'ph' Diesel Creek: revision, fill in a gap

ph-diesel_creek.html

@@ -4,20 +4,20 @@
 
 <p>
   Michelle asks: <span class="quote speech">And you really expect to find
-  machines here that can be salvaged?</span><br />
+  anything here that can be salvaged?</span><br />
   The four are walking into a valley in a large forested area.<br />
   Jack replies: <span class="quote speech">Right now, I&apos;m not even
-  sure this is the place &ndash; everything looks so different &ndash; but,
+  sure this is the place &ndash; everything looks so different &ndash; but
-  if it is, we&apos;ll have plenty to choose from and a bunch more for
+  if it is, we&apos;ll have plenty machines to choose from and a bunch
-  spare parts.</span><br />
+  more for parts.</span><br />
   James gestures to the side, saying:
   <span class="quote speech">Look, over there.</span><br />
-  He points out a group of very rusty and completely overgrown machines.
+  He points to a group of very rusty and completely overgrown machines.
   <br />
-  Annie wonders: <span class="quote speech">How did they get inbetween
+  Annie asks: <span class="quote speech">How did they get inbetween
   the trees?</span><br />
   Jack says: <span class="quote speech">They didn&apos;t. The machines
-  came first, the trees grew after. This wasn&apos;t a forest
+  came first, the trees grew after. This area wasn&apos;t even a forest
   back then.</span><br />
   They make their way over to take a closer look.
 </p>
@@ -29,19 +29,18 @@
   a big one like this, maybe a bit smaller, but not as small as that one
   over there &ndash; and preferably without trees growing out of
   it...</span><br />
-  He points to a small excavator that sits askew on a thick tree trunk
+  He points to a mini excavator sitting askew on a tree trunk that had
-  that had grown through the floor and out the side.
+  grown through its floor and out the side.<br />
-  <span class="comment">Compact excavator? Tiny excavator?</span><br />
+  James asks: <span class="quote speech">Why not just use this big one?
-  James asks: <span class="quote speech">Why not just use this one?
   What&apos;s wrong with it?</span><br />
-  <span class="quote speech">This thing&apos;s just done for. Apart from it
+  <span class="quote speech">This thing&apos;s just done for. It&apos;s
-  being a pile of rust, it&apos;s missing its tracks, the hydraulics for
+  more rust than steel, missing its tracks and hydraulics for the bucket,
-  moving the bucket, and it looks like the inside of the cab got completely
+  and it looks like someone got a bit carried away trying to remove the
-  dismantled.</span><br />
+  cab.</span><br />
-  They take a quick look at the other machines around them. There is the
+  They take a quick look at the other machines around them. Apart from the
-  other, much smaller excavator, a dump truck, a <span class="comment">
+  two excavators, there is a dump truck, a <span class="comment"> what's
-  what's the name of that machine with a conveyor belt that sorts
+  the name of that machine with a conveyor belt that sorts large rocks and
-  large rocks and rubble from sand?
+  rubble from sand?
   <!--
     ChatGPT says "screening plant" but also refers to it as a
     "vibrating belt sorter". Research that.
@@ -52,9 +51,9 @@
   are rusted beyond repair and missing integral parts.<br />
 </p>
 <p>
-  A bit further down the valley, they approach a much larger collection of
+  A bit further down the valley, they find a much larger assortment of
-  machines, parked in rows and parted out like the first ones they saw.
+  machines, parked in long rows and parted out just like the first ones
-  <br />
+  they saw.<br />
   Jack says: <span class="quote speech">Welcome to the machine graveyard.
   If memory serves right, there should be a few buildings back there and
   one of the main parking lots behind them.</span><br />
@@ -66,21 +65,29 @@
   stuff onto conveyors but most of the machines here were used in
   construction after the digging was done.</span><br />
 </p>
-<p class="comment">
-  research that needs to be done:
-  When were hydraulic excavators invented?
-  When did they get the ability to use a jackhammer attachment?
-  When did the cable-driven ones go out of fashion?
-</p>
 <p>
-  <span class="comment">missing section</span>
+  The buildings are in rough shape, some much worse than others. Most
+  don&apos;t have rooves, a few have been completely reduced to foundations
+  and piles of rubble. The four walk through a gap between them and find
+  themselves on the parking lot. Instead of a forest, they find it mostly
+  overgrown with bushes and young trees. They split up and start roaming
+  the area.
+</p>
+<p class="comment">
+  research that needs to be done:<br />
+  &rarr;When were hydraulic excavators invented?<br />
+  &rarr;When did they get the ability to use a jackhammer attachment?<br />
+  &rarr;When did cable shovels go out of fashion? (Apparently never,
+  depending on use case. From a quick image search, modern ones seem to be
+  huge industrial machines.)<br />
 </p>
 <p>
   Annie calls the others over to one of the buildings.<br />
   <span class="quote speech">Look what I found...</span><br />
   Michelle arrives before Jack and she laughs. He arrives a moment
   later and peeks inside. There sits a cable shovel, partially covered
-  in rubble from the caved-in roof &ndash; rusty but surprisingly intact.
+  in rubble from the <span class="comment">caved-in? fallen-in?</span>
+  roof &ndash; rusty but surprisingly intact.
   <br />
   Jack says: <span class="quote speech">That&apos;s ... uhhh ... kind of
   a historical artifact.</span><br />