From Where I Sit
From Where I Sit is a newsletter by me, Chris Anthony, a recently retired civil servant. The newsletters subjects will follow my whims and will likely be all over the place. Installments won’t often link to each other and will be about whatever inspires me to write on a given day. I won’t be pushing a political agenda. However, since many traditionally non-political subjects seem to be politicized and emotionally charged these days, readers may draw conclusions about my political beliefs, but I wouldn’t take that to Vegas until you have read a few installments. You’ll likely read about members of my family, friends, mentors, hero’s, and probably an enemy or two.
Where I Stand?
I spent almost 25 years in the US Air Force. One of my commanding officers from the late 1980s often used the phrase “Where I stand depends on where I sit, and where I have sat” frequently. I always assumed he coined that phrase, but I recently learned it actually came from a Truman-era staffer and is often called Miles’s Law. I have referred to the idea that where I stand depends on where I sit, and where I have sat throughout my career.
We all experience life differently, even in situations where we experience the same event at the same time. According to CDC data there were over 11,000 people born on October 20, 1962, in the United States. I’m one of them. For those of us that are still living, no two of us experienced the last 57+ years the same way. Each of our experiences formed our opinions today. From Where I Sit installments will be mostly my opinions that are influenced by my experiences over the course of my life. I look forward to opinions and feedback from those who stand, sit, or have sat in other places.
Why start a newsletter now?
I retired from the civil service on November 1, 2019, and shortly afterwards my wife, Christine, left her position as manager and partner in a company that she put her heart an soul into for almost 15 years. Our plan was to provision Ella Mae, our 40 foot sailboat, and set sail for the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and points beyond. Our departure was scheduled for April 1, 2020. We thought we’d be blogging about our travels and living the life. Along came COVID-19.
As we learned more and more about the virus, we scrapped our plans and prepared to hunker down and ride it out in our home. Because we were now retired, we had nothing but time on our hands. We took on several home projects to keep us occupied, but it was the news networks, internet sources, and social media that took up most of our time. I often wanted to share my thoughts on the social media platforms that we frequent, but that just didn’t seem like a fit for me. I decided to use the Substack platform.
Sources
Since most newsletters are my opinions, I’m the source. However, I make an effort to always inform my opinions with facts. I’ll list those sources at the end of each letter. Readers may find other sources that support my opinions, and some will find references that debunk my opinion. Generating discussion is what this is all about.
Why subscribe?
Because you want to? Because you’re curious? Because you know me and want to see where this goes? Or maybe because you know me and you want to see what kind of ridiculous crap I may come up with? Whatever works for you works for me. Subscribing will ensure you are notified anytime I post. Be sure to check your spam and trash folders if you aren’t receiving my emails.
