Being as I am currently only being ignored by only three, and desperately want to increase my nuisance value to four, I thought I might write something tonight. This will not be long in the tooth or boring, so relax. This week I got bit for inquiring about an anachronism (abbreviation) I was unfamiliar with.
Here is one D.W.A.B.I. It is pronounced "Doo-Wah-be" in most circles. Neat little word huh, it is a noun, it means "Don't Worry About It."
Tonight I find myself sitting here wracking my brain, trying to figure it out. I believe it was Ben Hogan who first said, "Don't hurry ... Don't Worry ... And don't forget to stop and smell the flowers." But I am not sure. Here lately I have been coming online to see what the daily offering might be and it occurred to me, "These people sure do a lot of worrying."
We worry about what oil to use, is it the right stuff, does it have the right consistency, is the ash content too high? We worry about which highway to take to a bus meet, which road is the best, are there any hills along the way? We worry about where to wash it when it is dirty, where to take it when it needs attention, what is the best of this and the best of that. Do I have insurance to cover it, or am I gonna lose my shirt in the end.
We worry.
From the AC unit on the very top, to the lowly hose clamp in the rear, we worry, we fret. So the next logical step should be .... "What does it get you?" How in the world, do we even manage to "enjoy" what it is that we work on and restore, if we are constantly in a state of worrying about it?
I remember watching NBC News interviewing an old black man in Texas, who was reputed to be "the oldest living American in the country." As they were interviewing this old man, out of his pocket, he fetched his makings (tobacco and rolling papers) and began to hand roll himself a smoke.
The interviewer, a young kid by most standards, said to him, "Haven't you heard what the Surgeon General said about smoking?" The old black man looked up and said, "What is a Surgeon General?" and the youngster replied, "He is like the head doctor for the country. He said that smoking is hazardous to your health."
The old man smiled and said, "I am 112 years old, smoking don't kill you son, worrying about it does." (Now we all know, from a medical standpoint, that just aint so ... but it is attitudes were are talking about here)
Occasionally we make a run to Amarillo, Texas and back. What I don't do is turn on the headlights and wait for it to light up the highway before me all the way to the Texas Panhandle before I go. I expect them to illuminate some of my path as I travel it, the absolute last thing I wish to do is worry or fret about it. It just sort of takes the kick out of it for me.
I would rather just enjoy it while I can. In other words: D.W.A.B.I. No hurry and No Worry. Perhaps it is just me, but I just don't get it. (We now return you to your regular programming)
BCO
Hey BCO, you really had me going. I caught myself worrying about what you might say next. Good job. I always appreciate your words however.
Quote from: boxcarOkie on August 10, 2011, 06:53:59 PM
(We now return you to your regular programming)
BCO
Whew! Am I glad that's over with. I was begin'n to worrythat he wood never run outta air. ;)
John
I love it!!! Great post!!!
Something else I like, don't look at what you still have to do and just look at what you have accomplished. Makes for less stress and = more progress.
Seems like you are worried that enough people don't "ignore" you but take my advice and dwabi ;D
Melbo
If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
JC
I dont know, I dont see a lot of worrying, but I do see a group that shares a lot of information and asks a lot of questions. When we get to where we cant ask, or where we wont share, there wont be a Bus forum.
But yeah, we do worry much more than our folks and kin ever did. Kids gotta have a cell phone or parents freak out. Gotta have one to leave town, case "something" happens. And we want full coverage, so no matter how far off the map we go we can connect.
I wanted to go up the St Croix river from Taylors Falls. I had planned it for a while. had it all figured out, had the gear, 8 boat cans of fuel. My Brother was going with and I saw him grabbing his pager. I asked what he was doing. He said he wanted it in case he got a call. I said were going 30 or more miles up the river, and I supposed to come back here if you get a freakin phone call? Pager stays in the car Pal. My God, you would have thought i was taking a kids candy away. But once it was night and we were sitting by a Fire, he admitted it was cool being away, off the map.
Worry about that things that can kill ya. The other stuff is an easy fix.
Worry about that things that can kill ya? Everything can kill ya.
Be smart have faith and worry less. ;) :)
oh darn,
now I'm worried....
happy coaching!
buswarrior
I worry about the little things because I don't want to destroy a $10,000+ engine or an $8,000 transmission with some stupid mistake. I also prefer not to be stuck on the side of the road while on a trip.
Yep, BCO ya took the words right outta my mouth. Be prepared, but use a little common sense. That's a commodit that seems to be in short supply today. ...that and perspective.
