Sharkey, I started reading your first chapters regarding 32 years living in a mobile dwelling, and could not stop until forced to do so by the end of chapter 3. So when is the next installment?? You can sling ink with the best of 'em! It all takes me back to those "good old days". I too learned to weld about '74, and loved it. I eventually became an Industrial Tech high school teacher and had to leave the Pacific Northwest for a two year sojourn in SoCal after graduation from college. The only jobs in the field were in the LA area, so the wife and I wound up in the San Fernando valley
in Northridge as teachers. Came back north to Oregon in 1980 and have been there ever since. Still like and do metal working, welding, buses, house trucks, woodworking, sculpting and casting in bronze, etc. And The Band, CSN&Y etc- they just don't make music like that anymore. I have also read more in the forums by you about the sad times in your life, like losing your horse, etc. Dagnabbit, it almost feels like I know you, and I have never met you. Keep up the good work, your site is more then just a collection of facts and pictures, it's somewhat like therapy for us geezers!
Sharkey the ink slinger- par excellance!!
Moderator: TMAX
See what happens, I head into town to pick up some groceries and look at some generator transfer equipment for one of my clients and while I'm gone, the forum goes nuts and has loads of new posts (I'm not complaining). 
Give me ten days or so and I may be able to scribble some more. I'm nose-to-the-grindstone trying to get the kitchen in the house set up with a counter top, sink, and flooring so that it can be used during a gathering a friend is organizing here for Labor Day weekend. I'd have a nervous breakdown (yes, another one) if I had to feed a group of even close friends out of the kitchen in the Housetruck. Meals for two, maybe three, tops, are possible out of the truck, but I'm advising all comers that this is going to be high-end camping, and that they should count on bringing their own food, utensils and bedding. I'll have hot showers, refrigerator/freezer, microwave, toaster oven and a fire pit, but group meals might end up being whatever came out of the coolers that they bring with them.
I'm even putting time into the job after dinner each night, which is unusual for me, usually I vege out in front of the computer until bed time. Tonight I'll probably be crawling around under the house getting ready to close up the temporary trap door in the kitchen floor before putting down new sub flooring.
Give me ten days or so and I may be able to scribble some more. I'm nose-to-the-grindstone trying to get the kitchen in the house set up with a counter top, sink, and flooring so that it can be used during a gathering a friend is organizing here for Labor Day weekend. I'd have a nervous breakdown (yes, another one) if I had to feed a group of even close friends out of the kitchen in the Housetruck. Meals for two, maybe three, tops, are possible out of the truck, but I'm advising all comers that this is going to be high-end camping, and that they should count on bringing their own food, utensils and bedding. I'll have hot showers, refrigerator/freezer, microwave, toaster oven and a fire pit, but group meals might end up being whatever came out of the coolers that they bring with them.
I'm even putting time into the job after dinner each night, which is unusual for me, usually I vege out in front of the computer until bed time. Tonight I'll probably be crawling around under the house getting ready to close up the temporary trap door in the kitchen floor before putting down new sub flooring.
I agree, dburt. 30 years in a housetruck is my favorite "book". Somehow mine has the last chapters missing. There are rumors running around that the final chapters are hidden away in a box. There is only one person on the planet who knows where they are.
I was assured by my connections with the "higher ups" that we will all be able to see the "rest of the story" sometime in the near future. That news is exciting.
dburt, perhaps you would be willing to tell us of your adventures and bus life philosophies. Don't want to put you on the spot. Trying to write such colorful words as Sharkey's stories is a hard act to follow.
Sharkey, thanks once again for giving us "bus people" hope. Rudy
I was assured by my connections with the "higher ups" that we will all be able to see the "rest of the story" sometime in the near future. That news is exciting.
dburt, perhaps you would be willing to tell us of your adventures and bus life philosophies. Don't want to put you on the spot. Trying to write such colorful words as Sharkey's stories is a hard act to follow.
