Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Franz Grasser was an interesting individual who was largely as described in the last post, the key difference being his survival. In OTL he was prolific photographer before and during WW2, first as a ship's photographer, then later after he was conscripted by the German Army. In OTL he was killed by the Russians on the Eastern Front. ITTL he is still around and is a contemporary and professional rival of Doug Blackwood.
Last edited:
I may be overthinking things but having the SMS Antonia sail through the Panama Canal in time for the United States Independence Day was not a coincidence.
At this point IOTL the calls by the Panamanian people to take control of the canal and the Canal Zone from the United States is gaining strength and Germany may see there is an opportunity to reduce the influence of the United States in Latin America.
Also around this time IOTL there was serious proposals to expand the Canal and if Panama instead of the United States has control of the canal then German engineering and construction firms would have more than a fair shot of getting those contracts for them,
This brings me to another point without the East-West OTL conflict the various Mega projects may be quite different ITTL from IOTL, a case in point is the Aswan Dam in Egypt which is a monument to the ego of Nassar without the Cold War competition between the US and USSR that project could be much different ITTL.
At this point IOTL the calls by the Panamanian people to take control of the canal and the Canal Zone from the United States is gaining strength and Germany may see there is an opportunity to reduce the influence of the United States in Latin America.
Also around this time IOTL there was serious proposals to expand the Canal and if Panama instead of the United States has control of the canal then German engineering and construction firms would have more than a fair shot of getting those contracts for them,
This brings me to another point without the East-West OTL conflict the various Mega projects may be quite different ITTL from IOTL, a case in point is the Aswan Dam in Egypt which is a monument to the ego of Nassar without the Cold War competition between the US and USSR that project could be much different ITTL.
Bayer was created otl when IG Farben was dismanteled after WW2. As Germany didn't loose itl...
Part 115, Chapter 1914
Chapter One Thousand Nine Hundred Fourteen
10th July 1969
Tempelhof, Berlin
Aunt Marcella had moved into the flat near the University Hospital because she wanted to live near her family without living with them. Between the sale of the machining business and the house in Pankow-Heinersdorf, she was fairly well off. Just the difficulties of her age had started to pile up, like the real reason she had sold the house after discovering that she could no longer physically maintain it. Or today, when her grandniece had come to help with a project that would have been something that she would have handled with ease just a decade earlier. Still, Marcella was able to live independently, which was important to her own sense of self-worth.
It had been a bit surprising when Marie Alexandra had come to her door. Kat had warned Marcella that Marie was going through a difficult time and that much should have been obvious by the fact that she was dressed exactly like her mother might have thirty years earlier. Marcella knew that look all too well. Oversized, shapeless clothes that completely hid the figure of the anyone who wore them. When given a choice, Kat had worn clothes like that from her teens right up until around the time she had met Douglas. It was obvious why Marie was dressed that way, for the same reason her mother had. She was uncomfortable with the changes to her body and the attention those brought. It was something that would only get worse as Marie got older.
Mercifully, Kat understood and didn’t try to force her daughter to do anything different. That was a mistake that Marcella had made and had only succeeded in making things worse. Kat had also mentioned some of the more outlandish costumes that Marie had tried out. And while she had made most of them sound silly, there was no hiding just how out of sorts Marie must be feeling.
Watching Marie stitch the features onto the face of the rag doll that Marcella had been making for a friend’s infant great-granddaughter was a pleasure now that she had trouble getting her fingers to move so deftly. She had tried to teach all the girls who had passed through her life how to sew, but only Marie had ever wanted to learn beyond the basics, with Marcella teaching her how to alter and repair clothes a few years earlier.
“Was it you who named the doll I gave you Kora?” Marcella asked.
“No” Marie replied, “That was Tatiana, I named mine Noemi.”
“Noemi” Marcella said, “Such a strange name for a little girl to choose.”
“It was from a television show” Marie replied, “There was this character named Noemi who I wanted as a friend. It seems silly now.”
“Hardly” Marcella said as she got up to take care of the electric kettle on the countertop. Where Tatiana had always been outgoing, Marie had always been more refined, cerebral. That had made it difficult for her to make friends early on. It was sort of funny how Kat was at a loss when it came to dealing with her daughters, both of whom exhibited different aspects of her. Pouring hot water into the tea kettle to seep, Marcella turned to see that Marie was already there to help her carry the tea and biscuits to the table. Despite Kat’s worries, both Tatiana and Marie Alexandra were good girls. The same could be said about the rest of Kat’s unorthodox extended family as well. Like Kat herself, Marie would find a dear friend or two in time.
Once they were settled back at the table. Marcella asked, “Just who was this Noemi?”
