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Post by papaof2 on Dec 20, 2020 19:31:04 GMT -6
Chapter 17
Friday, 21 April, 2028. 10:40
Bee-deep!
"Susan, camera shows it's Katie."
"I'll get it, Jack."
knock. knock.
"Yes, Katie?"
"Miz Wilson, can Mr. Wilson come see what Daddy and Charley are messin' up this time?"
"I'm here, Katie. Tell me what they're doing."
"Daddy thinks there's cicadas in the thingie over the laundry cabinets and he's been drillin' holes and spraying in all kinds of bug killer but the noise keeps coming back."
"First, that 'thingie' has a name - it's called a 'soffit' and I think this smart girl can remember that word. Second, a question: the noise is still there even with the lights on?"
"Un huh. It's been goin' on for three days and it smells so bad it's hard to be in there long enough to load the washer."
"Did they do anything before the noise started?"
"New batteries in the smoke alarms in the laundry and the hall 'cause they were startin' to beep."
"Do you know how old the smoke alarms are?"
"They're the ones I always remember bein' there."
"That means they are probably ten or more years old and may need to be replaced. Let me get a few tools and I'll go back with you to check."
"Thank you!"
---
"Jack, it's just a cicada or two and if I could just hit it with this wasp and hornet spray it'd die and be quiet! If'n you stand here and look up at the cabinets, you can hear it's coming from that dead space up on top. Listen! It's startin' up again."
Scree! Chirp! Chirp! Warble! Scree!
"It does sound a little like a cicada, Doug, but Katie said it doesn't stop when you turn the lights on and that's unusual for cicadas."
"Well, mebbe so, but it sure does sound like a cicada to me!"
"Doug, turn and look up at the smoke alarm."
"OK. It's a smoke alarm."
"Does it sound the same as when you look up at the top of the cabinets?"
"Maybe."
"Turn and look at the cabinets."
"OK."
"Sound any different?"
"Can't say that it does."
"Let me try this…"
"It's quiet!"
"It is, Katie."
"What'd you do, Jack?"
"Took the battery out of the smoke alarm, Doug."
"That ain't no big deal, Jack. The damned bug goes quiet if'n I open a cabinet door."
"Quiet for two hours?"
"Not since it started."
"Wait two hours and see if it comes back. If it doesn't, you need to replace the smoke alarm. It's more than ten years old and most of them have the equivalent of a "Best by" date that’s about ten years out from the manufacture date. I've never before heard one die this slowly or with so many different sounds so you have a unique failure."
"I can get one at Wally World?"
"Or the seed and feed which is about ten miles closer. Your old car gets about 15MPG so that's about 23 cents per mile for gas at $3.50 a gallon, The 20 mile round trip from the seed and feed to Wally World will cost you $4.60 so buy the new smoke alarm at the feed and seed for $2 more than Wally World and you'll save $2.60."
"That's how you manage to pay everything when you're on disability! You figure out which place to buy is cheapest overall and not just which price looks best."
"We must live within our income."
"You must squeezin' them pennies hard enough to make Lincoln yell."
"We do try to get the most for our money."
"Better'n anybody else out here. Could you and the Missus give the kids some pointers?"
"Any time they want to come and spend a day with us."
---
Friday, 21 April, 2028, 18:30 CDT
Ring! Ring
'This is Janet.'
'Hi, it's Dave. This is my work phone. I'll be there around 8PM. Tell your Dad that the batteries he's been waiting for are on the truck. I still haven't figured out what happened but it seems UPS has been infected by whatever flavor of 'stupid' has been hitting FedEx Ground and USPS. His packages made it to Birmingham and then went by air to Seattle, Los Angeles, El Paso, back to Birmingham and finally were put on a truck to our depot. The address on the label is readable as is the bar code so I don't know how the computers and the people screwed it up.'
'People walking around with the flu or something?'
'Not at the local depot. I haven't heard anything about elsewhere in our network.'
'I'll put the oven on 450 about ten minutes before the hour and the pizza can go in when you get here. That will give you fifteen minutes for a shower before the food is ready.'
'Sounds great! I'll call when I turn onto the dirt road.'
---
Friday, 21 April, 2028, 21:10 CDT
"Janet, you have no idea how glad I am that you're back here in the middle of nowhere. I've enjoyed the food and especially your company. I have a question for you."
"Yes, Dave?"
"You've had five years to 'learn to be independent' as you once said, so I'll ask again. Janet Wilson, will you marry me?"
"YES!"
"Now that I can breathe again, do you want to tell your folks or should I ask your Dad for your hand again?"
"You asked him the first time before you asked me. I don't think his 'Yes' had an expiration date. When do we get married?"
"Monday, if the County offices are open and we can get a license. An unknown amount of time if other people are to be part of the celebration."
"Mom and Dad are immediately available. My siblings didn't respond to Mom's texts about the new 'flu' so probably wouldn't come here unless we have SHTF soon enough to force them here."
"You think it could be that bad?"
"With some Chinese shipping being down 20% in two weeks, I can see things here going sideways very quickly."
"No argument there. I texted my sister about things looking iffy but her response was that she's 'not interested in a "Doomsday Preppers" episode involving her' and to not mention it again. She rarely has her Tesla at more than half charge so she probably couldn't get here on her own."
"And she probably wouldn't eat 'those green things' if she knew they were kudzu?"
"Your Mom does some interesting things with her foraged additions to the pantry and I was pleasantly surprised at how good those were the first time I tried them."
"She didn't tell my brothers what they were - other than 'it's some kind of gourmet veggie that was BOGO' - until we'd been eating them for more than a week. We grew up with a lot of 'it was BOGO' food items, both from the grocery and from Mom's foraging. I have a copy of her list of what grows where around us and copies of two of her favorite books on foraging."
"I should expect to be eating kudzu?"
"It's one of the few crops that almost nothing can kill."
"That is a positive about any food in our current circumstances. We should tell them?"
"Yes."
Beeep!
'Wilson residence. This is your Father speaking.'
'Hi, Dad. Is Mom there?'
'I'm here.'
'Just wanted you to know that I'll be Mrs. Lloyd as soon as we can make it happen.'
'Congratulations! Small wedding on Monday or something bigger?'
'Dave and I discussed it and other than the two of you for witnesses, we don't think there's any family who'd travel this far right now - and any CDC announcements may make that even less likely.'
'Check the License Bureau web page for days and hours and we'll go with you. You're both over 21 so there's no waiting period. Justice of the Peace or the little chapel at Reverend Baxter's church?'
'The church. If we collect any additional members of the wedding party, there will be room for them. With the number of people this commitment could affect, we need to start by acknowledging God and making a commitment to Him.'
'Your Mom is calling Reverend Baxter. We'll let you know what days he's available. Dave, welcome to the family.'
'Thank you.'
---
"Janet, I hate to leave but I need to get the truck back to the depot so they can load it for tomorrow."
"I understand. That might not be happening in another month."
"True, but rent will still be due on my place."
"No reason you can't move in here instead of me moving there. The foreman's apartment in the bunkhouse is small but has LP for cooking and heating, with wood backup for both and we have some power from the solar system."
"I'll be a kept man if UPS shuts down?"
"No. You'll be earning your place with chores."
"I experienced that when I spent the night here. I can learn to do those things daily."
"And drive a tractor, at least for a while. And maybe learn to farm with horses instead of horsepower."
"Better than not eating. Another kiss and then I need to go so I can have the truck back at the depot before midnight."
"If you must."
---
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Post by texican on Dec 21, 2020 14:26:17 GMT -6
pp2,
Good chapter.
Janet and Dave didn't have to get locked up in the bunker to decide it was time to be wed.
Merry Christmas to all.
Texican....
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Post by solo on Dec 21, 2020 15:48:37 GMT -6
Excellent Read. Smoothly moving along. Thank You!
Merry Christmas!
