Dead Client?

One of my clients scared me today.  Though really it wasn't his fault.  One of my mental health clients lives quite close to me and I drive by his house when I come home.  Today when driving home, I saw two police cars and an ambulance at his house.  At his last hearing, the doctors reported that he was no longer a danger to himself or others, but he still thought he still needed help.  When I saw the ambulance and stretcher, I was genuinely scared that he had done something to himself.  I am now really glad that the court took my client seriously when he told the judge that he felt he still needed help.

When I called the police to see whether it was him, the dispatcher told me that it wasn't my client.  That was a huge relief to me.  I am still worried about whoever the ambulance was there for.

Could I drive a Toyota?

Eventually, I want to get a third car.  Something usable that I can drive everyday, so that on the weekends I can drive something much more fun and less practical.  But sadly, in the real world, I have to live within a budget and this means that my third, everyday car, would be something affordable.  Which means something used.  The cheapest used cars are the most reliable ones, but also the most boring.  And I just don't think I could look myself in the eye if I were driving a Honda, Toyota, or Nissan five days a week.  Maybe I could get a Mini; they are relatively uncommon, not too expensive, and available with a manual transmission.  I don't know which vehicle I will get for an everyday car and sadly I will probably have a while to think about it.

The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers

There was an article in the New York Times this weekend about how a large percentage of law schools are basically scams.  As the article explains, these third and fourth tier private schools entice potential students with promises of large starting salaries, give the students large amounts of debt, and, at most, can get only a few students jobs with salaries sufficient to pay back those student loans.

The protagonist of the article, as many other people have pointed out, comes across like an entitled ass who didn't know why he went to law school and doesn't have enough drive to be employable after he graduated.  My experience was that many people in law school have this issue.  When I entered law school, I was shocked at how many students came in on day-one knowing that they never wanted to work as a lawyer.  To them, law school was just a way to kill three years and stay and earn a somewhat prestigious degree.

Law is the only business like that.  There are no chemical engineering PhDs who are only lukewarm on the prospect of becoming a chemical engineer.  In the same vein, attorneys have an incredible attrition rate.  Many many attorneys quit to go into other lines of work.  You just don't see that in other careers that require so much education: if you are a dentist, you take that drill to the grave.  No dentist quits after three years to go into marketing.

Maybe it's because the actual work of an attorney is so different than the experience in law school; no one does significant motion practice in law school.  Maybe it's because they are doing the wrong kind of legal work.  Transactional stuff gets really boring.  Criminal, on the other hand, can be really fun.

When I worked at the PD's office in Baltimore, when I was in college, I didn't really like it, but now criminal law is much more fun.  It is the only type of law where you frequently get to go to court and argue in front of a jury.  You can do that in divorces too, but those clients are much less fun.  A side benefit is that I know where to get all the best drugs and know the people if I ever want to have someone killed.  I would, of course, never use those benefits, but they are still great insurance.

Canadian Healthcare

Since I was writing about skiing at Whistler last post and my vacation next week is still on my mind, I guess I will continue on that same train of thought.  My last time at Whistler was very memorable, but not for the reasons I would have hoped.  The last time I was in Whistler, I got appendicitis and had to spend three days in the hospital.

I was very satisfied with the Canadian healthcare system.  It was just as fast and effective as American healthcare and much cheaper.  I underwent surgery within a couple hours of my initial visit with a doctor.  To save money, I elected to share a room another patient rather than having a private room.  This made my stay at the hospital much more painful.

The other person in the room was an elderly man with Alzheimer's disease and some kind of bladder problem.  The doctors had to put a catheter in him, and because of his Alzheimer's he didn't know why and forgot what was happening halfway through; that plus the Canadian accent made it hilarious.  After abdominal surgery, laughing hurts really bad.  That was the most painful day of my life. I know, I am a horrible person.   

The World of Skiing

In two weeks, my wife and I will be going on vacation to one of my favorite ski resorts: Whistler.  Before this winter, my wife has never skied and over the past few weeks I have attempted to prepare her.  This preparation has two aspects.  First, the actual business of skiing.  I have now taken the Mrs. skiing twice and she coming along faster than I had hoped.  Her biggest problem is stopping.    Thus far, she stops primarily by getting to flat bit at the bottom of the hill and running out of momentum.  While this method is fairly successful on the small local hills, it is of far less practical on a mountain.

The second element that I have tried to prepare her for are the people we will encounter at Whistler.  Skiing, particularly in the mountains, is an expensive activity and largely attracts individuals of great means.  Now, we all know a few rich people, but the scale of difference between some skiers and the average american can still be quite surprising.  A few years ago, I was skiing at Vail and while waiting in line to buy tickets was approached by a person doing market research for the resort.  One of the questions on the survey asked for the subject's annual income.  The available answers were: 0-$150k, 150k-250k, 250-500k, 500k-1MM, 1MM-2MM, or 2MM plus.  More than 95% of American families would be in the first range; these families are rare at Vail.

Though my wife grew up on the Philippines, she wasn't poor.  Her parents had white collar jobs and all of her older siblings went to college in the Philippines.  But, I have still felt the need to prepare her for the people we will encounter at Whistler.  I am not afraid that she will embarrass me.  She is very social, well mannered and generally a good sport about everything.  But, I love skiing and I am afraid that she will be so put off by the other families' priorities and perspective that she won't want to be around them ever again.

California Dreamin

The biggest thing that I miss now that I am a working stiff is t-shirts.  When I was in school, I could wear whatever I wanted.  I always knew that this freedom would change once I started living nine to five, but I never suspected the psychic effect it would have on me.  I now know why so many men hate shopping: because no matter how well the clothes I like fit my body, they will not fit my life.  Seeing clothes I like in stores now only reminds me of opportunities lost.  The clothes that I have to wear to work everyday are now really only about function: looking professional.  They aren't particularly comfortable and grant little room for personal expression.

The solution to this problem, I think, is to move back to Los Angeles.  The only people wearing suits in LA are detectives.  The attorneys at Bet Tzedek wore jerseys to the office and no one gave a damn.  I need to get out of here.

Yankees Hate Fest Part II

I guess I really started hating the Yankees back in college.  Going to school in Baltimore put me around lots of people from the Northeast.  Every one of those guys was born into the Red Sox Yankees rivalry and none of them would ever shut up about their favorite team.  Really, I started hating the Yankees because the Red Sox fans weren't quite as annoying.  If you have never lived out east, just imagine the cast of Jersey shore wearing jerseys.  Ever since then, I have had no better moments in sports than watching the Yankees lose.