Philip in China

[Frosty]

I realize it's unlikely Philip can connect to post the forum so I don't expect to hear from him for a while. I'm sure hoping he and his are alright.

He's in Sichuan, near the epicenter of the recent major quake.

Gonna say a little prayer for everyone in harm's way tonight and Philip by name.

Frosty

[matt87]

Ya know, that didn't occur to me. Hope he's alright too. No doubt if he is he's busy helping people.

[metalmangeler]

In the prayer section Glenn said that he had heard from Phillip.

[GOATMAN]

Philip has checked in over at Jock Dempsey's "Guru Page". His wife and he are fine, but the local infrastructure has been damaged, but not destroyed. Obviously, he still has web access, but probably no time to post.

[Frosty]

That's a big relief.

Frosty

[Valentin]

Nice to hear he is safe !

[philip in china]

................ have been greatly exaggerated.

The chimney on the forge was cracked by the main shake. It was a 7.9 within 100 miles of here so I think my motto still stands. An aftershock took it down completely. The forge still works and has made emergency tools and boiled rain water.

In town we lost a complete hospital and a couple of schools. Pretty well no survivors from any of those. We need the hospital! Death toll here is huge. The Chinese army are working day and night to help. They really have been marvellous. There has not been any looting at all that I have seen. That compares well with the gangs operating after Katrina!

My beloved judo mat we ripped up to provide beds for people and the canvas cover is now a tent over a soccer goal. It is further supported by my hog roast uprights and the squat stands from the weights room. (All Rustmart products).

We now get a few hours power a day so I can post. Would have done earlier but couldn't get the all new site to work and when time is at a premium one cannot waste it on machines that hang.

Your kind thoughts and messages really have been a support to me and to Sean the other smith here.

[Frosty]

Good to hear from you Philip.

I knew you'd be in the middle helping wherever possible. Being a blacksmith has to come in handy in times when civilization falters.

Frosty

[philip in china]

Still here! Going to try the forge today again now the chimney has gone. Tent stakes to be forged. It could be a lot worse for us.

[philip in china]

I see it is 10 days since I updated you.

We are still here. Things are about the same except that we now have several million tons of water in a quake lake just above the town. This is concentrating our minds wonderfully on such subjects as will it rain? Will the lake burst? Will we all be killed and if so how?

At 5'7" tall it will quickly be over my head if it does come. Maybe the idea of sleeping on the ground floor to avoid quake damage should be reexamined.....

I will keep you all posted.