Lessons Learned 2005

[HughMungus]

Thought I'd start a "lessons learned" thread because this year was both my best burn, ever, and the first year I've done a public theme camp. I learned a LOT this year. Some of these "lessons" apply to running a theme camp but some also apply to just an individual attending. I'm curious to see what everyone else learned for next time and thought others might have some insight into how to solve some of the problems each of us had.

1. Don't bring so much food/bring more portable food/bring better food. I know we always eat a LOT less while on the playa (for various reasons) but I wanted to make sure we had enough food to be able to help out others if necessary. So we ended-up with a lot of canned food that wasn't very good that we never ate (to be donated to a food bank in CA since I didn't ship it home). I also wish we'd had better food. My campmates were smart and brought some really good food and since we had an RV we were able to make some good meals and -- more importantly -- share some good, solid meals together (having a good, solid meal is especially important if you're not eating as frequently as you're used to). Portable food is also a good idea if you run out of time to eat and have to go somewhere such that you can eat whatever is in your backpack later.

2. Don't forget to eat. I kept getting powered-up each morning by coffee and got involved in running the camp and would find myself a little run down a few hours later because I'd neglected to eat. My campmates realized this and started making meals for me and the other guy running the camp (thank god). Of course, another thing is to not forget to drink water. One of my campmates complained of a "splitting headache" on the first full day we were there and I immediately recognized that he was dehydrated and told him as much then reminded my campmates to drink water even if you don't think you need it.

3. Keep better track of time / make plans / better temporal/spatial coordination. We'd be running the camp and next thing you know our campmates are getting ready to go out for the night and I'd be scrambling to finish up whatever we were doing so I could get ready. I actually had to put my watch back on and start keeping track of the time so I could allocate time for getting cleaned up, getting changed, etc. so my campmates weren't sitting around waiting for me. Winging it is fine if you want random experiences at random times but if you want to meetup with your friends/meetup with the people you just met/go to a specific thing at a specific time, you really need a plan and keep track of time to make it happen. Another problem was that we were running the camp during the day and then going out at night and would be out so late that we'd have to wake-up to run the daytime part of the camp with little sleep. Next year, instead of staying up until I'm tired I'll actually go to bed earlier (if there's nothing going on) so that I'm not burning the candle at both ends so much.

4. Make camp info cards to give out. If you are running a public camp and want people to go visit you, it's fairly useless to tell people "We're at such and such intersection" because most will forget. So next year I'm going to make some business-card sized cards to give out with our camp name and address on it (or a blank for the address) so people I met the night before can actually find us the next day.

5. Plan more. While my plans were pretty comprehensive, we had a few instances where I wish we'd had more of a plan. For example, we needed to fill the fresh water and propane on the way up there and had a vague idea of where to get them but we ended-up driving around way too much to find what we needed. We'd wanted to get a small grill for the stakes and couldn't find one in Reno in the time we'd allotted. On that note, it's a good idea to make sure your storage comparments are locked so your charcoal doesn't fall out on the highway.

6. Don't be afraid to delegate and trust others. I'm a control freak (because I want things to go right) and I had a hard time giving up control and letting others do stuff (especially driving the RV). I was finally able to not only delegate tasks but to trust others to do stuff that i would have normally done. Fortunately I had a crack team who somehow knew what to be done and were happy to do it so it all worked itself out.

7. Avoid "helping too much" syndrome. One problem we had was that everyone was trying to help too much. What would happen was that there would be something that needed to be done and instead of each of us listening to someone else's solution and running with it, we'd all have solutions. The way to fix this is to stop trying to help so much and listen more.

8. Bring less clothing. I ended-up wearing the same clothes from day to day and only changing when I got cleaned up/got a shower.

9. Be more organized. We had 6 people living in the RV and the shade structure and our stuff was getting mixed up with each others' stuff AND getting mixed up in our own stuff. I'd be looking for something clean to wear and have to dig through a bunch of dirty clothes or looking for batteries and have to search the RV for the batteries I'd had the night before. I'm thinking next year we'll have not only assigned storage space in the camp for personal items but also some kind of organized storage so that we can put things back where they belong so we can find them the next time we're looking for them. Looking for flashlight batteries in the dark sucks. I think I might also use those big 5-gallon bags to separate each day's clean clothes so that if I need a new set of clean clothes, I just grab a bag instead of looking for a clean shirt, a clean pait of pants, some clean socks, etc. etc. etc.

