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Post by cavsgt on Feb 13, 2022 13:44:39 GMT -6
Double post
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Post by gipsy on Feb 13, 2022 14:42:27 GMT -6
Does that means it's twice as good. Thanks for the update. Taking bets on more gold.
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Post by paulk on Feb 13, 2022 15:03:54 GMT -6
More! More!!
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Post by udwe on Feb 13, 2022 20:51:36 GMT -6
Thank you so much!
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Post by texican on Feb 14, 2022 0:45:28 GMT -6
A dairy cow, depending on the breed, will produce between 6 to 8 gallons of milk per day.
12 cows will produce 72 to 96 gallons of milk per day and 504 to 672 gallons of milk per week.
That is a lot of milk depending on the market and what all is made from milk such as cream, butter and cheese.
Now you need a cheese maker and a way to package the cream, butter and cheese. Don't forget that the cheese needs to be aged.
Been working on a project so been out of touch for a week. Completed the project today. I had the opportunity to read many chapters.
Thanks iam for the stories.
Texican....
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 14, 2022 16:32:25 GMT -6
Chapter 12
Gil peeled the first overlaying flap of the dried, cracking leather back, then the second flap. As he thought, it was gold bars. Taking one out, it looked like the gold had been poured in moist sand molds, the outsides of the bars had the pebbly texture of cast iron. Gil counted the top layer and there were 60 bars on in the first layer, He kept pulling bars and found there were ten layers in the box, each bar weighing between five and seven ounces. He restacked the bars then took a wire wheel brush and put it on the grinder. He cleaned the edges of the top of the box and the insides of the lid. After spraying CorrosionX on the cleaned surfaces, he placed the lid back on the box. He went and sprayed CorrosionX around the lids of the other two boxes and covered everything back up again.
Keeping the nose up and aligned with the centerline, the main landing gear wheels hit, the plane bounced slightly once and settled down, coasting to a stop. A crash truck was quickly planeside with a tug coming across the runway. Billy's instructor came running up.
"That was a perfect, deadstick landing Billy! What happened?"
"I don't know. The engine quit, I tried to restart then just tried to get on the ground in one piece."
"Well, looks like you did everything right. How are you feeling?"
"I might have to change my underpants before I go home." Billy said.
Gil and the guys stayed busy moving trailer loads of equipment to Harmony from Chet's farm. They had most of the hay put up They brought over bags of feed but the feed from Chet's silo wouldn't be moved until a feed silo was put up at Harmony by the end of the week. Gil had contracted with Jerome Harrison to supply hay he grew for sale to the dairy. The pastures were greening up and would be ready for the cows when they moved there.
Grace was there to help Mary when the furniture was starting to be delivered. The delivery people were very good about carrying the bedroom furniture upstairs, even though there was a couple of tight corners. George and Jerry did most of the work of putting the beds together and moving them around in the rooms where people wanted them. Sarah and Alice immediately began storing clothes away in the closets and bureaus. Gil helped out where he could. In the back of his mind he had to figure out what to do with the gold. He still wasn't sure how much he had, not having taken the lids off the other two boxes yet.
They had finished painting the insides of the milking barn and the processing house. The tanks, coolers, and the milk can washer/sterilizer we due in the first of next week and also the people to install the hardware and piping for the milking area. Drake said he would be up next week to install the PV panels and equipment for the barn complex. Some of the other equipment purchases, like the tractor, could wait. It looked like they would get everything ready a little earlier than expected.
On the way home, Billy stopped at Sweet Frog and had a pint of frozen strawberry yogurt. Sitting there, slowly savoring each bite, he went over in his mind his actions during the engine stall emergency. What he had done, was done instinctively. His Dad had made him do it many times, although at a much higher altitude. He would kill the power, Billy had to recover and do the things to make an emergency landing. That he was that close to the airfield when it happened was good, but he felt confident he could have put the plane down safely on a road or in an open area. Billy absentmindedly reached in his shirt and fingered the Saint Joseph's medal his mother had given him.
"Gil! You got loggers over here taking out logs?" Glen asked over the radio.
"No, no one's supposed to be cutting trees over there."
"Well, there's a team of six guys cutting down white oak."
"Glen, can you secure the gate? Don't let anyone through except the Sheriff's people and our people."
"Roger."
Gil alerted the other men and grabbed his kit and headed to Bear Head Point via highway 11. On the way, he called the Sheriff's Department and notified them about the illegal logging.
"Sagartotisa, only incapacitate the intruders. Let the law take care of them."
"As you wish."
When he got to the gate, Glen was there.
"Looks like they cut the lock with a torch."
"Okay, just keep the nosy out and let the law enforcement and our guys through."
Gil drove on through and soon came upon the loggers and their truck. All six were either laying around or leaning against something, faces pale. A couple of minutes later, Brad, Trace and Colt arrived.
"Anyone got Flex-Cuffs?" Gil asked.
"We've got plenty for this bunch." Brad said.
"Cuff 'em." Gil ordered.
As the intruders were being cuffed, they began reviving."
"He you can't hold us!" One of the men said.
"Shut up and sit down. You are trespassing and illegally harvesting timber. The County Sheriff is on his way."
Deputy Lynelle Johnson soon arrived. "What's going on Gil?"
"These men were illegally logging on Foundation land."
Lynelle called for backup to help process the suspects and a prisoner van to haul the suspects in.
"We've got authorization to cut timber here!" A man who looked to be the crew leader said.
"Do you have written authorization with you?" Deputy Johnson asked.
"It's back at the house." The man answered sheepishly
"If you have authorization to cut here, why did you need to cut the lock off the gate?" Gil asked.
"The man said he'd lost the key and to just cut the lock off."
"Well, you men are looking at a $2500 fine and up to nine months in prison." Deputy Johnson said.
"Hey! We were just doing what we wuz hired to do."
"Good answer, hockey puck. That answer got a lot of people hung after the Nuremberg Trials." Gil grinned.
Lynette went over and took a picture of the one tree they had managed to cut down and was taking identifications when two other deputies and a prisoner van arrived. They got all the men identified and as they were putting the men in the van Glen asked, "By the way, who hired you?"
Their pseudo-leader looked at Gil. "Dan Cleaver."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 14, 2022 16:34:29 GMT -6
Chapter 13
Gil cut through the hinges first on the next two boxes. It still took a lot of pounding but the lids did come off easier. As suspected, there were gold bars in each of the other two boxes….six hundred in each, giving him at total of 1,800, 5 ounce (+/-) gold bars with a value at current gold prices, of somewhere near seventeen million dollars. It was time to shore up the dike.
The installation crew had been working all day installing the milking machines, pipes, pumps and tanks while other installs was being done on the cooler and the milk can washer/sterilizer. Along with that, a couple of Drake's techs were monitoring the controls on the dairy power system as each machine was connected to the circuits. They had finished the installation of the power system the day before. They ensured the PV panels were producing, manually ran the wind turbine and ran the generator to make sure each subsystem worked as they were supposed to. Chet was almost dizzy with the activity. If everything checked out, tomorrow would be the last morning they would milk at his farm. They would mothball the equipment but leave it in place. It might be used again someday.
