Ben-Prime

[Mr brolin]

But Ben......



Seriously...congrats, best of luck.

[Ben-Prime]

But Ben......



Seriously...congrats, best of luck.

Amusingly, this was my 2nd choice, and one of the two friends I have in Milton Keynes, whom I have known for 30+ years each, still is huffy about it. I'm like "Bex, I'm *here*, and I've explained my reasons 'til I'm blue in the face."

[RTH10260]

London? In search of dangerous appointments?

of course to remain a secret

► Show Spoiler

[Ben-Prime]

London? In search of dangerous appointments?

of course to remain a secret

► Show Spoiler

Fortunately, this is a private forum. But very seriously, because of the Jack Ryan series which now has people giggling publicly about 'State Department' being a 'CIA' euphemism (for the record, I am not now nor have ever been an employee of that other agency), we are told very strongly in training to discourage the ever-loving-fsck out of someone who tries to joke about that trope on more public social media because depending on who is perusing posts and what the security settings are on the account, it could, you know, make us a target.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

"My name is Prime. Ben-Prime."

[pipistrelle]

London? In search of dangerous appointments?

of course to remain a secret

► Show Spoiler

Fortunately, this is a private forum. But very seriously, because of the Jack Ryan series which now has people giggling publicly about 'State Department' being a 'CIA' euphemism (for the record, I am not now nor have ever been an employee of that other agency), we are told very strongly in training to discourage the ever-loving-fsck out of someone who tries to joke about that trope on more public social media because depending on who is perusing posts and what the security settings are on the account, it could, you know, make us a target.

This isn't that private a forum, though. It'll show up on search engines and such. It just doesn't have a billion members.

[Ben-Prime]

While I am still in London until mid-to-late May of this year, I am pleased to report that this week, I took today and tomorrow off to do some housework -- the deep clean was necessary and I have a hired hand coming tomorrow to help out with the big stuff -- and so if I take a nap later and caffeinate myself *just enough*, I should be at tonight's gathering (well, it'll technically start after midnight, and so tomorrow, for me, but you know what I mean).

I look forward to seeing you all again. It's been about 2 to 2 1/2 years since I crashed the last virtual gathering, I think.

[Foggy]

Yeah, I hope to see you there.

[Suranis]

Good luck in your assignment to Skarlos. I hear the Daleks can be quite... honest. And Direct in their communication.

[raison de arizona]

Hope you are doing ok!

[RTH10260]

London's US embassy locked down after armed police shout 'stay away from windows'
The US embassy in Vauxhall, London, was locked down by armed police with sniffer dogs also seen in the area, while occupants were ordered to stay away from the windows

ByBenjamin LynchNews Reporter
10:56, 22 Feb 2023UPDATED11:48, 22 Feb 2023

The US embassy was placed on lockdown during a security incident after a false alarm, following reports of a suspicious package.

People inside were told to stay away from the windows and sniffer dogs have been seen outside the building.

The embassy, based in the Nine Elms area of London, has since said it is back to operating normally and thanked police for their response.

They said on Twitter: "The US Embassy is back to normal business operations. Local authorities investigated and cleared a suspicious package outside the Embassy.

"Thanks to @metpoliceuk for your swift action, and thanks to all visitors for your cooperation and patience at this time."



https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/b ... d-29281240

[Slim Cognito]

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

BEN!!!!!

[Phoenix520]

[Ben-Prime]

So, for the next 7 weeks or so -- until the 2nd Monday in July -- I'll be Eastern U.S. timezone, back in SoFla at my condo (until about the 20th or 21st of June) or in D.C. (from late June until a play on July 10th) for meetings and trainings.

On July 10th, I leave for my next assignment.

What I'm saying is that if I can find my webcam in my luggage, I'm more likely to be seen on Tuesday evening gatherings in the foreseeable future. It took 40 hours or so on the ground here for me to unpack enough to set up my PC most of the way and negotiate a one-year deal for cable internet in my condo cheap enough that I don't mind paying for it while I'm gone (and my brother will appreciate it when he comes to do work on the place while I'm away).

I may be out of pocket for a few days at a time as I handle move-related business (a quick flight on 'my time and my dime' back to D.C. ahead of schedule to get my visa stamped in my dip passport for my next assignment; a quick teardown of things to rearrange furniture so that this 'condo hotel' where I spend only 4-6 weeks every 1-3 years gets closer to how I want it to be; etc.) but I'll be around.

