Lucky

[FM18]

Keep them coming when you can Grand! I check the forum daily for new chapters. Good stuff and keeps me wanting more! :o)

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 11


Thursday, 6:18 PM, Denver, Colorado


Jim was finishing up on the check of the portfolio as promised when Beth came into the room. He had just decided if the markets continued with the way they had been going, he could shave nine months off the retirement time for Mike and Judith Giddens. While it wasn

[WiseOwl]

Great detail. I am liking this a lot. Good job and I cant wait for the next installment

[dmfield]

Good story. I am looking forward to future chapters. Keep up the good work

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 12


Friday 5:55 PM, Denver, Colorado


Jim and Beth’s early dinner had finished up and they were driving around the city spending time at this and that place when they came to an outdoor goods store, an REI outlet. He pulled in on instinct and parked in the first available spot.

“We’ve got a reason for being here?” she asked.

“I thought we were doing some light shopping?” he asked.

“We are…just never thought I’d see you at an REI store,” said Beth.

“I don’t know, I just have the urge lately to get into the outdoors. You’re always saying I need a hobby of some sort,” said Jim.

“Well, the outdoors isn’t specifically a hobby, but it is a good time I suppose,” said Beth.

“You want to go someplace else?” he asked.

“Nah, I’ll look around myself. If I remember, they have a nice ladies collection going as well,” she said and opened her door. He followed her and they went into the store looking at the various departments. “Want to meet back here in say a half an hour?”

“That or I’ll track you down,” said Jim as he saw the men’s area and wandered off in that direction. The clothing was fairly high end items but seemed to be nice things. But one thing he remembered from his web sites was the groups tended to go with earth tones as opposed to the bright reds, blues and greens he saw. But it would at least give him an idea of where to start and there was some subdued colors mixed in with everything else. He browsed before moving on to the tent area and looked at them as well. Several sales associates came by to ask if he needed any help, but he declined as he didn’t plan on buying anything that evening until he had the chance to research it online. But he did have several ideas along the way as he saw the camping and hiking stoves and wandered into that department. He looked at the various models on the shelves and saw a few names he was somewhat familiar with.

“Can I help you sir?” asked another sales associate as she walked over.

“I’m just looking for the moment,” he said.

“Anything in particular?” she asked.

“Like a stove for the outdoors,” he said and continued looking.

“Which activity in particular are you looking for? Camping? Hiking?” she asked.

“Not really sure yet. I ‘m thinking of getting into backpacking, so maybe something along those lines,” said Jim.

“Any brand in particular?” she asked.

“You have any ideas for me?” he asked.

“Well sir, we have several models with several different fuel options depending on what activity or where you happen to be. What is it you are looking for?” asked the associate.

“I’m kind of clueless when it comes to this. Can you give me a brief rundown?” asked Jim.

“Certainly…we have different types of stoves: liquid fueled, multi liquid fueled and canister fueled. And some that take both multi liquid and canister in the same model. Will you be doing any high altitude hiking?” she asked.

“Define high altitude,” requested Jim.

“Say above ten thousand,” she answered.

“I don’t know, but let’s make a contingency for that as well,” said Jim. “Why the difference?”

“Well sir, above a certain altitude canisters work better due to the lower pressures. But it’s a double edged sword since canisters don’t work as well in the cold,” she said.

“And liquid fuel?” he asked.

“Liquid fuel works better at lower temperatures, but not as good at higher altitudes,” she explained.

“You mentioned you have models that can run both canister and liquid fueled. What are those” he asked.

“Only a few models can do that without special adaptors. Primus makes a model that does that with changing a simple piece with an included tool. I’ve used them myself and they are a pretty bombproof design,” she answered.

“Okay, sounds perfect, so what’s the catch?” asked Jim with a laugh.

“It’s a heavy mother!” she exclaimed. “Not too uncomfortable and it folds up nicely, but it’s durable as all get out. But with durability, you sacrifice weight.”

