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Post by sniper69 on Oct 31, 2021 13:45:34 GMT -6
ncsfsgm, Thanks for the multiple chapters. Good read for a Monday.Texican.... I didn't know you lived that many time zones ahead of us. Its still a rainy Sunday here uh oh texican found my time machine.
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Post by iamnobody on Oct 31, 2021 14:09:22 GMT -6
uh oh texican found my time machine. Can I borrow your time machine? I want to go back in time. I wouldn't want to go back to when I first met my adulterous late wife and change my history because then I wouldn't have my wonderful children. Maybe just go back to each one of her infidelities and jump out of the shadows with a tape measure extended about 3 inches and then start laughing hysterically. Maybe it would give all the men and her lifelong sexual inferiority complexes.
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Post by papaof2 on Oct 31, 2021 14:52:38 GMT -6
I'd like to go back to 1999 and move all my investments to physical silver and gold. No dot com bust, no derivaties debacle - just an across-the-board increase in value now. Maybe a few side investments in things that did very well between 1999 and 20?? - just getting out before they went down.
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Post by texican on Oct 31, 2021 17:43:34 GMT -6
uh oh texican found my time machine. Can I borrow your time machine? I want to go back in time. I wouldn't want to go back to when I first met my adulterous late wife and change my history because then I wouldn't have my wonderful children. Maybe just go back to each one of her infidelities and jump out of the shadows with a tape measure extended about 3 inches and then start laughing hysterically. Maybe it would give all the men and her lifelong sexual inferiority complexes. i, You were exaggerating about the 3" right??? Texican....
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Post by iamnobody on Oct 31, 2021 18:11:39 GMT -6
Using a time machine for investments I would go for 1990
silver $3 oz gold $300 oz
but I would go for cases of ammo, 20lb kegs of powder, bullets and primers
store it all in a cool, dry place
SKS rifles $89 AKM47 rifles $200 AR15 rifles $400 M1 Garand rifles $400
M1A rifles $500
223 FMJ ammo $2 per 20 7.62x39 FMJ ammo $1.5 per 20 308 FMJ $4 per 20 9mm $5 per 50
45acp $6 per 50
30/06 hunting ammo $10 per 20
If I had the money and wisdom back then to do that, I would be a VERY rich man today – if I was foolish enough to sell any of it
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Post by freebirde on Oct 31, 2021 21:20:34 GMT -6
Minimum wage was $3.80 in 1990 so oz. of silver was less than one hour of work. Now it is over three hours of MW work. I usually look at the price of something as how long I have to work for it and ask if it is worth it. That cuts down a lot of impulse buying.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 1, 2021 16:27:45 GMT -6
Chapter 30
The next morning at breakfast, Grace told Gil she wanted to see where the guns and gold were hidden. "Yeah, I'll take you up there. At least but on some long pants and your hiking boots."
While she was changing clothes, Gil connected the trailer to the Rokon, filled his Camelbak and grabbed two empty Gatorade bottles in a knapsack. Checking to make sure there were two headsets in the saddlebag, he cranked the engine as Grace came out the door and hopped on the back.
When they arrived on the shelf, Gil took the headlamps out of the saddlebag and handed one to Grace. He walked ahead of her into the Tunnel, checking the floor for snakes. Gil picked up both spotlights and handed Grace the Browning, leading her over to the boxes still in the far side of the chamber.
"What are in these boxes?" Grace asked.
"Lead for making bullets and paper cartridges."
"Paper cartridges?"
"Yes, In battle, it is time consuming to fill the proper amount of powder, ram the bullet down the barrel and shoot. The average shooter could only get two to three rounds off a minute. Someone figured if you rolled up the proper amount and bullet up in paper, all you had to do was tear the end of the paper off with your teeth, dump the powder down the barrel and ram the bullet down the barrel. A good shooter could do four to five shots a minute."
Grace walked around and shined the spotlight all over the place.
"What's over there?"
"That's another chamber. It's smaller, but has a small stream of water running through it."
"Can you drink it?"
"Sure. The question is, will it make you sick. Come on. I brought a couple of bottles to get some of the water to be tested.
Grace held the light while Gil filled the bottle. Gil held the bottle up and there was no trash or sediment in it at all. Placing the bottle back in the pack, they returned to the main chamber.
"While we're here, I want to get some measurements of the chamber." Gil said.
Going and getting the tripod and the Leica Distro, Gil set it up where he thought the approximate center of the chamber was. The took measurements to the opposite wall until he was in the exact center of that line, The he did the same thing to the opposite walls until he was in the center of the chamber. Then he began taking measurements every two feet until he had covered the entire circumference of the room. He taken all the measurements down in his pocket notebook and figure everything out later. They packed up the equipment and set it next to the wall by the Tunnel. Going back Gil carried out one of the 8x8 boxes with paper cartridges and stuck it in the backpack. He picked up one of the boxes of ingots also. As they were leaving the tunnel, Gil stopped at the opening. Something was keeping animals out, but what? There were no snake tracks, racoon feces or bats. He needed to get a door on this thing nevertheless, He studied the door and had an Idea. But it was going to take time.
They rode very slowly down the ridge, making sure they didn't jostle the cartridges. Unloading the cartridges, Gil placed them in one of the shipping containers. He took the box of lead and put it with the rifles. Going into the house, he washed his hands.
"Honey, could you call the Co-op and see if they have any Radon detectors?"
Grace smiled. "He called me Honey!" "Sure!"
Gil sat down and pulling the math from the depths of his memory, figured the chamber was around 8300 square feet. Nice size.
"They have the detectors Gil."
"Okay, thanks."
Gil had it on his list to buy water filter systems and now was as good a time as any. He went online and ordered two Crown Berkey water filter systems and 32 of the ceramic filters. They would always have plenty of water.
"Gil, you mentioned foods that would store for a long time. I've found a few websites that have one year family units that some of the foods will last 25 years."
"I was looking at similar sites a little while ago. Why don't you check the units out and pick the one you like and we'll order it."
An hour later Grace called to Gil and he went over to her.
"I think this bundle is the best. It is a family unit and they offer #10 cans of coffee separately."
"Order the unit and 12 cans of coffee. They come four to the case. If the trucks stopped coming, I'd had to do without coffee."
"What do you mean if the trucks stopped coming."
"The delivery trucks resupply the grocery stores on the average of once every three days. How many groceries do you think would be left if the trucks didn't run for two weeks?
Order that stuff and let's take a ride into town. I want to pick up Radon detectors and drop of the bottle of water off at Jensen Brothers to have it tested."
They dropped off the water to be tested and went to the Co-op to get the Radon detectors. On the way back home, Grace wanted to stop by the nursery so Gil pulled in. They had an assortment of blooming tomato and bell pepper plants in containers that Grace had to have. Gil bought two tomato and two pepper plants, some larger containers to transplant the tomato plants in and three bags of Miracle Grow potting soil. It was too late to plant their garden but they would have tomatoes and peppers. On the way out, Grace spied the herds and next to eat a planter advertising "You Can Own Your Own Herb Garden!" She looked up at Gil with her lip slightly poked out and he pushed the cart to an empty area and went back and got another cart while Grace selected the herbs she wanted. They went home and transplanted the plants on the deck and placed the tomato and pepper containers on raised stands. Grace was thrilled to be able to grow her own little deck garden.
