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Post by iamnobody on Feb 10, 2024 13:56:14 GMT -6
That wouldn't surprise me at all if that was true.......
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Post by gipsy on Feb 10, 2024 16:01:55 GMT -6
Taking bets. She will say yes. Thanks for the update.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 11, 2024 11:48:45 GMT -6
Chapter 10
Naomi was up early and got the free Continental Breakfast the hotel offered and drank several cups of tea. She changed from her sweats into Khaki 5.11 Stryke Pants, a long-sleeve Khaki Fast-Tac Long Sleeve Shirt, and her set of Danner boots. By 08:30 she was packed and ready to go and went to the lobby, checked out, and waited for the driver. She arrived promptly at 08:55 and they loaded Naomi’s baggage. The driver drove her to the Wilson Air Center where a Helio Courier awaited her arrival. As soon as her baggage was loaded, they got in and the pilot got taxi instructions from the tower.
They were guided to an open runway and the tower cautioned him about turbulence and the pilot took off, seeming to know where the turbulence vortices would be, and followed the tower’s instruction until he took up a heading for Lost Cove.
“Don, Naomi will be here in about 40 minutes,” Gabe said over the radio. Don got up from the chair and rinsed his coffee mug out. Placing it in the drainer, he called Sabra and closed the door, and they got in the Gator. They rode down to Gabe’s. Gabe took Don down to where the plane would land, and they waited. When they heard the plane, Gabe tossed out a smoke grenade and watched as the plane came around the end of a ridge and lined up on the small field. The plane flared and touched down, quickly coming to a stop. When the engine stopped, Don got out of his Gator and stood. Sabra jumped out and sat beside him. Don watched as Naomi climbed out of the plane and started walking toward him. It’s an overused description but she was poetry in motion. At first, Don could only stand there sucking air, staring at her like a treed coon looking down at a hunter’s light. Then he started walking toward her and she broke into a trot toward him. When they wrapped their arms around each other, each let out a sigh of relief and contentment. Sabra was hopping around, doing her Polynesian dance.
“I missed you so much!” Naomi said, giving him a peck on the cheek.
“Lost Cove hasn’t been the same since you left.” Don said.
The freighter picked up containers in San Juan and continued making its way to Galveston.
Naomi took her bags and put them in the back of Don’s Gator.
“I’ll see you in the morning, Dodi Gabriel.” Naomi said to her grinning uncle.
Naomi looked over at Don when he bypassed the lodge and went toward the spring pond. He stopped in front of the possum trot and got Naomi’s bags out. “Good afternoon, Don. How are you this morning?” Siri’s voice asked from the phone speaker.
“How in the hell did you get turned on? I swear If you can turn yourself on. I’ll chop your ass up with the splitting maul.” Don said.
My apologies, Rav séren.” Siri said.
Naomi giggled. “That was me.” Naomi said. “I was beta-testing an app one of our people gave me. It’s a merger of the PDA capabilities with an advanced AI.”
“Well, don’t do that!” Don said. “It gives me the willies. You have to test on something else, I’m unplugging that damn thing.”
Naomi went into the bathroom and took a bath in the slipper tub. To Don, it looked like it was inevitable Naomi was spending the night with him in the cabin. “Why did you start sleeping here?” Naomi asked, when she came back dressed in one of his old “Kill ‘em all, Let God sort ‘em out” shirts and a short pair of running shorts. On her smaller frame it was massive. the sleeves were gone, and the side-seams opened up, turning it into a sexy singlet. Naomi saw the look on his face.
"I found it in a drawer," she said apologetically, "I hope it’s okay."
"You keep it," Don told her, "It looks a damned sight better on you that it does on me." He didn't mention that her breasts pushed the front out delightfully, or that her nipples made interesting points in the front of it, or even that the occasional flash of side-boobage was worth the loss of a favored shirt.
She pulled back the quilt and sheet then slithered into bed. Don stripped down and crawled in with her. Naomi’s apple-scented shampoo smothered Don’s nose. Taking in a deep whiff, He said, “Naomi, your hair smells nice.”
Inhaling deeply, Naomi wistfully said, “I love your masculine smell. It seems like it has been such a long time.”
After a few minutes of touching, soft murmurs and kissing, Naomi wrapped her arms and legs around Don, and soon they joined in the age-old ritual of mating.
Don was up early the next morning. All was right with the world again. He went into the kitchen, filled the percolator, and got out a pack of Cheese Danish he had bought a box of in Walmart. When the pot had perked, Don poured a mug and took his pastry and coffee out onto the possum trot and sat down to enjoy the predawn quietness.
Naomi was soon up and came out to sit with Don, but on his lap. She took a sip of his coffee and a bite of the pastry as they sat there. The ring on her finger sparkling in the faint light of the wall sconce.
“What is that?” Naomi asked, pointing to a light on the horizon. “Is that the Brown Mountain Light?”
“No, wrong direction. Brown Mountain is more to the southeast.”
Thinking quickly, Don took up the AceBeam Defender from the table and swept the tree line with it and saw the two large hairy figures head downslope into the forest. When he turned the light back off, the light in the distance began moving toward their direction. It was on a course that would take it to the southwest of the cabin. Naomi was silent until they felt the vibration, like a hum. The coffee mug had concentric rings moving in the cup. Suddenly, there were two beams, more like flashes, of light and the hovering light disappeared.
“What in the hell was that?!” Naomi asked. “Was that for real?”
Don turned to look at Naomi and grinned. “Yes Virginia, there are UFOs.”
Naomi slapped Don on the chest. “It’s supposed to be “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus!”
“Well, maybe they could be Santa Clauses if people would quit hunting them, and the government negotiated with them and quit trying to capture them.” Don replied.
“They really exist?” Naomi asked.
"Of course, they do,” Don replied. How many did you see?”
“I only saw two.” Naomi replied.
“Good eyes. Well, you don’t have to worry about them,” Don said. “I’m surprised they still come around here. But so far, they have been harmless, so don’t worry about them, just remain cautious. I’ve read a time or two that some of them can be aggressive.”
“Well, I’m going to start carrying my P-14 full time now,” Naomi said.
“Come on and sit back down. Do you want a cup of coffee? I need to warm mine up."
“Sure. Thank you. Could I have a Danish also?”
Don poured his coffee out and refilled his mug. He poured a mug for Naomi, sweetened it with a teaspoon of honey and a little creamer, and got Naomi a Danish from the box in the pantry. He carried the mugs back out and set the coffee and Danish on the table between the two chairs.
“How long have you known?” Naomi asked.
“I was almost 17 years old when I first encountered them. It didn’t correlate at that time where they came from, they were just here. When I was in the military I was shown a classified report on a government program for coordination with the ‘interplanetary visitors’. There were two sets they were trying to deal with. The most receptive group is working with our government in an underground base in New Mexico. These guys that show up around here are not very sociable. I don’t trust any of them. If they leave me alone, I’ll let them be.” Don said.
