I-98: Episode Five -- Memories

At the end of the last episode, Sam and Liam were "trapped" in Rugby, hoping the bullet train out of Chicago would make an unscheduled stop in Rugby to pick them up, taking them to Williston's Northstar Center where they could buy a new car.

Meanwhile, Thelma and Louise, released from an ObamaCare Small Unit Care Klinic (colloquially called OCSuCKS), were racing to catch the aforementioned bullet train to get them back to Rugby. They were unaware that the train was a non-stop between The Mall of American (Minneapolis area) and Northstar Center (Williston area). In fact, the two of them were unaware of a lot of things. But that was pretty much the norm for those growing up in North Dakota: unaware of a lot of things.

They arrived, by taxi, at the O'Hare Transcontinental Rail Terminal, purchasing their tickets to Williston en route using their ApplePay/Apple Watch, version 101.1. The bullet train had arrived about 30 minutes earlier and the train was about to depart. Thelma and Louise bolted, jumping inside just as the bullet train's sleek aluminum doors were closing.

After the obligatory hand sanitizer ritual, they took the elevator to upstairs seating and promptly fell asleep. Estimated time of arrival, Williston NSC: 6:14 p.m. One stop, Bloomington MOA.

[Camera fades out from Thelma's AppleWatch, and fades in on Liam's AppleWatch.]

Back in Rugby, at the little picnic table underneath the wind turbines frozen in time, Liam was checking his own AppleWatch. The bullet train should be racing through Rugby about 5:30 p.m. With any luck at all he might be able to reach the dispatcher in Omaha at Berkshire Hathaway Transcontinental Rail and Air.

"Siri, Omaha, Berkshire Hathaway Transcontinental Rail and Air."

"Did you say, 'Birkenstock Taupe Suede'?

"Omaha, Berkshire Hathaway Transcontinental Rail and Air."

"Got it, 'Birkenstock Taupe Suede.' Dialing now."

Siri, version 56.02.1 still had a few bugs to work out.

"What are you working on?" Sam asked.

"Trying to reach the Omaha dispatcher."

"1-800-All-Trains-USA."

"Got it, thanks."

In no time, Liam was working with Darla, the Omaha dispatcher for the Bullet Train. It looked like something could be worked out.

Nothing much to do now, but wait.

"Hey, do you want to look at an old YouTube video of the the I-98 bridge when it was being built ... back during the Great Recession?"

"Brings back bad memories. The Affordable Highway Act."

"Yeah, it was a rough start. A number of stimulus bills had been passed but most of the money went to bailout banks, if I remember correctly. So I-98 was built with Bakken oil money. The president had introduced the Affordable Highway Act, but like the bridge in Alaska, it went nowhere. Harry Reid didn't even let that bill out of committee. Nancy Pelosi wanted to read the bill first, lessons learned, I guess. So, I-98 had to be built with private money. The only problem, if I recall, there was a huge shortage of heavy construction equipment and no workers. Everyone and everything was tied up in the Bakken. And it only got worse with the mega-pads. Caterpillar couldn't keep up. Even Mitsubishi  and workers from eastern Europe had to come in and build the bridge."


The First I-98 Bridge, Over The Red River, Looking East Into The Promised Land   "Yeah, it was a rough start, but that was then."

[Camera pulls back. Sam and Liam fade into the background. A light snow begins to fall. The voice over: "Will the BHTR&A BNSF Bullet Train make an unscheduled stop at Rugby. Will Thelma and Louise sleep through the stop. Does anyone care. Does anyone use question marks any more. What does it matter."]

Next week's episode: The Derailment.