Gil sat down and did more planning. After reviewing his checklist, he moved getting a door on the Tunnel above the deer fence around the garden, but he still had to keep that into close consideration because some of the things that had to be done for the door, and receiving the door he wanted, would time….time he could use building the deer fence.
He knew the door he wanted, but there would have to be a lot of preparation to install it. He'd need a concrete saw, hammer drill, plenty of bits, he was going to have to get a farm trailer to haul all the stuff in. He was going to need to built a better access for equipment to the Tunnel shelf.
He decided to go ahead and order the door from American SafeRooms. It would take them a while to build it to their specifications. He needed to order six inch square pipe for door support and he was going to need a welder. He added those things as sub-tasks under the door task. Next he called Don and asked him where he could purchase a dump trailer. Don said he bought his in Bluff city and gave him an address. That would be his next purchase.
"Grace, what are you doing tomorrow?"
"Living the dream." Grace said, smiling. "What do you need?"
"I need to go over to Bluff City to get a trailer and wondered if you wanted to ride along. I could be persuaded to stop by the diner for breakfast on the way."
"Okay, I need to show you off to that red-headed hussy anyway."
"Just don't start any trouble." Gil chuckled.
When the arrived at the diner the next morning, Grace made sure they got a booth and she made Gil get in first, facing the waitress station, so she could sit on Gil's left side. It just so happened this was Reba's section. When Grace saw Reba headed their way, Grace slid closer to Gil and began rubbing his left bicep with her left hand, prominently displaying the large diamond and wedding band. Grace was disappointed she didn't get a rise out of Reba.
"God is going to get you one day, girl."
"Hmph!"
An hour and thirty minutes they were in Bluff City looking at dump trailers. The salesman walked with the explaining the advantages of one trailer over another. Gil finally selected a 72"x12' tandem axle trailer with 20 inch sides. They fairly quickly filled out the paperwork and were soon leaving the lot. They had only gone down the road about a quarter of a mile when Gil turned into a parking lot.
"What's this? Grace asked.
"The sign says they sell quarrying supplies. I want to take a look around."
They went in and began walking the aisles. Gil spied just what he needed. It was a heavy duty hand-held electric rock saw. The salesman came over to help them and when Gil told him he wanted to cut some notches out of a rock ledge, the salesman said that it would do the job. He told the salesman he also needed to drill some holes in the rock and was shown a large hammer drill. Gil bought the saw and the hammer drill along with extra blades and drill bits and an assortment of chisels and wedges. The salesman help Gil carry everything out to the truck and placed it in the bed. Going back to Rogersville, Grace asked Gil why he needed the saw and drill.
"I've got to cut into the rock wall of the Tunnel to inset supports for the door I'm going to install."
"Oh, okay."
When they got home, Gil unloaded the saw and drill and accessories in an outer garage and parked the trailer next to the covered hovercraft trailer.
"Are we taking the hovercraft out tomorrow?" Grace asked.
"Sure."
"How far will it go?"
"I'm not sure. Why don't we take it down the river toward the lake until the gauge is almost half then turn around and come back?"
"Okay! I'm driving!"
Gil laughed.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 1, 2021 16:29:22 GMT -6
Chapter 31
Gil finished wiping down the lightly oiled rifle, pistol, extra cylinder and the bullet molds. He would go by the railroad museum in Bulls Gap and donate them on his way to Knoxville Monday. Setting the guns aside, he said out three ingots of lead and 5 of the paper cartridges to add to his donation. Setting everything aside, he shut off the lights and went back upstairs. Grace was in the couch browsing on her computer. Grace had a ball that morning flying the hovercraft. They made it almost to the dam at the end of Cherokee Lake before they had to turn back. Almost 38 miles. It was surreal flying around the bends in the river. People in boats stared, pointed, and waved as they flew by. Gil thought Grace's face might be sore this afternoon from grinning so much.
"I thought you were going to watch a movie." Gil said.
"I decided to wait until you came back up. It's more comfortable snuggling with you as we watch the movie."
"Want to go to Knoxville with me Monday?"
"Sure. Why do you need to go?"
"Well, I want to pick a welder, a generator and I need to coordinate the delivery of the steel pipe I ordered. Also, I need to stop by my bank to pick some coins up."
"How many coins?"
"About 400 rolls."
Grace set up quickly.
"FOUR HUNDRED ROLLS!"
Yes, I've got different denominations there and I want to get them out of the bank and back here under my control."
"How much is that worth?"
"I'd have to look at the paperwork from the times I bought it. It was worth around seven million, but gold has gone up since then."
"Why do you need that much?"
"It's like the food. If the economy goes bad, the value of the dollar goes down, heck it goes down every time the politicians open their pie holes. As it is right now, Every time my investments make money, I buy gold and old silver coins. We've got a Democrat administration in power right now and they spend money like drunk sailors on shore leave in Thailand. With inflation and their spending, the value of the dollar falls even lower. We will have money to spend if the worst comes to worse, and there are other things we can do."
"What is that?"
"Trade….barter. You have something someone wants you trade them for, something you want or need. We can collect that might come in handy for bartering. That's why I want to put a door on the Tunnel. I think it would be a good place to go to in case something happened to the house and a place to store extra food and other things. Think about doing without certain things and pick those you would hate to go without. Spices, different types of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, medical items, toilet paper, paper towels, feminine hygiene products, they all can be used for barter. Which reminds me, We probably need to make runs to COSTCO and Sam's while we are in Knoxville."
Sunday morning, Reverend Jim announced that work on the church roof would began that week. This weeks topic under the shade trees was fishing. Gil got some good tips on places to fish and held back his smile when one of the men told about the strange looking airplane flying down the river yesterday. When Gil told her about the conversation she giggled.
They weren't very hungry so they just had a sandwich for lunch and went for a walk. Gil showed her the deer spring It was showing a lot of activity, especially around the mineral blocks. One was almost level with the ground and the 25 pound one was about 1/3 gone.
"Can we get one of those cameras you hang on trees and get some pictures of the deer?"
"Sure, we'll pick up a couple at Bass Pro Shops when we go to Knoxville."
The walked back down the hill, cutting through the woods in the direction of their old camping site.
"Just think, this was our first home."
"Not much of one."
"It was enough. That night started out as a nightmare and ended up in a lovely dream."
"I told you, this is better than a dream, this is real."
They slowly walked up the drive to their home and had just reached the house when they heard the sound of a vehicle. They both turned to see Reverend Jim driving up. Getting out, he laid his hat on the car seat and walked over to them. I hope you don't mind, it was such a lovely afternoon I thought I would get out and do some visiting.
"Not at all Reverend, you are welcome any time. Would you like a glass of iced tea?"
"That would be nice, thank you."
Gil led Reverend Jim out to the deck and extended the umbrella over the table and Grace came out with a tray bearing three frosty glasses of iced tea with little sprigs of mint on the edge of the glass.
