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Post by gipsy on Apr 1, 2022 7:29:27 GMT -6
Not a bad thing I am thinking
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Post by solo on Apr 1, 2022 8:19:31 GMT -6
Our house is rigged up with solar panels and we are on a two way system with the power company. I haven't paid for power in the last two years and have quite a credit built up with the power company where we have generated power for them. I do want to put in a battery wall (Tesla) but am waiting for my funds to build up and for the technology to withstand being next to sea water continuously. Our garage area is louvered to the outside as per hurricane code so I am constantly lubing my tools and stuff to keep the rust at a slow creep.
I dislike living at sea level... I would much rather be in the mountains.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Apr 1, 2022 9:19:33 GMT -6
Our house is rigged up with solar panels and we are on a two way system with the power company. I haven't paid for power in the last two years and have quite a credit built up with the power company where we have generated power for them. I do want to put in a battery wall (Tesla) but am waiting for my funds to build up and for the technology to withstand being next to sea water continuously. Our garage area is louvered to the outside as per hurricane code so I am constantly lubing my tools and stuff to keep the rust at a slow creep. I dislike living at sea level... I would much rather be in the mountains. Try CorrosionX®. I spray it on my guns when I hunt in the salt marshes.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Apr 1, 2022 11:38:58 GMT -6
Chapter 33 - Steam Power
Ginny sorted the items they had purchased at the baby store and placed them in one of three numbered boxes as Gail inventoried them.
"Gail, you and I need to go down to Greeneville. They have a Baby Boutique there. We'll have to buy both boy and girl things but we have plenty of storage space. They have nice baby furniture too."
"I want a nice changing table too."
"We'll get that. Don't get diaper bags and such at the boutique store. It's a waste of money. A cheap one works as well as a designer bag. Oh, another thing. We need to stock up on Borax. I'll see if Food City can get it for me by the case."
Ginny stopped what she was doing and got here little flip-top spiral notebook she carried and added Borax and Purex detergent.
"Gail, what made you want to join a unit like you and Cole were in?"
"All my life I've always been told that women had limitations. I agree, we have limitations in some things, but not all. I was disparaged from signing up for many things but I went through with the process anyway. The unit needed female operators. I just needed people to respect me enough to get out of my way if they disagreed with what I was doing."
"Did you get respect?" Ginny asked.
"Yes. I enjoyed the work and would still be there if Cole hadn't left. I've missed it a little but not enough to be away from Cole. Put the cups in the third box."
"Did you read this article in Farm Journal?" Liam asked.
"Which one?" Cole replied.
"The one on steam engines. In the 1870s they used steam engines to power threshers, grist mills, sawmills and factories. They developed the steam traction machines the forerunner of the tractor around that time. All you need is coal or wood and water. You could use it to power a generator head instead of gas or diesel."
"Where in the world would you find steam engines and generator heads?"
"Well, I know where six 50 kw PTO generators are sitting at a coal mine in West Virginia. I just need to find some working steam engines."
"Now what's this about a baby?" Cole asked as he took off his boots.
"We talked about having children." Gail said.
"Yes, but not when."
"Cole, I've talked to some of the women who carried a child in the summer months and most of the time they were miserable. I thought if we got pregnant around September, I could carry the baby through the colder months and have it in the Spring."
"Makes sense to me. Well, I'm on board. Now, I'm thinking we're going to have to practice a lot to get it right …."
Liam figured he could track down some steam engines in Indiana but he didn't want to travel that far if he didn't have to. He talked to Dave about it and Dave recommended they talk to Oaky. The next Saturday morning they drove over to Oaky's.
"Oaky. Do you know anyone around here who has a steam engine?"
Oaky rubbed his chin. "Why do ya'll want a steam engine?"
"Liam told Oaky his idea and Oaky took off his hat and rubbed his head.
"Would a donkey engine do?"
"What's a donkey engine?"
"It's a steam engine they used in logging to pull the logs up the mountains to be loaded on trucks. They were pretty big. You can still find them abandoned back in the mountains. You couldn't move them very easily. Now they made some smaller ones to use as hoist in the coal mines. My momma was from Carreta, West Virginia. My granddaddy worked the mines. He was hurt when he was a young man but the mine owner kept him on to run one of the hoists. The coal seam ran out in the mine in the late twenties and the mine shut down It was a bad time for all. Anyways, They just shut everything down and abandoned the property. My grandaddy took the donkey engines and stored them in an old barn on his land and He'd play with them once in a while but never did anything with them. When my daddy came back from Korea, the old barn was about to fall down and he moved the engines to a newer shed on my aunt's place thinking he would do something with them some day. They're still sitting there."
"How many are there?"
There's five in all." Oaky replied.
"Do you think you could put together an engine with a generator head?"
"Probably could."
"What do you think we could get the engines for?"
"I could probably get them for $8,000 each."
"Well, I know where I can get generator heads with a PTO shaft."
