"Gate Nazis" (?)

violentspecter · Post by **violentspecter** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 8:46 pm

I've heard that getting in is somewhat of an ordeal?

Is it really as annoying and intrusive as I've been led to believe?

As bad as an airport?

lol

phil · Post by **phil** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 8:57 pm

I dunno what you've heard. There are a couple of stages to entry. I think the first one is where the gate people look for people hiding in your vehicle to sneak in without paying, then there's the greeter who gives you your info packet and asks about video cameras. I have some hazy recollection that there was a third stop for something that I can't recall. Somebody also asks about how much water you've got and about your dogs and horses. Or something like that.

It's mildly aggravating to me because I've driven 2 and a half hours from Reno and I'm in a slow moving line when all I want is to get to my spot and pitch my shade and tent and I've heard all the stuff before. I wouldn't call it an ordeal, and I'd much _much_ rather go through the entry crap for BM than for an airport.

What have you heard? Anybody got any horror stories we can tell around the camp fire? I found a hook in my door handle one year when we got to our camp site, but it was the year of the pirate ship crap, so I didn't really give it a thought.

violentspecter · Post by **violentspecter** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:01 pm

i heard that you had to stop several times like you have described and that driving in to BRC takes some time.

doesn't sound quite as bad as i've been told though.

people always assume the worst i suppose.

thanx for the insight.

ZaphodBurner · Post by **ZaphodBurner** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:14 pm

phil wrote: It's mildly aggravating to me because I've driven 2 and a half hours from Reno and I'm in a slow moving line when all I want is to get to my spot and pitch my shade and tent and I've heard all the stuff before. .

LOL! 2 and a half hour drive. The humanity.

The first time we arrived at the gate we still deer gristle on the grill and duct tape under the hood where my wife had hit a deer in the middle of nowhere and replaced the radiator in a gravel lot in Lakeview in the middle of the afternoon, thinking we weren't going to make it to the burn and knowing we were lucky to be alive. That was after a 12-hour drive. The greeters checked us out, made sure we didn't have stowaways, at welcomed us home. So what if he had to wait in line. (Exodus, on the other hand...)

There are no nazis at Burning Man. There are no nazis as Burning Man.
-c

dragonfly Jafe · Post by **dragonfly Jafe** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:15 pm

...I think this year they are stepping up the security a bit. I heard there was some issues with gate crashers in years past, so the perimeter is going to be more heavily defended, especially for the initial rush. YMMV.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:29 pm

phil wrote:...because I've driven 2 and a half hours from Reno

phil... I gotta say that this gave me a chuckle too.

violentspecter,

The gates aint' so bad. They check around for folks hiding in your vehicle and take you ticket(s). Jeez... its nothing like an airport. I wish airports were that enjoyable. I get a rush just pullig off the pavement onto the access road.

Don't worry about the gates (unless of course your planning on sneaking someone in).

Zulegoona · Post by **Zulegoona** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:39 pm

after being on the road for a number of days, burning up a trailer bearing on the side of a mountain in Wyoming, I rather enjoyed the antics and energy of the line and gates at 12:30 am in the middle of a white out dust storm.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:42 pm

Did I tell you we lost a trailer bearing in Denver last year? Only do that once... I'm packing spares next time, man.

Zulegoona · Post by **Zulegoona** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:47 pm

Are you going to need a bigger truck or trailer to accommodate the contraption along with everything else?

Gees that will mean 2 more minutes of gate thugs searching your stuff.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:53 pm

Yeah... I'm on the lookout for a used landscape/car hauler trailer to get it there. Something will turn up, I'm sure. I cant' wait to hear people along the way asking, "What the heck is that, anyways?".

Archantael · Post by **Archantael** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:11 pm

violentspecter wrote:I've heard that getting in is somewhat of an ordeal?

Is it really as annoying and intrusive as I've been led to believe?

As bad as an airport?

lol

It's worse. Seriously give me the gauntlet of TSA checkpoints and I'll take any one of them over the hassle of getting into BRC. Once you finally get to the gate you get the wonderful pleasure of dealing with gate staff that in the interest of making sure you don't have stowaways tears through your stuff without giving a damn about what they tear up in the process. And on top of that some of the gate staff have attitudes that flat out suck.

Once you get past the gate you get to make the long slow drive to greeters which has been tamed down from years past and is quickly becoming one of the most wasteful expenditures in the ORG's budget.....an almost worthless expense. They get to give you a spiel, stick a moop packet in your hands, and finally once you get past them you can breathe a sigh of relief that you've finally made it.

