(Management regrets that outdoor single viewing of cherry blossoms with three and six foot social distancing, double-masked is prohibited this Spring for your enjoyment).

The week certainly has been interesting. That is the only way we have survived this curious year down at the farm. “Stay Interested!” There is local politics, which I will not trouble you with. There was the strange election cycle, which somehow was wrapped around a remarkably timed epidemic, which suspended all sorts of things. As a people, we seem to have got through it. We wear masks in those places we have been directed to do so. We mourn those who have passed due to its ravages in the elderly community, of which many of us are members.

This morning was the weekly I was supposed to give a quick recap on the business climate that affects those who do business with the Government. As a matter of professional standards, the idea that politics would come into purely commercial activity fills me with unease. Politics, at least in our line of work, used to be rigorously separated from the usual Washington antics. This year it is unavoidable, but still has to be handled in some sort of objective fashion, which is the same as touring a mental institution and attempting to write an upbeat but objective report about it.

Think of it. We have a Chief Executive who is not completely well. It should not be a surprise, since there have been indications of physical stress since his basement campaign began last year. On Monday, a “lid” was placed on his calendar just after lunch, with no indication of what he had.

Meanwhile, the crisis at the border- wait, sorry, not supposed to use that term. The “challenge” at the border has been turned over to the Vice President, who we are told “speaks for the President” although we are uncertain if she will actually talk to him. The new Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services is the first transgender pediatrician to be confirmed by the Senate, which happened he same week the Chief Executive announced that women can do everything better than males, presumably of the same species. We agreed it is interesting.

The Footnote Shop at Socotra LLC worked all night. It is a challenging environment for them, but they are resolute, and forwarded End Notes 27-38 very early this morning. Management asked if they were keyed to specific Executive Orders, but despite extensive research, they could not identify all of them. As an interim measure, we have distilled them into a proper approach to responsible but interesting business practice.

Footnote 27: “We support whatever it is the White House announced this morning. We have no opinions on gender or chromosomal identification except to support it in a non-biased and professional manner despite the possibility of encountering the systemic residue of other generations. We will not run any pictures of the new leadership at HHS.”

After a brisk discussion at the morning meeting, we agreed that all sorts of improbable things are now standard procedure, and we could collapse all the footnotes into #27, and resolutely move forward from there.

Copyright 2021 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com