What Did You Do Last Week?

“What did you do last week?”, Elon Musk asked employees of the US Government. Many found the question to be patronizing, others found it to be revealing of an inefficient bureaucracy that needs reform and streamlining. This was the reason I left my position as a shoreside Electrical Engineer in 2022, in favor of a seagoing position as First Assistant Engineer. I was stuck in bureaucracy; I relied on other people to give me information, in order for me to analyze it and give recommendations to my supervisor. Oftentimes, I was waiting on the information from the field; or from supervisory decisions, which were made in a once-weekly committee. I feared that a performance review would leave the rater wondering what I was doing; instead, it was Elon Musk asking the question. I never got the email last week. I would have replied that “I activated an old cargo steamship for use by the US Navy”. I got something done last week. Venture capitalists (vulture capitalists) who perform, leveraged buyouts, Carl Icahn or Elon Musk, pride themselves on finding businesses with structural inefficiencies that they can correct, thereby releasing the full potential of its economic value. For example, Twitter (X) grew its workforce too fast, and found its headcount rife with what author David Graeber calls “BS jobs”. As the new owner, Elon Musk cut bureaucracy within the company, and applied shock treatment to its headcount, bringing it in line (and even less) with other tech companies of the same size. In reforming the civil service, a different approach must be used. The primary hallmarks of government employment are stability and public impact. Since the 1970s, federal employees have faced furloughs at every government shutdown. A private company would treat that period as a short-term layoff; however Congress has always proffered backpay in order to retain its workforce and keep the federal government’s role as a steady employer. Revoking work-from-home, at least on a temporary basis, is a good remedial step for a program that has become too gangly. Young federal employees feel disengaged when they can’t get facetime with mentors and supervisors. Shopping districts in suburban Washington, DC are suspiciously busy during core working hours. Falsified timecards are one of the ways to a quick removal from federal employment; pulling people back from the fire by bringing them back into the office, therefore, could be seen as a responsible act. It is also a soft form of a loyalty test: are you here with us hell and highwater, or are you a summer soldier? “Non sibi, sed patriae”: this is a Latin phrase which translate to “Not for myself, but for my country”. When federal hiring, in some agencies, has been about meeting minimum standards to fill seats, we lose the broader vision. One might call this “privilege” to think beyond the minutiae of “essential job functions”, but it is important to bring back a company culture to federal employment. Some of my neighbors in DC felt that we gave away the culture when the federal government ended defined-benefit pensions in the 1980s. I look to the Department of Defense, and its recent interest in the “warrior culture” (cue Jim Mattis and Pete Hegseth). In contrast are the bureaucrats who trained shiphandlers on CD ROMs (SWOS in a box) or impose byzantine policies that keep tradesmen from doing their jobs in a timely fashion. The “warrior culture” could be defined as “love of mission”, and at least for now, young people have been trickling back into recruiting offices for the armed forces. Ironically, soldiers do best when they are doing something; in peacetime, this includes innovative field exercises and humanitarian missions. Politically speaking, we understood that Trump and his supporters would want to “whack” the unelected bureaucrats who impose things like vaccine mandates. This was accomplished in high-profile firings. What I am concerned with is the across-the-board cuts in certain agencies, and among most first year (probationary) employees, which are taking place outside of the usual reduction-in-force plan. What I regret is the loss of a human touch. Would it really hurt the business objective if the Trump administration (the “You’re Fired” guy) to allow a few months’ lead time before layoffs, so that displaced employees can make suitable arrangements for their future employment, within the government or in the private sector?

