Typically of Two Minds in BookThree: Flight Log 2016

(1) Last night, I was trying to really put my finger on my issues with this place. Because… yeah, it sucks that I’m not getting help… but in previous jobs, I’ve been able to rise above or bounce back a bit quicker. Or at least, get myself to “appears to be passing.” So… maybe it is the stress of the job? Or maybe the stress of the move? Maybe it is the city itself.

So I started thinking… what does my brain focus on when I think of the ideal? If this is so far removed from the life I want… I had better think about what the world I want looks like. In that way, I can try to find elements of it around me (maybe) and at least have something to focus on.

So I thought and thought and… you know what? I don’t actually want that much. I want a house that can fit me and my wife and a few guests (and/or children) comfortably that still has room enough for collections and recreations. I want to be in a job that gives me enough money to reach for my desires, but doesn’t require me to spend all of my time away from my family. And mostly? I want to be somewhere where Wife and friends or future children can go to a Symphony Concert… take in some Live Theater… catch rare Social Activist Films… volunteer at off the wall, boundary pushing events. I want to live in a community where I could just as easily see a Concerto as a Comic Book Store. Because that is who I am. I’m the guy that had to leave swim practice early to get changed for an Orchestra Concert before play rehearsal started. And no, I don’t have the energy to do 1700 things at once anymore… but what I want?
I want the money, the freedom, and the city… that will allow my wife to investigate her passions… that will allow us to take in any show (from Movie to Theater to Concert)… that isn’t too far away from a forest or wilderness… a city where getting together with friends is a phone call, not a calendar marker… where seeing family is as easy as stopping by. So yeah. Where I really want to be… is back in Des Moines. And without mentioning any of this to Wife… I asked her where she would like to be. After experiencing a town of 6,000, a town of 60,000, a town of 250,000, and a town of 500,000… where would she most like to be? She said Des Moines. So… that’s what we want. What we both want. We want to go back to Des Moines. The question… the struggle… the problem… how do we get back there?

(2) Other thought… because as with many things I have two thoughts simultaneously… I am envious of Wife. On a lot of things. No matter what day I wake up, she is sleeping in. Even on days where she has to work. She sleeps until nine or ten before waking up. ENVIOUS. Granted, I’m sure there were a few days like that for her back in Omaha. But here it is every day… and I wake up thinking… dammit, I want to stay in bed. Another element, yeah she doesn’t like that she still works at Wal Mart.... but she knows her job. She knows how to do her job inside and out. And at no point in her day does she ever have to question what to do next, or how to comply with a demand. She’s reached the point where she can confidently and ably complete her day. ENVIOUS. Her job lacks “the stress of law.” I’m not saying her job isn’t stressful, and this IS something I knew I’d be getting into… but some days, when the stress gets too much… I envy her for the job where… a mistake might mean a delay for a customer.... if I make a mistake, I’m letting an abusive parent get away with it. I’m envious of her free time. She works three days a week. With no calls after hours… no midnight phone calls needing paperwork drawn up quickly. She works for 25 hours then comes home. Granted, I was part time for a while in the Law Library… but that’s why I’m envious. I remember what it was like to have free time. And yeah, I go crazy with too much free time… but why is it always an extreme in the working adult world? Either sitting around waiting for a job, or working all the time.

And yeah… when I say envious, I’m not… like… resentful or angry or anything. I just… kind of despise the situation? Like… I want to sleep in! lol. And… I suppose… because it isn’t what I expected. Wife has always said that without work, she’d be a lump. And on her days off, she often proves it. If she doesn’t have to go to work, often she just does nothing as she lacks the motivation to do anything. So… I suppose, I just… expected something else. Like… something where we both have at least 40 hours of work… and that isn’t to say we’re both employed full time but just… both doing stuff for 40 hours a week? I don’t know. It just seems odd to me, in some ways. That Wife, who doesn’t like Wal Mart but doesn’t leave but doesn’t work full time, again isn’t embracing her opportunity to discover what it is that she’d really like to do.
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So… court took forever. And then I had to help Wife with something at the courthouse. And then more court. And I am going to talk about it here:

