I could go on at length about how the adult involvement has ruined Little League Baseball, but I won't. Lets just say that encouraging players to put the ball into play is always the best call and that there is a reason that it was always a lot more fun to play Sandlot Baseball in the local parks.
Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
Part 152, Chapter 2771
Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-One
5th May 1979
Rural Neuquén Province South-East of Zapala, Argentina
Arno was sniffing around the edge of the road, which was a dirt track this far from the nearest town, as the team of surveyors, various other kinds of experts, and the Gauchos who were serving as their bodyguards made their way back towards civilization. If Ben had to guess, this trip into the countryside was a bit of paradise for the hound. All sorts of new and interesting things to sniff, possibly roll around in. When Ben had started making the forays into the countryside it had been on horseback accompanied by Arno and several of Martzel Iberia’s men as he examined the ridges within the rain shadow of the Andes Mountains. Martzel’s men knew that Ben’s work had something to do with the stars, they didn’t really care about that though. It was his involvement in the Patagonian War as a Fighter Ace and how he had bombed the Presidential Palace in Santiago that they brought up, how it was a shame that Allende wasn’t home that night. They showed him a lot of respect for that.
The same couldn’t be said of the Provincial Government. It seemed that the European Southern Observatory was seen by them as a massive pot of money that all of them would be able to funnel into their own pocket in due time. Ben knew that was going to be a problem, so he had appealed to the one thing that was already in play. If he couldn’t appeal to their better angels, then their greed would have to suffice. The exact words he had used were that you couldn’t milk a skinned cow. Perhaps that was a bit tasteless and coarse, but it was exactly the sort of language that the men in this region responded to.
Ben had Kiki to thank for his easy introduction to the City Government in Neuquén. Once she had started working in Neuquén’s Central Hospital everyone had been understandably curious about the foreign Princess who had come to their community and was basically volunteering to practice medicine. Ben knew that Kiki was a well-regarded Trauma Surgeon who had been a High-Ranking Officer in the Medical Service. The people here didn’t really understand that. What they did seem to understand was that if she had stayed in Buenos Aries, she could have named her own price to work in any of the city’s hospitals. Instead, Kiki was working in Neuquén and had even paid out of her own pocket to upgrade much of the Central Hospital’s equipment. That wasn’t nearly as big a deal for her as it sounded. The relationships she had with the computer manufacturers and medical suppliers had enabled her to get all of it at a major discount. For years, Kiki had told Ben that there was a reason why families like hers were able maintain their position within society. To see firsthand how that worked was an education.
The plateau that Ben and his team had been scouting was the one that he had first proposed as the site of the observatory when he had looked at satellite photographs months ago. It was high enough and in an isolated location to avoid the light pollution that existed in the region while still being close enough to build a rail spur to the site itself with minimal expense. Ben had scouted several other sites over the prior months, mostly to keep the regional players guessing, but just in case they found a site better suited to their needs. It was understood that land values would suddenly soar wherever they located the observatory. With any project this size there would be winners and losers, Ben wanted to keep the latter to a bare minimum like he had managed to do in Balderschwang.
Washington D.C.
Looking out the thick bulletproof glass of the oval office, Nixon had found himself on the phone having to deal with a diplomatic snafu that he presumably had absolutely nothing to do with. Unfortunately for him there were many people who thought that he was President of the World, not just the United States.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the exiled Shah of Iran had landed in a Paris hospital for treatment of an undisclosed illness, though rumor had it that the man had cancer. The well-meaning hospital staff had put him in the same ward as a fellow Iranian who was there apparently after suffering an attack of apoplexy over some sort of modernity. Apparently, no one in the staff had bothered to find out just who Ruhollah Khomeini was before they did that. Neither man was in the state to do much damage to the other one, much to the disappointment of the Iranian Government. Nixon got the impression that the Prime Minister of Iran would have been pleased as punch if both had killed each other. Of course, Nixon’s Press Secretary had been flooded with calls asking about his opinion on the matter.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound? Nixon mused to himself. Does the President of the United State still have to have an opinion?