Sitting in the possum trot early in the morning waiting for the sun to peek over the ridge was a catharsis for Don. He tried not to miss a morning.
Don and Naomi cleaned the cabin and moved to the lodge, carrying any perishable food with them. Don put on a pot roast to cook that morning and they had sandwiches for lunch. Naomi took the Gator that afternoon and went to check the chestnut grove.
Don mixed bread dough up and let it rise. He hadn’t made bread since he’d started staying at the cabin. He had four loaves prepared for baking when Naomi returned. After sliding the loaves into the oven and setting the timer, Don poured glasses of cold cider and they went out to sit on the porch. The lodge porch was big, extending about ten feet out from the lodge and wrapped around three sides of the lodge. A roof covered it all. They sat down in big wicker chairs and sipped their cool drinks, listening to the afternoon sounds from the forest.
They sat there for a while and then Don’s phone buzzed with an incoming call.
“NO! You don’t want to talk; you want to justify your actions. What you don’t understand is that I don’t care why; it’s enough that you did. I left you to continue your sheet shussing adventures. I’ve got better things to do in my life than waste time with a cheating slut. I’m thankful you revealed your true self before we were married. We all have a choice to choose, the right path or the wrong path. You chose the wrong one with me. Besides, I think I’ve found someone whose morals are a lot better than yours. Don’t call me again!”
In frustration, Don looked over at Naomi. “When people tell you ‘time heals’ It’s a frigging deception. I never want to hear that shit again! I don’t have a lot of trust in many things these days, and Lord knows I can't change. Well, things don’t always last forever and sometimes things do change.”
Naomi grinned. “Free Bird, Lynard Skynard.”
Don shot a glance at Naomi. “How in the hell are you old enough to know that?”
Naomi grinned. “I am knowledgeable in many things, and I wouldn’t ever try to change who you are anyway.”
“Well, thank you for that, I hate deceit.” Don said, taking another swallow of his drink. “Sometimes, regardless of the beauty of a woman, they aren’t worth it,” Don mumbled.
“Everything happens for a reason, or so it's said." Naomi spoke. “I told you before I left I would tell you why I went to Israel.” Naomi said, just as the timer beeped for the bread to be taken out.
Don jumped up and opened the oven to find the four loaves baked to a dark golden brown. Taking the loaves out of the oven and placing them on the granite countertop, he went and poured three fingers of Redbreast and added a little ice. Shutting the oven off, he fiddled around in the kitchen and made Naomi a wine spritzer until it was time to turn the loaves out of the cast iron loaf pans and left them to rest and cool. Taking the drinks back out on the porch, he sat back down in his chair and asked Naomi, “And you were saying?”
“Dodi Gabriel is also concerned about the way things are going in the world and wanted some things he could only get through friends in Israel. I basically escorted a container of things until it was loaded on a ship. It should be here in a week or so."
“Sounds risky.” Don said.
“Not at all. It is under diplomatic immunity to the Israeli Consulate in Houston. They will arrange for the container to be moved here.”
Don’s father was maintaining a diligent watch on the stock trends and noticed some anomalies that could indicate someone was betting on some bad things in the near future. He called his broker and had his entire portfolio liquidated, except for some specific blue chip stocks, and converted to gold and silver coins and directed that it be delivered to the lodge in Lost Cove. It was getting late, but he called Don, told him he had initiated the SHERIDAN plan. He and Don talked about the liquidation plan before they had left Chicago. As soon as the call ended, Don called his brokers in Burlington and Chicago and mirrored his father’s actions.
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Post by gipsy on Feb 11, 2024 13:05:43 GMT -6
Fine update. Have to keep watch. Seri doesn't know what time it is?
“Good afternoon, Don. How are you this morning?”
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Post by techsar on Feb 11, 2024 14:26:35 GMT -6
Fine update. Have to keep watch. Seri doesn't know what time it is?
“Good afternoon, Don. How are you this morning?”
Beta version...or perhaps Microsoft-based? lol
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 12, 2024 13:00:49 GMT -6
Chapter 11 The tarped container arrived and was placed in front of the storage shelter, out of sight of any visitors to the lodge. Don pulled out four of the camouflage net kits he had and erected them over the container, concealing it from the air and from casual hikers that may stumble through.
Naomi was excited and Gabe was soon there to work the combination and unlock it. Taking out his wish list, Gabe began inventorying everything as it was unloaded into the shelter.
“What are these?” Naomi asked as she stacked the boxes on the dolly.
“Perimeter alarms.” Gabe stated. “I requested at least 53 of them.”
Next to come out was NBC equipment for a 12-man squad to include masks, filters, protective clothing, and detection equipment. Then came fifteen MSBS GROT rifle systems with setups for both 5.56×45mm NATO or 7.62×39mm and suppressors for both calibers, six of them were the S16 version. Masada 9mm pistols, four IWI DAN Sniper systems, 5 each size of Gentex helmets in small, medium, and large. Also three boxes imprinted with “Ravin 29X”, two boxes of crossbow bolts, ammo, two cases of N-100 masks, fifteen Tavor-21 Assault Rifles, cases of magazines for the pistols and rifles, a custom case with two Mini-Uzi setups, emergency medical supplies, and some things Don didn’t know because the boxes were labeled in Hebrew and wouldn’t know until the boxes were opened. Gabe finished checking off his list and smiled. “It’s a start! We just need to get our food stocks up and we should be able to hold out,” Gabe said.
“What do you think we should be preparing for?” Naomi asked.
“That’s the problem, we can’t possibly know what to prepare for, so we need to cover as many bases as possible. I requested the NBC gear because with the Chinese floating those balloons around, they are a danger of introducing pathogens and starting a devastating pandemic, or terrorist using viruses as a poor man’s nuclear bomb. We need to be able to hold up without going into populated areas. In those boxes are IWI radios that have GPS capability but are also EMP-proof. We have to think about EMP attacks also. I’ve got some people coming that can harden our houses and vehicles and tell us what we need to stock up on to make it through a period of no electricity for several months or years. America is approaching a day of reckoning.
“What about our neighbors?” Don asked. “We help those we trust, but many I don’t. Their sycophantic adoration of the Democrat party has sealed their doom. Let them reap what they have sown.” Gabe said.
Don nodded in agreement. “We can only rely on trust. Gabe, have you been in contact with Conrad lately?”
“I haven’t seen or heard from him in weeks.” Gabe replied.
Conrad had been around it seemed as long as the mountains. He had a cabin about a mile to their southwest. They had been so busy they hadn’t given a thought about him.
“I’ll take a walk down there tomorrow and check on him.” Gabe said.
Early the next morning at the lodge, Don was up drinking coffee and preparing to cook. Don made omelets. He thought his were much better than the Famous Moose Omelet at Waikiki’s Moose Mcgillicuddy’s, but to each, their own. Eat it or throw it out, just don’t throw it in the yard where it would attract the local fauna.
