The Millicent Chronicles; two foot roof raise, big tailgate

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Elliot Naess

CadillacKid... That's of interest. I'm not prone to deadheading the steering like that, but my buddy might be, since he does not have my automobile technician training.

As for Burning Man... let me get back to that.
For now.... Burning Man is not for everyone.
As for what I do there.... I repair bicycles. I have a "theme Camp" of 30 people, and this year we repaired 629 bicycles.
What is it about? It is about participating and contributing.

Yes, great Burn (as always)! And the Playa surface was the best I have seen in my ten years. Pretty much the entire Playa was like paved.

you dont have to deadhead the steering for long to cause the poppet to release pressure.. its pretty instant tap of the lock.. and the spring should snap it back into normal pressure mode ..

it may be worth changing the steering fluid if its not nice N clear then running the sterring lock to lock a few times and see if that helps..

I always try the simple things first before i start tearing apart pumps and the like.. ive never worked on a flat nose bus, but on a conventional the steering gear is pretty accessible to work on for adjusting not only the poppets but also the lash (play)

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

I'd love to hit Burning Man, but nowadays its gotten really expensive. REALLY expensive.

[cadillackid]

I always thought it was some sort of minimalist thing where people camped like there had been a nuclear war, partied with no rules other than dont hurt each other and leave the land as good if not better than you found it.. (following the tread lightly protocol like us wheelers do with jeeps out west)...

and that people brought and created art of any form (from painting to sculpture to music to technology, etc)...

I didnt realize there was huge expense involved other than your own provisions and maybe a small fee for some type of security in case things went awry...

and of course the burn..

I guess I have the wrong idea about what it really is..

-Christopher

[ashandrik]

Tickets ran about $430 each plus $80 for a vehicle pass this year. The rest of the expenses depend a lot on what time of person you are. I've known people to show up with 10 gallons of water, a loaf of bread, and a jar of peanut butter and be fine. But most people want some level of comfort, and that means a cooler, a camp stove, propane, a tent, dishes, etc. Of course, most of us have that taken care of with our bus, but we get stuck paying $0.20/mile in diesel fuel costs. That adds up if you have to make a 4,000 mile round trip.

Burning Man is actually the reason I wanted to build a bus. I knew if I were really going to enjoy it, I needed somewhere better to camp. I tried for months to design a teardrop trailer that would fit my needs, but I kept hitting weight restrictions. So... I looked at buses. My 28k GVWR means I could have granite countertops and concrete furniture if I really wanted. hah!

[GreyCoyote]

Burningman is an experiment in having a cashless, gift-based, inclusive, and temporary city produced by the citizens themselves using the Ten Principles as a guide. How YOU choose to burn within this framework is completely up to you, as is your degree of participation.

I dont want to hijack Elliots build thread any further, so let me give you a URL where you can start the journey if you wish. http://www.burningman.org

[Elliot Naess]

A bit busy today, but will return to these matters.
Meanwhile, Here is a 5 a.m. view of my camp this year.


By the way.... No coincidence that Grey Coyote was camped next to us. I requested it.

Oh.... And our website. Obviously, I need to update it.
Home

[GreyCoyote]

Elliot, you sly devil you...

[Elliot Naess]

(From our Burning Man camp website)

But what is Burning Man?

Let’s try this fanciful definition:
Think 1953… and imagine if Walt Disney had bought those 160 acres,
torn out the orange trees – and then given up, hopped a train to Detroit
and spent the rest of his life putting hubcaps on Fords. There would be a
huge flat area of nothing there in Anaheim.

But then imagine Disneyland being created anyway, by the thousands
and thousands of ticket-buying visitors – each and every one bringing a
tiny piece of amusement park from home and installing it himself.

That’s what we do at Burning Man. For one week a year.

70,000 people invent, build, bring, assemble, and operate the entire
“Black Rock Amusement Park”, and take turns on each others’ space
mountains and haunted mansions and jungle cruises.
This is called Interactivity.

We also serve the food and pick up the trash. Whenever we see
something that needs doing, we do it. This form of government is
called a do-ocracy.

And this fellow Elliot saw a lot of bicycles that needed fixing, so that’s
what we do in this camp. No E-ticket needed.

[Elliot Naess]

Millicent anchors almost 2,000 square feet of shade.
20 feet out on the passenger side, and 31 feet out on the driver side, each the length of the bus.
Clear spans.
Plus assorted store-bought canopies.

[EastCoastCB]

LOL its like disney but four times the price.

[GreyCoyote]

I have no idea what it takes for Elliot to stage/transport/run his camp, but this year I stopped counting at ten grand. That was in June and we didnt leave for BM until mid-August. I decided I didnt want to know. But many (most?) Burners just show up with a tent, ice chest and some shade. There is no "right way". Participation matters far more than money or scale.

