Worst part of 2013?

[AntiM]

Damn Ano, that sucks about your camp. What you need is a nice family size camp like ours. We had seven people this year, each one fabulous, friendly and ready to pull their weight. Which is why I don't allow complete strangers very often, perhaps one or two foreign burners in years the "family" spots are not taken. I could have chosen our fire conclave camp, as dearly as I love them, I don't want to camp with them.

I really feel the quad thing. Ours is ten, it had issues. Three separate issues which required a return to camp twice, and Larry borrowing a bole to go back to camp once. I missed most of the art. Sad Face.

Here's to better times!

[Aurelia]

The burn was the best !

But the vintage Schwinn trike that my son motorized and backed up with extras STOPPED
yes it would not move
must be my fault as this is the 2nd expensive time consuming device he has engineered for me to use on playa

and then I rode around with new angels who just happened to be close by
XOA.

[Simon of the Playa]

having to turn around on monday after a 12 hour entry wait and a brief 4 hour camp set-up and cocktail and THEN go hitch-hike at the gate to reno to catch a train to SFO.

leaving BRC was a total mind fuck, especially since i had nearly killed myself to get there.


but.......


it WAS followed by one of the best things when i finally returned at 6 am thursday morning, after a 5 hour will call strike....

seriously.....another low point....waiting for the one person without a physical ticket during a labor dispute on a cranky thursday morning....


HOWEVER, i kinda like the roller coaster, it makes the moments of stillness that much tastier....

so i guess, in essence, you cant have the BEST without the worst, so i'm not complaining....

[unjonharley]

none

[misterdj]

Worst part for me is that I always feel I didn't get to see enough of BRC. Time flies on the playa.

[Ano]

(Exodus Stuff)

A lovely gal whom I was talking to in the Black Hole Bar shortly before my shift put my mind at ease regarding these things, even before it happened. She described working Exodus as "a nearly useless but entirely required" job. Really, as a pulser, there isn't much I can do. I pretty much put down cones, pick up cones, and then wait. That's it. But, a big unnamed function of my job... is just being there. I'm there for folks to let out their frustration. I'm told to lend an ear, nod and agree, and then let them know how powerless I am (but that I am sorry!) and move on. So, ultimately, I try (hard) to stay relatively "zen" about these interactions I had during exodus... I'd be frustrated and pissed off too waiting in a huge line from 7pm until 3am, especially after days and days of Black Rock City. At least I was there for this girl to take out her frustrations on. It's a big part about why I'm doing exodus again next year... It won't be fun, I know I'll hate it, but someone has to do it, and dammit, I'm going to do it.

So how did you end up with this camp? It doesn't sound like you know them very well, and the majority are a bunch of idiots. It even reflects poorly on the core members of the camp for even allowing these fools to join up.

The core members of the camp are folks I accidentally ended up with during my first Burn, and for the most part, they are fantastic and amazing people with lofty big dreams and the drive to do them. All of the other folks were good friends of the core people. It just ended up being that the pieces fell where they did. They were all virgins who did not understand the event very much. The core folks got frustrated too... there was an emergency camp meeting midweek about MOOP, and on an email list for the group right now there are pictures going around of the Cargo Van full of trash someone had to sit through exodus to empty, and more fallout... I'm stepping back from it all, though, because this camp isn't exactly the direction I want to take my burn. I was incredibly frustrated through the entire week about it, but, I can't let these things ruin the one thing I look forward to all year.

Damn Ano, that sucks about your camp. What you need is a nice family size camp like ours.

I'd love to be in a small 10ish person camp, but I also have stupidly large dreams and aspirations regarding my position at Burning Man. I'm basically poking around until I find the right fit, or until the right fit finds me. I'll find it eventually. I'll find my medium sized between B to D street camp with chill-space frontage, live music, small-medium sized art car, and daily neighborhood happy hours. I'll find it, or I'll build it. I'm trying to rally some friends from home to "do it right" with me, but I only tend to find folks who want to "do it." I'll see what happens... I either need to find a camp with ten of us who want to do it right, or a larger camp with ten of us who want to do it right and twenty folks who can at least be chill...

I mostly needed to vent because, well, there isn't anywhere else I can adequately do it at, since playa problems are playa problems...

[C187]

Hey Ano, I know I talked to you a bit about my camp when we worked together. I'm just say'n we always have room.

