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g zilla

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First off they put on a hell of a launch. Now for the bash. I went up to the registration booth asked if they had a recycling bin. Trash can right next to them had 90 percent recyclables. Looked at me for a few seconds and said " oh ya we encourage recycling" but doing nothing about it. There were 2 giant rolloffs for trash could of had one for recycling. I bought a couple 12 packs of soda and beer had to pay .05$ deposit. Someone could of made a couple hundred dollars returning all the cans and bottles.
 
g zilla said:
Someone could of made a couple hundred dollars returning all the cans and bottles.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure that somebody will end up diving in those dumpsters and doing that. I was just grateful I didn't have to haul my own trash off the playa like you have to do at BALLS and other venues.
 
g zilla said:
First off they put on a hell of a launch. Now for the bash. I went up to the registration booth asked if they had a recycling bin. Trash can right next to them had 90 percent recyclables. Looked at me for a few seconds and said " oh ya we encourage recycling" but doing nothing about it. There were 2 giant rolloffs for trash could of had one for recycling. I bought a couple 12 packs of soda and beer had to pay .05$ deposit. Someone could of made a couple hundred dollars returning all the cans and bottles.
Click to expand...

Wow...must be a real b**** to go to a launch and that's the worse thing you have to complain about.
 
g zilla said:
There were 2 giant rolloffs for trash could of had one for recycling.
Click to expand...
Do you really think that if they'd done that, everyone at the launch would have put only recycling in one bin and trash in the other? IMHO it's just not realistic to expect that.
 
Just for that little rant, I'm cutting down a tree. Please get a life.
 
Last edited:
Many commercial waste haulers will take mixed waste in a large container to a county or municipal sorting facility. They have people who manually sort the trash and mine it for "CRV" bottles, cans, etc., ferrous metals, compostable, etc.

There is a huge new Waste management sorting facility in a new building just a few blocks from our club launch site.

https://www.toaksgogreen.org/gogreen-team-visits-waste-management-recycling-center/

https://www.kpff.com/portfolio/proj...-material-recovery-facility--transfer-station
 
Given the afternoon winds, the fact that we managed not to completely trash the lake should be considered a minor miracle. (One of the dumpsters took a direct hit from a huge dust devil on Saturday afternoon, resulting in a messy but spectacular cloud of debris)
 
if that's the worse thing that happened to you....well....others said it.
Please don't criticize a launch unless you ran one yourself. You'd be shocked as to how much work and bs it is for oh, say 2 seconds of glory during the banquet. Other then that people don't want to know you and don't want to hear you.
 
g zilla said:
I did. Maybe California just dont get it. Start charging .25 cents see who recycles then.
Click to expand...

What you need to do is go live in Texas for a year or two and see how much litter sits on the side of the roads and blows into your neighborhood. After that California (yes I've lived in both) will seem like a "Green-lovers" heaven!
 
dixontj93060 said:
What you need to do is go live in Texas for a year or two and see how much litter sits on the side of the roads and blows into your neighborhood. After that California (yes I've lived in both) will seem like a "Green-lovers" heaven!
Click to expand...

But you forget Tim we have the coolest PSAs :

[video=youtube;7JDjf7CgJhc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JDjf7CgJhc[/video]

[video=youtube;XlFD0Zyl_f0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlFD0Zyl_f0[/video]

[video=youtube;Ygr0yBquRiM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygr0yBquRiM[/video]
 
g zilla said:
First off they put on a hell of a launch. Now for the bash. I went up to the registration booth asked if they had a recycling bin. Trash can right next to them had 90 percent recyclables. Looked at me for a few seconds and said " oh ya we encourage recycling" but doing nothing about it. There were 2 giant rolloffs for trash could of had one for recycling. I bought a couple 12 packs of soda and beer had to pay .05$ deposit. Someone could of made a couple hundred dollars returning all the cans and bottles.
Click to expand...

Did you bring out the couple 12 packs you brought in ?

Eric
 
^ LOL! OMG, that was hilarious! Thanks, Fred-didn't know it was out there.

(Edit- i now know Eric types faster than me-ratburger!)
 
cbrarick said:
Other then that people don't want to know you and don't want to hear you.
Click to expand...