Thanks for the post.
Dennis
GREAT post.
You described me to a "T" (whatever that means...).
If I have nothing to worry about, I find something. Hmmm.. I haven't seen the shadow of our toad following the bus lately...
My wife Rhonda keeps reminding me that getting the bus was a lifelong dream. ENJOY the damn thing! (her words).
Bryan
hey, if any of us were real worry warts we wouldnt have bought a darn Bus. Or relocated to another part of the country. Or learned to fly. Or a million other things some of us have done.
Quote from: Melbo on August 10, 2011, 07:29:22 PM
Seems like you are worried that enough people don't "ignore" you but take my advice and dwabi ;D
Melbo
Naw, not really. Every story or yarn, has to start somewhere, it was just a hook.
BCO
Quote from: qayqayt on August 10, 2011, 09:02:23 PM
GREAT post.
You described me to a "T" (whatever that means...).
If I have nothing to worry about, I find something. Hmmm.. I haven't seen the shadow of our toad following the bus lately...
My wife Rhonda keeps reminding me that getting the bus was a lifelong dream. ENJOY the damn thing! (her words).
Bryan
I used to ride across the Great Basin on U.S. 50 (the Loneliest Road In America) on my Harley and think I heard noises coming from the engine. I love that scene in Kelly's Hero's where Donald Southerland gets all over the other guy with
"What is it with the negative waves, you are always putting out the negative waves" (Van most likely has a video of it as we speak) we all worry ... It is just natural.
HELP ME RHONDA ... HELP ME RHONDA ... HELP ME GET OUTTA YO LIFE (or something like that, circa 60's The Beach Boys)
Your wife could be my wife's sister.
Thanks for your well written comment.
BCO
My father used to relate this quote all the time.
"There are only two things to worry about, either you are healthy or you are sick.
If you are healthy, then there is nothing to worry about. But if you are sick there are only two things to worry about, either you will get well or you will die.
If you get well, then there is nothing to worry about. But if you die there are only two things to worry about, either you will go to heaven or to hell.
If you go to heaven, then there is nothing to worry about. And if you to go hell, you'll be so darn busy shaking hands with your friends you won't have time to worry!"
I am a worry-er type of person. I assure you worrying about what could go wrong on the road has removed a large element of relaxation anf fun from bus ownership. The more I work on it and the more I learn about the internal workings of the bus, the easier and more relaxed I become. Another is the more I drive it in crowded city conditions the more I love the open road. The times I feel most comfortable is when I am cruisin at about 58 miles per hour on an open country road with nobody around me. Then I am relaxed! Then I enjoy the Eagle for what she is.
A major part of being relaxed is confidence. Working for months to install the WVO system drives up the pucker factor when you reach for the WVO toggle switch the first time. No I have a over 3000 miles on straight WVO I am 100% confident in it as a fuel source. I was never WORRIED but just needed to see and do it for myself and know I did the install correctlly before I could settle down a bit.
Equipment failure is a big worry. So for me to get over that worry I have to build new and fix old. Let's take the remote mounted gen set radiator. I knew my dog training season was quickly approaching. I knew the gen was not going to work the way it was set up by the PO. It is not fun driving down the road with a hot wife, uh let me rephrase!!! It is fun driving down the road with a hot wife. It is not fun driving down the road with a hot wife who is getting ticked off because it is 120 degrees in the bus because the gen overheat switch shut off the genset. So keeping equipment up and in running order is a big stress reliever. I just need more time and all will fall into a relaxed state. When I am done with the fuel line project I intend to go through the air brake system and I will relax about that as well. All in good time.
Good post,
I try not to worry, make it great a day or so but then something happens like my pristine 41 year old muscle car I bought when I was 16 catches on fire and on my first conservation with my insurance co. they tell me they will not cover and I go low orbit faster than the space shuttle. :D
Rick
I hope I don't worry too much. Do you think I do? Maybe I should try a new way to think about things. Ugh, what am I gonna do?
Kelly's Heroes Oddball - Negative Waves (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuStsFW4EmQ#ws)
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi457.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fqq292%2Fcwvanhagen%2Fanimated-avatars0111.gif&hash=146cc6786a09a82458e08ed0ec53d8a03b5feb17) ;D ;D
Van the man ... He never lets me down.
This would be the most appropriate place to lock up a thread if'n I ever saw one.
BCO
(thanks Van, that was fun)