the van: a 1991 Mercedes-Benz 609D

The first real post on this site was always going to be about the van.

The van — a white 1991 Mercedes-Benz 609D — parked on a coastal bluff among rocks and windswept grass

It’s a 1991 Mercedes-Benz 609D camper van — a big, boxy, unstoppable brick of a machine with an OM364 diesel that sounds like it plans to outlive all of us. There’s a lot to say about it: how I got it, what works, what very much does not, and what the plan is. That write-up is coming.

For now, the boot log:

$ dmesg | grep van
[    0.000000] detected: Mercedes-Benz 609D (1991)
[    0.000001] engine: OM364 diesel ......... [ OK ]
[    0.000002] rust: present ................ [ EXPECTED ]
[    0.000003] top speed: eventually ........ [ OK ]
[    0.000004] character: immense ........... [ OK ]
[    0.000005] full write-up ................ [ LOADING... ]

The 609D pulled over on the Avenue of the Giants, dwarfed by redwoods

Behind the wheel of the 609D, rolling down the highway

Stay tuned. It deserves the full story.