Tiny Dancer

I have always been an Elton John fan and have even seen him several times in concert, including the time he played a cancer fundraiser for a friend of his at the Grand Old Opry venue. It was hard to get tickets to that one, but I managed it. I also saw him several times in an outdoor venue, at a joint concert with Paul McCartney, and in his early days at my college gymnasium. My favorite songs of his include "Your Song" and "Benny and the Jets." I never cared that much for "Rocket Man," but the last time I heard him in concert, he had played such a marvelous improvization of that song that I couldn't help falling love with it. I also always liked "Tiny Dancer," but never paid much attention to it. That song keeps springing up in TV and radio spots here and there, and it has reminded me what a wonderful song it is. I just heard it a few minutes ago on the soundtrack to Big Love, my new guilty pleasure on HBO. It sounded absolutely beautiful.

(Almost) Showdown at NO-K Corral

My relative, the CEO at my company, had another meltdown at me today. Got upset again about something minor. He was in my face, upset that I had done something he told me not to do. Understand of course, that what he told me not to do is part of my regular routine. I told him, "I have already done it," about 8 times. And understand that the fact that I had already done it is NO BIG DEAL. He said I was getting behind in my work, which is not true. I was caught up by mid afternoon. WTF?????? I think he had to eat crow later, when I presented him with all the stuff he said I was behind on. I can't stand it when he does gross exaggeration or distorts the truth or facts.

He just doesn't get that I juggled many more balls where I worked before and that this is NO BIG DEAL. REALLY. GET OVER IT. And I am pretty sure that when we talked last week about people being more positive in the workplace, he had no clue that I was mainly talking about HIM.

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On another more pleasant subject, I am watching the reruns of the Sopranos on A&E, and it is just as darn good as the first time.

MPRE Review

I had my MPRE review session yesterday and it went well. First off, it ended an hour and half before it said it would, so that was a good way to start off. (It left me time to go vote after it was over.)

It was a taped review, with the instructor being some lawyer out of Illinois. We got the BAR/BRI MPRE review book yesterday, as well as a fill in the blank outline. The instructor was very clear in going over the rules. The fill in the blank outline will be very helpful in studying for the exam, which is in about 2 weeks. He said the best things we could do is study that outline, do as many of the practice test as we could, and read through the MPRE book at least once.

I did one practice test last night and did pretty well. I hope to at least start on another one today.

I just wish the rest of the bar review and exam would be this easy, but I know it will not be. I talked with some of the folks from our school who took the exam last week, and they said it was brutal.

Dog Fight

The whole Michael Vick (I think that is his name) thing is horrible. I guess he is a football player. I don't know much about him! Unfortunately the one thing I do know about him is that he is involved, allegedly, with dog fighting. I have heard of dog fighting for years and hated the idea of it, and really don't like pit bulls, but I don't think I really thought about it. The videos they have been showing on the news about the dogs in the pit are terrible, horrible. But they bring to light what you are really talking about when you talk about dog fighting. They say people from all walks of life, all over the country, meet in secret to watch these things. I can't believe it. What is wrong with people? These people are evil. It makes me sick.

There are those who get upset when people have a more visceral reaction to animal abuse than people abuse. First of all, I don't really think that is true. You just have to remember the reactions people had when some of these children lately have been abducted and/or killed to realize that people had a visceral reaction about this too. I think what gets people upset is that more people tend to think of animals as things and that it is OK to abuse them or torture them. That somehow it doesn't matter. Well, it does matter. Anyone who participates in animal abuse, or watches it, is very sick. There is definitely a connection to animal abuse and people abuse. If one abuses animals, they will also abuse children. We don't have to choose which one to get upset about; there is plenty of room to be upset about both.

My Man Bill Maher

I am crazy about Bill Maher. He is my favorite comedian, but more than that, I think he is very smart about politics. (He is cute too!) I don't agree with him on everything, of course, but it is amazing how much my views match his. I loved his old show, Politically Incorrect. It was my favorite show, followed by second favorite show, Nightline. I even sat in his studio audience once for Politically Incorrect. I loved being there, despite the fact that you had to get to the studio an inordinate amount of time before the taping. I was sitting to his right, and we made eye contact during the night. I loved it!

I even like to fantasize that I had something to do with the evolution of his show. While sitting in the audience, they had cards for us to fill out about who we would like to see on the show, and I wrote, "my friends." Shortly after that, he started featuring regular people on the show--people who weren't celebrities or politicians, just average people. I really wanted to be one of those people too! Oh well.......

