This Will Not Do

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This Will Not Do

Post by Amskeptic » Fri Jul 15, 2011 5:48 pm

From: (Oregon72)
Date: Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 11:16 PM
Subject: Ruptured Duck
To: amskeptic@mindspring.com, (Bookwus Spouse@),

Greetings Colin,

Hope your itinerant visits here in Portland are going well.

(Bookwus Spouse) phoned me a couple hours ago and we spoke for some time about the situation with Bookwus' bus. (Bookwus Spouse) has made it clear that she is ready for action with regard to Mike's bus. Of course, I have no desire to step on anyone's toes, but (Bookwus Spouse) has let me know that it is her preference to sell the bus to me for a few real and valid reasons she has made me aware of (familiarity with me, full cash sale, in-state DMV, clean local transaction, etc.). Bookwus' main concern (and (Bookwus' Spouse) for that matter) was always that the bus be meticulously taken care of, driven often, and stay within Bookwus' circle of VW friends. (Bookwus Spouse) has requested that I meet with her tomorrow to complete the payment and transfer paperwork items while DMV is still open during the work week. You may be aware that (Bookwus Spouse) is having some windows replaced as well as some other remodeling and is worried that the bus may be dinged or damaged by the heavy traffic of contractors so this has sparked some additional urgency.

It is my hope you're OK with all this and I hope this relieves a bit of the logistical and financial burden that may have been weighing on you.

As for the AutoStick bug, I've told (Bookwus Spouse) that I'm ready, willing, and able to assist her in finding a buyer for it --- be it within our group of Pacific NW local VW guys/gals or through craigslist or otherwise. I would think there would be an enthusiast who could appreciate the vehicle and (with a little work) make it a straight runner. (Bookwus Spouse) also said that (Bookwus Spouse)'s daughter - and the original driver back in the day) has mentioned that she may like to get the body work done locally and roll in it once again which would just be awesome.

I've copied (Bookwus Spouse) on this email in case she would like to comment or add anything to the discussion.

All the best

Troy
So this PM comes in while I am at the Sequim WA call. I rescheduled my Friday call in White Salmon WA to get back here to Portland. Here I am. For what?
I have apparently wasted countless time on hold with the NYS DMV, wasted the time of forum members who I have solicited for storage options, wasted my own time repairing the Bookwus Beetle shifter plate and getting a new battery for it and going over the Bookwus Bus to see if I can complete the itinerary with it, wasted my time with (Bookwus Spouse) getting the seller information straight, wasted my time spewing my dither with my own insurance company, and I get this PM telling me that the correspondence I have had with Bookwus' daughter since March is for naught because windows are being put in? So move the bus! A few feet! Thanks for your help.
What was I doing over there the other day, Oregon72? Where did I say that I was unable to pay for these cars? Yes, I wanted to do cash and PayPal, but if she had asked for cash only, I would have found a way. I am all about solutions. I am all about getting it done. I have executed thousands of appointment logistics on time all across this country, and I am being told by you that you are relieving me of a logistical and financial burden? Why am I finding out today that you have purchased the car that was to both save the BobD from wear and tear and offer the community a new facet for the itinerary, a Type 1 engined bus cross-country diary?

As for Mike's main concern, he asked me if I would take care of his bus because he said, in his own words,
"I can't think of anyone I would rather take care of my bus."

That you muscled in as the more "convenient" "clean" "local" "full cash" suitor and persuaded the grieving widow that you are the easier option without my having any idea that you were just going ahead while I was out of town is beyond classless. Your offer of "giving me first refusal" was just a bunch of words in your over-eager email. Why did (Bookwus Spouse) tell me today that I "didn't seem interested in" the cars? Are you KIDDING? Who told her that?

Let me tell you, Troy, I am more than disappointed. I am profoundly disgusted.
Colin Betrayal Does Not Become You.
(I post it here because I, like many others before me, will ask the forum forgiveness of my can't see straight blackest fury)
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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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by Lanval » Fri Jul 15, 2011 6:38 pm

The "few and valid reasons" are the rationalization of the guilty.

Profoundly inexcusable. No apology will erase the wasting of someone's precious time and interest.

Mike

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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by jonyem » Fri Jul 15, 2011 7:04 pm

Wow.
People.
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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by aopisa » Fri Jul 15, 2011 8:17 pm

Lanval wrote:The "few and valid reasons" are the rationalization of the guilty.

Profoundly inexcusable. No apology will erase the wasting of someone's precious time and interest.

Mike
I agree. All this rationalization seems like going to great lengths to justify something that looks from angles to be a back room deal revealed at the 11th hour.

So sorry to see that some people will sacrifice so much good will for so little metal and rubber.
1977 Westy 2.0L F.I.

Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is the ultimate. - Chuang Tzu

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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by IFBwax » Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:35 pm

I think I'd like to hear Troy's side of it. I've always found him to be a classy guy, extremely nice and thoughtful and perhaps there's more here than meets the eye. Perhaps it's all just a big misunderstanding. I can't see him deliberately trying to screw Colin.
The best navigators aren't sure where they're going until they get there. And then they're still not sure.

