August 2022

Lots has happened in the world and with me personally.

There were some losses in our family, we gathered, loved each other and said farewell to some family members. We welcomed a few more members to our family. And we have confirmed partnerships. Some friends have opted out. Our family is all right and I love being part of it.

The pandemic. The lock down. The economic downturn. The roaring inflation rate, the resulting increased inflation rate, and the recovery.

The changes to the US election process. The division of right and left. The conspiracy crazy shit.

Climate change: fires, floods, changing weather patters.

Its a weird life on planet Earth!

xx L

International Women’s Day - #Balance For Better

Balance For Better
So there is a lot of information and opinions about women and our movement towards equality today. That’s cool. I love being a woman in 2019. I love the push for education, more inclusion, representation, expanding our roles, and supporting each other, for ending violence and bullying and for promoting equality. It’s great.

We are at least starting to question the idiomatic tropes we use for strong women. Women are proud of being strong, being leaders, being vocal, being involved and taking ownership and leadership in our communities. Being categorized as pushy, bitchy, bossy, hard on staff, hawkish, too aggressive, unladylike, and other negative adjectives are being questioned as bigotry.

We are questioning our own goals and dreams. That’s great.

I want to talk about an aspect of being a woman that still needs to be lit up and discussed: the choice of not wanting to participate in motherhood

Thank goodness we live in a time when women have more choices about the “when” of their reproductive cycle. Now I’m going to push the envelope further to have us embrace, acknowledge and celebrate those that say no to motherhood.

Yup, that got your hackles up didn’t it. Not every woman wants to be a mother. How we view people who do not want children evokes powerful emotions and almost always instant judgment.

It’s time for us to move towards supporting and fostering positive acceptance of the woman who decide not to have children. We need to embrace those choices  without negative judgment. I’ll say it again another way: there are women who have no interest in bearing and raising children. Their choice is just as valid and appropriate as the choice about when to bear and raise children.

As a society we don’t like that idea. Our negative judgment spectrum goes from pity to harsh selfishness. We think oh poor girl, she is unable to have children. The bottom end of the judgment: she thinks she’s too good for motherhood. Even those in the middle equate the choice of being childless as some form of abandonment or a less than valid choice.

We assume every woman wants to be a mother. We think there is something wrong with the woman who does not want to participate in reproduction. We denigrate her choice as unnatural. We call her names and step away from her emotionally and physically. We think we have to fix her. We want to change her mind.

Women who choose not to have children are not old maids or self-centered. They are not spiteful hags or morally corrupt. They have made a choice, and the choice is not “later” to children; it’s no. We need to respect that decision.

I wish we were more supportive of women who want to remain childless. Really, think about it.

People want to believe motherhood is instinctive. It is not. It is a learned skill. You can improve motherhood skills through education.

I’m not going to discuss the pros and cons of who should or shouldn’t make decisions about women’s reproductive health. I’m also not going to talk about world over population and diminishing resources. I am saying that our education and socialization regarding motherhood needs to shift to a better balance.

We need to remember that value as a woman is intrinsic in being human, not what we chose to do with our bodies. As has been said over and over: we are human beings, not human doings.

So yes, we need to embrace and accept women who choose not to have a child. We need to thank them. Not just because of the population growth, but because it’s the right thing to do. We need to stop bullying women for their choices. We should celebrate choice. Working moms, stay at home moms, women who decide not to be a mom. They are important, their choices are valid no matte what our bodies are capable of doing. That’s equality and balance.

So this #InternationalWomensDay, let’s do some real #balance. Let’s support the choice to say NO.

Oil Prices Rant #2

So the chart below is courtesy of Oilprice.com (they track oil prices all over the world), December 6, 2018.

As you can see, Premier Notely’s claim that oil prices in Alberta are at $11 / barrel is way too simple, and patently untrue.

The lowest price is $17/ barrel, which took a drop in the last few days because there are world events affecting the oil prices. The question Premier Notely needs to address is why she is not being included in those world discussions? She needs to get on THAT and stop trying to con the Canadian public about her agenda.

