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Post by ydderf on Dec 8, 2021 20:32:19 GMT -6
Thanks for the update
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Post by texican on Dec 10, 2021 0:32:42 GMT -6
Grabbing the diaper bag and the portable high chairs, Gil began loading the back of the Suburban. "The pioneers didn't load half this stuff going across the country to California." Mumbled Gil.
It is even more difficult taking young ones on vacation.
Shannon pulled herself closer and whispered in Colt's ear.
"Take me home."
Colt was surprised. He thought they were having a great time, but now she wanted to go home. He pulled back to look at her. She saw the look on his face and began giggling.
"Oh, you silly man. I meant take me to YOUR home."
Yep, Colt is a goner.
Thanks n for the chapters.
Texican....
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Post by bluefox2 on Dec 10, 2021 6:52:55 GMT -6
Grabbing the diaper bag and the portable high chairs, Gil began loading the back of the Suburban. "The pioneers didn't load half this stuff going across the country to California." Mumbled Gil. It is even more difficult taking young ones on vacation. Shannon pulled herself closer and whispered in Colt's ear.
"Take me home."
Colt was surprised. He thought they were having a great time, but now she wanted to go home. He pulled back to look at her. She saw the look on his face and began giggling.
"Oh, you silly man. I meant take me to YOUR home."Yep, Colt is a goner. Thanks n for the chapters. Texican.... My wife was the same way when our kids were little. A 3 day trip to see her parents usually had me loading at least 3 footlockers full of clothing. I was glad we had a big station wagon at the time.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 11, 2021 0:49:15 GMT -6
Chapter 124
Colt had ordered five Emergency Medical Trauma Bags and outfitted them for everything his experience told him was needed, to include IV bags and infusion sets. He would train everyone one how to give and IV and perform basic medical tasks and lifesaving procedures. He would hand them out Sunday at the cookout.
Shannon came home frustrated. She could feel this coming but she didn't realize just how far the "good 'ol boy" network. There was one businessman who was hounding her because of a loan he wanted to take out. She had the final say-so as the Commercial Account Manager and the loan was just too risky for the bank at that time. The bank manager even called her in to talk to her about it. It would risk her reputation and be a liability to the bank as a whole if she put her signature on the paperwork.
Mollie notice something was bothering Shannon after she came home and put on her sweats.
"Shannon, honey, what's wrong."
"Oh Aunt Mollie, I guess I'm beginning to face the fact that doing the right thing isn't always the right thing in everyone's eyes, even if you can prove it."
Shannon went on and told her what was going on at the bank.
"Shannon, I don't want to get too deep in your business, but why are you working anyway? Marie and George left you more money than you could ever spend. Just walk away. You don't need that kind of frustration."
"I know. I wanted to help people, but the Animal Farm rules are in effect in Greene County. I'm going down to talk to Colt."
Mollie watched a dejected Shannon get in the Polaris and head for Colt's cabin. She wished those two would get married. They should be making her great nieces and nephews.
Colt was sitting in his chair, a Bluetooth speaker softly playing music from a Bill Lesli album when Shannon drove up. She got out of the UTV and walked over to him, spread his legs apart and sat in the chair between his legs. Leaning back against him, she took the beer out of his hand and took a swallow.
"What's wrong?" Colt asked.
"Work."
"You know, you don't have to work. I'd take care of you."
Shannon sat up and looked back at him.
"You'd want me to be a kept woman?" She said, frowning.
"NO! I mean… look, I've got money enough to keep you like a princess for the rest of your life. I want to marry you."
"You're going to have to do better than that, for my dignity's sake."
Colt shoved her up out of the seat twirled her around and got to one knee, pulling a little box out of his pocket.
"Shannon, would you honor me by accepting my proposal of marriage."
Shannon teared up. "YES!"
Colt stood up and placed the ring on her finger and received a scorching kiss. Grabbing his hand, Shannon pulled him toward the cabin then suddenly stopped. Taking her phone out of her pocket, she made a call.
"Aunt Mollie, I won't be home tonight."
Mollie sat the phone down after Shannon ended the call. There was a knowing smile on her face.
Gil was going to buy a slightly smaller silo for the oats but the price wasn't a whole lot different between the larger one he'd had put in last year and the smaller one so he went for the larger one. They got the oats and corn planted and the first two weeks of plants in the garden. Gil and Billy planted the food plots and planted a pound of giant sunflower seeds along the river.
With little to do except for the occasional cultivating and pulling weeds in the garden, Gil began building another queen-size captain's bed for Colt and Shannon's room in the Chamber. Shannon had quit her job and was now their deal finder. She checked around for all the unclaimed auctions and was at everyone she could attend and bade on those that were online. She was batting a pretty good average, but a lot of times ended up with things they couldn't use, like the 150 plus size women's tops that she sold off to thrift stores and still made money.
"Gil, could I talk with you?" Colt said.
"Sure, come on in." Gil opened the door wider."
Gil led him onto the Great Room and they sat down.
"Gil, you know Shannon and I are getting married and I was wondering if you'd allow us to put a house here."
"Hey, it is not a problem. But, I want the Trust to pay for it. It's a matter of lawyer gibberish. Everything is covered by the Trust within the boundaries of this property."
"Okay, I can understand that, having to deal with them too, but I'd still want to pay for the house."
"Oh, you started paying for it the day you stepped out of your truck onto the land. You are a part of everything here. You do your part to make this place what it is. I'll bend and let you buy your own furniture, as a matter of fact, Shannon should get with Grace on that."
"Thanks Gil, Shannon wants a log home. Who did you use?"
Gil grinned and went and got Boyd Haskell's business card and gave it to Colt.
"You and Shannon can look at the models online. They can make any changes in the floorplan you'd like."
""Thanks again. We'll talk with you later."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 11, 2021 0:51:47 GMT -6
Chapter 125
Gil received delivery of the FieldKing multi crop combine. It was barely bigger than his Power Wagon but it would do the job on the relatively small acreage he planted. Billy fell in love with the tracked combine and offered to drive it for the whole harvest. Gil looked the machine over carefully and read the manual. After deciding what parts would wear out the quickest, Gil ordered the parts to have on hand. Surprisingly, the combine had several major parts he could make himself if needed.
The Co-op had gotten in a pallet of curing salt in and Gil went in and picked up 200 pounds. On the way home he stopped at the Walmart Super Center to pick up some CR2032 batteries. As he got out of his truck, three spaces up from him an elderly lady was loading her bags into her car. A man ran over and tried to drag her purse strap off of her shoulder, but she had the strap across her body and she was being jerked around. The man pulled a pistol and Gil immediately drew his and put a round through the man's temple, dropping him where his was struggling with the woman. Gil went over and calmed the lady down and had her sit in her car until authorities arrived, which was a short few minutes later. Gil had already removed the magazine and the round from the chamber and laid everything on the roof of the lady's car when the police car pulled up.
"Gil, what happened?" Officer Whitfield asked.
Out of earshot of the lady, Gil told him what had happened.
Officer Whitfield handed Gil a clipboard with a statement form on it. "You know the deal."
While Officer Whitfield was questioning the elderly lady, two more police cars, an ambulance, and the Crime Scene Van drove up, one of the cars was driven by Chief Ray Dalton.
"What happened Gil?" Chief Dalton asked.
Gil handed him the clipboard with the signed form.
Chief Dalton read the statement and sighed. "We'll have to take your weapon, as you know. This to me is a righteous shoot, and I think the DA will consider it so too."
They watched as the security guard came out and unlocked the box on the mobile security trailer and handed the recording of the parking lot to a police officer.
"I love those security camera trailers." Dalton said. "It cuts down on the paperwork considerably."
They finally released Gil and he went inside, bought his batteries and went home.
When Gil told Grace what had happened, she gave him a hug, then continued making lunch, like it was just another thing he had to do.