Oaky rubbed his chin. "I tell you what. I'll get you the donkey engines, get them running and pair them up with the generators. You buy the engines and generators, pay to get them shipped here, I'll match 'em up. You give me one of the setups and I won't charge you anything." "It's a deal Oaky. I'll get you cash to take with you. You might get a better deal. How much do you think it will cost to ship them here?" "No more than a couple of thousand."
"Okay, I'll get you the cash. I'll need a few days. The bank wants lead time to draw that much out."
"No problem. As soon as you get the money I'll head to Caretta."
"Thanks Oaky. I'll stop by with the money as soon as I get it."
"Liam, you know Oaky probably already owns those engines, don't you?"
"I know. It will make him feel good thinking he probably got a good deal. What he doesn't know I already own the generators. It's worth it to me for him to put everything together. That will give us a generator per house and one spare. What we need to start doing is find out what kind of lubricants we'll need for them. Also, I want to build an outbuilding at each house to put the donkey engine out of the weather." "Are you going to run the houses off the generators?"
"No, the generators would be used to charge the batteries when the solar panels or that wind generator can't. The donkey engine wouldn't be running all the time."
"Oh, okay."
When they got back to the house, Cole and Jake were carrying in heavy boxes into the catch-all shed.
"What's all this?" Liam asked.
"Inverters." Cole said. "They convert DC voltage from the batteries into standard household AC voltage so that it is able to be used by common appliances. The batteries will be arriving in a couple of weeks.. I got the highest amp hour batteries I could. They are actually back-up batteries for computer rooms. I talked to the computer people down at UT and they gave me a supplier. The supplier in Arizona said these were rated for 130 kWh for each house. I'm getting smarter on this solar stuff. Gail and I are going down to Knoxville tomorrow. I called the bookstore and hey have several books on solar energy and wind generators."
Dave and Liam helped the carry the rest of the batteries in and went into the house.
"I found some steam engines and Oaky is going to pair up the PTO generators to them. I want to build shelters at the house sites for them."
"How big are they?" Cole asked.
"You now I didn't even think to ask. Oaky just said they were smaller than the ones they use for log skidding."
"We probably need to pour a concrete slab for each, but we'll need to know how much it weighs."
"Well, that's down the road. When are you going to Benton to look at the guns?"
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Post by gipsy on Apr 1, 2022 13:19:47 GMT -6
Practice is good. Thanks for the update.
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Post by solo on Apr 1, 2022 18:55:41 GMT -6
CorrosionX.... Thanks I will!
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ydderf2
Member
"I'm from the government and here to help" hahahaha
Posts: 321
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Post by ydderf2 on Apr 1, 2022 19:13:59 GMT -6
Thanks for updating.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Apr 2, 2022 17:04:10 GMT -6
Chapter 34 - Stocking Up
Dave and Liam headed to Hyden, Kentucky each driving a truck pulling large trailers, to pick up the generators stored in a warehouse. They once were owned by another strip-mine that went bust and Liam bought them up for a song. The two and a half hour drive up to get the generators was tiresome due to the winding highway. They were tired when they got back to the Falls Branch area and only stopped long enough to drop off four of the generators at Oaky's, taking the other two home. They slid the last two generators off the trailers at the site they were going to build an open storage shed to store the completed units until they could get them installed. Dave got a building crew together and He and Liam hauled in the materials they needed for the storage shed. Dave got the crew going while Liam ran into Kingsport to get weather heads, wire and service boxes for the houses. The house builders were coming right along and thankfully hadn't been hampered too much by the weather, It being an unusually mild Winter. The shed crew had it up and roofed in a week and they moved the generators under it, placing them on log supports on the graveled floor. The house builders had gotten the roofs, windows and doors in and the finish carpenters were beginning their work. A team of men were installing the ridge caps over the lightning rods when it started to snow. Liam kept an eye on it and when it was obvious it was starting to stick to the ground he told the building crews they could go when they wanted. It was a good thing they decided to leave because it snowed for a solid nine hours. That far out in the country, the state didn't get around to clearing the county roads for another four days. Not a lot got done except for keeping the furnace filled with firewood and discussing their plans for the Spring. Dave and Ellen moved into one of the bedrooms in the shelter so they were all together. The women were into the planning as much as the men and they discussed the old ways of doing things. They were the ones who decided a summer kitchen was needed because of the heat that was generated when they did their canning. If they had to convert to a wood stove, it would get unbearable during the canning times. So they all discussed what they wanted and Liam drew up a rough sketch of what they wanted to take to the architect when the weather got better.
Oaky called Liam and asked him if he wanted a demonstration of how the steam powered generator worked. Liam, Dave, Cole and Jake all went over and looked that what Oaky had put together. The whole thing was about fifteen feet long on its base with the donkey engine at one end and the generator toward the other. The shaft for the cable drum had been removed and replaced with the drivetrain from what they later found out was a Volkswagen. Also added was a large flywheel to keep a constant speed to the generator. Oaky already had a fire going and the boiler was producing steam. When he moved a couple of levers, the connecting rod began moving which caused a large sprocket to turn, in turn, turning the crankshaft and the flywheel. This transferred the momentum to the differential and the PTO shaft on the generator began turning. Oaky adjusted the engine levers and walked around to show them the voltmeter he had connected to the generator.