If you can get from 447 past Greeters in under 90 minutes you've got a bonafide miracle on your hands. And don't even start on the debacle called Exodus.
(Considering this year's theme, I wonder how much emissions that long line of cars, trucks, RV's etc puts out working through the woefully inefficient gate / greeters morass?)

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:15 pm

They search your car on the way in looking for stow-aways and dogs. They could care less about your stash and won't look inside any containers unless they're big enough to hold a person. I haven't seen it change much over the last 6 years. Occasionally there will be a complaint of a gate person being a little over-enthusiastic about the search, but there's also plenty of people who really make their job hard. Help them move stuff around, pull things out, etc and it all goes much easier. They are performing a necessary function - if too many people manage to sneak in the BLM could decide we aren't capable of self-reporting the population, leading to all sorts of new hassles.

I actually find the greeters more annoying than the gate, but that's probably because I'm allergic to cheerfulness.

frenchblue1 · Post by **frenchblue1** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:17 pm

It also depends on when you are going to be arriving. They kept to their entry time of 12:00 Monday Morning last year. Before you could get in alittle earlier at times. I drive a big set up now with a large RV pulling another weekender and they check every hiding place on there. I really look forward to the gate as that is part of the experience for me. Getting there right when the gates opens adds a little flavor too.
I drive 17 hours from Arizona to enjoy the burn and as soon as we see the Playa outside of Gerlach it is like Christmas morning.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:23 pm

frenchblue1 wrote:... it is like Christmas morning.

God, aint' it though?

Post by **mdmf007** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:26 pm

No Nazis - they are just looking for moochers and pets.

2006 wasnt bad we entered monday at 0800 no problems, I love reading the signs every fifty feet as well.

LeChat - look at old boat trailers. they hold more weight, have normal sized tires, tow better and are cheap. I can get one for about 5oo bones, and deck it for another 100.

lasts years -

later all

Davoid · Post by **Davoid** » Tue Jun 12, 2007 10:59 pm

I was quite pleased to see Hitler enter the dome I was dancing in a couple of years ago. Never had a gate Nazi, though. Then again, I don't come in an RV or with a trailer, and the car is so packed that the gate person doesn't get very far before giving up. And as far as that "moop packet"? That bunch of stuff includes a map of the city and the finalized theme camp booklet & event schedule, a couple of items I'd say come in rather handy.

The only thing I don't enjoy about the process is that me and my still-civilian clothing are covered in all-day-drive sweat and grime, I'm tired, and more than likely I've arrived at 2 or 3 AM and now have to put off the start of my burn for another few hours, find a spot to sleep in a car that I can't recline the seats in, because my groceries and stuffed animal costume are in the way. Sigh.

Oh, and if you do will call, you get to add another fun layer to the process. No, I'm not being sarcastic.

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 4:05 am

violentspecter wrote:I've heard that getting in is somewhat of an ordeal?

Is it really as annoying and intrusive as I've been led to believe? :evil:

As bad as an airport?

Vait ein minnit...

NAZI'S at zehr gate??

You shall perhaps to WISH for Nazi's at zehr gate.

Und VHY, you ask us?? heh heh heh.

Zehr L.L.C. ((ist pronounced Lyyyykh) vill no longer to need Nazis at zehr gate, for this year YOU shall to be honored to haff der anti-imperialist anti-counter-revolutionary Terminal City good Squad there to greeeeeeeeet you... IF you are to show up at PROPER time.

Not only shall you be greeted in the manner for which ve are VELL known, you *may* be subjekt to further interrogation, er, greeting.

Und you thought LAST year vas bad? Remember zehr one true-ism of Black Rock City...

It was ALWAYS better last year.

Archantael wrote: It's worse. Seriously give me the gauntlet of TSA checkpoints and I'll take any one of them over the hassle of getting into BRC. Once you finally get to the gate you get the wonderful pleasure of dealing with gate staff that in the interest of making sure you don't have stowaways tears through your stuff without giving a damn about what they tear up in the process. And on top of that some of the gate staff have attitudes that flat out suck.

Und WHY do they suck? Ist perhaps they have had to deal with the same azzole trying to sneak in the gate 4 times already? Or ist because they are feeding off your negatif expectations of zehr gate experience?

