Day 11

[Ward]

Weather is high 60's
wind is 3 mph from the sw

[Norbert]

0430
Norbert got up, and got dressed for the days work of exploring. His leg was still stiff, but mending well. What he had seen looked promising. So far, from the little looking they had done yesterday, the area showed promise. He checked his rifle, and pistols, and went to start breakfast. With the food situation so dire, he wanted to get this done as fast as possible. The soil looked rich, and should please Ward for the crops to come. He figured they may be about a mile or so from the bay, and it looked as if the slope grew gentler going towards it. To the east, the slope started up rapidly towards the hills. They would need to find someplace to get an overlook of the area, even if it meant sending someone up a tree! His intention to day was to head to the bay, and find watersources (streams) and follow them upslope, trying to get an overall idea of the layout. After breakfast he would pack his gear and prepare to head out with a team.

'Do we stay as one group, or split into two to caver more ground? Probably should stick with one until we are satisfied no hostiles are in the area.'

He walked over to where Doctor Waht was sleeping, and nudged Docs leg with his toe. "Wakey, Wakey!"

[pisces74]

Still healing, trying to get as many germlins into Jen's school as I can.

[Psychomeltdown]

Wakes up and begins trying to brush up on fishing and related topics.

Notes the Fort Ian fishing site and shakes head with slight bemusement.

Takes Grimm out and begins seriously looking for a spot on the River where they can expect to catch fish. Goes in search of a person who knows about boats and for anyone who've brought fishing gear and gill nets. Grimm (as NPC?) will pretty much be handling the fishing aspects.

Talks with Nizhoni about the Indian kid they found the other day and if it was a good thing that thy just let it continue to float down the river...

Does the usual with the herds and begins trying to figure out a plan with the other heads on how they'll be dealing with the animals, come Move Day.

[Psychomeltdown]

Also begins setting aside time for the Mrs and getting her involved it the going ons in the Camp. After all a happy wife is a happy home is a happy marriage... :D (or so i think...)

4H students: 45
Herders: 28
Dominus: 26

[General_Paul]

General_Paul awoke to a new day in the expansive wilderness of the San Francisco bay area. He had walked away from the scouting group two days prior, and had made his way to the shores of the straight separating out Alameda from the mainland. His horse was quietly eating some grass, while his dog slept in front of the fire. His wagon was overloaded with provisions, tools, exc. Instead of making a boat to go to Alameda, he decided to settle right here, on the shores of the straight, and begin to contruct his cabin, and his small slipway for vessels.

The cabin would be large, large enough for a family some day, but not large enough to draw attention to himself by the natives. He knew that walking away from the larger group was stupid, but he'd rather settle on his own, then be forced to settle in an area he'd rather not have settled in. At least this way he wouldn't draw precious resources from other members of the group. It was an auspicious beginning for the 19 year old, one that would hopefully bring a profit some time in the future.

Plans for General_Paul's small cabin/settlement:

Build a Cabin
Dredge out a slipway
Set up running boards
Begin constructing small vessels for use by the settlers

[Flocculencio]

Flocc sat idly by the campfire- the surveyors had split into two groups taking most of the rangers with them as escorts leaving him to look after the camp with Leo, Dr. What and Ahmick.

"Why're you looking so worried, Flocc?" asked Bruno.

"I just wish they hadn't split the group..." the Lieutenant said, squinting into the bright distance, trying to catch a glimpse of either of the survey teams.

"If they run into more of the Hill Miwok, things could get quite nasty."

"Well," said Leo, "What happens if the Hill Miwok miss the survey teams but find us."

Flocc looked even more worried.

[Norbert]

Flocc sat idly by the campfire- the surveyors had split into two groups taking most of the rangers with them as escorts leaving him to look after the camp with Leo, Dr. What and Ahmick.

"Why're you looking so worried, Flocc?" asked Bruno.

"I just wish they hadn't split the group..." the Lieutenant said, squinting into the bright distance, trying to catch a glimpse of either of the survey teams.