"You've can get 230 off if this if you want, but I've got it set up for 110 for your battery chargers. All you have to do is keep water in the boiler and fire in the firebox."
"Oaky, you're a genus!" Liam said.
"It was fairly simple. Now that I have it figured out, I can put the rest together pretty quick. When do you want them?"
"Well, we were waiting until when got some idea of what the weight would be so we could pour a concrete base for it. They'll be in a shed to protect them from the weather and have a place to store a couple of cords of wood."
"Well, this thing, as it sets, is a little over a ton….2200 pounds."
"Okay, that'll be easy enough to do. When it warms up enough that the concrete won't freeze, we'll get the bases poured, so you have plenty of time."
"No problem. Gives me time to get the differentials checked out."
"Okay. I appreciate this Oaky."
"Don't mention it. Makes me feel good we found a use for these things."
They piled back into Cole's Suburban and headed home.
"We need to run a line from the furnace and put a heat exchanger in the battery shed. The batteries won't hold a charge if it gets too cold." Cole said.
"Just add it to the list when we start installing the furnaces." Liam replied.
March came in like a lamb and they were able to get the concrete bases poured for the generator and battery sheds. They wouldn't do anything else to the generator sheds until they had the generators installed. They would build the shed around the generator.. The men concentrated on the battery sheds while the women put their creative efforts into the houses. Cole decided to have a wind generator to help charge the batteries and found three 50' towers a communications company in Knoxville was replacing for taller ones and bought them disassembled. Getting them up required a crane rental but everything went up smoothly. They were beginning to look like a government installation again.
Although itching to get into their new houses, Ellen and Sandy agreed they needed to get the Spring garden planting done first. That would allow them to put all their efforts into getting the furniture and other items into the houses. The women planned every step of the move ins. What would go first, where it would go, and who would do what. They did Dave and Ellen's house first because Jake and Sandy's things were stored in a moving storage facility in Kingsport. They scheduled that delivery for two days after the scheduled move-in at Dave and Ellen's. The women had planned everything so that the move-in would go smoothly, and it did. Ellen had, over the years, replaced all the cheap furniture that had come with the doublewide so she had excellent quality, comfortable furniture for her new home. They did replace the dining area set because they now had more space for it. Dave got a new TV with a TV table and an EchoStar satellite TV system he bought from Sears and Roebuck. Thankfully, Sears had technicians who came out and installed it, but Jake and Cole watched everything they did. When everyone was moved in, they all could take a breath. After getting the generators installed and the sheds built, except for the occasional weeding of the garden, there was little to do. They had cleaned up the doublewide and Dave sold it with the stipulation it be moved off the property within 30 days. Cole monitored the off-grid electrical systems and made a few tweaks. The systems were performing nicely but Cole kept his eye on articles on making everything more efficient.
Liam saw some runoff erosion in one of the fields in a hollow and borrowed a six disc terracing plow to cut terraces in the hillside to prevent the erosion. Rather than let the field sit fallow, he plowed it up and planted cover crops on it. The deer really appreciated it
Gravitational fields can cause a number of changes. They can change the path of an object through space, make an object go faster or slower, or even draw it in to another planetary surface and destroy one or the other. Ka Mea Luku was unknowingly returning on a path of destruction.
Now that things had settled down, somewhat, Cole, Jake, Gail and Sandy all went down to Benton to look at guns. Liam told him to pick out what he thought he needed and gave him a bank bag stuffed with cash. Gail took the bag and put it in her large purse along with her .357. It was a two and a half hour drive, one way, so they left early and stopped outside of Strawberry Plains and had breakfast. They pulled in front of the gun store in Benton around 10:00 and stretched a moment before going in.
"What are we looking for?" Jake asked.
"Security." Replied Cole.
They walked in and began looking at pistols first. Cole told Jake to wait until they had checked everything out before they bought. They might get a better discount. The store was pushing the Glock twenty, firing the relatively new 10mm cartridge, which Cole ignored. He wanted to start reloading his ammo and wanted to keep with 9mm and .45. The 10mm was intended as a more powerful man-stopper but Jake and himself had found out you could kill a man with a .22. It was all in shot placement. Cole like the feel and power of his Glock 21 but when he saw the Colt Anaconda in .45 Colt, he knew he was going to have one. He put that one on his mental list and continued on. Gail saw a Sig Sauer P220 she had carried a few times and liked it. It went on Cole's mental list. They had Colt AR-15s on the rack and he put those on his checklist. Sandy handled one of the Walther PPKs and told Jake she wanted one. The Mossberg combat shotguns drew Cole's attention and those went on his list. When they had finished looking around, They all exchanged notes and came up with the list of what they wanted. Cole called over one of the managers and told him what they wanted to do.