Solo
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Post by papaof2 on Dec 25, 2020 11:42:10 GMT -6
Chapter 18 Saturday, 22 April, 2028, 06:20 CDT "Well, Jack. Do you plan to listen to the news all day to see when the first returned soldier seeks treatment?" "Not that curious, love. I'll check at the top of the even hours if I'm near a radio or TV but the hysteria probably won't take hold for a few days when those soldiers start bleeding out in an ER or ICU." "You should switch from writing PAW fiction to writing horror stories!" "I do sound more like Stephen King than Tom Sherry*, don't I?" "Unquestionably so, Mr. Wilson." "Thank you for the editorial review, Mrs. Wilson." "You goof! Want a donut with your second cup of coffee?" "Yours or Krispy Kreme?" "We have both." "One of yours." "Knowing how much you like KK, you're being a politician today." "I may need the help of an experienced ER nurse in evaluating the things I hear and see today." "You're correct. You may also need the energy from more than one donut, so one of each on your plate." "Thank you, love." --- Saturday, 22 April, 2028, 08:01 CDT 'Top of the hour news from WWWH-FM. A hospital in Boston has reported a soldier recently returned from South Korea with a never-before-seen "flu". The patient has been isolated and tests are underway.' "That's one, love. Remember that five US soldiers were exposed to the North Korean soldier who died of this new 'flu'. We know that one of the five did isolate and self-medicate with Tamiflu. If Tamiflu is effective and asymptomatic people can't infect others, there are three more possibles. If our hypothesis of asymptomatic people being contagious is true, there could be 398 more or 399 more if Tamiflu isn't effective. We can check back at noon and see what the count is." "My nurse side says to do something about this but my practical side tells me there's nothing we can do from here but tell others how to protect themselves." "We've made that effort locally and acquired PPE and a possibly useful medication for the people of the county. There's not much else we can do for them." "You're going to Taylor's Junkyard today?" "Dave said there were stainless tanks for the filters and some other steel tanks with thicker walls for the cooker. I need enough parts for the two Ford tractors I got from Bob, the welder/generator, Bob's Farmall tractor, our garden tractor and maybe one or both trucks. If Ron will give me a better price in quantity, I might get enough tanks to be able to make one or two extra of each size wood gas gen for future bartering." "That sounds like a great barter item at harvest." "That was my thought. What do we need that's produced locally?" "Another cow if Tom, Erin and Lily move back here?" "Good idea. Probably an even better idea if Janet and Dave want children." "In a few months, the only other option might be one of them sleeping on the roof." "You're right. Lack of transport will affect the availability of all forms of birth control other than abstinence." --- Saturday, 22 April, 2028, 13:05 CDT "Ron, your price is too high. I could use twice as many of these tanks but not at these prices." "Jack, if you'll take all those stainless tanks, I'll cut the price to 35% of what's marked on them. You're the only one that's shown any interest in the six months I've had the tanks." "25%." "I hear that note of finality in your voice. OK, they're yours." "Help me load them. I think there's room in the trailer plus the bed of the truck." --- Saturday, 22 April, 2028, 14:04 CDT 'In other news, a hospital in St. Louis reported one of the soldiers recently returned from South Korea is in their ICU with a new "flu". Testing is underway to determine if this is the same strain of "flu" reported by a Boston hospital earlier today.' "That's two, love. Today is Saturday. We may have some deaths before the CDC's official report on this 'flu' is released on Monday." "I'm seeing the dominoes fall but there's nothing I can do to stop the rest of them from falling. I think the pattern those dominoes are making spells out 'pandemic' in cursive." "I couldn't have said that better with my author's hat on! I may be picking your brain on the best way to phrase some things in my next book." "Where would you be publishing that book?" "One laser-printed copy, for reading to the grandkids by the light of a kerosene lamp?" "Good one, Jack! You may have just predicted an event in our future." "I would prefer to not be correct." "But the odds are that you may be correct. Want to listen again in two hours?" "Don't really want to but we need to know." "Agreed. I should prepare tea with a side of Orange Royals to have comfort food with the news at 4PM?" "Sounds like an excellent prescription. Meanwhile, I'll go work on the tanks for the first of the wood gas generators." "Your dirt work for the gates will be moved to next week?" "That seems to have taken a back seat to more pressing things but I do want to finish it this month." --- Saturday, 22 April, 2028, 16:01 CDT 'At the top of the WWWH-FM news this hour are reports from hospitals in Chicago, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Dallas, Albuquerque and Fresno about soldiers recently returned from South Korea and infected with a new and virulent "flu". The CDC is investigating these and other reports of this "flu". "Love, that's numbers three, four, five, six, seven and eight of the five soldiers originally exposed to this 'flu'. I should notify Paul and Doc Barton and they can start putting things in place for a possible local lockdown." "You do that. I'll get our Tamiflu out of the box to start all of us on it and Doc can pick up the rest of it." "I'll tell him when I call. I also need to text Rob that there is an infected soldier in Fresno and they should evacuate immediately." Beeep! 'Wilson bunkhouse. This is your daughter speaking.' 'Janet, have you been listening to or watching the news today?' 'Not since about 6AM, Mom.' 'The count of infected soldiers returned from South Korea is now up to eight.' 'Eight of the five that were exposed sounds like a problem.' 'It is. Your Dad and I were concerned about asymptomatic carriers being contagious and that will probably be confirmed when the CDC has completed their investigations.' 'You're using your "nurse" voice so you have something for me?' 'Tamiflu. Come get your bottle and the instructions for double the "high" dose.' 'Hugs too?' 'From both of us. Your Dad has been on the phone updating the Sheriff and Doc Barton.' 'There'll be a county-wide lockdown?' 'That's included in the plans, if needed. After the deaths out here from Covid-19, they'll jump on this with the first case.' 'On my way in. You have enough Tamiflu for Dave?' 'Yes, and for your siblings if they come here. Call Dave and tell him to plan on staying here. If the County offices are open tomorrow, we'll all make one last trip to town and then to Reverend Baxter's church.' 'You think Tom might bring Erin and Lily?' 'He's somewhat better informed and less influenced by the liberal media than your other sibling.' 'True. Be there as soon as I tell Dave.' --- "Jack, you at a stopping place?" "Just a few more minutes, Susan. I've measured the tanks and the tractor and sketched out what the mounting brackets look like and where they'll be. I'll plasma cut the brackets from 1/8 inch steel and then drill and bend them as needed. The cooker and the first filter will be on this side of the engine and the other filters will be on the other side and close to the carburetor. The thick-walled five gallon tank is the firebox and the thick-walled two gallon tank that goes inside it is the cooker. I'll have to test how much run time that configuration gives and see whether it's adequate. It might need a bigger cooker but that's something I won't know until the engine is running under load." "Where would you mount a bigger firebox and cooker?" "On the front of the tractor if I don't plan to use the bucket or hay spear or on the back if I need either of those." "That should work. Supper in twenty minutes or news in twenty minutes and supper afterwards." "Record the news and we can watch it after we eat." "Sounds good, for as long as we can do that." "That's true, as there's no guarantee of grid power or of the TV station or the network having backup power." --- * www.amazon.com/dp/B004J171BC
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Post by texican on Dec 27, 2020 14:28:49 GMT -6
The S is definitely hitting the fan.
Intentional sending the infected soldiers back to the USA. Stupidity should hurt.
Thanks pp2 for the chapter.
May the New Year be better than 2020, but probably not.
Texican...
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Post by papaof2 on Dec 30, 2020 19:48:03 GMT -6
Well, one of my muses (probably the younger one) has finally peeked out from wherever they have been hiding and gave me a start on a new chapter. Just some words that started running through my head while I was having a late breakfast then coalesced when I sat down to type ;-) It appears to be well out in the future of where they stopped providing inspiration so I don't know when/if those 500+ words will be used - but they have been recorded for future reference.
Can I look forward to the missing chapters to bridge between where they stopped in Chapter 40 and this new chapter or just use a line from a song to bridge that interval: "Long time passing"?
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Post by texican on Dec 30, 2020 22:04:09 GMT -6
Well, one of my muses (probably the younger one) has finally peeked out from wherever they have been hiding and gave me a start on a new chapter. Just some words that started running through my head while I was having a late breakfast then coalesced when I sat down to type ;-) It appears to be well out in the future of where they stopped providing inspiration so I don't know when/if those 500+ words will be used - but they have been recorded for future reference. Can I look forward to the missing chapters to bridge between where they stopped in Chapter 40 and this new chapter or just use a line from a song to bridge that interval: "Long time passing"? pp2, If you write it, it will be devoured by the Moar Hounds. Happy New Year and may it be better than 2020. God bless us, America and President Trump. Texican....
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Post by papaof2 on Dec 31, 2020 22:52:36 GMT -6
Chapter 19
Sunday, 23 April 2028, 02:10 CDT
"Jack?"
"Mmph?"
"Jack!"
"What, love?"
"Jack, what's that noise?"
"Doug Jones' old car with a fender dragging on one front wheel and one tire flat. I think Doug got his welfare check late this month and went to town to drink it up in one evening. We can hope he didn't bring anything deadly back home to the kids."
"I'll check the kids later today and start them on high-dose Tamiflu. The Surgeon General thinks that it's effective for about half the population. Exactly why did you order that?"
"Maybe my 'sixth sense' and maybe just wishful thinking back then."
"Charley can probably get Doug to bed so we'll let that be until morning - but I will go start the kids on Tamiflu."
"Remember your mask and gloves."
"I will. You think Doug may have done this before and we just didn't hear him go by?"
"Unfortunately, you could be correct and we might see the results of that sooner than ten days from now."
"I hope not. There have been no reports on the effectiveness of Tamiflu administered several days after exposure. The standard dosing guide mentions using it within 48 hours of exposure."
"Doug may have already doomed his family."
"On that negative note, I need your shoulder to get back to sleep."
"As you wish."
---
Sunday, 23 April, 2028, 05:40 CDT
"Your usual two scrambled with cheese and pepperoni plus bacon and biscuits, Jack?"
"Yes, love. I need fortification before checking the news again."
"How many infected soldiers did they have at 10PM?"
"More than 200. Solid confirmation of asymptomatic human-to-human transmission."
"No deaths?"
"Not that made the 10PM newscast. Based on the speed at which that North Korean soldier died, I expect there will be an appreciable number of deaths this morning and those will increase quickly during the day."
"We'll see a quarantine this week?"
"I'd expect at least a partial lockdown in some of the places reporting deaths. Since most people don't have a two week pantry or any PPE, many will be out without masks to buy food, beer and toilet paper before they go into lockdown - which totally defeats the idea of a lockdown."
"We're at home for the duration?"
"Unless there is some great need that we can help with. Hungry people who aren't sick are not in 'great need'. Most of them will be suffering from a self-inflicted injury."
"Booze instead of food."
"And similar poor choices."
---
Sunday, 23 April, 2028, 06:01 CDT
'At the top of the 6AM WWWH-FM news are the deaths of 37 soldiers of the group that returned from South Korea just a few days ago. More than 200 have been hospitalized in 20 states with the new "flu". The President has ordered an investigation into the circumstances of these troops being released on the public with no mention of possible infection.
