Saturday 10 November 2018

Project Coffee Break Redux 004

    Chapter 5 Structure
   
    The builders where not what Jenny had expected. The picture in her minds eyes was... well builders, all living very close type 2 diabetes, massive figures who looked like they had been brought to life by a blue collar Prometheus who had formed them out of the materials they were destined to from with their broad coarse hands. What she got instead where three outlaws straight out of the very niche genre of the construction western. The leader Adrian was a tall wiry man who's warm smile somehow reinforced the 'man with no name' vibe, he was the wall and electricity guy. Stu was the closest to the 'classic' builder type, the heaviest of the three, the one that would described as am man who loved food in children's books or dating apps, which was offset by the feline way he moved and by the smirk in his face that was almost constantly dripping with sarcasm, his speciality was pipe work and painting. The third one Dan was a small, compact guy who had the personality of a 7 foot bruiser condensed into his 5'6" he took care of tiling and plastering.
   
    They stood in a lose wedge formation in front of the water mill, Adrian in the middle scanning the property, Stu lokking at the pavement in front of the building as if looking for something that he had lost a long time ago and sporting a smirk that did that had given up on dripping sarcasm, deciding to just open flood gates instead. Jenny was standing tat the entrance looking out suddenly feeling very protective of her chosen castle. Barbara had gone back in after she had announced the arrival of the trio to continue evicting stones that had overstayed her welcome.
   
    Adrian moved a stop forward. Jenny squashed the impulse to step back, her hand grabbing the wooden door frame hard.
   
    "This is going to be expensive." Adrian said.
   
    "Define expensive." Jenny said.
   
    "Just getting the building stable will take time. Barb also told me that you were planning to take down walls, install new windows, things like that. We'll need someone to do the maths. And we will need the materials." While Adrian was saying this his eyes kept moving all over the building, stopping every once in a while becoming narrow slits as he focused on a detail. Stu had wandered away mumbling under his breath while still looking at ground. Dan was just enjoying the show putting some half hearted effort into not openly laughing.
   
    "Tell me something I don't know yet?" Jenny said, she was starting to feel like when she had told her parents of her plan again and she didn't like that one bit.
   
    "First of all. This," Adrian pointed at the watermill, "is going to be months of work. Second each of us takes 25 pound per hour. On weekdays and regular working hours. Everything else costs extra." he paused waiting for Jennies reaction.
   
    Jenny try to hold his gaze while at the same time doing the maths in her head, comparing it with the resources she had. The result was not a disaster, but what she had though off as 'loads of money' was actually just adequate at best.

     "Found it." that was Stu who had stopped his meandering a short way down the road.
    
     "Huh?" Jenny said as she was being pulled out of her calculations.
    
     "The water pipes." Adrian said. "I assume there is no running water inside of the building."

     "er... no..."
    
     "Then it is safe to say that there is no connection to the sewers," Adrian continued checking off points from a mental list, "no electricity, no phone line, no cable or gas."

    "No..." Jenny said her calculations she had just made dying in her hands leaving an expensive corpse behind.

    "You need to think what you want to have. Double check if you can get it here." Adrian said, "Then we can set you up. This is also pretty much the first thing that needs to be done. We need electricity and running water. And there are of course the things that you will need."
   
    "Anything else I should consider?" said Jenny doing her best not feel overwhelmed.
   
    Adrian thought for a while. "Central heating. You'll want some for of that, and installing that will be a mess. It's something you want to get done when we are still tearing the place apart. Not when we have started building it up again."
   
    Jenny just nodded. Her plan that had seemed complicated before had just exploded into a fractal nightmare that reached into dimensions that were usually only ever visited by mathematicians in their most obscene fever dreams.

    "Do you want to have a look inside?" she said smiling weakly.

    Inside they met Barbara who had been building a barrow out of the stones she had been collecting from around the watermill.
   
    "Hey Barb." said Adrian.
   
    "Oh, hi Adrian. Good to see you. How do you like the place?" Barbara asked her enthusiasm clearly shining past the layer of grime she had acquired during her anthropological adventure.
   
    "Well. It's a challenge." Adrian said smirking. Jenny felt that the list of things that had to be done that he was compiling in his head was getting longer and longer. "And I'm not so sure if our client," he cast a meaningful look towards Jenny, "has enough funds to see this through."
   
    Barbara crossed her arms. "Really? That's how you are going to go about this?"
   
    "You know how we work. We like to do things right. And we like to finish them." he said.
   
    "Well, then you should focus on getting things done..." Barbara's tone had very carefully lowered it's temperature to a point where it threatened into icy territory. "Jenny, why don't you give my friend here the tour. I believe he needs to get a proper feel for what you are planning to do."
    Adrian was about to reply when, icy turned to skewering. He sighed, his features relaxing a bit, he turned to Jenny. "Ma'am?"
   