There are numerous million-dollar camps out there, and they are truly spectacular behemoths, but IMHO its the little camps where you can connect with the heart of the event and make life-long friends. People with busses, bikes and tamales!

[Elliot Naess]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

LOL its like disney but four times the price.

That’s one way to look at it.

Me… I see it differently.
Mind you, I intend no offense.
But if the ticket price is a significant factor in somebody’s decision about Burning Man, something is very wrong with his understanding of the event.

Burning Man is a commitment to live in a highly unusual community for eight days, and to fully immerse oneself in the ways of that community.

Sure, I could buy a ticket and “go to see Burning Man”. And every year, a few thousand do. (Out of 70,000.) They can be annoying, but mostly I feel sorry for them. For one thing, they don’t get their money’s worth.

Let’s do an “Imagine if…” again.

Imagine a young man who decides to become a monk. He commits to spending the next 20 years in a dimly lit room, copying ancient texts with a quill and inkpot.

No-one would do this without being absolutely certain that this is what he wants to do; to commit himself to do. He would not do this because he figures he can spend 20 easy years seeing how monks live.

An exaggeration, of course. But I commit to participating in, and contributing to, the community of Black Rock City.

In fact, I consider the event to be… not Burning Man, the dance party; but Black Rock City, the community.

It is true that in 2011, when I was very ill and penny-less, I could not afford to go. But I was still “there” – in my mind.

Some folks spend very little beyond the price of the ticket. They travel a short distance to BRC on a bus, live in a pup-tent, eat cold food out of the can, and contribute their musical talent, or physical labor, or whatnot.

Others spend thousands. They come across the country in a heavy RV, towing a huge sculpture. They set up a commercial-grade kitchen and feed hundreds every day. And so on.

The two have in common… that they truly appreciate what Burning Man is, and they actively participate in what Burning Man is.

At the end of the week, they each walk every inch of their camp-sites and make certain there is not even a watermelon seed left behind on the ground.

And they both feel immensely enriched by what they have given.

[Elliot Naess]

Luckily, those thousands of $$$ do not all come out of my Social Security.
There were 31 of us this year, and we do some serious fund-raising as well.

Here's a look at the 31' x 38' clear span shade going up. One of my camp-mates built the trusses. He asked me if he ought to make them in two pieces, for easier transport and handling. I said "Why?"

As for reaching 38,180 pounds.... The piano helps.

And that reminds me.... About mid-week somebody asked to borrow some tools. He fiddled with several small sockets, and then he clamped big Vice-Grip pliers to one of them. Then he spent an hour or two tuning our piano.

And when he quietly walked away, the expression on his face was sheer joy.

[GreyCoyote]

Elliot nailed it. Hard to improve on that.

What I do want to touch on is this: Lest you think we are all a bunch of altruistic hippies, understand there are two sides to every gift. Use the example of the Mysterious Piano Tuner. On one hand he gave a great gift by tuning Elliots piano. Kudos to him for that. But also understand Elliot gave Mr Tuner a gift. Remember his grin as he dissolved back into obscurity? Thats the gift. Looking at it from Mr. Tuners angle: "I just put a junker piano back into perfect tune, in the middle of the desert, using borrowed sockets and a pair of vice grips. I did this for free, while sunburned and debydrated and exhausted and hung-over. I did it with enormous distraction, fires, explosions and EDM music all around me. THIS SHOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE, BUT I FREAKIN' DID IT!!!! WOW!!!!"

Price of one ticket: $450
Return on investment? Immeasurable.
Mind? Blown!

[Stu & Filo. T]

"At the end of the week, they each walk every inch of their camp-sites and make certain there is not even a watermelon seed left behind on the ground."

Unlike your average EARTH DAY participants in Golden Gate Park that care so much about the environment they leave tons of garbage on the ground when they leave.

[cadillackid]

so really to attend BM you have to have some skill.. some practical manual labor skill to survive like tuning pianos and fixing bikes, or the resources to cart,refrigerate, and cook 1000s of lbs of food...

so someone like myself that would show up in a School bus, some fuel a gennie or two and set up a massiv display of computer-controlled, Musically activated LED lights... really an art display... would have no 'use' for black rock city as i wouldnt be "contributing" on a practical level to the community? other thasn i suppose people could come along with their guitars, drums, voices, etc and perform music that would make the lights do their thing...?

or maybe I dont "GET" it... or understand it..

-Christopher

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Stu & Filo. T

"At the end of the week, they each walk every inch of their camp-sites and make certain there is not even a watermelon seed left behind on the ground."

