Ssish in 2027

[Thomzo]

Well, this year is the start of my new life, apparently, so I got to wondering what the future holds and I wondered what we would be discussing in 2027.

Well, here’s my first posting for May 2027 – sorry it’s so long but there's lots to catch up on.

Hi Guys
Sorry it’s been so long but the last hurricane knocked out my satellite uplink and it’s been hell getting a replacement. My little hill was finally cut off, by rising sea levels, 2 years ago so we don’t get any deliveries here now. There are about 200 of us living in an area that used to house over 2,000. We are quite high up so house flooding isn’t a problem but we don’t have our own water supply so it’s catch what you can. Our area was designated unsafe for habitation about 4 years ago due to the heat and lack of services and most people have moved out since, taking advantage of the government compensation scheme to move north to cooler areas.

The last school closed 2 years ago and those of us who remain have taken it over as agricultural land. The ducks love the indoor pool in the summer when it’s too hot for them outside.

We had a good wheat harvest over the winter and managed to get it all in before the spring storms. This year’s hatching of poultry is out there now under camouflage netting to provide shade. They do a great job of clearing the ground ready for next autumn’s planting. You do need to choose a breed that will cope with the heat as we lost over 80 to heat stroke last year.

Margo – in answer to your question, yes, removing or covering south facing windows is compulsory in the UK as well. It really is very necessary. We had several acres of housing raised to the ground by a house fire started by strong sunlight through double glazed windows.

I’m not complaining as it has provided excellent scavenging. I now have over 10 conservatories linked together to provide a great bio-dome. Thanks, Muddy, for the recipe for home-made heat-reflective paint. I find that adding more potato starch helps it to weather the storms. The bio-dome provides about half of the fruit requirement for our community. The rest comes out of the sports hall in the school. There’s no point trying to grow anything outside in the summer now as it’s impossible to keep this clay soil hydrated. The bio-domes allow us to control the climate and provide much needed protection for the bees now that we are prone to killer hornets.

Fee – we have had serious land fill pollution here too. When West Swindon started to flood, the council decided to put a crust of concrete over the land fill site to stop the debris floating away. Last August the heat inside built up so much that it exploded. Smouldering nappies flying all over Swindon was not a beautiful site. I picked up about half a ton of debris and I’m over 2 miles away. It doesn’t stop people fishing the local housing estate though. Is that a CARP you caught or some other anagram?

Anyway, Andy. Have you guys over at the Bristol SSish community got any sheep’s wool going spare? Thank goodness I took Nev’s advice and insulated the outside of my house all those years ago. At least it stays tolerably cool in there in the summer. Unfortunately, last year’s hurricanes pulled some of the cladding off and the insulation now desperately needs replacing. We now have a duck link to the M4 River and I can catch a ferry from there. It would be lovely to meet up again if I can barter some ferry tickets.

Millymollymandy – good luck with your move to the arctic. I know that France is a lot worse off than the UK so I am really amazed you lasted this long. It's a sobering thought that the Arctic now has the climate that Swindon used to "enjoy".

Thanks, Stoney, for the advice on becoming an island state. Most of the local population are really keen as it means we would not be dictated to by Brussels any more. Oops sorry, I forget that there are people who are too young to understand "Brussels". It used to be the seat of the European Parliament until it got flooded and they moved to Eurodisney. It was bad enough having all our laws decided in Brussels but now we are dictated to by Michael Souris in a pink castle well that is just THE END.

[wulf]

My SecondLife virtual garden is cropping abundantly but my ThirdLife and FourthLife projects are languishing. I'm having fun in here but, from time to time, I still regret getting digitised and giving up on OriginalLife altogether.

Wulf

[Millymollymandy]

That's quite scary, and just how did you know I would be moving somewhere like that?!!

[Wombat]

Well at least she took my advice!

Nev

[Andy Hamilton]

We have plenty of sheeps wool and I will get a boat sent over to you as soon as I can. Since we declared our Bristol island state independent I could not be sure if you will have to pay import tax.

Nev's design for the evaporation cooler seems to work a treat, we have managed to keep one in the hen house and not had your trouble.

We don't seem to have the woes of the outside world here, after over 20 years of advice being passed across this message board we have just followed it all and now live in a totally self sustaining community.

