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Post by papaof2 on Nov 20, 2021 23:25:07 GMT -6
Some generators generate as much noise from internal action - and explosive rendering through the crankcase/head as from the exhaust. You really need a sound level (dB) meter to do the measuring. Very good meters are expensive. Useful meters can be had for under $50. The less expensive meters may not give an absolute "This is 58dB" level but they can show changes. If the noise level drops from 58dB to 48dB, you've made a significant improvement in the noise level.
For the older small generators which had the basic screw-in "hotdog" sized muffler, slipping a piece of flex exhaust tubing over the muffler and runninmg it to a resonator from an older GM vehicle would make an appreciable difference in the total noise level (did that for the gen my uncle used to power a cotton candy machine at parades and the like - he was surprised at the difference a "kid's" idea made).
Along the same line of thought, I have one good torque wrench (very old Craftsman with the semi-circular scale and long moving pointer) and several Harbor Freight "digital" torque wrenches - which aren't as accurate but if I adjust the HF wrench to "click" at some torque as indicated on the Craftsman wrench, I'll be very close and the HF wrench's "click" is easier to feel than the Craftsman's wrench's scale is to read when working under the deck of a riding mower. The HF wrench may not be extremely accurate in setting it by the scale on the handle, but it is *repeatable* at whatever it's set for. When using a torque wrench, you're usually more interested in the consistency from bolt/nut number one to bolt/nut number last-one.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 21, 2021 10:07:14 GMT -6
Chapter 94
Gil and Billy tried out the firewood stacker Gil had built. He had placed six 8' fenceposts into the ground far enough apart so one of the pallets would fit in between. The poles were marked at the height of a half a cord of wood. All you had to do was stack the wood up to the mark, band it, the move it to the side. They quickly palletized the 10 cords of wood that had been delivered. "Dad, why did you order firewood? I thought we were going to cut our own."
"We will, if we have to. The guy I bought this from supports his family of four children and a wife on cutting this firewood. He's doing honest work and willing. We may someday have to cut our own wood, but it helps people when you buy locally. He sells the wood for the same price to the weekenders down around Sevierville and has to travel twice the distance. He's making a little more money selling to us and is back with his family in a shorter time."
"Do I have to go to the wedding Sunday?"
"Well, I think Allie and Brad would like you to be there, don't you?"
"Yeah…. I guess so. It's just that I hate getting dressed up, especially with a tie."
"Yeah, I'm the same way, but sometimes you have to go out of your norm to honor someone, even if it causes you some discomfort. On occasions like this, and considering the two people who are getting married, I'm willing to be a little uncomfortable for them. You with me?"
"Sure."
"As soon as it is appropriate, you and I will slip our ties off and into our coat pockets, okay?"
"Okay Dad." Billy grinned.
Friday morning, Grace needed a few things at Food City so Gil offered to drive her in. Gil pulled into a parking space near the door and got out, going around the front of the truck to open the door for Grace. He immediately turned around at the sound of smashing glass from the front of the store. A lone man came running out into the parking lot with a grocery bag in one hand and a pistol in the other. As he lifted the pistol at Gil, Gil drew and put two slugs into his chest, causing the man to fall face-first into the parking lot. Checking to make sure there was no one else involved, Gil moved forward and squatted, checking for a pulse. None. Looking for the apparent thief's pistol, he saw it laying six feet behind him almost at the right front wheel. Gil stood up, ejecting the magazine from his Glock. He set it on the hood of the truck, turned the gun sideways and worked the slide. The chambered round popped out and bounced across the hood. Gil locked the slide back and placed the gun next to the magazine, along with his two spare mags and the single bullet, and called out, "Grace, stay in the truck."
The sirens approached rapidly and Gil watched as the two police cars slid to a stop. Officer Wells came out of one and Chief Dalton out of the other.
"What happened Gil?"
"Man came running out of the store, busted the door, aimed a pistol at me, I shot him."
The Store Manager came out and Officer Wells pulled him to the side to talk to him.
The Chief went over and looked at the body. "Denzie Waters. Hmph."
An ambulance pulled up along with Medical Examiner and his two member crew of the CSI team in their van. Grace called Allie and had her come pick her up.
"Chief, can my wife go? She was in the truck the whole time."
"Yeah, let me get someone over here to get her statement and she can go."
By the time Allie got there, Grace had finished and signed her statement.
"Gil, I'll have Allie take me by Walmart."
Gil gave her a hug. "You all right?"
"I'm fine. Call me if you need me."
"I'll probably be a little while. I'll call you if I'm too late."
Grace got in the Jeep with Allie and they left the parking lot. In about an hour, as they were loading the body into the ambulance, the Chief walked over to Gil.
"Gil, I'll need to keep the weapon until I talk to the DA. Shouldn't be a problem, everything was caught on the store's security camera. It's just procedures. Do you have another gun?"
"I've got another under the seat in a lockbox."
"Okay, good. It's the weekend so I'll call you Monday."
"Okay Chief, thanks."
Gil watched as the crime scene people removed the yellow tape from his bumper. The Store Manager was connecting a garden hose to one of the spigots on the front of the building and began washing the blood off the parking lot. Gil got into his truck and started the engine, the diesel settling down to a low rumble.
"Idiot."
Although it was planned to be a small wedding, several of the parishioners stayed Sunday after church to attend the wedding and wish the newlyweds their best. As Gil had promised, as soon as the quinoa was thrown, Gil and Billy took off their ties and placed them in their coat pockets. Grace just shook her head.
"You two looked so handsome in you coats and ties."
A family reception was held at Allie and Brad's house, but no one stayed very long.
"Come on Billie, let's go pop some popcorn." Mollie said.
Gil and Grace stood up and said their good byes and left with them.
Mollie wiped her nose as they drove up to the house.
"I am so happy for them!"
They went into the house and changed out of their clothes. More relaxed, Gil and grace went into the Great Room. Gil opened a bottle of wine and poured each of them a glass.
"You know Gil, it is amazing being around you. If I had been with anyone else Friday, I would have peed my pants. The way you reacted, and my inner sense of faith in you, that guy could have just as well been kicking a soccer ball. I had no fear that you would let anything go wrong. You give me so much strength!"
Gil sat down beside her. "My actions were to prevent anything from happening to you."
"I know, and it's on one of the million little reasons I love you."
Monday, before lunch, Chief Dalton called Gil to come in.
Gil went into the Chief's office and took the seat he was offered.
"First of all," Chief Dalton told Gil, "your actions Friday were unquestionably in self-defense. No charges of any kind will be brought against you under Tennessee law. The second that man raised his gun at you, he was bought and paid for. You won't be charged and no one can bring any kind of civil action in connection with this incident. You're completely in the clear." He smiled. "And when we're finished here I'll walk you over to the arms room. Your weapon isn't considered evidence anymore. You can take it home today.
Nobody, including the local NAACP, is going to get nutzo with grief over him. He was a loner and a bully. The world's a better place without him."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 21, 2021 10:15:51 GMT -6
Chapter 95
"I need stuff to wrap presents." Gil told Grace. "I can help you." Grace offered.
"No, this is for Billy and I only. You keep your nose out of it."
Grace giggled. "Okay, I'll put some rolls of paper, tape and scissors in your office. Wrap to your hearts content."
Gil, Billy and Brad began moving the equipment out from under the equipment shed and tarping it. After removing the tractor attachments and the odd piles of lumber stored there, they began removing the tin roof, setting it aside for possible use later, sometimes straightening it out with a rubber mallet. Once the roofing was removed. They removed some of the boards but most of it was useful for future projects. It would make a good bonfire though. They hooked the chains to a corner post and with a few carefully placed cuts with a chain saw, brought the whole thing down in one pull of the tractor. Using chain saws, Gil and Brad further cut up the remaining large pieces and made a huge pile of debris that they decided to reserve for New Year's Eve, After further leveling the area for the pad for the new equipment barn, they cleaned their tools and put them away.
