 |
|
August 18, 2010 - I've completed almost all of the parts of the 'solar system' with the exception of the little blue spot lights for the bar. That an evening's work. The rest of the wiring will have to done on-site since I don't know what the measurements should be. I've gassed up the RV and started gathering my own things up for the trip. I'm not doing anything new with the quadracycle this time. I'll need to get an electric assist added before adding any more weight to it. I'd still like to do the BTTF shell though.
July 5, 2010 - The main solar panel rack is completed. I'll post photos up once I have it standing in one piece, outside. I can't assemble it by myself, the componets are each too heavy. I've been doing some test glass cutting and I have wire for all the lights. I still need to buy 3 more batteries and wire up the controller and meters. I plan to get the quad down out of storage next weekend and get it cleaned up and repaired. We've been placed as a camp just two block back from last year, so we're going to have a big crowd of visitors again. So far I'm in no panic about any of the elements for myself. Everything looks to be coming together - for once!
June 2, 2010 - I see I'm rather behind on updating my thoughts and progress here. Here it is June and there is still a lot to do but things are coming along. I have a major part of the solar panel rack built and I'm starting on the additional lights. I do need to get going on the charge controller, monitioring system and battery boxes. It doesn't look like I'm going to get anything fun built for the quad. Even if I did, I don't know how I'd get it there - all my space will be taken by the solar stuff. Looks like I'm going to soon need a small trailer!
November 26, 2009 - The biggest current news is the total revamp of this site. I've made a master template for all my Burning Man related pages and I'm building subpage headers for all the specialty pages. I have posted up my 2009 diary and photos.
September 9, 2009 - This was a very successful burn. The weather was much better (but not perfect) and it was a much less stressed event for our group. We had a great bar set up with toms of people stopping by. But, it was still a ton of work and very dusty. We're going to look into ways to make construction and takedown easier and look for some way to keep the dust levels down in our camp chill space. Internet access was poor. Unfortunately, emails home were a main way I documented my days. This will make it harder to build a diary of the event. But when I have it written and the photos ready I'll post them up here.
August 13, 2009 - While this has been a nasty year, for me, things so far have gone fine for getting things ready for this year's event. I have 2 weeks to get the solar lighting and quad preparations completed and that looks to be enough time.
July 26, 2009 - While the homefront recovery continues, I've been at work making electrical parts for our camp solar arrays. I've also built a replica of the street lamps for Black Rock City and put it by the pool. I'll post up photos of both projects here soon. The quad is back on it's wheels and ready for the remaining prep for this year. I looked into the idea of doing some sort of shell for it but I couldn't think of a theme to decorate it with. We just had our last camp meeting and we're mostly ready to go. We have one art installation that doesn't look like it will get done, but at least everyone is much more relaxed than last year.
June 17, 2009 - Oh wow, where can I begin. On April 28th, a gang of mexicans broke into our house, ransacked the place and loaded up tons of stuff in a truck and took off. They were seen by neighbors, who gave chase, but they got away. Although they were caught 3 hours later, our stuff was not on them. We lost all sorts of things - TV's cameras, my Segway!, and all sorts of identity items. It's the personal stuff that's not worth anything that hurts the most. They'll just throw it away. They smashed down the security camera with a rock and ripped it all out and took it with them.
We now have a new alarm system that's monitored and I'm installing new cameras and perimeter sensors. We're waiting to see what the insurance will cover. They won't cover the Segway, so I've got to fight them on that one. This has all just been hell.
On the BM front - The quad is down while Mike machines out some new rear hubs. Without that fix there's no way to properly drive the wheels. I'm not sure it will be done in time for the 4th of July. It's become very difficult to do any non-work projects in the shop. If I were trying to start the quad now I doubt I could do it. This reinforces why I need to acquire some of these tools myself.
I'm working on a solar power system to run most of our camp's energy needs. I have 90 watts of panels for the bar and 45 watts for the commons area. plus I still have my big panels for the RV. Also, I'm working on some other items for the camp I'll talk about later, and it's time to redo the CB website.
