The Last Man

[Wayne23]

June, 2136: It is still dark, still cold, still snowing. While the snowfall remains about as I reported it last time, the equipment is starting to show wear due to being used every single day. I decided this week that I could plow every three days and then thought some more. What if the stuff freezes and turns to ice on the roadway. Given that it has not reached 30 degrees here in about a month and a half, that could happen. So we will continue to plow every day.

I have decided to get two more self-driving pickups with plows. I can use one truck to do the house to bus garage route, and the parking areas, one to go to Northampton, and one to go to Worcester. With 6 trucks I can use a given truck only every other day, and by rotating the plowing assignments for each truck, they will each get the easy local route regularly. I think this will lead to less wear and tear.

As to the robots, I’m thinking about whether using them on alternate days, one on, one off, will gain anything. At this point I’m thinking that one day of light duty- driving, and one of shoveling, sweeping, using the snow blower… may be a better idea.

Finding the two additional trucks and getting them operational took a few days but they are up and running and on the job.

My mood is okay. I see my “shrink” as needed, but at least twice a week, and that helps. Getting into the “sunshine” in the HC also seems to help.

But, truthfully, I have been alone for a very long time, well over 55 years. I don’t think humans evolved to deal with that very well. Even the most isolated of my species seemed to need some human contact. I have spoken of the holopeople, and yes, they mitigate all of this somewhat, but the bottom line is that they are a whole different species. They are not fully human. And no matter how deeply I interact with them, beneath
it all I know that.

Still, life is okay. I get a lot of enjoyment out of my life, and I find ways to keep myself occupied and entertainment most of the time.

Next: Trouble.

[Wayne23]

3/9: #8 seed California, 11-18, 7-11, won the play in so we face them in the quarters. We won by only 5 there, but by 29 here.

3/10: 64-49. It was never close. 14 each for Kim and Wags. Everyone played, and everyone scored. +13 TOs.

#5 seed Washington, 20-9, 11-7, upset #4. They’re next. We beat them by 20 here, then by 12 there.

3/11: 73-65. We led for the last 36 minutes, by as many as 23. I rested my starters for the last 8 minutes and they got it down to 8 with a buzzer beating 3, but it was never in doubt. +7 TOs.

#3 seed, #25 ranked Oregon, 19-10, 12-6, shocked Arizona, and we play them for the title. We lost to them by 10 there, our only PAC 12 loss. We’re taking this one very seriously.

3/12: 72-65. Another game that we led for the last 36 or 37 minutes, by as many as 15. It tightened up a bit at the end, but it was never in doubt. It was a team effort, with major contributions from 7 players.

30-2, 17-1. We’ll get a #1 seed. Which one? There is no standout team this season. There are at least a dozen teams that could take the title without it being a real upset.

#1 Midwest, #2 overall. We play Bryant, 19-11. It’s a great bracket. If we play well and stay healthy we should get through.

3/16: 75-54. The frontcourt owned the inside and we were +13 on TOs.

#9 seed Houston, 21-9, in the 2nd round.

3/18: 91-62. It was close for a half. We came out of the locker room with a 17-2 run and that was that. 5 in double figures. +25 RBs.

#4 seed, #12 ranked Memphis, 27-6, in the Sweet Sixteen. Their best rebounder is out. This is a good team but if we play our game we should be okay.

3/23: War!!! They were up 9 with 3:22 to go. We hit a 3, stole the ball, hit a 3 got a rebound on their miss, hit a 3. With 2:11 left it was tied. They made 2 free throws. We then got 6 straight points. Up 4 with 59 ticks left. They missed a 3 got the RB and laid it in. We came down, got fouled, hit the front of a 1 and 1, missed the back, got the RB, got fouled, hit both. We fouled them with 11 seconds left. They made 1, missed the second. We came down, missed the front of a 1 and 1. They hit a 3 at the buzzer, but it was not enough. 60-59. Survive and advance.
18, 9 for Hong, 10, 12 for Myer. +9 RBs.

#10 seed Virginia, 18-14, in the Elite Eight. This is a game we should win, but they’re on a roll right now.

