Day Twenty
Woke up to the news that the NRS Containment Team caught the last of the escaped infected victims around 4 AM this morning. Somehow the diseased person made it all the way up to the county line unnoticed. The only reason he was eventually caught was because he stumbled into the Pasco County Animal Shelter. The screams of the animals and the screams of the night staff were heard by a patrol. Luckily only the infected person had to be sanitized though many of the animals had to be euthanized due to their injuries and other trauma. The two staff members had survived by locking themselves in the rabies quarantine room.
Today's menu theme was the UK. I've never been but have always wanted to go there for a visit and play tourist. Given the economy and how crazy life has turned I'm wondering if I'll ever get to visit the land many of my immigrant ancestors came from. It certainly kept the kids occupied studying England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. It helped keep them out of trouble since we were still pretty much stuck in place while the authorities back tracked the NRS victim's path.
Breakfast: Oatmeal is supposed to be a very traditional Scottish breakfast and our family frequently enjoys it for breakfast too. To make it even more authentic, I used steel-cut oats. Yummy and very filling.
I felt pretty good about the fact that David didn't have to be asked twice if he wanted seconds. I think all the guys were in an eating contest this morning. David and James got along really well. I worried a little that James would be jealous of the time that David gets to spend with Scott. James wants to go out and help his dad so much but then feels bad about the idea of leaving "the girls and the baby" home alone with no manly protection. I'll give both of the boys double bonus points for being so mature about the situation and I could tell David also went out of his way to commend James for having the patience to stay home. I think that made James feel grown up.
Right after breakfast the guys moved the plants out for me and then started moving all of the stuff from the van and trailer in. Then they finished enclosing the walkway to the utility room door. What I really like is that they included our well house in the enclosed area. That'll secure it against potential vandalism which is something I had been worrying over a bit.
They finished measuring and cutting the lumber to frame in the false wall in the pantry right as I finished preparing lunch.
Lunch: I fixed a super easy version of Potato Soup. The recipe used instant potato flakes instead of raw or canned potatoes. Then I made a fresh batch of Irish Soda Bread to go with the soup. The meal was rounded out with tea to drink; iced and sweet as opposed to hot.
After lunch the guys finished framing the false wall, put up the drywall, then mudded and taped the joints. The resulting hidden space is 5 feet by 8 feet. Scott had already built me shelves along the 8 foot section of the wall for our last wedding anniversary. The one disadvantage is that there is no electricity in the space. James said he will put a ceiling hook in there so that I can hang a lantern and I've also got some of the LED tap lights that I can stick on the wall. I've got the barrels of grains in there that Daddy sent. They barely fit at either end of the space. Then I've got the few super pails that I have lined up on the floor at the bottom of the shelves. I spent the rest of the afternoon putting all of the jars and cans back onto the shelves as will fit. That still leaves quite a lot that I haven't got a space for and Scott said depending on what goes down over the next few weeks he might close in the other side of the pantry. I'd wind up with a hallway from the house into the utility room as opposed to going from the house into a room that I use as a pantry and then into the utility room.
For the door Scott framed out a small panel that opens out. He used really heavy duty hinges and then bolted an old wooden bookcase to the panel. David actually came up with the idea of using a speaker mounting magnet to keep the door closed rather than trying to figure out how to hide a handle or knob. I'd still like to figure out a way to latch and lock the area but the magnet gets the job done so well that I really have to pull to open the panel.
You can't see the door because the book case hides it and you'd think the door was sitting on the floor but it is actually about a quarter inch off and easily swings without dragging the ground at all. I'm pretty impressed if I do say so myself.
They got as far as they could by 3:30 which is when the lock down was lifted. Before Scott and David took off we had "tea time" to mimic the English tradition. Our "biscuits" were lemon cookies and we had iced tea which seemed kinda sacrilegious but it was just too hot for anything else. Not to mention I could just imagine the looks from the guys had I pulled out my china tea service. Of course the cookies were inhaled.
Scott fairly flew to get a few stops made and David back to his place so that he could return home before curfew kicked in. I packed David a thermos of soup to take home and he was touchingly grateful and promised to return the thermos tomorrow.
When Scott got home he told of being forced to go through several check points. The path the NRS Infected was well to the north of our location, thank goodness. Scott seemed to get the feeling that the NRS … oh for Pete's Sake, why is it so hard for me to even type it?! Zombie. The freaking zombie's path passed to the north of us. And no, typing the word doesn't make me feel any less weird but I guess that is the term we are all going to eventually get stuck saying. It is just too outlandish to hear ourselves talking about real zombies as opposed to the ones in the gory movies I used to enjoy watching.
As I was saying, Scott seemed to get the feeling that the zombie must have hit at least one other location between the hospital and the animal shelter. Nothing has been on the news, but if not, then how did they figure out the path? Makes you go, "Hmmmmm. What are they NOT telling us?"
Dinner: Dinner was one of the more complicated dishes that I have made since we started our voluntary sequestering. First I fixed Chicken Cider Pie that required me to substitute canned chicken, canned mushrooms and canned carrots for the fresh ingredients; the pie crusts I had to make by hand which was a trip after getting spoiled (or lazy) buying crusts frozen for the last couple of years. I then made Creamed Peas, substituting canned peas for the frozen. For dessert I made bread pudding using the loaf of Amish bread that I had put in the freezer. Everyone but Johnnie had tea again to drink for dinner.
After dinner Scott added a little more mud to the drywall joints. Tomorrow he's going to have James sand the wall and then texture coat everything. The day after that we'll paint the room and ceiling, throw down a rug, hang some pictures and hopefully a casual inspection will leave no one the wiser.
The kids and I brought my plants in right before it got dark and then rolled down the security doors. Since they caught the zombie – glory, there is that blasted term again – we won't set any night time watches.
When I asked Scott what David did at night, he told me he has a closet that he barricades himself into. That just breaks my heart, but I'm not sure what we are supposed to do about it. What we do for him we would have to do for all of the units. But at the same time he works for Scott now and maybe there should be perks for that. Carlo (the scum bucket) certainly got his share of perks. One thing that Scott and I discussed is providing him with at least one meal on the days David works. He's a good kid, but I worry that we are getting too attached to him too quickly.
After yesterday's ruckus, today's news seemed tame. They added the Dallas/Ft. Worth area to the list of cities that are in danger of quarantine. New Orleans also made the short list as did Little Rock, Arkansas of all places. Chicago is holding their own as is St. Louis after a brief flare up in infection rates. I've got several internet buddies in both of those places so I'm glad that they are at least keeping their heads above water. Who knows how things will go this winter though with heating oil being in short supply.
Something that was on TV that I consider rather silly was an infomercial on how to spot an NRS-infected person complete with charts and graphics and "key questions" to ask before assuming anyone is infected. Excuse me, but if I have what I think may be a zombie baring down on me or a family member I'm not going to stop and note skin tone, whether they have blood on them, and ask them if they know their own name, the year, and who the current president is. Geez. I guess they started having trouble with vigilante justice using the excuse, "But I thought they were a zombie" a few too many times. I think the politically correct "solution" though is just as bad as the problem and will probably cause twice as many deaths. We've now lost an entire hospital to that type of nonsensical thinking.
I'm too exhausted to hop on top of that particular soap box tonight. Late nights and early mornings are beginning to remind me too much of my college days when I was young, dumb, and way too full of energy for my own good. I'm just not cut out for that nonsense any more and having five kids, a husband, and a household to run is more important than reliving my youthful idiocy. Obviously I'm cranky so I'm going to head off to bed. Maybe a good night's rest is what I need.