Chapter 40-2 Monsters

[tonyhind86]

So it looks like they definitely wont have steak on the menu now...

dartmoor-cows-square-speech-bubble1-450x476.jpg

[LiamKerrington]

The only thing I can say about this that semi supports my observation is that Datu and Glenn were working on their experiment behind closed doors. Datu didn't want to tell CJ about it because she would get mad and Glenn agreed with that.

CJ sounded like she was making a snide comment about the cows and how they better be worth it for as much trouble it was to get them. Like she tried to say no to getting them but probably got overruled by the majority somehow (similar to what happened to Burt when Michael, Pegs and Kelly first took off to find a doctor and found the colony)

And again CJ is trying to wrangle Michael in but doesn't really have the power to do so.

In all those examples she is not 'letting' people persuade aims, I think in all of those she is just not powerful enough to stop it or flat out doesn't know about it at this point.

For the books I guess I am just making an assumption on them not considering that, but I make that assumption because it sounds like they aren't pursuing the things I mentioned. You would think if they went through the trouble of getting the books that teach how it is done they would be pursuing the options. But maybe the library was raided, maybe it was burned, maybe they couldn't find the books they needed. Who knows?

Valid and convincing points. In fact as much convincing that I won't stick to what I mentioned before that one. Thanks.

Best wishes!
Liam

[Red Shirt]

Snipity-do-dah for clarity:

• Thinking about the Mallers fuel depot, isn't that what they used to attack the Arena? I imagine it is close to being drained if not completely drained.
• And like CJ mentions, what is left is probably going bad. Most fuel only have a shelf life of 6 months before you have to deal with oxidization, and water contamination. Even with stabilizers added it starts breaking down between a year and 18 months, so I think we are getting there.
• I can't remember exactly how far in we are at this point.

Last first: We are coming up on the one year anniversary in the show.

About the fuel depot: A quick look at the Google maps satellite image of the tank farm/fuel depot shown out near the Maller's Mall looks similar to this one, the proposed NOLA Oil Terminal, which will have a capacity of 5 million barrels. A "Barrel" in oil trading is 35 gallons, meaning that this one facility has the capacity for 175 million gallons.

(Note: I'm only really comparing the newish looking silver tanks, those other ones may no longer be in use. In 2009, they may have been in use and the capacity of this one site may have been triple the NOLA facility.)
(I say this one site because a quick review of the satellite image for LA showed me that there are at least 20 more tank farms in the city. I stopped counting then. I have no idea what is in them, some of them have to be fuel.)
(Also note that I am being very generous with my "Ballparking.")

Now, the capacity of fuel trailers (of the type you would expect) ranges from 6,000 to 10,000 gallons. I believe that Tardust said they needed eight with two backups... for bombs he probably would have used the "big uns." That's only 100,000 gallons. That depot would, at capacity, have filled 17,500 fuel trucks. I doubt they depleted it.

Now, about the shelf life and stability of the fuel... my brief research has shown that the average shelf life is, as others have mentioned here, six to twelve months for both unleaded and diesel fuel. In an unexpectedly accurate use of YMMV, I have found some people reporting that diesel can store longer untreated and when treated can even last for decades!
I also learned that the degradation of diesel isn't necessarily in it's overall potency, it is water contamination, algae growth (yes, algae) sedimentation and other crud in the fuel. When you use untreated old fuel, the problem arises when the fuel/water separator and fuel filters can't keep up with the flow required to keep the engine running. If they were to use old fuel, if it is pre-treated before use, it will probably be OK.
Worth noting is that storage life greatly depends on the storage conditions... giant above ground tanks baking in the hot LA sun is hardly optimal.

TL;DR - There should be plenty of fuel in LA if they can just find it. Its shelf life will become an issue soon, but handled properly, it shouldn't be a problem.

[Gnex]

We don't need fuel.... We have Datu!!!

The Colony is gonna be running off Wind and Water power before you know it.........

Then after that Datu is going to start working on flying cars like The Jetsons!!!

[tonyhind86]

Then after that Datu is going to start working on flying cars like The Jetsons!!!

A flying car with automatic transmission and a door mounted Mata gun ;-)

[Unit]

TL;DR - There should be plenty of fuel in LA if they can just find it. Its shelf life will become an issue soon, but handled properly, it shouldn't be a problem.

At this point though we don't know how old the fuel is exactly, could have been sitting for a little while before the Z-Day outbreak. But the breakdown and contamination has already begun. Adding stabilizer to already contaminated fuel will not preserve it in the same way as adding stabilizers to fuel in the beginning to prolong it's life. So it is probably too late to greatly prolong the life of the fuel that is now already 1yr+ old. They can probably still use it for some time even though it is not as volatile and likely already has water contamination but they are likely to encounter issues with engines stalling and oxidization buildup gumming up the motors. They will ruin their motors in the process of using contaminated fuel. The time to find alternative power sources has passed, better get on it

[Verse]

I am shocked CJ let it get to this point. She said they have like a week. A freaking week. The person that has a castle like fortress in Dunbar... 16ish safe houses....groves of fruit trees... and she waits till they have a week left to go "Ah shit. We're screwed" Granted she said she has looked at all the other options and didn't see anything.

Guess it just proves what everyone has pointed out so far. She has known it was getting real bad, but kept it to herself hoping to find an answer.

I just don't see her sticking around when it starts to fall. She is not a "Go down with the ship" type of person from what I have seen.

[tonyhind86]

I wonder, if the situation does not improve and they do lose power, if Ink and the others stage another attack on the Colony. We haven't seen an appearance from him since the last attack, or seen his reaction after Raydon burned down. Somehow I can see Michael's leadership restored, with Burt and Riley staging a glorious comeback and their story being told in flashback form.

[Witch_Doctor]

When CJ says that she ran through several scenarios, I can't help but to wonder if she is the type that would nix an idea without a 100% certain positive outcome. We've discussed on the forum a number of times how she plans things to the most minute detail but doesn't do well when events deviate from her plans. Everything is black/white for her. No in between, no shades of gray.

[Unit]

I was thinking about her comment on if people left it might be easier. I am wondering if she is going to keep Datu around helping to come up with a solution to the water problem and pegs around to help with the garden and then when she feels things are set up enough to where she feels like she can maintain; then she will start pushing more people out to Dunbar and kinda leave them to fend for themselves? I'm not certain she would ever do that but I think the fact that she mentioned it means she is thinking about it and considering her options in that regard.