'In a possibly associated item, more than 50 pet owners have also been hospitalized in 14 states with a diagnosis of "flu" and, thus far, 23 have died. The CDC is investigating these deaths.
'The Surgeon General has recommended high dose Tamiflu - known to be effective against H1N1 or "swine flu" - as a possible treatment for this "flu". There are currently one million equivalent doses of Tamiflu capsules available, with a preventive dose being one 75mg capsule daily for ten days but that equates to half that many "high" doses which would be 75mg twice daily for the same time. The oral suspension for children and those unable to swallow a capsule is available in smaller quantities. Drug manufacturers have been directed to increase Tamiflu production but the time needed for start-up means the first new production will not be available for 14 to 17 days.'
"You expected hysteria after the first three soldier deaths, Jack. Status on that?"
"Headline on foxnews.com has 'Armed robberies at 27 pharmacies with robbers wanting "flu medicine".' I think that fits 'hysteria' and there are probably more examples that haven't yet hit the media."
"We're in lockdown?"
"All cameras and motion sensors are active. All electric fences and gates have been tested and are hot. All gates are locked. Updating other work items, I have the stainless tanks marked for drilling and for welding on the fittings and the thicker firebox and cooker tanks are marked for cutting the loading doors and any needed drilling and welding. I have designs for jigs to hold things together for welding and I'll have the jigs finished in a day or so at which point I can start putting the wood gas generators together and mounting the first gen on one of the Ford tractors."
"Anything more on a wood gas gen design that would work in a road vehicle?"
"I found a little bit of information but it will require some experimentation and configuring some valves with progressive interlocking controls which will be operated by servos under control of an Arduino which will be monitoring some speed and pressure sensors. That's something I've not built before."
"You'll be busy this week; first with the known workable design for the tractors and later with the potential design for the trucks."
"And everything I build will need to be tested on and tweaked for the specific engine it's to be used with."
"You'll be getting a cutting of hay?"
"Best possible test of the wood gas gen for a tractor is real work. I'll use one tractor pull the sickle mower and power it with the PTO for cutting and then have the other tractor pull the baler and power it with the PTO."
"You'll get both tested in the same week and with real world loading on both. You'll want video?"
"Yes. To teach how to start up the wood gas generator and to show how well it works when adjusted correctly for the load the tractor has. Two different types of work being done will demonstrate what is possible."
"Yes, teacher."
"You're right; I do sound pedantic."
"But you also provide excellent training on practical topics. We'll be checking the news on the even hours?"
"That should be good enough. I certainly don't want to hear more bad news every hour or the continuous barrage of bad news the talk radio stations are likely to be putting out."
"Pot of chamomile tea?"
"Probably will need to refill that multiple times."
---
knock. knock.
"Come on in, Janet. We were just discussing the 6AM news and the possible need for keeping the teapot full of chamomile all day."
"Mom, do I smell scrambled with pepperoni?"
"Plus a little shredded cheddar and with sides of bacon and biscuits."
"Fortify me so I can stand to hear another newscast today?"
"Almost exactly what your Dad said before the news started."
"He was correct when he described me as the 'pretty version' of him."
"You are in need of fortification if you're admitting that so early in the day."
"No, Mom. I've just been doing a lot of thinking the past two weeks and I'm aware that I wouldn't be as successful as I have been as a vet if I didn't see things differently and ask 'out of the box' questions as he does when solving problems."
"He has kept us fed, clothed and sheltered for a long time by doing that."
"Also by being a cautious investor and a careful spender. My 'investments' are mostly junk silver, LTS foods, vet supplies and taking-care-of-me supplies but I'm better prepared for the SHTF that may be coming than any of my colleagues as I have no debt but they're all into big houses, Tesla automobiles and expensive vacations. It's also nice to be where I feel safe and loved."
"You and Dave will be taking the foreman's apartment?"
"We've already discussed that. It has running water, wood backups for heating and cooking and there's solar-powered electricity. Dave thinks 'paying the rent' by the work he can do here is fine, although he's talked about a mule-drawn-wagon delivery service."
"We do grow 'fuel' for that vehicle."
"You goof! Thanks for the laugh and breakfast, Mom. You need help with the dishes?"
"You wash. I'll dry and put away until you've been in the kitchen enough to learn where things are now."
"Another reorganization?"
"To go along with some additional shelves and door-operated lights in all the cabinets. There are even LED strip lights underneath the counter that light the drawers when they're opened."
"More of Dad's OpSec? You can see into cabinets and drawers but there's no light visible outside the house?"
"Correct. It's also convenient not have your body blocking the light from the overhead fixture when you lean in to reach for something at the back of a lower cabinet."
"He's good at making things convenient. Someone might think he plans to live here forever."
"That's what we were looking for when we bought this farm - an 'until they carry me out' place. We widened some of the doorways to accommodate possible wheelchair use in the future and made a few similar changes in the bathrooms. The 'closets' at this end of the house…"
"Provide access to a low-power-draw elevator of his design but are on the building permits as 'dumbwaiter'. The roof he had replaced with standing seam metal is also close to 'forever'."
"So are the Skousen walls and the wood over steel laminated shutters and 'storm doors'. With today's news, something that might last 'forever' and that is defensible by a small group provides me with 'warm fuzzies'."
"Me too, Mom. I should brew more chamomile tea?"
"Your Dad ate before he went out for chores. He'll be back in time to catch the 8AM news so he'll be looking for a cup before, during or after the news."
"I'll make a full pot and get out the donuts."
---
Sunday, 23 April, 2028, 08:01 CDT
'This hour's top news from WWWH-FM is 83 soldiers dead from the new 'flu' and 300 hospitalized. There are also close to 100 civilian cases. Some reports say this 'flu' appears to go to Ebola-like symptoms a few hours before the patient dies. The CDC has recommended medical facilities treat all apparent 'flu' cases as this new and deadly variant and isolate those patients using Ebola-level protocols. That will be almost impossible as staff at all the locations has already been exposed and none of the hospitals have enough rooms with that level of isolation for the number of patients with these symptoms or enough PPE for that level of staff protection. The President has authorized use of USAMRIID facilities for patients well enough to be taken there for isolation. The CDC and the military are sending additional PPE gear to all the affected hospitals. We'll share more information as it is made available.'
"Mass hysteria has probably already started the cleaning out of drugstores and pharmacies whether there is any treatment available or not. Time to be in lockdown. Janet, call Dave and tell him to move in here as soon as he can get packed. If he needs help or a vehicle for moving furniture, tell me and I can hook a box trailer behind the cab-over. Masks and gloves any time we're off the property or have contact with other people at the perimeter. The price of fuel - gasoline, diesel, LP - has probably gone up a dollar a gallon just from the newscasts presented so far today."
"You'll want Dave to quarantine here?"
"Not a bad idea but he was planning to be masked and gloved so he's had no more exposure than I have. He has guns?"
"1911 pistol with six magazines, .380 backup that he always carries, .223 with five 20 round magazines, .308 bolt action, semi-auto 12 gauge. He has a closet of ammunition."
"Then you and he can provide protection in two directions from the bunkhouse. We can provide protection in three directions from the house. Call him now."
"In progress."
"Janet, I'll help you move to your old room while your Dad goes to get Dave's things."
"OK, Mom."
---
"Jack, I can't believe we got all that loaded in an hour!"
"Helps to have the proper dollies and ramps and good incentive, Dave. That CVS being on fire two blocks away was excellent incentive. There's a binder in the bunkhouse with instructions for switching to solar power. We have grid power for the moment but enough people out sick could shut down the nuke plant near Dothan and that could lead to brownouts or rolling blackouts over the rest of the state as they try to make up for the loss of that much generating capacity."
"You also have an 'In Case of Attack' binder?"
"The red binder next to the blue 'Power' binder."
"I have some reading to do."
---
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Post by sniper69 on Jan 1, 2021 9:19:48 GMT -6
Thank you for the latest chapter and Happy New Year!
