This is a reprint of an article I wrote about a year ago, published in another blog. I'd like to share it with those of you who may not have seen it.

Issaquah, August 2007

I’ve had a nice visit to Earth, and am leaving tomorrow for Mars, where I have lived for the past 10 EY (earth years). I’ll be glad to get out of here – it is so hot. Daytime temperatures in the 160’s plus. That’s why most of us left for Mars. But many of the old folks just don’t want to leave Earth. For me, Earth is just too hot for comfort. Besides, there’s not much to eat anymore since farmers are having a hard time with crops and livestock under the circumstances. Even the Mexicans are going home, since Mexico is now cooler, ever since the earth’s axis tilted (melted polar icecaps) and the south pole is now roughly where Panama used to be. (There is no polar ice cap. Panama City, and the canal, are both totally submerged, and South America is a separate continent again, now in the northern hemisphere.)

I’ve packed my things for the IGSS pickup this afternoon. (That’s Intra-Galactic Space Shuttle.) The IGSS takes 8 earth months to arrive in Mars, but I have to get back to work, so will take the Dis-Integrate procedure, and be home in a bit under 16 minutes. (I will get about 1.6 light-years on my frequent traveler account that I have with Galactic Express.) Last time I made the trip I had a splitting headache for several hours afterward, I think from the process. A big disadvantage is that I cannot take anything with me – not even the shirt on my back. Clothes will be waiting for me on Mars, and my baggage will take 8 months to get there.

I hear that Galactic Express has one of those new improved Dis-Integrators, which uses a newly developed protocol that employs high intensity lasers to micro-dice the body into submicron-sized cubes in a computerized sequence. The cubes are ionized and stored into file packets for uploading to the Galactic Net. The file set can then be sent to any point in the galaxy. Once transmitted, the file burst of packets takes several minutes to get to its destination. In the case of Mars, it is 15 minutes and 43 seconds. If a server doesn’t go down, and no one accidentally hits the “delete” button, I’ll get there – naked as a jaybird.

I hope there are no delays. I don’t want to be late for my 175th birthday.

÷=<()>=÷