The TransVan

Sunday, April 27, 2008, PoBoy was up around seven in the

morning. Today he would visit the father of the fellow who

had sold him his boat. The father had a 1982 TransVan which

PoBoy had formulated in his plan to be a vehicle to haul his

boat to Florida. PoBoy also figured that the TransVan would

suffice as a sort of "Ark" in case a hurricane were to be

visiting the neighborhood where he would be living.

Having the TransVan would allow PoBoy to maintain

independence even in times of storms. He'd simply load up

and drive off to a safer area. The TransVan had everything

within except for labratory facilities. But PoBoy figured he

could use the campground facilities for that task.

The father had told PoBoy that he would not sell him the

TransVAn until he had at least driven it. Today was to be

"driving day." PoBoy had also invited three other people

along with him, two backyard mechanics and his son.

The backyard mechanics were coming to ensure PoBoy that

nothing about the TransVAn showed possible trouble ahead.

PoBoy was also going to have them refurbish the engine --

replace such things as hoses, fan belts, coolants, oil, and

so on. That project would occur in May.

As usual PoBoy forgot he was also "Camera Man" having

recently purchased a Canon A-560 Digital Camera. His

intention when he bought the camera was to take pictures of

his adventures. Well no picture taken today because he

forgot to bring the camera.

As we pulled up in front of the house, we could see the

transvan. It looked nice from the outside as well as the

inside. It had a small 2 burner stove. A small fridge.

Small table. A couple of sleeping bunks which converted to

couch style seats if you had visitors. All and all it looked

pretty good to be a 1982 model.

The father was out in the garage and PoBoy walked out and

bellowed "are you out here?" From above the garage came

footsteps coming down the stairs. "Hi" said the father.

Came over to take the transvan around the block," PoBoy

retorted. "Sure," said the father, I was just finishing up

installing a new battery," he said with a big smile.

He showed us the new battery and the connectors gleamed in

the rays of light that filtered through the pine trees.

"Say, one of those connections is loose. We'd best tighten

it." "Oh no," said the father, "I just tightened it." But my

backyard mechanic pulled on the wire and sure enough it was

loose.

Tighted once more, the father handed me a key and also wrote

a note that I was taking the vehicle for a test drive. You

know, in case I got stopped by a policeman -- a country block

is larger then a city block. The big 350 engine started with

the first turn of the key and soon PoBoy was backing the

transvan out of the driveway.

They went down the road. It seemed okay at first but

suddenly developed a shimmy and when PoBoy came to the stop

sign and applied the brakes it pulled to the right. PoBoy

drove it to the next stop sign but when he rounded the corner

he stopped so the backyard mechanic could test drive it too.

The mechanic revved the engine (which sent shivers up the

spine of PoBoy -- PoBoy would never do that), and the

transvan picked up speed immediately. As the mechanic drove

through the shimmy, he let go of the steering wheel and the

transvan pulled to the left. He did it twice to make sure.

Something was definitely awry with the front end of the

transvan. At the third stop sign there was the smell of

something burning. "We better get this thing back to the

barn." the mechanic said. As he went to drive off the

transvan stalled and would not start. We sat there a few

minutes and then tried to start it again. It started but

this time there was squealing sound -- like that of a worn

fan belt.

We returned to the "barn" and climbed out explaining to the

father what had occurred. If you were looking at the father

you could see a sense of pain in his face, definitely the

smile had disappeared. He had the hood opened and once again

found a loose connection on the battery post. About that

time the father's wife came outside and noticed smoke coming

from the right side driver's wheel. That was definitely

where the burning smell had come from. PoBoy was sad but

definitely happy it had happened so soon as if it had

happened 500 or 1000 miles down the road it would have cost

him dearly.

The father said his son would get in contact with PoBoy about

what had happened. PoBoy agreed that was a good idea and

they left. PoBoy felt sad for the father.