A few days later, Gil was called to the Courthouse to be personally told by the DA that no charges would be filed against him and gave him his pistol back. As Gil exited the courthouse, there were several newspaper and TV journalists waiting for him.
"Mr. Conner, how does it feel to be absolved of the responsibility of killing a young member of this community?"
"Ma'am, I was absolved of illegally killing a person who should not have been walking our streets. Every time you take a life, it stays with you forever. A sane person doesn't do that for fun. But occasionally you'll run across someone who has no compunction about killing anyone who doesn't give them what they want or anyone who gets in their way. To me, killing someone like that is no different than killing a rabid dog. It won't bother me that long.
"But should you have set yourself up to be judge, jury, and executioner?"
"I didn't take action looking to be judge, jury, and executioner. I did what I had to do."
"It doesn't bother you that you had to kill a young man barely out of his teens?" The reporter asked, sounding concerned.
"That 'young man, barely out of his teens' was 23 years old, and by his police record, a habitual predator. Now, people are a little safer because a career criminal no longer walks the streets of this state."
"But his mother said…."
"I feel sorry for the mother of the thug who manhandled and threatened the life of a 68 year old woman. I'm sure she is saddened by her son's sudden demise. Perhaps if she had spent more time raising her son to be a decent citizen then she wouldn't be lamenting about his sudden departure from the producing citizens of this country."
"But was it any of your business…"
"Ma'am, I mind my own business. You can ask anyone who knows me around here about that. However, if I am put in a position where I have to shoot someone to defend others or myself, I have no problem taking the shot, and no problem with the result of the shot. At that point, I'm protecting myself or the people I'm trying to protect, and I never shoot just to wound, which I'm sure is your next stupid question. You people who think I should have shot to wound obviously have no idea what it's like in a situation like that. You don't have time think about carefully aiming for a hand, a shoulder, or a thigh. If I had done that, I'd have been exposed for long enough that the thug I would be trying only to wound could have shot me, possibly killing me and possibly others in the vicinity. Thank you for your interest and good day."
Gil got into the Power Wagon and drove back down Lee Highway to Bluff View.
Planting and weeding filled the next couple of weeks. Gil had four of the early watermelon plants he was cultivating with only four melons on each of them. He had pinched off the flowers and already forming watermelons he had missed and the melons were already as big as one of the melons they picked when ripe. Gil estimated he get melons that would be 30 and 40 pounds each, although he wouldn't be sure of the sweetness until they were harvested.
The parsonage renovation had been completed and Reverend Jim moved in. The dining room had been enlarged and Gil built a table large enough for the 12 - 15 people who normally came to Bible Study could sit around. Drake upgraded the PV system to a grid-tie system to power the church and the parsonage so mostly they were selling power back to the power company.
Colt and Shannon stood arm-in-arm watching as the crew put the wind turbine up.
"A week or so and the furniture will be here." Shannon said. "You're going to love it. I'm glad Grace talked me into going with her down to Florida to buy everything."
"As long as you're happy. I can live with a canteen cup, spoon and a sleeping bag."
"Well, you won't ever go back to that once I have the house put together."
"Are you sure you don't want a bigger wedding?"
"Why should I? We have all our friends and family right here at Bluff View. Of course, I sent out invitations to all the church members but made a note that any gifts should be donations to the church's maintenance fund."
"We need to get the trailer hooked up and go get your Polaris." Colt said.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 11, 2021 0:54:32 GMT -6
Chapter 126
When propane prices were at their low in the summer, Jimmy would send a truck up to top off all the tanks. This time he drove it up himself. He called ahead to let them know he was coming Saturday afternoon and that Doris was riding with him. Brad told him to plan to stay overnight and they could stay at his house.
Jimmy and Doris pulled up to the security gate and Jimmy had to get out of the cab to buzz the gate. As the gate began to open, Jimmy got back in and pulled the truck and tank trailer through just enough for the gate to close. Once the gate was fully closed, Jimmy geared up and headed on down the ridge and to the fuel depot Grace came zipping down the hill to pick up Doris and take her back to the house. Jimmy filled the tanks with wet legs first. Gil and Colt helped pull the hose off the reel and connected it to the first tank.
"So, you guys doing good?"
"Yeah Jimmy, we're going good, how about you?"
"Can't complain personally, but this economy is killing sales like crazy. I've held prices as low as I can but people are going to be doing coin flips this winter on whether to eat or stay warm."
Jimmy stopped the fueling and they connected the hose to the other tank.
"Doris and I bought some property out in the country. Too much crap going on for a town even the size of Greenville."
"Yeah, Gil had to sto….." Colt stopped speaking when he saw Gil wince.
"What did you do this time Gil?"
"Stopped an armed robbery. The guy tried to snatch an elderly lady's purse. When she wouldn't turn loose he pulled a gun and I put a round in him."
"In him? He put one right through his temple!" Colt exclaimed.
"Good deal! "You not only took out the trash but saved the town and county some bucks. Good work! Hey, you guys aren't using much propane, are you?"
"These are for 'What if?' and for filling twenty and the 100 pounders on the TinyHouse. The tanks up at the house need to be filled."
Jimmy was glad they had a circular drive at the house, otherwise he would have had to back the 45 foot rig up the hill. The tanks at the house did take more fuel than the wet legs but they filled quickly. Jimmy pulled the rig back down and parked at the bottom of the ridge and Gil brought him back up in the Gator. They sat out on the deck and Gil came out with glasses and a unopened bottle of whiskey and handed it to Jimmy.
"What's this?" Jimmy asked, taking the brown bottle from Gil. "River Bank Whiskey."
The bottle was 750 ml and brown, sealed with red wax and imprinted with a stylized "DV" with the wax flowing down on one side for about an inch. A label on the side depicted a woodcut of a lazy river with an old man fishing off the bank.
"You made this?" Jimmy asked.
"Yeah, it's my first batch of 'aged' whiskey." Gil replied.
Jimmy broke the seal and pulled the cork out. Pouring a little in a glass, he took at sip. Jimmy looked up at Gil and grinned. "Damn! That's smooth!"
Jimmy poured two fingers into the three glasses. "To good friends and fallen comrades." Colt toasted.
"How long has this been aging?'
"Three months." Gil answered.
"Three months! This tastes like it's at least ten or twelve years old!"
"Well, It's been aging in a charred barrel, but I also added charred oak infusion spirals. It's called forced aging. Cuts down on the time. This batch I used spirals from a distillery outfitter. Once I saw what they were, I cut out my own from white oak we cut off the land and charred them in a Dutch oven. It was a lot of work but I'd rather make my own than pay the outrageous prices they charge for a half-dozen of them from a supplier."
"How do you know when it's aged enough?"
"That's the good part. You taste it every day or two until it's where you want it, but the more it ages the better it will get. I've got a couple of ten gallon kegs of this batch still aging.
"This is really good. I'll gladly take any old excess you have laying around." Jimmy grinned.
"I'll make sure you have a couple of bottles to take back with you." Gil chuckled.
"On a more serious note Gil. What you've been doing here has got me thinking. I bought 150 acres between Greeneville and Albany. I want to set up something like you have here. The only thing I'd like to have would be something like the Chamber, but that's not going to happen. I've got room for a greenhouse and a nice big level field. What can I do about a shelter?"
"Well, Steve has a pretty nice pre-fab shelter that you need to take a look at. You should give him a call and go take a look at it. He can you the ins and outs and tell you what he wished he'd done differently."
"I'll do that. Whoa! I'm getting a good buzz! What proof is this?"
"Eighty four for this batch."
"I'd better stick with one drink before dinner then."
Gil grinned. "It will still be here."
Sunday afternoon after a delicious fried chicken dinner, Gil was lounging on the deck listening to music by Enya when Billy came out.
"Dad, do you have a minute?"
"Sure. What's up?"