"If they run into more of the Hill Miwok, things could get quite nasty."

"Well," said Leo, "What happens if the Hill Miwok miss the survey teams but find us."

Flocc looked even more worried.

(I thought I said we shouldn't split?)

[Flocculencio]

(I thought I said we shouldn't split?)

OOC: Oops...my bad! :o

[Psychomeltdown]

0952

"Oh, gawd, I hate fish." Psycho muttered as he helped gut the slimy smell creature. It's dead eyes stared at him and he could feel the scales flaking away on his hands, not to mention the sickening fish smell and the cold cold flesh.

"You'll get used to it." Grimm stated, gutting another fish. "This is place hasn't been fished out and probably come spring they'll be even more fish to catch. if it's done right, we can survive on the fish we catch and the offal can be used for fertilization or fed to the pigs."

"But, christ. Its disgusting." Psycho muttered. He looked toward the general direction of the Camp and muttered under his breath.

"Once we get things started we'll be hauling in all we can." Grimm continued as Psycho continued to clean the fish they had caught.

[Norbert]

0952

"Oh, gawd, I hate fish." Psycho muttered as he helped gut the slimy smell creature. It's dead eyes stared at him and he could feel the scales flaking away on his hands, not to mention the sickening fish smell and the cold cold flesh."

(BTW, fresh caught fish do not smell to bad, better than those in the matkets. For that matter, if it smells fishy, its past its prime)

[Highlander]

Jordan started out the day as he had done for nearly every day since his arrival. He got up at sunrise, washed and changed. By this time a fire had been set up in front of his tent, which was ready to cook his breakfest. Today, he cooked eggs* and fish, along with some coffee. His morning activities generally took about an hour to complete.

"Let's see what's on the agenda for today . . ." he said to himself, going back into his tent. He quickly cleaned and checked his Enfield rifle, .357 magnum and 12 gauge sawn-off shotgun. Once that was set, he slung his rifle over his shoulder, and put his shotgun and pistol at his side. Along with the ammunition, this was pretty heavy; however, after days of hiking and such, he was starting to get used to it. He put on a small pack, so as not to block his rifle; it just contained basic supplies for half of the day.

His horse he had brought with him was hitched outside his tent. It was a buck-skinned, quarter horse mare; she had served him well so far, and he hoped she would find a mate so there would be more of her. Jordan gave her a friendly pat on the head, and she winnied at him.

The day before, after hiking a little way into the woods, he found a hill. It was just high enough that he could see a little ways into the distance; even a little sliver of a body of water. The hike up to this spot took about a half an hour. Jordan remembered the way fairly well, only getting minorly lost once.

He finally made it to this spot. There was a small clearing, and he took off his pack and rifle. Just as he was starting to enjoy the view, a russling sounded behind him. He spun around and pulled out his .357, holding it at his hip.

"Anyone there?" he called out.

((Anyone wanna be the person he meets? If not, then I'll make something up))

*I'm assuming we have chickens available.

[Ward]

Finding Jolo at his market I pull him aside Jolo lets talk about geting some crops in . Get me 10 of your men that are staying and I can show them how to plow and start getting the fields ready for crops .

[Doctor What]

"Wakey, Wakey!"

Dr. What slowly opened up his eyes and looked groggedly at the tall shape hovering over his head. The fuzzy shape eventually resolved itself into Norbert.

God--what is wrong with these people? Why do they insist on waking up at ungodly hours--and why do they insist on spreading the pain?

"Hrrr-uugh?"

"Need to wake up--we're doing survey, remember? Everybody has to pitch in and help out, remember?"

"Right. Oth. Survey. Much work to do. Gotcha."

Dr. What crawled out of his sleeping bag. He noted with a bit of annoyance that Ahmick was already up and near the campfire, eating a nice meal.

Right--time to get to work. But first--I need some coffee....