The exiled Shah had been a thorn in the side of the State Department for decades. So, they wouldn’t miss him if he died. The CIA had regarded Khomeini as being a radical and troublemaker for decades, to the point where they had suggested hypothetically that it would be a good idea for him to get accidentally backed over by a bread truck. That seemed like an oddly specific accident.
5th May 1979
Rural Neuquén Province South-East of Zapala, Argentina
Arno was sniffing around the edge of the road, which was a dirt track this far from the nearest town, as the team of surveyors, various other kinds of experts, and the Gauchos who were serving as their bodyguards made their way back towards civilization. If Ben had to guess, this trip into the countryside was a bit of paradise for the hound. All sorts of new and interesting things to sniff, possibly roll around in. When Ben had started making the forays into the countryside it had been on horseback accompanied by Arno and several of Martzel Iberia’s men as he examined the ridges within the rain shadow of the Andes Mountains. Martzel’s men knew that Ben’s work had something to do with the stars, they didn’t really care about that though. It was his involvement in the Patagonian War as a Fighter Ace and how he had bombed the Presidential Palace in Santiago that they brought up, how it was a shame that Allende wasn’t home that night. They showed him a lot of respect for that.
The same couldn’t be said of the Provincial Government. It seemed that the European Southern Observatory was seen by them as a massive pot of money that all of them would be able to funnel into their own pocket in due time. Ben knew that was going to be a problem, so he had appealed to the one thing that was already in play. If he couldn’t appeal to their better angels, then their greed would have to suffice. The exact words he had used were that you couldn’t milk a skinned cow. Perhaps that was a bit tasteless and coarse, but it was exactly the sort of language that the men in this region responded to.
Ben had Kiki to thank for his easy introduction to the City Government in Neuquén. Once she had started working in Neuquén’s Central Hospital everyone had been understandably curious about the foreign Princess who had come to their community and was basically volunteering to practice medicine. Ben knew that Kiki was a well-regarded Trauma Surgeon who had been a High-Ranking Officer in the Medical Service. The people here didn’t really understand that. What they did seem to understand was that if she had stayed in Buenos Aries, she could have named her own price to work in any of the city’s hospitals. Instead, Kiki was working in Neuquén and had even paid out of her own pocket to upgrade much of the Central Hospital’s equipment. That wasn’t nearly as big a deal for her as it sounded. The relationships she had with the computer manufacturers and medical suppliers had enabled her to get all of it at a major discount. For years, Kiki had told Ben that there was a reason why families like hers were able maintain their position within society. To see firsthand how that worked was an education.
The plateau that Ben and his team had been scouting was the one that he had first proposed as the site of the observatory when he had looked at satellite photographs months ago. It was high enough and in an isolated location to avoid the light pollution that existed in the region while still being close enough to build a rail spur to the site itself with minimal expense. Ben had scouted several other sites over the prior months, mostly to keep the regional players guessing, but just in case they found a site better suited to their needs. It was understood that land values would suddenly soar wherever they located the observatory. With any project this size there would be winners and losers, Ben wanted to keep the latter to a bare minimum like he had managed to do in Balderschwang.
Washington D.C.
Looking out the thick bulletproof glass of the oval office, Nixon had found himself on the phone having to deal with a diplomatic snafu that he presumably had absolutely nothing to do with. Unfortunately for him there were many people who thought that he was President of the World, not just the United States.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the exiled Shah of Iran had landed in a Paris hospital for treatment of an undisclosed illness, though rumor had it that the man had cancer. The well-meaning hospital staff had put him in the same ward as a fellow Iranian who was there apparently after suffering an attack of apoplexy over some sort of modernity. Apparently, no one in the staff had bothered to find out just who Ruhollah Khomeini was before they did that. Neither man was in the state to do much damage to the other one, much to the disappointment of the Iranian Government. Nixon got the impression that the Prime Minister of Iran would have been pleased as punch if both had killed each other. Of course, Nixon’s Press Secretary had been flooded with calls asking about his opinion on the matter.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound? Nixon mused to himself. Does the President of the United State still have to have an opinion?