"This is all legal, right?" The manager asked.
"Yes. We live on a remote family compound and like our privacy." Cole replied.
"Ohhh, I see." The manager said, nodding his head. "Do you want ammo with the guns?"
"Yes, let's say a thousand rounds per gun, for now." Cole said.
"Holsters?"
Gail wanted an IWB and Cole selected a chest rig for the Anaconda. Cole also gathered up reloading supplies for 9mm and .45 and six bricks of .22 hollow points. The manager grinned when everything was tallied up. He gave them a 15% discount.
"If you need more ammo I can get a bulk order together for you." The manager said in a muffled voice.
"I don't have the room today to transport it. Do you have a card? I can call you when I want to stock up."
The manager handed him a business card and Cole slipped it into his wallet.
After getting everything inside, they drove straight home, except for stopping at a White Castle and buying a box of burgers and four large sodas.
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Post by gipsy on Apr 2, 2022 18:06:12 GMT -6
Thanks for the update
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Post by weapons762 on Apr 2, 2022 22:06:50 GMT -6
dang i miss white castles
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Post by solo on Apr 3, 2022 9:58:45 GMT -6
dang i miss white castles I like krystals, but the only difference is the mustard. I make both at home now. Fun and easy. And good!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Apr 3, 2022 18:13:06 GMT -6
Chapter 35 - Winter Chores
"How much ammunition do you think we need?" Liam asked, wiping the light coat of oil on the rifle's bolt.
"Well, personally, I'd go with 5,000 rounds per weapon, more if we can get it. If the SHTF, no telling when you could get any more." Cole replied.
"Well, spread the purchases around, even if it's only a few boxes at a time. Do bulk as much as possible."
Cole and Jake kept tinkering with the batteries and tested to see just how long they lasted through a normal cycle. They finally came up with the optimum amount of batteries to last the houses for four days without recharging. The garden was tended to and the greenhouse was keeping them in fresh greens for salads. Sandy even sprouted a lemon seed to see if they could grow lemons in the greenhouse. Her first attempt was a bust. Ants got to the little tree and killed it. Jake came up with the idea of setting the pot on raised legs in a big pan of water and the next tree was doing well. Some of their techniques were from trial and error and some was from books. The next Presidential elections were coming up and the Republicans had a weak representative. If the Democrats got in, they all knew what it would mean, more government spending, higher prices and more lies as to why their socialist oriented programs didn't work. They always blamed everything except themselves. Liam doubled down on their bulk wheat and long-term food storage and had two more fuel tanks installed. Hopefully, they could last through what they hoped was a one term administration.
"What are you doing in the morning?" Cole asked Jake.
"Nothing much." Replied Jake. "Whatcha need?"
"I'm going down to the gun shop in Bulls Gap. You want to ride along?"
"Sure."
As they got on I-81 and headed south Jake asked, "You buying something?"
"Picking up .45 long Colt reloading supplies."
"Did you reload those .38s?'"
"Yes. There boxed and canned. You need some?"
"Yeah, Sandy wants to shoot some. She swears she is going to beat me. She's getting pretty good."
Yeah, Gail won't go near a firing gun, now that she's pregnant. Says she's afraid it will affect the baby."
They pulled up next to the gun shop and were greeted when they went inside.
"Hey Cole. I've got your stuff over here."
There was a case of powder cans, a case of primers, a box of 260 grain jacketed hollow point bullets and a box of 1000 empty cases. Cole paid for everything and looked at the guns on display.
"Got something here I want to show you, Cole. Fellow over in Jeff City ordered this, the scope and 1000 rounds of match ammunition. He was down in Florida trying to save his house when Andrew hit. Didn't make it back. Thing is, he filled out the paperwork but hadn't paid for it yet, so there's no trail, if you get what I mean."
Cole and Jake recognized the .308 Remington 700 set up in a sniper configuration.
"What do you want for it? I expect a discount, as much stuff as I buy from you."
The shop owner gave him a price and Cole told him to write it up. They loaded everything in the Suburban and headed home.
"I want have to sneak up on the deer anymore." Cole said.
"Or a man." Replied Jake.
They spent the Fall into the beginning of Winter rotating between cutting logs up then splitting them into firewood and working in the greenhouse. When there was slack time, Cole loaded ammo. He got the .308 dies and reloading supplies for his progressive reloader and could load a hundred rounds in less than an hour with no sweat. He decided to load all the .308 because he could load it cheaper than he could buy it.
Gail and Ginny were into making baby clothes and basically quit buying clothes. When the ultrasound showed they were having a girl, the went into overdrive. Cole figured they would never have to wash baby clothes. They had enough little dresses and outfits made they would never run out.
It was spotted first by an amateur astronomer monitoring the readings and images at the Helmut Ullrich Astronomical Observatory. At first, he was puzzled, then he called Dr. Fredrico in to check the readings.
"Dottore Fredrico, non l'ho mai visto prima e non è su nessuno dei nostri record." ("Dr. Fredrico, I have not seen this before and it isn't in any of our records.")