I hated the fact that he got booted from ABC after his 9/11 comment. He was scheduled to speak here in Nashville around that time, and that show got cancelled. It had nothing to do with anything or anyone in Nashville cancelling it--I heard that ABC made him cancel all of his appearances. I was so disappointed. I wanted to see him live again!

His new show on HBO is also very good. I wish it were on all year round, instead of being seasonal. I really like his take on things, and my sense of humor is also a lot like his too.

No charges for NOLA Doctor

Yesterday it was announced that the grand jury looking into the case of the doctor and two nurses in New Orleans accused of mercy killing is not going forward with the indictment. To me, that is good news indeed. The doctor and two nurses otherwise might have been charged with second degree murder of some elderly patients in the Katrina aftermath.

I guess if you were a family member of one who died you might want to lash out and seek vengence. But I think the doctor and the nurses did what they thought best. I can't imagine the fear that would have been facing everyone regarding these patients' fates. I haven't kept up with all of the facts, but they might have been afraid the patients would die of dehydration, lack of medical care, heat, or drowning even. What a nightmare. Knowing that this group of people, the grand jury, made this decision, gives me hope that people do have their heads on straight sometimes.

Venture Philanthropy

Venture philanthropy is a neat new business model whereby charities and investors team up to raise money to fund such things as therapies for orphan diseases. Case in point: the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. CF affects only 30,000 people in the U.S., a population too small to get the attention of drug manufacturers. CF has taken the initiative to raise money to fund its own research and early clinical trials. This helps make the research less risky for biotech companies, which can then take up the mantle and fund the research and trials at a later stage. This strategy has worked: CF now has a pipeline of drugs and therapies that look very promising.

CF is a terrible disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. Those with CF used to die in childhood; now the life expectancy is 37 years. Although this signals progress, for my friend who is in her early 30s and has the disease, it is a frightening prospect. For her, a cure can't come a day too soon.

Information on CF can be found at http://www.cff.org/. If you are so moved, please make a donation. Thirty thousand people and their friends and family will be ever so grateful.


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I am watching the pilot episode of the new show, Damages. Hmmmm, the jury is out......

Court TV

I have to admit--I love Court TV. Well, most of the time. I do have some gentle suggestions for them. Show less of Cops. It gets old. At night, rerun highlights from the daytime Best Defense and other real court scenes. There are too many of us who work during the day and miss out. I do see Best Defense when I come home for lunch. But another suggestion--let's see less of Phil Spector. The guy is a bizarre freak. Enough already. It was interesting at first, but now it is just old news. And I mean old, as in Phil. Surely there are other real live trials going on somewhere that you could interlace with old Phil. Don't ya think?

Speaking of Court TV, one of the trials they did show in between sessions of Phil was the Mary Winkler case. That was a case from Tennessee. Mary, a preacher's wife, was charged and convicted of killing her husband. She had gotten involved in one of those Nigeria email scams and had caused the family to go into financial problems. One morning she shot her husband while he lay in bed, and then she took their three daughters and headed to the beach.

Long story short: she was caught and convicted, but served hardly any time at all. I don't have the time right now to go back and list all of the details about the charge and time served. But apparently preacher Winkler had a bad temper and was mean to her. It sounds like he wasn't too nice to their children either, at least the baby. He threatened Mary many times with the shotgun that she shot him with. I don't know the defenses that her lawyer used, but it may very well have been the battered women syndrome. (Think Farah Fawcett in the movie The Burning Bed.) That defense is a viable defense now. I have heard many men comment how she got away with cold blooded murder, or joke that they will have to sleep with one eye open now that women can get away with murder. It just shows that many men really don't understand the issue of battered women. But they might have also voted the way the jurors did if they had been in the jury room and heard all of the details that the public did not hear.

Godfather!

Last night I finally watched the Godfather--all three movies. Bravo channel showed its chronological two-part series containing all three movies. I had never seen any of them, so I settled in for the nine-hour event with my two guys--my dog and cat. But because it was nine hours long, I did do some other things during that time and kept one eye on the TV, so I still missed some of the details. But at least I got the gist. And I liked it a lot. In honor of it, I had a dinner of red wine and ziti--oh wait--that is the Sopranos! I did see some many similarities to the Sopranos, such as the guy named Paulie, and the reference to the guy swimming with the fishes. I have a funny feeling that the guy played by Al Pacino never owned up to Kay Adams that he had been married before, but then again that might have been one of the things I missed when I was trying to do a little bit of housework or studying.

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When I went to the dentist a week or so ago, he talked me into buying a Sonic Care toothbrush. I didn't want to, because they are pricey, but he said it is really good for getting plaque off the teeth. I have to admit though it is wonderful--like a massage for the mouth. It really is a pleasure brushing your teeth with that thing.

