Just learned that the librarians of Alexandria were paid large salaries to prevent bribary. Now I'm thinking about how public servants and academics here are generally paid well enough to live comfortably but not so well that the jobs would attract people who are primarily driven by a desire for wealth, and how that balance is probably pretty important. Unfortunately the executive roles do not follow this pattern and I believe this is part of why these systems are falling apart.

fat thighs and a thirst for knowledge

This morning my cat was pacing around the house yowling at me for approximately 4 hours because he wanted the heavy machinery at a nearby construction site to stop making noise 👍