Gil rapped lightly on Billy's door.
"Come in!"
"Billy, there's wrapping material in my office. Need any help?"
"No thanks Dad. I've got it."
Gil went back downstairs and out to his shop to check the dryness of the can racks. They were all completely so his took their set back into the house to put in the pantry. After unloading a shelf, Gil placed the first rack for the smaller cans on the shelf and started loading the rack, starting with the oldest "best but date". After loading all three racks, there was almost a shelf and a half of cleared shelf space they could put more things on. He went out and collected the racks for Allie and Brad's house and took them down to them, showed Allie how to use them and went back to the house to wrap some presents.
"Dad, can I use the NVGs tonight?"
"What for?"
"I've never seen the mast go up."
Gil chuckled. "Okay, but don't go up on the ridge, just the lower one."
"Okay Dad. I'll have my radio with me."
Gil watched as Billy checked the CR123 batteries in the goggles and adjusted them. Before dark, Billy went out the back door and down next to where the wind generator mast was located.
Billy knew what it did, but had never seen it happen. At dark, a light sensor activated the mast motor and raised the mast above the trees. Drake had told them that it was designed for neighborhoods where the residents didn't like seeing wind generators sticking up in the neighborhoods and it appeased the HOAs.
Billy took up his position, leaning up against a tree and facing the mast. As it was getting almost dark, Billy lowered the goggles and turned them on. A few minutes later he heard a humming noise of the mast motor and looked up. The generator head slowly rose above the trees and the guys tightened. It was like watching the alien machines in that movie the War of The Worlds. The mast extended twice the height of the trees and the vane turned the head into the wind and the blades began turning rapidly, charging the battery bank. Billy sat there for a few minutes then got up and returned to the house.
Christmas morning, everyone at Bluff View had their own private Christmas in each cabin, but breakfast would be served at Gil and Graces at 9:00. Mollie showed up even earlier to help Grace and walked right in on the Conner family engrossed in what anyone one else would consider a cooking frenzy, but all was well coordinated. Grace was taking a hashbrown casserole out of the oven and preparing batter for blueberry pancakes. Gil was had a pair of tongs in his hand frying bacon and country ham while the rich smell of coffee permeated the air. Grace had prepared cinnamon rolls earlier, the evidence of three rolls left on a plate. Mollie poured a cup of coffee and munched on a roll, watching the kitchen activity.
"I'm glad we're having Christmas dinner later in the afternoon!" Mollie said.
"We're not cooking that much. Gil is cooking a little more ham because he likes to have some around for ham biscuits. Just a couple of pancakes for each person. Did you sleep warm last night?" Grace asked.
"Woke up and found I'd kicked the covers off. That heat-powered oscillating stove fan I got from must be making a difference. I like it a little cool at night when sleeping. Maybe I'll try taking it off the stove at night."
"Is the stove holding its burn all night?" Gil asked.
"Oh yeah. All I have to do is a add a few pieces of kindling and it blazes right up. For a small stove, it heats the whole house just fine."
There was a knock and Allie and Brad walked in carrying presents.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Allie shouted.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Everyone answered.
"Where are the twins?"
"Billy has them in the Great Room. He got them a Jack-In-The-Box and they love to see it pop up. They laugh so much they fall over. Go in and see them!"
Cal too the ham out of the pan and added it to the platter of bacon, and reached for the bowl of scrambled eggs. Grace put the last pancake in the warming oven with the others, dumped her cold coffee and poured a fresh cup.
"I almost run over the Guineas this morning. Gil, what did you do to the Polaris?"
"I had Billy put a Silent Rider exhaust on it. Much quieter, isn't it?"
"I should tell you. Now get me a horn to run those skeeters out of my way!"
Gil chuckled. "BREAKFAST IS READY!"
Mollie and Grace went in and got the twins. Gil placed their high chairs next to the table and the giggling twins were strapped into their seats, slamming their hands on the tray. Mollie and Grace sat next to them and gave them pieces of toast but they raked them off the tray. They saw the scrambled eggs and that's what they wanted.
Mollie said the blessing and everyone began passing the bowls around.
"Mollie, thank you for the Strawberry Jam." Allie said, between bites of blueberry pancakes.
"Girl, you helped put it up. I just slid two jars into your jelly cabinet."
The twins were eating the scrambled eggs as fast as they were fed until Mollie fed the piece of maple syrup soaked pancake to Alan, then it was on! He didn't want anything but pancake after that. Alana had the same reaction. Every so often one twin would turn to the other and grin.
'You're going to have your hands full with these two. You can already see the mischief in their eyes." Mollie chuckled.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 21, 2021 10:58:40 GMT -6
Chapter 96
When breakfast was over and the dishes cleaned up, everyone went into the Great Room and sat down. Billy went to the tree and picked up the first present and took it over to Mollie. Grandma Mollie, this is from all of us."
Mollie unwrapped the gift and it was an Eyelash Space Dyed cardigan Sweater. Billy went back and picked out two more presents for Mollie that turned out to be a Radalie Parka and gloves and a matching Lambswool Scarf.
Going back to the tree Billy picked out Allie's gifts, a Patagonia Los Gatos vest and gloves and a lambswool scarf.
Brad received 2 bars of Duke Cannon Leaf and Leather Soap and a Gilliam Vest.
Allie and Brad gave Billy a tri-fold wallet and pair of Fleece Flip Top Mittens, Gil a Cinch Men's Concealed Carry Bonded Vest, and Grace a concealed carry purse from the Gun Goddess. Mollie got a $100 gift certificate to the Yarn Barn.
"Billy, what else did you get?" Allie asked.
"Dad gave me WAVE Plus Multitool, a troopers hat and a vest like his. Momma gave me some underwear."
"I GAVE YOU MORE THAN THAT!" Grace cried out.
"Oh yeah, Momma gave me a Garmin Rino GPS."
Brad chuckled. "Like he doesn't already know every tree and sprig of Sassafras on the place!"
"Well, it's also got a built-in radio. I like to stay in touch with my men." Grace said.
"Billy, would you hand me those green wrapped things over there?" Mollie asked.
The first gift was for the twins, knitted hats and little mittens for the twins, one pink, the other dark green. Mollie then handed Brad and Allie, then Grace and Gil each an envelope. They contained tickets to The Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge and pre-paid hotel reservations for the 30th of December."
"Mollie! Thank You!" Grace said. "But this is overnight!"
"Billy and the twins and I will be just fine. I want ya'll to have a good time."
Billy received a Ka-Bar Becker hunting knife.
After the wrapping paper was cleaned up, the women and babies drifted back to the kitchen and the men put on their coats and hats and went outside.
"What's our next project?" Brad asked.
"I've got materials being delivered Friday to put up a lumber shed. I want to start keeping lumber stockpiled here instead of going in and doing the onesy and twosey thing. It will be a simple pole barn with tin roof and siding and a packed gravel floor. Shouldn't take us long to put it up. Then, after the first of the year, they'll be here to put up the equipment barn."
"Almanac is calling for bad weather mid-January, could be in for some snow." Billy said.
"They should have the barn up by then." Gil replied.
They walked slowly up the ridge. Gil turned off Zone 8 and they went onto the shelf and went inside the Chamber. Gil reached into a cabinet and took out one of the Water Analysis Test Kits and walked back into the storage chamber. Getting a sample of water out of the stream, Gil tested the water and waited for the device to give them a reading.