"I was going over my Earth Science modules and they were talking about Caverns and how they are formed. There is nothing that fits the description of the Chambers unless the are millions and millions of years old and all the soluble rock encapsuled within the granite was leached away and washed down the stream. There aren't even any stalagmites or stalactites. We never found where the water goes but I assume it ends up in the river. Do you think there are more caves like the Chamber in the ridge?"
"It's possible. It would probably take a Ground Penetrating Radar to get a deep geophysical analysis."
Didn't that guy Harold have something like that when you cut the escape tunnel?"
"Yeah, he did, but I don't know if it would work for searching for something like that. I'll call and see if he has any ideas."
Gil sat there after Billy left think of what Billy said. He hadn't considered there could more formations in the ridge. Interesting.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 11, 2021 1:00:06 GMT -6
Chapter 127
When Shannon and Colt's house was finished and the furniture in place, they were ready to get married, not that they hadn't already been playing "house" in the TinyHouse.
The wedding was held on a Saturday afternoon at Bluff View Christian Church with Reverend Jim officiating. It was a simple ceremony with practically everyone in the congregation attending. Gil was best man and Grace the Matron of Honor, with Allie and Angela Courtney, Steve's wife, as Maids.
The reception was held at the VFW hall that, although Shannon paid for, the ladies of the church set up. The Bennigans decided to honeymoon in Hawaii but would be back in time for the corn and oat harvest.
After the reception was over, and they had returned home, Gil and Steve were sitting on the deck drinking River Bank Whiskey.
"You know Gil, you could make some big money with this whiskey."
"I'd just as soon stay under the radar and just make it for my friends and myself."
"Man, this is really good!"
"Did Jimmy get up with you?"
"About the homestead?"
"Yeah."
"I'm going down to pick him and Doris next week and spend the night up there. I'm glad he's getting serious about this stuff."
"Yeah, he's finally getting nervous in the service. How are things over around Nashville?"
"Tourism is down. Everything is so expensive. There's been a rash of home invasions so our business is picking up even more. I've had a couple of offers on the business and I'm thinking of getting out while the business is on the upswing. Angela would rather be up at the lake anyway."
Gil ended up with 12 super large Moon and Stars watermelons that gave him more than enough juice to distill so he turned the rest into wine. That was a process untested by him but he decided to give it a shot, The worst he could do was fail.
The watermelon whiskey turned out all right, but nothing he'd go out of his way to make more in the near future. The Watermelon Wine turned out to be a favorite of most of the people. It was semisweet and was a refreshing drink served cold, leaving a tiny aftertaste of the rind.
Drake came up with one of his techs to do a yearly maintenance check of the alternative energy systems. They did some upgrades on the forge building system but spent most of the time sitting and visiting. Gil made sure they both left with a bottle of River Bank each.
Billy was practicing every day maneuvering the combine and couldn't wait for the harvest to begin. Gil and Brad made sure the grain trailers were cleaned and ready. The oats were ready before the corn so Billy was thrilled to be the primary combine operator. There was little he really had to do but keep the tracks straight and stop when the buzzer went off, warning him that the bin was full. One of the two men would pull up a grain trailer with a tractor and park, Billy would swivel the discharge chute over and empty the bin into the trailer. They decided to load the trailer twice, then take it to the silo. When the oat harvest was finished, they had another week before the corn would be ready so they spent time building a shelter between the two silos to put the grain mill under and set it up so they could run balanced mixes of grains from each silo into the mill at the same time and load it back into a grain wagon to take up to the feed silo at the pasture.
Colt and Shannon came back from Hawaii all happy and tanned just in time for the corn harvest. Billy finally relented and let someone else drive the combine so they would get used to driving it and Billy rotated on one of the tractors. Although they had planted less corn this year, their harvest was almost a good as the previous year. Gill immediately bushhogged the cornfield and they turned it all under with the bottom plow, disked it and planted the cover crops.
Steve and Harold showed up with what, at first, Gil thought was one of those bomb squad robots, but was a tracked remote controlled GPR. Because the geological upthrust here, if that what it really was, was different from the other ridges they observed along the river, they decided to run it down the ridgeline first to see what they could pick up. Starting above the main chamber, they could actually see the difference in where there were hollow areas. After going past the storage chamber, they went an estimated thirty feet and all of a sudden there was another dip and change in color on the graph screen and they stopped.
"I think there is another chamber." Harold said. "Look at the screen, it'll be easier once I've printed this off, but it dips and changes colors just like the main chamber did and about at the same depth. Let's see how far it goes."
"They went another 130 feet before the screen changed and they were returned to a more solid area.
"Well, looks like you have another chamber 30 feet on the other side of the second chamber, possibly a little larger than the smaller chamber. You can't really tell because the ridge widens out at that point."
"Well, we won't know until we go in there." Gil said. "Any chance of borrowing your laser cutter again, Harold?"
Harold grinned. "I've got one even better! It will take a while to get up here, we'll have to bring it up here under its own power….too heavy to carry. It moves twice as fast as the GPR, but it's still slow. Once we get up here the drive motor battery may have to be recharged, but it will do a faster and better job in cutting than the older prototype did."
"I'll arrange for the chopper to bring it in." Steve said.
They continued on down to the ridgeline to the drive and didn't find any other anomalies.
"Let's get this thing down on the road and get back." Gil said.
They got everything back to the airfield and Steve and Harold got back to their Nashville installation just before dark.
Shannon had won a bid on a 40 foot shipping container and it had arrived while they were on their honeymoon. Gil had the deliverer put the container next to the forge and it sat there until Shannon and Colt got back from Hawaii. While the men were busy with getting the corn harvested, Shannon managed to cut the lock on the container and sorting the contents. The first portion they got to was tools, all made in China, but seemed to be of good quality. This was going to be a big job. Even with Grace and Mollie helping out, it took them a while to inventory. The tools took up a quarter of the container. Allie was entering the item and the quantity in her inventory program and the boxes were checked. Finally, when they had checked and marked the boxes containing tools and started running into different merchandise, they reloaded the boxes and locked everything back up. They had to have a better plan.
After the corn was brought in and the equipment was cleaned up and stored in the equipment barn, Shannon approached Gil.
"Gil, we've gone through about a quarter of that container and it was nothing but tools, so far. It looks like they might have been headed for a Lowe's or a Home Depot, so that's where I got the retail prices from. Here is the list of what we inventoried."
Gil looked down the list of items and then at the total retail price.
"What did you pay for the container?"
"Twenty-five thousand dollars."
"Lucky roll of the dice! Fifty thousand is a pretty good profit margin. What about the rest of the container?" "We haven't inventoried it yet. We didn't have anywhere to put it and it looked like it was going to rain."
"Okay, let me make a couple of calls. I'll get some 20 foot containers so you can sort things out. Good call on this buy."
Gil called Jack Dickson to get his father-in-law's number to see if he had any 20 foot containers. He did and Gil asked his to deliver four of his treated containers. Gil called around to trailer sales companies and found something in the line he was thinking of. He'd talk to Shannon later and see if she was game.
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Post by kiwibutterfly on Dec 11, 2021 2:56:25 GMT -6
Many thanks
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Post by gipsy on Dec 11, 2021 10:52:48 GMT -6
What a fine update. I too am an Enya fan.
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Post by texican on Dec 11, 2021 17:21:22 GMT -6
Thanks n for the four chapters.
Texican....
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Post by udwe on Dec 11, 2021 22:22:46 GMT -6
Great story! Needs a few more kids!
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Post by gipsy on Dec 12, 2021 9:19:16 GMT -6
Might want to search Youtube for "Enya - Christmas Secrets" You might like it.
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Post by ydderf on Dec 12, 2021 12:50:05 GMT -6
Thanks,good update to a thoughtful story.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 12, 2021 18:22:40 GMT -6
Chapter 128
The men worked the next few days milling the grain and filling the feed silo at the pasture. Three steers and three hogs were butchered and replaced with younger stock.
