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Post by nancy1340 on Feb 15, 2020 22:56:12 GMT -6
"Order Captain Chen to offer his younger daughter, the ten-year-old, to the Port Manager in exchange for power."
I wondered how long that would take.
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 16, 2020 3:07:42 GMT -6
They say all's fair in love and war and this is war. I doubt that any Chinese military commander would hesitate to order any action that might bring victory.
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Post by texican on Feb 16, 2020 17:29:50 GMT -6
They say all's fair in love and war and this is war. I doubt that any Chinese military commander would hesitate to order any action that might bring victory. Shades of what is currently happening in China.... Texican....
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 16, 2020 18:41:45 GMT -6
Day 7
"Sir, you can't bring a weapon…"
"Sergeant, Corporal; detain that idiot somewhere out of earshot."
"Yes, General."
"Is there anyone else who wants to question Mr. Williams' authority at this location?"
"I didn't think so. Jack, carry on."
"Joshua Black and Miranda Clark, front and center."
"You need two for the restart?"
"No, Joshua. I need to train two people. One for Region 15 here on the East side of the state and the other for Region 16 which covers much of the West side of the state. There just happen to be two qualified people at this location. Get out the emergency binder and we'll go from there."
---
"I had no idea we had equipment like that here!"
"Me either, Josh."
"The rest of the crew doesn't know anything about it. As former military, you both have TS4 clearance and that's part of the needed qualifications, along with being technically competent. One of you gets the solar plant at Fort Benning and the other gets the solar plants at Fort Gordon and Fort Stewart. Both of you know which steam, hydro and combustion turbine plants are in those areas. Kelly Greene has the metro Atlanta area and the Northwest part of the state. I'm aware that both of you have family in the state so the two of you work out where you'd prefer to be based. The swearing in will be in the Control Room in ten minutes with the General and the Major as the official witnesses."
---
"Those two seem happier than any of the other Regional Managers. What'd you do different, Jack?"
"They both have family in the state and I let them choose where they would be based."
"A paid move to 'home'?"
"At least closer to family. If we're moving them, they should get some input on where."
"I'm beginning to understand why you had such loyal staff in the past."
---
BOOM!
Bee-Doop! Bee-Doop! Bee-Doop!
"Now what?"
"Explosion in the distribution yard, General. Cameras show a tower damaged at the far corner from the containment building. There were some other indications of smoke so staff and troops are on their way to investigate."
"Very good, Major. Keep us informed."
"Sir."
"The alarm is?"
"Imbalance on an outgoing high voltage distribution line, General. One phase of the three phase power was lost. They'll be shutting down that line until repairs are made. Not sure whether the fact that line feeds the docks is important but not being able to unload container ships could be an excuse for those ships staying in the harbor much longer than usual. Perhaps invoke the pollution standards and require all ships awaiting unloading to be outside the harbor? There's a sheltered cove about twenty miles to the South."
"Jack, I like your devious, suspicious mind. We have naval assets available and I'll make that call."
---
"Harbor status?"
"Lots of screaming and moaning from the Chinese ships, Jack, but not so much from the others. Having a company of Marines poised to board their ships, the Chinese have moved out of the harbor but under protest. That's fine, as each harbor pilot took a radiation monitor on board with him when they piloted those ships out of the harbor and we have higher than normal background radiation readings on two of the ships. Those two ships were separated from the others and were held at gun and torpedo point until they allowed Marines aboard to search the ships. One container on each ship contains a nuclear device in the process of assembly. Word has gone out to all US ports to remove Chinese ships from their harbors and check the radiation levels on those ships. Not having shore power appears to have limited their ability to assemble the nukes so that was a good call on your part for at least two reasons: no more attacks on the power grid and it slowed their nuke production. Your participation in this venture just got rated for hazardous duty pay and you'll see that in cash."
"Nice to know that there are still jobs for 'stupid old farts'."
"I, for one, am very glad that you were at least willing to talk with me. Maybe the Northeast, Northwest or Southwest Regions would have had someone who answered the phone if they had been in the dark?"
"I can think of one person but you wouldn't have gotten even a fraction of the cooperation from the power companies in the Southwest."
"PG&E would rather have the power off from an outside cause than from them doing yet another pre-emptive blackout to prevent wildfires?"
"Exactly, General."
"I've noticed that you seem to have a following in the area, Jack."
"Partly from knowing what I was doing, partly from being people-oriented…"
"Such as giving people the option of where they would prefer to be based."
"Things that cost us nothing but make the workers happy should always be done, General."
"You're still calling me 'General'. Why not 'Tom'?"
"You haven't yet earned back that level of trust or friendship. There are things about this that you know but haven't shared. You're still 'just following orders'."
"Ouch! But you're correct. I told the Joint Chiefs they should be totally honest with you but Admiral Hanover…"
"Is an arrogant and ignorant ass."
"As always, on target with your people evaluations and no punches pulled. You've had other dealings with Hanover?"
"Twice. Both times involving his ignorance of the power a specific nuclear-powered ship could provide to an external user. The first time, he said a certain ship could only provide ten per cent of its designed capacity and the second time when he said that same ship could provide ten times its designed capacity. I called him on both errors and offered the test documents he had signed off on. Here's a copy of the minutes of that meeting."
"It's 'Eyes Only' at a very high level."
"Most of the world never knows the limits of our warships, only their published specifications."
"This is my copy?"
"To be shared up the line as appropriate."
"Do you have a recommendation for Hanover's replacement?"
"How about a list of three people, in order from first to last choice?"
"Even better. I need to make some secure calls and I should have more information for you soon."
---
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Post by 9idrr on Feb 16, 2020 20:57:07 GMT -6
Thanks for the chapter. Don't wanna get to #16 too quickly, do we? Well, I could have posted it all at once in "Completed Stories" but one dose a day lets you enjoy it longer ;-) Yeah, give me another seventy-some years and I may learn to be a bit more patient. :^)
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Post by texican on Feb 17, 2020 1:17:39 GMT -6
PP2,
Thanks for the chapter....
Jack is whittling it down....
Texican....
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 17, 2020 16:53:53 GMT -6
Day 8
"Jack, there's a folder on the table by your tea. Take your time, as the repairs to the distribution yard are progressing slowly because I sent a bomb squad to check for and dismantle any other possible IEDs. Since 0530, they've found three which means no one is in a hurry to power up or test more of the facility until all of it has been checked."
