Dispatches from Dotland

Things have been quiet and productive in Dotland. The Dots are doing training and fixing and arranging and normal Dotly things that would have been happening all along if the Black Queen hadn't stopped them. The training is happening because IDEA arranged it first and mentioned it to the Black Queen later. The Black Queen did send a pigeon to the Dots congratulating them on the training. One wonders if perhaps there was a blind copy of that pigeon that went to someone else, say the White Queen? Certainly it is not in character for the Black Queen to congratulate someone on doing a job she has previously blocked. The Black Queen is also sometimes called the Technology Queen, sort of a legend in her own mind. However, some of the tech such as the Spectacularly Clever Boards don't seem to work. In other news, your faithful correspondent attended a meeting of the Duchy Board. Duke Phffr delivered the State of the Duchy address to the board using some of the Tech Queen's new tech. The Duke tried to show a video to the board but the Proxima didn't work. However, later, the Diva had a video of her own and that did work. I'm thinking that possibly the Tech Queen treats her electronic servants just like she treats the Dots. I'm thinking that if I were a Proxima I probably wouldn't want to work for her either.
Attending a Duchy Board meeting is always an adventure. Students from one of the villages keep escaping into the neighborhood and upsetting the neighbors. The Duke hopes to solve the problem by building a Parking Palace. The Duchy Board is doubtful. "The students live in the neighborhood and they'll still be walking home through the neighborhood" commented one board member. Of course, the Parking Palace will be built anyway. Maybe they can make the students all camp out in it all year.