WTF happen to the "pulse" exodus thing?

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 12:10 pm

When I first read about the pulse I thought it was about time. I drive an old truck that hates idoling for hours to move a few feet , grinding first gear, trailer bump repeat. but leaving Monday morning I didn't even see the usual gate dude on my way out and six lane merging at the edge of playa just before hitting the road. I feel screwed again by the paid powers at be didn't delivery on their plans they had put down in writing. What happened here?

Hoolie · Post by **Hoolie** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:29 pm

I was wondering the same thing. I left at 9am on Sunday, and it was the same stop and go crawl to the gate. Fortunately, the line was short at that hour (~45 min), so I figured they wouldn't start "pulsing" until later in the day when the line got longer. But I would expect that starting the pulse method early in the day would be more efficient and reduce the wait later in the day.

BetaBox · Post by **BetaBox** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 1:44 pm

we left at 2pm Sunday and we had a perfect pulse going. I could actually sleep, wake up for 5 min and drive, sleep, drive....

...Well, it was all fine until i was 2 minutes away from leaving BRC and the FUCKING LOST CHILD WAS REPORTED. ARGH... It wasn't a bad wait, but still, it immediately added 30 min to exodus (3.5 for me). people <18 should not be allowed at the event. yes that's a puritan w.a.s.p. stance, but come on...

How bad was it on Monday, anybody know? With the increased city size, it seemed slightly longer this year on Sunday when we normally leave.

kickstart · Post by **kickstart** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:18 pm

Exodus pulsing was being done on monday (official exodus day) morning. It started at about 9 or 10am, but should have started much earlier.

Once the pulsing started, it was a really good system. No overheating engines, no wasting gas while inching forward, and some good time to hang out and share playa stories with folks outside the cars while waiting.

Hopefully in the future they will include the pulsing in the late night saturday and sunday traffic to help those that leave right after the man and temple burns.

Isotopia · Post by **Isotopia** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:20 pm

I feel screwed again by the paid powers at be didn't delivery on their plans they had put down in writing. What happened here?

Spoken like a true, entitled prick. Exodus has never been easy. Exodus has never taken less than 3,4,5 hours to get out. Exodus is staffed primarily by volunteers that frankly get tired of hearing shit by people like the OP.

You want smooth sailing out the gate? Plan accordingly. Leave early or leave later. But either way, please put a sock in your fucking pie hole. Most of us get tired or feading he same complaint year after year.

Lord Of Ruin · Post by **Lord Of Ruin** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:55 pm

Isotopia wrote:
Spoken like a true, entitled prick. Exodus has never been easy...Exodus is staffed primarily by volunteers that frankly get tired of hearing shit by people like the OP.

Yes, pulsers were added to our plan very late in the game for a variety of reasons. And yes, Exodus is perenially understaffed with volunteers. So hows about you fuckin' whiners come out and help us out for a shift or two next year, eh?

Seriously, most of the G P &E folks are on playa for over two weeks, work about 60 hours a week.....all as volunteers.

Come lend a hand.

LoR

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:57 pm

Traffic management can be a bitch. Step into their shoes and try and funnel 52000 cranky, tired, chemically depleted, emotionally frazzled people down a one lane road. Add in Union Pacific trains blocking the crossing, the Gerlach slow zone, people being nervous about passing by all those cops, other idiots passing on 447 and fucking up with the occasional wreck to jam the works and even more NHP patrols to the mix and yeah...Exodus sucks.

We'll read your rants on here but the people who can effect change are not here. They'll be back in San Francisco in a few days / weeks. That's where you need to direct the complaints. But remember...a complaint offered with a proposed solution will stand a better chance of being looked at than a simple bitch letter / email ever will.

cahlm · Post by **cahlm** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:57 pm

I don't know what exodus OP participated in, but mine on Monday evening was the definition of "pulsing." It was a nice change from the years past. Got to get out and walk around before leaving for another year.

teardropper · Post by **teardropper** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:21 pm

Left Monday mid morning. At least 3 1/2 hours and I loved every minute of it. As said, last chance to meet and talk. We really did have a good time in line. Exodus is just part of the Burn. Live with it, even enjoy it.

VeganChoirGirl · Post by **VeganChoirGirl** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 4:17 pm

BetaBox wrote:we left at 2pm Sunday and we had a perfect pulse going. I could actually sleep, wake up for 5 min and drive, sleep, drive....

...Well, it was all fine until i was 2 minutes away from leaving BRC and the FUCKING LOST CHILD WAS REPORTED. ARGH... It wasn't a bad wait, but still, it immediately added 30 min to exodus (3.5 for me). people <18 should not be allowed at the event. yes that's a puritan w.a.s.p. stance, but come on...

How bad was it on Monday, anybody know? With the increased city size, it seemed slightly longer this year on Sunday when we normally leave.

What a jack ass!!! I was out there when the outgoing traffic was closed, it was only closed for a max of 15 minutes. I am SO sorry you were inconvinienced by a missing child!!!

