![\"Old](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Old-Jim-258x281.jpg\")
\n(Old Jim from file footage. Photo Socotra)<\/p>\n
\n(Old Jim from file footage. Photo Socotra)<\/p>\n
My day was disrupted badly. It was strange enough a it was. It was a holiday, of sorts, with the Government taking the day off to honor the memory of Presidents Past, lovely brilliant sunshine, though cold.<\/p>\n
I was at the office dealing with some cyber issues. With the rising tide of digital attacks, the companies have gotten skittish, and yet we rely on communications and information sharing, since even within one company, no one actually works in the same physical location. Some are working from home, or from Florida (I do envy them the warmth) or just spread across the National Capital Region.<\/p>\n
I eschewed my tie, in commemoration of the holiday that wasn\u2019t for most of the private sector, but I was out of sorts. The Korean deli on the first floor of the building was open but did not put out the salad buffet, and I had to settle for a tuna sandwich. Walking over to Willow after work, the doors were locked.<\/p>\n
I peered through the glass panel and saw the place was dim and silent. That was weird, I thought, and was turning to walk back to the garage when someone called my name. I turned to see Chanteuse Mary, Old Jim\u2019s lovely bride, walking briskly up the sidewalk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWillow is closed,\u201d I said. \u201cI feel disoriented.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d she said. \u201cI just finished my work-out and I am looking forward to a glass of wine. Why don\u2019t you just come up the block and have a drink at our place.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hesitated, and then surrendered to her offer. \u201cThat would be nice Mary. I would like to see Jim again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven\u2019t been out much,\u201d she said, shaking her stylishly bobbed hair. \u201cI am so done with this winter thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMe too,\u201d I said. \u201cI give this thing two weeks and I am finished, whether the climate cooperates or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their place is literally right up the block from Willow, near where the County sealed off the street with a concrete barrier to \u201ccalm\u201d the traffic. Things are now so calm that the pedestrians just walk out into the street without glancing up from their mobile devices. It borders on the unconscious, and why we are conditioning people to be unsafe is beyond me. After all, we have a lot of drivers around here from Maryland, and it is widely known that they are a challenged class of motorists.<\/p>\n
That says nothing of the residents of the District, to whom traffic laws are anathema, or the most frightening purveyors of motorized mayhem, foreign diplomats. If you see a car with dip tags, pull over and let ’em do whatever it is they are doing. They have immunity.<\/p>\n
We stayed on the sidewalk, and Mary fobbed us in through the lobby of a nice building. They are on the first floor, and just up the corridor from the mail lobby. No concierge, I noted, which makes Big Pink a quaint connection to a more gentile Arlington past.<\/p>\n
She keyed the door and I was attacked by an enormous black dog who bared his teeth and barked hysterically at my presence. Old Jim blocked the way and barked right back. \u201cStop it it, Camus, you idiot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary ushered the dog back into the sun porch and it willingly climbed into a wire cage big enough to hold a small human. Once the door was latched, he felt comfortable enough to resume barking at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is a big baby,\u201d said Mary. \u201cHe is afraid of you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sure enough, the dog slowly calmed down, and as Mary mixed me a vodka and tonic, I sat down at the table with Jim. He looks much healthier than he did the last time I saw him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you lost weight?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout thirty pounds,\u201d He growled. I realized I really had missed his irascible presence at the end of the Amen Corner. Quite a turnover in personnel there at Willow. Life goes on, I guess.<\/p>\n
Mary brought me the vodka and a now subdued Camus was released from doggy jail. He cautiously sniffed my hand, and I wondered if I would get the same treatment I got from that Rhodesian Ridgeback that took a chunk out of my palm. I gave up on the Doctor Doolittle thing when I realized the dog has hanging from my hand, suspended in the air.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe really is afraid of his own shadow,\u201d said Mary. Sure enough, Camus had his head on my lap in short order, thoroughly enjoying an ear rub.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat breed is he?\u201d I asked. I felt his massive wedge-shaped skull, muscular body, sleek black coat with white barrel and enormous paws.<\/p>\n
\u201cMutt,\u201d said Jim. \u201cWe think Great Dane, Lab and American bull dog. We had his DNA tested to see, and the lab sent back a report that the majority was miniature poodle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe field still needs some rigor,\u201d I said, stroking Camu\u2019s flank. \u201cThis dog is no miniature.\u201d Camus tired of my ministrations and padded off to stand by the door.<\/p>\n
Mary sighed and stood up. \u201cI think he needs a quick walk around the block. Back in a few.\u201d She left to put on her down coat against the cold and I took a sip of vodka and got caught up with Jim.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what\u2019s new?\u201d I asked. \u201cBesides slimming down?\u201d
\n\u201cWell, I retired. Those idiots at the Office of Personnel Management wanted to tell me how to teach my writing seminars, and I told them to go screw themselves. Bastards kept my course outlines, but I have them copyrighted and if they use them I can get them on infringement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI always considered taking on the Federal Government as a slow-boat to nowhere,\u201d I said, then asked: \u201cSo you are really retired? There is a lot of that going around these days.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean the effects of Sequestration? It ain\u2019t going to happen all at once. I think it is no big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think these clowns could screw up a wet dream,\u201d I said. \u201cThere will be consequences. Look at them- they are all on holiday for another week. By the time they get back, there will be no time to stop the train wreck and there are no serious proposals on the table from anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cit\u2019s the season for scare talk about the effects of budget cuts,\u201d said Jim, taking a sip of Diet Coke.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy old boss Jim Clapper is the Director of National Intelligence. He says the impact on America\u2019s spy agencies is ominous.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe so, but we have spent a lot of money on your line of work over the past decade. It is still going to be OK. They may allow it to happen for a while, just to demonstrate resolve. But they are not going to furlough the whole Federal work-force.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShoot, I talked to my son and he said at his Agency they still didn\u2019t know what the plan was, and this is supposed to happen on the first of March.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will all be OK,\u201d pronounced Jim. \u201cBut it may be colorful in the short run. Maybe you should consider retiring.\u201d I pondered that for a moment.<\/p>\n
Mary and Camus returned and she opened a fine bottle or red that came with a story about the winery and the owner. She offered me a sip and I took one. It was delicious.\u00a0 In fact, it was even better than Willow, because the price was right.<\/p>\n
We may all have to be minding our P\u2019s and Q\u2019s a little better in the weeks to come. Hell, we could all be retired, you know?<\/p>\n
Copyright 2013 Vic Socotra
\nwww.vicsocota.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Old Jim from file footage. Photo Socotra) My day was disrupted badly. It was strange enough a it was. It was a holiday, of sorts, with the Government taking the day off to honor the memory of Presidents Past, lovely brilliant sunshine, though cold. I was at the office dealing with some cyber issues. With […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-socotra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4763"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4766,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4763\/revisions\/4766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}