alright. my second missive with regards to my vehicles and their stories.

this is 'the ripkin,' my 66 GMC van. this picture was taken towards the end of its storied life. i had - once again - cut off the roof and winterized it. (i thought the shingles were a nice touch, although if i had had cedar shakes....)

i took the ripkin to detroit lakes a few times. on one occasion we were driving home from the broken wheel - jerry janzen, now a dentist in saskatoon? - was driving because he was the most..capable. we were on a service road by our hotel and a few of us might have been either on the roof or hanging out the doors. the police cut us off and the state troopers jumped out of their car, the man in charge asking us if, "this was a *&%ing float." we replied that no, it wasn't. jerry, the sober driver was arrested for dangerous driving and i was arrested because i owned the van. i complained that i should not only not be arrested but be commended for realizing i was in no shape to drive but alas it was into the crowbar hotel for me.

i shared the cinder block cell with a young girl from winnipeg who was arrested for playing her ghetto blaster too loudly. she was scared and crying for her folks. i comforted her by putting my arm around her - and was actually thinking about a conjugal hook up. my boys came to bail me out, after 3 hours - apparently they were busy. i ended up using an american express traveller cheque (remember those?) to post bail, which detroit lake's finest forgot to get me to sign so i declared it lost when i got home and was reimbursed.

there are many more stories re: the ripkin and i will continue to post them as the spirit leads.