Worst part... pushy documentary crews.

[MyDearFriend]

Worst part... pushy documentary crews.

What were they documenting?

I am 110% in agreement with this:

The panic packing and rush to sit 8 to 10 hours in exodus that had folks packing their vehicles and flying out without even saying their goodbyes. It killed the whole post temple burn vibe for me.

Yes, yes, yes. I am still a bit shell-shocked from this.

I was handing out candy in Centercamp and they kept repeating the storm warning. There was a guy near us with a dish hookup. The internet reported a 20%-40% chance of rain. We stayed. That fictitious weather report caused a lot of Moop. I spent Monday mooping and chatting.

And I am cringing inside waiting for the MOOP map report on our Village. I KNOW there were dead-beats leaving trash and pouring water all over the place, and I was not there to clean up after they all left. Hate hate hate that guilty feeling.

I will never EVER again come to BRC without a vehicle of my own. This is tearing at my guts too much.

[Ratty]

MDF, Don't worry about the moop. There were alot of people out there mooping along and you can't do anything about it so let it go. It's a shame the after parties were cut short.

[Asquared]

I KNOW there were dead-beats leaving trash and pouring water all over the place

Question: next to our camp, everyday someone would come out with a watering can and 'water' the streets, in cute little circles. my campmate asked them what was up, they said pouring grey water on the playa is OK as long as you do it that way (so as not to create mud). now, i laughed. i wonder if they treated it first and that made it okay?

anyone know?

i did see these water circles in other areas of the city

[theCryptofishist]

None of us is going to be able to tell from your description whether or not the water in those cases was filtered. It's only supposed to happen if you are a very small camp indeed. (I forget how small, so we'll say a half dozen or less. However, having said that, I think it is less, so don't get on the internets and say "Fishy said we could do this for our six-man camp." Cause, I didn't.) I don't know if something changed in the past few years, or if I didn't understand the instructions previously.

[Asquared]

thanks fishy, that's what i figured (about the filtered part). i don't know if it was either.
this was def not a small camp.

[AntiM]

We've sprinkled clean cooler melt water in the road for a decade now. I'll hunt up the thread, but as long as it hasn't been used for washing dishes or people, it can be used for "dust abatement". I've heard of filtered water with a dab of bleach being used legally for the same purpose. However, we never pour out any of our water which has been "touched" ... i.e hand washing, foot baths, cleaning, dish washing, out of the kettle. That goes directly into the evap pan, or the the greywater jugs.

Edited to add:
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... 27&t=43580

[unjonharley]

I spray the ground in the chill space in camp with cooler water..

I am always amazed at hold many bits of stuff show up..
Like I had to do a electrical repair.. I thought I kept all the little stuff corralled.. When I watered there was a 1/4 cup of tiny moop ..

[Meat Hunter]

Grey Water Disposal - Small Amounts.

Read item No. 6.
http://www.burningman.com/preparation/e ... jNitH-E5ac

Quote:
"Filter, Treat and Disperse small quantities of gray water.

This method is only for small camps that already know how to minimize dishwater and body-washing water. If your gray water is both filtered and disinfected, and you don't form mud, you will be within the rules.

So, collect gray water in a container over which you have mounted panty-hose or a paint strainer. Add chlorine bleach regularly.

In your own camp space (NOT public areas like roads or shortcuts), use a garden sprinkler-can (or improvised equivalent, even just a spoon) to distribute water very sparsely during the hottest hours of the day. The droplets must be sparse enough that they soak in and dry up quickly, and the surface stays hard.

But keep in mind that somebody watching you might think that you are simply sloshing untreated gray water around, so be prepared to explain your careful process."

[theCryptofishist]

But keep in mind that somebody watching you might think that you are simply sloshing untreated gray water around, so be prepared to explain your careful process."

I find a hearty "Fuck you, I know what I'm doing!" works...

[unjonharley]

Grey water from one man camp.. I built a 2 ft x 4 ft x 1 3/4 inch wood and black plastic tray.. Put the grey water in the tray then soak it up into a towel.. Hang the towel over the tray... The tray will be used as a bottom waterer for starter plants in the spring.. The towel hit the garbage can at home..

