(A Littoral Combat Ship- this one the USS Independence fitting out. Navy Photo.)   It is easy to get my buddy Boats going. He is a crusty old Master Chief Boatswain’s Mate from the Hooligan Navy- the proud and ironic title used by member of the United States Coast Guard.   He told me one […]

(The Mittster takes our home state. Screen capture CNN.) My fellow citizens, it is leap day in this Leap Year, only the 15th of these bonus days I have seen in my life. That is unlike all the other days, of which I have 60 or more in my personal log-book. There are many more […]

 (The Harper Line of the old Detroit Street Rail System.) I got up early today, thinking the primary election in Virginia was today. I want desperately to vote against somebody, and they let independents throw themselves at the fray here, so what the hell. Of course, they did not let Governor Perry or Speaker Gingrich […]

  (National Security Certified cruiser in the rolling hills of Virginia. Photo Socotra.)   So, I wandered out of the front door of Refuge Farm yesterday morning. The light was coming up over the pastures, and the weather had changed. Someone had knocked the sky clear of clouds and the last brilliant stars were fading […]

(Law enforcement says an un-armed 54-year-old woman drove off with a police officer’s arm trapped in the window. Hey, wait, this is a Jeep with side curtains. How does that work? Photo Courtesy of StarExponent.com)   I wonder if I can really walk down here, if I needed to?   The words flying around the […]

  We were at Willow. The folks up and down the bar from the Amen Corner were a shifting lot, but the core group was there. Left Coast Guy was talking to Old Jim. The Lovely Bea was snapping pictures, and Jon-no-H was standing in fashionable dishabille, his bow tie elegant but jacket draped across […]

    My God, what a day. I had a pre-noon meeting out in Fairfax, and the drive was a pleasure. Daffodils were poking up along I-66 and if the trees have not assumed a certain sheen of light green, the time cannot be far off.   The temperature rose slowly through the day and […]

It is good to be back from the road, or maybe better said, I am just getting over the feeling that I should have just kept going. Re-integrating into life in Arlington took a day or so- and I was plodding through some desk-work when I got an e-note from Short Hair Mike, who reminded […]

  Secretary of Energy Dr. Steven Chu. Official US government photo. I want to thank those who actually noticed that The Daily Socotra took a brief hiatus.   It was actually nothing of the sort, and our team swept out of the home offices in Arlington to go undercover to evaluate public policy and support […]

  It was getting to that point in the evening that I wanted to think about navigating back to Big Pink from Willow. Mac was nursing his second beer, happy to be out and about and encircled by admirers. Liz-with-an-S kept filling up my glass.   “Who is in charge of ONI now?” asked the […]