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Post by cavsgt on Jan 1, 2021 14:06:19 GMT -6
Does not seem like enough of a payment but THANK YOU
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Post by papaof2 on Jan 4, 2021 2:21:15 GMT -6
It seems I'm still trying to deal with the not-quite-as-bad refined diagnosis from my doctor as I'm living on the very slim side of creative. Maybe it'll improve in a while. If not, the story's laid out through Chapter 40 so you'll get that much. This isn't the first story that's had its stopping points as there were some pauses in "Accidental Family". Maybe this one will continue on half that long (AF is 800+ pages). -------------- Chapter 20 Monday, 24 April, 2028, 05:40 CDT "Jack, hurry and you'll get breakfast before the news." "Not sure I want to hear the news, love. The death counts from yesterday's 10PM news and the dollar a gallon increase in all fuel prices were enough bad news for at least a week. All but one of the soldiers returned from South Korea hospitalized. 300 of them dead even with the "high dose" Tamiflu the Surgeon General had recommended. That's a 75% fatality rate and almost a 100 to 1 infection rate with all of them infected but the one returnee who self-isolated and self-medicated with double the high dose of Tamiflu. Plus several thousand civilians infected and they're not sure how many those are from exposure to some MagikPet product or possibly one of the soldiers but the incubation time probably means it was pet-related exposure." "Chamomile tea for breakfast, Jack?" "No, love. Earl Grey or coffee to get me started for the day. We have a couple to get married today if things are available." "I have white masks for them." "Excellent." --- Monday, 24 April, 2028, 06:01 CDT 'At the top of the WWWH-FM news is the count of hospitalized "flu" victims, currently 3,200 civilians in the US, 28,000 US military in the US and in South Korea and 12,000 other people in South Korea. There have been robberies at almost 1,000 pharmacies and drugstores in the US with the robbers wanting "flu medicine" and the only available medication is Tamiflu which requires a prescription or a doctor's approval at a hospital and is only stocked at a limited number of facilities in any given zip code. Many areas have seen up to another dollar per gallon increase in the price of fuel since yesterday.' "The military infection rate is 70 to 1 with 400 exposed soldiers infecting 28,000 that they know about today. Love, what will that count be on day 14?" "Even worse. On a totally different topic, you'll be working on wood gas generators today?" "After the ceremony if it's still on. I'll call the License Bureau at 8AM and see if they're open. If so, we'll take Dave and Janet to get the license and then we'll all go see Reverend Baxter." --- 'Thank you for the information. Bye.' "Grab your masks, gloves and weapons and head to my truck." "We're going to town?" "Love, the Marriage License Bureau is open until 2PM. Reverend Baxter said he'd be at the church all day as he's had a lot of calls from people just wanting to come and pray." "Can't imagine what might have prompted that request for the first time since 9/11." "Love, your sarcasm is showing." "It is, Jack. I'd expect to see people who haven't been in the church since the week of 9/11." "You're probably correct." --- "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." "Jack, is it the optimism of youth that they're choosing to get married in our current circumstances?" "Reverend, they're choosing to follow their hearts in spite of the circumstances." "They do have good role models to follow. You and Susan seem to take everything in stride. You're not concerned about this new 'flu'?" "We're very concerned, which is why we've been masked and gloved since before we left the property today and we're taking Tamiflu - check with County General for when you can get yours and check with them or the Sheriff's Office about masks and gloves." "There's enough for the entire county?" "That's a definite maybe. Someone made what we can hope is a good guess on the quantities of masks, gloves and medication the county's residents will need and that's what is available. With the hysteria generated by today's news, you may not be able to find any of those things available for sale." "Thank you, Jack." "Why are you thanking me?" "Because I know the County doesn't have that much money available in their 'Emergency Fund'. I know you don't want the publicity so no one else will hear anything from me." "Thank you, Reverend." --- "Does my nose mislead me? I smell BBQ from a little place a long way from here." "Nothing misleading, Janet. Your Dad and I ate there when we went to the 'going out of business sale' at the Hobby Lobby in the outlet mall near the interstate. He had taken the Engel fridge so we brought back ten pounds of pulled pork and enough baked beans to fill the rest of the fridge space." "How'd you know you'd be celebrating something?" "Didn't 'know', just took advantage of the trip to have something we'd enjoy later." "I should have caught that when you said that Dad had taken the Engel fridge. He never misses an opportunity to do multiple errands in a single trip." --- "Dave, did you get all that reading done yesterday?" "Some of it, Jack. I left the binders on the table so I'd remember to finish them today. Without an obvious reminder, I might forget." "Imagine that, Mister Newlywed." --- "Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd, go finish setting up housekeeping. Just let us know whether you'll be joining us for supper." "Mom, I think we can manage supper on our own." "Then we'll see you tomorrow." --- "You'll be welding and whatnot for a while?" "Probably for a couple of hours, love. Those two make a nice couple." "They do, although we might a bit prejudiced." "Perhaps a little bit." --- Monday, 24 April, 2028, 18:20 CDT "You want to hear the highlights from the 6PM news, Jack?" "Yes. love. I'll assume it's either bad or very bad." "Excellent assumption. The US military has 39,000 infected in US and South Korea and more than 1800 dead in the US. The US has 8,000 civilians infected - no information on how many from pets and how many from exposure to an infected soldier - and 2000 dead but we've already assumed the civilians are pet-related. An estimated 22,000 infected people in South Korea - not separated into military and civilian. An estimated 320,000 additional people around the world are infected - more in countries with a standard of living high enough to allow spoiling their pets. The President is considering issuing an executive order for masks and gloves to be worn when off your property with the penalty for non-compliance being a one year suspension of your driving privileges. Gasoline and diesel fuel are up an average of another $1 per gallon across the country already today, with similar increases in most other countries." "An order about protecting yourself and others with teeth in it for enforcement - that's good. If enough Congress critters are still in DC, he could probably get that put into law in one day if they were shown video of the last few hours of an infected person's life." "That's absolutely gruesome from what I saw in videos about Ebola's progression." "For once, there's something bad enough to have 90% of the members of Congress agree on a possible solution." "I see a forest of tanks and pipes out here. You have a wood gas generator ready to mount on the first tractor?" "Two of them - one for the first Ford and then the one for Bob's Farmall. I made the mounts for the Farmall partly from photos and partly from measurements, so some of those mounts may need a little tweaking to get them in place." "You'll be back out after supper to mount the first one?" "If we still have commercial power. If not, that's a project for tomorrow." "Come on in and wash up. One of your 'perfect pizzas' is in the oven - cheese, fresh tomatoes, spinach leaves, bacon and no tomato sauce." "A BLT pizza! Thank you, love. Let me turn the welder off and I'll be right in." --- Monday, 24 April, 2028, 22:01 CDT 'The medical news from WWWH-FM is mixed. The pharmaceutical manufacturers have started additional production lines but the increased production of Tamiflu will not reach the public for 14 to 17 days. The worldwide numbers of infected and dead from the new 'flu' have exceeded the ability of the reporting systems to track and catalog them. At the moment, we can only get number of infected to the nearest 10,000 and the number of dead to the nearest 5,000 and the reported numbers have jumped so much today that we are waiting for confirmation from the CDC before broadcasting the numbers from their latest news release. The US death rate 48 hours after seeking medical care is close to 90%. Most countries will institute a mandatory lockdown beginning at midnight tonight for all but "essential" workers, such as medical staff, first responders and utility workers. We will broadcast the US guidelines for "essential" as soon as we receive them. Meanwhile, stay inside, avoid contact with people outside your household as much as possible and be masked and gloved for any essential outside contact.' "Well, love, I think we can note today on the calendar as SHTF Day." "I agree, Jack. We'll have to see whether they have percentages of people out sick by industry tomorrow and we can work out our own calendar of expected failure dates. I see major slowdowns as the absentee rate approaches 20% and most industries will effectively shut down by the time it reaches 50%. Will the IAEA require shutdown of the US nuclear power plants tomorrow?" "Possibly, love. I think their rules require shutdown when absenteeism reaches 20%. One person out today could mean an entire shift is potentially infected and a third of the workforce might be out sick in ten days." "Then we might have a week before they enforce shutdown of those plants. How much of the country's total power is from nuclear sources?" "Looks as though I should have updated my notes while we still had decent internet service. This note from 2019* says 38% from natural gas, 23% from coal, less than 1% from petroleum, 20% from nuclear, 7% from hydro, 7% from wind, 1% from biomass and 2% from solar, all of those rounded to the nearest whole number. Hydro, wind and solar add up to just 16% of all non-nuclear power which does not require supplies that are brought in from elsewhere so there's only a small amount of 'locally generated' power that is totally independent of other areas of the country. If the nation loses 20% of the total power generation from shutdowns of the nuclear plants, we might be OK now but we will certainly be in brownouts or rolling blackouts by summer - assuming there are enough people left to keep the other plants running. If the bearings in a generator run dry, that generator could die explosively and take out other generators or control or distribution equipment near it. That's the kind of catastrophic failure you hope to prevent. There will be a schedule for the check and refill of the bearings' oil or grease reservoirs but that 'check and refill' requires the presence of a knowledgeable human. No human available to do the maintenance means the reservoir isn't checked or refilled and the automatic controls just keep things spinning until there is a failure." "Does the house at the end of the line get fireworks or just go dark without warning?" "Could be either, depending on how things fail and the resulting collateral damage." "You are just a bundle of good news, Mr. Wilson." "You are correct, Mrs. Wilson. Shall I carry you off to bed?" "Best offer I've had all day." --- * www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3
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Post by papaof2 on Jan 9, 2021 18:49:47 GMT -6