Fortunately, Gabe and Naomi both liked Don’s omelets so no food was fed to the local wildlife. When they finished eating breakfast, Don and Naomi cleaned up the dishes and Gabe took his rifle, filled his camelback, and headed out to Conrad’s place. Sabra made motions like she wanted to go with Gabe, but she stayed back with Don and Naomi. Don began puttering around the kitchen, the TV tuned to Fox News. The opinionators were interviewing a woman in one of the big cities who’s 16-year-old son had been shot and killed when he tried to carjack an off-duty police officer.
"My son had a lot of dreams, and he was so talented," said Latoya Landers. "I don't get it."
"I know my child," said Landers. "I know him, and it doesn't add up."
"I feel like it's very wrong," said Landers. "He had so many dreams. My son was not a criminal."
Same old B.S. A little bit of moral training and positive placement of an 18-inch ruler when the kid was young might have helped.
Gabe heard the pounding before he’d reached the rise near Conrad’s hillside cabin. When he could see over the rise, Gabe spotted Conrad sitting under a big oak tree, splitting shingles with a mallet and froe.
“Morning Conrad!” Gabe shouted.
“Oh! Hey there Gabe!” Conrad answered. “What brings you down this way?”
Gabe smirked. He knew Conrad had detected him long before Gabe came within sight. He had a Ruger Blackhawk lying beside him.
“Hadn’t seen you in a while. I came down prepared to rolled you up in a blanket and collapse a ditch bank on your ass.” Gabe said, grinning.
“Oh, I won’t go that easy. I was stove up with some congestion for a while, but the elderberry pulled me through, and some fresh young squirrels strengthened me up. A damn windstorm took some of my shingles so I’m about getting that fixed. I don’t reckon you have any spare nails laying around do ya?” Conrad asked.
“I’ll have some to you in the morning.” Gabe said. “Do you need anything else?”
“Nope!” Conrad said. “Can’t think of anything I can’t do without except some white gas for my lantern. You are not going to Asheville anytime soon, are you? I need some 29-inch arrows too.”
Gabe smiled. He would bring Conrad back camping fuel and some bottles of Applejack and a bottle of Holman’s 148 vodka to help proof his drinks. “Yeah, I can get you some.” Gabe bid him good day and went back to the house.
Gabe stopped by the Lodge and gave Don a Conrad update. The two went through the manual for the handheld radios that had come in the container and set four of them up. Gabe took one of the radios and the manual to give to Conrad and they quickly set up an opcode to use on their net. Gabe, Naomi, and Don would, from then on, keep a radio with them.
That evening, Don finished ordering food to fill out his LDS food calculations for ten people for five years. The next morning Don and Naomi headed to Bristol to do some shopping.
Don’s first stop was at Academy Sports where he bought two boxes of arrows, each containing 50 arrows, cans of camping fuel, bricks of .22 ammo, one of which was the Federal 32 grain nickel plated self defense ammo and one of .22LR frangible rounds. The rest of the bricks were CCI Stingers.
Nine days later, a team arrived that Gabe had requested to figure out their protection level against transient electromagnetic disturbances. The team was from a trusted entity, so they had full run of the storage facility and all the dwellings. They were there for three days before leaving and assured them they would be back with the materials to get them secure as possible.
By the first of November, both Don and Gabe each had two 25ft³ freezers full of beef, pork, chicken, and two turkeys that had been vacuum packed, along with dozens of 1-pound blocks of butter. They had canned several cases of vegetables during the summer, either out of their gardens, or the greenhouse, or bought at farmer’s markets.
When the electronic security team returned, they brought all kinds of devices that would protect their electrical systems and vehicles, plus lists of spare parts that might have to be replaced on the vehicles if an EMP strike should occur. While the team installed the devices, Don and Naomi made trips to auto parts and farm stores to stockpile replacement parts, sealed them in Mylar bags and stored them in the shelter.
Thanksgiving came with Gabe and Don sharing a meal with Conrad at the Lodge and with the infrequent peace showing a glimmer through the world.
Scientists cannot yet predict when a specific solar flare will occur, but they have developed equipment and software, to include artificial intelligence, to measure several factors that make a flare more likely to occur. Flares erupt from active regions, where the Sun's magnetic field becomes especially intense, so they monitor the Sun's magnetic activity and when an active region forms, they know a flare is more likely. On longer timescales, the Sun goes through periodic variations or cycles of high and low activity that repeat approximately every 11 years, known as the solar cycle. Solar minimum refers to the period when the number of sunspots is lowest and solar activity, including flares, is lower; solar maximum occurs in the years when sunspots are most numerous, and flares are more common. Solar Cycle 25 has roared to life faster than forecasters expected.
The collection of equipment and software that monitored sun activity, called the Heliophysics System Observatory, had been fine tuned to give the scientists the earliest possible warning of a mass coronal ejection. The also had the Parker Solar Probe, designed to swoop within about 4 million miles (6.5 million kilometers) of the Sun's surface to trace the flow of energy, to study the heating of the solar corona, and to explore what accelerates the solar wind. The problem was, in reality, it did no good. It took, on average, 8 minutes to warn anyone that a major eruption had occurred and it wasn’t enough time to make any difference. No matter how dedicated the scientists were, It was currently just another collection of smoke and mirrors to keep grants coming in. Half the earth, to include 1/3 of North America, had been hit by the largest mass coronal ejection that had ever been recorded. The Eurasian landmass went completely dark as well as a large part of North America. In an instant, a large portion of the United States reverted to the 1850s, only a few days before World Government aficionados were to launch their own Black Swan controlled EMP event. However, the burst of charged plasma from the sun caused the sudden, simultaneous collapse of many electrical grids across the world, setting in motion a cascade of devastating failures from which would take humanity a long time, if ever to recover. It would soon be apparent some in society had become immutable. No transportation, no electricity, no computers, no cell phones. Frozen in a zombie-like states of inaction, these people would survive the shortest time.
The area of damage extended to the West 87 meridian. Not all equipment was completely damaged. The closer you got to the edge of the affected area, the lesser the damage. Nashville had lost power, but they would be able to get some things back in service in a few days. Chicago was the same. There were vehicles that had been damaged but were soon back in service. New York City did not fare as well, nor did the eastern seaboard.
It took several hours before Gabe, Naomi, and Don verified there was no commercial power. Naomi and Don decided to take a ride to a garden center in Newland and were pulling into the parking area when the solar storm hit. The Point-of-Sale equipment didn’t work at the checkout and grow lights in some of the greenhouses wouldn’t work. Don checked his personal phone, but it was dead. Naomi’s didn’t work either. They got back into the truck and drove toward Pineola as far as the Lumber company and turned around.
“I think we’ve been hit by an EMP,” Don said. “Let’s head back to the house.”
