To:               LandCruisers@tlca.org
Send reply to:    LandCruisers@tlca.org
Date sent:        Sat, 25 Apr 1998 10:51:24 -0500
From:             Brother Andy 
Subject:          Crawford

As A public service, I shall repost the short Crawford History

Crawford,  Pronunciation: kraw-ferd, Function: noun
1a: Common name, 1b: a computer illiterate incapable of following the
simplest of instructions (example: "That stupid Crawford couldn't even
unsubscribe himself")[also see Loser], 1c: an action taken which results in
unwelcome, unintended consequences (usually of an extremely embarrassing but
nonfatal nature) due to a failure to take into account readily available
information directly related to the action (example: "Man, he really pulled
a Crawford. Why didn't he just check to see if his hubs were locked?"), 1d:
a person performing a Crawford-like action (example: "I can't believe I
actually did that. I feel like a real Crawford today."). Special note: can
also be used in verb form: to Crawford, denoting the performance of a
Crawford-like action. - Definition courtesy of the Land Cruiser List Online
Dictionary of Arcane Land Cruiser Terminology, 1997 edition.

Long, long ago, on a mailing list near and dear to your heart, there once
was a boob named Crawford Louthan. Listen well, Brother Jackson, for this is
the stuff of legends. 

For whatever reason, young Crawford chose to no longer recieve the boon of
the Land Cruiser Gods. Instead of using the normal un-subscribe procedures,
he posted the following message:

Dear Sir

I have enjoyed some of you mailings to me but the amount and most of your
content is not really what I was looking for. please take my name off your
E-Mailing list. If their is any ploblem please feel free to contact me at
(xxx)-xxx-xxxx. If the mailings don't stop I will take further action
against you and your mail service.

                                                         Thank You

                                                         Crawford Louthan

As you may guess, a few folks did not take kindly to the tone, or as I
stated early on, mixed messages in his kindly note. To complicate matters
rather dramtically, GrandMaster Gary was off 4 wheeling or some such
deriliction of duty as Lord High Muckety-Muck of the LCML. 

His requests to unsubscribe got snottier and snottier, and list members ran
amok with suggestions ranging from creating the Crawford of the Year Award
to send him loads of bricks (made of various vile substances) from various
parts of the world, COD. 

A number of kind souls e-mailed him instructions to un-subscribe, but he was
too....whatever...to utilize them. He even requested the infamous
unsubscribe kit. Eventually, Gary returned, and mercifully put Crawford out
of his misery, and our humor.

It was both a high point, and a low point for the list. Humor and spirits
ran high, and there was much merriment. Listers ran roughshod over Crawford,
myself included. We were ruthless, very funny, but ruthless. I almost (well,
not really) felt sorry for the poor dope.

To get a true feel for the magnitude of Crawford, and why Crawford has
become standard of Cruiser culture, take a look back in the digests. I
suggest v2n242 through v2n265. Better yet, go to the search engine
http://www.off-road.com/4x4web/tlcal/lcml_search.html simply insert the word
Crawford, and let her rip.

Brother Andy
Exalted Grand Poobah, Order of Hoarders
Order of the Elongated Cruiser
Order of the Bauhl Movers
St. Rudolph's Loyal Order of the Diesel
Less-Par, Watcher of the Wicked Ram
3rd Member of the Order Of The Slightly Enhanced Cruiser

If you have any question, remark, comment, want to share some philosophy or just want to express your opinion about these pages, feel free to send email to: w.j.markerink @ a1.nl