PAGE TWO

[Joeln]

Slag 101 - how not to win friends...

[tatonka]

[some seeing eye]

Although BM embraces impossibility, and vanquishes it, it still has constraints. Time, money, collaboration, more. The relentless marketing of the event to fly-in attendees without collaboration connections is creating false expectations and not helping the ticket shortage. "I just want to fly into Reno and rent an RV for $2000 for the week with no cleaning fees, oh, and I have an hour between when I return it and my flight. Just like other festivals, right?" Or maybe it's a strategy, create expectations, dash them, forcing the event growth to the regionals to collect passive royalties?

[unjonharley]

Some people just can't let it go...

Like the weather.. They talk about it.. Then do nothing about it..

It makes no diffrance to me if "you" don't like the weather

[Simon of the Playa]

i champion the hopeless, and i always fight for lost causes.

[lucky420]

Spin doctor spin

[Simon of the Playa]

round and round.

[Lonesomebri]

While I have spent the months since the Burn defending the commercialization of the playa, when not trying to ignore or detract from attention to that issue, and insulting anyone who questions the sell-out, it has suddenly dawned on me that I support the Plug and Play commodification for-profit camps, for all the right reasons, of course. I know many of you are shocked by my sudden epiphany.

[H.G.Crosby]

the BLM makes it very clear what a for-profit camp is in the guidelines that dictate whether or not someone needs a Special Recreation Permit.

the only confusion is how the BRC LLC people are framing it.

for profit camps should be banned, we can use the Code of Federal Regulations subpart 2932 to decide what counts as a for-profit camp:

Commercial use means recreational use of the public lands and related waters for business or financial gain.

(1) The activity, service, or use is commercial if—

(i) Any person, group, or organization makes or attempts to make a profit, receive money, amortize equipment, or obtain goods or services, as compensation from participants in recreational activities occurring on public lands led, sponsored, or organized by that person, group, or organization;

(ii) Anyone collects a fee or receives other compensation that is not strictly a sharing of actual expenses, or exceeds actual expenses, incurred for the purposes of the activity, service, or use;

(iii) There is paid public advertising to seek participants; or

(iv) Participants pay for a duty of care or an expectation of safety.

(2) Profit-making organizations and organizations seeking to make a profit are automatically classified as commercial, even if that part of their activity covered by the permit is not profit-making or the business as a whole is not profitable.

[Lonesomebri]

The BM blog should have a weekly "excuse the commercialization" column with guest contributors.
I have a couple nominations for columnist from right here on eplaya.

[southern crone]

Come on burners, don't be haters. Everyone should help the P&P join the burner society. Monday: Start with an old fashion serenade, every theme camp dress in togas, circle the P&P camp and beat on pans with metal spoons. Tuesday: Have a parade around the P&P camp with each theme camp dressing as their favorite, singer, actor, CEO, millionaire, etc. Wednesday: Help them give back to society by each theme camp supplying one can of spray paint to decorate the walls of the P&P camps. Thursday: Each theme camp offer one large hammock to use on, "Bouncer Love Night", to wrap around a bouncer, hang them on a pole and let them relax while gifting them with whippings, prods and the Burning Man brand. Friday: Host, "Big Dick on a Stick", night. Cook extra large wieners and 2 round potato balls and serve then on a three prong stick to the P&P party. Burn nights give them VIP sitting inside the fire burn perimeter. Show some inclusive love people.

[^Rhino!]

Nah. Nuke 'em from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

[unjonharley]

Nah. Nuke 'em from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

That's the way Rhino, show 'em the love

[theCryptofishist]

Now it'll be really important to know prevailing wind direction...

[theCryptofishist]

Someone forgot to post the minutes of the meeting of the Flat Earth Society.

[Joeln]

Eagle & dove flying together - Awesome!

[Captain Goddammit]

Someone forgot to post the minutes of the meeting of the Flat Earth Society.

I operate truck-mounted cranes for a living. The manuals say they are not to be operated on ground more than 3% off level.
I've often joked that they must have been designed by members of the Flat Earth Society, but no one ever gets the reference. There's not a quarter acre of ground that level anywhere near Seattle! They wouldn't wanna know what (or where) we do with those things.

[^Rhino!]

Someone forgot to post the minutes of the meeting of the Flat Earth Society.

I operate truck-mounted cranes for a living. The manuals say they are not to be operated on ground more than 3% off level.
I've often joked that they must have been designed by members of the Flat Earth Society, but no one ever gets the reference. There's not a quarter acre of ground that level anywhere near Seattle! They wouldn't wanna know what (or where) we do with those things.

So, tell me, Captain.....How good ARE your leveling jacks?

We operate our vertical coring equipment where the Kelly table (the place in back where the drill rods get pulled from the hole or drilled into the hole is dead flat level 0% slope in all directions. We have leveling jacks on all four corners of the drill trucks.

It's hilarious when you're drilling on an uphill slope and the operator is on his knees operating the rig, or on a downhill slope and you have to have the core drill operator standing on a stepladder.

All in the name of getting the job done.

[Captain Goddammit]

Hell we operate on hills where I'm worried the truck will roll or slide away!
It's 100% seat-of-the-pants ded reckoning. Years of having done this shit and just knowing how far you can push things.
Nothing could possibly go wrong.

