New Project

Last Monday I started a new project which is only supposed to go about a month or so. They weeded out anyone who wanted time off during that block of time, though they say it may go for two months; I have a CLE planned the second month and let them know. Apparently they were okay with that because I'm on the project.

I crunched numbers and will be able to pay about a third of the next targeted loan. I have private loans which are fragmented due to summer school. I've mailed in the check each month for the regular payment but have only been able to pay a little extra.

Because I enjoyed the hotel beds when I was on the project for which I traveled extensively, I plan to hotelize my bed. Each segment of my private loan that gets paid off entitles me to another item to this end. I need an incentive to keep me focused. Without the incentive it would be much more difficult to force myself to make big payments instead of spending money on other things. I write about my debt a lot because I think about it a lot. Unless you're one of the fortunate ones, whose debt is gone, you should think about yours too.

I'm not always perfect; I gave myself a month off after paying off my credit card and was forced not to pay extra on my loan when I wasn't working. I hope the project is extended, or better yet, gets put on overtime. If that's an option, I'll be there. I don't know if I could hit it hard for the long-term, but I know that if it's a matter of weeks I can work a lot of OT.

Complacency

The mistake I made on the project from which I was cut was complacency; the atmosphere wasn't bad, the work was a cut above most document review projects and it was long-term. I fell into the trap of expecting my paycheck to continue.

Now I'm making up for it by learning to use RSS feeds for automatic receipt of job postings, both as an attorney and a couple of other, related job titles in which I have some experience. I have done some work in contracts and some in compliance and would be happy doing either on a full-time basis. The trick is to find someone who is willing to train and who believes my education would be a good fit with that type of work at their corporation.

I don't really understand RSS feeds but experimented both with that on Google Reader, because it's there, and having things sent directly to my inbox. In some ways Google Reader is better because the job search stuff isn't cluttering up my inbox; on the other hand, I don't know if I'll have access to Google Reader when I'm working. Most of the time it's possible to at least scan e-mail during the workday. I usually end up opening it and reading one or two messages. I tend to wait to respond until I'm home, unless I'm making plans for after work. It's a lot less disruptive to send a quick e-mail than to take a call, since that tends to involve walking away from ones computer, along with setting the screen saver and depending on circumstances, logging out of a program.

Virtual Lost and Found

What a great idea! I've gone to find things at the lost and found before; most noteworthy was getting a frantic call from a friend whose dad had lost his passport. He had changed planes at my airport and his entry to the country in which his flight had originated was delayed.

So I was deployed to the airport and first checked with their lost and found. Nothing. They I checked with his airline of record and asked if they had a passport from his country of origin with his name. They did. And gave it to me. I asked if they wanted to call his house for permission to turn it over to me. They didn't. My next stop was the post office to send it back to him.

Even though this happened back when people other than ticketed passengers could go through security, I was still surprised that the airline rep. was willing to give me someone else's passport just because I asked for it. I assume the airline would have sent it if they had called and asked about it, but maybe not.

Bottled Water

The people who market bottled water are evil geniuses. People are paying excessive amounts of money for a product they get at their own home for much less money. While I notice variations in water regularly, I usually drink filtered water at home and prefer that my water taste like nothing. As I work on this post, I have a glass of water by my side.

My glass of water, while filtered, originated in the city water system and was filtered and chilled through the refrigerator. The water in this city is perfectly safe, but I don't like the taste of what comes directly from the tap. Today I received a water-quality update from the city, and didn't read it. I'm completely unconcerned with what it has to say; if there was any type of water quality issue, it would be all over the news and we'd be told not to drink the water. Because that hasn't happened, I'm confident the water is just fine.

I try to bring a glass or refillable bottle with me when I go places, to avoid mass-produced bottled water, which is bad for the environment. While I'm not convinced that anything I do has much of an overall effect, I still try to pay attention to environmental issues. Right now cases of 24 bottles of store-brand water are on sale two for $7. A couple years ago, the same cases went on sale two for $9.

It's impossible to eliminate use of convenience products altogether, but I try to minimize; I happened to have an errand across town recently, near one of my favorite restaurants and got an order to go. I asked for water and was given the option of bottle or glass. I took the glass, which seemed a bit better than the bottle; it too had been shipped in from somewhere, but because it's a local restaurant, the glass may have been manufactured locally.

