Chapter 21
Wednesday, 18 June, 6:50AM
"On the Eighth Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…"
"Daddy, why are you singing a Christmas song in June?"
"It's the only song I know that's appropriate for greeting the milkmaids."
"The what?"
"Milkmaids, Lucy. Remember, that song has 'Eight maids a-milking'…"
"But there's just two of us."
"But you did the milking so you must be milkmaids. By the way, the milkmaids were also tasked with making butter and cheese from the milk."
"We might make a little butter but Momma said it takes gallons of milk to make cheese."
"Then I guess we also need a cow. Cows give a gallon or so a day if they're just feeding a calf but, depending on the breed, they can give six or seven gallons a day if you can milk them that much - lots easier to do with a milking machine than your hands."
"I'll say! We just did a goat each and my hands are tired!"
"You'll get better at that. Remember that you get to practice again in the evening."
"Bummer!"
"But you do have fresh milk every day?"
"I guess that is a good thing. It's just a lot of work."
"Where are the people who don't keep goats or cows getting their milk?"
"The store if it's open and has milk but you said a lot of places weren't open and a lot of trucks weren't out delivering so there might not be any?"
"There might not. We can listen to the farm news which will be on WANI in about five minutes. I'm going to Mr. Wiley's junkyard after breakfast because he wants me to look for ideas on how he can make money with the things in the junkyard because people will not be buying used parts to repair their cars unless there is fuel for those cars."
"We can go?"
"You may if your Momma says 'yes' when you ask her. All your other morning chores done? Any schoolwork left from yesterday?"
"'Yes' on chores done and 'no' on schoolwork left."
"Me too. We take the rifles?"
"And wear your 'flu armor', Lucy."
"We always hafta if we go anywhere."
---
"You're smiling, Jack, so what did you find?"
"Gene, I'll let the girls go first to tell you about what they found."
"Kids? Well, OK, I guess."
"Mr. Wiley, I'm Lucy. Do those long skinny silver buckets that fit down a well pipe work?"
"As far as I know, Lucy. There's a pallet of them in one of the buildings."
"Mr. Wiley, I'm Sarah. Do the hand winches on the trailers with the burned boats work?"
"Maybe. I got those in a cleanup deal after a fire at a boat dealer in Mobile. I hadn't done much other than get them off the semi trailers that brought them here before things started going sideways."
"If the silver buckets work and the hand winches work, you could sell a kit for converting a well with an electric pump into a hand operated bucket well. You might even be able to use parts of the trailer to make a frame that supports the winch over the well."
"No question these are your kids, Jack. I've stubbed my toe on those buckets while looking at the boat trailers and trying to find something to use them for but I never put the pieces together. Do I pay them or you?"
"Us, but some of it's in parts 'cause we saw some bike trailers and each of us wants one of those. You and Daddy can talk about the money, plus he has some other ideas."
---
"$2 in dimes, Daddy?"
"Look at the dates, Lucy."
"1946, 1957, 1961… They're all old."
"Those are silver dimes. All the dimes, quarters, half dollars and silver dollars were mostly silver before 1965. The silver in each dime is worth about $1.88 in today's money…"
"That's $37!"
"Actually it's 37.60, Sarah. Mr. Wiley thought you girls had a very good idea and he has parts to build at least 20 of the 'well conversion kits'. He guessed that he had about $40 in the winch plus the bucket and that people would readily pay $150 for the kit with a tripod to support the winch high enough above the well to allow using the long 'bucket'. He was very happy to pay you for your ideas. I wrote up a quick 'how-to' on removing the original plumbing, wiring and the electric pump from the well using the winch and he was also happy to pay for that. We had a family job today as all three of us contributed to it."
"But it was more like fun than work."
"Maybe that's because my smart girls find 'brain teasers' fun?"
"Maybe. Can we do it again?
"I'll ask Mr. Wiley. His junkyard covers a lot of acres and we might have walked a tenth of it today. If he wants us back again, maybe we should have a picnic lunch?"
"And a camera for the things I didn't know what they were and couldn't really describe them and you had to walk out where I found them."
"Good thinking, smart girl. Just be sure to include the lettered and numbered section markers in the pictures you make so we know where it was and not just 'over that way'."
"That would be better."
---
Ring! Ring!
'This is Jack.'
'Jack, it's Chief Cannon. The Sheriff told me we might be able to barter some computer and radio repairs.'
