Mitheral

Bless Your Heart [1 x 1]

Well, I have no family or I wouldn't have even become a trucker. And very much agreed about bad drivers. I ran the northeast US for 6 years straight and got sick of it. The company I am with now is based out of Minneapolis and runs mostly midwest. So it is just easier to take my time off up north.

Already copied your post. About to roll out on a 10 hour drive. (Yes, I stop once to fuel, plus a 30 min mandatory break along the way. Not to be crude, but my eyeballs would be floating if I tried to drive straight through, LOL.)

This load ends in Huntsville, AL. Pretty sure I have internet there, but wanted to say something just in case.

I am trying to work Xavier up to telling Victoria he is from the future. That light thing he has also serves as a laser pointer, and can even manage a brief use as a holdout laser pistol. It's best use would be to effect a jail breakout. He will normally keep the thing inactive, to prevent someone from activating it by accident - even as a light.

Bless Your Heart [1 x 1]

Ni worries. Loving the RP so far. Also a heads up. I am driving to an area where I am not 100% sure I'll have internet. If I see a post before I get there (about 18-20 hours from now), I'll try to copy it to offline and write up a response while I am there to post as soon as I get out of that area. Pretty sure I'll have internet, but wanted to say something just in case.

To explain I drive an 18 wheeler these days. I use a mobile wifi hub. Still a few areas out there with no internet service. But this is why I had extra time to write for a couple days. I was doing store deliveries where I had 1-2 hours to sit while I was unloaded ... drive to next store ... and another 1-2 hours ... And it is also why I have no commute time to work. I drive OTR. I sleep in the truck. I go home 1-2 times a year.

Bless Your Heart [1 x 1]

Victoria’s questions plagued Xavier. He accepted them grimly, then shook his head. “No, I didn’t hit my head. But I did fall from about 50 meters or 150 feet. I went in feet first, but not quite as vertical as I would have liked. So yes, my head and neck got a bit of a jolt. But that isn’t why I don’t know those words. I was afraid of this. That’s why I didn’t ask in front of your father. Victoria, I have no idea what to ask for in the way of food. I did visit Atlanta and had something called grits. Tasted like grit too - like slightly flavored sand I could barely choke down. For something so popular I figure they can’t have been cooked right.” (They were instant with not enough water added.)

He looked down at the coins and frowned. Then he began flipped them over his fingers and doing sleight of hand tricks. “I could have made it back to the house. But as you wish. But I am going to ask for your suggestions. And maybe we can sit down and talk a little in private. But about that card game back there, I was an orphan at 5. I was self taught up until that age. But by then my education level was comparable to someone ready for a university today in mathematics and physics. By 15 I surpassed my instructors - mostly on my own after being expelled for cheating. I didn’t cheat, but noone would believe a street rat like me could do better than all the perfect children.”

Xavier was silent for a moment. He needed someone to confide in, to understand him for who he was. “I am going to show you something you can’t tell anyone else about.” He reached into his pocket and this time withdrew a small tube about half the length of a Bic pen. It was made of a strange material that resembled a blue ivory. On the tip was a clear glass like bubble. Xavier cupped his hand around it and the clear bubble lit up. It was a light bulb - like Thomas Edison’s, but impossibly small. It turned of and he put it away. “I’ll show you again later, not here in public.”

When they got to the cafe, Xavier tried to seat them where he could speak without being overheard. While the waiter was there he spoke politely. “Just something to hold me off until later. I don’t want to spoil my appetite. Is it too late for breakfast?” He wanted to try grits made old fashioned, not as a tourist thing. But by this time it was past noon. “Have you ever heard of peanut butter?” Noone had. The patent wouldn’t come out until later in the century. “Coffee? With cream and sugar. I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of caramel macchiato? No? Hmph, I’ll probably never find it again. Regular cream and sugar is fine.” He wanted to watch them make it, but decided against it. His eyes darted to Victoria’s as he held his breath, then he shook his head. “Uhm, Victoria, any suggestions? I figure you know what is good here better than I would.” She would also be more likely to know the prices.

Once the waitress had their order and had walked off, Xavier leaned closer. “You know, we just bought three suits for about the price of a cup of coffee where I am from.” He withdrew a little, but kept his voice low. “I have never seen a horse before today except as a picture. You find this odd. But I really don’t know what those words mean.”

Bless Your Heart [1 x 1]

Got a little extra time this morning. Going to edit and flesh my post out a bit.

Bless Your Heart [1 x 1]

So many unfamiliar words. Penmanship? Coal? Quilt? He strained to recall the order different forms of energy had been developed. The main one he recalled from this era was internal combustion. Steam must have been the predecessor. He had seen something about it in a museum once.

He nodded and mumbled. “Right … boil 18.02 grams of water to produce 22.414 liters of steam. It would produce a terrific amount of energy in the work of pressure. Use the pressure in a controlled chamber to convert it to mechanical force. Piston. Expansion into the piston chamber would allow the steam to cool partially. I sort of get the idea.”

When Mr Livingston pulled out money and handed it to Victoria, Xavier looked distinctly uncomfortable. He hated the idea of borrowing. But he remained silent. In truth he was fully clothed. His needs for clothing was a convention of the times. And he promised himself to make up for the costs by working hard.

The mention of the piano made his face light up an he failed to suppress a grin. “Mind if I check to see how badly out of tune it is? Won’t take but a second. Need to see it it needs any new strings. If it has been too long, some may be ready to break.”

