2014SurvivalGuide
The Basics (You MUST read):
• What AutoSub provides
• What AutoSub doesn’t provide (you must bring!)
• Camp setup/breakdown
• What to Do Every Day
Moderately Advanced:*
• Ins and Outs of the AutoSub Infrastructure
• Kitchen Job Descriptions
- Still important to read. if you don’t read this, and as a result you fuck something up, you'll be sent to Totenkitten for reeducation. And none of us want that, trust me. But seriously, read this stuff. Ask me questions (either now or on playa) if you don’t understand how to do something. Keeping the camp functional is critical, and we all share that responsibility.
Super Advanced (If you don’t read this I won’t be mad. I might not even get to write it this year):
• Troubleshooting
What AutoSub provides:
- Food and water for the week. Breakfast & lunch is prepare-on-your-own; dinner is a communal effort and served around 7pm, give or take, each evening
- Infrastructure to cook food and clean dishes
- Shaded area for food preparation, eating, and general hanging out
- Access to shower and steam bath so you can get clean. We need to watch water use (see below) but you can steam so long as the steambath is working and take 1-2 showers during the week.
What AutoSub does NOT provide (you must bring!)
- Your own plate, bowl, hot drink cup, cold drink cup, knife, spoon, fork. Label them with your name.
- The things you need to survive in the desert (clothes, tent, shade to cover your tent). Lots of packing lists are available
- Gatorade/electrolyte tablets: these are purchased for early & late crews only. You should bring your own for use during the week.
- If you are into energy bars or protein supplements (e.g. Clif bars/creatine powder) you should bring those
- We have plenty of beer and booze for parties, if you want other special booze you should bring it.
Setup/Breakdown of Camp
Generally, campers are expected to help with any remaining setup needs on Monday 8/25 and with breakdown on Sunday 8/31. Please consider this in your planning. Upon arrival to Burning Man, plan to spend a couple of hours setting up your basic needs (tent/shelter & shade) and then plan to spend at least few hours helping with general camp setup. Early crew will have been working all week, will be tired, and needs your help! Same deal with breakdown; obviously make time to pack up your own stuff, but you will be needed to help break down and LNT camp.
What to do every day
Drink water. And then drink more water. Staying hydrated is absolutely key to your well being. Electrolytes help too. Eat salty foods, and bring Gatorade or electrolyte tabs if you want. Complete the shifts you’ve signed up for on that day. You are responsible to trade shifts with someone if you won’t make your shift. Clean your own dishes (in the dishwashing station) and any AutoSub dishes you use (in the sink) Always scrape dishes in the waste bucket first to avoid crap getting into the sink and clogging it! MOOP* sweep your personal area and the common area Offer to help someone do something. This is the most basic and lovely gift you can give on playa. Be awesome and have all of the fun.
- MOOP = Matter Out of Place
Ins and Outs of the Autosub Infrastructure
General Cruft* Box- will be kept at the endcap of the dinner table - find stuff lying around? put it here! missing something? look here!
- Cruft = stuff people leave around camp. Coffee cups, goggles, maps, etc.
Water Info Water is $1.25/gallon! Please be aware of your use, and minimize whenever possible. See below information how to wash your hands & wash dishes so that we conserve water.
No water coming out of the sink? Check the 55 gallon drums outside the kitchen for water levels. If there is an empty drum, move the hose to a full drum and then refill that drum from the Hive water. When you take water from the hive water supply, please mark the log sheet with what you have taken!!
Shower
The shower will be set up near the steam bath. To shower, you will need to put water in the nearby bucket that contains a pump. The pump is connected to a hose & spray attachment that is attached to a stand.
1) Leave the pump on the rug and take the bucket and fill it with meltwater from the meltwater bucket. Or, take the solar shower you brought, fill it, wait for it to get warm, and then put the water in the bucket. We are not providing any solar showers this year. If you require a hot shower, you will need to bring your own solar shower bag and be responsible for it.
2) Take the pump and place it in the bucket with the water. Put the cover on the bucket. Turn the pump on.
3) Stand in the wide clear container that is on the rug. Shower.
4) Dry off on the rug. Bring a towel if you feel like you need one.