February 24, 2009 - What a crummy month this has been. Along with almost continuous rain, I picked up some sort of unary tract infection. The urologist put me on strong antibiotics and it turned out I was allergic to the type of antibiotics they gave me. That put me in the hospital for a few days. Yuck!
Beyond that, one piece of good news is the management has approved my time off for the full week before Labor Day. So at least that has been settled in a positive way. I can now move on to what I'm going to do. I'd still like to build up the quadracycle and make it fancier. I guess I'd better get looking into adding electric power assist!
January 23, 2009 - Checking the academic calendar for this year I find that the semester starts the same week as Burning Man. As of last year, my management forbids time off during the 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after the start of the semester. I managed it last year because it was already approved before the new rules came down. My immediate supervisor is pretty lenient and would let me get away on the week before school starts, but the week OF is quite another story. So will I get to go? It looks doubtful. I MAY be able to get off a couple days and go up late. That's as much as I think I can hope for. It's depressing..
January 8, 2009 - Now that we're into a new year it's time to look at what I'm doing next. One thing for sure, I need to work towards having a better time than I did last year. I'm too involved in other events and I'm too far behind on projects to do anywhere as much work as I did last year. For right now, I'm going to unify my pages here on this site and hopefully make it easier to navigate and add to in the future. The photos from last year are up, so is my 08 diary. I need to fix the quadracycle pages and finish the others too, then move on to the things I'm going to plan for 2009.
September 4, 2008 - Wow, what a strange event. The storms were worse than last year, the theme camp stuff was a TON of work, everyone's moods were not that good. I have to honestly say I didn't have anywhere enough of a good time for all the effort that went into it. There are several lessons here, but I have to think on them before I make a judgment on the future.
August 12, 2008 - As usual, progress on all items has been slower than I had hoped for. I still have to finish the solar panels (just the wiring though) and complete the shade structure for the quad. The rack is not done or properly tested. Scott has built me a new playa bike. I need to get my own food supplies, figure out what water I'm taking, get the medallions and make some cords for them, make the stage lights and power pack, and get FILTERS for the MH and a shield for the vent over the motor. And there's TONS to do on the buggy.
August 1, 2008 - Progress has been slow on getting our house back together, but with luck we'll be reassembled before I leave for BM. I'm continuing to work on the rack for the quadracycle and I'm actively working on the sunshade. My hope is to have both done in the next week. I also have to mount the solar panels on the RV, plus I'm building lighting for the 'lounge'. Our hope is to get enough early entry passes and I'll go up on Saturday to help get things in camp built before the start of the event monday.
July 13, 2008 - Things have certainly been busy here. The water heater broke and ruined our master bedroom and most of the furniture. We have no idea how much its going to cost to fix everything. I really, really didn't need this.
And even though we were in the middle of the disaster, I had scheduled some rare shop time to get the metal corner supports and the the RV rack made. It was great to get these projects completed as far as they are. Now I need to finish and mount the rack and see if it can hold up to tossing the quadracycle around without breaking off. I flexes more than I'd like so we'll see how that plays out. The corner supports are to hold up whatever I attach to the quadracycle for a sunshade or whatever else I will build to attach to it in the future. Sorry there were no build photos. I was in a hurry and didn't want to take up any more of Mike's valuable time than needed.
I found out last night (at Andy's Burning Man photo opening) that Judy P. will be going to BM after all. I offered to put her up in the RV with Mother and I. That also means the two of them will come up wednesday. That work fine for me because as far as I know right now I'm going up Saturday to help set up the camp. As a Theme Camp, a number of us get 'early arrival' passes to get the camp ready before the Monday opening. That means no huge arrival lines and getting there in the daytime! Yeah!!
July 5, 2008 - We got the last of 4 sections of fence for the 'Bell Garden' constructed and moved on to working on the bug (Dave's Mutant Vehicle). We couldn't get going on the stage because the wood is too wet and would shrink and warp.