"Police! Open up! We have a warrant!"
When the his wife answered the door and he saw the police, Daniel Cleaver collapsed and died of a heart attack.
Gil had the 18-wheeler livestock hauler backed up to the loading chute before Chet and his sons could finish milking. Mary and her daughters emptied the milk into five gallon milk cans that they had cleaned and prepared. The milk would be taken over to Harmony, placed in the cooler to let the cream rise, remove the cream and and the milk pasteurized. It would then be transferred to the stainless steel milk containers Gil had ordered.
After they had the cows, Chet called his family together.
"George, you ride over with the cows and get them settled at Harmony. The rest of us will finish up here and be over later. Give them a bait of feed if they want to stay near the barn but I think they'll settle down and graze. They might have a little moving shock, but they should have enough time to settle down before the evening milking." Chet said.
George rode with Gil and Brad and guided the livestock hauler to Harmony. George talked to the cows and they calmly walked down the ramp and George drove them to the pasture where they immediately started grazing.
"That was easy." Brad said.
"Yeah, but Chet's work is just beginning."
Gil stuck around until Chet and the rest of the family arrived. There were smiles all around.
"Gil, tell Grace I said 'Thank You' for the food. Lord knows we won't need to do any food shopping for a while." Mary said.
"She'll probably be over in a while to bring you some of those harvest baskets you like. Don't tell her I told you." Gil grinned. "Chet, when you're ready tomorrow, you and I are heading to Greenville to look at tractors and equipment."
Gil called George Stillman and made an appointment for 10:00 Friday.
As Gil was going home he passed Grace who was headed to Harmony with Mollie and the kids. When he got to the house, Billy came in right behind him.
They went inside and both got their water bottles out of the fridge and took a drink.
"Dad, can I talk to you?"
"Sure, let's go out on the deck. It's a nice afternoon."
They took seats on the deck and Gil waited.
"Dad, I didn't say anything before because I knew it would just upset Mom. Coming back from a cross-country the other day, I was in the pattern at Dickinson Island and my engine quit. It wouldn't restart so I declared an emergency and took the 172 in for a dead-stick landing. The plane wasn't damaged and I was a little shaken but okay."
"Well, I'm impressed, not only for your piloting skills but also for not getting your mother upset. Thank you for that. So what now?"
"Well, I'll finish the Stage Two training next week. I can space out my Stage Three training over time until my 17th birthday, when I can take the FAA knowledge test and demonstrate proficiency during a check ride to get my license. Basically, between now and then, all I'll be doing is further developing my flying skills and building my knowledge in all subject matter areas."
"Okay, I'll get you checked out in the Maule and we'll rent a 172 a couple of times a month to keep your proficiency up on that. How are you feeling?"
"I feel great! I'm also grateful for all the emergency procedures you made me practice. I was going through the procedures without even thinking."
"Well, that's why you practice. Oh, while we are talking about flying, you can't have passengers without a licensed pilot with you until you get your license."
"What do you mean?" Billy said, blushing.
"Carrie?"
"Oh, no problem."
Billy got up and went into the house. Gil sat there and smiled to himself.
Gil was ushered into the office by George's secretary.
"Gil, what brings you in today?"
"George, I've got a few questions about banking.."
"Okay, go ahead."
"George, what happens to your bank when Wall Street folds and banks start failing."
"Well banks are covered by the FDIC. People with accounts up to $250,000 dollars won't lose their deposits."
"But what happens to a bank's depositors when a bank fails?"
"Their accounts are handed to a solvent bank."
"So you're telling me we could eventually, hypothetically, have all the accounts in the country being managed by one of the big banks like Chase. And if they fail, the FDIC would kick in."
"Hypothetically, yes."
"So where is the government going to get the money to give back to the depositors? Print it.?
"Yes, probably so."
"So, we have a government printing a check for fiat money worth less or next to nothing to depositors of around 24,000 banks in the U.S., who might not get their monetarily worthless paper checks for weeks or months and still have to buy food to survive?"
"Yes, in the very worst case scenario, that would probably be the case."
"So, in that very worst case scenario, how do you keep this bank solvent and the people's ability to buy goods and services safe?"
"I'll have to do some thinking on that." George said.
Gil tossed one of the gold bars on George's desk pad. George picked it up with a surprised look."
"Where did you get this?"
"I found it, seriously, and there's 1,799 more like it. The weights vary from five to seven ounces. I figure there's somewhere around $17,000,000 worth of gold there. Now, with that knowledge and gold available to you, do you think you could come up with a plan to keep a solvent banking system in the community?
"It's a wild Idea, but there may be something." Said George, handing back the small ingot.
"No, I want you to hold on to that to remind you why you're planning this. We can put it with the rest when you come up with a plan. George, I don't want us to be reduced to bartering and trading down at the fairgrounds for a local economy."
"Okay Gil, Give me a week, at least."
"Okay, George, I'll talk to you later."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 14, 2022 16:37:01 GMT -6
Chapter 14
Colt had stopped in at the Walgreens in Greeneville to grab a bag of vitamin C lozenges when he saw several things on sale. They had peroxide, elastic bandages, Band-Aids of assorted sizes and some analgesics, aspirin and antibiotic creams. He bought several of each. Taking his purchases out to the truck, he emptied the bags in the 20-gallon storage container he carried in the back. All of them had gotten into the habit of carrying a container in case they found sales of things they stored for a "Just-In-Case" scenario. Heading on to Home Depot, he bought four of the drill bit sets that were on sale, the primary reason he was down there. He would stop by Yoder's and pick up Shannon a couple of packs of those Chocolate Chip Whoopie Pies. She had developed a craving for them.
Saturday morning, Gil took a trip to a rare coin shop in Knoxville to see what he could get for twenty of the Civil War era double eagles. When he agreed to take their offer in mixed dominations of current gold coins, they were more than glad to do that. It was a one-time exchange with them. ?Gil didn't want to flood the area with the coins, and he had a lot left.
But he found a remedy for that, He checked out Billy in the Maule and they began making one flight a week. The Maule had a 478 nautical mile range and they could easily reach many of the larger cities in the southeast and Midwest. Their first trip was to Asheville, North Carolina, a relatively short distance, where he traded twenty of the coins for mixed denominations of current gold coins. He had Billy do the flight planning and flying, building on his experience. Billy already had plans written up ahead of time for Atlanta, St. Louis, Charlotte and Cincinnati.
Chet was living a dream. They were already selling milk, mostly one and two liter bottles, but there were families who were buying the four liter jugs also. A deposit was required on the bottles unless you signed up for their constant customer plan. Several people wanted to buy the milk containers and Gil had Chet charge them what a single container would be, plus eighteen percent. When the potential buyers found out what the actual cost was, they backed off, but still bought the milk. Gil went ahead and ordered fifty more of each size. They could store them as spares and pull out what was needed.
"Gil, did you know Mary made cheese?" Grace asked.
"No I didn't."
