Female complications, day 19
Strings attached.
We wave goodbye as Olafr, Kari, Jane, Caecilia, Hillevi and Bodil leave the ship for Borgarsandr. I got goodbye smooches from Kari, Jane and Caecilia, but now they are gone and we start to walk back to the mansion. Iselin and Ciara decided to stayed here. Iselin would have liked to come along, but we are going to test the steam boiler tomorrow, and she absolutely does not want to miss that. Then it is still our ''honey month'' when we should be together, and I won''t complain about more ice skating and just working a bit with them. Yesterday, another two pair of ice skates was made, so Iselin, Ciara and I can easily skate together. Well easily skate together, not easily skate. Iselin and I have both become quite fed up with drinking that honey mead, but drinking that mead reminds us that this is actually our honeymoon. By Western standards, this is a pathetic honeymoon, but different cultures and expectations. Iselin is really looking forward to our Reiekr?ne trip this spring, and that''s about as exotic as any trip practically will get without spending a month just travelling back and forth. Just the trip to Reiekr?ne will take about a week each way, and I''m not looking forward to that. At least the weather should be nicer than we have now. Scandinavian April can be anything from -10C and snow, to +20C and sunny days, and I know which I prefer.
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The construction team slash workers from Kari''s estate has arrived, and right now what they can do is limited due to the seasonal weather and lack of daylight, but Kari has seemed impatient, and the are work to do. The men are happy to work, serve their new landlord and be able to visit the Academy Islands. They have a couple of women has come along to take care of their cooking, and washing etc. Sure, men here will do that if they have too, but only if they have too. At least they brought plenty of food with them, and sleeping kit.
Since the guests left and the labourers have finished enough of the apartments, the best craftsmen have been allowed to use a couple of the apartments, so they''re filling up, although for now, only Olafr''s and Awdgotr-Saeunn''s apartments are ''permanently'' theirs. Clay workers Klakki and Eym?rd have moved into a now empty 6x4 house. The workers already here have been allowed to use the other craftsman''s house, with the understanding to not mess it up and keep it clean, so we accommodate Kari''s construction team in the village barn''s attic. A bit cramped, but sheltered, dry and reasonably warm, so they seem happy. They did bring tents, but I know what I would prefer during winter and they agree. They are definitely shocked at how different everything here is, and we''ve heard several comments that they are now beginning to realise what Storman Kari has planned for her property.
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There is a lot of activity in and at the waterwheels buildings, besides the usual. There is a new roof tile and clay pipe manufacturing workshop being built north of the road through the village, but set back from the main road since I want fancier shops and buildings along the road. My current village plan is to have a book shop and printing press and paper making and such things towards the valley side, as there is some water power available because of the pipeline under the road. I just wish the amount of lake water wasn''t so limited. In the future I''ll probably have to install a steam engine or two for the village workshops.
Iselin and I work in the forge tweaking the clock bell system and the steam engine, while the labourers and carpenters try to finish the carpentry, the bell tower and surprise for Jane. Occasionally we take a stroll to check how things are going in all places, to give instructions or to test something. Workers have also erected poles and are attaching wires to the village and onwards past the apartments and to the Academy. Unn will have her own wire, and she will be one of the first with a phone, simply because it''s a good idea with quick contact with the islands medical care. There''ll be a phone somewhere in the waterwheel buildings, and Saeunn or Bekkhilda will probably handle the phone simply because I''ll usually need to talk to Olafr or something, but I don''t want to scare Olafr or the other workers in the forge, metal workshop or carpentry with a ringing bell or something. It''s better that someone answer or leaves a message, and both Bekkhilda and Saeunn are available. It will probably be Bekkhilda as Saeunn is working in the mill etc, but both are involved in other work too. Right now they and other women are making leather parts for ice skates.
