Perils of a Merpony: A Ponies after People Tale

by kitten_girl86

July 20th / July 23rd, 2015

July 20th, 2015 ~Kathryn

Dear Journal,

Having gone back over all of our previous entries, it makes me proud at how far we’ve come.

That being said... I have noticed a few things. We still have not named those two parking lot island apple trees; one is a Red Delicious and the other is a Gala. They’ve just been referred to ‘Kathy’s Trees’.

I haven’t come up with a reliable solution for the gate crossing. I did consider a ramp overpass but none of us can build anything like that. And then some random idea about electronics, pressure pads and motors? I'm not sure...

Lil' Mac was welcomed by everyone and everything in our community. He’s such a sweet little thing; even Raea tolerates his hysterical antics; especially when he tries to climb up on her and snuggle in her thick fur! It is so freaking adorable!!

He goes outside for a litter box and mostly stays within U1 as there is so much room to explore. Jazz found herself going around and closing off the bigger areas so that Lil' Mac did not get lost.

At one point, he had somehow gotten into my RV via Raea’s doggy door and had made a mess of a roll of paper towel I had left on a counter far above the ground; no idea how he got up there in the first place!

Uhh... yeah...

We three merponies are still splitting our time between BC and CC; Sarah and Patrick would come and help with the land chores in the mornings but then go back to BC either before or after lunch. I’d more often than not, stay on land in my RV.

More of the same status quo and all that... –Kathryn

July 23rd, 2015 ~Patrick

Dear Journal,

Son of a gun! They did it! Kathryn and Dr Jamie figured out a solution to the annoying cattle fence!

Kathryn had written that last entry and had kept quiet, thinking hard at the problem. At one point, Sarah had found her, sitting on her haunches, just staring at that section of the fence, I guess hoping for inspiration to come to her.

And it did, eventually.

She realized, ultimately, that all we needed were two sets of sliding gates like the ones found in some gated communities or rich homes! But instead of using keypads, keys or remote clickers, it was Dr Jamie’s idea to use pressure pads on the outside to activate them.

Turns out, he knows a few things about these systems so he said that if he got his hooves on some, he could rig them to open and close in a sequence with plenty of time for a pony or two to pass easily between them. OR he said he could have two sets of pads: one for open, one for close. Pony entering the pass presses the open and crosses; they wait until everyone who wants to pass, to pass and then press the close. The cows and chickens were smart enough to not escape.

“And the best part is... if I can get electric motors, all of this can run on solar power!” Dr Jamie said excitedly.

Dr Jamie and Kathryn had taken her pick up out to look for a company that sold that kind of kit. Thanks to a phone book at the U1, they found one a measly half hour drive from the campus!

I'm gonna hoof this over to Kathryn so she can finish telling it herself. –Patty

* * *

Hey there. It’s Kathryn!

So yeah, I, Raea and Dr Jamie took the pickup truck out yesterday to find the sliding gate warehouse and scavenge everything we needed to put it all together.

I was in a mood that trip so instead of my normal play list, I played my Christmas play list. Dr Jamie merely raised a curious eyebrow to my choice but he didn’t say anything about it.

Getting into the store was not all that hard; Earth ponies can buck something fierce! I let Dr Jamie do this door as he needed the practice. The door broke off the hinges and flew across the show room.

We found the gate kits in the show room; most of the gates were too fancy for what we wanted. After some consideration, I realized that I could still use the construction fences if I did the same sand & craft glue trick I used in making Patrick’s wheels. So we also grabbed the kits that fit the closest to those fences as well as extra tracks, connectors and other accessories.

Dr Jamie had decided to rig up a couple of emergency, fail-safe buttons for in case the fences got left open for whatever reason. He explained that those buttons would be powered by separate solar panels from the rest of the system.

Reading the instructions, I quickly realized that we’d need trenches dug for the tracks. I grabbed my portable radio and called the U1; spoke with Jazz and I explained to her how big to dig the trenches so that they’d be done for when we got back. I also told them that we'd need a few more things so we could make the fences weight the amount needed and that they might have to scavenge to find the stuff.

Loading up the kit and accessories was really easy. I was actually glad that we decided to not use any of the fences there. I took a few pictures with my music tablet to show the others when we got back.

On the way back, we had found another gas station that I was able to top off the truck with and add the stabilizers. {All of our vehicles come with a siphoning kit, either the hose or genny version; the school bus is the only with the genny and it’s mainly for refilling gas cans as well as my spare big rig tank that is bolted to the inside back of the bus. Most of that fuel gets used for the Coast Guard diesel boats, the U1 and my RV gennies.}

We also found a dollar store and Staples, liberating every bottle of craft glue we could find in both. We also grabbed all of the water bottles we could find.