More FEMA Foolishness

I think one of the most heartbreaking occurrences in the last few years has been the Katrina debacle. It totally tore me up, and I couldn't believe how some people were so cold hearted about it, in ways from blaming the victims themselves to not wanting New Orelans to come back.

And the way the governments responded was disgusting. The local, state, and federal governments all dropped the ball.

Here's an unbelievable tidbit from yesterday's paper, which came from the Washington Post. Titled ""FEMA didn't heed workers' concerns," it said that since early 2006, FEMA has suppressed warnings from its own field workers about health problems experienced by hurricane victims living in the government-provided trailers. Apparently the trailers have levels of a toxic chemical 75 times the recommended maximum for U.S. workers, congressional lawmakers said Thursday. The article pointed out that the agency's lawyers rejected a proposal for systematic testing of the levels of potentially cancer-causing formaldehyde gas in the trailers, out of concern that the agency could be legally liable for any hazards or health problems.

Do you think??????????

How much worse can this scenario get? I don't know, but it seems like they are working at making it as horrible as possible.

That is too bad, as from what I hear FEMA actually used to be a great agency. It was lean and could react quickly and properly. Of course, that was before the present administration. Maybe someday FEMA can get back on its feet. I think it would be satisfying to work for an agency or company that helped coordinate relief efforts.

Speaking of Katrina, I won a piece of artwork at an art auction a couple of years ago called Triplets of Katrinaville. It is a clear box filled with "found items" in New Orleans following the hurricane and the flood. In the box are three identical dolls dressed in brightly colored raincoats, along with other items found near them. It is poignant piece of art. Hopeful and depressing at the same time. I have not hung it yet. Not sure why, but maybe am a little afraid to? Don't know why I say that, but it has remained in the bag in which I brought it home. I will hang it soon. Maybe this weekend.

Last Minute MPRE

Well, I signed up for the MPRE BAR/BRI review at the absolute last minute today. I signed up for the actual MRPE test (professional responsibility) at the last minute too--July 3. Today was the deadline to sign up for the review, and I had to drive my application and check downtown. This is consistent with all of my law school applications so far--I didn't even start on my law school application until two weeks before it was due, and I had to drive it over to the school on the deadline day. Not only that, but the office was closed and I had to slide it under the office door. But I still got my acceptance letter about two weeks later!

Hard to believe--I will be taking the ethics part of the bar exam on August 10. I had the ethics course my first year in law school and found it easy. The ethics rules for lawyers are straightforward and simple, but the applications of the rules can be a little tricky. I will study my arse off for this test for the next several weeks (at the expense of my housework and sleep, I am sure). More on this later.

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Tammy Faye--oh my. She was on Larry King tonight, and she is in the last stages of lung cancer. It is hard to look at what cancer does to the body. I am not comfortable at all with how it makes a body wither away. It is very frightening. I really look forward to the day they cure the big C in all of its variations. I think Tammy was as guilty as her former husband in bilking fans of the PTL club, and I wonder if that is not why she keeps appearing on TV and making more serious religious statements--to try to atone for some of that.

I used to watch the PTL Club --Tammy and Jim Bakker's show--out of desperation for entertainment back in the days before Nashville had cable. Yes, Nashville was sort of late in the cable game--we had cable in PA back when I was a child--and when we moved to Nashville were shocked that the city had no cable TV. (Of course now it has anything you could possibly want in the cable realm and has for some time.)

I used to do freelance proofreading and had to stay up late finishing the manuscripts. I would proofread at my kitchen table with a little TV on it, and have PTL on to keep me company because there was nothing else on to watch. It was so obviously a sham that it was funny. I got hooked watching it, waiting to see what other hilarious stuff they would pull. During the hour show, there was only about 10 minutes worth of anything religious, the rest was all a plea for donations and shots of their warehouse. Then back at work the next day, another man and I would have a recap of the previous night's silliness. We would have fun talking about it, but always felt bad that so many people were obviously taking their show seriously and sending them a lot of money that they couldn't afford.

Nashville--Condos Rising

Everywhere you look in downtown Nashville, you see hip new condo buildings going up. It is pretty exciting. I think a lot of people want to live closer to work and to town, and also to a more diverse population. Driving in from the burbs is not for everyone.

I know--I was an early adopter and bought a condo in the hip mid-town market before it was hip. And is it paying off now. People told me I could get a bigger condo--more bang for my buck--if I bought one out from town. But I didn't want to. I like to live where people are walking and milling about--where you feel close to the action, even if all you do is drive by the restaurants and the stores! Out in the burbs I might feel isolated.

