My personal three years nomadic anniversary was a month ago, on April 1st. But today is another important milestone - the two year nomadiversary of Cherie and I setting off together.

We set out cross country in May 2007 intending the trip to be an extended trial run, certain only that we would stay together until Burning Man in August.

The trial obviously worked. I can hardly believe that two years have already blown past!

We've just put up a post on www.technomadia.com with a fuller reflection on the last two years.

Check it out:
www.technomadia.com/2009/05/two-year-nomadiversary/

This past week has been a blur.

Back in September and October while we were in the midst of working on the Obama campaign, serolynne and I were encouraged to apply to speak on Technomadism at the O'Reilly ETech Emerging Technology Conference.

The awesome folks at O'Reilly accepted our proposal, and were excited about us being on the agenda. They even featured us in an interview for the O'Reilly Radar as part of the build up towards ETech.

We would be sharing the stage at ETech with big name CTO's and CEO's and a whole host of well know visionaries and leaders. Would people really want to see our travel photos and hear about our experiments in lifestyle hacking?

Apparently, yes.

Our "Tales from Technomadia" session on Thursday morning went over extremely well. We had a great crowd, and several people told us that we were one of their highlights for the whole week.

Wow.

We are just two geeks and a kitten living in a moderately teched-out trailer. Are we really that interesting? It is humbling to have people telling us how much we inspire them.

But we do encourage people to think about different ways of living, and that indeed strikes a chord. ETech has been all about finding new ways to look at the world, new approaches to problems, new visions.

In addition to giving our talk, some of the other highlights from my week at ETech include:

• Refactor your Wetware - An in depth look at how the brain works, and how to use your own better.


• Learn to Make Cool Things With Microcontrollers - I feel inspired to go build some cool stuff now!


• Ignite ETech - Featuring an exploration of the pneumatic tube "internet" of the late 1800's. Wow!!!


• Design for Urban Green Space - Eye opening talk about the potential for urban gardening.


• Priorities for a Greener World - Where to focus future efforts for the best possible return.


• Robots: The Next Ten Years - Prediction made: robot teams will be competitive playing soccer against human teams at the World Cup level by 2050, and perhaps by 2025. Wow.


• Jackhammers, Polymers, and Diamonds: New Applications in Explosives - She didn't blow anything up, but Christa Hockensmith was amazing. She will be hosting an Explosives Camp this summer for high school students - perfect for any kids hooked on MythBusters-style explosive science.


• Using a 17th Century Instrument to Create the Music of the 21st Century - Zoe Keating's performance was AMAZING, particularly when combined with the incredible LaserVision visualizations. I love it when art and technology collide in such a beautiful way.


• Robot Cars Solve Everything. Well, Almost. - Not only do robot driven cars have the potential to save millions of lives, they also have the potential to save vast amounts of energy too. Amazing stuff happening here, and coming sooner than you might think...


• Viral Forecasting - Amazing big-thinking science is aiming to head off the next pandemic before it even starts. Wow.

And there was more... Late night Werewolf games, fascinating hallway conversations, and all sorts of incredibly interesting and inspiring people about.

My summary of ETech 2009: It was a great experience of both inspiring others and being inspired. I loved it!

I've been meaning to post this for a while now...


A few months ago, I received the following comment on this photo found in my Flickr set:

Hey did you guys know this pic is in a jeep commercial? I was thinking about getting a tab and have seen your pics before and as I was watching Jeep videos on you tube I ran across a jeep commerical and recognized this pic. Didnt know if you guys knew already or not but I thought it was pretty cool.

Here is the commercial, as featured on YouTube:

How cool that one of my photos was selected for inclusion. Not only that, it was the very first one featured!!!

I was a little surprised to find out about this second hand, but I believe that Jeep still has the rights to the photos from when they bought some from us last summer.

Coolness!

In the morning serolynne and I will be departing the Bay Area and heading to Las Vegas. We've been invited to volunteer in the Obama NV state headquarters, working full time on data processing and analysis through election day.

I've never volunteered for a political campaign before, but this feels like an important point in history to do everything that I can to try and make a difference. Our country is at a crossroads - and the choice between Obama and McCain to me is a choice between hope and fear, between new ideas and more of the same, between the future and the past.

I love my country. I've researched Obama very thoroughly. And though I may not agree with him on some issues - the energy, optimism, enthusiasm, and leadership that he has the potential to bring is what I feel that our country (and the world) needs more than anything right now.

I used to respect John McCain - but his behavior lately has completely lost the respect that I used to have for him. Many other former admirers have had the same change of heart.

If you find yourself called to vote for McCain because of who he used to be - take a closer look at him now. He is (sadly) not the same person any more. He has become frightening, deceitful, and bitter. And his choice of running mate is downright scary.

So - this election is indeed important. The most important in my lifetime. And Neveda is a red state that is teetering on the verge of turning blue.

Hopefully Cherie and I will be able to help make a difference.

