Today was blissfully quiet.. just what I was looking for after the last few hectic weeks. Diane Gab and I barely moved outside of the 30 foot circle of our living room all day. My biggest accomplishment fo rthe day ? … taking an hour nap !..   Well.. actually.. I did accomplish two additional things I’d wanted to do for weeks.. First, I managed to clean up my Lab.. it had been pretty much destroyed while I was working on the lighting for the timecycle project. . Here’s a before shot..

And here’s an after shot.. this is the way I imagine keeping it in my head.. it usually stays like this for only 20 minutes or so.. but they are 20 happy minutes. .. As they say.. a full disk is a sign of a full mind.. and empty desk is a sign of an empty mind.

Cleaning the lab was such an existential pleasure that I couldn’t stop Next I attacked.. (DUH-DUH-DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH)  my sock draers.. They were .. (and are) quite a mess.. In there I found all sorts of things.. sentimental and other wise.. magic tricks, lock picks, dictionaries old prescriptions, 2 missing ipods,  tos of forign coins and bills, a huge basked of audio cables, memory simms, bluetooth adapters, international wall plugs. old business cards, 5 year old gum, 6 lasers, 3 spinning tops, a remote control  toy tank, 6 homemade knives (from Sam).. letters from my great, great uncle in German, 2 clothespins, candy cigars, a yarmulke, several watches.. etc.. t was cathartic to clean it out..

now my sock drawer has socks !

Just when I thought the day would be perfectly wuite, I get a phone call, 10PM.. It’s homer, the trailer they have the time cycle on has broken down.. it’s got too much weight. They dropped about 1600 pounds of stuff in Oneata and are now heading back to Vermont to find a new trailer. .. Oy veh !    I’ve been on the phone for the last hour trying to find them another trailer..I may have found one in Jeffersonville.. but it may be too small.  If you have a trailer that can carry 6000 pounds, is at least 16 feet long, has a ball hitch and can part with your trailer for a week and a half.. please let us know !   Never, ever a dull moment around here..

OK.. I’m going to sleep now. I’ll worry about the trailer in the morning.. for now.. Gnite all. Gnite Sam

-me

Sudden stop…  a day of transitions. I worked at home this morning. Began with a very difficult meeting.. left me in a strange mood for the rest of the day.

I took a break midday to help see max off… First it was time to test fire the newly finishde oven.   Our first pizzas !

The pizza was awesome !!!!!!!!!!!

Max had packed today t at 5 in the morning.. packing a whole semester’s stuff in his trunk.

It’s a happy/sad thing seeing max go.. It’s been so nice having him here for august. He’s such a great kid.. I love seeing him go off to school.. and.. I’m going to miss him so much..

There was still quite a bit of dismantelling and packing to do. I packed the lights inside the wheel rims as per homers idea and helped dave pack all of the electronics.. Then did odd jobs lifting and unbolting as we slowly moved the pieces on to the trailer.

I was lookign for a place to put a smastone.. I decided I’d put one on the grill.

I decided to wire it on.. that meant drilling some holes in one of the stones. Luckily.. we were at davids.. we made quick work of the drilling with the wonderful waterjet.

Now they’ll be traveling with style out at burning man.

This really is such a beautiful machine.. It’s an honor to have worked on it.. It’s so amazing to have seen this complex machine go from idea to complete in only 60 days..   It was equally amazing to see it being unmade again in front of us.. Slowly all the peices ended up on the trailer..

I finally decided to leave once the wheel parts.. with the LED’s inside them.. had been loaded on the trailer..   The guys still had a few more hours to pack.. but then they’re off. I think it will be tomorrow mornign before they actually get going.. three guys in the truck with 6000 pounds of mutant vehicle. It’ll be hard… but so much fun.. it’ll will be wonderful…   I’m sad I’m not going… but I’m glad to be staying here too..   My summer just got quieter still

I left around 7.. and headed home.. once again the pizza oven was fired up.. Gabe, Kristin and Diane made some wonderful pizzas.. this oven is so cool !   Diane and Jen had finished it this afternoon.. and added the finishing touch.. a SamStone.