Is anopther chance to remind all - LEAVE ZEHR ECKS-PECTATIONS AT HOME!!!

And re the TSA... I get my stuff routinely rousted and tossed by TSA, either right in front of me (if I have a firearm with me, which is usual) or once the suitcase is gone. Carry-ons are reduced to carrion on occasion. I have a collection of different inspection tags, and have made damage claim after claim (which are routinely blown off and/or denied). The Gate, by comparison, looks at my truck (which I make sure they can tell by the outside there ain't no one in there, nor could there be) and sends me on. Maybe it's because I treat them decent, knowing they have their job to do.

and wrote: Once you get past the gate you get to make the long slow drive to greeters which has been tamed down from years past and is quickly becoming one of the most wasteful expenditures in the ORG's budget..... an almost worthless expense. They get to give you a spiel, stick a moop packet in your hands, and finally once you get past them you can breathe a sigh of relief that you've finally made it.

Free is a pretty bad waste of budget, I gotta admit. Or did you forget people volunteer for greeters? Hmmm???

Not bad when you realize the llc is MANDATED by the land use permit to dispense specific information in both written AND verbal form to ALL attendees. Seems like, yeah, it costs more to have free volunteers out there doing it than paid staff. Now I'm lost... (And... um... I've not been to BRC as much as you, which means, what, you forgot not only that greeters are volunteer spots, but the BLM permit mandates the info greeters give you, and have some way of verification (those dumb moopy stickers that change every year).

and also wrote:If you can get from 447 past Greeters in under 90 minutes you've got a bonafide miracle on your hands.

I don't think it's ever taken me more than a 35 minutes. Including reading the signs. I think my best time, Brunos to the trash fence, was 20 minutes on a Tuesday. So I must be dealing in miracles. Maybe I should gift holy water this year (giggles)...

and further wrote:And don't even start on the debacle called Exodus.
(Considering this year's theme, I wonder how much emissions that long line of cars, trucks, RV's etc puts out working through the woefully inefficient gate / greeters morass?)

OK... After my snarky-assed whiny rant, I agree with you 100% about this. Really. Exodus is the biggest polluting nasty ass mess I can think of, a really stupid fucking exercise in futility and moop and pollution spreading, period.

What's the answer? I have a real, real easy one. You split the exodus in thirds. Those fron the "d" circle outbound to the fence leave on Monday, those inbound to the Esplenade can stay until Tuesday, and Theme Camps and non-holdover staff until Wednesday. You've just cut Exodus down from a fucking mess to a managable disaster. Plus it gives the theme camps (which generate the most moop) and others time to moop their areas extra well.

Radical idea, no? Fuck - I just thought of this. In 10 minutes.

OK, maybe you say that's a fucking stupid plan. Maybe it is. I know. But it's an idea. And a lot easier than trying to get NDOT to build a freeway through Gerlach and Empire and Nixon to get all the f***ing traffic out. ANd at least I'm not just bitching about it, I'm trying to think up something to fix the problem, even if the llc institutes something this radical or not, instead of just bitching about it (which I do anyway) and waiting for someone else to think up the answer.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 6:34 am

I always get a chuckle about the Gate people expecting to just yank the doors of my Element open and look around WITHOUT having an avalanche of crap coming down on them....those that can figure out how the suicide doors work.
After a hard (but self-inflicted) two days on the road, my excitement level starts doubling from the moment I hit 447. It redoubles as the WELCOME TO NOWHERE sign appears, and reredoubles at the SPECIAL EVENT AHEAD sign. By the time I go off-road and catch my first glimpse of that fuzzy neon on the horizon I've completely shaken off my Road Trance and dig out the traditional Foster's oilcan and my ticket pouch.I find the wait at Greeters to be an actual pleasure, since it's the first time in 48 hours that I'm NOT responsible for my pace. Everywhere I look while waiting, I see evidence of my arrival at the most civilized place on Earth. Observing the looks on the faces of my fellow line-waiters confirms my enthusiasm. The Threshold of Contentment looms big!

Post by **mdmf007** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:18 am

Will call is esy to use, One person goes up and collects tickets while the rig stays inline.

We have done it this way for years now, works like a charm.

later

pinemom · Post by **pinemom** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 8:40 am

Last year was my first, and I LOVED the Gate! It really does bring you home!
This yr....well this year will be differnt if ya show up from midnight sunday to 4am monday...same drill differnt ending!