"Ahhhh, now that hits the spot!" Said Reverend Jim, taking a sip.
"Grace tells me you are quite the world traveler, Gil."
"Yes, but sometimes people were shooting at me, so don't think of peaceful mountains and palm tree fronds waving in the breeze."
Reverend Jim chuckled, "I suppose not. What made you settle here, of all the places you could have?"
"My family owned this land and on back a couple of generations before. After all my "worldly experiences," I wanted to settle some place where I could have peace and quiet and shutter myself, as much as possible, away from people I didn't want to be around.
"What people are those, Gil?"
"Idiots."
"Well, I think we have a goodly amount of educated people in the church and the community."
"Education has nothing to do with it Reverend, Stupidity is constant across all populations. Every category one can imagine-gender, race, nationality, education level, income-possesses a certain amount of stupid people. There are stupid college professors. There are stupid people in Congress and our government institutions. There are stupid people in every nation on earth."
"What do you consider a 'stupid' person"
"A stupid person is a person who causes losses to another person or to a group of persons while himself deriving no gain and even possibly exposing themselves to losses. A twentieth century Italian economist once described a stupid person as one who causes problems for others without any clear benefit to himself."
"Oh, I see, We do have some of those around here."
"Reverend, the hard part is recognizing them before they become a problem for you. For instance, Grace was irritated by a woman in town who seemed to have designs on me….this was before we were married, of course. But I recognized her for what she was. Her goals in life would more than likely ended up being a problem for me so I kept myself distant. Grace gave her the signal to keep hands off."
"What did you do Grace?" The Reverend asked.
Grace moved her chair closer to Gil and began rubbing his bicep with her left hand, flashing her rings."
The Reverend burst out laughing.
"Reverend, that one little gesture turned the table. The woman must not have been too stupid, she got the message."
"Well, that was a distingué way to handle things."
"It worked, but you can never underestimate the stupidity of stupid people. They can always come back at a different angle. However, once you have them spotted, they are easy to deflect."
"You have an astute view of life, Gil Conner. What else are you seeking?"
"I think I want to help people. When I joined Special Forces, they were advertised as 'Helping the oppressed.' Between the late sixties until the troubles beginning in 2001, they would go to 3rd world nations, build schools, supervise well drilling, helping the poor. When 9/11 occurred, a different generation of glory seekers took us into a constant state of war. We were turned into, not helpers, but killers. It isn't unreasonable for someone to come home from something like that with mental problems. Some get through it, but a lot don't and end up taking their own lives to rid themselves of their mental anguish."
"You seem stable."
"Oh, I've been there. It has taken me awhile to get rid of the dreams."
"He still, quite often, gets up well before dawn, mumbling something about the French and Indians." Grace said.
Gil blushed when the Reverend turned his head to look at him.
"It's just something from my training. You prepare yourself and your equipment before first light. It goes back to the training Major Robert Rogers gave to soldiers from New Hampshire that fought with the British Army during the Seven Years' War, or as some call it, 'French and Indian War'."
Reverend Jim smiled. "Oh! I am well versed in the Ranger Handbook. I was once a young soldier in the Ranger Battalion when they reformed in the 70's. I can thank God, now, that they never went to war until I got out, but I still cherish the hard training we went through. I think it made me a better man."
Gil nodded. "You never got married, Reverend?"
Reverend Jim's face went blank. "I lost Laura to breast cancer seven years ago."
"Oh Reverend! I am so sorry!" Grace cried."
Reverend Jim nodded. "We all have our losses to bear."
Gil smirked. "Mrs. Wilson, isn't she a widow?"
Reverend Jim's head jerked up. "I believe you were talking about stupid people a few minutes ago."
Gil grinned.
"Would you like some more tea, Reverend?" Grace asked.
"No, I should be going, Mrs. Ambly mentioned you were joining the ladies Thursday at the Church?"
"Yes, I offered to go."
"Good. It's good to have fresh blood in the flock."
They walked Reverend Jim back out to his car and watched him drive away.
"What was that about Thursday?"
"Oh, several of the ladies get together to give the church a cleaning before services Sunday."
"Hm-m-m-m. Make sure you take notes on things they are short of."
"Already on my 'To Do' List."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 1, 2021 16:30:53 GMT -6
Chapter 32
Gil hooked the twenty foot trailer up and pulled near the side porch. Going inside, He picked up the Mississippi Rifle and Grace carried a box with the Revolver, the extra cylinder, the lead ingots and the five paper cartridges and placed the rifle on the back seat and the box on the floor in front of it. Pulling into Bulls Gap, Gil had to drive on a few side streets before he found a place to park his rig. Walking into the museum, they were greeted by a portly man who introduced himself as "Bill."
"Bill, I have some things I'd like to donate to the museum from my grandfather's estate. This, is a…"
"Mississippi Rifle!" I recognize it. They were used by the Confederates."
"Exactly. Also, I have a Remington Beales revolver with an extra cylinder, their bullet molds, lead for making bullets, and five original paper cartridges for the rifle."
"Oh my!. They look in excellent condition!"
"Yes, I thought it would be better to have them here for people to appreciate."
"Well thank you. By the way, my name is Bill Hemmings."
"Mine is Gil Conners and this is my wife Grace."
"Pleased to meet you both!" Bill said, shaking their hands. "Now, we've got a little paperwork to complete."
Bill pulled out some forms and filled in some of the blanks. Then they came to the "Donor" portion.
"Bill, can we keep this as 'Anonymous Donor'?
"Certainly!"
Bill finished filling out the form and put a tag on each item.
"Gil, thank you so much for your donation. I've wanted to get one of these for a long time."
"And maybe this will help you with the upkeep of the museum." Grace said, handing Bill four fifty dollar bills. Please consider this 'Anonymous' also."
"Of course! Thank you both so much!"
When the got to Kodak, Gil pulled into Bass Pro Shops. Grace gave Gil a puzzled look.
"We're getting your deer cameras, I've got our stops all mapped out. We pick up the welder and generator next, then stop by the steel place and coordinate the delivery of the steel pipe, then on to Sam's and COSTCO. We'll stop at the bank on the way home."
They went inside and selected the cameras, Gil got four of them, and as they were passing a Lodge cast iron cookware display, Grace came to a screeching halt. She selected two bread loaf pans, a casserole pan, a 15 Inch seasoned cast iron pizza pan, cast iron stir skillet, bacon press, and two cast iron muffin pans. Gil slowly pushed the heavy cart to checkout, afraid the wheels were going to splay out.
They picked up bulk things at both Sam's and COSTCO to include ten 30 roll packs of toilet paper and almost as many paper towels. They got spices, bags of sugar, salt, gallons of cooking oil, a case of Gatorade powder, paper plates, of three different sizes, cups, napkins and Gil took advantage of the selections of wines. When they arrived at the bank, Gil's quiet discussion with the manager had the man sweating. He called in more bank security and the transaction was guarded as the boxes were carried out to the trailer by bank employees. When the coins were loaded, the security people stopped traffic so Gil could pull out. Before he moved the truck, Gil pulled his pistol out and laid it on the seat beside him. Soon they were on I-40, headed home.
