---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: kt Date: Tue, Aug 20, 2013 at 9:55 AM Subject: Re: hi, this was written about where i live, by a newspaper guy... To: Morgan Terry I’ll meet you over at The Internet Cafe.” “Have you checked out The Internet Cafe yet?” “Dude, I want to check my Facebook. Let’s head down to The Internet Cafe.” These are common statements around Slab City, which was recently my home for nearly 2 months. For anyone who hasn’t read my stuff on The Slabs before, it’s basically a huge squatter/anarchist/artist/hippie/snowbird community on an abandoned military base in southern California. I fell in love with the place the minute I got there and decided to stay for awhile. And speaking of the minute I got there, the first person who I had a conversation with at Slab City when I arrived was a guy named Frank. Frank runs the Slab City Internet Cafe. As I wandered up Canal Road in the desert sun while trying to get my bearings of the place, a sign came into view. It advertised an “Internet Cafe,” which I knew I’d have to stop in at for a couple of reasons. First, because I was curious about just how the hell a person can get reliable Internet in the middle of the desert and completely off the grid. And secondly, to check if the Internet actually worked, which would make my time at The Slabs much easier, as I would need to work a bit here and there to survive. The Internet signal ended up being pretty good, and the Cafe ended up being where I spent at least an hour or two per day. I spent lots of time getting work done and chatting with the always interesting array of folks who were there at any given time, as well as patting Frank’s dogs, Buster and Sassy. This was all done while I also tried my best to maintain any level of focus as his rooster, whose living space is actually a part of the Cafe’s structure, crowed loudly about once a minute. The Internet Cafe is one of the few centers of activity at Slab City. It’s a place where anyone can catch up on the latest gossip, say hello to friends, have a free cup of coffee (Frank makes GOOD coffee) and of course, check their email or charge their cell phone. The Internet runs off of a pretty standard modem, which is powered by a not-so-standard power supply. Frank has a network of solar panels scattered around his property. They provide electricity for everything from the cafe’s TV to the lights in Frank’s camper. When I asked Frank about why he decided to start the whole operation, he said, “They shut down the library in Niland (a nearby town), which used to have WiFi, so I just figured that if they could do it, I could do it too.” The place is typically open every day during daylight hours, but doesn’t have official hours of operation. If Frank is gone, then the Cafe is closed. If it rains, it is as well, because the wiring and various electrical appliances at the place need to be covered with tarps. It was interesting picking which days I would be able to work based on a weather forecast. The Cafe sits on one of the larger “slabs” at Slab City, the remaining foundation of the mess hall that once stood in the spot at Camp Dunlap, a WWII Marine base, during its years of operation in the 1940s. Frank has been at the location for a few years. The main area of the cafe is covered by a sheet metal roof sitting on top of a basic frame made up of 2×4′s and other random pieces of lumber, with a range of couches and chairs underneath it to choose from. Despite the plush seating under the roof, my favorite place to hang out was in a plastic lawn chair outside at a weathered metal table. Open air offices tend to be tricky, but the spot was perfectly shaded during most parts of the day. I took a few photos of the Cafe the day before I left The Slabs, which are posted below. I wanted to devote more time to documenting the place, but ended up leaving on very short notice after being invited to travel north up the coast with some friends. Capturing the essence of such a free, unique place is impossible for an amateur photographer such as myself to do anyway, but hopefully the idea that this has got to be one of the coolest Internet cafes anywhere on the map comes through clear enough.
Posted on: Wed, 21 Aug 2013 08:19:59 +0000
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