As we eat the midday meal, I roughly explain my plans for the houses, our mansion and the Academy, but without going into details. Shows my drawings and sketches first on the basic 6x4 house and explains that it is intended to be a standard house for small families or simpler craftsman. I call it a 6x4 house since that is the house dimensions in meters. Much smaller than a longhouse, and basically a very small two-room apartment, but its not intended to have animals indoor or a huge family with many slaves, where 10-20 people will live in the same house. My intention is to combine with a separate barn or barn built as an extension of the house, which is the reason that one side doesn't have any windows. It's also possible to mirror another 6x4 house so they share this common wall. This small house will be much brighter since it will have windows, and have built-in fireplace with chimney. A small hall with a ladder and hatch to the attic, a living room with a small cold storage under an insulation floor hatch, and finally a bedroom or storage room. The attic crawlspace will be separated in two spaces so that the chimney only heat one area, so that half is slightly warmer during winter, and the other half lack insulation so it can be a dry cold storage for fruit and other goods during winter. This building have no roof insulation, just a thick ceiling insulation under the attic's floorboards.

With the King's support, a large number of workers will have to be trained in new building style and technology, so my idea is to have two building teams that each will build a 6x4 house as practise and to learn. If necessary, we can live in these houses while they build our mansion, since the workers will live in tents. I hope our mansion will be finished before winter, but I can't count on it, and only when these two houses are ready will they start building our mansion. Also gives another team time to clear the ground and prepare the mansions foundation. Then they will start building the Academy's mighty school building, although there will be other buildings in between, such as our barn for our horses and the other animals we will need. We might start moving in to our mansion before every room is finished, and live there while they finish the interior and everything is upgraded. Time will tell, and as soon as the wing is finished it should be quite comfortable, since the main building basically is just rooms.

Hillevi and Gunhild are especially surprised by my sketches, since they probably expected either a large castle-like building, or a more common feasthall longhouse. No-one expected what I designed. Still havn't told anything about the amenities I plan and really hope will be good. Iselin want to know, but wish to be suprised more, and mostly think about practical matters for food storage and animals. Ciara don't seem to be curious at all and trust me completely that it will be good, and she assume that I know more about buildings than her. Kari respect Iselins wish and she too want to be suprised, and I think she don't want to give the impression of being less trusting then them, although she do try to give me all the information I need to avoid any cultural errors. Which is pretty much to make it impressive, think about servants and that I should have a separate room, and a couple more rooms for future wifes, concubines and children would be good. She really have no idea. I've got plans, Oh yes!

Of course I want to build something that will hopefully lead to better houses for everyone when the technology and style becomes known. The smaller buildings doesn't have to be expensive to build, it just requires a lot of logs, work and time, which many houses already do. The more special and tricky part is the fireplace and chimney, and the expensive part are the windows, but its possible to reduce the windows size or remove one of the big windows in the living rooom, and take the loss in insulation and not use double windows. During the winter months there isn't much daylight anyway and a couple of layers of white curtains might be pulled infront of the windows to increase insulation.

But the design I chose for our mansion is special; spacious and with privacy in the form of many rooms even if they are smaller. Extra well insulated with hopefully plenty of amenities, and also relatively high security. I don't want to live like the Vikings or the Middle Ages, nor am I looking for a castle with a ballroom, etc. My goal is to live like the higher middleclass did in rural 19th century or later.

Our mansion won't be the Academy, its our home, but it might be the Academy until the rest is built. I really plan to avoid it, so that our mansion will feel like our home, not a public place. I really need it to feel like my home, and that means privacy. As much as possible only for me and my girlfriends, even with guards, servants and guests. The Academy's buildings will be scattered on the islands, so different needs are fulfilled. Its more effective to spread some parts out, but the focus will be on a craftsman village with a big school building outside, and whatever else pops up. I must plan for flexibility, and expanding in stages.

When our mansion is finished, I hope to build an almost similar one as the knowledge center and Academy main building with two wings in U shape or long L shape, which is adjacent to the craftsman village, and it will probably be a boarding school for every age with dormitories on the third floor. I also intend to establish a smaller independent primary school where children, or everyone, can be sent to live and learn basic reading-writing-arithmetic and other basic knowledge. Well, what I consider basic knowledge. Once they've learned that, they can start taking other courses or crafts. I guess that the primary school will have a six months focus, like October-March, so the children can be at home and help parents with farmlife in the summer. Primary school is intended to be cheaper but everyone isn't supposed to send their kids here, its for the local area and mainly the Islands inhabitants, as I hope it might inspire more primary schools in other regions, and an increase in literacy in the Kingdoms regions. On the other hand, I hope to be able to give the islands children free education, and hopefully the adults as well.