The next question to ask is who are these Canadian oil companies? Hardisty Light, Albian Heavy Synthetic, Syncrude Sweet Premium, Peace Sour, premium Synthetic, etc.

Well, glad you asked ... stay tuned!

Oil Prices Rant #1

I’ve been ranting about oil & gas prices lately, so I thought I’d share here too.

Just as a primer: Premier Notely of Alberta (Canada) wants to increase the price of Alberta oil in 2019. She has (in my view) been heading down this dangerous road for quite some time.

This is Oil Prices #1:

Ok, I’m going to post a number of oil price articles over the next few days. I’m sick & tired of the BS out of Alberta about their manipulation of oil prices. Premier Notely says she wants Albertans to have a bigger percentage of the oil prices. She is claiming that Alberta oil is sold for $11 a barrel & that the Alberta oil industry should be able to participate more fully in international oil prices. They already do. Remember the Canadian National Energy Board policy ended in 1985. Since then (in my humble opinion) the oil companies have set the prices of oil in Alberta, not the government.

This is important because of two things: oil sands oil is the DIRTIEST oil in the world. It creates havoc on the land and is one of the worst polluters in the world. Premier Notely is arguing based on perpetuating miscommunication and misunderstanding about this oil.

So here is the first article. For those of you who don’t read the articles there are 2 major takeaways from this article: 1. World oil prices have dropped 22% in the last month. And 2. OPEC will meet tomorrow (Dec 6) to further manipulate world oil prices.

As an aside, Russian officials met with Saudi officials at the recent G20 meeting. You can bet your
bottom dollar they discussed a mutually beneficial oil strategy.

World Oil prices are currently dropping, see this article on Marketwatch.com:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-slips-back-toward-50-ahead-of-looming-g-20-opec-production-talks-2018-11-30

O

Being a Friend

Being a Friend

This is not sometime I came up with all by myself. It has been written and added to by many people, but it is an important topic.

We all need friends.

We all need different kinds of friends.

Some people deny this, but I believe that this is because they never actually sat down and identified what a "friend" is to them.

Each friendship varies with the friend, but certain traits are mandatory for me. These are a few of them:

Friends can occupy the same room/space without robbing the space of solitude. They appreciate the difference between conversation and pointless noise.

They don't snipe and bitch about other friends.

They do their share of the mundane tasks without prompting. They acknowledge the mundane tasks their friend does without prompting. That doesn't mean "thank you" every 2 minutes, it means real gratitude. That is done sometimes silently.

Friends seldom whine.

Friends are secure in their own purpose

Friends do not anchor themselves to an energy zapping cloud of defeat and ready-made excuses when a challenging project presents itself.

2016 Slab City Prom

Prior & Current Year Prom Queens

Prom King Jordan & Prom Queen Andra

This year's Prom Night Under The Stars at The Range at Slab City was a great success. Everyone appeared to have a good time. The annual Prom at Slab City was initiated about 12 years ago by Robin (Builder Bill's girlfriend) with her friend Shannon. There have been newspaper and magazine articles about it, especially in the last few years given the popularity of social media, even here in the "off the grid" community out in the middle of the desert.

An event like the Prom Night Under The Stars at The Range at Slab City does not happen by magic. There is lots of hard work put into it each year and this year was no exception.

A little history: Prom Night Under The Stars started as an event at the end of the Snowbird season to give the residents and long time inhabitants at Slab City an event that would cap off the year and be an opportunity to go to a Prom Night, no matter how old you are, no matter your relationship status, whether or not you had a date, or a fancy dress or suit. It was aimed at all those that did not have fun at their own Senior Prom in high school for whatever reason.

At Slab City, there is a relation of social rules of engagement. This relation means that you can come and have a good time even if you don't have a date. You can come by yourself, with friends or a date. You can come dressed to the nines, or come as you are. Your choice.

