Setting and Re-setting Expectations

I've been maintaining this blog for years, and setting expectations for longer.  When it comes to the bus, it seems I am especially good at setting my goals too high.  For example, in November (Steering a Shed) I posted that I would take the bus out of operation until I "put in (door) cards and rebuild the 2 (jealousie) windows".  After 2 months, I have one window done and no cards.  Of course, I did get the deep cycle battery installed, painted a little bit and patched 2 holes.  Still, I could do better with setting targets.  So, that's my NewYear resolution: set reasonable goals with the bus.  Today, I'll give it a whirl.

Winter Goals (by Spring Equinox)
(X) - rebuild broken jealousie window in the slider door
(X) - patch the hole in the belly pan from the 1972 sink, tank drain and ice box
(X) - patch the hole in the belly pan from the 1979 sink and water tank drain
(X) - solve for accessory power
(X) - drive bus to work a few times to prove its road worthiness EDIT: drove 1/14-1/17
(O) - drive bus to SkiBowl one time to visit the snow EDIT: missed goal

Spring Goals (by Summer Solstice)
(X) - replace plastic film in front doors EDIT: done. see Film at Eleven
(X) - get door cards and put them in EDIT: done. see Hanging Cards
(-) - install the car stereo that's been sitting on the shelf for 3+ years EDIT: stereo needs lockout code. dropped goal
(X) - drive bus to one kid sports event EDIT: done. went to final tournament on 5/31

Summer Goals (by Fall Equinox)
(X) - remove most of the dings from the front bumper EDIT: done. see Front Bumper (part 1)
( ) - remove most of the dings from the rear bumper and modesty skirt
(X) - paint front bumper EDIT: done. see Front Bumper (part 4)
( ) - paint rear bumper
(X) - take bus camping near a mountain EDIT: done. see Black Sheep Family Reunion
(X) - take bus camping near water EDIT: done. see So Starts Camping Season 2014

That's enough for now.  There's no punishment for doing more, right?  Now that the weather has shifted from dry-veryCold to wet-cold, I should be able to drive the bus to work one of these days.  Ahh....
Thanks for following along-

Hapy New Year

Duh... Failed to put a title on this one.  I'll blame the post holi-daze. So, Hapy NewYear everyone.  I have spent a few hours playing with the bus, and I'll cover that first.  Otherwise, its been a week with the boys, and I'll touch on some of our adventures as well.

Slider Window Install

window in
color sanded paint looks shiny, eh?

The week started with getting the jalousie (jealous) window installed into the sliding door.  For all the other windows, there is a rubber seal that you really have to work onto the glass.  Then, you use the rope trick to get the seal-rimmed glass into the hole and sealed.  The jalousie window is different.  It is held in with a bunch of screws, and the rubber seal doesn't go over any lip in the door.  I tried to seat the window, but it wouldn't.  Maybe it was the new paint gripping the rubber.  I wasn't sure, so I color sanded the new white with very very fine sand paper.  Even then, and after cleaning the powder dust with cleanser the window wouldn't go in.  Finally, I ran a bead of KY jelly along the edge of the hole in the door.  This removed the friction problem, and I was able to force the window into place.  It didn't go easily; in fact, I needed to lightly smack the rear-end with a rubber mallet.  Once in-place, the window was simply screwed down.  Word of caution: do not use lubricant when installing a window that is not a-fixed with screws or bolts, otherwise it will not hold under pressure (read: collision).

Fixing a Hole Where the Rain Gets In

tools for patching a hole

In the 1972 Westy, there was originally a sink / ice box behind the front passenger seat.  This unit requires 2 drains: one for the sink and one for the melting ice from the ice box.  The drains route through a hole in the floor.  Well, 2 holes if you consider the hole in the floor and then another below it in a belly pan.  The sink / ice box units came with rubber seals to keep road moisture from coming up and in.  When I removed the old unit, I didn't address the hole that was left behind.  Years ago, when I bought the 1979 Westy interior, I installed the kitchenette / sink-hob down to the pair of holes in the floor.  Now that I no longer have the 1979 kitchen, I no longer need the corresponding holes in the floor.

driver-side hole patch

To fix a hole in a place where it really can't be seen, its much easier than "real" bodywork.  I got some aluminum sheets for the install of the radiator unit, and I had a bunch left over.  I cut a small square and bent it to fit the contour of the belly pan (see picture, there's a rectangular bump-out over a flat-file).  I drilled 3 (1/8") holes on each side and then a-fixed the patch with rivets.  I'll shoot the patch with under-body rubber stuff so it seals tight.  Later, I'll put something in the body cavity to reduce road noise.  We know we want whatever I put in there to be closed-cell, so any moisture that could get in doesn't get absorbed.  I have a roll of that foil insulation I could use, but I don't think it is very effective at absorbing noise.... at least not as effectively as it insulated temperature.  I may put some down on the bottom anyway.  Once I figure that out, I'll patch the hole in the floor.  While I think about it, I'll patch the floor in the belly pan from the original ice box / sink unit.