“Is there such a thing as a perfect stove?” he laughed.

“No, but a lot of opinions out there about what is,” laughed the associate.

“Okay, I’ll do some research and come back. But right now it looks like I’m leaning towards the Primus, that’s the name right?” asked Jim.

“Yes, the Omnifuel is the specific model you are looking for. You might want to look at a Whisperlite International as well. It’s another one that works great all around,” said the associate. “Along with the other MSR brand stoves as well.”

“Are they any better?” asked Jim.

“Same difference. More or less personal preference,” she replied.

“Just weight being the major factor?” asked Jim.

“Yes and no. Some have this little doo-dad that helps with something or other or like the Whisperlite has a shaker jet that helps clean the fuel system. Or the Primus runs on pretty much anything that will burn and is rugged so you can abuse it a little more. Just little differences in each and what specifically you are looking for,” said the associate.

“I remember seeing something about alcohol stoves and fuel tabs. What are those?” asked Jim, remembering some of the threads from the online forums he went to.

“Alcohol stoves run on denatured alcohol…sometimes even rubbing alcohol if the percentage is enough, like ninety percent or so. Typically ethanol or even methanol in things like commercial gas line antifreeze. Problem is, most of them don’t really have a control except on some older models. The Trangia stoves are pretty bombproof for the most part since they have little to break,” she explained. “The fuel tab stoves are mainly for hexamine or Trioxane blocks that burn. They are pretty good for emergency use, but don’t really have a lot of burn time or flame control.”

“Emergency use?” asked Jim.

“A lot of hikers carry around a few tabs in case they need fire quick or their liquid fuel runs out. They make pretty awesome fire starters as well as the intended use of heating water. Honestly, in my opinion they are only good for heating water, but I still carry a few of them around when I’m hiking. Also, the storage of them is a lot easier since you aren’t dealing with a liquid or a pressurized gas. Fuel tab stoves are pretty simple and straightforward as well. Or many folks don’t even use a stove, they just dig a small trench and light it on the ground,” said the associate.

“Disadvantages of fuel tabs?” asked Jim.

“Pretty much the burn time and the lack of flame control. You light it and that’s about it. It will heat two cups of water okay, but don’t expect to cook on it,” said the associate.

“And the alcohol?” asked Jim.

“Lots of folks make their own out of soda cans. You can get online to find the directions and it’s pretty easy to make. But there are some that make them commercially. But they have a longer burn time along with the lower heat output. Alcohol stoves aren’t typically pressurized so you have little flame control,” said the associate.

“And the advantages of alcohol stoves?” asked Jim.

“Honestly? Besides weight in the stove itself, not a lot. A soda can stove is pretty cheap to make and the fuel lasts a pretty good while. There are commercial alcohol stoves along those same designs, but they aren’t cheap. Another advantage is you can even run Everclear in it if you had to or just about any alcohol that is a high enough percentage,” she laughed. “But overall, weight is the biggest factor there.”

“So if I was to be getting into hiking and whatnot, just general outdoors, what stove would you recommend?” asked Jim.

“See, I don’t know. Each has an advantage and a disadvantage. I wouldn’t recommend carrying two stoves, but maybe a liquid fueled and a few fuel tabs as emergency backup. Of course, there’s always a campfire to cook off of as well,” she said. “Some folks swear by the canister stoves and think carrying a liquid fuel stove should rate with the same punishment as murder.”

“Is there nothing that burns wood?” asked Jim.

“Oh there are some stoves out there. Can’t remember the web sites right now, but I remember seeing a few. Plus there is a company nearby that sells folding shepherd type stoves. They aren’t cheap, but have a good reliability,” said the associate.

“Hiking stove that burns wood?” asked Jim.

“Yeah, the ultralight crowd typically won’t use it, but it’s nice to have for car camping or if you can handle the weight on a hike,” said the associate.

“Name?” asked Jim.

“Kifaru International. They build to order,” said the associate.

“What kind of company is it?” asked Jim.