5) Take the wide, clear container to the greywater dumping station and dump it. Wipe it out if necessary and return it to the rug.
6) Look around. Pick up any MOOP or things you might have left behind and be sure the shower is the way you found it so the next person can use it.
Steam Bath
You may use the steam bath to relax and get clean if it is running. Don’t attempt to run the steam bath if you don’t know how. Ask Nate for assistance running or troubleshooting the steam bath.
Beverage Station
Thirsty? DRINK WATER!!!! Drink Water. Lots of water. There is a designated table that holds your beverage needs. You’ll find: 5-gallon drink cooler filled with ice water (if it’s empty and you use it, fill it.) Use it to fill your Camelback. If you just want to fill a cup with ice and water, just use the ice cooler and water from the faucet. That way you never have to fill the ice water cooler if you never use it. 5-gallon drink coolers filled with mystery sugary drink. (if it’s empty and you use it, fill it. Follow the instructions on the drink mix container) Small cooler filled with DRINKING ICE ONLY. Use ladle or tongs to get ice - DO NOT USE YOUR HANDS. Anything other than ice in the cooler will be tossed. Coffee pot, ground coffee, measuring cup for coffee. Follow instructions on the pot to make coffee. Coffee, sugar (cream, non-dairy and milk found in dairy cooler by coolers) Electric water kettle. Use to make tea, hot chocolate, soup from mixes, etc. Once it boils it turns off auto so don’t walk away from it Alcohol (some may be supplied. Donate some!!) Beer fridge. With a tap. Some folks put personal canned drinks in there to get cold. There might even be iced coffee in there if it fits.
Food Shelves
Everything on the shelves are up for grabs! You’ll find bread, spreads, dried fruit, nuts, granola bars, oatmeal, fruit, macaroni & cheese etc. Storage for Dinner Foods and Late Crew Foods Items found BEHIND shelves, loose or in ALCs, are being stored for dinners or late crew. DO NOT GO INTO THIS AREA.
Coolers
KEEP COOLERS CLOSED AT ALL TIMES. Make sure to push down on the tops when done. You will find: Dairy (but not eggs) cooler Breakfast/lunch/snack/condiment cooler Eggs only cooler Meat for dinner cooler(s) Vegetables for dinner cooler(s) Late crew cooler.
The dairy cooler, eggs cooler and breakfast/lunch/snack/condiment cooler are for campers and up for grabs.
DO NOT GO INTO THE OTHER COOLERS UNLESS YOU ARE A CHEF or it’s already the Mon and Tues of late crew.
Coolers are stacked and pushed close together for insulating purposes. The ones for dinner are usually found on the bottom and the ones for daily use are on top.
Kitchen Sink
Use sink to: dump meat and dairy cooler melt water dump out dishpans from personal dishwashing station wash AutoSub dishes & pots and pans Do Not Wash your Hands or Personal Dishes in the Kitchen Sink!! Need to clean your hands? Use the Handwashing Station (see below) DON’T let food bits & other crap go down the drain, always scape dishes into waste bucket first!
Handwashing Station
For real dirty hands there is a stainless steel bowl that you can put a cup of water into so you can scrub your hands. When water gets dirty, you can dump it in the sink. You will find nail scrubbers and hand soap. Do not use paper towel to dry your hands. If you need to do a LIGHT wash, you will find baby wipes that have lemon juice in them.
Dinner prep and all folks handling food: After you wash your hands, you will also find Hand anti-bacterial wipes. Use them. (These are just for hands, not countertops.) If you need to disinfect the countertops, use some of the bleach and water mix in the dishwashing station dishpan. Extra Cleaning Supplies: Sponges, dish soap, scrubbies, bleach, etc. Found under sink.
Freezer
We have a freezer that holds ice, meat and bread for later in the week.
If you need ice to replenish coolers, or ice for the bar, grab ice and close the freezer fast Do not take any food out of the freezer. Do not leave any personal items in freezer. They will be tossed or given away.
