FutureDiary : 15 January 2030 – Slipping through the Net
This is going to be a short one - I'm writing this on my phone.
The net connection went off again last night, and it's still not back on.
I called PrimeNet support this morning.
They can't find what the problem is so they are arranging an engineer visit to investigate. Although they did politely inform me that should the problem turn out to be on our equipment then there would be a charge of £315.
I am definitely going to move over to Starlink now. But that will take at least 3 weeks to get sorted and we really can't be without the net for that long. Our phone connections just aren't good enough to carry us over.
So hopefully the engineer can get us back online with PrimeNet in the meantime, but that's not until Friday which is a real pain.
Unfortunately Anne couldn't get the video connection again yesterday evening. I really thought China was well wired up these days - especially in the cities.
Anne did send us a quick text message though. She's doing fine, met up with some people from the university, and now getting ready for her new job with the big minister's visit. I think that's in a few days now.
Frank, the Australian farmer, came round today with his two boys, Ethan and Noah.
He seems like a trustworthy sort of guy, and keen to work.
Life certainly hasn't done him any favours recently.
They had over 8000 acres but lost it to drought and bushfires. The compensation they received from the Australian Government was next to nothing.
Frank's great grandmother came from Wales so they thought they would take up on the resettlement program that the Welsh Government is running.
But they've been finding it hard to get established so far.
And to cap it all, a couple of months after they arrived Frank's wife, Margie was diagnosed with MS.
They haven't been here long enough to get full free health care so are having to pay half the costs which is quickly wiping out their savings.
So Frank and the boys are keen to get any work they can.
We agreed a fair price for the fencing and planting so they are going to start on that as soon as we get the trees ordered.
If that works out well there are quite a few other jobs that need doing around the place.
I'm going to leave it here. I'm rubbish at typing on the phone, and Danny is popping round shortly to help me complete the application for the shotgun licence.
Til tomorrow.
If you have missed the previous diary entries, you can catch up...
FutureDiary : 14 January 2030 – PrimeSuspect
FutureDiary : 13 January 2030 – Rebel Rebel, how could they know?
FutureDiary : 12 January 2030 - Custard Tarts, Golf Guides & World Collapse
FutureDiary : 11 January 2030 - Where did all the groceries go?
FutureDiary : 10 January 2030 - Storms, floods & electric dreams
FutureDiary : 09 January 2030 - Trees, Australians & Lentils
FutureDiary : 08 January 2030 - Guns, Trump and PolliDrones
FutureDiary : 07 January 2030 - Valentina robbed at knifepoint
FutureDiary : 06 January 2030 - A panic in Cardiff
FutureDiary : 04 January 2030 - US President in hospital, Vice President on standby
FutureDiary : 03 January 2030 - Excellent news from Anne in China
FutureDiary : 02 January 2030 - That was quick, that was crap and we sprung a leak
FutureDiary : 01 January 2030 - It's 2030 and we are still here...
[graphic by @pennsif]