Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings 80* !!

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Amskeptic
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Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings 80* !!

Post by Amskeptic » Sun Oct 24, 2010 1:14 pm

I am such a wuss, there is no escape from it. That whole lap of the northeast from September 30th to October 21st was just holding my breath against the cold. Reliably went into carbohydrate-seeking missile mode. Apple turnover! Cinamon roll! Coffee! Sloth!

I did have some cold nights camping, no doubt about it, where I had to wrap up in a thinsulite blanket inside of the comforter and peel myself in circles like a burrito and carefully design my breathing chimney. For such a whine-baby, why do I love it? There is something about needing your own heat generation, about the mammalian fight to successfully nest against the cold, it is just you and your body, OPEC and Exxon be damned.
I feel the deepest sort of comraderie with the creatures of the wild when I am in that damn cold, when we are all bracing for our hemisphere's cooldown against the void of the Universe, me and the bunnies and the deer and the squirrels and field mice. The stars are telling you something all together different in the winter sky of Vermont than the halycon nights of west Texas . . . that the beautiful night sky is cold, always is, always was. My beloved summer warmth is just the few degrees of rotation spent facing our little dwarf star, and summer is just catching the rays a little more directly. I believe the sun's rays are only 15-20* from due vertical in summer Fredericksburg TX, and closer to friggen frigid 65* from vertical in winter Plattsburgh NY. I sense every degree of angle, believe me. That is why I loved getting back down to Atlanta where the sun is just a few degrees higher in the sky from three days ago, but heck, we gots the 80* warmth today, too!

Yet, all across this land, our time in the dark is increasing rapidly, and that is winter-causing. Night temps in the 30s and 40s all the way down to the Georgia/Tennessee border. Tennessee. A beautiful placement upon the planet:

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I disdain the evening:

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Evening means only that the cold invades once again, forcing me to put on a shirt! and long pants! then a sweatshirt! with the hoodie! and finally, I don't even want to leave my "house":

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In Rome GA, I was parked in the shade and wrapped tight warding off the bite of the cold night and because there was no light coming through the burrito, I slept until 10:30AM. Yes, only you and I know that reference.

How did I wake up and thaw out and loosen up? Why, by rubbing out and polishing and waxing the roof of the BobD, of course. In Dalton Georgia, the home of carpeting. I found a carpet warehouse foundation. Drove along the loading dock so I could reach all the way across the roof. Many motorists along Interstate 75 were treated to the sight I'm afraid, of a little man exercising energetically across this concrete platform against something (my car) that they could not see. Must have looked like some weird performance art.

But you can see what it was about:
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Notice that even a nice original bus has weld spatter that sticks up past the laughably thin paint:
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The gutters have spot weld divots and crescents of missed paint coverage that will promote the rust thang:
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When I was done, I tried to get the reflection in all of its glory, but my camera was confused by the expanse of whitedosity:
Image

Did I mention that I have wrecked the steering of the BobD? That was in Kentucky when the wind prompted me to pull into Annette's Bridal Shop to replace the center pin bushings. Yep. Put in those Turkish Meyle bushings and had a serious major no escape FUBAR . . . . . .
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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Sylvester
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings 80* !!

Post by Sylvester » Sun Oct 24, 2010 2:48 pm

Amskeptic wrote:I sense every degree of angle, believe me. That is why I loved getting back down to Atlanta where the sun is just a few degrees higher in the sky from three days ago, but heck, we gots the 80* warmth today, too!
Colin
Indeed, welcome back. I think I forgot to answer your question on the temperature down here, so there you are.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue, I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace. Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod, The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

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Randy in Maine
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Post by Randy in Maine » Sun Oct 24, 2010 3:18 pm

Wait until real winter shows up. 40º F will feel like a heat wave.
79 VW Bus

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Hippie
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings 80* !!

Post by Hippie » Sun Oct 24, 2010 3:25 pm

Amskeptic wrote:Did I mention that I have wrecked the steering of the BobD? That was in Kentucky when the wind prompted me to pull into Annette's Bridal Shop to replace the center pin bushings. Yep. Put in those Turkish Meyle bushings and had a serious major no escape FUBAR . . . . . .
Colin
Huh? What happened?

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satchmo
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Post by satchmo » Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:05 pm

To keep those rain gutters from rusting due to the all-too-thin paint over the spot welds, I used to grab a hunk of paraffin wax and rub it in there good any time I washed the dirt out. It kept the rust in check, and nobody can tell what you did anyway.

