Category: One Among the Dead

Day 298:

Some people say a miner is made outta’ mud
A spare port miner’s muscle and blood
Muscle and blood, skin and bones
A mind that’s a-weak and a suit that’s strong

You load sixteen tons and what do ya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to The Company’s store

I was born one mornin’ where there’s no sun to shine
I picked up a laser and flew to the mine
I loaded sixteen tons of andesite stone
And the mine boss said, “Well, a-bless my soul”

You load sixteen tons and what do ya get?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don’t you call me ’cause I can’t go
I owe my soul to The Company’s store

Day 297:

I’m closer to the surface than before, which is good, because going down too deep in the caves hurts my head right now. I suspect it’s something having to do with air pressure but my head hurts too much to think about it.

Anyway, found a nice vein of granite, which lead to a nice vein of andesite, which lead to a nice vein of diorite, so if I were on ship right now I’d be collecting a handy bonus. Since I’m marooned on a hostile rock instead, I’m storing it. And occasionally using it to build with. Still.

When I first hurt my head a few days ago I kept thinking I was hearing really loud music out of my left ear a lot. That’s not so bad now – it comes and goes – but I could use with a break. I wish I could change the station at least.

Going to bed before the skeletons come out.

Day 296:

The only thing more annoying than floors are ceilings, although there’s a lot less of a chance of plunging to your death when you’re hanging a ceiling and standing on a stable floor.

Then again, with a concussion, moving my head hurts in general,  and pointing my nose at the roof for hours on end while I try to put ceiling panels into place hurts like all the things.

So I’m still only working about half days and sleeping the other half.

Didn’t I used to complain about not sleeping? I feel like I did. Well, it hasn’t been a problem lately.

Day 295:

Too much underwater, not enough sleep.

I wonder what you eat when your body needs to heal. I hope it’s ducken and potatoes, because that’s what I’ve got.

Going back to bed. Can barely function. Hope the sheep and cows and duckens can feed themselves today.

Day 294:

Since I had a map in my pocket, I made it home okay last night despite the blazing headache. I soaked in a cold bath for a while to take the swelling and stuff down, but I’m not sure it helped my headache any.

I don’t feel any broken bits of skull, though, so I’m taking that as a plus.

I used the same map this morning to go back to where I was mining, and then I dug through a wall into the lake that’s south of the area I’ve been digging in. My notes say the lake is freshwater and the other area is seawater or at least brackish and salty, so I’m doing my best to keep them separated. (Which my notes also say is important).

It’s starting to come back to me, but it’s so hard to think when all you can hear is your own pulse through your head and every heartbeat hurts.

I thought that swimming would make it worse, and maybe it will at sufficient depth, but I was able to scoop some sand into some of my bags so that I can make glass out of it. Glass is good, that much I remember regardless of the blow to the brain pan. And while I’m sure a doctor would tell me to take it slow, the cold water really does seem to be helping my head. So I think I’ll be doing the whole “gather sand” thing for the next few days.