The 20 foot containers were delivered and Shannon, with the help of the men, moved the tools over to one of the containers.
The next layer they came to was all types of electrical wire, extension cords, ladders of different lengths, and eight two-wheeled wheelbarrows, disassembled, and eight garden wagons. Those things were inventoried and placed in their own 20-foot container. The next portion was nothing but cases of nails of all kinds, screws, and fasteners. There were also several cases of zip-ties of various sizes. The back of the container contained boxes of spools of chain and rope of different sizes.
Shannon finally brought the completed inventory list to Gil. Gil looked it over and almost whistled at the retail value of the items the 40-foot container held.
"What are we going to do with all this?" Shannon asked.
"Well, we'll keep a lot of it, but I have an idea. What do you think about selling it at the flea market down in Kodak? I could do some work on my 20-foot trailer to haul the stuff in. You could display one of each item outside the trailer and leave the rest stacked inside. If you sold just 1/3 of all this at a bargain price, money is still made. I recommend we sort through the list keep what we want and sell the rest at the flea market. I think we could knock off half the retail price, then put up big glaring signs saying '20% OFF', you would have it all, or most of it, sold in one day. Let me go through the list and mark what I want to keep and of course everyone should go through it also, and make sure we end out ahead."
"Okay, fine with me."
"Keep looking for things like this."
Waiting for everyone to go through the list and give their recommendations, Gil went ahead with his idea of the trailer. The trailer already had roof PV panels, 2 batteries and boxes with battery charger, so all Gil had to do was add a 3.5 cubic foot refrigerator in the built-in cabinet that was at the very front of the trailer, 5 folding tables and four comfortable folding chairs. The batteries could be charged automatically with the PV panels or by the tow vehicle. The extras may have been a little overkill but, what the hell. He liked comfort.
When everyone had a chance to review the inventory, they all sat down and discussed what to keep and what to sell. They decided to keep all the nails, screws and various fasteners, the flex-ties, several of the extension cords, two of each of the different size ladders, two of each of the tools and large tool boxes, four of the wheelbarrows, four of the garden wagons, some sizes of the chain and all the rope. When Shannon had the prices calculated, they would clear $8,000 after the initial bid, shipping costs and the price reductions. Gil, Grace and the kids took a day trip to Kodak and paid the rental costs of the area where they could park the trailer. They made a trip to an office supply store and bought poster board and multiple colors of large Sharpie markers to make the price reduction signs. Of course, there was the mandatory stop at Bass Pro Shops to pick up more mineral blocks and to see what was on sale. Lunch was at Cracker Barrel.
The sunflowers did better than expected. The seed heads were so large a lot of them had to be supported by stakes to keep them from falling over before they matured. They kept a dozen of the large heirloom heads for planting next year and left the rest standing. During the summer, they left a yellow line around the western line of the property for almost 3500 feet. The turkeys, quail and pheasants had gained in population so they were looking forward to eating some tasty meat this fall and winter.
Gil, Grace, Colt and Shannon went to set up at the flea market. The women had made very colorful signs with the brilliant markers and Gil set them up high enough they were immediately noticeable from far across the flea market. They only had room to bring about half the goods they planned to sell so made plans to do the sales for two weekends. Saturday morning they were there early (after having an early breakfast at Yoder's) setting up tables and chairs, laying out displays of the merchandise and drinking coffee from the thermoses Grace had prepared or water and juices from the trailer's fridge. They didn't sit around for long. As the first of the shoppers and rubber-neckers began to arrive at the market, there was immediate interest and people bought items. Then the flow of the people became more steady and then it seemed like people were coming to the flea market and straight to their trailer. Soon, they had nothing left but a few extension cords.
Grace flopped down in a chair. "My God! Where did they all come from?"
Shannon and Colt were in the trailer, counting out the receipts. Gil went in and got a canteen of water and sat down with Grace.
"That was something!" Gil said, taking a drink of water.
Shannon and colt came out of the trailer, bottles of water in their hands, and took a seat. While they were resting, Gil sold two more extension cords.
"What are the damages, Shannon?"
"$4,185.00."
"Wow! Right on the mark!"
"We could have made a whole lot more, but it felt good selling people the merchandise at reasonable prices. The mark-ups in the big box stores are almost criminal." Shannon said.
"Well, you have to take into account they have to pay a minimum of $2,000 per container for shipping and whether bulk purchases are too large or too small. You have to figure in overhead also."
"Yeah, maybe so, but I still feel good."
"Well, let's pack these last items and go have some lunch. We've got one more weekend."
"Gil, I'm going to go pay for the rental space for next weekend." Grace said.
Colt, Shannon and Gil got the tables and chairs and the last of the merchandise loaded into the trailer and were locking the door when Grace returned.
"Where do you want to eat?" Gil asked.
"What about Tony Gore's?" Grace asked.
Everyone agreed.
"Tony Gore's it is." Gil said, shifting the truck into gear.
When they returned home, Gil parked the trailer. They'd load the rest of the merchandise into the trailer the next week. They all went to Gil and Grace's and relaxed on the deck, drinking iced tea. Grace was gazing across the back of the property in the direction of the river, her mind in thought.
"Gil, we need some more guest room space. What if we put a small cabin right over there, with the back of the cabin facing the river."
"I guess so, If that's what you want."
Grace ran in and got her laptop. She and Shannon sat at the table and browsed cabin floor plans. Gil looked at Colt, rolled his eyes and shook his head.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 12, 2021 18:24:57 GMT -6
Chapter 129
Gil's order of firewood came in and he had it dumped in the usual area. He and Billy worked together every afternoon to palletize the wood. When it threatened rain, they were quick to cover it up with two huge tarps. It was basically busy work, but they both enjoyed working together. Gil could have had the wood palletized and delivered, but it gave he and Billy something to do together, which turned into some interesting conversations at times.
Steve called and he and Harold would be arriving on Wednesday and would stay until the breakthrough was made. Later that evening Steve called back and Angela had pitched a fit and she wanted to come too, so she would be coming with them. Grace was thrilled because she had planned to do some shopping for furniture and accessories for the guest cabin.
Steve, Angela and Harold arrived in Steve's helicopter, followed an hour later by a Clarksville Helicopter Services S-70 sling-loading whatever contraption Harold had come up with. When Harold had gotten out of the helicopter, he told Gil they'd need his big dump trailer and the tractor. Brad went to get them while Gil talked to Harold and Steve. Grace had come down and whisked Angela back to the house.
"Gil, what we're going to do is set the MLRC in the bed of the trailer, We can haul it up to the shelf instead of driving it up. Much faster that way." Harold said.
"What is MLRC?"
Harold grinned. "Just a quick name I came up for the cutter. Mobile Laser Rock Cutter."
"I'll just stick with 'Cutter'." Gil said.
Brad came back with the tractor and trailer and parked in the grass by the airstrip. Harold was talking with the pilot with a hand-held and maneuvered the load slowly down until Brad got hold of the guide rope then guided the Cutter down until it was sitting in the bed of the trailer. Once the load strap was cut away from the helicopter, it turned and flew away. They unhooked and coiled the sling up and placed it in the hangar, then all headed up to the shelf. Gil already had the big generator sitting outside the door and extra cable ready to run. Brad stopped the trailer just beyond the door and Harold jumped on and took the canvas shields off the Cutter and unlatched a box, taking out the control panel and putting the support strap around his neck. Brad started tipping the trailer bed as Harled began moving the Cutter to the rear of the trailer. As the trailer bed touched the ground, the Cutter easily rolled off. Gil had unlocked both doors and Harold guided the tracked machine through the tunnel and into and through the Chamber to the storage chamber then stopped.
Harold called everyone around and explained a few differences in the cutters.