Eventually, I have to build a telephone exchange somewhere, and because of the wiring and purpose, it is impractical for the telephone exchange to be at Thrymheim once it becomes a more complex system, but for now the day room there is suitable. Although, if the other islands gets a lot of phones, Thrymheim might still work. In the future, someone will have to become a telephone operator and operate a switchboard, but the amount of telephone traffic will be so low that it will not be a full-time position. And I want to avoid a lot of talking on phones just because they can, and eavesdropping. Some eavesdropping will happen, partly because the current system has no automatic disconnect so the operator has to listen in occasionally to detect when the call is over and disconnect, but I want to avoid genuine eavesdropping. I need to finish the last phone and install it at Unn, and then build more phones, but that''s relatively little work and goes pretty quickly if I and others do several parts at once. Installing the wires is another issue. Just buying the copper wire is another issue. Frankly, I''ll probably need to make a more refined telephone system before I try to spread it wider, and it would be nice with automatic hang up or at least operator signalling.
My sambos - via Jane''s influence - have been pushing for an internal phone system in Thrymheim, and most likely there will be one limited system to talk to the staff room and the maids at least from some places in the house. I guess it''s only a matter of time before it''s between rooms. But it won''t be any time soon. The existing servant system works and I don''t want to have to make a lot of carbon microphones and speakers etc. Although sambos and bodyguards have offered to help with that. If there is to be an internal system, it should work with the telephone system as a whole.
One of the cleverest things I''ve recently done was to get Engdrid to make two simple wooden cups with a thin wooden diaphragms at the bottom and connect them via a long string. The simple cup string telephone proves that it doesn''t take sophisticated things to transmit speech and sound. Hopefully, most people will come to the conclusion that a proper telephone handset is almost the same thing, and thus not ''too sejdish'' to use. So the string telephone is mounted by the road for anyone to try, just to get people to accept that it works. Extra pairs will be made to take to the Academy exhibition at Northmen Ting, as well as extra membranes. The wooden diaphragms are easy to make with a planer, but not durable, so we expect some to break. There will be a couple of metal diaphragms too, and maybe with a metal wire, just to show the material only affects how it sounds, not that it sounds.
At least the carpentry line shaft system is working fine. A new scroll saw has been completed and installed, and the table router has been moved to the carpentry. The wood lathe is now two, and the new is getting better and better and doesn''t feel primitive, and is getting more shaping tools. The larger wood saw is a scaled-down version of the sawmill, but with an adjustable work surface and stops similar to the scroll saw. It''s for bigger jobs than the scroll saw, which is for fine cuts and curves. The planing machine works well, and I will send someone to Laxlanda to help them construct a planing machine there. Finely planed planks have a lot of uses, and save a lot of labour compared to doing it by hand, and will be far more accurate. The sawmill and planed planks will make future shipbuilding much cheaper and faster.
It feels nice to be able to go to the sawmill and pick out planks or wood I need for something. Some dimensions are used so much that they have been told to build a stock, and we have standardised several sizes. Each plank is branded with a small rune combination at the end; two runes for the type of wood and cut, then the dimensions in mm. If I want a 3 meter long oak plank that is 15x100 mm, I can just get one. Or similar in pine or birch. The carpenters love it, and that there are planed planks. It''s so quick to lay floors or make furniture, especially when the furniture are designed to utilise the system. Combined with the table router to round corners or make simple shapes, it is so much quicker and easier to make complex shapes. I know the railings etc at Thrymheim and elsewhere will probably be replaced this summer. Making something like the wooden parts for a dozen ice skates is so much faster than making them by hand, and they turn out exactly the same, partially because they''re made on the same machine settings and tools. Even a difficult job like carving a long, exactly straight and narrow and deep groove for the steel blade is very easy when a router with the right tools can mill out most of the groove and with perfect depth, width and straightness, and only the final trimming at the end of the groove is done by hand.
Carpenter Engdrid loves everything, and when I offered him to work here as my permanent carpenter, he immediately accepted and thanked me and Iselin. He''s probably been waiting for that offer, and will move into his own ''luxury'' apartment as soon as it''s finished. Bodil, of course, has already been given permanent permission to work in the carpentry shop whenever she wants, and she is by far the most experienced with the scroll saw and the table router, but they are not sophisticated machines and quick to learn.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Engdrid is enthusiastic about the simple milling machine for wood. Building a lot of that machine in wood is hardly optimal, but it is cheap and simply not prioritised to construct everything in metal yet. At least they now understand it''s use and why having one in metal that can do metalwork will be nice. Next, they will probably construct the template copying wooden lathe. It''s basically a rotating milling wheel that works its way back and forth over the rotating working length and slowly deeper on each passage, and controlled how deep via a template. With the right template, the copying lathe will be able to do the rough work to copy a lot of wooden things, from round parts for furniture or railings, to roughly shaping a stock for a crossbow or firearm. Once again, it''s a case of designing something so it can be effectively copied in the machine.
