My 1946 Cheverolet School Bus

[GoodClue]

Hello Officer Hormel,

http://www.incinolet.com/

Incinolet has 4 models ... the one I'm interested in is the 115Volt RV model.
They do have two commercial use versions, one, 115/240 and one 240 Volt.
Possibly they can answer your questions.
I plan on ordering a unit this week.
I will post a reveiew once I have some practical experience with the product.

Hope the link is helpful,
Doug

[TMAX]

Hello Doug and thanks for the info. I checked the specs for the 120 volt RV model and noticed that it as well as the other 120 volt models draw 1800 watts while in use. That is the absolute maximum current draw that a 15 amp circuit can carry. You would do well to install a dedicated 20 amp (or more) circuit for this device. I can see how this type of toilet can be an advantage for your environmental situation. One big plus for these over the older types is the catalytic filter in the exhaust. The one that I used to use (over 40 years old) did not have that feature, it was nasty. We didn't call it the potato baker for nothing.

TMAX

[GoodClue]

PS ...

Meant to add some pics of a 73 GMC Buffalo that pulled in while I was at my favorite wireless hotspot yesterday in Woodland Park, CO.

A minister bought it for $600 from a junk yard for his church in a small community about 200 miles east of here on the prarie. It had been partially converted to an RV, they were renovating to their needs.
I talked with the mechanic who reconditioned it, a grizzled old soul I will look up when I do my archaeology in the area in a few weeks. I'm a decent mechanic but this fellow had more info in his chaw filled beard than most will ever have.
The church group was on it's way to camp out for a week in the mountains now that the tourist season has ended.






The back window was the only one they couldn't find a replacement for so they used plastic.
Seems I'll need to start a church to get the bus of my dreams ...
Doug

[Dennis The Bus Dweller]

I like the buffalos, I have a 4905, this one is about 5 feet shorter but still roomy and a great looking rig. Hey Doug, If by chance you can contact the guy who owns the buffalo give this web link. They make new windows to all the GMC specs. http://www.motionwindows.com/special-applications.php

[maldoran]

hey what great photos. i like your gypsy wagon ideas. there is a great site to look at authentic wagons at http://www.enslin.com/rae/gypsy/camps.htm. i got some ideas from this site and used them to build my gypsy wagon camper on a 1938 IHC truck, it is posted at this site under kevins gypsy wagon under other trucks, let me know how the progress on yours goes, kevin in ct

[GoodClue]

Hello all ... Sharkey, Maldoran, Dennis The Bus Dweller, TMAX, Griff, lemmiwinks, dadeo, dburt, Rudy and any I have left out ...

Thanks for the info, links, etc. ... I have to take time to acknowledge Sharkey's Crown/POTD ... I've never had the monies to put to a project, always scrounging, doing what I could when and where ... good to see what can be done ... Amazing Sharkey! ... was hoping to see a hot tub like the Aussie project but love what you've accomplished ... am hoping to find your radio feed, maybe in future travels when I get close enough.

I'm impressed with the whole spectrum of alternative housing/lifestyles, the imagination and courage that goes into all of it ... and the connections Sharkey's site has provided and added to the mix ...

If I was by water I'd be building houseboats ... if I could get by the faschist Property Owners Ass. that moved in and changed the covenants I'd have my studio home that I built on my 41 acres in Aguilar,CO and be living off the grid with goats grazing on the sod roof ... now I just want to sell and be out ... If I can get by the beaurocrats and a drunken Jehova's minister in Park County, CO, I might get my studio built on my Tarryall/Puma City mining claims , goats and all ...

My ex, after deserting me and a cat named Hopper, came back after a year in Hawaii and losing everything ... and the bus is too small for the three of us, thank Creator ... I've helped her relocate and get her feet on the ground, but, you know, I really like Hopper ...

Through all of it, I have my 46 Cheverolet bus/gypsy wagon, powered and hand carpentry tools, powered and hand forge welding equipment, acoustic fiddle, guitar, mandolin, student Hoener accordian (sp), concertina, all miked and pre-amped depending ... maybe even trailer space for the goats ... love that goat's milk and cheese ... and the heart of an aborigine that loves the land and am willing to move with the seaons and share it with respect until, like the Mutant Message Down Under people, decide it's time to leave this earth ... I've always told people I discovered years ago the crack between heaven and hell, and space is infinite, and I'm a traveller ... been an interesting year, as you can tell ...

Keep those cards and letters comming, there are always options and alternatives and I love to see the results of creative thinking ... and I do appreciate the Internet for the connections.

