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Post by freebirde on Sept 3, 2023 16:56:31 GMT -6
We keep a roll of TP in an empty plastic coffee container in our vehicles. Keeps it clean, dry, and contained. Downside, remembering not to bring it in with the groceries.
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Post by bluefox2 on Sept 3, 2023 19:30:10 GMT -6
Little Miss Katie is seriously playing matchmaker for her uncle Jim. And Crystal is setting her trap for Andy. Way to go ladies.
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Post by feralferret on Sept 3, 2023 23:04:49 GMT -6
We keep a roll of TP in an empty plastic coffee container in our vehicles. Keeps it clean, dry, and contained. Downside, remembering not to bring it in with the groceries. Tape a big paper label over the can label with "TP" in huge letters. That should eliminate any confusion.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 8, 2023 6:22:14 GMT -6
Chapter 31
A wise old Noncom once told me, “Your future lies in what you have, not what you don't have,” Andy said. “I had a whole new life to build, and I couldn’t live it in the past. Lately, I’ve begun to realize the truth has always been right here in front of me. I've just been obsessed too much about the past to see it. So, I stopped grieving my lost love and began to deal with the new facts. I had more money than I could spend and a lot of time on my hands. This country is crumbling round our ears, and I just need to dig my heels in and help rebuild it after the politicians and Marxist have destroyed it.”
“You sound pretty pessimistic,” Crystal said, frowning.
“I like to think of it as being realistic. I don’t need chicken poop rubbed on my top lip to convince me to recognize it’s chicken poop. Things are going to get worse before they get any better, but life is cyclic, things will get better, and I look forward to sharing at least some of the time with you.”
“What do you mean ‘at least some of it?' Andy, I’m going to be around until you decide you don’t want me around anymore!”
Andy drew Crystal over into his lap and pulled her tight against him.
Dan picked through the wood pile, selected pieces of maple, and loaded them in the wheelbarrow to take to the smoker. Dan had gone through his chest freezer and found about 12 pounds of venison he needed to use up, so he was going to make smoked venison bratwurst. He had ground the venison up with a fatty pork butt, spices and onion the night before. He still had to stuff the casings, and Holly was coming over to help. He needed her to tie the sausages off as he formed each one, keeping to six links per strand. He would smoke the sausage links for three hours with maple wood at around 275 degrees. Afterwards, the link strands would be frozen for later boiling, grilling, or frying. One third of the meat would be saved back and mixed with sage, garlic powder, onion powder, fennel, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, black pepper and a bit of all spice to make cased breakfast sausage. Holly had tried the breakfast sausage once and was disappointed there wasn’t any more in the freezer. She liked it much better than just pork sausage. Dan took the wood to the smoker, spread a tarp on the ground under his work area, and using his Sawzall, cut medallions of maple to soak in a bucket of water for the smoke. Holly arrived and they went inside to prepare for the stuffing of the sausage. They stuffed the sausage then hung them in the cold smokehouse overnight to let them dry out a bit. In the morning, Dan would prepare the smoker while the links soaked in Cabernet Sauvignon for one hour. The wine would cause the sausages to develop small wrinkles and give them a great flavor.
Dan hung the links in the smokehouse and left them alone until the next morning. The first thing he did the next morning after he got dressed was go check the sausages. He decided to give them another three hours and went to make breakfast. He was cooking pancakes and bacon when Holly arrived. She carried in a basket with a quart of her mother’s sauerkraut nestled inside.
“If you get me four brats, I can make lunch for us.” Holly said.
Dan went and got her four of the bratwursts and went back to start the smoker while she cut the sausages into 1-inch chunks, placed them into an enameled cast iron casserole pan, covered them with sauerkraut and shredded Havarti cheese.
Once the smoker was producing plenty of smoke, Dan hung the strands of links into the smoker and started a fire in the fire pit. Soon, Holly showed up with mugs of hot buttered rum and sat beside him.
“Casserole is ready,” Holly said. “All I have to do is put it in the oven for 30-minutes.”
“Good! You do good work for a new fiancée,” Dan said.
Holly grinned. “I have a lot more talents to show you.”
Dan groaned inwardly and threw a few more maple medallions on the fire.
Asher finished baiting the crappie rig and dropped it on the brush pile sunken into the lake. Every New Years, members of a local wildlife club gathered Christmas trees, bound and weighted the bundles, then sunk them into different areas of the lake and into the St. Francis River under the directions of a fish and game officer. The brush bundles provided excellent cover for the fish. Asher had caught 25 crappie already, but was having to throw more and more back in because they were too big. He could have only 15 fish over 9 inches. He would go ahead and use up all his minnows anyway and go with the 25 fish he’d caught already if need be. They were too much fun to catch.
"Let’s have a cookout Saturday,” Holly said.
“Sounds good to me. What do you want me to cook?”
“Burgers, dogs, and fries, perhaps a few of those brats you made,” Holly replied.
“Okay, I’ll make a grocery list of what we’ll need,” Dan said.
“Don’t worry about that. Crystal, Siobhan, and I will handle the sides and dessert. Also if we need more condiments, we’ll pick up those too. We'll do the fries in the Fry Daddy,” Holly said.
"Pick up some beer too,” Dan said, raising the footrest on his recliner and shutting his eyes. He could hear Holly in the background, calling the other two women making plans for the cookout. He wasn’t being insensitive, he’d let her do what she wanted, for now. The October 20th wedding plans were fixed, his only portion was to plan the honeymoon. Dan made sure that Crystal and Siobhan could overhear the guys talking about Reno, and Holly had been much more cheerful around him. He had actually been talking about Reno, Texas, on Eagle Mountain Lake, but that wasn’t where he was taking her. Jeremy was sending a plane to fly them to Miami and another seaplane to fly them to Nassau, to The Cove at Atlantis in the Bahamas. He did hint to Holly she should get some sexy swimsuits. When she asked if the lake wouldn’t bee too cold to swim, he countered the hotel had warm pools. He then knew the women were swapping information. He would tell Holly the day before the wedding where they were going so she wouldn’t pack winter clothing and her mukluks.
Holly was driving the side-by-side on the trail through the forest and stopped when told to by Dan. He’d get out and mark a tree with marking tape and they’d move on. Dan was selecting trees to be cut down for firewood. When she reached the Point, he had her go back to the farmhouse. There he hooked the trailer to the tractor and the wood splitter to the trailer. Getting his chainsaw, fuel can, bar oil, and axe, he added them to the bed of the trailer. Holly came back out of the house with a gallon thermos jug of water and placed it in the trailer and followed Dan back to the first marked tree in the side-by-side. As it was getting toward sundown, Dan had cut down and split four trees. As the wood was split on the splitter, Holly would stack it in the trailer. Wearily, they loaded their equipment, all except for the splitter, and started back to the house. The splitter was left covered with a tarp. Dan parked the trailer and Holly went into the house to check on supper. She had left a slow cooker of pot roast cooking throughout the afternoon.
Jim was in his shop working on a 30-30 for Gil Harris when his phone rang.
“Jim, it’s Shaylynn. I just found the cutest dog for Katie!”
“What is it?” Jim asked.
“An Australian Terrier. She’s already housebroke, Spaded and just had a bath. She is the cutest thing!”
“Well, okay. I’ll have to run down to Poplar Bluff and get a bed and stuff for it.” Jim said.
“No, I’m in Poplar Bluff now. I can run by PetSmart and pick everything for her,” Shaylynn said.
”Well okay then, thanks,” Jim replied.
“I’ll see you two around 6:00 this evening,” Shaylynn said.
“Okay, see you then,” Jim replied. He didn’t say anything to Katie and would let it be surprise for her.
