Politics

October 14, 2008 - Politics
I try to still above the political fray. That doesn’t mean I avoid talking about politics with others, but I rarely actively campaign for any candidate or proposition, etc. But, lately I have felt compelled to comment on some of the inconsistent and just plain dumb ones I have encountered during this campaign season.
The most vivid today is California’s proposition 8 which is a reaction to the California appellate court’s decision upholding same sex marriages. If this proposition is passed it will codify the proposition which was passed 8 years which did the same thing.
This week the ads for and against the proposition are running night and day. The ads against have become really annoying. The latest one I’ve heard asks people to vote against he proposition and keep government out of our personal lives. Now, that is ridiculous when you consider the history of this issue. Same sex weddings only became legal and valid in California after a lawsuit and a ruling by an appellate court. If that isn’t government action and interference in the issue I don’t know what it.
I have had several discussions with others on this issue. I hear things like, "they already have domestic partnerships which give them all the same rights, what else do they need?" "Same sex marriage is immoral." "Banning same sex marriage is the denial of a personal, civil right, the right to marry."
I guess my response is that we are talking about a civil union, one recognized by the courts and laws of the state. Personally, I understood that is what the domestic partnerships accomplished.
One of the most disturbing things I have heard is that if this proposition is defeated then gay marriage will be taught in the schools as a legitimate option. I’m sorry but I don’t want my kids taught that boys can marry boys and girls can marry girls in school. Let them learn about those things on the playground instead of the classroom.
Like any touchy subject this proposition has caused some controversy. Last week I received a forwarded email that said people were stealing yard signs for yes on proposition 8. Then last night on the news the lead story was about a man who was passing out yes on proposition 8 signs who was beaten.
Ridiculous.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Thursday, October 9, 2008.

For the last two or three years my wife and I have watched and listened to NBC’s Today show as we get ready to leave for work in the morning. When we first started watching Katie Couric sat at the anchor desk with Matt Lauer. I for one was impressed with the mostly non-biased, professionalism that I saw each morning.
I don’t remember the date but I can tell you why, in my opinion, that professionalism left the Today show. This morning was another example of that. Since Meredith Viera has taken her seat next to Matt Lauer I have seen, on an almost daily basis, the interviews conducted on the Today show become sniping, cynical attacks rather than news pieces.
This morning was just another example of that. Meredith Viera was interviewing campaign workers from both of the presidential candidates. First, Meredith Viera smiled, almost laughed when she said that there was a technical problem and the woman from McCain’s campaign couldn’t hear what was going on so she would continue with the man from Obama’s campaign. Then, as usual, Meredith Viera interrupted both individuals when they were trying to answer her questions, not with pertinent follow-up questions, but with what she obviously thought were witty remarks.
I am old enough to remember when reporters, journalists, set aside there personal politics and reported fairly without trying to influence the viewer, they reported, supplied information and left the viewer to take that information and make their own informed decision. I’m not naive, I’m not saying that in the past all reporters were always unbiased. But, I get real tired of turning on a news program, be it the "Nightly" news or a "News Magazine" and feeling like I have tuned into a political ad.
I only single out Meredith Viera because we watch the Today show in our house. I could probably say something similar about the other network morning shows.
The bottom line for me is I would like to see reporter, and interviewers, return to the non-partisan, non-biased ways that I remember. Those qualities are not that far away. I watched Tom Brokaw act as moderator for a recent debate and I don’t recall seeing, or hearing, one remark that I would consider biased.

So, here I am sitting at my desk waiting for a phone call. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual circumstance. The person I am waiting on has done this to me so many times my wife doesn't want to hear it any more. Her response when I bring it up is, "well, this isn't the first time and until you stop doing work with this individual it won't be the last time." I must agree with her.

This is a horrible example of a business relationship. One which, except for some final documents, is over and done.

Still, those last documents never seem to be completed. More than a week ago we met and I was informed that I was missing an invoice which this person ahd previously provided to me. Well, I know I'm not the neatest person in the world, but I also know that this matter is important and I have kept every piece of paper even remotely related to it in one spot. So, we weren't able to finalize documents. This was on a Friday.

After looking through all of the related documents the person I'm working with finally stated, "I'll just have to run you another copy of that invoice. But, I can't do it over the weekend. Are you available on Monday?"

After quickly consulting my calendar we set an appointment for late Monday morning.

