The Epic Stoner Novel (A Journal of Life on the Mississippi)

Well, the guy has 3 wives and STILL steps out on them. And has no trouble finding a bed for the night because he has stuff to trade for. You're right of course, when the shit hits the fan things will change. We'll move back to a 19th century lifestyle at first. Any guy who can demonstrate himself to be a provider would have it made. But also, this was set in the 70s. The summer of love was not yet a distant aspiration. And Aids didn't happen. Nam ended early. And Elvis is still alive.

Later on a war develops between Oklahoma and Arkansas about territory along the border that has been disputed since the states were formed. It escalates into aircraft shooting at each other.


The original draft had a lot of stuff I could have made into porn shop "novels". I may yet make a parallel thread and dump it there. I never planned to sell it.

 

Back in the early to mid 80's I was not much different from this guy in your book, minus the drugs. I got divorced in late 80 or 81 and found that, contrary to my former wife's opinion, there were a surprising number of women who would not only want me, but would also pay good money to boot. One even offered to set me up with an apartment nearby just for her convenience. "Yeah, right" I thought, and kindly backed out of their offers. I was enjoying my freedom entirely too much to allow anyone even the semblance of being tied down. Don't get me wrong.... $250 a pop was pretty good money back then, but it just didn't appeal to my mind then, just as it doesn't even now. The AIDS epidemic back then was just starting, and it was causing quite the panic everywhere. Today people view it entirely too casually, in my opinion. I don't want to spend the rest of my life dependent upon drugs, especially anti-virals. That's no way to live. How I managed to escape such things still amazes me.

I can see, based on current trends, how all that porn you left out would be a pretty good draw for lots of guys and gals these days. That part I mentioned about SHTF...? Don't underestimate that. People you thought you could trust WILL become far colder and more calculating than you could've ever imagined. People are getting just a small sliver of a glimpse into this these days with this current pandemic. You'd do well to take note of all this. Such knowledge could become priceless in the future, just as your book details.

On a brighter note, I managed to order some parts for an AM transmitter you may be aquainted with. I do love to tinker, even if I'm lazy with creating content. Enjoy your quarantine season. I hear it may soon be over.

 

done

 

As for the effects of paint, one must remember the effect of black rubber on rubber-duckie antennas, otherwise known (derisively) as dummy loads.
FM has the problem of "capture effect" where you get out near the limit of capture as the signal gets weaker, and then it starts motorboating, only to be replaced with another now-stronger signal. This is why aircraft use AM or SSB for their transmissions at 121mhz.. I'm not certain how much range you could get by sticking an FM dipole horizontal to the ground at a few feet elevation, as those frequencies tend to blow through the upper atmosphere, unlike an HF signal would. My dipoles were 22' above ground and I routinely covered north and south america at 3.5 & 7mhz, or world-wide at 20, 15, & 10mtrs. This was with 5 watts or less. At the lower freqs I'd get a lot of NVIS radiation, where signal went straight up and bounced off the upper atmosphere, but the higher the freq, the farther it would travel before bouncing back down. In addition, 10mtrs (28-29mhz) works long-haul best at high noon, and the distance gets shorter as the day moves towards sunset when the bands quiet down, allowing close-in comms. In general, the later in the day, the lower the maximum useable frequency for long-range use. At midnight, the effect would slowly reverse until noon local time. 5-10mhz is generally open to somewhere all day long, more or less. I have a rig for this, but never use it, so it's shelf-candy. Or is that eye-candy stuck on that shelf...?


For your FM rig, I'd consider experimenting with antennas. I used a j-pole up about 20ft for local comms here, and found I could get 20 miles reliably regardless of power over 1 watt. If I was trying for a repeater, I could reach those easily 50-100 miles away, as they're usually on an elevated location with great antennas. A moxon rectangle would give you great coverage for an area of 90-180 degrees wide, with pretty good front-to-back ratio. J-Poles are great for omnidirectional use. I'll probably avoid fm use here.

 

Fuck you for ruining this site