[Grimm Reaper]

...note to self: Doctor What will snap when we run out of coffee, save him a bag as a pleasant surprise, if only to keep foreign relations smooth...

Grimm woke pleasantly with his arms around his wife, Reaperette as the sky began to lighten. "God, I love not having that commute every day, not to mention having my health back." Kissing his wife, who usually slept later, he got up and gloried in another day of health and good climate, although he no longer sang "Oh, what a beautiful morning" as that generally inspired some to practice their fastball with nearby objects.

Taking Psycho and a few others, Grimm got in another morning of successful fishing. He laughed softly, as a few hours doing what he liked every morning and evening was keeping him out of most of the harder community projects and no one could complain as he was able to feed himself, his wife, the cats, and a dozen other people daily, with his crew doing nearly as well now. The only problem was the complaint regarding too much fish. Perhaps tonight he would take the time to chop some up and fry it with a bit of oil and some wild onions Doctor What's friend had found?

After the morning fish fry, more projects. He had a good site for a home but should he wait for a mill to turn out planks or go for a log cabin instead? Meanwhile, he was digging a foundation and had planted the first apple saplings and it was looking good. Alas, Ward wanted to get the crops in and not only was it the correct thing to do, it involved a useful skill set I really needed to pick up.

Must remind Ward that a line of marigolds can drive off many annoying insect problems, or at least reduce them in scope.

Grimm headed off late in the day to chat with Doctor What and then to see Jolo on the future fishing site...

[Doctor What]

Grimm headed off late in the day to chat with Doctor What

OOC: You've got a long commute, friend--as I'm currently 40 miles away in the future site of Berkeley...:p

[Grimm Reaper]

So am I. How else would I be scoping out the right place for our first fishing village on/near the coast?

[SionEwig]

So am I. How else would I be scoping out the right place for our first fishing village on/near the coast?

Ah, but Psycho and Ward are back at the Fort Ian area.

[jolo]

Using old numbers from Psychomeltdown and correcting them with the help of Sion Ewig, I could finish the work on the animals. Only the small ones still needed to be counted.

Proposed a deal to the council for exchanging animals. The individuals owners would have to be contacted later, but I think there will not be any problems if people get an acceptable deal and have more time to care for their other duties or their families.

With disgust I realized that rabbits were roaming around freely. We'd probably have to get rid of them asap to keep them from spreading like wildfire and later destroying our crops. Might be good target practice for our people to learn hunting with bows brought along or made from local materials.

Ward offered me to help people in learning to farm. That help would be great. I walked with him to where most of the "Monties" were concentrated and we were able to gather a group of 20 men, women, and children to learn the basics - even though most had already begun some work, some more professionalism sure would help.

My wife was busy showing other people how to garden in a learning while doing approach.

The fishing camp did well - while some people were fishing with the available boats or in the creek, others were busy building boats, cutting wood, planting gardens, erecting improvised homes, and so on. They were able to produce far more fish than they consumed food, helping to feed a lot of the other settlers. A few of them complained to me about the disrespectful attitude of Psychomeltdown, who ridiculed them dispite all their efforts. I'd probably have to talk to Glen Finney to remove him from fishing duties if he can't add anything positive to the fishing camp soon. Demotivating people doesn't help anyone.

I spent an hour programming a database report to show total estimated numbers of all goods based on the numbers I already gathered. I also realized it would take months to correctly get all the numbers, even with all the data from the market. Therefore, I programmed a form to let everyone do the work themselves. I made a few printouts of all the goods on the list, with some space for adding other goods, and colums for each member. They'd simply have to enter the numbers of the goods they had themselves, and later I'd enter the according numbers in the computer. It became a list of 10 pages with 20 members each, therefore 300 pages altogether. I hoped I wouldn't need so many printouts every day - otherwise, I should have brought a laser printer along. I gave each of those 30 lists to the first member on it, to give it to the next when finished, and return it to the market or me once everyone had filled it. The ones I had interviewed the day before were not included.