Jim stopped what he was doing and went to the house. He had placed packages of frozen shrimp, mussels, and chicken thighs thawing in the fridge to make Spanish paella for this evening’s meal, so he started on the prep. Katie came in and began chopping vegetables while Jim looked for his paella pan. They had made this many times when they lived in Connecticut using the fresher seafoods available there. The one ingredient he would be missing was calamari and he didn’t have any substitute available. Jim added olive oil to the pan over medium heat. Then onion, bell peppers, and garlic that were sautéed until the onion was translucent. The chopped tomato, bay leaf, paprika, saffron, salt and pepper were added and left to cook for 5 minutes. He added white wine and let it cook for another ten minutes. When it was time, Jim added the thighs and saffron rice, then chicken broth, giving the pan a shake to settle the rice. Jim let this cook for another 15 minutes, uncovered, then began nestling the shrimp and mussels into the rice, then sprinkled thawed peas over the top. He let this cooked for another 5 minutes then turned the heat off and before placing the lid on the pan to rest, Katie sprinkled chopped parsley and placed thin slices lemon wedges on top of the paella. The paella needed to rest a while and it was just as well; Shaylynn had arrived.
A surprised Katie met a puppy-carrying Shaylynn coming up the steps. Katie squealed and petted the dog. Katie let out another squeal when Shaylynn told her she might as well take the puppy, that she now belonged to Katie. Jim was smiling when he held the door open for the girls to come in.
“There are supplies in the back, could you bring them in?” Shaylynn asked.
Jim hauled in three bags of freeze-dried dog food, a bed, and a PetSmart bag of bowls, toys, and grooming products. Katie was walking the puppy, whom she called Molly, around the house, letting her get used to the surroundings. Jim left them and went to make himself and Shaylynn a drink. Shaylynn followed Jim, leaving Katie and Milly playing.
“Where did you find the dog?” Jim asked.
“There’s a lady outside of Poplar Bluff that bred and trained them. She had a bad auto accident and isn’t able to care for them right now. She agreed to sell the remaining puppies,” Shaylynn explained.
“That dog food, it looks expensive,” Jim commented.
“And that’s because it is. It is a healthy diet that was developed by a veterinarian. It’s nothing but beef meat, organs, and vegetables. I figured three bags would give you enough time to make your own; you have a freeze dryer.”
“I guess, if I can figure out the ingredients.” Jim replied.
“I also bought a good book on pet nutrition that should help. Looking through it, I think Katie could freeze dry the ingredients herself.” Shaylynn replied.
They took their drinks back into the great room and watched Katie and Molly for a few minutes. Then Katie picked the dog bed up and called for Molly to come with her, that she would show her where she would sleep. Katie took the puppy to her room, placed the dog bed in a corner of the room near her bed, snapped her fingers and pointed to the bed. Molly walked slowly over to the bed and laid down. To Jim’s knowledge, it was the last time Molly slept at night anywhere but Katie’s bed.
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Post by gipsy on Sept 8, 2023 8:08:51 GMT -6
Cool update.
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Post by feralferret on Sept 8, 2023 16:10:01 GMT -6
Thanks, ncsfsgm!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 14, 2023 7:01:55 GMT -6
Chapter 32
Jim was making breakfast when Katie and Molly got up. Katie, still in her pajamas followed a scurrying Molly to the back door and opened it for her. Molly scooted through the door as soon as she could and ran outside to find a place to pee and poop. Jim chuckled. “She really had to go.”
“She woke me up licking me face and pawing my arm!” Katie said.
“Well, it might be better if you let her go outside before you go to bed at night,” Jim said.
“Yeah, that might be best,” Katie agreed.
“After breakfast, there is a pooper scooper on the deck to clean up after her,” Jim said.
“Aw-w-w-w.” Katie whined.
“Don’t Aw-w-w me. You wanted a puppy, now you have to take care of her.” Jim said. “I’ll go out with you. I need to dig a sump for you to dump the poop in. Go ahead and get dressed. Molly is going to want to be fed too.”
Katie waited for Molly to finish her business and let her back in. Molly, claws slipping on the hardwood floor, skidded, and scampered behind Katie as she followed her best friend to her bedroom.
Jim dished the oatmeal with blueberries into a bowl and placed it at Katie’s place, then pulled the toast out of the oven and buttered it. Katie returned to the kitchen and put fresh water into Molly’s water bowl and put a scoop of food in her food bowl before sitting down. Molly made it squeak, then dropped the toy chicken she was carrying and began eating.
Katie giggled. “She likes that chicken.”
Jim put a spoonful of oatmeal in his mouth, followed by a bite of toast. “Okay, something you need to add to your schedule. You need to give Molly 30 minutes of exercise outside before you start your studies, and you WILL continue to do your studies every day.”
“What if she has to pee or poop?” Katie asked.
“Well of course you’ll have to get up and let her out, and you can go with her to make sure an Eagle or Osprey doesn’t scoop her up.” Jim replied.
Katie’s eyes lit up with fear. They finished their breakfast and Jim cleaned up the kitchen while Katie began her studies.
Andy and Archer began fishing the brush piles around the mouth of Lost Creek, and planned on fishing the brush piles that had been emplaced along the west side of the peninsula to the north. The winds were calm, and the air was a chilly 45 degrees, but the crappie were sucking down the minnows.
“We’re going to have a lot of fish to clean,” Archer said.
Andy grinned. “I got an electric scaler off of Amazon. We’ll have these cleaned in no time.”
“By that time, I’ll be shivering like a dog passing peach pits,” Archer complained.
Andy chuckled. “You ain’t in South America anymore, Amigo!”
“You’re telling me!” Archer replied.
They quit fishing a couple of hours later as the wind picked up. When they got back to the dock, they scooped the fish out of the wet well into an old cooler and took them up to the fish cleaning station. Andy went up to the house to get his fish scaler and saw Crystal was there.
“Can you make a pot of coffee?” Andy asked her. “Asher is going to need some Irish Coffee when we get done cleaning the fish.”
“Did you catch many?” Crystal asked.
“Enough for four!” Andy said, winking at Crystal.
“I’ll call Siobhan to help me fix some things to go with the fish,” Crystal said, smiling.
With Andy descaling the fish and Asher gutting and cutting the heads off the fish, it didn’t take long to get the 25 fish cleaned. Crystal had two Irish Coffees ready when they came in the door, took the pan of fish from Andy, and began rinsing the fish off.
The men sighed as they took sips of the warm drink. Crystal had even added a dollop of whipped cream, really Cool Whip, to each cup. Asher finally took off his coat before starting on his third cup. Siobhan arrived with a couple of plastic grocery sacks in her hand.
“I cheated. I stopped by Mattie’s and picked up a tub of Cole slaw,” Siobhan said.
She took a 5-pound bag of potatoes out of the other bag and Crystal was ready with a cutting board, potato peeler, and a knife. They peeled and sliced potatoes and put on oil to heat up.
Andy peeled off his sweater, then began drying off the fish with paper towels, before getting out the fish breader and the breader box.
The women had peeled the potatoes and made golden steak fries to eat with the slaw and fish. Picking a fish bone from between his lips, Andy leaned back in his chair and said, “That was a mighty fine meal.”
“And there were enough left over to have another one.” Archer commented.
“We can make fish tacos next time,” Siobhan said.
“Yeah, those are pretty good too, with hot sauce,” Andy replied.
Molly was training Katie well. Sometimes it was just a certain look between the two, but Katie soon learned when Molly needed to use the bathroom. Molly would go out and Katie would wait on the steps with a hand towel o wipe off Molly’s feet before she let her go back inside. Molly would run up to the sitting Katie and lift a paw for Katie to wipe off. Jim would chuckle as he watched the two interact. Molly would even jump up on the seat in front of her when she rode the trail bike. You wouldn’t see one without the other around the place.
Jim finished installing the HiViz LitePipe sites on Carl Sims’ Marlin 336 and wiped the gun down with a silicon cloth. The sights would help, but Carl needed a new eyeglass prescription more than he needed new sights. Jim would talk to Carla Johnson, a new Optometrist that had set up business over near the Food-Rite. She could gather some customers at the range he thought. Maybe have a kit with different lens strengths to show the people they needed to come in for an examination.
Katie was keeping an eye on the Lasagna they were having for supper. She was just putting the garlic bread in the oven to toast as Jim walked into the kitchen.
“Smells good!” Jim said.
“I know, it’s making my stomach growl,” Katie replied.
