Pretty in Pink

As most normal ACVW operators are aware, it's difficult not to park next to another ACVW when you see one sitting all lonely-like. So when I saw a cream Beetle parked by itself while running an errand, I pulled Gertie up right next to it. Esmé can identify VW buses (they're all "LOOD-weeg") and Beetles on sight--"BEE-too!" Of course she saw the Beetle from the window and announced her discovery. I asked her, "Do you like Beetles?" "Uh-huh." "Do you want a Beetle when you can drive?" "Uh-huh. Esmé PINK! Beetle." Oh boy. How does a girl with no exposure to the Disney Pink Princess Machine come up with an answer like that?

To test her convictions, we found a few pink Beetles online and asked her which she liked. She didn't really like coral (probably the most acceptable mode of pink) or pearl, unfortunately. Fortunately, she also expressed an aversion toward convertibles. These were her favorites.

Her number one choice, from the Philippines.

I threw in this Thing as a control. She called it a "Fun-ny BEE-too" and said it was her least favorite (sorry, PJ) of the four here. She still liked it better than the coral Beetles though. 

Laundry List

Other bus drivers have shown an interest in the notes and other ephemera that one more than occasionally comes across in various second-hand pieces of ACVW literature; books, manuals, etc. I'll admit to having given a fair number of these orphaned items the heave-ho, stumbling across them during less sentimental times. Anyway, the other day a library patron, who'd seen me loading the family into Ludwig at one time or another, said he had a copy of the Idiot Book that he wasn't able to put to much good use in operating his late-model Lexus LX. "Could you use it?" he asked. "Is it spiral-bound?" I replied ungratefully.

And there it is, finally, my own spiral-bound copy of the Idiot Book. Much too nice to ever use in the field, unfortunately. I found the following inside:

He's a nice guy so I'll not make too much fun of certain items on his to-do list.

Paparazzi

Ludwig's no late-fifties/early-sixties 23-window deluxe, that's for sure. He's handsome enough, I suppose. Even so it's not like a late bay Westy around here is worthy of much untoward gawking. He's not even the only orange bay window camper in town (there are two others, both Rivies, that I know of).

So I thought it was kind of strange when these chicks gathered around him last weekend and popped off a bunch of photos.

Too bad he was so dirty at the time. Or maybe that was part of the appeal. Is it a trick of the light, or does he look like he's blushing a little? (And is that a can of chew in her back pocket?)