All I can say is I was inwardly rejoicing when this work day was over. My fingers stung from handling the tools and bolts to put the new pump on.
***
Day 64 Journal Entry
The snow seems to have stopped for now. It is just the bitter cold and wind that we are facing today. I overheard the foreman say that we needed more people and that the pressure reading in the borehole last night indicated that we were getting close.
I assume that means we are getting ready to hit oil pretty soon. I’m not really sure what that means to us at this point. Like always, they don’t share much information with us. They did put in what they referred to as an intermediate casing. From what I understand that means we are getting pretty close to putting in the final production casing and cementing it in place like we did the others. The last thing we did on our shift was change to a smaller drill bit. It is a lot easier to handle than the big ones we were using at first.
There is a barracks next to ours that houses no one at this time so I guess the new people they were talking about will be staying there. Of course we have seven beds as well from the men who have died here. I am hoping they will bring in additional people. That way maybe we can get some news about what is going on in the world.
One thing you find you really miss is news. Not knowing anything about what is happening is especially bothersome for someone like me who made reporting the news my life work. Being cut off from all contact is really hard.
Work was pretty much routine. We did stop for a short time to clean the mud screen. It’s like a big filter that takes out all the crap that is recirculated from the bore hole so the mud can be reclaimed and reused. I think I should point out that it is not really mud like dirt and water. It has added chemicals that lubricate the drill bit to keep it cool as it bites into the ground. It is expensive so they re-circulate it to keep the cost down.
***
Day 65 Journal Entry
New people arrived during the night. The other barracks has twenty new guys but we haven’t been able to talk to them yet. They were going through the same thing we did the first day. I don’t know what the rules are about visiting other barracks. It has never come up because we were the only ones here.
I overheard someone say we were going to be really, really busy soon. I’m thinking to myself, how can we be any busier than we have been? We work until we are almost too tired to eat. I do take a shower every night just to get the smell of the oil off me. It is so overpowering.
Later, I found it was going to be harder than I thought to talk to the new arrivals. They went to work just as we were sitting down to eat. I guess they will work until it is our turn. I still don’t know the reason for the big push. I do know they installed the production casing and it has been cemented in place. The BOP or blowout preventer has been fitted or as they call it ‘nipple-uped’ a couple of times now.
***
Day 67 Journal Entry
We found out two of the new people died last night. One fell to his death and the other was crushed. I don’t know how that happened. The falls yes, but so far I haven’t seen anything that could crush you. Still it happened. Several more sections of drilling pipe were used so they are making good progress from what I can tell.
This morning I tried to talk to the cooks about what was going on in the world but they said they didn’t know and didn’t care. I’m not sure if that is true or they were told to keep their mouths shut around the prisoners.
The temperature must be even worse at night. When we get off it is hovering around -25 below. I would imagine during the night it gets
-40 or so. I am going to do my best to try to talk to one of the new people tomorrow.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
NATIONAL NETWORK NEWS – President Clemons announced today that this year’s Income Tax will be radically different from past years. She has long lamented the burden placed on the taxpayer to understand the many revisions that take place each year. More than once she has said to the American people that she opposes the complicated system that is in place and if she is ever in a position to change the system she will.
True to her word she revised the codes to make them much easier to understand. Corporations will soon be sent a revised format for calculating tax. It is a much simplified system. Individuals will be especially pleased with the revisions.
For the majority of people, making one hundred and fifty thousand or less, tax will be calculated by using income subtracting two-thousand dollars for each household member and then looking up the tax amount.
Itemized deductions can be calculated on income exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Individuals in this tax bracket will find the calculation simplified considerably. Those making over one million dollars will pay a flat percentage of total income. More information and the new forms will be mailed out later this week. A two week extension will be allowed making taxes due on April 30th.
The President said that those making less than one million dollars annually will be particularly pleased with the new tax system and the lower rates. Those in the upper income brackets will now have to pay their fair share as it should have been all along. Taxing the lower income people a disproportionate amount is ‘just wrong’, according to the President.
In other news the President announced that the House of Representatives and the Senate will be locked out of the Capitol Building until she has had a chance to reevaluate their performance and to make sweeping changes. President Clemons said she feels that they are no longer representing the very people who elected them.
“When the approval rating is only 22 percent something must be done. They cannot continue to do business as normal. They have the job of working on behalf the American people and they are failing miserably. I know they will have a huge outcry but this is being done in the best interest of their constituents.”
The President plans to make a major announcement about the future of Congress tomorrow night at 8:00p.m
***
NATIONAL NETWORK TV – Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States, Helen Clemons.