Stovetops and Counter
For personal use for breakfast and lunch. You will find pot holders and lighters. Clean up after yourselves. There is a heat diffuser kicking around. It’s useful when cooking eggs. Just put between the pan the the flame. Grills Also for personal use. Very useful to make pancakes on if using the cast iron griddle. DO NOT CLEAN WITH SOAP. Pots and Pans Around the stove and grills you will find all manner of pots and pans. Smaller ones will be in tupperware boxes or ALCs, the very large ones will be loose. If the one you want doesn’t jump out at you, dig.
Prep Island/knives/utensils
There is a prep island usually found in the middle of the kitchen. You can use it to make sandwiches or cut up a watermelon for camp. You will find knives, toothpicks and misc utensils. Box with cutting boards and other Misc. Kitchen stuff You will find on or near the prep island some random kitchen items such as cutting boards, cheese graters, potato peelers, knives, serving spoons, bowls etc.
Rag Bag
Chefs are getting cotton towels before dinner prep. They are to use them during dinner prep. When they are done with dinner prep, throw the towel in the rag bag.If you spill a bucket of grease or a bottle of bbq sauce and need to clean it up, use the dirty rags from the rag bag first before using paper towels.
Compost Drying Rack
Found outside the kitchen but close by. Put apple cores, melon rinds, avocado skin, etc in rack. NOTHING SMALLER THAN SCREEN HOLES. Make sure the cover is secure when done. Personal Camper Dishwashing Station and Dish Storage Shelves
Dishwashing station consists of: 1) Waste bucket lined with pantyhose (scrape your dishes into here) 2) Bin of wash water (use sponge with soap in here) 3) Bin of rinse water (rinse dishes in here - no soapy sponges please!) 4) Bin of disinfect water (water + a capful of bleach to disinfect dishes)
To clean your dishes, first scrape them into the waste bucket. This is lined with pantyhose so we don’t put food bits down the drain. Wash your dish in the soapy water with a sponge, rinse it in the middle bin, and then submerge it for a minute or so in the bleach water. BOOM, clean dishes. You can store your clean dishes on the camper dishwashing shelves.
Dishwashing bins might get gross! They’re emptied twice a day, but they get a lot of use between those times. If you come upon a gross bin, dump and replace it.
To replace dishwashing bins: 1) Dump water into wastebucket (so that pantyhose strains out food bits) 2) Take out the panty hose and dump strained water into the sink. Return pantyhose to waste bucket 3) Fill wash & rinse disinfect with water only up to the line. 4) Fill disinfect bins with water up to the line + 1 capful of bleach (found under the sink)
Cans for Bacon Grease
Big cans are found around and behind the coolers, very close to the wall of the quonset. These are to hold bacon grease. keep them away from open flames or where someone might trip over them.
Melt Water Container
Melt water ONLY from the vegetable coolers are saved and put in a container (probably another cooler). It will be labeled “Melt Water”. Use this water to make a soothing vinegar foot bath or add to your sun shower and wash your hair. Try to keep this water out of your eyes and mouth. Ziplock bags Gallon and sandwich size boxes of these will be found in an ALC near the coolers.
If you open a packaged food (cheese, veggie burgers, etc.) put the rest in a ziplock back before putting back in the cooler. And make sure the top is zipped. Otherwise, stuff will get wet and ruined as ice melts in the cooler Bar Storage There will be an area for bar storage in the kitchen. Stay out of it unless you are on bar duty and Bar Pod leader has instructed you what to get.
Message Board and Kitchen Board and Clock
Want to leave a message for someone? Put it on the dry eraser board. One side of our kitchen board easel is for messages from Autosubbers and if someone comes looking for an Autosubber and can’t find them but they want to leave a message, tell them to write it on the board.
On the other side of the easel, is Kitchen info. You will find the shift sign-up sheets and the shift check-off lists there.
There’s also a clock. At least there used to be one. Hopefully we still have a clock and it still works.
Trash, Recycling, and Burnables
Bins for trash, recycling, and burnables will be at the far end of the quonset. Please use these appropriately. If you find a full trash bag, tie it up and store it in the container behind the quonset and re-line the bin with a new bag.
There is a compost station to dry out organic food waste (veggies, eggshells, etc.) outside the quonset. When this fills up, add the dried out stuff to the burnables bin.