    Jenny gave Adrian, Stu and Dan the tour around the mill feeling like she had to defend what she was trying to do. When she had shown Barbara the place it was almost like she was already in the renovated building. It felt bright and warm. Like home, like a little fortress in a cold harsh world. A haven that she could share with others the feeling she had when she was visiting her grandfather. No matter how bad it was out there in here you were safe.
    Now though it was cold and grey. The air smelled of rock dust, the wind found its way into the mill, past her cloths to drink away her warmth. This was a ruin that was just refusing to yield to time, but its endurance was running out. Brining it back to life was not going to be easy. But that was not the worst part. Jenny could work; especially if it was something that it was worth working for. But Adrian was right. All of this would only ever stay in the realm of the possible as long as there was money. The moment she ran out of funds, no matter how far along she had come, the dream would end leading into a rude awakening for her.
   
    "And behind this wall," Jenny said now feeling to cold seeping past her bones into her soul, "is I believe the way to the basement."
   
    "Basement?" Adrian asked. Dan knocked on the wall, making a non-committal gesture with his head.
   
    "Yes." Barbara said. "I remember back in the day, there was a stairway leading a large basement."
   
    "How large?" asked Stu who had not said anything since he had found out where the water access was but had been taking notes in a grubby tiny notepad since he had entered the windmill.
   
    "At least as large as the building." Barbara said. Could be even larger.
   
    "Did it ever flood?" Stu asked.
   
    "Not that I know of." Barbara said. "But the last time I was here this wall did not exist.
   
    "Not the same material as the rest of the building." Dan said. "Under all the dirt," he tried to rub away some with his sleeve without much success, "are cement bricks. Quick and dirty work. Nothing a sledgehammer can't get rid of." as he said this he started to grin.
   
    "You want to check?" Adrian asked.
   
    "Has to." said Stu. " 'tis the first thing we need to take care off. Without it, all of this," he made a circular gesture with his index finger. "house of cards."
   
    "When do you think we can check?" the empty husk that used to be Jenny asked.
   
    Dan looked at her. "I can start in 10 minutes. I just need to get my hammer."
   
   
    One worst case scenario later.
   
    The wall that had sealed off the basement was now reduced to rubble. Dan who had done all the work by himself was still steaming from the effort. Covered in grey dust, eyes gleaming he looked like a demon from a concrete hell that had come to earth to collect what he was owed. Before him was a large ragged hole where the new wall used to be. Beyond it an old wooden stair that after three steps was submerged in water.
   
    "Well," Stu said adding another note to his records. "that would explain why they sealed off the entrance to the basement."
   
    Jenny was numb. When she had heard the first splash when Dan had broken through the wall for the first time, her soul had given up all hope and started packing. While it was still considering how to leave the still breathing body behind she noticed that Adrian's expression had changed. For the most part he had just been mostly unconvinced, but now he was angry.
   
    "Those bastards." he said between clenched teeth.
   
    "Bastards?" Jenny asked. The change of Adrian's demeanour was strange enough to bring her closer to life again.
   
    "Yeah. From the city.", he said. "They knew."
   
    Stu shook his head,
   
    "You sure about this" asked Dan.
   
    Adrian nodded. "Old building. Close to a river. They do an inspection every once in a blue moon. They notice the basement has started leaking. What's the cheapest solution?"
   
    "You look where the water comes from and seal it." Stu said.
   
    "Stop thinking like a professional." Adrian said. "That would be work and it would be expensive."
   
    Dan shrugged. "They just out up a wall and poof: problem gone."
   
    "But..." Stu started to say. "The foundation..."
   
    "I know." Adrian said. "But it would take a long time before it failed, long enough that it becomes the problem of some future dick head." he looked at Jenny, his face softening for the first time since his arrival. "I'm really sorry about this ma'am."
   
    "Yeah. Me too." Jenny responded feeling like she was physically drowning in the cold water of the old basement.
   
    "For how long can you pay us?" Adrian asked.
   
    "Adrian!" Barbara snapped. He held up his hand.
   
    "No, this important." he turned back to Jenny. "How long."
   
    She went through the numbers again. "Counting just weekdays... six months tops. Including materials, I guess." She had no idea what and how many 'materials' she would need. But did this matter any more?
   
    Adrian thought about the answer for a while. He looked at his friends. Stu did not meet his eyes concentrating on the floor instead. Dan looked at him and just shrugged.
   
    "We will help you. This is not going to be easy. Far to many risks. But this..." he pointed at the water, "this isn't right."
   
    Jenny looked at him still dazed she did not know what to feel. She just nodded.
   
    "Oh and one more thing," said Adrian, "you need to get a lawyer."

