Letters Randomly Form Words in BookThree: Flight Log 2016

Thank you all for your notes over the weekend. It was… a weekend, I suppose. I don’t know what my wife’s deal is. Even if I revert when I’m back home (which may or may not really be happening in a big way); her jumping in to a Bully Mode is not acceptable. We came back to Up North County, both unhappy to be doing so. I fell asleep about 2 am and… very much did not want to wake up. Dragged my ass in to the office around 9. Yes, I have a lot of work I want to and need to get done today. But is it any wonder that I’m sitting here, staring at a screen… just… not in any shape. I can honestly say that the only reason I got out of bed today is because I have a mental health hearing this afternoon and I have a deadline tomorrow. Of course, I don’t have the required REPORTS… so I’m not likely to meet that deadline. But the deadline is certainly there.

Oh, and Happy Monday. When I got into the office… topic of discussion in the office: Suicide! Particularly, a report that said the suicide rate for our county is “out of control.” So, I looked it up. YUP. The suicide rate for this county is triple the national average! Oh, and despite the same report saying that this county has a near-criminal lack of mental health services… the official Action Plan to tackle the suicide rate is to “provide more brochures in County Buildings.” FFS.

And not for the first time in this office, my motivation to exist is gone. I don’t just mean that I don’t want to call Police Officers and demand that they do their job (it is included), not that I don’t want to sit here and fill out seven pages of reports that are never going to matter (it is included), but I don’t even have the motivation to do things like read, or write, or even play facebook games. Just… this nagging drainage suggesting that merely existing is difficult enough and trying to add something to “existing” is too much work. So, I open your prosebox entries and try to read them… but somehow can’t. I open facebook and navigate to Marvel Avengers Alliance… and somehow, even beginning the game seems like too much energy. Certainly not a great way to start the week.

More non surprises… Cecilia came in with the weekend arrests: OWI 2nd or more; OWI 1st; Public Intoxication 2nd; Public intoxication 1st; Mental Health Commitment (out of county) for Meth Induced Psychosis. Five people arrested, all five connecting back to substance abuse. When I was working Omaha… that wouldn’t even raise a comment. After all, on Mondays in Omaha it was usually my job to figure out the arrests over the weekend and there were typically between 10 and 20 alcohol or drug related arrests. But that is out of a city population over a Half a Million. Five drug/alcohol arrests here is out of a county population of 5,000. But then… of course we have a ridiculous amount of drug and alcohol issues. Poverty, isolation, substance abuse… this is the only way things can or will be for this area.

1:00 pm… of the three things I need to do today… I’ve done almost one. I have the reports for the thing I need to write by tomorrow. Hooray. Sarcastic energy-less hooray. But the afternoon will be good for… everything. Mental Health Hearing at 1:30… I show up, say “We support the medical recommendation” and sit down. The entirety of that hearing. Then… write this thing. That should really be my entire day. I mean, I could do more… I have a lot more hearings next week and more reports to write that are due before September… but.... such is the way of things, I suppose. Only problem is… I was tired when I woke up, been tired all day, and now I’m fighting the urge to sleep at my desk because I’m tired. Bah.

4:00.... mental health hearing took a long time. And now I am more pooped than ever. My plan… whether I do it or not is the question but… my plan: After work, go to Super Expensive But Only Grocery Store in the area. Grab some food stuff. Go home; feel ultra guilty for not working out because I was going to today but just… no, no energy no ability to. Make some food. Maybe take a nap. Finish a file. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

You know… if I had my way, do you know what my prosebox entries would look like?