"You do have someone from the facility with that team?"
"Miranda, as Josh said she knew the physical plant here 'like the back of her hand'. If the people you chose for your restoral team knew each other's abilities that well, I'm not surprised that your team was considered the best in the country."
"Just finding the best people and encouraging them to meet their potentials. Status of the other ports?"
"Complaints from the Chinese rep at the UN, but our rep had video of the Marines taking and searching the ship and there is no mistaking the Captain's pleas of 'Don't make me go down there! The radiation will kill me!' or of the content of the containers. That video was very effective in refuting everything the Chinese UN rep had said. The UK, Germany, France, Australia and Japan have shut down shore power to all shipping and moved all Chinese ships 20 miles away from the nearest port and most other nations, including Russia, will have done the same by the end of the day today. Chinese ships are being allowed into port singly and only after a serious scan for any fissionable materials."
"That's destroying their shipping schedules and probably their schedules for destroying one port and holding the others hostage…"
"That's what the terrified Chinese Captain said when he was interrogated! How could you…"
"Just obvious from the circumstances and the timing."
"You were never bitten by a radioactive spider?"
"Sorry, General, but I'm no superhero. Just a guy who pays attention to people, faces and words."
"And puts up with many people who aren't nearly as smart as he is."
"No comment, Tom."
"Thank you, Jack."
---
"Jack, what's the red spreading on the western side of the US map?"
"I'll hazard a guess that a very liberal dock manager in Seattle allowed a Chinese ship to have shore power during unloading and that ship did the same thing that was done here."
"I'll call the Chairman…"
"I already did, Tom. As soon as the outage covered the first two counties. Washington and Oregon will have large areas of outage but nothing to the East of them. California initially refused the disconnect order from the Joint Chiefs but the states East of them did not. Now California is mostly in the dark."
"Would you go…"
"Not just 'No!' but 'Hell No!' Admiral Hanover's son-in-law is high up in the California power hierarchy and I'm certain he and I don't see eye-to-eye. Unless you plan to send in armed troops so I don't have to shoot him?"
"I do have that authorization, but perhaps it would be better to use social media to reveal the liberal policies that put 95% of that state in the dark - at least while their phones and tablets are still charged."
"Has my deviousness rubbed off on you, Tom?"
"Perhaps. Perhaps it's just you opening my eyes to ways to let some of the idiots hang themselves."
---
Ring!
'Hello, love.'
'Jack, what's up on the West Coast?'
'That's already on the news?'
'I'm using solar power for the satellite dish for about five minutes at the start of each hour and Fox had graphics of Washington, Oregon and California.'
'Seattle provided a Chinese ship with shore power…'
'And they started a similar shutdown there.'
'Correct. About half of Washington and Oregon but 95% of California. States to the East of them heeded the disconnect order which went out when I saw the outage start.'
'Will there be another idiot on the East Coast?'
'That depends on whether the Marines get there before someone in that area does something very stupid.'
'Seriously?'
'Abrams tanks are rolling as we speak. Fences and guards do NOT keep 75 ton tanks out.'
'I'll see that on Fox?'
'That's a definite maybe.'
'Depends on how easily that "stupid" person folds.'
'Correct.'
'Go back to your Earl Grey tea and protecting the grid. Love you.'
'You too.'
"It's already on the news?"
"On Fox, Tom. Don't know about the others. Carol's only running the sat dish five minutes out of the hour. Remember that she's still in 'We're on solar power' mode, even with 1000 gallons of fuel. Generators have limited life and they're noisy."
"And you don't want the neighbors to know that you have lots of power available. The lights in the house could be oil lamps and the sat dish doesn't light up."
"Correct. An Aladdin lamp makes a room very bright compared to a candle or a basic kerosene lamp but if that light moves from room to room, the house doesn't have power, just a good lamp. We want to appear no better off than the neighbors except that there are armed people on the property."
---
"David, can you do anything about power for us?"
"Not now, Ginny. I drove in to check Walmart and the auto parts stores and while the auto parts stores are open on a 'cash only' basis, all their inverters were sold in the first four hours of the outage."
"But I want ice in my drink!"
"There is no ice. Carol has been providing us a couple of the blue freezer 'bricks' each day and that's just enough to keep the few leftovers we have cold."
"Them I'm gonna go take what I want!"
"Ginny, have you looked at the guys near their gate and the doors? Those are combat load-outs and I'm certain they have live ammunition. Anyone not specifically invited is being - literally - tossed out over the fence and into that mud hole. Unless you want to sit covered in mud while shower water heats in the sun, going over there drunk, loud and annoying will have you coming back covered in mud."
"They wouldn't dare!"
"Did you see Commissioner Langerman?"
"What about her?"
"She was going to 'confiscate and redistribute' their food, water and power 'for the good of the County'. I'm pretty sure the guards broke her arm when they took her weapon but they still tossed her over the fence with 'Sorry, ma'am, but you were not invited.' and a smile."
"But I'm female!"
"That's what she claims to be."
---
[Secure meeting area, Washington, D. C.]
"Time for a vote. Replacement of Admiral Hanover. All in favor say 'Aye'."
"AYE!"
"Nay."
"The majority carries it. Sergeant At Arms, if you'll escort Admiral Hanover off the premises and direct Admiral Johnson to join us?"
"Sir."
---
"An Abrams leading a charge into the Port of Virginia? I still just can't see it."
"Admiral Johnson, you're very knowledgeable on the ranges and effects of nuclear weapons. Two Chinese ships at Savannah were assembling 250 kiloton devices. If one of those was exploded in the commercial dock area of Norfolk/Portsmouth, how much damage would it do the Naval Facility there?"
"More than we could recover from. You are correct. We need to take control of that facil …"
Woop! Woop! Woop!
"That's the nuclear detonation alert. I think we're about 30 minutes too late. DefCon status?"
"Level two, sir. Missiles being armed; aircraft being loaded and fueled for immediate takeoff."
"Any reports from Norfolk?"
"Just a small mushroom cloud and lots of radiation monitors going off. Update in 15 minutes. These facilities are safe and supplied for 90 days."
"Based on today's winds. I doubt that we'll need to stay here more than a day or so, if that long. Do we have communications with General Baxter and his power recovery team? I'm certain we'll have another wide outage. Institute immediate isolation of this region of the power grid."
"Sir."
