New Earth City, 21 July Entry 2

Sorry for the delay in my second entry. Moving to a new station can be hectic, tiring and even surprising. Even when you think you've experienced enough in life, life still manages to open the airlock on you from time-to-time.

My wife and I got to NEC a few month ago--19 May, to be exact. The trip from Angels Station went amazingly smoothly, considering we were uprooting our entire life on Angels to come here. We decided to leave the west quad of the ring because my wife got job here. Of course, it helped that everything was getting more expensive in Angels. Energy taxes are through the ceiling and we couldn't afford to finance our own panels. Sure, there are still taxes when you own, but interest payments on the financing is only slightly cheaper than just paying the taxes in the first place.

Then there's the whole thing with everybody owning their own vehicle there. It's like no ever sees the old monorail tracks all around the station--evidence that Angels Station residents didn't always need total freedom in transportation. Of course, energy taxes hit car owners, too.

Energy taxes.

Just makes me wonder why the West Quad Ring Government is so keen on them. The average 'aware' comment is to point out that government always makes money. So it taxes the thing people do most. In any place but the big stations (like NEC or any of the other city-stations) energy taxes don't make a whole lot of money for the local RG. That was a big plus for us--we sold our flyrs and what we would have spent on panel maintenance, insurance, energy taxes and parking we spend on food. Of course, strangely, food prices have risen, too.

Then again, maybe it's not so strange. Energy taxes go up, so it's more expensive to get the food from the farming platforms on the Inner Ring. I don't know whose idea it was to put the inner ring so far away from where all the people live. At least some sub-stations around NEC have been repurposed into farming plats. Makes for cheap groceries once a month, but only if you get to the market early. If not, you'll miss all the fresh stuff.

You learn a lot when you move to New Earth City and you have to learn it fast if you want to survive here. It's been a hard couple of months. I should go into the details, but it's too recent and too annoying to repeat now. I need to put some distance between it and the frustration about it that I still feel.

Sometimes I think this place has already beaten me--but I've only just gotten here. Seems absurd, I know, but if all you know of NEC is what you see in media, you can't really know what I mean. Even tourists or commuters who come in from the sub-stations don't get it. NEC is an island unto itself. Unlike any other in the Ring.

OK, enough for now. More tomorrow. I may hear about a job. I'd say wish me luck, but to truth, I'm pretty sure I don't want it.

Oh yeah, haven't mentioned my name yet in this blog. It's Jim, Jim Conant. My wife is Ande, but she goes by her last name, which I'll mention only if it's important. Can't imagine why it would be.

-Jim