Chapter 21 Tuesday, 25 April, 2028, 06:01 CDT 'If my voice seems muffled, it's from the masks all of us at WWWH-FM are wearing today. Hospitals and doctors' offices - even the doc-in-a-box variety - are overwhelmed and many have armed guards. National Guard troops have been mobilized in sixteen states to provide that protection and some troops are patrolling in HazMat gear because they're finding people who bled out on their way to the hospital. They are also setting up more field hospitals in hospital parking lots and local parks where they have access to running water and sanitation. We did get CDC confirmation on their reports from late yesterday and this morning's numbers are even worse. There are 150,000 infected and 65,000 deaths - remember that the reported numbers are to the nearest 10,000 for infections and the nearest 5,000 for deaths - and those numbers are increasing by the minute. If you have internet access, you can check at cdc.gov/2028nk and click on "How many". 'Morgues and funeral homes are overwhelmed and there are not enough refrigerated trucks to store the bodies while waiting for normal burial so the Army Corps of Engineers is digging burial pits in the most affected areas. There will be printed lists of who is buried where posted at each pit burial site and the lists will also be online at 2028nk.gov/burials as soon as that page is operational, currently expected by 2PM today. The military is using pit burials at the bases involved and the death notices will be mailed to next of kin along with the sanitized dog tags. 'Stay home, avoid contact with people outside your household as much as possible and be masked and gloved for any outside contact. We'll have the next news wrap-up at the top of the hour.' "You'll be cutting hay today, Jack?" "I need to get on that right away so I can work out any kinks in the process and I actually will be able to 'make hay while the sun shines' as there is rain in the forecast Wednesday through Friday." "And what kind of forecasts will we have as things shut down?" "For an unknown period of time, I'll be able to access some of the NOAA satellites for their pictures and wind and temperature information…" "That public access weather sat receiver* you built when one of the kids was in middle school?" "Correct. The download process isn't fast but the antenna is still in place so I can connect the receiver to it, then tell the receiver which information I want and let it run while I do other things." "You'll be as accurate as the local meteorologists?" "I can tell a 20% chance of rain from an 80% chance of rain." "That's at least as accurate as they are. What about the temperature forecasts?" "Partly from the sat data and partly from historical data. I have five years of 'historical data' from our weather station." "Then comparable accuracy but perhaps not two weeks out?" "That will depend on whether I can get some of the other weather sat data and be able to see things happening in the Gulf and what's forming off the West coast of Africa." "The cloud images we now get on weather.com and the like?" "Correct. I may need to get the big dish operational again but after I make hay." "Hay first because it will be needed for the animals and the process is needed as a test of the wood gas generators." "Correct, Mrs. Wilson. Could I persuade you to collect eggs and do the morning feeding and milking?" "This time." --- Tuesday, 25 April, 2028, 10:10 CDT Whirr! Whirrrr! Whirrrrr! Pop! Chug! Sputter! "Jack, it's almost showing signs of life." "You do understand that all of the adjustments are mostly guesswork when they're based on the settings for an older and smaller engine?" "Minor annoyances like that have never stopped you from making things work if you have even a glimmer of how it should run - such as that motorized Schwinn bicycle from the '50's. Give it a 'best guess' tweak and try again." "OK, adjustments here and here, key on and hit the starter once more." Whirr! Whirrrrr! Pop! Roar! "I think I can bring the throttle down from full to something less. 1200RPM - that's better. Oil pressure is good and the battery is charging. Now in first gear and ease out the clutch - and it's moving! Light pressure on the brakes with the clutch out and see how it responds to load… Looks like the wood gas flow needs to be increased for more load than just moving the tractor's weight but that valve is only open about a quarter of the way so there's room for adjustment. I need to make that tweak and then head to the pasture and put the sickle mower to work." "Congratulations, Mr. Wood Gas Expert." "Thank you, Mrs. Expert. I'll probably be late for lunch." "I was expecting that. You need to test how long it will run on two gallons of wood." "You're absolutely correct but it certainly sounds weird." "You have more fuel?" "A five gallon bucket with more of the small cutoffs from replacing the dining room floor with the red oak. Many pieces that are 2 1/4" wide and 1/2" thick and two or three inches long." "Something that packs well in the cooker tank." "Correct. I have 'two and a half tanks' in that bucket." "And you think that will run how long?" "At least for today's cutting. Maybe for some of tomorrow's baling. I'll be making notes on how long the engine ran, its speed, the approximate load and so forth. The numbers might be better after I do the engine overhauls but this is a good real world test." "I put a pot of sausage bean chowder on to simmer this morning. It'll be ready when you are but you may have to reheat the cornbread." "I can live with that. Think we might have guests at supper?" "I'll ask around 4PM." "Anything new on the 10AM news?" "The details on the 'lockdown'. Failure to comply could result in a one year suspension of your driver's license. Lots of who, how and when in the definitions of 'essential' workers with details available online at 2028nk.gov/lockdown and you can search by state, zip or industry. They're suggesting using the grocery delivery services and buying only foods in packaging which can be sanitized: metal cans, glass jars, some plastic jars." "You can get peanut butter and jelly but the flimsy bread bags can't be sanitized nor can the paper flour sacks so it's difficult to buy or bake bread." "But some of the good bacon does come in heavy plastic packaging which can be sanitized." "That's true, love. I think we'll be surviving on our current stocks and what we grow. Speaking of growing things: if Tom brings Erin and Lily here, Lily will need a long term source of insulin. Should we start a small herd of sheep?" "Does Bob Sanders have sheep?" "Not that he mentioned but I can always ask." "Make a paper note and then get on with your mowing. You're burning wood gas." "So I am. Note made. I also want to get the powered gates in place before it rains." "Add them to your list." "Done. Tractor in second gear and I'm headed for the pasture." --- "You're back, Mr. Wood Gas Expert." "I am daughter - and I know more now than when your mother dubbed me that." "How much more?" "How long two gallons of wood lasts when running the sickle mower." "And?" "I had to fill the cooker a second time to finish the 15 acres I was cutting but there was still 'uncooked' wood in the cooker when I got the tractor back to the barn and extinguished the fire in the burner." "How'd you do that?" "A lazy man's addition to the burner, Dave. The burner is a cylinder that the cooker cylinder fits into and there are brackets that hold the bottom of the cooker tank the proper distance above the fire. The combustion products from the fire are channeled up from the fire along the sides of the cooker to get maximum heat from the burned wood and to be able to heat all the wood in the cooker cylinder. The firebed portion is hinged and can be dropped for dumping the fire so the wood gas generator can be shut down quickly. Once the fire is dumped, the wood in the cooker begins to cool. After just a few minutes cooling, the outlet valve on the cooker tank can safely be closed and the remaining wood in the cooker is available for use next time." "A wood gas design with high fuel economy features?" "You might say that, love. Taking down trees and then cutting and splitting wood is hard work so best to get as much work as possible out of the firewood you create." --- "Dad?" "Yes, Janet?" "Mom mentioned that the more intelligent of my siblings might come here and that the niece I've never met is a Type 1 diabetic. I went on one of the vet forums and asked about making insulin from a sheep's pancreas and got some links from a vet who does that as backup for his wife. He also emailed a huge PDF of all that he has learned in the process. It includes two different extraction procedures and a chart of breed, gender, age, weight, number of pregnancies if female, weight of pancreas and amount of insulin recovered from each sheep using both procedures on similar if not identical sheep. Under certain circumstances such as summer versus winter, one procedure may be easier to do than the other or one might produce slightly higher yields than the other. For an adult, you'd need to butcher an average of one sheep a month but for a six-year-old that might be one every two or three months depending on her average daily dose and the availability of refrigeration. There is also some documentation on using the pancreas of a hog or cow which was the commercial insulin production standard before 'human insulin' was synthesized." "Thank you. I think we might need to add MD to your DVM license plate." "Dad! I'm not qualified to treat people." "Not licensed, perhaps, but you are possibly the most qualified, degreed medical person in this end of the county and you're always the first to research any medical problem, whether animal or human. I'll ask Doc Barton about giving you a position in the County Medical System if you're interested. I'm certain he'd like to have the help as other medical services shut down." "I'd be the doctor on call for this end of the county?" "You and your Mom. With your knowledge and her experience, we might have the best doc-in-a-box in the county." "Under the circumstances, you might be correct, Dad." "I agree with him, daughter." "Thanks, Mom." "Wasn't I smart? Marrying a doctor the week before the SHTF." "Enough from you, Mr. Lloyd." "Yes, Mrs. Lloyd." --- * Somewhat newer than the APT/WEFAX weather satellite receiver of the time mentioned but still DIY projects: NOAA APT weather receiver - basic antenna www.instructables.com/Raspberry-Pi-NOAA-Weather-Satellite-Receiver/video: youtu.be/KU75FSA6o2MNOAA APT weather receiver - basic antenna publiclab.org/notes/sashae/06-26-2020/diy-satellite-ground-stationnoaa-apt.mbernardi.com.ar/software: noaa-apt.mbernardi.com.ar/download.htmlGOES weather receiver - more sophisticated and needs a dish antenna www.rtl-sdr.com/building-a-low-cost-goes-weather-satellite-receiver-with-an-rtl-sdr/Tutorial for RTL-SDR: www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-tutorial-receiving-noaa-weather-satellite-images/Frequencies for APT weather satellites: leshamilton.co.uk/satfreq.htm
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Post by sniper69 on Jan 9, 2021 19:48:50 GMT -6
papaof2 - thanks for the latest chapter and the interesting links at the end.
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Post by papaof2 on Jan 17, 2021 16:15:47 GMT -6
Enjoy, but be aware that my muse and I are still stuck on Chapter 40 :-(
Chapter 22
Tuesday, 25 April, 2028, 14:20 CDT
"Dad, this sketch is for adding an outdoor shower?"
"A decontamination shower, Janet. If one of you is in a bloody Tyvek suit after caring for a patient, you might want to rinse the suit thoroughly before you try to take it off."
"Excellent idea. Where would it drain to?"
"I have some 275 gallon containers which had liquid herbicide or other chemicals in them and there's not much else I can use them for. One of those might be big enough for eight or ten such showers."
"The containers would be in the low spot in the South pasture?"
"Correct. I can fence around the area and put out some large flat pans with wire screening over them to have a place for the shower's drain water to evaporate slowly. The pans would be fed by pipes from the tanks which do have shutoff valves on them."
"Best solution we have here for non-powered disposal of contaminated liquid, Dad. Gravity flow to the tanks and gravity flow to the evaporation pans and nuclear fusion heat for the evaporation process."
"Nuclear fusion?"
"Yes, Dave. The sun - from some lessons about our galaxy that Mom and Dad taught when we were in elementary school because I asked how the sun could be so hot it burned my skin in the summer. We had two weeks of 'summer' school with lessons about summer and why things happened as they did. The science teacher at the middle school was impressed with my knowledge when I got there."