Water is bottled in several locations near here, so locally branded water might not be as bad as imports. Yet it's so difficult to cut out the convenience altogether; this year, save the trip to the family reunion, I haven't bought cases of bottled water at all. I have sometimes purchased individual bottles if I wasn't in a position to bring water with me, for example, to the airport or when working off-site when I had no control of the circumstances. Otherwise, if away from home, I try to remember my refillable bottle. There are still a lot of water fountains out there. If I'm running errands near home, I tend to bring a glass of water with me.

CLE Requirements

One thing people sometimes do is work on a CLE to present themselves. These are most likely to be people who have become involved in a Section or Committee and present a one-credit lunchtime CLE. I have a few acquaintances who have done so, and it's a way of gaining name recognition in their area of expertise, assuming they have an area of expertise.

In addition to becoming an expert on a small slice of the law, in my state, you also receive credit for time spent researching and writing the material for the CLE. I don't know if there's a cut-off for the number of credits received for preparation; in any case, most multi-hour CLE's have several presenters, each of whom has created a short portion of the presentation and has received credit for preparation as well.

One basic requirement of CLE's is legal content, yet the one program of which I'm aware was declined for credits, was sponsored by a non-profit in the legal world. What I fail to understand is how an organization that has attorneys on staff and recruits attorneys to volunteer on their behalf can sponsor a presentation that doesn't meet the requirement to receive CLE credit. While unapproved presentations always have the disclaimer that CLE credits will be applied for, it mystifies me that such an organization could fail to screen their speakers or the topics, thus rendering the credit disapproved.

I still attend lunches from this group; as someone pointed out, the lunch is still free. Because I'm working on my CLE's for this reporting period already, it probably won't matter to me whether a given credit is approved or not. Because their lunches are free and I was aware of other free credits still available, I wasn't that concerned; however, as this is the same organization sponsoring the lunch for which the the application for credit was not immediately submitted, I would hesitate to count on their lunch receiving a credit if it was only a few weeks before my reporting period was up.

Reporting CLE's Electronically

The first time I reported, I did so on paper. Not only did I have to look up each CLE online to ensure it had actually received credit, but I waited until the bitter end to do so. Since I had misunderstood the start of my reporting period, it really wasn't the bitter end; I had counted three years starting from graduation, rather than three years starting from the July 1 following bar admission and had an extra year.

In the meantime, the reporting system changed and while paper is still acceptable, rather than keeping track for three years and sending a master list of CLE's attended, it's now possible to report as you take CLE's. We were each sent a letter with authorization to use the webpage and it took me awhile to get around to trying. So long that I had to ask for a new copy of the letter. There's no telling what I did with the original copy.

Once you sign in, you either enter the event code, which is a multi-digit number, and click the radial button for attendance. After that, an affidavit message pops up and you certify attendance of the CLE. Event codes are only available at the time of attendance if the course has been previously approved. Not all CLE's will be approved prior to your attendance; some will not be approved until much later.

You can search by date or sponsoring organization. Sponsors may not be who you would guess; I had attended a Roy Adams seminar, sponsored by two major corporations. I think it was under Roy Adams and the only reason I figured it out was because I knew the date on which I had attended. A human rights organization has a couple of different programs, but CLE's under one program are listed as being sponsored by the law firm at which the lunch takes place; under the other, they appear as sponsored by the organization itself.

One of my colleagues had initially planned to continue reporting on paper, but eventually decided to use the electronic format. He assumes that all CLE's he attends will receive credit. Because I saw a message on a website indicating that one of their programs had not received credit, I believe it when I see it.

Multitasking Slows You Down

Multitasking slows you down.

Minimizing E-mail

Dumping e-mail in favor of blogs, RSS feeds, social networking sites, the telephone and actually walking over to someone's desk? That's just crazy talk!

Bargain Shopping

One tried and true method of bargain shopping is to review the ads for the week, make the rounds, and buy all the loss leaders. That was one of my grandma's hobbies. When I was in college, every time I came home, I'd find some random thing that she knew I needed and was on sale for super cheap so she bought it for me.