Might have to move servers again as this site is running on my mobile phone at the moment and occasionally the signal drops out.

[Masco&Bongo]

Sorry I've not been around a lot, but since the Flood, it's all been a bit hit and miss.

Our rice fields are coming along great guns. We've had a bit of a problem with ducks and geese, but they make a nice addition to the pot!

We took a day trip out in the boat to show the kids Blackpool Tower. The glass floor that was at the top makes a great platform to watch the fish from. The coral reef is really coming along!

We abandoned our houses long ago, but have gone back to building now. We've managed several crannogs along the new coast, each holding at least 2 familes plus livestock, and the walkways seem to be holding.

We've got some communal fishing going on, and have managed to drain a couple of fields for 2 or 3 cows.

Our wind turbines now give us enough power to run electric lights at night, which is great

Thomzo, we're lucky enough not to have to cover our windows, but that's mainly because we don't have any! The crannogs are great because the water below keeps us cool.

I guess we're at a bit of a disadvantage, as a lot of our reusable resources, like buildings etc were mostly submerged when the sea levels rose.

But we're quite liking becoming a water/fishing community!

[Wombat]

This may be my last post.

We're dry alright - too dry.The (predominantly summer) rains have failed again and even though we're used to the tanks going dry, the well I sank in the front yard is starting to go dry too.

We have been able to hold our own for a long time but most of the neighbours have gone and although we now have access to more land, we don't have the water or other resources to make use of it. I'm not getting any younger either!

At long last we're starting to come to the end of our stores too and I can see that before too much longer we'll be hungry as well as thirsty.

The power system is holding up so at least I can talk to you lot so the isolation is not so bad. It's been great to have you folks here with us. It's time like this I wish we had made it to Andy's community but the war with Indonesia put paid to any thoughts of that.

The decision now is do we try and tough it out or head south to more hospitable and wetter areas. I am not looking forward to making that kind of trek by bike and handcart.

There is talk of relief being despatched from the federal government in Cornelian Bay, but we have heard that sort of talk before and it didn't get as far as us.

Their is someone at the front door, a rare occurrence these days, so I bett

[Muddypause]

Well, I've just bought a new mobile phone. It's the latest product of the Murdoch/Branson empire of McMicrotesgle & Q, and comes with all the usual SatNav, 200 megapixel camera, 600 googolhertz computer, biometric personal identity checker, ULR (unique location reporter), etc. Somewhere it has a phone in it, too, but I can't make head nor tail of the instructions ("To commence usage of your Indiviualized Social Communications Device you must first subjectize the digit implementation device to activation level by inputting your unique randomized digital texturization. Once this has happened, the BFG will be able to locate the KFC, after which you can use your ISCD normally.") Oh really?

Actually, I only wanted a calculator to check some energy-in/energy-out ratios of the perpetual motion machines that I've been working on for a while now (I found some interesting links posted on the old forum archives from twenty or more years ago; can't think why I didn't take more notice of them at the time), but of course you can't just buy a calculator these days - you have to have all this other stuff with it too.

Interesting article in the local newsfabric the other day; apparently there is a local energy hot spot around here somewhere. Someone is conjecturing that this may be a major contributor to The Problems. A world divided into drought and flood regions could be exacerbated by the generation of energy beyond the natural balance of input and output.

Anyway, it's lucky they built one of those windfarms next door to me a few years ago, because now that they are being used in reverse to create wind and keep us all cooler, I'm in one of the few remaining temperate climates in the world. This means that land has escalated in value beyond all previous records. I'm adding another storey to the house I built. This should add about another 6 million to the value of the house. It's a pity that it's so difficult to squeeze between the houses now that they are built so close together, and I've got absolutely nowhere to park my other new car (this one is a recreational 6 x 6 which is great for getting onto the pavements when the roads are all jammed solid).

I'm also happy to report that my pension fund is keeping me in great comfort, thanks to that investment I made into a plastic bag factory. It seems to me now that there is a clear link between people's happiness and the number of plastic bags in the world - I'm really pleased that not only am I making millions from it, but I'm making a genuine contribution to the future of humanity.