'I need to look through the scrap yard and barns out behind Station 1 to see if there's anything I can use. I am in need of a decent capacity pump or two to refill the pond from the water that the mill or the water-powered generator might use.'
'Don't think you want the pumper chassis with its 1000gpm, 150psi pump that was driven by the 450HP diesel engine in that truck but there are some smaller things in the barns - some AC, some gas or diesel, a few with pulleys or PTO connections.'
'I should check your stack of dead radios and computers and then see what's in the junk pile.'
'Someone will be at that station 24/7 so come at your convenience but bring good lighting if it's after dark. We're using some Harbor Freight solar security lights that trigger on motion but we're not running a gen to power all the outside floodlights.'
'I'll be there in daylight. Maybe tomorrow or the next day.'
'Then I'll have them box up everything that needs repair and have it ready for pickup.'
---
"The pump for the possible 'pump and store' for mill and/or generator power?"
"Yes, love. Ideally two of the same or very similar pumps so we have a spare. I probably don't need the high capacity of some of their 'fire' pumps but even the 'drain' pumps that they use to get water out of basements and the like after a fire might be big enough to be useful if I can power them long enough. Having a PTO generator powered by the waterwheel would mean we have plenty of power to run a pump each night. Even better if there's a pump with PTO drive because it will be more efficient."
"Your six hours pumping for four hours of power?"
"The spreadsheet looks a little better than my 'back of an envelope' calculations did. Using some of Howard's estimated horsepower figures for the mill, we might get close to six hours of power for seven hours of pumping, at least up to the capacity of the pond."
"Which you plan to increase."
"Correct. Just not sure I can get everything done in 24 hour days and still get some sleep."
"I'll see that you get some sleep even if I must tie you to the bed. You need to walk and verify the layout for the mill so I can start digging for the foundation pour. That's one job that I can make a major contribution to. I also need the plans for expanding the pond as I'm sure that involves digging and moving dirt."
"It does. There's an orange folder by my laptop that has my notes and preliminary drawings. The side that needs additional support before it's raised is marked in red on the drawing and with red paint on the bank of the pond."
"I'll check that folder and I may be moving dirt within the hour. You'll help the girls with supper?"
"Certainly. I'm always happy to feed a hands-on civil engineer even if her license did lapse last week. Don't think we'll get to Birmingham to get that renewed for a long time."
"Maybe next year?"
"No sooner than that and my guess would be two or three years from now."
"Pessimist."
"Realist. Listen to the BBC's repeat of their earlier broadcast:"
'Thirty-seven States in the United States are reporting power problems similar to those which started a few days ago in their State of Alabama. This has disrupted the operation of power plants in all those areas and is hampering farming, food processing and distribution, oil extraction and refining, and has slowed the delivery of natural gas and propane plus liquid fuels and other petroleum based products to all areas of the country.
'In addition, the new "flu" has been confirmed in 27 of the 50 States with preliminary reports indicating at least seven more States may have outbreaks. All international air traffic in and out of the country has been halted and foreign aircraft on the ground in the United States are quarantined for 28 days. Crew members and passengers showing no symptoms of the disease will be allowed to leave the US after the 28 day quarantine. No additional foreign aircraft are being allowed to enter the US. All container shipping must wait through a 28 day quarantine before the ships can be unloaded. Oil tankers which can be unloaded by automatic equipment are being unloaded at a limited number of terminals. Those that require human intervention are subject to the 28 day quarantine.
'This is BBC Radio's service to North America, broadcasting on 6150kHz.'
"The Second Great Depression is about to become reality?"
"It seems very possible and there's not much that most people can do about it. If someone has three years of LTS foods or a large garden and some animals, a source of potable water, fuel for cooking and heating and a means of sanitation, they might make it. Our situation is better as we have land and equipment to grow some of our food and things and services to barter for other parts of it. We have some animals for the things they can provide us. We're armed and practiced to protect what we have and I suspect that there will be someone looking to steal even out this far from 'civilization'."
"Pessimist. But you're an accurate pessimist - I can't argue with anything you said and the BBC's coverage makes things worse than I had imagined. We crawl into a hole and pull the hole in behind us?"
"Might be nice if we could but that hole would have neither sunlight nor rain for growing crops. We'll be visible and making at least horse-drawn noises and even louder tractor noises for as long as it lasts running on wood gas. I've spoken with our neighbors, the Sheriff and two County Judges to get the possible bad news spread as widely as I can. I need to call Paul… Too late for my cell phone as it has 'No Service'. Let's see about the landline… It still has dialtone so I'll call him and see how bad things are and if it's still safe to make trips to the junkyard and Fire Station One tomorrow."