With gas prices the way they are, this might no longer be practical. I've noticed prices going up at my grocery store; to be expected because it was all over the news. My preferred crackers first started appearing in a smaller package. Now their price has increased 10%. At this point, I have to make a decision; continue to buy or find a different cracker? I don't like Saltines, which cost a lot less.

In the past I've found bargain crackers at the dollar store and at Big Lots. I didn't check out the crackers at my local dollar store last time I was there and Big Lots is too far to be practical unless I'm somewhere near it anyway. I think I got fancy crackers for $1 at Big Lots; the kind sold in a 2x2" box for close to $3. I stocked up last time I went and perhaps I need to make a point of going back.

Last week, in the middle of the week, the dollar store was much busier than I've ever seen on a weekday evening. I've seen it busier on Saturday but I think it was Tuesday, the historic low point on the shopping continuum.

I'm paying more attention to the grocery store circulars but don't buy things I don't like. Even when they're on sale. My cousin spent a year in Africa during college and has forever been changed. She buys canned vegetables that she doesn't like when they're on sale. They're cheaper than the ones she likes. While I know that as Americans, most of us are spoiled beyond belief in comparison to people from many parts of the world, it doesn't make sense to me to buy things I don't like when they're on sale.

I don't have to worry about the price of meat because I don't eat a lot of it; I had steak at my mom's house the other day, which has never been my favorite. When I was in law school, if I was over in the afternoon, she'd ask if I was staying for dinner and say "we're having filet mignon but I have chicken for you." I'm probably the only carnivore in the history of the world to prefer chicken to filet mignon, but with food prices rising, it's better that way.

Parties to litigation gone wild

Parties to litigation gone wild.

Learning From Your Mistakes

Many people learn from their mistakes, but some people repeat the same mistakes multiple times. Reading about compulsive spending made me wonder about an acquaintance of the sort who shares more information than I need. She worked two jobs and had taken out a loan to pay off her credit card. Racked it up again, lather, rinse, repeat.

At one point she took out a quite hefty loan from a sibling who was single and had extra cash and was put on a payment plan. Her lender's idea was that all the credit cards needed to be paid off and canceled. The deal was brokered by another sibling who thought that was absurd and this poor girl needed a major credit card and a popular store card to get by. She had been advised to declare bankruptcy as an alternative to taking out yet another loan, but chose not to.

Keeping the cards was a huge mistake because she added to the stash. The last update I had was several years ago, at a time she had opened several more major credit cards, some of which had variable interest rates; she had also added to her store cards, including a gas card and two or three more store cards, which always have high interest rates.

I'm no longer in contact with this woman, but I wonder how her debt is doing; with her track record I would be quite surprised if she had cleaned up her debt. Her house of cards was quite shaky, last I knew, and that was when the economy was better. I hope for her sake that she was able to give up the cards, one by one. Starting with those variable rate cards. Those things are frightening!

Trying Not To Spend

I'm trying to read my stockpile of fiction before buying more. I have a wooden crate full of books I have yet to read, along with stashes of a few books here and there. While most of my recently purchased books are from thrift stores, so I don't have a huge investment, I'm still trying to be conservative about spending. And I have a limited amount of space so need to read and re-donate the collection of books currently on hand.



I'm still attempting to lessen my supplies of bath products, but never seem to have any fewer containers; while I did use the remainder of one bottle of lotion, I found two partial tubes that I had taken to a project at one time or another. Problem is, they were short projects and I lost track of the lotion so was unable to use it up. Now they're with the rest of my stash, waiting their turns to be used. The good thing about having excess of products is that I don't need to worry about running out of much of anything between projects.



A sale at Target was a bad influence; I broke down and bought a giant box of the trash bags I prefer. While I thought I was close to the end of one of the two remaining rolls of the kinds I would rather not use, I found the remainder of yet another roll, but it appears to consist only of three or four more bags. Because they're crappy, cheap ones, I double-bag but it still seems to have no effect on the number of bags remaining in my possession! Even though I used one roll in its entirety, there are more! I'm trying to wait until I use those up, despite the new box of the ones I like.