Molly must have thought so too. She sat near Katie’s feet, not quite jumping up, but her hips were moving like a hoochie-coochie dancer. Katie giggled and got her a treat out of Molly’s treat jar.
The timer went off and Katie’s phone rang at the same time. Jim checked the lasagna then pulled it out of the oven to rest. Katie continued talking lowly on the phone. Jim got out plates to set the table when Katie said, “Get one more plate, I invited Shaylynn to eat with us.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Jim said.
“It was a spur-of-the-moment invite. She wanted to know how Molly was doing. I invited her so she could see for herself,” Molly replied.
Jim went into the pantry and retrieved a bottle of St. Michael’s Merlot and opened it. Katie got out two wine glasses and a glass for the milk she would have with her Lasagna. Jim was taking out the toasted garlic bread as Shaylynn arrived.
“Break any traffic laws on your way here?” Jim asked, looking at his watch.
Shaylynn giggled and answered, “Not too many.”
Molly, seeing who it was, yipped and went over to dance around Shaylynn.
Jim began cutting squares of lasagna out of the pan and placing them on each plate, along with a slice of toast.
All enjoyed supper, and all pitched in when it came time to clean up. Feeling lethargic, they retired to the great room and watched a show on the History Channel. It was followed up by a documentary on people fighting for gay and transexual rights. When Shaylynn asked what Jim thought about that, Jim figured this was where the fight was going to start.
“People have a First Amendment right, of course, to call themselves “ze/zir,” “they/them,” or any other nonsense that they fancy. But I, too, have a First Amendment right to tell the truth: left-wing “neo-pronouns” are ideological constructions that deny human nature and are designed to manipulate otherwise well-meaning people into affirming a cult-like belief system.
If the state can force you to lie about basic reality—man and woman—then it can force you to lie about anything.
Personally, I believe those fake people are a detriment to society, no, they are a detriment to civilization and should be shot where they stand for being traitors to the human race.” Jim said.
It was quiet for a couple of minutes until Shaylynn said, “I think you are right. They have been gradually pushing this stuff down our throats day by day. All it has done is divide the world.”
Jim sighed in relief. He was learning more about Shaylynn every day.
Shaylynn decided she needed to get home and was getting up.
“Are you sure?” Jim asked. “The guest bedroom is empty and I‘ve changed the sheets since the homeless guy stayed here.”
“Shaylynn giggled. Are you sure you don’t mind? I might have had a little too much wine.”
“Absolutely! Just let me get Katie to bed.”
Jim picked Katie up and cradled her in his arms. Molly jumped up out of her slumber and followed Jim to Katie’s bedroom. Shaylynn helped get Katie undressed and under the sheets. Molly jumped up on the bed, snuggled up against Katie, sighed and went to sleep. Jim cut off the lamp and he and Shaylynn quietly left the room.
“I have a bag in my vehicle,” Shaylynn said.
“Give me your keys and I’ll get it,” Jim said.
“When Jim got back, Shaylynn was already in the shower. Jim quietly put the bag inside the door of the bathroom and closed the door.
Jim was up early the next morning making coffee when Shaylynn entered the kitchen wearing running shorts, a T-shirt, and barefooted.
“Good morning,” Shaylynn said, taking a seat at the island.
“Good morning. How did you sleep?” Jim asked.
“I slept like a baby. Probably due to the wine,” Shaylynn replied.
“That’s why I offered you the guest room. Thankfully, I didn’t have to fight you about it,” Jim said.
“Thank you for that,” Shaylynn replied.
Molly came trotting into the kitchen and stopped at her food bowl and whined.
“Don’t look at me!” Jim said to the dog. “You know Katie feeds you. If you’re hungry, go get Katie,” Jim said, pointing toward Katie’s bedroom.
Molly took off quickly, Claws skidding on the floor. A couple of minutes later, Katie came giggling into the kitchen with Molly on her coat tails.
“Let her out first,” Jim said.
Katie grabbed Molly’s foot towel and let her out the deck door.
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Post by gipsy on Sept 14, 2023 7:36:51 GMT -6
Fine update for sure
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 18, 2023 12:17:04 GMT -6
Chapter 33
As Shaylynn was leaving Poplar Bluff, her bladder began talking to her. She pulled into a convenience store, used the facilities, and was walking back to her Land Rover when she noticed an antique shop next door. She pulled the Land Rover over to the parking area for the shop and went inside. By the price of everything, the owner was proud of what they had.
Then Shaylynn saw the wooden bowl hanging on the wall and grinned. It was perfect! Jim had told her he was going to try to find someone who made wooden bowls to make him a big dough bowl to make biscuits in. He’d remembered his grandmother had one when he was small, and it brought the feeling home every time he saw her using it. Making biscuit dough in a stainless-steel bowl just didn’t bring the same feeling. Shaylynn didn’t shy away from the price and bought it. When she told the lady what she wanted the bowl for, the lady reached under the counter and brought out a small can with a green label on it and sat it in front of Shaylynn.
“This is finish for the bowl. It is a mixture of linseed oil and beeswax. Give it a coat before you use the bowl, let it dry and wipe it off. Reapply when needed and that bowl will last another 100 years.”
The lady didn’t charge her for the finish and didn’t even charge her the tagged price for the bowl.
“Those are tourist prices, and I can tell you ain’t a tourist.” The lady said.
Shaylynn went straight to Jim and Katie’s and gave it to Jim. He was delighted with the gift and immediately wiped the bowl down and applied the bowl finish.
“I’ll have to invite you over for a biscuit and gravy breakfast!” Jim said.
“Just tell me when,” Shaylynn replied.
Katie came rushing into the house after finishing her ride with Molly. Molly was dancing around Shaylynn, wanting to be picked up. Shaylynn picked her up and was rewarded with a half-dozen sloppy kisses. Shaylynn giggled and gave Molly a treat from the jar.
“Staying for dinner?” Jim asked. “We’re having spaghetti and meatballs.”
“Sounds delicious!” Shaylynn replied.
Andy shook off his Gortex rain jacket before he hung it up in the mudroom. Taking off the pants ants and then his boots, he was just beginning to shake the chill off. It had been drizzling for three days. A byproduct of the cold wave that had swept down from the north. The low 40s temperatures didn’t bring snow, but it was still miserable. He went on inside, and added wood to the woodstove, and warmed his hands over the stove. Going into the kitchen, Andy made a mug of Bailey’s laced hot chocolate and looked over the inventory sheets from the delivery he’d just put into the warehouse. “More disaster relief supplies”, he muttered as he read through the sheets.
He was making another mug of chocolate when Crystal arrived. He quickly made her a mug of the high-test chocolate and handed it to her.
“This is heavenly!” Crystal said after she took a sip. “It is nasty out there!”
“Yes it is. But it beats what the northern states are going through.”
“That is true.”
"This chocolate hits the spot,” Andy replied.
The gate alarm sounded, and Andy looked at the video monitor. It was UPS. Andy opened the gate, took his pistol, and put it in the small of his back, grabbed his coat and hat, and went outside. It was the things he had ordered from the place in Idaho. As the driver began setting things outside, Andy had Crystal checking off the things from a list as he took them inside and stacked them by the basement door. When the driver left, Andy looked at what Crystal had checked off. He had received 2 SuperPails of pinto beans, a SuperPail of rolled oats, a case of powdered apple drink, a case of baking powder, a case of Beef Bouillon, a case of chicken bouillon, a case of butter powder, a case of buttermilk powder, a case of hot cocoa mix in #10 cans, Instant Milk (non-fat) in #10 cans, and a case of popcorn in #10 cans. He was missing 30 pounds of raisins, but they were coming from another company anyway. He had stocked up on shelled pecans back in the fall at the farmers market and he just about had everything to make his hybrid oatmeal raisin cookies. But right now, he had a hankering for a lemon sour cream pound cake like his Mama used to make.
“Come on and go with me to Food-Rite. I need to pick up some things,” Andy said to Crystal.
Andy purchased a gallon of milk, a little bottle of lemon extract, two lemons, a box of confectioners' sugar, two dozen eggs, a can of baking spray, and a 2-pack of disposable aluminum bundt pans from the baking section. When they got back home, Andy began to mix the ingredients together with the mixer.