Sharkey, you can delete this if need be, just one of those days ... may have something to do with my birthday being 9/11, or maybe just turning 60 ... or losing my friend, a 14 1/2 year old white husky named Clue tragically thru my ex ... I was clueless for a while but she has returned many times over ... the impetus behind the Snake Oil show ...

Just keep on encouraging and helping people on the way ... and thanks.

Doug

[Sharkey]

???Delete it??? Why on Earth would I want to do that? You think I'm the only one who gets therapy by exposing their most vulnerable emotions on a public forum? No way!

As for the Crown, I've left a reply in the other POTD thread.

[Dennis The Bus Dweller]

What a long strange trip it’s been. Hang in there Doug

[Rudy]

Amen to what Sharkey says about laying plain, your life on this forum. It appears that it is rough times for many of us. Do you have any friends who play music? Recording music is always fun. Even mulitracking by your self can be highly entertaining and challenging enough to be a great diversion to one's troubles. Here is a picture of some people giving music life, inside a bus.

[Griff]

Hi Doug!

We all have "ups" & "downs", and no one's life is really any worse than anyone elses. It just can really seem that way to us when we're in the middle of a "down" period.

What I've learned to do when I get in one of my "down" periods is go out and take a good look around me. It's usually pretty easy to find someone worse off, no matter how bad I think I have it at the time. When I find 'em, I try to do something to improve their situation, nothing extravagant, just something simple to ease their burden for a moment if I can. It seems to help me to regain a proper perspective to my own situation(s) and helps me start moving forward again...and...after all...if we're not moving forward, we're moving in the wrong direction!

You are among friends here and should never feel alone or sorry for venting some of life's frustrations on this board. If we can't do anything else, we can lend compassionate ears to hear, and try to help dissipate some of the steam!

Be strong, my friend, for all is never lost until the last man falls!

Best Regards, and know that things will turn around for the better again - just keep moving forward, even if ya have to crawl to do it! You'll get there, you'll see!

Griff

[Dennis The Bus Dweller]

Well said Griff, Hang in there Doug, Take a good look around and if all else fails, get in to the woods, Theres some real power in there. Thats where I go when im bent about stuff

[dburt]

Well said about the woods DennisTBD! Nothing like getting away from people, artificial life in the city or urban areas and getting away to the real world out in the woods and mountains. Gives a person a much needed attitude adjustment, kinda sets the proper perspective for me. Alot of folks are kinda hurting right now for alot of different reasons. Loss of money, health issues, loss of loved folks or critters, change of residence or jobs.
(Or lack of jobs, makes one feel kinda worthless when you can't land a job, it's not fun being not wanted or needed anymore) Wish I could start my pipe dream of having the old fashioned Shady Rest campground for weary and burned out folks to just go and lay down the burdens for a while and relax. When the kids were young and at home we used to go to the Oregon coast alot and I saw several small old fashioned camp grounds that would fill the bill except I did not have the big bucks to pony up for the purchase price. They say you can't ever go back home and I suppose those little campgrounds are long gone, victims of progress or the development boom that hit the coast a few years back. Oh well, I still have my pipe dream! And thankfully the woods and mountains are not too far away. DB

[GoodClue]

Friends well met, wise words spoken, thanks to all of you.
Music, nature, people showing concern, all healing and helpful.
These moods don't come often ... seems more lately, but passing as I type.

I am returning to an area of S. Eastern CO, soon, on the fall equinox, taking a dear friend and archaeological buddy to show her a site I stumbled upon twenty years ago.

I had met with a group to study glyphs along a stretch of the Purgatory River ... Bear, deer, bighorn sheep ... arches and rainbows and long riverine lines stretching for miles. Mostly pecked, petroglyphs. Some painted in black or red ochre, pictographs. Many hotly disputed, strange symbols ancient and heavlily patinated and dark stained with natural varnish, the ones I study.

The group stopped, we had all run out of film, I kept walking. The glyphs continued but something was missing I couldn't quite place. Another mile I walked until I came to a row of tightly packed cedars in a line along the canyon wall. I pushed through the branches to find an entrance to a perfectly rectangular box canyon about 200 feet deep. The walls were smooth and straight, climbing from 10 to 50 feet front to back, nothing on the sides, but I could see the back wall was dark with many prints ... handprints, of all sizes ... the missing element. I was in a chapel, a memorial to the people.

I walked towards the wall raising my hand to a matching print. The wall dissolved, as if a large pane of glass, and touching my hand was the person placing the print. Our eyes met and the moment faded. Ho! I said.

I will be returning twentyone years to the day. I know I'll find the box canyon and the handprints. If it is meant to be I'll share images.