I did plan ahead for some family events; I now have a huge stash of cake and cookie decorating sprinkles, along with a bunch of icing, donated by a friend who was moving out of the area. I baked cupcakes for the going away party, using one huge can of frosting, along with a bunch of colored sugar. Part of the other giant can of icing and more colored sugar will go on top of cupcakes for a family reunion. I also bought pop on sale for an out-of-town sister coming for the reunion. Her brand was on sale so I bought a bunch. I stocked up on water and iced tea for the reunion. I didn't know what beverages would be provided and I might as well have what I want! I drink a lot of water in hot weather so best to bring some. It's only a three hour drive from where I live so not a problem to bring extra stuff.

Compulsive Spending

I'm glad that compulsive spending isn't one of my problems. While racking up credit card balances may make it more difficult for your lender to lower your credit line, it isn't a good habit. In my credit card days, I noticed that if I got close to the limit, kept making payments and stopped using the card, the lender would increase my credit line. Every time.



That's one reason there's so much credit card debt in this country; instead of waiting for the borrower to request a higher limit, there was an automatic increase. And people don't think of a credit card company as a lender. They're a service-provider, enabling us to shop our little hearts out! I know several people who seem to do nothing but spend money or use plastic; in one case, it's always prefaced with the statement "I'm so broke." If you're really that broke, how can you spend money as freely as you are? Hmmm. Others buy things online, which I guess makes it less obvious, in that you're not actually going to a store. But how do you conceal receipt of packages? Yet another shopper was online and in the mall. All the time. Buying everything.



I've never had difficulty getting credit; I had a couple of store cards when I was younger. At a time stores wanted to increase the number of consumers with their cards, I had written checks and they called to offer me credit cards. I knew that obtaining credit wasn't always easy to do, so took the cards, one of which I rarely used. The other got more of a workout because it was from a store at which I shopped more. I closed my store cards several years ago and am unlikely to replace them.

The Summer Office Frigidaire

So many people are uncomfortable in an office in the summertime due to the excessive cold created by air conditioners. It always seems much worse in a document review situation, due to the sedentary nature of the work, and possible long hours.



Since the temperature is never going to be adjusted, the best bets are to dress in layers to accommodate any temperature changes; like not roasting on the way to work, and not turning into a block of ice while working. In college, I worked two jobs for the summer and ended up carrying two changes of clothes with me a lot of the time; I work Outfit A to Job 1; changed into Outfit B to fit requirements for Job 2 and wore Outfit 3 after work. I needed a change of clothes, whether I was going out or straight home. By now, most people who work in offices have figured out what they need to do to maintain a reasonable internal temperature.



Drinking warm beverages can help. Brits drink tea all year round; the summer theory is that your internal and external temperatures should be the same. I don't know about that, but while I drink more water during the summer months, I do drink tea all year round.

Ben Stein's article Why Oil and Wages Don't Mix

I just read an article on stagnant wages and how people at the low end of the scale have more trouble with price hikes than, say, doctors and lawyers. Well, lawyers in the top 10% of their class who went on to private practice, anyway. Ben Stein thinks that parents will be suggesting to their children that getting more education will be beneficial.



I agreed with him all the way up to more education. I did that a few years ago and am one of thousands of unemployed attorneys in the Midwest. There are tons of us out there as there are no caps on admission and you don't know the right questions to ask until you're in the middle of law school. By then it's too late. Jobs go to the lucky ones in the top 10% of the class, the rest of us poor fools are out of luck in this economy; layoffs and more conservative hiring in the upper echelon of law firms trickle down and make it more difficult for the rest of us. Jobs with solo practitioners and small firms are only practical for those with a trust fund or spouse that will support them as these jobs have no benefits, don't pay a high enough wage to pay for food, clothing, shelter and student loans. Document reviews are occurring in India. Some corporations are offshoring additional legal work.


There are tons of people out there with graduate degrees who are in the same situation that I'm in; looking for a job and looking for temp work. Even agencies have nothing going on or projects that reschedule or cancel. It's ugly out there and in many cases, more education will do no more than act as an albatross around the neck of the educated person.

Some days it's difficult to remember that they can't repossess my diploma.

New CLE Reporting Period

It's July, and where I live, that means a new reporting period has started. I have three years to come up with 45 credits, three of which must be Ethics, two of which must be Elimination of Bias. The first one is tomorrow; I mentioned it previously, it's put on by a big firm and designed for their clients. I got lucky on this one and am now on their invite list.