More importantly, Burning Man is Larry Harvey's party...he wants ALL people to be included. I don't want to get into ANOTHER argument about children at the burn, but I will say this:

the ONLY responsible thing to do when a child goes missing is to close outgoing/incoming traffic and find the child.

Pulsing was new this year. There were some bumps. But I am had a wonderful time out there and it seems a lot of people really liked it.

No matter what we do, however, exodus is STILL letting ONE car at a time turn onto a two lane highway. It's hard. That's not going to change. If you don't want to wait, leave on Saturday durring the day or Tuesday after the rush.

clerkkent · Post by **clerkkent** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 4:58 pm

I'm curious:

Is the Exodus crew part of the gate/entrance crew? Do they typically not have enough volunteers in advance? Or do they have volunteers, but many do not show up as it is the waning hours of the event?

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 5:17 pm

clerkkent wrote:I'm curious:

Is the Exodus crew part of the gate/entrance crew? Do they typically not have enough volunteers in advance? Or do they have volunteers, but many do not show up as it is the waning hours of the event?

I suspect the latter. And it's P, G & E (Perimeter, Gate and Exodus).

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:18 pm

Thanks for the answers. this was a curiousity question. I don't mind the wait but my old 86 Dodge Ram hates me for it.

I left between 7 and 8 am on Monday. So I missed the "pulse." Had I known I would have left later so I could participate. It was in my burner guide so I thought it was official.

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:20 pm

I'm alway tempted to jump out and play traffic cop but then my truck would be getting in the way.

curiousgnate · Post by **curiousgnate** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:21 pm

i loved the pulsing, i got to take a nap, chat with strangers on my way out, pee in the porta for the last time without having to then run after my car, the time to get out was about the same but it was much more of a fun way to leave after an amazing week. I even thanked the gate peeps on our way out. they are volunteers, and work all week and well quite frankly rock!

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:27 pm

I bailed camp at 7:30am on Monday and made it to pavement around 9.. super smooth. No pulsing.

baconqurlyq · Post by **baconqurlyq** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:32 pm

We left Sunday afternoon, took about 3 hours to get to the road. However, we rented an RV that was reasonably maintained. I think I would be a tad nervous to drive a beat-down vehicle with maintenance issues to the middle of a desert that doesn't have a service station in sight.

So yeah it was a wait, but I would not have switched places with the volunteers out in the hot sun. Big thanks to them for doing what they could to make it smooth!

bluesbob · Post by **bluesbob** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:46 pm

I had no problem leaving...I used the secret road.

ohCarie · Post by **ohCarie** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:53 pm

Loved the pulse! We left camp at 3pm on monday and got to the hwy at 7ish. The pulsing allowed for some of the best conversations and was something of a moving party. It was a nice wind down and helped with the gear switching back to the real world, though better if you have an RV to grill up some sandwiches in like we did!

Lord Of Ruin · Post by **Lord Of Ruin** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 9:58 am

VeganChoirGirl wrote:
What a jack ass!!! I was out there when the outgoing traffic was closed, it was only closed for a max of 15 minutes. I am SO sorry you were inconvinienced by a missing child!!!

SNIP

the ONLY responsible thing to do when a child goes missing is to close outgoing/incoming traffic and find the child.

Well.... I don't think anyone would disagree with that procedure. But each year I spend an inordinate amount of time dealing with child issues: lost children searches as a Ranger, Gate closures working for Gate, etc.

Much of the art is very dangerous for adults, let alone children. Drugs are openly in use. The playa is a harsh, unforgiving place so that if a child is lost and no one notices them quickly enough, they could die.

Most people that bring them have taken to corralling them into "safe" areas.

Just seems pointless and selfish on the part of the parents.

LoR

Lord Of Ruin · Post by **Lord Of Ruin** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:03 am

clerkkent wrote:I'm curious:

Is the Exodus crew part of the gate/entrance crew? Do they typically not have enough volunteers in advance? Or do they have volunteers, but many do not show up as it is the waning hours of the event?

Yes, it's part of the same department. Gate, Perimeter & Exodus (sorry Fishy). Box Office is a different department, but we're "kissin' cousins" as they say and share many resources.

We do not have enough volunteers for Exodus, ever. Even thought we actually pay some of them (the flaggers that work on the blacktop are NDOT certified) Exodus is perenially understaffed.

Gate is perenially understaffed later in the event and on graveyard shifts.

Perimeter generally can fill it's quota nicely.

LoR

Gage · Post by **Gage** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:18 am

As we exited the line onto the road, PG&E was in a huddle, discussing our pulsing works and were getting ready to put it into play. Sounds like it worked! We only waited 60 minutes to jam, so I had no complaints.

Again, as previously posted, plan your exits times accordingly if you need a swift exit.

Edana · Post by **Edana** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:27 am

We left at 5am on Mon morning, and it would have been great if the pulse was in operation then.

...Well, it was all fine until i was 2 minutes away from leaving BRC and the FUCKING LOST CHILD WAS REPORTED. ARGH... It wasn't a bad wait, but still, it immediately added 30 min to exodus (3.5 for me). people <18 should not be allowed at the event. yes that's a puritan w.a.s.p. stance, but come on...

