Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Collapse CXXXX: Presentation

12 July 20XX +1

My Dear Lucilius:

The meeting happened yesterday – far sooner than I had anticipated; I assume other events are pushing on us.

For the meeting in Post Office, there were at least four actual horses outside and two bicycles. Inside was a group of 8-10 people, most of whom I did not know but one – The Colonel – I did. He did the courtesy of a large bear hug.

Even one friend in a sea of the unknown can inspire a man.

These people were pulled on behalf of their settlements along the Garnet Valley or in at least one case, because they were a large ranching landholder. I saw wariness in their eyes, wariness and perhaps a little indifference.

Still, they did the courtesy of coming.

It has been some years since I have done a business presentation Lucilius; gone are the days of handouts and slide presentations and pre-reads. It was myself with an idea and a group that I had to convince.

I had prepared the presentation, first on notes at home rambling away to Pompeia Paulina, gesticulating wildly (she reminded me not to do that), muttering under my breath as I worked through thoughts and wording. This is an old habit of mind; for years I have been accused of vigorously carrying on conversations with myself against points no-one else can quite understood.

Presentations – at least decision making presentations – come down to a simple process: Present the problem, present examples of the problem and potential outcomes of the problem, present a solution and how the solution mitigates or removes the outcomes of the problem, and then the Call To Action to implement the solution.

I know all this. I wrote all this down. And then I promptly forgot most of it.

I found myself starting with a story, a story just as I told it to you last letter: sitting in the streambed, thinking about the road past up to the Big City and what I remembered seeing there. That although I did specifically have a head count of everyone around here, it was likely more than any of us thought and that it should be clear to anyone that help was not coming. That possibly – possibly – there was a food source near at hand that we could either work for, trade for, or worst case simply go and get ourselves if it was unattended.

The Colonel raised his hand. What was my suggested plan?

I had given this a little thought.

We did have radios in the area, although I had no direct access to one. Was it possible, I wondered, to see if there was anyone close enough to the area to try and make contact with whomever owned those fields if they were alive? If that failed – and it well might for any number of reasons – someone would have to go, both to try to make contact as well as assess the state of the grain. After that...everything depended. The place I was thinking of was easily 50 miles from here, so that would make somewhere between 5 and 7 days out and the same back – not counting on bringing any grain back. That was a whole different program.

Someone else raised their voice. Was there even any value in doing this? Would people be better off trying to do more of what they were doing?

To this, I had an answer thanks to my library at home.

The yield of wheat per acre could be up to 50 bushels. One bushel will yield up to 60 lbs of whole wheat flour, so one acre could yield up to 3,000 lbs of wheat flour (or one could eat the wheat berries, of course). That would support around 6 people a year just on bread (which is not likely to happen, of course).

Add to that the possibility of sowing and growing wheat here next year instead of having to make another trip, and we had added another food source.

Someone else immediately started to bring up how all that would be done, but the Colonel intervened. “That is not the point of the meeting today” he rumbled. “Those are good points, but not the question at hand. The question is simply if this is something worth following and if so, do we start by trying to make contact? The rest comes out of that.”

A voice came that the radio question could be answered in two days or less. But no matter if that was in the affirmative or negative, someone who still have to go to make the contact and if not contact, assess the conditions. Was that acceptable?

With that, I thanked them and left. Mine was the presentation, not the decision.

The Colonel and Young Xerxes came by later.

The initial suggestion had been discussed and agreed that it was something worth checking into – certainly the radio contact, and at least someone to go look around. Who would that someone be?

My plan, my responsibility.

The Colonel, Young Xerxes, and I will leave after the radio attempt is made.

This, Lucilius, is why I never suggested anything at my previous places employment.

Your Obedient Servant, Seneca


Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Loveliest Of Trees: The Rest Of The Garden

 New Home 2.0 has a lovely Japanese Garden - so the cherry and plum blossoms were not the only beauty this past weekend.



















Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Loveliest Of Trees

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands along the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.


Now of my three score years and ten
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
That only leaves me fifty more.