Grace couldn't carry the boxes of coins upstairs, but she could stack them, so Gil was relegated to carrying boxes and Grace stacking. She did though, help him unload the other things into the pantry, and the basement. Gil put the generator and the welder in one of the containers.
They sat down with a glass of wine and relaxed when they finished unpacking the trailer, listening to some soft music.
"Gil, is there some way we can be warned about people coming up on us here? We don't know anyone is here until we hear the vehicle, and that's if we're outside."
"H-m-m-m-m. Yes there is. I've got something bookmarked on my computer."
Gil retrieved his laptop and turned it on. When it was booted up, he scrolled through his bookmarks until he found the one for a long range driveway alarm.
"Here it is. It is wireless, so I don't have to dig trench, has a distance of a quarter of a mile, and can handle up to sixteen sensors."
"Do we need that many?"
"Not right now, but it gives me options."
"Okay."
Gil ordered the alarm and the max number of sensors.
"Feel better now?"
"No, hold me and tell me you love me."
The next morning, Gil looked at his 'To Do' list and decided he had time to go pick up the posts and wire for the deer fence around the garden. The steel was arriving that afternoon so he had time. He hooked up the dump trailer and asked Grace if she wanted to go with him. She wrinkled her nose.
"No, need to season the cast iron. I want to try baking a loaf of bread."
"Okay, there's a large bottle of flax oil in the pantry."
"Okay, stay away from the diner." Grace said, grinning.
Gil pulled into the lot at Tractor Supply and saw the posts he needed. In all, he needed one hundred and ten 5" posts, ten 8" posts and twenty rolls of fence wire. After the fence and gates were up, he would need to line the bottom half on the inside with smaller wire to keep the rabbits out. He had seen a lot of them playing in the hay fields. He couldn't carry it all in one trip, so after selecting the wire and posts, he went inside to get fence staples. Looking around, he also picked up a leather belt pouch and belt to hold the staples, wire stretcher, wire pliers and a couple of hammers. Heading to the counter, he stopped quickly and looked at a Cutting and Welding Outfit. He picked that up plus two extra Acetylene and Oxygen cylinders and a box of marking chalk. The clerk at the register told him they could deliver everything the next day so he doubled the order for the posts, wire, and staples to be delivered, added 20 bags of Sakrete and took the rest of the things with him, plus two 8 foot 4x4 posts. They also told him where he could get the Acetylene and Oxygen cylinders filled. Loading everything in the trailer, he headed back home, not stopping by the diner, but to get the cutting torch tanks filled.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 1, 2021 16:32:19 GMT -6
Chapter 33
When Gil got home, he stopped by the campsite and threw the 4X4s on the ground by the equipment barn. When the steel pipe came, he would stack the pipes on the 4x4s to keep the pipe off of the ground. He took the loader bucket off the tractor and installed the forklift blade attachment and pulled the tractor up to the barn door. He would be able to quickly unload the steel. Gil parked the trailer and took his purchases inside the garage and placed them on the counter. Unhitching the trailer, Gil went into the house. The kitchen smelled of heated flax oil.
"Made any bread yet?"
Grace looked up from the cookbook. "No, I'll finish seasoning everything this afternoon. I'm looking for recipes right now."
"Go on the internet and search for 'Bread Recipes.' I'll bet you'll find oodles of them."
Grace got her computer and sat down at the dinette and began her search. Gil fixed a Liver Pudding sandwich and got some chips. Sitting down across from Grace, he did some internet searching for himself. He was throwing his paper plate away when they heard a truck horn.
"That's probably the steel." Gil said.
He ran out and took the Gator down to the bottom of the ridge. The driver was waiting by the truck.
"You Gil Conner?"
"Yes Sir,"
Gil parked the Gator and drove the tractor out of the barn. He was in position as the driver finished unstrapping the load. Gil picked up two of the square pipes at a time and carried them over to the 4x4s and set them down. He was finished in no time.
"Sign her, Mr. Conner."
"I appreciate this." Gil said after signing the paperwork. Slipping the driver a $20 bill, Gil said, "Have a late lunch on me."
The driver smiled. "Thank you sir!"
Gil put the tractor away as the driver turned his rig around and left. Gil hopped into the Gator and went back to the house.
"Gil, the printer won't work."
"I noticed it seemed like it was on the fritz. Let's go to Walmart and see what they have."
Grace grabbed her purse and almost beat him out the door.
The found a HP color all-in-one-do-everything but wash your feet printer. Gil threw in several more packs of ink cartridges and 6 reams of paper. He also selected a pack of legal-sized note pads, pens and markers. Going to the binders, he turned to Grace.
"If you're going to be collecting recipes, you can print them out, put them into a document protector, seal it with tape and if you spill something, all you have to do is wipe it off."
Grace selected three large binders, a box of 100 document protectors and a pack of 6 tape dispensers.
When they got back home, Gil set the printer up in a nook beside the stairs in the dining room. Grace immediately began copying and printing recipes and putting them in document protectors. Gil shook his head and began peeling and slicing potatoes and onions, then took out a package of smoked sausage. Getting out the 15" skillet, he let it heat up while slicing the sausage. Adding butter to the pan he began cooking the potatoes and onions, adding salt and pepper and a dash of garlic powder. When they we just browning, he moved the potatoes and onions to one side of the pan and added the sliced sausage. After the sausage began sizzling, he mixed everything together and occasionally tossed it until he was satisfied.
Gil got out two plates, divided his concoction onto the plates, added forks and carried the plates over to the breakfast nook. Grace looked at the food and slid the computer over.
"The smells had me drooling!"
"What would you like to drink?" Gil asked.
"Iced tea."
Grace took a bite, and closed her eyes. "THIS is comfort food. Thank you."
The next morning, Gil went down to the campsite to wait on the Tractor Supply delivery. He was tinkering in the equipment barn when what arrived instead, was a FEDEX truck. When he signed for the package, he found out it was the driveway alarm. As the FEDEX truck left, the Tractor Supply delivery arrived. They had their own crane boom on the truck, so it only took a few minutes to off-load everything. Gil took the boxes of staples into the equipment barn to keep them out of the weather. He cranked the tractor and moved the pallet of Sakrete out of the weather also.
The next morning, after they had breakfast, Grace went with him down to the garden. Gil marked a spot, took out his compass and shot an azimuth to the far end of the garden, where Grace stood waiting to drive a stake into the ground. Once he signaled to her, he drove a taller stake at his end and walked down to where Grace her stake and drove a taller stake there. Bringing the tractor over, carrying one of the 8x8x8 posts, and the auger attachment with the larger auger bit, he dug a hole for the large post. Setting the post into the ground, he went back to the barn and loaded a bag of Sakrete and two 5-gallon water cans on a pallet and carried it back over to the post. Leveling and squaring the post, they dug three more holes and set the posts, leveling and squaring them.
"What's next?" Grace asked.
"Tomorrow, we'll drill the smaller post holes and put the posts in. We won't need to use Sakrete on them. Let's put everything away and go to the house. You promised me a loaf of bread today."
