There's always something to do

Well look at that: we still exist!
As announced in the last post, things have been a little quieter around here in recent weeks.

A lot of time and projects were completed or started at our families' places.
In between, we thought we were back in southern Spain with these temperatures. 🙂

Last but not least, the bus also demanded a bit of work.
But first things first.

Home with family and friends

We'll keep it short here – after all, this is a bus website, not a "let's spruce up your home" blog. 😉

Together, we tackled a few projects: redesigning and paving a front garden, hoisting solar panels onto friends' roof (including a rewire of the fuse box), and giving some quick tech tutoring while setting up a new laptop.
Together, we got it all done!

Onward to the bus

Here, we made a few "minor" tweaks:

• Sold the camping table and built a practical new one that doubles as a Eurobox lid.
  
• Completely reorganized all the existing storage boxes, plus added extra storage space.
  
• Polished up the roof window. Finally got a better view! 🙂

For our "regulars," this lovely TÜV* might already ring a bell. Everything got a proper once-over and thorough check.

*TÜV = Paw Inspection Association 🙂 (a pun on Germany's TÜV, the mandatory technical inspection every vehicle needs to pass)

Not even close to done yet

Here's where the real fun began…

• Removed the diesel tank and drained the fuel.
  Yep, that "black brew" used to be diesel.
  
  => The tank had been rusting from the inside and was definitely the cause of a problem or two lately.
  
  Over several days, we tried recoating the inside of the tank with a 2-component epoxy resin (after manual mechanical and chemical derusting, followed by sealing).
  
  From the inside, the resin had turned the tank a reddish color.
  Unfortunately, after this "week-long project," fine cracks became visible – which could indicate insufficient curing.
  Since we really didn't want to risk clogging the injectors – and ending up with a potentially much pricier repair – we got lucky on Kleinanzeigen:
  
  A used, rust-free tank!
  …from Berlin. We could've grabbed it back then already. 🙂

• Also fixed the rear right handbrake while we were at it.
  
  Of course, there was no way to know you'd have to pull the entire axle shaft all the way out to the differential just to get to the brake drum…
  
  And once you've got everything open anyway, you might as well replace the seal and grease for the axle bearing too.
  

In the heat of the moment, my slippers got run over too. Must've been the heat's fault. 🙂

Work first, play later

For a few days, I headed off to visit friends in Berlin, my old adopted home. I could've brought the tank back with me by train from here. 🙂

Christian got a guided tour of the University of Bonn.
And no, the last photo isn't edited: the orange tint comes from the lighting in the cleanrooms, used for certain UV-based manufacturing processes.

Here, silicon wafers for the ATLAS experiment at CERN in Geneva are manufactured under the strictest ISO standards.
Hey, does that ring a bell from a previous post? 🙂

Onward we go!

The bus is finally rolling again – with a new tank, prettier storage, a polished roof window, and squashed slippers.

Feeling like it's been forever, the next few days will finally take us back on the road, heading north.
Denmark and Sweden are waiting for us!

Don't worry, we won't turn into package tourists. 🙂

See you soon!