"Me too. Could we get them to teach if we have kids?"
"They'd be teaching at every opportunity as they always have when any kid asks a question. I guess schooling for any kids that survive the new 'flu' will be a priority but the first lessons should be on self-preservation - farming, animal care, cooking, first aid and so forth."
"Dave, I think you may be married to the next Superintendent of County Schools."
"You could be right, Jack. If you and Susan teach will the school be 'The Wilson Academy'?"
"We'll have to see how things progress. Meanwhile, I need some help digging holes and setting forms to pour concrete for the remote gate actuators."
"I'm in. I even know where the picks and shovels are."
"We can put those in the bucket of the frontloader to take them to the front gate and we can put the removed dirt in that bucket for later disposal. Get your gloves and boots."
"Gloves in my back pocket."
---
"The frontloader wasn't just for moving things, Jack. There's a backhoe on the other end of that tractor."
"Correct. We'll need hand tools for some of the work but I'm very much in favor of using power tools when they're available and fit the job. You ever used a backhoe?"
"No."
"Let me paint some outlines on the ground and you can get your first backhoe lesson and then a lesson on using the little Deere 318 with the irrigation pipe plow to bury the pipes the control wiring from the house will be in."
---
"You're a qualified earthmover now, Dave?"
"No, Janet. But I can get the backhoe's bucket in the ground within a few inches of where I want it and I did bury a little over 300 feet of pipe for the control wiring."
"Not too bad for a truck driver. When will we have working gates?"
"One or two days for the concrete to set and about half a day to install things then."
"So on Thursday, the 27th?"
"What's today?"
"Tuesday, the 25th."
"Thursday, if the rain holds off long enough. Otherwise probably Friday after the rain passes. Your Dad wants this done but it's not yet 'working in a thunderstorm' urgent."
"Sounds exactly like what he would say. That urgency will likely go up when we see the first case within 40 or 50 miles of us."
"I'm in complete agreement with that change. I'd prefer that we never had a case that close."
"Considering the lifestyles and the lack of responsibility of some people, we could have cases on this road. The bad thing would be an adult bringing it home to their kids."
"Hadn't thought of that but I guess it can happen. 'Mask and gloves for all contacts' isn't something that everyone will do. Certainly not when they're partying, as masks get in the way of food, drink, lines of cocaine and smokes of all types."
"And that could define who is and isn't a 'responsible adult'."
---
"Janet, is this your final 'vet office' sketch?"
"Yes, Dad. It has all the things we discussed and if you build it at the East end of the barn, the concrete floor has some serious rings embedded which can be used to restrain large animals."
"There's also good drainage from that end. You need water here, here and here and you want a restroom here. These two spaces for smaller animals and these two for bigger ones. This space for surgery with a rolling table for small animal surgery. Overhead surgical lights here, here, here and here plus a couple of stand lights to be moved into position as needed. Power for a medications fridge here. GFCI outlets for medical equipment here, here and here. Plus whatever else you think of after the first dozen cases?"
"Correct. Consider this your working copy and make me a copy for my future notes about what needs changing."
"I'll make two copies for you - one for summer changes and the other for winter changes. Heat I can manage but the only cooling is likely to be a fan or two if we don't have grid power. We might manage a 5000BTU window unit to have limited use of a cooled small animal surgery in the first room as needed but that could be on a case-by-case basis."
"Limited power I understand as we had to run the office in Fort Worth on a portable generator for almost a week after a fire in an underground power vault in August of last year. We did a lot of case-by-case determinations of fan versus air conditioning. How many additional hands do you need?"
"Let me set this up in the CAD program and see the best way to frame it in. Then I'll know how many hands are needed where. If you want the sheetrock painted, I have lots of white paint."
"White is fine. It's easier to see when it needs cleaning than the 'pretty' colors. When do we start?"
"CAD today, baling hay tomorrow, framing the next day."
"Sounds good."
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Tuesday, 25 April, 2028, 16:00 CDT
'There's mostly bad news from WWWH-FM this hour. The number of "new flu" infections and deaths is increasing very fast. The 150,000 new infections and 65,000 deaths reported at 6AM have almost doubled since then. Those are the officially recorded and reported numbers. The CDC has said that the speed of increase could mean some medical personnel are no longer able to report their circumstances and that the numbers being reported could be low by 10 to 20%. The Corps of Engineers has doubled the number of dug burial pits but they are still falling behind, with burials not keeping up with the death rate in highly populated areas such as New York City and Los Angeles. If the deaths in other urban areas experience similar growth rates, those areas will also fall behind in burying their dead. The International Atomic Energy Agency has said that any nuclear power plant in the world which experiences an absentee rate 10% greater than normal will be ordered to shut down before a mass infection leaves that plant with too few qualified people to perform a proper shutdown. With nuclear power providing about 20% of the grid power in the US, multiple shutdowns will lead to brownouts or rolling blackouts as we experience summer's need for air conditioning.
'We'll be back with the weather after this message.'
"Jack, does nothing stop the commercials?"
"Very little does, love. They stopped for a while on 9/11 but the commercials pay the salaries and the utility bills so they do tend to pop back up regardless of the content of the news."
"What's the 'normal' absentee rate at a nuclear power plant?"
"Maybe less than one percent? They tend to expect all the people to be there for every shift."
"So ten percent would be a large number."
"Correct. That would indicate many people with serious illness and the possibility of that illness being contagious and one person sick on Monday could have the entire shift out sick ten days later."
"One shift would be 33% of that day's workers so the 10% limit is a safe place to be?"
"They may be thinking: catch it before you have an entire shift out sick or coming to work so sick they're not useful."
"That still poses problems for those at the paying end of the powerlines."
"Better to have the shutdown of a nuke plant announced in advance and done correctly with future planned brownouts or blackouts than to have a SCRAM and an unplanned and uncontrolled outage with possible equipment loss due to damage and an even longer period of brownouts or blackouts or possibly another meltdown like Fukushima."
"Which is best might depend on your perspective - some people would rather have power to see today's big game or entertainment event than to miss that but have power the rest of the week."
"That's also true, love. 'Some people' just can't see beyond the ends of their respective noses."
"Will nuke shutdowns affect us?"
"Possibly. Maybe that should be probably? About 20% of the state's power is produced by the nuke plant near Dothan so we could be affected by any extended brownouts or blackouts. If we have any warning, we can go to solar power before grid power goes away and cut back on our usage as needed for a while. If the absenteeism starts to affect the other power plants of any type, we can expect a wholesale shutdown as things get worse."
"As their absenteeism exceeds 10 or 20%?"
"Whatever number coincides with them not being able to function adequately. Maybe that's 20% at the combustion plants and maybe 30% or more at the hydro plants but the hydro plants only provide about 6% of the state's power so having all of them online couldn't make up the difference for the summer power needs if the Dothan nuke plant is down."
"They're not building in much 'What if?' capacity?"
"Changes in regulations and the cost of construction have severely limited the 'What if?' capacities of most plants built in the past forty or so years. It appears to be very difficult to get approval for a power plant with much additional capacity for the future and they haven't been building many new plants."
"Many people will be in the dark in another month or so."
"Scary but probably accurate, love. Our concern is whether people will try to take power from those who've made provisions for producing even small amounts of their own power."
"Thus our arsenal and the closet of ammunition for it."
"Correct. We will help those who need our help but we will not yield to takers. Perhaps I should install some twelve foot posts out front to hang bodies from?"
"That seems to have worked for the Romans for a while."
"I need to check what we have in twelve foot 4x4 lumber…"
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Tuesday, 25 April, 2028, 16:10 CDT
"Jack, I wondered what that skinny auger was for. Looks like the hole just fits that 4x4 fence post."
"Love, I'll be adding a little concrete on the sides for stability, but the hole does grip the corners of the 4x4 nicely. I used the 16" chainsaw to trim the tops to a point before I dropped the posts into the holes. If Tiffany Jenkins pokes her busybody nose in and asks what the posts are for, should I tell her?"
"Just say it's a Roman tradition and let her research it if she's curious."
---
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Post by texican on Jan 18, 2021 20:53:56 GMT -6
Enjoy, but be aware that my muse and I are still stuck on Chapter 40 :-(
pp2,
That means that there are 17 chapters waiting to be posted which is great.
Your muse should awaken before all 17 chatpers are posted
See, somethings are simple and some are not.
Texican....
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Post by papaof2 on Jan 18, 2021 21:14:41 GMT -6
But we've been stuck there for about a month :-(
Of course, I could easily end it with one sentence about a missile tech pressing a button and then leave the rest of the page blank. A similar concept was used in "On the Beach"...
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Post by texican on Jan 19, 2021 19:48:54 GMT -6
But we've been stuck there for about a month :-( Of course, I could easily end it with one sentence about a missile tech pressing a button and then leave the rest of the page blank. A similar concept was used in "On the Beach"... pp2, You are to great a writer to take the easy way out and sadden your readers. Besides you enjoy writing a lot. Texican....
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Post by papaof2 on Jan 21, 2021 23:09:49 GMT -6
I've reached the point in osteoarthrosis of the carpometacarpal joint of the left thumb (thumb is turning under the palm) where I can't adequately grip things with my left hand (as in open a jelly jar) and trying to drive with my left hand gets painful quickly (thumb's in the wrong place to grip the wheel). So far, it's only in the left hand. I saw the hand surgeon yesterday and surgery is scheduled for the first week of February. The hand will be bandaged to be mostly immobile for the first ten days and full recovery (with physical therapy) is estimated at three months - just in time to start serious yard work :-(
I don't think I'll be doing a lot of one-handed typing immediately after surgery, so wherever the story is on the night before surgery is where it will likely sit for some weeks - not abandoned, just waiting for a more functional author.