“They build backpacks and other stuff. A lot to the military crowd, but they do some civilian work as well. Their shelter tarps are a pretty good design,” she replied.

“I’ll check them out. Do they have a store?” asked Jim.

“No, not really. They can set up appointments if you request it in advance, but mainly do orders by the internet,” said the associate.

“So we’ve covered everything except canister stoves. What do you know about those?” asked Jim.

“I’ve owned a couple of those as well,” laughed the associate.

“And the up side?” asked Jim.

“Typically weight. They aren’t as complicated as liquid fueled stoves as it’s kind of a plug and play system. You screw on the canister and light it up. Little more to it than that, but that’s about the down and dirty of it. So weight, ease of use are two big factors there,” said the associate.

“And the down sides?” asked Jim.

“Fuel concerns. If you run out of fuel with these, you sometimes have a hard time finding more except at a place that carries outdoor goods specifically. You run out of fuel with say a multi-fuel stove, you can get fuel almost anywhere depending on the model. Gas station, hardware store; you name it. So fuel concerns are the biggest factor,” said the associate.

“Anything else?” asked Jim.

“Sometimes cost. I mean with a liquid fueled stove you aren’t limited by fuels, but they can get expensive like gasoline or Coleman fuel. But canisters can get expensive as well, so it kind of even outs,” said the associate. “Hello.”

Jim turned and saw Beth had joined him. “Find anything you like?”

“Several things,” laughed Jim.

“Found some stuff I liked as well,” said Beth. “You want to grab it?”

“No, not yet. Maybe another time,” said Jim. “I appreciate the help. Do you mind if I ask for you again?”

“Absolutely. I’m Ginger,” said the associate.

“Okay, again, I appreciate the help,” said Jim.

“Anytime,” said the associate.

“Let’s go see what you found,” said Jim as he took Beth’s hand to lead him into the store.

“Nothing serious, just knew you needed something,” said Beth.

“I thought you were looking for yourself,” said Jim.

“I’m a woman, I can multitask when shopping,” laughed Beth. “Found you a new jacket.”

“I didn’t know I needed one,” said Jim.

“Yes, that old ratty thing of yours is about to give up the ghost,” said Beth. “It’s time it was retired.”

“Can we hold a proper funeral?” asked Jim, thinking of his rain jacket that was tried and true.

“You can still keep it for camping. But seriously, you need a nice rain jacket for your trips and whatnot,” she insisted.

Jim knew better than to cross her on this and followed her to the rack where he found the jackets. She handed him over his size and “asked” him to try it on. The jacket fit like a glove and he waved his arms around to make sure of the fit. After a couple of moments, he pronounced it good and looked at the colors. He picked out the green color known as hedge and found his size.

“No blue?” asked Beth.

“No, just something different,” said Jim.

“I never in my life would have expected you to pick that color,” she observed, looking at the jacket.

“Dunno, just kind of hit me,” said Jim.

“Well, it actually looks good on you. But then, everything looks good on you,” said Beth with a smile.

“You’re just saying that,” he grinned.

“Yeah,” she grinned back. “You’re an ugly old cuss.”

“And why stay married to an ugly old cuss?” he asked as they went towards the checkout counter.

“Because you’re loaded!” she exclaimed while stifling a laugh.

“You’re horrible,” he said with a shake of his head.

“I know, but you love that in me,” she grinned.

“I guess I have no other choice in the matter,” he laughed.

“What were you looking at anyway?” she asked.

“Hiking stoves,” he said as he pulled out his credit card to pay for the jacket.

“Why didn’t you buy one?” she asked.

“Wanting to do a little research, that’s all,” he replied.

“Did the saleswoman give you advice?” asked Beth.

“She did, but you know me; I want to research something before I buy,” said Jim.

“Honey, ever hear of returns? What happens if they run out of whatever it is you are going to buy?” she asked.

“I don’t think they will,” said Jim.

“But what if?” she asked.

“I know, but you know me,” said Jim. “I like to research things before committing to them.”

