VB apologizes for being incommunicado awhile. Two weeks ago VB returned to the US. That, as usual, entails a few hectic days before departure, doing last minute shopping, and getting doggie certified for export. VB has plenty of VW / Funkengroovin posts, but hasn't been of the mind to actually write about them. So, you ask, "What the hell have you been up to?"
Last minute shopping trip to the Cairene labyrinth known as "The Khan." We were in search of a specific item. It was featured in USA Today just before Obama's visit. We ended up going shop to shop with photo in hand asking if anyone knew where we could find this item.
(Below): We get close, but no cigar.
(Below): We end up on amazing streets in The Khan that we had never seen before.
(Below): Finally we arrive at the shop. At the end of the road of gold dealers stand a few small shops with an assortment of goods, including gold jewelry.
(Below): The item we were seeking. A cartouche of Obama, and metal design of him as King Tut.
These (we bought three) get packed and cause much trouble at the airport during security screening. They and VB survive and get through, along with Doggie. We arrive in the States, only to have a full week of torrential rain.
It was so bad, it made some of us climb the walls - well at least the screen doors.
(Below): During those few hours of dryness, VB was able to catch a some photos. Tobacco season has started.
(Below): Some fields have already been planted, while others await. Here shade tobacco is just a couple of weeks old. By mid-late August, these plants will be poking through the tops of the tents.
(Below): Since it has rained so much, we decided to proceed with phase two of our kitchen work, involving IKEA cabinets. This entails coming up with an IKEA Hack. We've done this before, but not to the extent involved with the cabinets. For more of this insanity, check out VB's Instructable.
We have a bit more work to do, so until the dust settles, there will probably fewer posts. Besides, VB just came down with a case of hives (verified by the dermatologist next door), and it ain't pretty.
Last week VB wrote about "The Roof" of our '65 VW Beetle, that we are restoring. At that point, the rear window was not installed. The rubber that holds it in had been burned. The Boss Man ordered a new rubber and delivered it to the upholsterer. He said, it took 4 guys to put the window back in. He came back the next morning, to find it shattered all over his shop. He then ordered a new window, and a new rubber frame. He then set the new window in with the old rubber. When we left, on Saturday, we had two new rubbers, and a newer window in place. He suggested we visit a glass installation center to have the glass installed with the new rubber.
The upholsterer was doubtful that we would be able to get the metal trim back in, as well.
VB would like to add, that she heard there were rumors going around about her Beetle. She wants to set the record straight: The original engine matched the body, when we bought it in 1994. The only non-original piece was a rear fender. Now the only non-original pieces, besides the fender, are: the engine, the new front seats which we just purchased, the rear window, roof and liner. The rear window, new roof, liner, and engine all had to be replaced as a result of the fire (well, the rear window because the original exploded in the upholstery shop). Since we wanted to restore it, and the Beetle was no longer original, we decided to get the new front seats and tracks to make it safer (it's got seatbelts now too). This is not some car that has been "cobbled together" from other Beetle parts. So for those of you "know-it-alls" out there, VB wants the rumors about her baby to stop! You don't know WTF you're talkin' about. Just sayin'.
Living in a retro VW community is almost as bad as living in a gossipy expat community. Don't these people have better things to do?
(Below): Old, original rear window. Photos were taken after the fire.
(Below): Close up.
(Below): New window, with old rubber. As you can see, the new window can be wired to defrost, but then that would defeat the purpose of driving a VW Beetle in the wintertime. Half the fun, is wiping down the windows manually to defog them.
(Below): The original window, before the fire, circa 1995. This photo was taken back in Shaker Heights, Ohio where we lived when we purchased it. You can see the metal trim around the rear top roof, where the roof meets the body, and around the window. All missing now. That metal trim is apparently a real bitch to deal with.
A few Beetles we passed in Cairo.
(Below): Maadi, Digla.
(Below): Old red ragtop.
(Below): Nice old orange Beetle.
(Below): At Ramses Train Station parking lot, in Cairo.
(Below): Another crashed car parked in Maadi. Some of these sights make you wonder WTF happened. This thing is so mangled, it's hard to imagine anyone surviving.
NEWS:
You Tell Us: How Are You Avoiding Traffic This Holiday? "Is it the awesome horsepower of a mother’s guilt, an unconscious inability to spend two consecutive weekdays days off at home or just the purely compulsive nature of traditional culture? Whatever it is that jams up nearly every out-bound lane on every metropolitan freeway in America on the Wednesday afternoon before Turkey Day probably isn’t going away." (Yes, it is "the awesome horsepower of a mother's guilt." VB can testify to that - she uses it quite regularly.)
