The Bar 2014 Edition

[unjonharley]

Kudos on the plans for rugs and covering your courtyard, Elliot. We put shade cloth above our courtyard last year and loved it! We had a few rugs and pieces of carpet (in strategic spots), it really does help keep the dust in camp down.

I've been up to my eyeballs in 3D modeling stuff for much of the weekend, making new 'parts' and creating new textures to use for the models of this year's camp.



Today will probably be pretty busy, but I hope to get the chance to spend more time working on the design.

Please see the new thread (tips and tricks) Rug Cleaning..

[^Rhino!]

*shuffles in, coughing, makes tea, honey and lemon*
Well, ASD, I didn't go to the meeting, I attended via interwebs. It was ok, and, kept me from infecting everyone there.
thanks for the invite, too.
*shuffles off with tea and blanket to Isolation*

Were you kids discussing the train wreck called "Exodus"?

On TUESDAY, I sat in line ELEVEN f'in hours.

I wanted to SHOOT someone.

"pulsing" doesn't work.

[Elliot]

After handling that brand new rug I bought, I must retract my recommendation. That polypropylene is like fiberglass insulation -- horribly irritating to skin.

Off to Sacramento for various errands, maybe including a nice used rug.

[Elliot]

...
Were you kids discussing the train wreck called "Exodus"?

On TUESDAY, I sat in line ELEVEN f'in hours.
...
"pulsing" doesn't work.

Pulsing was never intended to speed up flow on the highway. Pulsing is to allow you to shut of the engine for an hour, then make one big leap forward -- as opposed to crawling forward every couple minutes.

And Wednesday is the new Tuesday.

[fernley1]

Good morning all.
Iit poured last night here in northern Nevada, a good soaking rain.
Forecast calls for upper 60's next week, maybe more rain next weekend.
I too am on the rug hunt, but not many yard sales this early in the year.

[^Rhino!]

Eliot, we were told by representatives of the org that we HAD to be out on Tuesday.

I'm not the kind of person to disagree when imperative impressions are given by those supposedly 'in the know'.

So, are they clueless? (in other words, can I tell them to depart my immediate vicinity for parts unknown?)

[theCryptofishist]

I know weather prediction is much better now than it was when we were kids, but I haven't heard that they can pin-point where a particular downpour is going to hit in a particular festival event. We haven't had a bad rain in all the years I've been going, but hearing about that year in the 90s, when no one could move, on foot or wheels and think of what having the entire event trapped for two or three days, waiting to dry out enough, with no pump-out on the JotS and tremble, mortal.

[unjonharley]

I know weather prediction is much better now than it was when we were kids, but I haven't heard that they can pin-point where a particular downpour is going to hit in a particular festival event. We haven't had a bad rain in all the years I've been going, but hearing about that year in the 90s, when no one could move, on foot or wheels and think of what having the entire event trapped for two or three days, waiting to dry out enough, with no pump-out on the JotS and tremble, mortal.

I have always been a believer in that story, from my first burn..
Have always carried extra food, fuel, water and a lug-a lu just in case..

[theCryptofishist]

Wise man, you.

As it was, they did have to stop Exodus for an hour so that part of the playa could dry out.

[unjonharley]

Wise man, you.

As it was, they did have to stop Exodus for an hour so that part of the playa could dry out.

This post tells me I should take care so I can camp in the van if needed in exodus from the playa.. I carry a day camp & supply to be able to stop along the trip. I am planing to over night @ The Eagles Nest and take in the county fair in Cedarville Sat. before BM..

[^Rhino!]

Wise man, you.

As it was, they did have to stop Exodus for an hour so that part of the playa could dry out.

This post tells me I should take care so I can camp in the van if needed in exodus from the playa.. I carry a day camp & supply to be able to stop along the trip. I am planing to over night @ The Eagles Nest and take in the county fair in Cedarville Sat. before BM..

Come on up to Virgin Valley with me to the Royal Peacock Mine. We can hunt precious opals. Failing that, it's a beautiful place to camp. With facilities. Go north of Winnemucca until you get to Denio Junction, then take a left to the National Wildlife Management Area, take a left, and head on out.

It's worth the trip.

[trilobyte]

Pulsing absolutely works. As Elliot mentioned, it's not designed to speed up your departure, it's intended to reduce fuel consumption, pollution, and impact on the playa. Rather than thousands of cars all idling and inching forward and burning up fuel, once the exodus team hits their hourly limit of vehicles onto the highway, they stop traffic and direct people to turn their vehicles off.