[^Rhino!]

That's MY kind of work Captain. **salutes**

I've done a few things in my time. One of the hairiest moments came a few years back, proving to the whole Department that my men could get 'er done better, faster, and less expensively. We do job tracking that shows how long a report sits in the office ready to be drilled and completed. Alan, my scheduler and cohort-in-crime-and-arms gave me the job envelope on a Friday afternoon. It seems that there had been some questions on how a consultant had completed the job on the 'easy' side of the river, the final exploration borings for a 750' retaining wall. The consultant had taken 6 months and consumed $60,000 to get the first half done. They wanted the other half of the job for their plate. I didn't just say "no", I said "Give us a week to think it over." In the meantime, my mind was gearing up. The District had said that if we didn't want them to do it, we could choose another consultant or do it ourselves, providing we did it in our 'usual' fashion.

I needed to prove a point, and I wanted it to nail the consultant like a spike through a railroad tie.

We assembled a job envelope, and I took an all-terrain drill with a first-tier operator. I got all my sample equipment in a backpack that I'd carry, and we offloaded at the site at 10 a.m. We worked 3 days in mountain goat terrain (hills were up and down and up and down). We had it down to a science.....the operator would complete two borings 50 feet apart from a winch point 600 feet up the hill, and then we'd move down to the next two, as the winch point would be moved over a hundred feet. it went well until Wednesday afternoon, when we were ALMOST completed. My operator had been working at the EDGE of the safety margin. The ground was littered with small slabs of sandstone. The all-terrain drill is a little bit top heavy, and started to tilt as a a track went over a slab......

"Ray, back her off......"

Ray didn't respond. He was already mindset on completing the traverse, and also he couldn't hear over the diesel engine.

'Ray, back her off NOW for the LOVE OF GOD...."

He backed it off. He had been within a hair's breadth of overturning and rolling over a 60-foot cliff.

"Ray, let's OMIT that location and move on to the next one."

We completed the job borings later that day. Now, it was all up to me.

I got all the boring logs in order and ready to go that evening, got all my sample submission paperwork done, and wrote the geologic report. Straightforward. One the drive back to the office, I stopped for lunch and double checked all the paperwork. I turned it in before 2 p.m. to the typist for typing, and ALL of the samples were scheduled for the following day. The report went out Monday of the following week, a full week before Alan had forecast.

Consultant: takes 6 months to complete the job
gets $60,000.

In house completion: 1 week to do the job.
total expenditure: $8000

Value: priceless.

It only happened because Ray and I were pushing the limits of the rig's capability. Professionals can do that IF they KNOW to what point you can push it. Push too hard or too long, somebody gets hurt or killed.

And in 23 years on the job, I haven't had any lost time accidents, have had NO utility strikes, and have never been within 10' of an overhead powerline. It's amazing what the men will do for you if they trust you. AND you're worthy of the trust.

[Captain Goddammit]

I've taken out ONE set of overhead powerlines, around 20 years ago. I don't think anybody takes out two!
I was young and made the mistake/poor decision to move the truck without completely lowering the boom.
(Yes, folks, I actually do lower the boom!) and the power and fire guys who responded said if I hadn't been at least smart enough to not step off the truck I'd have been a French fry. My reasoning at the time was "OK... I'm not being electrocuted right now... I do not wish to change that situation... I am not going to fucking move one tiny muscle... "

I've never rolled a crane over but I've had my close calls, like craning stone slabs onto a barge and having the outriggers bust through the dock, but since I'd kept them as close to the ground or barge deck as possible, the truck only tilted a bit.
I've had what appeared to be solid ground bust open to reveal water a few running below, nearly rolling the truck.
You name it, I've almost had it happen. My job is basically to not let any of that stuff happen.
You have to push things to the limit to ever get things done, but not be a fool and let things go wrong.

[^Rhino!]

My job is basically to not let any of that stuff happen.
You have to push things to the limit to ever get things done, but not be a fool and let things go wrong.

We have a shared job responsibility.

The human resources folks think I'm joking when I tell them that pushing up daisies is NOT in my job description, and NOT covered by their moron catchphrase, 'other duties as assigned'. They look at my safety record and then I tell them to leave me the hell alone and let me do my job.

[Captain Goddammit]

Ha, my joke is that screwing up against the rules, all other rules are flexible.

[lucky420]

Oh the tragedy!

If You stomp my feet and whine will it get better? No.

You knew what you were doing, got caught and then acted like a little bitch


Buhbye

[Savannah]

[Lonesomebri]

Just to make clear, I don't even know where I am going or coming from, that's my perspective.

[tamarakay]

I mean after all we have kiboy to deal with. Enough is enough.

[lucky420]

Oh the tragedy!

If You stomp my feet and whine will it get better? No.

You knew what you were doing, got caught and then acted like a little bitch


Buhbye

Ummm your feet

[Ratty]

There is a difference between being passionate and being rude. Way to shit on everybody's plans for gifting. You are officially off my xmas list.

[theCryptofishist]

Lemme guess. You had a lot of trouble with the "foreshadowing" bit of high school English.