Sometimes country sayings are useful

Amy got bombed in family court this afternoon - unfortunate case which illustrates the difficulty of bro. dave's job - I talked to her this evening as she was still smoking, but she wasn't ready to hear my opinion - which I distilled to a favorite localism - "sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you." Does that sound harsh or jaded? Perhaps - but the idea of lawyers who don't lose cases is ridiculous - if you get down in the trenches, deal with real people, you will see nasty stuff. That is the case in lots and lots of jobs. And when you emerge at the end of the day, covered with mud and sweat, you have to go take a shower and get some sleep, because tomorrow will be more of the same. Does that sound pessimistic? Not to me. I carry with me different documents for different purposes - one thing that I carry is a picture of the Central Criminal Court in London, the "Old Bailey." That is symbolic, to me, of the life I have chosen. Lots of very bad things happen there. I think I'll try to find Bro. Dave in the morning for coffee - and hassle him generally - in good fun. Although sometimes my sense of humor is a bit broad and inappropriate. Or iconoclastic.

Losing cases - of the post-death-penalty era in WV, by some quirk of fate, I own two of the three longest sentences - (life plus 200 years; and 7 consecutive life terms without parole). bro. dave tried the first one with me. There was a case with some conflict - the chief deputy sheriff let us in on his secret security plan for that trial- "if anything bad happens, you lawyers hit the deck because we're going to shoot the defendant." That had everything a good security plan needed - simplicity and decisiveness.

Tim got hired for ski patrol today. Believe it or not, an EMT is considered over-trained for that job around here - bizarre. He didn't appreciate my opinion that two things slide down hills - avalanches and fools.

LaElu has pointed out that I'm spending insufficient time around Casa LaElu - hell, I'm only working half days as a rule (that would be 7 AM to 7 PM). I like getting in early - there are 3 lawyers I talk to occasionally around 7, because we know that we are likely the only ones working at that time - it's a bit of a joke and a bit of mutual encouragement. Darn, I really miss my buddy and brother Fred - he would stop in at 7, we'd drink coffee, solve the world's problems, I'd run stuff by him for a lay/police-experienced view, and sometimes alter something I was doing in a case due to his opinion. Who will not listen to anybody's opinion is a fool. Cocky, too.

I'm taking off somewhat early tomorrow afternoon to go down to the diet place, and have a sort of status-check talk with the ladies there - I absolutely treasure those people. The office person there is in law school, and watching a new person's perspective is interesting. And there is a "fellowship" feeling to it. Anyway, re the diet, it will be a long time before I transition to long-term stuff, but it bears thinking about carefully even now. I'm walking longer distances without thinking about it lately - very new, and I need to look carefully at that and process it, and remember how truly miserable my physical life was 130 lbs. ago.

My mother has been using a computer purchases in 1998 by her and my dad. Tim finally talked her into the merits of a new one, and they ordered a Dell, including a good laser printer - she is getting more interested in photography.

Mizpah.

R