"You can't even see the escape tunnel door. It blends right in." Brad said.
"Yeah. I think we did a pretty good job on that. Billy, have you checked the caches lately?"
"Yes Sir. Day before yesterday. Everything is in place, nothing's been messed with."
"Okay, good. Well, water's safe for another week."
Taking a metal coffee mug hanging on the wall, Gil dipped it down into the water. Taking a long drink, he handed the cup to the other two, each taking an equally long drink. Hanging the cup back up, they walked back through the chambers and locked the doors behind them.
Grace was running low on yeast so Gil offered to go into town to get more. Rather than face the freak-show at Walmart, he drove on past and went to Food City. The lot was full so his was forced to park on the left side of lot. He really didn't mind the walk. As he approached the covered walk in front of the store, two kids came flying through the far arch from the movie theater. The taller of the two skateboarders clipped a lady coming out of Food City, slamming her into a brick column. Not even hesitating, the two continued down the covered sidewalk toward Gil. He grabbed the shorter of the two and brought him to a screeching halt, his skateboard continuing on. The second one? He clothes-lined him. The teen him the sidewalk with a loud "WHUMP", knocking the breath out of him. Pulling the shorter kid around, he had him stand facing the wall. Grabbing the taller teen by the front of his coat, Gil jerked him to his feet and put him up against the wall. Grabbing the two by their collars, he jerked them back a couple of feet.
"DO YOU SEE THAT SIGN IN FRONT OF YOU!"
"Yeah." They both said.
"WHAT DOES IT SAY!?!"
"No skateboarding."
"Are you stupid? Why were you skateboarding when you plainly can see it is forbidden here?"
"Man, it's no big deal." The taller of the two said.
"I've got this Gil."
Gil turned his head and saw Officer Gilbert standing there. He also saw the ambulance pulling up.
The security guard came out and walked up. "Got it all on tape."
Gilbert pulled out cuffs and cuffed the teens.
"Why are you hassling us man?"
"Well, we can start with assault, then possibly fleeing to avoid detention, maybe even blowing up the Titanic, I don't know. We'll work out the multiple charges down at the station."
Officer Gilbert sighed and shook his head at Gil. After reading them their rights and loading the teens into two different patrol cars, Officer Gilbert walked back over.
"You want a job, Gil? You always seem to be around when bad things happen. Make you a little extra money."
"Dean, not one your life. I was just coming in to buy some yeast for my lady. It just goes to show you this country is filling up with idiots. Too bad caning isn't legal in this country. It would straighten out some of these smirky little horse turds."
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Well, I don't need anything from you. It's all on DVD. Keep you out of the limelight.
"Thanks Dean."
"Thanks for the assist. Have a nicer day."
Gil began walking inside to get the yeast.
"Idiots!" Gil softly said, shaking his head
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Post by gipsy on Nov 21, 2021 12:16:32 GMT -6
Thanks for another fine update.
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Post by texican on Nov 21, 2021 18:50:51 GMT -6
Trouble has away of finding Gil or is it Gil finding trouble?
Thanks N for the chapters.
Texican....
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Post by ydderf on Nov 21, 2021 20:13:36 GMT -6
Nice update thanks.
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Post by udwe on Nov 21, 2021 20:34:43 GMT -6
Thanks, great update!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 22, 2021 21:16:08 GMT -6
Chapter 97
Gil got home with the yeast and told Grace and Mollie what had happened.
"You were involved with that? I just got a call from Mable Schrooder who told me Abigale Walters who's a nurse's aide at the hospital, told her it was Alice Davis that got hurt."
"Is she going to be all right?" Grace asked.
"Yes, she just needed a couple of stitches." Mollie replied.
"The parents should be charged for allowing their children to run around and acting disrespectful like that."
"Well, those are the times we live in. I want you two to be especially vigilant when you are out."
Billy had seen sign of coyotes around the pasture area and had asked if he could take his M1A up in case he could get one. Gil didn't want the possibility of a stray .308 round outside the boundaries of the property so he did allow him to take the air rifle. They mounted a better scope on the air rifle and Billy had been down at the range practicing daily to get a good 200 meter grouping. He was damned good.
Gil checked his materials for building the lumber shed and saw he wouldn't have near enough roofing screws. Well, he might as well get them now. Gil went to the house and told Grace where he was going. Billy had finished his modules and asked to go with his Dad.
"Get your hat and coat."
Gil bought twice as many screws as he needed as to have extra on hand. Going back home Gil headed down 66 and went to Reapers Firearms in Bulls Gap to pick up a surprised Billy an electronic game caller.
On the way home, Billy quickly read through the instructions. When they got to the house Billy got his air rifle with the .30 barrel and the game caller and headed to the pasture. Gil grinned, turned, and carried the screws to the shop.
Grace called Billy on the radio for dinner and Billy arrived 15 minutes later
"Where's the game caller?" Gil asked.
"I locked it in the feed shed."
"See anything?"
"I think something might have been coming when Momma called."
"Yeah, it's just about the time coyotes begin moving around. You probably need to eat earlier and stay out later. The darker it is, the better chance you'll have getting one."
"How will I be able to see to shoot?"
"I'll mount one of the NV scopes on your rifle. You'll have to re-zero."
After dinner, Billy came in to the Great Room and sat, reading an article in Outdoor Life about hunting coyotes. Closing the magazine, he cleared his throat.
"Ah… Dad. Can I ask you a question?"
Gil looked up from his book. "Of course."
"I ran across an article on the internet about a little girl who had memories of living in another time. She recalled people and places and even pointed out an old house she said she had lived in. Do you think any of that could be true?"
"I don't know. I suppose anything is possible. You might not hear too much about things like that because over the centuries things have been left out of books, people persecuted because their beliefs or just because they were different than others. Sometimes truth is hidden from others because of fear. I looked into something in my earlier years. I once picked up a used book by an author who had written about a man named Edgar Cayce. Cayce apparently was a man of some unique talents. Anyway, later on in the book it delved into the subject of reincarnation. Some people might think it hogwash, but I've had some instances when I thought there might be something to it."
"When was that, Dad?"
"Well, I was Ireland training with the Royal Irish Regiment. Between training cycles an Irish friend and I went on a road tour of the western counties. When we got into County Donegal, I felt so much familiarity there it almost felt like home. I could almost tell you what was around the next bend of the road. Some places caused my heart to race with excitement, some almost brought tears to my eyes, as if remembering some great sadness from the past. Today, Irish music calms and sometimes saddens me and the sounds of Irish píob mhór cause me to want to go into battle mode. Heck, it may be just synchronicity. It's hard to say what is true. Each person can have their own truths. We are only on this world a short time, and you may never find all your answers, but there can also be satisfaction in just the quest for your truths. Search online for 'Edgar Cayce' and look for books about him. Search for your own truth."
By the evening of the 29th, they had the frame and roof on the lumber shed. Billy and the men cleaned up the worksite and put their tools away. Walking out of the shop Gil gave Billy instructions for the weekend.
"Billy, except for checking the chickens and the pasture, I don't want you out, away from the house, until we get back. No hunting. You can make plans for Saturday night if you want. We'll be back on Saturday afternoon. I want you to stick around the house and help Grandma Mollie with the twins, and no duck taping them together."
"Billy looked at his father and grin. "Now THAT'S an interesting idea!"
They were both smiling when they went into the house. Twins squealed at the sight of the two and were jumping up and down in their playpen. Each picked one up and carried them into the kitchen. Mollie was adding chicken fried steak to an already large pile draining on pans in the oven. Grace was adding sour cream to a large pot of mashed potatoes and beating them.