“What are you making?” Crystal asked.
“A lemon pound cake!” Andy said, grinning.
“Why didn’t you just get one of the box mixes at the store?” Crystal asked.
“Not the same as homemade,” Andy replied, adding six eggs to the batter.
Crystal sprayed one of the pans with baking spray and had it ready for Andy to fill with the batter. While the cake was cooking, Andy mixed together a simple icing with the confectioner’s sugar, sour cream powder, and water.
Dan gave one more turn of the Whirly-Pop crank and dumped the popcorn into a big bowl. Carrying the popcorn into the great room, he set the bowl on the couch between him and Holly, and pressed the button on the remote to continue the movie. Holly took a popped kernel out of the bowl and bounced it off Dan’s temple, picked up the bowl and scooted nearer Dan, placing the bowl in her lap.
“Now you can have both me AND the popcorn,” Holly said.
“I was going to have you both anyway,” Dan grinned.
The grocery distribution truck took the off-ramp to make the next delivery. The roadblock moved into place and the men spread out behind the vehicles. The delivery truck came around the curve and slowed. The windshield darkened, the ambushers couldn’t see the driver, but the truck continued forward and as it neared the roadblock, sped up, the remotely controlled servo steering the truck directly to the center of the roadblock. The ambushers, caught by surprise, just stared as the truck raced toward them, as the men started to jump away from the roadblock, 750 pounds of ammonium nitrate mixed with fuel oil and interspaced with drums of magnesium filings was ignited in the back of the truck, enveloping the area around the roadblock with flames and shredded debris for a radius of 300 meters, setting small brush fires. When the volunteer fire department arrived, there was little they could do as the fuel tanks of the roadblock vehicles exploded. In the aftermath, Sheriff’s Deputies accounted for at least 15 bodies and some random pieces and parts.
Phil McAdams slowly moved around the pontoon boat, supported by a cane, inspecting, and tightening the boat cover straps. Archer had seen the boat parked there with the For Sale sign but had never seen anyone there, it sat in front of a long low building of unknown origin, painted an ugly brown alongside the highway that Archer had been by many times, but only glanced at the pontoon boat. Now, Siobhan was showing interest in pontoon boats. She liked his Boston Whaler well enough, but she liked to just cruise the lake slowly in the summer. The whaler wasn’t her idea of a cruiser. Archer pulled over into an adjacent lot that held a few boats also and walked over to the man.
“This your boat?” Archer asked.
“Yeah. My wife loves…loved to just ride around the lake on a warm day and watch the boats and the birds. I’ve had it out of the water for a couple of years and it’s time someone else got enjoyment out of it. The man helped Archer remove the cover and Archer gave it a good once-over and asked him what the price was. Archer was surprised and his face showed it when the man responded.
“I know, it is cheap, but it is in great shape and trying to make money on it wouldn’t feel right, like blood money. Ya know what I mean? I’d rather keep the memories of Annie enjoying her days on it.”
“What did you do before you retired?” Archer asked him. “By the way, my name is Archer Harmon.”
“The old man extended his hand and said, “Phil McAdams. I was career Army. Started my career up at “Fort Lost in the Woods” and did my last days on duty as the Post Sergeant Major. Annie and I used to come down here to the lake as much as we could, and I built our retirement home right over there.” Phil said, pointing to a house next to and set back from the brown building. Annie got tired of me moping around and not doing much of anything and I opened up a BBQ restaurant in this here building.”
“I’d be proud to own this boat, Phil. Do you want cash or check?” Archer asked.
“Check is fine. If you give me a day, I have some school-age boys and girls I have do odd-jobs for me and I can have them shine it up for you.” Phil said.
“You don’t have to do that.” Archer said.
“Oh, it would make me feel good and keeps the boys and girls out of mischief and gives ‘em some pocket money. Not many burger flipping jobs around.”
“Well, that’s good of you,” Archer said. “I can pick it up whenever it’s ready.”
“They shook hands again and Archer wrote Phil a check for the boat. They walked over to Phil’s house to print out a bill of sale and Phil pulled the title out of a filing cabinet. When Archer drove away, he almost felt guilty taking away the man’s memories. It was sad the man was living his last days alone. At least he kept a little busy selling boats.
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Post by gipsy on Sept 18, 2023 13:04:11 GMT -6
Thanks for the update.
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Post by feralferret on Sept 18, 2023 14:51:01 GMT -6
Ncsfsgm, another fine chapter! Thank you.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 22, 2023 3:11:38 GMT -6
Chapter 34
Andy and Crystal had come for a delicious dinner Siobhan and Archer had put together (mostly Siobhan, if the truth be told.) Siobhan was bubbling about the pontoon boat Archer was getting.
“I remember old Phil," Crystal said. "He had the best BBQ around. It was always cooked to perfection and not an ounce of it was dry. I sure hate he had to close the place down."
"I worked there as a waitress in the summer.” Siobhan said.
“He HAD to close the restaurant down?” Archer asked.
“Yes, his wife Annie was dying of cancer and Phil shut everything down when the doctors told him he should put her in Hospice. He did hire a hospice nurse, if I recall correctly, but he was by Annie’s side until her last breath. It was as if someone pulled the valve out of his air stem. He withdrew from life and stayed mostly at home. He had the space there and agreed for people to park there to sell their boats there. He finally hired some kids to wash the boats and make them look better. He still owns the marina and leases out management to Howard Dawkins, and Howard ain’t poor by a long shot. Jesus, that land there must be worth millions. You’ve got the old restaurant, Phil’s house, and the store building that they don’t see much for anymore. I’ll bet it was a cash cow back when it sold food and stuff for everyone going out boating for the day. Those were good days gone by."
“Why do they have to be gone?” Archer asked.
“What? Are you going to try to buy Phil out?” Crystal asked.
“No, but what about bringing things back somewhat like they were.” Archer said. “It would bring some more jobs back, give Phil a purpose in life, and draw back old customers. I’m going to do some thinking on this.”
And Archer did do some thinking about it, relying on Crystal’s business acumen and Siobhan’s memories.
Jim unpacked the parts and more clothing articles and stored them in the trailer. The puffy vests had become quite popular since the weather had turned cooler. You would see people wearing them all over the Wappapello area. They were getting visitors from farther away every Saturday. Several range users were sporting accessories for their guns that they swore made them shoot better. There were always people lined up at his trailer each Saturday. Shaylynn even talked him into hiring a big chested high school girl to help them in the tent to model their t-shirts and other clothing, but Shaylynn made sure she kept Gloria a respectable distance from Jim. She was a sight to behold but Jim was more interested in Shaylynn; she spent every spare moment she could out at Asher Creek. Katie was consciously pushing Jim and Shaylynn together, frequently wishing out loud that Shaylynn didn’t have to go home. Shaylynn would always smile at Jim. Not that Jim disagreed, but he needed more “alone” time with Shaylynn to figure things out.
Thursday night, Dan and Holly decided to host a dinner and invite Andy, Crystal, Archer, and Siobhan, a couple’s night. The men grouped together with Dan while he cooked the filets while the women worked in the kitchen between sips of their wine preparing the sides for the dinner.
“So. What’s this about Archer opening Annie’s again?” Holly asked Siobhan.
“It’s just an idea he’s tossing around in his mind,” Siobhan said. “ He figures if he can get a few people to cooperate, it could be an ongoing enterprise. It would give people jobs and pull old Phil out of a rut.”
“He’s going to put Phil to work! The man must be at least 75 years old!” Crystal said.
“Oh, Arch is only going to use Phil as the official BBQ inspector. He’ll hire others to cook with Phil supervising the quality of the finished product. It will keep him active, but not so much to tire him out.” Siobhan replied. “Oh, and he is going to ask you, Crystal, to be the manager.”
“Well, I’ll do what I can to help.” Crystal said. “I’d like to see the place like the old Annie’s.”
“Well, the first thing they need to do is paint over that God-awful turd-brown paint Phil painted the place after Annie died.” Holly said.