Much better day at work today.. but several difficult meetings.. Sometimes I wish I could discuss my work days  here.. but that wouldn’t be a good idea..   After hours I headed home . spent some time with the family then headed to Bristol for the next to the last day of work before the Timecycle heads to Nevada.   Our friend Tim had stopped by so he and I caravan ed down to Bristol.. where he lives. I wanted to show him the mutant vehicle. The mood down at the build site was pretty good.. There were many things left to do.. but by and large, the vehicle was done .. and best of all.. working !..   It’s so very amazing to see this huge thing moving gracefully around David’s back yard. I have to say I have such mixed feelings.. It has been a wonderful project to work on.. The whole thing sprung out of Homer’s head.. and so many folks helped bring it to life.. At the same time.. my stuff was tough and frustrating.  I put in so much time on the lighting… but in the end,  I wasn’t able to accomplish as much as I had hoped.. and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that what I did do will be robust enough to survive Black Rock City.   I do feel good that friends Dave and Carlyn are well versed in the lighting.. I even have a back up set of lights in case things don’t work out. For those who are interested.. here’s a document describing the care and feeding of the lights.

My decision not to go to Burning Man this year was a tough one.. and one that I keep revisiting in my head.. but I think it’s the right call. I’ve spent so much time on the project that I’ve really gotten myself worn down and distracted.. I’d like to  take a few weeks to chill out.. but I have several big talks coming up.. *sigh*..

Anyway.. the mood over at Davids was peaceful and jubilant..   I loved looking at the device..

Here’s a view from up top

Here’s the newly mounted drivers seat.

the 40HP diesel engine with the hydraulic pumps.

And me in the rivers seat.. at least this once.

Tomorrow the guys are packing up the vehicle for shipping. Taking it

apart is going to be a challenge. I’ve bene calling around tonight

trying to borrow someones crane.. I’m also trying to make sure they

have a crane and forklift to meet them when they get out to the playa.

Anyway.. I’m wishing our Duane’s World crew a safe and mind blowing trip out to the Burn.. Enjoy guys !

I got home early enough to help Max and Diane work on the next layer of the mud oven. I’m so proud of Max in for his vision on making this..   Here it is earlier in the dayy with the 2nd mud/clay/straw layer.

Max mixed the clay up old school.. we  were all covered with clay dust by evening.

Max kept a drying fire in the oven all evening.. it was good against the chill.. It’s already in the low 40s outside.

Later tonight, max added the 3rd mud/clay/straw level .. II helped collect the mix, and spread it.. Max did all the precision work.. He’s crafting a very cool face and hands  on this oven.

Max was still working long after dark.. I know he’s proud of this project.. We can’t wait to use it !

OK.. that’s it for today.. more tomorrow..I need my beauty rest !
Night all.. night Sam !
-me

I woke this morning to find an article on the TimeCycle on the front page of the Free Press this morning. (http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090826/NEWS02/90826002) It’s a great article.. it shows the machine and the team.. and the challenges we have in getting the thing out to nevada by next week.  

I love Homers message in the video that went with the story. The irony for me is that  in some sense , the project has been anything but joy to me.. I’ve managed to spend a good portion of my summer working on the lights which has been frustrating technically.. and now I’m not goign to burning man. On the other hand, i take real pleasure in knowing that I dragged Homer into this project as well as chris c and seth.. and all of them have had really good experiences. I’m hoping that we get this machine done  and out there and they have a blast. That will make it all worthwhile.

Closer to home we have another big project going, Max’s earthen oven is coming along really well we have been keeping a small fire in it all afternoon to dry out the dirt in prep for the next insulating layer…

Hey.. what’s this ?! 🙂

Not much else to report.. Oh, yes.. one more thing. I was interviewed for a ZDnet  podcast today. I just got a link to the podcast.. it’s got some good background on the show if anyones interested..

Eeek.  only 2 minutes of battery left.. gotta end here. Gnite all.. Gnite Sam
-me