JQR’s secret city

Here's a nice shot of the stadium here at the secret city. Can't have a secret city without a sports complex, right? You can't see the outdoor pool from here, but it's behind the stands here.
 
Underneath the stands is a row of local-national shops selling luggage, bootleg videos, and sawdust-themed cigarettes. It reminds me of something out of that William Gibson novel where all the people are living on the Bay Bridge, in a community-theater-budget kind of low-key way.

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I came upon this building taking the shortcut to the tent from the
refectory last night after dark. The building has a courtyard in the
middle, but look at the tree! It would be even better if the current
secret-city administration had kept up the landscaping of the last
tenants, but I doubt that landscaping is really their strong point.
 
 

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Lucky chance, I saw these Hescos still on pallets. In the closeup you
can see how the spirals are preattached to fill about six large-size
bags.

   

Click here to download:

Hescos_on_pallets.zip (121 KB)

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The latest in this week's series of Hescofotos. Focus of this set is how they are
attached to each other. Jean points out that the spiral sections are
used to hook the flat lattices together. I went to check on the
nearest row of them, and what it looks like is that they come in
multi-section sets, so that you can put down eight or ten or twelve in
a row all at once. If you want fewer, you just attack them with the
wire cutters and shorten the row before putting in the bags and the
sand.
 
'Tis true: you don't see single Hescos around. They're always in rows.

           

Click here to download:

Half-dozen_close-ups_of_Hesco_.zip (1847 KB)

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Today's Hesco snap: this one between the tent area and the street.
Perhaps something crashed into it on the street side.

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It's not a doozy of a dust storm today, just a little one, the kind of
atmospheric event that makes folks wearing facemasks look kind of
foolish. The wind was coming from the south in the morning but over
lunch switched to the north. Boreas, my antagonist! You're back, and
bearing grit and sand!
 
The first two pictures are of the lightposts outside the tent area.
Careful comparison will show you that it's getting worse out. The next
four pictures are more Secret City scenery in the midst of the
mini-maelstrom: the back of the tent, the road down to the lake, the
main drag (and my way back from the old office), and a pyramid on the
corner of 5th and F.

           

Click here to download:

Mini_Maelstrom.zip (297 KB)

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The blast wall, a 15-foot high concrete barrier, shaped like an
upside-down letter T, is on the left. Its counterpart, the
Hesco barrier, is on the right. A Hesco is a folding metal basket with
a paper liner filled with dirt.
 
The advantage of the Hescos is that you can ship them broken down and
fill them where you need them. The blast walls, on the other hand, are
more durable and look nicer.
 
This picture is from right outside the recreation center where I am
holed up afternoons to use the internet.

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