The exiled Shah had been a thorn in the side of the State Department for decades. So, they wouldn’t miss him if he died. The CIA had regarded Khomeini as being a radical and troublemaker for decades, to the point where they had suggested hypothetically that it would be a good idea for him to get accidentally backed over by a bread truck. That seemed like an oddly specific accident.
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And maybe more importantly when did the President of the US become the President of the World, in this more multi-polar timeline? After all there is no Cold War as we know it happening, and even then the US claimed only leadership of the 'free world', not all of it.
Or is that just Nixon overestimating his position?
Or is that just Nixon overestimating his position?
Some of the latter, sure. But also the attitude of major newspapers in the US, particularly the NYTs and the Washington Post, that either New York and Washington DC are the center of the Universe depending on what day it is.
It is more of an opinion held by both a significant number of the American people and by the "The Usual Gang of Idiots" who write opinion pieces for the newspapers like the New York Times.
Ninja'ed by Author.
Americans always think that America is the center of the world even when it's not. I can't see that changing even in a multiple world mostly because America is so far removed from the other poles. The closest thing to threatening American exceptionalism would have been the Mexican civil war and even then the American army was a big part of the coalition which ended the war which you can bet was spun back home as the American army carry their coalition partners through even if we know that wasnt the case.
A few days later...
"This is the BBC World Service. Earlier today, the Shah of Iran, in Paris for treatment of an undisclosed medical condition, was being transferred via ambulance to another hospital. Tragically, the ambulance was involved in an accident with a delivery lorry, in which both the Shah and another patient were killed. Strangely, the Iranian government appeared to announce this tragedy some 10 minutes prior to the accident occurring, this discrepancy has been confirmed to have a result of confusion between the respective time zones of both Iran and France. In further news... "
Probably his undisclosed illness will be the cause this time, resulting in his son and heir becoming Shah. The government of Iran could use the change as a way to further convert the monarchy into a constitutional monarchy.
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And if his son was educated in England, (very likely), he would have been exposed to the mechanics of the British and possibly German royal families.
At which point he'll be far more receptive to the model of a constitutional monarchy.
Ben is getting a great reputation for practical and applied astronomy with first the observatory on “his mountain” then with the ESA outer planetary probe, and now with this project.
This observatory should be using hexagonal mirrors instead of a single large mirror as it will be easier to build and be even larger.
Next up for Ben is the ESA version of the Hubble Space Telescope and maybe even the head job itself.
This observatory should be using hexagonal mirrors instead of a single large mirror as it will be easier to build and be even larger.
Next up for Ben is the ESA version of the Hubble Space Telescope and maybe even the head job itself.
Part 152, Chapter 2772
Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Two
9th May 1979
Krakow, Galicia-Ruthenia
Teo was running late as he ran through Krakow’s old town. The President of Jagiellonian University had told him of the importance of his presence today as the new Mathematics and Computer Sciences Center was being dedicated today by the Queen and the Royal Consort of Galicia-Ruthenia. As a Professor of Applied Mathematics and one of the youngest men to ever to earn a Professorship at the Jagiellonian, Teo was a key player in this project.
When Marie Cecilie had assumed the role of Queen, she had promised the people of Krakow that the city would reassume its role as a center of learning and enlightenment. After decades of neglect in favor of Warsaw and war, Krakow’s institutions were threadbare. For Teo, it was in keeping with what he had been doing for most of his life. His parents had returned to the nation of their birth after decades living elsewhere just after the Soviet War to help rebuild, they happened to settle in Southern Poland, what would eventually become the Galicia-Ruthenia by happenstance. Teo had grown up during that heady era of wild talk and debate. Revolution and separation from the Warsaw Government had been on everyone’s lips.
Teo had been in the Main Market Square in the center of the city on the 7th of August 1966 when the Polish Army had fired into the crowd during that first doomed the attempt to separate from Poland. Fortunately, Teo had not been among the dozens who had been hurt or killed that bloody evening, but he had the experience forever burned into his memory. The sound of bullets hitting bodies, the crowd panicking, the crush of people as they tried to flee from the soldiers. There was talk of erecting a memorial in the Square, but there was no consensus as to what it should look like. Among the dead were members of every ethnic group that made up the fabric of Krakow. Regardless of what the Polish Nationalists had to say Poles, Ruthenians, Germans, Jews, and Gypsies had all bled just the same.