Primary school include overnight stay and a few days of living in the school or adjacent building, so that students doesn't have to travel very far every day, which will include boat trips which might be problematic, and reduce travel in winter weather. Its much more effective use of time, and I can also then ensure that the children eat a more varied and healthy food during school days. If the students are from a larger area it just make sense to make school weekly, where two classes change at the end of each week, so six days of study, one day to travel back home, six days at home, and one day to travel to school. Maybe I should make that five days school, and seven days at home, so the teachers get a bit of free time too.

They really like my idea of teaching everyone the basics, and educating the common people. And most of them arn't suprised that I plan to abolish slavery on my Islands, so I do mean everyone. I really don't like that slaves will be building our home and Academy, but it would be stupid to say no to the Kings very generous offer, and he might be offended, but I do plan to make it better for the slaves there. I also need to see reality here and how they work and live to try to improve it.

They're correct that most won't need to be able to read and write, and might not need what I consider 'basic' math, but it is a status boost, and its quite easy to convince them why reading and writing is useful for common farmers and workers too. They have a hard time understanding that I plan to make a library available for everyone, and that it will be filled with books in a lot of subjects that even the common person will find useful. It will take generations to really change the region or the Kingdom, but it need to start somewhere. There will also be a lot of brilliant people or people with good ideas and a fascination for science hiding in the general population, and they need to be found and educated. People like my fiancée Iselin. Education will give people hope, pride, more worth, and increase social movement. Industrial revolution will also require educated workers and managers.

They're curious about my own education, which is a tricky question to answer, but I tell them that I've had 16 years of education since I was 7 years, and where I come from, every child gets atleast 9 years, and the Kingdom use taxes to pay for it. Its free, although we don't live at those schools. But they should also know that children usually have preschool kindergarten for a few years too, since parents usually works and it combine childcare with playing and teaching. I will be trying something similar too, and involve the elderly, so there will be a stronger community and shared work, but kindergarten will be a very local form of smaller 'rain and shine' preschools, so not much difference from how they do now, just more organised.

The discussions go quite wild with all of that, but I bring us back to the subject and tell them that I don't expect us to be attacked, and our mansion won't be built as a defense structure, because I don't want to live in a castle. Hopefully the Academy and I will be so respected that nothing happens, both because we don't make enemies and because most people will actually like us, or just value us enough. On the other hand, there is a chance that people will try to steal things or silver from us, which can be like an attack if there are many who go together. The mansion will have more defense than it seem to have, and some nasty surprises, and hopefully a couple of escape routes, but if someone lights it on fire, it will burn like hell since everything is wood, woodchips and sawdust, and there doesn't seem to be anything to use as impregnation for fire protection. I don't tell them that a lot of the defense is honestly because its interesting to design and build. Its cool and practical.

If they stay as my guards, I will trust them more in the future, but some of the security things will be installed or modified after it is completed by myself, so that builders and workers don't know about it. Its not included in the drawings, and some things that are prepared are incorrectly described. But the mansion will have so much special design and technology that few will react to it.

If, on the other hand, something do happen, I will have to set an example, instantly and harshly. I'm not looking forward to that, but I have no choice as I have to show myself strong so that people will respect me, or atleast fear my anger. Fear what I will do. Hopefully it won't be needed, but unfortunately the world is full of morons, and some of them are powerful greedy assholes. Just think about how 'stupid' the average human is, and realise that halft the world is stupider.

The weather is nice, so I lie down on a blanket in the shade of a tree and enjoy the day, and of course I have company. I'm starting to appreciate that Ciara seems to be completely content to just lie next to me. To just feel my embrace or she hugs me, without there being any uncomfortable silence or need to talk. Not that I'm whining that Iselin and Kari are also there, but they're sometimes too lively, enthusiastic and curious and want to talk about everything. I answer, and its nice - just not the same peacefullness.