There is a very ugly building next door to me, and it is coming down soon. Not a moment too soon for me. I am a preservationist at heart, but tearing this building down is kind--even though it is more than 50 years old. As one person said, it was an eyesore the day it was put up.

The building has housed an odd assortment of residents, some of them musicians. The one nice thing about the building has been the occasional impromptu outdoor concert from some up and coming artist.

But that is not enough to make me like the building. It is ugly, and getting uglier by the minute. The management has not been taking care of the building, so it has gotten progressively worse looking. People throw furniture out by the dumpster, and it stays, and stays, and stays....

The other night a group of people must have been having a final farewell party, because people were laughing and carrying on outside my bedroom window till at least 3 in the morning, maybe later, but 3 is when I think I dozed off.

I walked my dog this evening and took a good look at the monstrosity. It looks even creepier tonight as only a few residents remain, and most windows are dark. Eeek!

JG

JG--RIP--7/16/07

My last law school registration, sigh

I registered today for the last time for law school. I am still sort of tired from last year (maybe that is because I still stay up too late to watch TV and other things), and it is not that I am looking forward to getting into the law school fray again. But I am really going to miss law school. Not the expense, not the stress, but I am going to miss the study of law and the community that is there. I guess I am just that kind of person--I love activities that involve a group of people with a common goal. I have run marathons and been in marching bands in the past, which gave me the same sense of community and fulfillment.

Don't get me wrong--law school is an individual effort. When it comes down to it, you are taking the tests yourself, and you are trying to do the best individual job you can. But it is also a group effort in that you are taking classes together, studying together, laughing and complaining together, and comparing notes on all sorts of subjects, some of which are law.

The courses I signed up for are constitutional law, conflicts of law, two courses dealing with financial thingies, domestic relations, mortgages, first amendment, social security disability, and moot court. I am happy that my moot court team from last year is staying together. Hope we do as well on our case as we did last year.

Politickin is Alive and Well in Nashville

After work, I went to the office of my candidate of choice for mayor of Nashville and volunteered my services. The race for mayor, vice mayor, and city council will be held in a couple of weeks, and the race is alive and dynamic. About 120 people are running for office in this election, and I find that heartening--that that many people would want to devote their time to the growth of our city.

Nashville is a neat place and getting better all of the time. We need to elect a mayor and vice mayor who will continue taking this city forward--in other words, we need to elect one of the progressives. Both of the progressive candidates would be fine, but I am voting and volunteering for the one whom I have known for quite a while. He will be good for this city and he cares. There is one candidate for mayor who would definitely take us at least a few good steps backward, and we don't need that. I am a little late in volunteering, but I did bring home a stack of postcards to send out.

This is the first time I have personally known a number of the candidates in a race-at least four or five, or more if you include acquaintances. This is exciting to me

Have to admit that I watch reality TV. Not all of the shows--definitely not the chef or runway model type shows, but I do watch the romance and makeover type shows. Tonight I have been trying to decide which to watch: the Age of Love, where the 20- and 40-year old women battle for the 30-something year old man, or Extreme Makeover, where a couple from a PA town near where I am from, are both getting makeovers.

I read in the online version of my old hometown paper that the couple said if they had the chance to do the makeover show over, they wouldn't, because of all the time they had to miss from work. Wonder if any participants in the romance shows ever feel that way. I bet they do.

The guy sent a 20-year-old woman home tonight. She seemed to cry all the time on the show. And she was so catty about the older women. hmmmmm.

Now I am watching Dateline, which is featuring a murder in Knoxville. The man who committed the murder apparently was a member of the same marching band that I was.

A Kinder, Gentler CEO

Sometimes you see into someone's heart and are so very pleased. That happened to me today. My relative who is the head of our manufacturing company is not an emotional man and not even particularly empathetic. This morning, however, he went to the intensive care unit to see JG. I mentioned earlier that JG, a retired worker of our company, is a wonderful man who just had a terrible tragedy: He had an aortic aneurysm, and if he hadn't been taken to the hospital so quickly--in 10 minutes--he would not have lived. But he lost so much blood, they had to amputate both legs because of fear of gangrene. It has been a terrible week-and-a half for him. His kidneys have failed, he has blood clots in his head and arm, and they think the gangrene is coming back. It is just unbelievable to me. His poor wife.