"Mollie and I tried her Cheddar, Colby, Mozzarella and Butterkase and they were all delicious. She can make several other cheeses also."
The next morning, Gil went over to Harmony Hollow to observe the milking. He watched as Chet and his boys milked the cows, six at a time. He stayed and watched the milk transferred to the milk cans to cool to allow the cream to rise. The previous milk cooling had the cream skimmed off, pasteurized and transferred to containers.
Mary came out with coffee and chocolate milk for the boys.
"Mary, Grace tells me you know how to make cheese."
"Yes, I make it for the family. I also can butter."
"Have you ever given it any thought to making it to sell? It would mean more income."
"Well, not really. We really don't have the room. I do most of the work in the kitchen and that takes most of it just to make cheese for us."
"What if I built you a building to make it in?"
"Well, it still takes work. Chet? What about Larry and Rose? He's lost his job. Maybe they'd take on the cheese making. Rose makes as good as I do."
"Well, I guess I could ask, but where would they live?"
"That travel trailer they live in is only thirty-eight feet. They could just pull it here."
"Caomächter, the two they speak of are acceptable."
"Folks, if they're willing to come here, I'll get another septic system in and we can run water from the well. Electricity will be no problem. I'll build you a separate building for cheese and butter making, just make me a list of what you need." Gil said.
"Gil..."
"Chet, this is seed money."
"…and she says she cans butter too." Gil said.
"Well, back home we canned butter. Power went off so often it was a delight to get solid butter that wasn't spoiled. You know, canned butter will last around five years." Mollie said. "You should order a bunch of half-pint wide mouth jars for the butter."
"Grace, remind me, in fact, when you get some time, why don't you and Allie go over there and help with the list. We're building her a building for cheese making and we are including butter. She'll probably need a stove or two. I'll call Jimmy and have a propane tank installed. She'll have to have somewhere to age the cheese too, We can build a basement but find out what she needs for workspace and storage."
George Stillman called and asked Gil to come in at his convenience. Gil told him it would be a couple of days, they had a lot going on. The tractor and equipment Chet had picked out was to be delivered this afternoon and they were still harvesting. Watermelons were ready to be picked and along with the women's canning of the rinds, if he was going to make any wine or whiskey, he needed to get on top of that.
When Gil finally went in to see George, unlike before, George had a more cheerful outlook.
"Gil, I've worked out a possible solution under the worst case scenario. Let's say every bank in the country failed, we could still remain viable by going on a gold standard for the community. We can turn the ingots into coins and use those. However, you won't be making any money with your gold."
"George, I don't need to make more money. Go on."
"As I said, we can exchange the gold for coins, but we may not get more than thirteen or fourteen million in coins off of that."
"Will that keep the community going?" Gil asked.
"Yes, for a while. To be safe, we would probably need to have double that, but what you have would cover the deposits."
"Well George, you'll make money, at least for a while, at least until the SHTF, then in time, you be making money again. We'll recommend to all our friends to do their banking with you. I also have a lot of 1863 gold double eagles I'll throw into the pot if you think you can exchange them."
"How many is a 'lot'?"
"I guess around six hundred."
"Whew. That's going to take some doing. I'd have to shop around to keep from flooding the market and reducing their value."
"That's what I've been doing. I've been selling them twenty at a time in places like Atlanta, St. Louis, Knoxville, Charlotte, the bigger towns and cities."
"Well, give me two hundred and I'll see what I can do."
"Okay. Do you have storage space for all the gold?" Gil asked.
"If not in the currency vault, then I'll start using the large safety deposit boxes that aren't being used."
"Well, be careful. The weight can build quickly in those boxes."
"I will."
"Okay then, as long as you have a plan. I'll bring in the gold, probably after hours. Let me know when you are ready."
"What about tomorrow, after closing? Say around 6:30?"
"That will work. I'll have a couple of my guys with me for security."
"That's fine."
"George, my main concerning is keeping the worry off people's shoulders. If things go toes up, people's minds change and it could get nasty. You could experience a run on the bank, but I believe if we give the people confidence the bank is stable, then not much of that is going to happen. Once you show you are backed by gold though, you need to think about having guards 24/7. You'll be having criminals and would be criminals swarming around here thicker than flies on a dead mule's butt."
"I've already thought about that. Do you think we should bring Will Tatum and Ray Dalton in on this?"
"Once you think your plan is polished up enough and firm, yes." You just might see more law enforcement customers, and maybe they'll be even more vigilant if their money is in the bank."
"Caomächter, there will be more."
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 14, 2022 16:39:16 GMT -6
Chapter 15
"Ryan, I need a milk delivery truck that will keep milk cold for a local delivery route. It will need racks in it to hold the milk containers."
"Well, that's a different request. What size are the containers?"
Gil gave him the height and width of the stainless steel containers.
"When do you need it?
"As soon as you can, but I'm sure you hear that all the time."
Ryan chuckled. "Occasionally. We'll get on it and give you a call."
"Okay, thanks."
Taking buckets of feed, Gil went to fill the wildlife feeders. He was in a hurry this morning because they were picking watermelons today and they had a lot of watermelon juice to deal with. Something drew his attention to an area just below the ridgetop of Taylor's Bluff. Getting his mind back on the work for today, he and Billy, or one of the guys, would slice the red meat out of the watermelon and hand the rinds off to the women. The men would pick the seeds out of the melons that had been selected for seed saving put them on newspaper to dry, the pulp was squeezed, strained, and juiced emptied into five gallon thermos water containers for transport to the Chamber. The juice was placed in carboys for fermentation for wine or whiskey. It took about a day and a half to do all the watermelons. Earlier in the Spring, Gil had purchased a used restaurant dishwasher from a restaurant equipment company and installed it in the canning house. Relieved of the chore of having to wash and sterilize jars, the women were much happier. Shannon, in her final stages of pregnancy, kept a tally of the number of jars of pickled and candied rind.
Harold and his crew were completing the third house and would start on the "Cheese Factory" in a few days. Harold had an idea on how to keep the aging area to a constant cool fifty-two to fifty-six degrees and the right humidity level using pipes from a runnel. Mary had already started to receive the supplies of cultures, Rennet, and other things needed to make the cheese. Also, three butter churns had come in. She had already been making butter with her own churn, both salted and unsalted. They would have a busy week. More corn had to be put up and the potatoes needed to be harvested next week.
Gil stepped outside the canning house with his water bottle to take a drink and to get a little break. Raising the bottle to his lips, he glanced over at Taylor Bluff. Something….
The corn and oats were looking good. They would need a good crop this year with supplementing Chet's dairy herd. It would ease off next year though when Chet could plant his own feed crops Chet only fed the cows grain during their milking so he didn't use that much, but it was going to be close to using the maximum of their production output between the two of them. Gil would have to find something else to distill alcohol out of this year.
Trace and Brad had been working on something they wouldn't tell Gil about. Finally, Brad called Gil and told him to meet them down at the sawmill. When Gil arrived, he noticed the ripsaw set up and a 55-gallon drum set up on a stand. As he got closer, he began to recognize the setup.
