The 5 Steps of Project Management

So as I sit back outside myself and observe my making of this art car, I can clearly see the stages of project management are moving along nicely.  I'm currently on step 2.  This hit true when Mike called me out for referring to it as "my fucking truck thing".  In case you forgot the five steps, they are:
1. Euphoria and Excitement
2. Disenchantment
3. Search for the Guilty
4. Punishment of the Innocent
5. Reward for the Uninvolved

 So yes, I am well past the wild enthusiasm of step one and well into the frustration of step 2. The search for the guilty has already begun.  The guilty is obviously me, since this is all my idea.  However, somewhere along the line my way of thinking was shaped which led to the crazy idea in the first place.  Now I need to psychoanalyze myself and figure out where society drove me to do this.  Clearly step 5, reward for the uninvolved, happens at Burning Man when hundreds of strangers enjoy this thing I create.  In the corporate world, the uninvolved get promoted.

Anyway, today I did get the bumper taken apart, purchased lots of bolts, drilled a bunch more holes, made my ears ring chopping a new bumper beam, and now the rack on the bed is almost 100% freeway worthy.  Just have to secure the cross beams a bit better.  Those were frustrating because there's a little tab of spring steel that I attempted to drill through, and then quickly remembered from engineering school that spring steel is hard as hell.  Definitely should have chopped those off before assembly.

I spent 5 hours again and accomplished very little.  I'm realizing that I need to roughly double the amount of time any particular task takes me.  I am just not that efficient!  I have a 40 minute attention span, then need to do something different.  But I'll spend another fine day tomorrow and will get the damn bumper beam welded up, bolted on, and ready for the vertical beams.  For your viewing pleasure:

Drill Baby Drill

So Sunday I spent 5 hours drilling holes.  In fact, this was a colossal squandering of time.  But I did get all these bolts in.  1/2" and 5/8" holes are a piece of cake once you buy $350 worth of drills and drill bits.  I actually enjoy drilling holes now.  My old 3/8" chuck drill was unable to make holes of this size, and I decided I didn't trust my welding so bolting was a must.  The reason it took so long was because I had to buy the bolts and then experiment with the drill, rearrange the pallet racks, and line everything up.  Also I needed to bs with the CORE members and escape the relentless 75 degree heat and sun.  And buy bolts from Home Depot.  Remaining bolts will be purchased from a reputable bolt seller, and not garbage grade bolts.  But frankly with 5/8" bolts the low grade will work.  I can say this without any reservations since I have a master's degree in mechanical engineering.  Trust me, a 5/8" bolt will handle these loads!  Oh, and I concluded that I'm crazy.  I can't even explain why I'm doing this anymore... I should be committed.  Nonetheless, this will be finished.

Some Assembly Required

Okay, since it's been a few weeks, so I should show where it's at.  I find assembly and collecting all the materials a lot slower than planned.  The reason is I have to think through absolutely every detail as I go.  The plans are just a guide, and have to constantly be readjusted as the actual recycled materials are found.  Yesterday my friend Billy and some of the SLAC / CORE folks helped me put assemble the pallet racks.  Currently they're just sitting on the bed (no freeway driving!) but I'll get them bolted or welded down soon, probably later today.   There was a lot of discussion on what level to put the floor.  I appreciate the discussion, because every perspective helps.  I find it really fun to think through the details... these are things I never have to do or consider in my normal work of designing and engineering car parts and systems.

This view shows you the loose mock-up of the racks and an old pallet thrown on the cross-beams to simulate the height.  The brown cylinder is the proposed placement of the smokestack.  I am thinking it's too far forward, but maybe when the frame is built around the cab it will be more clear.  The height of the beams is currently at 5', and we did try putting them at 6'.  Ideally, higher would give a better view and allow people to use the space under the decking.  But once we were up that high (10 feet off the ground), the truck could be easily swayed by just one person.  The railings were also only 2.5 feet, which made it feel really unsteady.  The platform is now at 5 feet and that seems about right for this size of truck.  Maybe next year ambitions and construction skills will be for something bigger and higher, but this is it.  After setting the height, I then had to notch the uprights to make them fit with the bulkhead of the truck bed.  Here's the final positioning after the cutting:

Here's a view from standing on the new platform.  You can see how the framing of the bulkhead on the truck fits nicely with the new pallet rack structure.  The notch was required at the base.

The back end of the space is now 5 feet high.  It's probably going to be some kind of lounge / chillout space.  Nobody will be able to stand under there.  I'm thinking carpeting and a bunch of pillows.  Maybe bean bags or something like that.