---
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Post by 9idrr on Feb 17, 2020 22:04:15 GMT -6
Well, at least you told us what the alarms were before leavin' us on the edge of the cliff.
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 18, 2020 0:41:41 GMT -6
Well, at least you told us what the alarms were before leavin' us on the edge of the cliff. Which is worse? Not knowing what the alarm is. Knowing that it's the nuke alert warning. This might have been a post to make as a poll ;-)
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 18, 2020 0:42:03 GMT -6
Got the "angry bear" message and wound up with a duplicated message. Guess the bear didn't like my question ;-)
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Post by texican on Feb 18, 2020 0:47:23 GMT -6
pp2,
Well the chinese bit of more than they can chew....
When will the missiles fly??.??
Texican....
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 18, 2020 20:32:04 GMT -6
Day 9
Ring!
'This is Jack.'
'You're in a safe place?'
'Yes, love. The Virginia blast was smaller than they initially thought, being about 20kt instead of the 250kt of the devices found in Savannah. Still a lot of damage and there's a lot of cleanup to do but NAS Norfolk received only minor damage although about two-thirds of the commercial docks are damaged or destroyed. The winds took most of the fallout East over the sea. Not good for any fishing areas there, but there's no immediate threat to lives on land.'
'Does this change when you'll be back?'
'I don't know yet. General Baxter has a call in to the Joint Chiefs about recovery in that area. If I go, I'll be at least 50 miles from the detonation area or I won't go at all. Sometimes it's nice to be a civilian consultant who can say "No" to government requests without fear of repercussions.'
'Just keep that outlook. The kids' library system has announced they will shut down for 30 days for a major computer overhaul when power is restored, so Sarah and Will won't be leaving for a while. Ginny came over drunk, loud, annoying and demanding ice for her drinks plus unlimited power. The guards politely told her "You weren't invited" and tossed her over the fence into the mud hole. Not sure if it was a language I don't know or the mud in her mouth but I couldn't understand anything she yelled on her way home except "I hate mud!"'
'Wish I'd seen that.'
'The video surveillance is working and that is burned to a DVD. We could even have popcorn while we watched.'
'I'm loving it. I need to get back to work. One more location in Georgia and I'll be home unless I get detoured to the North. Love you."
'You too.'
---
"Jack?"
"Tom, you have the face and attitude of someone with 'Please-don't-kill-the-messenger' information."
"How do you do that?"
"Pretty obvious to me from your expression and the way you're holding your body. Not sure whether other people even notice those things."
"You would have made an incredible interrogator."
"You're right, but I already know that from investigating some suspicious outages along the way."
"The Chairman wants you to restart the generating plant at Norfolk."
"No."
"What?"
"Let me spell it: 'N', 'o'; pronounced 'No'. I told Carol I'd not go within 50 miles of the detonation and I won't. I'll train others at more distant locations but I'll not go there. I wasn't actively looking for work when you called a few days ago. I'll be quite happy to go back to farming and there's a Harley shop within walking distance. I can find my way out."
"Jack, wait. Please?"
"Yes, Tom?"
"Your note said Admiral Johnson was qualified but slow to act which was why he was third choice. None of the other Chiefs wanted to deal with the other two on your list who are somewhat hardliners. As usual, you were correct and now someone wants you to clean up their mess. Will you at least complete Georgia? Could we bring people down from Virginia and the other affected states and you train them here?"
"Now you're thinking my way. Yes, I'll finish Georgia. After they finish their other plants, Josh could handle North Carolina and Miranda could handle Florida. Thomas can handle Louisiana and whichever of them finishes their second state first can handle Mississippi and the next one Tennessee. Get me personnel records from Virginia and the other affected states in that area and I'll make a list of potential new Regional Managers. You can bring them all down to South Carolina which has a broad variety of power plant types for them to learn on."
"Thanks, Jack. Do you have a feel for the effects that port detonation will have on other things?"
"About a 15% decrease in total imports with the Port of Virginia closed and probably similar for exports. Whether clothes, wine, cheese, toys or whatever, all those prices will go up and I don't remember whether they're an automobile delivery port or not. The prices of some other things will also rise - if no wine from France, California wine will be more in demand, when or if they get back in production. Even Walker's shortbread cookies from Scotland could soon be in short supply. Some of those things could come in via other ports, such as New York, Orlando or New Orleans, but not tomorrow and the cost of getting things to that area by truck is greater than having them come in by ship. And fuel is very limited until power is restored."
"You're such a fountain of joy, Jack."
"At least I expect some ships to continue moving goods. However, some of the ships coming to the US will need to refuel and that fuel has limited availability and there are at least eight ships I'm aware of that have been captured as 'spoils of war' plus there are other Chinese ships that now have areas that are too hot for moving cargo. The available conex capacity will be down by some amount - information which is probably available in one of the Port Authority databases - and that change will increase the demand for shipping containers and the delay in getting things shipped. The Feedermax ships the US has siezed so far have a combined capacity of - that's nine ships times an average of 2500 containers - perhaps 22,500 containers total. What percentage is that of China's total number of conex containers in use for ocean shipping?"
"A real fountain of joy. School clothes and backpacks won't be available or certain winter clothes and shoes or…"
"Things are tough in the shipping industry. Doing stupid things can be very expensive. So far, it's cost the Chinese eight captured ships, one destroyed ship and 22,500 containers. If other countries find similar evidence in the Chinese ships they have detained, we could most definitely be looking at WWIII. The Russians would NOT be as reasonable about a nuke detonation as the US has been so far, but I think the Chinese government is aware of the change in DefCon level and the number of armed missiles and bombers ready to deliver an economy-destroying strike to China's manufacturing."
"They can try to prattle on about 'other people' taking over their ships, but an overt military action with their uniformed soldiers present makes them an instant target."
"Correct, Tom. Now we just wait a couple of days to see what the smaller Chinese newspapers report about changes in the political ruling structure and in the military hierarchy in China. Remember that there is no need to go after their well-protected military installations. One nuke on the Three Gorges Dam would put China back decades in power production and that also means going backward in producing everything else. Taking out that dam would shut down 11% of their hydroelectric power and possibly a third or more of their manufacturing. They may no longer have working coal-fired plants that could provide even a portion of that missing power, so who gets the available power? Plus the damage to property and crops from flooding downstream of the dam and the loss of year-round flood control on the Yangtze River. There were concerns about earthquakes and other things when the dam was built, so even a small nuke might cause near total loss of the dam plus extensive collateral damage. Losing the dam and reservoir means they lose the use of the locks that allow ships to go between Chongquing and the sea at Shanghai. Stopping shipping from that one city would be a major economic hit, as roughly a third of the world's laptop computers came from there in 2018, plus some huge number of smartphones. Meanwhile, you owe me some personnel files so I can make a list of people for you to get to South Carolina."