When the war had started, Teo had found himself a Hauptmann in what became the Galician Landwehr Division much to his surprise and his parent’s horror leading a Company comprised young men who had been his students only a few weeks earlier. When General Bauer had addressed them, he had said that their freedom depended on every single man fighting like ten. There were no exceptions. The first days were a nightmare with them getting slowly pushed back towards Krakow, then the Bohemian Corps had arrived… Teo never forgot his Company’s arrival in Warsaw in the wake of the German 2nd Army. There really had been the feeling that justice had been served.
Rounding a corner, Teo saw the new brick building that housed the Mathematics and Computer Sciences Center. Most people were shocked by how vast it was, it was his understanding that there was some question as to whether it was large enough. It was theorized that in the coming decades, computers would revolutionize every aspect of life and the Jagiellonian was a key Research University, so they would be shaping what that look like. For Teo, it meant that the future was very exciting indeed.
Los Angeles, California
“Wah’s up Stevie?” Stanley asked without really expecting an answer as he opened the garage door, revealing the immaculate space within. Dad said that Stanley’s mother was totally anal, whatever that meant, and how he couldn’t figure out how Stanley had become such a slob. Stevie had hidden by the gate to the side yard of his house not wanting to be bothered by his parents, grandma who was visiting today, but most of all by his little sister Kristie. The space right in front of the gate was not visible from any part of the house. What Stevie had not considered was that he was in full view of anyone passing by or by Stanley who was pulling a trashcan out of his garage and dragging it out to the curb with the horrendous sound of galvanized steel scraping on concrete.
“Mom and Dad told me that I am getting a new brother or sister around Thanksgiving” Stevie replied, “Grandma Concha says that it is a gift from Jesus.”
Stanley just shrugged, “You’ve met my kid sister” he said, “That doesn’t seem too bad.”
Stevie had seen Stanley’s half-sister Maddie around. He had also heard Uncle Bobby had joked that the ex-husband of Stanley’s mother was what was officially referred to as an OTM, Other Than Mexican, again, whatever that meant. Stevie had been told not to ask exactly what Maddie was though, it would be incredibly rude. And Stevie’s mother had said that he would be grounded for the entire summer if he ever so much as thought about making that mistake. Maddie was nine though while Stanley was eighteen, so they were never in each other’s space the way that Stevie and Kristie always seemed to be. The new baby would just take up more of Stevie’s space.
With that, Stanley closed the garage door and walked towards the front door of his house. Steve had always thought that Stanley was the epitome of cool, but what that meant in practice was that most of the time Stevie was beneath his notice.
9th May 1979
Krakow, Galicia-Ruthenia
Teo was running late as he ran through Krakow’s old town. The President of Jagiellonian University had told him of the importance of his presence today as the new Mathematics and Computer Sciences Center was being dedicated today by the Queen and the Royal Consort of Galicia-Ruthenia. As a Professor of Applied Mathematics and one of the youngest men to ever to earn a Professorship at the Jagiellonian, Teo was a key player in this project.
When Marie Cecilie had assumed the role of Queen, she had promised the people of Krakow that the city would reassume its role as a center of learning and enlightenment. After decades of neglect in favor of Warsaw and war, Krakow’s institutions were threadbare. For Teo, it was in keeping with what he had been doing for most of his life. His parents had returned to the nation of their birth after decades living elsewhere just after the Soviet War to help rebuild, they happened to settle in Southern Poland, what would eventually become the Galicia-Ruthenia by happenstance. Teo had grown up during that heady era of wild talk and debate. Revolution and separation from the Warsaw Government had been on everyone’s lips.