You have been warned. Requests for "MOAR" will be properly ignored ;-)
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Post by papaof2 on Jan 22, 2021 19:19:34 GMT -6
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Post by texican on Jan 23, 2021 19:47:56 GMT -6
You have been warned. Requests for "MOAR" will be properly ignored ;-)So pp2, the squeaky "MOAR" wheel will not get greased for weeks and weeks if not months. Ooooohhhhhh no. But we will survive, unless all hell breaks loose in the intremin. Texican....
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Post by papaof2 on Jan 23, 2021 20:59:10 GMT -6
If hell breaks loose, we'll know to blame Joe Burden and Commie Lala and their liberal/socialist/communist and/or mentally challenged followers. Would a .380 ACP cartridge loaded with a primer and thermite be under the auspices of the BATFE? It might play hob with the barrel but it should be an excellent short-range fire starter and even more effective than a buttful of rock salt ;-)
See how badly things go when my muse takes these long vacations and I'm looking for another project?
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Post by bluefox2 on Jan 24, 2021 9:44:00 GMT -6
If hell breaks loose, we'll know to blame Joe Burden and Commie Lala and their liberal/socialist/communist and/or mentally challenged followers. Would a .380 ACP cartridge loaded with a primer and thermite be under the auspices of the BATFE? It might play hob with the barrel but it should be an excellent short-range fire starter and even more effective than a buttful of rock salt ;-) See how badly things go when my muse takes these long vacations and I'm looking for another project? Interesting concept. Perhaps that could be upgraded to a larger caliber?
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Post by papaof2 on Jan 24, 2021 16:22:36 GMT -6
Chapter 23
Wednesday, 26 April, 2028, 06:00 CDT
'This morning WWWH-FM has the CDC's estimated numbers for infections and deaths because the reporting system is failing as a number of medical professionals who were handling the counts at their respective locations are now infected patients at those locations and there are no available staff members to handle "non-essential work" such as counts of the infected and the dead. Those estimates are 650,000 infected and 490,000 deaths. Additionally, the military has found the ink used on the infected pet items from China was used on the packaging of some military clothing and other supplies. An investigation into how that ink was chosen is in progress. Military infection and death estimates are double the civilian numbers, at 1.3 million and 980,000 respectively. In almost all cases, infections are fatal 75% of the time even with the recommended "high dose" of Tamiflu. Being masked and gloved and avoiding contact combine to make the best defense against the new "flu", which the CDC has officially named "2028NK".
'US pharmaceutical manufacturers will be operating their Tamiflu production lines 24/7 as soon as the process is active but these production "lines" are a biological process which requires eleven days from startup to first output and a minimum of two days for quality and strength testing and then overnight air shipment which gives the minimum 14 days for first delivery of product from the newly started production lines.
'The prices of gasoline and diesel are up another 50 cents to $1 again today for most areas of the US. Similar increases have been seen in most other countries, with a few - notably France, Greece and Italy - having increases of at least twice that.
'The US industries which have reported absenteeism show most service industries at 20% and first responders at 30%. The first responder rates could be an indication of higher infection rates from their greater exposure. Of particular concern is the US power industry where today's numbers are at 12%. The International Atomic Energy Agency has some specific requirements for nuclear power plant operation and one of those requirements is nuclear plant shutdown at a specific level of absenteeism. Our WWWH-FM researchers are checking those numbers now and we'll have all available details in a later newscast.
'In international news, China has locked down the cities of Chongqing and Wuhan with no people entering or leaving. This has stopped the shipment of laptop computers and cell phones from Chongqing, which is a major supplier of both to world markets. No reports on how this will affect other shipping from China and no reports of infections or deaths - much like the Covid-19 event where they simply stopped reporting those items - but secondary news sources have mentioned huge numbers of filled ash vessels outside the crematoriums in both cities. In unofficial reports, travelers heading from China to other places tell of rotating power blackouts and multiple cities with large numbers of sick people in tents around the hospitals and the dead being trucked to old mines for disposal.
'Today's weather after this message…'
"We lose the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant today?"
"Depends on the numbers, love. Below the limit, they get a warning that shutdown is X% away. Above the limit, they get an immediate shutdown order. We'll see what the radio station can find out before I ask Tom what the Agency knows."
"I should check the next newscast while you are baling hay?"
"Probably the next two or three newscasts. I might even get the other tractor started on the first attempt."
"Considering how the first one sounded when it got back to the barn, you did some tweaks while you were mowing."
"Correct. A little here; a little there. Some things need to be set one way for starting but another way for running under load. I marked all the valves with either a stamped 'S' for the starting position and an 'R' for the running position or 'L', 'M' and 'H' for low, medium and high speed of the engine. The start/run change is needed about five minutes after the cooker is producing enough gas to start the engine. The 'L/M/H' is needed based on the work being done. I'll need to include all that in the 'How-to' instruction sheet."
"You have it written down?"
"Yes - on paper so it's readable without power."
"You goof! You'll be testing the wood gas generator on the second Ford tractor before you have Bob bring the Farmall over?"
"Better to have a little more experience with the process before I install the next system on a different engine."
"Just you being a perfectionist - but it keeps the paying customers happy. I'll make notes about the newscasts you miss."
"Thank you, love. See you in a few hours."
---
knock. knock.
"Come in, Janet. Your Dad is out baling hay to test the second wood gas generator installation."
"Dave just called me. Would you and Dad be interested in sheep or goats? Dave made a medication delivery to a place near the feed and seed and found the old man has died of a heart attack and his widow wants someone to come get their animals so she can move to town and live with her daughter. The sheep are a ram and a dozen ewes. The goats are one billy and six nannies. The food goes with them and she has equipment and supplies for making goat cheese."
"I need to talk to Jack. He'll be out baling hay for two or three hours and I won't interrupt him when there's rain in the forecast for the next two or three days. 'Make hay while the sun shines' really does have a basis in fact. You have a name and number?"
"Florence Worthington at 17389 County Road 220 but no phone number."
"I know where that is. That lady grows some gorgeous flowers!"
"That's the place with red, yellow and orange roses?"
"It is. If she's not taking the flowers with her, I'd like to transplant some of the bushes. I'll need to get Jack and maybe Dave involved in digging those up and replanting them along the fence out front."
"A natural barrier which doesn't look like a barbed wire fence but is just as effective. Count me in."
"I'll talk with Jack at lunch. We can get everyone together for supper. There's a pot roast on to simmer."
"Dave will be here for supper. He worked very late yesterday and told Troy he'd take a large load in the truck this morning but would only get half of it delivered today and he'd park the truck here overnight and be back out in the morning to finish the deliveries. That will get him caught up with what's come in and Troy's not sure if they'll have anything to deliver after tomorrow - just too many out sick at their big hubs to plan any further ahead than the actual arrival of the next semi from the hub."
"The morning news said that but not in so many words. They even mentioned that the nuclear power plants might by ordered to shut down because of absenteeism, something WWWH-FM is researching before their next newscast."
"The country gets maybe 20% of its power from nuke plants, Mom?"
"Janet, it's about that for the country and for the state of Alabama but specific locations might get more or less depending on how many nuke plants are in their state and where those plants are located."
"Florence isn't a primary user of power from the Farley nuke plant or the Fort Rucker solar plant that's also near Dothan because of distance."
"Correct. There's hydro and combustion-fired power for the Florence and Muscle Shoals area from the Wilson Lock and Dam, the turbines at TVA Colbert, Wheeler Hydroelectric Plant and maybe TVA Brownsville. Decatur has their own generating plant."
"When the other kids were making maps to their Grandma's house we were making state maps with power plants, rivers and national forests on them. Then it just seemed like some of Dad's perfectionist 'It's not complete unless…' ideas but it's nice to know where the power comes from and how it gets here."
"Even if it isn't always reliable."
"Mom, that's true anywhere you have aerial distribution lines plus trees and wind or freezing rain. Where would you put sheep and goats?"
"We'd need to plan use of the pasture areas so the horses and cow get first use and the others get second use. Sheep can nibble the grass off much shorter than a cow so they can forage OK in a pasture that a cow has 'emptied'."
"You just need tighter fences than are needed for the bigger animals to keep sheep and goats inside."
"All the fences are a combination of barbed wire and electric. All the electric fencing and the gates are hot at night. For now, the front gate isn't hot during the day but that's just one well-labeled switch away."
"Then you could keep sheep and goats in any of the smaller areas."
"Under the current circumstances, we'd want them near the house and preferably in range of one of the security cameras."
"Then the sections out from the barn?"
"Those would be first choice if Jack hasn't already made other plans for that space. That's part of what we'll cover at lunch. You'll join us?"
"I need to make some measurements in the barn and see whether the stainless sinks I found in the smokehouse will work in the 'vet office' Dad and Dave will be building. If I'm finished in time, I'll drop back over when I hear the tractor headed for the barn."
"See you then."
---
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Post by udwe on Jan 24, 2021 21:19:16 GMT -6
Love all your stories. You can post more at any time!
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Post by papaof2 on Jan 31, 2021 20:47:32 GMT -6
Chapter 24
Wednesday, 26 April, 2028, 13:10 CDT
"Dad, I found stainless sinks that will work with the final sketch of the 'vet office'."
"That's good, Janet. Do we need to make an animal waiting or recovery area in the pasture space out from that end of the barn?"