Next smaller machine tool will probably be a Dremel like rotary tool with limited mobility via a spiral flex arm like power transmission. Definitely something to keep hair away from, but hopefully there can be some kind of guard on the outside of the power transmission. Like everywhere else, there are appropriate warning symbols on all machines, and everyone working at a rotating machine is required to have their hair up and wear a headscarf. And most people here have long hair. At the moment it''s winter, so a wool cap has become a popular option, especially in the sawmill, which is quite open to the wind. In summer it will probably be a bandana.
A bad-ass bandana, +3 bonus. But only for me and Jane.
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It''s evening when the Borgarsandr group contact us via radio, to inform us they have arrived and all is well. Ima has spoken to Kari and asks for permission to leave her job for us and move in with Digraldi. She will become his concubine, and help raise his son. Of course, she is allowed to immediately leave as I have already said to them, and I tell Kari to pretend we suspected it might happen and that I am happy for them. I wish Ima good luck and Ima will get a small gift of 2 ounces of silver, and so she feels she owns something even though it isn''t that much. Yes, it is completely unnecessary to do so, but it feels good to do, because she doesn''t even have much clothes to take along when she moves to Digraldi''s household. Digraldi has been so important to me that it is a small amount.
As suspected, all the other maids in the B-mansion wants to come to Ackerek and learn how to operate radios and telegraphs and so on, and I understand why they want to get an education and become more important than just another maid, and there''s already status in being associated with me or the Academy. At least for some duties. It''s also a bit fitting that women learn to handle radios, since it is a powerful sejd and most will assume it''s something for women to do, although unfortunately it also probably means those radio women will have a harder time finding a man. Sejdwomen and all that nonsense.
But Frida, Soma, Birna and Gisela will come along with the boat, and they are offered a modified ''contract'' similar to Shakini''s and Elin''s, which Gisela has also asked if she can have. The fact that they will get to experience my mansion is also something they''re all looking forward to. To visit Sejdmann''s mansion. Thrymheim. The Eagle''s home. Ima has apparently talked and talked about her experiences here during the marriage feast, about all the sejd and wonders, and Ima is now going to be the concubine of a rich craftsman. They know that Shakini is now permanently employed as a servant here, and that Elin is in charge of a guest house and receives training they too will get. ?sa runs a nice inn, that''s apparently quite popular. Last autumn they asked to stay at Borgheim because they had no future prospects, but now it''s clear that just one visit to my islands can lead to whole new and good lives, and I practically offer them good jobs with a future if they learn, so I have no doubt they are motivated. And Gisela wish the same. Gisela, who I forgot was there and embarrassingly also forgot to make a free woman last time I was in Borgarsandr, as I was too focused on radios and Iselin. At least Gisela has not worn a neck ring. Of course, Gisela also wants to experience what she has heard talked about and Kari says that Gisela seems eager to be educated, and is happy to translate and such if she can. Gisela wants to be more than a bed slave in a faraway land, which Kari of course understands.
Argh, Gisela is a bit of a problem. I can free her from all service right away, but it feels wrong towards Elvira and Jalida who I ''forced'' into lifetime service. So it''s better she get something similar to Jalida-Elvira and Shakini-Frida-Elin-Soma-Birna, because I can always say it''s fulfilled when it suits me and before I send her off. It might be a good idea to start teaching her radios, because it might be handy if she and I were to set up a radio outpost somewhere down there in Frigonia or somewhere, and then have someone to spread the Academy''s reputation when she goes back there. Should she be too stupid or untrustworthy, I just won''t send along a radio and stop teaching her, and I just won''t have much use for a radio over there anyway. The knowledge is useless without the radio, because the radio is the important thing, even if it reveals how the communication takes place. Sort off. It is a it magical. A wooden box with brass and copper that can transmit and receive voice or sound from far away is something very few people understand - I can literally count them on one hand. I also see no direct value in another servant at Thrymheim, even though Caecilia has become less of a servant over time, she still does the same job of looking after my rooms etc, even if it is partly with Elvira and now Shakini too. I could have Gisela look after one of the other farms and properties.