Last year, this one ended earlier; this year it goes all day and ends with a cocktail hour. I plan to avoid the bitchy ladies this time and will look for a table full of guys to sit with. Hopefully that's an option, as this topic may well attract more female clients. Either way, it's free and I plan to start taking CLE's early so I don't end up paying a big bunch of money for my CLE's this time.

Initially I thought I should try to get all my credits for free during this reporting period; however, one of the better networking opportunities requires a payment. I've had good luck chatting with people at the morning CLE's at my law school. They average about one a month, cost $10 and include a little breakfast; it's usually sweet rolls, muffins, fruit, coffee and orange juice. The downside is that if I'm working downtown I end up paying more for parking that day because there's no way to avoid driving.

Topics vary and most presenters are also professors. Parking is easy to find at that hour of the morning, though waking up early enough to go can be a challenge. I know from past experience that I can decide to go at the last minute and write a check at the door. It seems easier to force myself to go if I pay in advance. Occasionally they'll have a free CLE in the evening, but I've missed a couple of those for lack of attention. Definitely worth going to, even at one credit per.

By starting this early, I can space out CLE's and will have no need to panic; I was a bit distraught this spring as one of my free lunches took place in January but didn't show for credit until the middle of May. By that point I had given up on it and had attended a CLE that was one credit more than I needed. Better safe than sorry!

Tips on Keeping Your Credit Line Intact

Here are some tips on keeping your credit line intact. Your location and spending habits are being scrutinized these days, and you can be penalized for living in a state with a high foreclosure rate. If your credit line is reduced, it affects your FICO score and nobody wants that!



My shiny new credit card still retains a zero balance. My rationale for getting a credit card is primarily for emergencies; since I want to put as much money as possible toward paying off my private loans, I don't always have a ton of ready cash in checking. I prefer to retain the savings that I have in the event of major disasters; you know, root canals and that kind of thing.



I go back and forth between using cash and my debit card; sometimes I work exclusively with cash, save for regularly scheduled monthly payments. Other times I have no cash and am too lazy to go to my bank. It only has a few cash machines, so I tend to get cash back when I go to the store, rather than paying a $2 fee every time at the cash machine. While $2 isn't very much, if you use a cash machine every week, that's over $100 in fees annually that I don't need to incur. At current rates that's two tanks of gas for my old compact car. With my typical driving patterns, that's gas for a month.

Disaster Plan for Business

If you own a business, it makes complete sense to have a disaster plan. Much more necessary in a place with recurring disasters such as coastal regions, anywhere protected by a levee or anywhere tornadoes strike.

This is something that corporations tend to have in place but small business owners are unlikely to look in to immediately. But they should. Small businesses are more likely that corporations to lose everything in the event of one disaster. Part-time solo practitioners should have disaster plans as well, even if you think your business is too small to need a disaster plan. Difficult to grow into a full-time practice if you lose everything. The Small Business Administration may be able to help you with business planning. You may also want to check with your local Unemployment office, whatever it's called in your state. They may have information for small business owners as well.

In case of Emergency

One thing to have is a can opener. You know, the old-fashioned kind that isn't battery operated, enough water for each person for 3-5 days and yes, the amount varies, depending on your source for disaster advice. They also recommend canned goods and other non-perishables; I assume that those pouches of tuna are canned goods. They're like canned goods anyway!

My sister, who is far more concerned with emergencies than I'll ever be, has a copy of Apocalypse Chow, which is one of many disaster-themed cookbooks. Part of her disaster preparedness includes stockpiling ingredients for its recipes. She also has one of the weather radios that are sold at grocery stores here; presumably so when you stock up on non-perishables, you can buy a radio as well. It's the one that the local weatherguy said would've been helpful in that big tornado in Florida last year, the one that happened overnight. You program it for the county in which you live and it goes off when there's bad weather. I don't have one. My sister calls my cellphone when she thinks I'm in the vicinity of bad weather. Why should I worry when she takes care of it?

The last time the power went out it was bedtime, so I went to sleep. When the lights came on, I turned them off. The time before I was at my mom's house and we went out to dinner. My sister was with us so we had to stop and buy flashlights. By the time we returned to my mom's house the lights were on and we all went about our business after that. So you can see that I have no need whatsoever to worry. My sister worries enough for all of us. And probably enough for you.