Monday morning came and went. Monday afternoon came and went. No phone call, no meeting, nothing. Tuesday was the same as was Wednesday. Thursday I left town for a long weekend. Upon returning Sunday evening I checked, no message. Finally yesterday, Tuesday more than a week after our appointment, I got a phonecall. "I forgot all about our meeting last Monday and then we went on vacation, so, sorry. When are you available?" I could tell from the tone of voice I was expected to drop everything and be available right then.

Glancing at my calendar I replied, "I'm on my way to a meeting now so today's not good. I can be available tomorrow after a morning meeting. Say 10:30 or so. " We left it that I would get a call about 11:00 AM to make sure I was back from my meeting and we would meet then.

Well, it is now 11:40 AM. At 11:30 I gave in and called, I have other things to get done today and I don't want to sit around waiting. I was told we could meet in an hour.

So, we shall see.

This raises the question, when did it become okay to treat others, especially those we are working with, in such an impolite manner? In my dealings with others I try to follow through and deliver the things I have offered. In order to accomplish that goal I have more than once turned down work because I didn't think I could accomplish what was requested.

I guess what I'm thinking of used to be called common courtesy and common sense. Two things, I am constantly reminded, that are not at all common anymore.

Customer Service

Let me start off by saying that this is not intended to offend anyone in particular, but it is my personal commentary on customer service.

I own a Jabra bluetooth wireless headset. When I checked my receipt last week it turns out I have owned this headset for a little more than 13 months. That fact becomes important in a minute. Last week while driving down the freeway my headset started beeping at me and cutting out. It turns out the charger was only charging intermittently and the headset was running out of power.

Now a wireless headset is important to me for several reasons, not the least of these being that it is now illegal in California to talk on the phone while driving unless you are using a hands free device. I spend a lot of time in my car and I utilize my drive time to catch up with family and friends as well as return calls to clients and colleagues.

So after determining that my charger was not charging properly and having no luck with either the owner's manual or the online tech support in determining if there was a reset or other means of resolving my problem I called Jabra. The phone was answered by a pleasant sounding young lady with a distinct Indian accent, I have since referred to her as Ms. New Dehli. Insensitive I know but in my experience fairly accurate. The young lady was helpful when I explained my problem. It turns out that my headset is no longer in production, it is "outdated" but, she had the replacement charger in stock and could send it out that day. So for double the actual price, to include shipping charges, she sent out the charger.

The charger arrived today. What Ms. New Dehli failed to discuss with me was the fact that the charger is actually two pieces, the cord and the cradle. I opened the package and plugged the cord into the old cradle with the same result I was having last week. So I called Jabra. Guess whose fault it is that I didn't get a complete charger. Of course, it's my fault. I was told that it wasn't Ms. New Dehli's fault that I had read my manual, and looked online, and did not find anything that listed the cord and cradle as two separate components. I was somehow supposed to know that.

So after raising my objection with Ms. New Hampshire, who assured me Ms. New Dehli works in the same building with her in New Hampshire, I have paid for a new cradle which is being shipped, without shipping charge, today.

Now, in addition to problems with people handling phonecalls, both in technical support and customer service, who do not speak, or understand, English well enough to handle the job I have another issue. My Jabra headset comes with a one year warranty. I purchased my Jabra headset thirteen months ago, it has been out of warranty for barely one month. During the first year I had one issue with the headset which was handeld with a ten minute call to technical support. But now that the warranty has expired I have an issue that can only be resolved by me buying not one, but two separate items which in the original packaging come together.

So, I want to know when did customer service become more about placing orders for new purchases rather than actually addressing and handling a customer's concerns? Any thoughts.

Memories

A friend of mine shared this on her blog and it sounds fun.

1. Leave one memory that you and I had together as a comment on my blog. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

Memories

Yesterday while driving down the freeway I was passed by a man on a motorcycle, most likely a Harley. Not an uncommon occurrence. I live in an area where the Harley, and other motorcycles, have become the midlife crisis toy of choice for many of the area residents.

But this man was different than the doctor, dentist or other professional who rides on the weekends and occasionally to the office. This man was wearing a denim jacket with the sleeves cut off and his "colors" prominently displayed on his back. Across the top, in an arch, it read "HESSIANS", on the bottom was some other lettering, probably his city name or other affiliation identification.