My relative went to the hospital to talk with him this morning. JG hasn't regained consciousness, but the nurses and doctors are pretty sure he can hear. My relative sat on his bed and talked for about 45 minutes about how much it meant to him to have worked with him, how he was handpicked as one of the best men to help start the company, and how his hard work had helped make it a success. He talked about the good times over the years, and how much his friendship had meant. JG raised his hand a few times, and the two men held hands. It brings tears to my eyes. I never would have known about this had my relative's wife not told me. I am sure my relative would have never mentioned to me.

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Speaking of kind and gentle CEOs, Vanderbilt University's chancellor, Gordon Gee, has resigned. It came as quite a shock, as he only gave a few weeks notice. Usually a university president or chancellor will give a lot of notice, sometimes even a year. He is going back to Ohio State, where he served as president before. I got my master's degree at Vanderbilt and like Gee very much. I think he did a lot for the university. He is going through a divorce, and maybe he feels like he needs a different situation right now. I predict that someone who works at VU right now will be named the next chancellor.

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In my feeble attempt at cleaning up my condo this weekend, I tried to tackle my mound of paper. This mound includes junk mail, real mail, and things I just haven't dealt with yet. In that mound was a realtor's book I had picked up went I went to my hometown in northwestern PA earlier this summer. I still hadn't looked at it. I held my breath as I opened it, as I was hoping I would not see my grandparent's former home listed. I didn't. I knew it really wouldn't be in there, but I was going to be distraught if it was. I would like to buy that home back someday, but don't have the money now. But I want it back in the family.

Speaking of Burnout......

I think when we talk about burnout, we usually mean white collar burnout. That we are tired of our work, that it is not meaningful anymore, etc. But I don't think I ever hear about it in terms of blue collar burnout.

I feel that we are experiencing some of that at our manufacturing company. One 40-year old long time employee suddenly is missing a lot of work, which is wierd considering he has been an excellent employee. He is in danger of losing his job. I am afraid he is just tired of doing it. After all, he has worked there for 22 years, starting at age 18. He gets paid well and has good benefits, but there is no room for growth for him at the company, and it is terribly repetitive work. Similarly, there is a 70 year old man, or close to that age, who is starting to miss a lot of work too. I don't think he is in danger of losing his job, but it is being noticed.

On the other hand, another man in his 70s had seemed disgruntled with his job, but then my relative put him in a more responsible position. He now seems a lot happier. To be honest, however, there are not a lot of opportunties like this for people there though.

As I go forward towards helping to run the company, I want to figure out what will help motivate blue collar people. I know that earning money and having benefits is a motivator, but how do you keep people motivated year after year, when their job is not a vocation (in the calling sense)?

Touching Base With the Old Office

I had dinner last night with my best friend from my old editing office. I can't believe it has taken this long to get together. But because of my law school and his hectic schedule, we couldn't seem to get together until now.

I loved working there. The work was exciting and meaningful to me and I loved the people. Well, most of them. I did have a co-coworker that I wouldn't trust in a fox hole, and I did not like my last boss who came to work there about a year before I left. But other than that, it was great. We were like a big family. I was lucky.

The toxic boss is very confrontational and self centered. A number of us have left, and she has only replaced a couple of us, leaving everyone else in a real pickle about their workload. I feel so bad for them about this. I am afraid one by one all of them will face real burnout about their extreme work overload. The problem is, the job is good enough that you don't just want to leave for any but a real good reason. So, they will stick it out until something better comes along, or she leaves, whichever comes first. I hope it is the latter. From what he says, the higher-ups are starting to catch onto her. Thank goodness, but as always, it seems like it takes too long for people to figure it out.

Needed: Collegiality at Company

One minute I am talking about law school, and the next minute I am talking about my job at our manufacturing company. Hard to keep up with? I hope not--but I warned you that my life is flipping between different worlds and that it is going at 5,000 miles a minute! Plus I am posting a second post today, but I thought both of these deserved their own title.

So much for being able to correct my own mistakes. OK--I can correct most of my mistakes at this point, but yesterday I entered a credit memo wrong in the billing. Yeah--big deal. But a few at work found this to be breaking news or something. My future partner at the company and I talked about this after hours, and agreed that we need to make the environment at the company more cooperative and collegial. I come from a very collegial environment (OK, not everyone was collegial all the time, but it was recognized as an important goal), and I think it is a good way to operate. If collegiality is a goal, then teamwork will be easier to achieve. Like finding a more respectful way to show someone they have made a mistake, etc. The way they go on about things like that at our company, it is pretty clear they don't have enough to think about.

About Those Huge Salaries for New Law Graduates.......

National Law Journal, July 9

"About that huge salary: It's a longshot. Most law grads face lower pay and debt."

