Skoolie: it begins

Written by Cheryl

Time lapse videos are evil things. A cute young couple expertly wields tools as they quickly and effortlessly remove seats and walls. In a fifteen minute reel, they manage to gut their bus, look good doing it, and smile lovingly at each other. 

Not my experience today. At all.

My first job was trash removal. Gross. I filled bags with all the stuff you might imagine kids leaving on a bus–hoards of empty water bottles, one hundred pencils, dirty clothes, keychains, clips of all kinds, a mountain of candy wrappers and chip bags, and a gold star. Somebody did well on a spelling test. Oh, and 35 cents.

Beneath the layers of trash is filth of epic proportions. This sixteen-year-old bus has never been cleaned. Or swept. Or mopped. The dirt is so thick in places I think I will need a chisel to remove it. But, the trash is out.

Because the dash is the worst part of the deal–as in completely disgustingly stained with god knows what–I thought I would pull off a bit of the cover just to see the improvement. I went to work removing rusty screws and lifted one section of the panel. 

Then put it right back on. 

Wires and tubes and engine things everywhere. What to do with all that? I have no idea. 

We did get all the stickers and decals off. A heat gun is your friend for that. No more “Emergency door” or “Bus #3.”

Bruce spent the better part of today trying to figure out how to get the seats out. Somehow, I think it’s going to take longer than those magical fifteen minutes.

Written by Bruce

I got a seat out!