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Post by kyrsyan on Sept 7, 2022 11:39:50 GMT -6
Actually there is organic seed. It is seed harvested from plants that were grown organically. Heirloom normally means it is a non-hybrid, open pollinated seed that will grow plants that will provide more seed. But those plants can be grown organically or not. Is there a quality or other difference between the two as to effect on collected seeds? No clue. But you can buy organic seed. You can buy heirloom seed. You can buy organic heirloom seed. That's typically the most common version of organic seed but some of the seed companies are doing organic seeds for some of their hybrids.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 8, 2022 12:30:25 GMT -6
Chapter 20
The walk behind concrete saw was very effective in cutting the outlines of the channel in the floor. Mitch and Bailey had marked the lines out and spray painted the channel outline so the water cooling the blade didn’t erase their marks. The diamond blades cut quickly through the rebar and in a couple hours had the channel outlines cut. Next, was the hard part, busting up the concrete between the cut lines. Even after the first chunk of concrete was out, it still was hard work even using the gas powered jackhammer demolition breaker. They needed to go down 8 inches and they were only removing six feet of channel an hour.
At the end of the day, Mitch was worn out and welcomed the hot shower before supper. Bailey wasn’t in much better shape, after all, he was removing the debris with buckets. Getting up and down on his knees to clear the chunks of concrete wore him out too. Neither one would let Bridget help them with the noisy, dirty work. During their breaks, they did let her clean up with the shop vacuum. It took almost a week to clean out the channels, lay the water lines, drains and electrical conduit. Thankfully, the air exchange vents were already in place for each area so they would be able to build the walls around them. Putting the walls up would be a piece of cake after busting concrete. After getting the pipes and conduit in and running the wire, they began mixing concrete by hand to fill the channels in.
They had to stop work for a day for Mitch and Bridget to go to Des Moines to pick up a large shipment. Loading it wasn’t a problem; they had a forklift that did that. It was when they got home that the real work began. Mitch carried the cases and buckets in, put them on the lift and sent them down to Bailey. Bailey loaded them on a plastic pallet and using a pallet jack, moved the pallet to the hallway outside of the storage room where Bridget began inventorying and stacking the food on the shelves. It took them four hours to unload the truck and put everything away. Mitch told Bailey to go upstairs and rest while he helped Bridget finish up. She would mark the inventory sheet and Mitch would put the case where she wanted it. She would fill the can racks later. When they finally finished, Mitch stacked the empty pallets and carried them on the pallet jacks to an empty storage room. They shut the lights out and went upstairs to find Bailey snoozing on the couch with a partially consumed PBR by his side.
Both Michelle and Glen were in the dumps for a couple of days after Saoirse left to go back to Chicago and Glen didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t just ask her to give up her music. To cheer Michelle up, he decided to tell Michelle about buying the land near Mitch and Bridget. She quickly brightened up, somewhat, and asked a lot of questions, some he didn’t have the answers yet. Like when would they move, what kind of house would they have, could she have a dog? Glen took her to a book store and they bought magazines of house floor plans that she took to her room when she got home and began marking the pages of the plans she liked. Glen began making a list of the things he knew he had to do before he’d even seen the land. The only thing he had to go by were the maps, the survey and the aerial photos. They needed to go look around before much longer.
Mitch took a break from construction and plowed the garden area up with the bottom plow. The plow hadn’t been used in years so Mitch went through and found all the grease fittings and gave it a good dose of grease. He would clear a road through the woods this winter but for now he had to take the trail to the airfield and go the garden from there. He already saw a problem developing when he spooked four deer out of the field near the airstrip. If he didn’t put up deer fencing, the deer would destroy the garden. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. While he was plowing, Bailey had taken the dump trailer and gone to a dairy farm on the other side of Unionville to pick up a load of manure. Once he had the garden area plowed, they would spread the manure and disk it in. When he finished with the bottom plow, he went back and exchanged it for the disc and had it hooked up by the time Bailey returned with the heavily loaded trailer. Mitch dropped the disc, hooked the trailer to the tractor, and made six piles of manure across the garden then he and Bailey spread the manure with manure forks. After reconnecting the disc, Bailey disced the manure into the soil then took the tractor and disc back to the shop with Mitch following in Bailey’s truck, pulling the trailer. After washing the trailer out, Mitch backed the trailer back under the equipment shed.
”Come on, let’s go get a cool one.” Mitch said.
Bailey took a seat on the front porch while Mitch went to grab a couple of beers. He had Bailey’s Pabst and he got out a bottle of Irish Red Ale. Bailey popped the top and held the can up.
“To a good day. We got a lot accomplished today!” Bailey said.
“Yes we did. I guess I’ll start laying out the rooms tomorrow and figure out how many 2x4s I’m going to need plus insulation, and sound barrier.”
“You’re going to insulate the walls?”
“Yeah, but mostly to sound proof them. Any ‘robust activity’ can make the walls reverberate a bit.”
Bailey chucked. “Yeah, I guess so.”
Mitch was taking another swallow of his ale when his phone rang.
“Mitch! It’s Glen.”
“Hey buddy! What’s going on?”
“Mitch, I’ve bought some land near you and I was wondering if we could park at your place and take a look around it this weekend.”
“Heck yeah! Where’s the land?”
“Let me show you when we get there. We’ll be there Friday afternoon. Do you need any more ale?”
“I could always use more ale.”
“I’ll stop by Boulevard Brewing on our way out and pick you up three cases of that Irish Red Ale then.”
“All right, we look forward to seeing you two. Have you heard anything from Saoirse?”
“She was down last weekend.” Glen said.
“You mean she was there in K.C.?”
“Yeah, Michelle wanted to show her around.” Glen said.
“And I don’t suppose you had any problem with her coming.”
“Hell, I paid for her ticket.”
“Do you think she might want to come here this weekend too? She gets out of class at 02:00 PM on Fridays, if I remember correctly. Bridget and I could go and pick her up. We could be back by 04:30 PM.”
“That would be great!”
“Give me her number and I’ll have Bridget call and invite her.”
Glen gave Mitch Saoirse’s cell number and Mitch wrote it down.
“Oh and Mitch, tell Raelene that Jerome is coming with us.”