Unlike your average EARTH DAY participants in Golden Gate Park that care so much about the environment they leave tons of garbage on the ground when they leave.

the tread lightly method.. when i used to be into 4 wheeling... before every rich kid got a jeep wrangler for graduation... it was always a thing to go wheel and explore the land.. but NEVER to tear it up, litter, or do anything to purposely destroy the eco-system...

same with Ghost towns.. while there was no written law that said look dont touch.. people never took anything from a ghost town.. you might walk up to a building with dinner plates still on the table...

nowadays people have destroyed most of what was the splendor of wheeling and ghost-towning.. its nice to see that BM still retains the tread lightly methods of leaving the land like you found it, if not better..

-Christopher

[GreyCoyote]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

so really to attend BM you have to have some skill.. some practical manual labor skill to survive like tuning pianos and fixing bikes, or the resources to cart,refrigerate, and cook 1000s of lbs of food...

so someone like myself that would show up in a School bus, some fuel a gennie or two and set up a massiv display of computer-controlled, Musically activated LED lights... really an art display... would have no 'use' for black rock city as i wouldnt be "contributing" on a practical level to the community? other thasn i suppose people could come along with their guitars, drums, voices, etc and perform music that would make the lights do their thing...?

or maybe I dont "GET" it... or understand it..

-Christopher

There is no requirement whatsoever for a "practical"'contribution! In fact, such camps are not the norm. You just are getting a very thin slice in these postings. Blinky lights under comouter control as you suggest would be participation on an epic scale! Bring it!!!!

For reference: google "digital koi pond burningman" for a possibly kindred spirit. I saw this installation three times. Really, REALLY well-executed, and I'm a koi snob in real life.

Edited to add: http://burningkoi.com

[Elliot Naess]

Seems there is an expression....
"A gift of oneself is its own reward."
Yes, Mr. Tuner no doubt felt a sense of accomplishment. And I bet he also knew that he had made lots of people enjoy the piano that much more. To some of us, that is the greater accomplishment.

Yes, art is participation and contribution! In fact, many call the event an art festival. And the definition of "art" is immensely wide. Practically anything you dream up and make happen and share with the community is art.

Computer-controlled lights that "dance" to music? And you built it yourself?! Wonderful! Expect to see an appreciative crowd around it every night. (Just be aware that it has been done numerous times before.)

I consider my shade structures -- the home-made ones that attach to Millicent -- to be art. Once in a while a Burner will come along and study it, then say "What a cool design!" This makes me an artist.

He might even say "I can use that idea!" This makes me an instructor too. In a sense, I just held a seminar on shade-building.

If you can think of it, and bring it to, or do it at, Burning Man, you are participating and contributing.

I know a lady who gives singing lessons. She does it in an innovative way that is great fun. This year she held one such session at our camp. She brings nothing with her to Burning Man but herself (and necessities). And she contributes immensely.

We use the phrase "Leave no trace." I put two sheets of plywood under Millicent to catch oil drips. Before I leave, I move the bus and search the area for slivers that might have come off the plywood.
I mean... everybody does this sort of thing.

A Bureau of Land Management ranger is supposed to have said that Burning Man leaves less trash than some families of four who camp overnight. (That means we need to do better!)

Here's an example of the spirit of BM.
Some years ago I used one 40'x38' tarp for shade, instead of several smaller ones. While I was installing it myself, the wind picked up and threatened to "blow me to Winnemucca". People came running from all directions and grabbed hold of the tarp while I tied it down.

The same year a man walked around to all the camps in the neighborhood and asked for help erecting his camp's shade. In a few minutes he had the army he needed.
Their shade was an ingenious arrangement of numerous poles that were all attached to the tarps in advance, and then the entire structure was tilted up at once. In other words, they needed a person on each pole. Great fun teamwork.
The next day, a couple from that camp came by with a plate of delicious food for me. We have been good friends year 'round ever since.

I could go on and on. LOL

For anyone who has an interest in possibly "doing" BM, I suggest reading up on it. The website (burningman.org) is simply packed to the rafters with information in various forms.

Start with the Survival Guide. Read it twice. Then the rest of the First-Timer Info. And keep going. There's a blog called the Journal -- read some of those. And subscribe to Jack Rabbit Speaks -- the e-mail newsletter.
Gradually you will get a feel for it.

And as I always say.... Burning Man is absolutely not for everyone.

[Brad_SwiftFur]

Originally Posted by SDR76

. . . . . . 38K behind a 5.9?? wow!! I love the Cummins more than anyone, but what did that little guy do to you to deserve that flavor of a beating?!?!?!?...

Remember, this same engine is used in thousands of yard spotter tractors all over the country. It is easily capable of moving 80K around a yard - naturally, they are very geared down and most have a top end of around 25-30 or so.