“Ever hear of advice?” she said.

“Yeah, I guess I can do that from time to time,” said Jim.

“Was the lady knowledgeable?” asked Beth.

“She was,” he said.

“Any bad advice?” asked Beth.

“Not that I could hear. She wasn’t making a sales pitch for any model in particular,” said Jim.

“Okay, I’ll let you do what it is you do,” said Beth.

“Anywhere else?” asked Jim.

“Figured you might want to look for a book or two since there is a store over there. I was going to head into the women’s store over there,” said Beth.

“Okay, meet up where?” asked Jim.

“Probably over in the book store. I’ll only be a little bit, maybe half an hour,” said Beth.

“Okay,” he said as he collected a quick kiss and went on his way. Beth headed towards the Old Navy store before checking to see him enter the other store and doubled back to the REI. She went back to the stove section and looked around for the helpful associate. Another member came up to assist her.

“Hi, I was looking for Ginger,” said Beth.

“I think she’s about to leave,” said the other associate.

“Do you mind tracking her down,” asked Beth.

“I believe she is off shift now,” said the associate.

“I understand, but she was very helpful to my husband a few minutes ago,” said Beth.

“I’m the on duty sales associate right now. Can I help you?” he asked.

“Yes, you can see if Ginger is still around,” said Beth, effectively ending the discussion. He looked at her for a moment before heading back into the store room looking for the off going associate. He came back several minutes later with Ginger in tow.

“Hello again,” said Ginger, putting her sales smile back on.

“I hope I’m not holding you back,” said Beth.

“No, I was about to head home, but you caught me,” laughed Ginger. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering what my husband was looking at in particular,” said Beth.

“Nothing in particular that I know of. He was kind of looking at several things,” said Ginger.

“Well, whatever it was, I plan on buying it for him,” said Beth.

“Oh, I have no idea what he wanted. Truth be told, I don’t think he knew what he wanted yet either,” said Ginger.

“So I’ll take one of each,” said Beth.

“One of each what?” asked Ginger.

“One of each of whatever he was thinking about,” said Beth.

“Ma’am?” asked Ginger.

“You were giving him advice on what to buy, right?” asked Beth.

“More or less,” said Ginger. “No specific models though.”

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 12 CONTINUED

[Grand58742]

This one isn't dead, just been busy with work and a lot of other things lately so I haven't been able to write up much with either story.

Sorry for the delay folks.

[Hawkeye]

Good things come to those who wait...

[dmfield]

Good story so far. I enjoy reading this type of material. Keep up the good work.

[610Alpha]

well you're even on # of chapters with both stories. I still can't choose between either story, like'em both.

[610Alpha]

Maybe Santa will bring us another chapter for Christmas?

[Grand58742]

Maybe Santa will bring us another chapter for Christmas?

Well, I'm on leave for the moment in the States. I'll try, but no promises as I have a pretty busy schedule planned.

[610Alpha]

Enjoy your leave, try to take some time to relax while you are back. Now how it is though when you are on leave you have 100 places to go but only so much time :)

[eeyore]

You have quite a fan club Grand, enjoy the time with friends and family.

[Grand58742]

CHAPTER 13


Saturday, 6:57 AM, Denver Colorado


Beth awoke to an empty bed at her side. It was not an unusual feeling, but one she didn’t expect to find while Jim was still home. Rolling out of the bed, she found her robe sitting on the chair and wrapped up before heading downstairs. The house was devoid of the normal sounds of Jim doing anything and it slightly worried her until she noticed the door to the garage slightly opened. She tiptoed to the door and saw him in the middle of the concrete floor tinkering with his new stoves. He was reading the instruction manual and going step by step to lighting the canister stove.

Jim heard a slight chuckle from behind him and turned to see Beth with a smile on her face and a shake of her head. “What?”

“Boys and their toys,” she said with half a laugh.

“Well, I needed to make sure they all worked!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah, right. You just wanted to play,” she said with another laugh. “You want breakfast?”

