Goodbyes

We have so many goodbyes. We had another goodbye this morning. When people leave Power Africa we do a ceremony. We “knight” them and give them a silly name and read them into the order of the knighthood and say nice things about them. Today we did a mass knighting since we are all leaving. At the end one of us asked for any good news from anybody and I told them about the business. People seemed most impressed by my business cards! They were also impressed that I have the wherewithal to move on and start something while other people are still in shock. 

I’ve been hesitant to reveal the business, concerned it would further impede job hunting, but I am increasingly giving up hope on the job hunt and I do want these people to help me with contacts and information. 

We gathered, in person and remotely, in DC and in Pretoria. Only one of us in DC has a job, but a second one begins a job on Monday. 

A Russian energy minister said that the tax burden on Russia’s oil industry is severe and making production unprofitable. 

Big, multi-town drone attack on Russia last night. Airports in Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Tambov, and Kaluga were closed. 

The Olympics reaffirmed its policy barring Russian and Belarusian teams from participating. This is because of the invasion of Ukraine. People have to compete as individual neutral athletes and can only do that if they haven’t publicly supported Russia’s actions or served in Russia’s or Belarusia’s military.