This collection of published blog postings from a retired U.S. Foreign Service officer offers a perspective challenging facile suppositions, and notes historic moments of interest for the general reader. This book is a series of reflections at the point of retirement from the U.S. Foreign Service. The postings, all colored by the author's experience, include short essays on the following themes: personal anecdote, people/profiles, the Foreign Policy seen by a mid-level official, human nature, government functions, and "other" (music, immigration, condominium rules on dog comportment...). The...