While Grace was concentrating on her bread making, Gil went to the closet in his office and took out two hand-held radios. Checking the batteries, he carried them downstairs. He took the receiver for the driveway alarm, selected a location to put it, then plugged it in.
"Grace, I'm going down to install the alarm. I'll call you on the radio when I run my test."
"Okay, I'll be listening."
Gil got two T-stakes out of the garage and a 2-lb hammer and took the components for the alarm down to the campsite. He took out his GPS and selected "Home" and saw the distance he was from the house. He slowly drove up the drive until he was 900 feet from the house and started looking on both sides of the road until he found two trees that were directly across the road from one another and could hide the stakes from anyone on their way in. Driving a T-stake into the ground at the base of a tree, he attached the transmitter to the stake. Going across the road he drove the other stake and attached the reflector loosely. He went back to the first stake, laying down and sighting on the far stake. Guestimating how far to move the reflector, he went back over and adjusted and tightened reflector. Taking out the radio, he called Grace.
"Grace, I'm getting ready to test the alarm."
"Okay, I'm ready."
Gil walked up the road and through the alarm beam.
"Grace, Did you hear anything?"
"Oh God! That's loud!"
Gil chuckled. "Okay, I'm on my way back home."
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Post by papaof2 on Nov 1, 2021 17:50:56 GMT -6
Personal preference - Brother printers have more bang for the buck and the ink is MUCH cheaper - no chips in the ink cartridges. Not a concern for Gil ;-)
My MFC-J430W is almost 9 years old.
Not sure how old the HL-2270DW laser printer is, but I have replaced the drum twice ;-)
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Post by udwe on Nov 1, 2021 18:48:06 GMT -6
Keep going!
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Post by paulk on Nov 1, 2021 20:52:20 GMT -6
Just found your new story. Great as always.
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Post by gipsy on Nov 1, 2021 21:00:42 GMT -6
Great update as things start coming together.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 2, 2021 15:34:49 GMT -6
Chapter 34
Gil walked slowly up the incline of the ridge, scanning and visualizing the path as he neared the deer spring, four deer quickly bounded over the ridgeline. Gil slowly moved on past the spring area and continued on up toward the Tunnel. Once he reached the shelf, he thought it could be done. He went back down to the house and walked in. Filling a glass with water, he leaned against the counter and was deep in thought when Grace walked in.
“Cruising the ridge again?
“Yes, I think I have found a route I can take the Gator up to the Tunnel. I’ll need to cut a few small trees, but I think it might be an original route up there. I’ll need to get a chainsaw though. I’m not about to tackle that with my little camp bucksaw.”
“Then, go get what you need. I’m getting ready to start the dough for the bread.”
“Okay then. With a chainsaw, I’ll be finished up in no time. Then I’ll start back on the fence.”
Gil went down to Tractor Supply and came out with Husqvarna 20 in. chainsaw, Chainsaw Chaps, safety gloves, hard hat with face shield, chain sharpener, 3 extra chains 3-gallon fuel can, bar oil, 6 bottles 2-cycle engine oil, and a Scrench. He should be buying stock in that place. Back at home, he added the oil to the gas can and went down and filled the can from the gas pump. After filling the chainsaw, he cranked it to make sure it ran. Shutting it down, he donned the safety gear and proceeded up the path for his trail, cutting small trees and moving them out of the way as he went. When he reached the shelf you could barely tell there was a trail there, except for the cut-down trees he had left in his wake. He had a fix for that. He got back down to the garage and put the equipment away and went down to the equipment garage, removed the forks from the tractor and grabbing some chains, went back up the hill and started dragging down the trees he had cut down. After removing the downed trees he attached the PTO powered wood chipper to the tractor and chipped up all of the trees, leaving a nice pile of mulch they could use later. He reattached the auger with the smaller bit and went back to the garden and began digging the holes for the 5” posts. After completing the holes, he took off the auger and hooked up the trailer, loading the trailer with posts for that side of the garden and a packing bar. It was almost dusk before he had finished packing in the last post. Throwing the bar into the trailer, he drove back to the equipment barn and walked back to the house.
“Honey, I’m home!” Gil yelled, coming in the door.
Grace stepped out from the kitchen, laughing. “Go get a shower. Dinner will be ready in 30 minutes.”
Gil grabbed a quick shower and put on some running shorts and a T-shirt. Going back downstairs he looked at his watch; there was still an hour before Tucker came on.
“What are we having?” Gil asked, entering the kitchen.
“Spaghetti.”
“Good, I need the carbs after today!”
Grace pulled the toasted bread out of the oven and smeared garlic butter on the pieces and took them into the dining room.
“Go sit and I’ll bring you your plate.”
“I can carry my own plate.” Gil said.
Grace gave him a hard look and Gil quickly turned and went into the dining room, taking his seat.
Grace followed with two plates with spaghetti and set Gil’s in front of him, then took her seat.
“This smells delicious!” Gil said, selecting a slice of garlic bread.
Taking a bite of spaghetti, Gil savored the flavor.
“I’ve got a trail cut up to the Tunnel. I can now get the Gator and a trailer up there. And I got the posts up on the west side of the garden.”
“You got a lot done today. What are you doing tomorrow?”
“I’ll continue on the fence, There’s not much I can do on the tunnel until the door comes in. I’ll need to get some treated lumber to build the gates for the garden. I need to get a power saw, and later a table and chop saw for the woodworking shop.”
“Why don’t you get the power saw in town and I’ll forego my hovercraft ride on Saturday and we’ll go down to Knoxville.”
“You sure?”
“Of course. Hey, do you have another one of those pocket notebooks you carry around taking notes?”
“Sure I have a couple in my desk.”
“I’d like one. Sometimes I need to take notes and I hate using that note thingy on the phone.”
“Okay, I’ll get it for you after dinner. Did you go to the church to help clean today?”
“Yes, I went while the bread was rising. There wasn’t much to do except dust a little. Did you know they had frequent power outages?”
“No.”
“I spotted a closet with all these oil lamps and wondered about all these little shelves along the wall we dusted. One of the ladies told me they were used to place the lamps on during service when the power was out.”
“Maybe there’s something we can do about that.” Gil said.
“It wouldn’t have to be as robust as we have.” Grace replied.
“I’ll give Drake a call and see what he can work up, but I'll wait until after we talk with Reverend Jim.”
“Let’s invite Reverend Jim over for dinner and tell him what we want to do.”
“Make it Sunday evening and I’ll cook. I’ll need you help with the potato and cucumber salads.” Gil said.
“You’re on. What are you cooking?”
“Schnitzel.”
“Isn’t that Veal?” Grace said?
“Not this version. This recipe is from Austria. It’s Schnitzel vom Schwein….pork schnitzel. I’ll pull a pork loin out of the freezer to thaw for Sunday.”
“You, my Champion, are a man of many talents. Maybe you can show me some more later upstairs.”
“Your wish is my command M’Lady.”
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 2, 2021 15:42:54 GMT -6
Chapter 35
Gil was up early making coffee. Grace came down the stairs as the coffee pot began making its bubbling noise. "Couldn't sleep?" She asked.