Ring! Ring!
'Sheriff's Office. This is Lawson.'
'Paul, it's Jack. Things still quiet in the county? I want to hit Wiley's junkyard and Fire Station One tomorrow and the girls will be with me.'
'Good for now. There are rumors of possible problems as the cell phones go away…'
'Mine just popped up "No Service" which is why I'm on the landline.'
'You're one of the few who had both. I'm sending half my deputies home with older radios so they can be contacted because their "unlimited" cell phone service has reached its limit.'
'As in its attention span is only as long as the power lasts at the nearest tower.'
'I checked with the State Public Service Commission and only one cell tower in 20 has solar backup - the rest have gasoline, propane or diesel generators so a few more grid problems and only 5% of the cell towers will have power.'
'Then I'll plan alternate communications with home while I'm out tomorrow and we'll all be armed.'
'Why the junkyard?'
'No fuel means Wiley won't be selling car parts so he wants other ideas for what he might be able to sell.'
'Deputy Thomas was by there yesterday and Wiley sold him a kit to put a crank-up bucket down the drilled well in place of the electric pump. Wiley wouldn't say where he got the idea but he did mumble "I need those kids back here" when he was walking through one of the stacked-to-the-roof storage buildings. Your kids?'
'That was one thing they put together of what they saw. We covered maybe 10% of the lot so we'll take a lunch and see how much more we can cover tomorrow. The girls can make notes about what they see and play with the pieces after they're back at home.'
'Profitable for them?'
'Each got a bike trailer and $37 current melt value in silver coins for the well idea.'
'I'll guess they said it was "fun".'
'Of course. They love brain teasers and similar puzzles and this one covers multiple acres.'
'They have the best teacher in the state.'
'Yes, their Mom does a good job on the home schooling.'
'The two best teachers in the state, then. The Fire Station to pick up their damaged equipment?'
'And look through their "junkyard" for things worth trading for.'
'That's right. You mentioned "pump and store" for running the waterwheel generator. Is it do-able?'
'My better half is out doing the "dirty work" for the mill foundation and the pond enlargement. We'll know more when she's gotten at least part of it completed.'
'Always good to have a hands-on engineer.'
'Very much so. You OK on food, water and power for three years, Paul?'
'Food with what we have put back and can grow, water from the spring. Power we'll have to work on.'
'How many GPM from that spring and how much drop from the outlet to ground level?'
'Not sure but I can measure the height and put a five gallon bucket in the main flow and count seconds until it's full.'
'You do that. I can plug those numbers into a spreadsheet and tell you how much daily power you can get from a GM CS130 alternator and a large enough battery bank.'
'The RV's coach battery is two 100AH AGMs.'
'Get me the height and the GPM value and I'll give you some answers.'
'Will do.'
---
Ring! Ring!
'This is Jack.'
'Jack, it's Paul Lawson. The spring's outlet is 11 feet up the side of the hill and it's running about 15GPM. Is that enough to do anything with?'
'Let me plug those numbers into the spreadsheet.'
'And?'
'That's about 34AH/day so you could run a little LED lighting for eight hours, use a laptop six hours for school, reading or movies and keep the Weather Radio going for as long as that service lasts. Does Mill Creek run across or along your property?
'It runs across a corner of the property. Why?'
'Think of the name.'
'What? Oh, it ran a mill in a previous century. But it's not high enough here to put a waterwheel under it.'
'But you can build a waterwheel over it. An undershot wheel isn't as efficient as an overshot wheel but that creek moves a lot of water. Do you have materials to build a six or eight or ten foot diameter water wheel about 18 inches wide?'
'Got a bunch of cypress when we cleaned out Grandpa George's barns. Would that work?'
'Cypress works well when wet. Let me see if I have some waterwheel design software on this computer… I have it. I'll make up designs for all three sizes and you can see how much construction materials you have. If I get it completed today, I'll drop it off while we're out tomorrow.'
'How much am I gonna owe you for this?'
'For the design work, just keep the county safe. If I'm doing the physical work, I'll take junk silver, food or ammo unless you have something else to trade.'
'I'll check the stock of wood, bearing material and other things for building the wheel and check the barn for barter goods.'
'See you tomorrow. I'll bring the repaired radios and computers also and drop them off on my way to the junkyard. There's a list of the ammo I want in the box.'
'More than will fit in my vehicle?'
