ho bus

Ho Bus for Sale

I know, it’s hard to believe. It is time for us to say a fond farewell to a friend.

This sale will give us the dinero to upgrade a newer van to run on veggie oil- this time one with a few more amenities such as A/C and a gas gauge. If you’re interested in the Ho Bus, or know anyone else who is, let me know via comment here or email: jordan [at] achachay.com It’s running better than ever! Here’s the craigslist ad I just posted.

Veggie Oil Powered 1989 Ford E-350 short bus (“Ho Bus”) – $4400

I absolutely love this bus. I’m sure you will too. It’s been a part of my band’s identity (achachay!) for the past year and we’ve driven it thousands of miles (even to and from New Orleans a few times), on diesel and veggie oil. We even made it a bio page on our website. I’m only selling it because my band mate’s family got us a newer van to travel in.

wvo/svo vegetable oil conversion details:
When I bought the Ho Bus (named because the letters from “s” “c” “o” and “l” from “school” were painted over) fifteen months ago I teamed up with a sweet local mechanic and we rebuilt the whole conversion. By the end of our work we fixed the selector switch, replaced a bunch of the electrical wires, replaced all the old lines and hoses (which we’re leaking and drawing air) with top of the line products that can withstand the heat from the oil, changed out the tank (which was leaking and not vaccuum sealed – it was also in the back, now it’s underneath the bus), improved the flow of coolant, improved the insulation (keeping the oil hotter), and generally made it work very well. I put in at least $1000 to making the system work flawlessly, not including my personal labor. Included in the sale is one 55 gallon drum which you can store veggie oil in (it’s in one of the pics). I can also show you my filtration system for used oil and help you set one up on your own.

New Transmission!
- I replaced the transmission in August at an AAMCO so it should last for another twenty years or 300k miles.
- Plus it is still under warranty for a year.
- That’s actually a crazy story I can tell you

New batteries!
- Just replaced the two batteries about three months ago

Mileage/Engine:
- I’m not sure how many miles it has because there’s no 100s digit on the odometer so I think it’s around 250k. The transmission guys and the mechanic I work with say it should last for another 300k miles, being a diesel and all.
- This mechanic I mentioned loves the Ho Bus as well and is happy to tell you his assessment of it. Let me know and I’ll give you his name and number.
- Has a new fuel filter
- Recently changed the oil, trans fluid, fan belts, etc. etc.

Interior:
- Used to be a 15 passenger (short bus)
- The seats have all been removed
- We separated out the back for equipment storage (easily removed)
- We customized the inside with bench seating and cushions. (also easily removed)
- Check out the pics for an idea of what I’m talking about

Basically this a great vehicle for a band, anyone looking to help the environment and save money with the veggie-oil, someone looking to make a camper, someone wanting to make a party vehicle, tailgater, sell food from, or just get people’s attention. It’s so fun to drive. Btw because of it’s small size and Ford “E” series classification you need no special license or insurance to drive it. We’ve even had it towed (when the trans went out) with a regular tow truck, using a regular AAA card. I can send pics of this if you want. I have a lot more pics – of the engine, outside, one of the on-board veggie oil pre-filters, etc. that I can email you.

Let me know if you have any questions. Holler when you’re available to come check it out and give it a spin!
Jordan
www.achachay.com

• Location: Brykerwoods
• it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Winter 09 Tour Dates!

The tour dates are announced! Actually many of these may change cause that’s the way the biz works. Specifically the ones that are starred have, as of a few minutes ago, come into question. It’s frustrating as hell.

Anyway, there are a few reasons why I’m really excited about this tour. There’s the usual utter joy of being on the road again, getting in front of fresh faces, playing for fans we met last time, and catching up with old friends. Then there’s the fact that we’re playing two shows, in Boston and New York, with one of my favorite, unsigned (indie in the original sense of the word) funk bands called Love in Stockholm. Just check out some of their original classics like “People Aint Lovin’” and you’ll agree they’re rock solid. They love to funk it up and get people dancing just like we do, so both these nights are going to be crazy. I’m pretty excited about the New Orleans show at the Frat House too, because it’s a Friday in New Orleans and we’re going to pack the place. Plus we get to hang with our good friends leading volunteers at the Episcopal Diocese Rebuild Project.

