28 NOV 2016

(( OOC Note: BGM ))

Well look at me writing a new diary entry in under a year. Things are already on the up and up.

I’m officially(ish) back to work at Sam ‘n Ella’s, had a chance meeting with Lettie who it sounds like took over my position after I left. She’s been doing a fine job. Place is in decent shape and the changes that have been made in the time I was gone are really nice. Arklay’s so effin’ peaceful these days. Every so often the Infected shuffle in from across the bridge but never like they used to. While I heard about a bit of personal conflict shit happening in town over the last week I haven’t really seen anything personally. Town’s doing really well for the complete lack of a security force; I always figured it might so it’s nice to see that in practice.

I also picked up kind of a part-time gig with the Arklay Express. Package service and post, one of those small things you never really think about until it’s right in front of you. There are a lot of details yet to be worked out regarding how shit’s gonna play out, but it should be pretty interesting. As I said in my previous entry, it’s a good opportunity to get out there and, y’know, actually talk to people and actually go places and not just hole up at the diner like some kinda weird-ass hermit chef. Not to say those days weren’t enjoyable, but you know it goes.

I went and grabbed my seabag from the hospital shelter to store it in the apartment above the Express. I s’pose unless I end up taking another bullet I haven’t got too much reason to go back that way — fingers crossed on that one. At any rate I unpacked all my shit just to take stock of exactly what I brought with me from the mainland. I wasn’t exactly expecting to land in Arklay for more than a day or two but, eh… Settling down for a bit seems nice. I’ll be completely honest, I’d kind of missed the whole notion of a town of folk all working toward the same ends, or at least not having to get ahold of everything I need by myself.

So, a list of all my shit:

3x cartons American Spirit Cigarettes, Perique Blend (Black, 26 packs remaining)
1x Kitchen shoes
1x Tactical Trousers, Black
1x Camouflage BDU Trousers, Woodland
1x “Tactical” Hoodie, Navy Blue
1x Slim Leather Jacket
1x Universal Firearms Cleaning Kit (rod style)
5x 40-round Magpul PMAGs, spraypainted OD green
1x TMS Tactical 3x Magnifier (with flip mount)
2Qt Cambro container Diamond Kosher Salt (cater-wrapped)
1qt deli Neutral Oil (cater-wrapped)
1qt deli Apple Cider vinegar (cater-wrapped)
1pt deli Black Peppercorns (cater-wrapped)
1pt deli Cumin Seed (cater-wrapped)
1pt deli Dried Thyme (cater-wrapped)
1pt deli Dried Oregano (cater-wrapped)
1qt EcoLabs Multi-Quat Sanitizer Concentrate (cater-wrapped and tagged)
12″ GetReddi Foodservice Wrap (2,000 ft.)
40-stack of 12×8″ sous-vide bags
Cuisinart Vacuum Sealer
2 boxes retractable-point Sharpie markers
3 rolls 3M Blue Painter’s Tape
1 box Skintex Black Nitrile Gloves, Large
1x 8″ Sautee Pan, Black Steel
1x 6″ Sauce Pot
1x SOG SEAL Knife, Black (Model S37-N)
Shapton Knife Sharpening Stones
Sharpening Stone Holder

It’s not everything I own. Still have the clothes on my back, and a backpack and messenger bag with a few other odds and ends. And certainly there’s a lot I’ll still need to get ahold of in the day-to-day; taking care of hygiene on the mainland is easy, since you just poke into any abandoned house and there’ll be things like soap and toothpaste at the ready. I had a bath over at the Dollhouse for the first time in about a thousand years; kinda forgot how nice it felt to be all cleaned up. There’s a… I mean, it’s this idea that I have where between culture and habit we came to think of the smell of a human as “body odor.” Which, I mean, yeah, if someone’s dirty as fuck they’re nasty. But without soaps and shampoos and perfumes and whatever, this is how we smelled. Back in the ancient times there’d be some comfort to it: if you smelled that range of smells you knew other humans were around, and that would be reassuring. It’s been two years since the outbreaks but that mentality hasn’t really set in yet – people still wanna smell like lilacs and ‘fresh rain,’ whatever the fuck that is.

One thing I’d really like to kick off at the diner is some kinda consistent baking stuff. AP flour’s easy as fuck to find on the mainland, in good shape too. I’ll need some kinda leavener – dried yeast, baking powder, that shit – and figure out the fat situation as butter’s one thing that legit did not survive the end of days. So much of modern cuisine was based on butter, to the point where I actually loved freakin’ people out telling them how much butter’s used in professional kitchens. I haven’t yet crossed paths with Kali but I’ll be sure to get the fill on our starch situation from her or Scarlett.

There’s one other big deal that’s going on with that person I mentioned last time, but… Things have been moving so fast I’ll admit I’m not quite sure exactly what it /is/. More on that later, I s’pose.

Suffer well,

– Jason

(( OOC Note: The photo’s not an exactly accurate representation of what’s listed, but for the most part it’s all there. I don’t have three cartons of cigarettes lying around, for instance. Just a fun little diversion for the morning of my day off – and a way of proving beyond a reasonable doubt just how much semi-useless crap one can shove into a military seabag. 😛 ))