“I was thinking of using one of my new stoves to cook for you,” he said.

“How about you figure out how to operate it without blowing yourself up first, then we’ll talk about cooking over it,” she said with a roll of her eyes, but a smile as well.

“I won’t do anything dangerous! These things are fairly safe!” he objected.

“Yeah, famous last words. I’ll fix breakfast. Anything you want in particular?” she asked.

“Nah, whatever you were planning on will work,” he said and went back to tinkering. She knew it was useless to get him to come into the kitchen to talk as his attention had been completely captured by his new items. She was fairly content with herself for the impulsive buy as Jim sometimes tended to over think things and researched them until he figured out every little detail. But sometimes, you had to go with the heart as she did the previous evening. And he was happy right now, even though he had a concentrated look on his face. She padded back into the kitchen and started looking around for something simple to fix as she really wasn’t in the mood for a large scale breakfast. She decided blueberry muffins were easy enough and started getting the necessary ingredients ready to whip them out. Jim came wandering back into the room, digging through the cabinets looking for something.

“Anything I can help you with?” she asked, slightly miffed he was in “her” area of the house.

“I’m looking for that old percolator coffee pot we had when we were first married,” he said, not looking at her.

“Why?” she asked.

“I want to make my pot of coffee on the stove,” he said and continued to dig.

“Try looking in the basement,” she informed him.

“Where at?” he asked.

“Probably in the boxes we packed away,” she said. “Now shoo! Get out of my kitchen.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said and went into the basement to find the boxes of items stowed away. They should have gotten rid of several of the things in the boxes, but also knew there were things that still had value and he never threw anything away that still had value. And much to his surprise, Beth was the same way, although she ran a tight ship when it came to that and ordered their immediate banishment to the basement, garage or attic once they replaced an item. Jim went through two boxes before he found the old blue enamel coffee pot he had bought at a yard sale when he was just starting out in the investment business and had little money to spare. Everything was still inside as it was supposed to be and still clean as Beth had packed it away. Happily, he bounced back upstairs and quickly found her in the middle of mixing up the batter for the muffins.

“Found it I see,” she observed as he filled the pot with water and grabbed the grounds.

“Yep,” he said and bounced back out of the kitchen like a child with a new toy. She laughed once again at his excitement and went on with fixing breakfast. Outside, he checked the manual once again and found everything in order. He had already tested out the canister stove and gotten the item to work correctly after getting it going. As for getting it to work correctly with a pot of full water, that was another problem entirely. But he managed to get the stove started and got the pot balanced with little problems. As he waited for the water to start getting hot and perking, he started reading over the other manual for the Primus stove and glanced at the pot on occasion. Eventually he started seeing water bubbling up into the top of the pot and started watching it more intently. He slightly adjusted the controls and kept a watch as it started perking faster. He was very happy with his new “toys” even though he had fussed at Beth when she bought them.

Eventually he put down the manual to the other stove and kept watching at the stove as it finished going through the cycle. He turned down the temperature just enough to keep it hot and started to grab at the handle. But he had forgotten the handle can get warm as well and grabbed at it without thinking. He hadn’t realized the flames had been going around the pot and almost directly onto the handle. He yanked his hand back with a yell and the pot spilled out on the floor.

“What happened?!” exclaimed Beth as she came running to the door. “Jim!”

“I’m okay, I just burned my hand,” he said as he had his hand cradled into his body.

“Let me look at it!” she demanded as she ran into the garage.

“No, I’m okay,” he said, grunting.

“Jim, let me see!” she demanded.

He pulled out his hand and winced at he opened it up. She looked over his hand and saw the blisters starting to appear already. It was a moderate second degree burn and would be painful.

“Let’s run some cool water over that,” she said.

“No, I’ll be okay,” he said, looking at the floor.

“Now mister,” she ordered in a tone that wasn’t to be argued with. She led him to the kitchen tap and started running the cold water. He gently put his hand under it and yanked back as it was already getting sore.