Thursday Dec 3 @ Artmosphere, Lafayette LA

Friday Dec 4 @ The Frat House, New Orleans LA

Saturday Dec 5 @ The Celtic, Pascagoula MS

*Monday Dec 6 @ Nick’s Ice House, Hattiesburg MS

Tuesday Dec 8 @ 10 High Club, Atlanta GA

*Wednesday Dec 9 @ The Caledonia Lounge, Athens GA

Thursday Dec 10 @ The Wormhole, Savannah GA

Friday Dec 11 @ The Village Tavern, Mt. Pleasant SC

*Saturday Dec 12 @ The Garage, Asheville NC

Sunday Dec 13 @ The Busy Bee, Raleigh NC

Tuesday Dec 15 @ AS220, Providence RI

Wednesday Dec 16 @ Cousin Larry’s, Danbury CT

Thursday Dec 17 @ Lucky Dog, Worcester MA

Friday Dec 18 @ Copperfield’s,  Boston, MA with LOVE IN STOCKHOLM

Saturday Dec 19 @ Parkside, New York NY with LOVE IN STOCKHOLM

There’s only a couple things I’m going to miss. First of all we’ll sadly be missing Charlie and Michael, so we’re going to be heading out with yet another bassist. We’ll miss Roni, our tour manager for the first half of last tour, and Jane- my inspiration but more importantly our merch girl for the latter half of the tour. We’re going to miss playing with our friendsSaltwater Grass in Atlantic Beach but we know we’ll be back someday. We’ll definitely miss Mr. Beery’s on Long Island, and the crazy Monday night in Fayetteville, which just didn’t work out schedule-wise this time around, but we’ll hope to be back again in the future.

Another important piece of news is that we won’t be touring in the Ho Bus. I’d say that’s something I’ll miss but honestly we only made it three days in that lovely, unreliable, 20 year old iconic pos last time before the transmission went out. We’re not quite sure what our form of transport will be, but I guarantee you I’ll let you guys know when I do. Hopefully we’ll stick to the veggie oil, cause you know we love supporting the environment, and we love saving money.

Finally there’s the question of tying this in with our love of connecting with and supporting our community. We loved spreading the word about lowering the drinking age coupled with alcohol education and awareness on our last tour. We still passionately support that cause and the organization Choose Responsibility which is working tirelessly to change our current legislation and culture around drinking. But we’re also selling sunglasses and donating proceeds to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society, in honor of Ryan’s grandfather’s recent diagnoses. I’m not sure if we should just stick to one cause.

The 120 Mile Rule

Gather ‘round children as I tell you the story of three brave musicians and their quest to return home from yonder lands in the valley of the Mississippi. (just kidding) So after playing two really awesome shows in Louisiana, eating some really bomb Cajun food, volunteering, and groovin’ with the Rebirth Brass Band we left New Orleans and headed back to Austin. Charlie was driving again and Jordan and I were more or less napping in the back of the bus. The Ho Bus doesn’t have a gas gauge, but we estimated that we had around 150 miles left on the veggie oil tank and a full tank of diesel. Jordan told Charlie that he should switch over to diesel from veggie-oil after 150 miles. We were cruising nicely a little past Lafayette when Charlie exclaimed that the bus was slowing down. I told him to switch to diesel and fast! But, alas, it was too late, again. We had run out of gas, veggie oil this time, and this time even though we had a full tank of diesel we didn’t switch over fast enough to keep the engine running. Let me tell you how ecstatic I was! So Jordan called AAA and we waited by the side of the road, again.

This time it took about an hour and a half, but we were greeted by a familiar face…it was Richie the tow-truck driver from outside of Lafayette that had picked us up a few days earlier. I thought it was pretty fucking-funny to see him again. He just smiled at us and laughed a little at our precarious situation. He probably thought we were nuts for even taking the bus on the road. At the same time this was all happening Charlie had decided he was going to walk to the nearest gas station to wait (why I can’t really say). So after we got the bus hooked up to the back of Richie’s truck we made our way to meet him. I estimate Charlie walked about 3 miles through mosquito infested country, down the highway, over a bridge and into some backwoods neighborhood that even our tow-truck driver thought looked sketchy. Worse than that, the one gas station Charlie could find, which had a restaurant inside the store, closed about one minute before Charlie got there. He even had time to ask a clerk if there was anything near by and she told him “yes, in the next parish there was a restaurant that was open, about three miles down the road.” Charlie looked pretty defeated when we met up with him, and I can imagine his face was priceless when she told him that.