I don't have an emergency plan, either, but am not terribly concerned. The type of natural disasters we're likely to have don't require me to have mobility or a stockpile of food and water.

Infrastructure

While I don't worry too much about natural disasters, I'm much more concerned about loss of infrastructure. It was a huge shock to lose a major bridge, and spurred me on to add some disaster-related items to my car. Like everyone else, I have jumper cables, various car-related fluids, window scrapers, boots, a coat, blanket and mittens in my trunk. I have a gallon jug of water and scissors too. In case of unexpected trips to the cemetery. Last August, I added a few things: rope; duct tape; waterproof container of matches; tinfoil camping blanket; work gloves; candles; dust masks; non-latex gloves; a multi-function radio and a spotlight. In theory I should have food items, in case of car trouble or getting stranded. I typically bring beverages with me on a road trip of any length and during the winter tend to add a few non-perishable high-energy items.

While I understand that bridges and buildings are made to give in the wind, I get nervous when I can feel the movement. For example, I've been on the rollercoaster on top the Stratosphere, which has since been replaced by other rides, and was fine on the rollercoaster but nervous beforehand because I could feel movement.

Crossing bridges makes me nervous; if I'm stopped on a bridge I can sometimes feel vibrations. I don't like it. Two weeks before the bridge collapse, two friends and I had walked across the bridge that you see in the above right photo, the one that didn't collapse. At the time, the only sidewalk was on the side away from the freeway, and I didn't enjoy walking above the water. Because I could feel the movement of the bridge, it crossed my mind that the bridge could collapse. Fortunately, it didn't.
The rational part of my brain realized that it was impossible; bridges don't collapse.

I no longer live in that world. The new bridge is well on its way to completion; I have crossed the parallel bridge a few times, purely out of necessity and am nervous there due to the high volume of traffic and excessive time it takes to cross. There are a few other bridges that have absorbed excess traffic so also take much longer than previously.

While I'm nervous about infrastructure, I'm not paralyzed by that nervousness; if I were that nervous, I would be non-functional. And that would be silly.

Summer is Disaster Season

While I don't worry too much about disaster striking, there have been a lot of awful things happening all over the world, the US and my state. While I think disaster awareness month is in the spring, I recommend that you take time to think about the types of disasters likely to hit your geographic area and whether you're prepared.

In my area, we have tornadoes, hail and snowstorms. If there's a tornado, there's really nothing you can do besides go to the safest place where you are. We have basements around here, so the safest place is usually the basement away from windows, rather than the storm cellar like in The Wizard of Oz. About all you can do is try to get inside. There was a huge tornado near here earlier this summer that caused millions of dollars in damage. A few years ago, wouldn't have been many houses in the area, but it was developed during the housing boom. There was also a huge hail storm which caused a lot of damage.

Winter has been pretty quiet lately, so no worries; in the event of a power outage, I have candles, matches, flashlights and batteries. For blizzards and being trapped at home due to lack of plowing? I typically have food and beverages that would get me through.

I'm at a high enough point geographically that flooding isn't a consideration; there have been floods, but not near here. Flash flood warnings came and went while we had some serious rain going on, but luckily occurred at times I was home. The not working has interfered with my plans to buy new tires, so I'm a bit nervous about driving in heavy rain.

Lack of sun

Okay document review vampires; lack of sun can lead to early death. Something to keep in mind as we click at all hours.

Brown Bagging it

Here's an article on Brown Bag Lunches, intended for those sending kids to daycamp. It's full of a lot of great suggestions beyond the traditional PB&J. Or, in my case, PB. Because why would I want jelly on a sandwich, anyway? Even stranger? The people who put butter on their peanut butter sandwiches.

I did literally spend two years of my life eating the same thing for lunch nearly every day; Monday through Friday, anyway. When I was in Kindergarten and the year before, the neighbor babysat me. I was a picky eater as was her son. She wasn't an inventive chef so we had variations on the same lunch every day. Not much in the way of variety: half a peanut butter sandwich on white bread; half an apple or half a pear occasionally interrupted by apple sauce; potato chips, pretzels or fritos; cottage cheese; two no-name sandwich cookies, one chocolate, one vanilla; a glass of milk. The other major variation was when their grandma was in town and we had whole peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That was my lunch for two years.