"Okay, instead of one of you holding a hose to spray and crack the rock and another standing by with a pry bar, the water operation and prybar are automatically handled. Let me caveat that….the block of stone must still be manhandled away. If you gentlemen would handle getting the generator started, the power cable run, and the water line hooked up, I'm going to take some measurements and mark our starting point."
Gil and Brad came back and everyone put on their protective goggles and stood back as Harold aligned the Cutter with the marks he had made on the wall at its base. Immediately there was a flash as the laser started cutting the 12x12 block, seemingly faster the prototype model did. Within a minute the light went out a compressed force of the cold water shot into the seams of the rock and a wedge was hydraulically rammed into a seam and the rock block slid out slightly. The Cutter system moved up above the cut block and began cutting again.
"We can remove the first block when the others have been cut away." Harold said.
"How high will this thing go?" Brad asked.
"Only nine feet. If we needed to go higher, we'd have to build a ramp and platform for it to work from."
When the first blocks had been removed, Harold did some realignment and began cutting the next blocks.
"Gil, when we get near to breaking through, we need to have everyone out of both chambers. There is a danger of accumulated gasses in the far chamber. At worst, we could have an explosion. There could also be radon gas. I'll set a detector with an alarm that will sound in the event of radon gas. We'll just need to stay out until the alarm goes off."
Gil, Brad, Steve, and later in the afternoon, Billy, stacked the blocks on a pallet and moved the loaded pallets outside and stacked them out of the way. It beat hauling them out with the wheelbarrow and gave everyone a break.
They shut down and took a break for lunch and continued on after. Everyone was excited in anticipation of what waited for them on the other side of the wall. When they quit at 1700, they were twelve feet through. With luck, the might reach the halfway point at noon the next day. Harold had estimated it would take three to four days to break through and so far it looked like his estimate was on the money. When they got back to the house, Grace, Shannon, Allie and Angela were sitting at the breakfast table, obviously plotting.
"Since you all are going to be involved up at the Chamber, We girls are flying out tomorrow to do some furniture shopping." Grace announced.
"You going back down to Florida?"
"No, Kalispell, Montana. They have just what I want and they already have it built, unfinished. I just need to pick out the finish."
Gil looked at Colt and Brad, who both shrugged.
"Honey, I'm going with them." Angela told Steve.
Steve looked at the other guys. "We've got to bust through that thing so we can get some drinking done before they get back!" "The girls left early the next morning and the men started early and worked later Friday into the evening and began earlier on Saturday and finally broke through late Saturday afternoon. They thought they heard a couple of beeps from the radon detector from outside when the Cutter broke through so they stayed outside while Harold went in with an oxygen mask and checked things out. When he gave the all clear, they hurried in to see what they could see.
A black hole. When the last block was cut away, Gil got both spotlights and they walked in. It looked like it was almost an oval shape with the left and right walls wider than the depth. The would really be able to tell until the measured it. There wasn't even any dust on the floor and you could tell the floor wasn't level in some places.
Gil looked at the others. "Well, I guess we have another storage room. Once we get a door put in this thing, I want to check the humidity in here. It might be better for storage of the paper products and such."
"Does seem dryer." Brad said.
"What kind of door are you going to put in here?" Colt asked.
Gil grinned. "A dungeon door. You know, heavy dark oak with huge strap hinges and boltheads sticking out of it."
That brought chuckles from everyone.
"Well, looks like we'll be building shelves and racks for the next while, but for now, let's shut down, roll the electrical cable back into the tunnel and lock up. I think it's time to break open the drinks."
When The women came back Sunday evening, they found the men lounging on the deck with mugs of ale.
"Where are the twins?" Grace asked
"They're still down at Grandma's." Billy said. "She said she wanted to keep them as long as she could."
"Did you find what you wanted?" Gil asked."
"Yes, and it is all beautiful. I even bought ceiling and wall sconces. I can't wait for it to get here."
"Can I get you girls something to drink?"
"No, stay where you are. I get us out some Watermelon Wine then go bring Mollie and the twins up." Grace said.
"If there's not enough up here the basement refrigerator has about a dozen bottles in there." Gil said as she went through the door."
"Man, I'm glad I didn't have to go shopping with them." Steve said.
"You and me, brother." Replied Brad.
"Well Billy, You and I have a dungeon door to build!" Gil said
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 12, 2021 18:28:10 GMT -6
Chapter 130
Although Grace didn't think it was necessary, Gil insisted the guest cabin have a basement. For now, it could be used for storage but the idea of perhaps having a third bedroom there in the future won her over.
The cabin she had chosen was 1,164 square feet, 2 stories, 2 bedrooms, and 2 baths. The main level had 752 sq. ft., 1 Bedroom, 1 bath and the second level had 412 sq. ft., 1 Bedroom, 1 bath. To the women, it was a doll house they were going to play with. It was close enough they could pull power and water from the main house but had to put in a separate septic system. Drake did recommend adding another wind turbine and upgrading the battery bank in case theirr guests stayed for extended periods. Gil stayed out of the rest of the build and let Grace and the women do the decorating and he and Billy worked on the dungeon door.
Gil chose four eight foot logs and cut 3 ½ inch planks out od each one. After running them through the planer on both sides, he got them down to 3 inches. After that, they ran the boards through the joiner and doweled and glued the boards together. They left the glue to dry and went to the forge to check the hinges he had stored there. Gil had found at one of the estate sales some 2 ½ foot rustic strap hinges that were rusted but still in pretty good condition. He had cleaned them up and used rust remover on them and Billy had painted them matt black. In the collection of screws and bolts they kept from the container, Gil found the right size round-headed bolts he needed for the door and anchors and bolts to attach to the wall. They waited four days before cutting the door out and drilled the holes for the bolts and fake studs.
Grace was looking through the door as the contractors were applying the last coat of finish on the floors. She needed to call the furniture makers and have them ship the furniture. It would taken three to four days to receive the shipment so the floors would be ready by then. The cabin was going to be beautiful. Each of the women would find themselves stopping at curio and antique shops when they were out to look for special things to hang on the walls.
The day before the furniture was due to arrive, Gil, Colt and Brad installed the dungeon door. With some pre-drilling and careful balancing of the door on the forklift, they were able to install the 300 pound door. They were sweating when they finished that job and required substantial amounts of cold mead to revive them.
The day the furniture arrived, it was all hands on deck. There was a constant stream of boxes going into the cabin with Grace acting as traffic cop and checking items off her list. When everything was in Grace realized she had three more boxes than expected. The driver handed her an envelope with the invoice and a letter from the owner of the company.
"Mrs. Conner,
"Thank you for your order. It was a great pleasure working with you and to show our appreciation we have included two blanket chests and a corner curio cabinet.
George Rogers Old Home Crafts."
"Oh my, that was sweet of him."
The men got the beds put together and the mattresses on the beds and the mattress toppers in place. The women then ran them out of the cabin and told them to plow a field or something. So they settled for the something and relaxed on the deck, enjoying the late Autumn weather.
"When do you want to start on the shelves for the dungeon?" Colt asked.
"I've got plywood and 4x4s being delivered tomorrow. I want study the area and come up with a good plan for the shelves and racks. First though, we need to run lights in there. The reason I made a wood jamb on the door was so we can drill through the wood instead of cutting out more rock. The door isn't anything but aesthetics. I just wanted to have a dungeon door.
"What about the floor?"
"The floor isn't that bad out of level. There are a couple of spots that I want to use some floor leveler in, but mostly we can adjust for level of the shelves by trimming the legs on the shelves and racks."
Mollie peeked out the door.
"Gil, can I leave the twins with you while I go up to the guest cabin?"
"Certainly! Let me bring the playpen out here."
Gil set the playpen up and he and Mollie incarcerated the two.
"Colt, can you start giving the First Aid classes on Wednesday evenings for a couple of hours. I think it would help if we had a set time that people can plan around."
"I will start out on the basics. I have a syllabus already made out that I can give everyone so they'll know ahead what we will be doing."
