Burning Man – Friday

So much for getting up early. An art car with an insanely loud audio system parked just outside the T@B (probably so the riders could get off and pee at the nearby bank of porta-pottys) at about @4A.M. The subwoofers made the T@B ring like a bell and it took some serious time before I could fall asleep again- so I slept through the alarm clock. Maybe tomorrow. This morning a Mexican Cantina bar pulled by a WWII “weasel” broke a wheel going around my corner. The damage was severe and in most circumstances would have been the end of the “weasel”, BUT, two of the margarita drinking patrons of the cantina happened to be mechanical engineers (@50 years old) AWOL from Boeing in Seattle. In an hour they had scrounged parts and tools to fix the weasel and get it rolling again. Unreal!!! Robin shows up with another pale ale and I go over to his place to see the awesome dome and electrical setup he has. His neighbors are grad students in chemistry who have been knocking down magnums of different types of hard liquor each day. We are joined by some teardrop owners that live between us. This guy and his wife addressed as French maids. And we all sit and party for a few hours before realizing that it is close to 2P.M. We all disperse to the next thing and I eat a quick lunch and head off to Center Camp for the Monkey Chant. (hard to explain: look for “2009 center camp monkey chant on YouTube) After the chant I spend time talking to a guy about my age without any legs who is playing old “Who” and “Traffic” recordings at high volumes into the ring of space across from Center Camp. One of the chem students from this morning and I sit and talk pharmaceutical industry, diabetes, and the difference between college life now and in the 70’s. Decided just to walk the neighborhood this evening and met a guy who was born on an island in the Scottish Hebrides on a farm without plumbing or electricity. His Gaelic accent made me asked and he was delighted that someone knew where he was from. His family now lives where my ancestors came from in both Scotland and in England. Now he raises grapes in Marin County, California. Crazy!