“That is my thinking too,” Siobhan said.
“How much work is it going to take to get the old place back up to snuff?” Crystal asked.
“I don’t really know,” Siobhan said. “Rumor has it, Phil just closed the doors and painted the building. The original equipment, dishes, and everything are still there. It would take a lot of cleaning, but it shouldn’t take long. The painting of the building, with the original "Annie’s" sign should be done first, advertising the reopening.”
The dinner was great and plenty of spirits were consumed. The conversation finally came around to Archer’s idea on the restaurant and the women became vocal about what should be done. Siobhan watched Archer as he took in the ideas that were being brought forward. Everyone volunteered their labor to help Archer and it finally pushed him closer to talking to Phil.
Two days later Archer stopped in to talk to Phil. Phil’s eyes lit up when he heard Archer’s proposal.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time to honor Annie, but I don’t have the stamina to work like I used to,” Phil said.
“All I want you to do is make sure the meat is cooked like people remembered. We’ll paint the building in the original colors and make the signage like it used to be. I’d like to dress it up with old photos from when you and Annie ran the restaurant."
“Oh, I’ve got books of photos from that time!” Phil said. “I tell you what, I’ll lease you the restaurant building and the building across the road for $250 a month.”
“You’re not making much off of it.” Archer said.
“It’s enough to pay the taxes. Anyway, I’ve got more money that I’ll spend in my lifetime, I don’t need to be giving the government more taxes,” Phil said.
They shook hands, Archer wrote a check out for the rent for the two buildings, and Phil handed Archer a ring of keys.
Crystal put together a cleaning team and went to work on the inside of the restaurant. Siobhan began matching paint for the outside of the building using old color photos from when she had worked there. Soon, a painting team came in and sprayed the brown paint with primer. A green metal roof replaced the aged asphalt shingle roof. The building was painted a cream color with green trim matching the roof. The original flower boxes under the windows were rebuilt and planted with flowers like Annie used to have. Hanging pots with orange and yellow marigolds would hang from hooks on the outside of the building. A sign painter came in and duplicated the original “Annie’s BBQ” sign over the front of the restaurant above the door. Phil was around every day with his cane and wearing his 2nd Marine Division hat.
One of the things Phil requested Archer to do was put up a flagpole on a little patch in front to honor veterans from the area. Archer ordered a twenty-five-foot bronze alloy pole with top, pole mounted lights, and a solar powered halyard winch. The VFW donated a flag and two bronze plaques; one commemorating those from the Wappapello area who gave their lives in the service of their country and one for all Wayne County veterans.
Andy, Archer, Dan, Jim, and a few of the nimbler members of the VFW were at Annie’s building forms and pouring concrete for the plaque bases when a reporter from the Daily American Republic newspaper and WSILTV out of Poplar Bluff came out to do interviews. All work, except for the finishing of the concrete and setting the plaques stopped as the men and women listened to the questions and Phil’s answers. One of the questions asked perked everyone’s ears up. The female TV reporter asked about the flagpole and if it was some sort of "far right-wing" gesture. Phil braced himself on his cane and stood a little straighter.
“Ma’am, many people from this area, county, state, and country died under service to the flag that will fly here. Names don’t change that one bit. When I hear “Far right wing”, the phrase goes in one ear and out the other because it is nothing but a dog whistle the Marxists use for people who don’t agree with their communistic principles and ideas.”
When Phil finished his diatribe, the men around the worksite verbally agreed with him. Archer wondered how much of Phil’s little speech would be cut from the film. Oh, much of it was cut, but the newspaper reporter recorded and printed every word. Archer decided to send the reporter a coupon for a free meal. Which brought on another thought. Shaylynn was helping him with marketing and advertising, and she was the one who mentioned coupons to help draw in initial customers, and as rewards from time to time.
The crowning day came when the sign painter, or perhaps the word “artist” should be used, finished the sign painting. Above the name “Annie’s” was a portrait within a circle, kinda like Aunt Jemima. Phil stood there looking at it when it was unveiled, and tears welled up in his eyes. Archer would end up giving the artist a big bonus for that. The depiction of Annie was like a big photo when he compared the photo the artist had used from Phil’s scrapbook.
Siobhan had gone through Phil’s scrapbook and selected photos to be enlarged and framed to decorate the restaurant. Katie was taking care of the hanging flower pots, making sure they were kept watered. The nursery made sure to give them pots that the flowers were just budding so they would be blooming on opening day. On their walk-through on the Thursday before the Grand Opening on Saturday, Archer and Crystal made sure everything was ready. The freezers and refrigerators were full, Silverware was wrapped and ready in their baskets and plenty of wood was on hand to start the fires the next day for cooking the meat. Workers were coming in the next day to make Cole slaw, make desserts, prepare the other sides for Saturday, and to make gallons of iced tea. Crystal’s mother Julia took charge of making the banana pudding, teaching the kitchen workers how to do it properly. None of that instant vanilla pudding with cookies in it. The customers deserved real homestyle pudding.
Phil worked with the leaser of the marina and got the boats moved from in front of the old store next to the restaurant to provide parking. It looked like they would need it on Saturday.
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Post by gipsy on Sept 22, 2023 8:42:44 GMT -6
Very cool update. Thanks
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Post by kiwibutterfly on Sept 22, 2023 14:28:39 GMT -6
Thank you
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Post by CountryGuy on Sept 23, 2023 12:47:21 GMT -6
Great installment.
Did want to point out a couple items.
Phil went from career Army at Fort Lost in the Woods to 2nd Marine Div.
Shaylynn was doing coupons and marketing when I believe you meant Siobhan. Also Katie was hanging flower pots when these two groups haven't yet met up.
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Post by imahic on Sept 23, 2023 22:02:20 GMT -6
Great update. Thanks for the time you spend writing.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 24, 2023 15:11:09 GMT -6
Great installment. Did want to point out a couple items. Phil went from career Army at Fort Lost in the Woods to 2nd Marine Div. Shaylynn was doing coupons and marketing when I believe you meant Siobhan. Also Katie was hanging flower pots when these two groups haven't yet met up. I'd taken out the explanation of the 2nd DIV hat earlier in an edit. The hat had actually belonged to Phil's father, who had fought on Guadalcanal and the Solomon campaigns. All the people from the south side of the lake were there to help Archer out, basically a community effort.
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Post by CountryGuy on Sept 27, 2023 20:32:28 GMT -6
Got you, appreciate the clarification.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Sept 28, 2023 18:31:44 GMT -6
Chapter 35
Phil and his intern cook, Gary Busby, were at the restaurant early to start the fires in the pits. Phil found Gary eager to learn everything he could and made himself notes. They were both wearing gray-blue coveralls with the Annie’s logo on the left breast and readily identifiable to everyone. They started 20 Boston butts and 40 racks of ribs to begin with and Phil showed Gary how to make the sauces. The rubs they had done the day before. Phil made sure Crystal had copies of his “secret” recipes. When the festivities opened at 1:00 PM, a preacher was on hand to give the benediction and the VFW was on hand for the dedication of the plaques. Food critics for the surrounding papers were on hand having been given coupons for sampler plates. The people were lined up to the back of the parking areas, but they had seating for 200 guests with the patio seating. All afternoon people came in to eat, and several takeout orders for people going out boating were sold. By sundown, they had sold almost 1000 orders but still had some food left which people were willing to buy for take-home. Some of the food was set aside for the county meals-on-wheels nutrition program to make frozen dinners to give to shut-ins. Archer held a brief meeting after everything was cleaned up to discuss things that would make operations smoother. Several good suggestions were made, and Crystal announced a suggestion box would be placed in the break area in case something came up during the days ahead. All the crew members were feeling good about what they had accomplished and were looking forward to the next day. Crystal and Archer discussed an employee bonus that would be added to next week’s paycheck.