“She’ll love that.”
They talked for a few more minutes then hung up. Mitch called to Bridget and she came out on the porch.
“Saoirse spent last weekend with Glen and Michelle.”
“I know. I talked to her Monday.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I didn’t think it was something you would be concerned with.”
“I’m not… it’s…forget it. Glen and Michelle are coming up this weekend. Why don’t you call Saoirse and invite her down Friday. You and I can meet her at the same airport and take her back Sunday.” Bridget looked at her watch. “She be home in an hour. I’ll give her a call then.”
When Mitch landed back at the airstrip with Bridget and Saoirse Friday afternoon, Mitch saw Glen had pulled the fuel trailer out for Mitch to refuel the plane before moving it into the hangar. Mitch taxied up to the hangar and shut down. After the prop stopped turning, an excited Michelle ran over to the plane. When Saoirse got out Michelle hugged her and began her rapid-fire jabbering. Glen walked over and Saoirse’s smiling eyes cut to him. She immediately slipped into his arms and hugged him. Bridget stood to the side and grinned. Glen took Saoirse’s bag out of the plane while Mitch moved the fuel trailer closer to the plane and began refueling.
“I’ve got this Glen, go ahead with the girls back to the house.” Mitch said.
“You sure?”
“Positive. Raelene made fried chicken.”
“Oh goody! Michelle said, clapping her hands.”
Mitch finished refueling, Pulled the fuel trailer back inside the hangar and unhooked it from the gator, Connecting the tail picker, he pulled the plane into the hangar and shut the doors.
When Mitch arrived back at the house, Michelle was still jabbering about their new house they were going to build.
“Where is your land located, Glen?” Mitch asked.
Michelle, will you go get my briefcase out of the RV?” Glen asked.
Michelle ran outside and was quickly back with the briefcase. Glen opened it, pulled out the plat map, and handed it to Mitch. Mitch studied it for a second and quickly looked up at Glen.
“You’re shitting me! This is right on the other side of Golddust Trail!”
“Yeah, inconvenient, isn’t it?” Glen grinned.
“This is great! So are you selling your house in Kansas City?”
“No, as a matter of fact I have an associate Professor at UM who wants to lease it.”
“Man, this is great! So, what about your work?”
“Let’s talk about it later.”
“Sure. Want an Irish Red?”
Raelene cooked the best fried chicken Mitch had ever eaten, but he would never brag on it too much. He was afraid she would go off somewhere and start her own restaurant chain. He made sure he paid her enough not to get any wild ideas. After supper, Glen, Jerome, Bailey and Mitch retired to the porch, or rather were run out of the house by the women while they cleaned up, not that there was that much to clean. Raelene cleaned up after herself for the most part.
“So Glen, you were going to tell me about work.” Mitch said.
“I’m going to retire. Michelle is growing up too fast and I don’t want to lose any time with her. The next thing you know she’ll be off to college. Time has a way of flying right past.”
“That it does!” Bailey agreed.
“How did you find the land?”
“I put a bird dog realtor on a land search and told her to look for properties for sale in Putnam County. She found this 364 acre parcel owned by the Young family and I up and bought it, sight unseen. We needed to look at it to start planning so here we are. Oh, and thank you for going to pick up Saoirse. I’ll reimburse for the costs.”
“No you won’t. It was worth it just to see your face when she got out of the plane.”
“Well, thank you.”
“Jerome, how is school going?” Mitch asked.
“I’m keeping a 3.9 average so far for this semester.”
“Great! Keep up the good work!”
The women came out on the porch and took seats, all except Raelene.
“I was about to make some oatmeal raisin cookies but I need a little help.”
“I’ll help!” Michelle said, jumping up.
Jerome went inside and Bailey left for home. Glen looked at Saoirse and asked if she would like to go for a walk.
“Sure.”
Mitch and Bridget watched as Glen and Saoirse walked down the drive in the twilight. Bridget got up, pulled Mitch by the arm over to the chaise and had him sit down. She sat between his legs and pulled his arms around her.
“Those two make me want to turn in early tonight.” Bridget said softly.
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Post by biggkidd on Sept 8, 2022 13:13:40 GMT -6
I would like to thank you for sharing these stories with us. Even more so for letting me help a little.
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Post by gipsy on Sept 8, 2022 15:17:47 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 8, 2022 20:22:31 GMT -6
I would like to thank you for sharing these stories with us. Even more so for letting me help a little. I'm glad to have your help. Quite frequently my tongue gets wrapped around my eyetooth and can't see what I'm trying to say.
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Post by imahic on Sept 8, 2022 21:29:33 GMT -6
I'm thankful for both of your efforts. Greatly appreciate the story.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 9, 2022 8:58:18 GMT -6
Chapter 21
“I can fly you around the property so you can get a lay of the land from the air.” Mitch said. “That would be good. Just from a topo map, I’ve got a pretty good idea where I want to build without having to get deep in the forest.”
“What’s your criteria?”
“Above any possible flood area. I’ve watched areas that rarely, if ever, are flood plains but get inundated. The creek is about 824 feet above sea level. The tentative area I’ve picked out for a home site is 870 feet high. As you go south, the terrain rises up to over a thousand feet, but I’d have to build a road to it.” Glen said.
“Well, let’s take a gander at it from the air then we can explore with the Gator. Who’s going?”
“ME!” Squealed Michelle said, jumping up and down.
“You want to go with us?” Glen asked Saoirse.
“I’d like to, yes.”
Mitch turned to Bridget. “Would you call Bailey and asked him to ride with us over to the property when we get back. I’d like his input also.”
They rode up to the hangar and rolled the plane out of the hangar. After doing his pre-flights, Saoirse and Michelle got in the back and Glen flew right seat. Mitch plugged in a flash drive in a USB connector under the GPS. “I’m uploading your property boundaries to the GPS. I’ll come in from the north first, flying south. When we get to the creek, there will be a concrete and stone ford on the creek. That’s the western edge of your property. I’ll fly pretty much down the western edge of the property. I’ll generally follow the property line down to state road AA.” Mitch said, pointing out the route on Glen’s topo map.