---
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Post by 9idrr on Feb 18, 2020 21:41:07 GMT -6
Gee, when I worked directly for Uncle Sam (well, there might've been a few layers of Corporals, Sergeants, and assorted ossifers above me) I don't remember many opportunities to say "no" and have anybody pay attention. Nice that he's got the independence factor to keep him safe and the others on their toes.
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Post by texican on Feb 18, 2020 21:44:36 GMT -6
pp2, Jack has it well in hand.... Now what happened to the container ship in Seattle? Thanks for the chapter.... Texican....
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Post by solo on Feb 19, 2020 14:16:22 GMT -6
"Even Walker's shortbread cookies from Scotland could soon be in short supply. Some of those things could come in via other ports, such as New York, Orlando or New Orleans..."
I lived in Orlando for a spell and never saw a port there. It is almost exactly in the middle of the peninsula. Maybe the port at Jacksonville, Canaveral or Miami?
Enjoying the read!!!!
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 19, 2020 15:10:43 GMT -6
Jack's good, but no one has ever mentioned him having a perfect memory ;-)
I wondered if anyone would notice that while Orlando is a vacation destination, you can't get there directly even on a Disney cruise ship (Port Canaveral is about 50 miles). Wonder how many people would call the port "Orlando" because their cruise ship stopped there on their way to/from Disney World? Canaveral is partially a deep water port with 11 cargo berths with depths from 28 to 43 feet and some gantry cranes. Depths of 39 feet and greater qualify as deep water berths and the standard criteria for a deep water berth is that it can handle a fully loaded Panamax ship (largest that can fit through the locks of the Panama Canal: 965-foot overall length, 106-foot beam, and 39-foot draft).
Took the kids to Disney World back in the day and camped close enough to the Space Center to see a gantry across the water - that week's launch was scrubbed because of weather so we didn't get to see/hear/feel a launch.
Jacksonville has some facilities and is working on deepening the harbor to provide "47 feet of deep water access" to allow bigger vessels into the harbor. Largest so far at Jax is the ZIM with 11,000TEU capacity.
Miami has facilities for containerized cargo. The largest ship to dock there is the CMA CGM Magellan with 13,800 TEU (bigger than the ZIM at Jax).
The world's largest container ship is the OOCL Hong Kong with 21,400+TEU or almost twice the capacity of the ZIM. (TEU: Twenty-foot Equivalent Units, the basic measurement of how many 20 foot conex boxes can be loaded on the vessel.)
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 19, 2020 18:33:06 GMT -6
Day 10: Morning
"David, what's that awful noise?"
"That's your alarm clock, Ginny. I think we have power back but Carol said that may be on a rolling basis with power on four hours and off eight hours so they can provide limited power to all the area."
"So what time is it?"
"By my self-winding watch, it's 4:20AM. Go back to sleep. I'll ensure the fridge doors are closed and it's plugged in to start cooling. Carol said that could take 12 hours or more. I'll also set the house thermostat to 'Cool' and close the windows. We can hope the power stays on long enough for the central air to remove some of the humidity."
"I can use the Keurig for coffee?"
"If you're up before 7. Otherwise, the power may not be on long enough. I need to check whether we have internet back and if the power company has a 'who-has-power-when' schedule posted. Go back to sleep."
---
The digital clock on the stove has done some odd time jumps - I set it to match my watch but an hour later it's seven minutes fast - so I wonder if there are problems at the generating plant. Up until this week, electrical power was the one thing I never worried about. Thunderstorms, ice storms, snow and high winds could interrupt it but that was always at least mentioned in advance and, around here, it was never out more than a day or so. Now we've had days without power and it went away silently and without warning. If we hadn't had our calm, prepared neighbors of Jack and Carol, I don't know whether Ginny would have survived. I did have my three day pack in the car when I was out of town but only because I'd once been caught in a sudden ice storm and spent two days in my car with two wool blankets, a big candle in a mason jar for heat (thank you Grandpa Arden for that bit of winter driving prep), two packs of peanut butter on cheese crackers and four bottles of water. I wasn't comfortable but I didn't starve and I didn't get frostbite, unlike most of those caught in that storm. I think I need to ask Jack and Carol about what else I could do to be prepared for the unexpected.
---
"Ginny! It's 6:45; you need to be up if you want coffee before power goes off again."
"Go away!"
"Ginny! It's 6:50; if you're not in the kitchen soon you won't use the Keurig."
"Go away!"
And we're in the dark again at 7:02AM by my watch - 7:52 by the clock on the stove as it went dark. That's less than three hours so maybe they shut the power off early because whatever affected that clock shouldn't be happening? I hear Ginny stirring and mumbling about 'dark'. The flashlights are still beside the bed if she'd just take a second to pick one up. I'm not very patient or sympathetic with my "significant other" today. Maybe it's time to find an "other" who is "significant" in something other than "It's all about me"? Need to ask Carol when Jack will be back so I can talk with him. I never knew my father but I'd certainly consider Jack for that job.
"You said I could use the Keurig! Why won't it work?"
"I said before 7 and I called you twice before then. By my watch, which seems to be the only timepiece working, it's 7:35. I don't set the schedules; I just have to live by them. I did dig out the little coffeemaker and can make a small pot of coffee as Jack did but you'll have to wait for the water to boil."
"Dammit! I don't want to wait! I want things back like they were! I want my job back working on the Obamacare website."
"I can promise you the last thing won't happen, not when your drunken mistakes cost them nearly $100,000 in development time. You can put down that vodka bottle if you want me here today…"
"My house. My vodka. I'll drink if I want to and there's nothing you can do about it!"
"Nothing I can do to stop you from drinking but I don't have to put up with the aftermath. I'll put the Thule carrier on top of my car and load everything I've brought here. I've deleted my number from your phone. Goodbye, Virginia."
---
The Wilson house has had its not-quite-four-hours of not-very-clean grid power and now we're back to using our solar system. The big charger was active while grid power was on, although with some caution lights lit about the quality of the power, but the battery bank is at 90% charge or better. It's sunny today so we should be able to run the minimum loads and finish charging the batter…
Screech!