And since to look at things in bloom
fifty springs is little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

- A.E. Houseman, A Shropshire Lad, 1896

Monday, March 25, 2024

Of Cloudy Days And Cloudy Futures

One of the warnings I have had about New Home 2.0 is that it is a cloudy.  A lot.  A "significant portion of the year" a lot.

On the one hand, I think back to my undergraduate college days where I had similar weather conditions and think "Well, that should not be that much of an issue". On the other hand, I realize that those college days were a very long time ago now and things might work out differently for me now.

I mention the weather because, for whatever reason, cloudy and rainy weather make me more thoughtful and pensive.

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I have no idea why this is really the cases.  One could make the argument that such weather tends to drive an individual indoors more often to do things like think and read (both activities which I do in fact enjoy).  One could also make the argument that such weather tends to visually focus us inward:  there is no sky to see above us, just unremitting clouds and either constant showers or on again/off again rain which focuses not on the horizons but on ourselves.

Perhaps it is simply the fact that I have a pessimistic cast in general, and nothing sets off a pessimist like weather that is not at all promising. 

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One change that has happened since Hammerfall 3.0 that I cannot shake is that sense that nothing is settled anymore.

I say that.  One of the reasons I applied for and chose this job is the fact that as it is at a larger company, my sense of the likelihood of bad times is less and the fact that lower level positions sometimes survive unfortunate times better than higher level ones.  And I stand by those reasons.  And yet, at the same time, I am coming to the conclusion that I am never going to stop having that urge to look over my shoulder again.

Looking over one's shoulder is a terrible way to go through life of course:  one regularly slams into things without notice.  The more correct answer, of course, is to 1) Take advantage of every opportunity that currently presents itself; and 2) Already have a plan for what is next.

I have no clue how long we will  be in New Home 2.0.  In theory, of course, it could be for a very long time.  But quite the wiser move to begin planning for what happens next.

Thankfully, the weather here promises to grant me a lot of time to think.

Saturday, March 23, 2024

New Home 2.0: A Semblance Of Order

As an update - really probably more for myself than anyone else - I thought it might be valuable to post how things are going in the New Home 2.0.  I do not know that this will be any kind of "regular" feature, but it might serve as a reminder in the future of how everything came together. 

Because there has been progress.

This week we managed to get The Ravishing Mrs. TB back to the airport, the car checked in, and my car issued and me safely off to work, where (thankfully) they were expecting me all on Monday.  We found an apartment (for the record, I have not lived in an apartment in 25 years) that would work for us and got a lease submitted - which was accepted and for which we put down a deposit.  The lease itself is being reviewed by our relocation consultant, less to make any specific changes as much as to be clear on what is in the lease.

Benefits have (I think) been signed up for  - thankfully they took effect the day of my employment, so I could cancel COBRA before we starting paying for it starting in May (That is a huge relief.  That price tag was hefty).  And I will say that this employer has a multiplicity of different benefits and benefit platforms, so sorting through them all will be the work of some weeks.

My first flight back to New Home is scheduled (as well as the return), and the additional housing time between my return and the lease taking effect has been booked.  This means there is no interruption in me having housing, which I am a fan of.

The car transport has been booked.  There may be some slight overlap between how long I have the rental and the car arrival - if it works out, I have to turn in the rental car on the day the car arrives.  All great, if it works out.  I am guessing not, which might mean some additional days of rental.

Likely the movement of any items will not take place before May.

Another "win" is that the rabbits are going to be able to come out and live with us - although forbidden as pets, they are acceptable as Emotional Support Animals with a letter.  I have not informed them of this development; they may start demanding additional snacks as hazard pay.

My current commute takes a grand 8 minutes to get from the hotel to work; that will increase to 10 minutes when I move (or so the InterWeb tells me).  I have not had this short of a commute (where I had to go to the office) since the early 1990's.

There is a certain temporary rhythm emerging to my life.  I am grateful, even as I am conscious of the fact that it will likely slip into another rhythm in a few weeks as things change again.

In total, if the hand of God is not involved here, I do not know where it would be.  Things could not possibly be going any smoother.

Friday, March 22, 2024

New Home 2.0: A Visit To The Coast

 One of the new advantages about New Home 2.0 is that we are now much closer to the coast - a little over an hour away.  During out visit last week, we drove out to it.  It was a fabulous day.