Jim smiled as he watched Katie pick Mollie up and place her into the old milk crate on the back of the bike. Katie would rather ride the bike than drive the UTV down to get the mail, so Jim had to add the basket for Molly, otherwise Molly would run herself to death trying to stay up with Katie. It still made Jim uneasy, and he made sure he had a radio on when she went down. She was a very safe and conscientious rider, but he was more concerned about someone snatching her while she was getting the mail. Human trafficking had become a very real thing here in the United States, now being turned into a third world country by the Democrats. He was going to get her into shooting a pistol more often and have her carry a pistol when she went down. Friday they were going to St. Louis to a gun store that let you try out a pistol before you bought it. He could add an EXOS-523 compensator and a threaded barrel later if necessary. He could also make her a custom fit shoulder or chest holster for her. He had a vacuum machine and plenty of Kydex sheets that were still in the crate he hadn’t unpacked yet. Katie had shot several of his pistols, but they were bulky in her hands. He needed to find one she could grip comfortably.
Andy turned over, opened one eye, and squinted at the bird singing its ass off on the limb next to the window. “That tree comes down today!” Andy thought. He rolled onto his back and glanced at his watch, threw the sheet and quilt off of him, and got up. He needed coffee. Sliding his pants and shoes on, he headed for the kitchen. Filling the coffee pot full of water and measuring the coffee grounds in, he plugged the pot in, then went to the pantry and got an individually wrapped Cheese Danish out of the box. He laid it on the counter next to the coffee pot.
When the coffee began perking, Andy tossed the bun into the microwave for twenty seconds, then took the swollen package out and slit the plastic wrapper open. Breaking a piece off, Andy took a gentile bite of the bun. The cream cheese was still as hot as napalm. After pouring a mug of coffee, he turned the radio on, took the bun and his mug of coffee to the table, and sat down. The news was nothing but more political bullshit and Andy changed to the local NOAA weather channel to see what was expected. Finishing the Cheese Danish, he drank the rest of the coffee from the mug, rinsed it out, and left it in the sink. He washed his sticky fingers, dried them on a dish towel, and went out to the garage to get his chainsaw. Going over to the offending dogwood tree near his bedroom window, he saw that he could remove the bird’s perch without cutting the whole tree down, so that’s what he did. He took the branch over to the wood pile and cut the branch into smaller pieces. Returning the chainsaw to the garage, Andy went back into the house to shower.
Jim called Shaylynn and asked her if she would like to ride with him and Katie to St. Louis the next day, that they would need to leave early, that it was a two-and-a-half-hour drive, and he might need the whole day to get everything done. Shaylynn asked if she could use his guest bedroom that night and he agreed. She said she would be over in an hour.
Katie was jumping with excitement when he told her of his plans, and even more so when he told her Shaylynn was going with them and staying the night because they were leaving so early.
“Is she using the guest bedrooms?” Katie asked.
“Of course! Where do you think she would sleep?!” Jim replied.
“Well, it’s just that you and Shaylynn seem to like each other, and I thought you two might wat…”
“That’s enough of that! Where in the world do you get those thoughts?” Jim replied. But it did give him some exciting thoughts.
Jim went to his backup emergency food plan and took out a Stouffer's lasagna out of the freezer and put it in the oven. Katie made some garlic butter to spread on toast, then they picked up around the house and waited for Shaylynn to get there.
Katie ran out of the house when she heard Shaylynn arrive, Molly right on her heels. Jim grinned and opened a bottle of Merlot and poured a couple of glasses. Katie and Molly came back in, followed by Shaylynn bringing in an overnight bag. Katie took Shaylynn’s bag and Jim handed Shaylynn a glass of wine.
“We’ve resorted to emergency processed foods for the evening,” Jim said. “We’re having Stouffer’s frozen lasagna.”
‘I love Stouffer’s lasagna!” Shaylynn said, grinning and taking a sip of wine.
Although everyone had seconds, there was still a third of a pan still left over. Katie put it into a container for eating later, while Jim and Shaylynn rinsed and placed the dishes into the dishwasher. Katie filled Jim and Shaylynn’s wine glasses and said she was going to her room to study since they were going to be gone the next day.
Shaylynn and Jim retired to the great room and Jim played some music from the 60’s.
“What’s the trip to St. Louis tomorrow for?” Shaylynn asked.
Jim told her of his concerns and Shaylynn said, “Cool! There is too much of that going around. I might get a new pistol also.”
Both Shaylynn and Jim were yawning when Jim took their wine glasses into the kitchen rinsed them out an placed them in the dishwasher. He headed to his bedroom after starting the machine and met Shaylynn coming out of the guestroom.
“Where did Katie put my bag?” Shaylynn asked.
“I thought she took it to the guest room.” Jim replied.
Jim opened the door to his room and there sat the bag next to the bed. “Here it is! That girl is getting pushy.”
“Well, I’m not adverse to the idea,” Shaylynn said, grinning and closing the door behind her.
They left early the next morning and stopped for breakfast in Desloge at Christine’s Café. They had a leisurely breakfast since they were only 60 miles from the gun store and the indoor range didn’t open up until 09:00. During the rest of the trip, Jim explained to Katie what she should be looking for when selecting a pistol. Katie was three months shy of being 13 and was almost as tall as Shaylynn, and her and Shaylynn’s hands were about the same size. She should be able to manage several medium sized semi-auto pistols.
Katie’s eyes were broad with excitement as they moved down the display cases filled with pistols. She selected the first one and it didn’t feel right, they tried four more guns that she turned down also and then she saw the CZ P-01.
“That one!” Katie said. “Let me try that one.”
The salesman took the gun out and handed it to Katie who gripped it in her left hand, then switched it to her right.
“This one feels good,” Katie said.
“We’ve had several people come in and say the same thing,” The salesman said. “We have one you can take to the range in back if you want.”
“Katie, do you want to try it out?” Jim asked.
“Yes, please!”
The salesman walked them back to the range check-in desk and issued them glasses, hearing protection and a target. Jim got a box of FMJ 9mm ammo and the three went into the shooting area. Shaylynn stood back and let Jim work with Katie. Jim loaded two magazines and went over the location of the safety and mag release. Hanging a target, Jim ran it out five meters and backed away from the shelf as Katie picked up the magazine and loaded. Racking the slide back, she loaded a round into the chamber. Taking a solid two-handed shooting stance, she drilled the X-ring. Katie fired once again, overlapping the previous hole. Then she safed the weapon and asked Jim if he would move the target farther out. Jim ran the target out to seven meters, and she began to fire her failure to stop drill until the slide locked back.
“I like this one!” Katie said. “It fits my hand just right. Can we get another target? I want to fire right-handed.”
Jim went out and bought two more B27 Style Silhouette targets, hung one and ran it out to the seven-meter line. Katie loaded the second magazine into the pistol as Jim stepped away. She fired the failure to stop drill again, this time with her right hand and was very accurate. When the slide locked back, Shaylynn asked if she could try it. ShayLynn loaded a magazine while Jim hung the last target up. When Jim moved back, Shaylynn inserted the magazine and chambered round. Taking up a weaver stance, she also fired failure to stop until the slide locked back.
“I like this pistol too,” Shaylynn said, smiling at Katie.
Katie grabbed a broom and began sweeping up brass while Jim and Shaylynn picked up stray cases. After turning in the pistol, Jim pocketed the extra rounds, and they went to the salesman. Jim asked if they had a threaded barrel for the P-01. The salesman check and they had a stainless-steel barrel with 1/2 x 28 threads. The salesman swapped the barrels out and got the paperwork together. It made his day when Shaylynn said she wanted to purchase a CZ also. Jim told her he would buy both guns since he had an FFL, and she could pay him. Because of his FFL, Jim got a good discount. He got another threaded barrel in case Shaylynn wanted a compensator installed.
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Post by gipsy on Sept 28, 2023 20:43:47 GMT -6
Fine update. Have to put out a calendar "Girls with Guns"
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Post by feralferret on Sept 29, 2023 0:45:54 GMT -6
Ncsfsgm, thank you for another fine chapter.