Holidaze
It's been an interesting holiday season, switching from no kids to a house full of them and, soon, back again.  Boo and I hosted my extended family holiday event and laid-low on the actual Christmas eve and day.  For NewYearsEve, we took 6 kids up to SkiBowl for Cosmic Tubing.  The Tubing was fun, and SkiBowl put on a great time even with hardly any snow.  The resort is effectively closed pending snow, and the others aren't much further along.  Without some fresh snow, they will have to start shutting down lifts too.  We hit Timberline on the 27th (our anniversary), and the snow was pounded flat with a little powder on top.  That was a week ago, and they haven't gotten any freshies since.  I don't think I'll go back until something comes from the sky.  Hopefully, that'll be very very soon.

That's it for now.  Thanks for following along.

HNY

Happy New Year.  It has been a whirlwind month since I last wrote.  I'll hit the highlights.  There will be NO BUS CONTENT.

Snowblind

SkiBowl Waming Hut

I've mentioned "Boo" over the last year and a half when I flap about personal / non-bus stuff.  We got married in the snow on Mount Hood in late December.  Members of both of our families made the trek to SkiBowl, and stood with us in the snow for a brief ceremony among the trees and flurries.  Boo and I took a run down Mid- and Lower Reynolds with T shooting with a Go-Pro camera.  Then we met the rest of the family for drinks at Beer Stube.  The rest of the day was a mix of playing in the snow and visiting family.  We rented a cabin for the days on either side of "vow day", so while our parents, etc, headed back to the valley, we were 10 minutes from "home".

Saturday Night's Alright for Partying
Yeah, I know the song is a little different.  We threw a reception on the last Saturday of December to celebrate the vows we spoke 2 days earlier.  We were joined by around 85 friends and family, ate Chinese drank Stella and wine, etc.  Good times.  It seems that most of our friends who have kids have little ones, and the party broke up by 11.  Just as well, though, as Boo and I had a morning flight to SF the next day.

If You're Going to San Francisco

Lers Ros

After a night of celebrating, rising before dawn was not exactly easy.  Neither Boo nor I had really unpacked from the mountain, and we had little interest in really dedicating to packing for a few days in SF.  A creaky rise followed by a frigid drive, had us waiting for the long-term parking shuttle as pre-dawn turned to dawn.  We breezed through security, grabbed coffees at the old Coffee People inside the terminal and hit the gate with 15 minutes to spare.  Ahh... The flight was uneventful, and we found the folks at Oakland International to be very friendly and helpful.  We took the shuttle to Oakland Coliseum, and picked up BART....  12 hours after our party ended, we were checked into our hotel.  Things turned interesting at this point.

The hotel (Hotel Renoir) is over 100 years old and sits right on Market Street between the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium and the Warfield Theater in Tenderloin.  The hotel had recently undergone a renovation, but it appeared to exclude the heat system.  For the 4 days we were in the hotel, we were on our own for heat...in late December / early January... during a unusually cold snap.  Hotel management did comp us free breakfasts for the 1st and 2nd, though.  We napped, checked the view from the roof and then walked to Walgreen's and bought a space heater :)  Problem solved.  We grabbed dinner at a fantastic Thai place (Lers Ros) and walked a bit of Tenderloin to get some bearings, including a walk-past of the Civic Auditorium to see what the lines and crowd were like to anticipate NewYears.  It was not impressive.  Lots of drug scene, and not much in terms of quality wares being sold.  The line was ridiculously long too.  Hmm...

New Years Day

Renoir Hotel

The first morning in SF was again clear and cold.  We set out on a day-long walk that took us from Market to Japantown, the Painted Ladies, Haight-Ashbury and back again.  We grabbed some quick eats and hit the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium for Furthur.  We thought the doors opened at 7:30, but that was wen the band was supposed to start.  Clueless, we simply walked up and through the doors into the venue (no line), and headed for the mezzanine.  We set up in a standing-only spot in the walkway, dead center, behind the handicapped zone.  No sooner had we chosen our spot, the lights dimmed, Bob, Phil and friends it the stage and the show started.  The sound was perfect, dancing roomy and the neighbors welcoming.  We celebrated both our new marriage and NewYears with 10+k friends.  The band played until nearly 2, and we didn't get back to the hotel 2 blocks away until after 3.
We spent the better part of NewYears Day sleeping and watching football.  That evening, we had been given a gift of cocktails at "Top of the Mark" (TotM).  Not thinking about the effect of SF hills on legs that spent the prior night dancing for 5 hours, we set off on foot up Russian Hill (I think).  Nearly sweating upon arrival at TotM, the view and the treatment were amazing.  We sat, sipping champagne, watching the shadows stretch from the setting sun across the Bay.  Again, we set off on foot, through the Financial District to the Esplanade, and then along the warfs to Pier 39 for dinner.

Bill Graham Civic Auditorium

I don't know how much we walked in SF, but I'm sure it was multiple miles.  Our last morning was a flash of checking out, BART'ing and bus'ing back to Oakland International.  We absolutely loved SF, and decided right then that we'd adopt the 49ers.  We also discovered we can travel together... we roll and press on the same things.  That's it for now.