This is going to be a short edition of The Daily that started out about one thing and wound up being about something else altogether. We were going to comment on an article by a fellow named Joshua Emery that appeared in the Naval Institute’s Proceedings magazine. It was about career development for technical specialists in the Navy.

We follow events unfolding in what had been our professional lives with interest. We also recognize those developments may be of limited interest to those with broader concerns, since there were other issues playing out as well though the afternoon. It is like what Ernie Hemingway used to say about ruination of his personal finances. “It happened slowly and then all at once.”

All of the items yesterday contained a flurry of semi-sensational interest. They include, in no particular order of immediacy:

Interest rates just went up, while inflation went down. The Fed Chairman is adamant about something, though we are not clear on what it is.

The Hunter Laptop stuff. Wouldn’t it have been easier to have dealt with this a while ago?

Accidental deaths in the water at Martha’s Vineyard. Perfectly normal.

Sluggish progression of a ground offensive in Ukraine? Didn’t we use to call it a ‘Spring Offensive?’

Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon (UAPs). Are there aliens among us? Has our Government not told us the whole story? Could the fate of our species and our world be at stake before lunch?

We considered taking a mild palliative to calm down a little and encourage rational thought, but are concerned about fentanyl contamination and decided to worry about that for a while along with Chinese-Russian military operations in what used to be the Far East. It doesn’t seem that far this morning.

We could go on, since there is even more stuff piled up and glittery by the door to the Patio. The pile is tall enough to be a bit of a distraction on the way out for a third cup of Chock Full O’ Nuts. Actually, more than a bit. The sparkling reflection of the risen sun on the surface caused us to forget why we had gone out there to begin with.

We will leave it the way the Judge did yesterday. Her words seemed to make a lot of sense. “Come back in September and try to make some sense. In the meantime, stay sober. Look for a job.”

We took a poll of the eligible voters on the Patio once we all got out there. A commanding majority is in favor of something. We are not quite sure what that is though. We will come back in September and see if anything is still shining bright in the sunlight. It is a slow process, but sometimes it seems to actually lurch.

Copyright 2023 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com