Thursday is Day 3 of Mme Awesome’s Sun Dance. Please keep her in your thoughts as you rest, eat and drink.

Today I called Rick of Midwest Transit to see what could be done on getting the 2006 Chevrolet Collins bus price reasonable. Who likes shopping? What about haggling? Not a super lot for me. The truth is both of the used car purchases of which I’ve been a part did not involve bargaining. No one had explained to me that’s what ya do when I picked up the Mazda back in the day, so I simply paid the asking price, and the minivan was bought at an auction. I, again, have to call out Azzan’s terrific help. I literally used his phrase, “Would you consider ______?” The ad was for $5600 and my starting price was $4000. At first Rick wasn’t playing along, so I reminded him that eBay sales records and Craigslist vehicles in this condition are just not going for that price. This got him to drop to $4800, and I mentioned some of the issues, not too many since he knew already, and asked if we could split the difference. He said $4500 and I said OK! Over in less than 10 minutes really. While there are, without a doubt, comparable condition buses for less, there aren’t any here, and the idea of flying somewhere to get something hopefully and potentially making what could be a multi-day drive back without issue seemed worth the extra $700 to $1000. Back at the house I arranged for insurance and tomorrow I take a 1.5 hour Lyft trip to Kankeekee to get the bus.

It is going to be tricky getting everything done in time. Not exactly because of the time limit but because of the frequent rain coupled with the garages here being too short to drive the quite tall bus into makes for difficulty when painting, tending to rust abatement and adding an under mounted water tank. I know the interior is priority 1, and for sure will start there. However, what about cutting wood? Maybe do it inside the bus? I guess I can cut the plywood inside too? The opposite issue of arid California. Tomorrow’s forecast, big surprise, is rain, like all day. That means I’d be driving home in rain. Those wipers better hold up! Friday after 2 looks much better vis-a-vis precipitation. If the forecast holds I’ll wait a day.

I am also going to need to find a garage for some items. All the fluids need to be changed, per the manufacture’s schedule, at 150k miles and, coupled with what has likely been 5-6 months of solitary confinement, that means pronto. I read that this engine takes 6 bottles of oil every 5000 miles. The fuel filter too. Then the front rotors and pads. Also the emergency brake is not functioning. Maybe rotate the tires?

I slept outside last night to get out of the cyclical AC. It was great. To stay bug free I used one of the mosquito netted hammocks Mme Awesome has used on her Haiti trips we happen to have. With some rope and chairs I suspended the netting and I was loving it! Really guys, the air is just plain better. The truth is it has been taking me forever to fall asleep and I can’t figure out why.