My first thought was that I have not seen a "Hessian" in years. The second thought was I wonder where Johnny Raeburn is today.

During elementary school my family lived in North Las Vegas, Nevada. Our next door neighbors on the left were the Raeburns. Johnny and I were about the same age and despite being in the same grade I don't think we were ever in the same class. Johnny was not really a friend, but he was a neighbor and my age so we often played together. Johnny just played different games than other kids. Games like, how far can you throw the cat, and can you run across the Smith's backyard without getting caught, and one of Johnny's all time favorites had to be, how many matches does it take to light the Jones' garage on fire?

Johnny was a rebel, a troublemaker, a kid who by 5th grade announced to me that when he grew up he wanted to be a "Hessian", a biker. So yesterday when I saw that biker's back as he passed me with his "colors" proudly displayed I thought of Johnny and for a minute wondered if he was still alive.

Now most people, who didn't grow up in the Las Vegas area in the 1960's, don't remember or even know who the Hessians are. In my memory they were a motorcycle gang which rivaled the Hell's Angels. At least in the Las Vegas area.

I'm sure that if we thought about it, every day we come across something which awakens a long forgotten childhood memory. Until yesterday I hadn't thought of Johnny Raeburn or his family in probably 20 years. But when I started to think of him I remembered a lot of things, like the time he enlisted me to help him break into a neighbor's garage and steal a lawn mower engine so he could use it on his mini-bike. That little caper didn't end well. Johnny threatened me with my life if I told anyone and then he had his older brother call me on the phone and pretend to be a juvenile probation officer. I spilled my guts and Johnny didn't kill me, but he beat me up pretty good.

By 8th grade Johnny no longer lived at home. If I remember correctly he went to live at a Boy's Ranch for 12 to 24 months. We moved away before he came home.

What?

So, I've been married for more than 20 years and almost montholy I wonder, HOW!!??

Tonight's just another good example. My wife, who is all but computer illiterate, asks me to take an invitation she recieved in an email last month and adapt it for her use. Easy, right? I guess if you're the IT guy for a living. But, me, I'm the guy who uses the computer primarily for word processing, checking email, writing this exciting, engaging blog and other similar projects. I get harassed by a few of my friends who recently learned that I don't have excel, so I can't open their wonderful spread sheets. I keep reminding them, I'M NOT AN ACCOUNTANT!!

Anyway, back to the issue at hand. I got frustrated because I wasn't able to make the font bigger for my wife's invitations. Not only did I get frustrated but I made the mistake of expressing my frustration. So, I'm sitting here at my computer while my wife is out looking for a video to watch tomorrow, hopefully while I am out of the house at work. Now that's another story.

Today my wife had a stack of offbeat videos to watch. Let be back up first. My wife is off work recovering from outpatient surgery on Monday. She will return to work next Monday but in the meantime she is catching up on some movies she's wanted to watch.

So this afternoon I was at my desk working and my wife asked if I would like to join her and watch a movie. I have a laptop and could work with that while I watched the movie so I joined her. The first was just silly and offbeat, I thought it was fun. Then she brought out her last choice. One that we had already discussed that she whould watch without me. It's called, "Year of the Dog", starring Molly Shannon. Now I'm not a fan of Molly Shannon. I think she stayed about five years to long on Saturday Night Live and nothing she's done since then has been funny or interesting to me.

Anyway, this movie is Molly Shannon's pet project to promote her political point of view. I found it offensive as well as boring.

So, this is probably something I shouldn't post but I'll take my chances.

Fourth of July

Each year as th 4th of July approaches I remember different experiences from years past. As a young child I remember sitting in the stands at Cashman Field in Las Vegas, with my family, watching the fireworks. As a teenager we sat on the beach at Port Hueneme, California, and watched as fireworks were shot off a barge floating out past the end of the pier.

Despite all those memories one that always comes to the forefront is July 4th 1976. At that time I was 19 years old and living in Valencia Spain. I had a roommate, Phillip, who was also from southern California. I remember waking up on the 4th of July and complaining to him that all of the United States was celebrating the bicentennial that day and here I was half way around the world. Life was unfair!