Marie smiled at that as she resumed work on the doll. It was at that moment that Marcella had an insight that her grandniece would continue the tradition of making these dolls.
In transit, Eastern Pacific
The other Medical Staff aboard the ship said that this was probably the most restful leg of the journey, from Panama to Western Samoa. For Kiki, it was spent studying the varied missions of the SMS Antonia Marie and her role in them.
The three Princesses had been named for Kristina’s three sisters, SMS Marie Cecilie, SMS Victoria Augusta, and SMS Antonia Marie. There had once been SMS Prinzessin Kristina, but she had been renamed when Kiki had joined the Medical Service and stricken when her obsolescence could no longer be denied. All three ships were identical with the same purpose-built hull that was two hundred sixty meters in length, with a beam of thirty-three meters. The ten surgical suites, a radiological suite, intensive care unit, a dozen patient wards, laboratory facilities, quarantine bays, double helipads with hanger facilities, extensive freezers, and refrigerated storage. It was clear from looking at the lengthy list of supplies kept on board, stocking them must have been a real boon for the pharmaceutical industry back home because it looked as if they had delivered more than a bit of everything. The current setup was for one ship to be at sea, the second on standby, and the third in for refit. It all made Kiki’s head spin to think about it all.
Kiki was the Commanding Officer of the FSR Company based aboard the SMS Antonia as well as the Marine Infantry Platoon that saw to the ship’s security. That made her privy not just to the explicitly stated mission of the Antonia of providing medical services wherever they were needed, but the secret mission that she had been tasked with as well. The Antonia was a key part of the planning for the continuity of the German State in the event of a nuclear war. The mainframe computer aboard her held the digital backups of the medical files of every citizen of the German Empire and anyone who received services from the Joint Medical Service. In the event of war, the Antonia was to steam south into a remote corner of the Southern Ocean and await further instructions. The Antonia and her sister ships could remain at sea for months if they needed to.
10th July 1969
Tempelhof, Berlin
Aunt Marcella had moved into the flat near the University Hospital because she wanted to live near her family without living with them. Between the sale of the machining business and the house in Pankow-Heinersdorf, she was fairly well off. Just the difficulties of her age had started to pile up, like the real reason she had sold the house after discovering that she could no longer physically maintain it. Or today, when her grandniece had come to help with a project that would have been something that she would have handled with ease just a decade earlier. Still, Marcella was able to live independently, which was important to her own sense of self-worth.
It had been a bit surprising when Marie Alexandra had come to her door. Kat had warned Marcella that Marie was going through a difficult time and that much should have been obvious by the fact that she was dressed exactly like her mother might have thirty years earlier. Marcella knew that look all too well. Oversized, shapeless clothes that completely hid the figure of the anyone who wore them. When given a choice, Kat had worn clothes like that from her teens right up until around the time she had met Douglas. It was obvious why Marie was dressed that way, for the same reason her mother had. She was uncomfortable with the changes to her body and the attention those brought. It was something that would only get worse as Marie got older.
Mercifully, Kat understood and didn’t try to force her daughter to do anything different. That was a mistake that Marcella had made and had only succeeded in making things worse. Kat had also mentioned some of the more outlandish costumes that Marie had tried out. And while she had made most of them sound silly, there was no hiding just how out of sorts Marie must be feeling.
Watching Marie stitch the features onto the face of the rag doll that Marcella had been making for a friend’s infant great-granddaughter was a pleasure now that she had trouble getting her fingers to move so deftly. She had tried to teach all the girls who had passed through her life how to sew, but only Marie had ever wanted to learn beyond the basics, with Marcella teaching her how to alter and repair clothes a few years earlier.
“Was it you who named the doll I gave you Kora?” Marcella asked.
“No” Marie replied, “That was Tatiana, I named mine Noemi.”
“Noemi” Marcella said, “Such a strange name for a little girl to choose.”
“It was from a television show” Marie replied, “There was this character named Noemi who I wanted as a friend. It seems silly now.”
“Hardly” Marcella said as she got up to take care of the electric kettle on the countertop. Where Tatiana had always been outgoing, Marie had always been more refined, cerebral. That had made it difficult for her to make friends early on. It was sort of funny how Kat was at a loss when it came to dealing with her daughters, both of whom exhibited different aspects of her. Pouring hot water into the tea kettle to seep, Marcella turned to see that Marie was already there to help her carry the tea and biscuits to the table. Despite Kat’s worries, both Tatiana and Marie Alexandra were good girls. The same could be said about the rest of Kat’s unorthodox extended family as well. Like Kat herself, Marie would find a dear friend or two in time.
Once they were settled back at the table. Marcella asked, “Just who was this Noemi?”
