I received a pleasant email earlier in the week from lucy1965, one of the other netizens! She's been trying to get over to the UK for months now and with all the problems with immigration, it's only now she's coming, to be an EMT midwife in South Buckinghamshire. Lucy's been one of the people in this crisis that's been most supportive (I've also had wonderful correspondence with Sam the prudent RVer and megiddo_tell, jimboboz, lead_tag, gracemominnh, gerben1974 and a few other great people).

She emailed to say that she was flying into Cardiff and would be stopping off in Bristol on her way to her new home! She asked if I wanted to meet for some lunch and of course I said yes, so we're going to be meeting next week!

Another person is making a change this week too. Similar to what rdy2rte is saying here, Uncle Andy's getting excited about the farm he bought off dad. He's setting off today, taking a bus into the heart of Wales with a couple of bags to start a new life.

I asked Andy why he was taking so little things - his phone and the solar charger Greg gave him, his laptop and another solar charger (although greg made him pay for this one - it's about £2000 pounds worth of panels), some clothes, a toothbrush, straight razor and about ten books.

"What else do I need?" he said. "The farm'll have food and enough power to to eat and keep the lights working. Apart from an internet connection and some heating for when it really gets cold, that's all I want."

I envy him. He looks happier than he's been since he came back. The stuff that happened in Saudi really screwed around with him but it looks like now he's going to go off, set up a homestead and make things alright again. In his head more than anything else.

"I could come with you," I said, when he was at the bus station. He shook his head. He pressed his hand into my coat pocket.

"Stay and study," he said. "Learn something that'll work in this new world. Come visit me in the holidays, and in the summer. Until then, I wanna see you learning something useful, ok?"

"Ok Uncle Andy," I said, and we all stood back as he threw his bag into the luggage compartment under the bus and jumped onboard.The bus was packed, as they all are these days. Used to be you could get the 'megabus' for a pound if you booked early enough. Now it's more like 20-30. Andy waved as the bus struggled up the hill and quickly out of sight. I wondered when I'd see him next. We started the wander home, feeling the one person less than before.


It's December and it's cold. The old georgian (and earlier) tall terraced houses are pretty here in Bristol, but they aren't warm.

School's much better though. The stress that had been growing amongst us with all the tests and mounds of homework has gone away - we've still got exams but thanks to the changes the local council has made, there's a lot more time to just explore - a lot of kids haven't got as much internet access so there's a couple of hours a week structured browsing - heavily monitored for naughty stuff! I've spent a fair amount of time just learning about the crisis and the things we can do to stay afloat - making clothes, cooking, growing! I've got lots of plans for the allotment next year. Things are looking up.


[Author's note: week 28.

As Mia's journal went on, Uncle Andy has become just as important a protagonist in my eyes, mainly because as an adult he's far more linked into the effects and changes of the world. Being on a terrorist-attacked tanker in the middle east doesn't hurt either, mind.

A couple of journals picking up on the political theme lately. Participating in wwo is no good unless we actually let our representatives know what problems may face us and that we as citizens want them to address them. Grassroots activism on this issue is important. My prize of a mix cd to anyone that contacts their representative and asks them about Peak Oil still stands - megiddo_tell comes closest so far - he sent an email to his Senator, Carl Levin! No idea if you want the cd but let me know the response!

French blogger and expert on energy and economics 'Jerome A Paris' has a great diary today on the way economics and the idea that 'greed is good' has shaped our world today, far too much. Daily Kos is a good port of call if you want to start getting involved with politics at a grassroots level. I'd suggest a corresponding right-wing site to go with this left-leaning one but as much of the world's problems have come from the right wing arm of US politics I don't think it would be appropriate.

His call to contact our representatives is a good one that I echo. Although wwo has been a great experience and told some amazing stories, there hasn't been enough coverage of the governmental handling of the crisis to really get a good picture on what's happening in the US on a broad scale. I tried to implement UK policies in Mia's story I thought would happen and effect her but I'd be even more fascinated to see what real politicians respond. I'm planning to email my MP Stephen Williams once my exams finish on thursday.]