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scattered thoughts

For those who might not already know, I’m going to Burning Man this year. I’m leaving Saturday for Bakersfield to pick up my Jeep, and then two more people are meeting me there. We’re going halfway on Sunday, then the other half on Monday, and we’re returning the next Monday.

I’m rather nervous about the whole thing - I’m not an experienced camper. I went camping last summer with some friends, though, and this isn’t really camping… Last summer I slept in the back of the Jeep. Here’s a picture of me, and the jeep in the background:

I’ve been warned by some I won’t like staying in my car, there’s not enough room to have visitors or some such reason. I know from last time, though, that with the mattress pad from my bed and sheets and pillows from home, it forms a very comfy little wonderland well suited to a smaller person such as myself. I sure wouldn’t want to sleep there if I was 5′10″ though. I’m going to try to put a tarp hanging from the tailgate to create a little semi-private open space.

I can’t imagine why it would be a bad idea; it’s rainproof, well screened from the sun (thanks to the deeply tinted windows), dustproof if I close the back, it won’t blow away, and (fuel permitting) I can fire up the engine and run some air conditioning or heating. I bought a goofy tray-on-an-arm-that-fits-in-your-cupholder thing today that will make a nice little bedside table, oddly reminiscent of my nook at home, and I got a fluorescent lantern, though that has an unfortunate harsh light. I wish I could use candles, but I don’t think they’re such a great idea in the car. Last year I used the Candelas, but the base for those seems to have died, and they wouldn’t stay charged the whole week anyway. I might bring some tea lights; what I really wish is that I could find some battery operated xmas twinkly lights, that would be perfect. I’m sure I could find them online, but that’ s no good at this point. The only real suck is that the stereo was stolen last summer, so no tunes, though I’ve got a little set of battery powered speakers.

I spent a fortune today on insurance and registration for the car, and then shopping. I got a really nice Camelbak, the lantern, a cute plastic picnic table attached to four seats with an umbrella that folds up into a case on sale for $35, tons of batteries, and some other crap. I’m a little worried about the cost - this will end up being about a $1000 trip but a lot of that is things I’ll have for next year, another trip, spare batteries/power bars/red bull, whatever.

Burning Man shoppers were to be found everywhere in Los Angeles that camping equipment was sold. I met some in Target, another at Sports Authority, and REI looked like it was full of them.

I’ve still got to shop for food and stuff, and I hope I can get everything done to the car on Saturday/Sunday. The liftgate is busted, so I’m going to try to shampoo the back out, or at least vacuum it really good and febreze the living shit out of it. The driver’s side door won’t open, but I think we can fix that or just climb over. The steering fluid leaks, which could be easily fixed with a new steering pump, but eh, whatever, it’s perfectly safe to drive with manual steering, albeit a pain in the ass, and the fluid is cheap enough I can pour in about 50 bottles for the price of a new pump plus labor. I’ll have to put a drip pan under it on the playa. It’s a good car, though, I’m sure it will make it there and back, so I’m already thinking about what I might do to it for next year.

I’m not planning to actually do/provide anything at Black Rock City, though I’m committed to work at a bar for a day or two, a chore I anticipate with glee, as I believe it means I’ll get to handle ice. (neither I nor my traveling companions plan to bring a cooler - it just seems futile to me). Otherwise, the logistics of getting myself there seem to be challenging enough without trying to put on a show. Though I did just get a nice idea of making a little lawn in back of my car with Astroturf. huh, it also just occurred to me, the playa is packed dust, which I bet behaves like drywall, I wonder if you could use drywall screws to hold small things down?

For any readers who might also be going to the Playa, I may be found at the corner of 3:00 and Fate (*sigh*… the boonies) in the camp of People United for Nothing, an

International community of progressive thinkers, boozers and psychonauts extaordinairre. Interests include nothing, burning art, safety third, cocktails, and potato-gun wielding fairies

Watch for the car looking substantially like it does in the picture, and me likewise.