To give people options, residents and snowbirds shopped the thrift stores for dresses, suits, shirts and ties during the year. These were brought out a week before the Prom for people to choose a dress. There were no rules about the dresses, just a suggestion that if you wanted to keep it at the end of the night, you brought another one back to replace it. Now, after 12 years, we don't have to shop so much any more. We get lots of donations. These are often the only fancy dress some people at the Slabs have worn.

A few years back, we started to take pictures. For free. We do a little fundraising before hand, put out a tip jar for the photographer and his helper. The fundraising helps with the cost of the paper and ink for the printer.

We usually help decorate The Range for the night. Sometimes a new coat of paint. Last year, it was new floorboards for the stage. Lights are strung up, sometimes beads. It will often depend on the weather. We were lucky this year. No wind. It rarely rains in the desert on Prom Night, but it can be windy.

Flip Cassidy & The Junkyard Gospels

Neil Malik & Barry Wayne

Megan Bee

The band is by donation. This year in addition to the Slab City Band, we had Flip Cassidy and the Junkyard Gospel. They were all great!






So, thanks to everyone who helped out.


With the decorating, getting the flowers, the crowns, the lighting, the photography, the music, the great audience and all levels of participation!

Have a great summer, and take care out there in the world!


Slab City 2016 Prom Pictures (pictures were taken by Bob Zahn

Builder Bill & Robin being photographed by Bob Zahn

If you want to know more about Slab City, visit our website www.sccgi.org
If you want to ask about Slab City, go to this FaceBook page: Slab City

and of course, if you want to make a donation (US tax deductible) go to our GoFundMe page.

Garbage In -> Garbage Out

Freedom at Slab City, is just like freedom everywhere in the world. My freedom ends where yours begins. We have had a challenging year at Slab City this last season, in large part because some new people (and a few returners) have misunderstood what the "Last Free Place in America" is all about. They thought (erroneously) that it was all about them doing whatever they want at the expense of anyone else. NOPE, it is definitely not that.

Freedom has responsibility. I mean that from both ends. Freedom to experience it, and freedom to maintain it. I will be specific with my example here: Trash. Yup, that smelly Yucky, dirty, often dangerously septic and infectious stuff that people throw on the ground because they are "finished" with it. Its a wrapper, a bottle, empty tin can, a plastic thing that broke off another thing, a liner, a diaper (usually used), dog dodo, and even human waste. Something you don't want with you any more. So you toss it over your shoulder. Or you even put it in some kind of container, thinking "I'll deal with that later" and then forget about it. Or you move it over to the edge of your eyesight. If its on the perimeter of your consciousness, you don't have to think about it any more.

Sorry my little Babylonians, that's not the end of it at Slab City. That's only the beginning.

You needed to think about what this means before you even think about coming to Slab City. There is no free lunch here (there are some potlucks, but no free). Alice's Restaurant is NOT here. The ONLY thing that is free out here in the middle of nowhere is that little patch of dirt under your feet while you walk on it. That's all. No free food, no free bathrooms, no free water, no free lunch, no free garbage removal. NO NO NO.

If its out here, then someone brought it here and is using it. They might have stepped away for a minute, or maybe you just can't see them right now, but its theirs. Not yours. You can't have it without asking. That includes… well EVERYTHING, even some things you didn’t think about.

That includes the garbage removal. That includes water. That includes a toilet.

You need to take care of three things for yourself when you come to Slab City: Food, Water and Waste. If you don't know how to take care of those things, then ask for advise. BEFORE you get there. YES before.

I know ... you thought it was FREE... FREE .... FREE ... well, its not that kind of Free.

The "free" at Slab City is personal freedom. Free not to be bothered. Free to live (and die) the way you want, without a bunch of people telling you how to do it. That freedom comes at a huge personal cost.

Yes, cost! Remember... NOT FREE

The cost is that you have to take care of the essentials yourself. You have to take care of your own food, your own water, your own waste. All of it.

