Chapter 10
Wednesday, 1 December, 04:42
Beep!Beep!
Motion alarm? In the dark?
Wham! Screech!
Hammering and tearing sheet metal?
Time for night vision and then the 12 gauge with the big light. OK, the noise is from the silo by the barn and I see two people there. One of them looks angry. I should get close enough to hear them...
"Bo, I thought you said he had water here!"
"Chuck, I saw them putting up gutters yesterday. The water's gotta go somewhere."
KER-SLACK!
"Oh, sh..."
"Bo and Chuck Jones! Hands behind your heads and interlock your fingers! The first round is 00 buck and the next two are slugs. You run and I'll shoot. Both of you know that I do what I say I will do."
"We do. But where's the water? I can see the gutters but where'd the water go?"
"What water, Bo? It hasn't rained in over a week. Where'd this water you're looking for come from?"
"I'm sometimes stupid when I'm thirsty."
"I think your first three words might be the most truthful thing I've ever heard from you."
"Jack! What's going on?"
"Stupid people trying to get water out of an always dry silo, Pete."
"Sounded like Bo Jones."
"And his cousin Chuck."
"March them over here. I'll cover them while you cuff them. Maybe to that barbed wire fence until a deputy gets here to take them to jail? Shouldn't be more than an hour or two."
"Sounds good to me, Pete."
"Bo, I told you that was the Sheriff's SUV out front!"
"How was I to know it was? I can't read."
"You didn't see the blue lights on top or the star on the door?"
"Maybe I was only looking for water?"
"Maybe you're stupid?"
---
"Back to bed for you, Pete?"
"Maybe after breakfast, Jack. I need to let the adrenaline run down some. Guess I was almost awake from the pain and that 'KER-SLACK' just came through like someone yelling 'INCOMING!'"
"Might have something to do with your time in the Sandbox?"
"Might at that."
"Then chamomile tea instead of coffee for you this morning and some good oatmeal instead of the full spread."
"'Good oatmeal'?"
"Cinnamon, sugar, a bit of nutmeg, some raisins and pecans plus a little orange marmalade on top for decoration..."
"Sounds like another five-star breakfast to me."
"Go wash your hands and we'll have food in five minutes."
"OK, time for me to take the pain meds and go back to bed. Sarah will release me today?"
"If your temperature is in her acceptable range."
"That's the best I'm likely to get. When I called Dispatch, they said about an hour to have someone here to pick up the Jones boys."
"After the first couple of 'OW! That's sharp!' and 'Move right!', 'No, your other right!' they did quiet down. Don't think they'll turn up here again - this isn't a place they expected any law enforcement, let alone the 'big guy' himself."
"'Big guy'?"
"Who else in your organization is six four?"
"I guess 'big guy' is the street reference."
---
Wednesday, 1 December, 06:30
"Pete's not up yet?"
"Pete was up for the excitement just before 5, then he ate a mild breakfast, took his pain meds and went back to bed."
"Excitement?"
"Check camera 3 about 04:40."
"I can't believe they were that stupid!"
"That's why I told you to watch it. I'm not sure anyone would believe me if I just told them what happened."
"Looked to me like both of them became incontinent when they saw Pete on the back porch with his AR."
"Smelled that way also."
"You'll be fitting in a nap during the afternoon?"
"Probably. Might just be time stretched out in the recliner."
"It sleeps OK for an hour or so. Not as comfortable for overnight but it does work for 'Sleep on your back after surgery' because you can't turn over."
"That's a great description of my recliner."
"I'll look for you to disappear for about an hour."
---
Wednesday, 1 December, 12:03
'Your talkradio station has a bit of good news. The Cherokee County Attorney provided this news release for distribution at noon today.'
"The Cherokee County Commission has overruled the Chairman and approved a request for the reinstatement of private wells in the County Water service area. Those with an existing well should have the water tested by the County Health Department. Those wanting to drill a new well should have the well driller contact the county for a permit. Hand dug or hand drilled wells are exempt from the permit requirement but should have the water tested."
'I'm certain that will please some thirsty and possibly dirty people in the county. No word yet from the other counties affected by the water outages. Perhaps the protests and picket lines at the Cherokee County Commissioners' homes earlier today were a factor in this decision?'"That, and the fact that people were talking about a recall vote. It seems our local politicians would like to keep their cushy jobs."
