I thought about that for a few beats, decided even if he was kidding I liked his sense of humor, and replied "So what kind of mileage are you getting with Christian blood?" He didn't even have to stop and think about it before he replied. "It depends. I cut it with ten percent mead because I am a Green kind of guy in my own way. The only problem is that finding mead is only slightly harder than finding a real Christian around here.
I found myself agreeing with that. It made perfect sense to me. So I told him "I am surprised that you have found any."
He chuckled "You mean Christians or mead?"
I thought about that. He had a point. "I would go with Christians."
He grinned, and slowed down to weave in between a couple of old cars that had narrowed the lane to one, then said "Nah. I've had it worse. Try running Catholics. Nothing but backfires and guilt. You want high octane...you got to go with the Amish. Too bad they lasted as long as the squirrels did."
Thanks for the noon-time laughs! That's some hilariously dark humor.
ReplyDeletePoor Amish. They wanted to keep to the old ways so bad that they forgot that one of the old ways was peasants getting sacked and pillaged.
ReplyDelete@fro
"Nothing but backfires and guilt." classic.
ReplyDeleteThor is a bit more laid-back than I would have imagined.
Loving it - keep up the good work.
shaw
>peasants getting sacked and pillaged
ReplyDeleteI have been reading Barabara Tuchman's history of 14th century Europe. The Black Death killed half the population, but what everybody talked about was how the peasants couldn't get any crops in to pay taxes becuase of all the sacking and pillaging by roving bands of English ronin!
The Tuchman book is excellent. It's been years since I read it, but it stuck with me. The roving mercenaries were a plague all by themselves.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't Irish blood be the best fuel due to the ethanol content? ;)
Reading this just hearkens back to another time and another Sci-Fi story. I can hear it how. Soylent Green is people!!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that is another special blend of fuel Thursday is running in the old Goat?
-LA Confederate
Here's an alternative fuel source for areas that have consumed their supply of fossil fuels but still have combustible materials. All you need is the components and good ol American ingenuity.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_gas_generator
-LA Confederate
Nova,can I take credit for suggesting mead as an additive,or is this just diseased minds thinking alike?
ReplyDeleteTom,
ReplyDeleteThat was you. I just changed a tiny bit. Just like the entire story changed based on some other god being in town and doing it with humor. LA gave me the idea about diesels which led to blood.
This is your story as much as mine.
I imagine if twinkies can burn like torches, the average fodder-eating American would be rather combustible.
ReplyDeleteThe Tuchman book is one both my partner & I had in our libraries when we merged them. Still have both battered copies. Right now I'm working through some books by Brian Fagan on climate & civilization. Nearly done with Floods, Famines & Emperors, and it's fascinating to see how thin the line of survival is when populations push to the limits of carrying capacity. One bad El Nino year can bring down a government, especially when it's facing trouble from other directions.
-Joanna
I have been off the street for a while but not at a point where I can totally retire. Now I find myself stuck in an office behind 2 monitors listening to my boss "counsel" me that I'm not a working the street anymore and to stop glaring at the mouth breathers who come in with their problems. I would go back in an instant.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, until I started following your work I made it a point to avoid these damn machines when not chained to the office. Unfortunately the only time I can catch up is off duty. It takes a lot to get me in front of this thing but I find I have to check nightly in fear of missing the next installment the day it appears. The internet Nazi's frown on any personal use in the office.
Your story is much appreciated. Drive on.
Jim in MO.
I am also glad to see you take some of my suggestions and implement them, but this is still your story.
ReplyDeleteRoll with it, man!
Joanna, YEP!
By "Yours" I mean everyone who left comments. I don't see myself as a writer as much as a storyteller sitting by the fire.
ReplyDeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteDrive on. It don't mean nothing