Getting your shit back together: progress reports

[mbac]

Flew home eight time zones on Tuesday. Went back to work on Thursday.

I was feeling pretty good until I started unpacking. Then I began editing the DJ sets we recorded on the playa. Now I can't sleep and I miss everyone hard. Whenever large commercial vehicles pass on the street I think "what are they doing to that poor art car?"

[Sunbeam56]

hardly anything. no energy, no incentive. Everywhere I look, I see a missing furry friend,and just sit back down.

Go to the local shelter...save a life and let him/her save yours. Really, really...

[sadie]

The first thing on my list for next year is: BRING LESS CRAP.

I spent all day Thursday unloading and cleaning. Had to go to work on Friday, then continued the clean up all day today.
I have most of the laundry done, but it's in a gigantic mountain of unfoldedness.

I hope to finish cleaning everything tomorrow. I don't have a garage, so there are piles and stacks of clean gear all over my tiny house. I kind of like it and will be reluctant to put it all away and out of sight.

The best part about cleaning was standing in the middle of the street shaking out a fleece blanket and watching the playa dust billow and travel to my neighbors house The leaf blower created a similar effect on just about everything I aimed it at.

So far no real sadness for me. All of you that I spent time with happily float through my mind as I make progress.

[kiboy]

hardly anything. no energy, no incentive. Everywhere I look, I see a missing furry friend,and just sit back down.

Go to the local shelter...save a life and let him/her save yours. Really, really...

Awesome advice imo. Dogs have always saved me. I'd be a gonner without mine.

[robbidobbs]

Yggy I know it's hard. I told myself after Lumux died that there will be another kitty that needs my help. And there was Maggie.

[Joeln]

I still have an awesome warmth in my gut from my first burn.
I alternate between just saying "Burning Man - fuckin A!" and stressing about defaultia shit.
Mostly unpacked and washed up, got to carefully pack away the stuff and pare down my lists.

Such a great time out there and next year will be even better!

[AfricanFire]

And done. Phew.

[BeeWeeDee]

Me too. Just got done - right down to clean sheets on the bed.

Exodus was a non-event but truly, I wanted one last stop/delay/one hour party to enjoy the sunrise, but noooo.... one half hour to the pavement and 10 minutes more to Gerlach.

Made it to Jackpot, NV and spent two nights decompressing poolside and crap table side (-$500) and a casino buffet. Up through Yellowstone and down into Cody on Tuesday. Back to work on Wednesday and the truck stayed unpacked until Wednesday night. All these little details of experiences keep flooding back into my mind and I just seem to smile.

A bonus, yearly raise, some more stock options and a stock grant took the edge off of being at work in a big way on the first day back. Highly recommended!

Now I have to figure out how to make a bigger freezer and coordinate the icecream/Chocolate Chip gifting a bit better - Perhaps a trailer or a commercial icecream van. Gotta get started getting ready for next year!

[theCryptofishist]

Exodus was a non-event but truly, I wanted one last stop/delay/one hour party to enjoy the sunrise, but noooo.... one half hour to the pavement and 10 minutes more to Gerlach.

I haven't been able to ask VultureChow how her exodus stickers went...

[BeeWeeDee]

I have one of the stickers on my truck. I was happy to pick it up at the Meet and Greet

[VultureChow]

Snert. I actually have some left over. I'm grateful I had at least a little bit of exodus to hand them out. I did get to meet a bunch of camps and new people, and exchange some swag, but it was quick and not a nice leisurely visit with each car.

I have those, some tags and some other swag I'm going to offer eplayans who missed out.

I was thinking, what a waste, but people seemed to enjoy it, and now it's like a playoff run. Can't do anything different next year or we'll blow the amazingly quick Exodus streak. So expect more exodus swag next year.

[robbidobbs]

I just got a bunch of dusty stuff put away. The heap is getting thinner. I just kept telling myself: how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

[winterdream28]

I think I may have finally gotten caught up with sleep. I think I slept all day yesturday and most of the day today:)

Still nothing put away or washed though. Baby steps

[Ratty]

I still have half the stuff in my van and half in the back yard. I did get the food, kitchen and clothes cleaned and stowed away. I already bought 2 new tables for next year and an adult 'big wheels' just because. At this rate the van is filling up quicker than I'm emptying it. Went through the car wash and now I need to wash my car. (Streaks of sludge running out of every crevice. It's a messy business that BM. Eat, sleep, work, repeat.

[chuckularone]

Sleep: Caught up-ish
Gear: unpacked, "cleaned" and stowed
Laundry: Piled about 3 feet deep next to the washing machine.

I guess I know what I'm doing tonight!

[Sunbeam56]

Today i started cleaning, FOR REAL. I had already done laundry and similar stuff. Today i started on camping gear.
OMG!!! The microfines are hell!!!
Wash a plastic table - looks clean and white- then hit it with a surfactant, and the rinse water runs brown!!!
Ok, i am not a donestic goddess, but this beats any dirty i have ever seen.
Ran the coffee pot thru the dishwasher. Looked good. Wipe with a dish cloth - the cloth is brown. The microfines are incredibly adhesive.
Lots of playa dust made it to Texas.
(I kind of hope some fairy shrimp did too).

