Barry and Joey couldn’t have been friendlier. We’d pass by on the street and they’d wave and invite us to stop. “Have a visit.” “Have a beer.” They’re only the equivalent of a block away from us, so we saw them pretty much every day. We’d stop and chat, a quick visit, but were always on our way to something else, so we never made that extended stay, where you really start to get to know someone. The last conversation we had with them was late April, the day before we left for our summer trip. We were talking with Barry in the pool. Joey was home, doing well, recuperating from chemo. Barry was fine; discussing plans for the future. We would surely spend more time with them next year. So we come back from our summer trip, and Barry is within a couple weeks of dying. Cancer. Ninety days from diagnosis to death. It’s like we were all standing around watching Joey to make sure she’s okay, and Barry drops over. Not what anyone expected. Joey completed her breast cancer treatment, but died a few days after Barry from something completely different. That fast. Sometimes you get to see it coming and finish up things you meant to do. Sometimes it just comes out of nowhere.
But that’s all that remains to be done on the exterior; that and buff and clear coat. Jacinto can finish up his paint work in a day or two. No problem. The big unknown is how long it will take to get the seats and chrome back. That, and the muffler. When I sank the bus, the whole thing came to rest on the muffler. The muffler is busted and needs to be replaced. How big a deal could that be though? It’s a really big muffler, but it’s just a muffler. Well, it turns out this muffler is a problem. It’s an odd configuration, and nobody makes it any more. We’ve talked to Beaver Coach Sales, Monaco, Caterpillar, and Donaldson (the company that built the original muffler). We’ve scoured RV salvage yards. Nothing. We’re working on getting someone to fabricate a new one for us, but so far, no luck. There’s a solution out there, we just haven’t found it yet. 
A Very Birdy Holiday
