Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Kennedy Smith ·
Feb 5, 2011 at 2:17pm
Who could possibly screw up an ambassadorship to Luxembourg? It's a sinecure so luxurious, ego-boosting and inconsequential that it's never given to a career diplomat, only to big campaign donors. If there ever were an occasion to use the words "epic fail" (and there isn't, ask Greg Gutfeld or Nero Wolfe), this would be it. Well, Cynthia Stroum somehow managed to blow it:
Gosh, I can't imagine her being "aggressive, bullying, hostile and intimidating". Those normally are not attributes sought after in one's ambassador to Luxembourg.
But the slot is now vacant, and they obviously appreciate me, because I'm always getting emails from Barack, Michelle and Sherriff Joe. Plus, I'm dressed for it. Put me in, coach!
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
I liked the bit about how her staffers were applying for transfers to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Anyway, good luck getting that appointment. Peter Robinson already has it wrapped up.
Edited on Feb 4, 2011 at 1:24pmJul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Stroum created “a climate of acute stress” that was “especially evident among officers and local staff who have been here more than 3 or 4 months,”
Well, how horrible could she be?
Conditions at the embassy were so bad that a handful of staffers requested transfers to Iraq and Afghanistan, the report said
Oh.
Dec '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Great. Believe it or not, I'm scheduled to be in Lux the first week of April.
Edited on Feb 4, 2011 at 1:29pmMay '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Ha! Missed the part about the transfer requests.
Yeah, I wondered about Peter, but wasn't he interviewing the Prince of arch-rival Liechtenstein? Getting those two confused has to be a sore point, diplomatically. And Peter doesn't get emails from Joe Biden thanking him for his support during the campaign, either.
Jul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Palaeologus: Stroum created “a climate of acute stress” that was “especially evident among officers and local staff who have been here more than 3 or 4 months,”
Well, how horrible could she be?
Conditions at the embassy were so bad that a handful of staffers requested transfers to Iraq and Afghanistan, the report said
Oh. · Feb 4 at 1:27pm
Hey, Paleo, a technical question: how do you post those little mini-links? I always end up having to post entire URL's.
Jul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Oh, yes.... the "more time with the family" business.
Jul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Kennedy Smith: Ha! Missed the part about the transfer requests.
Yeah, I wondered about Peter, but wasn't he interviewing the Prince of arch-rival Liechtenstein? Getting those two confused has to be a sore point, diplomatically. And Peter doesn't get emails from Joe Biden thanking him for his support during the campaign, either. · Feb 4 at 1:31p
Right you are. It was Lichtenstein. I have a hard time sorting out the dwarf countries.
But I never forget Princess Grace of Andorra...
Jul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Her family must be cringing in the basement, awaiting the witch's return.
Edited on Feb 4, 2011 at 1:35pmMay '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Here's my process:
Jul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Kennedy Smith
Here's my process: · Feb 4 at 1:41pm
That's kinda complicated for a geezer. Can ya come over to my house?
May '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Jerry Broaddus: Great. Believe it or not, I'm scheduled to be in Lux the first week of April. · Feb 4 at 1:28pm
Edited on Feb 04 at 01:29 pm
Never fear. She's left the building. You'll have some relieved diplomatic staff ready to help you, just brimming over with the milk of human kindness. And celebratory hooch. Put in a good word for me!
Jul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Kenneth
Palaeologus: Stroum created “a climate of acute stress” that was “especially evident among officers and local staff who have been here more than 3 or 4 months,”
Well, how horrible could she be?
Conditions at the embassy were so bad that a handful of staffers requested transfers to Iraq and Afghanistan, the report said
Oh. · Feb 4 at 1:27pm
Hey, Paleo, a technical question: how do you post those little mini-links? I always end up having to post entire URL's. · Feb 4 at 1:31pm
Kenneth I can't either, because when I run the mouse over insert/edit link icon (on the far right) it doesn't highlight in yellow like, say, the italic icon. I think it's a browser issue for me. But try moving the cursor over it yourself, if it lights up, click on it & a little box should appear with a place to insert your text, & another for the url.
As for how they appeared in my comment, I copied & pasted that from the article & the links were already there.
Jul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
nonsense Kennedy. Hey did that work?
Jul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
did that?
Nope 0 for 2. But Kennedy's process probably will work for you Kenneth. I'm hopeless with these things.
Edited on Feb 4, 2011 at 3:24pmJul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Palaeologus: did that?
Nope 0 for 2. But Kennedy's process probably will work for you Kenneth. I'm hopeless with these things. · Feb 4 at 1:58pm
Edited on Feb 04 at 02:00 pm
I'm such a failure. Not only is my wife way too beautiful for me, she can figure this stuff out in a flash.
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Palaeologus: did that?
Nope 0 for 2. But Kennedy's process probably will work for you Kenneth. I'm hopeless with these things. · Feb 4 at 1:58pm
Edited on Feb 04 at 02:00 pm
It worked, but you have "http://http://", which messes the link up. Try again, this time deleting the original http:// that automatically appears in the box.
Aug '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
You guys are such troglodytes ! Erudite though.
Didn't this gal speak luxembourger ? Seattle is such a good place for cheese.
Hard to believe that she didn't bond with her boss.
Linkin' is easy, it's learnin' that's hard.
Jul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Diane Ellis, Ed.
Palaeologus: did that?
Nope 0 for 2. But Kennedy's process probably will work for you Kenneth. I'm hopeless with these things. · Feb 4 at 1:58pm
Edited on Feb 04 at 02:00 pm
It worked, but you have "http://http://", which messes the link up. Try again, this time deleting the original http:// that automatically appears in the box. · Feb 4 at 2:22pm
So, let me get this straight: I have to click on some specific word in my post as the first step? Like, click on the word "here" in this sentence: "As Diane Ellis notes here..."?
Because what I've been doing is copying the a URL to the clipboard, pasting it into my post and then highlighting it, which brings up the little doohickey on the tool bar. When I click on the doohickey, I get the pop-up window, where I delete the "http" and paste my URL....and all i get is the whole, long URL as a live link.
Jul '10
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
flownover: You guys are such troglodytes ! Erudite though.
Didn't this gal speak luxembourger ? Seattle is such a good place for cheese.
Hard to believe that she didn't bond with her boss.
Linkin' is easy, it's learnin' that's hard. · Feb 4 at 2:25pm
Listen, Jack. When I started my business career, telephones had rotary dials, there was no such thing as a fax machine or an electronic calculator and I actually - actually - did math with an abacus.
I'm lucky I'm still breathing, much less Twittering, Facebooking and live-linking.
Re: Hitting Bottom in the Annals of Failure
Kenneth
Diane Ellis, Ed.
It worked, but you have "http://http://", which messes the link up. Try again, this time deleting the original http:// that automatically appears in the box. · Feb 4 at 2:22pm
So, let me get this straight: I have to click on some specific word in my post as the first step? Like, click on the word "here" in this sentence: "As Diane Ellis notes here..."?
Because what I've been doing is copying the a URL to the clipboard, pasting it into my post and then highlighting it, which brings up the little doohickey on the tool bar. When I click on the doohickey, I get the pop-up window, where I delete the "http" and paste my URL....and all i get is the whole, long URL as a live link. · Feb 4 at 2:28pm
Simply clicking on the word is not enough. You must highlight it with your cursor. Once the word is highlighted, you can click on the chain link icon on the toolbar. In the field that pops up, enter the URL (but make sure the automatic "http://" is deleted so you don't end up with "http://http://")