"Finished?" Grace ask.
"No quite, but it can wait until Monday. Are you sure you're cooking enough?" Gil asked facetiously.
"I wanted to make sure Mollie didn't have to cook while we're gone. Go try and find something useful to do."
Gil chuckled and he and Billy took the twins into the Great Room.
Gil and Grace rode with Allie and Brad down to Pigeon Forge. The girls wanted to browse through some of the tourist trap antique stores to the chagrin of the two men.
Knowing the women would move through the shop like snails, Gil and Brad looked for something else to do.
"Grace, we're going next door."
"Okay Honey. You know where we'll be."
Gil turned around and Brad followed Gil onto the Chevy dealer lot. They walked around looking at trucks and was soon joined by a salesman.
"Can I help you gentlemen?"
"Oh, just looking around, seeing what you have in stock."
"Is there any particular style you're interested in?"
"Where are your Suburbans?"
"Right this way."
"We just got these in." The salesman said.
Gil walked down the line and one caught his eye. He checked out the one next to it, slowly walking around it then eased over to the Forest Green model. It had a diesel engine, leather interior…. he kept walking around. When he got to the dealer's sticker his eyes widened. Brad came around and glanced at the sticker.
"WOW! What didn't they put on this thing?" Brad exclaimed.
"Yeah, but it doesn't have Weathertech Side Window Deflectors." Gil said with a straight face.
"Oh! But we'll add and install them free of charge!" The salesman said.
"I would think so, with a price like that!"
"But, it does have the extended range fuel tanks." Brad added.
"Why don't we walk inside and we can talk." The salesman offered.
Gil and Brad followed him in to his little office. Brad stood leaning against the door. There wasn't enough room in there for all of them.
The salesman wrote something down on a piece of paper and slide it across to Gil.
"Here's what I will mark this down to get you into that beautiful Suburban today."
Gil looked down and studied the price.
"I'll give you $82,500, and I'm only offering you that because it is probably going to sit here for a long time before you sell it. Tourists don't come here to buy expensive cars, plus I can pay for this with a credit card and I could be driving out of here within the hour with a full tank of fuel."
The salesman stared at Gil. "Let me talk to my Sales Manager."
A few minutes later the salesman was back, printing out forms to be filled out. Thirty-five minutes later they were driving out of the lot with 66 gallons of diesel.
"I hope this wasn't an impulse buy." Brad said, grinning.
"Nah. I've been thinking for a while about getting one. The Power Wagon isn't exactly a family-friendly vehicle."
They parked next to Brad's Suburban and went in search of their women.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 22, 2021 21:16:53 GMT -6
Chapter 98
Grace and Allie had picked out a couple of decorative wall pieces and were ready to leave the shop. They walked out to the parking lot and Gil directed Grace over to their Suburban. "What is this?"
"Well, I had a little time for some shopping."
"Now I don't feel so bad about spending what I did in that antique shop." Grace said, grinning. "No, seriously, this is great. I was going to ask you if you would think about something other than the truck for a family vehicle."
Gil motioned for Brad to lead the way and Gil pulled out and followed him to the hotel. It was just a short walk to the dinner theater so they wouldn't have to drive anywhere else. After checking into their rooms, they all went down to the bar for a drink.
The next morning, the Girls wanted to delay their departure and do some more shopping. They checked out of the hotel and stored their bags in the vehicles.
"Okay." Gil said, "but Brad and I will take our vehicle and are headed to Budd's Gun Shop. If we aren't there, then we'll be either at Smokey Mountain Knife Works or at Bass Pro Shops. The way you two like to mosey around in a store, more than likely we'll be having coffee in the snackbar at Bass Pro Shops. Say, why don't we have lunch at Cracker Barrel?"
""Oh, we're not that bad! Okay, we'll meet at Cracker Barrel then."
As they watched the girls drive off Brad turned and grinned at Gil. "That was slick!"
"What?"
"You just talked her into limiting her shopping time. How do you do it?"
"Simple, Grace loves Cracker Barrel. Now she has a self-imposed time limit because of a plate of food."
At Budd's, Gil picked up some cleaning patches for all the guns, gun cleaning spray, B-27 targets, rifle targets and new shooting glasses for Grace and Billy. Brad got a couple extra mags for his pistol and some bore brushes. Neither needed anything from the knife works so they headed to Bass Pro Shops and got a cup of coffee in the snackbar.
"I was talking to Al Richardson right before Christmas about our radio signals being blocked by the ridge. He's got an old repeater he can reprogram for us to have a couple of channels that can talk on."
"Sounds good. I've got a couple of 100 watt solar panels and a battery to power it. Let's get on that after the first of the year."
Gil looked at his watch. "It's 11:30, let's head on over to Cracker Barrel."
They sat in the parking lot until they saw the women drive up. They got out and all walked in together.
Are you two doing anything tonight for New Year's?" Allie asked.
"I'm going to get into my flannel PJs and a pair of puffy socks, drink a glass of wine and read my book." Grace said.
"I'll be getting into her PJs too." Grinned Gil.
"Gil!" Grace said, slapping his arm.
"Sounds like a plan. Maybe Allie and I will do the same thing." Brad grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at Allie.
Grace got her purchases out of Brad's Suburban and transferred them to theirs.
Can we run over to Bass Pro Shops for a minute? I want to get Billy some rain gear." Grace said.
"Sure. I might get some myself. Mine's a little worn."
They waved bye to Allie and Brad and drove over to BPS. Gil took her to where the rainwear was located and they picked up a rain parka and a set of bibs for Billy. Gil got a set for himself and even Grace got a woman's set.
When they got home, Billy was chomping at the bit for Gil to mount the NV scope on his air rifle. Gil had him help his mother unload her bags and then mounted the scope and took Billy to the range to zero the rifle. When they got back, Grace and Mollie had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and vegetable soup waiting for them. After wolfing down his dinner, Billy gathered up his gear to be up at the pasture before dark to feed the animals.
After Mollie left, Gil and Grace played with Alan and Alana for a while then got them ready for bed. Putting on her PJs and socks, Gil opened a bottle of wine and they settled down to celebrate of the coming new year.
The concrete workers came in to form and pour the concrete foundation wall. They didn't need a full pad because Gil wanted a packed limestone gravel floor. Still, it took 25 yards of concrete. Four days later, steel seal plates, steel beams and columns were beginning to be pieced together.
Gil began ordering the lumber he wanted in the lumber shed. It was a mixture of the common lumber and plywood they normally used. He guesstimated at first, they began buying smaller quantities to fill out the space.
Gil was coming back from getting a few cases of nails, brads and staples when he followed a UPS truck to the house. Gil met the driver as she got out of the truck and signed for the delivery. He looked at the shipping label and smiled. As she set the three boxes on the ground, Gil would take them into the shop. When the UPS truck left, Gil made a stack of the things he had brought back from the building supply center and the three boxes UPS had delivered. They would take them up the Chamber later.
"What was the delivery?" Grace asked.
"Oh, just two 35-gallon copper stills."
"What in the world are you going to do with those?"
"Many things, but I could make whiskey to drink or for medicinal purposes and I could also have a use for those three dozen alcohol lamps we have in storage."
Grace shook her head. "Boys and their toys!"
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Post by gipsy on Nov 22, 2021 22:28:38 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by udwe on Nov 23, 2021 6:44:43 GMT -6
Thanks for the update! New Year's is gonna be here before we know it.