In general, the plan for amenities in our mansion is quite far drawn. We will have servants and maids, which I'm ambivalent about, but unfortunately I need them because I don't intend to take care of our animals, prepare the raw materials, cook, bake, wash, clean etc, and the house will be big. I also must have servants simply due to status. Definitely a big downside that my high status means that I should have a personal servant or maid and it is really culturally, socially and just generally wrong to let Ciara or Iselin act like it. Having a servant who is just waiting to be of service feels so very wrong, but I have to accept it will happen eventually. It's not really much worse than having a guard standing and doing her job. But a future problem, and we can't be too many here where we live anyway. Also the farms maids help with cleaning. However, I have planned that my own part of out mansion is as far from the staff as possible. Avoid the noise, clutter, and pressure of them being there. Feels more calm and in solitude. Sure, I myself will have the farthest to the toilet but I can live with that, and I sure as hell won't use a chamber pot.

But amenities include a laundry room and two dedicated bathrooms. Everything in line on the outside of the wings corridor, and one bathroom is twice as big. I've prepared so that most of the rooms in the wing can be converted to wet facilities, and most have drains, even the servants bedrooms. In the far corner there will be an indoor dry toilet, with three toilet cubicles with toilet lids and attempts to separate urine and poop and make composting toilets. I think it is better for the compost to separate urine and the poop smells less when its dryer, and composting toilets have drains for a reason. Urine is also more useful than I expected. Since there will be three separate toilets and composts, we can try different things, like adding sawdust to one after each visit, and lime to another, just to see which works best. Separated good ventilation for the room and the compost, sealed lid and two doors with insulation between the toilet and the corridor, should keep the smell to a minimum. Compost, poop and piss are emptied from a completely separate basement room. A bonus is that should I need to use urine to make nitrates or experiments with explosives, it is available, and if they let urine stand for a month, it can then be used as an ink or stain remover, or just to make homogeneous fabric from woven fabric. I assume it's converting to ammonia, and it really has to stink. In the future, especially if it doesn't work well, the toilets may be converted to modern wet toilets, and the entire part between the toilet cubicles down to the room below will be prepared for it.

The mansion will have a water system. My servants won't have to run and constantly fetch water in buckets. Its unnecessary work and I like taps more than jugs because someone has to hold a jug, and if I want to wash myself taps are better, so I easily can manage it myself. Hot water is nice, especially because it gives a short time from when you want a bath until it occurs, or a shower. I so want a shower, and it uses less water and save a lot of time and work. Also avoids the need for servants to help with water and other things. But bathtubs will be available if anyone would want it, and its kind of nice to share a bathtub with my girlfriends.

The principle for a watersystem is really simple. Container with water up high, which flows down the pipes, out of a tap and down into a sink, and on to a drain. As long as I designed so that everything with water requirement is close to each other in the same wing, and with a big attic, that part was easy. Its the details that gets tricky. So, large water tanks in the attic, which the walls can handle since they're somewhat oversized already and with thick roof beams, log walls, a couple of masonry walls between wet areas and two chimneys. All will help to take the weight. I also have enough silver that I can make the watersystem in copper. I will use the old principle with an inside copper-clad wooden barrel, so the barrel contain the weight and for stability, while copper inhibit microorganisms and make waterproof connections for pipes easier. The insulation will initially be an outer layer of a lot of sawdust or wood shavings, as most other insulation on the buildings.

So four to six large tanks of water, probably around 300L each, two for hot water and two to four for cold water, with valves so we can choose if both are connected and which one gets emptied. Its all so that hopefully they can be serviced or repaired alternately, and one of the hot barrels might not be hot. Multiple tanks are easier to make and install, can spread the weight on the beams, and use both of the kitchen chimneys for heating so that someone is always warm. Honestly, the water doesn't have to be particularly hot, there's no real need for 60C or more, and what I want to avoid are cold showers, baths and laundry, and 30-35C is enough. I usually wash hands and face in cold water but I suspect most will appreciate the option, and a warm shower or bath that isn't scalding hot is preferable. Warmwater heating using waste heat from the kitchen chimneys won't be particularly efficient, and the fireplace design isn't really energy efficiency from start, but it should work. In principle, a hot water barrel encase the chimney, and thick copper plates pass through the flue. Will make it harder to sweep the chimneys, but I just have to make a better chimney brush, and the flues are straight. All flues are almost completely straight and quite tight. There sure as hell won't be chimney boys climbing in them on my property.

