First Holiday of 4 in a row in Book Four: Ichi-no-Tani 2017

Saturday is Free Comic Book Day. To celebrate; I hope to take Wife to the Local Comic Book Shoppe and then we shall attend Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
Friday is Cinco De Mayo. No promises and no guarantees; but I hope to enjoy that evening.
Thursday is Star Wars Day: May the 4th… be with you
Wednesday (today) is my 33rd birthday. Or as Mom jokes; my Double Golden Birthday.

I know I’m not the only one that gets a little depressed on their birthdays but… last year was tough… as I was alone in Tiny Town without a friend or family around. And this year seems tough, too. Maybe it is because I’m looking back and feeling like I haven’t done enough with my life. In fact, I’m fairly certain that is it. I started out with… just… constantly praised potential. I was bright, I was intelligent, I was well read and well spoken. And then…sometime around reaching Adulthood… I’m average (at best). It is like the gifted kids are seen as spectacular for being Adults (in certain ways) but aren’t given the tools to deal with what happens when everyone else becomes an Adult. So… all the promise I had as a kid now seems… squandered. I haven’t written anything memorable. I haven’t starred in anything remarkable. I haven’t done any significant good for anyone.

These were the thoughts that were with me this morning when I drove to Ames to meet clients for Chinese Boss. I specifically asked her if these clients spoke English; and she said not to worry, I just need to get a signature and hand paperwork over. Well… on the way there, one of the clients called and said he wouldn’t be there this morning. Crap. I waited, with my thoughts still going, until 10:00 for the other client to arrive. I texted Chinese Boss that he was a no show. She called him and got it worked out. Then White Boss asked me about the client that called earlier. I relayed the information and said, “I told him I had a hearing in the afternoon cuz I’m covering your criminal thing and told him that the very earliest I could maybe get back to Ames would be 3:30.” White Boss said that I shouldn’t have said anything like that and to communicate to the Chinese Clients strictly through Chinese Boss. Even though that client called me. Because Chinese Boss gave him my number. Grrrrreat. So, now I’m not to talk to the majority of the client base the firm already has.

So I decide to travel to Boone and meet a judge (in a desperate attempt to get Criminal Appointments and get more of my own clients) and the whole situation of Private Practice as it currently is started getting to me. I mean… this IS more like what I want to do with the Law. I want to interact with clients and people on a more individual basis; I want to actually/actively help people. Criminal Defense, Immigration, and Business Formation are great ways to do that. But if I can’t actually communicate with clients and if I can’t get enough billable hours to work.... then it is a wasted opportunity.

However, when I got to the Boone Courthouse? Court, speaking with the judge… y’know… not just Me, Paperwork, and a Laptop? THAT stuff invigorated me. I LIKE court and talking to people. I like having a verbal conversation. And between the kind of work I’m presently doing for the Firm and the relationship with Wife the way it is? I realize I haven’t been having many verbal conversations. I don’t speak as often as I used to, as I should, as I like to. Which… is probably why I’m feeling similarly to when I was in Tiny Town. There, I didn’t speak because there were no people. Here, it is because surrounded by people… the day to day folks I “talk to” don’t speak English thus I have to write Chinese Boss and have her do all the actual talking. Frustrating.

But hopefully, this kind of thing gets better. I’ve only been in this firm for 4 weeks. Granted, I would hope that after 4 weeks, I was doing better than 1.3 billable hours per day but…

Then… I covered a Court Hearing for White Boss. A half hour of work (billable) so… still not much time, but it is something. Bringing my total for the day (at 2:14 p.m) to 0.6 billable hours for the day. Humbug to that. BUT the non-humbug… seriously, I belong in court. I know that no lawyer survives as purely a Litigator but seriously… I am more comfortable in a suit, in front of a judge, than anywhere else on this planet. Again… litigators are a dime a dozen and almost everyone in their right mind goes out of their way to avoid court… but that is where I am me best. So… it is good to remember that. Just… unfortunate that 98% of law has nothing to do with being in a court room.

However… I also don’t know whether my bosses will be coming back tonight. Which means… I want to leave early; but I don’t know if I can/will. And that is another thing. As a Prosecutor… I was beholden to the Government. I was salaried, so I got paid when I wasn’t doing anything.... but I was expected to be in an office while I wasn’t doing anything. NOW, I work for people and need to do billable hours. So… yeah. Want to know if I can leave early. Bah. Especially as… once again… my fucking internet is out. BOO! Now, though, that IS on the firm. As I specifically informed them that I often lose up to 1 hour of productivity a day on the internet not working. And they informed the Chinese Administrative Assistant to purchase an Ethernet Cable for me. But… here it is… a full hour since the WiFi internet went down… and I don’t have an Ethernet Cable. For the Work Laptop I bought myself. Damn. I’m seeing some echoes of Tiny Town. BUT I am quick to remind myself… Tiny Town was inexcusable because I was working in a Government Office. For a Government Office (doing a job that the Supreme Court required be done on-line) to be so piss poor with their technology (including but not limited to having no on-site, in-county IT) is inexcusable. For a small two person firm (especially since those two people are married to each other) to have no infrastructure support for when they add a 3rd person? That makes sense. Kids trying to figure shit out. Hell, that is all they are and I realize that more every day. One assignment I was given: Draft a demand letter and include interest. When I asked what percentage of interest, I was told to speak with another attorney who works at a different firm that shares office space with us. One assignment I was given: Draft/Revise a prenuptial agreement. When I asked how to respond to the proposed language of a certain section, I was told to speak with another attorney who works at a different firm that shares office space with us. So… yeah. I respect my bosses because (1) they had the courage to open their own practice; (2) they have the charm needed to build relationships with other local attorneys; and (3) Chinese Boss literally is the Chinese Consulate Approved Attorney for the state of Iowa. So… yeah, respect and honor and shit. But… yeah. They’re still just “kids” that graduated from law school in 2014.

Okay… it is my birthday; I have 4 Projects that the Bosses have asked me to do; and I have been without internet for 90 minutes. I am going to leave. If they come back and are upset that I’ve left… I’ll be very contrite and try to explain to them that I was going home for Internet Access and that I still managed to finish one of the projects while at home. This may still backfire as Immigration Projects are really the ones that should have priority but… seriously, kiddies. Immigration shit is… a beast.