The day was far from over, though. We managed to get the bus started again at the gas station by using the regular-unleaded-soaked-rag method that we had picked up a few days before in New Orleans and got back on the road. Charlie started driving and made the observation that there was low power in the bus, like he could tell the battery was low. We made a quick stop about 40 miles later and I took over driving. It was getting dark by then and I noticed that the lights on the bus were extremely dim. Driving was about to get a whole lot more fun! We made it through Louisiana to Orange, Texas and I started to really notice how little power we had. The blinkers didn’t work, the cabin lights didn’t work, and it was dark as shit in front of me. The bus is a very wide van and just before Beaumont the lanes start getting very narrow. That coupled with the darkness and the extremely poor suspension on the bus, had me weaving in my lane. I had to concentrate on the taillights ahead of me to get any idea of how the lane was curving. I thought we would get pulled over but Jordan was insisting that we try to make it to Houston to my parent’s house for the night. Sure enough I saw the red and blue lights behind me. You have got to imagine this hulking-yellow short school bus flying down the highway in the dark, swerving in the lane to get the true picture of what this cop saw. He thought I was drunk. We are all putting our hands out the bus to indicate we are going to pull over (because duh, the blinkers don’t work!) and he finally takes off his siren. We pull over and I have to get out and talk to this hayseed sheriff from Vidor, Texas (which Charlie later informs me has won the distinction of most racist town in America (high-five!)). So as he explains to me why I can’t be on the road he is constantly spitting sunflower seeds on my feet. I was a tad irritated but after he realized that this was a new development for our bus he instructed us to park in a near-by truck stop and stay there until it was light out so that we could drive and be seen by other drivers. He didn’t give me a ticket either, for which I was thankful.

The night wasn’t over yet. We called AAA again to get a tow from Vidor to my folk’s house in Houston. They told us it would be an hour and it turned out to be two, but that wasn’t even the worst part. The guy got there and refused to tow us. He tried to convince us it was too tall to be towed on his truck, that it would surpass the legal limit of 12’6”. We tried to get this guy to understand that it was not going to be nearly that tall (Jordan can touch the top of the bus without jumping) and we even offered to measure it to prove its height would be fine. This was to no avail, and when Jordan and I were discussing what to do, the motherfucker drove off without a word. At this point I was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes on the bus, as we all were, and dirty as hell from sweating all day. Jordan some how became convinced he could tape light and plastic coverings to the bus and we could get it jump started to get home that night. Charlie and I looked at him like anyone would who heard his plan—like he was a fucking crazy person. We convinced him to call his folks after he brazenly tried to tell us “I don’t even think that it’s illegal [to tape lights to your car].” His parents managed to convince him otherwise (thankfully).

Charlie and I decided to get a room at the motel attached to the truck stop and Jordan decided to sleep in the bus. I just wanted some A/C. This place was classy. Shiiiiiit. The doors didn’t even have door knobs, just a bolted in handle and key for a dead-bolt. The room was spacious, but very dirty and the cable did not work. I was so tired and frustrated though that I fell asleep fairly soon after we got into the room.

The next morning we got the bus jumped and slowly drove back to Austin. We stopped every 120 miles for gas as a precaution and we never turned off the engine so that the battery wouldn’t die again. I think everyone in the band agrees that the bus will not suffice for the next tour and maybe not even for traveling outside of Texas. I was very grateful to be back in Austin. Thank you for reading this extremely long post.

- RYAN

This image came up with the google search "Vidor TX," (granted it's from Hurricane Rita)

Marooned in the land of the Ragin’ Cajuns

Ho Bus pt 1

Ho Bus Part 2

The resolution

The basics of this story, our night in Lafayette:

- Get to the Artmosphere, turn around to park and the car stalls. I realize immediately that we’re out of gas

- Listen to some kick ass music from Teddy Lamson and Leo DeJesus (his first solo show, clearly an old hand on the stage though)

- Play a great show

- 1AM: Get gas, but it won’t start. Run down the battery trying to get it to start.

- Get more gas, get the manager Chantel to jump us. Still won’t start

- Call AAA to get a jump. They send Pop-A-Lock. Still won’t start.

Charlie reflects the causeway over Lake Pontchartrain, the longest bridge in the world

- Call AAA to get towed from Lafayette to New Orleans. 130 mile tow (free, thank goodness for the AAA Premier + RV card).