"Well, we figured out a way to power the rip saw!" Brad said.
They had a hit and miss engine that Gil recognized from one of the storage containers, with a belt to a generator head and wires running to an outlet panel.
"What are you using for fuel?" Gil asked.
Trace grinned. "Alcohol."
"Alcohol? You can run a hit and miss off alcohol?"
"Sure, it'll burn most anything. It's just a matter of getting the right mixture."
Brad reached down and gave the engine flywheel a couple of spins, the engine caught and started chugging away. Trace flipped a switch and the saw came on and he and Brad ran a plank through the saw. Gil grinned.
"Nice work!" Now I know what the big secret was all about."
"Yeah, I wasn't sure we could get it to work, but everything fell into place." Trace said.
"We're going to need to build a shelter over the engine and the generator to keep everything out of the weather."
"Yeah, we need to build a lean-to roof to make sure nothing blows in on the saw. Let's get the materials together." Gil said.
The harvest was really good this year. A lot of food had been donated to the Church Food bank and everyone's pantries were full. Alice Arthur could live off the candied watermelon ring so Mary had to hid the rest of the jars Grace had given her. Canning jars were at a premium until the shipment Allie had ordered earlier in the Summer finally arrived. Most of those had been stored in a shipping container. They still had to potatoes to dig, canning the small ones.
Taylor's Bluff was more on Gil's mind every day. On Sunday afternoon, after he and Billy had flown down to Chattanooga and back, Gil and Billy took a Gator and went up to the top of the ridge on the drive and parked. Donning their day packs, they walked along the backbone of the river knob towards Taylor's Bluff.
"There's a lot of game trails up here." Billy commented.
"Yeah, and look, Does that look like an old wagon road to you?" Gil said, pointing out almost indiscernible indentations in the forest floor.
"Yes Sir, it does."
They followed the old road towards Taylor's Bluff. Five hundred meters in, Gil shifted to a game trail running down the north side of the bluff. The feeling that had been haunting Gil got stronger until he suddenly stopped at a rock outcropping where a chute of rubble that had slid down the slope. Looking around, carefully he moved a couple of head size stones and uncovered a hole. Billy jumped in and they widened the hole, rock by rock. Soon it was big enough for Billy to crawl in and he started to do so.
"Wait! Let's move some more of this rock above here. I don't want it giving way and burying you."
The cleared away more of the debris until there wasn't enough to cause any harm.
"Got a light?" Gil asked.
Grinning, Billy took off his daypack and pulled out a small Maglite and a headlamp. Placing the headlamp on his head and holding the Maglite in his left hand, Billy dropped to his knees and began to enter the dark shaft.
"Wait! Get a stick and check for snakes." Gil said.
Billy got up, looked around with a three-foot stick, breaking smaller branches from it. Getting down and pushing and probing with the stick, he entered the shaft. When his feet were almost inside, Billy shouted out."
"Dad! I found a box! It's heavy…. I can't move it. There's something else! There's like leather bags here too!"
"Hang on!" Gil said, taking off his day pack.
Gil pulled out a twenty-five foot length of 9.5mm climbing rope and unrolled it.
"I'm going to throw you a rope. Make a slip knot and tie it around the box and I'll pull it out."
Gil tossed the rope in and felt a tug, then a pause.
""Okay Dad! Pull!"
Gil put on his gloves and got a good hold on the rope and started pulling, slowing dragging the box out of the hole. He finally saw the box in the gloom and after a few more hard pulls, the box was out in the open. It looked very similar to the other three boxes.
"Throw the rope back Dad!" Billy yelled from the depths.
Gil untied the slip knot and threw the rope back in. After a few seconds, Billy yelled for him to pull. Gil started pulling and after about three feet, something broke and the rope came flying out. At the end of the rope looked to be two leather handles.
"Sorry Dad!" Billy yelled. "I tied the rope to the handles and they broke off!"
"Do you know how to tie a timber hitch?"
"Yes Sir!"
"Okay, use a timber hitch. Use as many loops you can get on there."
"I'll try! The bags are awful heavy!"
Gil threw the rope back in and waited. After about four minutes, Billy shouted, "Okay Dad! Pull!"
Gil started pulling, the bag was sliding out easier than the box did. Finally the bag appeared in the open.
"How many bags are there?" Gil yelled.
""There's four more!"
"Okay, same deal!" Gil yelled, and threw the rope back in.
Four more times Gil pulled bags out of the little cavern, then Billy appeared in the opening.
"I looked and there's nothing left in there." Billy said.
"Billy, I want you to take the Gator back down and find either Brad or Colt. Don't use the radio. Have them drive the Gator back up here as close as he can. He can follow you back. I want you to hook the trailer to the Rokon and bring it back. Clear?"
"Yes Sir!"
Billy took off jogging, headed for the Gator. Gill looked at the bags. They were made of stiff, double layer leather. The leather was cracked, but still strong. Each bag was closed securely with four straps and buckles. The leather straps were stiff, so Gil poured little water around each buckle and strap and let it sit while he went and cut a tree branch about a half inch in diameter and six inches long. Removing the bark from the stick, he sharpened the stick to a dull point, making a version of a wooden marlinspike. Carefully working the marlinspike under the leather where it came through the buckle, he worked the strap out of the buckles. He had three of the buckles on one bag done when Billy and Brad returned.
"What's going on here Hoss?" Brad asked.
Gil got the last buckle loose and reached inside the bag, removing a gold bar, about the same size as the others from the three boxes.
"HOLY SH…." Brad said in a burst of breath.
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Post by gipsy on Feb 14, 2022 19:27:34 GMT -6
I won the bet. Now we will need a coin mint for the future use of the foundation. A better vault and security team. What else. A plane for Billy and Carrie, and a new house. A classroom for the kids homeschooling. What am I missing? Hummmm? PS: Thanks for the update.
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Post by cavsgt on Feb 14, 2022 23:20:33 GMT -6
Never feels like enough but
Thank You Phill
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Post by udwe on Feb 15, 2022 7:43:58 GMT -6
Wow! The spirit is really getting them ready!
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mlhj
New Member
Posts: 16
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Post by mlhj on Feb 15, 2022 12:20:18 GMT -6
I think if you want a functional local precious metals currency, you’d want at least twice as many silver coins (maybe even 10x). Gold coins would be like shopping at dollar General and only having 100’s. Same reason historical coinage never used 1oz coins - too much value for day to day use. Be better off with a ton of 1/10 oz gold coins and a ton of various denomination silver coins.
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Post by ydderf on Feb 15, 2022 13:21:15 GMT -6
Could a bottle caper be altered to make coinage.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 15, 2022 13:36:52 GMT -6
I think if you want a functional local precious metals currency, you’d want at least twice as many silver coins (maybe even 10x). Gold coins would be like shopping at dollar General and only having 100’s. Same reason historical coinage never used 1oz coins - too much value for day to day use. Be better off with a ton of 1/10 oz gold coins and a ton of various denomination silver coins. That's correct, smaller coinage would be better for common or smaller purchases, but there's a reason banks don't just carry just, 1s, 5s, 10s, and 20s. The convenience of having large sums of money without the bulk.