'No, but maybe a trunkful. You'll figure out how to load it all.'
'At least I'm spending DHS "money". I just remembered that the creek gets much smaller when we hit that dry spell in August and September. Anything you can do about that?'
'If you have space, fuel and a source of Bentonite for sealing, we could build a pond and equip the dam with manually operated gates to control the flow to the waterwheel. You'd only be siphoning off a small amount of the creek's flow while the pond filled and then just enough to replace the loss from evaporation. You'd need to work out how many hours of water power you would need so you can power the waterwheel for X hours once or twice a day to have limited power for the rest of the day. During the spring rains, you'd have water power available 24/7.'
'We'd have to be in the "boondocking in the RV" mindset much of the year?'
'Unless you have a generator and unlimited fuel for it, plus the waterwheel will be much quieter.'
'Quiet power is a very good choice when few people will have any power. I'll check on Bentonite. Does the feed and seed carry it? And how much will I need?'
'Todd usually has some in stock but you need to test the soil. I have the test procedure and the tons per acre needed from an online site about waterscapes *****. When you stop by, I can give you a copy of that info. A half acre pond here will typically need between 11 and 22 tons of Bentonite but you need to do the testing to verify how good the soil is where you want the pond.'
'I'll get that when I'm there. Do you have a vehicle than can move that much weight?'
'The flatbed trailer can handle 13 tons so I could move the Bentonite 11 tons at a time. You have diesel for the truck?'
'500 gallons. Three to one as when you rent a generator?'
'Five to one - there's wear on both the truck and the trailer.'
'Reasonable, especially when you're the only player out here. I'll bring 20 gallons when I bring the ammo tomorrow. Will all the repaired radios and computers fit in my cruiser?'
'If you leave the fuel cans here. You can swing by and pick those up on your way home from the Sheriff's Office.'
'That'll work as I'm on my way in right now. I'll drop the diesel off now and get the cans on my way home if you're not shooting at vehicles entering your property after dark.'
'You're safe as long as I know you're coming.'
'Good enough. See you in a few.'
---
Ring! Ring!
'This is Jack.'
'Jack, it's Robert Thompson. I was talking to Oscar Tatum and he mentioned that you had modified your tractor to run on wood gas. Can you build something like that for Oliver's Ford 8N?'
'Do you have some steel tanks that can be used for the wood gas extractor and the filters?'
'Maybe a half dozen old propane tanks from 20 to 100lbs. Would they work?'
'Yes. Unless you have welding rods or wire, those items can't be replaced right now so I'll be charging for them in junk silver, ammo or food.'
'I have some rolls of silver dimes and quarters in the safe and more .410 shotgun shells that I'm ever likely to use. I ordered a box of each type of .410 shells that Cabela's sells and they sent a case of each. I called about it and they said it wasn't worth the cost of shipping and restocking so for me to just keep it and remember them the next time I needed sporting goods of any type.'
'The girls have started range time with a .410 so we can use some of that. Anything else for that tractor?'
'New rotor for the distributor as the one on it is cracked. Probably a new distributor cap as well because the contacts are very worn.'
'I have the 3D printer files for both of those. The contacts on the distributor cap will be machined from brass screws because I don't have brass rod in that size.'
'How big for the brass rod? There's a bunch in the workshop out back.'
'Let me check and I'll get back to you. I have your cell number from the Caller ID. Your landline number is 334-555-2753?'
'Yes. Why?'
'My cell phone popped up "No Service" earlier today so yours might not have service very soon as the generators at the cell towers run out of fuel.'
'Will Verizon's FIOS service stay up?'
'Only if they have better backup than AT&T's UVerse service has.'
'My FIOS went away when we had that ice storm last year. I should expect…'
Yes, Robert, you should have expected that cell phone failure.
---
'Breaker, breaker 37. Is "Shadetree" on the air?'
At least he remembered which channel we monitor.
'Shadetree here.'
'Anything you can do about the landline phone, internet and cable TV?'
'No.'
'Then all that is toast. The brass rod runs from 1/16" to 3/8". Any of that useful?'
'Either 3/16" or 1/4" would work. The 3D print files have notes about adjusting for different sizes of rod.'
'How long to build one? Or the wood gas generator?'
'Once I have the rod, it's about two hours to machine a flat on one side, cut it to length and smooth the edges. The 3D print job for the cap will run about 12 hours. The rotor will take about two hours.'
'So the next day after you get the rod?'
'Correct.'