[chuckularone]

I ran my stainless steel mug through the dishwasher 3 times. Still playafied!

[FIGJAM]

A little vinegar in the water will fix that.

[jneilvindy]

My 2 day drive home turned into a 3 day drive since I stopped and slept nearly 10 hours at a rest stop after only 13 hours on the road

Got home and powered my way through unpacking, cleaned the bike and got all the laundry done.

Just tonight I mowed my yard since we are due rain tomorrow and I had decided to use my playa shoes as yard working shoes. So I'm looking out my window now at dusty playa footprints in my neatly mowed yard and it's making me smile.

Pretty adjusted to life back in defaultia but if someone said burning man tickets were on sale for a burn in November I'd be purchasing them in a heartbeat. Just wanna go back to the camp I left behind.

[chuckularone]

A little vinegar in the water will fix that.

I've decided to keep the patina.

[kittyrodriguez]

Got home Thursday morning. It was a long journey back. It always is. Finally unpacked the car, into the living room. I walk past and smell the playa smell every now and then. Maybe I'll start washing things tomorrow. Maybe not.

[Aurelia]

I seem to be useless to myself
yes, I went to the REI and invested in the stuff they insist is needed for their tents .."tech wash"
washed the tent and the sleeping bag and then lay down again

maybe tomorrow I will bring in the tent maybe not

Yggy, so sorry !

that is sort of my problem ..why I no longer am having a dog or horse
I see their eyes talking with me
and of course I will never forget Clyde either

xoA.

[Sunbeam56]

Whomever said happiness cannot be purchased forgot about puppies.
I have had dogs ALL my life - so i have lost many. Its a mistake not to open your heart and accept the love and devotion of the next best friend.
It is hard to lose a close friend. Harder to live without another friend.
Although i have not loved equally, all my dogs have loved me. I have given them good lives- fun, food, and freedom. They have rewarded me beyond measure.

[Lonesomebri]

Okay, I'm down to the last leg, emptying out the back of my truck. The house next door is for sale so I have been laying low the past couple days, inside with the shades drawn to help preserve property values. It's almost dark out though, so time to get to work. I have the dogs here by my side, but they are little help with emptying the truck.... Peeing on what I take out of the truck, they're great.....

[Meat Hunter]

The first part of my clean-up plan is to ladder-up two tall trees, install blocks on the trees and use two lines to hoist-up my dome fabric, tarps and alumanet. Use my 15 gal. tank sprayer to spray on a vinegar solution, then hose down with water and allow to sun dry.

Other non-electrical equipage will be first cleaned in a tank of vinegar solution, then washed in a water tank, and allow to sun dry.

If I find me a nice used Class B motor home or a small used 2 person travel trailer with a shower for next year, most of the equipage that I am cleaning this year will not be going with me. Just my trike, ice chest, clothing, a select few hand tools, 2000i generator, 10 gal. non-ethanol gas and 20 gal. water.

At soon to be age 71, I am much too old for all this falderal of loading & unloading of equipage, setting-up & taking down of tent infrastructure, heavy totes and other things that would normally be installed and part of the inside of a small motor home or small travel trailer.

Less is definitely better....

[AntiM]

I ran my stainless steel mug through the dishwasher 3 times. Still playafied!

Careful, for some reason playa dist and dishwasher detergent combined make an excellent etching powder on metal, and dulls enamel. Plastic will just die. That is completely unscientific, but based on years of observation.

[danibel]

Laundry is mostly done. I still need to pul a few things out of the van and wash them (shade cloth mostly). I need to hoist the shade structure legs up onto the rafters in the garage, but that is a two person job and I am but one.

I am looking for a job. The day I left for Burning Man I negotiated my exit from a start up. I don't really want to do sales anymore. I want a job as a web designer/developer. It just needs to pay at least $40 an hour. Maybe putting that out there will help it happen (but really getting my portfolio together would be wiser!).

I think I am going to drive up to the city this weekend and get some faux fur to start on my vest.

[RedHeaven]

Just popped in to say, I don't envy any of you right now
Its the one prize I get for not going to burning man!

Also, sorry for your loss, ygmir. Sending love

[RosieTahoe]

I'm finally (almost) finished! I've spent all of my free time this past week sleeping, eating, cleaning, unpacking, and re- packing! I'm really sad this burn is over but am consoled by the fact that I had one of the best weeks of my life and my burgin brother and a couple of burgin close friends all intend on returning next year! Whenever I get sad I just start daydreaming about how to make next year even better!
I make almost all of my own costumes that need to be hand washed and line dried, so that was a HUGE job. .. once it was completed though, it made me happy just looking at the line and getting excited for all the other creations I have a full year to make

[ygmir]

Just popped in to say, I don't envy any of you right now
Its the one prize I get for not going to burning man!

Also, sorry for your loss, ygmir. Sending love

Thanks RH.............