LAST ENTRY in Book One: The Not So Daily Briefs 2014

I was not going to post a last entry in here… simply allow my last post in this book to stand, start the 2015 book and hooray. But… today is a day that should be cataloged. ​Partly because of the Prosebox Issues (seriously, PB, are you going OD on us?) and partly because of work issues. And I figured… hell, I’ve spent too much of this book worried about spousal issues; it might be interesting to end this on a non-spouse note.

First, Prosebox issues because, at least in part, I want to see if this happened to other people. On the morning of December 31st (because who knows when I’ll be able to post this) I checked PB as I always do. UNLIKE always… the site took a good 3 minutes to load, and when it loaded I got Sad Panda screen. For those of you who have not reached that screen… it has a picture of a Panda and informs the user that a problem occurred, the admin has been notified. Okay. Went to work and after 3 hours, I checked the site again… because yes, I constantly check that site… I want to read what you guys write because (lets face it) I view all of you as friends and colleagues. THIS time… I got to Prosebox, I got to the login screen, typed my name and password… and was sent to the Sad Panda screen. Okay. Went to the facebook page, e-mailed the administrator of that page just to make sure it was a known issue, whateves. Waited about an hour before checking again.... yeah… this time 404 Not Found page error. This is the kind of error that rather terrifies me. I’d rather get the Sad Panda because 404 makes me worry that everything that has been saved to the website is now also gone. SO… really hoping PB isn’t going OD!

As to work? I should have known this was coming after Monday. Remember Monday where my supervisor (who, I’ll be honest, I have seniority over technically) scheduled himself for interview shifts and then didn’t show up? Meaning, he scheduled himself to work, didn’t show up, and his no call/no show screwed me in open court. Well… he continues to be a bright shinning beacon of fail. Yesterday, he realized that he had scheduled someone for a shift and… oh yeah, she’s been out of town for weeks. Maaaaybe a schedule issue that could have been acknowledged and fixed BEFORE the day of the shift needing to be covered. I didn’t come in to help because… I have to study and I have a busy-as-frell week this week. Then today. Today, a day where I am already scheduled to do all of the court shifts. Wait a minute… isn’t tomorrow a federal holiday? So… the courts will be closed… and our offices will be closed… which means that today, instead of 9 hours (as scheduled) I need to work 15 hours because we have extra court shifts that need to be covered? Yeah, I changed the billing chart… I’m not going to work two extra shifts and not get paid… but it bugs the shit out of me that (of course) in my busiest week, when I’m already behind with studying, when I have a crapton of obligations… of course my supervisor screws me in this way! I have a twelve hour shift on Friday… and even that looks like it will turn into 15 hours or more.

Definite proof that, no matter what is said, I cannot and will not work while I study for the bar. This is my last week here until the bar exam… and if they want to release me on those grounds, even though it’ll piss my wife off, they can!! I’d rather try to pass the bar exam and try to get a Lawyer job then stay in a sub-clerical position just because it pays. That may perhaps be the biggest difference between my wife and I. She is willing to stay in a job she hates, that she openly claims is stealing her soul, that she claims is harming our marriage, that she never stops complaining about… she’d rather stay there and make shit money than risk going anywhere else or doing anything else because there is too much risk. I’d rather make sure my law school pays off, find a job that uses my particular talents and education, and risk not being employed for a few months. I admit, part of my comfort in a decision like that is knowing I have family resources to fall back on before she and I would have to hit the Homeless Shelters but.... a lot of it comes from a firm Idea of Self. I’ve worked too hard for too long to not make a valid attempt at something better. I’m worth it. And that also is a big difference between my wife and I. I may hate a lot of things about myself, I may think poorly of many of my attributes, but I definitely think I am worth something… maybe not worth all of the DC Empire, but at least the cover price of the Batman Books. I don’t think my wife feels the same… I think she believes she may be worth something, but she’s not sure.

Well… since I was trying NOT to end this book on a spousal note… I’ll throw a brief thing here that could have been placed in Intellectual Conversations.
As we approach the new Calendar Year, I have one giant hope for our country. While it is important to protect our interests abroad, oppose tyranny where it exists, and protect justice where it is threatened… it feels like we’ve been ignoring Domestic Policy a lot! I get it… Domestic Policy is really hard right now. We’re creating jobs, but those jobs average almost $20k a year less than what they are replacing… we don’t want out of control government spending, but we do need our interstate bridges to have a structural integrity rating ABOVE 3/10… we want to end injustice in our country, but we need to remember to deal appropriately with the criminal elements.... in short, I get it. Domestic Policy is tough because, in a way, we need to do one thing AND its opposite… but ignoring Domestic Policy is foolish. And the alternative? I mean, there is an argument for the fact that we’ve ignored domestic policy recently but there is also this: Keystone XL is not the most important Domestic Issue. The Affordable Care Act is not the most important Domestic Issue. Yet these are the two Domestic Issues the parties seem concerned with most. You want to work a domestic issue that will get you rehired at the next election? STOP saying the economy is entirely fixed. STOP pretending that you’ve done your jobs wonderfully these last 8 years. START fixing this country. Infrastructure, Employment, Education, Oversight… things to consider and look into.

I suppose the TL;DR of this entry
(1) Prosebox… are you dying?
(2) GLAD to be leaving work soon; I would not be able to study at all if I had to put up with this crap much longer.
(3) I wonder if my wife will ever leave Wal Mart… and if she does, will she leave it only if I am the one making the money so she can just stay home and do nothing?
(4) My political wish for 2015 is that Domestic Policy becomes an issue of concern for our government.

With that- Happy New Year!! I will see you tomorrow in a new book with a new(ish) format (maybe) and answers to your questions!!