A few cars were stalled on the road or pulled over. When they returned back to the farm they went immediately to Gabe’s.
“Gabe, I think we’ve been hit by an EMP.” Don said.
“Close, but just as effective,” Gabe said. “We’ve been hit by a severe solar storm. Everything is out. My cell phone is dead but the satphone works. So far it looks like practically all electronics east of the Mississippi are unusable. We need to break out those new radios and get them online. The surge suppressors the guys put in last week apparently did their job. We’ve got electricity, or at least I do. I did have to go up to the ESS container and reset the inverters. You should be fine also at the lodge. As near as I can tell, the vehicles are working. I was just about to go check the skid steer, forklift, and tractors.”
“Well, I guess it’s a little early for trouble to start, but we better keep an eye out,” Don mused. “We’ll go and break out the radios and get them set up.”
“Set one up for Conrad too,” Gabe said.
“Will do,” Don replied.
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Post by feralferret on Feb 12, 2024 15:22:12 GMT -6
I'm a bit confused. In the paragraph beginning "Gabe stopped by the Lodge and gave Don a Conrad update.", they setup four radios including one for Conrad. Then at the very end, you have "“We’ll go and break out the radios and get them set up.” “Set one up for Conrad too,” Gabe said."
Are these different radios, or did the Department of Redundancy Department meddle with your story.
Really enjoying this story. Looks like the spiciness has arrived. Thank you.
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Post by cavsgt on Feb 12, 2024 16:17:40 GMT -6
As always THANK YOU for another fine story. I wish that I had your expertise and knowledge of all the weapons and equipment.
phill
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Post by gipsy on Feb 12, 2024 17:22:31 GMT -6
Fine update, as SHTF arrives. Thanks.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 12, 2024 19:13:24 GMT -6
I'm a bit confused. In the paragraph beginning "Gabe stopped by the Lodge and gave Don a Conrad update.", they setup four radios including one for Conrad. Then at the very end, you have "“We’ll go and break out the radios and get them set up.” “Set one up for Conrad too,” Gabe said." Are these different radios, or did the Department of Redundancy Department meddle with your story. Really enjoying this story. Looks like the spiciness has arrived. Thank you. Sorry, the initial radios set up were GMRS/FRS radios. The next batch of radios came from the container Naomi escorted back..
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Post by rep1270 on Feb 12, 2024 21:20:45 GMT -6
Thank you. Ralph
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Post by feralferret on Feb 12, 2024 23:21:21 GMT -6
I'm a bit confused. In the paragraph beginning "Gabe stopped by the Lodge and gave Don a Conrad update.", they setup four radios including one for Conrad. Then at the very end, you have "“We’ll go and break out the radios and get them set up.” “Set one up for Conrad too,” Gabe said." Are these different radios, or did the Department of Redundancy Department meddle with your story. Really enjoying this story. Looks like the spiciness has arrived. Thank you. Sorry, the initial radios set up were GMRS/FRS radios. The next batch of radios came from the container Naomi escorted back..Thank you for the clarification.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 14, 2024 20:42:05 GMT -6
Chapter 12
Don and Naomi returned to the lodge, retrieved their vests, got out the two mini-Uzis and magazines, filled their Camelbacks, and headed to the storage shelter. Don unboxed the radios while Naomi retrieved charged batteries from the chargers. Once they had the radios set up, Don placed a radio, two spare batteries, and a charger into an empty box, adding a ground-plane antenna and a couple of rolls of coaxial cable.
They loaded everything into the Gator and went back down to Gabe’s. Gabe came out onto the porch with a rifle in his hand and wearing his tactical vest.
“I’ll take the radio down to Conrad’s and get him set up,” Gabe said. “You two see if you can get any commercial comms. I don’t expect any trouble for a few days, but we might as well be ready for it.”
Don and Naomi went into Gabe’s study/office, identified the scanner co-ax, took the ground off and connected the scanner. Then Don hooked up the ICOM IC-905 to its coaxial cable and began scanning the HF channels. He was getting nothing but static from any stations to the east and southeast but was getting faint signals to the west. Don finally stopped, leaving the beam antenna in position, and decided to wait until the evening when the AM bands would be clearer. Unhooking and grounding the co-ax cables, he went to find Naomi.
Naomi was in the kitchen, putting together a pot of vegetable-beef soup for lunch and slicing bread for sandwiches. Don drew a glass of water from the faucet and drank it while watching Naomi.
Don felt strange looking down at Naomi. It was as if all the good feelings he ever knew were all rolled up into one. It was like those feelings your soul gets when you look out into the night sky and the stars are so bright and twinkling, looking like you could just reach out and scoop them up by the handful. Like those mornings when the thin fog is lifting off the still waters of the spring pond. A doe and her fawns dipping their muzzles in the water. Perhaps the way the sky looks with the setting sun filling the high clouds with rich, deep colors of a sort you can't even find words to name. That magic time early in the morning between night and day when life seems to pause, holding its breath to just feel that moment. Naomi looked up at Don and a smile slowly formed. “I don’t think we have time for that right now. Lunch is almost ready, and Dodi Gabriel should be back soon.”
Don shrugged and the moment was broken by the sound of Gabe’s Gator returning.
They heard Gabe stomp his feet on the porch mat and the door opened.
“Well, Conrad is set up. I put the ground-plane antenna up for him and talked to him on the way back. We’ll do radio checks each evening.”
“Should we go check on other people?” Naomi asked.
“No, not yet” Gabe replied. “People are going to be spooked and we don’t need any incoming rounds. Let’s give it a couple of days and we can ride out and check. Stay aloof and stay safe.”
Wednesday, Don and Naomi donned their combat vests, filled their camelbacks, and prepared their individual weapons. They were going cruising to see what was going on. Don went down to Gabe’s to check in.
“Where all do you plan to go?” Gabe asked.
“Well, I was going to stop by the Baptist church to see how the preacher was doing then head up to Pineola.”
“Check the service stations and if you can get fuel, fill your truck. Let’s hold off on using the fuel out of the pups until necessary.” Gabe said.
“Roger that.” Don replied.
Don pulled into the Long Ridge Missionary Baptist Church parking area and drove over in front of the parsonage. When they got out of the truck, the Reverend came out of the church and his wife opened the front door of the house.
“Welcome!” Reverend Pearson said, shaking Don’s outstretched hand. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m Don Glendennon, and this is Naomi Katz. I own the tree farm up the road.”
“Ah yes, I hope you and yours are faring well these turbulent days.”
“So, you know what happened?” Don asked.
“Yes, I have shortwave contact with some friends down in Waxhaw at the JAARS facility. Communications have been sketchy, but the atmospherics are getting better.” Reverend Pearson said.
“Okay, good. We’re going around to make sure people aren’t in dire straits. I don’t have to tell you that times like these bring out the worst in people, so be careful. Is there anything we can help you with?”