Tim
By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
second, by immitation, which is easiest;
and third, by experience, which is bitterest. -Confucius

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Mon Oct 25, 2010 10:05 am

satchmo wrote:To keep those rain gutters from rusting due to the all-too-thin paint over the spot welds, I used to grab a hunk of paraffin wax and rub it in there good any time I washed the dirt out. It kept the rust in check, and nobody can tell what you did anyway.

Tim
That's right! Nobody can tell that I just went ahead and touched up all of those thin spots with paint brush blobs of Sherwin Williams issue L90D sprayed into the cap. Those defective cans I bought off jtauxe just spit like heck anyway, why not let them be my paint brush touch-up?
We'll see if the wax job botched the adhesion . . . . . . .
ColinButItIsOnly62*Today
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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glasseye
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Post by glasseye » Mon Oct 25, 2010 11:44 am

satchmo wrote: nobody can tell what you did anyway.

Tim

And that's the whole point, right? :cheers:
"This war will pay for itself."
Paul Wolfowitz, speaking of Iraq.

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sped372
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings 80* !!

Post by sped372 » Mon Oct 25, 2010 1:07 pm

Amskeptic wrote:I did have some cold nights camping, no doubt about it, where I had to wrap up in a thinsulite blanket inside of the comforter and peel myself in circles like a burrito and carefully design my breathing chimney.
Like, how cold? We've had a few <32F nights and have been plenty warm with just a sheet, blanket, and plain-jane sleeping bag even with the top popped (windows zipped shut, of course).
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings 80* !!

Post by Amskeptic » Mon Oct 25, 2010 1:11 pm

sped372 wrote:
Amskeptic wrote:I did have some cold nights camping, no doubt about it, where I had to wrap up in a thinsulite blanket inside of the comforter and peel myself in circles like a burrito and carefully design my breathing chimney.
Like, how cold? We've had a few <32F nights and have been plenty warm with just a sheet, blanket, and plain-jane sleeping bag even with the top popped (windows zipped shut, of course).
A sleeping bag? Why didn't I think of that?
Colin :colors:
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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sped372
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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings 80* !!

Post by sped372 » Mon Oct 25, 2010 1:35 pm

Amskeptic wrote:A sleeping bag? Why didn't I think of that?
Colin :colors:
I don't know. That's like "outdoor sleeping" 101! Maybe you should pick up one of these:

Image

:blackeye:
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

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Re: Itinerant Air-Cooled Greetings 80* !!

Post by Amskeptic » Wed Jan 05, 2011 6:28 pm

sped372 wrote:
Amskeptic wrote:A sleeping bag? Why didn't I think of that?
Colin :colors:
I don't know. That's like "outdoor sleeping" 101! Maybe you should pick up one:
I did. What a difference! An Ozark Trails good for 30-50* 100% polyester burnt umber sleeping bag for $13.99.
I am too stubborn.
For over eight years I have suffered the cold nights.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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sped372
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Post by sped372 » Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:21 am

You of all people should know the value of having the right tool for the job! :drunken:
1971 Karmann Ghia - 1600 DP
1984 Westfalia - 1.9 WBX

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Sylvester
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Post by Sylvester » Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:56 am

An Army foam ground cover that rolls up is great to keep the chill from creeping up from the ground or Bus floor. Next time I see you I will give you mine, Army fresh.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue, I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace. Where never lark, or even eagle flew. And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod, The high untrespassed sanctity of space, Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

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hambone
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Post by hambone » Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:50 am

I don't often say this, but DUH. A good warm bag is a must.
-Capn' Camp Crazy :flower:
http://greencascadia.blogspot.com
http://pdxvolksfolks.blogspot.com
it balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine
your brand new leopard skin pillbox hat

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Amskeptic
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Post by Amskeptic » Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:31 pm

Sylvester wrote:An Army foam ground cover that rolls up is great to keep the chill from creeping up from the ground or Bus floor. Next time I see you I will give you mine, Army fresh.
Ewwwww.
I already have the blue one you gave me, been using it every day for nine months. It saved me from being a total cripple.
Colin
BobD - 78 Bus . . . 112,730 miles
Chloe - 70 bus . . . 217,593 miles
Naranja - 77 Westy . . . 142,970 miles
Pluck - 1973 Squareback . . . . . . 55,600 miles
Alexus - 91 Lexus LS400 . . . 96,675 miles

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