(Great Photos) Vintage Iron Rules the L.A. Auto Show "For the two people on the planet who don't know what this is, the original Beetle is both the most popular and most recognizable car in history. VW sold 21.5 million of the dome-shaped, bug-eyed cars between 1934 and 2003, when the last one clattered off an assembly line in Mexico. Every single one of them was loud, slow and, to be honest, not terribly comfortable. But we love 'em just the same."
(OMG! You don't say.) Are Men More Dangerous at the Wheel? "A new study conducted by Quality Planning, an auto insurance analytics firm, has concluded that male drivers cause more havoc on the road than their female counterparts."
(Video & Photos - go to "Photo Galleries" on the right, below the photo of the mangled Beetle, hanging in the air) Volkswagen Beetle pulled from Beargrass Creek "The steering wheel from a Volkswagen Beetle that's been stuck in the muck of Beargrass Creek for nearly 30 years will be fashioned into an environmental award"
(New Zealand) Naming the Beast: North Island by Campervan "I grew up in a family that names its vehicles. Before I was born there was Henrietta, the baby blue van. After her came Dippy, the racy red Anglia whose license plate began with ‘DP’, then Goldbug the sparkling gold Holden Kingswood station wagon. I’m sad to say I didn’t continue this tradition when I started driving. That is until I spent a week alone in the North Island driving a 6.6 metre long campervan complete with shower, toilet and microwave oven. A vehicle of this stature, I decided, needs a name."
CORRECTION: Last week VB said that Opels were probably the only GM cars she ever owned. Incorrect. She owned a Chevy Malibu (how could she forget?) It was her first car, and it cost (so much money) $350.00 (back in 1974.) She sold the Malibu for an Opel 1900, which she proceeded to crash into a bridge abutment, one icy morning, in Cleveland, Ohio, 1979. The bicycle, a ChampagneRaleigh International, which she bought in 1975-6, cost almost as much, at a whopping, $300.00. She still has the bike.
With the Detroit car companies begging for a bailout and Black Friday coming upon us, VB thought today's video was apropos.
This article points out the problem, and BTW, if you're refinancing your house to buy a vintage car, then you are truly crazy! A Rough Ride in Collectible Cars "Or maybe they just ran out of money. Amid the broad economic deterioration of recent months, spending on extravagances like antique cars has slowed. In many cases, people can no longer afford even to keep their collections, says David Gooding, president of Gooding & Co., a Los Angeles car auction house.
In the past year, many collectors who used home-equity loans or other credit to buy the vintage convertible or muscle car of their dreams have had to sell as the housing and credit markets have declined. The same factors have kept new collectors from entering the market. As a result, many staple collector cars like 1957 Chevrolets, 1940 Fords and 1960s Pontiac GTOs are selling for half what they commanded two or three years ago."
"For some collectors, the downturn could be a good time to amass a long-coveted vehicle or two -- not just because prices are often lower, but because cars that weren't for sale before are suddenly available. John McCue of Half Moon Bay, Calif., bought a 1958 Mercury Park Lane last summer for $39,000. The 61-year-old retired software executive says it probably cost him about 5% less than the car's value a year earlier. But since he has pursued the car for years, he knows the former owner wouldn't have sold it then.
"There are those cars that you think will never be for sale, the ones the owners will take to their graves," he says. "Well, now a lot of those cars are changing hands."
While many in the collecting business say there will always be enough wealthy people who want vintage cars, others fear the market could be headed for a repeat of its last crash in 1989, when speculators who had no particular interest in vintage cars drove a steep, if fleeting, run-up in prices. Today, more of the buyers are car lovers, but speculation underpins their motives as well.
"The love of cars never outweighs the love of money," Mr. Gooding says."
(Check out the green and white Beetle [Mexican taxi cab?] near the beginning.) Shania Twain - Ka-Ching
Expat currently living in Egypt. I'm not really a vagabond, but I would like to be. I do own an '87 VW Vanagon Camper (Weekender) and a 1965 VW Beetle Convertible.
I'm more of a rider on the corporate vagabond trail.
Views expressed here are mine and mine alone. If anyone feels insulted by this, or any other posts, don't worry I am a equal opportunity lampooner.
