What should I work on next?

28 October 2008

Week Two Begins

27 October ….

Today we managed to layout the piers for the headquarters building, hospital and chapel. All SET-Huts are elevated four feet off the ground to help alleviate problems with unwanted critters from entering unannounced. We should have the first buildings up and ready to move in by Wednesday, followed by the Officers' Barracks and then the Galley. It will be nice to tear down the tents and get this place looking like a proper fort. The typical SET-Hut is 20’ X 40’ with a gable roof. The Headquarters building is three SET-Huts laid out in a T. The hospital and chapel are two SET-Huts laid end to end. Each barracks will be a single SET-Hut.

We also managed to build a riding platform for the Triceratops that Sergeant Garcia has named Spot. (If Garcia ever manages to get the thing to roll over and fetch, I'll have to take to the bottle). It seems to work quite well as Garcia and three others took a mounted patrol southward toward the swamps. He managed to find tar pits roughly five miles south at the edge of the swamp. It is amazing how much you can see of the terrain when you are fifteen feet off of the ground.

The officers and a squad left this morning on the Pachysaurs headed to Camp Trafalgar; Mr. Griggs said he will keep us informed via carrier pigeon on their daily progress to make sure everything is well. I still think it will take longer than a week to get there and back.

Today RSM Taggart and I checked on Private Allen today. You may recall he was wounded yesterday when a bloodye frog bit him. Unfortunately, he is not doing well and has the fever. After we left his tent, Doc Armstrong told us he is not expecting Allen to recover, as the swelling has worsened and the acid has created impurities in his blood system. I hope Doc is wrong, but as we left Father Flannigan was returning to the tent to give Last Rites to the poor lad.

Well it is once more time to end, we'll see what happens in the morning but my prayers go out to Private Allen and his family.

2 comments:

Eli Arndt said...

Another cool glimpse int othe day to day on Mars. I really like how you are creating a sense of character in these brief little blurbs.

J Womack, Esq. said...

The Tales from Venus, or Diary of a Texican Marine on Venus, or whatever, are the creation of my other contributor, Jim, aka RSM Cox.

I do a little editing work for continuity, spelling and grammar.

So the praise for the hard work goes to him - good stuff, Chief! (Jim's in the Seabees, and... well, you get the idea...)

-J