He found the piano was at least dusted and not too badly scratched. It took him mere seconds to realize why the piano hadn’t been played in so long. Victoria’s mother was missing. He kept his silence for a moment. Then he looked back at Victoria seriously then turned and spoke to the piano. “Well, then m’lady. It would seem that you have been neglected for a time. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Dr Xavier Thomas. Let’s have a look at you shall we? Say ahh.” He was speaking to the piano as if it were alive.

His fingers started running over the keys from the low end playing every single note in rapid succession. He made an awful face. “Oh dear. Laryngitis. You poor thing. I’ll have to get you fixed right up just as soon as I get back. Let’s see if anything needs replacing.” He made access to the strings and ran his fingers over them lightly for a few minutes. “I was afraid of that. But I can fix this. But I’ll have to do it later as I need to give it my full attention.” He closed the piano back up and patted it gently.

He turned to Victoria. “For now, you have my undivided attention,” he glanced round impishly, “but we better hurry before something else in this toyshop distracts me...:”

He kept his questions until much later, after they had picked out some clothing. He had had no idea of his size or measurements - or rather he asked what units of measure they were accustomed to. And as usual he was constantly distracted by everything like a child who had never ventured into the world. But he kept his mouth shut mostly unless asked directly. He liked to smell things. A single sheet of paper seemed like a miracle to him. He called it ‘real’ paper. He stopped and stared at a horse and buggy as if he had never seen one and almost wandered off to inspect it. He studied people on the streets watching every mannerism. He muscles seemed to twitch as if being on the verge of mimicking them.

They passed by a card con game - one of those “guess where the lady is” razzle dazzle one. You know, with three cards, one usually a queen. Then the scam artist swaps them about so fast your eyes can’t follow. Xavier actually grinned as if, for once, he knew how the game was played. As they watched he shook his head each time the player was wrong. The guy running the con looked up at Xavier with annoyance. But Xavier knew better than to get involved and started to lead lead Victoria away. The player had also noticed Xavier’s shake of his head.

“Mister!” the loser called out. “You think you could do better?”

Xavier closed his eyes and reached into one pocket of his duster. Out came his deck of cards. He began cutting and fanning the deck, at first with one hand, then two. Then he pulled off a number of sleights. “Why yes I do. Card on the far left. That’s the queen. I used to play the game as a kid. I know how to win and how to cheat. I used to take men like you for just enough to get by, enough to buy food. His game is actually pretty honest, just enough deftness of his hands to make the game a matter of almost random chance for you. One in three makes for good house odds for him.” He nodded his head to the dealer. The man turned over the queen. Xavier smiled. “See, honest game.”

“I might actually play and let the lady make a few guesses, but I’ve had some troubles recently as you can tell from my manner of dress. So I am off to deal with that little problem first.”

Once out on the streets and alone with Victoria, Xavier apologized, then was back to asking questions. “What is penmanship? And coal and quilt? I’m sorry, but some of your words are unfamiliar.” His stomach growled as if to remind him how long it had been since he had eaten.

Bless Your Heart [1 x 1]

Some accumulated research I have done for the era costs / wages. (I did a western RP set in 1871. I also have a similar file for 1939 for a pre WWII time traveller RP similar to this one.)

docs.google.com/document/d/1yxX-E1RmY…

Bless Your Heart [1 x 1]

Did a tiny edit. Meant to have Xavier volunteer to start on the time pieces.

Bless Your Heart [1 x 1]

sorry, kind of a short post for me. But if I continued I'd just be rambling.

Bless Your Heart [1 x 1]

As they passed through the various items in states of assembly and disrepair Xavier was like a kid in a candy shop. He almost had to be pried away from them, a silly boyish grin on his face. They were primitive, quaint, but he had always loved timepieces and methods of measuring space.

Xavier tried to gauge the handshake and return it in equal measure. It took a few seconds for the accented speech to sink in. “Suitor?” He flushed a little. It was hardly a disagreeable thought, but he hadn’t seriously considered it. Sure he had eased a little. He shook his head to get past that thought and into the present. “From out West. Xavier Thomas. And my specialties are theoretical physics and mathematics.” He recalled that an understanding of light was the big concern to the world of physics and shortly after the middle of the 19th century spectroscopy became a buzzword to the public. “I am an expert in the field of spectroscopy. But I doubt that would help here.

“I did study basic vector analysis and mechanics when I was fff … younger.” He paused and cleared his throat. “But only theory, very little practical use. Still, you would find me a very quick study. I read extremely fast and have a perfect memory. Most timepieces are mainly a matter gear ratios, torque resistance, or gravity. Oh, water clocks rely on flow rates which rely on fluid dynamics and viscosity.

“I did look over some of the pieces as we entered. Some look like they just require cleaning. Some had some broken teeth on gears that would need to be rebuilt or replaced.” He looked thoughtful. "One piece looked okay. Either you have already fixed it, or if it isn’t keeping proper time it has a bad spring. The other things in the room … I am afraid I’ll have a bit to learn. But I could start on the timepieces.

“Some clothes , a place to sleep, and food would be plenty. I could try to find some extra work as a pianist in town to get the rest and pay you back for the clothing. Toward that end I might need to borrow a screwdriver and a small pair of pliers in case pianos need tuning.

“I just thought of something. Is there a music store in town? One that sells pianos?” He didn’t wait for a response. “And … what exactly is that thing over there?” He indicated the steam engine. He found it fascination. True it could never compete with power sources of the 24th century. It was an antique.

Bless Your Heart [1 x 1]

long work day. Time for me to get to writing at last.