My associate has had a variety of names in his official life. Let’s pick one for him now. “Associate” seems so cold and detached, though that is part of the business personal involvement can lead to attachments, which in turn can lead to bad decision-making.   Let’s call him “Tom,” since that links nicely to […]

SNAFU Comment le Pédé Va T’il?, Part Three At the end of 1952 in Washington, there was hope and despair and confusion. Fleet sailors knew the feeling, and they had a word for it: SNAFU. “Situation normal all f***ked up.” The new role of Washington fit the Republic like a ready-made suit in the wrong […]

Philipe Thyraud de Vosjoli, Chief of the SDECE   1952 in Washington.   The War years had transformed Washington from a sleepy southern town to the bustling center of a new world. While assigned to the Naval District Intelligence office at the Observatory, I had a room in the Kalorama neighborhood north of Dupont Circle, […]

Very truly yours, A.A. Christides U.S. Treasury Representative, Paris, France December 31, 1952   Good morning. The time-ball is still up, and I have time to start a story, though not complete it in this sitting. I got another long note from my associate who is retired now, and deep in the country. He is […]

I had a hole in the day’s schedule. It was quite remarkable. I got back from the weekly meeting and checked the schedule I saw that there was nothing between me and the latest storm’s arrival in the afternoon. Things have been so crazy for so long that I was momentarily stunned.   I realized […]

  I have a chance to purchase the death certificate- the one with the date left blank for the owner’s convenience. I had not been to the “motors” section of eBay since that wonderful tipsy evening when I purchased a 1973 SLK-350 using a new program called “Sniper,” which tracked the bidding on the vehicle […]

Anastasia is the Queen of the dogs, and naturally, her subjects include all the dog people of Big Pink. She is a stately lady with silver hair and an erect regal carriage. I include myself as one of her subjects, since the former marital dog comes to visit when the ex needs the time off, […]

VADM David C. Richardson and the Operator’s perspective on the creation of the Ocean Surveillance Information System   VADM David C. Richardson, 1966   Gentle Readers, OK, I am lazy this morning. I have things to do. I got up late, and instead of being juiced with the thrill of the weekend, I got lost […]

Rapture, Part Dieux The Bob Peck Saucer, 1966-2008   The winds of change are here, and they may or may not be associated with another one of those fierce storm fronts.   This gale hit me hard. It shouldn’t have. The new subsidized housing block has hit the second story in frame construction across the […]

Virginia Hardware, before it became an authentic Irish Pub     I was sitting on the sidewalk with the Judge. He is in town to move some more stuff, since it looks like his house will actually close, and he will be free of Northern Virginia once and for all. It makes me sad, since […]