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Post by ydderf on Nov 23, 2021 22:21:27 GMT -6
Thanks
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 25, 2021 22:17:40 GMT -6
Chapter 99
Billy got a coyote, a female. He'd seen four but as soon as the first one went down the rest took off. He'd left it near the road but away from the pasture. Gil told him to move the carcass and throw it in the ravine next to the turn of the road at the top of the ridge. "You need to move your hide site also or they'll get skittish around the one you shot from, which isn't a bad thing, but if you want to kill them, scout out other sites and mark them on your GPS."
The smell of mustard greens and frying pork chops greeted Gil as he walked into the house. The women had been working in the greenhouse today while he had been moving the equipment back into the equipment barn. Gil had spent the afternoon, with some help from Billy later, drying the tarps that had covered the equipment and folding them up. Gil had taken some sheets of plywood and welded angle iron to the support columns for shelves to store the tarps by size. Brad had been up on Taylor's Bluff, installing the repeater system for their radios. The antenna was high enough they now had, with the exception two or three dead spaces, extended their radio range several miles.
Gil decided to run a test batch on the new still. He set his things out on the dining table in the Chamber and started a fire in the wood cookstove.
Taking an 8-gallon turkey fryer pot, he set it on the heated stove, filled it with water and placed the lid on the pot. When the temperature hit 165 degrees, he set the pot off to the side. Taking the lid off, Gil added eight and a half pounds of crushed corn and stirred it with his oak paddle for around four minutes. Setting the timer on his phone to 5 minutes Gil monitored the temperature and stirred the contents of the pot every 5 minutes until the temperature fell to 152 degrees. He then stirred in one and a half pounds of crushed malted barley, stirring for about two minutes, replaced the pot lid and let it set for 90 minutes. While he was waiting, he made up his yeast starter and sat it on the counter.
When the 90-minute alarm went off, Gil checked the mash and made sure it was around 70 degrees then stirred in the yeast mixture. Setting up a large strainer over a bucket and laying a large sheet of cheesecloth in the strainer, Gil strained off the wort, then picked up the cheese cloth and squeezed every bit of moisture he could from the cheesecloth wrapped mash. Dumping the squeezed out corn and barley into a separate bucket, he repeated the process until he had done all the mash. Taking his rechargeable drill and a sanitized paint mixer, Gil aerated the wort for about 5 minutes then checked the specific gravity with a hydrometer. Satisfied, he added the yeast starter and poured the wort into a 6-gallon carboy. Filling the airlock halfway with water, Gil inserted the airlock into the bung and tightly pushed the bung into the mouth of the carboy. Picking the carboy up, Gil took it over and placed it on a heavy table he had purpose-built. He'd let this sit here for two weeks to ferment before distilling. Gil took the 5-gallon buckets of mash squeezings with him and drove up to the pasture to dump them into the hog feeder.
Gil took Billy out on his first deer with a bow. Within a couple of hours Billy got a 10-point buck. Thankfully, it ran down hill and ended up near of the driveway. They took the deer to Mr. Hirschfeld for processing and the head to a taxidermist. When they walked into the house Grace saw the blood on Billy's cheeks and almost fainted, thinking that he had been hurt. Billy had Gil take a couple more pictures before fulfilling his mother's request of "washing that stuff off." Gil put his gear away then went back out and checked the furnace, loading it up as much as he could and setting the draft for a slow burn. The weather was changing and it felt like it wanted to snow. After adding wood to the lower furnace, Gil checked the chickens and gave them a little more feed and filled the feeders for the guinea and pea fowls.
They did get some snow, not much and there was more sleet than snow, which was good as that went because there was an estate sale over near Stony Gap he wanted to check out. Gil finished checking things out, admired the equipment barn and drove the Gator back up to the house.
"You and Mollie going to the sale with me?"
"She's staying back to watch the kids."
"Well, it starts at 1:00 so we need to get going."
Grace quickly changed into some warmer undergarments while Gil warmed the Power Wagon up. Grace brought out travel mugs of coffee for them and they were off. It was only about 25 files but the road had so many tight turns and in some places you almost met yourself on the turns. When they arrived there were only a few cars yet and they had time to go through the old Victorian house and the outbuildings. Gil saw a few things that interested him, Grace was going ga-ga on a lot of things. One of the things that interested Gil the most were 24 clay-fired whiskey jugs.
Gil ended up getting the jugs, a large assortment of antique woodworking tools, hammers, an anvil and pry bars. Grace picked up even more cast iron cookware, including a huge turkey roaster, more quilts, a bundle of printed flour sacks that women used to turn into clothing, a bear trap and a couple of smaller traps ( ), different sizes of cane baskets, three large baskets of knitting yarn and needles, and several pieces of antique Vaseline glassware and figurines. Loading the things up, Gil got a couple of bales of hay out of the barn and packed it around the jugs in the bed of the truck. When they got home, they mystery of the traps was revealed.
"Gee Momma, THANKS!" Billy said, turning the traps over and looking at them.
"Gil, can you make these traps stay open. Billy wants to hang them on the wall." Grace asked.
"Sure, I can spot weld them. Billy, are you going to paint the traps?
"No Sir. I want to leave them rusty."
"Get a sauce pot of water on and when it's boiling, add a couple of cups of salt and stir it until the salt dissolves, then bring it out to the shop.
"Okay Dad."
Gil took the traps out to the shop and first, set the bear trap. After spot welding it in a couple of places, he hit it a couple of times with a 2x4 and it didn't release. He did the same to the other two traps, rubbed the welds gently with a wire brush and took them outside just as Billy was coming out with the boiling salt water. Laying the traps on the ground, he had Billy pour the water over them, then hung them up in a tree.
"Let these hang for a couple of days and you won't even see the welds."
When the wort had been fermenting for two weeks, Gil siphoned the wash into the still that was sitting on the turkey fryer burner. He turned the burner on and slowly heated the wash until it started to boil. Keeping a watch on the temperature of the wash, once it went over 120 degrees, he turned on the condenser. Liquid began dripping out of the condenser tube.
Gil collected the heads and set them aside then started collecting the condenser droppings, one 375 ml dark green Long Neck Jersey Bottle at a time. When a bottle was full, Gil pushed a Natural Wood Varnish cork into the bottle, took it over to the pot of melted red cheese wax he had heating on the woodstove and dipped the neck of the bottle into the wax. Taking a stamp he'd had made, Gil stamped the top of the cork with a stylized "BV". He ended up with a little over 3 cases of 24 bottles.
After washing the still out and everything he'd used, Gil took two bottles with him and went back to the house. Printing out two canning labels with "Medicinal" on them, Gil placed them on the bottles and went to the kitchen. Taking a measuring glass out of the cabinet, he carefully measured out a glass of the alcohol and added 1/4 that amount of water and tasted it. Making a face, he dumped it down the sink drain. Measuring out another drink, this time he added 1/3 water. Taking as sip, smacked his lips, then took another sip. It was good, would taste better aged, but it was good. Pouring out and measuring what was left in the opened bottle, he added the correct amount of water to it and poured the mix back into the bottle. Writing a note in his field notebook, he washed and put the measuring glass back into the cabinet. Taking the unopened bottle into the pantry, he place it with the medical kit. The other bottle he put in the liquor cabinet, and peeled the label off of it.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 25, 2021 22:19:34 GMT -6
Chapter 100
Gil jumped when he got shocked reaching for the refrigerator door. Grace giggled. "Well, it's a good day." Grace said.
"It's a good day I almost get electrocuted?"
"No, that's just static electricity. The air is dry. I need to repackage that double acting baking powder into 6 oz mylar bags. Would you get me the sealer and the bags out of the pantry?"