Dr. Fredrico looked at the readings and the faint images. "Interessante... Controlleremo con il Centro Astronomico Internazionale al mattino e vedremo se hanno registrato qualcosa." ("Interesting...We will check with the International Astronomical Center in the morning and see if they have recorded anything.")
The smells of food cooking permeated the house as the Christmas dinner was being cooked. They had all met together that morning for coffee, tea (for Gail) and Ginny's cinnamon rolls. Gifts were exchanged and they had their cinnamon rolls and drank coffee. Ginny had Liam put the turkey in the oven in the shelter, freeing up the ovens in the kitchen for the other baking. Liam, Cole, Jake and Dave went through the breezeway to inspect the "Summer Kitchen" that had been completed that week.
"When is the wood cook stove coming?" Cole asked.
"They told me the truck would be here between the 27th and the 1st."
"You needed two flues for it?"
"No, I also have a separate smaller stove/oven just for baking bread. That's why I added the big, screened windows at each end for air flow. That vent space I put there, maybe you can engineer some DC fans to pull air out of the room too."
Cole nodded and looked around. The room was almost 600 square feet with lots of cabinets to store canning supplies and a big sink.
"I'm building a couple of big butcherblock work tables too." Liam said.
"How big is the cook stove?" Jake asked.
Liam chuckled. "It's big. I had to order what I was looking from a small company in England that builds cast iron wood farm stoves like in the late 1800's. That's one of the reasons I put the water connection over there. It has a big boiler that can heat water. The hot water is piped over to the sink. Your mother would have a fit if she knew what I paid just for those two stoves."
"How much?"
"Well, let's just say I could have bought a new truck."
"Wheeeew." Cole said. Well, let us help build the tables then."
"Okay. I've already glued the tops of the tables together. We can get on that tomorrow."
"What the heck is this?" Art Taylor thought. He was a researcher at the Mount Graham International Observatory. Going over to the computer. He clicked on the warning pop-up to turn the alarm off. The program running in the background, something to do with a partnership with SETI, would alarm if something showed up that wasn't mapped. It wasn't part of his research project so all he did was log it in the daily log and went on about his work.
They carried the table parts over to the Summer Kitchen and put them together there. The darn things were heavy with the oak base and the maple top. Once assembled, they wheeled them into the center off the room, locked the casters, then Liam called for Ginny to come and show them exactly where she wanted them placed. Ginny, Gail, Ellen and Sandy all came in and Ginny directed the men where to place the tables. Liam showed them how to unlock the casters and how easy it was for them to move the tables by themselves.
The women stayed and discussed what they would move into the summer kitchen while the men silently went back to the shop.
"Good move putting those casters on." Jake said
"Now you know and I know every time they'd want to move those tables we'd have had to go do it and drop something else. It was an economy of time thing." Liam said, grinning.
Scientific American delayed their monthly printing to add an article about a new found space object.
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Post by freebirde on Apr 3, 2022 18:52:04 GMT -6
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Post by gipsy on Apr 3, 2022 18:55:32 GMT -6
Thanks for the update
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Post by biggkidd on Apr 3, 2022 20:01:03 GMT -6
Casters, smart!
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Post by solo on Apr 4, 2022 8:15:39 GMT -6
I keep catching myself and reminding myself that we are talking late 70's, early 80's here. People are just now hearing, "Don't Stop, Believing"....
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Post by biggkidd on Apr 4, 2022 10:08:47 GMT -6
I keep catching myself and reminding myself that we are talking late 70's, early 80's here. People are just now hearing, "Don't Stop, Believing".... I was under the impression the timeline had moved up into the early 90's now am I wrong?
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Post by ncsfsgm on Apr 4, 2022 12:40:15 GMT -6
I keep catching myself and reminding myself that we are talking late 70's, early 80's here. People are just now hearing, "Don't Stop, Believing".... I was under the impression the timeline had moved up into the early 90's now am I wrong? You are correct biggkidd, they are now in the winter if '92. Hurricane Andrew was in August of '92.
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Post by solo on Apr 4, 2022 13:16:04 GMT -6
I was under the impression the timeline had moved up into the early 90's now am I wrong? You are correct biggkidd, they are now in the winter if '92. Hurricane Andrew was in August of '92.Yes! That is correct! I had missed the Hurricane Andrew blurb... Or at my age, dis-remembered it. I guess that gives us Achy Breaky Heart then and we don't need none of that!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Apr 4, 2022 20:44:29 GMT -6
Chapter 36 - Adding to the Clan
The stoves came in and the men struggled to get the sections of the farm stove bolted together. The small baking stove went in easily and quickly became Ginny's….well everyone's favorite place to bake bread. The bread had a flavor not found in the breads baked in the gas range. Once they got the water pipes and stove pipe connected and secured, Ginny and Gail decided to make dinner that night on the farm stove. Dinner came out great but they had difficulty finding the spots on the stove top of the different temperature levels. The ovens already had thermometers so Liam found magnetic stove thermometers with handles to move them around and bought six. Four he gave to Ginny. They soon taught themselves how to determine low, medium and high spots just from holding their palms over the spot.