I will miss London, of course, but I've already walked the mile and a half to my favorite diner (it was my home away from home for 20 years living in SoFla, and the last place I ate before heading to D.C. for training in 2018, and I promised the co-owner it'd always be my first breakfast stop when I came home), then (after a rental car arrangement), drove across town to my favorite sandwich shop (which is so important in my family history for years before I met her that it was the last place my ex and I ate as man & wife, by her choice on the night before I took her to the airport when she left me), and today I will be attending the graduation party for one of my favorite high schoolers -- she postponed it for a week when she found out I'd be coming home this past Thursday just so I could be there.

So, all is well. The State of the Ben is Strong, and all that.

[Slim Cognito]

Welcome back!

[bill_g]

Glad to have you back on this side of the pond!

[neonzx]

Hey, welcome back to Florida. And you are here in time to see your paychecks stop. Welcome Home!

[Ben-Prime]

Hey, welcome back to Florida. And you are here in time to see your paychecks stop. Welcome Home!

Yeah, fortunately, I have enough socked away to ride out a month or two, plus credit cards, plus federal law now stipulates that I get paid all backpay in event of a shutdown.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Bien Venidos!!!!! Be careful not to get in the way of "stray bullets" shot by a Florida man!

[Foggy]

Off Topic

Sigh. I'm gonna have to start doing Tuesday night Meetups again, aren't I?

Okay, but only if TRL promises to try to be there, it's embarrassing when only 6 guys - the same 6 guys, but they're all smart as hell, funny, and interesting people - show up week after week.

I got burned out on them, TBH. I don't like the way I look on camera (but my swim club opens today, so I might be able to get a little tan).

Lemme ponder.

[AndyinPA]

Welcome back!

[Frater I*I]

Off Topic

Sigh. I'm gonna have to start doing Tuesday night Meetups again, aren't I?

Okay, but only if TRL promises to try to be there, it's embarrassing when only 6 guys - the same 6 guys, but they're all smart as hell, funny, and interesting people - show up week after week.

I got burned out on them, TBH. I don't like the way I look on camera (but my swim club opens today, so I might be able to get a little tan).

Lemme ponder.

And I tried so hard to keep you entertained....

[Ben-Prime]

Well, my home leave this time around is officially over. This morning, I began a travel day, getting up at 4:30am, to be out the door and in an Uber by 6:15 and at the airport by 7 for a 9am flight to D.C.; I arrived at 11:30ish, was at my hotel in the boonies of Alexandria by 1, and then ran back in towards the Pentagon area to shop for a replacement keyboard for my small form factor PC (the one I'd been using was finally past the point where I could no longer clean the crud out of it so I threw it out as I did my last pass of cleaning and packing last night) and some replacement luggage (my main rolling suitcase's extending handle broke at Dulles, and pulling it out or pushing it back in is an Olympic event for which time is a concern; and my packing needs required replacing my tiny cheap carry on shoulder bag with a 20" carry-on approved secondary rolling piece, and now I have more than enough cargo room, and the shoulder bag becomes my weekender/bug out bag). I dropped about 200 bucks on the keyboard and luggage -- the new keyboard was on the overstock rack at Best Buy, it's a small but serviceable mechanical USB keyboard from the same company that made my old one and so my computer not only recognized it right away but acknowledged it already had the latest bells-and-whistles utility software for it already installed and life was wonderful.

By the time I got back to the hotel from all the shopping and a late lunch, it was 5ish. I spent a couple of hours setting up the computer in this temporary two-day hotel room, then grabbed a dinner snack to cushion my evening meds. Soon, bed. I spend the next two days in 'consultations' (catch-as-catch can meetings and convenience appointments such as replacing my work-badge, doing my annual required computer security trainings, etc.) then move to a hotel further out near one of our satellite training facilities with use of a rental car for that week, will take a one-and-a-half day side trip this weekend before next week's training starts to visit a friend in PHL, and then spend next week training at that satellite facility. Then back to either Arlington, Alexandria, or DC proper -- still searching for a good hotel deal under my per diem, close to a Metro line (since I give up the rental car next weekend), and belonging to one of the three brand families that give me loyalty rewards. That training will take me through the 7th, and then on the 10th, I leave for my next assignment overseas.

I'll keep in touch over the next few weeks, but then may be out of touch for a few days from the 10th to the end of that week since my travel will begin mid-day Monday the 10th and not end until mid-day Wednesday the 12th, with commensurate passing out at the far end from exhaustion.

As always, Fogbow Family, thank you for the moral support you have shown me in my tiring but fulfilling career.

[sugar magnolia]

Will you be able to tell us where you're posted to this time?