Tosra & The Auction, day 38

Reading signs

Jalida knocks and inform us that it is half an hour to breakfast, which practically means 15 to 45 minutes. They havn't really learned to determine the time something takes, but they are getting better. I have to build pendulum clock this winter so everyone can get their times more accurate. Since the guards got my wristwatch in their day room, they can at least let others know the time, which is practical to for example, always have supper at 1800 which makes it possible to plan for it. A couple of pendulum clocks is a good idea, one of which should be in the staff room by the kitchen.

Iselin brings up that Kari talked to her about the eastern secret room. That Kari made Jane reveal more than she planned, a bit of what Kari experienced and how she loves it, and that it will not be something for all of them. But that Kari wants to take it further and it requires a place that is secret, and the eastern room has no purpose. Iselin also wants to experience it at some point, but thinks it sounds weird to pretend to be completely controlled and used as a sex toy for someone you trust.

I try to explain what I know and how some people are attracted to it. How some actually try to live their lives constantly like this in Midgård on different levels and fetishes, both men and women, which almost shocks her more. That men want to be treated that way by women. And Even though it's not something I really love, Kari enjoys it so much, so I will try to give her the best experience I can give her, because when she enjoys it, it makes me happy and I enjoy it. It's so damn satisfying to be able to make them contented and blissed out lumps.

Iselin gets a very entertaining blank expression when I play one of her favourite songs - Rihanna's 'S&M' - and really translate and explain the lyrics for her.

I make sure they install the water pumps so that Unn's house and the ships crew's house are completely finished.

We take a walk to the harbor and talk a bit with Asta. We stand there and look out over the harbor and see the workers who are extending the pile bridge over to the other side where it has started to be a simpler stone pier that will connect to the bridge. We are looking forward to being able to walk and ride over to the big island, and at least I think it feels a bit isolated to just be here on this island. I have also planned to have simpler bridges to Orusingen. I've even thought connecting to Tosra in the south via the large rocky island and some kind of ferry for the last couple of hundred meters to Tosra, but it feels like an bad idea. We don't have much reason to visit Tosra, and I don't want this island to become the usual route everyone takes between the islands.

I ask Asta to make signs for the Eagle with the ship's name just as I told the merchant about the ship now called Nostromo. We discuss the Merchant's and Navigator's upcoming visit, that she will try and teach them how to use a sextant and how to measure a town's latitude for a couple of days etc, and also how a north arrow is best used. In addition to letting each Merchant and Navigator have a north arrow, which will be ten, I will make another fifty to sell at far away places.

We gather the crew and together with Asta I tell that the houses in the harbor are theirs to use when the Eagle is anchored here. Asta together with Lifa in one and the four men in the other, and the houses are already furnished and ready for use. They are free to complement with furniture and other things. We have a simple ceremony where the ship's crew is shown to the houses, and they are all so pleased and thank me. That Asta waited to move in until they all could do it raises their respect for her, and should help bond their group even more. They all cheer for me as we leave them with their new homes.

We are basically done with most of the Auction stuff, and have done most on other things such as door locks and water pumps, so I and partly Iselin spend more time on my machines which are more interesting. I have made a lot of plans for machines in my workshop, and in addition to the finished bench shears and the bending machine, I have now 'finished' the steam engine and the line shaft system. Ciara has finished balancing and cleaning up the parts for the scroll saw and is balancing some parts for the simple lathe, so Iselin and I assemble the scroll saw. They picked up the saw blades from Olafr last time in Borgarsandr, and the saw blades have slightly coarser teeth than I had hoped for, but that is a future problem. I plan to make machines that can do it better and finer, and hopefully with teeth hardened with electric current. I can harden the teeth one by one in a simple jig, but something more automated will make it much faster and better.

The work takes time, and Kari and Jane is looking on from the couch and watch as we methodically finish part by part, and get closer to the finished machine. Even without the work table being in place, and without the saw being connected to the belt drive, it is quite clear how it will work.

There is a small break when the new reinforced concrete sink arrive and is installed in the kitchen. I'm surprised how good it is considering that is the first reinforced concrete thing they have made, and the template is handmade in wood. It's feels a bit weird that the faucet doesn't have a movable arm, so that will be manufactured, but the faucet is mounted on the wall, so no real problem to slightly move the bench a little to the side in the future, so the faucet is centered between the two sinks. Jane agrees that it looks much more modern, and the rest thinks it seems quite practical and easy to keep clean, and they like the storage space underneath. They will test for a few months, but there is a good chance that we have a new thing to upgrade some other buildings with, because most kitchens doesn't need a permanent kitchen bench with sinks to be this long. The Academy will probably need two just in the kitchen.

In the afternoon we are ready to start up the steam engine and try the saw, but I force everyone with long hair to tie up their hair with a piece of cloth, and warn everyone about the dangers of fingers and a moving saw blade. For now, I am the only one allowed to use the machine, and every person who wants to use it must be trained by me in use and safety.

When the line shaft has reached operating revolutions, I step on the pedal. A linkage arm moves the leather drive belt from the idle wheel to the drive wheel, and the saw begins to oscillate up and down. In this mode the angle causes the saw blade to have a slight forward movement as the blade moves down. It's not much but it should be better for sawing in thin pieces. The other mode is vertical, as the blade is more vertical. When I release the pedal, the leather strap is moved back to the free rotating idle wheel and the saw stops, although the belt drive continues to rotate. I will set up some protection for the leather belt in the future, but when more machines are made and installed, it will be hard enough to access the leather belts for maintenance etc, so I can probably manage with simple protection where people and fingers can be. Krosp the cat already stays away from my workshop, and as he loves to lie in his cat tree, he usually give my workshop suspicious glances as soon as the door opens.

I try the saw on scrap pieces of wood and the saw works very good. The work table with its adjustable support also works well. Soon the whole household is gathered in the room or in the doorway, and I show how the machine saws in wood, copper and brass, and Bodil has immediately fallen in love with the machine. It's so much easier and faster than using hand tools. One of the first things I make is a piece of wood to push things closer to the saw blade. I clean the blade and table, and empty the collector box underneath, and then ask the staff to fetch a cleaned bone and a sausage. Elvira quickly returns with it, but does not dare to go into the workshop to hand it to me, and it goes from hand to hand.

I restart the saw, and show them why fingers should stay away from the saw blade. A sufficiently graphic demonstration.

Before supper, Jane has hand-painted good warning signs that are attached to machines and the steam engine, as well as a few more signs for power etc. The warnings are taken seriously, and I explain each meaning and that the blue on white is what you should do, like use eye or hearing protection and so on and I will use a blue circle. Red on white are warnings with black icons and text what not to do, and usually in a red triangle or a red crossed over circle. Black on yellow is just warnings, but can be very dangerous. Jane take knowing stuff like this as obvious, but signs like this havn't existed in this world before. There is also a short lesson in red-green color blindness, which snowballs as color blindness is news to most.

The staff who have almost no reason to visit my workshop have been told to stay away, and no one complains. Jalida would probably have preferred to avoid cleaning the floor inside, but she is less afraid than Elvira.