"No, I'm quite refreshed. For some reason I get sore laying in bed awake, unless someone has better ideas."
"I'll keep that in mind. Maybe you could remind me by kissing on my neck."
"I'll keep THAT in mind." Gil grinned.
"Are we still going to Knoxville?"
"Yes. I feel like I spend half my time there, but there's just some things we can't get up here."
I'll go get a shower." Grace said, pouring a cup of coffee. "You can feed me breakfast at Yoder's."
Gil chuckled and watched her climb the stairs.
When they got to Home Depot, Gil didn't waste any time. He told one of the floor people what he wanted and they loaded everything on a cart, Gil pulled his rig over to the loading area and they loaded the table saw with a hand pallet fork. Gil had them move it three quarters of the way into the trailer. They went back in and filled a cart with nails, screws, and an assortment of things Grace had no idea what they were for. Finally, Gil pushed the cart to checkout.
"Is that it?" Grace asked.
"No, we have one more stop to make."
They went down to Kingston Pike and pulled into the Polaris dealer.
"What's here? Grace asked.
"Well, I was thinking. I usually have the Gator out doing something and if you wanted to come to where I was, you'd have to drive one of the bigger vehicles. You need something smaller to get around in."
They got out of the truck and started looking around and Grace locked in on Polaris Ranger with a cab. She sat in it and grinned. Gil turned to the salesman and told him to write it up.
When they got home, Gil backed the Polaris out and unloaded the smaller things into the woodwork shop. Grace sat in the Polaris and got accustomed to where everything was. She cranked it up and gave Gil a ride down to the equipment barn were Gil put the forks back on the tractor and took it back up to the trailer and off-loaded the table saw and placed it in the shop. He drove the tractor back down to the barn and Grace was thrilled to give him a ride back. Gil put the trailer up and they went in to relax the rest of the afternoon.
Gil was up early, before dawn, Sunday morning and took the thawed pork loin out of the fridge and placed it back into the freezer. Grace came down the stairs.
"What are you doing?"
"Making coffee and I placed the pork loin back in the freezer to solidify a little."
"Why?"
Why did I make coffee, or why did I put the loin back in the freezer?"
"The pork loin wiseacre!"
"Oh-h-h-h testy, testy. I put the loin back in to get it stiff. It makes it easier to slice consistent thicknesses."
"You could have said that in the first place."
Come here. Someone needs a hug."
Grace stepped into Gil's arms and sighed. "Everyday, you come up with something new. Don't ever change."
She finally moved out of Gil's arms and poured them a cup of coffee.
"What do you have to do after you cut the loin chops?"
"Well, I'm going to take out the big cutting board and the meat hammer and pound the hell out of it down to about a quarter of an inch thick. Then I'll stack them on a platter, each slice separated by wax paper, until I have them all done. We only need about ten pieces. The rest we can refreeze and have for later."
Grace got up and made biscuits and Gil showed her how to make hashbrowns. They had eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and biscuits with apple butter for breakfast.
After church, they invited Reverend Jim to dinner that evening and he accepted. Gil and Grace went home and Gil talked her through how to prepare the cucumber salad while Gil cubed and boiled the potatoes for the potato salad. After they were done, Gil sat down and watched football, falling asleep in his recliner before the first half. Grace just sat and watched him for a couple of minutes, then picked up a book and began reading. She didn’t read for long, suddenly remembering she had no dessert. She looked in the pantry and found a couple of cans of diced peaches and made peach cobbler.
At 4:00 PM Gil's mental alarm clock went off and he lowered the footrest on the chair. Grace watched him as he got up, without a word, and went into the kitchen. She silently got up and watched him. He pulled out three shallow bowls and cracked six eggs in one, added a little milk into it and beat the eggs. In another one, he put three cups of flour, salt pepper onion powder and a couple of dashes of Basil the gave it all a good stir. In the third one he put bread crumbs. Going over to the pot rack, he took down the 15" cast iron fry pan and placed it on the stove, adding about an inch of oil.
"Are you awake?" Grace asked.
Gil looked at her and started laughing.
"Of course I'm awake. Why would you ask that?"
"I don't know…you were doing everything so robotic like."
"Hey, muscle memory. I've cooked Schnitzel many times. Would you turn the stove on to 170 and set the potato salad in? It's supposed to be served warm."
When the oil was hot, Gil dipped the Schnitzel in the flour, then in the egg wash, then in the bread crumbs, then carefully into the frying pan. He did this with only four pieces. He had Grace take out a raised-side cookie sheet and set one of the cooling racks inside. As each piece was cooked, Gil use the tongs to place it on the rack to let the oil drain into the pan. The pan was then placed into the oven to keep it warm. It didn't take that long to cook all the meat; as a matter of fact, he cooked a few more pieces than he said he would. Taking a cooled piece, he tore it in half and gave a half to Grace. She took a bite and her eyes widened.
"This is good!"
She reached for another piece and he tapped her hand with the tongs, but handed her the rest of his half.
"You should cook the rest of it." Grace said.
"Don't be greedy Miss Piggy. You'll enjoy it more the next time we have it."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 2, 2021 15:51:19 GMT -6
Chapter 36
The Reverend arrived promptly at 4:55 PM. Gil greeted him at the door and led him into the Great Room. "Grace, whatever you cooked certainly smells good."
"Gil cooked most of the meal, Reverend."
Reverend Jim's eyebrows went up, "Not only a good chef at the grill but also in the kitchen?"
"Come sit Reverend, dinner is ready." Grace said.
The Reverend gave the blessing and bowls were passed and plates were filled.
"Oh! This is good," the Reverend said as he cut off another piece of the Schnitzel. The flavors of the German Potato salad and the cucumbers blended perfectly with the meat. When the meal was over everyone had their fill and there was four pieces of meat left. Gil got up and got some aluminum foil and wrapped the leftover pieces of Schnitzel up for the Reverend to take home. Grace glared at Gil and the Reverend caught the look.
"Oh, no I couldn't take any."
"Reverend, doesn't it say somewhere that 'Blessed is the husband who cooks Schnitzel for his wife when she wants it'."
Reverend Jim chuckled. "I don't remember a verse like that but there probably should be one to keep Grace from scalping you."
Grace giggled. "Okay buster, you're going to cook that for me before the potato and cucumber salad leftovers a gone!"
"Grace, would you please get a couple of containers for the Reverend to take salads home also?"
"Yes Dear." Grace smiled sweetly and got up.
Gil winked at the Reverend.
Grace came back out with the containers. "I'm going to beat you up, Buddy."
Gil feigned alarm. "Reverend, if they find me in a road ditch somewhere, beaten to within an inch of my life, you know what to tell the Sheriff."
The Reverend chuckled.
"Reverend, he was pulling my leg. There are five pieces wrapped up on the stove!"
"A loving husband takes care of his wife." Gil said smugly.
The Reverend sighed. "My wife and I used to banter back and forth like that. I's good to see a couple with the love we had."
Gil decided to get the conversation on a lighter level.