- The Tow truck tried to jump it, still won’t start. It is now 5AM and we’ve been at this for 4 hours.

- Get towed to Metarie (Don’t tell the tow guy that Charlie was sleeping in the back of the bus cause it’s technically illegal)

- 730AM: Sleep.

The glorious sunrises of arriving in metarie

- Call AAA again, they send an automotive God who knows everything about Diesels and what happens when you run out of gas.  Hooks up to a commercial battery charger and does a little trick with a rag soaked in unleaded (regular gas) pressed against the air intake.  Tells everyone to back off in case of an explosion.

- The trick works, we’re back in business.

- Oh the Ho Bus. This time, it was our fault. Granted we don’t have a gas gage. At least it makes for some good stories and video.

Day 4: RIP Ho Bus + the kindness of friends + Nick’s Ice House

RIP HO BUS

It pains me to write this, but we will not be touring in the Ho Bus. 

We spent a day at the mechanics and $300 only to be told that they had no clue what was wrong with it and have no idea how much money we’d have to spend to fix it, much less how much time. And we still had 15 gigs to get to.

Ryan hid behind his dark sunglasses in deep depression all day. Michael on the other hand, had a blast walking around the French Quarter and getting more of a feel for his first time in New Orleans. I was both dejected and determined to make the most of the day anyway, and spent my time making copies for the CD inserts and continuously brainstormed alternative solutions. 

After considering the direst alternatives including getting my Prius from Austin and attempting to borrow a drum set at EVERY SINGLE GIG (Ryan flat out refused) we settled on renting a cargo van from Enterprise for three weeks. Even after a 5% AAA discount and 10% Corporate discount (we are a business after all), the rental and the lack of veggie oil savings are going to take deep cuts into our profit margins.

Ho Bus (cons) vs. Rental Van (pros)

CONS:

- No veggie oil

- Not nearly as much room

- Can’t invite everyone to come with us

- Not nearly as flashy

- Isn’t called the Ho Bus

- Can’t be painted to advertise the band

- As ryan says “basically we’ve been forced into exactly what we were trying to avoid”

PROS:

- A/C

- No worries of breakdowns

- A/C

- Full speed all the time

- Better handling

- Can talk on the phone while riding/driving

Despite the fact that our T-shirts feature the HO Bus, despite the fact that we and all of our fans were emotionally attached, despite the fact the the veggie oil makes a social and economic statement, we had to figure out the best way for the tour to continue.

THE KINDNESS OF LEA AND TESSA

Achachay! stays with Lea and Tessa

Lea and I studied abroad together in Ghana during the summer of 2006. I’ve since seen her once since then, in Lou-A-Vull KY for about three hours. She’s an awesome person – and by the way check out http://www.neighborhoodstoryproject.org/ her organization which is badass – they preserve New Orleans history and rebuild the vitality of communities while empowering disenfranchised citizens through publishing their stories, and letting them sell the books.

ANYWAY she saved the day. Even after we realized we needed to rent a van, none were available for that night. Without me even asking she and her girlfriend Tessa offered to drive the band and all of our equipment up to Hattiesburg and back for our gig, to let us crash in a bed and on futons, and to cook us delectable free range sausage and pancakes in the morning. It was so fun to really get some time to catch up on life, and to make it to Nick’s.

We are so grateful to Lea, Tessa, and people who open their homes for us, embrace the spontaneity and impossibility of having a plan that sticks. That is our life – embracing the moment while working towards to best future.

Nick’s Ice House:

So very fun. If you’re in Hattiesburg you’ve got to stop by. I’ll have to come back and write more about the show in a bit because it’s dinner time. Suffice it say that instead of bar stools you sit on old toilets, and I set up the PA on an old washing machine. The names and phrases etched in the bars look like they have been there since the fifties, and the bartender Ralph is the life of the party. He got out and danced on a stripper pole, even swinging upside down at one point. 

Things I’ll have to come back to: Nick’s enthusiast Bill came through in the clutch with a microphone when I had forgotten mine on the bus – and then just gave it to us! Thanks Bill! 

He and someone else whose name I am loathe to forget also paid for us to play that night. Thanks guys; we will be back.

Finally although we didn’t get to end up couchsurfing, our would-be hosts came to the show with a bunch of friends and were awesome people. Matt and crew – we will be back and we’ll stay with you.