"Good. Oh! First thing tomorrow I'm going to try and finish palletizing the firewood. Looks like we've got some rain and cooler weather coming."
"We'll come down and help you knock it out and get the furnace shelters stocked." Brad said.
Trace Carter sat down at the counter of the Flying "J" and picked up the menu and turned his cup upright in the saucer. It was almost dawn and he hadn't seen jack. He had never been through west Texas before but it must be a desolate-ass place. All night he had seen nothing but brown land illuminated by his headlights. God! Show me some green trees! That was one of the reasons he had left 5th Group and transferred to 7th. The 5th Group went to a lot of places that were absolutely void of trees.
The waitress came over and filled his coffee cup and sat a glass of ice water by the coffee.
"What can I get you Hun?"
There were no pictures so he ordered the truckers special. It came with pancakes, eggs, bacon and sausage. The waitress wrote down his order and left. Trace picked up the glass and drank half the water then took a sip of coffee, wincing. Reaching for a container of creamer, he dumped two packets of creamer into the cup and gave it a stir. He'd better figure out soon what he was going to do now. He could go for a long while on what he had saved, really, he didn't have to work at al,l but he got antsy sitting around twiddling his thumbs. He was itching to find some place of his own. He was thinking of heading up to Missouri and looking for something near Branson. A quiet country place would be nice.
Trace's eyes bugged out when the waitress brought his plate….er…his platter. There were four huge pancakes the size of regular dinner plates, what looked to be a half-dozen scrambled eggs, four sausage patties, and 8 pieces of bacon. Well, he'd give it a try.
Thirty minutes later, he hadn't eaten half of what was on the platter. The waitress came over and refreshed his coffee and refilled the water glass.
"Want a Go Box Honey?"
"No Ma'am, could you bring me four biscuits?"
The waitress brought him the biscuits and Trace built two sausage biscuits and two bacon biscuits and wrapped them in napkins. Trace felt stuffed but halfway human and left the waitress a good tip after he paid his tab. After checking the trailer and truck out, he filled the tanks and pulled onto I-20 and didn't stop again until the call of nature made him stop in Abilene. He smelled ripe so he decided to get a room and hang tight the rest of the day. After taking a shower, he munched on one of the sausage biscuits and checked out the new phone he had purchased and downloaded Mapquest to plot a route to Branson. It looked like he was in for more brown ground. Laying the phone on the bedside table, Trace turned over and sighed. Sleep quickly drew its blanket over him.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 12, 2021 18:30:31 GMT -6
Chapter 131
Gil had just delivered the last pallet of wood up to the house when the lumber delivery was made. Once the driver had left, they culled the 4x4s,loading the ones they wanted to use for shelving into the dump wagon and the rest Billy stacked in the lumber shed. After getting the 4x4s moved up to the chambers, they started on the plywood. By the time they got the last of the lumber in the chamber, it started to rain.
"Well, that was just in time!" Brad said.
"Did you feel it getting colder?" Colt asked.
"Yeah, I better go check the weather report.' Gil said. "Billy, go make sure the house furnace is taken care of, I'll get the greenhouse."
"Colt and I'll go ahead and start notching 4x4s." Brad said.
Refreshed, Trace had breakfast, fueled up and headed north on 277 out of Abilene. It was 9 hours to Branson but he was going to do it in two days. Figuring on stopping in Tulsa for the night, he'd take it slower coming in to the Branson area and look around, get the lay of the land.
Colt and Brad looked at how much shelf space they needed for the paper goods and began cutting and notching the shelf supports. Gil came back and began laying more 4x4s out and marking them.
"Gil, where are the earthquake brackets?"
"They should be in that box over there."
Colt looked in the box. "You've got four and will need at least eight to start with."
"Well, you know where I'll be." Gil said, heading out of the chamber.
Gil drove through the drizzle of rain to the forge building and started the fire. Picking through the iron rack he came up with what he needed. Marking a couple of measurements on the anvil, Gil begin heating the steel. After making the bends he needed he dipped the pieces in the tank to cool them then started on the next set. Once he had finished 12 sets, he began drilling the bolt holes in them, then welded the bracket parts together. Gil was surprised when he looked at his watch and it was 1630. In the morning he'd look at the shelf and rack layout and see how many more brackets they would need then go ahead and make them all.
As Trace was pulling into Tulsa, he kept his eyes opened for a steak house. He had been munching on cheese crackers and hard candy the whole day and was craving red meat. Selecting a Hampton Inn to stay in for the evening, he checked in, showered and changed into fresh clothes. Going back to the check-in desk, Trace asked the girl there where he could get a good steak.
"Well, it's Friday, and the Lodge Pub and Eatery down the street has some of the best, if not the best, Prime Rib you will ever eat."
Trace thanked her and walked out front, seeing the restaurant just a couple of hundred yards away.
Th next morning Gil put the finished earthquake brackets in a box and put them in the back of the Gator. He drove up to the shelf and took the brackets into where Colt and Brad were working. The two had finished drilling pilot holes in the shelf timbers and were ready to put together the shelves. They bolted a bracket to the first shelf upright and held it level against the wall for Gil to mark it. They did the same for the other four uprights that would go against the wall. Then they took turns using the hammer drill with masonry bits to drill the holes. After the holes were drilled and the uprights secured, the shelves went up relatively quick. It was just a matter of bolting the shelf supports together and cutting the plywood to fit. By the end of they day, they had about ¾ of the shelving done. It was time to go home and relax.
Trace was getting frustrated. All the realtors he'd gone to had listings that showed Branson was a tourist town. He could afford the prices, but he'd have to live so far out he might as well live in Minnesota. He knew Nashville would be the same. He'd looked online at real estate and developers and music stars had the edge there. Maybe east Tennessee would have something. There was Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge that had the music venues he liked to see occasionally and there were several lakes to their north where something might be found. Just about all of northeast Tennessee was in relatively easy driving distance of those two towns. Trace ate dinner and prepared to leave Missouri the next morning.
"Ready to see the guest cabin?" Grace asked.
"Sure. Let's go."
"Not so fast. We're having a house warming party tomorrow evening."
"Why?"
"Because we can. You're in charge of drinks."
"Yes Ma'am."
The men took their mandatory walk through the cabin to see what their spouses and friends had done, then retired to the deck to drink their favorite spirit while the ladies stayed inside and gushed about how pretty this or that was.
"What all are you going to store in the storage chamber now, Gil?"
"Well, between you and me and the gatepost, and I know the gatepost isn't going to talk, I plan to use a lot of that area to store the drinking and trading alcohol. It is perfect for that; just the right amount of humidity for the barrels and kegs not to have losses due to evaporation. Home canned goods can be stored there also. I want to move all the ammo and the cured hams to the dungeon."
The women came out on the deck still talking back and forth.
"Gil, did Mollie have a chance to tell you Carl and Myrtle are putting their place on the market. They want to move closer to their son in Birmingham."
"No, Mollie, how much land is there?"
"It's around 20 acres, I think."
"I'll have to go talk to Carl then." Gil said.
"You best get at it then." Mollie said. "Myrtle's got her first grandbaby coming and she's not gonna want to wait around long."
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Post by gipsy on Dec 12, 2021 22:33:52 GMT -6
Another fine update. Did you find that Enya album?
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Post by cavsgt on Dec 13, 2021 0:02:52 GMT -6
love your stories PLEASE keep them coming.
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Post by udwe on Dec 13, 2021 15:24:08 GMT -6
I love this story, thanks!
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Post by ydderf on Dec 13, 2021 16:20:24 GMT -6
Thank you
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 14, 2021 19:55:55 GMT -6
Chapter 132
Gil pulled into the Mullins' drive and parked behind Carl's truck. When he knocked on the door Myrtle answered.
"Good morning, Myrtle. Could I talk to you and Carl?"