Liam had quit staying up late to watch The Tonight Show since the previous May. No one could ever replace Johnny Carson. Jay Leno was all right, but it just wasn't the same. Before going to bed, Liam always took a walk out to the furnace and filled it up with wood. As he was walking back, the first flakes of snow fell on his face.
It was far from being anything like a blizzard but the storm system lingered for three days, dropping a total of nine inches of snow on the property, and it turned even colder. During the day, the snow barely melted and what little that did, froze each night. The men took turns using the landscape blade and the bucket to clear the roads on the property on down to the highway. Sand mixed with stove ashes were spread on the icy places to help the melting and traction. The men, for something to do to stay out of the cold except to feed the livestock, worked in the shop making wooden kitchen stools for the Summer Kitchen.
In late January, five people were shot outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia resulting in two murders. One of the men killed was a friend of Cole and Gail. They were able to make the trip to Washington to attend the induction to the Wall of Heroes at Langley per invitation by Gary's wife. Their clearances were still on record and they were issued badges for the semi-private ceremony. From that time, Gail didn't make any long trips until after the baby was born in early June. She, Ginny, Sandy and Ellen spent a lot of time making clothes, quilts and potholders in the spacious Summer Kitchen.
The greatest thing that had happened on a June 3rd in Cole's lifetime was when his daughter, Angela Gail Boyle was born. He kept to himself that he thought she was quite possibly the ugliest baby he had ever seen. She was red, her skin was wrinkled and she had just a little black fuzz on her head, and scream…the kid had a set of lungs. A few hours later she had miraculously changed into the most beautiful baby he had ever seen. When she gripped his finger as he held her, she won his heart forever. He laid Angela back on Gail's chest and kissed his wife.
"Do you want anything?" Cole asked.
"I'm dying for a Mountain Dew." Gail whined.
"I'll be right back."
Cole ran up to the Exxon and bought a six-pack of Mountain Dew. Hurrying back to the hospital, he got a large plastic cup, filled it with ice and Mountain Dew. He placed the straw in the cup and held it as Gail drank deeply."
"Ohhhh! That is heaven!" Gail said.
"Are they releasing you in the morning?" Cole asked.
"The nurse said that's usually how long new mother's stayed. If everything is fine, then I should get released right after Dr. Reilly's rounds at 0900."
"Well, I'll be here by 0830 to take care of billing. I think Momma will want to come with me. She was getting the baby carrier and a diaper bag ready when I left."
Gail giggled. "Angela is going to be one spoiled baby."
Cole sat with Gail and read the paper while she napped. Bill Clinton and the Democrats were spending taxpayer's money like a drunken sailor, and like a drunken sailor, they were the only ones having fun. Everyone else suffered for their antics. If the Republicans didn't gain a foothold in 1994, debt would ruin this country. Clinton reminded Cole of a slick car salesman who you wouldn't leave alone with your wife.
Cole had paid the hospital bill and pulled the Suburban up in front of the hospital front door. Ginny came out pushing Gail and Angela in a wheelchair right up to the open doors, She took Angela from Gail and placed her in the baby car carrier she had just purchased yesterday, saying she had heard on the Today Show this was the safest car seat you would find. Cole helped Gail into the seat beside the baby and Ginny got up front. Gail was almost back to her old self after a couple of days. Angela stayed by her side in the baby carrier and Ginny kept an eye on both of them.
The men had stayed busy cutting logs and clearing the high pasture during the winter. All the trees were cleared except a few trees the cattle could use for shade. Cole and Jake had used dynamite to blast the stumps out while Dave and Liam removed the stumps and dumped them in a nearby dry ravine. They were now doing the last of the seeding and harrowing for the anticipated rains at the end of the month. When they finished, the four men stood looking over the pasture.
"Is that seep going to be enough water?" Cole asked.
"It's filling the pond so I think so." Liam replied.
"Well, all we need to do is get the fence in." Jake said.
"That can wait until the grass is up and the soil has firmed up. I'd like to see if we could get a cutting of hay off of it this year.
"So that means you're getting more toys?" Cole grinned.
"A hay baler, rake and mower are hardly toys, but I'm getting them next week." Liam said.
"What's on for tomorrow?
"Ginny wants to weed the garden tomorrow. She wants everyone there to make it short work."
I'm for that. When are we taking the steers in?"
"Wednesday. They were too busy so I scheduled them then."
"I'll go ahead and figure up how many T-posts and rolls of wire we're going to need." Cole said.
"Well, If you get it figured out call and find out if they have enough so we can pick everything up after we drop the steers off."
I'll do it as soon as we get back." .
Brent Collier looked at the report and frowned. The trajectory looked to be too close. "Connie, check with Mauna Kea and have them put the IR scope on this one."
