The Havens : The Hunt Chapter 20 : Pulling Triggers By and by, the days grew - and I thought about the gold. I wondered if Kenny Lewis thought about that gold coin as much as I have - probably not - lest I knew he wasn’t talking about it much. I deduced that Kenny Lewis didn’t care about any acclaim or prestige or seem to have any particular ambition at all. Truth be told - I didn’t know what he wanted. Truth be told - I didn’t care. I needed Kenny Lewis because he was a force who had a knack for solving complicated endeavors. I was bored. Life as an Alderman was sparsely demanding - Life as a freelance web developer was lonely and sad - I needed something wild to shake me out of the mid-July New Haven slunk I slunked myself in. . Knowing Kenny Lewis would never take any action on his own - knowing that momentum would soon fizzle - I decided to assemble a crew. I cracked my back and wrote on the back of a paper bag I found on the floor of my room - as I puffed another red out the window. someone with a boat someone who knows how to boat someone with a car who could take the boat to the water? How would we get the boat on the water? We might have to sail somewhere else first - perhaps Milford? Branford? Guilford? Who knows? Research this. someone who knew where to look - based on maps and such someone to help us take the raw materials off the island - security measures Snacks Snacks Snacks Someone with a map Research how to find treasure in sand Write down a list of sand collecting Maybe someone at yale who is studying archaeology Call bob from make haven to see if he has any tools for the job Write an outline for Kenny Lewis and have him agree to a contract Execute this in 8 weeks Week 1 begins the planning Metal Detectors! Facebook Marketplace Safety Measures Communication Plan Map of Tides Documentation and Record Keeping Contingency Planning Research what contingency plans are Consider how the treasure will be portrayed in the media Hire a media public relations specialist - or at least find a template online Budget - lol Drones with metal detectors? Drones Flares Fire Starters Matches Wood to get the fire going Metal dictators on a string Communication Rope to make a grid for surveying I watched the wind play with the leaves against the neighbor’s fire escape and tried to visualize what this treasure hunt might look like. Considering my list - I considered how much to allot to this effort - and decided to double down on the delusion - setting a budget for $225 dollars sufficiently would aid the crazy - such a low budget - perhaps would spark a heeven of volunteerism, lest creative activity. I lit another heater. It was 9:37pm and I already checked my email, my telegram, my whatsapp, my insta - several, frantic, times. I wanted to feel that feeling - that happens when one pursues a personal hobby - rather than a task needing to be delivered. But to get there - I know I needed to write a list to clear my name of duty - there were duties to do before the next alderman meeting, tasks to be done for the clients - oh the clients - and a couple of personal project goals that needed some planning and hashing out. I got a little rush when at 9:46pm - a client sent a text - asking for access keys to their newly created github repo. I knew this would take some time and for a moment contemplated shutting my phone off - but instead, wanting to show that even on a Sunday night Davey Tech Support can get the job done - I happily obliged the distraction. Click by click the treasure hunt grew smaller - and the idea, delusional. Click by click I grew okay with my cowardness - justifying that little fearful voice was really an angel whispering that this is all but a fairytale - a way to cope with the demands of a 28 year old Alerman - that the treasure hunt is absurd - that time will be wasted and the work will be worked into vainty. That the town would find out of my efforts and call me insane. I cracked my neck and did 16 pushups. I ran to the bathroom - took a hard look and slapped myself so hard that my olive skin turned red. It was time to step it up and quit being a little bitch. I wrote a list of people to call. Chapter 21: Assembling the Handsome Crew I wrote what I knew - and wrote the roles for which I didn’t - knowing that once I can define the roles - I can 1. Me 2. Kenny Lewis 3. Mechanic 4. Archaeologist 5. Appraiser 6. Documentarian 7. Chef 8. Misc Eight souls. First I phoned my friend Dan from Koffee - remembering that he told me once that his Uncle had a bunch of old Boston Whalers lying around somewhere around the coast of Newport. It was a little late - but I called anyway. I told him plainly that Kenny Lewis and I found a gold coin off the coast of thimble island and we have suspicion to believe that there is a much larger loot scattered about. I asked if we could borrow a boat from his Uncle. He said he’d ask. I asked him if he knew how to sail the boat - he said he didn’t - but would give it a shot. I asked it if we could dock it somewhere on thimble for a couple of days - he didn’t see why I couldn’t - so I asked him about the legal ramifications of doing so, what kind of permission we would need to harvest gold - but, he had no idea but recommended I dial Brenn Larson - some hot shot Quinnipiac law student with a chip on his shoulder who lived in East Rock but didn’t get into Yale. I was nervous calling Brenn - so I didn’t - instead I called Dominic the Gypsy - my biggest fan and most reliable ally. THERE SHOULD BE MORE IN THIS CHAPTER Chapter 21 : The Expedition Takes Form I looked at the list the next morning on my phone while I assed if I had time to take a