10. Evaportion ponds work great! I hadn't thought about doing one but we were getting full on graywater and someone in my camp just went ahead and built one and it worked incredibly well. Saves money, too.

11. Have a guestbook in the camp so people can write down their name and email address for future reference. There are a lot of people we met who I'd like to see again but we somehow never exchanged info.

12. More decoration for the shade structure. Our shade structure was pretty bland so we'll have more decoration and perhaps a painted structure next year.

13. Bring a solar battery charger to charge the batteries. Even though we had a relatively quiet generator and our neighbors didn't seem to mind us running it as rarely as we did, I wish we'd had a solar charging system we could just run during the day instead of having to dedicate time, gas and hourly generator costs JUST to charge our batteries at night.

14. Tie flashlights and anything else you don't want to lose to yourself with a piece of string. I think I lost two flashlights and one really great gifted lighter out on the playa simply because they weren't attached to my person. Duh.

15. Use an external shower instead of the RV shower. We had an RV with a shower but it was about a foot shorter than I was. So not only was it difficult to take a shower, I had to kick everyone else out of the RV to take a shower because I had to get nekkid (especially in the early evening when everyone else was trying to get cleaned up/make dinnner). Having an outdoor shower would have made things go a lot smoother.

16. "No shoes in the shade structure" doesn't work if you're running a public camp. We were originally going to not allow shoes on the carpet but we got slammed from minute one and forgot to enforce the no shoes rule and found that it didn't matter anyway. Shoes don't carry THAT much dust when it's dry and even so the carpets don't get THAT dirty (we were afraid they'd be too dirty to sit/lay/sleep on and they weren't).

17. Have a light for your camp sign. We had a sign but no light for it at night so it was hard to find our camp at night which made it hard for people to find us at night.

18. Enlist visitors to the camp to help with the camp. We had a lot to do and we had some visitors help us out with stuff but we should have been setup better to let the visitors to our camp help us run the camp. I think some of our visitors wanted something to do besides walking around so now I have a better idea of how to enlist those people.

19. Assign camp duties. We had a GREAT crew this year and everything that needed to get done got done but I think we were just lucky. I think next time we're going to make SURE it gets done by assigning duties to people so that if some people are doing something for the camp (setup, running the camp, tear down), others are supporting them by cooking, cleaning, etc. Yeah, *having* to do something at Burning Man is kind of a drag, but, the net effect is that if everybody is doing what they need to be doing at the same time, everybody has more spare time than not.

So...what did you learn this year?

[Wavemage]

I learned that running around aimlessly from neon distractino to neon distraction for 3 years in a row doesn't give you as many 'cool random expereinces' as I would like to have had.

What the fuck? "If its meant to happen, it will happen" has always worked in the past. This year, very LITTLE of anything happened to me. It was a pretty boring burn, except for a few highlights. I am baffled as to why. I think I made all the right moves to allow playa magic to happen, and it just plain didn't.

hahahaha not sure what the lesson is, but maybe its that I need to really concentrate on my art and music and bringing it to the playa, instead of just running around like crazy.

[HughMungus]

What the fuck? "If its meant to happen, it will happen" has always worked in the past. This year, very LITTLE of anything happened to me. It was a pretty boring burn, except for a few highlights. I am baffled as to why. I think I made all the right moves to allow playa magic to happen, and it just plain didn't.

I used to do my burns that way, too. Were you alone this year? I can't imagine doing it all alone ever again.

hahahaha not sure what the lesson is, but maybe its that I need to really concentrate on my art and music and bringing it to the playa, instead of just running around like crazy.

Funny, I told people this year (my first theme camp) that the reason I did a theme camp is "because I got bored with just going to Burning Man." The more you contribute to the event, the better it is (it seems).

[AntiM]

1. Bungee cords are unreliable when it comes to securing heavy loads. Get thee to a truckstop and acquire the heavy black stretchy bands the truckers use for their big rigs. Those bastards don't let go easily. Save the bungee cords for the lids of your totes; I've often seen the lids fly off and go on their own journeys.