Wednesday 7 November 2018

Project Coffee Break Redux 003

    Chapter 4 The Cook
   
    After Edmund was confident that Linda was sufficiently aboard to have a look at the mill where, he was sure of this, she would get infected Jenny's drive and the strange charm of the location he moved towards his next target. Finding the right man or woman to take care of the kitchen. His brilliant plan of doing some restaurant/café/bistro hopping to find the right kind of inspiration had failed him. Yes he had a good feeling of what was hip right now and what wasn't but that really didn't lead him towards where he needed to be. Before he started he was sure that once he found the right individual he would _know_. After all his 'research' he was absolutely, totally and utterly positive that he would know when he found the one. A kind of stochastic victory perhaps. A kind of victory that helped get someone directly to the goal in one out of a thousand cases.
    Edmund sighed. He had to resort to drastic measures it appeared. He had to actually do some work.
   
    He contacted his friends that were part of the culinary scene either as craftspeople or as educated consumers. Jenny had told him to go through the hipster overground but Edmund decided to cast his net as wide as possible adding some old school foodies and a few healthy living zealots to the list. Out of that work grew like the most pestilent of weeds more work. More names more contacts and possibilities. And just knowing people wasn't really all that helpful either. He could hardly start a cook off royale with dozens of participants to see who would be the right person. Right? Even if the idea did seem rather appetizing to him for a short moment. But then could he really just talk to the people and hope that their words would translate into their dishes? For a moment he thought about asking Jenny for advice but that would mean letting her down. He couldn't do that. Not after seeing the fire back in her eyes. For one he could not risking camping that flame, also she had given him this quest and coming back with the tail between his legs after just a couple of days with only a maybe engineer in tow? No. That would be to horrible to contemplate. It would be even worse because by now Jenny had probably already gotten the basics of the café laid out and ready to go. No. That was impossible. He had to get this done on his own. So he did the only thing that would help him in this situation. He called Stephen and Lexa two friends he had neglected for far too long anyway, they could help he. As he had hoped they had a 'come together' planned for the night in their flat share and they welcomed him back into their overcrowded apartment with open arms, alcohol and indecent amounts of drugs. He felt an immense wave of relief wash over him and take with it all the stress and anxiety. He was safe.
   
    The Lexa and Steven's layer was located just beyond the border of the city's centre. It was no longer in the beating heart of the city where the rent had reached philosophical levels that could only be understood by professional thinkers or ignored by those wealthy beyond reason. The flat was located in a place that once was the refuge of the working class but which long ago had been washed away by the affluent. The only way Lexa and Steven could live there was because they spent more than half of their rather generous city wages on it, as did Chris and Sarah, their flatmates. They all worked respectable jobs. The kind that came with almost as much prestige as long hours and enough competitions to make sharks nervous. However those who lived here had made a pact, that they would not sacrifice their lives at the altar of a society that burned away their people. Their words, not Edmund's who believed in not throwing yourself into this specific machine in the first place. But he had to admit that their form of pugnacious hedonism had a singular beauty to it. This was not the bland 'work hard, party hard' bravado from the usual young professionals whose lives while expensive were as pale as the champagne they wasted. Instead they worked a lot but lived hard afterwards.
   
    When Edmund arrived the apartment bursting with music, smoke, dozens of voices and laughter. Chris and a few friends Edmund half remembered from other such 'meetings' were getting their coats.
   
    "Hey, Edmund! Long time no so old man. Good to see you again.", said Chris when he saw him.
   
    "Hey, I've been busy lately." Edmund say.
   
    Chris laughed "When aren't you mate. Listen we were about to go to the chippy. You want to join us?"
   
    "Nah, thanks I'm good."
   
    "We can also get you something, just say the word." Chris offered.
   
    "Thanks mate, but I have so much food in my mind that I could not possibly eat anything right now."
   
    "That," said Chris, "made no sense at all. But suit yourself."
   
    "Heeeey Edmund!" that was Steven who had just come out of a room carrying a giant bong that would have been the pride of any Venetian master glass-blower. "You have come at just the right moment. I am about to try out Lethe."
   
    "The bong you are holding?" Edmund said.
   
    "Oh Edmund, you wound me, this is not a bong. Well yes it is. But it is more than that. This," he held it up, "is part of a spiritual experience. Don't just stand there, come in and get yourself a drink. Hey Lexa!" he shouted "Edmund has descended from his heaven and is paying us a visit."
   
    Edmund followed Steven into the large living room where a large sofa table was menaced a a circle of couches in several sizes and colours and they had brought reinforcements in form from many chairs. Most places were already filled by people who looked up as Steven entered the room holding up his trophy. The people cheered. Some of them recognized Edmund and greeted him calling him over to join them.
   
    "Leave the man be." said Steven, "He hasn't even got a beer yet. For fuck's sake show some manners. Lexa?! Where are you."
   
    "I heard you the first time." Lexa entered the room from the other door leading to the kitchen. She had a massive bag of weed in one hand and was holing two open bottles of beer in the other one. "'lo Edmund. I brought you a beer." she grinned.
   
    "Perfect." said Steven. "Now make room. Make room for Lethe."
   