"Hello Gil. Please, come on in."
She led him into the den where Carl was reading a newspaper.
Carl started laughing when he saw Gil.
"I knew tellin' Mollie we were puttin' the place on the market would have you gallopin' over here!"
"So, you are planning on selling?"
"Yep, and if you give us the same terms you gave Mollie, then it is all yours."
"Well, it won't be me who will be buying it, exactly. The Trust my grandfather left me will handle the buying."
"Your grandpa was a good man. Makes no difference to me. We'll let the lawyers put everything together. We plan to leave things here just the way they are. There's some things Myrtle wants to take but most of it, the furniture, tools in the garage, equipment in the barn, all of it goes with the sale. We’ll have a small place that we can keep up ourselves and I’m buying Myrtle the furniture she wants."
"Okay Carl, whatever you want to take or leave is fine with me. I just didn't want the land broken up by developers and turned into cookie-cutter little developments."
"My desires exactly, Gil."
They shook hands, exchanged lawyer information and Gil left. Gil called Abe and told him to handle the purchase and gave him Carl's lawyer's information.
Trace stayed a couple of days in Nashville to attend a couple of shows and to look around. Every piece of land he was interested in was either overpriced or over evaluated, in Trace's opinion, for tax purposes. Reluctantly, he headed to Knoxville and visited realtors in that area and see if they had any good listings.
"We skipped last weekend. Are we going to sell the rest of the stuff at the flea market this weekend?" Grace asked.
"Sure. Let's load everything tomorrow and we'll go early Saturday morning." Gil replied.
Saturday morning was a repeat of before, except Brad and Allie went with them. At first, the rubber-neckers came in dribs and drabbles. Then the sales picked up dramatically until all they had was a step ladder and a roll of bead chain like you use for light pulls. They decided to close up shop and stop at Yoder's for lunch on the way home.
"So, do you have any more leads on any auctions? Gil asked.
"I've got sealed bids out but its anybody's guess if and when I win another." Replied Shannon.
"Well, have Colt give you a massage with magic oil or something. You done good on that last container."
They parked, got out and stretched, preparing to go into Yoder's when a man came out as they were going in. He stepped to the side to hold the door for the three ladies when he and Gil locked eyes.
"Gil?"
"Trace? Trace Carter? Is that you?"
"My God! Gil Conner!. Man! It is good to see you!"
"Have you eaten yet? Come on back and eat with us."
"Yeah, I had a little something but I'll sit for a while."
They all went in and got a larger table than they normally got.
"I thought you were working for the government." Gill stated.
"Yeah, but that was B.S. They lure you in with a salary that sound sounds great if you live in Bear Grass, North Carolina. But where they post you….the cost of living eats up the difference between s great salary and a mediocre salary. I got out and worked for a couple of private companies in Iraq and Afghanistan but those companies were only interested in making a quick buck and not about the safety of their people. That got old quickly. I just got back from Australia from a private contract teaching sniper techniques to the Australian Army. I wanted to take a big break so when I landed back in California, I headed to the Ozarks, looking for a place to settle down. There was nothing there for me. Then I decided to try the Knoxville area and the lake areas in northeast Tennessee. I was headed today to Cherokee lake to check prospects around there."
"What are you looking for?" Brad asked.
"I'm ready to settle down. I want a nice quiet area and maybe build a cabin somewhere relatively secluded but not too far from the Pigeon Forge Gatlinburg area. This area is turning out better than the Branson area. It's commercialized, but not so much. I've already seen some areas driving through that looked interesting."
Brad looked at Colt, Colt looked at Brad, then they both looked at Gil.
"Where were you headed to look at on the lake?" Gil asked.
"The Russellville area."
"I've got a place northeast of there on the Holston River, which feeds Cherokee Reservoir. Hey, why don't you come up and spend the rest of the weekend with us and I can show you around. You might pick up some good leads on land."
'Yeah, I guess I could. I've got a Go Bag in my truck so I don't need to return to the hotel."
They were interrupted with the return of the women with their sandwiches and drinks. The men continued to talk about where people were that they knew and what they had been doing since leaving the service and ate their food.
"So, you have your own little enclave on the river?"
Gil chuckled. "Well, it's not exactly an enclave. It is semi-secluded, no one bothers us much, and the people mostly mind their own business. You'll have to wait and see for yourself."
Leaving Yoder's, Gil took the lead, followed by Trace, then Brad took the rear position and they quickly made the 20 minute drive to Bluff View.
"Are you going to offer him a deal to stay?" Grace said.
"I'll offer him the same deal I did Brad and Colt. If he takes it, he takes it. But he's solid. I'd trust the life of my kids with him. He'd be a great asset to have around."
Gil triggered the gate and it was open by the time they got to it. Brad stopped long enough on the other side to insure the gate closed properly and followed them up to the house. Gil dropped the trailer off near the equipment barn with the other trailers and continued up to the house.
Getting out of his truck, Trace looked around. "This is a nice place. The ridge blocks everything off nicely."
"My grandfather owned this and a couple of thousand more acres along the river. I inherited this 400 acres and have never regretted moving here at all. There's been a couple of hiccups but it is peaceful, we raise or hunt for our food, and are pretty self-sustained." Gil answered. "Come on in."
They went inside and Gil got out an aerial photograph that showed the property boundaries of what he currently owned.
"I'm in the process of purchasing the area outlined in yellow. We'll close on that in a few days."
"Nice." Trace said.
"Brad, Colt, I'm going to take Trace on a little tour, meet us at the Chamber."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 14, 2021 19:58:03 GMT -6
Chapter 133
Gil and Trace got in the Gator and drove slowly, showing Trace the lower areas of the Retreat.
"Trace, one of the reasons I moved here and developed the land was to prepare for whatever happens. The economy has been hit and miss, mostly miss, government corruption is getting worse…."
"You're tellin' me!" Trace interjected.
"… so I settled here and began building my assets. There has been a great bit of luck involved, but we're getting there. Brad, then Colt showed up and I didn't sell them any land, I don't own it, the Trust does, but they've leased the land for their homes for $1 for perpetuity. If they decide move away, the Trust will buy their house for market value. Everything is off-grid. There aren't any service bills except for satellite TV. I'd like to offer you the same deal."
Gil made the rounded the end of the chicken coop and Trace saw the small airfield.
"Do you still have your license?" Gil asked.
"Yeah, I flew a few times down in Australia."
"Well, Brad and I both have STOL aircraft in the hangar."
Gil rounded the fields and drove back up the ridge and past the house. Coming up on the shelf he parked just before the closed camouflaged door. Getting out of the Gator, it took a second for Trace to spot the door.
"What's this?" Trace asked.
"Well, we call it the 'Chamber', but I guess you could call it our 'Bug-In' location."
Gil opened the unlocked door and went in. The guys had left the blast door unlocked so they went right down the tunnel into the Chamber. Colt and Brad had built a fire in the pit and were sitting next to it."
"Holy sh…uh cow!" Trace blurted.
"We have the basics here, food water and shelter. We could live here for months, even years."
Gil walked him around and showed him everything, even the dungeon storage chamber.
Jesus! They have everything a prepper could dream of, and then some. Trace thought. You could really live down here for years.
Trace looked at Gil. "TEOTWAWKI?"
"Well, whatever comes we're trying to be prepared for it."
Trace looked around the Chamber for a second. "Okay, I'd like to get that lease. This is about as good as I'll find and a good group of people. If the stuff hits the fan, then it will be better if we're in a group than off on our own. I'm in."
"Good. We'll set you in the TinyHouse down by the river since you'll be there a while until they get your cabin built. Colt, can you take him down and get him squared away? Once you're settled Trace, come on back up for dinner and I'll show you the website of the company we use to build our cabins."
Allie came in looking for some help carrying in a container.
"What do you have?" Brad asked.
"It's a storage container full of beeswax candles from Alice Griggs."