shower or not. I had a meeting at 8:30a and calculated that if I get in the shower by 7:45 - all would be well in the world. I looked at the list again. I wrote down some roles and had some more in mind. Somewhere in the night I scribbled : “Navigation Expert - Archaeologist - Mechanic - Chef - Diplomat - Captain ” Navigation Expert - what would they have to do? Figure out how to pilot this boat. I thought of my old friend Derek Furino, who I knew in college and who knew how to pilot most boats, but I didn’t trust him. I couldn’t think of anyone else to be captain so I wrote my own name down. THERE SHOULD BE MORE IN THIS CHAPTER Chapter 22 : Preppin Zulu Two days turned into 5 days but moves were made. Somehow, someway I found my hands on a handsome but beat up Boston Whaler with the name SS Zulu Painted on the side. I stood outside Action RPG - Dominic’s business he ran with his brothers - which stood for, apparently, Roofing, Paving at Great Value. This was neither roofing or a paving request - instead I wanted them to look at the engine and determine if the bird was good enough for flight. The brothers agreed to help clean up the boat - glue it where it needed to be glued - and doze it with a fresh coat of extra paint. I watched the brothers as they danced about in harmony - I stepped back and entered the back of the mind and minded all of the other moving pieces in play. I checked each individual status of 10 second-hand metal detectors and I wondered if I calculated the fact that some may need new batteries. How long are we scanning the sand?. This two day rental of this airbnb we found at the Thimble - with the condition written in the guest request section on the website - that if we happened to find gold coins outside in the sand - it would be ours to keep. For now I didn’t worry about the 2.3k I put on the credit card. I didn’t fear because I knew half of my annual alderman stipend would be transferred over into my bank account by the end of next month - and I’ll reap up those points. ... Dominic wanted to know what was the payout if we found the goal - I told him the truth - 10 percent per member of this party. Dominic took a second and did some math - “so where does the remaining 20 go?“ “I figured we could put it in a fund to fuel more expeditions - that or we'll just buy some bitcoin and separate that another eight ways. “ replied I “Fake gold for real gold? That’s wild - wild wild wild - World’s gone wild Davey.” Dominic put the bucket down and walked over to a makeshift fridge he had next to the portable bathroom station - he reached in and grabbed four Dr. Thunders. “I don't know about that Davey - I gotta check with my uncles about that.” He passed a thunder to me - I cracked it. “About what?” asked I “In our culture - it's not wise to buy found gold for something made of metal - only cash. Especially if it's old gold - old gold comes riddled with problems - I got to look into some things.” “How is bitcoin metal?” “It’s on computer - computers are metal” “Silicone is rubber no?” replied I taking a sip of the Thunder “Yep yep - Davey's right” - cried Gino in the background as he paddled over for a can “Computers run off silicon- silicon is metal - poppa Joe will be upset.” “He’s always upset about something” tossed Sam from the distance “Silicon is not metal”, replied I. Dominic promised to look into it and we dropped the matter - instead I stayed for a couple of more hours - eventually lifting on its trailer that was hitched to the back of his rusty pick up truck. The plan was just to go for it - just to put it in the water and watch what happens. Not worth testing - if boat floats that was good enough for Dominic - he’d take his 10 percent wet so we could swim - thus said Dominic - “plus we could just get some life jackets.” “But one of the folks are elderly.” replied I “She don't have to come - she can stay on shore.” replied Dominic I went home that night and scouted my room and stress packed a bag. I couldn't help but packing everything I can get my hands on - cards, cables, a dollar store coloring book left over from a kids party, gum, a ruler, scissors, a battery powered fan, bug spray, and I quit when I held a cup of yogurt to the light - wondering if it was bad - i knew I had my fill. Tomorrow was the day if we were going to see if this boston whaler float. That night I streamed Seinfeld on the tele and tried to go to bed. I turned over as the blue light was bothering me and opened up the window a bit. Listening to the distant cars and motorbikes and city sounds - I imagined what it would be like to hear waves. Chapter 24: Conclusion and New Found Wealth BONUS CHAPTER Chapter Early On: Here in New Haven, Connecticut, the board of Alders serves as the legislative body for the city at large. Electetd by voters, the board of alders is responsible for creating, passing, and ammeding law, local laws. When given the chance - it also is allowed to review and approve the city’s budget - but that’s an echo chamber. The Board is divided into 30 districts, representing about 4500 residents per district, around 130k total. The board holds bimonthly meetings and each member makes on average 15k per year. Nothing to write home to mom about - but enough to sponsor most vacations. The Board communicates mostly through encrypted e-mail and members are expected to digest weekly newsletters - whose composition is handled by one of the Noah Clarke, an assistant to Jerry Leverton - a long lasting member of the board. I didn’t like how one person was writing the newsletters and couldn’t stand the font. At the age of 28, I, David Harvey Blanko, became one such Alder.