As was his way Phillip quietly went about the morning without responding to my complaints. Finally, as we had left our apartment and walked to the bus stop Phillip had had enough. As we stood on the sidewalk waiting for the bus Phillip spoke to me in a quiet voice, almost a whisper. "David, turn around", he said, "look where you are standing." Turning around I looked at the front of a cathedral which we passed every day. "So," I began, "it's the cathedral, so what?" Then with great patience Phillip asked me to read the placque next to the front door fo the cathedral.

I was a little surprised, for more than a month I had walked past that cathedral every day, I had noticed its architecture and detailed craftsmanship, but I had missed the little placque. I don't remember anything else but one line, "dedicated, June 2, 1365".

The rest of the day anytime I started to think about missing all the bicentennial celebrations at "home", I reminded myself that while I was missing that celebration I had an opportunity to experience world history. To be in buildings that had been erected long before the United States were even discovered, let alone organized. It didn't make me any less patriotic, or unAmerican, but it helped me gain a little perspective.

The only other thing I remember about that say is that evening. The Ice Capades were touring Europe that summer and on that evening, July 4, 1976, they were in Valencia. Phillip and I were in that audience, experiencing something which at that time was purely American.

I am grateful for the opportunity I had to learn, at that young age, that there are other important cultures and societies in the world, more importantly, there is history, important history, which predates our own.

National pride is not unique to the United States. I awoke one morning in Valencia and looked out my window to a sea of young men, soldiers, camped in a field across from my apartment close to the harbor. It was almost scary. A little while later, as I left the apartment to begin my workday I heard a small group of voices begin to sing, "Que Viva Espana", within a minute another group joined in and before I had walked a block I heard the entire field singing, "Que Viva Espana". I am sure that in each country around the world there have been similar experiences.

This Fourth of July, and every day, I am proud to be an American. But, I am also mindful, and proud to be a citizen of the world.

The Beach

While in high school my family lived in Port Hueneme, a beach community in Ventura County California. I say Port Hueneme because it sounds better, at least to me, than Oxnard, the larger community which essentially surrounds Port Hueneme. The first few months we lived in a house about 300 yards from the water, a true beach house. After that we moved inland, but in Port Hueneme you can't really get more than a few miles from the ocean.

So, I have an affinity for the ocean, gained from years living close to it and experiencing it on almost a daily basis.

I now live more than 100 miles from the ocean, at the northern end of California's San Joaquin valley, almost in the foothills of the Sierra Nevadas. It is pleasant, not as hot as Las Vegas, a place where I lived off and on more the first 30 years of my life. Still, it's not the beach. So every chance we get my wife and I go to the coast, sometimes or just a day to walk along the northern beach, other times a bit to the south where we can stay a few days and swim, kayak and actually get in the water without freezing to death.

A few years ago we took off for the coast, Santa Cruz, the weather report showed partially cloudy for the weekend. When we arrived Thursday afternoon the fog was already rolling in blocking out the sunset. Actually, we decided to do a bit of exploring and instead of driving straight over to the coast and then south as we had on previous trips we drove south first and the drove west to the coast. As we expected we had clear sunny weather for the trip southward. When we turned west we drove through some redwoods and then over a small range of coastal mountains. As we reached the top of the mountains we could see some low hanging clouds to the west. We no sooner began our descent to the coast and we encountered a quickly thickening blanket of fog. By the time we reached the bottom of the mountains we were engulfed in fog so thick we were unable to see more than a few feet in front of us. The change was quite drastic, like walking through a doorway to another room.

We found our way to the coastal highway and drove the short distance north to Santa Cruz and our room for the weekend. As we drove we prepared ourselves for an overcast weekend at the beach. By the time we arrived at our room we had convinced ourselves that even with heavy fog we could have a fun time on the beach.

Despite the voiced optimism when I went to bed Thursday night I tried to prepare myself for a heavy blanket of fog when I woke up the next morning. Waking Friday morning I was pleasantly surprised to see that the sun was out. I had to smile, it seems whenever we, my wife and I, come to this beach we have good weather. Last time we were here one of the neighbors, a permanent resident, told me how the entire week before we got here it had been foggy and cold everyday. We got here and the weather was clear, warm and great for the beach.

I teased Tom, the neighbor, that next time the weather’s real bad just call me and I’ll bring the good weather back down with me.

All in a day's work

A couple of weeks ago I received a phone call from an attorney’s office, a regular daily occurrence. The secretary told me the office had a personal injury for me to serve on the at fault driver. Normal everyday stuff. With a quick look at my watch and calendar I said I would be by to pick up the paperwork before the end of the day.