David never spins his tires leaving the house. Guess he and Ginny had another argument - probably about her drinking. He had that carrier on his car when he moved in, so does that mean he's moving out? Can't blame him, as he's had patience similar to Job in the Old Testament. Where would he go? The piece of rental property he has a couple of miles away that's been in a not-quite-ready-to-rent state for the past couple of years? Did he keep that property vacant as a fallback location? I hear movement upstairs. Sarah and Will can help finish up breakfast. I did take advantage of the brief period of grid power to chill the freezer, brew a big pot of good coffee and use the waffle iron to make blueberry waffles. The camp stove oven works for reheating the waffles and the stovetop percolator without its basket works for reheating and pouring that coffee.
"Smells good, Mom!"
"Sure does!"
"We'll be working on the garden today even with power back for a little while?"
"Not sure about the garden, Sarah. David left in a hurry and with the carrier on top of his car…"
"He's finally giving up on her?"
"It's about time…"
"Now, Will…"
"No, Sarah, he's been very patient, having worked with her in three different 12-step programs and her never reaching the point of saying 'My name is Virginia and I'm an alcoholic'. They only become recovering alcoholics when they admit to being one."
"You're right, Will. I spent a long time talking with your Mom one day and she told me how hard it was to get to the point of saying that but how rewarding it was to admit it to herself and begin the daily work of 'I'm a recovering alcoholic and I've been sober for 1,273 days'."
"She's quite a woman."
"Especially with the day count now 3,000 plus days. Will, would she consider talking with Ginny?"
"Maybe. She'd probably want to talk with David first to know Ginny's history."
"Mom, do you have David's number?"
"The yellow sheet on the fridge has all the neighbors."
"Your personal phone book."
"Since there isn't a published one that can provide landline and cell phone numbers."
"I have both those numbers and I'll call my Mom after we eat. I don't think 20 minutes will make much…"
Bang!
"That's a small caliber firearm and it came from out back!"
"Mom, you don't think Ginny…"
"I don't know, Sarah. David, try calling 911. If they don't answer or can't respond with transport, try the number for County General and see if anyone is available there. We can transport in the bed of the pickup if other transport isn't available. I'll get the big First Aid kit and Sarah's my assistant."
---
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 20, 2020 21:23:48 GMT -6
Day 10: Noon
"Mrs. Wilson, are you next of kin?"
"No, Dr. Roberts. I'm the neighbor next door. Her next of kin would be her parents in Arizona or, until this morning, perhaps her significant other of several years."
"Do you have contact information for any of them?"
"Cell phone for David, home and office landlines for her father. Email for her father. Her sister's number is probably on this phone. I think the picture is a blonde in a red bikini."
"You are a very prepared neighbor. We have family members who come in and don't know this much about someone. Who's responsible for her care?"
"Here's her wallet with ID and insurance cards. Nothing more than that from me and you should try her significant other or her father. I won't take financial responsibility for her but I couldn't let someone bleed to death on the edge of my property."
"Your first aid was excellent and she might have been OK with just irrigation of the through-hole wound and some antibiotics but we always want at least an xray to check for hidden damage. I'll have a nurse call the numbers you gave me."
---
"Can we leave now, Mom? Ginny's in an ER room and the nurse says she's stable."
"Sarah, not until they've contacted either a family member or David. I will NOT take responsibility for her and she will NOT be staying with us but she'll need transport home if they don't admit her. Be prepared to ignore a lot of whining about 'Nobody loves me'. If she doesn't find herself lovable, why would she expect others to?"
"See, Will? I told you that Mom had a 'tough love' side but it took a lot to trigger it."
"Sarah, I think that 'lot' should be in all capitals and red letters."
---
Ring!
'This is Carol.'
'Where are you, love? The background noise isn't home.'
'County General. David finally had enough of Ginny's affair with the bottle and moved out this morning. Then Ginny shot herself…'
'While standing out in the yard and in a mostly fleshy place that bleeds a little but does no real harm.'
'Correct. .38 auto pistol in her right hand. She squeezed up the love handle on her left side and shot herself there, getting powder burns on her left thumb in the process. Ten minute wash of the wound in the ER, an xray to check for other damage, a couple squirts of antibiotic solution, two stitches on each hole and two adhesive bandages.'
'You'll be taking her home?'
'Back to her house if she's not admitted. The hospital is trying to contact her family and/or David.'
'No support for her?'
'Only if her sister comes here or the pastor in charge of that last 12-step program shows up. David's been through this once and I don't think he'll fall for it again. Not sure about her parents.'
'Mrs. Tough Love has replaced my wife today.'
'That would be correct.'
'I'm on my way to South Carolina to run a group of potential new Regional Managers through the recovery process. Two or three more days and I'll be home.'
'Not to Virginia?'
'Tom said "Norfolk". I said "No" and "There's a Harley shop in walking distance".'
'Good for you! I'd rather you didn't come back on a Harley as they're hard to defend when you're busy riding.'
'Should be military transport and no more than three days.'
'See you soon. Love you.'
'You too.'
---
"What about the garden, Mom?"
"Sarah, we provided the equipment and the supplies for that so we'll tend it and give Ginny a share for using her land. When she's able to do the work, she'll do her part or she'll get a much smaller share at harvest."
"Yes, Mrs. Tough Love."
"The two of you are doing work now for a harvest that you may not be here to enjoy. She can do her part or we'll share that harvest with others. Lucy and Gus can't do this level of work but they've cared for others in the past and they should be cared for now."
"Lucy sure does know her companion planting! Mixing in the various flowers and herbs she mentioned has kept nearly all the pests - except those with two legs - from bothering anything in the garden. The 'Ouch!' and 'Damn! That shocked me!' at 2AM are excellent indicators that the electric fence charger Dad and Gus put together from junk box parts is doing its job."
"You don't have to be awake at 2AM to protect your garden at that hour, nor do you have to be present with a stick to keep the bugs off the beans or carrots. You just need to know what things can do the work when you're not there."
---
"Ginny's settled?"
