RegEnt (and a Pathetic NoJoMo7) in BookThree: Flight Log 2016

(1) LOADS of Bookmarks. I’m surprised.
(2) Stupid bloody on-line job sites. Received several e-mails about businesses looking for Dog Walkers and Receptionists. These websites know that I have a J.D. and Legal Experience. Am I being Punk’d here?
(3) Still no word from the Board about “incoming County Attorney.” A sodding nuisance! It would be nice to know (a) IF the County Attorney was going to be replaced; (b) WHEN; and (c) BY WHOM. If I seem impatient on the matter, it is because a compassionate professional will give a One Month Notice. And it would be preferable to not have a noticeable gap between the outgoing County Attorney and an In Coming County Attorney. So if an offer is not made in November… it will be very very bad for us.

(4) It is funny, tragic, and a little despair-inducing how soul sucking things can be around here. I had a fairly relaxing weekend. Nothing too stressful or painful… even had some quality time hanging out with Wife. I was prepared and ready to come bounding into work today and get going on everything. Really tackle the day full force. But after the first hour? I’m already exhausted again. I’m already to an emotional place where I just want to burn the office down and stay inside of it as it goes. And it isn’t that the cases are just too depressing. Today’s cases are largely standard. Several DUIs, several Driving Under Revocation, Several Drug Possession… nothing too terrible… just more of the County’s “We don’t recognize the rule of law because it is inconvenient”. But the problem is… I get these files, I read them, I file on them… and I know that the best I can expect is that (if I’m lucky) the defendant will take a plea deal of some kind. That, if I’m lucky, it becomes yet another case that I don’t have to worry about for a few more months. And that process drains me very quickly. Because what I want… what I would like… is to do my job with confidence and a modicum of skill. Which is, of course, another reason why I’d like a County Attorney hired sooner than later.

OH… funny(ish) story. One of the Police Officers around here is a young kid, fairly bright, with an attractive wife. When my wife met them her first words were “They aren’t from around here.” She says that because someone bright, young, and attractive “wouldn’t last here.” Well… she was right. The couple started a few months before I did and are already heading for the hills! This week they are moving an hour north so that they can work in a CITY that is as large as our entire COUNTY. (Which isn’t saying much as that City has 6,000 people in it.) So… a young couple that is connected to the effective execution of the laws of the area… fled because of how messed up this place is. I both empathize and envy.

(5) Blow by Blow
First, I started the day with a case review and scheduling session. Then, I signed 100 documents saying “This is the Assistant County Attorney asking you to at least start paying back a minimal amount of the massive debt you owe the County on Criminal Fines.” Followed by an embarrassment. I have to request specific files from a government agency. Something I’ve done before. But it has been a few months. And I have to look up/try to remember how to do it. I just hope I do it RIGHT. (And because I am worried about doing it right, I found myself sucked into a 30 minute time waste vortex. Because I can be focused and get work done… but honestly… the pace of Small Town Living just… gah! I do truly miss a life when ‘soon’ meant within the next few minutes, not the next few hours). When I did finally get the paperwork for the Government Agency; all files located were Read Only. No ability to modify. Which is funny. Because Computers were/are something I can teach myself. So it took me a shorter amount of time to fix the Read Only issue than it took me to figure out/remember how to do the process in the first place. I finally got all the Requests written, signed, and sent off.

Then… lunch. Which I really should take. Seriously. I’m not doing my body any favors by working through lunch every day. But instead, I jumped directly into a few Indictments that I wanted to make sure were written, filed, and published to the court by Wednesday morning. And that took way longer than it should have because as soon as I started typing… my mind just… froze. Like this tired, checked out mass of garbage just sitting in a chair staring at a screen where nothing is happening. That was… kind of depressing. Followed by more incidental procrastination. Based almost entirely on the energy drain of wanting to have humans around me. It is so weird. I would love to have people around while I work just to give the illusion that things are getting done. BUT instead… people making social phone calls and wasting time… which kind of drags me down into a “Why work hard?” mood. Which is stupid as hell.

I spent the rest of the afternoon alternating between finishing my work and letting my mind wander. It was… actually unpleasant. Because it would be so much better if this could be a job of “Here is work to do” and then I do it or “There is no work to do” and I sod off. But… I mean… with the work I’ve been putting in… at a legitimate place of business… I’d be a week behind or more. As it is around here… after a single day of “Hard work but distracted the whole time”… I am already where I should be for Wednesday! It is why I’ve told the Board… you can’t make either job (Attorney or Assistant Attorney) part time YET. Because Boss sits on her cases for ages and we’ll have our work cut out for us trying to get caught up from the mess she leaves in our laps. BUT (I tell the board) if after the transition happens… after Boss’ left over cases are taken care of and the Attorney has some time to train the Assistant.. then there is a good reason to make one of the positions part time. Because with TWO competent attorneys, there would be no problem. But… with ZERO competent attorneys… of course there is nothing BUT problems.

(Gah. Interrupted late into my paperwork by Grandparents with complaints of Child Abuse. It took an hour out of my day. And what is the best I could do for them? “Call DHS or hire a private attorney.” And that does suck a bit because most people in this community are too poor to hire a private attorney to initiate a Family Court proceeding. That being said, as Assistant County Attorney… I represent the DHS in Child Cases, I represent the DHS in Mental Health Cases, and The State in Criminal Cases. I don’t take private clients nor can I give private clients legal advice or assistance.)

Before heading out… a bit of humor that came to me today (though, it may be more “accurate” and less “humorous.”) I wonder if living in Tiny Town is my punishment for repeatedly refusing to watch “Sweet Home Alabama.” Like my refusal to embrace a Rom Com sent fate-altering shock waves into the future mandating a need for The Fates to say, “Oh, fuck this guy! We loved that movie!”

PS: You know how I say I love movies. I do. A lot. While it may seem ridiculous that I am so… antsy… about how this entire COUNTY doesn’t have a New Movie theater and how antsy I am about this entire region of the STATE not having a Cineplex.... I really am a huge movie guy. Comparable to telling someone whose largest passion is crocheting that the only place to buy Yarn is 2 hours away. Except that in my scenario; you’d have to use the yarn at the place you bought it. In other words, 2 hour drive there, 2+ hour use, 2 hour drive back. That’s my thing. ANYWAY… what I was trying to say… because I love movies… THEMED MOVIE NIGHTS might need to be a part of my world here. I didn’t get our Netflix Cue squared away this year (as I usually do) so the Horror Movies are coming November/December this year. Each year I introduce Wife to some New Horror (like Kock Knock this year) and some classic horro (like the Halloween franchise this year). BUT… via Instant… I feel like we could/should do theme nights. Like… to combat MidWeek stress… Muppet

NOJOMO7

Write about your first memory of your favorite comfort food.

Too difficult to tackle. For many reasons but… first… what is my favorite comfort food? That entirely depends. Easter’s Ice Cream Swan dessert? Christmas’ Chocolate Steam Pudding with Golden Sauce? Dad’s Hot Dog, Cheese, and Mashed Potato Casserole? Mom’s Shrimp Casserole? Mac and Cheese? Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup? Grilled Baloney and Chili? Flank Steak Sandwiches? Hawaiian Hamburgers? You see… too many to select. And they would all work for the prompt. And my memory doesn’t really food-associate well. I don’t remember “I was doing this when I was eating that on this day in that year.” I just remember the emotion attached to the memories of those foods. Which is what makes them comfort foods in the first place.