A More Traditional Entry in BookThree: Flight Log 2016

This weekend went by quickly.

Saturday, I mostly did house chores and (finally) played a bit of video games. Wife and I had discussed attempting to be intimate that night; but when she came home she was thoroughly exhausted; so I didn’t push it. Instead, I made her some food and we watched “Rigor Mortis.” A good movie but (arguably) the last five minutes kind of ruin the whole experience. Then we discussed next weekend. I have a Pathfinder game in Omaha, but she has the whole weekend off. I told her that we could do whatever, then. I could cancel Pathfinder, and we could kick around Tiny Town; we could go to Ames, Des Moines or Fayette; or I could keep my Pathfinder Game and she could come to Omaha… we could make a weekend out of Omaha. She decided on Omaha. She really wants to go back to some of our old haunts and she REALLY misses the Alamo Drafthouse (again… we are legit Cinephiles). So that’s our next weekend planned already.

That night we had another storm. For some reason, storms around here are pretty intense. Extremely high wind every single time. Wife was actually a bit scared (she usually loves storms), and was having a hard time sleeping because of it. Though, when I would go to comfort her or try to put my arm around her… she strenuously objected. Don’t know what that’s about.

Sunday, we woke up and surveyed the damage. Our neighbor’s tree partially came down onto our tree and lots of large branches were scattered around our yard. Both Wife and I are positive the neighbors won’t take care of that tree… it’ll just stay there, fallen but hanging on our tree, until it is blown down. Fucking… neighbors/town that doesn’t give a shit about neighborhood appearances or neighborly decency. Bah. So, Wife and I spent most of Sunday collecting the tree debris, cutting the branches to more manageable sizes. Both of us got sore quickly but we probably took care of a good 85% of what was out there. We came back into the house and spent the night watching In Bruges and having a long talk about travel, movies, present and the past. In Brief: we’d both love to travel a lot more, but we know we need more money to do that and I would need a job where I could take time off (which I certainly can’t exactly do now). Movies, we discussed how I certainly have a type of movie… I prefer Hitman Comedies like “Grosse Pointe Blank” and “In Bruges” and “The Whole 9 Yards.” Whereas my wife loves Nature Documentaries and Deeply Depressing Horror. The good thing is, since we are just movie fans in general, we always like watching whatever the other suggests. Though… that has gotten us in trouble before… my wife has had us watch some very bizarre German Horror and I’ve tried to get my wife to watch movies like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (the 90s one) and “Howard the Duck.” We talked a bit about our present. How I’ve only been here since April (3.5 months) and she’s only been here since the last week in May (8 weeks) but for both of us, we feel like we’ve been here a lot longer. We’re not Goldilocks. We don’t need perfect. But, in my estimation, we’d both be a lot happier if one or the other happened: We lived in a small town that gave a shit about the community and was welcoming to new people OR we lived in a large town where we could get lost in the crowd and enjoy some (fucking) modern amenities. But it is what it is for now. Just have to keep pressing on.

Then last night… I dreamt of OWI cases. Yeah. I’ve reached that part of my career here. Where I am actually, actively dreaming about my case load. Uf.

Which brings us to today! Oddly, strangely, concerningly… I don’t have any cases going to trial this week… not even any small traffic bullshit on Wednesday. So… theoretically, this week could either SUCK because there is nothing to do or SUCK because everything is going to hit the fan all at once. Of course… it is possible neither scenario will happen… but that outcome is unlikely.

CRAP TACULAR! First twenty minutes of work… already have another reason to suspect my boss of some serious issues. Clerk of Court sent something in June saying “There’s a case with a guilty plea and an open arrest warrant. Please look into this as soon as possible as other state’s have arrested him because of this open warrant.” So… there is a legitimate concern for someone’s liberty as he is getting arrested for something he already pled to. HOWEVER this is a case that (1) happened in 2015, before I ever even applied for the job; and (2) literally has my boss’ name on it… she is the one who filed everything on the case. Well… fast forward to now: July. My boss hasn’t done anything about this. A man is arrested for something he’s already pled to, a liberty issue, on a case she personally filed last year… the Clerk of Court specifically requests special attention ASAP… and my boss just… didn’t do anything? Holy crap, lady!

But the morning itself has proven to be rather typical of (1) Sleepy Tiny Town; (2) Me In This Position; (3) My Ongoing Fight With My Own Brain.
Because… I spent the morning going through files, trying to understand cases that may never see the light of day, reviewing video evidence. But I didn’t tackle any of the external requests that I genuinely don’t know how to do. And I probably should have. If I have time, I should use that time to tackle the really difficult shit, right? Bah.

For Lunch Break; lets discuss Cracked.com articles, lol. Sort of but not really. An interesting Civics Lesson that we didn’t really get until I got to Law School was the complex nature of the Dual Sovereignty System used in the United States. Technically, each State is a sovereign… capable of making and passing whatever laws they choose. However, they are a sovereignty within a larger sovereignty… so the States may not pass laws about which the Federal Government has jurisdiction nor can they pass laws directly opposing federal laws. On paper, it can seem confusing. In practice… it can be downright insane. And that’s just State by State law. As far as personalities, values, etcetera… the “United” States of America are, in fact, very unique from each other.
Weird Ways America Changes State by State

Return from lunch to… still a mostly slow day. The “Notifications” on my Case Filing page has remained at 1 all day. An extreme rarity. It makes me happy that I did not come in on Saturday as I had originally intended.

I found myself in a strange place emotionally this afternoon. I was thinking “If I had gone to ISU for undergraduate and still wanted to be a lawyer and gone to Drake… I would never have had to leave Central Iowa!” And for some reason… that thought made me suddenly grateful that I went to UNI and Creighton. Not so much anything that came from those experiences… but the fact that I didn’t just cling to home… the fact that I took it upon myself to explore my state and even the neighboring state a little. I’m not some Globe Trotting Travel Master and I never will be. But I value learning and understanding experiences outside of my own. And for now, at least, I’m grateful that I made the decisions I did that allowed me that experience. Don’t be too happy, though. I’m sure I’ll go back to regretting those decisions and bitching about it any day now. lol.

Even though the work day isn’t quite over and done with, I think I’m going to hit save and let this publish. One thing I was supposed to do today (but didn’t) was call Navient. In the next few months, Wife and I can absolutely finish paying off law school debt (which will be nice) but I need to access my damned account which is having more trouble. Wife will likely be very angry that I didn’t call them during my work day; but my cell phone is dying and the Help Line is open until 9 pm… so… I think it’ll be okay. Wife and I also need to look into booking a hotel for Omaha for the weekend. It is funny… Omaha isn’t exactly a “big trip” for us (shit, we lived there for almost 5 years) but… we never go places, really. ESPECIALLY places that require a hotel stay. (Because we just haven’t had time/opportunity to really “vacation”). So… even if it is just going back to Omaha for a few days… it is a little exciting.