Now, I'm not saying that there are not people here that won't help you. They might. But its not their job to help you. You can't just come here and then feel "entitled" to that assistance. Your sense of entitlement is one of my pet peeves and I'm not going to rant about it today. Just know that FREE is attached to your ideology about entitlement and I (or anyone else at Slab City) don't owe you anything.

Now I'm going to tell you a story... I ran the Oasis Club for a long time. I did a great job at it, and its now been handed over to someone else who is doing a great job of it (thanks Lo!). When I was running it, I would often have people come and ask me for toilet paper while I was behind the counter at the Club. It got to be that every other person that seemed to come in the door was asking for toilet paper. At first I started to simply say no and go back to whatever I was doing, like dishes, or sweeping, or doing prep work, or even just making coffee or talking to someone. The asker would look at me like I owed them an explanation, and like I said, I would just ignore them.

Then one day some jerk called me a controlling biotch for not handing over what he perceived as a secret stash of toilet paper. I responded with my rant, that went something like this:

"... what? you came to the desert, to the middle of no where... because you wanted to see what it was like to be in the middle of no where, knowing full well that there was nothing here. That we lived off the grid ~ without the use of electricity brought here by wires from the power grid, knowing there was no water, no food, no amenities whatsoever. You came out here to Slab City, knowing all of that, and with a huge expectation that those that came here before you now OWE YOU something? You think I owe you toilet paper? When you forgot to bring your own?  Your stupidity is not my problem! You have been here at Slab City for how many days now, and you finally decide that its time for ME to GIVE to YOU something that YOU didn't bring. Why the hell would you be so stupid as to think that I actually owe you anything? Especially given that I have to go out of my way to bring things here to the desert for myself. I didn't come here to provide you with stuff. You are not MY responsibility. I came to Slab City to experience freedom. Your coming here is infringing on my freedom. You should go somewhere else.”

The strangest part of giving them my rant was that they stared at me the whole time. Usually with their mouth dropping open. Sometimes, hopping from one foot to the other because… well, they needed toilet paper for a reason! They were free to walk away any time, but instead, they stood there listening.

Of course, a legend was born out of these rants. I became known as “The Sarge” and if anyone came to me asking for "free" anything, they got this discourse. Sometimes people came just for the rant, and I'd be happy to give it to them. Some of the recipients made songs of their being chastised by The Sarge (I think the most popular was a Canadian kids who did the “Toilet Paper Blues”). Some thought I’d gone crazy and others thought I’d gone too far. Of course, a few people came for toilet paper, but they didn't get any from me. They got the rant.

One day, a little miscreant came and asked for toilet paper, thinking of course, that he was entitled to it. He got the rant. Plus he got the jeers that the audience gave him while he got the rant. He got embarrassed and annoyed and stormed away. He went into the clothing closet at the Oasis and took one of the t-shirts in there, and took it to the outhouse and used it as toilet paper. Of course, this didn't work out well for the outhouse. It stupid entitled idiot plugged up a perfectly functioning outhouse because he didn't think it was his job to take care of himself. Its was everyone else's job, and specifically mine to give him toilet paper. As a result, we shut down the outhouse. Everyone lost out because of one stupid entitled little F(*&^'er. He knows who he is. He knows what he did. He knows the consequences. So does everyone else.

The moral of the story. If you screw up other people's freedom by not taking care of the basics for yourself, especially when you KNOW that you have to take care of yourself in an environmentally hostile environment, then you are not going to be welcome to return.

The idiot in the toilet paper story is not welcome anywhere near me. I don't want to experience his Freedom. He can go back to Babylon where he belongs. He doesn't belong at Slab City. He doesn't understand and doesn't want to understand what Freedom is all about.

If you want to come to Slab City GREAT!! Come on down! Please bring your own stuff, and when you leave, take your stuff back out with you: Pack it in & Pack it out. We do NOT need any bad garbag’ers. If that's you, just stay home and watch Slab City on YouTube and FaceBook.

Lynne

SCCG Inc.