Morning Court: NOT much going on. I had an In Absentia Case… those are happening a lot more often. You know why? Cuz a lot of my cases wind up breaking the law AGAIN and then don’t come to court because they know they will be arrested as soon as the hearing is over.
But… here’s a funny case… and a good example of Up North County bullshit.
Yesterday, I remembered that a case I thought may have gotten dismissed was going ahead. I called the Arresting Officer and apologized for the late notice, but informed him that we would need him to testify today. He understood, was very gracious, and was thankful to get the call. At 11 o’clock today, 30 minutes before trial, the magistrate is on the phone with my boss. When my boss tells her that she is handling the 11:30 case. I thought, certainly, she must be mistaken. I mean… the officer hadn’t been notified before I called, so it must be a different case. NOPE. The case I had worked on, she was taking. The case where, just the previous night, I informed THE LEAD WITNESS… she had planned to deal with. Here’s where it gets REALLY funny. So… she is taking this case… and she had not informed me, nor had she contacted the lead witness. She walks in with Phone Records that helps prove one of the three counts. So… between the two of us, we were able to gather the witnesses and the records for a single Simple Misdemeanor case. Do you see what I’m talking about with this cockamamie bullshit? We have to accidentally join forces to get a SIMPLE case dealt with. Never mind Serious Misdemeanors, Aggravated Misdemeanors, D Felonies, C Felonies, B Felonies, A Felonies, Juvenile Child in Need, Juvenile Delinquent, or Mental Health cases. We, this county, and I are fucked.

Then I decided it was a good time to help Wife get Pappy’s car in her name. You see, one of the things Pappy wanted to do before he died was get me his car. Getting me his car meant Wife was going to get it as she commutes a bit farther to work than I do! The car, btw, is tricked out. SAT Radio, Seat Warmers, Huge Storage, SAT NAV… the works. After Pappy passed, we spent 45 minutes in Polk County going over what needed to be done to get the car in my name/Wife’s name. So… bring it back to today. It is noon, we go into the Treasurer’s Office. Bitch behind the counter goes mental. Now… this is a DMV desk clerk for Up North County. I am (1) an attorney; (2) fresh out of law school; and (3) a County Employee. I say that because I know more about Trusts & Estates! I was arguing (entirely too politely and civilly then I should have) with this woman for AN HOUR. She refused to put the car title in my name because (1) It had to go to direct descendant, if your grandfather died it has to go to your father! (A) Bullshit, lady. Direct will and testament post-mortem gift. (2) If you have a brother, he has to sign a notarized statement saying he will not contest your right to the vehicle. (A) Bullshit, lady. Direct will and testament post-mortem gift, made in front of my brother. Also, why just the brother? If you knew DICK about estate law, you should realize that (technically) my brother and I are LEGALLY EQUAL to all cousins of lineal descent. If you need my brother to “sign away his interest” you should need my cousins to do the same! I’m on the phone with my dad at this point to see if he needs to get the Polk County Treasurer on the phone… when suddenly, Desk Bitch decides to “go ahead and do it, but under extreme protest! It isn’t on my head if the county gets sued.” WHAT?! Stupid… mother fucking… GRARGH!

And here’s a funny. So, my dad… hearing all of this… getting a first hand taste of Up North County’s extreme bullshit (that I deal with daily)… and he’s still trying to say, “That’s just how things work. It isn’t just your county.” Really? You’re going to tell me that all lawyers get a lecture from a maybe College Grad about the laws of Trust and Estate? Cecilia heard about all of the bullshit we went through with this lady and knew, instantly, which lady it was. Because yes, she has a reputation for this shit. The DOT officer… the guy in charge of WRITING TICKETS ABOUT REGISTRATION… needed to go get his registration renewed. She argued with him for 45 minutes about how she wasn’t going to renew his registration for a million different reasons, until he got his supervisor on the phone… at which point, she did her damned job and said, “But I still think I’m right.” So… yeah. Welcome to my County!!

Then Afternoon Court. Only big thing that I had this afternoon was a mental health hearing for poor young woman. Seriously, this is where Two Face is great for me. On the one hand… fuck her. She is a drunk who puts herself and others at risk by her constant drinking and criminal activities. She belongs behind bars where we can force her to stay clean. BUT on the other hand… there is genuine pity. This is a woman with jaundiced skin, severe tremors, and her liver has SHUT DOWN… and she is 35. Her addiction is truly greater than her sense of survival, of self, of anything. She is physically sick because of her addiction, and… even though she is so sick because of her addiction, she is still incapable of getting over her addiction. So yeah… my heart goes out to her. But… she is screwed because this is Iowa. Shit. ANY one with a mental health disorder (from addiction to schizophrenia to bipolar to excitative psychosis) is screwed. Article 1. Article 2. Mental Health is a passion of mine. Truly. For a time in college, I was deeply interested in going into psychology. Unfortunately, a rather wicked teacher put me off that path pretty hard. But… I still care and don’t know what I, personally, can do. Because, hell… if the entire state house can’t do anything… it isn’t like I’ve got much of a shot.

That’s it for me for today. This evening will likely be House Unpacking and Cooking and etcetera. Tomorrow? Thursdays are for paperwork, organization, and prep. Because Friday? I don’t know how Friday is going to go. I just know… for certain… Friday is going to be rough. And I don’t know if I’ll do it right, if I’ll do it wrong… or what. But two passion cases are back up on Friday. God, I hope I don’t ruin ‘em.