July 4, 2008 - Today the quadracycle made its first public appearance in the 'mundane world' by being a float in the Carmichael 4th of July Parade. I had a blast. See the photos HERE.
The RV broke another part on our maiden voyage but it was fairly cheap to fix and didn't mess up the trip. My group is working like crazy to get everything we're doing this year ready to go. We're in panic mode early, which is great, because we actually have a shot at getting it all done in plenty of time. If I can get the quad rack for the RV made soon, get the framework for the shads structure made, and get the solar panels mounted to the RV, my own stuff will be totally ready to go. That would be a huge relief!
May 30, 2008 - We got the RV back today and at least it was on the low end of the estimate. It's still $2,800, but it could have been 3 times that much. Hope fully we're past the worst of the issues and can get on with actually using the thing. I expect that by Burning Man time gas will be $5.00 a gallon.
May 27, 2008 - This is one of those times when most of my projects feel paralyzed. The RV is down for major repairs, We got the shop cleaned out last weekend but Dave is heading out for Italy for close to 3 weeks and I've got car stuff out of state just when he gets back. That's going to push back working on the buggy. Work is hell and they are thinking of canceling all vacations from mid August to mid September. Hopefully I can get around that one! Still, I've got the camp logo to do and I can still look for bits for the solar lighting for the bar. But with deadlines looming and the deteriorating situation at work, it's hard to get my mind around being creative.
Last week Dave went to S.F. and met with the organizers of Avalon Village. They're looking forward to working with us so we'll be part of Avalon Village this year. That should place us around one of the corners of 7:30 at about 4 to 6 radial streets in. We'll see how that goes as we get closer to the event. In early August BM will announce the placement locations for the theme camps.
April 26, 2008 - We just had another group meeting and we're set up for applying for placement as a theme camp. The advantages of that are we'll be assigned a spot that will fit the size of our camp and we won't have to have people inside early literally camping out on a patch of playa trying to hold a spot till we get there late Sunday night. The downside is we could get placed someplace crummy. Another plus is we'd be allowed in early to get the camp set up. We could then have the bar and all our support areas ready when everyone arrives on Monday. Personally, I'm hoping to be allowed in on Saturday. It would be fantastic to roll up to the gate on Saturday with no lines and get a head start on the week.
We've changed the theme of the mutant vehicle to 'Universal Freedom and Opportunity' (UFO), so now the bug will be a UFO we changed it back to a 'Celestial Bug' not long after posting this entry).
I bought the domain name: CampCelestialBodies.org. We'll be using it to highlight our camp and linking it to all the things we're doing to get ready for the burn.
April 21, 2008 - Last weekend we got the dune buggy out on the street for the first time, so now it's on to designs for approval by the DMV (Department of Mutant Vehicles). I need to be working on pendant designs and look more into what it's going to take to light the bar sign and do whatever's needed to get the stage made.
It's also about time to get the quadracycle down and get the changes and additions made. I need the quad to be 100% in time for the 4th of July Parade in Carmichael. I plan to use it as a float for Grand Illusions, the magic store around the corner. I have an idea what I'd like for the sunshade and need to get back to Mike for fabrication.
March 16, 2008 - Spring is about to arrive and my list of goals for this year has stretched beyond any time before. I have 2 cars and the travel trailer to prepare to sell. There are repairs to lots of things to be completed and new projects to be done. For BM 2008, our group has decided to become a full Theme Camp. My parts so far are a stage, sound system, and lighting for the bar.
The travel Trailer: My big news so far is I purchased a motor home. Click HERE to see it. That means I need to make some repairs to the travel trailer and offer it up for sale. I'd like to see it go to a Burner, so if you're interested let me know! It's a fine rig and everything works. The things I need to fix are minor, but it will still take up a chunk of my time.
I'm helping Dave rebuild a VW dune buggy and then turn it into an art car (click HERE for more). So far we've spent about 5 Saturdays on it. I need to rewire the electrics and make some additions before it can go to the VW shop for the motor. That'll take a couple days at least.