Getting the water up to the water tanks is another problem, but I hope to be able to use external pressure from a higher reservoir or a pump from a well, but it all depends on available fresh water sources on the islands. Alternatives are wind power that pumps up all the time, and a return flow pipe if its full or a simple valve that stops or disconnects. No matter what, there will be a simple crank wheel or hand pump to use at the beginning and then as a backup. Using manpower to pump would be easy and having someone pump up water once or twice a day to fill the tanks isn't enormously time consuming, and if the water pressure is enough, there will be no major problems. I want clean water so a covered well is better, and need large capacity because there will be high water usage in the mansion. Also don't want any birds to shit in our drinking water. Might be an good idea to create some type of water filter from the well, and make sure there are no livestock nearby where the runoff flows towards the well. I already plan to construct all buildings on terrain that's bad for farming or rasing livestock.

But drinking water is extremely important, so I want a backup plan, and the mansion will have a water collection system where rain collects via the roof gutters. The gutters will be there anyway and their flow handled, so I have designed that some will be diverted to fill large masonry reservoirs in each end of the basement, where the water is gradually replaced when it rains and so they stay full. The primary reservoirs will also be copper clad. Those parts of the roof gutters where its hard to use the flow will only be diverted away from the house and foundation, but might as well have it fill barrels, or a pond. Maybe I should make a small pond on the south or west side? Could look nice too.

I hope the insulation will be good enough and last well, because insulation keeps warmth inside in the winter, and outside in the summer. Might try to install ceiling fans, not sure how to power them, but it might be wind power or steam power, maybe electric if the mansion gets a proper electrical system, and I can make efficient enough electric motors. Wonder if I could use the steam boiler system to circulate cold waters from a buried reservoir and again powered by wind turbines. Not sure how much difference it will make in indoor temperature, but in this case quite a high flow pump is important, but I dislikes something that might fuck up the boiler system. First plan will be to try sucking up cool air from the basement into the house a really hot summer, so there will be prepared ducts for that. Options to try are good, and so much easier and not a lot of extra work if done right from the design stage, instead of trying to add it after the mansion is built.

We also need heat in the house, and I don't want fireplaces everywhere. A fireplace and stove will of course be in the kitchen, and there will be two. A combination fireplace with separate bread oven, hotplates etc, and a fireplace with hooks etc to be able to grill something large, or just boil big vessels and its closer to what they're used to. But I don't want fireplaces lit everywhere in the mansion, so my plan have been to try to combine scattered heating so that there is a fireplace, the back of a fireplace or a warmer chimney in most rooms, and where fireplaces also serve as strengthening pillars for the upper floor and the house as a whole, without being a fire hazard for the walls. But fireplaces might produce sooty, smoky, smelly rooms, and dry air irritate my nose, lips and throat. I don't like them, and they must also be maintained, monitored in use, take lots of firewood, etc. My mother likes fireplaces, wood-fired bread ovens and such - not me. Slightly uncomfortable to have fires everywhere in a wooden building, and for carbon monoxide poisoning.

That's a thought; fire. Fire extinguisher. I should definitely build and place simpler fire extinguishers as well as fire blankets, and fire escape ladders. I will have to test which materal works best, and have to try with a really thick wool blanket first to smother the fire. Ooh! A Lightning rod!

Crap! Everything really is wood, sawdust etc. Is there even something I can impregnate it with that doesn't make it more flammable?

Anyway, there will be quite a few fireplaces, the plans have seven chimneys and sixteen flues, but hopefully I can make and install a working steam boiler system, and this can then also heat the hot water tanks and every room, so the kitchen is the only place using the fireplaces. Two ways for heating livingspaces and water are better than one way. I like flexibility and backup plans. It might be that if it gets really cold the steam boiler might be too small, so fireplaces can help, and the steam boiler might break down in the middle of winter.

The plan is a boiler room in the basement corner between the wing and the main building. Wood intake through the basement with a sizable storage for wood in the boiler room and basement. The mansions design require a sloping ground, so that the wing can have a basement. The steam boiler will probably be a rather primitive vertical design with a water tank that stands on top of a fireplace, with channels for the smoke to heat the water. Preferably a more efficient model with a bundle of pipes so that the smoke is led up through the water and where the fire is surrounded by metal walls with water outside. It more efficiently heats the water, or at least has thick coupling plates that reflect and conduct heat to the water instead of heating stone, or warming the air for the crows.

