2016 One Item A Day For BM List....

[Elorrum]

Received in the mail a new solar charge controller for my dinky 15 watt panel set up. After three cheapies that either did not send power to the battery, or didn't power the load... Yeah those twelve buck things (different "brands" but identical). Spent some more this year and got a Morningstar version. Hoping it's the last one for a while.

[Ratty]

I drove across town to pick up a free bike basket from Craig's List. It's a beauty. A giant Ward messenger basket that has braces attached to the front hub. Although I did have to pick up the whole bike. Some guy walking past my house helped me take off the basket and took the bike. It was a burner bike so I got 2 working strings of el wire also.

[Patsh]

I drove across town to pick up a free bike basket from Craig's List. It's a beauty. A giant Ward messenger basket that has braces attached to the front hub. Although I did have to pick up the whole bike. Some guy walking past my house helped me take off the basket and took the bike. It was a burner bike so I got 2 working strings of el wire also.

SCORE!!!
Also for the guy walking past your house at just the right moment... Score!!

Love it!

[Molotov]

Cooked up the last of the meals I am vacuum sealing and freezing for my 6000 mile road trip from Texas to Black Rock City, then beyond to US 101 and the Pacific Coast and across the northern tier of the US all the way to Sault St. Marie, MI before turning back home to Texas. Everything from single servings of chicken enchiladas to red beans sausage and rice, sliced pizza and more. None of which require electricity and a microwave, just a small pot of boiling water in the travel trailer and in 3 minutes-Presto!-a hot meal!

[Savannah]

I did it!

No more French whore baths for me. I bought a shower enclosure......yay

How are you going to decorate it? Maybe you could write 'French Whore's Shower' on it.

Yaaaaaaaas.

[lucky420]

done! ^^^

[Savannah]

[AntiM]

The Jaded Old Broke-down French Whore approves.

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[Ratty]

Oh my, AntiM aren't you the coquette? Where were you in that picture. And don't tell us you were just hangin around the house.

[EGAZ]

Complete fluid change on the truck complete. Brake inspection and grease the zurks and it is ready to roll.

Been slowly getting things mounted on the bike. Rear baskets, plate for the stand to tip the bike upright more. Rear tail light mount. The one that came with the light is junk, fabbed a new one.

And the biggie!! My journey started in April, when I decided to make this year my virgin year. After bouncing around many articles, videos, posts, etc., all during May, not realizing the main sale was the same month, I missed it. I did get STEP placement but its too far down the timeline to matter. Now, on July 7, I have tickets in my grubby little hands. Thanks again to ePlaya members that offered the ticket & VP to make this happen for me!! Thank You!!

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See everyone on the Playa!! WooHoo!!

[trilobyte]

Congratulations on getting your ticket, eldageekaz! Mine should be coming along soon.

It's been a busy few weeks, with a bit of playa prep happening along the way. I think I posted before about having ordered another box of lag screws for camp (my plan is to replace even the regular nail spikes), well since all my shade hardware is stored in Nevada I hadn't gotten a chance to test it until recently. I wound up having to buy 3/4 inch hardware and conduit to knock up a lighter duty shade structure (which attaches to conduit fittings mounted to my van's roof rack) for a campout, and it was as good a time as any to give the lag bolts a shot... worked perfectly, as expected.

We also had gotten the last two new poster designs finished, and I got the vinyl banners ordered and have received them... w00t!

We also got some van maintenance done recently... changing of the oil and filters and other nonsense. I also fixed a latch on one of the rear doors and hit the sliding side door with some WD-40 so it opens easily again. We're currently torn between the idea of getting a hitch installed and me taking the van with a trailer this year and renting a box truck (I booked the rental months ago). Whether I rent a truck and leave the van behind for the girl (who's taking 2016 off) or take the van with trailer, we want to make sure the van is in decent shape.