KITCHEN JOBS DESCRIPTIONS
Team Leader Responsibilities (all teams) Learn the team responsibilities from team the day before or from Jess If no-show volunteers, find others to help and also let Jess know
Cooler Team Times: 9am to 10am. Morning People ONLY -- Tasks should finished by 10am. (It gets hot after 10am and it is best to do this before the heat of the day. Get cash from Jess or Damon and buy required amount of ice for kitchen & bar Dump melt water from coolers. Remove food if necessary. Meat & dairy meltwater - dump in the sink! Veggie meltwater - dump in meltwater box Replace food and fill with fresh ice. Ice goes over all food except eggs. Put eggs on top so they don’t break! Consolidate & pack coolers tightly for efficiency
Afternoon Sweep Team Times: Between 3pm and 4pm. Make sure Kitchen is clean and ready for dinner prep which starts at 4pm-5pm
Team lead: see description of Team Lead responsibilities above
Helper 1: Dishwashing Station Report to Team Lead as early at 3pm but no later than 3:30pm Put dirty abandoned camper dishes left on dishwashing station in dish cruft box Scrape Autosub pots & dishes into waste bucket and then wash them in the kitchen sink. Empty, clean, and refill personal camper dishwashing bins (see instructions of how to replace bins in dishwashing station section above) Fill spray bottles Make sure clean sponges are available and paper towels and wipes are well stocked Remove panty hose filter from waste bucket if full and replace (put full pantyhose in compost rack)
Helper 2: Sink/Counter/Prep Island Put dirty abandoned camper dishes left on dishwashing station in dish cruft box Scrape Autosub pots & dishes into waste bucket and then wash them in the kitchen sink. Clean and prepares kitchen sink, counters, & prep island for dinner Put away or throw away (if necessary) any food left near sink, counters and prep table Put away ALL pots/pans/utensils after cleaning (don’t leave in dishdrainer, and don’t bother drying, the desert air dries them just fine and that would be a waste of paper towel)
Helper 3: Trash/Recycle/Burnables Trash/recycling: remove full bags from barrel, wrap appropriate colored tape around the closer and put out back with other trash bags. Replace bags. Check water filter below sink. If it is full, remove the full one, close and put out to dry. Replace with a new filter
Dinner & Evening Sweep Team Times: Dinner Prep as early as 4pm no later than 5pm depending on meal. Dinner served NO LATER than 7pm. Cleanup immediately after dinner.
Dinner Team Lead: Everything in team lead (see above) PLUS: Try and sign up as prep cook prior in week to get idea of how kitchen works and where things are Grab ALC from behind shelf with meal recipe & dry ingredients, coordinate with Jess to get your meat/dairy/veggies from coolers Assign jobs to helpers as needed for successful meal prep. Ensure that helpers are cleaning up if not actively prepping or cooking food. Dinner lead is ultimately responsible for meal prep AND cleanup. You don’t have to do all the cleanup yourself, but please don’t take off for the night until you are assured that it will be completed
Dinner Prep helpers (4):
Report to Dinner Team Leader as early at 4pm but no later than 5pm depending on meal prep time (check with Chef earlier in day what time you are expected)
Prep and cook meal per Dinner Lead’s instructions Clean as you go! Wash & put away dishes as they are used. If you don’t have a prep job at the moment (e.g. all the veggies are chopped and you’re waiting for them to cook) you should be cleaning stuff up Dinner Cleanup/Evening Sweep Team (4): Report to Dinner Team Lead immediately after dinner. If you want you can get a heads up on cleaning during dinner prep (e.g. washing dishes) Complete all tasks described above in Afternoon Sweep Team (see above). Wait until campers have washed dinner dishes to replace dishwashing bins. Make sure all foods and condiments used to make dinner are put away in proper places Put any dinner leftovers in ziplock bags, label them, put in Lunch/Snack cooler (but only if cool to touch! If food is still warm, leave in zip lock bags on prep island to be put in cooler when at room temp)
Leave No Trace Team:
Conduct daily MOOP sweeps of camp (sweep takes 10-15 min)
Assist with Hive daily MOOP sweep of the Esplanade