Mitch taxied out to the airstrip and quickly took off. He flew a couple of miles northeast then banked back around and stayed around 2000 feet so Glen would be able to see the ford and trail on the right side of the plane. Mitch had placed waypoint markers on the uploaded route so when they got to the ford a beep sounded in their headsets. They flew on south and when they got to the state road, banked to the left and flew up the eastern property boundary. Mitch flew on past the creek and came back around, this time flying approximately the center of the property so Glen had a broader view to the west. After reaching the state road again, he put the plane in a slight right bank and flew around the boundary of the property.
“I’ve seen enough.” Glen said. “Let’s go check it out on the ground.”
Mitch banked to the left and flew back to the north until he was in position to align with the airstrip. He set his flaps, reduced power then came in like a goose on a pond, landed and taxied to the hangar. Bailey, Bridget and Saoirse were there waiting for them. As soon as the plane was put away in the hangar, Mitch followed Glen’s GPS and led them on a route that would take them across Golddust Trail to where Glen wanted to build his home. When they got there, they parked the Gators and looked around. The trees were sparser there, having once been part of a hayfield.
“What do you think of this area Bailey?” Glen asked.
“Nice area. You’re only about 100 yards from the trail. You’re going to have to improve that trail though. It’s got some small washes between here and the state road.”
“I’ll get someone in here and fix those areas and gravel the whole trail from here.” Glen said.
“Since the trail splits our properties, I’ll pay for half.” Mitch said.
“Now, as far as water, you’ll be on the same aquifer as we are. Good water and if you drill to 100 feet, you’ll never run dry.” Bailey added.
“What do you think Sweetheart?”
“I think it’s…” Saoirse started, then blushed and stopped talking.
“I like it Daddy. I could have a dog out here!” Michelle said. “Can we build a house like Bridget’s?”
“You mean a log home?” Glen asked.
“Yes! I’ve got the picture of the rooms I like in my bag if they can make it out of logs.”
“Well, let’s go back and look at it and see what we can do.”
They went back to the house and got drinks and sat down at the big dining table to look over Michelle’s floor plans. What she had picked out was very similar to the layout of Mitch and Bridget’s home except it only had three bedrooms and a master.
“I guess I need to find a log home builder that will build it.” Glen said.
“This cabin was built by custom home builder company out of Springfield. I’ve got their number down at the house.” Bailey said.
“And use DASolar out of Des Moines. They do a great job.” Mitch added.
“Well, I’ll contact them. I guess the first thing I need to do though is get the road fixed.”
“I know a guy over in Graysville that has a small land clearing business who can clear the land and build up the road.” Bailey said.
“I’ve got a lot to think about. There’s a lot to do and I’m half-way across the state.” Glen said.
“You just tell us what you want done and we’ll see to it. I’ll keep the bills and you can pay me back later.” Mitch said.
“If you can do that, I can take the plans to the home builder and get that part started. I feel like I need eight arms and two brains.”
“We’ll help you out. We can get the things arranged here and when you decide to retire, you can park the RV on your own land and rule over your domain as they get things built.”
“I appreciate this guys. Well, Sweetheart, are you ready to move out to the forest?”
“Oh yes! When can I get a dog?” Michelle asked.
“Well let’s get the house built first.”
When they all got up from the table Raelene had a worried look on her face. Bridget pulled her to the side and asked what was wrong.
“If Glen and Michelle are moving out here, what’s going to happen to Jerome? Where is he going to live?”
Bridget stopped her and told her to stay put. She went and got Glen by the arm and brought him back to Raelene.
“Now ask him yourself.” Bridget said.
“Glen, I was wondering where Jerome was going to live when you and Michelle move out here.”
“Why, where he is right now unless he wants to live in a dorm. I’m only going to lease the place to the Professor, not sell. The guest house is not in the lease agreement. And if it makes you feel any better, Professor Chambers is a well-respected, black professor of economics.”
“I knew I shouldn’t have worried, it’s just…”
“We will make sure Jerome is well taken care of Raelene.” Glen said.
Raelene went to the kitchen to start lunch. Glen spotted Saoirse slipping out the front door and quickly followed her. He caught her as she was slowly walking up the trail.
“Saoirse! Wait up!”
“Saoirse, what are your plans once you finish in Chicago?”
“Well, I..”
“Listen. I’ve told you I was tired of the city and wanted to move out in the country, not only for my sake, but for Michelle’s also. But one thing I’ve come to realize is that it would be awfully lonely with just Michelle here. I have no right to ask you this but…”
"You darling man, you have no idea how happy you and Michelle make me, do you?"
“Well…I.…I do, because you make me feel just as happy but I can’t ask you to give up your music.”
“I’ll not be givein’ up a ting! These classes were for my enjoyment. I love to sing an’ play and we do it often in thuh pubs, but I will be just as happy a singin’ for you and Michelle, wherever you are.”
Glen drew her into his arms and looked down. “Saoirse, I’m in love with you.”
“You daft man, you captured my heart the first time we met.”
The rest of the world seemed to fade away as they kissed.
Bridget grinned as she saw Saoirse and Glen come through the door from the porch holding hands. She whispered to Raelene who glanced at them and smiled also. This was going to be interesting.
“I’ll call Monday and get the trail improvement started.” Bailey said. “They’ll want to do that first. It will pack the gravel down as the trucks come and go on the trail to the building site. Oh, do you want me to get a driller in here and drill a well?”
“If you would. That seems like the sensible thing to do. We’ll need water there soon. What can I do about a pump?” Glen asked.
“Solar. Of course, an electric pump with a generator would work too and would be cheaper.”
“Let’s do the solar. Mitch, you said something about a solar company before…”
“DASolar. They converted everything here and we haven’t been without power a minute. I’ll contact them and get one of their rental units for construction sites. As soon as you have the plans drawn up by the builders, they can use the plans to determine how much power you’ll need. You’ll need to sit down with them to discuss any major appliances like refrigerators, freezers, HVAC, etcetera.”
Glen chuckled. “I’m going to be busy running around.”
“Go see the builders first. It will take a few weeks for the builders to get the logs milled and dry stack them. When you move up here, I can fly you up to Des Moines to save you the drive to DASolar.” Mitch said.