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Post by biggkidd on Feb 15, 2022 13:42:31 GMT -6
For us I first made sure we had small silver change dimes & quarters then ounces and after I have all that covered I'll start getting tenth ounce gold and work up the same way. If I ever get enough silver to feel able to start getting gold that is.
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mlhj
New Member
Posts: 16
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Post by mlhj on Feb 15, 2022 23:35:40 GMT -6
It’s an interesting thought experiment; what do you use for day-to-day currency post teotwawki? How do you go from a small MAG to a local community with a functional economy?
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 16, 2022 20:58:19 GMT -6
Chapter 16
With the harvests of the garden crops slowing, Mollie, Grace, Sarah and Allie took time to make jelly from the concord grape juice they had put up earlier. The grapes had produced well and they had put up several gallons of the juice. Some of the juice had been canned in quart jars and would be saved back to make juice drinks. The children loved it and would often be seen with purple mustaches after sneaking drinks.
Harold and his crew were finishing with the "Cheese Factory." Mary had been making small rounds of wax covered cheese in the house to be aged and handed out as samples in the future. Mary's brother, Larry and his wife Rose, had moved to Harmony Hollow and were set up and helping out. They both were drawing a salary that was coming out of the "seed money" that Gil had provided, but Chet was having to rely on that less and less.
Ryan called Gil and told him the milk truck was on its way. Gil got the information from Ryan to pay for it and did a bank transfer. It was agreed that Larry would take over the milk delivery route and flyers were given to current customers which drew in new customers that lived along the boundaries and within the Lands.
When the truck arrived at Bluff View, Gil led the car carrier to Harmony and delivered the milk truck. The charging station was set up next to the Cheese Factory to be able to use power off the building in case the charger didn't receive enough sunlight. Another flyer was given to customers stating the milk would now be delivered and orders could be phoned in.
September was a special month to Gil. The cool mornings at Bluff View truly felt magical. The sky was golden as the sun peeked over the ridge, steam rising from the fields as the sunlight touched the dew. It was almost surreal.
Gil had turned over the gold bars to George and he was putting the plan into place. It was a big weight off Gil's shoulders. Right now, his thoughts were on the upcoming corn and oat harvest. They had checked over all the equipment and it was ready. Tomorrow, they would start bringing in the corn.
They were fortunate the harvest went as smoothly as it did. Jarrod and Glen came over to help, overseeing the unloading at the silos. When they were in the last stages of the corn harvest, Gil went to the oat fields and checked the moisture content of the oats and they were as good as they could hope for, so he planned for a day down to pull maintenance on the equipment and start harvesting the oats.
They loaded the combine on a heavy trailer and hauled it to the field nearest Trace's house and began harvesting the oats two days later. The only problem they had was a broken belt on the bagger, but it didn't slow anything. Gil got another belt the correct size but they didn't bother changing it out until they needed to. As they oats began arriving at the silo Glen and Jarrod began running corn and oats through the mill between loads of oats and making the mixed feed and transferring it to the feed silo. Four days later, they completed the harvest. They had bagged enough seed for next Spring's planting, the feed silo was full and they still had plenty of corn and oats in the grain silos. They took a day of rest before they began maintenance on the equipment. The last of the potatoes needed to come up and dried on the screens, brush the dirt off of them and bagged and the pumpkins harvested, but they were just about finished with the major harvests for the year.
Gil was looking at the map of the Foundation properties and decided he needed to purchase a couple more Rokons. Glen and Jarrod were able to get around the well with the Rokons on the western lands, Maybe he should think about getting more for mobility for the eastern sections. Gil called Rokon International and after several rings, someone picked up.
"Yes, I'd like to order a couple of Rokon bikes."
There was a pause on the line.
"Just a minute."
After another long pause, someone picked up.
"How can I help you?"
"Yes I'd like to order a couple of bikes." Gil said.
"Sir, we've quit accepting phone and online orders due to the economy. We've had several orders that no one has picked up. We're only doing local sales."
"Do you have any bikes on hand?"
"Yes sir. We have six Mototractors and I think three Trail-Breakers."
"So, if I show up at your doorstep, you'll sell me what I need?"
"Yes sir, cash or certified check only. Sorry, it's the economy and all."
"I understand. Okay, thanks."
Gil called Billy on the radio and had him come to the equipment shed.
Billy was there in a few minutes.
"Billy, I need you to make a flight plan for Rochester, New Hampshire using the Maule. I want to go ASAP."
"Okay Dad." Billy said as he turned and rushed back to the house.
When Gil came in that evening, Bill excitedly told him about the plan.
"Dad, you can fly from here on the first leg to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Distance is 370 miles, time three hours. Second leg from Harrisburg to Rochester is 320 miles, time, 2 hours twenty minutes. You'll need to extra flight charts. I called and they have them at the NAV Shop at McGhee Tyson."
"Good. You and I will fly down in the morning. We leave for Rochester early Thursday morning."
Billy's eyes lit up. "I'm going with you?"
"Of course. Pack a bag with a change of clothes and toiletries. We'll probably stay overnight in Rochester and head back Friday."
Billy grinned. "Okay Dad!"
"What was that all about?" Grace asked.
"I wanted to buy a couple more Rokons but I have to do it in person. No online or phone orders. Billy and I are flying up and staying overnight in Rochester and flying back Friday."
Gil went to his office and got out two money belts. He placed $65,000 in one ounce gold coins in one and $35,000 in smaller denomination coins in the other and placed them back in the safe.
Early Thursday morning, Gil, Billy and Grace were all up before dawn. Grace was cooking breakfast and Gil and Billy sat their travel packs by the door. Gil went to the basement and came back with two odd-shaped plastic bottles, handing Bill one.
"What's this?"
"A urinal bottle, just in case."
Billy set it down by his pack and went to wash his hands.
Gil chuckled and poured a cup of coffee.
They ate their breakfast quickly and after a round of kisses and hugs they went to the hanger in a Gator and rolled the Maule out. They finished the walk-around and the rest of the pre-flights and were ready to crank the engine as it was just light enough to take off.
"Your aircraft. I'll take it as we near Harrisburg." Gil said.
"Billy cranked the engine, watched the instruments and taxied down the runway. Doing a rudder turn at the turn-around, he again checked his instruments and advanced the throttle. They were off the ground in less than two hundred feet. Billy did a slow bank, checked in with the area controller and got permission to climb to 8,000 feet on the first leg of the flight. When they were withing fifty miles of Harrisburg, Gil took the controls and landed. They refueled, did a bathroom visit and continued on their second and final leg.
Gil let Billy take it all the way and land. After tying down the plane, they caught a taxi to rental car agency and got a vehicle and headed to Rokon International. On arriving, they walked into the office and were greeted by the manager.
"I'm here to buy some bikes and accessories."
"Yes sir. Payment will have to be in cash or certified money order."
"I'll be paying in cash."
"Okay, what are you looking for?"