That's not true at all. Whenever it rains, they fail RSO, or their rocket is lost and you don't shut down the launch to form a search party they're all over your ass.....
 
I tried really, really hard just to let this one go. Over the last few days it's continued to haunt me so this evening, against my better judgment, I decided to write this post.
First a little background. I have been involved in the planning and execution of four LDRS's and was the launch director on two (LDRS 27 and 30). Unless you've done it from a lot closer than the sidelines, you have no idea how much work there is to planning the event then finally pulling it off. If it looks easy to you as a guest it's because a group bright folks thought of everything and put plans in place to deal with the 99.9% of the stuff that occurs. I'm talking hundreds of hours of planning to get it right. By all accounts, ROC got it right!
Then there is the execution of the event. You might not have noticed, as you worked feverishly to prep the two or so rockets a day that you like to fly at an LDRS, that the launch organizers almost never fly anything because they are busy from way before the range opens to way after the range closes dealing with things to make it more enjoyable to their guests. All that infrastructure you see at the launch, someone had to bring it to the lake bed before you got there, set it up and make sure it worked, then they tore it down and took it back to town after you left. After the event, the organizers are so damned tired that all they want is to take a shower and a long overdue rest in their own bed.
What do they wake up to? One sentence of "hell of a launch" then they get blasted for not providing recycle bins. News flash, there is a not so insignificant cost in just getting trash and porta potties delivered to the middle of a dry lake bed. Oh yea, it also took planning and phone calls and someone showing up before they trash folks do to show them where to drop them. But most folks wouldn't think about that commitment, they deserve recycle bins!
ROC, I wasn't there but I do want to say thank you for all the efforts most folks don't see. There are a few of us that understand the magnitude of what you pulled off and we are impressed!
My club gets asked all the time when we are going to bid on another LDRS. After reading this post, it reinforces my decision to not to bid on one anytime in the foreseeable future.
Bob Brown
Prefect, Kloudbusters Inc.
 
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BBrown said:
I tried really, really hard just to let this one go. Over the last few days it's continued to haunt me so this evening, against my better judgment, I decided to write this post.
First a little background. I have been involved in the planning and execution of four LDRS's and was the launch director on two (LDRS 27 and 30). Unless you've done it from a lot closer than the sidelines, you have no idea how much work there is to planning the event then finally pulling it off. If it looks easy to you as a guest it's because a group bright folks thought of everything and put plans in place to deal with the 99.9% of the stuff that occurs. I'm talking hundreds of hours of planning to get it right. By all accounts, ROC got it right!
Then there is the execution of the event. You might not have noticed, as you worked feverishly to prep the two rockets or so rockets a day that you like to fly at an LDRS, that the launch organizers almost never fly anything because they are busy from way before the range opens to way after the range closes dealing with things to make it more enjoyable to their guests. All that infrastructure you see at the launch, someone had to bring it to the lake bed before you got there, set it up and make sure it worked, then they tore it down and took it back to town after you left. After the event, the organizers are so damned tired that all they want is to take a shower and a long overdue rest in their own bed.
What do they wake up to? One sentence of "hell of a launch" then they get blasted for not providing recycle bins. News flash, there is a not so insignificant cost in just getting trash and porta potties delivered to the middle of a dry lake bed. Oh yea, it also took planning and phone calls and someone showing up before they trash folks do to show them where to drop them. But most folks wouldn't think about that commitment, they deserve recycle bins!
ROC, I wasn't there but I do want to say thank you for all the efforts most folks don't see. There are a few of us that understand the magnitude of what you pulled off and we are impressed!
My club gets asked all the time when we are going to bid on another LDRS. After reading this post, it reinforces my decision to not to bid on one anytime in the foreseeable future.
Bob Brown
Prefect, Kloudbusters Inc.
Click to expand...