“Good evening my fellow Americans. I have a short announcement to make this evening. As many of you heard earlier I have suspended Congress while I evaluate the necessity of the entire program. What I have been wrestling with are the following. Why does Congress have special rules? They are exempt from following the very rules they expect their constituents to live by. Why do they not have to pay into Social Security? Shouldn’t they have to buy into a 401K the same as everyone else? Why do they get to take vacations at tax payer expense? Shouldn’t they have to pay for their health care the same as you? The list goes on and on. They get all those privileges and what do you get in return, a bunch of freeloaders that would rather spend your money than produce results. Their ratings statistics indicate that you are sick of it as well.
That is why I have taken this extraordinary step in suspending Congress until I have had a chance to sit down and discuss the future by which they will operate. If they want to remain in Congress the freeloading is over. They will abide by the same rules as the citizens they represent. If they don’t like it, they can leave and join the private sector.
I also intend to reduce the number of representatives in the house. Currently we have over four hundred and fifty representatives in the house and that is ludicrous. I intend to lower that number significantly.
I know this all seems radical and perhaps it is, but America can no longer go down the path we have been following. It is time to change directions and get this country going again with lower taxes, employment for all who are willing to work, and bringing back the middle class Americans and small businesses to their rightful place.
Thank you. Good night and God Bless you all.”
***
“Okay. What the hell is she up to?” Thomas asked after they turned off the television.
“The same thing as before. Pulling the wool over the eyes of the public.
She is telling them what they want to hear while directing their attention away from what is going on. She is a master at that. I swear the woman is made of Teflon. She can lie right to people and they know it but they still eat it up,” Lance replied.
“No mention of General Douglas taking over some of the ISS responsibilities I notice,” AJ Watson said.
“I wouldn’t expect her to. This is her classic diversion speech. When she wants people to look the other way she attacks in a different area. Please don’t shoot me but I do like her stance on Congress. Those fat cats need to be taken down a notch. They should live under the same rules as the rest of us,” Lincoln replied.
“Holy smokes. He has converted to Clemonism,” Thomas kidded.
“That is a very low blow,” Lincoln said.
“My question is, what about General Douglas?” AJ asked.
“Here is what I know about him. He is a meticulous planner. He wants to have every asset assigned and all strengths and weaknesses explored. His battle plans are almost always right out of the book. He likes to micromanage his subordinates,” Thomas told them.
“Is that a bad thing?” AJ asked.
“It has advantages if we follow the script but his rigidness can be exploited and used to our advantage. We will have to use guerrilla warfare tactics. We need to give our leaders the ability to change orders and directions whenever the need calls for it. If they have to get permission every time a decision is made we will be eaten alive.”
“So you think we should relinquish control to the battalion level?” AJ asked.
“No, lower, much lower. Right down to the platoon level. They are the ones in the trenches. We can help them make good decisions but the final decision should rest with them.”
“I see some real problems with that,” AJ said, shaking his head.
“And I see some problems if we don’t do it that way. We cannot fight them head to head. They have too much firepower. They can call in all kinds of support that we just don’t have. Think about it. America had the most advanced and strongest military force on the face of the planet and yet the Viet Cong fought us to a standstill. Mighty Russia took on Afghanistan and promptly got their butts kicked. Why? Because they weren’t able to adapt to the situation, to change plans when necessary. They could back down and run away when necessary. They chose the time and place to fight. If we don’t adapt, we are doomed,” Thomas said.
“Yes, but they had experienced fighters. Ours are not on the same skill level.”
“Then we had better get them that way and be damned quick about it. Once Douglas gets organized he is going to come after us and if we aren’t ready he will roll right over us.”
“We need to get all the Militia people together for a briefing,” AJ said.
“That is not going to happen. We are not going to get all the Militias to travel to one place. Besides, it would be too dangerous. One slip up and it would all be over. We need to go state by state and get everyone organized,” Thomas replied.
“Are you suggesting one person over all of them?”
“That would be best but I don’t really know if it can be done.”
“Who would that person be?”
“That, I honestly don’t know right at the moment,” Thomas replied.
***
General Douglas was doing exactly what Thomas Waggoner had suggested. He had gathered his top people and was formulating a battle plan to sweep in and eliminate the Idaho Militia. From there they would move on and eradicate the Utah Militia and any others they found out about.
He had decided that he would use air power as his main force and then follow it up with ground troops. His plan was exactly by the book. In fact, if Thomas had been there he could have probably predicted exactly when and where he would attack. The biggest advantage the Militia had was that they were not dependent on one person to approve every detail of the plans. They would be much more able to ebb and flow with the battle. The other major advantage was that they could all speak up and add their opinions. That is one thing you seldom did when you were a subordinate to General Douglas. It was his way or nothing at all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Day 68 Journal Entry
I had a brief chance to talk to prisoner 31003 today. His number alone tells me what is happening. Obviously the number of dissenters has increased. He told me that the President has gone on television several times assuring the American Public that the actions she was taking were for the good of the nation and to get the country back on its feet again.