“No, we’re in good shape. I kind of borrowed from the LDS and we keep a year’s supply of food on hand.” Reverend Pearson replied.
“Except cinnamon.: Mrs. Pearson said. “I’ve run out of cinnamon for my apple pies.”
Don grinned. “I think I can help you there. I’ll stop by later with some.”
Mrs. Pearson smiled. “You are a dear.”
“Well, we are right up the road if you need us.” Don said.
“We appreciate your concern.” Reverend Pearson said. “By the way, we’re holding services on Sunday. You’re welcome to attend.”
“Well, I don’t know Reverend. Don said, rubbing his chin. I’ve not had good experiences with organized religion. If I want to feel God, all I have to do Is walk out on my porch and look around.”
“I’m sorry you had those experiences. God’s wonder’s indeed surround us, but it would give you a chance to meet your neighbors more conveniently.”
“That is a thought.” Don said. “I’ll think about it. We are just up the road if you need us.”
They said their goodbyes and Don and Naomi went back to the truck.
Before Don could start the truck, Naomi reached over and squeezed his hand. Gabe had said Naomi was an introvert, but Don hadn’t seen any signs of that. She definitely wasn’t shy in showing her affection for him.
Don headed up to Pineola and stopped at the convenience store at the intersection of 221 and 181. Surprisingly, the lights were on. When he turned off the truck, he then heard the generator running. They got out and walked in. The clerk smiled at them, showing all his three upper tobacco-stained teeth.
“Are you selling fuel?” Don asked.
“Does a fat puppy fart?” The clerk cackled. “It’ll have to be cash though. The credit card system is down.”
Don went out and moved the pickup over to the diesel pump. When finished, he went back in and paid for the fuel and the Coke Naomi was drinking.
“Well, you’re the first fuel sale I’ve had today,” The clerk said.
“I don’t think you’ll be selling too much for a while.” Don replied.
Don next went to the farm store where they had bought Sabra’s food and found the proprietor and his wife were there. Don told him he wanted to pick up some dog food and supplies and the man told him it would have to be in cash. He ended up getting ten 35-pound bags of dog food, a large dog bed and Naomi got several bags of dog treats. He told the owner to round the price up to the nearest dollar so as not to have to make change. They loaded their purchases and Don went back in and bought ten bags of chicken feed and four bags of crushed oyster shells, loading them into the back of the truck. After Conrad found out what was going on, he went up to the B&B he owned, but was run by Valencina and Hector Gomez. Only Gabriel and Conrad knew just how much property Conrad owned. Not only did Conrad own the B&B, there were six individual cabins scattered around the 263 acre property they rented to seasonal visitors. He did have one long-term renter but in Conrad’s mind he wasn’t a visitor. The man had been caught up in an aircraft mishap at Pope Air Force Base when a tactical fighter collided with a C-130. The fighter had plowed into the Pax Shed at Green Ramp and killed or burned a lot of Paratroopers. Bill Simmons had survived with 3rd degree burns over 1/3 of his body. Bill had come up for some R&R and stayed. Conrad charged him a miniscule rate, which Bill’s pension easily covered. Bill lived mostly off the land, hunting with a muzzle loader or a bow. Like Conrad, he did without electricity, living like settlers and hunters had done a hundred years before.
Don stayed on 221 where it went to the south after a couple of miles, passing a closed Exxon station. Nearing Linville, Don stopped at the Linville Falls Winery. He and Naomi picked out five cases of wines and paid for them, rounding the price up again. Just past Linville Caverns, Don pulled in to the English Farmstead cheese shop and they went in.
“I’d like two of your 20-pound cheddar rounds, please” Don told the woman.
The lady brought the waxed rounds in their birch boxes to the counter and stacked them. “I’ll only have one left after you buy these two. If you buy the last one, I’ll knock 25% off.” The lady quoted.
“I’ll take them,” Don said.
Naomi picked out two quarts of honey also and Don paid for their purchases.
The roads were deserted so when Don got to Linville, he pulled into Louise’s Rock House Restaurant to see if anyone was stirring, he guessed that was what they still called it. Louise had died from an aneurism and now her daughter, Ingrid, ran the place. He saw Ingrid putting a bag of trash in the cans and chaining the lid back on. In the face, Ingrid Hale looked like a 35-year-old copy of Melora Hardin, although she was 53 years old. Her body was what many would call voluptuous. It's not that she was fat, or even chubby for that matter. She just had all the right curves, in all the right places.
“Y’all come on in. Don’t have much with the power out but I did make some coffee.” Ingrid said. “I just finished cleaning out the freezers before they got to stinking.”
“Are you doing all right?” Don asked.
“As well as can be expected. We’ve never had the power off this long before. Do you know what happened?” Ingrid asked.
“Half the country is out of power due to a solar storm. No telling how long it will take to fix.” Don replied. Most things electronic don’t work. Cars and trucks stopped on the roads. Computers don’t work, refrigerators and freezers have stopped working.
The whole modern infrastructure of a lot of the United States, and of the world was shut down, throwing us backward in time a couple of hundred years. Now food, water, shelter, even security, will have to be fought for."
“Yeah, I was in Syracuse in 2003 during the big blackout, but they had it fixed in a few days.” Ingrid said.
“Well, this is going to take more than a few days to fix this.” Don said. “Ingrid, people are going to get nasty looking for food and they won’t be looking to buy it. You need to get away to somewhere safe.”
“I don’t really have anywhere to go.” Ingrid said.
Don got up and went outside and dialed Gabe on his satellite phone.
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Post by gipsy on Feb 14, 2024 21:05:45 GMT -6
A long term visitor? Thanks
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 26, 2024 0:42:41 GMT -6
Chapter 13
“Gabe, we were headed back and stopped by the Rock House. Ingrid is a sitting duck up here. She said she didn’t have anywhere else to go."
“Well, bring her up here. We both have several bedrooms and she’d be a big help.” Gabe said.
“I’ll talk to her.” Don replied.
“Ingrid, we’ve got plenty of bedrooms on the farm and you’re welcome to come and stay until things are worked out.” Don offered.
“Well, I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want someone just coming in and stealing all my supplies.” Ingrid said.
“We can come back with trailers and get whatever you want.” Don said. “Why don’t you go pack a bag to carry you over for a few days and we’ll get the rest of your stuff later.”
“Okay, I’ll do that.” Ingrid said.
“I’ll go with you Ingrid,” Naomi said.
Don sat at the counter and waited for the women when they went up to Ingrid’s living quarters. Soon they returned with a couple of suitcases and Ingrid’s cash box.
Don loaded the luggage in the bed of the truck, and they headed back to the farm.
Don radioed to Gabe that they were on their way back.
Gabe was waiting on the porch when they arrived, so Don stopped there.
“Hey Gabriel!” Ingrid called out.
