Happy Easter to all

Regardless of your religious bent, I would implore everyone to take a few moments and ponder this question.  How would the world differ if people stopped using religion as a justification for doing the most inhumane things to other people? 

Day 8

Day 8 was yesterday.  My weight has plateaued but my body fat % keeps going down.  I can certainly see changes in both my posture and my muscle mass, especially in my legs.

DAY 1 in the books

Okay, Day 1 of P90X is in the books.  I am doing the Lean Program.  I must say that I am a wussy.  The exercise they were doing (all core work) were, for the most part, exercises that I have done either during athletics or in the military.  However, I don't recall them being so hard.  Must be due to the Monster Truck sized spare tire around my middle.

Time to get back in shape

In a galaxy far, far away, in a time long ago, there was a young man who was a collegiate wrestler.  He took for granted that he was 6'3" tall and wrestled at 178 or so lbs.  Then he joined the military and packed on muscle and beer.  Many many bad choices later and this man, no longer young but hopefully middle aged, has packed on over 100 pounds of blubber.

But times, they are a changing again.  I have a young daughter about to start law school and an even younger daughter about to turn 3.  I watched a show the other day called "the Road".  At the end the father dies with the young son kissing him on the forehead.  I don't mind tell you that I cried.  I don't want my daughters to grow older without their father around to pester and annoy them.

Thus, it is time for a change.  I am about to start down a very scary road. I am about to start P90X.  I have heard many things about this program and not a single solitary one of them indicates an ease of use.  I fully expect to get my arse kicked daily.  I just hope that I have the mental strength, after all these years of relative ease, to follow through with this.  If anyone ever reads this site then I hope you will see my story of transition. 

Time to get back to the grind

For the past week I have been enjoying time with my family.  I took a whole week off and we packed up the truck and headed to St. Augustine for some much needed sun.  I actually have a weak tan at the moment.  Now I am dreading Monday.  I actually had well over 100 messages on my answering machine when I checked them today.  Of course, about 30 of them was from a particularly annoying inmate.

By the way, a tip for all you who may end up going to the Orange Park poker room in Jacksonville.  The old guy with no front teeth that goes all in every fifteen minutes will eventually suck out on the river.  Just make sure you aren't the one who gets caught flopping a flush when he is going to get runner runner for a full boat.  God I hate poker.

I am gonna go out on a limb here but.....

...it probably is not a good idea to cuss at your sentencing judge.  Outcome, remaining sentence revoked.  I should go into the prognostication business.

Time for a change?

I admit that every couple of years I get into this rut where I consider doing something else.  Usually, this impulse corresponds with a confluence of exceptionally needy clients and soul wrenching cases.

In the spirit of my biennial dilemma, I figured I would brainstorm my options.

male prostitute......while tempting, I have to think that middle aged, balding, overweight ex-attorneys are in much demand for that line of work

poker pro....now that one seems to always come up after a winning session at the local attorney home game.  Lets see, Thursday we played.  I bought in for $20 and left with about $70.  Using simple math it would seem that I can triple my money rather quickly.  However, the reality of the situation is that while I win far more often than I lose in the local home game, my experience at the casinos is far less rewarding. I believe that with some minor tweaks in my game, like eliminating that pesky tendency to have one disastrous hand per session, I could make a go of this.  Of course, my wife would kindly disagree.

more to come as I have to take the baby to the bathroom.

I should have my head examined!

I bleed orange and blue.  I watch 100 or so games a year.  I am in serious need of an intervention.  For you see, I am a NY Mets fan.  What a depressing team to root for.......well, at least I am not a Pirates fan.

First time for everything

I was sitting in Juvenile and Domestic Relations General District Court this morning minding my own business when hell froze over and I wasn't alone.  Attorneys throughout the courtroom were stunned.

Just when you think you have seen it all (and if you want to see the worst of society spend a morning in juvenile court) you get surprised.  What could surprise such a jaded soul? 

Well, I watched a mother ask the court to reduce the amount of child support the father of the child was paying.  That, in and of itself, would be strange enough but then things went all Twilight Zone.  The father then asked the court to increase his child support obligation.  The only sound you could hear was when the jaws of the half dozen attorneys in the gallery hitting the floor.

Will wonders never cease?

the things you see in court

Young lady going into Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court wearing skin tight black stretch pants, obviously lacking in undergarments, and a tube top.  She could have at least worn pasties.  I am fairly certain she has to wear them for work.  And could you at least take out the piercings from your nipples??  Did I mention the temperature didn't reach 40 here today?  My God woman!!

In a stunning turn of events, she didn't get custody of the kids.

RIP Justice Hassell

Last night a true legal scholar passed away.  Justice Hassell went to God way too young.  Virginia lost a special jurist today.

Same ole stuff, different day

So, I ran between three different courts in three different jurisdictions today.  What I found funny was that I was told, at least a half dozen times, SOSDD.  It seems that Tuesday, February 8, 2011 was just one of those days.

Oh yeah, I also received a talking to by a local judge for not discussing the case with my client prior to the hearing.  I guess I should have spent more time with her.  Nevermind that I sat through three in office meetings with this client (approx. 4 hours total), read multiple letters she and her boyfriend wrote, spoke to her at least twice on the phone, showed up 45 minutes prior to the hearing to calm her down, and then wrote down exactly what was going to happen for her.  She still reared like a wild mustang in a thunderstorm at the preliminary hearing.  Oh well, SOSDD. 

Post game

Well.  Good thing I don't gamble for a living.  Props to the Packers.  Boos to the refs.  Halftime show was crappy. 

LETS GO STEELERS

Game time is about 20 minutes away.  Steelers coming down the tunnel have a look of utmost confidence and a very calm demeanor.  My prediction 27-17 Pitt.

Title is a bit misleading

Technically speaking I am the only attorney working in my office but I sure as hell don't work alone.

I was talking to a couple other solo attorneys the other day.  We were discussing law office management and I let it slip that my wife is the office manager.  You would have thought that I told them I was D.B. Cooper.

Why is it such a big deal that I can work well with my wife?  Just because I fire her about 5 times a week and she slaps me straight a couple dozen times a day does not mean that we cannot have a successful working relationship.  I must admit I entered into this arrangement with some trepidation but things have worked out very well.

The beginning

Well, after reading a few other law blogs, I decided to give it a shot.  That is not to imply that I thought that it was going to be easy to either 1. find the time to post on a relatively routine basis or  2. come up with insights or posts that would be interesting or relevant.  I simply decided to give it a go. 

My vision for this blog is.......well, a work in progress.  I really don't know what in the world I am going to do.  I do know that I intend to err on the side of caution when discussing cases and situations.  I would love to sit down with you over a beer and tell you all the crazy things that happens in the day to day operations of a law practice but I am very concerned about protecting client confidences.  I suppose as I become more adept or comfortable with this process I may be willing to provide more detail but for the time being it will be fairly vanilla.  Of course, as a currently overweight person, middle aged and balding man, I have to say that there isn't anything wrong with vanilla.

I hope you enjoy.