kirabug's idea files

Day 771:

I cleared enough brush to reach a lake, which is good! It has sand, which is better! It’s ridiculously close to the river, which is ridiculous because why isn’t it just attached to the river?

As I think I’ve mentioned before, there don’t seem to be microorganisms to break down carbon-based life here. So the lake hasn’t gone toxic bloom or any of that… but on the other hand, I can’t figure out how a world with no microorganisms functions. And a lake with no inlet or outlet makes me a little nervous.

Solution: at some point I’ll connect this lake with the river. (Seriously, they’re like fifteen yards apart.)

But not today, because there’s sand to harvest.

Day 770:

I was able to lay part of a brick path today, from the easternmost plains outpost to the edge of this section of map. But this is all land I cleared earlier this year, so it’s smooth and free of brush and brambles and cliffs and such.

The next part involved going into the mountains and laying brick path there, and I think that’s a distance away. First, because I really do need glass. Second, because I need to clear a path to the places where the sand bars are so I can collect the sand. And third, because there are mountains.

Day 769:

The roads around the border of the new map are connected.

The buttons for my steal-my-minecarts-back project  are also connected.

I feel like I have some control over things again.

Next up: I want to build a brick road from my current outpost up the mountain to my mountain outpost. But that didn’t happen today because I’ve worked really hard lately and it was a good day to spend in the back fence making sure the animals were ok and the pumpkins were growing.

Day 768:

Since I’ve got the borders mapped and know what I need to do to get the sand efficiently (take down a mountain), I’m falling back to a more western place to sleep. I should number them or something for posterity so these log entries make sense. (But not right now. That will require map drawing for the book here and this particular log is almost empty so there’s not enough space.)

I’ve been using the two small rail systems I set up to get from my home base to the easternmost parts of the complex. Problem is that, lacking any kind of switch or wiring, my “brakes” have mostly been ramming into a dirt pile at the end of the tracks.

And now the duckens like to jump into the mine carts while I’m not around and ride them back and forth, which as you can imagine means they’re never where I expect them to be.

I’ve been designing a button switch and a wire which I think will keep the rails unpowered (at least at the ends) so that I can count on my stuff being where i left it. Might try it out tomorrow.

Tonight I had a meal of lamb and fresh veggies, then took a hot bath, and I feel good. Now it’s time to sleep.

Day 767

Okay, the road is across the river and around the lava death traps and almost but not quite met up with the southeasternmost corner of my last map. In other words, I have a really good idea of what’s in this area (quadrant? range? thingie?) of this place.

And let me tell you, these mountains are really messing with my safety.

All the cliffs mean that if I can get up the side of one of these steep steep hills, I can’t necessarily get back down safely. And all the sand I need for glass is on the other sides of the mountains. Plus, lava, etc.

So I’m actually seriously considering “landscaping” the mountains back down to some kind of manageable shape.

Or maybe converting them into a giant castle. I haven’t ruled that out yet.

I mean now that I’ve been here over two years and nobody’s shown up yet I’m thinking that whole “hide evidence I’m here” thing can go straight out the metaphorical port hole and I can build something impressive one of these days.

But not today, I’m exhausted. I’m sleeping far from my bathtub and I could really use a hot bath today. It’ll have to wait.