FICTIONAL ENTRY

Last night was awesome, if a little crazy. After the concert, Wife and I came home and were this weird mix of pooped and amped. We kind of just sat on the couch letting our ears return to equilibrium for a minute. I started to kick off my shoes and remove my jacket when Wife stood up, cracked her neck a little and gave me that mischievous smile that leads only one place. Needless to say, I had her out of her dress and heels in no time and we enjoyed the rest of the evening thoroughly. I do kind of wish one of us had remembered to uncuff me before we fell asleep because the blood was completely out of my right arm when I woke up this morning! I took a quick shower, grabbed a mountain dew, and was in my car before 7. Rush hour traffic is such a bitch in the mornings but I suppose it gives me time to catch up on Radio BBC. I hit the office around 8 and everybody already seemed pretty busy. Fairly typical after a weekend, I suppose. I grabbed my morning files and poured over them for about an hour before I had to be at court. Bond Settings and the like, but still important to be there and know what’s going on. After bond settings, a fairly typical experience all things concerned, I had to shuffle off to Magistrate Court. Only a few ticket issues but I had a feeling most of them would plea out. I was wrong. We had one guy who was cited for trespassing… his entire argument (that he continued to make even when he was NOT on the stand) was that if there are no “No Trespassing” signs, then it isn’t trespassing. Never mind that he and his kids had to hop a fence, cross a creek, then hop another fence to get onto the property. Though, in his defense… I do suppose he may have thought fence 1 entering private property, fence 2 leaving private property… but even in that case, his defense admits to the intent of trespass. Oh well, the magistrate didn’t rule immediately, so we’ll see what happens there. When I got back to my office, I had about 5 phone calls to return. Mostly spot checks and requests for plea deals. Luckily, I had talked to one of the other attorneys in the office over the weekend, and I was prepared to offer high, accept middle, and reject any plea that would be considered historically too low. After a long day, it was finally quitting time. Tonight should be a quiet evening. Wife works until late, so I’ll nuke some leftovers and play a video game or two. Though… maybe I should try to make something. I have Pathfinder tomorrow at Mike’s House and Wife might appreciate having the leftovers tomorrow. Bah, I suppose I’ll make that decision while I drive home! Rush Hour Part Duex… here I come!

END FICTIONAL ENTRY

That… would be nice. And it isn’t some rosy everything is perfect pretend fantasy world. There are, I’ve heard of, couples that go out and do things together and have decently acceptably pleasing sexual lives. Working in a larger area DOES have traffic issues and other worries. But at least it is a sign of life. And while cases will never go perfectly, having other attorneys around to discuss things with would make a BIG difference. Not to mention the incalculable value of having friends within 130 miles… and friends willing to actually do stuff with me (as opposed to friends who just want to watch TV). Though, frankly… I don’t exactly have either of those types of friends within 130 miles. Which… the more I think about… the more it bothers me. When I was in Des Moines after college… even though I was poor and thrifty saving up for Law School… I would host parties at least once a month. And not “come get drunk” parties. I had a Code Monkeys party… frito dishes, tab and mountain dew drinks, Code Monkey viewing and tech discussions. I had an RvB party; red versus blue viewing, halo tournaments, red and blue cocktails. Shit, I even had a “Healthy Halloween Party” where I made fruit cocktails and placed them in hollowed out oranges carved to look like tiny jack-o-lanterns. Then in Law School… there was really no time or opportunity to host. We had a small apartment filled with law school crap. Sure we’d go to parties, but we rarely hosted. Now… there aren’t even parties to go to. So… from Hosting With Flair, to Attending When Invited, to Where IS Everybody? not the most fun progression.

NOTE: After the weekend’s entry, I’ve been giving serious thought to re-writing my romantic history here. Just a little “update” “reintroduction” for people who have “just recently joined the party.” Not sure if I will or not. Only because… if I keep writing similar stories, is that a reminder of where I’ve been (good thing) or keeping me in the past (bad thing)? Further… and in public forums like this I never know… I’m always curious whether I should add pictures when I tell the stories. For example, The Girl in the Pink Bathing Suit? I have a photo of her. Would it be an embarrassment to share that story with a visual of what was happening, does it help the story, or are both statements accurate? Further, if I were to ever publish my stories… even if I used pseudonyms, would photos be in terribly bad taste? Would I have to ask my brother to illustrate using vague notions from the stories themselves? Always questions.