On a normal business day I will leave my home office in the morning and stop at various law offices and other businesses on my way in to the county courthouse. At each stop along the way I am hoping to pick up some kind of work, a writing project, legal papers that need to be filed with the court or some other county office or some legal papers that need to be served on a person, business or government agency. Throughout the day as I go about the tasks that I have acquired I take phone calls regarding additional work, such as this particular phone call. If I don’t need to be out in the evening I will stop at law offices at the end of the day as I return to my home office and pick up new work and drop off completed projects.

So back to a couple of weeks ago. About 4:00 PM I showed up at Mike’s law office and after making some small talk with the receptionist I was handed a manila envelope with the papers I needed to "serve", deliver, to the named defendant. As has become my practice I opened the envelope just to check that I had all the necessary documents. More than once I have just read the letter of instructions and then later on found that I was missing some necessary documents, so I have tried to remind myself to look at the documents before I leave the office. Mike’s office has often done this to me, short me documents.

As I flipped through the documents I saw they were all there but, as I turned back to the instruction sheet I saw that it was missing an address for the person I was to serve. The receptionist must have been waiting for me to notice the deficiency because when I looked up she was shrugging, shrinking down in her seat. Before I could speak Mike appeared in the doorway. He must have been notified I was in the office. As I raised the paperwork, gesturing at Mike he spoke, "David, good to see you, thanks for serving this on the defendant. We haven’t been able to find a physical address for her," slight pause, "but I know that won’t be a problem for problem for you. You always get the job done." His smile got broader as he spoke.
Now I must admit that I am good ay my job. I have often used innovative means to serve people that don’t want to be served, but I don’t seek those kinds of assignments, they just seem to come. "Alright Mike," I began, "what information do you have?" I tried to keep my voice calm but the truth is, everything Mike and his partners asked me to do the last couple of months had required extra work, it was become a bit tiresome.

At my invitation Mike stepped forward, "David, we have the phone number, I believe it’s the home phone. We also know that she is the license holder for a bar, here’s the name of it. I thought with your resources and experience you could use that information to find this ‘lady’", he used his fingers to make quotation marks around the word "lady". "Once you have an address it should be easy to serve her, right?" That’s the way Mike sees it, I’m just delivering papers , an easy job.

After that explanation I knew exactly why Mike was talking to me and not one of his two partners. Mike is the normal one of the three, and I’m sure the other two know that I won’t get upset with Mike for such a load of crap. Looking over the paperwork again I asked Mike a few questions, made a few notes and left, continuing on my meandering path, from office to office, on my way home.

Mike is right, I do have experience and resources that I rely upon every day to accomplish my work as a process server. Still, the direct, low tech method is often the sufficient and that is where I start. While waiting in another office I pulled out my phone and called the number Mike had given me. Surprisingly it was still in service. More surprising was the fact that a woman answered the phone. I almost went comatose when I asked for the woman, let’s say "Mary" and the woman on the phone said she was "Mary".

It rarely was so easy, regaining my composure I identified myself as a process server and told "Mary" that I had some papers to deliver to her in person. I kept it vague as to what kind of papers, I wasn’t that surprised. "Mary" kept pushing so finally I just told her, "ma’am, they are papers related to a car accident last June." Now "Mary" took a deep breath. Not wanting to give her a chance to hang up I quickly asked her for her address, telling her that was the easiest way to get this done, I would drop by at a convenient time, I wouldn’t have to find her at work or somewhere else in public where she might be embarrassed. The truth is at her home made it easier for me.

"Mary’s" response was not surprising. "Why should I help you?" She yelled into to the phone. I should have realized it was a rhetorical question because before I could respond she yelled, "you just try to find me!" Not wanting her to have the last word, I practically yelled, "I will find you, and when I do you won’t be happy!" I don’t know how much of that she actually heard because the phone started beeping in my ear, call cut off almost before I got the last word out.

So, why am I writing about "Mary" today? I met "Mary", face to face, yesterday, shortly before dark. She wasn’t happy, in fact once she realized who I was and what I had just handed her, she started to yell a man’s name. Taking my cue, I quickly walked to my car, watching the doorway of "Mary’s" house over my shoulder so that I would know if I needed to run. As is my practice I had parked across the street and down two houses so I had my keys in my hand and the car unlocked several feet before I got there. Once in my car I drove out of the neighborhood, only stopping in the parking lot of the nearby shopping center after I made sure know one was following me.

