Dave Mancuso dot Com

…but I did finish The Da Vinci Code. The plot and characters were good, but what amazed me was the detailed research that the author wove into the story. The interweaving of the wiccan goddess elements with Catholic elements seemed a bit much, but apparently this is all actual theory in parts of the academic world. The Priory of Sion, Opus Dei, the Holy Grail, and the Knights Templar–all real legends/societies.

Huh. A good read.

(with apologies to the Harvard Lampoon)

The Background, By The Numbers:

1) We camp a bit, usually in tents since we sold our last VW camper in 1998 (one moment please, while I observe a moment of tearful silence for my departed Vanagon Westy).

2) We found a great deal on this poptop trailer camper:

(OK, it actually fell into our laps, since our neighbor put it up for sale right in front of us, directly across the street)

3) We bought it, but then discovered that each of our two Subarus were too weak to pull it without retrofitting the poptop with brakes and getting a Class II trailer hitch.

4) We then discovered that no one could seem to find a Class II trailer hitch that could be installed on the Subaru–they’re pretty much Class I machines.

5) Then, being me, I decided to let the tail wag the dog and started looking for a vehicle to tow the poptop. I looked at Ford Explorers mostly, but then found this beast:

It’s a 1993 Ford Econoline E-150 conversion van with all the trimmings–including mood lighting (no, I am not exaggerating). It fits a long range goal of mine: to own another camper van. GTRV makes a Ford version of the old VW poptop van, and this is my (relatively) low cost way to see if I can make the transition to an American van.

Oh–it had 98,915 miles on the odometer.

Armed with the van, the poptop, food, packed clothes, and the kids, we began our trek on July 24, 2003 at 1:00pm. Our plan–to make the Outer Banks by nightfall.

But we didn’t get very far.

Coming in Chapter 1: “The Horror…the horror”

Denise lent me the copy of The Da Vinci Code she just read. I started it last night. Wow. What a good read. Everything I’ve ever supected is true… (grin)

Man did I fight last night with the software that runs this website. I kept getting errors and then nada.

I think that the real problem was with the server website hosting computer. It seems to have been restarted overnight and works fine now.

Technology–you have to maintain a Zen-like patience with it at times, especially when you want to scream and throw things.

(No pun intended)

I caught an episode of The Restaurant the other night on NBC. Good show. That’s pretty much what it’s really like at restaurants, too. I don’t know how compelled I am to watch it again (TV is fading as a medium for me these days), but I definitely enjoyed it.

I bought my van 2 weeks ago yesterday (1993 Ford Econoline conversion). As of yesterday, I’ve put almost three thousand miles on it.

Travelogue due later….

I’m posting this from the public library in Murphy, North Carolina (until recently, the infamous “home” of Eric Rudolph). A word of advice: when you’re planning a three-cornered trip, don’t take it for granted that it will be a small journey from one part of a state to another.

Case in point: it was about 450 miles from our home in PA to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. It was 550 miles from the Outer Banks to Murphy, North Carolina past the Smoky Mountains. Yes, a ten hour trip from the NC coast to its inner mountains.

One a somewhat related note, I have completely reversed my militant stand against in-car VCR systems. It has saved my life and quite possibly our family from a tragic dependence on duct tape and valium (assuming I knew where to find some valium). You can likely deduce which item would be used on which family members.

I will post a funny (or possibly tragic, depending on your point of view) trip log later.

Oh, and I meant that Murphy was home to Rudolph (when he was captured), not the public library itself.

I’m off to North Carolina for a while camping–posts will likely be nonexistent until August 5 or so.

Have a great couple of weeks!

Too busy to post the last few days–bought the van, got all the trailer hitch equipment, made my own lighting wire harness adapter because the camper has such a weird plug, and packed for vacation (all right, my wife did most of that).

Also, I went to Philly today for a memorial service for my friend’s mother. Sad, but afterward we went to see another friend who just had twins. That was a nice way to regain a good feeling. I wish her all the best (I guess I should have wished her boundless amounts of energy–that’s what she’ll need with twins).

Also, another very good friend of mine had his second child (and second boy) today. That’s the second really wonderful thing to happen this week. Do good things come in threes?

(I didn’t put anyone’s name in this post because I’m not sure if people would appreciate having their name in “print” on the Internet. It feels odd to write workaround sentences to make them anonymous…)

Too busy packing the poptop camper and setting up my playlists in iTunes to get music ready for the trip to the Outer Banks (and Inner Smokies).

The big question–am I going to bring my laptop on vacation? I usually do. I can get some work done on my cookbook at the cabin. I dunno.

(Later) Denise is bringing her laptop, so I guess it’s OK to bring mine. Woo Hoo! We could, like, do an audio iChat across the room to each other or something.

I am such a geek.