Sharkey, thanks once again for giving us "bus people" hope. Rudy
Last edited by Rudy on Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
Rudy- you are right, Sharkey is a very hard act to follow. The only "build" I have done of a mobile dwelling is an 8-foot camper I built while in college, and then a new 1976 Ford van during the van craze. But I was really smitten by the rolling homes in the book by the same name during that era. I bought the book Hand Made Houses, but should have sprung for the extra 5 bucks and gotten the Rolling Homes book. Might have changed my life, who knows? So- at the present time I have my almost ideal bus (right price, low miles, good shape, good motor/tranny combo etc) but as always, we need income and the sale of the bus would bring in a grand of the bucks to pay bills with. Life is always like that, when you have what you really want for a project the bill collector is always around the corner demanding payment. And during the more flush times, you can't find a decent base for a good project for any amount of money. I have a military deuce and a half, and have always wanted to do a house truck on one, but am beginning to realize that the power steering and auto transmission on the bus is really nice and the smoother ride and the fact that the shell is already there is a powerful motivator to keep the bus. But- always that "but", I have not been able to sell the deuce, (which would be my preference) and keep the bus. So I will probably have to sell the bus, pay bills and keep the cash flow going. Well, then plan B would be to eventually sell the deuce, find a good diesel pusher flat nose school bus for the "hippe tribute" rolling home build and get that itch scratched! One small problem that bothers me though, most of the school districts around here are keeping thier good buses longer and racking up more miles and putting more wear and tear on them before selling them due to budget constraints during this economic downturn. And being an old high school shop and auto mech teacher I am picky about my vehicles, I like nice low mileage well maintained rigs. And because of the afore mentioned issues with the local buses that I would have access to, those good buses are getting increasingly hard to find. Also- my brother has still not won the lottery (I don't play it, so I don't count on that rather remote possiblity of financing my projects) but should he do so, I could probably get a few dollars out of him for a project since he is somewhat like minded. I will post a pic of the bus and the deuce here for interests sake. Uh oh, I guess I won't because I don't see the botton you click on to add attachments. Believe it or not, I am "high technology impaired and seriously challenged" but I can do "hands on stuff" and make things!
Last edited by dburt on Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:45 pm, edited 2 times in total.
dburt, I didn't know diddly squat about posting, the first day I tried. Sharkey explained how to do it. Here's what I do to get pictures posted.
When you reply to a post, write the words down, and when you are ready to put a picture in, skip a couple lines...
like this.
This separates the picture from the writing. At this point, open another tab on your computer screen and go to TinyPic.com. There you will see a button that says "Choose file". Click on that. When you click on that, you can go to your photos file and double click one of your photos. Then press the button that says "Upload Now". In seconds, you will see four lines of http code. They are used for different purposes. Look for the one that says "use for posting to forums". Then cut and paste that line to the space that you have prepared on the post you were replying to. You will then see the http code that you picked, displayed on the posting. Now, when you press the box on the bottom of the post form that says "Preview", you will see the picture that you chose. You can, at that point continue writing, add another picture, or just press the "Submit" button, which then loads everything to the forum. What is also cool is that you can always go back to any of your postings and edit, delete, or add more to it.
It took me a few tries.
Thanks for telling us a bit about yourself. The economy IS sucky. It's a cryin' shame that you have to sell your bus in order to pay bills. It sounds like you really like your bus. I hope other options become available. Rudy
When you reply to a post, write the words down, and when you are ready to put a picture in, skip a couple lines...
like this.
This separates the picture from the writing. At this point, open another tab on your computer screen and go to TinyPic.com. There you will see a button that says "Choose file". Click on that. When you click on that, you can go to your photos file and double click one of your photos. Then press the button that says "Upload Now". In seconds, you will see four lines of http code. They are used for different purposes. Look for the one that says "use for posting to forums". Then cut and paste that line to the space that you have prepared on the post you were replying to. You will then see the http code that you picked, displayed on the posting. Now, when you press the box on the bottom of the post form that says "Preview", you will see the picture that you chose. You can, at that point continue writing, add another picture, or just press the "Submit" button, which then loads everything to the forum. What is also cool is that you can always go back to any of your postings and edit, delete, or add more to it.
It took me a few tries.
Thanks for telling us a bit about yourself. The economy IS sucky. It's a cryin' shame that you have to sell your bus in order to pay bills. It sounds like you really like your bus. I hope other options become available. Rudy
Hey Rudy- check out my previous post, with your valuable help I figured out how to post two pics. There just might be hope for the "hopelessly technologically challenged" persons like myself after all! Thanks Rudy! Until later- Dennis (or DB as my friends call me, or dburt as in my user ID. And- you can call me whatever you want, just don't call me late to supper!)
Home to us is Joseph/Enterprise Oregon, up in the mountains in the NE corner of the state. We also own a place down in SW Idaho, on highway 95 about two miles north of the small town of Parma which is about 45 miles west of Boise. Parma is just east of the Snake River which is the border between Oregon and Idaho. If and when we can get the place sold in Idaho, we will try and keep all our eggs in Oregon. I think Sharkey lives somewhere near the coast, on the other side of the state. Is that right Sharkey?? We like trees and mountains, and the area where we have the place in Idaho is agricultural land, they call this the Treasure Valley and while it is good farming land, it is just not the mountains and trees we are used to. I have a shop at the place in Idaho where I can do most of my work creating and fixing stuff. By the way Rudy, we lived in the south for several years when I was a kid, and for a time we lived in Chatanooga (sp?) where my dad was an X-ray tech at the general hospital there. We also lived in Georgia and Mississipi. Someday I sure would like to go back down south for a visit, it was really neat country as I recall. I always liked the civil war history and battle fields.
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests