Burning Man, the frustrating parts
Sep. 7th, 2011 04:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidAll the negative stuff in one place; more happy stuff to come.
First off, the travel: after having had lots of flight changes due to Hurricane Irene, I had to spend hours on the phone with the airline to figure out alternatives, which was stress-making in and of itself. In the end, this is what happened: three of us drove overnight down to Ronald Reagan International Airport, with a fourth person along to drive the car back to Boston. We caught a flight from there to Reno, with a stopover in Chicago. Since I rarely sleep while sitting up or in transit, this meant a lost night's sleep, making everything later that much more difficult.
In Reno, there was the usual scurrying around with errands, which was increasingly difficult for me to handle because water ended up being the last thing we got, and, given the size of the car and the other luggage, I was very concerned that there wouldn't be enough room for the water. This is why I opted for EmergenC powder (which I discovered I didn't much like, so ended up donating to the camp) over liquid Gatorade.
Despite leaving Reno in the late afternoon on Monday, the line at the gate was still huge, with lots of stopped time. I had so many things on me that I could barely move my legs, and I didn't want to get out until we were there because it was so difficult getting in and out. It was midnight when we finally got to camp, and I still had to set up.
Which is why I ended up gashing one finger somewhat badly as I set up my tent. I kept it covered all week, and it's healing, but it's ugly.
I didn't get out to see a lot of the things I'd hoped, and I missed taking photos of many things I did see. Also, there were some camp politics towards the end, and miscommunication that lead to some temporary stress.
I didn't plan as well as I would have liked for the cold some nights.
I managed to get my stuff packed up by myself (as well as helping with camp things), but it was very difficult on my back pulling 12 rebar stakes up. When I put my things onto the container truck, I discovered that my unease about the shelves (necessary to pack the whole container) was not irrational: I tried to stand up without thinking, and hit my head. Then I thought I was out from under the shelf, and managed to hit it again, in the same place. It hurt, enough to make me feel like I'd cry. I have a scrape on the bridge of my nose, and it's slightly swollen, but at least I didn't break my glasses.
We left the city at about the same time I've used the two previous years, around 4 A.M., but this year it wasn't nearly as fast, taking three and a half exhausting hours to get to the road.
Things went smoothly enough in Reno, until some idiot rear-ended us when we were stopped. I was wearing my seat belt (we all were), and my poor head bounced off the roof of the car. Luckily, I apparently have a hard head....
Amazingly, the actual travel home worked very smoothly, with connections working and all, except that my hands started to break out in a rash, that has since spread as I've swelled a bit too. The itchiness is still on me, despite having taken Benadryl this morning, too. I'm tired, slightly itchy, and generally just feeling kinda low and unable to accomplish things, but I have to get the farm share and go to gaming, which is complicated by my car not having been finished yet, so I'm on foot/T (hopefully I'm picking it up after gaming....).
First off, the travel: after having had lots of flight changes due to Hurricane Irene, I had to spend hours on the phone with the airline to figure out alternatives, which was stress-making in and of itself. In the end, this is what happened: three of us drove overnight down to Ronald Reagan International Airport, with a fourth person along to drive the car back to Boston. We caught a flight from there to Reno, with a stopover in Chicago. Since I rarely sleep while sitting up or in transit, this meant a lost night's sleep, making everything later that much more difficult.
In Reno, there was the usual scurrying around with errands, which was increasingly difficult for me to handle because water ended up being the last thing we got, and, given the size of the car and the other luggage, I was very concerned that there wouldn't be enough room for the water. This is why I opted for EmergenC powder (which I discovered I didn't much like, so ended up donating to the camp) over liquid Gatorade.
Despite leaving Reno in the late afternoon on Monday, the line at the gate was still huge, with lots of stopped time. I had so many things on me that I could barely move my legs, and I didn't want to get out until we were there because it was so difficult getting in and out. It was midnight when we finally got to camp, and I still had to set up.
Which is why I ended up gashing one finger somewhat badly as I set up my tent. I kept it covered all week, and it's healing, but it's ugly.
I didn't get out to see a lot of the things I'd hoped, and I missed taking photos of many things I did see. Also, there were some camp politics towards the end, and miscommunication that lead to some temporary stress.
I didn't plan as well as I would have liked for the cold some nights.
I managed to get my stuff packed up by myself (as well as helping with camp things), but it was very difficult on my back pulling 12 rebar stakes up. When I put my things onto the container truck, I discovered that my unease about the shelves (necessary to pack the whole container) was not irrational: I tried to stand up without thinking, and hit my head. Then I thought I was out from under the shelf, and managed to hit it again, in the same place. It hurt, enough to make me feel like I'd cry. I have a scrape on the bridge of my nose, and it's slightly swollen, but at least I didn't break my glasses.
We left the city at about the same time I've used the two previous years, around 4 A.M., but this year it wasn't nearly as fast, taking three and a half exhausting hours to get to the road.
Things went smoothly enough in Reno, until some idiot rear-ended us when we were stopped. I was wearing my seat belt (we all were), and my poor head bounced off the roof of the car. Luckily, I apparently have a hard head....
Amazingly, the actual travel home worked very smoothly, with connections working and all, except that my hands started to break out in a rash, that has since spread as I've swelled a bit too. The itchiness is still on me, despite having taken Benadryl this morning, too. I'm tired, slightly itchy, and generally just feeling kinda low and unable to accomplish things, but I have to get the farm share and go to gaming, which is complicated by my car not having been finished yet, so I'm on foot/T (hopefully I'm picking it up after gaming....).