Interesting article--it says that basically the large salaries for new law graduates that you hear about are few and far between, and that most law grads find more modest salaries while facing huge debt. I understand this problem quite well. It makes me happy at this point in my life that I am going to a lower tuition school. I may not have the extensive network of some of the elite schools, but I sure won't have the debt, and I won't have to make career choices based on how much money I have to make to pay off such an extensive loan.

Summer Quickly Passing

It is only a month before law school starts, and I am starting to freak out. I have so many personal projects to do in that time, mostly involving organizing both my home and my law school material. I also have to review as much as I can for the MPRE test and some of the other subjects I have already had. Plus I need to lose weight, exercise......and save the world! Well maybe not save the world, but I do have a lot on my plate.

Just going to talk about odds and ends tonight. It is nice at work to know enough to correct my own mistakes. Like in billing and ordering at our manufacturing company, for instance. When I first started, I would make a mistake and have no idea how to fix it. And my relative could be such as ass about my making mistakes. Even though, he makes mistakes, but I guess that doesn't count. But now, a lot of the time, when I make a mistake, I know that I made a mistake and know how to fix it. And that is a nice feeling. And I am getting better at dealing with numbers, which is a conquest for this word person.

At my last meeting with my language partner, she brought up the dreaded D word, as in "dog." As in dog that you eat, I guess. I have heard all of those stories about Chinese eating dog, but frankly I can't stomach it. When we got together the other night, I think she said how dog dishes differ depending on what city in China you are in. I am hoping I misheard her. I just would not be able to eat dog. Sorry.

I vaguely heard the news that Al Qaida is upset over Salman Rushie. Surprising since the brouhaha over his book was quite a while ago. I remember it very vividly as, Ayatollah Khomeini threatened to blow up a British Airways jet the same week I was flying on a British Airways jet to Spain. I wasn't going to stay home because of that, but I admit I was pretty nervous because of it.

Sadness Hits the Company

I came back to work today after a week's vacation to hear some sad news. JG, one of the company's original employees, suffered a serious illness last week. He celebrated the 4th of July, and then the very next day suffered an aortic aneurysm.

I saw a note on the bulletin board that he was in the hospital--my first thought was maybe he had an operation. About an hour later, another employee walked in and told me what happened. I couldn't believe it. Apparently, he just doubled over, and another relative found him on the floor at home and got him to the hospital. His aneurysm burst, and blood just drained from his body. He has not regained consciousness, and they have had to amputate both legs above the knee. When he lost so much blood, his legs were quickly in danger of becoming gangrenous. He didn't know he had an aneursym. I have looked on the web, and there are some symptoms and ways to screen for aneurysms. But I also read that sometimes men over 50 don't have symptoms of aneurysms.

I am not a kid anymore, but I still don't think I believe in my mortality. So things like this shake me to my core. JG is such a wonderful person. He retired a few years back but came into the office a few months ago, and he looked so healthy and alive. It's hard to believe this happened. I can't help but think what if this happened to me. Being in a coma is one thing--you might call it a blessing in this case. I can't imagine this happening first off--then to possibly awake and find that you don't have your legs is horrific. I can't imagine the horror.

When my relative and his partner started the company almost 40 years ago, JG was handpicked to help get the fledgling company off the ground. He devoted his life to the company. Our company bucks the trend in that we hire relatives--many people who work there also have a mother, a brother, a grandmother, a son, who work there. JG's brother, son, and sister-in-law have all worked for the company. I have known him since I was a teenager. Not only do we cry for JG as a fellow former employee, but we also cry for him as a member of the family.

Road Review--Contracts

I drove home to Nashville today, listening this time to contracts tapes. It was a good review--hearing things I hadn't heard since first year law school. I really think torts is more interesting than contracts, but contracts will be more applicable to my job at the business. (Although I can see some problems of negligence creeping into my responsibilities as well.) The problem with both subjects--torts and contracts--is that they are taught first year, when everyone is freaked out by law school and worried about flunking out (At my school, they still flunk people out.). You are freaking out so much, you lose a lot of the subject matter, so it is good to go back over it. It seems so much easier a few years later. I was reminded about LACC, and a lot of good other mnemonics. Next, I need to review property, criminal law, and civil procedure!

Driving through Knoxville, I stopped for an early dinner at Sam and Andy's. Anyone who went to the University of Tennessee is very familiar with their famous delis. They used to have several restaurants near campus, but now I think just have the one restaurant in West Knoxville. It is a real treat indeed and takes my back to my undergraduate days there.

On the Road Again.....