“Welcome Ingrid. How are you?” Gabe replied.
“I appreciate you all putting me up.” Ingrid said.
“No problem at all. We were all concerned for your safety.” Gabe replied. “You have your choice of residences. I have three extra bedrooms here and Don has four at the lodge.”
Ingrid turned to Naomi. “Where do you stay?”
“I live with Don.” Naomi replied.
“Well then, I guess I can stay here with Gabriel. I can help out with the cooking and cleaning.” Ingrid said. “Don, you said something about moving my supplies here?”
“Yes, we can take trailers up in the morning and pick them up.” Don replied.
Don went and retrieved Ingrid’s bags and Gabe showed Ingrid a downstairs bedroom with an en suite. Naomi helped Ingrid make the bed. Don and Gabe went to the kitchen and prepared potatoes for baking. Gabe planned to grill steaks since the weather was nice.
Naomi and Ingrid joined them in the kitchen to make a garden salad. Don went out to the grill and got the wood started.
“Don let’s not forget to get the 25 bags of chunk charcoal I’ve got stored in the shed at the restaurant,” Ingrid said.
The next morning Gabe hooked his trailer up and Don had his. Naomi had a small trailer she connected to her Jeep. Ingrid had almost as much food as they did because she bought extra when the food distributor offered specials. There was enough pasta of different types to last them a very long time. There were enough green beans in #10 cans. Don was thinking of opening up about half of them and freeze-drying them. He was concerned the food would spoil after opening the cans for use. The flour would have to be packaged in Mylar bags to keep it for a while without weevils getting to it. The spices only added to what Don had purchased, but Ingrid did have some he didn’t normally use. There was enough pumpkin pie spice that Don figured he’d better plant some pumpkins this year.
They ended up having to make two trips to get everything. The second load included charcoal. It took them two days to inventory everything, rebag and store in the storage shelter and basements. Naomi got out a couple of boxes of noodles and Ingrid used sour cream powder for the first time to make Beef Stroganoff. Don went up to the lodge and rehydrated apples they had dried earlier in the fall and made two apple pies for their dinner on Saturday. Earlier that morning, Gabe and Ingrid took a care package to Conrad. There were enough staples to carry Conrad through the winter. Included with the food and spices were a pack of Blunt Arrow tips, a pack of broadhead tips, and a pack of bullet tips.
Don brought down six #10 cans of green beans from the storage shelter, drained them, and put them in the freeze dryer. It would take a few hours for the drying to complete so Don went to his reloading room and pulled out his .22 caliber auto pistols. He wanted to see how each pistol acted with the CCI Uppercut defense rounds. He had three gel blocks he could use to trap the bullets. He would figure out the best barrel length and make barrel changes as needed.
When he got the women together, he took them out to the range, and using the suppressors, let the women practice. They were going for head shots but even though it would probably be a killing shot, Don told them they could go for chest shots also. The CCI bullets expanded enough to cause some serious damage. The women carried the pistols all the time when they were at home and reverted them to backup when they were away. Naomi liked the Ruger SR22, and Ingrid liked the Smith and Wesson Model 41.
It snowed on December the 10th, only about seven inches, but it was enough it slowed down what little travel there was. Not that they went to many places, just to the flea and barter markets that had popped up. Gabe hooked up the plow blade for his truck and cleared the drives, then the road down to the church and the church parking lot. Every Saturday, Reverend Pearson hosted a flea and barter market. Not that they needed anything, but Naomi and Don participated occasionally bringing down some of their excess fruits they had canned. They had peach and muscadine jelly, strawberry and peach jam, canned peaches, dried plums and apples, and apple pie filling, pear butter and apple butter. The children especially liked the fruits because candy was hard to come by. Naomi agreed to marry Don at the Baptist Church. It didn’t matter to her that the church was outside her religion, just that they were married in the eyes of God. They set a date for Sunday in two weeks, to get everything ready. Several of the church ladies, with Reverend Pearson’s wife heading, were going to take care of getting the decorations done. Ingrid was going to make the wedding cake and would act as Naomi’s matron of honor.
Don and Gabe decided not to venture out after a snowfall. They didn’t want anyone following their tracks back.
The snow was gone in three days except on the shadowy areas of the roads and slopes. Conrad dropped by and asked if they were going scavenging any time soon. He and his people were beginning to run short of staples. So Conrad, Don, Naomi, and Bill Simmons planned and got ready for a run. Not only for Conrad and the people on his property but for the people coming to the barter market who didn’t have the means to travel very far.
Don went to the storage shelter and got a jar of real New Orleans olive salad and searched through the freezers for the ingredients for Muffuletta Sandwiches.
Eric Bateman picked up the boxes at the shipping terminal in Salt Lake City and after making a few purchases in sporting goods stores in the area, headed back to his place near Samak. He was using a 53-mile road test with his rig to pick up some extra things before getting the rig painted. It turned out the rig was a very comfortable vehicle to drive after all. The boxes he had picked up contained Tempest EMI filters that had been installed on the vehicle when he had purchased the military surplus communications van along with other filters he had obtained from the manufacturer in the UK. All filters had undergone MIL-STD-188-125-1 short (E1) pulse acceptance PCI validation testing at Jaxon Engineering and Maintenance (JEM), Colorado Springs, Colorado. The FMTV M1083 A1 5.0-ton command communications truck with accompanying trailer had a Caterpillar C7 water-cooled diesel engine and an Allison 3700SP automatic gearbox. The two-seat sleeper-type cab was armored with appliqué armor panels as were the walls of the cargo trailer box behind.
After the boxes on the truck and trailer were painted, he would install five Monocrystalline PV panels providing 2250 watts total and two PV panels on the roof of the trailer to charge the bank of gel batteries. The new Michelin 395/85R20XML All-Terrain tires roared like a lion as he rode along Interstate 80.
Jim grinned with exhilaration when he pulled in front of his workshop. The rig drove better than expected. Tomorrow, it would go to the paint shop and in a few days he could then get ready to start finishing the insides.
The camo paint scheme would be painted with a combination of RAM or Radar Absorbent Material and anti-thermal paints. It was not the civilian stuff sold on the market but horse-traded for at Hill Air Force Base. Eric unloaded his cargo and went in to call Jenny to see if she wanted to go out and have a few beers.
Don and Naomi made four loaves of bread, and six 5-inch round Italian buns for the sandwiches. When the meats and cheese had thawed out, Naomi put the ingredients into the refrigerator until they were ready to make the sandwiches. Naomi called down to Dodi Gabriel’s, using the SP phone and invited him and Ingrid to lunch the next day. The sandwiches were much better when allowed to sit overnight in the fridge to let the olive oil soak into the bread. Don peeled and sliced potatoes for fries and put them into salt water to soak.