"As much as she's likely to be, Will. Dad's checked her house when Ginny's been drunk enough to think that 'someone' or 'something' was in the house and he's gone through that house with a multi-D-cell flashlight and a pistol enough times to discover Ginny's hides for her bottles as he did so. Mom had that list to work from. The wine from the fridge, the wine fridge and the back of that closet in the basement, and the vodka from the attic cubbies, the bottom of the china cabinet and the kitchen cabinets are in taped up boxes in the basement here. Ginny will bitch and moan but Mom also locked Ginny's car and took the keys because the doctor said no driving for two weeks. Don't know how Ginny will do getting sober 'cold turkey' but the nearest liquor store is more than a mile away and Mom doesn't think Ginny will make it if she tries to walk that far. We did put Ginny's phone on the solar charger and power should be back on around 4. There is soup she could heat or eat cold. Mom left the pain medication but only enough for one day."
"Your Mom plans better than most of our Library Board. I'll bet she could stir them up if she attended one of their public meetings."
"I guess I didn't mention her run-in with the County Library here. She tried to get some ebooks from one her favorite PAW fiction authors into the County Library's digital collection and one of the members said 'Oh, no! Never! One of those books has all those dirty things about sex trafficking in it'. Mom grabbed the book that member of the Board had brought with her, held it up to the people there and asked 'And "50 Shades" doesn't have sex?' That member resigned the next day and the Board did approve Mom's request."
"Guess I should encourage some new people to plan to run for the Board before inviting your Mom to a meeting."
---
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Post by bluefox2 on Feb 20, 2020 21:37:37 GMT -6
Nice reference to previous stories and the author in the last paragraph.
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Post by texican on Feb 20, 2020 21:44:24 GMT -6
Alcoholic Ginny will sober up or will perish the way she was going....
Thanks pp2, for the chapters....
Moar is always appreciated....
Texican....
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Post by 9idrr on Feb 20, 2020 22:00:57 GMT -6
Dealin' with drunks is such fun.
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 21, 2020 20:13:56 GMT -6
Day 11 "Radiation levels?" "Just under 3R/hour, Major. It matches the estimated time from the 7-10 rule spreadsheet." ** "Estimate of time to 0.1R?" "Based on the original reading of 400 at this location, the spreadsheet says 2.5 for right now, 0.2 in three weeks and 0.1 about three weeks after that." "So six weeks before it's safe to be out here working without radiation protection?" "Approximately, sir. I'd still recommend at least Tyvek coveralls, gloves, eye protection and respirators because you could stir up something 'hotter' than the spreadsheet's average and you don't want any of this on your skin or in your lungs." "Understood, Lieutenant. We'll plan to test again in three weeks and set the next test date based on those results. Tentative plans will be to have heavy equipment available in six weeks to take down damaged buildings and move the debris. That will go by covered trucks to a closed salt mine for disposal. Meanwhile, the somewhat hotter hull of 'The People's Star' will be towed out by a crew in radiation protective gear and working one hour shifts, beginning in one hour." "Sir." --- "Erin Jackson, Mark Black and Tad Smith. You're the Virginia Regional Managers. Work out which part of the state each of you wants to be in…" "All except Norfolk, Jack." "Paul Jackson? I thought you were retired and spending your time hunting and fishing." "I have been, Jack, but I never surrendered my key so I'll take Norfolk and you send these younger people out to safer locations." "But, Dad…" "No buts, Erin. I'm almost 70 and I'll be dead of old age long before the radiation exposure from being in the Norfolk area is likely cause harm to me. That's not true for any of you. Jack will just have to deal with it and so will the three of you. The next time one of you is needed in Norfolk, the radiation level should be well below 0.1R." "Welcome back, Paul. Erin, do you remember calling him 'Best Daddy Ever' when you were about seven?" "Yes. And he still is." --- "You have everything you need from here, Jack?" "As soon as I put another dose of caffeine in my Contigo™ mug, Tom." "That's you one you demonstrate by turning it upside down and shaking it?" "Correct. When they say 'non-spill' they mean 'non-spill', although you do need serious cleaning capability to get things like hot chocolate off the sealing mechanism." "That inexpensive Harbor Freight™ ultrasonic cleaner?" "Works for the Contigo lid, all kinds of jewelry and various other things small enough to fit in the basket. Well worth the price if you need a small ultrasonic cleaner. My mug's full." "Then all aboard for South Carolina." --- "No, Mr. Buffet…" "But I'm a major stockholder in this company! I want to know…" "Sir, you do not have clearance and we're authorized to use deadly force to enforce security here." "What idiot made those…" "The President would like to speak with you, Mr. Buffett." "OK, General. Yes, Mr. President?' 'But I own most of this…' 'The SEC and the IRS, Mr. President?' 'Yes, Mr. President. I'll leave the qualified people alone to do what they do best.' "This way to your car, Mr. Buffett." "Jack, I didn't know you knew the President." "Long story, Tom. Back in the days he was out 'pressing the flesh' at all the little towns the other candidates for state representative didn't think were worth their time, his car broke down out near my Dad's farm. He asked to use the phone because there was no cell coverage, but found that AAA couldn't get to him for hours because he was so far out in the boonies. I was in college then and did most of the vehicle and machinery maintenance on the farm when I was home for the summer so getting his car going again was a matter of minutes for me. I think this is the first time I've ever asked a favor of him." "Things involving national security are never 'asking favors'. They're 'getting the job done'. He won't see it as you asking a favor but you getting the right person involved to resolve an issue quickly. And Buffett will think it was the military chain of command that got the President involved. Brilliant move, Jack." "Tom, the only thing 'brilliant' is the light I see at the end of the tunnel tomorrow when we can head back. Did they find more sabotage in Savannah?" "In the distribution yard, on the docks, at the local TV and radio studios and their transmitters, cell towers, telephone offices and internet providers." "Looking to create an information blackout to go with the shock and awe of a nuclear detonation, then. Similar in Seattle?" "And San Diego and at one of the cruise terminals in Florida. All ships are now denied shore power other than rental generators. No connections to the grid. Your plan for replacing the SCADA systems with the much more secure SCADA3 design has very few detractors. The outage that originated in Virginia got all of the government offices in the DC area and the residential areas where more than 90% of the members of Congress live. Nothing like being in the dark for an extended period to make them see the value of protecting the grid. These events have also raised concerns about other utilities, from local water and sewer lines to the national liquid fuel and natural gas pipelines. Not much interest in feeding and housing illegal aliens when your house is dark and there is no food in the grocery stores, but lots of support for spending those dollars to keep the lights on and the food moving." "Maybe something good will come out of this. Casualty reports from Norfolk?" "Forty-six dead on the Chinese ship, Jack. That's about