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.