Well, thanks to those that have read my post. I originally saw a "debate" about the Toureg on the water-ccooled group. I thought that a "blend" of points where in order as to include my air-cooled freinds.
I'm glad I dind't start a flame war with that post I was meerly making a strong and valid point.
the close-knit community thatI've gotten to know over the years in the VW crowd of water and air has yet again come through for me. While I may or may not ever drive a Beetle again I still have a wealth of knowledge and opinions as it regards to VW.
I would like to now take this chance to elaborate on some more things if I may, and again, I do not wish to start a flame war - if that happens I just may not post anything and just read like I usually do.
Ok. I was visiting my "other" news group alt.music.pink-floyd has a tend going on I see in a lot of newgroups less the Linux newsgroups those guys stay pretty geek. The trend is that I guess this being an election year that POLOTICS are everywhere. I wanted to engange in some discussion about my all-time favorite group and all I could find was some things about Roger waters' new house and a bunch of political non-sense. Do not get me wrong. I think that talking about these things are very healthy yet I can't understand why people can't stay on topic in the news groups (again, except for the Linux folks) I politly posted something about the situation and it got nothing but "stop whinging you wimp" type remarks. Not only that but the ignorance of the posts if warrented were so pathetic it wasn't even worth my time to rummage through them all. I'm glad to not see this stuff in the VW groups as much but I have come to expect such maturaty from VW people. owning an Air-cooled VW lends itselt to a more simplistic ideal and henceforth a more mature well-being. When I posted my "Giving Up an Old Freind Post" I was afraid that perhaps this too would be taken way out of context yet it wasn't. the support y'all have brought has ispired me to ride 10 -16 miles a day on my newly converted Diomond Back touring bike. I got the bike at a yard sale for five bucks and invest about $100 in it new tires, water bottle ccage, seat and post, stow-away, lock, frame pump, grips etc ... At first I was somewhat embarecced to start using a bicycle as my primary mode of travel becuase it's like if you don't have a car in America you are a "nerd" or somehow beneath the ones that do. I like being an outcast to an extent but the attitude of most Americans hasn't made me that patriotic. Not politically yet socially, ethically ... whatever ... I beleive in a simple uncluttered lifestyle. I don't even wear a watch. I have paid cash for everything I own and I have no bills pending. I am a single father of a 7 year old son and I try to teach him my values but I am faced with uphill competition as the world around us is so different from what I thought it was when I myself was a kid. I was three years old when I fell in love with the Beetle. My uncle Ed had a new 1979 'vert .. was River Blue Metalic. I enjoyed that car becuase as a three year old it connected me to the adult world ... it was a real life "grown-up" thing yet it looked and sounded like something from a cartoon from the "pretend" world most of us had when we were kids. I almost gave up driving one other time, when my brother was killed in a car accident when I was 14. I almost thought then that it wans't worth anything. I dind't becuase my love for VW kept me going and when I graduated from high-school I saved up some money (no parents buying me a car for graduation as is the case these days) and bought myself a 1970 type 1 sedan off a good freind who admittadly hated Beetles. I kept that car for quite some time before having to sell it to start my business, my computer business. After selling it I had no vehicle for some time so this gave me a chance to think about things and as my vision grew worse by a meer 12% I realised that by the time I saved yet again to buy another Beetle I would be legally blind. dealing with my borther's death was sudden and unexpected. I guess even now it's still somehwat unbeleivable. Here one day gone the next. No chance for good-bye or one last "hey bro, I love you" yet losing the ability to drive came on gradually and it seems like a tearing ripping loss. sort of like hanging from a rope and slowly losing your grip and knowing that once that rope is gone life will be different. In the literal sence it would probably mean certain death. In the metaphoric sense it would proably mean a complete 180 change of direction. That is certainly how I see it. I've always had a clear a certain vision of right and wrong, good and bad and the turmoil of of something like this contradicts all of that. I mean there are so many layers and so many different ideas about it but in the very end it is all the same, I will now from this point on have to refer to anything to do with a Beetle in the past tense. There will most likely not be "I will drive down to Mobile, and see my good freind Robin this weekend" there will be no more " I think I'll plan a trip with my son Brett to PA this summer to see some family" All that is very painful. I could care less about a car, it's the freedom I am mourning the loss of. The abily to get pissed off and take a drive down the road and see the sights to "reset" myself. Being single can you imagine trying to get a date on a bicycle? I can't. Although it may seem this way I am not complainning and I am not whinning. I just want every one who reads this to understand that life will change and what we once thought was a solid staple in life can easily be as soft as butter and melt away. I look forward to the many opertunities that lie ahead and who knows ... me being a computer type guy I know that technology doulbes about every 18 months. So, this may hold true in the field if optomotry to some extent. I bid y'all a good morning, day, and night, as the case may be and I look orward to hearing what you all have to say about this winded post.