One more burn-related SUCCESSIVE APPROXIMATION

One more burn-related post, I swear, and then I’ll go back to advising you on ways to procrastinate.

You all know that I’m a sucker for a database, and that FileMaker Pro is my tool of choice. (For a simple and free database, check out AirTable online.)

Besides the database I use to wrangle all the data from the hippies registering their theme camps, art, mutant vehicles, and sound for Alchemy, I also have one for my packing list.

Packing list? I hear you ask. Don’t you just pack your Utilikilt in the car and go?

Mercy, aren’t you young and naïve?

I have eleven storage tubs in the basement, plus a tent, three canopies, underlayment rugs, tarps, camp kitchen stove, four tables, and a smattering of other items.

That’s just in the basement. I then have to pull in more items from all over the house: kitchen, study, closet, attic, back porch, play room, and the labyrinth, not to mention perishables I have to purchase each time.

So every fall as the Facebook group fills up with humorous posts from hippies freaking out about packing for the burn, I smile quietly to myself knowing that it will take me half a day—max—to pull together the 311 items I need to take with me.

The database is simplicity itself: for each item, I record the item, how many, its location, a tub number if it’s in a tub, and any notes (like “don’t buy any more shot glasses for 2020”). Then, when it’s time to pack, I just sort it by location/tub, print out all ten pages, and get to gathering.

For example, I know the little toothbrushes (with a little nugget of cleaner/freshener built in) are in the basement, in tub #1, in a box labeled Personal Objects, and I will need them for build weekend.

I can also print out an alphabetical list, so when I need to remember which tub the camp wipes are in, I can find them. I can use the notes field to tag items: for build weekend, I only need 31 of the 311 items, so by putting build in the notes, I can generate a packing list for that.

Then, when I pack up at the burn and not everything goes back in the right tub—it could happen—the list is handy for repacking everything before I stow it.

So here’s the Lichtenbergian point: every time I print out the packing list, there are changes to be made: new tubs, new items, re-orgs, discarding items, no need for “nonce” items (i.e., those cute ideas for that one burn), etc. All the changes get scribbled on the list as I get everything back in place:

From there, it’s back to the database to make all those changes, which takes less time than you’d think: just FIND the specific item, make the change/delete it, and rest easy knowing that even though the Bar Box and its 23 items are now in BM10 instead of BM2, I don’t have to remember that in my own head—it’s in the database.

Which reminds me: I need to print out an alphabetical list to leave on top of the tubs so I can find those things I need between burns:

(Note: I have a similar database for all our stuff in the storage unit. ALWAYS KNOW WHICH TUB TO LOOK IN!)