Aside from traffic overload issues, traffic is stopped for other reasons. Dust storms and wet playa are the two big ones, I believe it was a wet playa scenario that affected you on Tuesday. No need to get all whiny, the time it takes to leave is the time it takes to leave.

Yes, participants do need to leave the playa by the end of day Tuesday, largely because once the clock strikes midnight, local authorities are able to start ticketing people who aren't part of the essential work crews disassembling BRC. Historically it's been hit or miss when it comes to people who drag their feet on departure, and based on the way the BLM was behaving towards participants in 2013, I'd say good for them for hustling people out of there.

Fishy, Pandorra got caught in that horrible storm, she and her campmates were trapped on the playa for a week. A decade and a half later she's still skittish when it comes to raindrops on the playa, and we always bring a few extra days' worth of water and food.

That's great news about the rain, fernley1. We got a fair bit in the bay area - not so much in town, but just north of us got from 5 to 20 inches over the last several days. We're still in a pretty serious drought situation, but every little bit helps.

[^Rhino!]

Trilo, if those criteria are the ones you're using to measure 'success', then indeed, pulsing works.

In terms of EFFECTIVE taffic management, it's a train wreck. The org has said they contacted Nevada DOT to work out some of the particulars. Fine. Nevada DOT is the bush leagues of traffic management. They don't have the experts that a larger transportation management department will have. You go where the expertise is to figure 'best methods'. The two most experienced DOTs in the US concerning rockfall management are Oregon DOT and Colorado DOT. Who did Caltrans ask about rockfall management? Oregon DOT and Colorado DOT. Caltrans has more and better traffic engineers than anywhere else except New York State, and maybe the Chicago area of Illinois DOT. Did they ever consult with Caltrans on methods and procedures?

I'm not complaining and getting whiny....I just am curious. And I do plan on getting off playa in a reasonable fashion again this year.

[unjonharley]

I know this belongs in another thread...

While waiting to advance in exit line from BM.. Several times I time the vehicles going onto the road.. It averaged one every 6 seconds.. There is no way in hell to put more than ten vehicles a minute onto that road..

I could see the head lights moving way off in the distance.. Suddenly everyone stopped for a hour or so.. Then flashing lights from a wrecker.. Shortly we were moving again..

Figure 8 to 12 to exit.. need food, water, and music.. Nap if you can.

[Molotov]

Please forgive a birgin question: Is traffic leaving the Playa permitted to turn right, away from Gerlach and head northerly on hwy 34?

[unjonharley]

Please forgive a birgin question: Is traffic leaving the Playa permitted to turn right, away from Gerlach and head northerly on hwy 34?

That road is not paved.. I would think it dangers If my vehicle was loaded with camp gear or was pulling a trailer.. People have been lost out there.

[Molotov]

Thanks, unjohnharley! So much for trying to game the traffic. Since I will have a small travel trailer and a generator, it might be wise just to ignore leaving as long as possible (when does everybody but DPW have to be off the Playa?) and just chill out and leave after most everybody is gone. I'm retired and in no particular hurry.

[trilobyte]

@Rhino - I'd invite you to consider volunteering with the Gate, Perimeter, and Exodus crew. Maybe you'll walk a mile in their shoes and get a better sense of how the logistics work, or maybe you're the one with the answers and expertise that Burning Man needs.

As for pulsing, yeah - that's exactly the purpose of pulsing (as has been posted many times by Burning Man over the last several years).

@TexasRick - what unjon said. FYI, there will be an issue of the JRS much closer to the event that gets into traffic to/from Burning Man.

Meanwhile, it's been a long day, and unfortunately I haven't gotten much of a chance to do much tinkering with my camp models. I started a render test off in the background before things got busy - it's been progressing nicely, but I don't think I care too much for the results. Back to the drawing board on that, I'll get another experiment set up to start later tonight. Time for a drink!

[ygmir]

shuffles in**
Hi gang!
yeah Rhino, Blue Cross (exodus mgr.) has consulted Cal trans, and they've hired private traffic mgt. companies, and worked with NDOT,
and as is always explained, the bottle neck is not getting cars on the pavement, it's the miles of two lane road with no shoulder, that due to ass hattery and accident, ends up averaging a certain number of cars per hour, period, maximum.
SO, exodus is admonished not to let cars out faster than the road can handle.
Pulsing, as explained, is about not idling and creeping, but moving a few hundred yards, then sitting for a while.
It does not change the VPH that can be released onto the highway.