"I want six MotoTractors with front and rear cargo carriers, hard hitches and gun racks, six sidecars, and six single track trailers."
The man stared at Gil, then went over to a computer.
"We have all that. How do you wish to pay?"
"Would current gold coins be acceptable?"
"Yes, I believe so."
The man went back to the computer and checked current gold prices. With a discount and shipping, he gave Gil the price of everything. Gil nodded.
"Do you mind if I have the gold checked out? I hope you understand Our bank is just down the street."
"I understand. It's not a problem."
They all three walked a block down the street and were escorted into the bank manager's office. Gil and Billy pulled the money belts out from under their shirts and counted out the coins. They were twenty-eight dollars over and were give change at the current rates in fiat money, which Gil would use to help pay for their food and lodging. They went back to the Rokon office and were given a receipt. Delivery was promised in seven days. Gil and Billy got rooms at the Governor's Inn and went to Windjammer's for a seafood lunch.
Gil took the yoke on the leg back to Harrisburg then let Billy take over for the landing and watched him as he arranged for the refueling. They took a break in a snackbar, then continued the flight back home. At 1315, Billy touched down on the short field and quickly brought the plane to taxi speed, then parked in front of the hangar. They took their travel packs, Kanteens and the two urine bottles out of the plane and set them aside. After doing post-flight checks on the plane, they refueled and rolled it into the hangar, closing the door. Gil took the unused urine bottles and stored them in a cabinet in the hangar. Loading their packs into the Gator, they headed to the house.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 16, 2022 21:00:26 GMT -6
Chapter 17
When they returned to the house, no one was home. Gil sent a text to Grace telling her they were back. She replied saying she, Mollie and the kids were over at Mary's and were returning soon.
Billy stripped off the money belt he was wearing and handed it to Gil.
"Billy, you need to get a money belt . Not one like this, but one of those that look like a regular belt, maybe one for every day and one for dress."
Gil pulled two each of the one, one-half, one-quarter and one-tenth ounce coins out of the money belt and handed them to Billy.
"Put these in the belts and keep one of them with you. When you get the belts, I'll give you some silver to go along with it."
Gil, Brad, Trace and Colt filled two grain trailers with mixed feed and hauled them and a grain auger to Harmony Hollow and filled Chet's silo.
"This will last me until I get my crops in next year." Chet said. "Can I buy more from you then if I need to?"
"Sure. But let's think about a little bartering too. We'll take part of the bill in trade to keep you from dipping too deep into your cash reserves."
"That sounds good. Thanks."
"Who do you do your banking with?" Gil asked.
"First Light Community Bank in Greeneville."
"Just a suggestion, but I'd move my accounts up here to New Community Bank. It will be safer here."
Chet studied Gil's expression intently. "I'll do that."
Gil had Brad and Trace go over to Bear Head Point and recover the white oak that the illegal loggers had cut. It was a pretty good size tree and Gil wanted to use it for furniture and to make a couple of wooden bowls. Grace had asked him months ago for a couple of old fashioned wooden bowls she could use in the kitchen. She remembered her grandmother making buttermilk biscuits in one. Gil had never made a bowl but after researching it, he found he could turn one on the lathe. With a tree like that, he would have plenty of wood to make mistakes on. They managed to get a lot of three inch planks out of the tree. After trimming them up on the rip saw, Gil took them to the lumber mill to have them dried.
The church basket weavers were turning out baskets at a steady pace. It seemed like they more they talked and joked the faster their basket production was. The men had rows and rows of splints hanging on the walls, separated by colors, that were ready for the weavers to use. In the mornings, the women told the men what they needed and the men would pull what was requested and deliver them to the table. Of course the women in turn kept the coffee going and brought in pies and cakes for the men to sample. The shipping container was almost full so there usually wasn't a rush to make something unless someone requested a special item. A couple of shops in Rogersville were buying their baskets and the baskets had become popular with some of the small farmers, especially the harvest and egg baskets.
With the end of the harvest season it was about time to drain the water storage tank the windmill kept filled. Gil did his monthly inspection of the windmill and the water lines where they were exposed. He couldn't find any problems. The system had worked well and they had even used the water to water the cornfield a couple of times when the rains were slow to come. He would shut down the windmill and allow the tank to drain from normal water use in the greenhouse. When that was gone they would switch back to aquifer water.
Gil stood there and looked around the point, thinking. "If everything crashed, could they survive? Well, they had seed to plant crops, they had fuel to run the equipment, for a couple of years at least, they were armed, and they were beginning to build an economic buffer for the community. They had a pretty good chance."
Billy took a deep breath, let it slowly and released the arrow, striking the buck exactly where he’d aimed. The buck took off running through the trees. Billy climbed down and followed the sign the deer had left and found it a couple of hundred yards away on a small saddle. Pulling the small block and tackle out of his pack, he strung the deer up and field dressed it then left it hanging. Going back a few hundred yards, he retrieved the game cart he had stashed and strapped the deer to it, then headed for home.
"Did you get one?" Gil asked.
"Yes Sir. Ten pointer. Dad, do you think that guy you get the shipping containers from would have a twenty footer that's damaged that we could set up as a meat locker to hang deer in winter?"
"I don't know. What do you have in mind?
"Well, If you cut off five feet back from the door and stand it on end, that would give plenty of height. You could bolt a beam across the inside about twelve feet up to hang deer, a cow, or whatever."
"Interesting idea. I'll check and see what they have. Oh, I got a notice. The runway lights are on the way. I'll want your help installing them."
"Sure, no problem."
After dinner, Billy slowly got up from the table and rinsed his plate.
"Dad, Mom, would it be okay if I took Carrie to the movies Friday night?"
Grace looked at Gil.
"In Rogersville?"
"Yes Sir, and after the movie we'll probably stop by Sonic for a milkshake."
"Sure, as long as it's okay with her parents."
"Okay, thanks Dad." Billy said, trotting upstairs.
"Gil…"
"Relax Grace. The closest drive-ins are in Bristol or Elizabethtown, and I don't think he and Carrie are ready to pick out wedding rings just yet."
"I know, Sarah and I saw this coming. She's willing to let Carrie go out with him. God! He's growing up too soon!"
Gil scribbled a reminder in his pocket notebook to call about a damaged container. That was a pretty good idea. They could dig a little out of the berm next to the root cellar and place it there. It wouldn’t matter if there was a dirt floor. They could paint the container with Solar-Flex white roof coating to reflect the sun’s heat and be done.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 16, 2022 21:01:57 GMT -6
Chapter 18
The trucks arrived from Knight Oil Company to do the bi-yearly fill ups of the tanks. All the tanks were topped off including the tank at the hanger that held Avgas 100LL.
Gil whistled when he tallied up the cost of each fuel. Prices were getting higher each day. Jimmy always sent the trucks up just before the seasonal price changes but this wasn't helping much. He went ahead and used the app on his phone to do a bank currency transfer. Pulling out his notebook, the saw the note about the container. Calling the company, they did have a container that a forklift blade had gone through the side just behind the door and warped the frame. They would sell it to him for the scrap steel price. Gil told them he'd take it and to send it up. After hanging up, Gil envisioned framing out the sides that would be on the ground with 8x8 oak timbers to give it structural support. They could even drill holes through the timbers and drive rebar into the ground to keep the wind from possibly tipping it over.
