Fanzines, DIY-style

I don't know if I ever posted about the ongoing issues with my camper van... to sum up, what happened was that last fall I had decided to try to sell my van and buy a small, lightweight trailer I could pull with my truck. Got my van all emptied out and cleaned up, fixed a few small issues, picked out a trailer and put a down payment on it, and then, on the day I was scheduled to go pick up the trailer, I went out to move the van around to the back of the house so it would be out of the way when I brought the trailer home, so I wouldn't risk clipping it with the trailer as I tried to park it, because one of the big reasons I sold my previous trailer was that I am terrible at backing up, and wanted plenty of room to maneuver.

However, the grass was overgrown on the little road that goes up behind my house, and the ground was wet and uneven and the van was slipping and sliding and running into tree roots in the back yard and I panicked and tried to back out and there were branches hanging down over the road from the big hemlock tree at the side of the yard that blocked my view and I couldn't tell where I was going and ended up backing into the tree and denting the back corner of the van.

At which point, I was too stressed out to think about going to pick up a trailer, so I texted the trailer place that I'd been in an accident and couldn't come, and from there, I ended up canceling the sale and concentrating on trying to get the van fixed.

That was back in the middle of October. Since then, it's been a major pain trying to find a place to get the dent in the van fixed. Because it's a camper van with furniture built in, and things mounted on the roof that make it extra tall, your average body shop will not work on it. RV repair shops don't do body work. I took it around to three different places, called several others, called RV places for advice, got my insurance adjuster to try to find a place, then finally got one body shop in Binghamton to agree to at least give it a try and got an appointment for December 15.

They had it in the shop for a couple of days, then called me and said, sorry, they just couldn't fit it into their shop no matter how they maneuvered it around. So I took it home. They called around and finally found a place up in Amsterdam (near Albany, around 120 miles from here) that specializes in RV body repair. I sent them the estimate, they said, yes we can fix it! Yay!

Then began the process of how and when to get it up there. The weather was turning bad by that point and the snow was piling up and I started to doubt I'd even be able to get the van out of the driveway, so I finally gave up on getting it in the shop before my brother and his wife left on their winter travels (so they could at least give me a ride from Binghamton, if I could get there by bus or rental car on my return from dropping off the van), and decided to just wait until the weather got better. My next camping trip isn't planned until May, anyway, so there's plenty of time to get the van fixed before then.

So, this past week, the weather finally warmed up and the snow/ice started to melt off and it looked like a good opportunity to get the van into the shop before the next storms came in. I ended up scheduling it for Thursday, which was supposed to be 61 F and mostly clear. I made reservations on Greyhound for a bus back from Amsterdam to Binghamton at 11:30 AM, planning to leave home with the van around 7:30 so I could get to the body shop around 10 AM and have plenty of time to do all the paperwork and get the van checked in and get a ride to the bus station. I'd get back to Binghamton around 3:15 PM and then try to get a cab or a Lyft or something home.

Things went pretty much as planned. Unfortunately, I barely got any sleep the night before (I didn't really expect to, I knew I'd be stressed about whether everything would go all right -- especially whether I'd be able to get a ride home from Binghamton -- my attempts to research taxis turned up a lot of no-name taxi services with wildly varying reviews that were mostly several years old, so it seemed pretty random whether it would go well or not) and was awake from around 4 AM -- not the best condition for a 2-1/2 hour drive, followed by a four-hour bus ride, followed by an unknowable attempt to get a ride home. Also, the cold front that was expected to arrive this weekend decided to sneak in a few days early and the temperature was low 30s and windy, rather than 60s as forecast. But I set out at 7:30-ish as planned.

I'd gone out the day before to check on the van and get it ready to go after sitting in the cold all winter. I'd had a battery tender on it to keep the battery charged and it started right up. I also put air in the tires and topped up the coolant, which tends to evaporate over the winter. So I got on the road with no issues and the drive went well. I arrived at the body shop around 10 AM and got the van checked in, paid the estimate (which I'd already received a check from the insurance company for back in November, and was long spent, oh well), and got a ride to the bus, which turned out to be a bus stop, rather than an actual bus station. Things had gone smoothly and quickly at the body shop so I had nearly an hour before my bus was scheduled to arrive at 11:30. And it was still 30-ish degrees and windy and only an open bus shelter to wait in. I walked around a bit, trying to stay non-frozen (staying warm was a pipe dream), finally went into the business mall next to the bus stop -- with large signs saying PRIVATE! Business customers only! on the doors, but I thought, forget it, I'm going to pretend I belong here and stay until they kick me out or my bus comes. It was a former retail mall, so lots of benches and space and empty storefronts, and nobody seemed inclined to kick me out, so I sat on a bench until 11:20, then went out to find my bus at the stop and already boarding.

The bus ride was actually pretty pleasant. Nice, clean buses, plenty of room, comfy seats. The buses were less than half full, so everyone got one side to themselves. I was tired enough to doze off a bit. We transferred in Syracuse, with a 20-minute stop, so I walked around in the transit center a bit before getting on my next bus to Binghamton.

Got to Binghamton around 3:15, as scheduled, and was walking toward the transit center building when I saw a taxi parked in corner of the parking lot, so I went over and asked if he was available and could he take me to Windsor and he said yes, get in, gave me a set fare which was about what I was expecting, then handed me off to his wife, who was also a taxi driver, and she drove me home. So that went well! And it was a huge relief to have the most iffy part of my day go so smoothly. I got their card so I can call them to take me into Binghamton when I have to go pick up the van.

So glad to have that done! A very long and tiring day, left home at 7:30 and got home around 4 PM, all to drop my van off at the shop. I don't know how long it will take them to get the van fixed -- the guy gave me a rough estimate of a month, but a lot will depend on how soon they can work the van into their schedule and how much work it will actually require. I'm not in any hurry to get it back, though. I'm already dreading having to figure out a way to get back up there to pick up the van. I checked the bus schedules and there's only one bus per day making the Binghamton to Amsterdam trip and it leaves Binghamton at 4:50 AM. Urgh. Only other option is to rent a car to pick up in Binghamton and drop off in Amsterdam. Which would make a shorter day, but a lot more driving. Unless I can get, like, an Uber or Lyft or cab to just drive me the whole way to Amsterdam. Wonder if that would be doable? Probably cost around $300. Maybe more if gas goes skyhigh by then. Oh well, that's a problem for future me. Today me is just glad to finally have the van in the shop and getting fixed.