Texas Rick:
there would be no advantage to turning right, unless you were going to circle along a lot of rough, dirt roads. Once on the pavement, there's no other faster way out. And if you try to Game the traffic, those nasty Perimeter people will descend upon and educate you.

[Elliot]

Good answers have now been given, so I will just remind....
Always, ALWAYS smile, talk friendly, shake hands warmly, and thank people for taking the trouble to bring you information. Having seen them happily on their way, resume packing.

Joining Gate, Perimeter & Exodus to help with Exodus and Strike would help solve several problems. Knocking down and packing up the department takes several days -- and nobody asks you to leave on Tuesday if you are "wearing black" and working.

[Elliot]

And as Ygmir mentioned, some of the passing I have seen on 447 was nothing less than criminal, and that's how some of the wrecks happen, and there you sit. Jack-knifing trailers are also a biggie -- specially on the downhill by Pyramid Lake. Unsafe driving is your biggest source of unexpected Exodus -- including Tuesday -- delays.

[Molotov]

I'm already committed to volunteering during the week of the burn, however will definitely consider volunteering during Exodus, cleanup or other post event work. Thanks for all the valuable info. Like all of you said-when it comes to traffic, it is what it is. Rather than sit around in my trailer playing with myself waiting for traffic to dissipate, I might as well give something back to what appears, to this birgin, to be an epic event.

[^Rhino!]

@Rhino - I'd invite you to consider volunteering with the Gate, Perimeter, and Exodus crew. Maybe you'll walk a mile in their shoes and get a better sense of how the logistics work, or maybe you're the one with the answers and expertise that Burning Man needs.

As for pulsing, yeah - that's exactly the purpose of pulsing (as has been posted many times by Burning Man over the last several years).

Trilo, I know more than a few folks on GPE - it damn near broke my heart when Rev. Zed passed. That guy KNEW what it was all about in terms of voluntarism.

As far as the logistics go, I've been employed doing traffic control for my jobs (that's just one of many facets of the project management I do), I know it pretty well in this neck of the woods. I've closed lanes on I-70, I-44, and the I-270 loop around St. Louis both during the day and at night. You have EXTRA problems once the sun goes down; not only due to limited sight distances but also due to the freaking drunks who shouldn't be out there in the first place. When the bars close down, they come in mass and cause mayhem.

We're limited in the daytime, too. 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. are the restricted hours. We can't be out on heavy volume roads until 9:30, because the earliest traffic control gets set up at 9. We have to be totally off by 2:30 so teardown can take place. You plan like mad to make sure everything goes at a full-bore assholes and elbows pedal-to-the-metal breakneck speed. Drillers don't stop to have lunch unless there's a relief crew. And at night? oh my gosh...then you need a light plant or two. And you don't point it towards oncoming traffic. EVER.

This year, I'm probably volunteering with Earth Guardians. I was in charge of LNT last year at my camp, and we got GREEN on the chart. Improvements need to be made all over BRC, and I'm stepping up my efforts.

[ygmir]

*Shuffles in, makes tea*.
Well I'm thinking I made it over the hump........several hours of really high fever seem to have helped.
Doc apt. today, though, so I guess I'll know more then.

*shuffles back to Isolation, just to be sure*

[unjonharley]

ygmir, get better.. Just

[magicmarty]

Good plan to see the doc today, YG. Get well soon. Morning UJ

[VultureChow]

Massive intrigue at the office this morning, and I'm out of the loop. Kind of. I know there's a loop and if I asked one person they would tell me, but it's super embarrassing for one person who I respect a lot, so I feel like the right thing to do is just ignore the whole thing. Like when someone farts loudly in the elevator.

[unjonharley]

Massive intrigue at the office this morning, and I'm out of the loop. Kind of. I know there's a loop and if I asked one person they would tell me, but it's super embarrassing for one person who I respect a lot, so I feel like the right thing to do is just ignore the whole thing. Like when someone farts loudly in the elevator.

People do not need to pack "others shit" into there brain.. Least you become known as shit for brains..unjonharley

[Simon of the Playa]

.

[forty_eight]

I put grommets every couple feet of two 9x12 painter's tarps and used some 8 inch steel nails to secure them tom the playa ... 12 bucks each. didn't need the grommets in hindsight.

they fit almost perfectly under the 12x20 shade

i swear our little conduit-tarp house was practically dust free wed-sun