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Post by ncsfsgm on Oct 4, 2023 3:44:41 GMT -6
Chapter 36
When they returned to Asher Creek, they checked the trailer and made sure they had plenty of products for the range the next day. While Katie and Shaylynn were loading more products, Jim exchanged the barrels and installed the compensators on their pistols. With some pre-made straps, Jim molded holsters for the two pistols and with straps he had already fabricated, put together a chest holster for Katie and had her try it on. Jim told her to holster the pistol and walk around for a bit and see if it was comfortable. Katie got Molly and they went for a walk. Thirty minutes later, they came back, and Katie asked Shaylynn if she could talk to her. A couple of minutes later, they came back in from off the porch and Shaylynn grinned at Jim.
“Jim, the chest holster rubs her nipples too much and makes them sore,” Shaylynn whispered.
Jim blushed. Katie was growing up. He called Katie back in and reconfigured the rig to a shoulder holster and told Katie to try it. Blushing, Katie put on the rig and Jim adjusted the straps and snapped the holster to her belt loop. Katie walked around and disappeared for a while. When she came back, she said that the shoulder holster was much more comfortable. Jim asked her if she wanted a right or a left-hand draw and set it up the way she wanted. He added two magazine carriers to the opposite side of the holster and adjustment straps to tighten the rig at belt level. Shaylynn asked Jim if he could put together a rig for her and of course, Jim did. He had Katie take her rig off, then let out the straps and walked the two females through on how to adjust the rig.
“I have some pants that don’t have belt loops.” Katie said. “How do I tie down the rig then?”
Jim went over to a cabinet and took out two 1.75-inch plain leather pistol belts with ratcheting buckles and handed them to the girls.
“This belt is really stiff!” Katie said.
“They have a metal core, so they don’t sag,” Jim explained. “Go ahead and use that belt instead of the belt in your pants.”
The two females put the belts on and helped each other adjust the rigs.
“This is really comfortable!” Shaylynn said. "But it feels a little lopsided."
Jim got up and got two boxes of 9mm ammo out of a drawer and loaded the six magazines on the table. He handed the loaded magazines to the two females.
“Load one magazine into the pistol, but don’t chamber a round. Put the other two magazines into their carriers.” Jim explained.
With a few minor strap adjustments, both girls admitted the shoulder rigs felt good. Jim told the two that the next day they would practice drawing their pistols and firing.
The next morning, they were at the range entrance before the gates were unlocked by the Range Safety Officer. Jim told them they had time to fire their three magazines and that was it for the day. The girls got positions next to each other and Jim had them dry fire a few times, pulling the pistol out of the holster, thumbing the safety off, firing, then thumbing the safety back on, then re-holstering. They fired their three magazines, Jim thought more accurately than they had on the indoor range. When they were finished, Jim brought more ammo and had them reload their mags. They went to open up the trailer and set up the tent. Katie and Shaylynn modeled two new “Asher Creek Gunsmithing” design hoodies and wore their shoulder holsters.
Jim wore his Glock 21 in a Kenai-style chest holster throughout the day. People were noticing that he worked hands-free and still had his pistol readily available. A couple of men had asked about the holster, one commenting that he liked to fish the streams in the springtime and unfortunately it was around the time water moccasins and rattlesnakes began stirring. He currently carries a Ruger .357 magnum GP100 in a belt holster with shotshells. He used a belt holster but sometimes fishing gear got in his way. Jim recommended a couple of companies that made Kenai holsters and they were a little less expensive than what he could build, but Jim could custom fit the holster to the person. Shaylynn and Katie sent over a couple of women who were interested in shoulder holsters. At the end of the day, Jim was going to have to get more business cards printed and had orders for chest and shoulder holsters.
When they got back home, Shaylynn made a recommendation to Jim that would enhance the women’s acceptance to the shoulder rig. She and Katie noticed when they were working around the tent, sometimes the holster and mag carrier would flop around a little. She recommended adding an adjustable strap that would run beneath a woman’s breasts to hold the carriers and the holster close to the sides of the body. She called it a “Tit Strap”, but Jim corrected her and recommended they call it a “Breast Strap”.
The next day, after their monthly run to Sam’s Club in Cape Girardeau, Shaylynn and Katie began helping Jim build the rigs. Katie used a pair of cordless electric scissors to cut the suede to epoxy to the back of the Kydex holster to keep it from sliding around, while Shaylynn cut the holsters from formed Kydex sheets. Jim had pistol forms for just about every modern pistol. The order he hadn’t have a form for was a Colt .22LR Frontier Scout Buntline. The fisherman had inherited the pistol from his father many years before. It was a nice pistol that originally cost around $50.00 but would bring between $450.00 to $500.00 on the market today. Colt had discontinued the model back in ’86. The problem was, that was a lot of barrel to draw out to shoot a snake. Just for practice, Jim was going to make a form for the buntline, just to have it on hand, but also make a holster for a Colt Single Action Frontier Scout Single Action with a 4.5-inch barrel Jim had that was still in the box and it came with a cylinder for .22 WMR also. Jim could even throw in a box of .22 WMR shotshells also into the deal. He’d let the man try both guns in holsters and let him decide. The man should really put the collector Buntline into a display case.
Archer was pleased with Crystal’s management of the restaurant. She had come up with some great ideas for streamlining operations and Phil was even amazed at the things she was doing and praised her. In Phil’s opinion, Gary was going to be a top-notch BBQ cook and Phil hadn’t had to tell him anything twice. The restaurant was running better than it ever had and it gave him a sense of pride. Every evening Phil could be found back in the restaurant helping Gary with prepping the meat and there early the next morning to get the fires going and putting the meat on.
The weekly meat order was delivered and quickly stored in the cooler. For the first month Crystal was ordering their estimated usage plus 10% until they were confident they were ordering the right amounts. The food distributor offered prepared hushpuppy mix, but they stuck to Phil and Annie’s original recipe. They stuck with Crystal’s mother’s banana pudding recipe and Annie’s original Chocolate Cake recipe. Crystal was developing some low or sugar free desserts for the more health conscious.
Dan had just put the coffee on, and he was getting ready to add wood to the stove when the house shook, the floor heaving, nails groaning in the floorboards and shaking like a brass sorter. The shaking lasted for about twenty seconds then stopped. There was no noise except for the groaning of the house settling back.
For the first time since 1812, there was an earthquake greater than 6.9 on the New Madrid fault. There were follow-on tremors during the day that caused seismotectonic effects on both sides of the Mississippi River. On the west side, the land was lifted by four feet. On the east side, the norm was subsidence of the land. Reelfoot Lake was now extended north for 100 miles, widening the Mississippi to 25 miles in that area. The sudden drop of the river swamped many of the barges on the river along that stretch. Many towns on the east side of the Mississippi were now standing in water.
Wappapello Lake actually sloshed over the dam. Dan called Archer, Andy, Jim, and Holly to make sure they were all right then did an inspection of the house and property. Not finding any structural damage, Dan jumped into his truck and went to Holly’s place. The apartment building was showing structural damage, so Dan helped Holly pack up as many bags as she had and moved her back to his house.
The Governors of the states of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois declared states of emergency and activated the National Guard, however, many of the units had people already deployed to the northwest for disaster relief. Governors, however, prioritized getting all their bridges inspected as quickly as possible, especially those over the Mississippi River.
Although there were hundreds of deaths, scientists said it could have been worse. If the earthquake had been of a greater magnitude, due to the pattern of subsidence, the Great Lakes could have been emptying into the Mississippi River.
Church and Veteran’s organizations were sponsoring clothing and food drives. Truckloads of merchandise headed north to distribution centers to help those affected by the quake get on their feet. The next project organized was a toy drive for the children.
Dan analyzed the news reports to see if his preps were in line with an unsuspected crisis. He added a few more items to his list he was constantly updating and made a few orders that night. The new Madrid quake caught everyone by surprise and further awakened a few minds around Wappapello Lake.
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Post by gipsy on Oct 4, 2023 8:59:23 GMT -6
Fine update.
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Post by feralferret on Oct 4, 2023 22:16:05 GMT -6
Thanks for the new chapter!
