Category: One Among the Dead

Day 328: I’m almost out of sand.

Which means I have to go back to the place that I’m trying to secure, the cave entrance on the west side near the sheep, because that’s the closest semi-secure space that far out, which is where the nearest sand deposit is in the bay  thing.

In other words, these had better be enough axe heads to thin those trees, because I need to thin the trees to be safe enough to gather the sand to make more axe heads to thin the trees.

I just want some warm wool socks and a view of the valley from a tall mountain. Why is everything so hard?!

Day 327:

I’m getting pretty good at the sand mold thing, especially keeping the bubbles out of the ore, and I’m thinking maybe this is how I could make myself some smaller drill bits.

If I carve them out of wood, I might be able to then use the wood in the sand mold?

But then how do I get the wood out?

Making things is hard, yo.

Day 326:

I spent the day making axe heads out of iron ore, because what else are you going to make them from? Wood? Diamond? One doesn’t stay sharp and the other is too low in supply.

And gold is right out, that stuff dents like crazy.

Anyway, I use a sand mold for the axe heads and then beat all the rough edges with a hammer. I should really invest the time into making a file but that involves using a sharp piece of diamond to carve relatively even lines in a smooth piece of iron and that’s a whole lot of work. (I can barely draw my breath much less a straight line, and drawing a straight line with a piece of diamond is no picnic either.)

(I guess I could at least start by making myself a straight edge to use.)

(Also I can’t believe I used that “draw my breath” joke, I think my dad told me that one. Not a lot of people to tell jokes to down here, the skeletons aren’t big on laughter.)

Day 325:

I finally reached the place where I started digging back toward my cave a while ago. That’s good! It means I’ve found the surface! And the fresh air! And a spot that doesn’t have water leaking through the ceiling!

And the zombies lurking in the many many trees.

My wood supplies are not low and I wasn’t planning to do any tree-trimming.

On the other hand, nothing says “go get the axe” like climbing out of a cave and having zombies fall from above for a good five minutes.

(The good news is zombies are crap at falling and most of them broke their legs in the fall. The bad news is that didn’t stop them from trying to kill me.)

So I’m heading back to the main base to make sure i have plenty of quality axe heads available. Could be there a few days. Might want to let these bruises heal a bit while I’m at it.

Day 324:

Not making much progress on the brick hod thingie.  (I think that’s what it was called.)

It was a lot of work to make the drill for the bridge.

That was months ago, wow.

But the bridge drill bit is a) worn out and b) too big for my brick hod thing.

So I have to find a good branch to use as a handle and then I have to make a drill bit that will fit it, and that’s a lot of work actually, especially when my head still hurts.

I wonder if the birch trees here have aspirin in their barks. Was it birch trees? I’m not even sure I remember.

Anyway I spent the day doing little things around the place to keep it cleaned up. I don’t remember being this neat and tidy before, but then, things weren’t likely to try to chase me and kill me. When getting chased by murderers is an everyday possibility it’s more important than ever to keep the floors and tables clear.