I know it’s hard to see, but I used to work for the man. The man down the road. Yes. In my misspent youth, I had a regular job, working for a man who paid me real money. And I worked with other people. I know that’s hard to think about, but it is true. Now I am a clean freak, so I value a clean work environment. That means that I always cleaned up after the slobs who worked before me. I could feel the dirt on the counters when they left. Maybe it was just in my mind, but I could feel it, so I cleaned it. Except in a handful of cases, where certain coworkers who cleaned very well were involved. In one such case, I came into work when one of said coworkers was in the middle of cleaning the place up and preparing to leave. Now to set the stage, she was my kind of pretty. Not pretty like me, you understand, for I am a truly special kind of pretty. But the kind of pretty I find attractive. So here she is, cleaning the place up so that I, her not-so-humble coworker can walk into a clean work environment. So I thank her for that. And just to clarify, I did keep myself from saying “You clean up nice.” While grammatically correct, phrasing it like that may have left the wrong impression. Or even worse, the right one. Workplace flirting must always be done safely, doncha know. Especially when the man says it should not be done at all.
My mom’s cancer treatment continues, and she has found a new lovely side effect. One of the drugs she started has caused a rash to develop on her arms and legs. It isn’t painful, but it does itch, and that can be most annoying. Now compared to what traditional chemo did the last time she had it, the side effects of these new targeted drugs are minor. And the Mayo Clinic is making certain mom has the best care available, including two multi-day stays in the hospital while ramping up new drugs to make certain her body tolerates them. These are very new treatments, and Mayo is one of the eight hospital/clinics that is testing them, and I thank God daily for the fact that Mayo Clinic is here. And that we are here because of that. Though the itchy rash is still a bit annoying… If something could be done about that, my mom would be most thankful… 😉
Seriously guys, we have an issue here. Certain politicians are calling certain things major infrastructure since they want to spend money on them. But let’s be real here. Roads and bridges? That’s some pretty critical infrastructure. Water treatment and major waste removal? That’s critical infrastructure to maintain our civilization right there. Power grid and gas and oil pipelines? Pretty major infrastructure there as well. Telecommunications? Broadband Internet? Social networks? I’d even go out on a limb and call those major infrastructure. But infant care? Look, I know that can sometimes seem like a major waste removal project, but that’s what the sewers are for. And the clean water treatments. And don’t get me started on court packing being an infrastructure project. Let’s just be serious here, people. I know that can seem hard to do at times, but we really just not to be serious here, or people will never believe a word you say… Oh… wait… Yeah, I think we are already past that point…
The Confederation of Dixie did not form a permanent army to protect them during their formation. Each State supplied a force to act as part of a combined army that would represent each State for Confederation-wide deployment. It was just such a Confederation force that supported Australia when it came time to stand against Chinese expansion, and that helped deal with the final Rogue AI nest in Singapore. This practice has remained true for centuries. There is still no permanent Confederation army, but a rotating sequence of State units continue to work under the Confederation flag throughout their lands on Earth and their various colonies in the stars. This results in each Confederation force being uniquely different from all others, and foes rarely know what exactly to expect when facing one. This can be a weakness and a strength, and sometimes both at the same time.
The Confederation of Dixie’s choice of Governor Freemon to act as President started a tradition that became stronger than mere law. He chose his hometown of Lexington to act as his capital, and the next President moved the capital to his hometown. Every President since has picked a new capital, and it has almost always their own hometown. The two rules are that it cannot be a State capital, and it cannot have been a Confederation capital in the past. The Confederation has no intention of allowing a massive bureaucratic state to grow up around a permanent capital and poison it to all rationality and reason as happened to Washington D.C. in the past. There are obvious drawbacks to the practice, but the Confederation of Dixie has managed to prosper and grow despite them. And it has kept the small government it wants.
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