Douglas E. Berry

Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What a magnificently weird book.

Told almost entirely in extended flashbacks, the plot, although I hesitate to call it that, involves three men who work for a small Milanese publishing house specializing in obscure, conspiracy-themed books. As the book progresses, mostly in long expository speeches on various conspiracies involving the Knights Templar, the Rosicrucians, and eventually the Jesuits, the three main characters start using an early IBM PC (the setting for the start of the story is around 1980) to create random conspiracy theories by feeding it random bits of data.

This leads to them formulating The Plan, an attempt at reconciling all the contradictory claims and histories into a sinister, coherent whole. What starts as a fun mental exercise becomes something more, as it becomes apparent that their musings have attracted attention of the most deadly sort.

Dear Halford, I love this book. I haven't read it in decades, and it was like meeting an old friend. Eco's use of language and imagery is both richly detailed and carefully written. In an early scene, we enter an apartment, and in a few short sentences, we experience it with all our senses/ Brilliant writing. The conclusion is appropriately confusing and unresolved, which is the only way you could end this book.

Was any of it real? Was The Plan a flight of fancy or did these three men accidentally reveal an ancient secret? We don't know, and we don't care, because the book is just that good.



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All righty! I've weighed all the fluids that will be going in Tramp Cripwire, and it comes out to 147.28lbs/66.8kg. Our fluids weigh more than I do.

Now, all that weight is on a one-way trip. The bulk of it is beer and vodka for our camp dues. The beer alone comes in at over 75lbs! We'll be drinking the rest of it ourselves.

Here's the issue. To balance the load in the trailer and the truck, I'm going to have to move about 74lbs/33.6kg from the truck to the trailer. I do have an easy out here. We always fill our three 7-gallon water cans, and never use all of it. If we end up with a full water jug, that will be about 60lbs/27.2kg, which should be enough to even the load out, considering the truck will have less weight after we eat all our food.

I still need to weigh the boxes and the propane tank, as those are the really heavy objects to be loaded, but right now I'm happy with my load plan. The Clothing Box, my bike, and our tools go in the trailer, and everything else in the truck.

If I'm missing something here, please enlighten me.

Tramp Cripwire has been repaired and is ready for pick-up!

[APPLAUSE]

We're going over Monday. There will be pictures! The next step is getting the wheels aligned, and we have a place in mind for that. This has been THE hurdle, mentally, emotionally, and financially, that we have been needing to get past.

Now, I can look at prep without wondering where I'm going to sleep, and start planning out loads. This weekend we're hitting BevMo for the liquid portions of our camp dues. We just need to keep going over what needs to go in That Box, needs to go in the Kitchen or Shade boxes, or needs to be stored in the trailer's cubbies or just loose in the truck bed for easier access.

WELCOME BACK FROM THE DEAD, TRAMPY!!!

We're having a busy day! We took my long-neglected bike down to The Off Ramp for new tires and dry lube. did the weekly shopping while waiting for that to get done, and after a short break, we're heading down to do some stuff with the totaled trailer and then to REI for a little prep shopping.
Which, annoyingly, will include pricing an emergency backup tent if this drama with the insurance company drags on much longer.

(A little bit later. . .)

After a rest, we rolled all the way down to the place where we store our trailer. It's not overly convenient, but the price is decent. We had two goals, Use our trailer dolly to place the trailer in the slot (neither of us is very good at backing the trailer up, something we *will* work on when we get the new one) and putting the useless fucking license plate on.

Turns out the license plate didn't come with nuts, so we'll be hitting Home Depot for those. Also, I was a bit concerned about the play in the mounting, so will be adjusting that next week when we go down to try this again. We did move the trailer into position, and as a bonus, figured out how the read stabilizer legs work. Go us.

From there we rewarded ourselves with a trip to REI. We picked up some camp food, mainly breakfast stuff because easy in the morning is best, I grabbed a nice set of small hot sauce bottles and a dessert. We're going to save that for last night.

We also picked up so camp lighting solutions, two rolls of Nunn tablets, and a water bottle that will fit in my bike's water holder. We briefly looked at shoes, as the New Balance shoes I wear for work are definitely showing their age, but didn't find anything good.

The one thing we failed to do was go to Bank of America and close our account. We have cut every autopay and reset every account to work off the Star One Credit Union account. Today was the day we were going to go in, get the last amount out, and end that chapter of our lives. But we forgot.

We even identified the fail point. We were fully expecting to drop off my bike and be told: "it will be ready Tuesday" or whatever. Instead, they had an open shop and were able to get to it right away. Our carefully laid plans in shambles, both of us forgot the bank and instead opted for the weekly shopping.

It's all good, we'll go over there next weekend. Along with finally seeing Dr. Strange.

We dropped off the Sun Box containing the old Harbor Freight solar panels at the home of the people who bought the trailer. What a relief.

