San Diego, CA "She May Not Look Like Much... SUN. MARCH 28TH, BUS CLEAN-UP PARTY!

FYI, before I spend one cent on making the bus look "cool", I am first going to make sure that the bus is made as safe as possible. The bus is going to be fully insured. It is a 1980 Chevy bus. It has a V8 350 with a turbo 400 transmission. It's about 21 ft from head to toe. Both the motor and transmission are strong and the battery is brand new. I will have to replace one of the front windshields as there is a small crack but that won't be too expensive as it is a flat piece of glass. It was built to tow a race car and has a heavy duty ball hitch. The windows are tinted, and there is currently a portapotty on the bus. We are thinking about removing it and instead adding more seats. The tires are relatively new (Between 3,000 - 10,000 miles on them)so there is not a problem there, the engine is strong and starts right up so it seems fine, but I am still going to have a mechanic go over the bus with a fine tooth comb with attention paid to the brakes especially. The emergency exit in the back is not blocked now, nor will it ever be blocked. Also, we are adding new seats in the vehicle and it will be a requirement that while you are sitting in them and the bus is moving, that the seatbelts be fastened (Han always made everyone strap down when he made the jump to lightspeed right?) There will be two fire estinguishers on the bus, both in the front and back, and a medical kit. Since I'm the retired nurse, I suppose I will be in charge of the medical kit. The bus is small, only two axles, so any one of us could drive it as it does not require a special class of driver's license to operate. Michael will most likely drive the bus the majority of the time as he does have close to 50,000 miles behind the wheel of a similar kind of bus.

<img src="http://images5.fotki.com/v63/photos/4/42811/156622/EntertainmentCenter011-vi.jpg">

Picture of the Emergency Exit... I mean "Escape Pod." We have to get those racing decals off of there... Star Wars decals would be okay though.

<img src=" http://images5.fotki.com/v63/photos/4/42811/156622/EntertainmentCenter010-vi.jpg">

Front of Bus

As far as not calling the bus a geeky Star Wars name, or not decking it out to look all Star Warzy... why the heck not? The bus belongs to a Star Wars club.. why shouldn't it be made to look as geeky as possible? And no matter what we decide to call it, I'm sure the bus will be known by its secondary name anyway "Jade's Folly"... I could care less. Are you afraid that we will be subject to the kind of redicule that Obi-Shawn and his H-Wing endured recently? So what... we are Star Wars fans... we are ALREADY subject to redicule, especially those of us who dress up in costume. The reaction to my car and the decals on my car has always been positive. Most people just smile and wave, and everyone laughs. Personally I don't care if they are laughing at me or laughing with me, at least I've made them laugh. And kids will love the bus if it is all "tricked out" like a Star Wars vehicle.

 

^ YOU GO, GIRL!

I agree with Linda 100%. And I recommend we send Jawas to the junkyard to scavenge some captain's chairs from the vans/SUVs to put in the bus.

Maybe we should call it "Ol'Blue".

 

FMI? Really? Ok, then here's FYI. If you re-read my post, you'll see that I began it by saying I LIKE IT. Whether or not it was one of these that jiffy-popped a bunch of happy-skippy-travellers, is no reflection of my opinion of it. I actually would be more inclined to WANT to be seen in something with such a dubious past.

You don't need to rationalize by explaining what you expect to do to it to make it serviceable to the group, or the image you wish to project through it. It's your project and your investment. You are more than slightly aware that I support you in whatever you decide, and my services are available whenever possible to help. So, yeah, (cue voice from Peanut Gallery)"...you GO, girl..."

'Course, I think the money would have been more wisely spent on nice gifts for me, but hey.....

 

'Course, I think the money would have been more wisely spent on nice gifts for me, but hey.....

Well it was either the bus or an airplane propeller for your Officer hat, Armand.

 

The bus cost less than our booth at Comic Con. It was either buy the bus, or buy another couple of palm trees for my backyard. I think the club will enjoy the bus more, since I can never get you guys to come down here anyway.

 

Linda, how many people can that bus carry? I don't think I see you mention it. Say, maybe when I come to LA for the Ep. 3 line, you can pick me up from the airport with that bus. Of course I don't mind if you do. Either your car or bus will do fine for me.

 

The real question is, is there a convenient place we can park it during ComiCon or the Ep3 line to showcase SDSWS (and allow us convenient use of its facilities)????

 

I am really thinking about removing the "facilities", aka portapotty, from the bus to make room for more seating. The bus will hold about 20 people in comfortable seats if we do so. In its current RV configuration, it will only hold about 12 people as there are some bench seats, a table, some beds, and the "facilities." For Comic Con, we can probably park it in the parking lot immediately behind the convention center... the parking lot where they had us wait to load/unload our truck to set up the booth last year.

For the Episode 3 line, I will be renting a hotel room across the street from the movie theatre for one month. Those "facilities" will be available for anyone in line who needs to use them. The bus will be parked near where the "line" will be and will be line headquarters. I will also probably be able to get permission from the theatre, to allow us to use their restrooms as long as the theatre is open, after that, there is the hotel room/gas stations. Convincing the theatre to let us use some of their electricity, and phone lines (for computers) will be the more difficult task. I would prefer to have computers in line and in the bus for our use, and to keep those not "in line" updated on events going on in line. If not, the computers will be in the hotel across the street. More about the Episode III line later.

 

Be sure to let me know on update whenever you can about Ep. 3 line & other, Linda. Also, what hotel you're talking about & how much is the room? Hopefully not too much for me. Maybe we can have each of us people pay half of prices for the room. That way some of us can still have enough money for other things. I can't wait.

 

Actually the room is just going to be there for people to rest, use the facilities, shower etc. someplace close, without having to drive all the way home to do that. But I'll look into room rates... weekly and monthly rates are much cheaper than day to day rates.

 

Niiiiice! Someplace I can shower and walk around naked in after a hard day sitting in line.

 

I never saw an answer to who wrote "Tijuana Taxi". Maybe noone else here is old enough to answer.

I'm not sure who wrote it, but it sounds like something that could be from Herb Alpert and Tijuana Brass. So I'll show my age with that answer. LOL

 

Yes, you are correct! I believe the year was 1968.

Actually it was answered on page 2.

 

Sweet ride!!!!

Is (to-be-named transport) going to Cloudcroft?

 

^ If we can get her fixed up in time... maybe.

 

how about the Tantive?
We could try to paint it to look like the Tantive IV.

 

Sean, the reason Linda bought the bus was because it was already the right color. We're not going to paint it.

 

I loved the Tijuana Brass, my mom played thier LP's when she would clean around the house. For those that had their Lp's you guys are old.

 

^ I actually bought the bus because Michael talked me into it. And it was only $1,500 and I think it is a good value for that... the tires are worth more than that. Plus, I have some money left to fix up the inside. We might decide to paint it in the future to make it look more like a starship... whatever the club decides is fine with me.

 

I like blue.

 

i have tj brass albums lyin around if anyone wants em. i dont listen to them anymore and they are just takin up space i have two or three possibly cant remember

 

/\ Me too...

 

The me too goes to the I like blue BTW...not the LPs..

 

I actually bought the bus because Michael talked me into it.

"It's not my fault"

 

I have seen the bus inside and out...and it is good.