Day 3: Bus troubles and canceling the Starkville show

one of our first attempts to assess the issue

Morale was at an all time low at 6:15 P this afternoon. We were initially scheduled to play in Starkville for a happy hour set at 630, and again from 10 – midnight, but instead we were at a diesel mechanic shop 45 minutes outside of New Orleans in Slidell. Something went terrible awry with the Ho Bus. She won’t accelerate faster than 45 mph and almost didn’t make it across Lake Pontchartrain. 

The mechanic we worked with had already finished a 32 oz. Miller Light when his buddy brought him a tallboy. In the hour or so we worked with him I think he drank the equivalent of five beers. Which might help explain why we couldn’t get our bus fixed quick enough to make it to Starkville. The nice thing was that he didn’t charge us. Pay it forward, what goes around comes around he said.

The venue was quite surprisingly understanding when we had to cancel the show, but we were all bummed. Dejected. Ryan was pissed. We were all sweating. My right arm itched slightly from burning it on mysterious car parts. What was supposed to be an acoustic gig had gotten upgraded to the main stage – where small but recognized bands like Papa Grows Funk and Groupo Fantasma play. I had blackened my hands with oil taking apart the radiator hose, only to be told by the mechanic that the HO BUS has been riding dirty without a thermostat, and later to uncover via Howstuffworks.com that he probably didn’t know what he was talking about.

Touring is the musician’s life skills classroom. We learn to be mechanics and electricians, promoters and salesmen. We learn to be spontaneous, improvise, and seek alternative solutions to immediate problems. Today we learned to cope with disappointment.

The Tour for lowering the drinking age!

Achachay! embarks on our first tour this summer from May 24th to June 20th, and we need your help to make it badass and become famous! Well actually both are inevitable but will be a lot easier with your help.

The tour will involve a lot of Ho Bus action

(1) We need a bassist

and possibly a keyboardist to come on tour with us. It will happen even if we can find neither, but seriously if you can play and want to join us call or email me. If you play something that could cover the low end – whether cello, bari sax, or violin with an octave pedal, we’re interested in that as well.

(2) We need you to spread the word. 

- If you know anyone living close to these shows get them to come out. If you get someone to come out we’ll send you a free copy of the new CD. If you get more than one person we’ll send you merch. Just get them to come talk to us after the show.

- There are many other ways to spread the word. Post our youtube videos on your status, twitter about us, forward to friends, scream “Achachay!” as loud and often as you can, especially in public places

- If you’re not already on it, join our email list

- If you’re not already a facebook fan of us, please remedy

- On myspace? why can’t we be friends!

- If you live in one of these cities and want to be part of the street team (extra help, posting flyers, etc), we’ll hook you up with free Achachay! stuff.

(3) When our first EP drops right before the tour, buy it.

From us, or iTunes, or rhapsody, snail mail or whatever. Then spread it. We don’t care if you burn it, bittorrent it, email it, or pantomime it just get it out there. (Encourage people who don’t buy it to come to shows and/or just shower us with cash donations, Paypal, and giftcards). Jam it in your car and at parties as often as possible.

We're hoping the open road with mostly look like this

(4) Help us find couches and air mattresses to crash on. 

These are the gigs we currently have scheduled

We’re serious about lowering the drinking age

Whether or not your support this cause, we’re want to open discussion about it. We believe that it’s an important law to change to empower 18-20, respect the reality of alcohol in our culture, promote healthy drinking habits, and save lives. Many of the arguments for 21 year old drinking age, including lowered accidents and brain development inhibition, have disproven. Check outhttp://www.chooseresponsibility.org for more information, or come talk to us at one of the shows.

The story of the blowout, and the ensuing press frenzy

Jordan Myska Allen catches air at Rice University. Photo: David Sadof

OK frenzy was a bit of an overstatement but seriously this a great article, and it tells the story as well as I could (because I do, in the article).

From twitter:
“Achachay: an Austin band’s big blowout and how they made it to the gig on time”
http://tinyurl.com/cq8ybc via @ShareThis

EXCERPT: “The band hears a huge explosion and the bus begins to shake. Jordan pulls over to inspect the damage. “We are in the middle of nowhere,” Jordan explains. “There’s nothing but trees and road as far as the eye can see. The back right tire is thrashed. I mean this is not just a flat, it’s a blowout. A ‘going out of business’ style blowout.”

Also check out this SWEET photo from the show, by David Sadof, whose page is here 

In other news, playing at Freddie’s was awesome. I had their fish tacos for the first time and was quite happy. Plus my next door neighbors and their kids came which made my day!