3/25: 84-76 and back to the Final Four! They were up 10 at the half. They were doing it all outside so we shifted to 3-2, and doubled whichever guard had the ball. As a result, they shot just under 40% in the 2nd after hitting 60% in the first, and they made three 3s in the 2nd after making 10 in the first. All 5 of our starters had between 11 and 13, and Myer had 12 RBs. Our bench had 24, 6, 4 and theirs had 9, 2, 2.

#1 overall Louisville was upset by #3 seed, #8 ranked Florida, 27-7.

On the other side it’s 2 unranked teams, #8 seed LSU, 22-11, and #7 seed Oregon, 23-11. We have a real shot at this thing.

The experts are saying that whoever wins our game with FL will win it all, but that’s not necessarily so. This is a tough match up for us.

4/1: 78-83. We were effed by the refs. Hing and Myer fouled out, playing 17 minutes each. They took 50 free throws, we took 29. It was an absolute outrage. The crowd was fairly neutral, if anything more Gator fans, and they were booing the refs throughout the 2nd half.

In the post game press conference I made my feelings known. No doubt that will cost me some money, but it had to be said.

Oregon won so the PAC 12 has a shot at the title.

4/3: Florida won by 8.

4/4: Awards: I got national COY. In conf., Mal Kim and Cy Myer made 1st team, Joe Hong made 2nd, and I got COY.

Let’s see if we get any offers.

4/9: And once again, nothing remotely resembling a decent offer.

4/23: We ask for a facilities upgrade. No.

34-3, 17-1, Final Four. Still, a disappointing end to a great season. Overall, I am 288-104, .735, after 12 seasons.

[Wayne23]

December, 2136: Trouble. Big trouble. I have exactly one 3D printer and one HC working, and no robots working.

It’s difficult to say why. All I know is that I woke up yesterday, tried to get a robot to go to one of the pickups. Nothing happened. Same with the other 15, which I tried one at a time.

Fortunately, when I entered the HC at the house it wasn’t functioning either. I say fortunately because if it HAD been working I might not have checked the rest. The next to last one I tried worked. The 3rd 3D printer worked, and none of the others did.

For some unknown reason everything lost charge. The HC and the printer had enough for me to recharge cells, batteries, and panels, and that was the first thing I did. The working HC and the working printer are now at 100% and working great, but even with new cells, batteries, and panels, nothing else is working. I don’t have a clue why.

I have holoexperts working with me, and a printer and a robot- nonfunctioning, inside the HC. Hopefully we’ll figure it out, but I am riding the ragged edge of disaster right now.

I had 6 more months of a quiet, peaceful life until this happened.

Day 2: Still nothing. I’m keeping the functioning equipment fully charged, recharging way more often than needed. I’d feel a whole lot better if I could get even one more printer and one more HC going but no luck yet.

Day 3: The holoexperts are all saying that I should drive to Worcester and get new cells, batteries, and panels, a new HC, and a new printer. They think that something damaged what we have and that all new stuff might work.

I set everything to keep working on the problem and headed for Worcester. I can’t send a robot, since I don’t have any that are functioning.

I charged everything before leaving.

I took the big box truck. I had just plowed and there’s not a lot of snow. I slipped and slid, and I had to go slowly, but I made it. While in Worcester I got as many cells, batteries, and panels, in as many sizes and styles, as I could fit into the truck. I also got three HCs and three printers.

When I got back to the house I brought everything inside.

It’s good that I brought spares. Most of what I brought wouldn’t take a charge. Fortunately, enough solar stuff, and one HC and one printer were able to function.

We set to recharging everything, which would take the rest of the day.

By mutual consent of all of my holoexperts and me I would go back to Worcester tomorrow and fill the big box truck to overflowing with everything it would carry regarding solar stuff, HCs and printers. I would keep making the trip for as many days as it took to get 8 HCs and 8 printers going.

Day 4: While I’m gone on my journey today we’re going to print out a robot. If it works it will be able to drive ahead of me and plow tomorrow. The snow is still falling every day, and I expect today’s trip to be difficult.

