We spent a lot of time and money on the couch this year. We're probably not going to do that again.

We added another set of scissors to the old scissors. These didn't last too long. The old scissors failed when Vicki's relatives came to visit and took a ride on the couch. Two of them went up and as I was saying, "Don't worry, it's perfectly safe," the couch sagged over to the right nearly dumping them off. The scissors bent over nearly breaking but, thankfully, they didn't break off. That would have been bad.

Vicki's sister said, "Oh my God. Did my big butt do that?"

I didn't take any pictures of it (the couch).

It's kind of amazing that people will get on the couch at all. Although they do generally scream when it goes up all the way. But it's probably safe. Every time it starts to bend a little I weld on another gusset here or there.

We also added
two steam whistles,
new engine w/ auto tranny,
fancy lighted port holes from Shanon O'Hare's Neverwas,
Bonfire Bob's Fire Cannon,
a double amplifier stereo,
hydraulic boat steering,
sculpted aluminum arm rests,
new hydraulic pump,
second air compressor,
new hydraulic ram,
air brake,
servo throttle,
concealed hoses and wire routing.

Hard to believe, how could we do that?

Want to see the servo schematic?

We never drive it all the way up. It seems high enough such that the fall would kill you. (Or is it hitting the ground?) If it's safe to drive it up, we'll never know. That's a wierd thing about the words "safe," and "dangerous." Oh, oh. Philosophy lesson is here. If we never get hurt, then was it dangerous or was it safe?

The roads in camp were horribly pot holed this year due to the draught. I didn't get any pictures of that. Many vehicles couldn't much drive at all. Even bikes had a hard time.

Out on the playa wasn't too bad except every so often there would be a dust dune. Even our large tires wouldn't get through it. It was like a boat hitting the beach. Sometimes we had many people helping push us out of the dunes. I didn't get a picture of that.

We camped at 6:50 and about G, behind center camp and across from Hushville. We managed to have the trailer facing north for better shade.

On Thursday Vicki and I had a romantic dinner on the Playa. You can see the couch in the back ground. Soon as we set up Photographer Fullbright happened by and took these pictures.

My Spiderman boots were too gay, I know.

Vicki's new hat. You think something is going to be fantastic and some times it just doesn't quite get there.

People looking at parked couch.
One guy said for a moment he thought it was a work of art. Actually many people said the couch was the best thing out on the playa.
I'd say, "Okay, here's your five bucks."

Obviously more impressive:

Eight Legged Walking Vehicle
Another one.

There were so many people at Burningman that they wouldn't all fit on the couch.

We met this group at a crashed flying saucer stage where a string rock band played wonderful music. The one girl in the back seemed to be their leader. They all danced to the music then did group hugs where each person would get in the middle. One girl took two turns.

We wanted to stay in touch but that hasn't happened yet.

We found these photos on the Burning Man website.

Bryce Hunt

John Fulbright

This shot is by Greg *Lovegreg* Liburd.
Click the pictures.
People often ask Vicki and me why we built this thing.
This picture says it all. Perry's idea. He didn't go this year and Vicki and I ended up letting our friends watch the man burn on the couch. Well, the man didn't burn on the couch, you know what I mean. But we had already watched plenty of stuff burn without ever getting off the couch.