double their usual crew so the 'extras' were associated with getting the nuke together. Six of those in or near the container were in lab coats. The other six near the container were in Chinese Army uniforms. There were another dozen in uniform in the crew's quarters. The container and the various test equipment all had the Chinese Army's logo on them. The video evidence from the ship - from their own surveillance - is damning. This was an act of war perpetrated by soldiers in uniform. It seems the techs weren't that good at assembly, as further analysis of the surveillance images has shown it to be the same 250kt bomb as we found at Savannah but incorrect assembly meant it produced much less power than expected. There'll be an in-depth investigation of how they mis-assembled that bomb because something in the placement of the nuclear materials made it the first shaped-charge nuclear detonation ever because it took out one side of the ship and did major damage to the buildings on that side but did so little damage to the rest of the ship that they were able to see things such as the lab coats, uniforms and the test equipment. Lots of interest at very high levels." "I'm thankful for that bit of ignorance or stupidity. Should we put all those ships out in some remote spot and provide them power to assemble the other bombs? Seems the odds are in our favor that they would blow themselves up." "That's been suggested but the possibility of fallout means it won't be implemented." "That's reasonable, but I like the idea of sentencing them to the death they were willing to inflict on others." "Me too. If we could just move those ships to Beijing…" "Speaking of Beijing, Tom. Any changes in the ruling structure or the military hierarchy?" "Couple of small items in the third section of one of the Hong Kong papers indicate replacement of some high level party members and high-ranking members of the military are in the very near future. The Chinese don't like to 'lose face' and this operation literally blowing up in their faces means they need to make some major changes in direction. Losing as much cargo capacity as they have lost is also a blow to their economy that they won't recover from quickly. Those feeder ships usually bring conex boxes from the smaller ports to the bigger ones and they have so many of those involved in this project that they're looking at not being able to deliver on many of their contracts for electronics which is a big moneymaker. If they have another bad year in their grain crops, they could find that no country has spare wheat, corn or rice to sell them at a price they can afford, or perhaps not at any price. Taking a nuke into another country's port is a certain way to cease being a trading partner." "Which would put areas of China into starvation and ready for revolution. No matter how much you preach your ideology, a hungry soldier with starving children is more likely to support a chance to get food for those children than an empty ideology." --- ** spreadsheet here: www.jecarter.us/files/toms-7-10-rule-excel-spreadsheet.xls"Effects of Nuclear War" document, to go with the possible storyline: ota.fas.org/reports/7906.pdf---
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Post by texican on Feb 21, 2020 21:45:58 GMT -6
pp2,
Foolish plans have disastrous results on the fools that made the plans....
When will America strike back and how to not start WW3....
Sinking their remaining container ships and other vessels in their ports and waterways to completely stop their shipping would be a devastating blow and finish taking down the CCP or just let the Wuhan Virus do the deed...
Now canceling the debt owed to China for damage to America would also work....
Thanks for the chapter....
Texican....
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Post by 9idrr on Feb 21, 2020 21:50:43 GMT -6
Sure would be nice for Jack to see his way clear to get home soon.
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Post by papaof2 on Feb 22, 2020 18:06:53 GMT -6
9idrr asked and I delivered ;-)
Day 12
Ring!
'This is Carol.'
'Carol, it's David. Ginny hasn't answered her phone for more than two hours. Can you check on her? I'm certain you cleared the hidden booze out of the house but did you check the trunk of her car?'
'Didn't check the trunk but did lock the car and bring the keys home with me.'
'What about the pain meds?'
'Just enough for 12 hours. Taking all of those at once would knock her out but isn't life-threatening. Will and Sarah are over there working on the garden so I'll grab one of them to go in with me. The brass key on the car keyring is the front door?'
'Yes.'
'Call you back in five minutes or less.'
---
"You here, love?"
"You've been gone for a week, Jack, and the entire family has deserted you!"
"No, Tom. That steady growling noise is the tiller running at full speed but staying in place with no load. Let's go see what's going on."
"One in the chamber and you topped off the magazine?"
"Just a feeling. In combat, that feeling was usually someone I couldn't see taking aim at me. Stay six feet behind me. When we get to the gate, you go right inside the fence and I'll go left."
---
"Well isn't this cozy? There's three of us and three women over here and we got us a farmer boy to grow the food! It's our lucky day!"
Hand signal to Tom that I'll take the two on the left. The loudmouth had a knife near Carol's neck but he let it drop while celebrating their good luck. Let your arm down just a little more, loudmouth. There!
Bang!
Bang!
Loudmouth is down and Carol has his knife and his gun. Tom got his target and Sarah has that gun. The third one is waving his pistol and looking for us next to the house but we're not that direction.
Bang!
He's down.
"Carol, how's Ginny?"
"Passed out on half a bottle of vodka and probably the pain meds, as that much vodka doesn't normally have a visible effect on her. This perp is dead."
"So's this one, Dad."
"So is the one the - I think that insignia is a General - shot."
"Thanks, Will. Tom, you almost got me home without gunfire."
"Considering that we're inside your neighbor's fence, I got you 'home' without gunfire. You just couldn't control your wild females. I did check that there are no axes or hatchets out here before I said that."
"You like to live dangerously, don't you Tom?"
"Just on the edge of danger, Carol. I did deliver Jack with his trousers creased, his shirt not wrinkled and his hair slicked back."
"You did OK this time."
"We have power back, love?"
"Four hours on; eight hours off. They hope to get that to six and six next Monday. If they can, we might have pressurized water 24 hours a day and not need to boil what the County Water System is sending out."
"Anything else back up, love?"
"One AM radio station that's on and off with grid power. Cell service is spotty but getting grid power half the time may get the battery backup of the other towers charged enough for some of them to be back online. Most internet service is still out except for certain cell phones - our Tracfone service is one of those exceptions. Uverse is still dead and Verizon's fiber-to-the-curb is also. I guess both of them being dead in the water means AT&T and Verizon are competing equally today. What can you tell us about the nuke in Virginia and the power outages up there?"
"I have lots of information, but let's get these bodies bagged and then go sit in the shade while I share what I know."
"You mean let's get them bagged before they smell any worse? I know warm water requires some work but I don't think any of these had bathed in the week prior to the power going out."
"You could be correct, Will. They are most definitely overripe. Help me get them in the wheelbarrow and they can go over the ledge at the back of our property. We're the last house on this road because there's a big gully that's been worn in the rock back there by centuries of rain and it's a good place to feed the wingless vultures to the winged vultures."
