JMS on Usenet

Message

Subject: Re: JMS: technical question (was: from jms re: Jeremiah
Date: 24 Feb 2002 04:58:35 GMT
From: jmsatb5@aol.com (Jms at B5)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated

>I've been wondering about this ever since we first heard about Jeremiah: What
>on Earth did they do for food, medicine and most supplies!?!

Exactly the point we explore.

>Now, 15 years is really quite a long time. Without any specialized knowledge,
>I'd guess that electricity wouldn't last more than 6 months (at the outside)
>anywhere without regular maintenance which means little in the way of frozen
>food would be available for long. 

Another point we explore.  The power went out a long time ago and, with some
recent exceptions, has stayed out.  The info needed to get power plants up and
running, and repair lines, is there, but you have to know all the stuff leading
*up* to that information to make it work.  I wouldn't know the first thing
about how to get a power plant up and running at 13.  Nor would I know much
about crop rotation.  The cities would empty pretty fast once the water stopped
coming in.

>Canned goods might last as long as, say...5
>years or so?  Medicines could last a year or so, many much less without
>refrigeration.

Some canned goods might last the full 15 years, though not in the best of
shape.  It depends on the type of food and the type of canning.  Medicines,
yeah, they're pretty much gone.

>If we stipulate that puberty would begin at 13 on average, by the time those
>kids make it to 20, there's really not much left for them to scavenge except
>clothing and shelter, is there?  Even shelter could be marginal in a lot of
>areas.  

Which is exactly the point we're going for.  They've been able to ride the
ashes of the old world until now, but things are now pretty much exhausted. 
Either they continue the decline, or they start to rebuild the world and take
responsibility for the shape of that world.

(BTW, on the fever thing...I found out (while in considerable pain) on Thursday
that it's a massive ear infection.  [First person to make a joke about massive
ears gets it in the neck.]  Which is why I've been offline for a while.  So at
some point I'm going to have to take the train back because if I fly right now
it'll perforate my eardrum.  And it's a looooooong freakin' train ride....)

 jms

(jmsatb5@aol.com)
(all message content (c) 2001 by synthetic worlds, ltd., 
permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine 
and don't send me story ideas)