it is now.... ," I said. He said, "I suppose you know the story about that engine, don'tcha?" "Why..., do you?" "Oh, yeah," he said, "I know the guy who rebuilt it." Hmm, that figures.
As I recall, it went something like this: The bus got a complete frame out engine and transmission overhaul that cost around nine thousand dollars. (Stop the story! Does this make sense to you? Were these people on drugs?) A master mechanic who had worked for a trucking company for 30-whatever-years became ill and was unable to work. Eventually he needed money (or, perhaps, something to do lest he go crazy) so he decided to take on one project. As long as the people were in no hurry, he would, at his leisure... when he felt like it... if he was having a good day... completely rebuild the entire system one piece at a time at his own pace... meticulously... painstakingly... (maniacally... )... for 9 months. (Excuse me?)
"You gotchyerself a damn good engine there, boy," the parts guy proudly proclaimed as if he had anything to do with it. Must be that small town pride.
OK, great! I guess that explains what a nine thousand-dollar engine is doing in THAT bus.
I still don't get it.
R TERRY |
Charles Seaton (170.28.128.106)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2003 - 5:05 pm: | |
Oh, man, this is the best one yet. Let's see...$9,000 for a 4-71 rebuild. Does that mean $18,000 for an 8V-71 or do you have to pay a little extra for the V? |
Johnny (67.242.221.186)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2003 - 6:54 pm: | |
Well, I almost had a coronary when I saw that someone had coughed up $11,000 to rebuild an 8V71 in a 4106.
But wait--doesn't R Terry's bus also have a rebuilt transmission? That should account for part of it. |
two dogs (67.30.23.15)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2003 - 10:20 pm: | |
is this a real thing,or just a story somebody is makeing up |
Gary McFarland (Gearheadgary) (64.134.135.55)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2003 - 10:48 pm: | |
Who cares, it's great reading. |
Jayjay (198.81.26.104)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 04, 2003 - 1:47 am: | |
Hey Dos Perros, Mr.Terry's veracity is impeccable, and he gives forth in this manner on a fairly regular basis. I for one am always content to enjoy his missives, and the subtle humor that he imparts to them. Albeit, his occasional self-deprecation, and extreme modesty (?) are often out of place. Mis Dos Centavos...JJ |
two dogs (67.30.23.27)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, September 04, 2003 - 8:23 am: | |
loco en la cabeso..........mucho tacos |
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