Surprising Days in BookThree: Flight Log 2016

I woke up this morning and was still so tired. Really getting sick of that. A classic sign of depression, of course, but there is also the fact that… well… this county is a dark, wintry place today and that certainly doesn’t help.

I took a full shower and morning routine… I am considering making routines more a part of my life again. They were once a cornerstone but as the world has gone so haywire this year, I’ve gotten out of practice. Perhaps, like it has before, it will make me more depressed because my days are the same day after day after day. Perhaps it will allow my mind to commit to more grand designs as the day to day will be taken care of via routine and conditioning. I don’t know. But it is worth discovering.

I got to work early and checked e-mail and job sites. To both, as usual, there was nothing. So I gathered up things for a Court Wednesday. But it is a different Wednesday than usual as there was a Juvenile Hearing set for today (since there was a need for quick work done to protect the children). I assumed it was going to be a phone hearing; as so many are around here. I was wrong. This is always WONDERFUL news for me because it means I get to see other attorneys and talk to people who are (1) well educated; and (2) younger than 60 years old! The case itself was fairly quick with no hiccups but that led to interesting asides. The judge realized that she would be back in Up North County on Friday and instantly cursed herself for scheduling herself in this wretched county twice in one week. After the case, I asked her about something from my boss… because I thought my boss’ request was ridiculous, stupid, uninformed, and horribly outside of the law. I was right. And the Juvenile Judge looked at me with awe that this county is even THAT bad that the County Attorney thought she could put an 18 year old into Juvenile Court. Not in Iowa, lady. Not in Iowa. Then all the attorneys asked me how close we were to a County Attorney being hired. I told them that, last I heard anyway… they were re-interviewing on December 7th. Everyone is furious and confused and frustrated that the local government is doing SO MUCH to make sure that the local government doesn’t function. After explaining how the Board has already rejected some incredibly competent and capable individuals and then on top of that, started the process over on December 7th when we were hoping to get a County Attorney to start on December 19… they all ask how the job hunt is going. Because every single attorney there knows the same thing… this county is a festering whole of dysfunction and if I hope to remain a lawyer, I need to get out. They are, of course, correct.

After that, there was a mental health hearing. It took a while to get started, so I spoke with the Head of DHS for the County to see how things were going. The conversation devolved into politics and how she was “so upset that people won’t give Trump a chance.” Acknowledging that I was “outing” myself… I could not keep silent. I told her, in no uncertain terms, that his Cabinet Selections were proof that he doesn’t deserve a chance… that I am particularly uncomfortable with the U.S. Attorney General as a man who was considered unqualified for a District Judge position due to racially motivated statements and pro-KKK “jokes.” The DHS Head said, straight faced, “Well, if you look back into anyone’s past, you’re going to find that.” No. No you are not. But clearly that is the case for this county?! Holy shit. They blame liberals for living in a Bubble. Being white doesn’t automatically mean you discuss the KKK with approving tones… even in jokes. Being white doesn’t mean you’ve “most definitely” called someone the “N” word or referred to a senior member of your staff as “boy” because he was black. But the fact that the people in positions of power in this county think “if you look back into anyone’s past, you’re going to find that”? Yeah. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I NEED TO GO HOME! It isn’t even just a “I hate small towns” thing anymore… it isn’t even “I hate unfriendly towns” or “I hate towns run by corrupt morons”… it is all of that mixed with “I hate towns where xenophobia and 1950s perspectives on women, technology, and war are prevailing!” Seriously… jeeze!

After all of that, I came back to my office to try (desperately) to get my case load lightened. I seriously, seriously want to get through as many cases as I can before the boss retires because it sure as hell looks like we won’t actually have a County Attorney for the first month!

So I sat down at my desk and pulled up my e-mail for work… nothing in it. Pulled up my e-mail for personal legal business and… hello! There was something from a job I applied to… back home! In fact, when I applied to the job, I almost didn’t even tell my wife that I applied because I didn’t want her to get her hopes up. I mean… going home is a goal of ours but (like so many things) it seemed like a bit of a pipe dream. I applied anyway. But I was worried my cover letter was a little too… desperate cry for help. I said in it many times that I loved the community back home and really wanted to come home because I would be SO GOOD AND FAITHFUL to the community and please hire me because I think the community is one of the best in the world. So… yeah. Didn’t expect much. And considering that I hadn’t heard from an overwhelming majority of jobs I’d applied to… I didn’t expect to hear from this one. The e-mail I received says they want to interview me! Now, it was an e-mail and not a phone call so that was strange. I called the phone number back and left a message. I haven’t heard back yet. BUT… oh, how wonderful it would be. But of course… it is my mind so there is complication in thought. On one hand, I’m trying not to get too supremely excited because this could be a long shot. On another hand, I’m trying to figure out any and all ways I might have screwed up previous interviews so that I don’t make those same mistakes. I’m trying to remind myself that instead of saying “Slow, boring, dead, backwards location” I can turn it into a positive for me by saying “The case load is such that I am ready to be more challenged.” And on yet another hand, I’m worried that since UpNorth usually takes 9 months per case, and Back Home usually takes 9 weeks… I’m nervous about whether I am honestly qualified for the job. I just… really hope we can schedule this interview… and that I do amazingly in the interview… and that I get to go home!

I’ll update on the details when they come in. As for now… I’m going to read some Prosebox; craft a plea deal; make a shitstorm of copies for discovery; and then go home.