The sides will just be clad in 1/4" plywood.  That (hopefully) will be the simple part of the project.  I also realized that I can't just invite a bunch of people over to get this done.  Each part requires too much measuring, planning, and practice with machine tools.  Near the end, when it's just plywood cutting and painting, will be the time to enlist a large group for help.  Until then, it's going to be just me and the occasional helper.  I'll probably need help again to move the rack around to get the holes drilled, but mostly it's a solo project for now. Only 7 more weekends available.  Anyway, at least it's shaping up!

Design and Inspiration

Well time for another update.  I'm slowly finishing up material plans and design details, and will start assembling beams as soon as mid-week.  The pallet rack uprights are perfect building materials -- cheaper than scrap steel, and already in the right shapes.  But without the cross-beams, they're flimsy and I want to make sure the truck stays freeway capable to be able to get more materials and to help out the CORE project (pictures at left).  But that's not to say that I've been idle.

I've been working on some of the detailing and puzzling design problems.  Since I decided to make the narrow version, basically I'm going to be bolting plywood directly to the 8" flange that round around the flat bed.  You can see it in the picture at top... it's got the red and white reflective tape on it.  But since the ramps aren't going to be built, and I don't want people jumping into the vehicle while it's moving, I had to design up a door.  I'm thinking it will be a wooden panel that's hinged at the bottom as in this sketch:

You would be surprised at how difficult it is to find appropriate hardware such as handles and hinges online.  I really need to locate a local industrial supply company that sells heavy duty stuff like that. This fold down version is the one I'll probably go with. But that decision only came after trying a couple other ideas out.  I was thinking some 1/5 scale lifeboats disguising simple steps would also work.  From a distance, you'd see the lifeboat, but up close you'd step on them.  I rejected this idea because 1) it seemed like a lot of work to fabricate and 2) there'd be no way to keep people off the steps/ little boats while the vehicle's moving.  So a hatch up high and opened and closed deliberately will keep all the people out that run up to it and want to jump on while it's moving.

The next question I decided to explore through drawings was the paint scheme.  Originally I was just thinking all rust colored for the hull, and white for the superstructure.  But I was inspired by that Japanese trawler that floated across the Pacific after last year's Tsunami and showed up as a ghost ship in Alaska.  This is one option for some faux rust along all the portholes.  That trawler had a completely black bottom from seaweed and rust.

 Actually I have been thinking about this sunken ship art car idea for well over 4 years or more, if I can come clean with you.  And it started earlier than that really.  I'll start explaining with an oblique reference to my childhood: Star Blazers.  This was a Japanese sci-fi cartoon where the Earth has been attacked by aliens and all the oceans dried up by the bombs and radiation, and the humans left have to live underground.  So the Earth Defence Force rebuilds a sunken battleship into a spaceship, and in a great scene it comes to life from the flat expanse, breaking free of the dried up ocean floor.  It was these images from childhood which inspired me.

This cartoon was remade into a Japan-only live action movie recently, much to my delight.  It's called Yamato, which incidentally was the flagship of the Japanese Imperial Navy.  But I digress.

The idea of a sunken ship appealed to me, and I actually thought about building a giant sunken battleship on the Playa for Burning Man.  This leads me to the Murmansk, a Russian ship parked a little too close to shore.  Note that it's all rust colored.  This will probably be the paint scheme that I want the truck to look like.  You can tell that this ship has been there a long time.  A little battleship gray remains, but it's mostly red rust.  I'm thinking to make mine the same.  A lot of red rust over the top of some white.

Well this was probably back in 2008 when I was fixated on a sunken warship.  I started thinking about other sunken ship ideas in 2010.  Thus the Great Lakes Ore Freighter idea.  Once the project is done, maybe I'll show the evolution of those ideas. Originally I thought the front would be showing, not the rear.  But sunken nonetheless.  Who doesn't like shipwrecks?  This was another inspiration for that idea.

This was the HMS Love from Burning Man 1999.  I love it, and never saw it.  I didn't even go to Burning Man until 2006.  But that's a pretty clever concept.  Last but not least, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Dock.  Last year it was very cool, and ship art cars all drove up next to it.  This year, there will be a sunken Spanish Galleon at the end, that will look like it crashed into the thing and sunk.  Just the rear end!  They stole my idea.  Grrr.  And it will definitely one-up my car, because they have 50 people all from like Disney and Hollywood working on detailing it up.  But it won't drive around, will it!  Anyway, it's all good.  There are no original ideas, right?