Shows and shots

First and formost, we need you to vote for us for the Austin Chronicle’s music poll.
http://www.austinchronicle.com/feedback/musicpoll/08/
Seriously add us for everything we can possibly be voted for.

Finally made a facebook page!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Achachay/45765158606

Add as as a fan, por favor.

Now you’ve got to check out photos from the illustrious Michael Rog http://michaelrog.com/go/achachay/photos/ taken at Thursday’s show in Houston. They’re awesome, as is Rog.

Let me tell ya, what a show! With Aaron playing keys and singing background vocals, Laura playing violin, and the first ever appearance of our mascot it was a show to remember. And Ryan sang a Zeppelin song to boot. Ask him and he’ll tell ya – dancin’ days are here to stay.

The fans at Willy’s, all my beautiful friends at Rice, are unlike any other. They danced the entire three hours we played, without stopping, and were singing along to songs they hadn’t ever heard (because we were making them up on the spot). The place was cracklin’ with energy and movement. The relaxed types still got to chill out in the booths, a win win situation for all.

Twenty hours later we’re 150 miles away and rocking out Shakespeare’s. A respectable crowd amassed for the earlier Friday time but alas many good friends came too late to check the set out. Fortunately Ryan continued to jam with Soul Track Mind and bodies were filled with music. With his parents in from Houston and sister from Boston, plus my cousins, aunts and uncles it was a familiar scene and a pleasure to play. Check back soon for pics.

Ho bus gets a lift

The sense of joy and pride I felt watching our Ho Bus get lifted on the back of Sayiid’s massive tow truck was matched only by the bitter cold stinging my fingers for the past two hours and the sinking sensation that I had just spent all of last night’s money to get this baby moved two miles.

The day had started out so promising. My mom drops me off at Diesel Green Fuels and the ole Ho rolls without a hitch. Shivering as I drive (someone forgot to close the window on our New Year’s Eve joyride), I plan to take it over to the old Phillip’s 66 at 2222 and Keonig to get it inspected. Then I’ll take it to the mechanic to get the alternator fixed since we keep having battery issues. Sitting at the light under Mopac, minutes away from my destination, a terrible shudder shakes the bus and its eager driver to their bones.

Must be the gas, I think to myself with chagrin, and I pray that she’ll make it to the station. She doesn’t.

I’m in the turning lane, so close to the gas station that I can smell the fumes dancing out in the frigid air. She’s stops running, and I lose power steering. Oh God, I’m on an uphill. Waiting for a break in traffic, I slam it into reverse and with all my might crank the wheel to the left. I make it half way into the parking lot of Jack Brown Cleaners but it’s also uphill and I’m still jutting a yard out in the road. Good thing the xanthous vehicle is so easy to spot at high speeds. Next break in traffic and I slam that baby into neutral. Fortunately for me Griffith Small Animal Hospital’s parking lot is flat, and there’s a spot in front of the steps labeled “No Parking in front of the steps” which allows me to collapse without double parking anyone.

Thirty minutes and thirteen bucks later her tank is filled but she won’t start. I spray the requisite Starter Fluid into the Carburator but its a no go. I beg one of the ladies running the front desk (an awkward encounter) to crank the engine while I spray but it’s still not working. I can tell the battery has died. And to think, the mechanic was the next stop . . .

I call Ryan to give me a jump and he graciously arrives in minutes. Ten minutes, one cable, 7 bucks and two attempts later and she’s not budging. I’m shivering and my fingers are itching and Ryan’s asking me what happened to the weather two days ago. It’s time to call AAA. We wait.

One Starbucks, one Subway, and one tow truck refuses to do it because well we’re just too big. This is where Sayiid comes in at the buzzer. All the vets and staff, the women (mostly) and their little dogs and cats weren’t exactly amused at the short bus burning their eyes at the entryway. I steer and brake and he pulls the lever, that big baby slides up on the bed and we head to James Ferguson’s Diesel paradise across the street from Murcheson. It’s too bad Monte Becker didn’t answer his phone because I wanted someone to be able to check out the Veggie Oil System. But you know if they can get it to start on command, I’ll be happy. As much as I already love that bus, when I envisioned this day it was mostly centered on music and less on waiting, problem solving, and money spending. At least I had a companion in Ryan.

It’s outta our hands. We now play the waiting game.