2. Learn to tie knots. Practice with the rope you'll be using on your load. Better yet, get the big flat ratcheting tie-down straps in assorted sizes and learn how to use those to secure your load. They still may come undone or get loose, but will not fail as dramatically as a poorly tied knot on a rope. Most people think they can tie a knot, this is not true; find a sailor or scout to teach you the basics.

We did those things and still lost one of our smaller straps off the top of the load. Good thing Larry had put extra stretchy straps on top or we'd have lost the legs to our little table.

[HughMungus]

big flat ratcheting tie-down straps

We used these. The great thing is that they do double duty as shipping straps then guylines (if they're long enough; ours were 15 feet long and are actually pretty cheap).

[Wavemage]

I was part of theme camp this year, so I wasn't "all alone". My first burn I had my girlfriend with me. My second, my (new) girlfriend stayed home, but gave me permission to do whatever the hell I wanted on the playa. This was my third burn, and my girlfriend and I broke up right before coming to the playa, which threw a monkey wrench into my plans since she was planning on coming this time.

So wandering alone was ok, but a bit lonely. Met a few cool people, but really met very FEW people compared to last two years. Can't figure out why. Bizarre coincidence. Perhaps the universe is just pushing me in a different direction, AWAY from burning man for a while, since its been dominating my life for 2 years solid. I'm off to Europe for 5 weeks next. TIme for new kindsa adventures....

What the fuck? "If its meant to happen, it will happen" has always worked in the past. This year, very LITTLE of anything happened to me. It was a pretty boring burn, except for a few highlights. I am baffled as to why. I think I made all the right moves to allow playa magic to happen, and it just plain didn't.

I used to do my burns that way, too. Were you alone this year? I can't imagine doing it all alone ever again.

hahahaha not sure what the lesson is, but maybe its that I need to really concentrate on my art and music and bringing it to the playa, instead of just running around like crazy.

Funny, I told people this year (my first theme camp) that the reason I did a theme camp is "because I got bored with just going to Burning Man." The more you contribute to the event, the better it is (it seems).

[EB]

Lesson: Flag pole beacon worked like a charm! Easily found camp during day and night (with help of el-wire "Man.")

Lesson: Kegs are a huge pain in the ass. Bad-idea theater. Tapped a pony keg on Wednesday with a CO2 rig only to come back from a bike ride to find EVERY DROP OF BEER pushed out through a loose connection inside the jockey box. So, we became CAMP FRAT HOUSE FLOOR. Joy.

Lesson: Deep cycle batteries are awesome. Something very comforting about having a "flip on the lights" switch. Charged them during the late afternoon with a Honda 2000i tucked between my car and my trailer.

Lesson: Give your significant other "permission" to not like BM. Sounds stupid but it makes a big difference. I've brought newbies three different times and it took me this time to realize the pressure I was putting on them to "get it." Like a previous poster said, it's not for everyone.

Lesson: Share as much as you can -- food, beer, swag, etc. It comes back to you in spades. We shared our jambalaya with our surrounding camps and in return were re-paid with deeeeelicious meals ranging from grilled cheese to grilled veggies.

Lesson: Home Depot plastic cable ties are your best friend. Get the big ones and the little ones. The collary: A new pair of scissors is your best friend to cut those suckers when it's over.

[AntiM]

We have some reusable zipties aka cable ties. Green and bumpy, they hold tight, but you can release them rather than cut them. If I can find where larry stasted them in the garage I could come up with the brand name.

[The Bass]

Don't bring fucking watermelons to Burning Man!!!

oh, was this not the "pet peeves" thread?

no? what? "lessons learned"?

sorry....but really, don't bring 'em!!

ok, here's one: set up all of your personal stuff - shelter, shade, bike, lighting, etc. - before doing camp setup work. we really tried to remind people of this idea this year and it reduced burnout tremendously.

although me, i never did get around to setting my tent up, all week. go figure.

[HughMungus]

I was part of theme camp this year, so I wasn't "all alone". My first burn I had my girlfriend with me. My second, my (new) girlfriend stayed home, but gave me permission to do whatever the hell I wanted on the playa. This was my third burn, and my girlfriend and I broke up right before coming to the playa, which threw a monkey wrench into my plans since she was planning on coming this time.