Blank Canvas Finally Ready

It's on!  Construction has begun. So here's the first load of metal, thanks to Mike's resourcefulness:

Pallet racks: the perfect mutant ship building material

The long racks are going into the warehouse space, but the shorter ones are 7 feet long and will make up the upper deck area of the ship.  So instead of doing the cab-over framework, the deck will be constructed first, probably next Saturday once some additional materials are purchased since we have only the uprights.  And the next great find: smokestack material!  Magically some large 55 gallon barrel type containers made out of cardboard showed up next to the dumpster.  Painted red with a big white stripe (maybe) and placed on the upper deck, one more detail is figured out.  The advantage of these is that they're super light and that'll help to keep the weight down.  I may have to rig up some kind of framework inside, they're so light.  The next order of business today was to measure the rig.

Ghost view from the side, steeper descent angle.

I'm really starting to enjoy this process, whereas earlier in the year it terrified me.

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.  You must do the thing which you think you cannot do."  – Eleanor Roosevelt

The biggest question I had was if I'd find the time to build it, not if I could do it.  Now I know for sure -- it will be buildable in time for Burning Man.  I spent last weekend at Lightning in a Bottle festival and no longer feel any need to do other camping trips or festivals until August. 5 days of camping and partying will do that. Elesium was canceled. After I got back from LiB, I sold my Electric Daisy Carnival ticket on stubhub and actually made a little money on it.  And now I have every summer weekend free to build stuff!  If I just pick away at little projects, before I know it the whole thing will be finished.  Summer in California is going to be great.

I finally got all the California registration bs finished and got my license plate and stickers.  In case you never knew, the little two digit number stickers on the side of commercial vehicles indicate how much weight the truck and trailer can weigh.  I got "15", which means 15,000 pounds, and actually could have paid an additional $140 to get a "20". I don't figure I'll be pulling a fully loaded 12,000 lb truck with a 6,000 pound trailer, which is the maximum the truck is rated to pull.  If someone needs the truck to pull a heavy trailer like that, by all means they can pay the extra to get the updated registration (or pay the fine).  Thanks to the DMV, I had to learn about weigh stations and pulled into an official California Weighmaster with the truck empty.  It weighs 5,960 lb completely empty, so that means I can load it up with 2.5 tons of stuff.  Anyway, I got my stickers!

So what's next?  More collaboration!  If you love your work, it is supposed to be fun.  I am still trying to figure out how to make that happen at my place of employment, but with this project, it's not work.  I am meeting people that want to contribute in their own way, and want to extend an open invitation to others to help in whatever way they feel like.  This is the vision I had for the project all along.  Everyone wins when everyone does what they feel like doing.  It all comes together so effortlessly.  I'm sure at some point I'll have to do something I don't want to do (like the DMV nonsense), but with an eye on the process and the eventual goal, it'll all get done.  So if you want to build some part of this, or have an idea you want to see become real, talk to me!  I know what I can do; you know what you want to do.  Let's find the happy medium where everything meshes.

Time Schedule - Start in June, Finish August

It all begins June 1st.  Less than two weeks away.  I always figured May or June was going to be the start date, and now it's official.  The blank slate, the Tiltmaster, will be back from the repair shop on Monday (A/C picked up a rock in the condenser), and then it will be all set for construction.  I spoke with Mike yesterday at the CORE fundraiser, and he can definitely score some metal beams / ladder racks relatively inexpensively.  So that will be the framework to start building with.  I've decided to plan the construction out in greater detail here.

I estimate the truck will take approximately 600 person-hours of labor to build, and unless I'm laid off (increasingly unlikely), I won't be able to build it all by myself.  At the same time, I hate being asked for help on some crazy project I have no interest in, and really believe in doing unto others as you would have done unto you.  Some people don't mind and encourage asking for help, but that's not what I want to see come into the world. Let's face it, as a charity this does not have any direct benefit to improve the human condition like say, volunteering at a soup kitchen.  I believe it is a "good" thing to build though, which means it's moral and valuable.

I am now actively inviting people to collaborate with me on the creation of this to solve the challenges in the most painless possible way.  For example, one dilemma I was thinking about was how to operate this thing on playa.  So far, it's just me and Shane that are 100% committed to it.  That means we would both have to be sane and sober whenever taking it out, with one to drive and the other to man the entry ramp gate and stereo.  I don't really want to drive it around; I want to interact with people on it and play music and generally look at it and ride it around and relax with some drinks.  Since Burning Man was always better last year (right?), I decided it was time to step it up and contribute.  The thing is, I don't want to contribute a taxi service.  I want to contribute a taxi.  So here's where synergy steps in:  Burnagain Campers aren't taking an art car this year.  I am.  My former camp isn't going, because nobody but me got tickets.  Voila!  We can collaborate.  If we join their camp, suddenly perhaps a crew can be found.  Plus rumor has it, they enjoy driving art cars around.  I want win-win situations for every dilemma!  I know it's possible.  Absolutely no one is obligated or coerced into doing anything, but if your project and/or desire aligns with mine let's collaborate.