As I made a few notes to help me complete the necessary "proof of service" along with a few notes for my file, I took a deep breath and laughed. Just another ordinary day process serving.

What?

So the last two weeks I've had incidents in bathrooms at different courthouses. One week it was a woman in the men's room, the next week it was an unlocked door on a unisex bathroom. Whatever?

This week no women in bathrooms, so far, it's only Wednesday so it could still happen. So you may ask, why am I talking about bathrooms again? Well, this morning I entered the courthouse just after 8 AM and went up to the fifth floor. Before going to the courtroom I stopped at the bathroom. I have found it is a good idea not to have anything like distracting you during a court hearing.

Anyway, I stopped in the bathroom on the fifth floor, it was empty, I walked in to do my business and glanced at the sink as I walked by. Someone had been there before me and had left, I don't know, their breakfast, their dinner, maybe even lunch splattered inside, and all over, the sink.

Not something to look forward to first thing in the morning.

What?

What is it about me and bathrooms in courthouses?

A couple of weeks ago I walked into the men’s room to find a young lady standing in front of the mirror. A little unnerving, but we both lived.

This week I was in a smaller courthouse, actually it’s a satellite about 5 miles from the main courthouse. This courthouse has two restrooms, both of them unisex, which is no problem, the doors have locks and I’ve never had an issue. That is until this Monday.

After entering the courthouse and passing through security, I didn’t beep at all, yeah! Anyone once inside the courthouse I decided to go to the restroom, I never know how long I will actually be in the courtroom so it’s a good idea to visit the restroom if I have time before court starts.

As I said this courthouse only has unisex restrooms. I walked down the hall and stopped at the first restroom and started to open the door. There was an immediate shriek and I saw just a glimpse of a women lowering herself on the toilet seat. I mumbled a sorry as I quickly closed the door. Stepping to my right I could see that the door to the next restroom was slightly ajar, still I opened the door slowly, not wanting to have the same experience twice in one morning.

When I entered the courtroom I was relieved to see that there were several women in attendance and I didn’t recognize any one of them. It took awhile for me to get completely comfortable in the courtroom, I don’t know if the women in the bathroom got a good enough look at me to recognize me, I certainly didn’t recognize her.

Tattoos

Okay, so this morning I was in criminal court, so as usual I arrived a few minutes early and was allowed to enter when the deputy opened the doors, before the criminal defendants and general public. Who says being an attorney has no perks? When I walked into the courtroom the three courtroom clerks and the court reporter were already there chatting about the day ahead.
Each time I appear in this particular courtroom I am reminded that it is attached to the county jail and will include appearances by individuals currently serving time or in jail awaiting trial. Almost as soon as I entered the courtroom I became aware that the clerks, and reporter, were talking about the "in-custodies", those currently in jail, who would be appearing in court this morning.

This morning’s topic was tattoos. Specifically facial tattoos as worn by different inmates who had been in court earlier this week as well as some who would be in court today. Let me first say that I do not have any tattoos, that’s a personal decision, to date I have not found anything that I would want to have permanently affixed to my body. At the same time I have no objection if someone else wants to have tattoos, I’ve seen some that are quite beautiful, while others make me ask why would you do that to yourself.

Here’s an example. There used to be a teller at the local branch of our bank, she was in her fifties and I guess you could say pleasantly plump. She was a nice, friendly person, but it took awhile to learn that because the first thing you noticed was the four inch tall tattoo of the cartoon character "Wally Gator" on her left forearm. The tattoo wasn’t offensive, but it was out of place on a bank teller. The second week the teller worked in that branch I noticed that she was earing an ace bandage on her left forearm, covering "Wally Gator". Like I say it wasn’t offensive, I’m sure there was even a cute story about how and why she ended up with "Wally Gator" on her forearm but it was obvious that the bank didn’t think it was appropriate in their place of business.