So wandering alone was ok, but a bit lonely. Met a few cool people, but really met very FEW people compared to last two years. Can't figure out why. Bizarre coincidence. Perhaps the universe is just pushing me in a different direction, AWAY from burning man for a while, since its been dominating my life for 2 years solid. I'm off to Europe for 5 weeks next. TIme for new kindsa adventures....

Maybe your head was just in a different place this year. I've had a few Burning Man years where I felt disconnected but now, years later, I realized it was just me (my two sadly wasted "party years" where I basically drove an RV out there alone and even though I knew people there didn't get involved with anything productive and felt very alone).

Wave, this next part is for everyone else, not you:

We met a guy who complained about finding it hard to connect with people and I said "get involved with a theme camp". There are always camps looking for members. Probably the best ones to get involved with, though, are local ones you can help build early on. It's great to have a home base to go home to and, from my experience this year, VERY cool to have people come to you (your camp) instead of you having to go find them. And your public space doesn't even have to be that complicated or expensive -- carports are pretty cheap and easy to setup even if you're just driving your car and rugs and a few throw pillows aren't that expensive and you don't have to have a bar or anything else to get people to come. Perhaps the best thing you can do for people there is to invite them in, say hi, give them a place to relax between here and there, let them know that someone else is looking out for them, etc. You don't have to make life-long connections with everyone who stops by -- just giving someone a little shelter from the "storm" is incredibly simple yet powerful.

And that's one thing I loved about having a public theme camp: being able to give the lonely, wandering souls a place to cool their heels, relax, get away from looking for "something" out there, and talk to someone (us or the other visitors). I saw one guy early on walking down our street looking mentally lost. I called him over and he sat down and we pampered him a little bit with some shade and cold apple cider (yum). I said, "How are you doing?" (because I know from experience that that lost look can be caused by anything from mental anguish to dehydration) and he got to unload some of the things that were on his mind and we listened and gave him some advice and so on. Just being able to help like that, to say, "How are you doing?" to someone and making those brief yet compassionate connections are one of the main reasons I go to Burning Man.

What was my point? Oh yeah: being part of a theme camp is the shit.

[HughMungus]

Lesson: Flag pole beacon worked like a charm! Easily found camp during day and night (with help of el-wire "Man.")

Yeah, I need to start doing that. It makes a great landmark for both your campmates and the people camped around you.

Lesson: Deep cycle batteries are awesome. Something very comforting about having a "flip on the lights" switch. Charged them during the late afternoon with a Honda 2000i tucked between my car and my trailer.

We brought a deep cycle this year to power our drill press (that we were going to use to drill rocks but ended-up not using at all) so it powered our radio the whole time.

Lesson: Give your significant other "permission" to not like BM. Sounds stupid but it makes a big difference. I've brought newbies three different times and it took me this time to realize the pressure I was putting on them to "get it." Like a previous poster said, it's not for everyone.

And permission to not like everything about BM. I told my virgins on the way up there: don't feel pressured to like everything and everyone out there. Lord knows I don't.

Lesson: Share as much as you can -- food, beer, swag, etc. It comes back to you in spades. We shared our jambalaya with our surrounding camps and in return were re-paid with deeeeelicious meals ranging from grilled cheese to grilled veggies.

Yep. Although this year I had to stop myself from gifting too much. I ususally bring a ton of liquor to gift to bar camps but this year I thought, "I have a theme camp and we're already gifting like a motherfucker with these necklaces so why would I buy a shitload of liquor?" So I didn't and it was fine.

[HughMungus]

Don't bring fucking watermelons to Burning Man!!!

We brought a quarter watermelon and it was one of the best things we at while out there (especially since we were able to gift some of it). It's fine as long as you keep up with the associated MOOP.

ok, here's one: set up all of your personal stuff - shelter, shade, bike, lighting, etc. - before doing camp setup work. we really tried to remind people of this idea this year and it reduced burnout tremendously.

Especially before dark.

although me, i never did get around to setting my tent up, all week. go figure.