“Yeah, first things first. It is going to be hard not to get anxious to get things done.”
“Are you anxious about other things too?” Mitch asked.
Glen looked at Mitch strangely, then realized he was talking about Saoirse. “Oh no! That is working out just fine.”
After lunch, all the women left in the Rover, including Michelle, to have what Bridget cryptically called a “Girl’s Afternoon.” Glen wanted to go back over to the building site so they took his Jeep. Mitch threw in a 100 foot measuring tape, some wooden stakes and a hammer. They spent the rest of the afternoon measuring and tentatively putting in stakes, outlining Glen’s vision of where things would go.
That evening after dinner Mitch went looking for Jerome and found him reading a book.
“Hey Jerome, do you have a minute?”
“Yeah, sure.” Jerome said, putting a bookmark in the book and closing it.
“How are things going at school?”
“They are great! I’m enjoying all my classes.”
“What about socially?”
“Well, I’ve gone out with a few girls, but nothing serious. I’m trying to concentrate on my studies. I’ve had to be really careful. Too many want to party and drag you into it. There’s a lot of pot and other drugs around. I’m just glad I’ve got the guest house to live in and not the dorms. My future is too important to waste time partying. Mama has driven it into my brain not to mess around. I want to make her proud.”
“That’s what I like to hear. Hey, got another shipment of storage foods in and there are some new items in it you might want to try. You and Raelene go through it and take back as much as you want. The Teriyaki Rice and chicken is great!”"
“Okay Mitch. Thanks.”
Mitch left and as he closed the door he reminded himself to tell Raelene to make sure Jerome got as much food to take back with him as he wanted.
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Post by gipsy on Sept 9, 2022 10:48:19 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by kyrsyan on Sept 9, 2022 13:05:10 GMT -6
When you've been poor and abused by those around you, it's hard to accept that the new people helping you aren't going to do the same thing. I can thoroughly understand Raelene's concern for her son. I would be worried as well.
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Post by bluefox2 on Sept 9, 2022 17:31:55 GMT -6
When you've been poor and abused by those around you, it's hard to accept that the new people helping you aren't going to do the same thing. I can thoroughly understand Raelene's concern for her son. I would be worried as well. I agree and am wondering if there might some economics classes in somebody's future. Can't have the housekeeper unhappy and lonely
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 11, 2022 15:06:33 GMT -6
Chapter 22
“Glen, what are you going to do about Michelle’s education. I know you said she was being home schooled but I’m not sure you are going to find a decent tutor around here and I’ve heard rumors that some of the teachers have fallen in line and are solid proponents of that Critical Race Theory crap.”
“I know. In K.C., that’s the reason I pulled her out of school. The educators are entitled to their own opinions but they aren’t entitled to their own facts. They brought all the political correctness re-writing of history into the classroom. I don’t care if they bring up what mistakes that have been made in the life of this country, but they need to tell the good things too. All I’ve ever wanted for Michelle is an education that is free from a teacher preaching their sexual orientation, politics or religion in the classroom. We all have opinions, myself included, but the classroom is not the place to get into that stuff. What kids need is to learn and be presented the facts then based on the facts they should be allowed to form their own perspective with regard to those events. Actually, when I was in high school, if I did wish one thing could be changed it would be that I had been taught more about personal finance and stocks. That’s stuff I had to learn on my own by asking questions and doing research on the internet. It would’ve been nice to have an educator introduce me to these things; not all kids even have parents as a resource so that’s where the educational system falls short. I do hear some schools are apparently teaching that now though. I’ve been homeschooling Michelle and my housekeeper is a retired school teacher who tutors her. Between the two of us we making sure she is learning what she needs to know. Oh, and Mrs. Beasley is more than willing to move out here and continue her duties.”
Mitch started laughing. “Mrs. Beasley? Like in that old TV show, ‘Family Affair’?”
“I don’t remember it but yes, her name is Mrs. Beasley. Her husband died a few years ago and we’re all she knows as any kind of family. You’ll like her. She is like everyone’s quintessential grandmother.”
Bridget, Saoirse and Michelle came out carrying hot chocolate.
“Daddy! Raelene gave me extra marshmallows!”
“You don’t need those! You are sweet enough! Glen said, tickling Michelle.
“Daddy! You’re going to make me spill my chocolate!” Michelle said, giggling.
“So Saoirse, when are you finished in Chicago? I’ll bet you are looking forward to go back to Ireland.” Mitch said, probing.
“My courses are over December 15th, but I can sing and play anywhere.” Saoirse said, looking down, then up at Glen.
“Glen Masters! Have you not asked this girl yet?!” Bridget said beratingly.
“Well, I needed to talk to Michelle and get her permission first.”
“Permission for what Daddy?”
“Michelle, How would you like for Saoirse and me to get married?”
Michelle’s mouth flew open and she started crying. “Yes! Oh please ask her Daddy!”
Michelle hugged Glen then quickly moved over to Saoirse and hugged her.
“Well, I was waiting for a more romantic time but since I’m here with just family and friends….”
Glen got up, pulled a ring out of his pocket and kneeled in front of Saoirse’s chair. “Saoirse, I have never been happier than when I am with you. Will you marry me and help me build a home here?”
Tearfully, Saoirse nodded, then said, “Yes Glen my love, I will marry you.”
Bridget jumped up and ran into the house, soon coming out carrying a demi-bottle of Champagne followed by Raelene carrying a tray of flutes. Mitch opened the bottle and poured as Bridget handed the glasses out. Raelene joined the Bakers in toasting the newly engaged couple. Even Michelle took a sip from her Dad’s glass but quickly ran to the side of the deck and spit it out.
“Gross! That’s awful!” Michelle said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
“When you are 16, I want you to remember that.” Glen said, grinning.
Bridget and Mitch took Michelle inside to give Glen and Saoirse some time alone. After they got Michelle settled watching a movie Bridget pulled Mitch into the kitchen.
“There is a tree nursery on the outside of Moravia. I want 8 Cortland Apple trees to plant next to the garden. You, Michelle and I are going up there in the morning. We’ll be gone at least three hours.”
“Why are….oh, okay. But I will tell you now, ice cream WILL be involved!”