Liam and Dave stretched the knotted rope along their marking line and stuck a T-post in the ground beside each knot. Jake and Cole followed behind, Cole stood in the trailer man-handling the T-post driver, driving each post in the ground as Jake pulled up. They were staying six posts behind Dave and Liam, but they were moving along rapidly. The had already put in the corner posts and braces in and they would start with stringing the wire tomorrow or the day after. The needed to get this done.
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Post by gipsy on Apr 4, 2022 21:05:16 GMT -6
Thanks for the update
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Post by cavsgt on Apr 4, 2022 23:19:54 GMT -6
It is nice to read from someone who has actually done what they are writing about. Thanks phill
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Post by solo on Apr 5, 2022 9:25:25 GMT -6
It is nice to read from someone who has actually done what they are writing about. Thanks phill I agree with this... Teen summers in hay and watermelon fields in South Mississippi... Made me really want an office job... Now I wish I had that again!
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Post by gipsy on Apr 5, 2022 16:44:48 GMT -6
First years behind a team of big grey Percherons till we got an Allis Chalmers
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Post by ncsfsgm on Apr 6, 2022 8:40:46 GMT -6
Chapter 37 - Summer 1993
Liam thumbed through the projects magazine that evening, stopping at the picture of a can dispenser rack. That would be much more efficient than what they had in the storage rooms, and took up less space. You just dropped the cans in the top and they rolled back to the back of the dispenser, dropped down to the next level and as you took a can out the front, the cans would roll forward to the front. First in, first out. A far easier setup than having to manually move cans forward every time a can or cans were used. The one shown was for 303 cans but could be adapted to #10 cans also. Heck, he could adjust to for any size can. He made a copy of the materials list, doubled it, and would go into town when the fence was completed to get the plywood and other materials for racks.
Cole and Jake went to Kingsport to pick up four 55-gallon drums of lubricant for the steam engines while Liam took a trailer to get his rack building materials. They also stopped by the gun store next to the tractor dealership and bought more ammo and reloading supplies. Cole also picked up a Hornady Shotshell Press and supplies to reload shotgun ammo. When they got back home, they dropped off a drum with each steam engine, attached a spigot and placed the drums on stands and placed the last drum under the generator shed. They parked the trailer and went to the shop. Liam was marking cuts on a sheet of plywood when they went inside.
"What are you building, Dad?" Cole asked.
Liam picked up the picture and handed it to Cole.
"This is great! You mark and Jake and I can cut."
Dave came in and helped Liam and the project was off to a rapid start. They soon had all the pieces glued and screwed together and tested it with some cans. It worked as advertised. They quickly cut out the parts for a #10 can dispenser and had it together. They then painted them with white semi-gloss paint and left them to dry. Liam then began calculating the dimensions for the tuna can rack and #2 and #3 cans. He then calculated the dimensions for building racks for their kitchen pantries. Cole and Jake went into Johnson City to get the materials while Dave and Liam went to the house to get a cup of coffee.
Gail picked the lemons off of their tree and divided them up for the households. Ginny, Sandy and Ellen were canning their first jars of tomatoes, saving some aside for fresh eating. The summer kitchen was working out just fine. They weren't bumping into each other and the open windows helped dissipate the heat. They kept the men out of the kitchen and only called on them when there was something heavy to move. Angie stayed right there with them in her play pen.
The women were thrilled with the can racks. Now the storage rooms and pantries were set up more efficiently. When they bought canned goods, they usually bought by the case. They just marked the cases with the date of purchase and filled the racks from the cases. Those items they didn't use frequently, they continued to mark each individual can or package with the date of purchase or packaging.
Cole and Jake continued building their stocks of reloading supplies, ammunition and gun items. All the magazine fed weapons now had 30 magazines for each weapon. Gun magazines and internet sites were scoured and information about failures in various parts helped them in their ordering of spare parts to keep on hand. Liam did the same with his farm equipment and had an extra diesel tank installed and drums of lubricants, hydraulic oils, filters, and spare parts on hand to last them years. This required another storage building for the parts which they built in between the garden harvests.
News began filtering out about the odd asteroid that had entered their solar system. They were yet to have a clear look at it. If they had a space telescope, as would come in future years, they might have seen it wasn't just one, but two asteroids. Through spectrum analysis, they determined the asteroid was made up of porous materials with a couple of more dense ridges along the top. It would be too late to do anything about it when they realized those dense areas of the asteroid actually belonged to the second asteroid. The asteroid's path was going to bring it really close to earth and tentative plans were made to use nuclear tipped missiles to nudge it away and not endanger Earth. It was only theory, but they believed it would work.
The asteroids seemingly threaded their way through the massive river of rubble between Mars and Jupiter known as the asteroid belt. As it passed Jupiter the people of earth had about 262 days until they witnessed its fury.
The news was full of talk about the asteroid. Talking heads were on for days talking about steps that could be taken to avoid a catastrophic event. Then the talk just died away. This had Cole concerned. He called around to old friends from his unit and was given the mum treatment, until he talked to Ray Henry.