Haha. One year I loaded up my Tahoe with all my stuff, arrived, dumped all my shade structure stuff on the ground and decided to just sleep in the back of the Hoe. I slept there the rest of the time. :D

[madmatt]

1. less food/better food/no cooking, microwave or eat it cold only (lesson from last year, applied this year)

2. brought a strip of carpet and a solar lantern for in front of each of our 8 tents LIFESAVER GODSEND for disrobing and leaving your dusty ass shit outside when you crash, and enter your tent clean and nekkid.

3. pee bucket for inside tent (don't spill it!) For boys only, large mouth gatorade bottles are good cause they seal up, but LABEL THEM!!!

4. take less pictures but better pictures

5. us the movie function of the digital camera

6. talk to "normal" looking people, we met some amazing people with amazing stories that way

7. no margarita mix, more spicy bloody mary mix (lesson applied from last year)

8. sunday afternoon, after breaking down camp, head to center camp for a couple hours so that when you leave, it's not just sad and tired.

9. lots of vinegar water in spray bottles for clean up.

10. reach out to every individual in your camp and get to know them, make them part of it (so they'll do more work on their own).

11. happy hour daily.

12. mooping throughout week, instead of in a 2 hour lump before leaving.

13. lots of prescription drugs.

14. twice as much: duct tape, rope, knives and work gloves.

15. lots of sharpies, label EVERYTHING.

[DVD]

Don't bring fucking watermelons to Burning Man!!!

We brought a quarter watermelon and it was one of the best things we at while out there (especially since we were able to gift some of it). It's fine as long as you keep up with the associated MOOP.

We did a Forbidden Fruit bar the day of the Burn with 4 watermelons, 30 oranges, 5 Honeydews, 3 pineapple- and it was astounding. People sucked those things up like Paris Hilton... well you get the picture.

We'll being doing it again next year based solely on this year's success and we'll be doing it twice. More fruit for the masses!!!

(Was it OK to leave all of the rinds hidden under some pillows in First Camp?)

[mars]

Put the Art Car Drive-Thru Service Window BEFORE the area where the people line is, rather than AFTER.

Don't put the "Clean Towels Here" sign above the greywater bucket.

Too much food CAN be a problem, cuz you can't find or get to the stuff in the back/bottom.

Designate one person in camp, each night, to be the cameraman. That way you don't have to do it every night, you don't get multiples of the same photos and everyone benefits from the different styles of photography.

Battery-powered blacklights and blacklight-friendly paint work well for nighttime signage.

Deal with all the battery-related and glowstick-related nighttime lighting during the heat of the day, so it doesn't become an unwanted rush job as dark is setting in. It was very relaxing to sit around in the afternoon changing all the blacklight batteries vs. trying to do it in the dark when I'd rather be working on my costume. (Of course, learning about solar is next on my list. Is there a solar theme on e-playa anywhere?)

Be out on the playa as much as possible. The time zips by, especially when running a theme camp that can utterly absorb you.

People interact with you more if you are in costume. So if you want to be invisible, put on your street clothes.

The more you give, the more you get. (But getting isn't the reason for giving.)

Just because Burning Man has a bad year, doesn't mean that the next year is going to be worse...it could be THE BEST. (And it WAS!)

Neon

[DVD]

Just because Burning Man has a bad year, doesn't mean that the next year is going to be worse...it could be THE BEST. (And it WAS!)

Amen to that. Last year was the pits. This year was my (5th) favorite so far. Even in spite of the obnoixious, self righteous and completely usesless Security Check in ("Ver are your PAPERS!!?")

Funny that this year involved the most giving I've ever done on the Playa. Maybe there is a relation?

[AntiM]

I've already started my "things I forgot" list:

a broom (really)
bag balm
our camp moop bucket with lid
a hot pad for the coffee pot
mustard sauce for the tuna packets
a box of tissues
more pants and T-shirts
something to wear to schlep around a motel room in Reno, I'd happily get nekkid on fron tof folks I know on the playa, but stick me in town and I resort to modesty

[The Bass]

(Was it OK to leave all of the rinds hidden under some pillows in First Camp?)

nice bait!

i did say it was a pet peeve, and sure, a bite or two of watermelon's nice... but every year, there are at least two untouched watermelons in our camp kitchen/garbage, usually a few more, and i see 'em at other camps, too - the moop factor is huge even if you DO eat 'em, and the waste when you don't...screw 'em, i say!

great thread, btw, lots of good ideas here!!!

