This is a reanimation of the Vicaribus blog as lived by Miro Kazakoff and Ehren Foss in 2004 and 2005. The photos may be spotty.

Cheddar Makes It Better

Posted by ehren

Late Thursday afternoon I went back to the SuperBus construction site and quickly found Gary, the main force behind the project. Puzzle pieces began to fit together when he said he spent most of his life designing and constructing custom trucks in Alaska. With a shop in Fairbanks he designed, built, and repaired all manner of vehicles for the oil industry, and built the first certified combo tanker/pumper fire truck in North America.

The bus he's building is nothing short of incredible. It's designed as a tour bus for a large band ("Freaks of Nature" is the old band, the new one hasn't chosen a name, also Dina is a branch of MCI, not Setra). He's already raised the roof to 13'6", as I mentioned, and has completed the framing for a double-decker internal layout, which will include a large stainless steel shower and bathroom, an 8x8 galley, 10 semi-private sleeping berths, dual air conditioning systems, a 4kw inverter (4x ours) and 20kw generator (ridiculous), 1200lbs of batteries, 100 gallon water tank, tons of storage space, roof deck, etc etc. The statistics are impressive, but I was most excited about seeing a professional-caliber bus conversion in progress. I won't apologize for the level of workmanship on our bus, since we were total n00bs and managed to hit the road roughly on budget and on time. Our bus has held together over 9,000 miles of varied roads and weather. Some parts have cracked, some have come unglued, but the basic structure is sound. Gary's bus, however, is awe inspiring. He talked for about two hours, perhaps because he was excited to find someone who'd understand his shopspeak about bus conversions. It reminded me of the computer guy at Koinania talking my ear off about his cobbled-together machines since nobody else would listen. He eventually started telling me about his music, and took me down to his basement to show me the recording studio, and photo albums of the trucks he designed and built. I began to sense that the flow of information would not cease unless I left, so reluctantly I left.

The pictures don't capture the layout well, since at this point it's just a rectillinear network of steel square stock, but with his explanation I got a picture for the final immaculate design. I've looked at hundreds of bus conversions online, and his design is very original and densely packed with the kind of intelligent decisions that only seem to come with decades of experience. The most efficient path of every cable and hose is charted in his mind. He drafts blueprints, but I think only so others can work with him. Strangely, he's adamantly against having a toilet. In his experience, no matter how well you insulate the black water system, it always stinks up the bus, and he believes that his 10 bandmembers can handle the small inconvenience. To wit, Miro and I almost never use our crapper for #2. Like a fire extinguisher, you hope you never need it, but damn if it isn't useful when you do.

I asked him if I could borrow one of his drills to help mount the veggie tanks, assuming Friday we'd get around to some junk yards and a hardware store to buy the materials. I also gazed lustily at the gigantic welder, but knew I'd never be able to get our bus close enough for the lines to reach.

He expects to put $90,000 into the bus (having re-financed his home), and to finish it within the year. I wondered about the financial risk, but he said that he can easily get $4,000 a week renting it out as a tourbus. That sounds like too much money, but figure 7 nights for 10 people at a hotel, plus $250 a day in food and $4k starts to seem cheap.

For the rest of Thursday Miro and I bounced around downtown, and I ate at the Burrito Boy after wandering into campus and asking students "There must be a cheap burrito shack around here somewhere..." I walked back to the bus, and soon thereafter Miro joined up, and we rode back to the Wal Mart...as Miro biked around extensively but we couldn't find any safe streets to park on.

Friday morning we rendezvoused with Brenna, a friend of mine from like, at least 5 years ago. We were co-authors on a trilogy of Counterpoint (MIT/Wellesley magazine) "articles", once upon a long ago time, and we were also known to produce offensive snow sculptures on the Wellesley green. Miro and I were worried about being able to safely park in her driveway, which turned out to be 12 feet wide and about 160 feet long. No problem. Brenna's neighbor Jason has helped us ply the confusing waters of Eugene cuisine and navigation for the weekend as well.

Brenna works at UofO's library repairing and preserving books, from the pricesless, rare, and delicate to pulp Hardy Boys editions with bubblegum stuck in the pages. She maintains a small chicken population in her back yard, 5 hens that produce roughly 1 egg each daily. More than enough for a daily omelette. I wanted the chickens to line up photogenically for a photo, but that isn't among their core competencies. They do, however, dispatch snails with unreserved violence, and are easier to pick up and hold captive than I expected.

Friday night we went out for dinner at Poppi's, a Eugene institution serving Greek and Indian cuising (???), which the menu explains as the result of being born Greek in Africa. Deciding that the concept of a show involving the Misfats (self-proclaimed fattest Misfits cover band) and Burt Reynolds Overdrive might end up being better than the show itself, we retired to Chez Brenna and introduced Miro to "Big Lebowski" over a gross of local ales.

Saturday Miro and I were awake before anyone else (not a common occurance) so we cleaned the bus thoroughly for the first time since... Vegas? A while, anyway. The four of us drove into town to the Saturday farmer's market (as hip and happening as San Luis Obispo, but less linear, and not on Thursdays). Brenna also took us to a gallery showing of one-of book art, including the most impressive pop-up book I've ever seen.

Saturday also brought great news: Project S.P.E.C.T.R.E. will actually pay me for the 120 hours of work I've done so far, and they loved the demo (even though it's mostly smoke and mirrors), so very soon I'll be in strong financial shape, with enough from this alone to finish the summer and coast into work in the fall. Moreover, since this was only a demo, there's plenty more programmming on the way. This also lets me order parts for the veggie oil conversion without worrying about sacrificing food. WOohoo!

Also, apparently "Ready Made" magazine is going to publish a small blurb + picture of our merry bus in their next issue.