Eric delivered the truck to Sam’s early the next morning so they could get started. After getting back from the deployment to the east to support the recovery from the ravages that developed from the solar storm, he’d gotten the wild-assed idea to return on his own terms, not because he’d been federalized. He’d spent the last 18 months putting his plan together for his adventurous return to the Appalachians. The area was beautiful, much like the area around Kamas, just with more trees, especially deciduous. His main job had been to get vehicles running again, especially diesel trucks for hauling recovery supplies, but it gave him time to enjoy the beauty. The misty mornings entranced him and were drawing him back. If he decided to stay a while, he had already decided on the area between Cleveland Virginia and the Holston Valley, perhaps along the shores of South Holston Lake. A lot of the population had died off because of the lack of medicines. He could sustain himself on the game in the area and fish and mussels from the river.
Preparing the lunch, Don made the iced tea while Naomi sliced the round sandwiches into quarters and presented the plates with a garnish of Coral lettuce picked fresh from the greenhouse. The sandwiches made up of thinly sliced Soppressata, Mortadella, Capicola, Prosciutto, sliced Provolone cheese, with chopped olive salad in olive oil covering the insides of both halves of the small round loaves.
Don drained and rinsed the potatoes, Naomi, dried them off with paper towels while Don got the Dutch oven ready to fry to potatoes.
When they sat down to eat, Ingrid’s eyes lit up and asked, “What is this?”
"It’s a Muffuletta, well, actually, it is a Muffuletta sandwich. The Muffuletta is a type of round Sicilian sesame bread that became a popular sandwich that originated among Italian immigrants in New Orleans,” Don said.
“Well, it is delicious! If I ever can reopen the restaurant, I want to add this to the menu.” Ingrid said. “The problem would be getting the meat and cheese.”
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Post by feralferret on Feb 26, 2024 1:02:55 GMT -6
Thank you, ncsfsgm.
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Post by gipsy on Feb 26, 2024 11:52:05 GMT -6
Fine update.
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Post by ydderf on Feb 26, 2024 12:23:10 GMT -6
Thank you, ncsfsgm.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Mar 9, 2024 12:55:28 GMT -6
Chapter 14
“Head for Tough Hill mountain.” Conrad told Don. “Someone put in a distribution warehouse I didn’t know about?” Don asked.
Conrad chuckled. “Almost,” Conrad replied.
Eric had started his expedition vehicle project after his wife Carrie had been killed when she was T-boned by a drunk driver. Eric was pragmatic and didn’t grovel in grief, wondering why she had died so early in life and questioning God’s plan. He did grieve but he knew some day he would be with her again and latched onto the project to keep himself busy until his time was due. Between his National Guard service and the EV project, he managed to get through life. His father-in-law, John, offered him the use of the garage and accompanying apartment in the grotto of the old quarry on his property. Sandstone blocks had once been mined out of there and had left a cozy alcove. Once he obtained the truck and trailer, Eric drew up his own plans and made a list of things he wanted to outfit the rig with. Once he had a plan formulated, he went to an RV converter over in Provo and worked with them on the final conversion plans. Eric didn’t sleep much during this time because of the memories, some of them good, a lot of them the sort that meant he didn't want to close his eyes and dream. He had to keep his mind full. To add to his life, he didn’t fall into drink, fantasy football or gaming consoles, Eric traded cryptocurrencies. He’d had a few good streaks…that’s how he’d been able to purchase the items for his project. Eric’s mother-in-law, Evelyn, had also helped him with some of the furnishings. She had gone to outlet malls and got him sheets, pillows, comforters, towels for both the bath and kitchen areas to outfit the RV. They awaited their use in boxes along one side of the grotto on shelves. Other things she picked up were kitchen tools to include dishware, pots and pans, dinnerware, and anything else he might need. Most of the eating utensils he would use though were made for camping. Titanium pots and pans, mugs. He would use the hanging Dutch ovens and had bought a tripod for campfires. If he turned out to have more than he needed and he wouldn’t take with him, he would donate the items to the community pantry for people who needed them.
The capitol of the U.S.A. had been temporarily moved to Omaha, Nebraska until the infrastructure of the east coast could be restored. Omaha and Denver had become the richest, per capita, than any of the surviving cities. The scum had drifted west, leaving the rest of the country to fend for itself. The gold once held in Federal Reserve banks, and at Fort Knox, was now being held in underground bunkers once reserved for Strategic Air Command operations.
“Turn left here,” Conrad directed Don when they got to Gragg. There were a few houses and more than a few out buildings but didn’t see any people. Perhaps they hid when they heard the vehicles. They continued up the corrugated dirt road and didn’t see much of anything but a couple of cemeteries. As they reached the top of a long incline, Conrad said. “Slow down, there’s an old logging trail ahead on the right.”
Sure enough, they turned off on the old trail and went about a quarter of a mile where the trail was cut by a 1-foot washout, a little too wide and deep to negotiate.
“Shovels it is.” Don said.
They got out and the men began carrying rocks to fill in the ditch while the women began shoveling in soil to cover the rocks. An hour later, Don pulled his truck and trailer across the ditch, followed by Gabe, then Bill Simmons with another pickup and trailer. They had to fill in one more ditch before reaching their destination, a story and a half house of colonial design with a watch tower on one corner.
“What was this supposed to be?” Don asked when everyone had gotten out of the vehicles.
“What you are looking at is a ballistic level 5 fortified home. It has a bomb shelter, protection from HEMP and EMP, protection from fire in the immediate surroundings, among other things.” Conrad said.
“And you know this how?” Gabe asked.
“Stealth, my friend…..stealth.” Grinned Conrad.
Conrad walked to the side of the back door and reached under the porch, pulling out a key ring. He first unlocked the storm door them the outer door. The doors opened into a mud room with a heavy-looking wood door going into the house. No locks were visible.
“Now what?” Naomi asked.
“Wait a second,” Conrad said, going out on the small patio and the foot of the porch steps. Wrapping his hands around a lamp post, He grunted, and the post turned to the left and they heard a thump. What could have been electric motors hummed and finally the wooden door popped open about an inch. Don pushed the door open and walked into a well-appointed kitchen. Conrad took out a roll of duct tape out of his possibles bag and tore off two strips.
“Don’t ANYONE touch this switch!” Conrad said, applying the tape to cover the switch plate. “This activates an incapacitating agent when the door is opened. It won’t kill you but will make you temporarily blind and you’ll develop respiratory stress if you breathe it long enough.” “Jesus!” Are there any more like that?’ Don asked.
“Just those rooms with access to the outside. I’ll go ahead and tape the others.” Conrad replied.
Naomi walked around the kitchen and slowly opened a door next to a propped open refrigerator.
“I found the pantry!” She called out. “What should we take?”
“Take everything.” Conrad said, returning to the room. “I doubt the owner made it out of Philadelphia. He had a bad heart and was on dialysis. Take everything you think the people would need.”
They went out and brought in totes they’d brought for loose things.