So, back to court this morning. The clerks continued talking about how off-putting some of the tattoos really were. One clerk mentioned an inmate with tattoos on his face. There was a consensus that none of them liked the facial tattoos. Then one of the clerks said she hoped that the one man wasn’t on today’s calendar, his tattoos just creeped her out. The other clerks didn’t seem to know who she was talking about so then she had to describe the tattoos. The man has shaved his head almost completely bald and on the back of his head he has a tattoo of his face. The only hair on his head is cut so that the tattoo has a mustache. I almost laughed out loud when I heard this description. All of the clerks made faces and agreed that they didn’t want to see this man in the courtroom today. It reminded me of a man who worked in the grocery store down the street from our house where we did most of our shopping. He also shaved his head, completely, and on the back of his head he had two, very feminine, very made up eyes tattooed. So when his back was to you it looked like he was watching you. It was more than a little unnerving.

4/18/08

4/18/08
I couldn’t help walking into the men’s room on thefirst floor of the main courthouse and thinking thatthere were no young women in there. It only happened once but I guess it is something that will stick withfor awhile.

Almost every time I enter a courthouse, especially a busy one I think of what an interesting group of people you see there. This impression begins at the front door watching people trying to get through security. There are several categories of people who come through a courthouse’s security scanner each day.

The first group, of which I consider myself a member, is the frequent visitor. This group includes attorneys, law enforcement and even the court staff. These individuals are seen walking to the security screener emptying their pockets, making small talk with the security personnel, just one small part of their day. Individuals in this group generally enter the building without a delay. Although every once in awhile someone will forget something in a pocket. It’s a rarity. Also in this group are those individuals who use, or visit, the courts with some frequency. Landlords often fall into this category. I have a friend who owns several commercial buildings and has months where he is at the courthouse at least once a week, then he’ll go months at a time without going near the place. Regardless he is sufficiently familiar with the building and its procedures that it doesn’t faze him.

The other group of individuals are those who seem to constantly being accused of a crime of one type or another. It seems any time I walk by the criminalcourtrooms I see the same individuals standing outside the courtroom. This is probably not the case but theyall look very similar. The second group of courthouse visitors are those who haven’t been in the courthouse since a grammar schoolfield trip years ago. Now they’re at the courthousebecause they received a summons to jury duty or arequest to appear as a witness in a trial, civil orcriminal. Some actually are a party to a lawsuit,some are attorneys who don’t normally go to the courthouse as part of their normal workload.

This group are slightly put off by the securityguards and scanners. They’ve seen these things on thenews but most of them don’t see them in person unless they’re traveling by plane somewhere. As a result these individuals are constantly holding up the security line because they didn’t think their keyswould set off the metal detector, or the sign saying all cell phones must go through the x-ray machinereally applied to them. You don’t want to be behind these people if you’re in a hurry because they almost always give you dirty looks if you cut in and go through the metal detector while they’re coming back to the counter to find what set off the metal detector this time.

The final group are those who just don’t get it. The group is made up of people who have never been to the courthouse before as well as some who are there on a regular basis. People in this group include those who sit down in front of you at a show wearing a wide, tall hat and then are offended when you ask them to take it off because it is blocking you’re view. It also includes those who would never think of offering to let you go in front of them in the line at the grocery store even when you have one item and they have two cartloads and there is only one checkstand open. I sat in court one day, waiting for my case to be called, when an attorney who is a member of this lastg roup practically ran into the courtroom. The judge looked over the courtroom and had just announced that she would call this man’s case if he was there but as he wasn’t she would go to another matter. Just as she, the judge, finished saying that the man stormed into the courtroom and said, “I’m here now you’re honor. I would have been here on time but I literally had to disrobe to get through security!” The judgej ust smiled and said, “since everyone is here we’ll go ahead and get started.” At first I thought the man was just having a bad day and maybe there had been line at security. I changed my mind as soon as the man began to speak, it was obvious that he didn’t often come to court and argue in front of this, or any, judge. I don’t think he was intentionally rude but he wasn’t aware of some of thetypical courtroom courtesies, this was especially evident when he kept interrupting the judge. You can get away with that once, but the third time this man interrupted the judge she let him have it, something I have seen her do a few times, but not often.

So each day as I arrive at the courthouse I look to see who is in the line ahead of me. I’ve figured out that there are things in this life I have no control over so I try to be aware and prepared for those that I can control. Being ready for the security guard is one thing I can control.

4-8-08

Why don’ t I learn?

Yesterday I sat in this office waiting for people to finish what they were doing so I could get a new assignment. I finally got a new project and went about my work the rest of the day. Near the end of the day I was told that a new computer would be delivered no later than the next morning.