Which explains why I can bring the same or similar group of foods for lunch every day: turkey and swiss on whole wheat, sometimes ham instead; fruit, depending on season, lately has been strawberries and melon. Most of the time I drink tea and water. I frequently bring yogurt and a banana for breakfast.

Blog culture

American and Japanese culture are very different; in the US, celebrity blogs are often actually not celebrity blogs; in Japan, they've had a diary culture for centuries and blogs are an extension of that.

I have an acquaintance who had a diary-type blog and shut it down because it was too stressful; she didn't blog regularly and some of her stories were hysterical. Other bloggers provide far more information than I need about a stranger.

Most of the blogs to which I pay attention are informative, rather than personal. Personal information will frequently be included, but it's the nature and amount that make a difference.

Oldest Courthouse and George Washington's Boyhood Home

To find old courthouses, look for broken liquor bottles.

George Washington's Boyhood Home has been found. I didn't know it was lost. I associate him with Mount Vernon and never gave it another thought. Being a Midwesterner, I don't know as much about events on the East Coast; sure, I've taken history classes and know a few things about George, but he's a bit remote from my life. I find history interesting, but the Colonial Era isn't my area of interest or expertise.



I have met people who have an inordinate interest in the Colonial Era; they're Midwesterners by birth and current geographic location but for some reason feel the need to make an annual pilgrimage to Historic Williamsburg with friends and family. Perhaps I'm jaded due to the proximity of a historic reenactment site, Fort Snelling. While the fort itself is from a later era and was built after the war of 1812 as part of a chain of forts to guard against Canadian encroachment, it's the same concept, albeit not on so grand a scale. Since then, in part due to a proposal to demolish it in the '50's to make way for a freeway, the fort has been declared a historic site, parts of it have been restored, and it is the home of reenactments. I think everyone who grew up here since it has begun reenactments, has attended with a school group, scout group or family. I believe I've visited for all those reasons, most recently a few years ago with cousins from out of state who joined the Minnesota Historical Society when they planned to be here with their kids for part of the summer. It's a great deal because admission to many sites is included.



As a result, while history is interesting, visiting the same type of reenactment annually wouldn't be very high on my to do list. Especially if travel to an expensive part of the country was involved. Even if I could afford it.



At the same time, because George Washington is so important to the history of our country, I'm glad people cared enough to look for his birthplace and am pleased at their success. But don't expect me to buy a rubber hatchet with a cherry decal on it from the gift shop.

Annoying co-workers

If you work in an office with other people, chances are good that someone you work with annoys the hell out of you. What you have to remember is that for every person you find annoying, you're also on someone else's list of annoying people. It's inevitable.

One thing I noticed in school is that the annoyance level can change; I think I just got used to people because they'd really annoy me one semester and the next there would be someone else more annoying, even if the first person was in the same class.

Think about your habits and which of them could bother someone else. Is there something you can change so you're less annoying?

Before I bought an ipod, I listened to CD's on the computer for awhile. It sounded like it was taking off sometimes, particularly when I played Bob Dylan's Modern Times. I stopped playing it and eventually got out my old discman. As you mock me as a Luddite, keep in mind that since then I have seen more than one person on the bus from suburbia listening to tapes on a walkman!

That's the most annoying thing that I know of that I've done on a review. I'm sure there are others. Eating crunchy food at my desk isn't one of them.

Fireworks

Good thing the fireworks weren't affected by the troubles in China! Beyond sparklers, I don't need to have personal fireworks so the price increases don't affect me.

While prices are going up and there were rumors of shortages, I don't think it's going to affect my life; there are always fireworks in several locations in the city, along with many suburbs. My suburb doesn't have fireworks for 4th of July, theirs occur during the annual festival in September.

Around here, there are fireworks as part of many other events throughout summer, including the Aquatennial and the State Fair.

Never mind the neighbors, who seem to have fireworks that are illegal here.

Happy Fourth of July!

Flags in my state must be made in USA.

Today I'll be going to two cemeteries to bring flowers to my dad, Bataan Death March Guy, my grandma, my other grandma's second husband and his first wife and my sister's friends parents.

