Cat

Not the best picture of me but the cat looks good and its at least funny.

Good, productive day today. We talked with one of our newest people about  getting new business for the company. I onboarded the research associate. Then we met with our dynamo and Armando reminded me and showed her how to find RFPs to bid on. 

A kind group gave USAID and contractors a workshop on handling bursts of grief. First, we all appreciate the kindness. If we aren’t careful we run into people who genuinely believe that it was a criminal organization and who genuinely believe Rubio when he said lifesaving programs were reinstated and no one died. We discussed our triggers and for a lot of us - it’s the news. I think this is because we understand the horror of what is happening, we understand that people aren’t supposed to get presidential pardons for their sons in exchange for spending $1million to attend dinner with the President. We understand people will die when NOAA can’t track tornados and planes fall out of the sky. 

It is easier to be angry. It turns out we get a hit of dopamine when we are angry. 

Some of us are triggered by money worries. 

Job hunting triggers everyone. I have been unemployed before, I’ve job hunted in recessions before,  I’ve been laid off before, job hunting is always terrible. But folks are trying to job hunting while traumatized and angry and in a recession and that is a lot. 

Some of us are triggered by everyone else in the world moving on. 

I would like to thank you right here - I feel cared for. I feel loved. I do not feel like the rest of the world has moved on and is unaffected. Thank you.

These acts and expressions of love and caring - I appreciate them even though I cry. Thank you. Thank you to the person who figured out my real name, found me on LinkedIn, and offered me her expert advice. 

It was good that I had such an excellent social day yesterday because tomorrow and Wednesday I will be surrounded by hordes and I will network them. I will bring the dynamo her business cards. She might make it easier to network, like having a wingman.  

Last night when I was reporting the news there was a story that was confusing. It was presented as a big deal but the story didn’t make sense so I didn’t include it. I think they had an AI translate it because part of the story is that Ukraine has been planning an attack for 18 months and hid drones in the ceilings of shipping crates. The original story I saw said, “cabins” and it made no sense to me. 

So. The exciting dramatic story is that there was a massive drone attack and it was such a big deal that some are calling it Russia’s Pearl Harbor. “Stunning.” “Audacious.” 117 drones. Five airfields.  “Ukraine managed to smuggle 117 aerial drones on the backs of trucks that deposited them at the perimeter of four Russian air bases - one of them deep inside Siberia some 2,500 miles from Ukraine's borders,” Well wow. 


“Zelenskyy said 40 Russian aircraft - 34% of Russia's strategic cruise missile carriers - were hit.
Ukraine's security service, the SBU, put the estimated cost to the Kremlin at $7 billion.” BILLION!! These are supposed to be their most sophisticated planes. 

The drones were hidden in roof panels of the containers. The drivers had no idea what they were carrying. The roofs could be opened to free the drones by remote control. 

The Telegraph reporting is less dramatic than calling it Pearl Harbor. “This was no Pearl Harbour. The Japanese attack killed 2,403 Americans and destroyed or damaged 347 US aircraft and 15 warships. A better comparison might be the 1942 SAS raid on the Sidi Haneish airfield in Egypt, when British commandos destroyed or damaged 40 Luftwaffe aircraft using machine-gun-mounted jeeps.

It was not a turning point in the Desert War - but it boosted morale, disrupted Axis logis-tics, and helped forge the legend of the SAS.

Operation Spider's Web might have a similar impact.“