    Ten minutes later Edmund and everyone else in the room was stoned like a heretic listening to the music or just enjoying the mood. The room itself was now filled with a sweet smelling smog that gave a very warm and fuzzy second hand high to anyone who entered the room.
   
    "So what to what do we owe the honour of your presence Edmund?" Lexa asked who was had spread out over her part of the couch.

    "First of all, it was time to see you all again." he said.
   
    "And?" Lexa asked looking at him with surprisingly clear eyes.
   
    "And I needed a break." Edmund said taking a sip from his now tepid beer.
   
    "And there it is." Lexa said her hand shooting up pointing vaguely towards the ceiling.
   
    "Is what?" Edmund asked letting his head slump into Lexa's direction.
   
    "The truth, Edmund. The truth."
   
    "I'm helping Jenny with  project of hers and..."
   
    "You bit of more than you can chew." Lexa said. "You saw, what ever it was she was planning, thought you could help her with it and in your youthful enthusiasm charged first and started asking question when it was too late."
   
    "I don't charge first... I go and scout out the possibilities." said Edmund.
   
    "Euphemisms will not help you E."
   
    "It's not an euphemism."
   
    "So your scouting mission is going well?" Lexa now turned towards Edmund.
   
    "No, not yet."
   
    "See?" Lexa said but there was no triumph in her voice only sympathy. She moved forward a bit and started rummaging in the segment below the tabletop. "Ah there we go. Here take this." she said handing Edmund a piece of white cardboard and a set of crayons.
   
    "Really?" Edmund asked looking at the cardboard then at Lexa, then at the crayons, "Really...?" and that back to Lexa.
   
    "Yes. Just draw something doodle a bit. Forget what you are doing for a while and return to yourself. I'm pretty sure that you haven't been there longer than your last visit."
   
    So Edmund took his crayons and started drawing. In that time Steven had reloaded Lethe and called for everyone to taste her sweet breath again. When Steven saw what Edmund was doing he told him "You know what, I think your little project there needs a little help."
   
    "I'm just doodling." Edmund said.
   
    "You but, I know what will help you with your doodles." with that Steven got up only to return with a tequila bottle and two shot glasses. "This, my friend, is the good stuff."
   
    It was far past midday when Edmund woke up. A bunch of doodles his pillow. Someone had thrown a blanket over him. The sunlight pushed its way through the curtains claiming the room for the day. Even discounting his simmering headache and the taste of existential futility that had taken over his mouth he was not alone. On the couch to his left lay a young man who was still sound asleep. He sat up, slowly. He didn't fell that hungover, but this could be trap. The hangover could be waiting, biding his time until Edmund made a sudden movement or did something stupid like trying to walk upright or breath to deeply, to then pounce and destroy him.
    He felt a bit woozy and the head ache was happy just being a harbinger of future doom. He stood up. That was not to bad. He felt still a bit drunk and a bit baked. But all in all good enough to walk. He moved past the strange pyramid of glasses and past the grave mount of bottles towards the kitchen. He forded a lake of empty crisps packets, reaching the door. He opened and was blinded by the bright sunlight flooding the kitchen. He whimpered. The headache moved around uncomfortably but luckily it could not be arsed to do any real work.
    The kitchen itself was another battle field, covered in plates real and cardboard, more bottles here standing upright covering almost every surface in a strange forest of glass. The sink was buried. And the stove looked like someone had attempted to cook by volcanic explosion. All in all it wasn't too bad. Edmund went to the refrigerator to be pleasantly surprised to find the tomato juice he was looking for. A good omen. Edmund went looking for some beans and toast and found them too. Another good sign. He dislodged one of the pans from the stove and prepared two virgin Mary's while he waited for the beans to heat up. He had been in this situation often enough top know better than to look for the other inhabitants in the flat. Either they had already gone to work or were still sleeping. In the first case no one would answer his calls and in the second one he would get screamed at for waking them up. The unwritten rule here was that if you wake up after a party you took care of yourself and your people. 'Your people' being who ever you woke up with. So in this case that meant breakfast (?) for Edmund and who over the fuck that guy on the other couch was.
   
    Lethe a holy totem sat on top of the couch table almost alone as people had preferred to put their glasses and bottles on the floor or in the compartment below the tabletop rather then profane the holy space above. Which was great for Edmund as he could just put the things he brought from the kitchen on the table without having to try to make space in a room where the very concept clear surface had become preposterous.

    Edmund touched the guys shoulder. "Good morning." No reaction. Edmund thought about letting the poor guy sleep, but decided to give it another try first. He shook him gently. "Hey, wake up, there's breakfast."
   
    The young man made a noise somewhere between a grunt and a question mark.
   
    "Good morning." Edmund tried again.

    "Murbl..."
   
    "There's beans and toast..." Edmund said.
   
    "Blurghlmngh.." the answer was less then enthusiastic.
   