Bridget giggled. “As long as we keep her out for at least those three hours.”
The next morning Michelle went with Bridget and Mitch to get the trees. Bridget reminded Michelle she might want to pick out some fruit trees for her new place, which excited her. Normally, it was only a 42 minute drive to Moravia, Iowa but Mitch drove slowly and they killed a lot of time at the nursery and even bought two apple trees for Michelle. They got burgers and fries and took Michelle over to Honey Creek State Park to eat their lunch.
“You don’t have to pretend anymore.” Michelle said while they sat at the picnic table.
“What do you mean?” Bridget asked.
“You wanted to get me away so Dad and Saoirse could have some intimate time together.”
Mitch’s Coke almost shot out of his nose.
“Bridget, do you think Saoirse will mind me calling her ‘Mom’?”
“I’m sure she won’t, but why don’t you wait until they are married. It will make her wedding day even more special.”
“Yeah, I hadn’t thought of that. Then that’s what I’ll do.”
They got home at 3:30 PM, five hours after they left. They found Glen and Saoirse sitting in the Great Room on the couch with a fire going in the fire place.
“Daddy! I got two apple trees!”
“You did?!” Well we’ll have to plant them before we go tomorrow.”
“Saoirse, can you come back to Kansas City with us?” Michelle asked.
“No Darlin’, I have to return to Chicago, but maybe during the holidays.”
Michelle went into the kitchen and began helping Raelene prepare supper.
“So, are you going to be married in Ireland?” Bridget asked.
“No, I no longer have any family I am close to there anymore, only cousins far removed. There isn’t anything in Gweedore for me to be interested in. Everything I want is right here.” Saoirse replied, squeezing Glen’s hand.
“Gweedore? I thought you lived near Seth in Gaoth Dobhair.”
“They are the one an’ thuh same. Only the old people call it Gaoth Dobhair anymore. It’s growin’ a bit since there is a new owner of the An Chúirt Hotel. He did some renovations and has turned it into a 4-star destination hotel with a spa and everthin’. The pub has been turned into fancy bar now. The locals don’t feel right goin’ into it.”
“That’s a shame. Well, there is St. Mary Catholic Church in Unionville.” Offered Bridget.
“Glen, could we talk to the Priest after Mass tomorrow?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“We can take Michelle over and plant her trees while you are busy with that.” Mitch said.
“I’d appreciate that Mitch. She would probably get bored.”
The next morning after breakfast, while Mitch and Bridget took Michelle to plant her trees, Glen and Saoirse went to Mass. Mitch took stakes and florescent marking tape and marked the trees so when they cleared the area the bulldozer operator would see them. They had lunch and said their good-byes, Glen and Michelle returning to K.C. and Mitch, Bridget and Saoirse heading for Chicago.
When Mitch neared the airstrip on their return, he had to activate the runway lights. The days were getting shorter and although it wasn’t completely dark, it made Bridget less nervous.
After Mitch had put the plane away they headed to the house in the Gator.
“Are we planting trees tomorrow? Bridget asked.
“Yeah, I want to get them planted as soon as possible so they have time to make more roots before they go dormant for the winter.”
The next morning they loaded a trailer with shovels, a couple of stakes and a roll of masonry line. Bailey came down to the equipment shed and asked what they were doing. When Mitch told him, Bailey grinned.
“Come over here, I want to show you something.” At the end of the long equipment shed was a strange contraption.
“What is this?” Mitch asked.
“That’s the same question the people at the sale your Daddy bought this at asked. It is a tree spade. You can dig up to 20’ trees with this and transplant them.”
“I’m just planting trees.”
“You can also use this to dig the hole for planting new trees. Help me hook this thing up and I’ll show you.”
Bailey went and brought back the other tractor and Mitch slid the pins into the holes for the three-point hitch and attached the hydraulic hoses. Mitch led the way with Bailey behind him and Bridget following in the Gator. When they reached the garden area, Mitch and Bridget set the stakes where she wanted the trees and strung the line. They then measured out 20’ spaces in between trees and after they took the string down, Bailey backed the tractor up and set the depth of the hole for the root ball on the trees and dug each hole. Mitch and Bridget set the trees in the holes and began filling the dirt back in. They had 5 gallon buckets in the back of the Gator for getting water for the trees. Mitch took the Gator down to the branch, found a deep section and filled the buckets with water and slowly brought the water up and watered the trees. Mitch had thought this would be an all day job but they were finished in three hours. He needed to go and check on the people working on Golddust Trail now.
The road grader had smoothed out the road well enough to get the lowboy and the bulldozer up the house site initially, but then they dug up the road in a couple of places where the road had washed out a little and put culverts in. The bulldozer and a skid steer were clearing out the small trees and leaving the trees that had the orange tape tied to them. When he had everything smoothed out the operator put the bulldozer back on the lowboy but had to wait to leave because the dump trucks were already delivering gravel and spreading it on the road. There was nothing he was needed for there so Mitch went back to the house to work in the bunker a bit.
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Post by gipsy on Sept 11, 2022 15:59:40 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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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 Sept 11, 2022 16:29:49 GMT -6
Thanks
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Post by udwe on Sept 11, 2022 22:12:39 GMT -6
Great story. Keep it up!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 13, 2022 18:50:37 GMT -6
Chapter 23
Mitch walked into the bunker and just looked around. He walked through the storage areas then down to the air exchanger room. He started restacking the cartons of filters, moving them to the inner wall and checking each carton label to make sure they were all the same. As he got to the last cartons, he noticed what liked like a door jamb. As he moved more cartons he saw it was some type of door there. Mitch finally finished moving the last of the cartons and pulled back the locking bar, then spun the wheel and released the dogs on the door. He swung the door open and looked, then felt around for a light switch. Finding none, Mitch walked back to the bedroom area and got a headlamp out of the tool chest and went back to the air exchanger room. Turning the light on, he looked down the passageway and couldn’t see the end of the tunnel. Mitch turned around and examined the inside of the door to make sure he could open it from this side in case it got closed somehow. If the locking bar was in place on the other side of the door then no, he wouldn’t be able to get in. He turned around and walked down the tunnel, counting his steps. At what he guessed was 50 meters, the tunnel took 90 degree turn to the left. The wall in front of him was painted a matte black. That was the reason he couldn’t see the end of the tunnel clearly. Mitch followed the tunnel to the left and the passage went about 20 meters then did a 90 degree turn to the right. This part of the passage went about 25 meters and had doorways on the right approximately every twenty feet. At the end of the passage was a metal ladder. He walked to the ladder and looked up. He could see a hatch at the top of the ladder. Turning back, Mitch checked the rooms. Each room was approximately 20’x20’ and empty. This must have been some type of escape tunnel and the rooms held….he could only guess what had been in them. He went back and climbed the ladder. At the top were two hydraulic pistons with hand pumps, he released the inside latch pins and pumped the handles and the hatch rose slowly and raised about two inches. He could hear the popping sound of what could be roots breaking. He stopped pumping, looked around and found the pressure relieve valve. Giving it a turn, the hatch lid slid back down into place. Sliding the latch pins back in place, Mitch climbed back down the ladder. He would check the hatch later when he had tools.
