more of the BLUE VAN

So anyway, let’s talk about the blue van. Who remembers it? Of course we all remember the tear in the upper portion of the back seat which was repaired with duct tape. Of course we also remember how the years of hot summers beating down on that tape, would produce a nice, gray, stickiness on the backs of our heads, coats, ponytails..

Pop quiz! Supposing a vehicle has 8 seatbelts, how many Saxman passengers can it safely carry?

Well, if you guessed 8, you’d be wrong. The answer is 14. Haven’t you ever heard of “doubling-up?” That’s right, if, for some reason you can’t find the other half to your seatbelt, just sit patiently for a few seconds and one of your siblings will tattle to mom about your illegal van-riding methods.

I remember that more often then not, that van wouldn’t start. Mom would crank it over and over until signs of a diminishing battery life were obvious. Never mind the fact that each round trip from Dupont to Steilacoom only earned that van a $1 investment of gas. Leave it to Mom, always the auto mechanic, to jump right into her only known remedy. It seemed to be some sort of random pumping of the gas pedal before and after numerous cranks. Eventually, Mr. Frank Serfus would get sick of hearing this sad engine whine and cross the street only to perform the exact same gas pedal-pumping method that mom used! The only difference being, one or two cranks from Frank always guaranteed a sure start. Go figure.