I got 1 ½ miles from home and spun out. I wound up in a ditch, and I couldn’t get the truck out. I had to walk back home. When I got home I got myself a hot drink, brought it with me, and took a self-driving pickup with a plow, and plowed the road to Worcester. I then drove back, got a different big box, and drove back to Worcester to get the stuff. I decided to worry about the big box in the ditch sometime later.

By the time I finally got back home, with a completely filled big box, it was nearly midnight, and we had a functioning robot.

I fell into bed after setting everything up to be recharged, and setting the two working printers to printing other robots.

Day 5: When I woke up there was good news. About half of the solar stuff took a charge, as did 2 HCs, and 3 printers. So we now had 4 HCs and 5 printers working.

While I was on my way to Worcester today, we’d be printing 5 more robots. One of the ones I had would plow the road to Worcester as I followed.

It was a much easier day. I managed to get to Worcester, load the truck to overflowing, including filling up all of the free space in the cab, and made it back home, all without any major slipping and sliding. That robot plowing ahead of me made a huge difference.

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring a lunch with me, and the large coffee I always bring was the only drink I had, so I reached home ravenous and thirsty. I’ll try not to let that happen again!

Day 8: I know have 24 functioning robots, 16 HCs and 16 printers. It may be overkill but I’m not taking any chances.

It’s still dark. There’s no way to know if I’ll ever see the sun again. And again, it’s not dust and debris in the air. No idea what the reason is, but it’s dark all the time. Being dark it is damned cold. When outside I dress in
layers, wearing a coat that’s heavier than I thought I would ever wear, a toque, and big, warm gloves. Oh, and boots, lined boots.

Next: Summer snow

[Wayne23]

5/1: National gold

6/5: We like a PG.

6/12: We get the PG.

6/26: 3 scholarships. We want a guard and 2 bigs.

8/7: 3 on the Norton list: Junior, PG Mal Kim, PF Joe Hong, and C Cy Myer.

10/2: 1st day of practice. We’re not as strong this year. 3 excellent players but it gets thin after that.

11/6: Here’s the lineup: Junior Mal Kim starts at PG and plays some SG. Senior Ty Walk starts at SG and plays some PG. Soph Mike Grif and frosh Dar Grey back up at SG.

SF is wide open. Soph Lio Form starts there but soph Reg Laws is right behind him, and junior juco Pep Holt plays some minutes there as well as more minutes at PF.

Returning juniors Joe Hong and Cy Myer start up front.

We’re preseason #24.

[Wayne23]

July, 2137: The daily snow continues. It snows, slowly, but steadily, every day, even now, when it is supposed to be summer. With no sunshine or any sort of light it is dreary. Whatever is blocking the sun is also blocking the moon and stars, so the darkness is complete. And, as I’ve said, it’s cold. The average temp is below freezing, sometimes way below, and it has not gotten above freezing for months. If I don’t send out the self-driving plows at least twice a day- well, I do. If I DIDN’T I’m guessing the roads would be solid ice.

I spend as much time as possible in the HC, just to get out of the cold and dark, but the feeling of being cold, and the gloom from the perpetual darkness seem to get to me even there, at times. My therapist and I address that issue, and she keeps me physically active to help to counteract it. I cruise, but I also race cars, go on vigorous hikes, and do lots of other things. She has mandated that I spend at least three hours each day with holopeople. She says it doesn’t matter what we do, as long as I am with them. She wants me in social situations. I’m not allowed to cheat by bringing up a “person” and just ignoring him or her. We need to do things together.

My physical health remains perfect. I never get as much as an ache or a pain unless I overdo the exercise or sustain an injury, and in those cases I heal incredibly quickly.

A respite from the gloom would be really nice but there’s no way to know whether this is permanent or not, and none of my holoexperts has the slightest clue as to what is causing the perpetual darkness.

Next: Super blizzard

[Wayne23]

11/27: Off to a 3-1 start. We are making a switch at SF; Reg Laws will start.

12/9: 5-1 heading for the Sunshine Shootout where we’re the #1 seed.

12/12: 8-1. We sailed through the tourney. As expected, Kim, Myer, and Hong are leading us.