"You want their ID, Jack?"
"Love, we can give it to Tom in case there's ever any question about what happened here today. I'd expect to find mugshots of this group at the Sheriff's Office so I'm not greatly concerned about dispensing vigilante justice."
"I should call David and tell him that Ginny is OK, just passed out."
"Go ahead and do that. I could use some caffeine but I'll check the fridge for tea; now that I have the option, I want that caffeine dressed in something cold."
"Me too, Jack."
"Follow me, Tom."
---
Ring!
'This is David.'
'David, it's Carol. Ginny's passed out on her meds and vodka that someone brought her. That group had knives and guns…"
'Ginny's OK?'
'She's just passed out. The three perps are dead and in the gully behind our place. We have an official witness - the Army General Jack has been working with was his backup and now has custody of the perps' IDs.'
'So anyone looking for them should be referred to the Army, a group they probably don't want to have contact with.'
'Correct.'
'Thanks for checking. I'll let her parents know. When they couldn't reach her, they called me so I called you. I don't think they would have called you as you've had too many false alarms about Ginny to take their concerns seriously.'
'You're right. Because you filter concerns, we'll listen to you.'
'Thanks.'
"Mom, do we take her inside out of the sun?"
"Yes, Sarah. You get that arm and I'll get this one. Once inside the garage, go in the door to the left, then turn right and go to the bedroom at the far end of the house. We'll leave her face down on the bed with her head turned to the side so she won't aspirate anything that comes up."
"You've done this before - more than once."
"More times than I care to count. Grab that vodka bottle on the counter, pour it down the sink and then fill it to that same level from my canteen."
"You play dirty, Mom."
"I do. From long experience, it's better to let her work her way through the water than to leave her an empty bottle. With the vodka plus oxycodone mix, she may not notice that it's water until she starts to sober up."
---
"Jack, you have interesting neighbors."
"Not by choice, Tom. The previous neighbors lost that place when the wife decided she was tired of her second husband and left him with her two kids from a previous marriage, their one kid and a house note that needed two salaries. He stayed there until the bank foreclosed then moved to a place he could afford. When the kids were younger, he'd bring them back on Halloween to trick-or-treat at 'Mister Jack's house'. That's been a while, as the oldest is out of high school and the youngest is probably tenth grade or so. Between the time they left the house and the bank began keeping up the yard maybe two years later, I trimmed near that house every other time I did that much grass cutting around our place. That plus the rose bushes seems to have worked to keep the place from looking vacant or abandoned as it attracted neither looters nor squatters."
"Typical Jack response. This fridge/freezer is new enough that it has to be auto-defrost so how do you power that?"
"It ran on a Kill-A-Watt for six weeks while I collected the various power levels and the total power used. The instantaneous power varies from four watts for a single circulating fan running in the fridge to 560 watts when both defroster sections are on. The power consumed over six weeks averages out to 59 watts/hour in winter and 76 watts/hour in summer. That's assuming 68F inside in winter and 78F inside in summer. The spreadsheet on what can run for how long on the battery bank has notes about the summer/winter power use differences and the differences in useful sun hours in winter versus summer. I can tell you how long we can run various combinations of things on the battery bank - probably to within 30 minutes. The ultimate arbiter of when the inverter on the solar system gets shut down is the AH meter on the battery bank. When it shows that we have reached the maximum acceptable level of battery discharge, I turn everything off. I watch that meter and do selective shutdown of some things well before we reach that point, but the limit is still there. At that point, we'd be using a generator to power things and/or recharge the battery bank - or we'd be mostly in the dark and waiting for daylight. Remember, the system uses solar panels, not lunar panels, so it only gets power when the sun is out or a gen is running."
"But you have enough solar panels out to manage day-by-day on just solar and you only need the gen if there are two or more days in a row without sun."
"Correct. Having robbed bits of our system to provide the little fridge for Ginny and David, we can only recharge one day's use with one day's sun."
"The replacement inverter should have been in the last delivery but you may be searching through boxes to find it."
"I'll check that later. When I find it, it will go in a secure place and Ginny will still not get power back. When I connect those panels and batteries back into the system for this house, it could provide two days of power for us and recharge that use in one full day of sun but we'll still be somewhat frugal in power use."
"I noticed the paper records you're keeping, with the AH readings noted three times a day. How'd you get things that low?"
"No landline phone, no internet and no cable TV - the Uverse system is down across the County, as is Verizon's FIOS - so the 50 watts that either system uses continuously isn't being used. Carol has emptied the freezer, either using those things or moving them to the freezer compartment of the fridge which is more efficient than running the upright freezer only a third full. All the lights are LED and they're only on when needed. The outside security lights are motion activated LEDs running on DC so almost zero power use in standby and only 20-30 watts when on. They trigger on small motion but they're only on for a minute unless retriggered."
"Triggering a light also triggers a camera?"
"Except for a couple of low power IR capable cameras which are always on and motion triggered for recording and alerts."
"None of those are obvious, except the white ones in a couple of windows."
"Those work, but they're relatively low resolution wifi cameras, adequate for quick checks and some motion detection but not for recognizing faces. The better cameras are much less visible and are hard-wired to a DVR which uses dual NAS-grade SSDs for storage."
"The vintage lighting fixtures various places around the property?"
"Correct. They're old and rusty or corroded so they can't be anything more than old lights - and some of them don't work."
"Good OPSEC. You installed all this?"
"No one other than Carol needed to know anything about it."
"And there are things you aren't telling me about."
"No comment."
"If we go to DefCon 1, could Carla and the kids come here?"
"Two conditions on that: they bring supplies for 180 days and they don't argue with any rules Carol or I lay down. A military family shouldn't have problems with either of those."
"And they won't. Trailer of beans, rice and LTS foods in the old shed at the back of our property near Fort Benning. Ninety gallons of treated diesel is in the tanks under the floor of that trailer. We've been stationed all over the world and have clothing for all seasons and locations. All of us shoot and have our own pistols, rifles and shotguns. Carla's rifle is a .243 that her father taught her on. Both kids have generic .223s. I have a .338 Lapua. Pistols are 9mm Glocks. Shotguns are Winchester 12 gauge for adults and 20 gauge for the kids. Ammunition is in 'Buy it cheap and pile it deep' quantities."
"You sound prepared, Tom."
---
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