MU HAHAHAHAHAHA

Dustdevil · Post by **Dustdevil** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:48 am

[quote="mdmf007"]No Nazis - they are just looking for moochers and pets.

AND counterfit tickets.......

phil · Post by **phil** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:09 am

You split the exodus in thirds. Those fron the "d" circle outbound to the fence leave on Monday, those inbound to the Esplenade can stay until Tuesday, and Theme Camps and non-holdover staff until Wednesday.

While I agree with this in theory,

A) the BLM plan requires partiers to be gone on Monday.
B) I can't imagine trying to enforce this when people say they have to be at work on Tuesday, and they pack up and get in line Monday. How do you know where they were camped? What do you do if you can prove they are not allowed to leave yet? (Talk about gate nazis - We'll have exit nazis.)

The Burning of the Man was moved back to Saturday to avoid the crush on Monday, but the Temple burn on Sunday has negated that change. I say burn the Man on Thursday before Labor Day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/popvulture ... et-912681/

Burn the Temple on Friday.

Then let people go home whenever they want, keeping in mind that BLM's closing rule is still midnight Labor Day.

(Speaking of nazis, when I post this, I have to click Submit.)

Dustdevil · Post by **Dustdevil** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 10:17 am

[quote="phil"][quote]
Burn the Temple on Friday.

Maybe in 08'...... This year "Crude Awakening" burns on Friday. And it will be spectacular.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 11:03 am

What is crude awakening?

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:02 pm

Godwin

Never had any problems with the gate greeters. They've always been nice.

Dodged the Exodus last year by leaving at about 3am after the temple and "waffle" burns, due to post-packing exhaustion pass out/nap.

Fell asleep IN the damn trailer/artcar. *chuckle* Nothing like passing out on a 2x4 for 3 hours.

Badger

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:23 pm

Fucking drama queen whiny bitches..
Can'nt handle it, stay home..

capjbadger · Post by **capjbadger** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:27 pm

unjonharley wrote:Fucking drama queen whiny bitches..
Can'nt handle it, stay home..

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:28 pm

Before I spread some Troll food... Read the warning by Pinemom above.

Seriously. You have been warned.

Now... (sprinkle sprinkle...)

I told ya it was a half assed idea. But it could be done...

Burn the stuff all on Saturday, get rid of the hoopola and the extended conclave show (move the conclave fun to Friday so they're the sotlight of the night)...

OR...

Negotiate an extension with BLM, and using the safety factor of a controlled release onto 34/447 and the additional LNT ability.

How to determine who camps where? This is so easy it's funny. IF you're camped from the "d" ring out, your leave date is Monday. If your're still camped there then whoever does a drive by and tells ya your area is closed, pick up yer moop and leave. If they're there Tuesday they get another reminder, a bit more stringent. IF you wanna pack your camp and move to the inner ring to stay a day longer - so what? Most people by Labor day want to get the fuck outta there.

Theme camp people - just like the early arrivals and staph infections - get a wristband to let them stay until Weds. You don't like the wristband, that's quite cool also - nothing is forced - but your check out day is then Tuesday, and you get questioned Wednesday, your enhanced, um, "recommendation" to leave Thurs, and hard booted on Friday. Theme camps are hard booted by Saturday if any are left - and trust me, by then almost no one other than DPW and Staph is out there anyway. No joking.

You want/need to leave early? Fine. You can leave early, just like ya do now. It's not a biggie.

IF you've ever been on playa a few days past exodus, they *do* come by and find out if you have official business there, and if you don't, you're told to pack it up and leave. If you're still there by Friday and aren't officially OK'd to be there you can (and will) be ejected, which is not a good thing to have happen. (Another good reason to volunteer with DPW or one of the other gruppen there...)

OK... I do realize there are extra costs involved, plus the negotiation of deadline with BLM and whatnot, and the extra $$$ on the permit, I DIDN'T say my idea was perfect, or even good... but it would eliminate the exodus crush, and make it more green (by getting vehicles outta there), and actually enhance the moop removal in areas that need it worst (the D-A corridor and theme camps).

Post by **AntiM** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:46 pm

Random thought ... how do the folks who leave at zero-dark-thirty do an effective MOOP walk of their camp?

Cabana Springs · Post by **Cabana Springs** » Wed Jun 13, 2007 12:57 pm

Lots of Glow Sticks!

"Gate Nazis" (?)

"Gate Nazis" (?)

Re: "Gate Nazis" (?)

Beware the opening greeters, then...