"Reverend, Grace was at the church Thursday and she was told the church frequently lost power. I guess it doesn't make much difference during the week, but a Sunday should be about worship and not disruptions cause by having to light enough lamps to read the hymnal. We'd like to do something about it."
Reverend Jim looked at Gil. "I'm listening."
"Well, we could go about this two ways. We could get a generator to have on hand, They are noisy and require fuel though. My suggestion is that we donate an Alternative Energy system to provide power to the church. You no longer would have to pay power bills and have the extra money to put to other worthwhile things."
"But, would solar panels be enough?"
"We'll know when they do their inspection. Reverend, We have both 120 and 240 volt power here. We run refrigerators and freezers, I've got power saws I'm getting ready to hook up, all from solar and wind power."
"Well, I won't deter you from offering this, I know we all will be very appreciative."
"I'll make the call tomorrow and have someone to come up and do the evaluation. How do you like the roof?"
"Oh, it's beautiful! The painting will be completed this week."
"Good. More tea?"
The next morning Gil called Drake and asked him to come up and evaluate the church and give them an estimate of what his company could do for the church. Drake said he would be at Gil's at 10:00 AM the next morning. Gil called Reverend Jim and told him to meet them there at 10:15.
Gil went back to digging post holes for the garden and soon Grace came regally down in her Polaris and put the 5" posts into the holes for Gil and held them as Gil packed soil around them. By noon, they had all the posts in.
"What now?" Grace asked.
"I'll put braces on the 8" posts and we'll be ready to start putting the wire up."
They had a brief lunch and went back down and got all the braces in and concreted. Sitting on the back of the Gator, they surveyed their work.
"Do we need this big of a garden?" Grace asked.
"Not all of it will be garden. At the far end, I'm putting in a 75' greenhouse. We won't be able to grow crops in the garden proper this year, but we can in the greenhouse as soon as it is up. I'm going to plant a cover crop in the garden for nitrogen enrichment then plow it under in the spring. You'll be able to grow your herbs and vegetables in the greenhouse this winter."
"Won't it still be too cold?"
"No, the greenhouse will be heated with an outside wood furnace."
They picked up their tools and went back to the house.
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Post by udwe on Nov 2, 2021 19:21:00 GMT -6
I'd love to have a greenhouse!
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Post by gipsy on Nov 2, 2021 19:49:34 GMT -6
Thanks for a fun update
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 3, 2021 17:55:41 GMT -6
Chapter 37
Gil went with Drake over to the church the next morning and met with Reverend Jim. After getting the power needs and inspecting the electrical panel, Drake gave Gil an estimate of the work. Gil told Drake he'd take care of getting an outbuilding for the battery bank. Drake said they'd be back as soon as they got the tower in from the manufacturer. Shaking hands, Drake left. "I really appreciate this Gil." Reverend Jim said.
"No problem."
Gil's phone rang. It was Grace telling him a trucker was on his way with a delivery.
"Reverend, I've got to get back home. I've got a shipment of something coming in."
Gil followed and 18-wheeler to the equipment barn where Gil had him stop. It was the family food unit Grace had ordered. Gil used the tractor with the forklift blades and set the pallets to the side to let the driver get out of there. Once he left, Gil transferred the pallets to the basement entry and cut the plastic away from the stacked boxes and pails. Grace came down to help stack and organize everything. Gil took the plastic pallets and stored them in a shipping container, keeping one out. Taking a large strap, Gil picked up the generator and set it on the pallet and strapped it down. Slowly, Gil took the trail he'd cut up to the Tunnel shelf and set the generator down. Going back down to the house, he parked the tractor and loaded up the rock saw, chisels, a 2-lb hammer and a can of gas into the back of the Gator. There was no way he could run a water hose up the slope to provide water while cutting the rock. He'd have to figure something out. Gil went into the house to get a drink of water and think.
Grace came out of the laundry room. "What's up?"
"I've got to figure out how to get water up to the Tunnel to lubricate the rock as I cut it."
"Why can't you pump it from the water in the other chamber?"
Gil almost slapped his own forehead. He just needed a gasoline powered pump and enough water hose to reach. DUH!
"You are correct. Well, I guess I'm going to Tractor Supply then. Wanna come?"
"Sure. I just put a load of laundry in so it should be good."
They got to Tractor Supply and there was a 2-cycle transfer pump that would work. Gil picked up that, four 100' rolls of water hose, shut-off adapter and a sprayer head to go with it.
After setting everything up and starting the pump the cone-shaped nozzle was just right to provide a narrow stream of water. Grace kept the water on the cut for Gil to easily cut the 8-inch cut around the Tunnel opening. After cutting it all the way around, He took a framing square and marked the second cut and cut it. Using stone chisels he drove the chisels into the kerf cuts and popped the stone out, about the size of a curb stone. He laid the stones to the side and cleaned up what was a 4x8 rabbet. He would set the posts in these to hang a wooden door on. He bored holes through the door posts with a wood bit and counter-sunk the holes to accept a washer and the lag bolt head. Changing bits to a rock bit, stood the door post up in the rabbet and drilled starter holes in the rock, using the holes in the post as a guide. It took 3 hours to drill all the holes, which resulted in some sore muscles from having to hold the drill up so long. Setting the tools aside and loading everything he wouldn't for the Tunnel any longer into the Polaris, Gil rolled up the power cord and rolled the generator into the tunnel and he and Grace went home.
Gil was busy that evening getting the table saw and the chop saw wired and into position in the woodworking ship. He was going to need them building the outer wooden door for the tunnel. Finally having got everything done, Gil went back to the house, grabbing a glass of wine and sitting down at his computer.
"You must be tired. What are you doing now?" Grace asked.
"Starting another list of things to make the Chamber habitable."
"Well, couldn't we set up the tents in there?"
We could, but would you want to live the rest of your life in a tent?"
"No, I don't think so."
"Grace, there may come a time when if something happened to the house, there wouldn't be sources available to build back. While we can buy things, I want to prepare us for the worst."
"Well, I think you first need to get some lights in that place."
"Okay, I'll add light sets to my list. I have a shop vacuum on the list so we can start cleaning it up and not be raising dust every time we go in there."
"Make it two, I can help."
Gil made a note.
"Okay, let's get some lights in there and get it cleaned up. We'll see where we go from there."
"What about the garden?"
"I'll get the wire put up on the west side and the north side. I want to leave the east and south sides open for now, I've ordered a 25' x 72' foot greenhouse from a company in South Carolina that will be erecting it. When it is done, I can finish getting the rest of the wire up and get the garden seeded with the cover crop. Because of the time between tasks, I'm filling that time in with other tasks. I'm going to be busy."
"WE'RE going to be busy." Grace said.
Grace helped get the fence wire up as far as Gil wanted and worked close to the house for the rest of the day. They were planning a trip back into Knoxville to an industrial supply company to pick up an industrial floor vacuum and to Lowes to pick up pressure treated lumber, several 9,000 and 12,000 lumen work lights and a large Shop Vac. On the way home, they stopped at the White Castle in Strawberry Plains and picked up two large, iced teas and a Castle Pack, gorging themselves on the way home.