The system need to be low pressure considering the material and the joints, so probably large diameter main line to increase steam flow, which also requires a larger steam boiler that provides steam volume, not high pressure as for a steam engine. One steamline that goes out to the end of the wing, and two that go to the main building, one for each end, so they all cover about the same room area, which should make it easier with temperature regulation. From these mainlines, side lines go out to simpler heating radiators on both floor, and then the recirculation back to the boiler, which is easy as the boiler will be in a basement and lower than everything, so condensate will collect and flow to the lowest point which will be the watertank.

I need to create manometers, safety valves, control valves for heat control, sight glas for the watertank, main vent, low water valve that shuts of the air to the fire, thermometers and so on. And a steam whistle. Just because it's fun, and can be handy for signaling something. Or just scare the residents nearby, but I wonder how much it will sounds with low pressure. Might have to go with high flow whistle instead of high pressure.

For ventilation, the plan is mostly passive and I hope its enough. All windows have small air intakes in the upper edge of the window that can be closed. Then there are chimneys and fireplaces spread out, and some rooms have ducts that go up through the ceilings or that go outside, as well as in the light tunnels to the basement. Install a pair of dampers, shutters and presto; ventilation. Should be sufficient and provide good enough ventilation for the rooms and attic, otherwise I may make some of those roof turbines that rotate when the wind blows, and the air is sucked up and out. It is mostly toilets, kitchens and wet areas that I am worried about for various reasons. The smell of toilets, the heat from two fireplaces in the kitchen and the moisture in wet areas.

Light and illumination is a big problem. Glass windows are the first and best way to make a room brighter, and there will be a lot of windows everywhere, but windows only work during the day and in the winter there is only 6-8 hours light, and the days are often gray and dark. Might not see sunlight for weeks. Lanterns and candles will need to be made and used. I really dislike any open flames, always have, and especially in a large wooden house with dry unprotected wood. Definitely no torches on the walls or small firebaskets I've seen larger halls have, but of course our mansion won't have stamped earth or even stone floors except in the wing, and the rich often use candles even though I doubt it is paraffin candles. Doesn't smell like paraffin candles.

For the basement and where there is no outer wall to make a window in, there will be light tunnels down through stone and wooden walls. Not perfect, but low light is better than no light. The best would have been planned light paths with real light tunnels, or with prisms and mirrors to efficiently conduct light, or a type of fiber optics, but it is too cumbersome, expensive and impractical to do with their technological level. So I will try to whitewash the stone and wood for the light to bounce down better, and if that don't work I will put brass plate on the inside. They have paints here that adhere well to wood and stone, and paint must be cheaper than brass plates, and might be better in the long run than metal that oxidises. There should be some cheap lime sludge paint to slab on, and I just hope there won't grow mold or so on it. Maybe mix some copper in the paint? Maybe lead white is better in the light tunnel? Could paint most of the spaces in the basement so they become whiter and reflect light, instead of dark stone on walls and ceilings that absorb light. Can also paint the interior walls in some rooms such as the kitchen to make them become brighter and it easier to keep clean and as moisture protection, but it needs to be paint.

What would be really nice is electric and electric lighting. But it's a damn big step. Huge. If I make the steam boiler system work, a steam turbine or steam engine with an electric generator can be an option, or a Stirling generator, but it requires finely made parts so it will take a while. Varying loads when it is switched on and off is a problem, so maybe a battery-powered DC system with, for example, 24V lead batteries can be better, so the generator keeps them topped, and voltage is stabilized. But I'm happy if there will be a few LED lights in the corridors and some rooms, and preferably a couple of work lights for me. The real problem is actually the light source, not electricity, and I only have a few LEDs I can use, so not many LED lights or a lot of light for a whole huge house. Light bulbs etc are their own problem, and it is no small problem.