We don''t even really need Ida right now, even though she now primarily takes care of the animals and vegetable garden along with Hrappr. Shakini has made the staff''s job even easier. Not to mention streamlining with things like the servant call system, and that I don''t expect to have someone stand by me all the time. But there will be more work to do in the spring and summer, and underloaded staff is better than overloaded.
I''ll tell Kari to buy or order some dresses, bras, shoes etc for the new ones, and also give them each a bag, comb, scissors, soap, towel, knife etc. It was already planned for Shakini, Elin, Frida, Ryla and Agnes. Shakini works here. Elin manages the guest house. And the others will still live and work here for a few months, and at least some of them will continue to work for me so they might as well get some good clothes and shoes to match the others, especially now that it''s cold outside. Of course, we already have a stock of staff clothes, but more are certainly needed, and shoes are a bit individual. Wooden clogs are hardly suitable all year round, although some people love them. Kari is also going to get them to start making clothes for the Academy''s students and staff, and it''s going to be a big order.
Kari tells me that Jane have been smiling and said that I really have a habit of giving some silver, or the equivalent amount in gold, to women I think should have it, as 2 ounces is what I gave to Lova and Astrid in Hildifjoer too, what seems like years ago. Kari lets me know that almost everything of the Borgheim upgrades are finished, and it is so much nicer, and the light tunnels down into the basement vaults make them nicer and brighter too. There are of course things left to do on the steam heating system, and I will have to install the last bit myself, but it is warm and cosy. As we''ve already discussed, the workers are going to convert part of the stable into a better living quarters with its own chimney for fireplaces etc, with above all good sleeping accommodation. If we are at Borgheim, we may have high status visitors, and it feels better to be able to give them and their servants or guards a better place to stay, without actually being inside the main building. When the construction work is finished, the men will get a well-deserved bonus and time off.
Ketill is apparently happy to take over his father''s business, and happy that his father has gained even more prestige. Ketill has already accepted the deal about steel, and asked to be allowed to mark future steel sword blades with the triangle Rob triangle A marking, which Olafr warned me about and I of course agreed too. It''s a bit of an ego boost. Ketill will be allowed to buy lumps of steel at a fixed ''lower'' price in return for us getting half the sale price of the swords and my merchant empire having the right to buy half the swords, but for the same price as others, which Ketill of course agrees to. He cannot make special swords without the steel, but if he sells the swords for 100 ounces after spending four weeks on them, he makes about 25 ounces on his labour, which may seem ''little'', but it is after materials etc are deducted, so pure profit and equivalent to a good horse. If he does ten such swords a year, that''s 250 silver ounces of profit. 100 cows. A fortune, every year. I myself then earn 75 ounces per sword, without really doing anything, and paying a pittance for material.
Ketill can also buy steel for market value but I don''t have to sell to him, and the merchant empire also solves the problem of finding buyers willing to pay what he asks, and as long as they don''t overcharge, there will be plenty of buyers. That the merchant adds 50-100% of the price for a final buyer in Europe is another matter, but I get a share of that too. If such a sword is sold down south for say 160 ounces, then after overheads etc, I will have earned about 100 ounces without doing any work at all. I buy iron, and Olafr and his helpers make the steel for their fixed wages. Ketill forges it and my merchant empire sells it. Ten swords, 1,000 ounces of silver each year. 28kg of silver. Many earn well, and all get rich on an exclusive commodity. I get most and become richest and control steel etc, so they all want to stay friendly with me. The nation will buy all the steel nuggets they can under the agreement, so I get something like another 200 ounces there. If the nations blacksmiths learn to make and sell swords from the steel, the nation will be richer too, but the northern markets will be saturated pretty quickly, but they can sell to other travelling merchants. The price will fall as time goes by, but I assume it will take a few years. Until then, it''s a good deal for all involved except the wealthy buyers, and will probably continue selling at comfortable scale. There are after all limited production, and when it comes to money, many small streams makes a river.
I look forward to getting a sword made by Ketill, and since I don''t actually need it, he can take his time and make the sword as he wishes.