"Yeah, crafts do that. Everything's picky about what it wants to be." He sounds fondly amused. "You might be able to get some quotes on parts and then use that to say what you want your up-front on a commission to be, then. Parts plus operating expenses plus room and board, at least."

"Speaking of, I would like to, uh, eat today."

"I can get you a kinda basic meal and a cot in someone's office or hook you up with someone with a guest room and a chair at their table? Or, uh, basic food now and then dinner at someone's house later."

"Basic now and somebody's house later sounds good. As long as I'm waiting for parts I can do chores and stuff."

"Sure. Uh, we definitely have bread and butter and apples and apple butter, probably still have those trail mix jars Sarah brought..."

"That all sounds good, I'm not picky."

"Sure. Break room's this way."

He stands and shows her the break room with the promised foods, also pointing out the restroom across the hall. "I'll put the word out you're looking for somewhere to crash for the night, see who's got space."

"I appreciate that."

She has bread and butter and apples and apple butter and trail mix.

They apparently don't have phones as a common thing, but he walks around the offices and talks to people - the builders' union rep also does helping people with scavenging buildings safely, so she knows some likely scavenge sites a bit farther out - apparently there used to be a plastics plant a bit of a drive out of town, and they mostly haven't been scavenged beyond the initial checks, and there's an abandoned neighborhood that people have only three fourths scavenged, and it's getting harder and harder to sell broken televisions and old computers (due to a talent drain for fixing them) so those get passed over a lot - plus people who should have electronics cheap on resale, and there's a guy whose mom definitely has guest space and a willingness to feed random strangers.

"Old computers would be great."

Then she can have directions to the abandoned neighborhood.

She goes hunting for parts and tools and stuff she could turn into parts and tools.

Abandoned neighborhood appears to have been hit by something - not quite 'bomb dropped on it', more 'highly localized severe earthquake and then a fire'. The more intact buildings at the edge have been pretty thoroughly scavenged, but if she's willing to dig through some more unsteady areas in the center she can find a treasure trove of parts miscellaneous parts, a workman's shed, a Game Boy with a cracked screen but intact internals, a PowerBook 140 with a broken case, and a pretty good (for the 90s) digital camera (warped by heat).

She feels pretty confident in wreckage in full kit. She collects them all in an abandoned public television totebag and hauls them with her to Local Mom's house.

Local Mom: is friendly, a good, generous cook, and asks friendly questions about where Lorica's from.

"So, funny story, I'm from an alternate universe and this is the second time this week I've been unexpectedly shunted into a different one."

She blinks. "Huh. Haven't heard that one before."

"Yeah, it seems quite astonishing luck to have it happen once let alone twice."

"You still human?"

"Yeah, you want me to take the helmet off?"

"Mostly just wanna know you won't have problems with the food."

"Food'll be fine."

She nods.

"Guessin' with your story you don't know much about our history, then?"

"Not a bit of it. I know the political boundaries are different, and I have some vague guesses."

"'Bought twenty years ago the apocalypse happened. First and longest of the Rages. We still don't really know what caused it, though a lotta religious folks think we angered God. Volcanoes exploded. Earthquakes shook everywhere they could. Crops all died under the ash. Fires started up, seemingly out of nowhere. Rain stopped falling where it should and started falling where it shouldn't. Tornadoes raged all east and west, and hurricanes swept up the coasts. Society collapsed. We've since rebuilt, as much we can. Rages still sometimes happen, but they're smaller. Localized. Might sweep through a town if we're real unlucky, but usually just destroy a bit of forest or a neighborhood."