Carl Griggs was keeping four beehives near the garden an Gil traded whiskey for honey and bought all the beeswax candles Carl's wife could make.
Brad went out and brought the large plastic storage container in and took it back to the storage chamber.
Colt walked out with Trace and Brad and Allie came back, cutting out lights as they came. Brad slapped Gil on the back. "Good call."
When Trace came back up to the house, he and Gil set in the Great Room discussing Bluff View and it's amenities.
"Gil, you've got all your power off grid but you have no electric vehicles. Why is that?"
"I haven't found any electric vehicles that are worth a damn Trace."
"Do you know Cal Coleman? He was in 7th Group."
"No, I don't think so."
"Cal lives out in Colorado, has a ranch out there. He has part ownership of a company out there that converts diesel and gas vehicles to electric. Got some crazy electronics that make the battery charge last longer or something. Anyway, the vehicles will travel over twice as far as the commercial electric vehicles. They even use electric UTVs on the ranch. If I were you, I'd check that out and see if they would be any use to you."
"Interesting. Then that's going to be your first project. Check this out and see if it would be beneficial to Bluff View."
"Hey, I'll give it my best shot. As you know, my job the last few years has been to ameliorate certain situations through the judicious application of ballistic force, but I'll make some calls and get more information."
Mollie had the twins occupied and was preparing lunch in the Chamber kitchen while the women were finishing cutting the dried roots and scapes and peeling the husks off of the onions and garlic and the men bagged the same and hung them in the storage chamber.
"What time is your flight tomorrow Trace?" Gil asked.
"It departs at 1330."
"Well, no use in wasting gas just to take you down there for that. Why don't we move up our schedule visit to Sam's and COSTCO and we'll take you down." Gil grinned. "Come up to the house after work. I've got the information on the UTV specs."
They stopped and had lunch and were finished bagging everything. After cleaning up, Everyone returned to their homes, Gil heading to the outside furnace and adding wood to it.
After washing up, Gil and Billy went down and hooked the twenty foot trailer up and parked it and the Suburban in front of the house on the drive.
"Dad, I've already finished my modules for tomorrow. Can I go with you tomorrow?"
"Sure, but let me check your work first. You're working ahead?"
"Yes Sir. Some of the modules are really easy and I finish them quickly."
Gil looked his work over and looked at the practice questions, especially the essays. Gil was pleased in the way they were meticulously answered.
Getting up from Billy's desk, Gil told Billy he could go with them.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Dec 14, 2021 19:59:48 GMT -6
Chapter 134
Brad drove his truck too so he and Allie dropped Trace off at McGhee Tyson Airport and caught up with the Conners at COSTCO. Grace had already stacked four cases of white vinegar and two cases of apple cider vinegar on the flatbed. Grace handed Allie the second page of the list and she and Brad started filling another flatbed and a cart with other things on from the list. Brad loaded four gallon jugs of antibacterial soap, six gallons of Pine Sol, three gallons of OdorBan, four jugs of washing detergent, four big bottles of fabric softener, a case of Fels-Naptha bars. He parked the flatbed temporarily and helped Allie gather up boxes bandages, gauze, multiple bottles of painkillers, Vitamins (Multi, C, D3, E ), Magnesium, Potassium, Elderberry capsules, and zinc. Once they had everything checked off their list they temporarily parked their carts near the checkout and waited for the Conners. Finally, they showed up. Gil was pushing a heavily loaded cart, Billy was carrying three six-packs of Gorilla Tape and Grace carried three big bags of hard candies.
"Did you get everything?" Brad asked.
"Yeah." Gil groaned. "Then Grace saw we had more room on the cart. Let's check out."
Once through checkout, the men slowly pushed the flatbed carts to the trailer and the women got out the storage containers and started filling them. Billy loaded the containers as they were filled while Brad and Gil handled the bigger things. They soon had everything loaded and strapped in so nothing would be sliding around, then headed for Sam's Club.
Sam's Club was a mixture and duplicates of what they bought at COSTCO. They doubled up on supplements, soaps, a dozen rolls of painter's tape, paper plates, plastic cups, plastic utensils , Marathon toilet paper, paper towels, cases of bakes beans, cereals for Billy and the twins, powdered coffee creamer, boxes of Kosher salt, 50 pounds of rice, and various spice combinations. Grace finally said she had everything she wanted but Gil detoured over and picked up a couple of mixed cases of wine. Once everything was packed and strapped in, they decided to wait until they got home to eat and headed home.
Sunday afternoon found Gil in the shop checking the crosscut and bow saw blades he had stored in the quasi-attic. He had found a couple of decent cross cut saws at estate sales and had bought reconditioning kits to make the blades like new. That worked pretty good and the blades only had a slight amount of pitting. At another sale he found six saw blades without handles that were wrapped in oilcloth and looked practically new. The deceased estate owner must have owned a logging operation or he was a collector. Gil picked up several logging tools there. While he was piddling around the shop, Trace called.
"You made it all right?"
"Yep, I'm out at Cal's ranch now. Man! He has a nice operation. He'll take me down to the plant tomorrow to see what they are doing with electrical vehicles. As soon as I get an idea of how the vehicles will help us, I'll call and talk with you."
"Sounds good. Get me some numbers too. If we decide to buy anything, I can directly transfer the money to whatever account they desire."
"Okay Gil. Hopefully, I'll have more information tomorrow evening."
"That's good Trace. I look forward to your call."
"Gil, we'll need a place to dry clothes in the Chamber." Grace said, looking up from her magazine.
"How high do you need it?"
"I don't know, maybe a little higher than my shoulders?"
"Okay, no problem. I thought of that a while back but put it in the back burner because of more pressing things. I had in mind a 10x8 frame we can hang on the wall and can be let down when needed. We can site it next to where the washing would be done and use the same drain hole to the outside.. I'll start designing something tomorrow."
"Thank you."
"You can do what!?!"
"We can retrofit a full size vehicle to electric power. It takes a little longer than the UTVs but it's doable. With the solar charging stations, the batteries are easily charged overnight. We only have a couple of diesel personnel vehicles on the Ranch these days. All the heavy equipment and tractors still use diesel though."
"Cal, you have an amazing place here. Gil has 400 acres in northeast Tennessee he's turned into a retreat and I've joined him and a couple of other families."
"Got a MAG going, hunh?"
"Yeah, something like that. It is easily defended and it is a beautiful area."
"Well, what UTVs would you want converted?"
"I'll have to talk to Gil tonight about that. He may want to convert some full size vehicles but I think he's mostly interested in the UTVs."
"Well, Let me take you over to talk to Ryan. If you do UTVs and a couple of full size vehicles, he may kick loose a conversion crew and do the conversions on site."
"I'll let Gil know. I really appreciate this Cal. I was afraid we might be a little late in the game."
"Well, it's bad now, but it's going to get worse. Let's go see Ryan."
Grace was laughing as the twins took turns doing belly flops on Gil's chest. It had started as a wrestling match on the floor with the kids crawling all over Gil's back, but when Gil turned over on his back, Alana did a belly flop on Gil's stomach and of course Alan had to do the same thing. Gil's phone rang and Grace picked it up off the end table and answered it.
"Gil, it's Trace." "Yeah Trace?"
Trace told Gil what had happened that day and what they could do for them.
"What would that cost? Well, for the technology, that's reasonable."
"Are you interested in doing a couple of say, pickup trucks along with the UTVs? They'll send a team right there and convert them on site."
"Now that I think about it, but that might not be a bad idea. Yeah, let's do that. I'll do two 150 size trucks and six UTVs. Two John Deere MACH-1XLs and four XUV590E S4s. Let me know how they want their payment."
"Okay Gil. This might get me back a little sooner."
"Okay Trace. Call me if you need anything else."
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Post by udwe on Dec 14, 2021 20:26:08 GMT -6
Keep it up!
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