Mitch walked back to the bedroom area began building a wall laid out on the floor. Working the 12’ wall closer to where he wanted it, it took two scrap pieces of 2x4 and fastened them along the chalk line on the floor with a powder actuated fastener. Mitch got the wall frame up high enough to slide the hydraulic jack posts under it and raised the wall up. When the wall was in place, he shot fasteners along the wall base into the concrete. Removing his scrap pieces from the floor, Mitch began building the opposite wall.
Bailey poured the hairy vetch seed in the grain drill and drove to the garden. He planted the whole plot with the vetch. It would grow through the winter and when plowed under in the spring, would provide nitrogen to the soil. He took the drill back to the equipment shed and exchanged the grain drill for the bush hog. One more cutting around the airstrip would keep the grass and weeds down throughout the winter. He also cut on each side of the trail going to the garden and left most of the tall grass south of the hanger full height for the wildlife.
It was almost a three hour drive from Kansas City to Springfield so Glen decided to check in the Kansas City area for log home builders and found one he liked in Parkville. Glen called and made an appointment. Taking the floor plan Michelle liked, he worked with the salesperson and the architect and between them came up with a design he liked, as far as the way it looked on the elevation design. He just worked around the floorplan Michelle wanted.
Glen signed the contract, wrote out a large check for them and went home to tell Michelle they would have a house in a few months. Michelle frowned.
“It won’t be ready for Christmas?”
“No Honey. They have to mill the logs, then they put all the logs together to make sure everything fits correctly, then they’ll bring the logs out and put the house together.”
Dejected, Michelle asked, “Where is Saoirse going to live?”
“Why, she’ll live here with us until we move, of course.”
“So, when can we start packing?”
Glen chuckled, “Not for a few weeks yet.”
It was raining, and the weather channel called for rain for the next three days so Mitch, Bridget and Bailey worked in the bunker. They finished putting the walls up in the bedrooms and bathrooms, put insulation and sound barrier in the walls and were now hanging sheetrock. The drywall panel hoist was a life saver. As Bailey and Mitch hung the sheets, Bridget came right behind and began taping and applying the joint compound. She had quickly mastered the technique and was keeping up with the men. Mitch and Bridget went back after all the rooms were done and began sanding the joints. Bailey kept the dust down with the shop vac and between that and the dust catchers on the sanders, the rooms stayed relatively dust free. They took a break after the rains stopped and just in time as they had deliveries ready to be picked up in Des Moines. Mitch stopped by the bank and pulled out some cash when they went through Unionville. The delivery was three 12 month food units from the Emergency Essentials, three cooking essentials kits and cans of fortified instant milk and cans of drink mixes. They picked up the load, paid the manager in cash and left. As they came through Alba, Mitch slammed on the brakes and turned into a car dealership. Parked out front on a set of ramps was the truck that Mitch had always dreamed about. It was a crew cab Silverado 3500, shining like a new penny.
“What are you doing?” Bridget asked.
“I want to take a look at this truck.”
Mitch got out, followed slowly by Bridget. He walked slowly around the elevated truck, looked under it and was working his way around when the manager came out.
“It’s a beauty, isn’t it?”
“Yes it is.” Mitch said. “Tell me about it.”
“It is a 1982 Chevrolet Silverado 3500 K30 4X4 with an automatic trannie. It has a 5.9L Cummins Diesel 12 valve engine, Cruise Control, Power Locks, Power Windows, Power Seats, Bose CD rack, and AM/FM/Satellite radio.”
“Someone put a lot of love into this thing. Wonder why they sold it?”
“My brother does restorations and I sell them for him. When he came out of the Army, he began to rebuild cars and trucks, to help himself. The VA wasn’t doing much for him. He started bringing in other vets and taught them how to rebuild vehicles. He’s now got about ten guys working with him. They sell the vehicles to pay themselves a little and buy more vehicles and tools. Mitch turned and looked across the street at a little market for a minute before turning back to the manager. “I’ll take it.”
“I haven’t told you what he’s asking for it yet.”
“It doesn’t matter. Just be fair.”
They went inside and did the paperwork. Mitch wrote the man a check then handed him another check. The man’s mouth opened when he saw the amount and stood up, holding out his hand, “I’m Bill Shaffer. Is this a donation?”
“Yes. Our vets deserve more for what they went through than most of the people of this country are willing to give. All of us came out of that mess changed, some worse than others. You give this check to your brother and tell him I said ‘Godspeed’.”
Bill picked up a pen and filled out the “To” line. “I’ll make sure he gets this immediately.”
Bill handed over the keys and walked out with Mitch and Bridget. He had one of the workers take the truck off the ramps and fill the tanks on the truck.
“The truck has two auxiliary tanks, giving you a total of 86 gallons.”
When they brought the truck back out, Bill again shook Mitch’s hand. Thank you again Mitch. Ben is going to be so happy.”
“Give him my best Bill.”
“Turning to Bridget, Mitch asked, “Which truck do you want to drive back?”
“Are you kidding?! Give me those keys!”
Mitch chuckled and handed her the keys to the Silverado and she climbed in.
“Follow me.” Mitch said, and they continued back home.