30 mins my ass. I found the child. Maybe 5 minutes after I saw the ranger radio it in. I immediately RAN over to the Ranger with the kid and watched him radio in the all clear. Couldn't have been more than 10 minutes, 15 at the most.

And the child was exactly where she was supposed to be, just didn't hear anyone calling her name over the other ambient noise. There just happened to be a Ranger nearby who got involved. Probably would never have been an issue if someone had to go find a ranger, since the kid wasn't really missing.

baconqurlyq · Post by **baconqurlyq** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 11:53 am

There was a five year old in the camp across from ours. He came over to play a lot, adopted one of my camp mates as his playa girlfriend. I don't think anyone had more fun than this kid, and he got more swag than anyone on the playa. He shirtcocked with style, wore face makeup, ran around in costumes, rode his little BMX, and gave out candy to everyone (I'm surprised we're not all in a diabetic coma). I usually don't care much for kids, but this one was way cool. His mom included him in her activities, but I didn't peg her as the sort to get into the drugs and all-night partying. She seemed like a really great mom having a fabulous time with her son.

There's ways to do it, but yeah there's a reason why I didn't see many kids on the playa. It's way smarter to leave the brood with a sitter if you want to drop responsibility for a week.

Kodachrome-Burning · Post by **Kodachrome-Burning** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 12:09 pm

Left at 4 PM, pulse worked great as far as I could tell..

peabodyf · Post by **peabodyf** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 12:19 pm

[quote="BetaBox"]we left at 2pm Sunday and we had a perfect pulse going. I could actually sleep, wake up for 5 min and drive, sleep, drive....

...Well, it was all fine until i was 2 minutes away from leaving BRC and the FUCKING LOST CHILD WAS REPORTED. ARGH... It wasn't a bad wait, but still, it immediately added 30 min to exodus (3.5 for me). people <18 should not be allowed at the event. yes that's a puritan w.a.s.p. stance, but come on...

How bad was it on Monday, anybody know? With the increased city size, it seemed slightly longer this year on Sunday when we normally leave.[/quote]

Here and there · Post by **Here and there** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:17 pm

VeganChoirGirl wrote:No matter what we do, however, exodus is STILL letting ONE car at a time turn onto a two lane highway. It's hard.

Thank you!

VeganChoirGirl wrote:That's not going to change.

Ever! The issue isn't just the limits on the local infrastructure, but the limits on what the infrastructure could possibly, practically be. There are these narrow mountain passes that the roads out have to go through, so even if the local area had the population to justify the building of a superhighway to the Playa, where would one put it? Exodus is like watching an elephant trying to squeeze itself through a straw - and succeeding - and it always will be like that. How could it not be?

It's not like people could just drive away from the hills out onto the open playa, and seek some other route out of there. They've got to go out though the hills. It's just that simple.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:19 pm

Got pulse in the ass on my way out

Sat, Moving along slow. Was passed with speeds up to fortyMPH.. Ate a bunch of dirt.. Got to the Good bye gate where traffic was narrowed to one lane.. Second car ahead. Guy jumped out to do a safty circle.. Two hot honneys in the next van couldn't wait, tryed to turn through the break in the ribboned fence and into some ranger trucks.. When they moved I did'nt.. So the van behind me ramed me in the ass.. Didn't even get out to look.. The trailer was built for that kind of shit.. Stop at the pavement for a load check.. The ass rammer was looking at about 2 grand damage to there new ride..

EmilyD · Post by **EmilyD** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 2:50 pm

ohCarie wrote:Loved the pulse! We left camp at 3pm on monday and got to the hwy at 7ish. The pulsing allowed for some of the best conversations and was something of a moving party. It was a nice wind down and helped with the gear switching back to the real world, though better if you have an RV to grill up some sandwiches in like we did!

OhCarie, Meeting you and yours was the very best part of the pulse experience (which really wasn't bad and seemed to keep the dust down.) Thanks for giving me and the mister those delicious 50/50 bars. I hope you can make it to our ArtCar Fest when we hit Sacramento next month! Let's stay in touch for sure!!!

Post by **Savannah** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:30 pm

My fellow traveler and I left camp @ 7:50am Labor Day and were on the blacktop exactly 2.5 hours later. Pulsing did not seem to be in effect during that time. Oh well! After 6 burns, 2.5 hours seems totally normal and--on Monday morning--at least 30-60 minutes faster than average. Acceptance, a good attitude, and the knowledge that things could be way worse . . . well, it makes everything easier. We chatted, people-watched, and listened to Black Rock radio.

Anyone with a particularly low tolerance for frustration (should they survive the Burn in general) would probably be happiest departing their campsite at a truly weird time . . . I'm guessing somewhere between 3am and 6am might be optimum. This requires a lot of forethought in regards to breaking down one's camp the night before and somehow being fully slept. Easiest for RV people.

WTF happen to the "pulse" exodus thing?

WTF happen to the "pulse" exodus thing?

OP departure was...

If only your parents had left you behind when you were young