A nice cup of coffee – a rich blend, made from sustainable stocks in Ethiopia. A welcome indulgence! But, what the heck, I deserve it. What with the carbon credits I got from working from home yesterday, and from missing out on a rerun of last night’s ‘interactive EastEnders’ I deserve it. Even though I did miss out shaping the next storyline for Dez and his transgender cousin, Pauline.
Anyhow, the beep on my Gucci pendant is buzzing, it is time to head out of the door. I am reminded to set my ‘buy-in’, ‘buy-back’ prices for the grid. Not a challenge given that I don’t have time to cook tonight. I think I can pretty much rely on ‘base-load’, except for my nightly shower with mood lighting at 7 pm. So, a pretty easy energy setting all around, and a big change from last week when I was penalised for my energy guzzling, impromptu cocktail party, but then no one is perfect.
Especially not me, because I am already 10 minutes late. The Tesla is fully charged. So, I whizz out of the driveway, and get half way down the road when George calls. I switch to auto-drive, because George can really talk.
Since his retirement, the neighbourhood energy strategy is his baby. He is always looking for ways to get extra carbon credits, which I suspect he hordes to pay for flights to the Maldives. A place way out of my budget since they shrunk in size and only a few hotels operate there.
George is droning on about the his collective bargaining strategy. He has the idea of timing our output from the neighbourhood’s waste incinerator and panels to allow us all to watch Eurovision without paying full consumption prices. Apparently, GreenSpark was interested but not Energreen. Probably because GreenSpark is the utility with lots of gas and storage, but now I am just digressing.
And I’m regretting getting into this neighbourhood energy co-operative. Is it not enough that I have solar panels, wind turbines and all manner of eco gadgets and green heaters? Plus, why is Eurovision still going and when was Morocco in Europe?
George does reminds me that since a major source of our power is from Moroccan solar projects, I really can’t complain. They can sing to their hearts content as long as they don’t use LED lighting.
Val also reminds me of Eurovision when I pick her up on route. She is a welcome distraction from George, and a good find through the ‘car sharing app’. With my new Tesla and Val, I can now get a much nicer parking space – closer to the office with the brand, spanking new super chargers. Plus it is nice to have a bit of a gossip on the way to work, before the endless back-to-back meetings, a consequence of working from home yesterday.
With lunch time as my only respite from the discussions, the only distraction is the occasional beep from my pendant. Josh must be home from college, and will be wanting electricity for his computer games. A quick check of the webcam shows his room is tidy. I relent, just this once and he can play Grand Theft Pile Up.
I do need to be a bit harsher, I keep telling myself. Then another meeting interrupts my thoughts, and a further nine meetings. As part of a company strategy to minimise our carbon emissions for the year, by commuting less and meeting more. Exhausting work! But, the only way we can hit our carbon target.
So, it is no surprise that at 8 pm I am nearly crawling to the Tesla. Barely finding the energy to collect my ‘rent a ride’ passengers. They are nice enough, but not as entertaining as Val, who only works 9 to 5.
Thirty minutes later and home. Mrs Jones is already at my door, with vegan lasagne. Quite possibly the best I have eaten! A really good find on the ‘neighbourly eats’ app and a true ‘win-win’. Mrs Jones gets an outlet for her home cooking and meets the neighbours, and I get a lactose-free meal at a fraction of the price of Sainsco.
She also gives me a healthy heart brownie. A nice treat before my shower and then sleep. But not before I check up on the neighbours, and number 57. A rogue household that has been using more than their fair share of power. I suspect they have an illicit sun bed. I guess I could report them, but the soothing music of my sleep app kicks in before I have time to alert. And anyhow, the system will pick up on it soon enough, it always does.
innovkate 