Those things generated 45 watts and were outdated almost the instant we bought them. They were a pain to set up and tear down on Playa. The Sun Box was heavy and just another thing we had to load and unload. Now that's gone.

The Far Trailer Empress Marava has 100w panels installed, with an actual control panel so we can monitor things like efficiency and battery temperature. One less thing on the camp to-do list. More importantly, one less thing to load!

More importantly, as kshandra took a book from their little free library when we were there yesterday, I added one before we left today.

Considering my original long-term survival goal was living to see 2000, I take every new year as a win.

So, what's coming up for me and Offhand Manor in 2022? Well, my health is going to dominate things for at least the next few months. We need to find out the cause of the inflammation seen in my eyes and now in a lymph chain in my chest. I had a head MRI yesterday, and still need to schedule a PET scan and a lumbar punch. Ow. Plus there's now a cataract in my right eye that needs to be dealt with. There are plenty of appointments coming up. Just to make things more fun, my hemo-oncologist retired and I'll be dumping this all on a new doctor.

Fun times, folks.

Alongside that, I'm going to keep working on physical and mental health. My job makes getting my daily steps in easy, but I really need to get the TRX bands out at least three times a week and work on getting back to the gym when possible. Mentally, I was able to recognize that I was setting myself up for failure in a situation and back out of it, which was a win, but I need to set aside time for mindfulness. 30 minutes a day of quiet meditation really helps center me.

One big thing coming up is our July roadtrip to Tonopah, Nevada for Westercon 74. kshandra has really wanted to get me away from the warzone our neighborhood becomes over July 4th, and besides the con, there are some cool things to see in Tonopah. Like the The World-Famous Clown Motel!

We won't be staying there. But we will kill the camera batteries in the 19th-century cemetery across the street. It'll be a fun trip!

What's really cool is Burning Man is coming back! After a two-year hiatus, we're going back to the desolate, dusty, sun-blasted Playa we love. Planning is already in progress, as I was born to be a staff officer. Speaking of which. . .

The Free Trailer Beowulf is dead, long live the Far Trailer Marava! After five years, the homemade kludginess of the Beowulf is showing. Rather than fight a long battle to keep it road-worthy; which we really lack the skills, tools, and funds to do right; we've decided to take the plunge and buy a real trailer.

We're getting an Outbound Extreme Standard Model. Scroll down a little to see the model. Ours is the base white with black trim. We did go for a few necessary options (which you can see on the Order page.)

Exterior Options
100 Watt Solar Panel, 30-Amp LCD Display Solar Charge Controller with Battery Temperature Sensor.
15" Spare Trailer Tire
Front Cargo Rack
Front Diamond Plate
Rear Support Jacks

Interior Options
Roof Fan, 3 Speed
Memory Foam Mattress
Front Storage Cubbies
Electric Package (basically a surge protector power strip with USB ports mounted inside the trailer.)

We'll need to pick up a new marine battery, battery box, trailer lock, and a few other things. If you're in Northern California and want a trailer that is in decent shape but needs some work, contact me or Kirsten for details. We'll throw in the solar power panels we've been using.

Also, I am determined to spend the time to make Sideways Solutions work. So I have a schedule to make sure that when NaNoWriMo kicks off on November 1st, I will have everything ready to roll. The total word count goal for the 1st draft is 90,000 words. Expect to see a lot of drabbles and ficlets in this space, and folks, I need your feedback. Not just "that's cool!" but tell me what works, and where I'm weak. I'm a former infantryman, I can take harsh criticism!

The only other big thing on the schedule for the year is we have vouchers for a couple of San Francisco Giants' games, and in September, the long-delayed Rammstein show in LA may finally happen. Crossed fingers.

Hell, crossing my fingers for all of this! Happy New Year!

In the March 1972 issue of Analog Science Fiction--Science Fact, Larry Niven had a short story, Cloak of Anarchy, part of his sprawling, thousand-year history of Known Space. I read the story as a kid, then came back to it several times as I appreciated more and more of its meaning.

The story itself centers on an Anarchy Park, a place where almost anything goes. The ever-present copseyes - floating observers that pack a powerful stunner - keep the peace. In theory, anything goes in an anarchy park. You can demonstrate, create art, tear down art, sing, dance, do whatever you want to so long as you don't cross the line into causing harm to another person or the park itself. This works fine until one of the characters in the story figures out how to disable to copseyes.

What happened next is a lesson in human nature as seen by Larry Niven. Disabling the copseyes also had the effect of locking the gates to the park. Everyone is trapped inside. Within hours, power structures form. A group of jocks seizes control of the only water supply. Other groups huddle together for safety or warmth. The story ends with the copseyes being restored and everyone leaving under their watchful gaze.

Like many of Niven's stories, the lesson is ham-handed and brutal "society good, anarchy bad." In general, I agree. But I'm currently read a book, Radical Ritual: How Burning Man Changed the World
by Neil Shister, that makes me think of that story and how it relates to Burning Man.

