Aloha, Chingasos!

Well, the Grampus's steering wheel is now right side up, and it doesn't feel like such a deathtrap.  However, as I drove to get a pizza last night, I discovered that headlights no longer worked, forcing me to drive around with the brights on like a fucking jerk.  So now that's apparently getting fixed.

Here's a little advice:  if you're in a band and you plan on getting a van, just buy a new one, or one that is only a few years old.  While I love the Grampus for its personality, it's basically in a constant state of falling apart.

To wit:

In April, the a/c went out.  This was rough in April, but by the time we went to Corpus Christi in June, it was unbearable.

Eric accidentally fell onto the front console/cupholder in May and completely destroyed it.

In June, the side door quit opening from the inside.

Also in June, the coolant resevoir inexplicably coughed up all its anti-freeze on the way to Corpus, causing us to overheat.

Shortly thereafter, the rear doors quit opening from the outside.

In August, we replaced the front brakes and a tire.

Then, the signals stopped working.

In September, we replaced another tire.

Same thing in November.

January has brought the aforementioned repairs.

So you see, kids?  New vans are the way to go.  While a '95 van with only 81K miles on it sounds like a great deal, it's really not.  It's fun and all, but we could have probably recorded an album and bought our way to success if I had sucked it up and bought a new one.  And when the Grampus finally gets mothballed, we'll probably buy something older and cheaper.  Live and don't learn.  That's Darth Vato

--Steve