What is this, eh?

World, meet Happy Tank. Happy Tank, meet world. Beep beep.

I just bought a 1968 Volkswagen Beetle, a car I've wanted half my life. Is this for real? Did I really just spend my savings on a 40 year old car that needs more repairs than I can wrap my head around? Why didn't I just buy a Subaru? A nice, safe, air conditioned Subaru. It's not like I'm aging towards 20 rather than 40. I should be so happy to have a reliable, unremarkable station wagon.

I'm po'... and I seriously can't afford the $75/labor-hour vintage foreign car mechanic down the road. So all I have to do is do the repairs, or most of them anyway, on the Bug myself. Not a problem. This, of course, makes perfect sense to me, because I know nothing about car repair.

I lie, actually. My step-dad taught me some basic things about cars and how they run and such. Actually, I just learned because I was watching while he was working, and I ended up helping. Just enough to help me while I'm out here making my way in this crazy world. Hey crazy world, I know what the battery does... nyah nyah. A friend taught me how to change oil and brake pads. I completely eradicated the brake pad information from my brain, all except for the word "calipers" zipping around in my imagination in big, flashing lights. I suspect that I'll soon learn what those calipers are for.

And I do own some tools, but mostly they're tools that are just tools that are owned by others and that I "borrow". I have pocket knives, though. I like them. I like pink and cute little kitties, and I have jeans with cute little butterflies on them. But also, I can burp loudly, and I have a pocket knife on me at all times. So it's not that I'm unwilling or unable to get dirty, because getting grease under my nails isn't upsetting. Mostly because I've bitten all my nails off, so it doesn't matter! Working on cars or owning tools is out of my realm, but it's just one of those things I hadn't gotten to yet. It's all a mystery! But soon it'll become clear. I'm excited! And a little freaked out by what I've gotten myself into. But it should be a good experience to learn some good skills by.

So anyway, I'll blog as I work on the Bug. I'm sure I have no idea what I'm doing, but I have my trusty manuals, and the Internet, and that guy that charges me an arm and a leg if I run into something beyond my ability. It'll be a learning experience for both of us, you and me together. All of us maybe. In the least, it'll be an opportunity for me to show off my weird ability to photograph and catalog everything I find, in triplicate. My next post, I'll go over some of the things I've learned about the Bug, and some of the things I've done to it already to just kind of start maintenance, which I'm sure hasn't been done in quite some time (judging from the condition of some of the key mechanical parts I've already seen), and some of the things I'm doing to try and fix some problems. Stay tuned!