The Last Man

[Wayne23]

11/20: 2-0 start, all 4 recruits sign.

12/9: 5-1 heading for the Sunshine Shootout.

12/11: We crushed the competition, including a 22 point win over #5 ranked Arizona, on our way to winning the Sunshine Shootout.

12/25: 10-1, #21, RPI #6. +14.2 PPG, +6.8 RBs, +5.7 TOs.

We have 7 guys averaging between 6.7 and 12.0 points, and we're getting solid rebounding (#11 in the nation) from 4 guys. We're averaging 12.0 TOs per game, #17 in the country. Our D is even better. We hold opponents to 56.5 PPG, #3 nationally.

We’re looking forward to conference play and feeling like we’re ready for the challenge!

[Wayne23]

March, 2132: Dark days, dark nights, darkness all the time. Sure, I light the house. I can get it as bright as I want it to be. But I look outside at any time of night and day, and it’s dark. The debris rains down, still, after a few months. The rate at which it falls has slowed but it is still falling. Everything looks lifeless- because it is lifeless. Anything that survived the initial rain of debris has either suffocated or starved by now.

How far does this extend? The old time scientists said it would extend throughout the planet. I have no way of verifying that but why would they have lied.

Here, I’m under about four feet of debris. The robots are doing what they were designed to do. I need to clean them and replace and recharge the solar panels, cells, and batteries far more often than I thought, in them and in the pickup, as well as in the outside shower, but still, they are keeping the path clear from the house to the bus garage, and they are sweeping the debris off the roofs and keeping the windows clean enough for me to see out of, even if there isn’t really anything to see.

So I’m busy with the cleanup and recharging. Sure, the HC and the printer do the real work, but I need to make sure it gets done, and I need to stay on top of recharging schedules for everything.

I find I sleep more these days. Whether that’s some sort of depression, or just stress related fatigue I don’t know. The HC doctors say I’m fine, my body and mind are not deteriorating or aging, so that’s not it.

I still, as always, spend all the time I can aboard the HC yacht. That definitely relaxes me. But life is somehow not as good as it was before the super volcano exploded. I miss being able to drive the pickup to a hiking trail, or to Northampton on a shopping spree. I mean I have everything I need. I doubt that there’s a book or a HC program in Northampton that I don’t have at this point. I scoured every shop in the whole town over and over again.

But it’s the loss of freedom. I have the whole world, the whole universe, really, in the HC, and that’s fantastic, but somehow it’s not the same, and it’s not enough.

Maybe it’s the realization that there will never be another wonderful surprise like Stan and Ollie. I will never know where they came from or how they survived to find me, but I will also never have a repetition of that. There will be no new surprise discoveries.

I finally decided to go into therapy since I am undoubtedly depressed. I went to three HC therapists before I found one who seems to be helping but the one I have now seems like she will find a way for me to snap myself out of this.

Next time: Snow in July.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2038: We start with 2 wins, one over #24 UCLA.

1/8: 14-1, 4-0, #12, RPI #2. Alone in 1st in the PAC 12, but it’s early. We’re looking rock solid right now.

1/29: 18-3, 8-2, #15, RPI #4. +12.3 PPG, +6.2 RBs, +5.6 TOs. Tied for 1st with Stanford, 1 up on Oregon.

Lal Herr is our leading scorer but we’re getting good play from all 7 who get major minutes.

8 to play. I feel confident that we can win 6 of them, 7 with some luck.

[Wayne23]

July, 2132: The debris continues to fall, at a slowly lessening rate, but it still falls. It’s about 5 ½ feet thick now. It has not rained or snowed even once in all of the months since the super volcano erupted so nothing is packing it down or anything.

Writing this the day after the last paragraph and it has been snowing all day. With no sun getting through the clouds it’s cold all the time, and it was in the low 30s all day. So far about a foot of snow has fallen. I can still see out of the windows, but only the top part. I may have the robots go around and clear the snow and some of the debris away from in front of the windows.

It will come as no surprise that I spend as much time as possible in the HC. I have always slept in there under normal conditions, and I still do, but I used to nap in the house. It’s just too gloomy for that now so I nap in the HC, often on the yacht, sometimes in a recliner in a HC living room, with a moderate rain falling- perfect for sleeping.

And again, the yacht is my haven. I cruised the Pacific around Hawaii today and it was about perfect. Yesterday I cruised in an Atlantic storm, a really serious one. I loved the excitement.