I will be leaving early in the morning to go back home. The drive from Charlottesville to Nashville is an easy and relaxing one. You first go over Afton Mountain, then head down to Lexington, VA, then Roanoke, then go past Virginia Tech, then Bristol, Knoxville, then hit Cookeville, and you are home! After about nine hours, that is. I always get a little sad when I leave a vacation to go home. I really like vacation because it gets you out of your regular routine, and I am just a vacation hound! I also don't get any more vacation this summer, so it is like there is really nothing else to look forward to this summer. If I had my way, the U.S. would give everyone a month of vacation like they do in Europe.

I went to the movie Evan Almighty today by default. We were going to go see Ratatouille, but it was sold out. I am usually not crazy about movies like Evan Almighty, but it was actually good. One of the neatest things was the suggestion that Acts of Random Kindness (Ark) could change the world. Good idea.

Mighty Mount Vernon

Being low on money and time, I am trying to squeeze in a real vacation while visiting my sister in Charlottesville, Virginia. Today we went to Mount Vernon, home of George Washington, our first president. It is about two hours from Charlottesville, close to Washington, D.C. My sister is an architectural historian by education, and she explained to me how the house was made of wood, but they used sand to cover the wood on the outside to make it look like block. It really makes an impressive finish and is certainly unusual and maybe even unique in house building materials. George Washington was about 22 when he inherited this beautiful house overlooking the Potomac. I came away with a greater appreciation of George and thinking he was quite the man. It would be interesting to sit down and talk to him. I wondered, if he were alive today, what business would he be in? What would be his passions and his politics?

Tonight on PBS, I got to watch one of my favorite shows, East Enders, which takes in London. The PBS channel in Nashville doesn't show it anymore. I used to date a man from Bristol, England, who said he hated that show. But I like it. The shows I saw tonight were repeats, but it reminded me how much I miss it. I also got to see a show that featured Bob Dylan, which showed clips from when he was very young.

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I have to become a smarter commenter. I have posted a few comments on others' blogs only to figure out a few moments later that they are old blogs--the authors haven't posted on there themselves for a year or more! No need to post on stale blogs.

Missing Meme

It's been three years since my grandmother died, and I miss her so much. I wear her diamond ring, and everytime I look at it, I remember her words to me: "It always comes down to you and me." When I see the diamond ring, I think, yes, that is true. In many ways, she was my rock. I had saved some of her voicemail messages on my phone, and I was still able to hear her wish me a happy birthday, a Merry Christmas, Happy Easter, etc. It was very comforting. Every five days, Bellsouth would send a prompt asking me if I wanted to save or delete my archived messages, and of course I saved them. Then AT&T took over BellSouth, and in one swoop, without any warning, wiped out my voicemail messages. I won't be able to hear my grandmother's voice again. I complained to AT&T, telling them they don't know how much I lost by that and how devastating it is to me. But they just acted like, "Oh well." I don't understand why a company would not have the foresight to send out a message warning their customers of this change. It breaks my heart.

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Today in Virginia, my sister and I went to a local book fair, where we got some great books at a huge discount. I bought a book on Tony Blair for my mother, some pleasure books for myself as well as a constitutional law legal briefs outline for me (hope it is keyed to my textbook for next year--we haven't heard what our textbooks are yet), and a great slang dictonary for my Taiwanese language partner. I can't wait to give it to her. It is really thick, and I wish I had time to read through it myself. I will give it to her Tuesday when we have our last meeting before she moves to New York.

I almost resisted, but I also bought a book on marketing for my new job. I will need to get in the swing of marketing soon. I almost didn't buy it, because there were tons of business books there, and I wasn't sure this was the right one for me to buy. I kept thinking I could buy a similar book later. But I went back and got the marketing book off the shelf. I opened it and was struck by the fact that the page where I opened talked about the very product that we produce! I couldn't believe it! I told my sister, and she said this was an example of "shopping destiny." I like that term.

Online Business

I had my first "online" date today in quite a while. I am a member of match.com, but hid my profile a few months ago. I needed to save money and was getting frustrated with inappropriate matches--men who just seem to want to email forever, but never really meet in person, etc.. and wanted to take a break. The unusual thing was this date was out of town--I am still visiting my sister in Charlottesville, and had lunch today with someone who lives here. He contacted me right before I took my profile down, and we have emailed and talked on the phone a few times. I told him I would be visiting this week, and he suggested we get together. We had a very nice lunch at a private club. He seems nice and is quite a gentleman. Don't know if it is a romance, but it could be a friendship at least. I visit this town several times a year, so it would be nice to have a friend here.

I plan to put my profile back up in the fall, with a new photo and refreshed text. I may even switch online dating services. After you have been on the same site for a while, you keep seeing the same faces.