Gil got the sealer and the package of bags. Grace set the scales and the big bag of baking powder on the counter. Working together, they quickly got the powder packed. Grace printed on labels stating the contents and the pack date on the label. Gil got a tote and placed the label on a pouch then the pouch into the tote. Gil gave Grace the final count, took two pouches out of the tote and put them in the pantry and placed the lid on the tote, securing the lid with a couple of pieces of gorilla tape.
"Yes, no, go ahead and sell the non-performers off. I've been watching them too. I'm not losing anything, just not making what I wish I had. No, turn it into junk silver. Yes, all of it. Have it shipped to my bank in Knoxville with instructions to notify me when it comes in. Okay Rob, thanks."
Grace looked up. "Problems?"
"Nope, just shedding some dead skin. I had stocks that had been doing marginally well. I think they have reached their potential, which was less than I would have thought, but it is what it is. Normally, I would roll it over and buy some other stock, but I don't think right now is the time to invest. I'm having it all turned into silver coins and entered into the accounts of my retirement fund."
You want some wine?"
"No, I just feel like a glass of cold water right now."
The hammering from upstairs had stopped. Billy came to the head of the stairs and yelled, "Dad! Come up and see!"
Billy had hung the traps on the wall in staggering positions, along with pictures of him and has dad and one of him and him Mom.
"Looks great Billy!"
"After looking closer at that trap, I'm glad there aren't any bears around here anymore."
"Oh, there are still bears, just not as many. Once in a while one will wander near so always pay attention to your surroundings."
Gil looked around the room. Billy kept it very clean and organized, the things he was most proud of prominently displayed. A thought came to Gil and he said good night and left Billy's bedroom. Going to his office, Gil got on his computer and ordered another air rifle.
Gil had picked up two incubators with automatic egg turners and a brooder hood at one of the estate sales he had attended and wanted to put them to use. He looked at the chicken house and drew some rough plans to add an addition to the chicken house to hatch some chicks out. He could easily go to the Farmers Co-op and buy all the baby chicks he wanted, but he wanted to be able to do without having to depend on outside sources and work out the pros and cons. After drawing up more detailed plans, Gil checked over his building materials and had everything he needed, to include insulation for the brooder room. He'd need to work out something for the brooder hood itself. It was heated with kerosene and he wanted to find some way to use alcohol. He could have plenty available if needed and could distill just about anything.
Gil and Brad set posts and built the floor of the incubator and brooding rooms to the same level of the coop. after doing the basic framing, they roofed it next so as to have a dry place to work during inclement weather. Gil purchased a tank of spray foam insulation and insulated between the floor joists and walls and placed batts of insulation in the ceiling. During this time, Billy was using the wood chipper on the tractor to grind up the fallen branches in the woods to make wood chips to place on the floor of the brooder room. The chips would soak up the droppings of the chicks and could be added to the mulch pile and the garden. When the building was complete, Gil ran electricity from the greenhouse service box to operate the incubator. Allie began collecting enough eggs to run a couple of dozen eggs to work out their mistakes. Allie and Grace were all over this and Mollie quickly took an interest also.
Gil finally worked out, well, he actually fabricated a valve that would allow him to use alcohol in the brooder hood. He destroyed a few valves to finally get the correct orifice that wouldn't end up in being a conflagration and with some rough art work, came up with a dial valve that you could approximate the temperature desired. With the insulation, the room could maintain an a good level of heat to keep the chicks comfortable.
Eighteen of the twenty-four eggs hatched. Sandy didn't understand the hoop-la put up by the women about more chickens, annoying little ones at that, and went sniffing elsewhere while they were in the chicken house.
"Gil! Steve. What are you and Brad doing this weekend?"
"Uh…I don't have anything going. I'll have to check with Brad. Why?"
"I wanted you two to come up to my retreat and tell me how to improve it."
"Sure, I could come up. If Brad is free I'm sure he'll come up too."
"Great! I'll pick you up Saturday morning around 9:00 and bring you back Sunday afternoon."
"Okay Steve, we'll see you then."
Gil called Brad and he said he would go. The women were going to get together and find a use for the flour sacks Grace had bought at the estate sale.
Gil and brad were waiting next to the hangar when Steve flew in, alone. Throwing their packs in, Gil got up front with Steve and Brad flew in the passenger seats.
"Morning guys!" Steve said after everyone had their headsets on.
"Good morning" They both said.
"How far is your place?" Gil asked.
"Oh, about 115 miles as the crow flies." Steve answered. "The only way in is by helicopter or by boat via Dale Hollow Lake. There used to be a road into the interior of the property but once the primary construction was done, I had the road dug up and had the biggest trees they could plant put in and erased access to the property."
How much land do you have there?"
"Three hundred and sixty-five acres."
When they landed, it was in a small field that had just enough clearance for the helicopter to land. There was a camouflaged shelter at the edge of the pasture where they towed the helicopter into with a four wheel UTV and a net was dropped down to totally conceal everything. Taking a 4-place Polaris, they wove through the trees to a small cabin in the woods. Going inside, it looked like normal three room weekend cabin, until Steve opened up a concealed panel revealing a steel door. After entering the code on the keypad, they descended a flight of stairs to another heavier door. Going through the door, it was like walking into an apartment. There was a kitchen and eating area and a couch.
"Snazzy." Brad said.
"Take a look around. There is a lot more. Get to know the place. We'll go back outside in a little bit and I'll show you some other stuff."
Gil and Brad walked through with Steve answering their questions as they went through. There was a two-bed room, then they walked through to what you could call a Great Room with TV and reading area, a Master Bedroom, food storage area, Gun room, bathroom, washer/dryer area, workshop, power room and even more storage. It was quite a setup.
Steve then took them outside and they walked around. One of the most prominent things was the wind turbine, sitting meters above the trees. .
"Is that thing up all the time?" Gil asked.
"Sure, it augments the solar power." Steve answered."
"Your PVs will probably handle the battery bank in the daytime. Our wind turbine only come up at night, when the winds are more prominent coming down the river. They handle the charging during the night time, PVs during the day. Less conspicuous."
Steve nodded and wrote down some notes.
They finally made their way back into the shelter and Gil reached into his pack and pulled out a bottle of his latest "drinkable " product and poured drinks.
"You made this?"
"Yep. I used the instructions of a Presbyterian deacon." Gil grinned.
"Whoa! That's smooth!" Steve exclaimed.
"It is also good to clean copper antenna wire also." Brad grinned.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 25, 2021 22:20:26 GMT -6
Chapter 101
"You know, if we did have to go to ground, we don't have a way to communicate with each other." Steve said. Gil looked at Brad. "Well, I guess we need to write up a communications plan. We're a few hundred feet above sea level more than you but nothing that a NVIS antenna couldn't handle. Let's work up a couple of systems we can communicate on and we'll mirror our systems. We can use it for normal comms also if you set up a unit in Nashville."
"Sounds good to me." Steve said.
Within a month Brad had a system put together that was simple yet robust. A combination of voice and packet data transmission technology, it wasn't easily detected, used low power, and the antennas easily concealable. Gil even flew his plane around the ridge at low level and couldn't see them until Brad actually gave him their locations. There were mirrored units at Gil's house, the Chamber, Steve's house near Nashville and one at his retreat. Test messages were sent each week on a schedule so they could make sure everything was working. Both locations continued to stockpile goods and foods and their test messages usually shared information on some new find and reviews of products.
Gil hooked up the bottom plow to the PTO on the tractor and was checking everything out when his radio blared "DAD! I THINK THERE'S A COYOTE UP HERE THAT'S RABID!"