Marie smiled at that as she resumed work on the doll. It was at that moment that Marcella had an insight that her grandniece would continue the tradition of making these dolls.
In transit, Eastern Pacific
The other Medical Staff aboard the ship said that this was probably the most restful leg of the journey, from Panama to Western Samoa. For Kiki, it was spent studying the varied missions of the SMS Antonia Marie and her role in them.
The three Princesses had been named for Kristina’s three sisters, SMS Marie Cecilie, SMS Victoria Augusta, and SMS Antonia Marie. There had once been SMS Prinzessin Kristina, but she had been renamed when Kiki had joined the Medical Service and stricken when her obsolescence could no longer be denied. All three ships were identical with the same purpose-built hull that was two hundred sixty meters in length, with a beam of thirty-three meters. The ten surgical suites, a radiological suite, intensive care unit, a dozen patient wards, laboratory facilities, quarantine bays, double helipads with hanger facilities, extensive freezers, and refrigerated storage. It was clear from looking at the lengthy list of supplies kept on board, stocking them must have been a real boon for the pharmaceutical industry back home because it looked as if they had delivered more than a bit of everything. The current setup was for one ship to be at sea, the second on standby, and the third in for refit. It all made Kiki’s head spin to think about it all.
Kiki was the Commanding Officer of the FSR Company based aboard the SMS Antonia as well as the Marine Infantry Platoon that saw to the ship’s security. That made her privy not just to the explicitly stated mission of the Antonia of providing medical services wherever they were needed, but the secret mission that she had been tasked with as well. The Antonia was a key part of the planning for the continuity of the German State in the event of a nuclear war. The mainframe computer aboard her held the digital backups of the medical files of every citizen of the German Empire and anyone who received services from the Joint Medical Service. In the event of war, the Antonia was to steam south into a remote corner of the Southern Ocean and await further instructions. The Antonia and her sister ships could remain at sea for months if they needed to.
Last edited:
Without Gestapo and Stasi, privacy concerns would have been less, so possible? Just a bit unlikely.
OTL even in 2020 there is a lot of patient data that only exists as paper files in some doctors office, depsite efforts of digitalizing and networking them. So it't not just a technological question.
altamiro
Banned
One of the reasons for that today is that such central record-keeping is forbidden in Germany. With no experience of totalitarianism and no constant fear of future drummed into the German population during the Cold War and redirected onto any sort of technology innovation as OTL, the views on the personal data safety will be far more relaxed.
ferdi254
Banned
AFAIK no state today is having all medical records of all citizens in a central digital storage. Doctors in all democratic countries are sworn to privacy so centralized data will be problematic at best.
If IT technology is 10 years ahead it would be 1979 technology where data transmission was measured in baut and even an xray of a hand could hardly be digitized due to size. Even 1989 OTL technology would mean something like C 128 with floppy discs. In 1991 I bough the then newest and most expensiv HD drive that had 20 MB storages and was 500 DM. That could have held about 20-50 xray pictures with the best possible software available for such a task.
I cannot even fathom the size of a 1989 technolgy storage medium to hold the digitized records of 90 mio plus people. Certainly nothing to be put on a ship and that is not adressing electricity and cooling needs.
If IT technology is 10 years ahead it would be 1979 technology where data transmission was measured in baut and even an xray of a hand could hardly be digitized due to size. Even 1989 OTL technology would mean something like C 128 with floppy discs. In 1991 I bough the then newest and most expensiv HD drive that had 20 MB storages and was 500 DM. That could have held about 20-50 xray pictures with the best possible software available for such a task.
I cannot even fathom the size of a 1989 technolgy storage medium to hold the digitized records of 90 mio plus people. Certainly nothing to be put on a ship and that is not adressing electricity and cooling needs.
I didn't say it was the complete information, I said it was a back up. Which in this era implies that it is the framework upon which the system could be rebuilt if need be. If you have ever worked with DOS based programs you would know that they are full of abbreviation and jargon, but no more than just letters and numbers that hold greater meaning to those who know the system. This is similar to that.
ferdi254
Banned
Peabody even then we are talking about a database which nobody in 1989 would have been able to build with the technology then. In 1994 most libraries even in universities had their indices on microfiche and were in the process of making them available via PC. Hardly any medical praxis or hospital had any serious computer capabilities before 1985.
The first digitized xray solution was on offer 1983 OTL.
The first digitized xray solution was on offer 1983 OTL.
ferdi254
Banned
As an example in 1992 I got injured and my foot needed to be xrayed. I had to carry the pictures myself from the Xray station after they were printed out to the department where the treatment was decided upon and done within the same building of the hospital and then had to carry them myself to my local doctor. Neither the hospital nor my doctor had had any possibility to store them digitally, let alone physically.