Teo had been in the Main Market Square in the center of the city on the 7th of August 1966 when the Polish Army had fired into the crowd during that first doomed the attempt to separate from Poland. Fortunately, Teo had not been among the dozens who had been hurt or killed that bloody evening, but he had the experience forever burned into his memory. The sound of bullets hitting bodies, the crowd panicking, the crush of people as they tried to flee from the soldiers. There was talk of erecting a memorial in the Square, but there was no consensus as to what it should look like. Among the dead were members of every ethnic group that made up the fabric of Krakow. Regardless of what the Polish Nationalists had to say Poles, Ruthenians, Germans, Jews, and Gypsies had all bled just the same.
When the war had started, Teo had found himself a Hauptmann in what became the Galician Landwehr Division much to his surprise and his parent’s horror leading a Company comprised young men who had been his students only a few weeks earlier. When General Bauer had addressed them, he had said that their freedom depended on every single man fighting like ten. There were no exceptions. The first days were a nightmare with them getting slowly pushed back towards Krakow, then the Bohemian Corps had arrived… Teo never forgot his Company’s arrival in Warsaw in the wake of the German 2nd Army. There really had been the feeling that justice had been served.
Rounding a corner, Teo saw the new brick building that housed the Mathematics and Computer Sciences Center. Most people were shocked by how vast it was, it was his understanding that there was some question as to whether it was large enough. It was theorized that in the coming decades, computers would revolutionize every aspect of life and the Jagiellonian was a key Research University, so they would be shaping what that look like. For Teo, it meant that the future was very exciting indeed.
Los Angeles, California
“Wah’s up Stevie?” Stanley asked without really expecting an answer as he opened the garage door, revealing the immaculate space within. Dad said that Stanley’s mother was totally anal, whatever that meant, and how he couldn’t figure out how Stanley had become such a slob. Stevie had hidden by the gate to the side yard of his house not wanting to be bothered by his parents, grandma who was visiting today, but most of all by his little sister Kristie. The space right in front of the gate was not visible from any part of the house. What Stevie had not considered was that he was in full view of anyone passing by or by Stanley who was pulling a trashcan out of his garage and dragging it out to the curb with the horrendous sound of galvanized steel scraping on concrete.
“Mom and Dad told me that I am getting a new brother or sister around Thanksgiving” Stevie replied, “Grandma Concha says that it is a gift from Jesus.”
Stanley just shrugged, “You’ve met my kid sister” he said, “That doesn’t seem too bad.”
Stevie had seen Stanley’s half-sister Maddie around. He had also heard Uncle Bobby had joked that the ex-husband of Stanley’s mother was what was officially referred to as an OTM, Other Than Mexican, again, whatever that meant. Stevie had been told not to ask exactly what Maddie was though, it would be incredibly rude. And Stevie’s mother had said that he would be grounded for the entire summer if he ever so much as thought about making that mistake. Maddie was nine though while Stanley was eighteen, so they were never in each other’s space the way that Stevie and Kristie always seemed to be. The new baby would just take up more of Stevie’s space.
With that, Stanley closed the garage door and walked towards the front door of his house. Steve had always thought that Stanley was the epitome of cool, but what that meant in practice was that most of the time Stevie was beneath his notice.
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Right now, Ritchie and Lucia have a three bedroom house in Eagle Rock, an older neighborhood of Los Angeles.
They are going to need a bigger place with the new baby, between Ritchie's pay as a Warrant Officer and the equity in the house they live in now, they can afford to move to a bigger house in the newer developments in Orange County or Los Angeles County.
They are going to need a bigger place with the new baby, between Ritchie's pay as a Warrant Officer and the equity in the house they live in now, they can afford to move to a bigger house in the newer developments in Orange County or Los Angeles County.
Hi,
Since Mexico became a Langist Republic, did the other mesoamerican countries follow that example and became more stable?
And I forgot, but is Slovakia s part of Galicia-Ruthenia?
Since Mexico became a Langist Republic, did the other mesoamerican countries follow that example and became more stable?
And I forgot, but is Slovakia s part of Galicia-Ruthenia?
There will be more about what is happening in Latin America soon.
Slovakia is not a part of Galicia-Ruthenia , though there is a bit of an issue in that there are parts of Northern Slovakia that are majority Ruthenian.