"Cole I can't talk about it over the phone. I'm getting out anyway. If I'm going to die, I want to die at home."
"Ray, give me a call when you get back to Beckley."
"I'll do that. I can tell you what I know face to face."
This had Cole worried. Something was going on that the government was keeping secret. They were hauling firewood that day and it gave him a chance to talk to the other men. While they were taking a water break, Cole brought the subject up.
"Guys, something is going on. We had all the news stations talking about that asteroid for days, then it died when it was suddenly replaced with the talk about that Hantavirus outbreak in New Mexico. Jake, I talked to a bunch of the old guys at the unit and they won't say anything. I finally got hold of Ray Henry and he wouldn't tell me anything except he was getting out. He said if he was going to die, he was going to do it at home."
"You think it's about the asteroid?" Liam asked.
"I have a feeling it is, Dad."
"Where do you think it will hit?" Dave asked.
"I don't know, and I don't think the power brokers in Washington know either, or they aren't telling. Ray said 'IF' I'm going to die, so maybe they don't really know yet. If the impact is on land, it will be an extinction level event, all life on Earth will be destroyed, at least over a period of time. If it hits the ocean, we have a chance. We'll have tsunamis, floods and rains for a long while, but we could survive. If we're lucky, an impact in the ocean won't trigger the calderas like Yellowstone, Long Valley and Valles. When Ray gets back to West Virginia, you and I need to go up and talk to him Jake."
"For sure." Jake answered.
"Well, before anyone gets wind, I think we need to double down on our supplies. If nothing happens, it will just mean we won't need to buy some things for a while. We need to get the hay cut and see about stocking up on more. I'm going to need a lot more tarps." Liam said. They had a "family" meeting that night and Cole told the women what was going on. They were all from stalwart bloodlines and began planning what things they wanted to get or get more of.
Liam built a barn next to the high pasture and got two milk cows. Ginny ordered milk cans, strainers, churns and filters from Lehman's and bought every jar and lid they could find around. They got another All American canner and began filling up the summer kitchen cabinets with spices, mixes and extra utensils. Gail made sure they had plenty of cast iron cookware and ordered butchering pots. Bulk wheat were ordered along with extra packaging . Liam found plastic drums with screw-on lids and he ordered enough to store the wheat and then some. When Ray finally called, he told Cole to come to Sophia and give him a call when he got there and he would come to get him.
It was a three hour drive up to Sophia so Cole and Jake left early. Both had started carrying, just to get back into the habit. When they arrived, they pulled into a McDonald's and grabbed a burger and fries. Ray was there within 30 minutes.
"Ray, it's good to see you." Cole said, shaking Ray's hand.
"It's good to see you two again too. Just follow me and I'll take you out to the farm."
The farm was about 8 miles outside of town and at a higher elevation. It really was a family farm because Ray's two sisters and a younger brother had houses on the same property. Ray led them into the spacious farmhouse and introduced Cole and Jake to his mother and father. Ray's mother poured them a glass of iced tea and they went out on the porch to talk.
"What's going on Ray?"
"You know that asteroid they were talking about? Well they are pretty sure it's going to hit us. They're planning on using missiles and nukes to blast it but they think the best they can do is bust it up some but not enough that the bigger chunks won't hit. They tried to nudge it off but something didn't go right or they figured wrong and now it has a greater chance of hitting Earth."
"Well, it still could hit the water. Seventy-one percent of the Earth is covered in water. There's a chance it won't hit land." Cole replied.
"Yeah, but even if it only tossed water into the atmosphere, we could be in for about three years of rains, not to mention the hurricanes and such. I told Daddy and the rest weeks ago to start stocking up on food to last a minimum of three years. There are going to be crops that will be destroyed or they can't be planted. A lot of people are going to starve."
"When are they going to start evacuations?" Cole asked.
"To where? Like I said, they don't know where it's going to hit. Anyway, I heard one officer say the politicians didn't want to alarm the population, but they are certainly making sure their asses are covered. They are getting their hidey-holes ready to bug out when they won't be missed. They're even talking about reactivating Greenbriar."
"Well, we're getting prepared down in Tennessee. Do you have a ham radio?"
"My brother has." Ray replied.
"When we get back home I'll send you our frequencies and a contact schedule. I think we can survive this. Do you have guns and ammo?"
"I'm taking a trip tomorrow to fix that up." Ray said.
"Well, all we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. We need to be getting back." Cole said.
"Hold on. I've got something you can take back with you."
Ray went inside and came back with two gallon glass jugs filled with moonshine.
"This will take the chill off when it starts to rain, and it will get cold."
"Thanks Ray. Let's do a radio check on the first contact hour."
"Will do."
Riding back, they were silent for the first hour.
"I can't believe those politicians are just going to let the people die." Jake said.
"What do you expect? Their first priority is themselves and their power. The ironic thing is the politicians of the east coast states may no longer have any constituents in the future and have no job."
"I hope they are put on body recovery details." Jake said.
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