My dad, my grandma's second husband and my sister's friend's dad are all Navy vets, Allen and the Commander served in WWII. BDMG died a few weeks after my dad and we never saw flowers on his grave; I firmly believe that someone should put flowers on POW's graves. So I have been.

I hope you're having a great holiday weekend, whatever you're doing.

Rising Gas Prices

Where I live, gas is just about at the $4.00 mark. The fact that it isn't higher is most likely due to the machines not being calibrated for prices over $3.99. When they get new software or compatible machinery, that's going to change.



I know someone who works at a convenience store and one of the things they have to watch for is drive-offs. Some employees are more diligent about asking if people have gas than others; that's one way to get people to pay. I had previously heard stories about someone who covered a license plate, the better to drive off, and another driver who took the plates off altogether. One problem is that some convenience stores don't report to the cops immediately, which makes it more difficult to catch the drivers.



When I read that more drivers are switching to stolen plates for drive-offs, I had an "a-ha!" moment. Last year, in January, I had gone to listen to a band, and had parked my dad's truck in the wrong place. I didn't see the sign, which is fine. That's a $34 ticket and my own stupidity. The other ticket was $106, for not having both license plates. What? Sure enough, the license plate, including holder, was gone. I found out what I had to do, which was first get replacement plates, so I did. Got a replacement holder too, which was $40! Then I had to report the plates stolen and was told I had to turn in the remaining plate to the police. Fine. I can do that. I contacted my suburban cops and the officer gave me a card with a case number on it in the event that the city had any issues with my story. He told me that the front plates are stolen all the time. So I went to traffic court and took a number. When it was my turn I explained what happened and was asked what I had done about the plates. I said replaced them, reported them stolen and was told if I hadn't, if anyone ran my plates and stopped me, they'd have their weapons drawn.



Fast forward a year. Same truck. Same city, but this time my brother, house sitting for a friend, comes outside in the morning to find a hefty ticket and missing license plate. Same routine of new plates, report the old ones stolen. This time, nobody cares, wants the license plate or provides a case number. Fortunately the people who can wave their magic wands and make the ticket go away don't care about that and made the ticket disappear.



What are the chances? While I had known that people steal license plates, I had never personally known of anyone whose plates had been stolen. Then twice in just over a year plates were stolen from the same truck. Pretty amazing! This time, instead of buying a new license plate holder, my brother simply attached the front plate with picture-hanging wire, since that's what his friend had lying around.



For those of you who drive in states which require both license plates, check the front daily so you don't get any surprises. While ultimately we weren't responsible for either ticket, getting replacement plates, putting them on the vehicle and getting the ticket taken care of are time-consuming and annoying. Hopefully this will never happen to you.

Estate and Charitable Gift Planning Institute and Starbucks

I just signed up fro the 16th annual Roy Adams Estate and Charitable Gift Planning Institute. Locally it's sponsored by the Salvation Army and they want an audience. They also want you to be in a position to be knowledgeable about charitable gift planning so you can best advise your clients how to donate money. Especially if the clients want to donate to them.

I especially like this seminar because it's open to everyone; it's at a big venue so I know there's room for everyone and feel free to tell my friends. It's at the convention center so I can take the bus. Because it's a bit far from most restaurants, you're trapped and the easiest thing to do for lunch is buy from the convention center lunch cart with its long line. I think I'll bring lunch this year and avoid the wait. It isn't for another couple of months yet so hopefully I'll have the ambition to make lunch when it's time.

On a caffeine-related note, Starbucks has announced the closing of 600 unprofitable and not foreseen to be profitable stores. I guess there is such a thing as too much coffee. People have been wondering whether Americans would continue paying $4 a cup for coffee and products made with coffee indefinitely. I've seen enough budget analyses in the news that have pointed out the excessive amounts of money people were spending at the coffee shop that also suggested reducing coffee purchases as a way to improve their finances so that I'm not in the least surprised at this news. It doesn't affect me as I'm not a coffee drinker and rarely venture to coffee shops for a beverage of any type.

Why Attorneys Leave

Why attorneys leave.

Which doesn't have anything to do with the links to newspaper articles you'll find here for the next week or so. It's the lazy part of summer.