Servel (the gas air-conditioning company) was there with a new, higher-efficiency product. The process, which uses a gas flame to produce cooling in a continuous absorption cycle, has always been plagued by the fact that the method isn''t very energy efficient. Servel didn''t change the process but just tightened it up, resulting in a 30% efficiency increase. Gas-fired air conditioners are available in sizes from 3 tons to 25 tons. A more efficient way of getting cooling from gas is to use the gas to drive a combustion engine, which drives a compressor. And while this isn''t new technology either, it is for my friends over at Goettl, a Phoenix-based hvac/swamp cooler manufacturer that has specialized in the residential/light-commercial market. The company''s gas-driven split-package air conditioners (the compressors/motors are remotely located) are available in 15-ton and 20-ton sizes.

"Maybe," he cleared his throat. "I could allow you return to California.""Yes, Officer, yes sir."However, when the CHP officer arrived to escort the table back, he took one look at us through his Terminator II sunglasses and said, "California doesn''t want you." But Arizona wasn''t about to give up. "I am definitely," he said, "not allowing them in our state." After a good deal of negotiating (it''s amazing what the table''s been used for), we were ordered to return to Blythe, California. We were sweaty and tired and pissed off.Blythe looked a god-awful city. We pulled off at a dusty turnout behind some dilapidated trucks. Tex, a skinny Oklahoman, pulled himself out of an engine and sauntered over. "Wow," he said, "nice rig! What is it--a Jacuzzi on wheels? Ha ha. No, I really like it. It''s different. You make it?" Like most people we met (authorities aside), Tex became all grins when checking out the table. His enthusiasm picked us right up. "Yeah man!" We were grinning too, "It''s the Traveling Commons. We''re seceding from the Union. Ha ha. But first we''re gonna cook up a storm--you hungry?"

Air ScribesPneumatic air scribes were developed as powerful industrial engraving tools. Basically, the air scribe is a small, hand-held air hammer that is operated by compressed air at about 90 pounds of pressure per square inch (psi). Under this high pressure, a piston within the unit drives a hardened bit at blurring speed against whatever object it is pressed. In engraving, the bit can scribe into the toughest of steel alloys; and in fossil preparation, the reciprocating action of this bit can rapidly disassemble the hardest rock. With a little practice and a light touch, matrix rapidly turns to grit and falls away from the fossil. Under magnification (a binocular 4x lens headband-type magnifier is good) the matrix looks as if it is melting. In reality, in addition to a powerful but tiny hammer-chisel action, a harmonic vibration is established, and grains of cemented rock are vibrated apart by waves of energy. These energy waves, of course, also travel through the fossils, and it is the difference in density between the rock and the fossil that allows the fossil to remain intact, at least most of the time.

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