Words, wOrds, woRds in BookThree: Flight Log 2016

(1) Wife and I finally got a new bed. Our first queen and our first Brand New mattress as opposed to second-hand. It is a wonderful bed and leaving it every morning seems morally objectionable. To the point where I seriously considered calling work and saying, “I’ll be in a few hours late but stay a few hours late to balance things out.” I didn’t. I certainly don’t work in a “relaxed, easy environment” in that way. But… it reaffirms something that Millennials are always criticized about that… frankly… I agree with Millennials. There are very few reasons to demand an older, more traditional work schedule. Of course, in some jobs… that isn’t true. There are some positions in this world that need strictly defined parameters. But, with the exception of Court Hearings, this job isn’t one of them. Returning phone calls and E-Mails and writing/filing reports is no more or less likely to be accomplished at 8 am than at 3 pm. Requiring me to sit in an office from 8 until 5 simply because “That’s what it is to work in an office” seems silly and counter-productive for everyone involved.

(2) The AC guy did come yesterday… for about 20 minutes. Apparently, he was diagnosed with cancer shortly after starting work on the house so… he hadn’t been to the house in 2 years and was simply there to remind himself where he had left off. He said he would be back to actually do the work “sometime next week.” Plus, the workers we expected last night (for things like towel racks, blinds, etc.) never showed up. It seems… a haphazard, slipshod way of doing things. Of course… as far as unpacking and setting things up in our house… Wife and I are in that place where we don’t want to keep going until the house is done. With at least a few “floor cutting/wall cutting” projects left… we don’t want to get everything established only to move it again. That being said, there are still a lot of places that we aren’t sure how we’re going to use. For example, an addition to the house was strongly suggested to us as a game room/man cave. After a few hours in there yesterday… I realized that couldn’t happen. So… between the Workers and Us… we’ll still be partially living in boxes for (likely) the rest of this month.

(3) Wife’s first day at the new Wal Mart was last night. It is a 35 mile, 36 minute drive one-way and I was worried about her. Turns out, I was worried because I know her too well. She cried most of the drive home and sobbed openly when she finally arrived home. Even she isn’t sure what the exact specific reason is but… she doesn’t handle transition well, she’s disappointed and sad that after all this time she’s still working at Wal Mart, and ultimately… one of the things that she, a woman who grew up in a town of 6,000 said, “This town is just so small, so far away from everything!” So… these things help me in a way. Because it is one thing to say “This area is remote and small” and for people to hear “tranquil and relaxed”… hearing someone from a small town say “this area is too remote and too small” really reaffirms that I’m not “missing the splendor” and that… yeah… living in a place where you have to go out of the county to do any shopping or any social activities (besides drinking) is a bit rough.

(4) All things considered, I am trying to focus on the positives around here. I mean… we have a beautiful house… there is no traffic… cost of living is cheap… I’m building experience in the legal field… I’m working at a “relaxed” enough job that I don’t have to worry about “taking time off” if I have a doctor’s appointment… Wife (so far) has enjoyed her Chiropractor here more than any other Chiro she’s ever had (and is adamant that I go see him at some point)… the murder rate is just about nonexistent.

But… with my OverThinkEverything brain; I always hear the counter argument as soon as I finish the positive thought. We have a beautiful house: or at least it will be whenever, IFever it gets finished. There is no traffic: there are also no roads and nowhere to buy food or most things. Cost of living is cheap: because it takes anywhere from 30 to 90 miles to find anything so the money you save on housing you pay for vehicle fuel. I’m building experience in the legal field: by randomly guessing at a job that should be making me a better lawyer but, in all likelihood, is only positive to a future job as far as Resume Buffer. I’m working a “relaxed” enough job that I don’t have to worry about “taking time off” if I have a doctor’s appointment: unless of course, the ailment is something more involved than Geriatric Care, which would require me to go back to DM as that is the nearest hospital for anything of a more significant nature. Wife (so far) has enjoyed her Chiropractor here more than any other Chiro she’s ever had: but we haven’t had a “recovery day” so we’ll see if she still likes him after a full day of post-adjustment. The murder rate is just about nonexistent: of course, the poverty rate and rate of drug use and rate of OWI is actually AS bad as Omaha, though.

(5) All that being said… I do have work that needs doing today. AND a full morning of Juvenile Court Cases tomorrow. So there is some work to be done. Of course… on obstinate, childish grounds… I don’t want to do any of it. Slogging through all of it on my own with no training and no resources… being able to only assign fees which go to debt collection which go into default which never get paid… it doesn’t feel awesome. Maybe this is just a quality of how new I am. Maybe. I just… I think I’ve been too negatively affected by Cecilia. I mean, most of what she says is talking about how useless our County is at things. And she has a point. If I can’t put people in jail… if I can’t put people in prison… if I can’t put people into treatment… if I can’t put people into Mental Health facilities… there are only two potential outcomes of any case I do. Either I lose.... or I assess a fine to someone that they may or may not ever pay and face no consequences about. And that’s rough. A mom tried to stab her boyfriend… while he was holding their baby… and then attacked the officers that tried to calm the situation. “Uhm… may I offer you a fine?” It just.. it insults my intelligence and sense of justice. A criminal defendant actively attempted harm to a citizen thereby negligently placing her infant in harm’s way; when The Authorities attempted to calm the situation, the criminal defendant attacked them. NOTHING about that reads “citation.” Everything about that reads… either get the Mom help for a mental condition or put her behind bars for a while. Because if she’s attacking people (and already on food stamps); then I have a hard time believing that $625 is the correct resolution.