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\nMaybe you saw the sign over the highway in the video from El Paso. There were like a thousand mostly young men storming the border. They were coming north. The two words on the sign, en Espanol, mean something like \u201chappy journey.\u201d We don’t know who sponsored the signs, though we support the sentiment.<\/p>\n
That led to a minor \u201cpoint of order\u201d this morning out on the patio of the new unit at Big Pink. Or \u201ccuesti\u00f3n de orden,\u201d if you prefer. The wind was scouring this corner of our wing. The Lady in Red, our flat screen matron meteorologist, claims some of the gusts may hit 40 MPH this morning. Some of us prefer to measure the breeze in \u201cknots,\u201d rather than miles. It seems a little more in tune with the times we spent on the World Ocean. No one has actually thought about throwing a line off the patio toward the asphalt and counting the little knots tied with precision as it plays out.<\/p>\n
We agreed that the change is happening with dizzying speed. There is something in the air about it. For example, one of the contributing factors in the Chairman\u2019s decision to purchase the new Headquarters property was the prospect floated a month or two ago about gas stoves. The new old unit is equipped with gas, old style, and has been since the structure was new in 1964. The issue came up with the Administration issued an edict about new standards for kitchen appliances intended to keep global temperatures under control.<\/p>\n
How exactly minor inconvenience for Americans engaged in culinary activities will save the planet is not exactly clear, since China and India, for example, can cook their eggs however they wish in the morning. Nor are the people who announced the change specifically identified, much less elected. So, before additional new stricter standards are issued we decided to buy the \u201cold\u201d technology and have the capability to create grilled-cheese sandwiches when it comes time for lunch.<\/p>\n
The decision looked pretty good, or at least it did as the dawn flooded Arlington. Our breakfast looked similar to the one Management put out yesterday. The fruit looked good though the pastries were a little stiffer than they were the first time we saw them. Until we had completed the first cup of coffee, anyway. The flatscreen went on and we discovered a panel of Experts has decided to impose more new standards on \u201cwashing machines.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was uncertainty about what the new imposition means. Melissa assumed that since it was \u201cunspecified\u201d as to what washing was to be done, the edict must include machines designed to sanitize both dishes and clothing. The engineers in the crowd were of the opinion that it was mostly about what they term \u201csoft stuff.\u201d Or, what we wear to protect our collective epidermal layers. Dishes, we agreed, have significant differences in comfort.<\/p>\n
There was a larger series of questions, though. \u201cWho are those Experts?\u201d asked Splash in a plaintive tone. \u201cAnd who exactly invited them into the basement to check on how much water and soap are used to clean our clothes?\u201d<\/p>\n
That question hung in the air without discussion, since it was directly applicable to everything else. We hung up the laundry and stacked plates and talked about the big conference in San Diego, since it was related to Navy stuff and the coming conflict with the Chinese. Two Prime Ministers and a President traveled to that lovely city to talk about construction of nuclear-powered submarines and necessary exchange of technologies to enable the process.<\/p>\n
That apparently is alarming to the French, who thought they had a deal with the Australians, and the Americans, who preferred the deal go somewhere else supporting a robust industrial capability. And Great Britain, of course, although their Empire is mostly gone. We are naturally supportive of something good for America. We also are in favor of a muscular approach to the security of our friends south of the equator.<\/p>\n
The uncertainty thing was about \u201cto whom\u201d it is we would send our declaration of support. Melissa was of the opinion that stringing our used clothing on ropes from the submarines might suffice and permit scrapping all of our washing machines. That would enable the government to ditch all those appliances in our homes. But the original questions remained. Soft or hard? Clothes would probably survive, but dishes would probably be clean but broken, bouncing along the HY-80 steel used to construct the hulls of the subs.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo whom exactly do we complain? The Consumer Protection Agency? Department of Defense? Do we actually need a new Department to constantly monitor all labor-saving machines and make recommendations that could save the planet in only fifty or sixty years?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would be useful. As it is, the current Experts get to make all sorts of decisions without comment. Then they issue a press release and are busy at something else by the time we have actually finished breakfast and decided what to wear for the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is anything we haven\u2019t worn before. What are the Chinese wearing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow you are talking about fashion, which is an entirely subjective notion and determined partly by the breadth of the Oceans. It might require a Cabinet-level meeting.”<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBuilding washing machines is something they mostly do overseas. We used to do it here, but it was more expensive using American workers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo now we have to pump more oil to construct and move big ships completely dedicated to moving Whirlpool washing machines.\u201d<\/p>\n
Melissa scowled. Splash frowned. Both seemed to be uncertain about how we arrived in a future in which dishes are banging on the outside of the ships.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr submarines,\u201d said Loma.<\/p>\n
There were some nods around the circle of the Writer\u2019s Section. The problem was whether the motion of the head was in the vertical or horizontal axis. We were confident the Experts would be able to figure it out if we only knew who they were.<\/p>\n
We are getting concerned about lunch. Would the cheese on the sandwiches burn or just melt? Buen almuerzo, you know?<\/p>\n
Copyright 2023 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocotra.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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