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Part 152, Chapter 2773
Chapter Two Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Three
14th May 1979
Neuquén, Argentina
As with most mornings, the waiting room to the Clinic was packed when Kiki got to the Central Hospital. Looking over pages on the clipboard, she tried to sort who was most in need among the crowd of people. The Nurses were supposed to conduct triage. This being an isolated corner of a developing country though, they were often overwhelmed. There were also people who got impatient and left as well as those who thought that they should be served first if they paid for the privilege. The result was a confused mess. Kiki had tried to straighten out the system and had gotten some static over the matter. The problems were deep rooted, and she was basically asking people to change their culture. Which meant that doing so would take time. Kiki had unexpectedly found herself teaching the Nurses how to use the new computers that she had in fact purchased, and that had helped a lot more than even she had thought it would.
While Kiki had worked in the surgical wards occasionally, she preferred the Clinic. The other Doctors on Staff were more than happy to let her do it. The first patient was a colicky baby and a panicked young woman who was a first-time mother. For Kiki was an opportunity to have a brief but gentle conversation about long term health and family planning. Then the next patient was a middle-aged worker from the gas fields who had a nasty looking gash on his leg, it was infected and needed treatment urgently. Kiki had asked why he had let it go for so long and why had he not alerted the Nurse about how serious this was? He had said that there had been work that had needed to be done, so he had bandaged it himself and had gone back to work. He did not come to the hospital until he had collapsed the next day. She had ordered him admitted into the hospital for a course of antibiotics and to have a surgical consultation about that gash, which looked like it needed more than stitches.
Eventually, Kiki lost track of the number of patients she had seen, and it was late afternoon. She was entering the information from her notes into the computer. Creating a database of the patients and doing away with the paper records had been regarded with deep suspicion when she had first proposed it, her being a major stockholder of Zuse AG had not helped matters. It had only been her pointing out that the system in question had been used with great success by the Medical Service in Germany that had sold it. The German Military was well regarded in Patagonia, and it was personnel from the KZS that most ordinary people in the region had seen firsthand. It was nice to know that she was continuing that work.
Los Angeles, California
“What the fuck!” Bobby exclaimed as he listened to why Ritchie was in the doghouse this time.
Ritchie had thought that him being informed of his pending promotion to Chief Warrant Officer and the CWO-2 paygrade would be good news. He had been on fact finding missions and briefed the President himself, so the promotion was probably going to come through this time. For Ritchie, having another kid on the way made taking the promotion a no-brainer. The trouble was that it came with a catch, namely transfer to US Army 1st Special Forces Command in Fort Meade, Maryland and Ritchie going back into the Regular Army. That would not only mean just this promotion but rapid advancement in years ahead.
Lucia had been talking about how they were going to need a bigger house. What she had in mind was elsewhere in Los Angeles, like the new developments or perhaps in Orange County. Maryland couldn’t have been further from her mind, and she was understandably angry about it. She understood what a huge opportunity this was for both them and the kids, that didn’t mean that she was required to be happy about it. This was basically because she felt she was being forced to make this decision because the last time this had come up, Ritchie had chosen to leave the 1st Special Forces Group to come to California. She said that it was her turn to make a sacrifice though Ritchie had not asked it of her.
Shooting the shit with Bobby over beer in the garage was something that Ritchie did at least once a week for ages if he was in town. Though now that Frankenstein was finished there wasn’t a whole lot to do, so they had ended up just talking about things.
“That’s just how it is” Ritchie replied.
“If Lucia really wants a house in the suburbs, then going back east might be a good call” Bobby said, “You know as well as I do what sort of neighborhoods those new developments are in.”
Ritchie knew what Bobby was getting at, the outer suburbs of Los Angeles were rather infamous for being where Whites had fled to escape what they saw as the horror of school integration. Any Mexican who was not a maid or a gardener was not welcome in places like that. Not that things were much better on the East Coast; Ritchie had seen that when he had been stationed in Upstate New York. It was just different.