12/25: 10-1, #12, RPI #11. +14.9 PPG, +7.7 RBs, +4.1 TOs, +6.0 assists. Kim is averaging 17.2 to lead us. Hong is getting 13.3, Walk 11.5, and Laws 10.7. Myer gets 8.3, but he gets 9.8 RBs. Laws has taken the SF position; he worked for it and earned it.

[Wayne23]

December, 2137: After 6 more months of slow, steady snow, we got a MONSTER storm yesterday and most of today. The winds were hurricane force so it’s hard to get a perfect measurement, but the nearest I can see is about 5 feet 4 inches. I kept trucks out on a full time basis, plowing the bus garage yard, a path to the house, the driveway, and the roads to Northampton and Worcester.

I have 16 trucks with plows, and I ran them on 4 hour shifts, having the robots do maintenance checks as they came in, and there were no breakdowns. I stayed around to supervise, but everything went really well.
The bus garage has 24 bays and between the 6 big box trucks and the pickups they are all in use. I keep some of the robots in the other two bays when they are not in use. The rest of the robots stay in the house or the house garage when at rest.

I have spent the last two days pretty much on alert. I’m in a bay, or in the house or garage most of the time, catching naps in an HC when I need them. Again, everything is going well, but I want to be there if it doesn’t.

The snow is now back to the normal slow rate, and the winds are calm, so the worst is over, but the plowing will continue on a full time basis for at least another day.

Day 2: All caught up. Plowing is back on the routine schedule rather than full time, and the equipment and robots are getting lots more rest.

Day 3: And we’re in blizzard conditions again. It started shortly after I wrote about things being back to normal and is in its 29th hour right now. Wind is a little less strong, but gale force, and the snow is falling at least as hard as the last time. I’m using the same plowing rotation. My fear is that if I don’t, and if the sun never comes out again, the roads will be useless, covered in feet of ice that never melts.

Day 6: I’ve never seen anything like this. The snow finally went back to “normal” levels a little while ago. There must be 15 feet or more everywhere I didn’t plow. The house is buried. Fortunately, the entrance to the garage is fine, and the driveway is clear.

Is this the start of an ice age? I’m having the robots dig out around the house, using 4 hours on, 8 hours off as the rotation. During off times they inspect each other, as well as inspecting the trucks, but they manage to get 2 hours in “sleep mode” every shift. So far so good. I don’t want the house under so much snow that it crushes the house,

The flat roof on the garage would be a bigger issue except that it’s heated. Keeping the heat on the lowest setting melts the snow, and there are runoffs in at least a dozen places.

Next: A six month snowstorm.

[Wayne23]

1/29/2041: 18-3, 8-2, #12, RPI #8. Tied for 1st with #10 Oregon, who we just beat here by 10. +12.1 PPG, +6.4 RBs, +3.9 TOs, +4.1 assists. Kim still leads us in scoring, and Myer in RBs.

2/26: 24-5, 14-4, #11, RPI #10. In a 3 way tie for 1st in conf. at the end of the regular season. We have the #1 seed. +11.3 PPG, +6.6 RBs, +3.5 TOs, +4.1 assists.

3/5: Kim, Hong, and Myer all decide to come back for their senior year! Great news!

On to the post season!

[Wayne23]

July, 2138: Heavy snow, day after day, every single day since December, and winds of 40 to 150 miles per hour that never seem to stop. Mountains of snow. I keep plowing the road to Worcester but I’ve stopped the Northampton plowing. Going to both places was too much strain on the equipment. I may never be able to go to Northampton again, and if that’s the case I will miss those trips terribly. But the truth of the matter is that I can get everything I need in Worcester… just not everything I might want. Oh well.

In truth, most of Worcester is buried. I have kept access to the places that can supply me with the things I might need. Those include things like more solar cells, batteries, and panels, although I have them stored in every free inch of space in the house, garage, and bus garage. I also have a path to a truck dealership that has lots of self-driving pickup trucks with plows. I thought about keeping a bookstore open, but in truth, the 12 electronic readers I have are stored with thousands of books each- different ones on each device, so I shouldn’t run out of reading material. Same with HC and computer programs. Oh, I also have at least 20 brand new computers stored at home. The house has two stories, a full basement, and a two car garage, and everything is packed tightly with “stuff.” I will pat myself on the back for the fact that it is all very well organized.

