“The category of fuel that I am most concerned about is liquid fuels. Our diesel storage tank is presently almost full—about nine hundred gallons. It has been stabilized, and it has been treated with an antibacterial. You’ve all heard this before, but for Rose’s benefit, I’ll repeat it. The basic rule for fuel storage is: the more highly refined the fuel, the shorter its storage life. That means that kerosene will store for fifteen years or more, diesel stores for eight to ten years, and gasoline normally has only about a two-year storage life. Beyond that, it builds up gums and peroxides, and suffers decomposition of anti-knock compounds to the point that fuel filters clog up and engines won’t run. Also, the butane that is added to gasoline tends to evaporate. Once the butane burns off, starting an engine can be hard. You usually have to use a squirt of ether down the carb.
“In general, high temperatures and exposure to oxygen encourage the decomposition process. Stored fuel also tends to attract moisture, and that causes a whole ’nother set of problems. The storage life of all liquid fuels can be extended by the use of a special additive called Sta-Bil that delays the decomposition process, and we have plenty of that on hand. Overall, the best way to store fuel is in a completely full, sealed underground container.”
Todd picked up a beat later, “For our tractor, which is the only vehicle with a diesel engine, let’s assume that we have about a ten-year supply of fuel. I was planning to buy a diesel-powered pickup, but I never found one at a reasonable price. In retrospect, I should have made that a much higher priority. We’ll only be using the tractor for tilling and towing the trailer we use for hay and firewood. So for all intents and purposes, let’s assume we have plenty of diesel, unless this turns out to be one of those major whammy multigenerational scenarios that we’ve talked about.
“Gasoline, however, is probably going to be more of a problem. Our tank filled with premium unleaded is just under half full—about four hundred to four-hundred-and-twenty gallons. There’s another eighty-two gallons of various grades of gas in cans, and roughly sixty gallons in the fuel tanks of the various vehicles. All of the fuel in the underground storage tank has a stabilizer added to it, and is pretty well sealed against moisture, so I’m issuing a directive right here and now that the fuel in cans will be used first. We’ll probably be doing very little driving around the retreat, aside from wood and compost hauling. Therefore, most of the gasoline can be saved for use in chain saws or the Weed-Eater, or the occasional times that we have to fire up the gas-powered generator to provide power for larger electric tools such as drills, the Skilsaw, or the table saw. With gasoline, our problem is going to be storage life, not the total quantity we have stored. Even with stabilizer, we cannot depend on having reliable gasoline beyond five or six years. Hopefully, by then things will be back to normal.
“By far, our biggest headache is kerosene. Even though it stores quite well, there’s not enough of it. Mary and I only had four gallons of kerosene of our own stored here. Of the rest of the group, only T.K. thought to pre-position any, and that was only three one-gallon cans. Only two additional gallons were brought by those of you who recently arrived and we found about half of a one-gallon can at Kevin’s yesterday. Mary and I had planned to buy several twenty-gallon drums of kerosene, but we never got around to it, with so much else going on in fixing up the retreat. Oh well, like they say,‘hindsight is 20-20.’
The bottom line is that we are going to have to be very, very conservative in using kerosene lamps, and we cannot run Mike and Lisa’s Kerosun space heater at all, unless there’s an emergency or some special occasion.”
Lisa raised her hand and chimed in, “Well, Todd, that makes kerosene our highest priority for bartering, assuming that we find someone to barter with. Perhaps we can either trade some gasoline or some ammunition for kerosene. Otherwise, even with minimal use, we’ll probably be out of kerosene within at most three years.”
Todd nodded his head to the affirmative. “Very well. Unless there are any questions, that pretty well covers it for critical logistics. We are in good shape on all of the other categories, like medical supplies, batteries, toilet paper, clothing, camouflage face paint sticks, distilled water for the storage batteries, insect repellent, ladies’ supplies, and condoms.”
Rose giggled after hearing Todd’s last comment.
Lisa eyed Rose and offered, “I think that as time goes on, aside from the odd glitch like the kerosene, you’ll find that we thought out what we would need very carefully and thoroughly right down to the last diaper pin.”
Just then, Todd felt a cold, wet nose touch his elbow. He shouted, “Now who let Shona in?”
Lisa said weakly, “I’m afraid I did.”
Todd gave Lisa a scowl and said, “One more point of clarification. Shona has a job to do just like the rest of us. Her job is to secure the area inside the chain-link fence, and give warning of anything she detects is amiss within range of her eyes, ears, or nose. Basically, she operates as a backup for the LP/
OP, and as such, she’s part of our life insurance. Please resist the urge to spoil her. She is not to be let into the house again. Period. Don’t worry if it’s cold outside. Shona is used to it. She has a nice snug and warm insulated doghouse that I built for her. It’s okay if you give her the occasional pet or pat her on the head, but please remember that she’s a working bitch.”
After letting Shona back outside and giving her a scratch under her collar and a pat on the head, Todd walked back in and carried on with his agenda.
“The next item of business is our duty schedule. I think that Mike is much better qualified to brief this subject.”
With that, Todd sat down, and Mike stood up and cleared his throat. “Okay, here’s the rundown on the duty sked. Both picket and C.Q. shifts are six hours long and are on a semi-rotating basis. That means that once you get assigned a block of time, say 0700 to 1300, you can always depend on having the same shift. Because there are nine of us here, everybody should have either C.Q. or LP/OP duty once a day. Security is always the priority, so work schedules will be made around the picket and C.Q. sked, rather than vice versa. I tried to set the shifts based on my past experience with you during field exercises. Kevin and I, for example, are night owls by nature, so we will almost always have the swing or graveyard shift. So will you, Jeff. Not so much because you are a late sleeper, but because your night vision is only one notch below Kevin’s, and, as everybody here except Rose already knows, Kevin’s night eyes are pretty phenomenal.
“Okay. I’ll be posting copies of the sked at both the LP/OP, and at the C.Q. desk. That way, nobody can plead ignorance as an excuse for not showing up to relieve somebody on time. I’m going to have to insist that we stick to the rule in the SOP that only the tac coordinator has the authority to make changes to the sked. If two of you mutually agree to occasionally swap a shift, okay. But let’s not make a habit of it, and once again, every change has to be specifically approved by me, and well in advance. That’s the only way we can keep the sked from disintegrating into chaos. Also, I cannot overemphasize that when you are on either LP/OP or C.Q. duty, your main job is to keep your counterpart awake and alert. Call each other on the field phone at least once each half hour. That’s all I have to say. Any questions? Okay, I’m done.”
Mike sat down abruptly and Todd again took his feet and said, “The last item of business that I had planned also has to do with security, in a way. That item is our vehicles. In case you haven’t noticed, our gravel turn-around circle out there looks like a used car lot. To my way of thinking, the only vehicles that we will be likely to use right here at the retreat are the pickups and the tractor, primarily for hauling hay and firewood. We have room to store three vehicles in a row in the garage, so I’d like to put T.K.’s Bronco up on blocks or jack stands in the back, Mike’s Power Wagon in the middle—also on blocks, to make the tires last longer—and my Power Wagon in the front. Because it doesn’t have a camper shell, it seems to be the handiest vehicle for hauling things. We should keep all three of these vehicles topped off with stabilized fuel at all times. As for the tractor, we’ll park it in the end of the woodshed for the time being. When we cut more wood and fill that overgrown woodshed, probably late next spring, we’ll make other parking arrangements.