I will update you on my current, and lately not unexpected, bout of silence, when my brain has stopped imploding. The short of it is that there really ARE businesses in this world whose business model is to exploit the bid protest system, saturating it with protests of no particular merit, in order to delay contracted work enough to drive their competitors out of business and essentially extort the government by being an utter pain in the ass. People are hurt. Real people who love their jobs, are good at them, and work very hard. Competent people who deserve the business. Your tax dollars are wasted instead of producing work that is in the public interest. And it’s 100% legal.

But please NEVER confuse legality with ethics.

I do not work on a government contract. But I am scrambling to find meaningful work for those that do, so that they don’t lose their jobs, their houses, and the health insurance their families rely on.

I have to do this because it is simply the right and decent thing to do.

What I really want, REALLY want right now, is a ocean with lots of white beach, a shade umbrella, an audiobook, some knitting and a cute cabana boy to bring me copious nerve-numbing quantities of rum punch until I can’t decently knit anymore. And then I want to put my toes in the sand in happy oblivion.

And shame, SHAME on you people that twist and abuse systems designed to ensure fairness until they become tools to propagate unfairness.

I don’t know how you sleep at night. I truly don’t.