I can barely keep the temp in the house above freezing, so I stay in a HC unless I am working on keeping things going. That takes 10-12 hours a day, and I am cold every single minute of all of it despite thermal underwear, two pairs of socks, heavily lined boots, a toque with a fur hat over it, and heavy cloth lined gloves. I mostly supervise the robots, who do all of the real work, but I need to be there. MANY times now I have noticed a robot starting to break down, and have intervened to get it to where it could be fixed before it broke down completely. I take short breaks in the HC every 2-3 hours. I get a hot drink and a small meal, and then bring a hot drink out with me in a very well insulated thermos bottle.

I sleep about 2-3 hours at a time, 2-3 times a day. When I sleep all work comes indoors, except for the plowing.

Yes, we’ve had to rescue a truck that broke down on the road from time to time, but that has happened way less often than I would have thought. No doubt that is due to the great care I am taking with the equipment. And we have yet to need to abandon a truck on the road. I plow two lanes and shoulders because that seems to make sense.

If I had room to store them I would bring more trucks here, but I don’t. Inevitably trucks will break down, but I’ll just need to get new ones up and running, and bring them here from Worcester when that happens. I am starting to think about life cycle. Even with the limited use, the trucks are putting on miles. I may decide to start replacing them, say one every six, or even three months. That dealership is huge. There are hundreds of trucks there. Maybe one every six months. There’s one truck that is really showing its age. It breaks down more than any of the others. I think I’ll go to Worcester tomorrow and fire up a new truck. I’ll drive there in the clunker and just leave it there and drive the new one home. This time I’ll remember to bring enough food and drink. With luck it’s a one day job. The robots can keep the plows going, and the paths cleared while I’m gone.

I’ve already started replacing robots. Every three months I have a printer print out a new robot, and put the oldest one out of service.

Everything else I might need I can make with a 3D printer.

The plain truth is that I would not be able to survive this without the HCs and the printers. There would be no source of food, for one thing. I would freeze to death for another. So keeping everything functioning is priority #1, and I stay on top of it, with the help of the robots, and with the sensors inside the HCs and printers.

The equipment and the robots are holding up well. I went to 3 hours on 9 off, rather than 4 and 8, and that has helped. It gives more time for maintenance, and the increase in down time is also helping. We get breakdowns, but at least so far, nothing we haven’t been able to fix. The roadways, the house, the bus garage are all oases within snow that is hundreds of feet high, and frozen into glaciers.

Next: More of the same, a disaster

[Wayne23]

3/10 Beat #9 seed Colorado by 15. Hong and Kim led in scoring but everyone played well.

#5 seed Arizona in the semis.

3/11: 78-64. Never in doubt. 5 in double figures. Myer had 10 and 14 with 5 blocks.

#11 Oregon for the title. We beat them at our place by 10 but they’re a tough team.

3/12: 80-56. It was a 4 point lead at the half. We had lots of trouble hitting shots in the 1st half. At the half I told the guys to keep getting open, and to keep taking good shots. They did, and the shots fell- 61% of them! On D we let their SG go and stopped everyone else. He got 26, but it didn’t matter. Great win and the title. #1 seed?

We’re 27-5, 14-4, #10, RPI #8, but I think we deserve a #1.

#2 West. The consolation is that it looks like the easiest bracket.

We start with #15 seed Cal-Riverside, 17-13.

3/17: 80-55. Never a game. 24 for Kim, 16 and 16 for Myer, 17, 9 for hong.

Next up is #10 seed Michigan, 20-12.

3/19: 79-71. We led by as many as 14, but they kept coming back, and even took the lead a couple of times. 22, 12 for Myer, 17, 8, 8 for Kim, 19, 5 for Hong.

#6 seed, #25 ranked Gonzaga, 24-10, in the Sweet Sixteen.