I think it's a wonderful life here in Berkshire City - I still grow the odd tomato plant when it looks like there will be a long enough season to do so. But since that unfortunate identity theft incident, all my problems seem to have been solved by the automatic identity replacement scheme that I had to subscribe to. Now, I can see quite clearly that Identity Cards, CCTV, and Continual Monitoring of all our activities are actually for our own good and continuing happiness.

[red]

welcome back to those that have had trouble with their comms etc - I'm still here - I don't give up a forum addiction that easily! - To update those that have been away - we are still living here on the edge of Dartmoor - but of course I no longer have the garden or fields since the compulsory purchase/ rehousing scheme came in. and most of my extended family live in the same house. Still its cosy. ha that reminds me - I seem to entertain my grandchildren all day with tales of how cold it used to be, how we had slates instead of solar panels - and when Dartmoor was a barren unpopulated area! and when I told them we did not have computers when I was a child they just didn't believe me 'but grandma, how would the government know where you were?'

mosquitos have become quite a problem, particularly with the malaria outbreaks I hear of - anyone got any tips? and any homemade recipes for sunblock? my supply of factor 4000 is nearly out :

[the.fee.fairy]

Good to hear from you!

Andy's community is going well (i really shouldn't say Andy's...we all own it!). I#'m so glad that he decided to set it up so many years ago, and by melding that idea with the Ish island conversation of a few months before, it wa a genius solution!

I didnt think that i'd love it here in scorching scotland, but actually, the tipi seems to be holding up well.

Haha - we had a landfill explosion a couple of months ago too - darn nuisance! i did get some more tyres for my earthship though, so that was good. might get it finished by 2030 if i'm lucky!

The other useful thing about the explosion was the number of knitting needles i found!! It's been a dying craft for the past 50 years or so, and people keep throwing perfectly good needles away, so that was handy, my last pair were beginning to bend, and they were so worn that the ends were needle-sharp! It's interesting trying to clothe people here. We've got the fabric that either gets sent over, or gets weaved from Nev's yarn. That's the luxury stuff! Other than that, we've really got into knitted knickers lately - they're comfy and, because they're real wool, they really keep you cool!

Finlay the dog is looking a bit old now, he's got a few grey hairs and dpesn't run down the garden quite so quickly anymore. Still, with the advances in technology, i can have him stuffed and get Electro-Dog Insides put in. it will be like having him back again!

Who would have thought it - all those years ago when they were talking about plastic being bad!! how would we live now if they'd not thrwon away quite so many carrier bags - my roof would leak!

Got to go now, need to go help harvesting the peas. I think its veg soup again tonight!

[wulf]

Do you think Nev is alright? His last message ended a bit sharply and my net monitors have picked up some unusual activity from his little corner of the grid, like someone else is using his computer.

Wulf

[red]

well surely he is microchipped like everyone else - look him up on google-big-brother?

[colhut]

I know these channels are monitored, but I must know, is there any truth to the rumours that one of the two super powers (Iceland or Chile) is going to launch solar curtains to cast shade on some regions. Not sure if I want it or not, it has the potential to bring back into use vast areas of fertile but arid land. the problem being that as ever money talks and shade will not go to those who need it but to those who can pay for it.

[pskipper]

Alls well at the Bratton Camp commune, we had a spectacular evening yesterday as around sunset a pod of whales swam up from where Trowbridge used to be and played around the chimney of the old westbury cement factory. The olive trees are looking like they'll have a large crop this year so if anyone is planning on sailing down to trade like they did last year there should be pleanty for all, perhaps a gathering and jamboree is in order.

Anyway, got to go as we've got to harvest the tomatoes ready for drying.

[the.fee.fairy]

Just harvested the first coconut of the season!

Finlay's been fishing again, so it looks like its thai (you remember thailand...) fishcakes with rice again tonight.

Why were we worried? I mean, look at the glorious bounties we're getting from the warmer weather. ok, my choldhood home might be underwater, and London has pretty much disappeared, taking all our old architecture with it, but we've got the chance to start afresh.

Its a shame that a lot of people didn't join the Self Sufficientish movement in 2018 - we've got a great village here. Shame it has to be locked so securely against the 'ungreenies'.

Got to go again - Finlay's found something else by the seashore!