When they got back home Mitch asked Bridget how the truck drove.
“It drives great. You only get a couple of channels on the satellite radio though.”
“You have to have a subscription. I’ll get that set up.”
“How much money did you donate to him?” Bridget asked.
“$100,000.”
“What?!”
“You know what I’m worth. I needed to make a donation for tax purposes anyway. I know it will be used well.”
They unloaded the truck with Raelene’s help , inventoried and stacked the food in the storeroom.
“That’s a nice looking truck, Mitch.” Raelene said.
“I’ve always wanted one. I like the older trucks better than the newer ones.”
“Who’s truck is that?” Bailey asked, coming in the door.
“It’s Mitch’s.” Bridget said. He up and bought it on the way home.”
“It looks nice.”
“Bailey, where can I get some double-wall fuel tanks?”
“Check with that fuel distributor. He probably can hook you up.”
“Yeah, right. I didn’t think about that.”
“When do you want to start painting?”
“As soon as Bridget picks out the colors.”
“Do you mind if we paint them different colors? I’ve always wanted to say, “Put them in the blue room Raelene.” Bridget said, waving her hand royally.
Raelene laughed.
“No, I don’t mind.” Mitch said, looking at his watch. “We’ve got time to run down to Home Depot now.”
“No, Raelene and I can do it, and we’re taking your truck. You can find something else to do. Let me get some CDs Raelene.”
Bailey laughed and slapped his knee.
“Well, okay, I need to go up to Glen’s anyway. I want to spread some builder’s mix grass seed up there to keep the area from washing.” Mitch said, heading out the door.
“I’ll help you.” Bailey said, following him.
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Post by gipsy on Sept 13, 2022 20:03:46 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by feralferret on Sept 14, 2022 19:28:49 GMT -6
Good stuff. Thanks.
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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 Sept 14, 2022 22:11:38 GMT -6
Thanks
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 15, 2022 7:49:33 GMT -6
Chapter 24
While they were spreading the seed, Mitch told Bailey about the tunnel and the hatch.
“Probably just vine and grass roots ah holding things down.” Bailey said. “There’s a folding pruning saw in the Maintenance Barn you could use to cut the roots until the hatch lifted.”
“I’ll give that a try when I get back. I need to go fill the diesel trailer up at the distributor tomorrow. You want to ride along?”
“Have you checked the diesel in the tank for the generators?” Bailey asked.
“You know, I’ve never even thought about it. I don’t even know where the fill cap is.”
“I’ll show you when you get back. However, I can’t remember when any stabilizer was put in it. Have you tried to start the generators?”
“No I haven’t. They’re probably going to need a batteries. Do you know how much diesel the tank it holds?”
“We’ll take a look when we get back and you can figure it out.”
They harrowed the seed in and went back to the Maintenance Barn. Bailey opened a cabinet and took out a folding stick.
“”What is that?” Mitch asked.
“When they decommissioned this place and your family bought this property. As you’ve seen, there were things left behind. The generators and air handling system was left in place because we believe a contractor was hired to disassemble them but they didn’t and got paid for it. It would have been hard as hell to get everything out anyway and probably cost them more than the stiff was worth. Probably some inspector got a big kick-back too. Anyway, this stick is used to measure the amount of fuel in the storage tank. Let’s go.”
They rode up past the cabin and around to a group of trees. A stone could be seen in some low bushes. Bailey grabbed the top of the 18 inch fake stone and easily flipped it over. There was the 6” fill pipe for the tank and another smaller caped pipe. Bailey uncrewed the cap.
“Do you see the raised name on the cap?” Bailey asked. “Look on the fuel stick. The same name is there. That stick was for measuring the fuel in this tank. Now unfold the stick and lower it until you feel it touch bottom, then draw it out until you see where fuel came up to.”
Mitch lowered the stick and felt it touch, then slowly lifted the stick out until saw the wet where the fuel had come up to.
“It came up to the 180 mark.”
“That stick measures in 100 gallon increments.”
“That means there’s 18,000 gallons in there?”
“Don’t know. We need to go down to the generator and drain some fuel down to make sure there isn’t any water in the bottom of the tank. Once the water is removed then the diesel needs to be treated with PRI-D. That’s a stabilizer for diesel fuel and make it run like new. A gallon of PRI-D will treat 2000 gallons of diesel so we’ll need ten gallons. Then you can fill the tank up. The distributor will send a truck for that amount of diesel.”
“So. Let’s do it!”
“Wait a minute. Those generators need to be checked out by someone who knows what he’s doing before we start messing with them. You don’t want just any Tom, Dick or Harry looking at what you have here.”
“I might have someone, if he’s still around.” Mitch said. “There was a guy I served in the Guard with that was one hell of a mechanic. That guy could fix anything. His wife was killed by an 18-wheeler on I-70 near the Missouri River. It was foggy and the truck was driving too fast, drove right up over the rear of the car and killed her. He went off the deep end and basically became a hermit. I’ll give him a call and see if he is up to it.”
Mitch got in touch with a guy who was still in the S-1 section of his old unit and over the next three days, by tracking down rumors and personal sightings, got a number of the land owner Clark was renting a trailer from. At first the lady didn’t want to give out any information but Mitch finally got her to tell him the address. It was about a two hour drive there and Mitch asked Bridget if she wanted to go with him.
The next morning Mitch and Bridget left on their two hour drive to find Clark Benson. U.S. Highway 63 is an interesting road with small towns with familiar names, names better known in other states. La Plata, Atlanta, Macon, Jacksonville and Cairo are scattered down the highway until they came to the intersection of U.S. 63 and U.S. Route 24. U.S. 24 is one of the original United States highways of 1926. It originally ran from Pontiac, Michigan, in the east to Kansas City, Missouri, in the west. Today, the highway ends in the east at Independence Township, Michigan at an intersection with I-75, and in the west near Minturn, Colorado at an intersection with I-70. There isn’t anything remarkable about the highway, no gaudy tourist stops or neon signed attractions, but it took them to Clark Benson.