Then in the tools department we finally pulled the trigger on getting a decent socket set. We've been making do with random leftover pieces from many moons ago, as well as pliers and wrenches and screaming and cursing (when the pliers and wrenches don't get the job done), but we figured it was time for us to get a decent set. I have a short list of projects I'll be able to use the new stuff on immediately, plus they'll come in handy on numerous future projects.

For the recent campout, I knocked together an Eridu Society Camp sign that I'll be able to use on the playa, as well as dug up and dusted off (so to speak) the Ninkasi standee that we made for the Fertile Minds Idea Deli back in 2012. It's a great design one of my campmates made, then I turned it into a large 4 foot tall wooden cutout of Ninkasi (she's a one of the Sumerian Anunnaki, and most importantly the one responsible for teaching mankind about the brewing of beer), standing next to a specials board. I'd coated the specials board part of the sign with chalkboard paint, and other campmates painted the rest. It'll be great for the Brainy Bar, I'm glad to see she's ready to go.

I worked out a couple minor design issues, and also picked up some materials (acrylic and wood) for a couple upcoming projects. There's still lots to do, but as we're heading into the home stretch I couldn't be more excited!

[Ratty]

Trilo, I can't wait to see your art. Your camp is on such a large scale.

I picked up this new piece today at a yard sale. (Small scale projects.) I love the hand. Whoever made it, (in china I assume), even squished the palm and fingertips so it looks lifelike. Almost. anyway I need to make a new sleeve, hole in the bottom for rebar and It's done.

[ZigZag]

That is just too cool.

[EGAZ]

NOOIIiiiiCCE!!!

There has to be a second...... Somewhere........

[Skuzzy61]

In prep for desert life, I procured a new shirt. Just bought one, and had been waiting for a chance to test it. I know this is product is not "cool" and not part of any "costume", but it fits my approach on clothing. Like I have said before, I have absolutely no imagination when it comes to clothes. I digress.

Well, yesterday was 99F with a nice hot Sun bearing down on us. So, I put on the shirt, slipped a cotton t-shirt over it, all the while the Wife was giggling and making comments about how I was gonna just die from the heat.

When I put it on, in the house, it was warm and I had concerns. She was putting on sun screen, and I decided not to put in any. Then we got on our bikes and took off for a 5 mile ride. It was AMAZING! I have never felt so comfortable in the hot Sun as I did wearing that shirt. She was sweating her arse off by the end of the ride, and I still wanted to ride more, barely showing any signs of sweating. Which was a surprise as she is in better physical shape than I am.

Yep, gonna get enough of these to wear the 9 days we are at BRC. Simply awesome!

[Captain Goddammit]

Nice shirt, I may have to try one.
My MURS radios arrived. I've got some other MV driver friends who will have them too. Plus, ship-to-shore from the MV to camp might be handy too.
I hope these goddamm things actually work out there.

[Ratty]

Capt. I think you'll love it. The most recent JRS made it sound so useful.

[BoyScoutGirl]

Browsing for the best megaphone.

Teleconference with camp lead to clarify lumber orders for new sawhorses, bike racks, and Lamplighting-specific workbenches.

It feels like half the camp regulars are taking the year off, so we're really short-staffed for procession leaders. We already lean pretty heavily on those we do have, so we're trying to come up with creative ways to avoid burning them out. Whatever happens, we'll light the city without fail!

[Molotov]

Captain---

MURS radios do work on the playa, but you need to be outside your RV for the best signal. Just preface your call with "Black Rock 911-Black Rock 911, this is xxxxxx" and they will usually answer on the first or second call. After that, it's just like calling 911 on the phone-they get all the details and ask a few questions. Your report is then directed to the proper responders such as BRC Rangers, Fire, EMS, DPW, or heaven forbid, the BLM coppers.

I had to call in one emergency last year for another participant and it worked fine. I don't carry an ESD radio when I'm not on duty, so MURS works great.

[Ratty]

And there are 3 channels for personal, (non emergency), communications. "Hey capt. where are you? I just woke up and you need to come take me along." or "First Mate. Come back and get your Capt. He's in the Pottys by the Man".