Water Rescue on the Potomac

The plane crash hit close to home. I was a DC resident for the first 25 years of my life. The Air Florida plane wreck on the Potomac River in 1982 (78 fatalities, 5 survivors) was locked into local memory for a couple decades, I remember people still talking about it when I was a kid. In addition to geography, Home is also affinity. Airports are like seaports, in that it is an intricate transportation hub with different layers of personnel and job titles. There is big money involved, sometimes trickling down to employees as stock options and overtime pay. There are illegal drug shipments to be intercepted by law enforcement. With due respect to the frontline service workers, spending time behind the scenes, in the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority admin office, personified the airport as a living being, in contrast to the impersonal Disneyland environment of the main corridors. Home is also the causes we think about. Until recently, my parents’ condo was under the northward flight path on the Potomac River. These are just a couple holes in the “Swiss cheese” failure analysis model, but show a system at its limits: Politicians used the force of law to maintain flight schedules and frequencies above sound aeronautical principles and guidelines. Economic considerations led American Airlines to use the airport as a transfer hub, instead of nearby Baltimore, a focus city for the airline, with a military-grade airport. Home is also a profession. When the aircraft hit the water, it became, in concept, several badly damaged boats with souls onboard. I refuse to comment on events leading to the in-air collision, but in the water, I do my best to understand and explain. It’s a rare miracle to revive someone who has drowned in ice-cold water. What presented itself to water rescuers the night of the plane crash was a lethal cocktail: Blunt Force, Drowning, Hypothermia. In contrast to New York or most maritime cities, DC does not have a large contingent of private vessels, relying instead on Police and Coast Guard assets. I of course fret the course of action taken within the first hour, the only hour that a rescue operation would plausible save lives, with the three mechanisms of death each claiming a stake in the “golden hour”. Maybe the right steps were taken, but I just don’t have the answers right now. The Coast Guard saying that “you have to go out, but you don’t have to come back” doesn’t apply anymore. A commanding officer is not supposed to put their subordinates at undue risk. (For that matter, going to a standard gun range, or donning a firefighting suit, are considered high risk activities). Were the junior officers and senior enlisted trained well enough, and familiar enough with their own capabilities, to take high risk independent action? To this point, our Military Sealift Command ships have civilian rescue swimmers. While the ships master has “overriding authority”, the rescue swimmer’s determination is given the greatest weight on whether or not to attempt a rescue. In conclusion, I hope that those involved in the water rescue can rest well at night, knowing that they did the most good.

The Resource Curse: Hampton Road's Call to Action

The Hampton Roads region of Virginia receives tens of thousands of servicemembers leaving the military. They carry valuable job skills, personal attributes formed in the discipline of service, as well as educational and housing allowances of the GI Bill. Many, of course, are predetermined to return to their hometowns, but many would be willing to stay, build a career, and invest, if they were given an honest chance. Instead of embracing the growth mindset, local leadership is personally invested in auto dealerships and major appliance stores galore. The demand for these items come from young couples furnishing their first apartments and houses, with the help of military housing allowances. It would be amazing if dishwashers and refrigerators were built locally; however, the big-box sales jobs are often low-paid retail work. I have previously written about the need for better public transportation on and near military bases, servicemembers without cars are unfortunately often seen as a “difficulty”; the pressure to own a car comes not just from peers, but also from supervisors. (Naval Station Norfolk’s on-base shuttle just celebrated its 2nd anniversary of service). The economic drivers for the region are transportation and the military, particularly the receiving end of such. More positively, we could call it the “tip of the sphere”. While Northern Virginia – home to the Pentagon and CIA, retains the headquarters of major defense firms, homegrown entrepreneurship in the defense sector hasn’t received much attention in the Hampton Roads region. Much of it seems to be cults of personality; the former special operator who performs training sessions as an independent contractor, for example. However, Virginia Beach is the hub of transatlantic communications cables, and good work is being done in the UAV space (see Drone Up, for example). Shipyards are a major employer, but flush with government work, they have not embraced newer technology seen at modern Asian shipyards. The limits of innovation are certainly underwhelming: An engineer was tasked to determine that it was better for the boilermaker to press harder and work quicker; than to be gentle with the five-dollar drill bit, at one local shipyard. A resource curse comes with the misallocation of political power and capital investment. I am surprised by how difficult it is to raise capital for important projects, such as building overpasses over busy train tracks; or for community improvements in older neighborhoods. There seems to be plenty of funds, however, for municipalities to become owners of parking lots and tired shopping malls. Redevelopment by the major real estate players will come sometime, they promise. Or, witness the large companies that reap the benefits of a company town (captive workforce), without embracing the financial responsibilities of running a company town (underwriting bonds and sponsoring community amenities). A significant part of Hampton Roads faces an existential challenge: Rising sea levels. Within the next 50 years, easy living won’t be so easy as floods become more frequent. Awareness and action on coastal resiliency have begun recently, but we must stay ahead of the rising tide. In comparison to coastal Louisiana, once oil-rich but now stagnating after 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, Hampton Roads must make itself worth saving.