Gil jumped into the Gator and headed for the drive, but was met by Brad in his Suburban headed in the same direction. Brad slid to a stop and Gil jumped in, taking the tactical shotgun up that Brad had pointed at the floor. Brad fish-tailed around a couple of corners before coming to the pasture gate. Gil was watching around as the came to a stop at the gate and got out, Gil with the shotgun and Brad with a HK416. They spotted Billy on the silo ladder ten feet above the ground, pointing in the direction of the coyote beyond their vision. Brad opened the gate and they went through with their eyes searching. Seeing the coyote, Brad shifted left to get a better angle and quickly shot the coyote. Billy came down off the ladder and ran over to the to men
"I didn't know what to do!" Billy panted.
"You did just the right thing Son."
"Gil, is everything all right?" Grace said over the radio.
"Everything's fine. I'll be back down in a bit."
Brad took a length of 550 cord out of one of his vest pockets and made a slip on one end and hooked it over the coyote's rear legs and began pulling the coyote. Billy ran and got a stick about six feet long and ran over to Brad. Tying a bowline at the end of the cord, both could easily drag the dead coyote. Taking the carcass further out into the open area, they began gathering deadfall out from under the surrounding trees and built a huge pile of wood over the carcass and set it on fire.
"Billy, I want you to stay here and monitor the fire until it burns out. If you need anything, call us on your radio." Gil said, handing Billy as pemmican bar. "Do you have water?"
"Yes Sir. I have my Camelbak in the Gator."
"Okay, see me when you get back."
Gil and Brad retuned to the Gator parked next to the drive.
"Brad, I'm going to plow the garden up. Can you set up one of the tactical shotguns we have up in the Chamber up for Billy?"
"Sure thing.
Gil plowed the cover crop in the garden under then began working on the corn field but stopped and came in when Billy called and said he was home. Gil put the tractor in the barn and drove the Gator to the house. When Gil walked in, Billy was in the kitchen eating a sandwich.
"Dad I stayed with the fire until the coals went out. I poured buckets of water on the fire and stirred it until there was no more heat."
"Good job."
Brad knocked and came in, carrying the tactical shotgun and handed it to Gil.
"Whoa! This looks good!. Billy, I don't want you going back up there without a gun. We'll install a gun carrier in your Gator for this. Brad, what did you do to this thing?"
"Well, I took a Beretta 1301, added the 1301 Handguard Assembly, a Magpul SGA stock, a sidesaddle that holds six rounds, the SLx Advanced Rotary Knob Microdot sight, the Viridian X5L-RS, which pairs a green laser with a 500-lumen Cree LED light, then topped it off with a Blackhawk Black Shotgun Sling." Brad took a box of Fiocchi 12 Gauge Low Recoil Buckshot out of his vest and set it on the counter.
Gil handed the gun to Billy. "Load it up, but don't chamber a round until you need it. Take care of it and it will take care of you."
Billy loaded the shells into the shotgun and made sure the safety was on.
"Thanks Dad."
Brad and Billy left to get a gun mount to install into the Gator as Grace came in.
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what happened?"
Gil relayed the story to Grace and she let out a sigh. "Well, I guess he did the right thing."
"He did exactly as he should have done being that he wasn't armed. He won't have that problem anymore."
Later, when Gil was in Billy's room helping him with a math problem, he noticed the shotgun was mounted on gun hooks above where Billy hung his vest.
Gil received the call from his bank in Knoxville that they were holding a shipment for him. Gil asked Brad to accompany him and then the girls wanted to go also.
"We're not going shopping. I'll be hauling around $187,000 in silver coins in 8 bags. I'd really like to pick it up and come straight back here."
"Okay, but you owe us a trip." Grace said.
"Nothing stopping you two from going yourselves."
"It's more fun going with you."
"Well, we're going down in the morning and will be back before noon."
"Then I guess then we'll bake bread and play Scrabble until you get back."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 25, 2021 22:21:14 GMT -6
Chapter 102
Gil and Brad quickly loaded the bags with the security guard watching. They left the band and quickly got on I-40 and didn't stop until they reached Bluff View. They loaded the bags into the Gator and took it directly to the Chamber and stacked the bags into the gold vault. Gil had moved all the gold up there except for fifty gold coins of various denominations Gil kept in the vault in his office along with several packets of cash they kept there for estate sales and for the women to have for yard sales. The next day Gil was helping the women raking and forming the planting beds and setting out potato and collard plants, ten tomato plants, and dozens of three different types of onions. Once hey finished planting, Gil continued forming the rest of the beds in the garden to be planted later. They would stagger planting times so they had fresh vegetables throughout the summer. Grace had corn sprouting in peat pots and they would plant those tomorrow.
Gil finished forming the planting beds and got the tractor and disk and went to disk the food fields. Billy came behind him and used the seed broadcaster, planted the fields. By the time Billy finished seeding the fields, Gil was halfway through dragging the harrow over the fields, covering up the seed. The strawberries were blooming in the greenhouse and would be bearing fruit before long. The girls learned allot since they started the greenhouse and had learned from their mistakes. Since March, almost all the plants growing inside the greenhouse had been started to be transplanted in the garden. Now they greenhouse beds would be recharged with fertile mulch and new plants would be started.
"I talked to the Manager at Food City and he'll save the wax lined boxes they get frozen food in and save them for us. Reverend Jim is asking for donations of any canning jars that people are willing to part with." Grace said.
"Did you order more canning supplies?" Gil asked.
"I'll probably fill up one of the shipping containers with what I ordered."
"Okay, I'm going to fly up to the Deacon's. I won't be long."
Gil got one of the bottles of 'shine and drove down to the hangar, picking up Brad along the way. They towed Brad's plane out and Brad did a walk-around. Getting in, Brad cranked the engine and taxied down to the turn around and started rolling the plane lifted in a few seconds and Brad banked over the ridge and flew north east. A few minutes later the pasture came into sight and Brad set up for landing. The big Tundra tired touched down and the plane quickly slowed. He turned around and taxied downwind to the edge of the pasture and turned around and shut down. They got out to stretch their legs and heard the old tractor approaching. The Deacon came out of the trees on the old logging road with a big grin on his face. Pulling up beside the plane, he shut down the tractor and climbed off.
"How ya doing Gil?"
"I'm fine Deacon, and you?"
"I can't complain."
Gil turned to the plane and took the two cases of empty gallon jugs out of the plane and set them in the trailer, then put the two cases of full jugs in the plane. Gil handed the Deacon the money and the bottle of his whiskey.
"Tell me what you think of this, Deacon."
The deacon looked the bottle over, peeled the wax seal and pulled the cork out. Taking a sip, he swished it around in his mouth before swallowing.
"Mighty smooth…that's good quality. You make this?"
"Yes Sir. I've got a twenty gallon copper still. I bought some charred kegs and have been ageing what I've been getting from you. This will be the last load I get from you, unless you run into a problem and need the money. I'm making 148 proof to use for medicinal purposes."
"Why do you need so much alcohol?"
"Bad times. People are going to have their vices. We can trade for things we need easily with whiskey."
"Now you've got me thinking." The deacon said.
"If I were you, I'd bottler some in smaller bottles and save it back. It will be better than money in the bank." Gil said.
"You just may be right."
They shook hand and the deacon moved his tractor while Brad did his walk-around and started the plane. After letting the engine warm up he opened up the throttle and the plane was in the air within 100 feet. Rising above the valley's bluffs, Brad did a slow turn and headed back southwest.
Mollie and Grace were seeing slow deliveries at the grocery stores, even Walmart. Some days complete shelves would be bare, especially juices. Grace had several types of drink mixes and teas in their inventory and ordered more each week. They weren't much into soft drinks. They two lemon trees and two lime trees in the greenhouse and they were bearing fruit. They had cases of powdered milk, both plain and chocolate, apple drink mixes, peach drink mixes, orange drink mixes, powdered Gatorade and tons of coffee. The drink mixes had been repackaged into quart-serving sized mylar pouches. The cans they usually came in were made of cardboard and tended to harden after storage for a time. They made note of the spices that were becoming scarce and ordered them bulk online. They were still slow getting to them but at least they were getting delivered.