“Okay, I’m getting dressed and we are going to the emergency room,” she said.

“No, I’ll be okay,” he said and started putting his hand under the water once again, wincing with pain as he did so.

“No arguments Jim, we are going to the hospital,” she said and departed the room to grab clothing. She came back two minutes later pulling her hair into a pony tail.

“It isn’t so bad,” he said.

“James Adam Williams, you are not going to argue with me on this!” she growled and looked for a clean dishtowel to wrap his hand in. She wet it under the tap and wrapped it with a gentle touch and had him hold the end down.

“Can you help me get some shoes on?” he asked meekly.

“Yes,” she said.

“I will be fine,” he said as she led him to the living room.

“Stop being the tough guy for a moment and at least let a doctor tell you that. It could be bad and you don’t even know it,” she said as she grabbed his tennis shoes.

“I’m not trying to be tough!” he objected.

“Uh huh,” she said as she slipped on the first shoe. Luckily he was already wearing shorts and a t-shirt so changing clothing wouldn’t have to occur.

“It’s just a little burn,” he objected, but continued to let her put on the shoes.

“Uh huh,” she said.

“I’ll be fine,” he said.

She flashed her eyes at him as she was finishing typing up one of the knots. Her eyes spoke volumes and he knew he had reached the limits of how much he could protest. They finished up in silence and got into the car for the trip to the hospital. She found parking near the emergency room entrance and they walked in and checked in. After getting looked over quickly by a nurse, they were given a number and told to wait in the room while other cases took priority. After a half an hour, a nurse came by and led them to an exam room. After they were seated, they waited another ten minutes before another medical person came by to take his blood pressure, heart rate and answer the standard battery of questions. And another fifteen minutes passed by before a doctor came into the room. Beth was fairly irate by then as they had been waiting for over an hour for something so simple.

“Good thing this is the emergency room,” said Beth with a frown.

“We had a busload of kids come in a couple of hours ago. They were on some sort of trip and had an accident,” said the doctor who looked tired.

“Everything okay?” she asked, suddenly sorry she was rude to him.

“A few broken bones to mend and plenty of cuts from flying glass, but most will bounce back okay,” said the doctor.

“What happened?” asked Jim.

“Truck’s brakes went out and ended up sideswiping them in an intersection. Just happenstance as they happened to be going through at the exact same moment in time. But I suppose I should be happy since a car would pretty much have been destroyed and luckily the bus was only about half full,” said the doctor. “Let’s take a look at what you’ve got.”

He pulled the towel away once again and saw the burns were fairly bad, but would heal in time without any scarring. He looked over Jim’s left hand and flipped it over a couple of times. “What happened?”

“Camping stove accident. I forgot the handle on the coffee pot gets hot and grabbed at it without thinking,” said Jim.

“Looks like some minor second degree burning on the fingertips and palm area. Mainly first degree burns…like a sunburn. It will hurt while healing but you will make a full recovery,” said the doctor.

“Treatment?” asked Beth.

“Time…wrap it up in some loose bandages, but don’t restrict the blood flow. You can go by pretty much any store and get the bandage material. Standard gauze will work. If the blisters break, let them heal naturally and maybe a dab of antibacterial ointment. But keep it covered. Don’t apply butter or ointment to this at all right now as it will seal in the heat. But mainly time is the healer,” said the doctor.

“No medication?” asked Beth.

“Standard pain reliever,” said the doctor. “Anything else?”

“No, sorry to have something so minor,” said Jim, slightly embarrassed.

“It’s nothing,” said the doctor. “The nurse will get you started on a bandage, but it will be up to you to continue the treatments.”

“Thanks for helping out,” said Jim as the Doctor left the room for other patients. “Told you it was nothing.”

“Jim, be quiet,” said Beth. “I was worried about you.”

“I know, but I can take it,” he said.

“So forgive me for worrying about you,” she said with some hurt in her voice.