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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by airkooledchris » Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:15 pm

:pale:

very very ugly situation. I didn't know Mike, but ive seen his photo and the words people used to describe the guy. it feels unjust to his spirit to make the ruptured duck a point of negativity any more than has come about thus far. obviously everyone here wanted to see Colin taking care of this machine and can only hope it sees a fraction of that love and care through the rest of it's existence.

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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jul 16, 2011 3:10 am

IFBwax wrote:I think I'd like to hear Troy's side of it. I've always found him to be a classy guy, extremely nice and thoughtful and perhaps there's more here than meets the eye. Perhaps it's all just a big misunderstanding. I can't see him deliberately trying to screw Colin.
I have shared your above observations, IFBwax, over the years. It was a pleasure to help him with his beautiful '72, and his dog apparently liked my efforts at his piano, a real surprise and morale boost.

I have a July 11th PM from Oregon72 stating,
"Colin, if you feel like you are maxed out with too many vehicles or space to store them all, you should know that I told (Bookwus Spouse) last time I saw her that I would be interested in purchasing the Duck if you weren't able to. I did tell her that she should give you first right of refusal since you had apparently had some discussions with Mike about it." and " Just thought it would give you a little peace to know that Mike's Duck would be meticulously cared for and driven should you decide not to buy it."

So I confided in him at the LuckyLab later on the 11th, the very day of checking out the bus and the beetle, that I would gladly get in touch with him if I could not swing it. Gypsie, Hambone, and Deschutestrout all generously offered me temporary storage space, and I was getting somewhere with the NYSDMV, the cars could have been removed from the premises with 24 hours notice, and I told Bookwus Spouse that it might take a week to get it all together, my only concern was the cost of repairing the beetle but the bus was a Go.
Anyways,
Dragged Into The Smallness Of It All
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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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by Lanval » Sat Jul 16, 2011 7:04 am

IFBwax wrote:I think I'd like to hear Troy's side of it. I've always found him to be a classy guy, extremely nice and thoughtful and perhaps there's more here than meets the eye. Perhaps it's all just a big misunderstanding. I can't see him deliberately trying to screw Colin.
That'd be helpful, sure. Still, having been party to various types of negotiations both successful and unsuccessful, I'll add that if someone is surprised/angry at the end, you did it wrong. Unless that was the purpose; the latter seems improbable, but I've been surprised by people I've trusted before. I can't speak for the individual in question, but Colin's response, it's very form, indicates a lack of clarity and forthrightness from some parties.

/rant.

Mike

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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by Bleyseng » Sat Jul 16, 2011 7:40 am

hmm... maybe Troy and Colin should talk on the phone to solve this. Bookwus wouldn't want his bus to cause a rift in the Bus community.
Geoff
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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by Amskeptic » Sat Jul 16, 2011 8:22 am

Bleyseng wrote:hmm... maybe Troy and Colin should talk on the phone to solve this. Bookwus wouldn't want his bus to cause a rift in the Bus community.
I have just read a PM that states I could conceivably come off as an "over-emotional jerk" who is "greedily fighting over a dead man's car."
I responded to Bookwus' personal wishes, reiterated by his daughter whose emails are in my possession, and attempted to make his wishes happen. I never told him I wanted his car(s). I wanted to visit him and help him take care of them, absolutely, he loved my high standards, and I loved his.

I have been deeply triggered, not by greed, but by angry confusion.
This situation is a reprise of hearing my dad tell me, "I want you to have this piano." I said, "I would be honored." (I did not say, what the hell would I do with a grand piano? Strap it to the bus? I just had to put a plan together) When I saw relatives who shunned him for decades suddenly getting all interested in his "stuff" while I was the guy who visited and fell in love with the old goat and his music, fixed that piano in squalid conditions and gloried in the sounds not the Steinway name, buried him, and learned to play that piano ... there was spirit love thwarted by grasping relatives who thought it was "worth" something.
I had to walk away. I felt like something important was getting poisoned. I shared it with the community then in the Itinerary 2007 and Itinerary 2008, and would have shut up the instant I heard that I was being an over-emotional jerk.

When I drove the Bookwus bus last Monday afternoon, I sat with it in the parking lot where I picked up the battery for the bug, and I did not think of its "value". I thought of Mike, striving to make that car quintessentially Volkswagen, and I felt the spirit of that car and imagined a travelling improvement program like the BobD got. That car talked to me, hard. I knew it was a logistical headache, but heck, so is the rest of my life.
I thought perhaps this time I might lay it out right here amongst both friends and casual visitors alike, to see if there is some desperately blind facet of myself that leads me into these dead-ends.
Greedily Fighting For Self-Respect,
Colin

Image
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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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by Oregon72 » Sat Jul 16, 2011 9:41 am

I’m glad Wayne has asked for my side of the story. You may or may not know that I’ve been in contact with Carolyn on a handful of occasions since the passing of Bookwus helping her to liquidate the inventory of Mike’s parts along with the help of Hambone, Gypsie, Westy78 , and Tristessa. About 6 weeks ago, I was returning the pickup load of un-sold parts from a VW swap meet we all attended back to Carolyn’s garage. At that time back in early June, Carolyn told me she hadn’t heard from you about your intent with the bus and asked if I was interested. I let her know that if she didn’t sell it to you that she should just let me know.