[Ratty]

It's my 4th burn and I use this system. 2 bus trays. One for 'bathing' and one for evap system. I bring 20 or 30 disposable pieces of clean t-shirts or old wash cloths. All the grey water goes in the evap tray. As the week wears on, more and more disposable cloths are draped over the sides of it wicking the moisture out. All of the icky stuff like dishwater with food parts goes into soup cans that have an inch or 2 of playa dust in them. Brush your teeth. Spit it into a can. I eat a bunch of soup all week. As the can dries out, into the garbage it goes. The small evap pond dries out everyday. By the end of the week there are 20 rags molded to the sides of it wicking water away.

Yes! I have to hide this abortion of a toxic dump behind my tent but it works and nothing hits the ground.

[fresh]

All this porto-talk brings me back to my most frustrating memory, going into one at 10:00 and c/d only to find a bottle of myers rum, a can of coors light, and a red solo cup down in the doldrums. I assume they were empty. Fucking asswipes!!!!!

Second place was missing the ePlaya M&G again.... One of these years i will actually open up that box of wine i bring.

[Ratty]

If you EVER see something in the muck that doesn't belong there and can't be sucked out through the tiny hose, "Zip-tie the door so nobody uses it". This is Robbi's explicit instructions. The next morning the potto team will see those objects and fish them out before they suction the tank.

[theCryptofishist]

So, remember to put zip ties into your day bag...

[fresh]

If you EVER see something in the muck that doesn't belong there and can't be sucked out through the tiny hose, "Zip-tie the door so nobody uses it". This is Robbi's explicit instructions. The next morning the potto team will see those objects and fish them out before they suction the tank.

Thanks for this info Ratty!!! Next time will do just that!!! I usually have a zip tie somewhere between the bag, bike bag, or pockets.

And even though I never saw it, someone from our neighboring camp decided that taking a deuce next to our camp porto enclosure was perfectly acceptable! It was a nice find for my buddy when breaking it down.

[maryanimal]

Radical self reliance comes BEFORE sharing and gifting!!!

Get your shit together or camp somewhere else!

Yikes!! Sounds like someone realy pissed you off.

[BBadger]

If you EVER see something in the muck that doesn't belong there and can't be sucked out through the tiny hose, "Zip-tie the door so nobody uses it". This is Robbi's explicit instructions. The next morning the potto team will see those objects and fish them out before they suction the tank.

Though make sure it's a thick one so some crotch-grabbing, I-gotta-pee burner doesn't just rip it off thinking it's some gag. A tag indicating the reason might help, but well, who has tag-making materials out there?

[Ratty]

B-Badger, I had to read and re-read your post. Oh. I get it. You mean the zip-ties.

[BBadger]

/me scrolls up and rereads.







Hmm, yes... that could have some odd interpretations.

[tattoogoddess]

Worst part? Not being fully prepared for the heat. Reading and knowing in your head is not the same as remembering and understanding. It's been 30 years since I was that hot. Next year I'll be ready.

This wasn't hot, not at all. You first years got spoiled! Haha.last year (2012) all most of us could do in camp was just lay on the ground in the shade and wear wet towels. It was miserable. Maybe last year was nice to. But this year the weather was fucking amazing!! Not complaint was wish it was cooler at night, made snuggling impossible at night even with no clothes on and the playa coat was not used once! even with a hoodie I was hot.

[goathead]

or if I didn't understand the instructions previously.

there were instructions?

[Dactylion]

The "idiot meter" was at an all time high this year!
Lots of things, but this one stood out:
Right after the Temple burn there was a big white out. Ten feet away I hear a Crash! Shatter! Clatter!, then a muffled "Crap!" and can just make out a guy walking hastily away from something he'd just dropped. What he dropped was a huge glass jar full of marbles! He'd plastered broken glass and marbles all over the playa and walked away.

During the pickup a tall d-bag frat-boy shows up and says we should leave the stuff on the ground as some kind of spontaneous art-piece! I couldn't be sure it was the guy that dropped it, but I gave him a snarled lecture about leave-no-trace and about "Bike tire meets glass: Loses" and he disappeared.

This mini-disaster turned into playa magic after I laid out my picnic blanket to collect the shards and four, five, six other burners joined in the cleanup, silently, no words spoken. It was a beautiful, heartwarming moment in the end.

[tamarakay]

You gotta wonder what the hell right? Why a jar of marbles out on the playa?