“I…I appreciate the fact you were worried,” he said, seeing his stance was starting to hurt his wife’s feelings.

“Do you really?” she asked, looking mindlessly at some of the free pamphlets.

“Yes, I do,” he said and grabbed her around the waist with his good arm and kissed at her neck.

“I’ll forgive you this time,” she said and pushed her head back into his shoulder. A nurse came in to dress the wound and provide the guidance on fitting additional dressings. She informed the couple where to go for billing arrangements and sent them on their way as the exam room would be needed by additional individuals. After seeing the front counter and giving over his insurance number and signing several forms, they started to head back home.

“Almost time for lunch,” said Beth as she pulled out of the hospital.

“Just about, want to get something along the way?” he asked.

“After stopping at the drug store and getting you more bandages, yes,” she remarked and found a larger store. Pulling in, they both went inside and asked for directions to the medical supplies. Once there, Beth found everything needed for his dressings and put them in a small shopping basket. While she was looking around, thoughts were running through his head about the situation.

I was careless and didn’t think to remember safety. Never happened to me before, but I need to be mindful in the future. But we were unprepared for what happened to be anyway. Neither Beth or I had the knowledge to fix it right away like we should have. I should at least have had a book on first aid or something. Yes, the hospital was the correct move, but what would happen if there wasn’t a hospital around? Medical supplies is something I overlooked in my planning so far and it’s a critical item. How could I have forgotten about that especially so soon after…that? Just another item to add onto my list and more training. I think my idea of doing volunteer work with the hospital or an ambulance service would help out as well. Provide me training as well as a plan for what materials work the best, he thought as they walked towards the front of the store to pay and leave.

“Thinking?” asked Beth.

“Just a little,” said Jim.

“Yes, we need a first aid kit at home and probably one for the cars as well. And maybe a book on first aid,” said Beth.

“How did you know what I was thinking?” he asked.

“Because I’m thinking the same thing,” said Beth as she reached up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

“You’re pretty smart,” he said.

“Just practical,” she said and passed over her credit card for the purchases. After leaving, they stopped at a fast food place and got several breakfast sandwiches for the brunch they were having and headed back to the house. She set out the items, forbid him from doing anything except sitting there and breathing and got everything ready. As they started eating, he reached over and grabbed a piece of her hash browns.

“Don’t you have your own?” she asked.

“Yes, but it’s more fun to steal yours,” he laughed and popped it into his mouth.

“It is huh?” she asked and grabbed at his McMuffin and took a bite. After setting it back down on the paper, she smiled largely while chewing it up.

“It’s a good thing we’re married,” he laughed.

“It is, nobody else would let that happen,” she smiled after she swallowed.

“True enough,” he laughed and continued to eat at his food. After they finished, he was about to help clean up when he got another “look” and was informed he needed to sit down or else.

“I’ve still got one good hand!” he protested.

“Which will be put to good use looking over the internet finding us a decent first aid kit,” she said. “Be glad it’s not your right hand.”

“I can still click a mouse,” he said.

“So go to it,” she said and went about cleaning up the kitchen. As he saw her over the stove, he spied the knobs and suddenly remembered he hadn’t turned off the camping stove before they left. He darted from the kitchen to the garage, startling Beth in the process as he was tearing across the house. Once he got into the garage, he found the stove just as he had left it although the canister was out of fuel now and the appliance dead.

“What?!” demanded Beth as she got into the garage.

“I forgot to turn off that stove,” he said and turned the knob to off.

“Good thing it was still sitting upright,” she commented.

“Completely out of gas now though,” he said.

“Jim! You scared me to death earlier!” said Beth, finally showing some emotions while giving him a hug.

“I’ll be okay baby,” he said and grabbed her with his good arm.

“Promise me you’ll be safe!” she demanded.

“I promise to be more safe. I was just excited over my new toys and got a little out of hand,” he said with a grin.

“Had I know this would happen, I would never have bought them!” she exclaimed.