So here's the basic framework for the build this summer.  I will plan three major build sessions, approximately 3-4 weeks apart.  This will allow me to prepare all the materials and plans and organize enough work to make everyone's time productive.  It'll kind of be like an Amish barn raising --- everyone shows up, and boom, it's done.  Since I know I'm always exhausted weeknights after work, weeknights will be for planning, part ordering, and designing.  I'll work every other weekend for construction, with generally 4- 5 hour Saturday and Sunday afternoon sessions, and then ramping up through the months of July and August.  By my effort alone, that will count for 11 weekends, or 110 hours.  The 3 group assembly sessions will count for another 300-400 hours in 5-10 people help out.  That leaves just about 200 hours of labor unaccounted for.  Worst case, that work takes place on-playa when perhaps more willing helpers can be found.  Or, the project is scaled back.  So I'm going to keep the work scheduled to avoid the involved hinged ramp detail until the very end, when we can see how it's coming along.  If construction is easier than planned, then we can get more elaborate.

Plan:
Build Session 0 - Saturday 6/2. Cab-over framework. (weekend after Lightning in a Bottle)
Build Session 0.5 - Saturday 6/16 or Sunday 6/17. Hull facade framework. (weekend after EDC)
Build Session 1 - Saturday 6/30. Finish Hull and Cab Framework (weekend after Elesium)
Build Session 2 - Sunday 7/15. Build deck and pilot house Framework. Paint wood paneling.
Build Session 3 - Saturday 8/11. Wood paneling entire vehicle, make smokestack.

All the rest is detailing.  The two additional projects could be: fold-down ramps along the sides, and giant back end of ship extension with curving hull, rudder, and propellers.  I would love to do both of those, but just not sure how far the labor will go.  I will render this up a bit further and put up pictures.

DMV and Balancing the Forces of the Universe

Even the biggest waves crashing in are neutralized when there’s normal flow going out.  But when not enough is going out, then the wave comes in to overtake you.  A life lesson from living on the beach.

So today I am overwhelmed by the simple task of going to the DMV.  I don’t even feel like writing out the long boring story in detail.  So let me summarize:  I need to find a certified California Weighmaster and make an appointment with the California Highway Patrol to have a 2^nd VIN verification and to make sure the truck conforms to FMVSS-120 and about three other Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Certifications that are required, because my car didn’t have the appropriate stickers.  They did take my $900+ dollars though. Oh, and you can’t get an appointment with the CHP unless you show up in person, and their office closed at 5:00.  I know this because I showed up at 7:00 after working all day (except for the 2.5 hours I was at the DMV).  And I need to replace the low beam headlight bulb before I bring the truck back, not that I have an appointment yet.  Tomorrow’s projects: light bulb, CHP appointment.  The Weighmaster will have to wait till next Monday I guess.  Don’t they know that I’m the Tiltmaster?

I can’t even get started on building this mutant vehicle if I can’t legally get it registered for on-road use!  This is why I never built anything in Detroit: the 2400 mile drive means your base vehicle better be damn near perfect.  To top all this off, after getting it back from the service center I have noticed that the A/C doesn’t work.  There are no simple unplugged wires either, so this clearly has something to do with the exhaust manifold gasket and attachment stud replacement, or the drive belt replacement from last week.  First rule of doctors: do no harm.  Grrrr.  So now what?  Surrender, clearly.  And let it go.  If I don’t, I won’t be ready for tomorrow’s wave.

At least I have finally struck a balance between the overwhelming aspects of my job and my desire to follow my crazy dreams.  Unlike back in March, I am now perfectly happy being employed weekdays and free to pursue my obsession at night and on weekends.  When work took over all my weeknights and weekends, then I was really out of balance and miserable.  Between the layoffs and stress cause by that, I pretty much shut down.  Fortunately I had already set the wheels in motion on this art project so once the stress lifted I was ready to start.  I’m now excited about life and work is not dreadful.  Everything feels like it’s falling in place.  I didn’t really expect the DMV experience to go very well, and it turned out that way.  Time to regroup and move on.