Some people seem to think that online dating has had its heyday and is starting to wane. I hope that is not true, because it does let you to meet people who might otherwise never cross your path. But like anything else, it has its drawbacks, including the aforementioned people who never want to meet in person, and the fact that it can be a time waster. But I have gotten to meet at least a handful of people I have liked, and even ran across two men I went to high school with!

When I first started online dating, I took it seriously and had some good success. But as time went on, I didn't pay attention to it, and started having less great results. I guess like anything, if you put some effort into it, it may pay off.

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I really like this template for my blog. It has called "harbor." I love the water, boats, lighthouses, and harbors, so just looking at this makes me feel peaceful.

1/4 of a Fourth

I am feeling a little frustrated tonight, as I don't really feel like I had a Fourth of July. I am visiting my sister and her family, and we did have a great dinner outside (grilled steak and portobello mushrooms---yum!) and I did get to light about 4 sparklers, but that was the extent of my 4th. I like to see fireworks or do something special connected to the fourth, but nobody else seemed to want to do that. Sooooo, I feel kind of bummed and down about that. But I guess another year will bring more Fourth of July festivities.

Law and Order: Stupid Administration Unit

I really think there should be a new television show: Law and Order: Stupid Administration Unit that explores all the corrupt and just plain stupid acts the president and his administration seem to do on a regular basis. I will get back to that in a minute.

In typical fashion, I left on my trip to visit my sister in Virginia much later than planned. Didn't leave the house until almost 11 a.m., which put me here in Charlottesville at midnight. I made a couple of stops along the way, which made the trip longer.

I spent most of the trip listening to torts tapes. Why in the world did I do that? I had torts three years ago. I wanted to listen to the tapes because I am taking the bar exam in a year, and I need a refresher. If I don't do that refresher now, once school starts again, there will be no chance. I'll be caught up in all the 4th year classes, and the refresher idea will go out the window. It is amazing how much easier it is to understand torts now when you have two more years of law school under your belt. As a first year, it was overwhelming and confusing. I really think that torts is one of the most interesting subjects--covering everything from med mal to slip and fall cases. One of the most hilarious cases I remember from torts class was one we called "Stirring the Shit." It was about this subdivision which contained a small lake that got polluted from sewage from the homes. It was discovered that if someone drove a boat everyday in the lake, and stirred up the sewage, it wouldn't smell. That was a fun night in class. We said that driving that boat would have to be one of the worst jobs in the world.

In between the tapes in the car, I took a radio breather. A lot of the news was about Scooter Libby. I heard some interesting things, including that one of the reasons the president probably commuted Libby's sentence was so he wouldn't turn on Bush and Cheney and spill the beans on them. I wouldn't doubt this for one minute.

Exhaustion Rules (Again)

Here it is early July, and I still feel exhausted from law school finals. I work full time and go to night law school, and rarely get more than 5 hours of sleep a night during the school year. So my sleep deficit is huge! The problem tonight is that I am going on a road trip tomorow (going up through the Shenandoah Valley, and I have not packed yet. I also have a few chores to do before I leave. But I am so tired now, I am tempted to go on to bed and do all of this in the morning. But then I will get started later than I want, and with the nine hour drive, will arrive at my destination once again hours after I want to.

But I guess that is what I will have to do. If I don't go to bed soon, I will fall asleep at my computerzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............

Culture Through Coffee

I just joined Technorati, and I am excited. The first step to making this blog really live, I think. I want to use this blog to explore my switch in careers, my experiences in going to night law school, and just maintaining a personal life! So a little bit of everything will be thrown in here.

Today I met my Taiwanese language partner for breakfast. We were paired up at the business school we both used to be affiliated with, and for nearly two years we have been meeting at least once a week for coffee, and sometimes a meal. We both signed up for a program that paired native and non native English speakers to let the students practice their English and more importantly to learn American slang. It turns out that many of them know formal English but would get stymied when they were out and about and someone threw slang at them, such as a server in a fast food restaurant. They would not understand what was being said to them. So learning slang and American popular culture is part of the goal.

I really have enjoyed getting to know my partner and being involved in this. At first, I was worried I wouldn't have enough to offer an international business student (I was a staff member at the business school), but we quickly fell into a nice routine. It turned out we were one of the more successful pairings. I also benefitted from our get-togethers. I didn't attempt to learn Mandarin Chinese in the time we were together, but she did tell me about Taiwanese customs and lifestyle. We will only get to meet one more time before she moves to New York City for her new job. I will really miss her, but she has invited me to come visit her and I definitely will!

I think doing things like this is good for a career in business. Many people seem to be afraid or dislike globalization, but I think it is exciting.