'I'll bring that over now and some samples of the welding rod and wire that I have. I'll be on a dirt bike as it's the most fuel efficient vehicle we have.'
'We'll be here.'
---
"The engine I hear?"
"Robert Thompson on a dirt bike to bring samples of the welding rod and wire he has and some brass rod for me to use when I 3D print a distributor cap for an 8N tractor."
"He has something that old?"
"His brother-in-law, Oliver Trout, has one. Rob's trying to keep his sister's family fed by getting that old tractor running."
"What's in it for you?"
"Welding rod and/or wire to build a wood gas generator for it plus any leftover propane tanks. The leftovers from the brass rod he's bringing for the distributor cap terminals. Some shells for the girls' .410 shotgun. Plus some junk silver."
"Good start on things to work on tonight and tomorrow."
"Plus our scavenging trip tomorrow. I checked the dirt work for the mill and it looks ready for concrete. I have 55 gallon plastic barrels filled with concrete mix so I can shovel that into the gas-engine-powered mixer that I towed to the mill site with the UTV."
"Mixing concrete after supper?"
"Setting forms and placing rebar plus tiedown bolts after supper. I can move the barrels of concrete mix with the forks on the frontloader. We can mix and pour concrete early in the morning and it can start to cure slowly in the coolest part of the day. Then wet burlap bags over it for a couple of days to let it finish curing."
"We'll be working by moonlight?"
"LED worklights. Some with rechargeable batteries and others running on the inverter."
"Nothing bigger than 50 watts?"
"And only a couple of those."
---
"Hello the house!"
"Hello, Rob. That backpack looks heavy."
"Easiest way to carry things on that trail through the woods. Didn't want to be seen out on the road on a running vehicle."
"Good planning. These are the original parts?"
"Yes. Thought you might find the original rotor, cap and distributor useful to check the dimensions of what you plan to make."
"Good thinking. I'm almost certain that the distributor design never changed but better to be sure before starting a 12 hour print."
"Here's a box of each type of the .410 shells and you tell me which ones you need more of."
"I'll have the girls inventory what we have and make a list for you."
"How long for the wood gas gen? I have specs and pictures of all the tanks on my phone."
"Let me see what you have."
"Gallery starts here."
"OK."
"These tanks for the wood gas generator/cooker. These for filtering the particulates out."
"What kind of filter materials?"
"Some fiberglass insulation for the first filter then some material from a car's paper air filter. The fiberglass can handle the heat of the direct-from-the-cooker wood gas and it will have cooled enough to be OK with the paper filters by the time it gets to them."
"The maximum engine speed is controlled by the size of the fire in the wood gas gen?"
"The maximum load the tractor can handle is determined by the flow. The tractor has a hand throttle because most things require a steady speed."
"Makes sense. Couple of days to do the welding?"
"I have other projects going at the same time. Probably four days to weld, test for leaks then fire it up and check the output. Plus a day to install it on the tractor and that usually requires some welding for the additional supports needed for the various tanks."
"I should bring the tractor over Sunday?"
"Sunday or Monday."
"I'll get the tanks, the welding supplies and the .410 ammo here tomorrow. I'll bring the junk silver when I bring the tractor."
"That'll work."
"See you tomorrow."
---
"We can help?"
"How much did you get to help with the wood gas conversion on our tractor?"
"Some marking and a little drilling - but most of the painting!"
"Same type work; same big pieces. That's what you can help with this time."
"But you said when we were older we could…"
"I think I qualified that 'older'."
"You said 12."
"And I still say 12. You must be big enough and strong enough to do some of these things safely."
"Bummer."
"No, 'bummer' if one of my girls gets hurt. Just a little disappointing when you're 'not big enough' to do all the things you want to do."
"Like drive the tractor in a straight line. But I do know how to get it started!"
"And how many other people know how to do that?"
"Not anybody else I know."
---
"A Sheriff's cruiser, Jack?"
"It's Paul, love. He's bringing me fuel for some hauling he'll need done in a day or so and he's picking up the repaired radios and computers plus some info on digging and waterproofing a pond."
"Earthmoving work for us?"
"Possibly, as I don't know what equipment Paul has access to for that type work."
"Paid in fuel, food or ammo?"
"Or possibly some barter goods from his barn. He was going to make a list of that for me."
"That was his grandfather's barn?"
"Yes and probably filled with horsedrawn equipment."
"You have excellent reason to be interested in that."
"It could be keeping us fed and providing barter goods."
---
*****
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