    "Yeah. I know. Don't worry about that. I also made virgin Mary's, extra hot and spicy. That'll help you come back to the living."
   
    "Vrghl mrruh?`"
   
    "Like a bloody Marry but without the Vodka." said Edmund.
   
    "gnnnn"
   
    "Don't worry. I don't want to drink anything ever again either. You are safe. So what about sitting up? It's what's all the cool,kids are doing these days."
   
    The unhappy man shape sighed and attempted to move. One had to admire the effort. First a leg was cast from the sofa, anchoring the man to the ground then a jerky motion to free one arm from the blanket. That mostly lead to the blanket tying itself around its victim. Some hapless arm waving and struggling later, he sat up only to fall back into the soft embrace of the couch. At least he was sitting more or less upright now. While the poor guy was still wrestling with the harsh realities of consciousness Edmund was making his way back into the kitchen.
   
    "Try drinking a sip of the virgin Mary. It will bring you right back. I'll make coffee."
   
    When Edmund returned from the kitchen the shape had turned mostly human and was nursing his virgin Mary. Edmund stopped in his tracks when he saw him. The young man was wearing simple utilitarian clothing. Workman like, but far to clean to have ever seen real labour, there was also something meticulous about its simplicity. This extended to the young man wearing them. His hair and beard was full and wild, but it was the wildness of a Japanese garden, where every single thing was carefully placed to perfectly embody wild unrestrained nature.
   
    "Kismet..." Edmund breathed.
   
    "What?" Michelangelo's hangover lifted his gaze towards him.
   
    "Are you," Edmund spoke softly afraid of breaking the fragile strand of fate he felt at the very tips of his fingers, "by any chance a cook?"
   
    "Yeah. How did you know."
   
    Edmund had found his hipster.

Monday 5 November 2018

Projekt Coffee Break Redux 002

Edmund had to leave his culinary comfort zone to find the right people for the watermill. He was usually chasing some idea, following a vision or trying to put into words a vague half manifested idea. These situations asked for food that was rich, nourishing and uncomplicated. He had a deep love for the kind place that looked a bit dilapidated because the people there were more focused on getting the food done and the hungry fed than keeping up appearances. Clear clean cooking was more important than fancy chairs or tables.
    This was Edmund's food for thought, he had done so much thinking when eating that food, that now when he ate the right things the ideas would come. He even had categories. Fish and chips was for mathematical or stochastic problems, obviously. While a good strong curry was the food for great narratives. Analysis and research was clearly best suited for Chinese takeaway eaten on public soil somewhere in the city.
    Now however he had to do research, look for possible allies and recruit a potential engineer while at the same time going to a strange new place to eat. Highly irregular. So Edmund went all out, the food would be distracting him anyway so he chose something he usually would avoid, also this would be a test for Linda. He had chosen The Enchantress a vegan place in a successfully up-scaled former working-class neighbourhoods. He was still poring over the menu when Linda arrived. While neither knew how the other looked like Edmund had assured her that she would know him when she saw him. He he cultivated an old school Bourgeois, slightly over-dressed style that would have caused Sartre to break out in sarcasm. Also he had reserved a table under his name just in case he had overestimated his individuality.
    Linda appeared 5 minutes early, all practical clothes and combat boots sporting an expression of existential bemusement. When her eyes met his, she paused her eyebrows moving up an inch. He answered her question with a smile warmed by smugness.
   
    "You are Edmund." a bit of a question flowing into a greeting.
   
    "I am." he said. "You must be Linda." he stood up to shake her hand. "Pleased to meet you."
   
    "Hi. I'm Linda. Likewise." The question was not quite done yet.
   
    "Please take a seat and feel free to get whatever you like. Dinner is on me." Edmund waited for her to sit down before he did the same.
   
    "Thanks." she said now focusing on him. "I heard from Russell that you have project that I might be interested in. Something about high efficiency power generation?"
   
    "Yes. A friend of me Jenny is looking to renovate and old watermill. And I'm talking middle ages old. She plans to rebuild it, turn it into a café but she wants it to be something special."
   
    "Special like this place?" Linda asked looking at the menu still not quite sure of what to make of it.
   
    "No. Not like this place." Edmund said.
   
    "OK" Linda said not looking any more convinced than when she had entered the place. "So special in what way?"
   
    "I'm not sure how yet. Jenny has a vision, but I think it is not quite clear to her yet what it is yet. She is trying to give a dream of hers form. And... have you ever had a great dream that faded the moment you woke up but you tried to remember?"
   
    Linda just nodded.
   
    "Well I think it is something like that. But one part that is absolutely clear is that the place will produce its own power. At the very least we would like it to produce as much of the power it needs on its own. If you need more details you will have to talk with her. But first of all I need to know if you have what it takes" that made a pair of eyebrows rise "and then if you are interested in our little project."
   
