Awake.

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I went to bed early enough, I thought, to get up in the night... do watering... open thing up.  Not a chance.  Though I may suspect the problem.  The problem has taken care of itself.  I can't keep hard candies, for diabetes, around.  When in zombie mode, I will eat them.  All.  So... yea.  And, yes, the diabetic spike, I think, is what I will have to work my way through.

I checked outside.  It is 72 at the moment, but warming.  Still, it was 77/78 downstairs.  So I opened half the windows, and the front door, and am letting it rip.  I've got, maybe, an half hour to hour and an half before I'll have to close up shop.  It is what it is.

Dreams, last night.  One of them was the US being hit by nukes.  Two.  I was with family, not my dearest.  But... it was what it was.  We went looking for foods, first, for we were far from home.  They sent two of us into one store, and they went to another.  Our group was of fifteen, so we needed a lot of food.  Chuck roasts seemed to be favored, and other meats as available.

There were some, we got them.  But the rest of the store had, mostly, been stripped.  After getting our bag, some people in there seemed a bit perturbed.  Weren't sure if they were about to become a problem, so the two of us in this store, grabbed our goods, and headed to the entrance.  Didn't want to go out, but wanted to be able to get out.  Tenuous.  Didn't have to pay, nobody but customers there.  Though, as mentioned, all of the shelves were stripped, and most of them were gone.  It was like being in a large gymnasium.  The meats had been in cases, which were still refrigerated.  Electricity was still on where we were.

The other group showed up shortly.  They had been successful as well.  Because of my operation, and that I had managed it well, using size and whatelse, a new appreciation was gained and I became slightly more accepted.  The cousin that was with me was white as a ghost.  He had been frightened by the near confrontation, and would have given up the food.  He thanked me for taking charge and handling it, and without bloodshed.

They thought to leave a few slabs of meat.  I vetoed the idea.  They would just ensure bloodshed.  The two groups in there were opposed, and would fight over it, rather than split it.  Thankfully, they believed me.  Some didn't want to believe, but those in charge... understood.  It's a whole new world.  And offering each a bit of meat would just have them demanding more or becoming violent.  New world?  Old world become honest?  Or.... just... a real world facing starvation.

We kept going.  With two vehicles, a lot of people, several firearms, we were less of an easy target.  We did see vehicles, stripped, suitcases looted, blood splatters.  It was going bad fast.  We ended up at a small ranch someone knew about.  Perhaps they knew the owners.  We approached cautiously.  Everything seemed okay, but the cattle seemed a bit skinny.

We looked around, but found no one, and no signs of violence, thankfully.  Perhaps they just skipped.  Though, most likely, violence just happened somewhere else, or they were chased off?  The cattle hadn't been fed for days.  Not sure how long.  Their water was automated, and that still worked.  So... we dug in and started feeding the animals.  Though, of course, if the owners returned, we would hand it back... just ask to be part of the crew, for part of the cut, and food.  They... never returned.

No good going back.  We got news that the home area was very radioactive.  Most got out, before it all settled in from the winds and over time.  But there was nothing to go back to, and no one.  So, we... settled in, and became ranchers.  We inherited a grand herd, and did our best.  Got pretty good.  And, when things settled, we began trading meats for veggies, help at times, upkeep we didn't know how to do, and such.  Always had to be on guard though.

Life had become a steady ready alert type of thing.  Someone in the distance, a shadow that seemed wrong, always alert.  Some people liked the wildness, barbarism.  And would rather steal, murder, rape, than just do it right.  People think the old lawmen were brave.  And, sometimes, they could be.  But, as it became was as it was.  He would only go out, mostly, if it was someone he knew, and he had a lot of backing.  You, really, are your own law.  Makes me wonder how they arrested almost anyone, back then.  They really weren't brave, or as brave, or like the type of braveness, they portend, in the old Westerns.  Unless the sheriff was a bit psycho, and lucky, if he lasted.  But that could well be it's own problem.  

Other dreams.  The rest were shorter, and have passed from easy memory.  A long sleep, too.  From... 15:00 to 08:00?  Something like it... seventeen hours?  Yikes.  I had spells, when I woke lightly, tried to get up.  Couldn't.  Midnight, and 03:00, and 05:00... maybe other times.  Could. not. wake. up!  Ugh.

A shower.  Breakfast, or coffee at least.  The rest?  Depends on how cool it can get before I can try to start.  Later.