Day Four (Friday, June 18):
Woke up early, just before the alarm on my phone went off at Seven Ack Morning (Mental Note: Add wind-up alarm clock to shopping list). Lay there for a few minutes to collect my thoughts, rolled over and kissed my wife, and realized I'd definitely over done it the day before. Oh yeah, my back feels GREAT. Rest of me isn't much better.
Turned on the TV and switched to the local news.
You ever seen a news anchor look haggard? It's not a good thing to see.
I listen to the news for a bit.
Random News Reporter wrote:
Although Kentucky is now letting SOME people through the bridges, authorities are doing so one vehicle at a time, and each one has to be fully inspected first. The National Guard and State Police has gotten extremely efficient at it and have improvised vehicle barriers for all three lanes coming off of the bridge into Kentucky and two coming back into Cincinnati. It only takes a couple of minutes to get everybody out of the car, strip search them for wounds or other signs of infection, and then check their IDs.
Not only are they trying to make sure than no infected people are coming out of or into Kentucky, State Police were also using their remote terminals to check the IDs of all those they are inspecting. As a result, there were actually several arrests made here, including two persons from the Kentucky Most Wanted List. However, in a move which should tell our listeners just how thinly stretched these brave men and women are, such activities were actually discontinued when... One moment..." The reporter listened to something off camera for a moment, then motioned for the cameraman to follow.
After several seconds of running, the picture steadied on a group of guardmen and police forming a half circle around a vehicle where the driver was already out of the vehicle and being questioned. He looked nervously at the trunk, then dropped his head and nodded. The authorities, moving quickly, positioned two men fifteen feet back from the vehicle, before another one opened the trunk from the driver's seat.
With a roar, the lid popped open and from within lunged a dirty, matted form... Only to catch it's foot on the lip of the trunk and fall face first to the ground. The sound of breaking teeth made all of the men wince, which is when the thing attempted to regain it's footing.
Without even a warning, one of the officers shot what was now visible as a woman in the chest with taser. The voltage could clearly be seen arcing between the darts, but there was no effect.
A single gunshot could be heard and then the infected dropped to the ground... Moments later the camera angle shifted and you could hear the cameraman vomiting for a moment before the feed cut back to the studio.
There was a moment of silence before the news anchor started again, apologizing for the scene which was just aired, but it drives home the point that things are getting dangerous out there, and that, once again, officials have announced that all residents should remain in their homes, hanging out the color coded fabric to indicate if there are any infections occurring within the household.
I wince. This is going to get ugly fast... well, uglier. My wife concurs.
My cell phone rings. It's the automated phone tree informing me that the office is closed for the rest of the week. I wonder if our paychecks are still going to be deposited tonight as they're supposed to be. I wince as I get out of bed and heading downstairs. I stop by the bathroom and pop three extra strength advil, then get on the net.
Net seems a bit laggy, but that could just be our connection (satellite). I manage to get to my financial institution of choice and see an alert that the all locations are closed for the day for employee safety. That's not a good sign. On the upside, my paycheck is pending as an electronic deposit. So, assuming I can get out tomorrow, and find any place to accept plastic, it'll be good once again.
Take care of the animals.
Wash our hands really well, then open up the dishwasher and pull out all of the mason jars we sanitized last night. Add those to the rows of them on the table. Start loading them up with the bulk dry goods. labeling them and vac sealing them. They'll be loaded into the basement freezer in batches for 24 hours (assuming the power stays on that long), then put on the shelves in the basement. This takes a couple of hours.
We make lunch (had a light breakfast). Wife inventories the fridge\freezers and repacks them more efficiently. Pull out the old steaks and let them set on the counter for a bit till they're not hockey pucks. Once just slightly frozen they'll be sliced and put into marinade to soak.
Do a once around of the property, taking one of our little radios (note: check on the type) and then talk to the wife about checking on the neighbors. We debate it, but in the end, I think that it MAY be a good idea. Do some digging on the net (while I still can) and get their phone number. Call. Remind them who I am (we've met face to face like twice in 18 months). Just wanted to touch base. Don't mention any of our preps, at ALL. No, we're both healthy. But didn't want to just wander up their driveway and knock on the door. They thought the same thing. Ask if they've heard from anybody else. Nope, just them and her parents, who live in the house next door. Give them my cell #.
Add an additional spigot on the far side of the house, using some of the excess plumbing parts we have on hand, which also has a spigot on the inside. Hook one of the hoses up to the pool drain run it to the spigot, turn the outside one on, check inside. No leaks, is holding pressure. Hook up the salt water filter to the pool, get it running. Turn the water off to the entire house, replace the other spigot which has been leaking and make the connection to the main for the RO system, putting a shutoff valve between where it will hook in and the water. I'll install the actual RO system later on, but now I've got the infrastructure in place. Turn the water main back on. No leaks.
While I'm doing this, the wife is cleaning out our 55 gallon water drums which have been sitting since we got them.
Build and mount REAL, securable shutters for the 4 basement windows, using left over pressure treated boards. This was planned already, just moved WAY up on the priority list.
Start working on finishing around the kitchen window, put trim up, followed by curtain rods. Wife can sew the curtains with the material we bought but never used for the old house (light blocking, nice and heavy to help with winter heat loss).
As soon as it's dark, we're on light discipline. No outside lights (including the bug zapper).
Things I've learned regarding my actions of previous days (aka Lessons Learned)
Don't use marine deep cycle batteries, get golf cart batteries instead (6 volt apiece) and pair them.
) and came after me! I had to put one in his head, too. Horrible.