"Now, Jack..."
"Don't 'Now, Jack' me about this, Sarah. That request has been presented over and over for the past ten years and it's always been denied. This time the request was granted in less than 24 hours - that's pure CYA politics."
"I guess the County's never had that many people directly affected by lack of water - certainly not that many off work - and the commissioners had no idea of how many people were in favor."
"The 'how many people' was very obvious when it took two deputies nearly 30 minutes to clear the road at each Commissioner's house this morning so they could go to the Commission meeting."
"Nothing scarier to a politician than organized voters who are organized against him. How'd you know about the roads needing to be cleared?"
"On CB and two meter ham - some of the people describing the scenes were laughing so hard they could barely talk."
"Anyone get video?"
"At least a dozen people said 'Check my Facebook for a video link' so I think it was well documented."
"Something the commissioners' opponents might use in the next election?"
"The one with the chairman telling the deputies 'Get those idiots out of my way!' might get a lot of airtime just before the next election."
"I think you just described the-soon-to-be former chairman."
"Very possible if the rest of the commissioners don't want to be painted with the same brush."
"You'll start drilling the well today?"
"More likely that I'll start in the morning and have a full day to work on it. I will do all the measuring today and ensure I have enough pipe, fittings, glue and so forth - and some bags of concrete mix for the pad. Perry Lumber should be open and have anything I need."
"Shed construction materials?"
"Plenty in the barn, even some green fiberglass panels for the roof to have at least a bit of no-fuel-or-power-needed light in the shed during the day."
"Tell me when or if you need a hand."
"Will do. You are my favorite gofer."
---
"Jack, why was the dowser's 'less than 30 feet' important?"
"Sarah, that's about the limit of driving a well manually. I do have a Millie sewer jetter head* for the pressure washer and fifty feet of pressure washer hose so 'drilling' 30 feet with the pressure washer is an obtainable goal. I may also be using a mud pump for some of the flushing. The pressure washer only puts out 2.6GPM at 2200PSI but that's adequate for 1.25 to 2 inch pipe. There are some videos on YouTube, such as
www.youtube.com/watch?v=udGhHFv0sTI . That guy drills down just over 30 feet but he's working hard to keep turning the pipe. In this case, 'less than 30 feet' means it's a DIY project that doesn't need a well drilling rig."
"And you've always been 'the DIY guy'?"
"Since my late Dad gave me a set of tools and a tool belt when I was about five years old."
"He twisted your mind when you were too young to fight back - and you've never looked back."
"Very true. It's nice to have things that work and that I can work on, such as the solar power system."
"How much water will the well provide?"
"Could be a low as the 3GPM** Bob mentioned, but we have a 150 gallon 'pressure tank equivalent' so we won't have a problem with providing the 12 volt pump's 4.6GPM for as long as it's needed. There are very few things which will require having that flow for more than 30 minutes because every faucet and shower head has the EPA 2.5GPM rating and I think each of us will be aware when the other is in the shower."
"True. We'll have to do some educating if we have guests."
"True, if the jetted well is our only source. If the 10,000 gallon tank is even half full, we'll have what appears to be 'unlimited' water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene."
"Not flushing?"
"I might set up a 1000 mesh filter and pump the flush water out of the rainwater tote. We'd probably be fine using that but it might have a bit of a swampy smell to it from decaying organic matter."
"I guess we work that out when or if we encounter it."
"We could put up 'If it's yellow, let it mellow.' signs."
"We could, but that's not my first choice."
---
* amazon.com/Millie-Pressure-Stainless-Durable-Connector/dp/B082V5XPCP
It uses one jet forward to displace whatever is in front of the head and six jets backwards to flush the displaced material back to the outlet. It's sold for cleaning sewers but appears to have other uses as well. See the previously listed video.
** 3GPM doesn't sound like much water? 3GPM * 60 minutes/hour * 24 hours/day = 4320 gallons/day.
From
www.amelicor.com/blog/how-much-water-should-a-cow-drink-every-day "There are many factors, but a dry cow should drink 9 to 12 gallons a day. A lactating cow should drink 30 to 40 gallons day." On that basis, 4320 gallons could support 4320 / 12 = 360 dry cows or 4320 / 40 = 108 lactating cows - more than enough for a houseful of people.