Naomi and Ingrid began cleaning out the pantry while the men went into the cellar.
Conrad took a notebook out of his possibles bag and thumbed through the pages. Stopping, he walked over to an electrical panel and began flipping switches. As a door opened, the switches flipped back to their original positions. They went into a room that had boxes stacked around the walls and a weapons rack with six AR15s two shotguns and six Heckler & Koch MK 23 pistols with three-magazine bandoleers hanging on hooks next to the rack.
Conrad walked over to a wide door and taped a switch on the wall next to the door. Opening the door, Conrad referenced his notebook and turned the knobs on what looked like air conditioning controls in the small 6’x8’ room.
“Let’s go.” Conrad said.
The men crammed into the small room as Conrad clicked the dial one more time.
The elevator went down several feet and stopped. When the door opened, they were looking out into as nice of a sitting room as you would find in any hotel. The men followed Conrad out and down a hallway to the storage area. Food buckets and cases of freeze-dried food filled the room. Conrad retrieved a dolly and began stacking boxes on it.
“Let’s load it up!” Conrad said.
Eric was pleased with the paint job. He and John took the rig up into the mountains and checked its visibility in a thick stand of Mountain Mahogany. Unless you walked right up on the rig, you couldn’t see it from 25 meters. Eric dropped the trailer at the grotto and John followed him to the RV converter for them to start work. The first thing Eric installed on the trailer were the PV panels and cargo rack on the roof, just to get that out of the way. Next, a new wiring harness was fabricated using marine grade wire, then Eric began welding the shelf racks together and bolted them in. John began working on the wooden shelf bottoms and drawer fronts and installing push button latches on the drawers and cabinet doors. Once the shelf frames were installed, Eric installed the LED and IR lighting, EMI filters, and the two batteries. He put the batteries on a trickle charger because the panels couldn’t charge in the deep grotto. Tomorrow, they could continue working without the hot-assed halogen work lights.
Marcincko's 8th Rule of SpecWar - Thou shalt never assume. Not knowing when he got into what people called the “dead zone” whether he could find fuel, Eric purchased a self-priming diesel fuel pump so he could drain vehicle and underground tanks. He also would carry filled jerry cans but would use them judiciously. He would also carry a couple of cases of fuel stabilizer and oil additives. When the pump came in, he erased it from the chalkboard he had hanging on the wall. Actually, it was a 4’x8’ sheet of fir plywood painted with chalkboard paint. He was continuously adding as they came to mind and erasing things as they were procured, or the task was complete.
Once he had the trailer at the stage he wanted, Eric began packing it. Everything had its place. The only thing he didn’t do was fill the water tank. He would do that before he left. One third of the Mountain House meals were placed in waterproof cases around the PV panels on the trailer roof rack on the outside of the jerry cans of stabilized diesel. The solar panels folded back over the top of the rack load and were latched down.
Eric had included hooks on the corners of the trailer and van box to suspend a tarp for bad weather and extendable poles to hold it up. If he backed the FMTV up to the rear of the trailer, he could have a large, protected area to cook under or just relax. He had a custom T-shaped cart that could go over the joining of the truck and trailer tarps that would protect the area where the two main tarps came together to keep rain out. If the weather was pleasant, he could even set up a cot and sleep out there.
Outside bins held various things but one box contained a collapsible fire pit and chunks of oak wood to cook with, to keep from leaving signs of a fire when he cleared camp.
Eric selected clothing from Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Wearhouse, and several military surplus stores to pack, keeping in mind to layer the clothes. Using the conversion plans, he could pretty much figure what he could pack, having had experience from the military packing everything he had into one duffle bag. One thing he didn’t short himself on was socks. He included cold weather gear, a couple of extra pairs of Redwing boots, and two pair of water shoes. He used compression bags to store the clothing and sucked all the air out of them to minimize storage space requirements. Slowly, but surely, Eric added the little things that would make life easier. Evelyn added a kit for clothing repair with sewing items, different pieces of cloth, spare buttons, and Velcro. In every spare space he could find, Eric had placed rolls of gorilla tape and glues that would come in handy. The toolbox on the trailer tongue was fully equipped.
When the final clear coat had dried, the RV converters called him to come and inspect what they had done. True to their word, they had followed the plans they had agreed on. Eric didn’t see one thing he would change.
Eric backed the FMTV into the grotto and began packing it. John and Evelyn offered to help him but Eric knew if he packed everything, he would know where it was.
At Tough Hill, they loaded everything out of the storeroom to include two cases of thirty-year-old MaCallan whiskey. The women began working on the bunker kitchen getting all foods and spices and what kitchenware and tools they wanted.
“Conrad, How did you know about all of this?" Don asked.
“Well, I got curious when they were building it. They’d left a binder laying around that I studied and found out was going on. When they finished, I came back and checked things out. We’ll have to make at least a couple of more trips to get everything.”
As the women were going through the upstairs, Ingrid called to Don to come check something out. Don followed their voices to what appeared to be the master bedroom and Ingrid pointed to a machine and asked, “What is this?”
Don looked and replied, “A blood dialysis machine according to the data plate.”
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Post by gipsy on Mar 9, 2024 13:01:46 GMT -6
Fine update. Thanks
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Post by ydderf on Mar 9, 2024 14:10:29 GMT -6
Thanks
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Post by techsar on Mar 9, 2024 20:14:21 GMT -6
Great story, but this really caught my eye...HF is about the only thing the IC-905 does not do, and no coax attaches to the control unit. The rf deck mounts near the antennae on the mast or tower. "The IC-905 is the industry's first microwave rig in the 144, 430/440, 1200, 2400, 5600 MHz and 10 GHz* bands." Most folks wouldn't catch it but a ham would. ETA: 60 meters is the only channelized HF band (unless you count CB.) The rest are frequencies - not meaning to sound nit-picky, but for accuracy's sake...
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Post by feralferret on Mar 10, 2024 0:47:51 GMT -6
Thank you, ncsfsgm. Another fine chapter.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Mar 10, 2024 5:28:13 GMT -6
Great story, but this really caught my eye...HF is about the only thing the IC-905 does not do, and no coax attaches to the control unit. The rf deck mounts near the antennae on the mast or tower. "The IC-905 is the industry's first microwave rig in the 144, 430/440, 1200, 2400, 5600 MHz and 10 GHz* bands." Most folks wouldn't catch it but a ham would. ETA: 60 meters is the only channelized HF band (unless you count CB.) The rest are frequencies - not meaning to sound nit-picky, but for accuracy's sake... The RF module does sit at the base of the antenna and connected to the controller using a MoCA adapter. The rig is normally used for PSK31 comms. This specific rig is not offered in the US at this time.
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Post by techsar on Mar 10, 2024 8:50:36 GMT -6
It actually is for sale in the US. DX Engineering, Ham Radio World and Gigaparts all show in stock, and all for about the same $2899 price.
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