"Maybe a large cage for the smaller animals but I don't expect anyone to be trailering a horse or cow here. Meanwhile, Dave found some free sheep…"
"Where?"
"On County Road 220, near the feed and seed."
"The Worthingtons?"
"You know them?"
"Yes, Janet. He is a hobby wool spinner and weaver and she has a rainbow thumb for flowers."
"Dave said he died last week and she wants to move to the city to live with her daughter, so she wants someone to take the animals."
"As much as I'd like to have free sheep, we need to tell her what we know - and suspect - and see if she can persuade her daughter to move out here. She has a well for water, is on a septic tank and they can grow food, all of which are things that city dwellers may need and not have in the very near fut...."
Bee-doop! Bee-doop! Bee-doop!
'This is a Civil Emergency Message from the National Weather Service. The International Atomic Energy Agency has mandated the shutdown of the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant in Columbia, Alabama because of high absenteeism. This will reduce Alabama Power's total capacity by 20% and may cause brownouts or rolling blackouts in parts of the state. The shutdown process will begin at 2PM and be complete by 6PM. If your water is from a well, be sure you have adequate water storage for a week with a minimum of two gallons per person per day. If your local grocery is affected by a brownout or blackout, they may only be open if they have a backup generator. Be sure you have a minimum of seven days of food available. Similar announcements are being made in other states with affected nuclear power plants. This message will be repeated hourly and is also going out via the Amber Alert system.'
"If Mrs. Worthington or her daughter has a weather radio or a cell phone, they are now, or soon will be, aware that things are going sideways. It might not take much to persuade her daughter to move out here. Love, do you remember where her daughter works?"
"Dental office, I think Not sure what her job is or if she's the dentist."
"We need to know more. If this is a SHTF event, even a hygienist would be a better level of dental care than we currently have in the area. No one wanted to take over Doc Eismann's practice when he died so dental care out here has gone downhill to pliers from the tractor's tool box for an extraction if you can't make that 37 mile drive to town."
"Ouch, Dad! I haven't cleaned human teeth but I could if I had another set of tools."
"We need to talk with Mrs. Worthington and stop by the seed and feed to check their dental instruments."
"We go now?"
"All three of us and I'll activate the front gate as well."
---
"Find what you needed, Janet?"
"Yes, Dad. And I got three sets of everything."
"Susan, anything else we need?"
"I picked up a few 'just in case' things."
"As I expect …"
"It's dark!"
"Possibly the shutdown of the Farley plant didn't go smoothly?"
Flicker!
Flicker!
Flicker!
"John! There's smoke coming from that register!"
"I got the extinguisher, Betty."
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
"You go check outside."
---
"John! It's an airplane!"
"What?"
"There's a cropduster out back and it took down the wires and some poles."
"Go see if the pilot's OK. I'll get the generator started."
"On my way."
"Possibly this outage isn't related to the Farley shutdown. Janet, there's a big First Aid kit hanging on the back of the front passenger seat…"
"On my way."
---
"Damn, but my head hurts! Does lightning always make you feel that way? How did I get out of the plane? Is it still flyable? How…"
"SAM DINKMAN!"
"Huh? Susan? What are you doing here? I was testing the repairs they'd done on the plane and as I crossed the road there was lightning and the engine died and everything went black."
"How high were you, Sam?"
"Usual spraying height, Jack. Wheels just above the powerlines."
"I'll guess there was a huge surge on the powerlines as there are arc burns on both tires. It wasn't 'lightning' but the pulse had to be huge to create an arc that long. Susan and Janet can take care of you while I check with John on what survived the surge."
"We have it, Dad."
"I hear the generator, John. Did anything survive?"
"About half the lights. The register that wasn't on. Whatever it was smoked the $150 surge protector you persuaded me to use for the UPS the computer and one register are on. That UPS kicked in and the computer and that register are OK. That's probably one of the better 'insurance' investments I've made. What happened? I didn't know a plane hitting the lines could do that kind of damage."
"Sam said there was 'lightning' but what I found were arc burns on the plane's tires. The arc had to have come up from the powerlines. I'll guess that something went sideways while they were trying to shut the Farley nuke plant down and that caused some huge surge on parts of the grid but we're so far from there that I'm already questioning that guess. Maybe something they did locally to prepare for or in response to the Farley shutdown? Maybe it'll be on the news today."
"I could have damage like this at home?"
"And possibly everyone else in the county. I think there could be a run on electrical repair parts in the next few hours."
"Let me get you folks checked out and then we'll close up so Betty and I can check for damage at home."
"Let's do that."
---
"Hello the house!"
"Hello, Jack Wilson. Susan. This is Janet all grown up?"
"She is, Mrs. Worthington. Do you have power?"
"No. Went out with a Bang! from the freezer on the back porch and it's not come back. I called Elizabeth and she said power was out there and the outside part of their office air conditioner was smoking so she called 911, closed the office and sent the staff home for the day. That West-facing apartment of hers will be an oven if power is off for long so I told her to bring the boys out here. I was going to go live with her but the hand pump on the well still works so I have water and septic, and we could grow enough to live on in the big garden…"
"Gertrude?"
"Yes, Susan?"
"That's why we stopped by. We wanted you to suggest that she move here instead of you moving to town for those same reasons and because of the new 'flu' that doesn't seem to have reached us yet but is popping up all over the country."
"Like Covid-19?"
"Much worse. It's almost 100% fatal without treatment and the available treatment only seems to work for maybe 25% of the population. The Sheriff's Office and County General have masks and gloves because prevention is the best treatment. County General also has the available medication."
"It's 75% fatal? Won't everything stop if that many people die?"
"Much of modern civilization could stop. This power outage may be related as the nuclear power plants are being shut down in advance of there being too many people out sick to do that prop…"
"That's what took our power out, Jack?"
"We don't know yet. The Farley plant provides maybe 20% of the state's total power but shutting it down properly shouldn't have caused the things we've seen. Those things look more like a major error somewhere in the process."
"When will we get power back?"
"I have no idea."
"Jack Wilson! You know everything! How can you not know this?"
"Because I don't yet know what caused it or the total amount of damage that was done. I'm not part of Alabama Power's Restoration Crew."
"You can tell more after you see the news video?"
"Maybe. Some electrical damage isn't obvious from the outside."
"If you can't see the smoke, you don't know what burned up?"
"Correct. The only smoke I've seen so far was from one register at the seed and feed and that doesn't tell me anything about the rest of the power grid."
"That makes sense. Susan, what else is on Jack's agenda as he never makes a trip that involves fewer than two errands."
"You told Dave…"
"The UPS guy."
"And Janet's new husband - that you wanted to get rid of some animals. How many of those do you want to keep if you stay here?"
"The goats, for their milk, so I can make goat cheese as I'm the only source until you get to town. I can barter that for eggs, ham and other things. The sheep can go. If you're interested in spinning and weaving, Ted's stuff can go with them to make room for Elizabeth and the boys; Will is ten and Bobby is twelve."
"Then you might have good help for a hands-on family farm."
"They always wanted to help their granddad with whatever he was doing when they were younger so maybe a little of that enthusiasm will apply when they're doing things to feed themselves."
"Let us know what you plan to do and we'll take the sheep and the spinning and weaving equipment if you want those things gone. I'm sure Jack will want to include some barter in that as you should get fair value for those things."
"Maybe some future clothes for the boys and maybe some food - those boys can probably eat more than they can grow."
"Let us know. Be sure to tell us if Elizabeth wants to move her dental office out here - she'd be the only dentist in 25 miles or more. We can't promise power or running water but we have a truck to move equipment."
---
"You think our house and outbuildings are OK, Jack?"
"Yes, love. I added extensive surge protection to the incoming power. The switchover to any backup power source other than solar for the fridge and freezer is still manual, but the disconnect is automatic when the incoming voltage is out of limits high or low. We could have a smoked - perhaps melted? - surge protector or two but I don't think there will be any other damage."
"What else, Jack? I recognize that 'There is something else' frown."
"You read me too well. How many of a hospital's isolation and disinfection procedures require power? Positive or negative pressure ventilation? Industrial washers and dryers for scrubs and bedding? Unlimited hot water? How many other things?"
"They'll be back to an 1862 Army tent hospital quality of care?"
"Can you see it being any better than that if grid power is off so long that their generators run out of fuel?"
"I can't in those circumstances. They'll do the best they can with the circumstances they face but it won't be level of care we've come to expect in the 21st century."
"Maybe the 5PM news will have useful information."
"We'll be home in time for that."
---
Wednesday, 26 April, 2028, 17:00 CDT
'The top stories this hour on WWWH-FM are almost half of Alabama Power's customers being without power and USPS planning to make residential deliveries other than medication only once per quarter. Social Security, welfare checks and other paper mail support systems will have to be updated very quickly to provide continuing support to their recipients.
'In a news conference in Birmingham, Alabama Power officials stated that the number of employees out sick will slow the restoral process and if that number increases as much in the next ten days as it has in the previous ten days, some outlying areas might not see power again for three to five weeks.
'USPS also stated that the number of people out sick is increasing faster than they can hire and train replacements so non-critical mail will be on the quarterly schedule and "junk mail" will be carried on a "space available" basis beginning on Monday, May 8.'
"I think the lack of mention of the 2028NK infections and deaths tells me more than this morning's estimates did."
"The numbers have doubled again, Jack?"
"That's my guess. I think our county has been fortunate to not yet have a case reported. I did text Paul and Doc Barton a request to let me know when or if we have the first case."
---
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