Once a week, Allie, Grace got together and sent the day repackaging bulk food items that had come in. Sugars were repackaged in 1-pound mylar packages and labeled, the 5-gallon pails of oatmeal was done the same way. They went through a lot of mylar bags of all sizes, oxygen absorbers and desiccant packs, and of course storage bins.
"Need some ammo?" Steve asked.
"You can never have too much ammo." Gil replied.
"I'll have a helicopter at the hangar around 10:00 tomorrow. Bring your truck. Check your messages."
Gil went to the radio and scrolled down the traffic until he came to the encrypted message. Printing out the screen shot, he got the appropriate book from the 6-volume set of Winston Churchill's "The Second World War" off the shelf and decrypted the message.
"Bought a gun shop out. Got tons of good stuff. Sell you half cheap."
Gil acknowledged and encrypted "Roger, will take it."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 25, 2021 22:22:41 GMT -6
Chapter 103
Gil and Brad were waiting with the Power Wagon and the large trailer. They weren't sure what size gun store Steve had bought so they didn't take any chances. They heard the helicopter and looked southwest and saw it coming up the river with a load suspended below it. About ½ mile trailing the heavy-lift, they saw Steve's helicopter. The heavy-lift helicopter hovered above the runway in front of the hangar and slowly lowered an wooden case about 8 feet long by four feet high. Once the case was on the ground, the load was cut away and the helicopter did a wide turn to the right and cleared the area. Steve came in and landed while Gil and Brad started taking off the netting and straps. Brad went into the hangar and came back with two crowbars. The two men took the top of the case off and there lay rifles and pistols still in the boxes. "How much is in here?" Gil asked Steve.
"A lot more than I had bargained for, that's for sure. There was more but it got destroyed in the fire."
"Fire? What happened?"
"After I had gone through the inventory, a fire broke out at night and destroyed everything. Guns, mostly used, a few cans of powder, all the records for the last 30 years, everything." Steve grinned.
"Convenient, wouldn't you say?" Brad mused.
"Yeah, all of the stuff that I saved were in a separate store room from the shop. He didn't show but about twenty guns on his floorspace. Most of them I would have been reluctant to fire."
"It must have been a small store." Gil said.
"It was. He just had more inventory than anyone knew. He was a single man and died alone. It looked like he was buying two and three of the latest hot items. I think he would charge people extra for 'finding' a gun for them. I don't think anyone but him actually knew what he had. We need to get this unloaded. The helicopter will be coming back with another crate with nothing but ammo and reloading supplies.."
"Another crate!?!"
"Yep, I told you half didn't I?"
An hour and a half later, the heavy lift returned with the other crate. Brad got the tractor and they sat the ammo crate in the hangar without opening it. They gathered up the sling-load equipment and this time the heavy-lift landed to recover their gear. Gil started writing down the contents of the case. There were Taurus, Glock, Smith & Wesson, Kimber, Colt and Ruger pistols, Remington, Springfield, Browning, Savage, Winchester, Colt, Mossberg, and Benelli rifles and shotguns. Steve help them load all the guns transport then up to the Chamber where they stacked the boxes on the table.
"I'm going to build a storage cabinet for all this." Gil said.
"What do you want to do with these cases of primers?" Brad asked.
"Set them on the kitchen counter for now. We might as well haul that ammo up here too while we're at it."
They hooked trailers to both Gators and loaded the ammunition, powder, empty brass and bullets into the trailers and into the box of the Gator. Once they had it stacked on the floor of the Chamber, Gil stood an looked at the stack.
"I'll have to get a couple of fireproof storage for these primers and powder. Something I've been neglecting has been my reloading materials. I need to play catch-up with that."
"With all this, I don't think you have much catching up to do." Brad said.
Gil went into the storage chamber and came out with one of the one gallon clay jugs filled with moonshine for Steven.
"I'm sure you paid the proper taxes for this!" Steve said, grinning.
"Yep. I was standing right behind Al Sharpton." Gil laughed.
"You want payment I check, cash or gold?"
"Hm-m-m. I'll take gold if you don't mind." Steve replied.
"You want current gold coins or 1863 Double Eagles?"
"You have those?"
"Sure do. You'd have to resale them to get your best deal though."
"Let me have the Double Eagles then."
Gil counted out the gold for Steve and used current denominational coins to round it out. The two took Steve back down to the hangar. They watched as Steve did his walk-around and took off, headed for Nashville.
"You want to start on the storage cabinets?" Brad asked.
"Let me sit down and draw something up. I want them sturdy and able to bolt to the wall. Where I envision putting then is a little uneven and the wall slopes there so, we'll have to do some filling in. I've got the space requirements already figured for 5,000 rounds. We can build the cabinets in five-foot sections and quickly build what we need."
"Do you want them pretty?" Brad asked.
"Pretty can come from a coat of paint, we just want them sturdy."
Gil didn't want to waste time looking in the Kingsport and Knoxville area for flammable storage cabinets and just ordered them from Uline and had them shipped. Gil and Brad laid out and cut the pieces for the cabinet frames and ripped plywood to cover them. Once the worked through the first cabinet and adjusted the plans, they had the measurements down. Billy helped out by painting the insides of the cabinets white with a spray gun and the outsides gray. When they ran out of space in the shop, they hauled the cabinets to the Chamber, drilled holes in the wall to bolt the modules in, used spacers between the wall and the cabinet, leveled, plumbed and bolted them in. They sited the flammable storage cabinets at opposite ends of the row of ammo cabinets, the cabinets stacked two high. When they had transferred the ammo they already had on hand, they had ammo for every gun they had, enough to last for years or fight a small war for 6 months.
They built cabinets for the guns and just left them in their boxes. It wasn't very secure but if someone were to breach the out doors of the Chamber, they had a lot more to worry about than someone stealing guns.
Don and Annie came over for a cookout after church. Gil and Grace took them up to the Chamber and showed them around to see the changes that had occurred since their last visit. Gil got out a couple of the 375 ml bottles for Don to take home.
"Gil, we need to pay for some of this food."
"Well, I sort of wanted to take it out trade in kind. I want to put in another gas tank and two more diesel tanks. I need the holes dug."
"Get me the dimensions and I'll see that it's done, but I still want to pay for some of this."
"Have Annie get with Grace and Allie. They are in charge of food and essentials storage. They need to update your list of requirements anyway."
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Post by freebirde on Nov 26, 2021 1:21:05 GMT -6
If Steve is off of Dale Hollow, he could access his property by floatplane/flying boat. They even make amphib ultralights.
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Post by gipsy on Nov 26, 2021 9:19:23 GMT -6
Thanks for a fine update.
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Post by texican on Nov 26, 2021 14:53:54 GMT -6
n,
Thanks for the multiple chapters.
Would you provide the name of the air rifles noted in the story. I had it written down but not in my notebook.
Thanks,
Texican....
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Post by gipsy on Nov 26, 2021 16:48:05 GMT -6
I think he named them where he first mentioned then a few chapters back.
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Post by ydderf on Nov 26, 2021 18:28:11 GMT -6
Thank you.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 26, 2021 19:08:14 GMT -6
n, Thanks for the multiple chapters. Would you provide the name of the air rifles noted in the story. I had it written down but not in my notebook. Thanks, Texican....
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Post by udwe on Nov 26, 2021 21:29:32 GMT -6
Thank you for the fine update!
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