Farewell to the Old Ways

This week, we bid farewell to former President Jimmy Carter. Living to the age of 100, he had decades to build a post-presidential legacy. Among these accomplishments were peacemaking efforts, and building homes for the destitute, through Habitat for Humanity. While in office, some of the lesser-remembered points were implementing the metric system (which is officially on the books), legalizing homebrewing, and beginning deregulation of the transportation industries. We can also remember him as the last president of the old economy. During his administration, ocean shipping companies built ships in the United States with Construction Differential Subsidies, then sailed them with well-paid American crews with Operational Differential Subsidies. (The leaner and scrappier Maritime Security Program of today cannot be compared to the largess of the pre-1981 era). Ships built in that era, including the former M/V Mary Ann Hudson, which I sailed upon as a maritime student, have mostly headed to the scrapyard. But they sure provided stable employment for decades. Outgoing President Joe Biden awarded George Soros, among others, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. George Soros has been many things. Ironically, the Old Left used to criticize Soros for ending central planning in Eastern European economies. Then, according to some pundits, he became a boogeyman for the Right, with his large donations to Democratic Party causes. In the 1990’s, he was a neoliberal reformer; in the 2000’s, a contributor to left-wing causes, and most recently, a menace to public safety through massive, targeted contributions in District Attorney races. Flush with campaign cash, Soros’ team boosted ideological, often poorly-qualified, District Attorney candidates in Democratic Primaries. They would win, usually by narrow margins, on a wave of support from activists. These nominees were then elected in November when voters chose the party line. When in office, these “Reform Prosecutors” would burn the system down by tampering with pending cases, and imposing blanket policies such as denying pre-trial detention of violent offenders, and not prosecuting large categories of cases, even for repeat offenders. Apparently, voters have denied half of the “Soros prosecutors” a second term, both in the regular election cycle and in recall elections. Despite all this, we can’t forget that Soros has raised up free-market proteges through his investment firm. One of them is incoming President Trump’s Treasury Secretary pick, Scott Bessent. Trump had to thread a needle, picking someone palatable to Wall Street, while satisfying the nationalist, perhaps autarkist, economic policies demanded by Trump’s political base. I do hope that Scott Bessent becomes Soro’s final legacy, and that we can put the “Reform Prosecutor” era to rest, as a bad dream. Coming full circle on an old blog post: From January 1st of this year, large-windowed red buses have no longer been plying the streets of central Washington, DC. The city’s Circulator service, having operated for 20 years, was featured in one of my earlier blog posts, under the title “Circulation Dead”, for its low operating speed. As an augment to Metrobus, the regional bus service, Circulator at its peak was slow but provided extensive and fairly reliable service. Its $1 fare also never increased with inflation. During the COVID-19 pandemic and afterwards, the buses stopped arriving in a predictable fashion. While the operating company blamed driver shortages, one could see the supervisors and drivers loitering at terminals, without a care about schedule. Bus tracking software was turned off. Metrobus, the regional system, got better, with dedicated bus lanes, real-time tracking, less bunching, and more efficient routing in the downtown area. While ridership on subway lines and regional buses recovered to the greatest part, ridership on the Circulator was a mere fraction of what it was pre-Pandemic. By 2024, choice riders could choose between regional buses using bus lanes (which Circulator did not use), the improved subway system (the Pandemic lull gave time to perform extensive track maintenance), shared scooters, and even rideshare options.