“Well, I learned a hard lesson this morning,” he said. “And no reason for you to worry about something like that. It was my own stupid mistake.”

“But I didn’t have to buy it! I caused you to hurt yourself!” she said.

“No you didn’t!” he said and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I never really said thank you did I?”

“Not really,” said Beth, still worried about the injury.

“Thank you for buying me the stoves Beth,” said Jim.

“I just wanted to make you happy,” she said.

“And you did, no matter what happened,” he said and hugged her once again.

“You go look at first aid kits for the house and car. I’ll get this cleaned up,” she said.

“I can get this,” he said.

“With only one hand? I don’t think so,” she said.

“Okay, I’ll get on the internet,” he said and left the garage while she started cleaning up the mess from earlier. He headed upstairs and got on the computer and went to his normal assortment of web sites for the preparedness expertise. Surely they had to have something to offer in the way of first aid. Jim found typing with one hand wasn’t that easy, but he managed to get the search parameters set up and hit the button on several different tabs. He started reading and found there really wasn’t a one fits all kind of kit, but most suggested making your own kit to suit your individual needs. He found several threads with extensive lists of items to pick up and started copying and pasting the information onto a document to buy later.

And what, pray tell, is an Izzy bandage? Quikclot? Nitrile? Oh, those are the rubber gloves…SAM splint? I’ve got a lot of research to be doing, thought Jim as he started making notes on his list. Okay, I’m not totally in the dark, I know what Moleskin is along with an ACE bandage…an Israeli bandage. Wonder why it’s called that? Because it’s made in Israel, or at least designed there. Okay, a Combat Lifesaver bag? Do they make those commercial? Yes they do…comes with over a hundred items. That’ll do for a start, but it isn’t a detailed listing so I figure I’ll have to add to it. Let’s go with two of those in olive drab. Beth might not like the whole military camouflage look in the vehicles. Here’s another person who suggests using one of those compartment Tupperware type containers for storage. That’s a pretty good idea for the house. We can grab one of those next time we’re out…

“Finding anything?” she asked as she came into the room.

“Yep, already bought us two combat lifesaver kits,” he said.

“Combat!” she exclaimed.

“It’s just a term. Look here,” he said and showed her the web page.

“Hmmm, looks like something we can use, but not that ugly looking Army camouflage,” she said with her nose crinkled up.

“I got them in green instead,” he chuckled.

“For what exactly?” she asked.

“For the cars,” he said.

“That should fit into the trunk okay,” she remarked. “What about a book?”

“Haven’t gotten to that yet,” he said.

“Maybe it’s better to buy the knowledge first and then buy the supplies?” she said and scratched at his shoulders.

“You really are too smart for me,” he said with a grin and opened a new window. He stumbled across a few books and clicked on several on the Amazon website. “Where there is no doctor?”

“Take a look at it,” she prompted him as he clicked onto the link. “Looks like a survival book.”

“Something like that,” he said and read further. “Maybe we’ll come back to this.”

“Why don’t you go ahead and buy it. I’ll be willing to bet there is some knowledge in there we can use,” said Beth.

“You think we can use it?” he asked.

“That and a few others,” she said.

“Okay,” he said and added it to the cart. He browsed around for several more moments before another book caught his eye. “This one looks good.”

“Wow Jim, that one does look good,” she remarked. “Go ahead and add that one in as well.”

Beth could hear her cell phone ringing from the bedroom and darted out to grab it. He went back to the site and picked up several more books, more specialized medical journals dealing with survival dentistry, pet survival (as the new puppy wasn’t far out of his mind) and CPR. He figured it was better to have the specialized books rather than not. After completing it, he went back to the windows and started looking for first aid courses for the both of them in Denver, but also added in Colorado Springs just in case. He found several courses offered in the local area, but would discuss them with Beth before going any further.

Jim went back to the supplies listing and also went through several more sites. Beth joined him back in the office.

“Found some nice kits at the REI store,” he said.

“We aren’t going back there,” she stated.