2010.08.26: Dear Tom and Ray, my daughter, who is a Peace Corps volunteer, in Yeghegnadzor, Armenia, has become infatuated with the Lada Niva
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2010.08.26: Dear Tom and Ray, my daughter, who is a Peace Corps volunteer, in Yeghegnadzor, Armenia, has become infatuated with the Lada Niva
Dear Tom and Ray, my daughter, who is a Peace Corps volunteer, in Yeghegnadzor, Armenia, has become infatuated with the Lada Niva
Well, your daughter obviously has bonded with the people of Armenia. That's wonderful. And she clearly wants to take a piece of her experience there home with her -- she wants a keepsake. But it would be easier, and cheaper, if she just married an Armenian and brought HIM home, Chuck. Because there's no way you're ever going to get a Lada approved for road use in the U.S.
Dear Tom and Ray, my daughter, who is a Peace Corps volunteer, in Yeghegnadzor, Armenia, has become infatuated with the Lada Niva
Something's fishy in car battery's early death
By Tom & Ray Magliozzi, For Neighbours
August 26, 2010
Caption: The trusty Niva 4x4 by Scott McDonough Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic
[Excerpt]
Dear Tom and Ray:
I just returned from visiting my daughter, who is a Peace Corps volunteer, in Yeghegnadzor, Armenia.
Now, my daughter is an adventuresome gal, and she's become infatuated with the Lada Niva. It's a very small but a particularly utilitarian four-wheel-drive SUV. She's decided that to reward her for her service to humanity, I should procure one for her upon her return to the U.S.
She's scheduled to come home about a year from now, which gives me some time to research this and find a viable reason for telling her it can't be done. She would like for me to make contact with one of her Armenian friends, have him find and buy the vehicle on her behalf and ship it to the United States.
My alternative plan is for her to purchase the auto in Armenia, where she's now based, drive it across Europe and ship it across the pond once she reaches the Atlantic.
Here's my question: What would I need to do to the Niva to have it pass U.S. import standards? Would I need to bring two home -- one as the primary vehicle and one as a parts car -- or would I have ready access to parts in the U.S.?
Please help me out, guys. I'll have hell to pay if she's not greeted with the car, or at least a convincing reason for my not having been successful.
-- Chuck
Tom: Well, your daughter obviously has bonded with the people of Armenia. That's wonderful. And she clearly wants to take a piece of her experience there home with her -- she wants a keepsake.
Ray: But it would be easier, and cheaper, if she just married an Armenian and brought HIM home, Chuck. Because there's no way you're ever going to get a Lada approved for road use in the U.S.
Tom: If a vehicle doesn't meet U.S. safety and environmental standards (and trust us, Chuck, this one doesn't), the U.S. Department of Transportation requires you to either upgrade it and make it comply or destroy it. Guess which option you're going to be forced to pick?
Ray: Unless you're the kind of guy who makes nuclear reactors out of balsa wood in his spare time on weekends, you're not going to be able to upgrade this thing to meet U.S. code. Even car companies have a hard time doing it. For an individual, it's almost impossible.
Tom: Trust us, a wedding's going to be cheaper, Chuck. No matter how many lamejun pizzas you have to come up with for the reception.
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: August, 2010; Peace Corps Armenia; Directory of Armenia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Armenia RPCVs; Humor
When this story was posted in November 2010, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Big Omission in Comprehensive Report The Peace Corps has always neglected the third goal, allocating less than 1% of their resources to it, so when Aaron Williams promised Senator Dodd to provide a "Comprehensive Assessment Report" with ideas to strengthen and reform the agency's operations we expected to see some forceful recommendations to address this critical weakness. Read the report and our commentary on the big omission in the third goal that committee members didn't address, discuss, or even mention. |
| Memo to Incoming Director Williams PCOL has asked five prominent RPCVs and Staff to write a memo on the most important issues facing the Peace Corps today. Issues raised include the independence of the Peace Corps, political appointments at the agency, revitalizing the five-year rule, lowering the ET rate, empowering volunteers, removing financial barriers to service, increasing the agency's budget, reducing costs, and making the Peace Corps bureaucracy more efficient and responsive. Latest: Greetings from Director Williams |
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Story Source: Calgary Herald
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Armenia; Automobiles; Humor
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