Nadzieja( Polish for Hope)

Chapter 24: Back To Britain

With, the success of the Moon Landing, Charles continued to work for NASA, to improve the rockets and space suits, after it is very cold and radioactive in space and also there is no oxygen in space, as good space suits are needed for the Apollo missions to keep astronauts safe and warm from the harsh and dangerous environment of space.

NASA on the 14th of November 1969, launched Apollo 12 which was the second Moon landing.

With this success NASA launched Apollo 13 on the 14th of April 1970, however, this mission didn't go as plan, however, it wasn't a complete failure as the astronauts managed to come back alive and bring back photos of the never-before-seen areas of the Moon.

However, NASA did decide to launch 2 Apollo Moon missions in January and July of 1971 respectively. Both of these missions proved to be successful. In February of the same year, Britain decimalized its complicated currency. On the 28th of July, 1971 Elon Musk is born.

On the 21st of February 1972, Charles got, his monthly newspaper with this month's headline being about president Nixon visiting China to make negotiations. Charles remembered president Nixon as the guy who gave him the medal after the Moon landing. After reading this Charles hoped the negotiations go well before going to help with the next Apollo project.

On the 16th of April 1972, Apollo 16 was launched and landed successfully on the Moon.

On the 24th of August 1972, the Godfather was released in cinemas. Charles would of course see the movie as it has been a long time since Charles been to the cinema, plus the Godfather was an excellent film to watch for any film fan.

In early October of 1972, Charles decided it was time for him to go back to Britain, so on the 15th of October 1972, Charles resigns from NASA, however, Charles does some last-minute help for NASA with Apollo 17 which was going to be launched in December of 1972. After his resignation, Charles got all his valuables like his medal and into his Kinko which was left at his home's closet for safekeeping. With everything gathered, he then used a teleportation spell to transport himself to London (or an area close to London where no one is looking).

When Charles got back to London, Charles changes his name from Michael Collins to Chad Baker. It took Charles about 2 weeks for him to find himself a new home during that time he lived at a hotel, he also enjoyed how much Britain has changed since the last time he visited Britain was in,1957 which was at his brother Mark's funeral, surprisingly the Moad mansion was still around as it was now lived by the fifth generation of the Moad family. Charles also likes how Britain became more advanced as it now had colored television which was apparently introduced to the UK in 1969, but it was still great to see one in a hotel room. Another thing that greatly changed in Britain was the currency which has been simplified so now £1 equals 100p not 240p as it used to before February of 1971 however £1 banknote were still being produced. Charles was happy once again back to his home and now after dealing with sexism, racism, World War 1 and the Moon Landing. Wanted a temporary simple life for a few years so he decided that he was going to be a shopkeeper.

Luckily the new home that Charles got himself, had a shop underneath it so and the top is where he would live. The new home had all the necessary things any home would need a closet (where he would store his Kinko at), a bathroom, a kitchen, a bed and a colored TV. House was also few miles away from London so it wouldn't take a long time to get there.

The shop which Charles worked at sold thing such food, drinks including alcohol, tobacco, magazines, pet food and bathroom products like soap and shampoo. The shop was open from 10am to 9pm except on Saturdays where it closed at 8pm and Sundays when it was completely closed down. The shop would also be closed on special occasions like Christmas and New Year's Eve.

During his free time Charles would practise his skills like the languages he speaks and magic (though he practised his magic when no one was looking), he would do exercise to keep fit. He would practise of course gardening but the house had no garden but it did have balcony so for which he could plants in flower pots. He also watched TV in particular the news and popular shows like Doctor Who.

On the 7th of December 1972, Apollo 17 was launched, this would be the last Apollo Moon mission by NASA, as the US had no plans to go to the Moon. from Christmas Eve of 1972, Charles would visit his parents in Berknich as an annual Christmas tradition since Christmas Eve to Boxing Day were his days off, from work. As always Berknich like most major wizard cities was 30 years as of now ahead in technology compared to the rest of the world.

On the 1st of January 1973, Denmark, Ireland and Britain join the European Economic Area. Increase the states of a 6-member union to a 9-member union. This news was screened on every news channel in Demark, Britain and Ireland and marked the unions first expansion. These 3 countries along with France, the Netherlands, Italy, Luxembourg, Belgium and West Germany were going to accomplish great things for Europe and the world.

3rd of April 1973, the mobile phone was released. However, it too big and chunky to fit inside a pocket and weighed almost a kilogram. But Charles was glad he know had a lot better means of communication and he knew that the technology will once again improve over the years. 8th of April 1973, Pablo Picasso died. 2nd of September 1973, JRR Tolkien had died.

In October 1973, an oil crisis hits the world as fuel prices inflate and DST is brought back to continental Europe permanently. The crisis would last until March of 1974.

On the 9th of August 1974, Richard Nixon resigns as president of the US and is replaced by the Gerald Ford as president. Ford became the 38th President of US.

13th of December 1974, Malta gained independence from the UK. That day Charles also went to the cinema to see the Godfather part 2. This also mark an occasional tradition to going to the cinema to seeing popular movies when they were out in cinemas like Jaws, Superman (1 and 2), Star Wars (original trilogy) and Indian Jones (original trilogy).

On the 4th of April, 1975 Microsoft was founded and on the 30th of April, 1975 the Vietnam war ended with the Communist wining forcing the US to give up on its quest to stop communism from spreading in Vietnam.

1st of April, 1976, Apple is founded. 29th of November 1976, Chadwick Boseman is born.

1977, VHS tapes were launched in developed countries including Japan, the UK and the US. On Christmas day 1977 Charley Chaplin died.

On the 25th of July 1978, the first test-tube baby is born. 

On the 30th of August, 1980, the recognition of solidarity happens by the Polish, this would become a slow movement of Poland becoming a democracy free from Soviet and Communist influences.

On the 1st of January 1981, Greece joins the European Economic Area. Increasing the current membership of the union from 9 to 10 members. 1981 was also the year in which the personal computer or PC for short was introduced.

In, 1983, A £1 coin was introduced in the British currency and the printing of £1 banknotes in England and Wales was discontinued except in Scotland where it still continued. However, £1 banknote would still be legal tender as it hasn't been withdrawn. In 1984, the half p coin was withdrawn from circulation as it was proven to be completely worthless and also Mark Zuckerberg and Kim Jong-un were born that year. 

However, things in Charles's life were going to take a dramatic turn as in early January 1985, an alarm was raised around the world in the news about a hole in the ozone layer which was because the Gente are burning too much fossil fuel. This prompted, Charles, to once again take action as he did before, so he decided that he should attend Oxford university to find a way to stop global warming. So in February 1985 Charles moves to Oxford, he changes his name back to his original name of Charles Moad, he also managed to get enrolled into Oxford University where he decided to study physics more specifically renewable energy and other varieties of energy and finances, (as he planned to start his own company). As his new mission was to save the planet.