On Monday, you had met with Carolyn and she gave you money to buy a new battery for the bug and put some gas in them. In your discussion with Carolyn, you had told Carolyn there were many factors involved in you being able to make the purchase or not make the purchase. With all the variables that you had told Carolyn, she was feeling as though the transaction was not to be on her terms but rather yours and the burden of a complicated transaction with someone she had little prior history or relationship with was more than she was willing to accept. She told me point blank that she didn’t feel comfortable with the transaction details (lost title out of state transfer with no known buyer address and the partial payment methods not knowing anything about PayPal) and felt the process was dragging on uncessarily as she hadn’t heard from you since that day. Additionally, Carolyn had told me she sent you an email mid-week and had received no response.

Carolyn has wanted the bus gone since March – it has been a sore spot for her. Being married myself, I can see how walking out the front door and seeing the Duck has been a constant reminder to Carolyn of the fact that her husband of nearly 40 years is no longer there – that would be very tough.
I had sent you the email you quoted above (Thursday nite) out of respect to you based on Carolyn’s exact wishes – when you responded to that very email the next morning (Friday morning), I’m unsure why you didn’t mention one word of what you’re saying here in this post .
Friday AM email response from Colin to me prior to any transaction or appointment with Carolyn wrote: --------------------------------------------------

Greetings Colin,
Carolyn has made it clear that she is ready for action with regard to Mike's bus. Carolyn has let me know that it is her preference to sell the bus to me.
Troy
---------------------------------------
From : amskeptic@mindspring.com, Carolyn(email)

Well, there you go.
Colin


I hadn’t even made contact with Carolyn at that point and the bus wasn’t sold to me until way later that afternoon. I would have refused Carolyn’s request to take care of it during the work week (DMV) had you written even one single word of what you’ve written here in your original post. I interpreted your email response that “Well, there you go” as if to say what Carolyn wants was the most important thing and to go ahead and move forward. I had assumed the logistics for you were more than you were up to. I am guilty of misinterpreting your response. It is just my opinion, but it seems odd to not say even one thing in your email response and then attempt to nail me up in this way after the fact.

So this really is nothing that can’t be corrected and remedied and one good thing is that Carolyn’s anxiety has been relieved. She wanted to be cleared of the Duck in a simple and straight forward manner. As of yesterday evening, the bus is now here and parked – ready, willing, and able to serve just as Mike had always kept it. I want this bus in your hand's before you head South. I can deliver the bus to you anywhere in the Portland Metro area this weekend and you can pay me with a cashier’s check. If PayPal, I’ll have to figure out how to accept a payment as I’ve never done that before. The lost title has been requested and will be arriving in the mail to me shortly from the DMV at which time I will promptly send it on to be waiting for you at the address of your choice.

We are good people here – Mike knew that to be true and he was a genius.
-'72 Westy-

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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by Westy78 » Sat Jul 16, 2011 9:49 am

I'm not sure on all the details going on here but I sure as hell don't see Troy as being one to weasel his way in on a deal such as this. Colin, I think you really need to take a look at the emotional toll this is having on "Bookwus' Spouse". This bus was Mike and it's a symbol and memory of him being gone for her. Maybe she just feels caught in the middle of a complicated transaction and wants the easiest way out. Closure. Step back and realize there is more than just you going on here. I respect the hell out of you but I can't completely side with you on this one. This one's not all about you. Again, I don't know all the details but do feel like I know Troy and just can't see him doing some sneaky backroom deal. It's just not in his character.

Edit:My post was written before reading the above from Troy. I knew there had to be more to this story.
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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by ruckman101 » Sat Jul 16, 2011 11:42 am

Saddened for all.

Communications are a tricky business even with the least possibilities of interference. Toss emotions into the mix and watch the interference potential jack up.

Who hasn't been misinterpreted here on this board at one point or another, and taken that miscommunication personally. And the possibility of interference is quite high here compared to a face to face verbal encounter.

There is a high emotional content brought to this particular discussion by all parties, and despite all parties striving to honor Mike's wishes, here we are. Sometimes fate has the final decision, and that is that.

May all the wounded find it in their hearts to forgive, so that wounds may heal and rifts are closed.

Personally, I find it difficult to believe anyone involved would intentionally knee-cap one of the other parties.



neal
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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by IFBwax » Sat Jul 16, 2011 11:50 am

Well said, as usual Neal!
The best navigators aren't sure where they're going until they get there. And then they're still not sure.

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Re: This Will Not Do

Post by sailorkh » Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:09 pm

I think y'all should head on over to the Lab and have a couple of beers together, and I'm sure it will all be good again.

And while your there, if you could get me a sticker I sure would appreciate it.. :occasion5:
Kris
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