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Post by ncsfsgm on Oct 13, 2023 1:13:19 GMT -6
Chapter 37
“A communiqué from an organization called the “Sons of Liberty” was released concurrently to several News organizations in New York this morning shortly after the body of Special Agent in Charge Edmond Simmons was found in the Douglas Patterson Park near Joint Base Andrews. Simmons was purported to be in charge of a special unit of the FBI that provokes and entices citizens to take extralegal actions against the government. The FBI commonly uses this entrapment method. Through the communiqué, the Sons of Liberty were taking responsibility for what they called the execution of SAIC Simmons and said they promised to go up and down the chain of command until all the guilty had paid for their crimes against the citizens of this country.”
Dan listened to the news and raised his eyebrows.
“Probably about time. The government agencies are more traitors of the Constitution than many of the people they set up. "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter,"( first quoted by Gerald Seymour in his 1975 book ‘Harry's Game’).” Dan said to himself. The three letter agencies had become so corrupt he wasn’t surprised someone was striking back. Dan believed they should include the establishment politicians also and have a three-term limit on all politicians. It was amazing how rich you can get as a politician in Washington, D.C. with the cost of living as high as it was. Of course, some of the politicians were rich before they arrived but it was surprising how many became instant investment prognosticators and should have been working on Wall Street.
There had been an influx of strangers into the area after the quake, but residents were well aware they could get vultures swirling in as if after a carcass and groups were watching the roads coming into Wappapello. Warnings had gone out from the Sheriff’s Department so anytime someone suspicious showed up in the area, people were quick to notify the authorities and were prepared to hold the suspects under gunpoint if need be. There were some suspected to be looters, but the biggest problem was those preparing to scam the residents for repairs to be done. They were given harsh warnings and sent on their way and reported to the state police to be added to a BOLO list that was being built by the Attorney General’s office. Not a lot of damage was done in the area. Most of it was preexisting weaknesses to the structures and the tremors just worsened them.
Holly decided she wanted a small wedding, so the women got busy planning a small one at the church to be held a couple of days before Thanksgiving. Invitations went out and in lieu of wedding gifts, they asked donations go to earthquake victims. Holly wanted to go to Florida on their two-week honeymoon, tour the springs and try snorkeling. She wanted them to take the UXV-MAX and began doing small chores, like laundry in the UXV, to get used to using what would be their temporary home. She was even going to try to prepare a meal on the two-burner cooktop. Dan tried to dissuade her because he didn’t want her to have to work so hard while they were supposed to be having fun. The could always go out to eat while on their honeymoon. Still, he began stocking it up for the trip and showed her some of the intricacies of the RV.
Dan changed the oil, vacuumed, and washed the Kurierwagen then loaded it in the trailer along with the Rokon. While they were in Florida, Dan wanted to visit the Rokon dealer in Fort Lauderdale and perhaps pick up a street-ready bike for Holly. There was room for another one in the trailer. After that, it was wherever she wanted to go. Holly looked at him like he was crazy, but he had her pack an INCH bag and his and hers were packed in the trailer. These days, one doesn’t know what the future will hold.
All the women said the wedding was beautiful. Dan and Holly went home and changed into travel clothes and drove the RV to the reception at Annie’s. They would leave directly from there and spend the night at a campsite near Kentucky Dam before crossing the river. Once they got into Kentucky, it would be interstate highways all the way to Florida.
Crystal was busy during the reception, directing restaurant activities, but she made time to be with Andy throughout the reception. As Holly had wished, there was a pile of envelopes holding donations for quake relief and a large jar set up in the restaurant for the same.
Dan paid Crystal for the reception and had her make out envelopes for all her workers bonuses, for which he provided to her in cash.
After the cake was served, Crystal filled their only wedding gift, a 62-quart portable electric cooler given to them by Phil, with the top layer of the wedding cake, finger foods from the reception, plus two splits of champagne. She flash-froze another layer of the cake to give to Holly when they came back. Dan and Andy had to repack the trailer a little to make room for the cooler near the 12-volt outlet, but it didn’t take a lot of work.
Jeremy flew in for the wedding and reception and during a lull in the activities, handed Dan an intelligence report of hotspots for criminal activity along their route. Dan put it on the dash of the RV to review that evening. Dan did the champagne toasts but mostly stuck to coffee and iced tea. At 1600, after long bathroom breaks, Holly and Dan prepared to leave. As they started to pull out of the parking lot of Annie’s, Dan pushed the button on the remote transmitter and the strings of cans dragging behind the trailer dropped off into the parking lot as the crowd laughed.
Andy and Dan had devised the system, knowing what people would probably do. The “Just Married” painted on the sides of the RV and trailer could be washed off at a truck wash.
That evening, after setting up in the RV park, they snacked on sandwiches and drank a split of champagne from the plastic flutes Crystal had provided. They slept later the next morning than they had intended.
By the time they reached Altoona, Georgia, Dan, and Holly had tired of sandwiches and wedding cake, so stopped at a Cracker Barrel for an early dinner. Politicians of all stripes had perfected the manipulation and meaning of words to win their arguments. Desires have been turned into rights, balanced budgets were when you didn’t spend more than you could borrow, tell a lie enough and in the People’s eyes, it becomes the truth. When the victim of Hamas is a Jew, then the perpetrator is a "militant." Yet when the victim is a non-Jew, the Muslim extremist is called for what he really is: a terrorist. Language was turned into a weapon of mass persuasion. Fact Check sites were abundant on the internet but when the left-leaning Washington Post says a left-wing politician lied, then it caught attention. One independent individual with plenty of political savvy, began printing the lies and exposed them in detail, even chastising the mainstream media for their lack of exposure of the same facts. He would expose one main falsehood per week but would also add a dozen “honorable mentions” at the end of the article. A lot of politicians were angry they were being exposed and were trying to get the site shut down in their attempts to curtail First Amendment Rights under the Constitution. Jeremy would use these attempts to troll for new targets.
“Well, what do you think?” Crystal asked.
“Crystal, it’s up to you. If you think you and your crew can handle it, then go for it. I’ll fund the stockage...”
“…and I’ll have to hire four more waitresses.” Crystal said.
“Okay, that too.” Archer said.
“Come Spring, when the fishing picks up, fishermen will be to the marina early and we’ll draw them in like flies. Their wives will appreciate not having to fix them breakfast before they head out for a day of fishing, plus they’ll want to get some BBQ before they head home. We’ll sell a lot of take-out family meals to appease the wives.” Crystal said.
“Okay, I’ll add $10,000 to the account so you can start stocking and training personnel.” Archer said.
Phil came in from the marina for the midday check. He’d come in in the mornings and help Gary get the fires going and get the meat on. Then he would go fishing for Warmouth the rest of the morning, then would come back to see if Gary was having any problems.
On the way to Ft. Lauderdale, Dan stopped at Blue Spring State Park for Holly’s first spring. They rented snorkeling gear and swam for much of the day. Holly was amazed at the clear springs and the fish swimming around. However, she was disappointed there were no manatees, and they wouldn’t be allowed to swim anyway when the manatees were in the area. They were completely exhausted that evening from all the activities and went to bed early. The next morning, they continued their trip to Ft. Lauderdale to visit the Rokon dealer.
Holly picked out a red Trail Blazer and Dan added the racks and other accessories she would need. The bike was already street legal, but it would take a couple of hours to prepare the bike with the accessories Dan had picked out, so Holly wanted to go shopping for some decent snorkeling gear. What they had rented at Blue Springs had been cheap and ill-fitting, so Dan took her to a diving shop.
Once they had the Rokon and the one-wheel trailer loaded, they headed back north on I-95 . Most of the Nicer springs were in the north central part of Florida so Holly got on her iPad and reserved an RV space at Ginnie Springs (first). She selected from the five best springs. They got there late in the afternoon, had a burger at their concession stand and set the RV up in their slot. The next morning, they went paddle boarding first and saved snorkeling for the afternoon. The place was like a tropical paradise next to the Santa Fe River. The springs were crystal clear and the water a constant 72 degrees. They took a break at lunch to eat and rest then tried out their new snorkeling gear. In her bikini, Holly garnered a lot of admiring looks from both men and women, which made Dan proud. She did have an amazing figure. In the evening, they walked until dusk and enjoyed the last of the sun for the day.
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