My original posting has a link to my webpage. Along with a link to my bus at the bottom, the image at the top of the page is a link to some of my archaeology, stories and images. I will update the pages asap.

Rudy ... I hope to record some of my music in these canyons. I have made two DVDs of my S.E. CO explorations, am still gathering more site data and would like to have them finished and available soon.

Again, thanks to all, for reminding me it's the trip not the destination.

Doug

[GoodClue]

Hello All,

The deed is done. I've ordered the Incinolet. Cost: $1,934.00 with options; installation kit, extra liners, shipping. Model RV.
It will take approx. 4 weeks for delivery. I may be broke but I'll have a comfortable place to sit ...
I will post reviews once up and running.

Our weather's changing, evening temps into the 30s, Aspen turning color ... I'm going to Aguilar this weekend to work with my property renter, then head for my archaeological site for the equinox with my sword-dancing friend Gushikawa. She believes she's a re-incarnate Samuri and actually dances around the world for peace.

I will skirt the bus this next week, Hopper and I will be in it through this winter again. Actually very comfortable, easy to heat between the woodstove and electric heat. I'll be planning the installation of the toilet, propane furnace and water heater. Space is already planned but the bath area has become a very useful closet ... some re-arranging and storage will work.

I'm thinking of either a storage/power trailer made from my 4x8 flatbed trailer, or finding a way to Oregon to get an old RV trailer my brother would give me for the hauling ... my Toyota pickup is running well, new tires, timing belt and water pump, but has 260,000 miles ... maybe a bus or train ride and a rental to get back ... pondering all ideas.

Grif, you are correct with getting involved with the less fortunate. For years I've helped my Mom, now turning 90, bless her, with a local Care and Share food program ... many times I've felt I'm just a "bus" away from their situation, tho I know better. Several years I took donated clothes and items to Rosebud, S. Dakota, educating other volunteers on the state of the indiginous, Wounded Knee, why some can make it and others will never ... In the city I've literally picked people up off the street and steered them to a shelter or bandaged their hands after breaking windows to get in a place to get warm in the winter ...
I'm no better or worse, just another student in this strange school, wondering what it will be like upon graduation ...

Rudy is also correct with music ... any form of art, creativity ... why it's been a struggle for me to get or keep a studio, that's part of my life's lessons, I know, and tho this last bit of time seemed particularly hard enough for me to "let it out" ALL OF YOU have, by the nature of showing your concern helped me, helped others remember we're part of a larger family, and not just of humans, or this earth ... spiritual beings for whatever reason here in temporal form passing through ... what a long, strange trip is right Dennis ...

Many thanks to all. Along with Pogo and The Desiderata posted on my blog, soon will be another saying I found on the wall of a long ago deserted cabin ...


KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON

If the day looks kinder gloomy
And your chances kinder slim
If the situation's puzzlin'
And the prospects awful grim
And perplexities keep passin'
Till all hope is nearly gone,
Just bristle up and grit your teeth,
And keep on keepin' on.

In appreciation of the loyalty and
friendship of the gamest set of men in
in the World - the Stockmen of the West -
this little remembrance is sent to you by

Prey Bros.

Live Stock Commission Company 1930

What can I say ... thanks, Sharkey!

Doug

[Rudy]

Doug, Even in the most grim part of my life right now, many friends are helping me crawl out of the ditch. You may know that I no longer have a job at the bus building place that I was working, and had to move away. A friend is letting me winter out at his property. I have electricity, a water source, and most of the time, my broadband wireless internet works. Friends have given me food and clothes. Coupled with my last foray to the grocery store, I have enough supplies for two months. I got a PO box today. The post office is 35 miles away. I secured at least a months worth of carpentry work (most likely more).
Buying and building the bus has cost me $7000. It is unfortunate to have lost my job at this point. I must say though, I feel free and happier than I have been in a long time. I can now make for my own and get the respect that I deserve, instead of working as an underpaid peon.
A very cool thing happened today. For months, I have been looking on the web for front tires for my bus. It is scary to even go five miles on those rotted ones that are on there. The back ones are good. I looked and could not even find any tires that size in TN. I was driving by a little tire shop today and a voice said," Hey, Rudy, look over there". LO and BEHOLD, there were four 11R 22.5 tires. They look brand new. They are not recaps. I asked the man how much two of the tires would cost. He said $100 each. These are Bridgestone 16 ply radials that go for $500 each new. I could not pass up spending $200 of my last $700 on them. I will have them mounted at a later date. I am very happy. Placing your faith in whatever God you believe in does work. Miracles do happen. Hang in there, Doug. There are many friends on your side. Rudy