[DVD]

every year, there are at least two untouched watermelons in our camp kitchen/garbage

Seriously, this is a call to you and anyone else that has fruit at the end of the week. Next year we will be regged as Forbidden Fruit. Look us up and bring us your fruit. We'll cut it, serve it and dispose of it all proper like.

The people *love* fruit and it's good for them what with all the non-processed sugars... mmmm good.

[HappyCJ]

One thing I learned was The Thursday Cooler.

Put all kinds of good meat and fresh fruits and veggies into a cooler and pack it with ice. Put a block of dry ice on top. Close the cooler. Seal the top closed. Wrap the cooler in a sleeping bag or blankets, and store in the coolest place you have.

On Thursday, open the cooler.

Having all this sparkling fresh food late in the week when you are tired of beef jerky, canned corn, and Budweiser, is a LOT of fun!! It breathed new life into our camp.

Just our $0.02 worth,
- CJ Happy

[HughMungus]

One thing I learned was The Thursday Cooler.

Put all kinds of good meat and fresh fruits and veggies into a cooler and pack it with ice. Put a block of dry ice on top. Close the cooler. Seal the top closed. Wrap the cooler in a sleeping bag or blankets, and store in the coolest place you have.

On Thursday, open the cooler.

Having all this sparkling fresh food late in the week when you are tired of beef jerky, canned corn, and Budweiser, is a LOT of fun!! It breathed new life into our camp.

Just our $0.02 worth,
- CJ Happy

Yeah, a good meal towards the middle or end of the week can really lift your spirits (and it's a great opportunity for everyone in your camp to sit down together for a change). This year my campmates surprised us with sirloin steaks with mushrooms and baked potatos. It really helped. The other good thing about a good, big meal is that it helps make-up for how people generally eat less/forget to eat, etc.

[WebGraphics]

4. Make camp info cards to give out. If you are running a public camp and want people to go visit you, it's fairly useless to tell people "We're at such and such intersection" because most will forget. So next year I'm going to make some business-card sized cards to give out with our camp name and address on it (or a blank for the address) so people I met the night before can actually find us the next day.

Camp Furtopia had a good idea. Instead of cards they gave out these weird bracelets that molded onto your wrist and were hard to come off. They had directions to the camp on them and looked neat.

2. Learn to tie knots. Practice with the rope you'll be using on your load. Better yet, get the big flat ratcheting tie-down straps in assorted sizes and learn how to use those to secure your load. They still may come undone or get loose, but will not fail as dramatically as a poorly tied knot on a rope. Most people think they can tie a knot, this is not true; find a sailor or scout to teach you the basics.

Alternatively you can buy knot tying books. This is how I learned to tie knots, hitches, loops, etc. I now consider myself a good knot tyer, yet have never learned a knot from a real person. The other thing is that you will always be forgetting the cooler knots. With a book you can refer back and remind yourself how things go.

PS - Knots AND bungie cords is the way to go.

[HughMungus]

Camp Furtopia had a good idea. Instead of cards they gave out these weird bracelets that molded onto your wrist and were hard to come off. They had directions to the camp on them and looked neat.

Wow, and we're making necklaces and bracelets anyway so that would be a natural fit. We could even get letter beads to spell out our location. Or, maybe more realistically, a little tag on the bracelet that has our info on it. THANKS!!!

[tola]

I so nearly didn't go this year - thought I was over it and all that but decided last minute to try once more. Had the most fantastic time ever, and here are some of the things that really helped make it great.

o Remember not to overwhelm newbies with own experience from previous years and take too much responsibility for their health and happiness. Help when it's needed and then give them time to discover for themselves.
o Divacup for the girls www.divacup.com - totally life-changing little cup
o army camo-netting and poles and spreaders for shade - lovely dappled light, piss-easy to erect and really wind-friendly.
o woolen socks - best thing ever for dust-free tootsies
o made sexy water-bottle carrier - much friendlier to carry if you like the look of it and it adds to your costume.
o bike-lock - rest easy and never get that sinking feeling.
o lots of deep breaths - counting till ten when pooped-out, mooped-out or noised-out by campmates and others. things seem much more intense on the playa and a quick cycle on your own can avoid temper flare-ups and bad feelings.
o embrace the wind and dust - on Monday when it really blew I went out into the back of beyond and really 'sailed' the wind, using arms and legs and whole body. I had a dust-bath of note and from then on didn't care about wind and dust, altho I still thank the Dust Fairies for going elsewhere for their labour day holidays.
o good company is of the essence - all that camaraderie and loving feeling stuff is so much easier if you don't secretly want to murder your companions!
o leave ego at home - this is not the place for comparing self to others and having fits of paranoia! be beautiful and shine.