**Standing ovation**
 
BBrown said:
I tried really, really hard just to let this one go. Over the last few days it's continued to haunt me so this evening, against my better judgment, I decided to write this post.
First a little background. I have been involved in the planning and execution of four LDRS's and was the launch director on two (LDRS 27 and 30). Unless you've done it from a lot closer than the sidelines, you have no idea how much work there is to planning the event then finally pulling it off. If it looks easy to you as a guest it's because a group bright folks thought of everything and put plans in place to deal with the 99.9% of the stuff that occurs. I'm talking hundreds of hours of planning to get it right. By all accounts, ROC got it right!
Then there is the execution of the event. You might not have noticed, as you worked feverishly to prep the two or so rockets a day that you like to fly at an LDRS, that the launch organizers almost never fly anything because they are busy from way before the range opens to way after the range closes dealing with things to make it more enjoyable to their guests. All that infrastructure you see at the launch, someone had to bring it to the lake bed before you got there, set it up and make sure it worked, then they tore it down and took it back to town after you left. After the event, the organizers are so damned tired that all they want is to take a shower and a long overdue rest in their own bed.
What do they wake up to? One sentence of "hell of a launch" then they get blasted for not providing recycle bins. News flash, there is a not so insignificant cost in just getting trash and porta potties delivered to the middle of a dry lake bed. Oh yea, it also took planning and phone calls and someone showing up before they trash folks do to show them where to drop them. But most folks wouldn't think about that commitment, they deserve recycle bins!
ROC, I wasn't there but I do want to say thank you for all the efforts most folks don't see. There are a few of us that understand the magnitude of what you pulled off and we are impressed!
My club gets asked all the time when we are going to bid on another LDRS. After reading this post, it reinforces my decision to not to bid on one anytime in the foreseeable future.
Bob Brown
Prefect, Kloudbusters Inc.
Click to expand...

+1 on Glenn's standing ovation. ...
Really well said Bob...
Bob,
Please don't let one person influence so strongly. ....

Teddy
 
I am very jealous. I can't believe they have trashcans at your launches. We have to haul ours home in our very own garbage bag.
 
As someone who participates in launch operations with my club I didn't take the OP's comments quite as hard some here. I would suggest that the best way to handle these kinds of local issues/questions/comments/suggestions is locally! It's very hard to control the direction of threads like this in an open forum unless you really did want to get the blood pressure up for a lot of LCO's across the country.
 
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HUGE KUDOS for Bob and the Kloudbusters Crew! I think they've done more LDRS's than anybody. And Bob said it straight. You really have no idea what's involved with hosting an LDRS until you've done it.

I've only been involved with planning, organizing, and pulling off one LDRS (#33 in Wisconsin at Bong) and that was an education that none of us were expecting. We'd been doing Mid West Power for years and thought, "How much harder can an LDRS be?" Well we learned..... the hard way!

I was at this last ROC LDRS last week and had a great time. Their planning paid off in a big way. Great Job ROC. Do it again and I'll be back!

The only complaint I have has NOTHING to do with anything that ROC could do anything about. The BLM made it VERY difficult for vendors to attend. Unfortunately, there's no way around having to deal with the BLM in the Great Western States. ROC did a great job with everything that they could plan for and anticipate. A month before the 180 day deadline, I tried (long distance from Illinois) to get thru the process of getting a vendor's permit using the BLM's website. I've been around long enough to know when I've been put into a "pathagorean loop" by a governmental bureaucracy. And it was a mess. They had my paperwork more than a month in advance of the 180 deadline, but they were somehow unable to process my paperwork before the 180 day deadline. So my permit was denied. My hats off to the vendors who managed to get thru the quagmire.

Anyway, thanks ROC for a great launch! And the dumpster/dust-devil was very impressive! I especially loved the 100+ foot of caution tape flying in a circle in the air.

There's no such thing as a free launch! Somebody always pays!

Brad, the "Rocket Rev.," Wilson
 
I'll pile on that I think ROC did a fantastic job. And having dumpsters at all was a very nice touch, the other similar environment I fly at is Black Rock and you don't see any dumpsters or even garbage cans there. Being closer to civilization goes a long way I guess. And after the dust devil went and started removing contents of one of the dumpsters it probably would have been better to not have any at all. :facepalm: The only thing I used the dumpsters for was to throw away my QuikShade's frame since it was too badly bent by the winds and it was easier than trying to get rid of it at home (we have fixed garbage can sizes and have to buy stickers to throw away larger items). All the rest of my garbage and recyclables came home, and I went through enough bottles of water that I'll be separating them and returning them for their CRV rather than just pitching them in my home recycling bin.