[Captain Goddammit]

I only have them for personal communication reasons, which is why I'm worried about not enough channels.
I wish I still had my old Icom 2-meter portable, it had a slight mod to allow it to transmit up to about 154Mhz.
I might return these and get something like that instead. I really don't give a shit to listen to other general traffic.
I considered connecting to one of the 18-foot antennas on the Land Yacht... They are 27Mhz CB 1/2 wave antennas and completely out of tune for VHF but sheer size and height might overcome that.

[trilobyte]

Thanks Ratty... I don't know that I'd say we're large scale, we're pretty tiny in the grand scheme of camps and things.

Got the storage container annual bill paid, and sent in the container map... a couple steps closer! I also got some time booked on the shopbot for later this week and the beginning of next week to cut parts for the bar. Which reminds me, I need to get my art files prepped and turn 'em into job files I can use on the tools, and then get the van all cleaned out so I can make a lumber store run.

[DoctorIknow]

Just picked up the schedule sign for Club Neu Verboten. Double sided. I have to put in the grommets as the sign company here uses the hammer and steel die method, which means if they use too much force or repetition with hammer blows, it cuts the vinyl on the outside edges of the grommet.

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[Netty58]

Jeepers! look at that view?

[Meat Hunter]

Well, today I finished with the last two items on my 2016 new/repair-build To-Do list.

(1) I built, spray painted and added PVC pipe extension/platforms to both sides of my trike back basket. There is really no secure way to carry a folding chair onto the back basket of my trike. In the last two Burns, I have managed to have 3 folding chairs bounce off unnoticed as I was scooting across the playa. Although I had my name and camp name taped to all of them, they were never returned, did not show up at Lost 'n found and I did not really expect them to be returned.

Also, there was not space in my front basket for both my backpack and my lighted night wearing coat. With the extensions on both sided of my back basket, I now have secure places for both my folding chair and my coat.

So that they do not walk off on their own, I already had two lightweight combination lock cables that I use to lock my rear wheels which can also double as locks for my chair and coat.

(2) After going through 3 sets of el-wire on my trike, I discarded them and replaced them with 4 sets of robust outdoor light strings that are water-resistant. The seller says that they are water-proof, but I will just consider them as being water-resistant. They are sold by a company that specializes in camping equipment and from all the reviews that I have read; I have yet to find a negative review.

At 10' long, they were a bit long for 2 of my applications. However, they are wired in a manner if the wire is broken all the lights remain on - except the lights outboard of the cut. This allowed me to install them and then to cut off the excess length. Unlike the other types of light strings that I have seen, these light strings have a plug that goes into the 3AAA battery pack. Since I transport my trike in the back of my truck and I always seem to run into at least one heavy thunder storm on my drive out from Mississippi, the plug will allow me to remove the battery pack during transport.

[EGAZ]

Batteries...... Check......

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[Ratty]

3 cheers for burning man. Home of unadulterated, unrenewable energy. Hip hip hurray. (my pile of batteries is at least that big).

[knobdyspcl]

3 cheers for burning man. Home of unadulterated, unrenewable energy. Hip hip hurray. (my pile of batteries is at least that big).

Unforetunatally my pile is about as big. Once I get the solar set up I'll be able to confidently move to rechargables for the items that arn't solar. Anyone got a small set up for charging lights/batteries for bikes with a small panel on the bike?

[DoctorIknow]

Batteries...... Check......

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I shiver when I pay for "D" batteries, and I don't like that feeling, so to change my checkout demeanor, I used amazon shipping weights and costs of batteries and found out that:

RayOVac pack of 12 "D" alkaline batteries cost $4.14 per pound

Duracell pack of 34 "AA" alkaline batteries cost $9.44 per pound

Now I feel better...

[EGAZ]

Fortunately I only have two mag lights with LED mods that take D cells. And I get a year out of a change.
But yea, Batteries, chargeable or not are not real cheap.