Next, we had to find a specialty store that had the pressure pads to use on the outside of the fence. Dr Jamie assured me that he could program them to activate with a certain pressure range and he’d take measurements from each of us to get the average.

Returning to the Campus, we drove the truck all the way to the Convention Center. Patrick was using a pick ax to dig up the pavement while Griz used a shovel to remove the broken pieces. Sarah was speaking with the cows out in the field while Jazz loitered on the outside of the fence and she approached the truck as I turned it around.

Two pieces of fencing had been left off to the side as well as a few of the champagne trophy buckets (likely taken from hotels) full of sand, an electric drill and a large funnel.

Leaving Patrick and Griz to the trenches, I got Sarah to use her levitation to hold the drill running while I made the two holes in the top of each fence piece. Then I had her hold the funnels while Dr Jamie and Jazz poured the sand into them. Every once in a while, I’d have them stop so I could shake the fence and add some glue. That repeated multiple times until the fence pipes were very nearly filled. We left the top of the fence’s pipe empty as the proper weight had already been achieved. We left the first leaning against the wall while we filled the second.

Sadly, it was getting really late and dark by the time we finished both so the cows were led back into the building and a temporary fence was placed over the space in the walkway. Leaving the holes in the fence pieces open had let them dry overnight.

Last night, Sarah, Dr Jamie and I got all of the electronics for the fences hooked up and figured out. Dr Jamie and Sarah did most of the work with his knowledge and her magic. I was just there to help pass pieces. LOL :P

But something else really cool happened. While they were working on the electronics, Sarah commented to Dr Jamie how it was surprising that he knew all about this kind of thing despite being a doctor. "You were raised on a dairy farm; grew up to be a doctor... what else is there to the great Doctor Jamie?" Sarah asked. As he started listing off all of his hobbies and interests, his cutie mark started to glow. "I enjoyed a round of golf or two on a Sunday afternoon... or working on my motorcycle... or sailing on my yacht.... what?" he stammered to a stop when he realized that we were staring. He was surprised to see the mark glow a moment before going out.

"So now we know what Dr Jamie's cutie mark means," I said. "He's a NERDY Know-it-all!" I burst out laughing, Sarah following suit. His mark glowed again for a few heartbeats as he came to the same realization and then he laughed too.

Today, we got all of the gate stuff installed. Dr Jamie and Sarah did most of the work while I took over Sarah’s chores in the chicken’s office. The cows were eager to get back out into the grass but I let them have at a bale of hay instead. Griz and Jazz had previously gone back to the farm with both mine and the farm trucks attached to the biggest trailers we could find so they could bring back every bale of hay. We filled, to the ceiling, a second conference room with them all!

The hay had a strangely sweet smell to it and out of curiosity; I chewed on a piece of it. It was like eating a straw piece of Shredded Wheat. Not horrible... probably just get boring after a while.

Long story short, the fences got installed and all electronics hooked up. The main system was on a new set of solar panels that Dr Jamie and I put on the roof of the Convention Center. We had also set up the emergency system that would kick in not only the backup lights in the hallways but also automatically make sure the gates were closed.

Dr Jamie had used one of the laptops and a scale from a nurses’ station to figure out the pressure average for the activation pads.

When everything was ready, we brought the cows outside of the fencing to watch and listen. The calves were spooked by the whirling of the motors and the clash of the fence but none of the others seemed scared. Next, they walked through the pathway inside while we took turns activating the fences. When none of them, including the calves, were spooked, we deemed the fences done!

Moments later, I used the pressure pads to cross the pathway and head over to the farm fields. Griz came with me but she simply flew over the fence. Sarah went back to her chores with the chickens; Dr Jamie offered to get dinner started while Jazz said she’d check on the orchards and Patrick wanted to check on BC’s crops. “Bring back some seaweed, Patrick! I'm hankering for some ocean salad tonight,” I had called back over my shoulder.

I had put in some more Earth pony into the fields; the corn is coming slowly while the potatoes are much faster. I figure that if Dr Jamie and I can keep putting in magic into these fields, we can expect a half-harvest very soon; half-harvest means everything that grows fast. The stuff that is slower is the other half.

When I came back to U1 after that, I tried offering to help Dr Jamie but he insisted I rest so that’s why I found time to do my entry. –Kathryn