The one comment I'd add (and it's definitely a comment, not a rant/peeve) is that it's nice to have some sort of garbage receptacle out at the pads. LUNAR for example usually has a bucket by each set of pads, which is a great place to toss in the previous flight's igniter, nozzle caps, blue tape, etc. I'm used to not having these (XPRS & TCC launches), so I just accumulate the crap in my pocket and empty it out when I get back to my camp, but I suspect others just leave this crap on the ground and might be more likely to put it in the bucket if one is provided. Now with the afternoon winds I guess they'd either have to be heavily weighted-down or removed once the winds picked up, etc. to prevent their contents from ending up back on the ground, so maybe ROC has tried this before and discovered it was a bad idea. Just a thought.
 
Bat-mite said:
I am very jealous. I can't believe they have trashcans at your launches. We have to haul ours home in our very own garbage bag.
Click to expand...

That's always been my experience also, and what I expect. When I walk to recover a rocket I also pick up any garbage I find and bring it back to my garbage. Any aluminum cans I separate and recycle when I get home. I wouldn't expect others to do this for me.
 
I, too. I hope the recycling people can get the smudges of burnt APCP off of my Diet Pepsi cans. I also usually walk along the pads and pick up igniter wires, nozzle caps, and used tape and throw them in my trash bag.
 
Bat-mite said:
I, too. I hope the recycling people can get the smudges of burnt APCP off of my Diet Pepsi cans. I also usually walk along the pads and pick up igniter wires, nozzle caps, and used tape and throw them in my trash bag.
Click to expand...

Lol,,
At METRA launches we have a 5 gal bucket at each row of pads for ignitors and such...
Works great...

Teddy
 
BBrown said:
I tried really, really hard just to let this one go. Over the last few days it's continued to haunt me so this evening, against my better judgment, I decided to write this post. First a little background. I have been involved in the planning and execution of four LDRS's and was the launch director on two (LDRS 27 and 30). Unless you've done it from a lot closer than the sidelines, you have no idea how much work there is to planning the event then finally pulling it off. If it looks easy to you as a guest it's because a group bright folks thought of everything and put plans in place to deal with the 99.9% of the stuff that occurs. I'm talking hundreds of hours of planning to get it right. By all accounts, ROC got it right!
Then there is the execution of the event. You might not have noticed, as you worked feverishly to prep the two or so rockets a day that you like to fly at an LDRS, that the launch organizers almost never fly anything because they are busy from way before the range opens to way after the range closes dealing with things to make it more enjoyable to their guests. All that infrastructure you see at the launch, someone had to bring it to the lake bed before you got there, set it up and make sure it worked, then they tore it down and took it back to town after you left. After the event, the organizers are so damned tired that all they want is to take a shower and a long overdue rest in their own bed.
What do they wake up to? One sentence of "hell of a launch" then they get blasted for not providing recycle bins. News flash, there is a not so insignificant cost in just getting trash and porta potties delivered to the middle of a dry lake bed. Oh yea, it also took planning and phone calls and someone showing up before they trash folks do to show them where to drop them. But most folks wouldn't think about that commitment, they deserve recycle bins! ROC, I wasn't there but I do want to say thank you for all the efforts most folks don't see. There are a few of us that understand the magnitude of what you pulled off and we are impressed! My club gets asked all the time when we are going to bid on another LDRS. After reading this post, it reinforces my decision to not to bid on one anytime in the foreseeable future. Bob Brown Prefect, Kloudbusters Inc.
Click to expand...

Bob,

I miss you and want to buy you a beer... that is all... :)
 
onebadhawk said:
Lol,,
At METRA launches we have a 5 gal bucket at each row of pads for ignitors and such...
Works great...

Teddy
Click to expand...

We normally do, too, but it's just easier to walk them back to my car. Sometimes I use the bucket. For the igniters. Not that I would ever do anything else in the bucket. Okay, I gotta go now.
 

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