The disturbing news is that a great many believe the propaganda she is putting out. Evidently the networks sing her praises non-stop. He also told me that one camp of close to twenty thousand prisoners tried to make a mass escape and were just about ready to initiate the plan but someone in the camp was a spy and tipped off the authorities. They slaughtered nearly five thousand.
This is all secondhand so I don’t know if it is true or not but it is chilling news nonetheless. The last thing he warned me about was that the ISS now has spies in every major camp. Who would do such a thing? Why would they do such a thing is a better question? I asked him that but he said he had heard it was because they were holding the person’s family as hostage and if a break did occur they would kill his family. Put like that, I don’t know what I would do.
Our day was fairly routine. The drill was stopped several times to take pressure readings on the borehole. Apparently they do this when they think they are close to an oil strike. From what I understand, the pressure is read so they can get ready to cap off the borehole once they break through the last layer of earth. They change the bit to a breaker rod that punches through the last few feet.
It is all beyond me and all I have to do is what I am told, when I am told. They did refit the Blowout Preventative Valve a couple of times. One guy kept calling it a ‘Christmas Tree’. I guess because it has all these protrusions, gauges and lights on it. It is the part that actually caps the well and keeps the oil going where they want it to go. As I understand it, the BOP is what failed on the BP rig when it blew up in the Gulf of Mexico a few years ago. Not only do they direct where the oil goes but they are supposed to prevent that from happening.
I hope they do it today. The weather is going to turn really bad again tomorrow from what we were told, with high winds, sleet, and -40 degree temperatures.
***
Day 68 Journal Entry
I will say this for them. When they say the weather will be bad they really mean it. They are very precise. The wind was gusting at twenty-five miles an hour, the temperature with wind chill was right at -38 degrees and the sleet was blowing so hard it was like a white out condition.
Having said all of that, it did not change our work day one bit. We bundled up as best we could and off we went. I had to tighten the strap under my hardhat to keep it from blowing away. We fought our way to the rig and went to work. A lot of us were assigned to the dreaded ‘getting the ice off the derrick’ detail.
Hanging on, even with a life line, and having to break off the slabs of ice is back breaking work. Within a few hours it is all you can do to hang on to both the derrick and the rod. When I came down it felt like the skin on my face had been ripped off. The blowing ice pellets are like sandblasting. It had literally peeled the paint off in some areas of the derrick.
At five they stopped for the day. The wind had reached fifty miles an hour and the temperature had dropped to -62 degrees. This was the best news I had had since we arrived here.
***
Day 69
I stand corrected. Today is the best day since we have been here. When we got up the wind gusts hovered around sixty miles an hour and the temperature was a steady -64 degrees. We were told to stay in our barracks until noon.
Evidently after the noon meal they would determine if we would get the rest of the day off. This is one time in my life that I was rooting for the weather to stay bad.
I spent the entire day in my bed, wr
apped in my blankets, and sleeping off and on. It was the first down day we had had since we got here.
After we made our way to the mess hall by literally holding on to the person in front of you, it was determined that the conditions were just too dangerous to work in. We were able to spend the entire day in the barracks. One of the men came up with a deck of cards. Evidently a regular company worker had given them to him. It was the first real entertainment we had. Five guys played cards and a bunch stood around and watched or offered advice.
I watched for a while then decided my time would be better spent just sleeping. This weather wouldn’t last much longer according to the reports I had heard. This was going to blow over by late tonight or in the early morning hours. That meant only one thing. We would be back at it first thing tomorrow morning.
***
Day 70 Journal Entry
Once again the weather people were right. It had stopped sleeting. The wind was down and the temperature was -38 degrees. We were ushered to the rig and our first job was to clear the ice off. Once that was done, they pulled the traveling block up and we started removing the pipe sections one at a time.
Evidently they felt it was time to try to break through because we replaced the drill bit with a pointed rod. One guy called it a ‘pecker head’ but I doubt that is the real correct name. We spent the entire day getting everything ready for the final break through. I have to admit, I was kind of excited to see how all of this would work.
I was disappointed to learn that a casing had to be put down and then cemented in place first. Then the rod to punch through would be used. It meant that this would not take place on our shift. After all this work, I kind of felt cheated.
PROJECT BlueBolt - BOOK II - THE GULAG JOURNAL: BOOK II - The Gulag Journal Page 12