My therapist is really helping. We’re doing it all with talk therapy, no drugs, and I’m way less depressed than I was just a few months ago. I probably under report the difficulties of being so alone. No one in the history of the planet has been this isolated for this long.

It’s true that I interact with holopeople, and I buy in to that, but underneath it all I realize they are not real people, and that has an effect. Still, as I said, I’m doing much better. And never underestimate how much benefit I get from Stan and Ollie and Dan and Hal.

Next time: A snowy summer

[Wayne23]

2/12: 21-4, 11-3, #13, RPI #7. Back into a tie with Stanford, who we beat easily at our place a couple of weeks ago. Oregon is one back, and the rest are 3 or more behind, with 4 to play. We have 2 home, 2 away, but no ranked teams.

2/26: 23-6, 13-5. #15, RPI #10. +10.6 PPG, +6.0 RBs, +4.1 TOs. We lost our last game and that cost us the #1 seed, as we end up tied for 1st with #12 Oregon. We lost 2 of our last 3, both on the road. We should have won at least one of those 2.

Headed to the post season. It will be next to impossible to match last year’s run in the big dance, but hopefully we can make some noise in the PAC 12, and then in the NCAA.

[Wayne23]

September, 2132: It snowed all summer. I guess “summer” is a misnomer. There are no seasons any more, just this bleak, sunless cold that never stops.

The only window I have the robots clear is in front of the picture window in the living room. They clear everything back to 20 feet or so, in order that I can see something, but the debris 20 feet away is at least 6 feet deep, and there’s at least three feet of snow on top of that. The debris is darker than the snow, a sort of light grey or dirty off white.

The robots are still able to plow and shovel in order to keep a path open between here and the bus garage, but it’s more and more work all the time to keep them functioning, as well as the plow truck and the outdoor shower. Still, I want to have options, so I do the work.

All I really do any more is take care of all of that and relax on my yacht. Oh, and go to therapy sessions.

I haven’t done Star Trek or Sherlock in months, and the same holds true for the space and undersea exploration programs. I haven’t used the hoops coaching disk, or really anything other than the yacht.

I will say that the yacht is relaxing, and I’m content to be on the boat every minute I can spare. I usually sleep on it now.

My therapist says this lethargy is a result of the fact that I’m working harder than I have in a long time, and I’m living in an endless gloom whenever I am not in the HC. She’s keeping me grounded, and keeping my depression within reasonable bounds. She has insisted that I take two 20 minute walks a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. She says I need the exercise physically, but even more importantly, I need it for what it does for me emotionally. I started walking a couple of weeks ago, and as usual, she’s right. I feel better- sometimes a lot, sometimes only a little, but better.

There’s no way to know how much longer it will be until the sun is able to poke through the cloud of debris. Junk is still falling, but very, very little. It may be that what’s up in the sky is too light to fall, and that it will stay up there, obscuring the sun, for a long time. I just don’t know.

Next time: A year in the dark. Breakdowns.

[Wayne23]

December, 2132: A year in the dark. I’m actually getting used to it. No doubt the therapy is helping, but I don’t really think I’m depressed any more. Yes, I am having trouble with being cooped up all the time, but it isn’t really getting me down all that much.

I am busier than I’ve ever been. The constant exposure to dirt, dust, and debris is causing the robots, the pickup and the outdoor shower to malfunction on a regular basis. When that happens we do what we can to get the robots or the pickup into the garage, and the functioning robots and I do what we can to clear out whatever is clogging things up. Then we give it a thorough cleaning and put fresh solar panels, cells, or batteries inside.

Robots have had to be carried inside by other robots. The pickup has had to be pushed by the robots. Sometimes cleaning whatever is broken takes a lot of time and effort, and at other times it takes forever to
just figure out what is causing the breakdown.

We no longer use the shower. It’s just too cold. Even though we use hot water, we can’t seem to dry the robots or the pickup quickly enough to prevent ice from forming, sometimes in areas that can crack something open. Believe me, that’s not good.

We managed to rig up air blowers. They work really well, probably significantly better than the shower did. We even have portable versions that we use on the roof cameras and their housings. Oh, and we clean the air blowers with the other air blowers.

Still, breakdowns are an everyday occurrence and there are days when I work 8, even 10, occasionally 12 hours getting things fixed, always with the help of the robots. I often need to go into the HC multiple times to consult with my HC experts. At times I even bring in a robot, or a part from the pickup.