    "Who else have you talked to?" Linda asked her eyebrows brought back down setting her face into poker configuration.
   
    "So far just Russell. Right now I'm spreading the word."
   
    "What kind of solution are you thinking about?"
   
    "Er..." Edmund paused. "There is more than one?"
   
    "Are you going for a single source of power, or a hybrid system? Are you trying to shift the energy balance towards neutral or do you want full self-sufficiency? And is this going to be low emission, zero emission?"
   
    As Edmund heard this his polite smile broadened into full enthusiasm and his eyes shone. "I have no idea. But I would love to hear what you think about it."
    The rest of the evening was spent filling napkins with sketches, plans and projects while eating significant amounts of surprisingly good food. When they left The Enchantress they had a several different plans for Jenny to decide on.
   
   
   
   
   
    Chapter 3 Foundations
   
    While Edmund was out and about trying to find people to give her Café power and something to offer beyond a dry place in a storm, she was working towards clearing the place. The first day she did it on her own. A horrible idea but a necessary one. Picking up the trash and putting it into bags was easy enough, even if it took her ages to just filling bags with rubbish.  No matter how much she collected, there was always more left for her to get rid off.
     As Mount Trash, as she called the black pile in front of the mill began to grow, she had started to attracted the curiosity of her new neighbours. Most of them had been happy from simply watching her for a while from the security of their property casting their silent judgements in forms of nods, shaken heads and various species of smiles.
    
     An older Lady who had watched Jenny for a while was different. She looked looked young for her age, in a way that was one part a lucky draw in the gene lottery for the greatest part though a resolute determination to not give a single inch to age without an all out war. Where other people had aged with dignity she had worked on being young for her entire life and was now a veteran. She had observed Jenny far longer than anyone else. At first Jenny had not noticed her at first, then ignored her as she thought that she was just a curious bystander like all the others. When it became clear that this wasn't the case Jenny paused swung the trash-bag in her hands towards the summit of Mount Trash and then turned towards the woman. She waved with and said "Hello." and after a short pause added, "I come in peace."
The woman tilted her head waved back smiling and disappeared into her house.
    'OK. So that's the local strange old lady...' Jenny thought and went back into the mill collecting the souvenirs of a small army of teenagers past. While she was taking out another nest of beer cans she heard a knock on the door. She turned around to see the old woman standing on the threshold. She had changed into hiking boots and put on a crimson scarf and a coat the colour of dried blood. She was armed with a Thermos and a large tin.
   
    "Hi I'm Barbara." she said, "I bring tea, " she lifted the Thermos, "and cookies." she said lifting the other hand, presenting her offerings to Jenny. And if you like I have also brought a little something to give the tea a kick." she added with an impish smile.
   
    "Hello Barbara. I'm Jenny. And tea sounds perfect." Barbara's smile began to fill with pity "Preferably reinforced." The smile was back to normal after that. "What do you have?"
   
    "Rum." Barbara said.
   
    "Perfect" Jenny said sitting down on the floor next to the beer can nest. "Please take a seat."
   
    Barbara joined her on the floor after moving a few stones away to clear bit of space on the floor. "Nice place you have here." she said while pulling out two mugs from the depths of her coat pockets.
   
    "Thanks although I'm thinking about redecorating." said Jenny while she watched Barbara pouring the tea steaming in the cold air filling the room with its pleasant scent.
   
    "Milk?" Barbara asked.
   
    "Just the rum for now." Jenny said.
   
    "Prefect choice." Barbara nodded and added a very generous splash of rum two both mugs.
   
    As the  fragrance of the rum joined the smell of the fresh tea Jenny Jenny could feel how the place came alive. She nodded to herself smiling. "This will work."
   
    "I beg your pardon?" asked Barbara.
   
    "Oh, I was just thinking aloud. I think that what I have planned for this place will work."
   
    "And what have you planned?"
   
    "I'd like turn this place, the mill, into a place where people come to forget the world outside, to relax and to have a cup of tea." Jenny said.
   
    Barbara toasted Jenny with her mug. "It seems to me that right now you are passing the proof of concept stage. Cheers!"
   
    "Cheers."
   
    "It is good to see that someone is finally taking care of this place. I've always loved it." Barbara looked around. "I grew up here, lived in the house," she pointed with her thumb over her shoulder towards where she had come from, "until I was done with school and left for the university... among other things. I played here when I was little and when I got older this was the place where I could hang out with my friends without my parents being a constant embarrassment. The mill is a special place to everyone who grew up here. I remember that I had dreams of taking care of it should I win the lottery. Turning it into a gallery or a workshop or something like that. We all did. But in the end no one ever did anything..." she paused for a moment lost in thought. "but then, in the end, life tends to get in the way of your dreams, doesn’t it?"
   
    "Yeah..." Jenny sighed "But not any more. I'm here to change that." she nodded more to herself than to Barbara when she said that.
   
