The Volkswagen Sheeple
Its May here, a beautiful afternoon, and as I set out on my back deck, the air is full of big white clouds of what look like dandelion fluff.It isnt though. Its something that comes off the Poplar trees and the Balm of Gilead (Bamagillya) trees at this time of year.
----And this takes me back in memory to about 1960 or 1961. I was a kid of about 14, and my uncle Teddy who was 8 years older has an old Volkswagen Beatle. It was a nice little car, and although it had been black when it was new, its life setting outside had weathered the paint color to a rather dull grey.
----One of the newest things to hit the hardware stores that year was clear Urethane floor paint. It was one of those new miracle finishes that you could paint onto a faded Linoleum or tile floor, and it would make it just like new---restore the shine and was supposed to stand up to any amount of foot traffic without wearing through. My grandmother had been to town on a shopping trip, and bought a couple of gallons with her pension cheque. One of my other uncles Jimmy (the one who taught me to drink whiskey and play the fiddle, but thats another story) had painted Grandmas floor, and the Urethane clearcoat as advertised had restored her old kitchen and living room floor to a like new splendor. The only drawback to this paint was that it had to dry for some unreasonably long time, something like 24 hours before you could walk on it.
There was half a gallon of clear paint left over, and my uncle Teddy thought Wow!!! If that can make an old faded linoleum floor shine like new, just think what it could do for my car!!!!----So, he asked Grandma if he could have what was left over. She agreed, so Uncle Ted decided to use it on his old Volkswagen. He painted it on with a brush, and MY GOD---IT WORKED!!!! His old and formerly faded car was restored to the deepest, shiniest, deep gloss, wet-look black that you ever seen.
Now this was on a Sunday afternoon, and there was dust from traffic travelling by on the dirt road in front of Grandmas house, so Uncle Teddy decided to drive the car (carefully) down behind the house to where there was a large grove of trees, to keep it away from the road dust until the paint dried. He knew the paint wouldnt be dry enough to drive the car for 24 hours, so he and a friend went away in a friends car, and he stayed away that night at his friends house.
Unfortunately, later that day, or during the night, or maybe even early the next morning, all the trees in that grove decided to put out countless pounds of that same fluffy stuff and it all settled into the still wet urethane clearcoat on my uncles car.
Can you just imagine his horror when next day he came home to see his lovely new paint job, and instead seen a vaguely Volkswagen shaped pile of white fluff!!!
He was angry, and upset, and my uncle Jimmy, never one to let a good quip go by, said Ted---Thats not a Volkswagen Beatle----its a Volkswagen Sheeple!!! This ALMOST started a fist fight in Grandmas yard, but eventually Uncle Ted cooled off, and with Uncle Jimmys help had to sand all the clearcoat off, and repaint the car with a brush.-------------------------------------Brian-May-2011
Its May here, a beautiful afternoon, and as I set out on my back deck, the air is full of big white clouds of what look like dandelion fluff.It isnt though. Its something that comes off the Poplar trees and the Balm of Gilead (Bamagillya) trees at this time of year.
----And this takes me back in memory to about 1960 or 1961. I was a kid of about 14, and my uncle Teddy who was 8 years older has an old Volkswagen Beatle. It was a nice little car, and although it had been black when it was new, its life setting outside had weathered the paint color to a rather dull grey.
----One of the newest things to hit the hardware stores that year was clear Urethane floor paint. It was one of those new miracle finishes that you could paint onto a faded Linoleum or tile floor, and it would make it just like new---restore the shine and was supposed to stand up to any amount of foot traffic without wearing through. My grandmother had been to town on a shopping trip, and bought a couple of gallons with her pension cheque. One of my other uncles Jimmy (the one who taught me to drink whiskey and play the fiddle, but thats another story) had painted Grandmas floor, and the Urethane clearcoat as advertised had restored her old kitchen and living room floor to a like new splendor. The only drawback to this paint was that it had to dry for some unreasonably long time, something like 24 hours before you could walk on it.
There was half a gallon of clear paint left over, and my uncle Teddy thought Wow!!! If that can make an old faded linoleum floor shine like new, just think what it could do for my car!!!!----So, he asked Grandma if he could have what was left over. She agreed, so Uncle Ted decided to use it on his old Volkswagen. He painted it on with a brush, and MY GOD---IT WORKED!!!! His old and formerly faded car was restored to the deepest, shiniest, deep gloss, wet-look black that you ever seen.
Now this was on a Sunday afternoon, and there was dust from traffic travelling by on the dirt road in front of Grandmas house, so Uncle Teddy decided to drive the car (carefully) down behind the house to where there was a large grove of trees, to keep it away from the road dust until the paint dried. He knew the paint wouldnt be dry enough to drive the car for 24 hours, so he and a friend went away in a friends car, and he stayed away that night at his friends house.
Unfortunately, later that day, or during the night, or maybe even early the next morning, all the trees in that grove decided to put out countless pounds of that same fluffy stuff and it all settled into the still wet urethane clearcoat on my uncles car.
Can you just imagine his horror when next day he came home to see his lovely new paint job, and instead seen a vaguely Volkswagen shaped pile of white fluff!!!
He was angry, and upset, and my uncle Jimmy, never one to let a good quip go by, said Ted---Thats not a Volkswagen Beatle----its a Volkswagen Sheeple!!! This ALMOST started a fist fight in Grandmas yard, but eventually Uncle Ted cooled off, and with Uncle Jimmys help had to sand all the clearcoat off, and repaint the car with a brush.-------------------------------------Brian-May-2011
