THE NEW VAN

I'm here to steal the focus of the guys in Peterborough, because I think this is headline news: I've finally met my new van. I went to pick it up in Sarpsborg with Kjell, and then we drove straight to a car tools shop.

We bought a light because there is no light in the back of the van, and when we tried out the lamp we'd just bought, we found that there was a light in the back of the van after all, it only didn't ignite automatically.

If you look closely at picture number two, you will spot an airpressure horn. I simply cannot tell you how excited I was about that. It's been 4 years now I've been asking for a horn in my car. (If I drive like distances like a trucker, I should have (some of) the trucker gadgets. So now I do.
Mind you, that still doesn't make me a real trucker.

Then we went off to the office to get all of the set.

It started like this, empty apart from 4 summer tyres (which we will need later).

I forgot to take a picture of how it finished, so I will do that tomorrow. Suffice to say that there is still space left. We could have put all of our sets in there if we wanted to.
But we didn't want to because that would mean we'd have to unload all of them as well, and we don't need all of them, we just need the two biggest ones.

So what happens next?
Tomorrow I will get the spiked tyres changed for non-spiked tyres, as spikes aren't allowed in Germany - and that's where I'm going. Then I will drive to Goteborg to get the overnight ferry to Kiel.
On Wednesday morning I will arrive in Kiel and will drive to Berlin, where my new friend will have to wait another 10 days before going to Graz.

In the meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled for anything that could liven up my new friend. It's quite grey/white/dull at the moment.
The wall of the cabin behind my head can have things taped to it, the ceiling can have things safety-pinned to it. On the dashboard I only want things that will really support me on very long trips.

The loneliness of the long distance driver can be alleviated by objects that offer moral support and inspiration.

But for now: come to Graz to see the square outside TAO shudder when I arrive and blare the red horn.