If you've never been, Burning Man is a place of creation. You, no matter how small, are part of the creation. Some people bring huge artworks, some bring mutant vehicles, some -like your humble narrator - bring stories to tell. Buty we all take part. There is also an amazing amount of pure liberty. Want to walk around naked but for an elaborate brass crown? Go for it. Juggling while reciting Greek poetry? I'd love to see it. Teach a class on cuneiform and let everyone make their own prayer? I'm still pissed I missed that.

But just underneath the surface, churning away, are the copseyes of Burning Man. The Black Rock Rangers, the various police agencies, and the social contract we all agree to without words when entering. Because what strikes me about Burning Man when compared to the Anarchy Parks of Niven's vision is that society forms without compulsion.

We don't need an absence of authority to form societies. We had that happen in 1996. That was the beginning of the rules that created a framework for radical self-expression. Ordinances were put in place to create more safe zones, places where the noise wasn't incessant, rules for mutant vehicles were established and evolved.

But what surprised the organizers was the growth of camps and villages. Camps are easy. Groups would band together to do something; support a mutant vehicle, run a bar, host live music, whatever. These groups would stay in contact all through the year, making plans and assigning jobs. Their growth really, in my opinion, made Burning Man a society. Camps then formed into villages, camps that worked together to make sure that Burners got the maximum interaction with their competent camps.

The organization had nearly nothing to do with this until it became a reality.

While admittedly the Anarchy Park in Cloak of Anarachy was designed for day visits, and Burning Man is a week in an unforgiving desert that will kill you, you can see where Niven almost predicted it.

If only we could get Larry out there.

We went down to check on the Free Trailer Beowulf today, and I can report that all is well. The extremely large tarp has kept the rain out, so the interior is mercifully dry. We hung a dehumidifier thing to make sure it stays that way.

We have two projects that need to be done before Burning Man. Installing a new, better door, and tracing an intermittent electrical problem.

We'll head back over in a few weeks to change out the dehumidifier, check tire pressure and inflate if necessary, and hopefully, chuck all the bedding stuff in sealed bags into the back.

Because it's never to early to start packing.

A busy day at Offhand Manor. We had several post-burn tasks to attend to. Because this damn thing never really ends.

First, we took all all the recycling to our local place. We're allowed to take all the cans from Rosie's Bar (the day bar we run as part of M*A*S*H 4207) home. That and our on recycling from both our personal consumption during Burning Man and the stuff that was at home got us $51.55. Not a bad payoff.

Next, we stopped in at Home Depot for a third 55-gallon storage box. These are the longer version of the now-ubiquitous black boxes with the yellow lid. We found that they are the perfect size to store horizontally in Darby's bed. Last year, we had two, dubbed the Sun and Moon boxes (holding our solar panel gear and our shade structure, respectively.) The third is the Earth box, holding not only all the kitchen gear but pretty much all our miscellaneous gear with room to spare.

This is going to make loading/unloading so much easier in terms of load planning and finding things. The Sun and Moon boxes will be practically empty after camp is set up, and can be used to set a borer for our space or stored under the trailer. The Earth box will have everything else. We also looked at an adjustable height folding table as a new place for our cooler. I like the idea as it would both isolate the cooler from the ground and make the task of draining meltwater into our garden watering can much easier.

As an aside, we can't just dump water on the playa. Clean water, like cooler melt, can be disposed of by sprinkling it over a large area. Being able to do this daily will again make our packing process that much easier. Graywater is another issue, and we mat make our own evaporator to deal with the liter or so of graywater we generate daily.

After escaping Home Deport, we went to kshandra's office/warehouse where our gear is stored in the offseason. There we two goals here: move items into their appropriate spaces and build an accurate inventory of what we had and where it was. Several items were coming home for cleaning, for example, or would be stored at home until it was time for loading. Having an accurate inventory makes life so much easier in the long run. Next spring, when we're starting to get ready, we can look at the inventory and know what we have already.

The work went we quickly, with a few breaks of course. I was really pleased that we could fit the bag containing our rolled-up camp table into the Earth box. My theory is the fewer things out in the open on the truck, the fewer things to worry about losing to a pothole bump or a thief.

Then Darby got a much-needed bath at Rotten Robbies. They recently installed a LaserWash 360 system and it works great. I was impressed, even the headache rack came out clean. There is still a mountain of mud in the truck bed, but I'll deal with that. Also, Darby's passenger seems to have a seal leak.

Finally, we had to go shopping. We cleaned out a lot of old food before we left, and the larder was rather bare. I avoid most of the impulse buys, and can I say I'll be happy when the IPA fad goes away?

One big piece of shocking news. We may be selling the Free Trailer Beowulf. We've decided that a purpose-built toy hauler or work trailer, with both a side door and a rear ramp would probably be better for our needs going forward. So if anyone is interested in a small teardrop trailer, or knows a potential customer, let us know!

We did this all today because tomorrow night we're seeing Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony tear down the Chase Center right after they finished building it.