The Second Hand Man
July 20th, 1969

Yuri Gagarin (The first man in space) was killed last year flying aMiG-15 jet. Apparently he was in training for another space flight at the time.

But today the radios and TV stations are repeatedly and proudlyannouncing that, ‘The Space Race is over.’ It’s July 20, 1969 and NeilArmstrong has (once again) said those famous words, ‘That’s one small step forman, one giant leap for mankind.’

How ironic that the space program will never achieve much more than adozen moonwalks (The last being in December of ’72), a half dozen spacestations, and put a couple of fancy telescopes into outer space. One would havethought that 30 years on, by ’99, we would have at least put a man on mars oreven established a permanent and significant base of some sort on the moon. In2014 they were still arguing over the budget and the futility of deep spaceexploration. And by the time my consciousness was sent back in that same year,there was still no evidence of other intelligent life in the universe. I guesswe must accept the fact that mankind is permanently stuck on this third rockfrom the sun. I may not be able to get off it, but I certainly know how totravel to a different version of it; a past version. If I must compare thesixties to the early 21st century, I would say that both have their pros andcons. If placed on a scale I would probably swing towards the 21st century andits technologically advanced state; especially the easy access to information[The information superhighway as Senator (Later to be the Vice President) AlGore coined the phrase in 1978]. But, then again, my judgment is seriouslyimpaired by the fact that I have had to live through this time period again asa minor (i.e. a child). One thing is for certain though, all the radio stationsplay great music now. In the early 21st century you’re hard-pressed to replace asingle station playing decent songs. It’s all hip hop, rap scrap and messed upcover versions of all the good old stuff. Which reminds me, even the TV showsand movies (Although the technology had improved tremendously) had becomeunimaginative and repetitive. Everything ‘new’ was suddenly a remake or a part2, 3, 4, or even 6. The only things really new and impressive were the videogames. These had managed to reach a sublime level of reality. Who knows whatthey’ll be doing with that by 2020. I hope to make it there this time round;not just because of the video games, mind you, but to see what mankind iscapable of inventing in general.

With any luck the technology of the twenties will enable me to perfectthe mind projector. And hopefully then, the next time I take the journey backthrough time, I’ll be able to control the process with far more precision –going to an exact point in time of my own choosing and not that of fickle Fate.

The years 1920 to 1929 are known as The Roaring Twenties.

Will 2020 to 2029 be The SoaringTwenties or The Boring Twenties?

Only Time will tell!!!