#2 THE LOGIC BEHIND BEING "ILLOGICAL" ... 15 FEBRUARY, 2024

 WHAZAMMO & THE GILLIG

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I have to be cautious, polite, and sensitive in my expressing opinions here (to avoid censorship, banning, take-down, or being thrown in the the gulag), so, “read between the lines” about our change from boat to bus.

Security, privacy, uninhibited “view”, conveniences, and of course monthly “end cost” have always been the drivers of the 25 some dwellings we have had over the past 55 years of our marriage… security-safety is becoming a more enhanced need, as we grow physically older-weaker.

The two North/South 2,000-mile West Coast I-5 corridor highways (West of the mountains, I-5 and Highway 101) between Vancouver BC to Tijuana have been our primary business and home base for most of our adult lives (with an’ya being born/raised here), we have spent 40 of our 55 married years home-based from somewhere in this North-South corridor.

During the past five or so years the cumulative failings of American & West Coast thinking, culture, and politics have coalesced and gelled into a “no longer ignorable” condition of tolerating the homeless, mentally ill, druggy, non-English speaking, physically "sick", and non-citizen feral overwhelm that all of the I-5 corridor local and state (city) governments intentionally designed, called-in, encouraged, supported, and tolerate by becoming "sanctuary", multi-cultural, heavily left-liberal ideaed, DEI, and then financed through our own taxes as insult.

The original logger, cattle, horse and sheep rancher, commercial fisherman and “west coast”, Surfer, mountain-man, native American, Oregon handshake dealing, good ole’ boy with his keys left in the car, doors unlocked, gun rack culture is simply now gone… in its place is a foreign/Hippy Marxist-Socialist politic thinking culture of fewer (or no) police, a judicial and non-prosecutorial tolerant court system, and a liberal lawfare set of permissive (no fault) dismissal, with a very intentional non-enforcement and judicial “ignore” of any/all laws, rules, regulation, morality, or ordinance guidelines.

This turn to an “insecure” and toxic society, and threatening street conditions have forced us to rethink our (public dock) living habitat, comfort level, and "security" at age 80… for us, the public harbor, boat live-aboard life is increasingly no longer safe, secure, private, or sustainable... the public transportation and pedestrian encounters are now repeatedly threatening, and the accelerated acceptance level (even promotion, support, and encouragement) by the general public local government and Police is not only maddening, but no longer in alignment with our standards, principles or security. ("public" being the keyword).

Changing harbors is not now the answer, as (now) all of the West Coast ports are the same today, with almost everywhere being far worse than the Port of Siuslaw, and, at more than double this berthing rate as a result of high-security costs… most harbors have simply decided to not have security concerns by disallowing live-aboards completely, making it simply time to leave the water.

Ashore, we (fortunately) are as adept as we are on the water, just our mode changes, to either a cabin or motorcoach... even with good credit, and VA/USDA pre-loan approvals, our past 12 full months of multiple state real estate searches all have come up empty. (a different issue for a different time-involving the corporate buy-ups and government directed scheming programs).

So, we began a rethink (relook) back on coach bus life, the portability of your habitat, and a Snake Plissken "Escape from the West Coast" scenario (back over the Cascades), combined with "Mad Max" into yet another motor coach build... all in search of "Security", and the ability to exit, yet live affordably, (wherever we wish to travel).

On 9, 10, and 11 February 2024 when the Eugene Lane County Transit District announced their 20 Diesel Bus Auction-off (in order to become a fully electric & CNG fleet)... their week-end, online viewing auction, showed full specs; VIN codes, and service record PDF links online... with an online 48-hour bidding envelope, (and winners posted on 12 February), payment on 15-16 February (at time of pickup/removal), had us moving very-very deep into this rethink.

We bid on unit #2620 (the only non-computerized 10.8 Liter ISM-engined Cummins diesel in the lot, with a very recent tranny rebuild).  We won that bid... more on the "why" of this engine vs. the heavily computerized, much smaller 8.9 Litre ISL engine that became mandatory in January, 2007, and before DEF became mandatory January 1, 2010.

This purchase phase concluded with a 60-mile trek by local commuter bus “to” the big city of EUGENE on 15 February, then a in-city cross-town bus trip of slumping/sleeping/mentally disturbed street people, non-English speaking immigrants, and Seniors like myself all riding free on city busses, to the out-of-town Auction lot where our newly purchased vehicle was, for pick up ...

 

this ended in an unplanned, unexpected two-day-overnight stay, very wet, cold, struggle needed to unbury it from the mud lot it sank in… (that cost the seller $400.00 to extricate by a tank retrieval unit).

The relentless rain and below 40 degree weather was a Oregon plus, after realizing there is no fuel gauge on a (nightly refueled) city bus, we learned of the specially LTD installed fuel-tank nozzle adapter (that no one knew about) for fueling when we attempted to fill-up.

 

A quick and expensive emergency buying of tools, and some dismantling in the two day-night non-stop 34 degree rain, along with the "I have not driven a forty-foot bus for 13 years drive back home", (after being exposed to the filth and disease of encountering the hordes of homeless, mentally ill, and illegal immigrants now owning the city of Eugene).

The 60 mile trek back to Florence was a sweaty palm first 6 miles, then it was blast the AC/DC cruise-time !

Once back on the coast, parked on the street, encountering the local Florence parking police, and having some DMV title issues, we quickly questioned your (our) logic, after looking at a fully seated empty city bus interior, the project reality and old bus memories reappeared… fortunately this new 13-year-old flat-nosed rear diesel “low floor” 40-footer candidate is still a current 2024 model (same chassis as electric or CNG), and the repair-replacement parts are "on-the-shelf available !! ... unlike "all" of our previous builds.

Even with the overfull Florence RV storage lots (in winter), we miraculously found a spot !!, the title got fixed, the RV plates got issued, the insurance was written, and the project began in earnest all within a 15-day time slot ... today's date is 28 February (2024)… I am over my flu-like Eugene homeless/illegal immigrant-induced street-borne illness, and, my logic of being illogical is being inwardly sought, making me wonder why I ever quit drinking...we will begin the new Gillig build (as soon as I refind my logic), a place to park at when completed, and some money.  (being 10 years sober will get a real test now).

Seats anyone ? we got some !