George Stillman called and asked Gil to come in for another meeting. Get said he would be in his office at 10:00 the next day.
Gil got to George's a little early and George's secretary brought in coffee and closed the door.
"Gil, I'm going to manage the reserves like we do Federal currency. Approximately thirty to thirty-five percent of the Reserves will be in high value coinage. The rest in junk silver. The values will be set per the spot prices as soon after any calamity occurs. We'll have exchange rates posted here in the bank and have flyers printed as soon as possible. The first will just be run off our copier. Each business customer will automatically receive notice of the exchange rates.
I'm buying as much junk silver as I can get in half dollars, quarters and dimes dimes, all ninety percent silver. I'm also getting silver War nickels but they are only thirty-five percent silver. I don't know how many nickels I'll be able to get. I can get Walking Liberty one-tenth ounce silver rounds that are currently minted. That's the lowest denomination silver coin I'll be able to procure.
Right now, with the first 'deposit' you made, we are now above our thirty-five percent goal of large denomination coinage at forty percent. I'll go ahead and keep it that way.
"What is your overall goal?" Gil asked.
"Just to cover our depositors, Twenty one million. Until we get this last deposit assayed and weighted I don't know it's total value, but I'm estimating around twenty-eight million, depending on the current spot prices. With both deposits, we'll have around forty-five million in assets."
"There are two more banks and a credit union in town. What are you prepared to do when they close?" Gil asked.
"Well, by banking rules…"
"George, if it gets that bad, the rules will be out. There's nothing the federal government can do for you. You make your own rules. Your job as the banker is to help stabilize the local economy."
George nodded. "When, and if they go down, we'll have a reserve of around fifteen million to loan, but I don't know how they will pay the loan back."
"Therein comes the reality of bartering and trading. People give you things, you sale them to someone else to get your return. I suggest you get two trusted employees to research the art and get busy. While we are on the subject of loans, you need to speak to the two owners of the gun stores in town. People are going to want and need guns. See if they need a loan for building their stocks."
"Whew! This is a brain burner." George said, leaning back in his chair."
"George, it's doable, but it's not going to be a cakewalk. One thing your customers have to understand. If they spend the money outside our immediate community, those coins will be gone...probably forever. We'll have a finite amount of gold and silver.
"Okay, I'm on it. Well, I've got an order of sliver coming out of Las Vegas this afternoon."
"All right, Make sure you get loyal, trusted people to help you on this."
"I will."
Gil hadn't been by to watch Mary make cheese yet so he detoured to Harmony Hollow. Mary and the girls were straining the curds and making five inch rounds.
"What kind of cheese is this? Gil asked.
"White cheddar." Mary replied. "Harold had a great idea about using the water from that runnel to cool the aging room. That water comes out of a spring that is cold, even in the hottest part of the summer. I don't know how it's going to work when the spring freezes in the winter time though."
"Let's go check it out." Gil said.
They went down in the basement and Mary already had rounds of different waxed rounds of cheese already on the shelves. Looking around, Gil saw what he expected.
"Mary, this screened pipe is a vent from outside. Over here is your thermostat that controls the temperature in here. When the temperature in here goes higher than what is set on the thermostat and the outside temperature is colder than in here, a fan will automatically come on and blow the colder air in here until it reaches your thermostat setting, then shut off."
"Well I'll be…."
"So, let's just hope the spring waters and winters stay cold."
"In a week or two the Butterkase will be aged enough. I'll send some over." Mary said.
Gil went up and watched as they formed the rounds with presses then laid the round on a stainless steel screen on top of a pot and poured hot wax over the round. They'd let the wax cool and few seconds then flipped the round over and finished covering it with wax.
"What are the different wax colors for?"
"That's just our system of telling what kind of cheese it is. Blue is Butterkase, red is regular cheddar, black is white cheddar. As we make more different cheeses, we'll come up with distinct colors. We don't wax the mozzarella. When the cheeses are aging, they have to be turned once a day so the moisture doesn't settle. The side that was initially down when we first poured the wax over it will have some little bumps caused by the screen. When we go turn the cheese, if the smooth side is up, you turn the bumpy side up and vice versa."
"Well, let me get out of your hair. Thank you for showing me around."
"You're welcome Gil. Come back any time."
Gil stopped by the house Harold and his crew was working on to look around. They were replacing sheet rock where holes had been knocked in the walls and a replacing a couple of door frames. Whoever had lived here needed to control their kids a little better. The rest of the house was in pretty good shape. The kitchen faucet needing replacing and the roof needed re-shingling. Gil told Harold to tear the shingles off and replace it with a metal roof. The three bedroom home wasn't in bad shape but the landscaping needed work and an old, above ground pool needed to be hauled off.
As Gil was driving away he was thinking of what Harold and his crew would do once the last house was remodeled. He'd talk to Gary about coming up with some sort of a grant program to provide funds for the repair of homes of the elderly in the community.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Feb 16, 2022 21:04:45 GMT -6
Chapter 19
Gil drove down the drive at Harmony Hollow and turned left onto Lee Valley Road. Driving along, he looked left at the high knob. A thought popped into his mind. He would have to talk to Brad and Trace. Turning into the drive to Bluff View, Gil was right behind an 18-wheeler going up the drive. When they got to the gate, Gil got out of his truck and went forward.
"What do you have? Gil asked.
"A shipment from Rokon International." The driver said.
"So soon? They told me seven days."
"Well, normally, it might be, but we have to run as many loads as we can. We drove straight through, just swapping off. It's tough to make a living these days."
Gil walked over and punched in the code on the keypad and the gate started opening.
"When we get to the bottom of the ridge, I'll pull ahead and lead you to where I want to off-load."
The driver moved the truck through the gate with Gil on his tail. At the bottom of the slope, Gil pulled around the delivery truck and led them to the equipment barn.
Gil called Brad and Colt for some help then put the forklift blades on the tractor bucket and started unloading the crates, setting them out in the open. The other guys arrived and manhandled the smaller ones. Once they checked the crates against the manifest and were satisfied, Gill signed off and the truckers left. Colt went and got crowbars and hammers to take the crates apart. They got all the Mototractors uncrated and parked and began working on the next biggest crates, the trailers. Once they had everything uncrated and laid out, Billy showed up with the tools and mufflers to change the mufflers out for the quieter ones. Oil was checked and the fuel tanks filled.
"Why did you buy six of these things?" Brad asked.
"Well, they were available and we might not be able to buy any more any time soon, maybe forever." Gil replied. "I do want to take one over to Harmony though. Let's get a sidecar on it and I can take it over tomorrow."
Gil picked up the satphone and typed in a text.
"INT. We are currently using one of the radios in its RETRANS mode. Is there a dedicated retrans device. EOM"
Gil sent the text. Maybe his idea would work out.