    "Is there anything I can help you with?" Barbara asked "if there is something I've left in abundance it's free time."
   
    "Well... as a matter of fact, yes."
   
    "Want me to help you getting rid of the rubbish?"
   
    "That would be great. However there is another thing..." Jenny said.
   
    "Yes?"
   
    "I may have taken a few of the blessings of modern civilisation for granted."
   
    "You need to go to the toilet right?"
   
    "Yes, please?" Jenny said.
   
    Barbara got up. "Well then, follow me. You can sing my praises later.
   
   
    As     midday approached  Mount Trash had grown so high that it tempted any passing summiteer to check their climbing gear. However looking at her work Jenny could not help but feeling slightly annoyed. She had not come as far as she had wanted to. Despite her creation of a new mountain range in front of the watermill, going inside everything still seemed to be crawling with rubbish. Every big piece she removed just seemed to bring a swarm of smaller refuse to light. Besides that was just the shit people had left around. The next step would be to take all the bits of broken building out of there. The Bits of stone and wood, the broken sheets of plaster. Some of the which had to be removed with the use of some well applied force as parts were still attached to the building clinging unconvincingly to their life of old. And what would happen then? While she could a pretty structural analysis on a text, doing the same with a building was a task she was completely unsuited for. Nonetheless she did know that if you went ant took out parts of buildings willy nilly buildings tended to take that lying down, on top of you.
   
    It was Barbara who brought her back from her contemplation.

    "You look glum." Barbara said.
   
    "I was just thinking about what I still needs to be done." Jenny said not taking her eyes off of the old watermill. "I was thinking that I was starting on square one. Or actually square three or four considering I had to secure financing and the rights to the watermill in the first place. Turns out I'm square mines five..." her shoulders fell as she said that her entire form shrinking. Barbara put her hand on her shoulder, very softly as not to weigh Jenny down any further.
   
    "That's actually a good thing." Barbara said.
   
    Jennies eyes swivelled to look at Barbara, she did not have the will to move her body, but her posture hardened making her look like a sulky gargoyle. "Oh really...?"
   
    "Yes." Barbara said her hand now grabbing hold of her shoulder. "If known many people like you, people with vision, people following some impossible dream, and they all sooner or later arrive at the place where they realize that their idea was shining so bright in their hearts that they had misjudged how far it was.
    There are two types who tend to reach the finishing line the most. The ones who notice early on how hard the road ahead really is, those who do not give up become careful, they know how hard the way is and plan accordingly." Barbara let that sink in.
   
    Jenny relaxed a bit regaining her composure. "And the other type?"
   
    "They are drawn so strongly to towards that light that they simply will not be stopped by such trivialities. Reality will give way to their vision."
   
    "Those are the other ones who reach their goals?" Jenny asked now standing up straight again and turning towards Barbara.
   
    "You have to remember that most people fail or give up. Most fall for the common sense's siren call others simply burn out as we are never taught how to pace ourselves when following our passion. Passion burns. And blindly playing with fire is..." Barbara was quiet for a moment her smile still tender turned sad "...it does not end well."
   
    "I think you were trying to lift my spirits." said Jenny.
   
    "Yes I am." Barbara said returning to the present. "You already know how much work is ahead of you and that it won't be easy. That is much less of risk. Right now you are in a situation where you are realising that your little walk in the hills is actually a mountain climbing expedition through an unmapped mountain range."
   
    "Spirits still firmly grounded." Jenny said though she could not suppress a smile sneaking in.

    "I know, wait for it." Barbara shushed her. "You know what you are up to though. You are not yet lost. You see what you are really up to and now you can plan. You walked through all those hills and now notice that you are now at the food of a mountain. Look right there." she pointed towards the heap of rubbish in front of the watermill. "You alone got all that out of the mill in only a morning. That's a lot you achieved right there."
   
    "But there is so much more left."
   
    "Yes. But look at that" Barbara insisted. "Look at it. That is already not there any more. And you are not alone."
   
    "That's true. But Edmund is still out trying to get people to take care of things that won't be possible until I am done here..."
   
    "Who is Edmund?" Barbara asked.
   
    "My best friend." Jenny said.
   
    "Well I was not talking about him."
   
    "No? But..."
   
    "I didn't even know that he existed a second ago. I'm talking about me."
   
    "You...?" Jenny attempted to interject again.
   
    "Yes, me. And I have a few friends who will be able to help you."
   
    "You do?"
   
    "Yes, I'm pretty sure there a few other details that you still have not thought about."
   
    "Like..."
   
    "Where will the water and electricity come from? Where will be your toilets, or the kitchen, where are you planning to have power sockets, and what about a computer network? Pipes and cables need a place where they can go through. And you'd want to know where these things are going to be before the builders come."
   
    "Oh." Jenny said.
   
    "Where are your spirits now?" Barbara asked.
   
    Jenny looked at her blinked a few times before saying, "I guess they just found the basement."
   