I plan to build a waterwheel for the smithy, with a power hammer, rotating grindstone and fan system, and it is intended to use the lake that the smaller island hopefully has here too. Else I will have to make a damm. If I can solve a rainwater reservoir on highground with extra pumping of wind power, maybe occasionally electricity via hydropower can become available even without a steam-powered generator. But voltage regulation is a bit iffy, and I wonder if I can make a slightly self-regulating generator, either in speed, or via electromagnetic control. Eh, its a future challenge and problem.

I actually have a compact multimeter with me, a small Uni-T UT120C in the 'fix it kit' along with bit set for the multitool etc, and so useful when I start working with electricity. Above all, I can use it for calibration of another moving coil instrument I will try to build. I could have done that without my UT120C, but its practical. I can also for example use 5V USB outputs or new batteries as a form of reference until I have arranged a better voltage reference from for example the radio or something else, since 'close enough' is enough for most usage, and a new standard AA Energizer has about 1.6V and an AA lithium at about 1.85V, if the load is low. Moving coil instrument isn't that hard as long as the sensitivity doesn't have to be high or the measuring current too low, but I doubt it will have a full range of even 100µA, but 1-10mA is still okay for a lot of use, and I can make simpler resistors, capacitors and coils. Even if I couldn't directly calibrate the scale, a wheatstone bridge style meter would work to make something better.

In a few years, I hope to actually be able to try to make a simple amplifying vacuum tube, but it will be a very, very long way to go. So many machines and other things must be created and it is still only the beginning as there are also material problems to get usable lifespan and performance. If King Asbjörn really understood how advanced machines I will try to manufacture to even be able to try to reach some my goals? Talk about shocking.

My dream is to jump about 700 years ahead in a lot of knowledge and industrial development. Hubris? If there is an actually a production, even if it is small and by hand, of Alfheimr vacuum tubes, lead acid batteries, electromechanics and copper wire etc, when I leave this world one way or another - I will be quite please with my life here. Above all, they can then begin to have radio contact, or at least telegraphy.

If I know myself, its only a matter of time before I have set up a simple intercom system, since an electromechanical telephone system with cranks, bells and dynamic microphones and speakers isn't particularly complicated. Requires only fine mechanics, lots of fine copper wire, magnets, brass, glass/ceramics/porcelain and wood, although it will certainly be manufacturing problems I havn't thought of. Preferably to call servants instead of pulling a string with a bell and the service system is only supposed to be from certain rooms, three to six or so, and a maid would probably prefer to run once with something instead of first asking what is desired. Have I built a working system within the house, then maybe a short distance phone system to parts of the island could work, but is it useful for anything? Building something just because I can will happen - and probably a lot - but I should of course limit a lot to practical stuff and not just because it is interesting, or a challenge.

Really don't want a maid just standing there waiting to be of service. Urk! It's bad enough that Iselin, Ciara and Kari act as maids for me now, because how hard is it really to pour my own drink? But they have seriously told me I must let servants help me in the future, and above all Kari has methodically explained that my status requires that I have someone to do it, because even if it is not needed - it is needed. What I do behind closed doors is one thing, but if we have higher status guests, it is important, so if we only sit at the table ourselves in the future, I need to use maids or waiters for many meals, so it becomes routine for me. All that 'Lord' nonsense is the same.

Although I guess Iselin, Ciara and Kari would really like to be called 'Furstess', or 'Lady', and I want to make them happy. Yeah... Woe me... ppffh!

We have had discussions about that when we're in bed, but just because we've fucked eachothers brains out doesn't mean I will give in to some things. I basically already compartmentalize things to my Furst Sejdmann Arnesson persona, and I just have to learn to try making that act seem real when we have guest or are in public places. The problem is those things that isn't something to act, and Kari has made it clear that in the future when I probably marry Iselin, she can no longer do certain things she's done so far, because as a wife with high status she should have maids who do it, and understand it affects Kari as a future wife as well. Ciara as my concubine shouldn't do some things either. Argh. It would be better if, I offered and Ciara had contented herself with being my personal maid with sex, than my concubine, but done is done and she is so damn happy to be my concubine, so worth it - and I should just shut up and appreciate my partners. Again.

But I'm so fed up with this damn status thinking all the time, even though I totally agree that washing clothes, cleaning, cooking, taking care of the house etc should be done by staff.

Not looking forward to having to set up a real farm with animals and everything around it, and growing food and taking care of the animals, but it is needed since its idiotic to buy everything we need when I have plenty of land and can grow it myself. The point of owning land is to support oneself and provide food, firewood and other things.