The runway lights came in and they were busy for a couple of days emplacing the lines and burying power cables. The lights were connected to the battery bank in the hangar. Once they were turned on by remote, they only stayed on fifteen minutes and shut off. After it got dark, Gil and Billy rolled the SuperSTOL out and turned on the Master Switch. Gil tuned the radio to 123.050 and pressed the mic button seven times rapidly. The lights came on.
"Well, I guess I need to test the visibility." Gil said, and did a walk around. Getting into the plane, he pressed the mic button rapidly seven times again to extend the runway light's time. Cranking the engine, he taxied down to the turn-around and turned into the prevailing wind. Holding the brakes and advancing the throttle, the plane roared and the tail came off the ground. Gil released the brakes and quickly moved down the runway. After the briefest of rolls the plane left the ground. Gil cleaned up the flaps and banked to the right to come to the east of the river knobs and flew down Lee Valley. He slowed his speed to burn up time to let the lights shut off. When he came to the lake he came right and flew up the lake at one thousand and began setting up the plane for landing. Two miles from the runway he tuned into the light frequency. Pressing the mic button the seven times, the lights appeared. He dropped altitude, adjusted his speed and flaps. It was no harder than a short-field daylight landing. Quickly slowing to taxi seed, Gil took the hangar and shut down.
"How'd they look Dad?" Billy asked.
"Good, no problems."
"Can I give it a try?"
Gil hesitated. "Sure. Once in the air turn right and fly down Lee valley. Give the lights enough time to shut down, then come up the river as you normally would."
Billy put on his headlight, did his walk-around and got in the plane. He tuned to the light channel frequency and turned the lights on. He did exactly as Gil had done and made a quick take-off and turned toward Lee Valley. The lights went off and twenty minutes later they came back on. Gil could see Billy's aircraft lights and a half mile from the runway his landing lights came on. Billy touched down lightly and stopped quickly, then taxied to the hangar.
"That was easy." Billy said.
Let's get the wings folded and get home." Gil said.
The damaged shipping container arrived and Gil had it unloaded next to the root cellar berm. They jacked it up and using a cutting torch, cut 8 feet off the door end. Twelve feet was going to be enough inside height. They bolted a hanger beam on the inside and attached the eye bolts to hang deer hoists and gambrels on and welded clevis ties to the walls. After bolting 8x8 oak timbers around the base, Gil decided they would go ahead and put a floor in. A door was cut in one side and a wooden jamb was attached to support a two inch thick door. Using small logs, they rolled the "building" into place and began using paint rollers and brushes to apply the Solar-Flex coating to the outside walls. While the others were painting, Gil and Trace installed ground anchors and bolted them to the oak timbers and laid the board floor. They worked fast and everything went smoothly but it still took most of the day. They would finish the door and hang the hoists the next day.
The next morning the put together a door and got it hung. Using a stepladder, Billy hung the hoists with heavy duty carabiners.
"Well, all we need is a deer. Colt said.
"I'm going Saturday morning." Brad said.
"You going up to Sparrow Hollow? Billy asked.
"I was thinking about it."
"I've seen a lot of sign up there. You could tell they move around early in the morning."
"That what I'm hoping for. Hey, what did you do with your last deer skin?"
"Makin' buckskin. Grandma Mollie is going to make me a winter coat with a hood."
"Gil, Bill's coming through the gate." Grace called over the radio.
Soon, an FTD florist van came down the drive, turning toward them.
"You have an new job?" Gil grinned
"Times are hard." Bill replied, grinning. "I've got something for you."
Bill slid open the door on the van, exposing two large boxes.
"I've got you some more handhelds and this box contains two repeaters you can use to expand your communications network. They were headed for an overseas consulate but it was closed before the equipment was shipped. It got lost in a warehouse.
"What about antennas?" Gil asked.
"I can make antennas." Brad said.
"There you have it!" Bill grinned. "Everything going all right?"
"Going well." Gil replied.
"Well, I've got another stop to make in Glade Spring before I can head back. If you need anything, just shout."
They watched as the van disappeared up the drive through the trees.
"What are you planning to do with these?" Brad asked.
"I just asked him if there was a specific repeater or retrains unit for the radios. I'd thought about replacing the retrains radio in the Chamber and maybe putting up a unit on the knob above Bell Hollow to get coverage to Harmony."
"I can start getting this together. Trace can you lend a hand? I'll need to scout a route to the top of that knob too."
"I can do that for you, Brad." Billy said.
"Well, I'll let ya'll have at it." Gil said.
"I'm still going to get a deer Saturday." Brad said."
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Post by gipsy on Feb 16, 2022 22:06:03 GMT -6
Perhaps some rapeseed fields and a Bio_diesel plant, along with more or bigger stills for fuel. Is it possible to get the Rokons converted to electric? And several more charging stations around the lands. Thanks for the fine update.
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Post by CountryGuy on Feb 16, 2022 22:55:14 GMT -6
Perhaps some rapeseed fields and a Bio_diesel plant, along with more or bigger stills for fuel. Is it possible to get the Rokons converted to electric? And several more charging stations around the lands. Thanks for the fine update. or keep the rokons as they are and get some of those off road E-bikes. I just saw ones last week, along with some wicked looking trailers for them, at a Sportsmen Warehouse. For trailers they had dual and single wheel trailers. These things are crazy expensive, the highest bike was almost $7K and the trailers were like $350-400. The 2 wheel was adjustable and also functioned as a game cart. I think with a little ingenuity it could be adapted to allow it to be pulled by hand. For 7K a guy could buy a couple used KLR650's and have a hell of a capable dualsport that would run circles around an e-bike but no where near as quietly.
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Post by biggkidd on Feb 17, 2022 9:10:56 GMT -6
I had a KLR 650 in the 90's and 00's that thing was a beast. I pulled my neighbors 2wd pickup out of a ditch with it once. It had gobs of torque but topped out at 97 going up or down hill! lol Only thing I didn't really like about it was the height. I'm a little over 6 foot and it was a tad to tall for me. IIRC it had 13.7 inches of suspension travel.
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Post by CountryGuy on Feb 17, 2022 18:00:37 GMT -6
I had a KLR 650 in the 90's and 00's that thing was a beast. I pulled my neighbors 2wd pickup out of a ditch with it once. It had gobs of torque but topped out at 97 going up or down hill! lol Only thing I didn't really like about it was the height. I'm a little over 6 foot and it was a tad to tall for me. IIRC it had 13.7 inches of suspension travel. I'm 6'2" and fit them OK. I have a Shadow 1100 for the blacktop but I keep looking for a deal on a KLR so I can take advantage of all the dirt roads and fire roads in the gamelands and some of the ATV trails around here. I had a V-strom 1000 for a while til we didn't see eye eye on a corner one day. It was a nice bike but no way was that heavy thing made for off-road, I don't care if they called it a dual sport. I know with the V-strom's you used to be able to put a lowering link on the suspension for shorter riders, not sure if the same can be done on a KLR or not. Never looked into it. I thought about a 250 but don't think near enough power to haul my big butt.
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