Now. This is not a mom and pop operation. I met with the owner for awhile yesterday and he was telling me about all the things he has going on. As usual the man has at least three businesses he owns and oversees, none of them are small. So when I was told a new computer would be delivered I assumed that meant it would be delivered and set up, operational. I also assumed that meant when I got in this morning, mid-morning, I could go right to work on the new computer.

Wrong!

I arrived this morning to find that he new computer had been dropped off sometime before I got in, but it was not set up. So when I arrived here were two attorneys finishing setting up a new computer. They had the CPU in place and were trying to get the monitor to come on. After a few minutes they got the monitor to turn on and then began the process of booting up the computer. During this process I noted that they had replaced the old HP Laser III with a "newer" HP Laser 5. Once the machine had booted up and they set up a login and password I was told to go ahead and take a look at it.

As I sat down to the keyboard I was told we still had to load software, "Word", "WordPerfect" and any other software we would regularly use in this office. Then I was told, before I did anything else, to make sure the printer would work with the computer. For the next fifteen minutes I tried to get the printer to print a test page. It never did. I was able to load the printer driver and get the computer to recognize the printer, the printer even said it was ready, but it never printed a thing. After being in the office for about a half hour without even starting on a project I left the new computer sitting on the desk and walked into the next office where the "old" computer had been moved. Now this computer is using Windows ‘98, and is a turtle compared to the speed of the new computer, but, I was able to sit down at it and go right to work. I actually completed a project.

So, I’m not against getting new things, computers especially. But doesn’t it make more sense to have it actually set up with all the correct software and equipment before you turn someone loose to work with it?

4-5-08

Okay, so here I am again. Working in someone else’s office on a contract or project basis and I’m sitting with nothing to do.

This is precisely why I like working at my own desk in my home office. At least when I’m there if I’ve got nothing on my desk to work on I can find other things to do.

Being in someone else’s office also leads to the other issue. Equipment, I mean computers of course. Right now I’m typing on a PC which is operating on Windows 98, an operating system I replaced no later than 2002. Then there’s the printer. It works, but it is an HP Laserjet III, which means it not only takes a long time, comparatively speaking, to spit out the first page but then it takes a long time for each subsequent page.

So, dear reader, if there are any, you can probably tell by this entry that I’m not entirely happy with this situation. Of course it doesn’t help that if I was in my home office I could be working my way through a short stack of projects. Possibly even making some money along with the progress

Friday, March 28

Whoa!!

I just finished up at the courthouse, and has become my habit I stopped at the Men's room before leaving the building. The last few years I have joked that I am now at an age that if I think about using the restroom, I better. It is even more important when I know I might sit in traffic while traveling between courthouses.

Anyway, as I do a few times a day I walked into the men's room and standing in the middle of the room was a young, attractive African-American women. I stopped, turned around and checked the sign on the door. It was the men's room.

When I returned to the restroom, the young lady was walking towards the door. With a smile she said, "You had it right, I just couldn't wait!" Then she was gone.

I have of things like this at concerts, bars, even in crowded restaurants, but a courthouse. I was stunned.

Wednesday

Ho hum, another typical day. Running to one court to stand in a line and wait for the clerk. Run to another court stand at an open, empty window and wait for another clerk.

Finally, I finished running between courts and I could begin the real day's work, hunting down some "bad guy" and serving him, or her, with papers, notice of a lawsuit. I guess they aren't all bad, but some act like I'm a real bad guy.

Every once in awhile something fun happens, somebody tries to run away, or even invite me into a yard filled with guard dogs. Those are the unusual events, most of the time it's just knocking on the door and handing some unsuspecting citizen a bunch of papers.

Anyway, it gives me time and flexibility. I can work during the day, evening, weekends, almost anytime I feel like it. In between these other things I get to write, take photos and do other things that interest me.

In that regard I have so far posted 7 short stories or articles on helium.com. If you like what you read there let me know. Even if you don't like what you read there let me know. Feedback, dialogue, discussion are all important.

Off to try and get some sleep before I start at one court as soon as it opens in the morning.

WELCOME

This is my first attempt at this blogging stuff. But I hope it will lead to some dialogue regardig my writing which I will post here from time to time along with links to my latest published articles, short stories and novel excerpts on Helium.