Does karma matter ?  A year ago i bought my dream van a 1972 tax exempt vw t2b genuine p33 westfalia camper , i can't tell you how i felt , years and years i have wanted one , i have had Devons , danburys and even a t25 with a kampa conversion , but the dream was always a 72 westy. Anyway it duly arrived on the back of a breakdown truck ( a portent if ever there was one ) and the smiling driver it turned out was smirking . On first inspection or second , the first one was obscured by a lady with large breasts and a smile i won't delve too deep into that moment it still hurts and they were nice breasts , the second inspection revealed more tin worm than i first thought , not as much as was revealed later but still enough to put me into convulsions , ohh my giddy aunt what a goolie i had dropped , it was one step from vw camper heaven , there was even a little white cloud drifting serenely above the scene , actually thats a lie , it was a little black cloud right above my head that seemed to follow me for the next few days until - i joined the worlds greatest vw forum , earlybay - oops sorry that one made my cloud darken , no it was thelatebay.com which i found whilst researching rusty vw campers on google , " ummmm , seems like a few like minded nutters on there " i thought and duly joined the throng . During the next week or so i made friends on here and posted resto pics ( well pics of my rust ) and was offered a free inspection from Paradox as he was'nt far from me , para or Hammer n screwdriver man as i inadvertantly refer to him in my mind since that day , gave me a damning verdict -- it was indeed extremely more rusty than i could imagine , basically it was a bag of the proverbial sh--- After para had gone i moped a lot , for days , not that anyone should notice but i never spoke or acknowledged anyone for over a week - or four . Meanwhile the good nutters on tlb made me smile and awarded me Karma out of kindness and affilliation . i felt lifted , what a great bunch .In return as my confidence on the forum grew i felt obliged to offer up some of my own off beat tales of past camping trips etc , they were warmly recieved so on occasion i posted up a few more , to be honest the more response i got , the more enthusiastic i became , i even started threads such as embarassing moments and show us yer --- The karma returned was a good fil'ip and i appreciated it , after all i was having to undergo a very difficult resto and to be frank any boosts were welcomed .. Fast forward to last month , almost a year later , Rhubarb thats the name we gave OUR van , cos thats the law - campers have to be named , i was on the last throws of my resto , my time on here had been a pleasure and the help recieved had been top notch - we even had a meet at camperjam where i disgraced the good name of malt drinkers and spent the night in a portaloo ( i still blame the wilma's ) you really are a top bunch !!. But then -- tlb crashed , a dark moment indeed , we shifted home's to temporary lodgings on earlybay ( a nice familiar place albeit a bit musty ) and continued our communications there until Horts the tlb techno guru sorted tlb . Well he did a superb fix , man he must have eyes like Tom the cartoon cat in the one where he's soooo tired , well done Mat and all who helped him get our home sorted in a massive effort for the cause . Horts has said he will do his best to get back our important postings , resto's n the like and i have no doubt he will do his darndest , i miss referring to some other peoples work on their vans it has been a superb help , hopefully my pics n postings have been a help to others ,i know lots of people pm'ed me about my slider door and torsion tube fix and i recieved lots of karma for it . By now i guess you have sussed out this is'nt about my resto for once or a idle ramble , no its about karma , and the loss of -- i enjoyed giving karma to people who made me smile , showed me a tip or just posted a good write up , in return i enjoyed recieving karma , it showed people liked what i posted or did , they like my humour , my resto or just simply a response .Not only have we now lost a years input and invaluable resource which took thousands of man hours to post , but now we have lost our good vibe's , it may not matter to some but others get comfort from it like what i do -- but like the old latebay site ,its now history .In the end its geat just to be back , meet old friends and make new ones , rekindle old joke's and restock the old information store , karma does'nt really matter in the grand scheme of things and has some have said we can re earn it -- i for one am really glad to be back and am trying hard to gee myself up to repost some of my more interesting witterings -- it took me a year last time , i will condense it this time and try to moderate myself --Great works Horts -- now gimme back my karma ! .
nice one malc... but honestly.. the only karma I am truly interested in ... is the one that comes around to BITE peoples arsses that are mean and unkind human beings lol
Fair point Malc. I never really got the karma thing but when you put it like that it makes sense.. As for your resto thread I only found it a week ago (I dont do much searching through past posts Im more of a hear and now person) but after looking at you pics and reading how youve done some panel repairs I feel ready to have a go at mine!! And if nothing else gets recovered from the old server or whatever got fried lets hope its portaloo sunset!!! best post ever!! (sorry about the sign on the loo afterwards ;D ) So Karma on its way mate for your resto thread and your portaloo sunset (both dead and buried) but were great!!!
Thanks Trev , i really enjoyed you n Jo's company at cj your a lovely couple , if you ever need any advice on work to your van , i will try n help or point you in the right direction - zed para , joker, diddymen , outlaw , vwbusman or stan
i've only just realised who magical trevor is reading this. how dumb am i lol i even looked through the cornwall pics and never twigged - man i need to pay more atten......hey! look at that butterfly!
Cheers matey !! Errr shes calles Shell though ;D ;D Or was I chatting someone else up all weekend?? If I was dont tell Shell
yeah sorry Ricky but its become a bit of a thing username, real name, and the name you fit into on first meeting!! Thats where Woody came from and trev and Frank.. :