When I need to go into the garage I have to wear a Hazmat suit. It’s the only way to prevent getting all kinds of particles into the house and into my lungs, eyes, hair… I’ve rigged up a sealed off entry area just inside the garage, right next to the door leading to the house. Nothing is easy.

Roof and wall repairs are also becoming a regular thing. While the robots carry them out, I need to supervise, and even need to watch what they’re doing- not full time, but I need to take a look at regular intervals. The debris from the super volcano contains some corrosive materials, and they are taking their toll. The area around windows is another place that needs constant monitoring and regular repair, and the windows are beginning to be pitted.

So I get less time to relax. I still go to the yacht every chance I get, and I sleep on it nearly every night. But I wish there were more down time. I’m feeling worn out often.

Next: A vicious winter, and another springless spring.

[Wayne23]

5/1: National basic

6/5: Dan Sly, a starter, transferred out. We’re deep at the inside spots. I think we’ll be fine. This team could be the one that finally wins it all.

We’re looking at transfers, esp. an SG from Syracuse.

6/12: Didn’t get him- or anyone else we wanted.

6/26: Big recruiting year. We have 6 scholarships to fill. We want 2 guards and 4 bigs.

8/7: For the first time Arizona ST has players nominated for the Norton Award! PG Mal Kim is #25, PF Joe Hong is #34, and C Cy Myer is #45. They’re all freshmen!

8/21: We offer to 2 PGs, 2 PFs, 2 Cs. All are showing at least moderate interest.

9/18: We get a PG, a PF, and a C.

5 ranked teams on the pre-conf. schedule, 6 in conf. No in season tourney.

9/25: We lose a big but offer to another one.

10/2: We get a PF. 2 to go, and they both have us in their top 3.

1st day of practice. We’re good and we’re deep.

10/9: Lost both of the last 2 recruits. Looking at others.

11/6: Still chasing recruits.

Here’s the lineup:

Senior Lal Herr starts at PG but plays both guard spots. Frosh Mal Kim starts at SG, but also plays both guard spots. Junior juco Jon Watt backs up at PG. Frosh Kent Reid backs up at SG.

Senior Marc Lyn starts at SF but actually plays more C.

Frosh Joe Hong starts at PF, and plays some SF.

Frosh Cy Myer starts at C and plays some PF.

Senior Greg Hay subs at SF.

Junior transfer Cap Judd, returning junior Tim Wags, and senior Mu Mont are waiting in the wings.

[Wayne23]

11/20: A 2-0 start, we enter the Top 25 at #11, and all 4 of our committed recruits sign. Not a bad week!

12/25: 7-2, RPI #5. +10.4 PPG, +5.4 RBs, +5.2 TOs. A couple of early losses knocked us out of the top 25 but I think we’re a win or 2 away from getting back in.

Cy Myer is #2 in the nation in RBs. We haver 6 players averaging between 8.3 and 12.9 PPG. We’re taking good care of the ball and we’re rebounding well. D has been solid.

[Wayne23]

1/1/2039: 2-0 start to conf. play. We’re 9-2, still unranked, but RPI #2.

1/8: 11-2, 4-0, back in the rankings at #21. RPI #2.

1/22: 14-3, 7-1, #19, RPI #3. Our only conf. loss was at #6 ranked Arizona. We’re tied for 2nd with them, 1 back of Oregon, who is here this week.

Myer is now at 8.8 RBs per game. Herr leads us in scoring. We’re getting points both inside and outside and our defensive PPG is #11 in the nation.

1/29: 16-3, 9-1, #16, RPI #3. +12.0 PPG, +6.5 RBs, +5.7 TOs. We beat Oregon by 17 here, so we’re in a 3 way tie for 1st, 3 up on the 4th place team.

2/12: 20-3, 13-1, #12, RPI #2. We play #2 ranked Arizona here this week in a game that could decide 1st place in the PAC 12.

2/19: We beat Arizona by 7 in a war. The key stat was +13 RBs.

2 to play.

2/26: We end the regular season 24-3, 17-1, 2 games up on 2nd place. #7, RPI #1. +13.1 PPG, +9.1 RBs, +4.2 TOs. 13 game winning streak right now.

Cy Myer is #2 in the nation in RBs, #2 in blocks. Kim and Herr lead us in scoring.

Looking forward to the post season!