for no reason in a meeting i'm suddenly wondering whether god has heard more often pray let the combat prove me but spare us the blood or please, please let me see some ruddy show proof i'm not in the pudding club i bet it's a toss up slight change of subject when next you feel overwhelmed by responsibility consider briefly admiral jellicoe who in 1916 commanded the british grand fleet at jutland calling the british fleet grand wasn't just puffery their navy had suffered but one major defeat in a hundred years dished out by maximilian von spee near the falklands which first lord fisher soon avenged you'll recall jellicoe had superior numbers against all comers but lesser gunnery and technology the famous line being his subordinate admiral beatty's "chatfield, there's something wrong with our bloody ships today" a line which described how some cruisers blew up unexpectedly due to a design flaw and, shot full of burning air, mutilated people atrociously if you'll allow jellicoe was in the position of a tennis player who at four love up knows full well it is still possible to lose particularly if your opponent realizes suddenly he has better gunnery and technology told the enemy fleet was out jellicoe departed scapa flow knowing that if the germans got the upper hand britain might starve or at least be cut off from its scattered arms and have to sue for peace when churchill said jellicoe could lose the war in an afternoon he understated with one wrong order to dreadnoughts in line abreast jellicoe could have lost the whole thing in five minutes or less jutland's result finally was a draw and is now judged not at all important to the outcome of the war so we who sit in meetings drift in peace and are not the least in awe of jellicoe and we are lucky if we know that his is one of the busts long feet below nelson frequently shat on by pigeons in trafalgar square David Ritchie heading for bed in Portland, Oregon ------------------------------------------------------------------ To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off, digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html