-Bill C. -

Here is hoping that this new year is even better than last. What a December! Speaking of that…

Verty’s Revenge, that’s what I’m calling it. Of course, “Verty” is my ’78 Beetle convertible, that is often my daily driver. She sees a lot of freeway and interstate cruising, at slower speed than those rigs and rides that are always “blowing her doors off.” But she got a little pay back after that big storm that brought all the freezing rain and sleet a couple of days before Christmas.

She was feeling a little sassy, having just been treated to a basket full of front-end parts, a big sway bar and a fresh alignment. But, alas, she was herded into the garage just as the roads were freezing on that Wednesday afternoon. A subdued smirk almost gave me away when my wife, Connie, said we HAD to get some pre-Christmas errands and shopping done, the next evening after all of the frozen stuff. “Oh, dear…. I guess we will HAVE to get out Verty. Heh, heh, heh.”

“This looks like an elephant graveyard… maybe a dinosaur cemetery,” I thought, as I ran a slalom pattern through the abandoned derelicts. Okay, maybe that’s a little of an over-dramatization. But, this was one time when nothing passed us… or even “beat us off the line.” You would think that Dr. Porsche designed these crazy little bugs for this kind of weather or something! Oh. He did? Good job, Doc. Verty feels justified. Now if I could just get that heater to where it will melt ice… on the INSIDE.

Of course, that was a few weeks ago, and now we have 60+ temperatures. Hopefully it will hold out for a few more days and you can join us at this month’s meeting on the 18^th.