Greetings from Susan and Michael McKinney

[BlackBat242]

I applied for the foreign service last year, but was asked to reapply this year because of a lacking in positions to fill.

Don't worry about that. Foreign Service is a country club and it's more about nepotism and connections than anything else.
Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Be sure to read a lot of Keith Laumer's "Retief of the CDT" stories!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jame_Retief

Jame Retief is the main character in a series of satirical science fiction stories by Keith Laumer. The stories were written over a span of thirty years beginning in the early 1960s, without much regard for chronology or any particular scheme.

Detailing the travails of Jame Retief in the Corps Diplomatique Terrestrienne (CDT) the stories have a base in Laumer's experiences in the United States Foreign Service, notably his time as vice consul in Burma in the 1950s.

Reorganisations in the Foreign Service both before and after World War II were a source of considerable conflict at the time, as the diplomatic "old guard" were confronted with a new world situation and a new generation of diplomats, men like Laumer, who took a more pragmatic approach to the service. This conflict undoubtedly informs the Retief stories, in which stubborn and often ignorant superiors mired in bureaucracy cause him endless difficulties in the carrying out of his duties.

 

[Archangel620]

Reminds me of the Public Diplomacy Reader I went through in Graduate School. It was filled with the evidence and horror stories of ideological purges and bureaucratic nightmares inside intelligence, state, and defense agencies.

But I survived the US State Department once as a Logistics Management goon and Processor for Digitization, as well as unfortunately being an intern on Capitol Hill during the Government Shutdown.

It isn't war or isolation, but it is bureaucratic hell. Haha

 

[Almuric]

Welcome to the forums, Michael

My sincere condolences. I only just learned Don had passed away.

There was no one more dedicated to Traveller or its fans.

Working with him was a privilege.

-David Pulver

 

[maksimsmelchak]

Truly a glutton for punishment you are.

Well, I am actually a linguist by training and trade. I interpreted and translated for years (...mostly Russian and Spanish). I have been a ConLang'er (writer and creator of artificial languages) for nearly two decades and I've always had a hankering to dig into the Traveller languages and make something even cooler out of them.

I followed Jim's Zhodani work for years. I'd like to blend his work and that of others in the near future.

And I have notes for all of the major races and have been developing descriptive language templates for all of the Traveller languages.

So, it's very do-able and a labor of love. We need to riff on this sometime when you have a few spare moments, Rob. Please.

Thanks!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

 

[Selandia]

welcome

have fun

Selandia

 

[robject]

I've got nothing but time, Maksim. Resurrect a thread in the Language section on Vilani, or start a new one. G. K. Anderson will want to talk about it, too, as will a couple other folks here.

OK, back to welcoming Michael.

 

[Baltech Budapest]

Welcome Michael

 

[dalthor]

Welcome aboard, sirrah!

I never had the privilege of meeting DonM in person, but here on the boards he was always a welcome presence.

He was equally willing to slap my hand, hold my hand, or guide my hand as needed when it came to Traveller, and I greatly appreciated that fact.

I offer my hand in support if you need it.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Hello Michael and Susan,

Don had major writing credit in the newest rule book, so saying was involved is modest understatement. I never Don in person and only corresponded with him briefly on project or two, but found him in this attentive and intelligent. We never want our loved ones to leave but I hope you both have more good memories of time when Donald was here than not good memories. But all are the sum what he was to you both.

Michael Gonzalez

 

[saundby]

Michael, welcome aboard! I hope you manage to get in some play time with Traveller in its various incarnations as well as time with us here!

 

[Jame]

You guys have my sympathy. He was very dedicated to Traveller.



As an aside, the Jame Retief series is where I got my user name.

 

[atpollard]

You guys have my sympathy. He was very dedicated to Traveller.
As an aside, the Jame Retief series is where I got my user name.

What!!! You are not really a Jame?