    Barbara looked surprised. "The basement!"
   
    "Yes now I am really feel like I wasted my money and am now sitting on a ten thousand year lease paired with a set of on second thought really crippling obligations."
   
    "Forget about that for a moment. Did you find the basement? When I was a teenager it was already a half collapsed death trap. A very interesting one though." Barbara grinned.
   
    "er... nope. No basement that I know of." Jenny said.
   
    "They must have sealed it. You'll want to open it up again. It will give you more space and you need to be sure that it is OK, you don't want to build on a decaying foundation."
   
    "Right..."
   
    "Right. Now back to your spirits. Are you hungry?"" Barbara asked.
   
    "I was ten minutes ago."
   
    "Perfect. I brought you a few things." Barbara pointed towards a big wicker pick-nick basket Jenny had somehow failed to notice until now. "You've got enough reality for the moment. It is time we go in there and find your vision.
   
   
    Jenny took a deep breath. "Let's go." She took the lead back into the watermill. "Where would you like to have lunch?"
   
    "I don't know" Barbara said. "Why don't you give me a tour."
   
    "Well..." Jenny paused looking at large room in front of her. It filled the entire area of the part adjacent to the actual mill. "This is the main room. You can't see it for all the crap lying around but this will be were the people will be sitting having a great view at the river over there," she pointed to the wall in front of them, "and the terrace over there. Which you cant see because there are no windows there or a a terrace. Yet." She turned around and pointed to the wall to her right. That wall will be opened up and second as kind of bar the kitchen will be behind that where the actual mill is." She hesitated for a moment. "provided I can take out so much wall without everything falling apart..."
   
    "Well now that you know what you want, you will be able to ask people who know about these things how you could get it done." Barbara said calmly. It had been dark when she had followed Jenny inside but not her eyes were getting used to it and it was illuminated by Jennies imagination she could see it. She could feel the warmth of the sun warming the room even on fresh autumn day as today. The space was wide open and yet comfortable.
    Jenny opened a door to her right leading further into the mill.
   
    "This will be the corridor that leads to to the kitchen, the storage space and the generator." Jenny said.

    "The generator?" Barbara asked.
   
    "Yeah. The mill will generate its own electricity. It's been here for so long and it has been using the flow of the river to do its job it would be a pity if that would change."
   
    "That makes sense." Barbara nodded. "What about the toilets."
   
    "The toilets?" Jenny said. "Oh... yeah. They should probably be here somewhere. They cant go there..." she looked at the wall to the left. "That's where the stairs are." A short pause. "Hmmm, the wall here should also vanish the stairs should be accessible from the kitchen the main room and the back... So the toilets could go to over there" She pointed towards the other end of the corridor."
   
    "You should consider putting them behind the kitchen." said Barbara.
   
    "Why?"
   
    "Piping. The water needs to come from somewhere and you don't want pipes in all walls. That will be a lot of fun once you decide to put a new picture on a wall. Also the further warm water has to travel, the longer it will take to for it to come out warm."

    Jenny just nodded. Went through the next door turned sharp to the left and went up the stairs. Barbara followed her but with far less trust in the steps that Jenny was showing careful to only step on the outermost parts of them.
   
    "Then up here would be another room with a great view. More like the place were you would read a book or follow your thoughts. More bath rooms over there. A dumb waiter in the corner there and more toilets, separating the public part from the private area..."
   
    "Private." Barbara asked.
   
    "Yeah. I feel like it would be nice to live right here. there could be a bathroom on the other side and maybe an apartment. Over the main mill room. Or maybe around it?" she led the way again leading the gallery of a large two story room that looked like an ancient city god had lost his temper in half way through assembling a timber framed house and thrown all of the remaining materials into the air and left in a huff.
   
    "That treeish looking thing poking out of the rubble should have been the drive shaft or what ever it's called of the mill. Even if the generator is large we don't need all the head-room. And there is another floor above us that has also enough space for a small but comfortable flat. Maybe this could be a hostel too." Jenny crooked her head as she said that thinking about it. "Nah. That's not quite right. More like a place where friends can crash..." She looked back down. There are also some old storage rooms down there, which would make great new storage rooms." She looked again at the mountain of rubble and broken wood downstairs biting her lower lip lost in thought. She looked up at the ceiling and then down to where the floor was hidden. "This there is the heart of the mill." she nodded to herself. "This part is the most important."
   
    "Why?" asked Barbara.
   
    "Because here the energy of the mill will come from. This is the part that will make it all come alive. Everything else is just an extension."
   
    "All right," Barbara said, "I think I know the right people for the tasks you have at hand."
   
    Jenny changed focus from her vision of the mill back to the present. "And who would that be."
   
    "Friends of mine who dropped out of University around the same time as I. They also followed their vision."
   
    "What vision was that?"
   
    "One of stone and mortar, pipes, metal and electricity. They became builders."