The one thing we haven't tracked down yet is a place to stay / park our technomadic home for the month that we will be there. Commercial campgrounds in Vegas are expensive, and a silly extravagance particularly considering we've been told to expect to be working 12-15 hour days.

Do any of you know anyone in Las Vegas who might be able to offer us a flat, safe, space to park our 17' trailer for a month? We are looking for things like side yards, drive-ways, back lots, commercial parking lots, etc. Anything that will give us an alternative to a paid campground with amenities we don't need.

We're solar powered and thus don't need electrical hookups, and would mostly just be sleeping there.

Ideally, we would also want occasional access to real showers and laundry.

Do any of you have any Vegas connections that may be able to help us out?

The Obama volunteer coordinator is also looking for options for us as well, so I am sure something will work out.

We will be on our way tomorrow. I am nervously excited to be doing this.

The next month will be very busy. *grin*

PS: If you have not registered to vote yet, please, DO IT NOW. This is not a year to sit it out.

We are camped tonight up a dirt road off of California Highway 20, deep in the Tahoe National Forest.

This is our first real night boondocking in the wilderness in our Oliver (now named "Orion"), and it feels great. Luxurious even.

Before enjoying a delicious home-cooked meal, we strolled up the fire road to enjoy the view from the ridge over the valley below. Other than an occasional distant flash of headlights on the road below, we are totally alone out here in the woods. It feels like we have this entire forest to ourselves.

Now we are using our cell phone booster antenna system to turn a marginal Sprint signal into a very useful shared Internet connection - using it to keep up with world news, connect with friends and plan our upcoming time in the Bay Area.

We have good food. Good drink. Good music. Good connectivity. Indoor plumbing. Good cuddles. And a great view awaiting us in the morning.

Life is good indeed.

*grin*

One of the major new toys in our nomadic toolbox has been the addition of a Honda EU2000i generator. We found one online at Wise Sales for just $850, with free shipping - way less than from any other retailer.

(Honda stupidly prohibits dealers publishing prices online - but I suffer no such limitation...)

The Honda EU2000i is a fabulous 2000 watt generator that is small, quiet, weighs just 46lbs, and it gets great fuel economy. We specifically sized the air conditioner in our Oliver to work with this generator - we specced a power-efficient 9,200 btu Coleman Polar Cub rather than a more typical (and formerly Oliver standard) 13,000 btu model.

Most RV air conditioners require a 2400 watt or even 3000 watt generator to work, so we were really hoping that we could manage with a smaller, lighter, and more economical Honda EU2000 option.

Most of our power needs will be satisfied by our solar setup, but the generator will come in really handy when we need to run the air conditioner away from shore power options. It will also be able to quickly recharge our batteries if the solar power is ever not able to keep up.

The big downside of a generator however is dealing with fuel. Carrying around canisters of gas in an enclosed Jeep or trailer is not ideal, and since the Jeep burns diesel the gasoline wouldn't even double as emergency vehicle fuel.

My goal was to find a propane conversion kit to allow the Honda EU2000i to run off of our Oliver's ample 50lb propane supply. Until a few weeks ago, the only kit I could find to do this required drilling out the generator's carburetor, and replacing the fuel tank so gasoline was not even an option.

But then Cherie found a eBay listing for a "Tri Fuel Kit" from Central Maine Diesel that would allow the Honda EU2000i to run on gasoline, propane, or natural gas. And rather than drilling out my own carb, I could just send Central Maine Diesel the carb from our generator for one that they had already modified rather than me attempting the risky drilling myself.

(The kit is $179, or a pre-converted Honda EU2000i is $1269 + shipping...)

It turns out that I was the very first customer to get the "installs in minutes" kit, so I had to spend several hours figuring out how to swap out the Honda's carburetor and reroute the necessary hoses with only a picture to go on. The carburetor removal instructions I found posted here were invaluable, and in theory my feedback will be helping Central Maine Diesel create better documentation to include with their kit in the future.

With time running out, we only had a brief chance to test the generator running on propane before departing St. Louis last week. But today at Zion National Park in 100 degree heat we got to give the setup a real stress test.

It worked GREAT!

Even at high altitude (near 4000 feet), the generator was able to power the AC on propane, and the air conditioner did a marvelous job of cooling down the Oliver.

Charging the batteries I was able to sustain a 60+ amp charge current, which should allow us to fully charge our battery bank in under two hours.

Of course - you have to pick - you can't charge batteries and run the air conditioner at the same time without overloading the generator. But, this setup sure beats carrying around a 135lb 3000 watt Honda.

For us, this setup is the perfect backup power source. And if we ever do need to resort to gasoline, this kit still gives us the option. The Oliver folks were fabulous, and the factory hooked up a low-pressure propane hose on the tongue for us so all we have to do is open a valve to get gas to our generator.

Based upon the consumption figures published by Central Maine Diesel, I am hoping that we can get 20 to 40 hours of air conditioning use out each 20lb propane cylinder.

Here is what it looks like in use:



I am VERY much looking forward to having a few hours of air conditioning every day at Burning Man. *grin*