There are revisions needed for the quadracycle to keep the chains from coming off and I need a more clever shade structure. Those things will be covered on the Quadracycle pages.
There's a bunch more, but I just wanted to update my blog and keep my readers (none that I know of) informed.
September 5, 2007 - I made it to Burning Man! Everything went fine, I didn't forget anything or have any accidents. Click HERE for my full diary of the event.
August 25, 2007 - It's a day and a half till the event and I feel like I'm nowhere ready to go. The bike is still in need of a sunshade but it's otherwise ready. The new lights are great and the battery will run for days without needing charging. I have dropped taking the big cooler with the battery and will hook the solar directly to the trailer. The trailer itself is good to go... I guess. Put some air in the tires, clean the last of the windows and... Well..
August 16, 2007 - I've been working on the bicycles when I get home, but work has been really bad lately and I've not been able to get home on time for quite a while. Today I was out at the RV place for a couple hours trying to keep things moving there, so I had to work till 8:00 just to get caught up. The quadracycle is waiting on me to do the wiring for the lights, drill the holes for the seat stops and for a sunshade. I hope to bring the trailer home tomorrow and get going on what I need to do there. I dug out my effects from last year and looked through them. Much has to be changed since I have the trailer. Hopefully everything will come together this weekend. Stay tuned!
August 5, 2007 - This entire weekend was devoted to the quadracycle. Tons of progress was made and now I'm sure it will be completed in time to go. See the Quadracycle pages for details and photos. On Thursday the travel trailer goes to the RV Doctor to hopefully get in shape for the trip. The truck was just serviced and it has the factory tow package. I also need to have a braking controller installed.
July 30, 2007 - Having just returned from a trip to the south coast, it's time to make the final preparations for the event. Unfortunately, the 2 big projects are still going on: the travel trailer and the quadracycle. The parts for the new seat mounts are supposed to be made tomorrow - that's the big part. The steering modifications should only take a few days after the seats are done. We'll see... The trailer is still in the 'IF' stage because it has yet to be serviced and have batteries and gas tanks added. If the fridge can't be fixed in time I'll pull it out and save on the weight. Then there's my personal preparations. Since I'm still 'packed' from last year, I just need to inventory everything and add as needed. I have a 10meg camera and 6gig of chips, plus a pocket GPS to find my way back to camp. I don't really have any costumes, but since it's my first time, and we don't really have a theme for the camp I don't think it's important.
July 14, 2007 - I went ahead and purchased the travel trailer. It's a 17 foot long 1983 Wilderness by Fleetwood. It's in pretty good shape and hopefully only needs a few fixes and a good cleaning. Take a look at the page I created for it HERE. I hope to use it for more than just Burning Man so It's not part of my other Burning Man stuff.
My biggest concern is if the truck can pull it over the hill. It wasn't too happy to pull it at highway speeds into the wind on hwy 99, so I can't imagine what will happen going over the pass on 80. I may have to do a test and/or get professional advise. I'd hate to rent a bigger truck because that's really costly.
July 13, 2007 - It's only 43 days till Burning Man and the quadracycle is no closer to being ready than it was last year! This is REALLY bad. Even if I get the main bike ready soon I still have to get a sunshade made and get the wiring done. This is going to be really tight! I'm also trying to find and purchase a used travel trailer. I can then put the quad in the back of the truck and have a REAL place to sleep and get out of the wind. I'm behind on personal prep too. I still have the stuff packed from last year but I need water, food, and COSTUMES.
April 2007 - One more try!
OK, so I didn't make it to Burning Man in 2006. An ongoing medical condition flared up just before the event and trashed me so badly I was unable to go. I've since had the problem 'repaired'. So my determination increases to get myself out to the playa in 2007. I have my ticket and I'm making alterations to the quadracycle to harden and improve its operation. I want to deeply thank my friends in their efforts to help me get to Burning Man. I will make it this year and this time I'll be ready WAY in advance.