While they were unloading the lumber, Gil got a coordination call from Westbrook Greenhouses, verifying the address of the installation. Their crew had reservations for a motel in Rogersville so they would be on the job early every day until the greenhouse was completed. The equipment that had to rent would be picked up in Knoxville on the way there. They would arrive Sunday to position the equipment and start early Monday morning.
Drake was finishing up over at the church so Gil hurried over to talk to him before he left to go back to Knoxville. When he got to the church, Drake was inspecting the battery bank shed.
"Drake!"
"Oh, hey Gil. We're just about through here."
"Good. I need to talk to you about setting up a system to power a 75' greenhouse."
"You got the specs with you?"
"No, I don't. There will be fans and vent openers, and grow lights though."
"Just email me the spec sheets on the electrical components and I can design you a hybrid system that can run it. Have them install everything and run the wiring and I can finish from there."
"Okay Drake, thanks."
"Did you catch him?" Grace asked.
"Just barely, but he's going to work on it. I'm craving BLTs.
"Come on, hungry man. I'll feed you."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Nov 3, 2021 17:57:09 GMT -6
Chapter 38
Gil and Grace took their vacuums up to the tunnel and began cleaning. The floor vac had a 4-cycle engine so it was a matter of using it like a lawn mower. The Shop Vac, however, was electric and Gil had to run an extension cord from the generator. With the L.E.D. work lights on, they could see very well in the chamber. Gil used Shop Vac to vacuum the areas that were difficult for the floor vac to reach. It didn't take long to fill up both vacuums though. Gil emptied them over the edge of the shelf so they wouldn't have a bunch of the dust on the shelf turning into mud when it rained. By 4:00 PM, they had a little over half of the chamber floor cleaned and decided to hang it up and go get showers. Both of them looked like coal miners after an 8-hour shift. While Grace was taking her shower, Gil made a pot of broccoli and cheese soup. Gil opened a bottle of wine as Grace came down the stairs, barefooted, in a pair of lounging pajamas and her hair up in a damp ponytail. Gil headed up the stairs for his shower while Grace made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. After eating and cleaning up the kitchen, Grace and Gil lounged on the couch.
"I'm glad we had to dust masks on." Grace used.
"Yeah, I'm wearing a hat tomorrow. I had to wash my hair three times before the water ran clear.
"So, what's next at the Chamber, my love?"
"I want to put in a 'Non-Electric Waterless Ultra High Capacity Central Composting Toilet System,' as the advertisement read. I'll order that this weekend. Also, I want to get a couple of water tanks in there. I'd like to set up a shower system, but I need to figure out how to get the waste water out. I need to figure out how to get a cable from solar panels and a wind generator into the Chamber. One step at a time."
Gil turned the coffee maker on and slung the quiver over his shoulder. Picking up the bow, he opened the French doors and walked out on the deck. He could barely see the target he had set out the evening before, 25 meters away. Drawing an arrow out of the quiver, he drew and hit the target. He didn't get a bull's eye, but close. Another arrow flew and it was closer to the center of the target. The third arrow hit direct center. The light from the en suite came on, faintly illuminating the deck below as Gil turned and went back inside.
Gil was working on his solar power files when Grace came into the kitchen.
"I didn't want to get up this morning." Grace mumbled as she poured her coffee.
Sitting down across from him at the dinette, she took a sip.
"What are you working on?"
"Solar and wind power equipment for up the ridge."
"You're not going to let Drake handle it?"
"No, I want this kept on the QT. The fewer people that know about what we have up there, the better I like it."
"I want to go upriver today." Grace stated.
Gil smiled. "You still feel like it? I figured you would be stiff from pushing that vacuum around yesterday."
"I am, but I want to get my weekly dose in before we finish the Chamber."
Gil closed his spreadsheet out and shut down the computer. "Well, let's get breakfast and get started."
As Grace cleared the bushes on the riverbank, she did a shallow bank to the right and headed up the Holston River. She grinned broadly as they flew under the Melinda Road bridge and followed the bends in the river. She easily flew over the shoals and through the old railroad bridge supports above Arnotts Island. Grace easily cleared the small dam at the gas power plant and continued on up river. She finally turned around at the Surgoinsville bridge and returned home.
"That was relaxing." Grace said, detaching a wing.
"Yeah, It's nice getting out early like this."
Gil backed the hovercraft into the garage and they got their old clothes on and headed back up to the Tunnel in the Gator.
They opted for working through lunch and finishing the cleaning then have an early dinner. Gil had wisely remembered to bring up the two-wheel wheel barrow and they would empty their vacuums into it so Gil had fewer trips to dump. Finally finishing, they inspected the area and Gil touched up a few areas with the shop vac. Finally shutting their vacuums down, they stored them to the side of the chamber and gazed around, satisfied.
"Well, that's done. I'll start on the door next, but I've got to figure out how to get the cables in here from the solar panels and the wind turbine."
Gil stared at the wall for a few seconds. "Help me here for a minute."
Gil went over and picked up a 100-foot tape measure and went into the tunnel and outside. Looking at the face of the wall, he walked back to the tunnel opening.
"Hold the end of the tape measure here."
Gil backed down the tunnel until he came to the chamber.
"Now come here and hold the tape at the edge of the opening here."
Gil walked to the wall of the chamber and took the measurement.
"The wall is about 30 to 35 feet thick." Gil said.
"What are you going to do?"
"I've got an idea, but I've got some checking up to do."
They shut off the lights and shut the generator down, moving it back inside the tunnel.
Gil spent Sunday afternoon after lunch building the wooden door for the tunnel entrance. After four hours of gluing, clamping and bolting, he had the untrimmed door ready. He'd trim it to fit when it was installed. Gil laid the heavy hinges on the door to take with him when he hauled the door up. Walking into the house, he saw Grace sitting on the couch, typing on her computer.
"What are you working on?"
"I've been researching greenhouse gardening and making a list of plants I'd like to grow."
"I'm going to build raised beds with pressure treated wood so we don't have to bend over so low."
"I thought you weren't supposed to plant food crops in containers made of pressure treated wood."
"I saw a trick at a nursery once. They lined the beds with rubber pond liner. We need to sit down and figure the cubic feet of potting soil we're going to need. I'll go ahead and do that since I need to estimate what lumber I'm going to need. Maybe I can get everything delivered at the same time. "
"What do you want for dinner?
"I don't know. What do you want?"
"I think I'll just have a sandwich."
"Yeah, maybe I'll have some cheese and Ritz crackers with Genoa salami and Vegemite."
"Oh gross! I don't know how you can eat that stuff."
"It puts hair on your chest."
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Post by paulk on Nov 3, 2021 18:15:26 GMT -6
More! More!!
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Post by udwe on Nov 3, 2021 18:35:40 GMT -6
What Paulk said,"more, more!"
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Post by ydderf on Nov 3, 2021 19:40:52 GMT -6
Thanks for the new chapters
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Post by gipsy on Nov 3, 2021 19:59:27 GMT -6
I am sure more is coming but perhaps my 76 years have given me a little more patience,
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