Unfortunately, a lot is connected in this world. We need animals for food, work and transport. But animals require food themselves, so we must cultivate fields, which the animals can help with. But we need many different animals and different crops and vegetables to get all the varied food we need, and animals have different purposes. To take care of all these animals, we will need people who work for us, because it will require a lot of manpower, which requires more food and buildings. Then buildings are required for certain productions as well, such as dairy, brewery, bakery etc, and everything need minimum support like a smithy, and a wood working shop. So there will be many cultivated fields scattered over the islands with lots of people and buildings, with many different crops, and chickens, ducks, geese, sheep, pigs, cows, oxen and horses.

To go back a few mental steps, producing electricity is a problem, but a manageable one as I can live with inefficiency and limited power. Delivering electricity is another that is also manageable, as long as its low currents or shorter distances just across the islands. Production on demand won't really be available, so storage is another problem as the current won't be produced when I need it, or in the amount I need it, so in the end the electric system needs to be direct current (DC), which means that rectification becomes its own problem to solve, and another problem is charging the battery. Electricity use will atleast in the first years be simpler electromechanics things such as telegraphs or telephones that should be manageable problems, and electric motors are likely to be the primary electric power consumer in the future.

Electric lighting is the biggest problem and also so enormously useful - the problem is converting electricity to light. The principle of a light bulb is simple, but making a tungsten filament lamp is so nope. Don't remember all the steps to make tungsten soft and pliable, but there are so many and so carefully controlled, and I don't even have tungsten. What does tungsten look like in nature? How can I even reach the high temperatures it needs? It's so damn complicated to make tungsten useful. I've watched an Engineering Guy video about it, and it's on tablet, but all the requirements all those steps have? No. That's just absurd in this era. No point in even trying, but its the kind of knowledge I can write down and save for future generations.

The only thing I can practically do right now is a light bulb with a carbon rod or charred string and some inert gas like nitrogen if I can't create a good enough vacuum. Maybe with CO2/nitrogen, but I don't know if it is worth it for longevity, brightness, etc. A good light bulb is complicated and the details are fucking important if you want good brightness, longevity and practical to manufacture. Tungsten is used for its high melting point, but I can forget that, and things like a double spiral filament are 'difficult' if its a charred string instead of metal wire. I don't want to spend my whole life solving just those things, but if I know myself there will be one or more electric light projects in the future when the overall electrical technology level reach there, and I don't have anything more pressing to do. Or I just get completely feed up with candles or lanterns. Since I atleast will have LEDs it might be a while.

Fluorescent lamps can also be ignored due to gases and coatings. In the future I might possible make a mercury arc lamp, but its not much simpler than a light bulb with the technology here, but its probably the only powerful electric light I can make. Nernst lamp that uses a ceramic element that glows and works in the atmosphere might have worked, but how the hell should I make that ceramic element? It's not just any ceramic, and I don't remember which it is, but I have a small ceramic knife blade in the backpack that might work. The problem is I can't recreate it for mass production, and it require higher voltage and current than I'm comfortable to feed it with, and I must create an electrical load to it as well. Maybe the ceramic blade will become one or two Nernst lamps, and they might be more worthwhile as a physics experiment because the ceramic only conducts electricity when it has been heated enough, and its an insulator before.

But avoiding sooty oil lamps, candles or fire would be so nice, much safer, and so much more convenient to be able to just turn on and off with a switch. High voltage light arc also feels 'nope' as room illumination, but maybe fun to impress people.

FEAR MY LIGHTNING! MuuhahaHAH!

Will I become a mad engineer? A Frankenstein that the people fear? Feels like a lot of my projects arn't necessary but... Fun? Eh, be honest with yourself. Because I can or want to see if I can, is more likely. I suspect I will annoy and scare people with projects just because it's interesting or it's fun. Its good to be the king!

I mean Furst.

In the evening we have some lessons, me and Ciara in vocabulary and most in reading / writing, and all in numbers and math. Learn the new numbers and interpret them for Gunhild and Hillevi, and to count for the others. It's starting to move forward, but there will be a lot of lessons back and forth.

It's so nice to go to bed, and discover that Iselin has crawling into bed and with a seductive smile is waiting for my company. Yeah, life isn't so bad after all.