14th May 1979
Neuquén, Argentina
As with most mornings, the waiting room to the Clinic was packed when Kiki got to the Central Hospital. Looking over pages on the clipboard, she tried to sort who was most in need among the crowd of people. The Nurses were supposed to conduct triage. This being an isolated corner of a developing country though, they were often overwhelmed. There were also people who got impatient and left as well as those who thought that they should be served first if they paid for the privilege. The result was a confused mess. Kiki had tried to straighten out the system and had gotten some static over the matter. The problems were deep rooted, and she was basically asking people to change their culture. Which meant that doing so would take time. Kiki had unexpectedly found herself teaching the Nurses how to use the new computers that she had in fact purchased, and that had helped a lot more than even she had thought it would.
While Kiki had worked in the surgical wards occasionally, she preferred the Clinic. The other Doctors on Staff were more than happy to let her do it. The first patient was a colicky baby and a panicked young woman who was a first-time mother. For Kiki was an opportunity to have a brief but gentle conversation about long term health and family planning. Then the next patient was a middle-aged worker from the gas fields who had a nasty looking gash on his leg, it was infected and needed treatment urgently. Kiki had asked why he had let it go for so long and why had he not alerted the Nurse about how serious this was? He had said that there had been work that had needed to be done, so he had bandaged it himself and had gone back to work. He did not come to the hospital until he had collapsed the next day. She had ordered him admitted into the hospital for a course of antibiotics and to have a surgical consultation about that gash, which looked like it needed more than stitches.
Eventually, Kiki lost track of the number of patients she had seen, and it was late afternoon. She was entering the information from her notes into the computer. Creating a database of the patients and doing away with the paper records had been regarded with deep suspicion when she had first proposed it, her being a major stockholder of Zuse AG had not helped matters. It had only been her pointing out that the system in question had been used with great success by the Medical Service in Germany that had sold it. The German Military was well regarded in Patagonia, and it was personnel from the KZS that most ordinary people in the region had seen firsthand. It was nice to know that she was continuing that work.
Los Angeles, California
“What the fuck!” Bobby exclaimed as he listened to why Ritchie was in the doghouse this time.
Ritchie had thought that him being informed of his pending promotion to Chief Warrant Officer and the CWO-2 paygrade would be good news. He had been on fact finding missions and briefed the President himself, so the promotion was probably going to come through this time. For Ritchie, having another kid on the way made taking the promotion a no-brainer. The trouble was that it came with a catch, namely transfer to US Army 1st Special Forces Command in Fort Meade, Maryland and Ritchie going back into the Regular Army. That would not only mean just this promotion but rapid advancement in years ahead.
Lucia had been talking about how they were going to need a bigger house. What she had in mind was elsewhere in Los Angeles, like the new developments or perhaps in Orange County. Maryland couldn’t have been further from her mind, and she was understandably angry about it. She understood what a huge opportunity this was for both them and the kids, that didn’t mean that she was required to be happy about it. This was basically because she felt she was being forced to make this decision because the last time this had come up, Ritchie had chosen to leave the 1st Special Forces Group to come to California. She said that it was her turn to make a sacrifice though Ritchie had not asked it of her.
Shooting the shit with Bobby over beer in the garage was something that Ritchie did at least once a week for ages if he was in town. Though now that Frankenstein was finished there wasn’t a whole lot to do, so they had ended up just talking about things.
“That’s just how it is” Ritchie replied.
“If Lucia really wants a house in the suburbs, then going back east might be a good call” Bobby said, “You know as well as I do what sort of neighborhoods those new developments are in.”
Ritchie knew what Bobby was getting at, the outer suburbs of Los Angeles were rather infamous for being where Whites had fled to escape what they saw as the horror of school integration. Any Mexican who was not a maid or a gardener was not welcome in places like that. Not that things were much better on the East Coast; Ritchie had seen that when he had been stationed in Upstate New York. It was just different.
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Is Argentina still considered a "third-world" country here? I would've thought that the lack of the Cold War era instability and the Industrial growth would've marked an improvement. And on a side note, the first-third world terms are probably not a thing here, given they also come from the Cold War.