[Vwdiesel] signs of Diesel merit

[Val Christian]

> I'm not aware of any mileage badge program that volks did after the beetles.
> -James
> 
> Behalf Of Shalyn Shourds
> 
> Anyone know if VW has any kind of program like MB and Volvo where you
> get the little badges for your grill if you cross certain mileage
> Ribicons?  Dad has those for his Volvos and MB's and I'm sort of
> jealous.  I have more miles than he does and no sticker.

When USENET news groups were the way to handle special interests 
(it seems most interests are now served by web-based message boards and
chat rooms), we would make our own presence.  One regular contributor
made email address badges, which had "rec.aviation" on them.  They 
were put into a button form, and we all wore them around the Oshkosh
airshow every year.  I still have at least one of them on my sweat-stained
save-my-skin-from-wisconsin-mid-summer-cancer boonie hats.  This was
the eighties, so you could also wear the badge on your fannie pack, which
had your loot for the week, and your 2meter ham radio in it.

I say we make our own emblems, for diesel biggots.  To get one, you need
to convince, in a face-to-face meeting with another vwdiesel group member,
that you have the stated miles on your block.  Could be kms.  On one 
vehicle, I refered to the mileage as one-light-second, two-light-second,
but it never made it to three-light-second.  Threw a rod before that.
(Besides, it was a gasser, so it wouldn't count.)  The light-second is 
kinda a non-metric, non-English measurement, which avoids specific
speedometer implementations.  

Perhaps to have an "easier time of it" we could permit "half-light-second"
awards.  My opinion is that such granularity is a sign of a compromised
whimp who is trying to get just a little more glory.

We'll need to find a trophy shop which can make our emblems, at a reasonable
cost, to authenticated recipients.  We would also need a set of rules,
such as you can't mount emblems earned on another car on your present car.
Those old emblems can only be displayed in certain spots.  Perhaps in your
garage, or on the top lid of your toolbox.  

If we have an abrasive /cutting tool person among us, perhaps they could
get some large chunks of Al oxide, which we could mount in the 
one-light-second emblem, sort of as the saphire award.  The two-light-second
award is deserving of a 12 grit industrial cutting diamond (can be smoothed
by use, for the weathered cutting stone look).  Gosh, I don't know what
we give for the three-light-second award.  Perhaps we'll figure that one
out before a group member gets there.

What engines are elligible?  Well, since it's a VW Diesel list, only VW
engines, which are run on the diesel cycle by intention (no high compression
gasser hotrods, please) would qualify.  Perhaps if we're generous enough
we could let in the Volvo and Audi diesel people.  Anything after that
is stretching it.

I suppose we could be charitable to our brothers-in-kind, and let the 
MB diesel folks copy our emblem, skipping the VW part.  Be careful, though.
Give someone a light-second, and they might take a mile.

Val