SSG Clark Benson (INACTIVE) was the best mechanic Mitch had ever known. The man could fix anything. Although his formal training was on helicopter engines, Clark’s instincts led him to solutions in other areas also. Mitch had seen him put together engines from nothing. He had seen him fix a starter engine for a jet, taking a bent piece of copper wire and getting the unit to run, getting the aircraft out of the area before night fell on their remote location. If Clark couldn’t fix it, it was only because it was blown to hell and he couldn’t salvage parts off of anything else to make it work.
When their unit had returned back home to Missouri from Afghanistan, Clark continued on active duty keeping their aircraft combat ready. Clark‘s supervisors didn’t know one tenth of what Clark knew about repairing the aircraft but they were smart enough give him the reigns. Clark worked every day keeping the aircraft combat ready and if an aircraft was red-lined, it was because the part wasn’t available, but it wouldn’t be for long. With Clark’s extensive list of contacts he had made over the years, he’d find the most obscure part and have the aircraft ready to fly. He was on first name basis with people at Boeing and Sikorsky.
In 2018 tragedy struck. On the way back from a shopping trip in Kansas City, Clark’s wife Brenda was killed in a two vehicle accident near the Missouri River Bridge outside of Columbia. Clark’s life came to a standstill. He refused to work on any aircraft after that, afraid he would miss something and get someone hurt. They finally released him from duty an got him to the VA but it wasn’t enough. After his lawyer had settled everything, Clark sold his home, everything in it and only kept his truck and trailer that contained the remanents of a destroyed life. Clark finally rented a mobile home on Mrs. Hatley’s property outside of Madison and lived a life of solitude. He kept maintenance up on Mrs. Hatley’s property and diligently mowed her grass every Saturday while she was in town buying groceries. He didn’t go out much and didn’t even own a phone. He stayed mostly to himself.
Mitch and Bridget arrived in Madison and got directions out to Monroe Road and finally found the place. Mrs. Hatley came out on the porch to greet them.
“Mrs. Hatley, My name is Mitch Baker and this is my wife Bridget. Clark and I served together in the Guard and I wanted to check up on him.”
“Y'a’ll come in and sit. I can offer you some coffee or something.”
She poured coffee for them, made up a plate of tea cakes and they went into the sitting room.
“When was the last time you saw Clark?” Mrs. Hatley asked.
“It was back before his wife died.” Mitch replied.
“Well, he’s told me some things but that boy don’t let go of much. He stays by himself and don’t hardly goes anywhere. He needs friends around him more than a worn out old woman.”
“Where does he live?”
“Well, I wouldn’t call it livin’ but the trailer is down on the other side of the barn next to the woods.”
“I’ll go down and talk to him.” Mitch said.
“I’ll stay here with Mrs. Hatley. I want the recipe for these tea cakes.” Bridget said.
Mitch walked down the farm road to the trailer. After knocking on the door, Mitch heard someone moving around in there and the door swung open. Clark squinted against the bright sun, staring at Mitch.
“Mitch….come on in.”
Mitch followed Clark in and sat on the small couch.
“How are you doing, Clark?”
“I’m doing somewhat better. Had a lot of time to think.”
“Yeah, you kind of disappeared off the face of the map.
“Well Mitch, all I can say is that for the last three years I have been in a fog, depressed and had no direction. I didn't feel like doing anything. I sold everything and rented a this trailer from Mrs. Hatley. The most I do is take walks in the woods. I do mow her yard once a week. But I’m finally realizing that I have grieved long enough. My wife would want me to go on without her. I woke up one day and saw what is going on with this country it has me scared for the future. The trucking company paid me off pretty good and I won't ever have to work again if I don't want to. I'm going to find me a little place and fix it up for whatever is coming in this screwed up world."
“Well, I might have a solution to your quest. I need you to come up to my place and take a look at a couple of diesel generators. There is plenty of land around and it is remote. I’m setting up just like you are thinking of doing and I could use a friend nearby.”
“Well, as much as I like Mrs. Hatley, sounds like something I’d like to do. Where do you live?”
“I’m about 20 miles northwest of Kirksville, between Kirksville and Unionville. When you get to Kirksville, give me a call and I’ll come lead you in.”
“I don’t have a phone Mitch.”
“Pick up a burner at the Walmart in Moberly or better yet, in Kirksville. I’ll meet you at the Walmart in Kirksville.”
Clark let out a huge sigh. I’m ready to get off my ass. It’s time. I had a dream….” Clark said, eyes tearing.
“Brenda came to me in a dream and told me to get myself together and get on with life. Mitch I…”
“Clark, say no more. Come on up and at least take a look around. I think you are going to like it.”
“Okay. Give me a couple of days to make sure Mrs. Hatley is taken care of.”
“Okay Clark.”
Mitch took out a notebook out of his shirt pocket and wrote his cell number down.
“Call me. I hope to see you by this weekend.”
“I’ll be there.”
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Post by gipsy on Sept 15, 2022 8:39:01 GMT -6
Another bird back to the nest. Thanks for the update.
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Post by paulk on Sept 15, 2022 9:08:14 GMT -6
More please!
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Post by biggkidd on Sept 15, 2022 9:54:35 GMT -6
People usually wait at least a day if not a week to ask for more. These Authors GIVE us their work for free. I'll bet they also have many other things to do besides entertain us. Not picking on you just saying my opinion. Big thank you to the Author !
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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 Sept 15, 2022 12:39:45 GMT -6
Thanks
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Post by accountant on Sept 15, 2022 13:40:11 GMT -6
I know that I don't say this enough but thank you for all the time and energy you have put in keeping us entertained. Not just for this story but for all the works you have allowed us to appreciate. I especially enjoy that fact that you put relationships at the forefront of your stories and not just the 'kill-kill bang-bang' aspect of PAW fiction. I also want to thank biggkidd for the great job he's doing on proof-reading for us. It is also muchly appreciated. Just one knit to pick though... In Chapter 21, you first have Mitch, Glen, Saoirse, and Michelle taking the flight around Glen's new property. When they land though Bailey, Bridget and Saoirse were waiting for them. Don't worry, dreaming of red-haired Irish lasses make me loopy too sometimes. Thanks again. A.
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Post by biggkidd on Sept 15, 2022 18:30:31 GMT -6
Believe me the author is way better than I am and I missed that too.
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