How I Learned to Love the Obamaphone

Some of our readers will be aware that I have a working payphone. It has since been relocated from Norfolk, VA to neighboring Portsmouth, VA, but it works just the same. “Pick up the handset, listen for the ring tone, dial a phone number, insert quarters if required”. Now, four years down the road, I wonder if this was the correct approach to public communications. It is common knowledge that near-universal cell phone adoption led to the demise of the payphone network. These rugged devices retrenched from a ubiquitous sight to core locations such as government buildings and transit centers, and now many public facilities have forgone them altogether. What gives? The Lifeline cell phone, or Obamaphone. The program had existed since the Reagan era as a landline subsidy, but around 2008, entrepreneurs determined that cell phones could be issued to the needy for less than $9.25 per month, thereby requiring no out-of-pocket cost for basic phone models. Thus, I had to reframe my mind around the remaining fragments of a public telephone network, in which I include courtesy phones you may find on the front desks of hotels, hospitals, and airport terminals. In contrast to the third-party commercial interests that determine payphone removals, ensuring that these public courtesy phones remain in place now appeared to be a high priority. If we could approach grocery stores and transit centers to provide courtesy phones, then we might have a basic but functioning network of public telephones. Who is going to pay for this public telephone network? The State of Maine notably funds 50 public interest payphones, which is not too dissimilar from the keypad-equipped call boxes found at highway rest stops in other states. Overall, though, this duty was left to the private sector. In contrast, the Lifeline program gives an individual subsidy that enables a niche cell phone market to thrive. Thus, within existing constraints, expanding enrollment in Lifeline, and putting Obamaphones in more hands, is the most economically viable option for those interested in public communications access. Reversing the retrenchment of public telephones- payphones or courtesy phones- is the next issue to address.

Where to Stand on Vape Shops

We are here for a loopy subject- drug testing. Many employers, including retail chains such as Home Depot and OfficeMax, have implemented random drug testing programs. It is commonsense to test forklift drivers, who often maneuver around mindless customers. A manager worth their salt can name the benefits: To ensure a productive workforce, improve workplace safety, protect material assets from damage, and reduce theft that funds an addiction. Other employers, most sizably those in the transportation industry, are required by law to maintain such a drug testing program. If you want to drive a truck, a school bus, or a tugboat, you've got to "pee in the cup". The most common practice onboard a ship is to drug test all crewmembers, even when not required by law (for example, galley staff without emergency response duties). For several decades, employees complied, willingly or begrudgingly. In the early days of random drug testing, some labor unions resisted the practice, but later changed their focus to educating and rehabilitating. For many professional mariners, it's unthinkable to jeopardize one's career over a marijuana joint: just say no, even if one believes in hypocritical dichotomy of approved/ socially acceptable drugs and vices (Nicotine, Alcohol, Ritalin), versus those seen as anti-social (Cannabis). "If you can't say no, I don't want you on my boat". Perhaps part of the drug testing regime is to evaluate one's ability to follow the rules: As far as use of prescription medications is concerned, fitness for duty is made between discretion of the employee and employer. Now, drug test failures are on the rise. There is certainly confusion and quality control issues concerning widely marketed supplements such as CBD Oils, low potency THC, and Delta-8. Full-fledged cannabis can be purchased over-the-counter in a growing number of states, and medical marijuana is widely available, even without federal sanction. Many members of Gen Z simply don't care about the consequences of failing a drug test. While the worst that a retail employer can do is fire the employee, failing a drug test while holding a credential will usually lead to suspension or revocation, and incur a lengthy and costly process to return to employability. Entry-level crewmembers may not see the value in return-to-work, and leave the industry altogether. To this end, employees need to understand that heavy equipment and mind-altering substances are a bad mix. To the government's end, it is due time to recalibrate the cannabis threshold to better detect recent use, as Canada has done.

No Tax on Overtime?

On lonely night watches onboard the USNS Supply as a Third Engineer, I often contemplated that the tax rate on overtime pay should not be higher than a worker's regular wages. After all, overtime is usually worked during nights and weekends for the convenience of the employer (rather than the employee), and workplace accidents are most likely to happen after working over 40 hours in a week. No tax on overtime? A better deal than I could ever imagine. This would have been a pipe dream, except one state has actually tried it. Alabama made this a reality, at least temporarily, in an effort to alleviate labor shortages. The offer of untaxed overtime wages sounds too good to be true, and the plan will probably be axed by the bean counters who work for Congress. Yet the affordable suburbs of the Northeast, home to cops and firefighters and transportation workers, ate this up wholeheartedly. These are places like Ocean County, NJ (outside of New York City) and Stafford County, VA (outside of Washington, DC), where half of a blue collar civil servant's paycheck can come from overtime pay. If implemented, this could mean a significant rollback in income tax for an unsung group. As a counterpoint, the Hampton Roads region of Virginia has a large number of overtime-eligible workers (particularly among civilian employees in the shipyards and aviation hangars). However, there was no big move towards Trump. After working locally for several years, I realized that the South prefers to spend time with friends and family, rather than maximizing a paycheck.