I like Billy Joel’s music. I especially like his music from the 80’s. We used to adapt it to our various situations in the ready room, as a kind of JO amusement. For example those of us who worked in the world famous Screwtops maintenance department ( This was my first tour there, not my second which can only be described as a journey through hell……….) we used to laugh about getting summoned by the MO:
When Gordy’s on the phone…………
That’s when you know you are all alone…………
Now here you are, you know you are the star……..
And Gordy knows you cannot handle pressure!
( sung to the tune of Billy Joel’s Pressure)
The brief with the big bosses went well. I do find, their inane habit of drilling down on absurd minutiae quite disgusting. As is typical of the Navy’s flag officers these days, they cannot see the forest for the trees. Namely that while we are working hard to save pennies and nickels, the DOD as a whole is still pouring money down sinkholes like Missile defense, Naval Infantry, and JSF along other great ideas that suck in their execution . In particular, I find it appalling to see the number of folks who are still committed to manpower cuts in the middle of a war. That is simply appalling. The big dogs who are demanding this would be well advised to read less business books and more history books. If they would they would find that the British Navy went down the “better technology” road in the late 30’s, only to find itself losing the Empire for lack of enough asset’s in 1942……….
The current powers that be would be well advised to heed Flashman’s advice:
Policies, they say, and the subtly laid schemes of statesmen, are what influence the destinies of nations; the opinions of intellectuals, the writings of philosophers, settle the fate of mankind.
Well, they may do their share, but in my experience the course of history is often settled by someone’s having a belly-ache, or not sleeping well, or a sailor getting drunk, or some aristocratic harlot wagging her backside.
In other words, there is still a lot to chance in this world and where it goes. We would sometimes be well advised to remember that and go with the flow. Thank God the big dogs leave town on Wednesday and then we can get back to a controlled level of pain. Till then, I get to watch others do the butt sharking and thank the Lord above, its no longer me…… Ah the freedom of retirement. If I get a pink slip tomorrow, its all Kilroy’s fault………
Skippy-san