3/24: 79-74. They led by 17 at the half, 19 early in the 2nd. We decided to press wall to wall, and it worked. We only caused 14 TOs, but it rattled them and they were not able to get the ball to people in good spots. That made them hurry shots late in the clock, and they shot only 22.2% in the 2nd. On O we worked harder to get open, and got lots of good shots. 13 and 13 for Myer, 17, 6, 3 for Kim.

We need to start faster if we want to get to the Final Four.

#4 seed, #15 ranked Chattanooga, 30-4, upset #1 seed Memphis. This is no easy team but we still caught a break with their win.

3/26: 79-73 in OT. We were down as many as 10, sand had to score the last 5 in regulation to stay alive. Then we got the first 8 in OT, and 15 of the first 17. 21, 8 for Hong, but they bottled up both Kim and Myer effectively. Laws, Walk, and sub Lio Form really came through for us.

Three consecutive games where we score 79, and our opponents score in the 70s; weird.

Back to the Final Four! Three #1 seeds got through; we’re the only #2. We play #5 ranked Miami, 29-5. They are excellent outside but not that good inside. If we can get it inside to Myer and Hong effectively, and stop their outside shooters, we’ll be okay, but that won’t be easy.

4/1: 82-71 and we’re in the title game! We led all the way, by as many as 21. I rested my big three late so they’d be fresh for the final game, and that tightened the score a little. 28, 12 for Hong, but 5 guys were in double figures. +11 RBs, and 11 TOs (+2). Their SG had 28, but only 2 other guys had 8 or more. Great win!

It’s #1 in the nation Georgia, 34-4, for the title. Their PG is outstanding, but after that they do it with balance, discipline, and solid D. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. This will be a challenge. It’s our 4th Final
Four and 3rd title game. It would be nice to finally bring one home.

4/3: 62-74. They outlasted us. We led by 1 at the half. Cy Myer fell into traps and committed two fouls early; he fouled out playing only 22 minutes. That was a huge factor. Sub Lio Form also fouled out. We spent a lot of time going with either a three guard set up, or playing big guys we didn’t really want in there in key situations. They did a good job of staying in control. When we went on runs they didn’t panic, and eventually they answered. It was a 2 point ball game with 7:44 to go, but Myer fouled out shortly after that, and then Laws and Walk quickly each picked up their 4th. Georgia went at them and it worked. We lost to a team that played very good ball. Kim had 20, 5, 3, and Hong had 12 and 12.

One step short yet again.

4/4: Awards: Myer is PAC 12 POY, and 1st team with Kim and Hong. I get COY.

Let’s see if there are any decent job offers.

4/9: We’re going to UCLA. We’re a better team. We’re a better team but their TP is 73 to our 67, and their budget is $180,000 higher. And, they’re UCLA!

4/16: Whole new staff to hire, but we have the budget to find good people… Except one guy with a Rep. of 13, no one else higher than 9. WTF!

We got three coaches who are awful. 1 year contracts for all 3.

4/23: We ask for a facilities upgrade. Denied.

Great season, 32-6, made it to the title game, and a great 7 years at AZ ST. My record as a head coach, after 13 years, is 320-110, .744.

Meeting Dr. Worth changed, and very likely greatly extended my life. I went to say goodbye in person, and we made arrangements for her team to check in with me every 4 months. I am their only surviving test subject, and they will study me as long as they, or I am alive.

On to a new challenge. I told the A. D. at UCLA that I intend to win the title in year 3. We’ll see what happens.

The UCLA I am going to is not the UCLA of old. The city, and the school were rebuilt just east of San Bernardino, since the traditional California coast is under water. There have been lots of these city shifts throughout the coastal U. S., and around the world. Climate change deniers controlled many of the world’s governments for most of the 21st century. That has only change within the past 5 years in the U. S., and it’s now a matter of postponing the inevitable, rather than making enough changes to actually be able to sustain human life over the long haul. The hope is to keep civilization going for as long as possible, but the oceans are rising rapidly, and the dire truth is that human society will not survive in anything like its current form, if at all. Attempts are being made to do what is possible, with the long shot hope that pockets of humanity in little communities may survive. No one in the scientific community thinks that will happen, but we’re trying.