On the nature of five-year plans.

A few days back, I mentioned a "five-year plan." It occurs to me that younger readers might not know the context of this usage.

Five-Year Plan

Soviet economic practice of planning to augment agricultural and industrial output by designated quotas for a limited period of usually five years. Nations other than the former USSR and the Soviet bloc members, especially developing countries, have adopted such plans for four, five, or more years.

When Bank Street Brewhouse came into being, we signed a five-year lease. The details are unimportant, but with the renewal date approaching, it's easy to see how the mind of this ex-Sovietologist would make a connection with the command economy of old.

When I decide how glasnost and perestroika fit into all of this, you'll be the first to know; just recognize that in New Albany, openness and restructuring seem always to comprise the last items on the checklist -- and no one even mentions uskorenie any more.