[unjonharley]

Don't break my own rule. "Less camp + more fun.
.
Be a turtle. carry a days camp with you. So you can stay out longer = more fun.
.
Build your bike in Oct. and ajust/redesigin for comfort the rest of the year. Easy to do with todays gas prices. = less pressure on my lovely ass.
.
Tell DP "I want a neckless" I'm to spastic to string one.
.
Get more hugs from BBS & KC. I don't care if I die young. ( You do know they are a couple a heart stoppers.
.
learned:
make enough noise and Chi Guy will personaly serve you tea.
Find robotland and you have found Steve to be a nice person.
Don't trust Kinetic or Dobbin to be at the meet and greet.

[DoctorIknow]

Speaking of knots (and one can usually do most anything with a square knot, bowline, clove hitch or "truckers knot") I had two cleats set up on my 14 foot high 4x4, used for tying off a 1/2" rope after hoisting a five gallon jerry jug (painted black to turn it into hot water) all the way to the top thru a pulley system.

I tried to assist those taking showers by hoisting up the water and tying off the rope on the cleats, but I wasn't there all the time and was SHOCKED to see how more than once, someone had tied off the VERY HEAVY jerry can in a totally non-secure fashion. If it had fallen, the water jerry can could have broken their neck.

For next year, I need to find a piece of hardware used on boats, windsurfers, that squeezes the rope when the rope has weight on it.
Anyone know the name of that hardware?

In the meantime, I found something that looks foolproof, especially if I put a diagram next to it:

http://www.iboats.com/mall/index.cgi?pr ... =376463670

[Kinetic IV]

Hey, wait a second. I was there. I was just fashionably late. The event was from 6 to 9 and I got there at 6:30 Central time....

On second thought forget I said anything. Hey at least I made it for a half hour and got to see Tisha2, the Rebbi and some great people...and I avoided specific Wheeevillians who said I am evil...pure evil (someone that got married this year supposedly said that). It all turned out good.

[Martiansky]

I found that I brought way too much food and ended up dropping off 3 bags at the gate on the way out of the gate monday.
I will buy food/water at a malwart in winnemucca or other nearby the playa town to cut down on gas mileage to the playa.
Canned ravioli and tamales were delicious! So was the sardines in mustard sunday afternoon after I mistakenly packed all the heavy stuff up front including the food tote! I had some food in bags inside the truck to drop off and ate some stuff out of them.

I WILL bring beer from home since they don't sell Leinie's out west, although I found that Corona tasted pretty danged good out there!

I won't bring as many clothes, I ended up not wearing most of what I brought because I found 2 pairs of shorts were very comfy and the others weren't so I re-wore those. More comfy shorts would be good though and maybe costumey pants for the cool nights. Oh, I will bring costumes next year!

Taller handlebars on my bike or maybe a 3 wheeler would be better.
(anybody got any cool playa bike/trike/4wheeler pics?)
Definately a bike trailer for ice runs! Holding ice bags in your hands and holding onto the handlebars while trying to pedal back to camp was trecherous!

Finding someone to rideshare with out and back would make a big difference also in cost savings.

[unjonharley]

Hey, wait a second. I was there. I was just fashionably late. The event was from 6 to 9 and I got there at 6:30 Central time....

On second thought forget I said anything. Hey at least I made it for a half hour and got to see Tisha2, the Rebbi and some great people...and I avoided specific Wheeevillians who said I am evil...pure evil (someone that got married this year supposedly said that). It all turned out good.

You denie being evil¿

[mars]

I bet a lot of you already learned this lesson...but i guess we had to learn it for oursleves...

Don't wait to get to Reno or Sparks to get water...they were sold out in the briefcase sizes everywhere we went and we wasted a good two hours looking before we resorted to the smaller sizes.

Neon


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