Oh...Hello!

Been off the radar for a while. Not a whole lot going on. I feel like I'm in a slump. Just going to work, etc. And not a lot of exciting stuff going on at work. Maybe I should go find a boyfriend.

I have my first hearing tomorrow. Like, on my own hearing. I don't think anything major is going to happen, I'm thinking it's just going to be a status conference. But there is a pending motion, so maybe the judge wants to talk about that. Who knows.

London was awesome (for the most part). In hindsight, I should have planned differently. Should have budgeted more time to spend with Mateo. It made me realize that there are some people that you just shouldn't travel with. I kinda knew going in but did it anyway and a lot of the time I was ready to poke an eye out. Maybe it's time for a roadtrip to Portland. Do I know anyone up there?

Oh well. I did see some amazing stuff. I'll facebook the pictures, but will try to post a write-up about the actual trip.

Spring Cleaning

I did some major cleaning today. My room has been an absolute mess and since I was housesitting for the past few weeks I hadn't had a chance to tackle it.



Oddly enough, I felt compelled to organize my CD's before I did anything else. I didn't even know where to start with the rest of the room, but the CD's were like one small project I knew I could tackle right away.



So I started with that and once I got that done, I was able to just go through the rest of the room. It's amazing how much bigger it looks now. Ahaha. I also put together this wardrobe my mom got me for Christmas. My closet is full so I needed more space for my clothes. I decided to put all my work clothes in it and make room in the closet for everything else. We also put up bookshelfs on the wall and I got around to putting books up.

Isn't it strange how good it feels to clean? Even though I dread doing it.
~~~

My dad took my brothers on a little roadtrip. They didn't tell me they were going until the day before they left, so I couldn't get off work even if I wanted to (which I probably didn't). So mom and I went and saw Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on Friday.

Shows at the pioneer center always feel like high school productions. The stage seems really strong and it's like they have an amateur running the lighting. Did they not do a dress rehearsal with the spotlight?

We also went and saw Sunshine Cleaning and I really liked it. They're calling it the next little miss sunshine. Could be!
~~~~~~~~

So excited about vacations this year! First the cruise and then London! Sara wants to spend a few days somewhere else, but I'm still undecided. It's so tempting since I'll be over there anyway and most places aren't more than a few hours away by train or plane. We could jet over to Greece or something. But there's a lot of stuff I still wanted to see in London and trips I wanted to take outside London, like Stonehenge, Stratford and Bath. And Oxford! We'll see. Either way I'm excited to see Sara and Mateo! Yay!

And I'll be there for London Pride, so I'm really excited about seeing the parade. Except I think it will be weird to be in the UK on the 4th of July. Maybe I'll go flip off the queen.

The Housesitter

I'm house sitting starting this week for one of the legal secretaries at work. It's funny because it's the secretary that was super bitchy to me that summer I clerked for the firm. You may remember me complaining about her. I was in the armpit office and there was a filing cabinet that she needed to get to, so she would like come in even if the door was closed without knocking.

Anyway, I've done work for the partner she's assigned to and a few times she's come and told me how happy he was with the work or that she thought I did a good job on a particular assignment. It's funny that I often have to get feedback from the assistants rather than the attorneys themselves.

A few months ago she asked if I could house sit. She said she normally asks one of the runners because they're younger and likely able to do it. But they're often not reliable. I didn't have anything better to do, so I said yes.

She's going to Italy and I'll be staying at her house for 2 weeks. It's like a mini stay-cation! She has a dog and a cat and I went last week for a walk-through and to get instructions. The animals are nice and the cat seems to like me. So hopefully things will go smoothly. It'll be like a test run for having my own house.

The only downside is that she's a smoker and smokes in the house. I hate hate hate the smell of smoke. She said she was going to wash the curtains and sheets and has air refreshener systems in the house, but warned me that she would probably smoke the morning that she leaves. So I'll likely stink like smoke for a few days and wake up with headaches every morning.

It's an easy $300 bucks though. Let's just hope none of the pets die while she's gone.

Also, it's an opportunity to get away from my brother for a while, which is always nice. He's really been getting on my nerves lately.

Field Trip!

I don't know why this post wasn't ever written. I wrote a title and apparently saved it as a draft but then never actually wrote the post.

In January I got to take a field trip to Winnemucca for some depositions. And I got to take one of the depositions in the afternoon. I think I'm getting better at it. I still got a little flustered when opposing counsel objected and fumbled a little as I tried to clarify my question, but other than that I think it went well. The guy I was deposing was an older italian guy, so he had this really thick italian accent. I'm normally good with accents, but he spoke quietly and the air conditioning duct was right over my head so it was hard to understand him at times. It was great though because the defendant had claimed that they didn't have any documents to produce and so they didn't give us anything. Then we show up at the deposition and they magically produce this document that should have been disclosed. Opposing counsel claimed it wsa the first he had ever seen it. Then when I was deposing my witness he's like 'Oh yeah, we keep records and here's where you can find them." BUSTED! Opposing counsel was quick to say that this was the first he had ever heard of it and that they would get right on producing them. In other words, please don't file a motion for sanctions.

Then there was a deadline in february for them to respond to some discovery requests we had sent. I kinda dropped the ball on following up because I was sick and then missed those days to go to the wedding, so I sent a letter this week saying if they didn't respond, we'd move to compel production and request sanctions. Yay for being an attorney!

Death and Taxes...or Maybe Just Taxes

I'm doing my taxes and it turns out I owe about $260 to the govt. Damn you Obama and your new socialist government!

Ahahahaha. I should have been claiming single and zero deductions on my W-4, but for some reason I was claiming single and 2. So they weren't taking out enough money. It's not a huge deal and I guess it could be worse. It just sucks not getting a refund. There's something gratifying about getting money back. Also, I don't think I'm going to get anything if they pass another economic stimulus. I think I'm at the threshold where they cut off relief benefits. But we'll see.

Also, I make just enough that I can't claim my student loan interest as a deduction. And the toyota hybrids no longer qualify for a credit either. I need to hire a financial panther (Get her Sheba!) to help me get tax breaks or something.

At least if I decide to buy a house this year, I can get a credit for that. I'm still undecided though. I haven't been paying as much toward my student loans as I should have. Although I did pay off 2 credit cards and another big medical bill I had all the way back from law school. So I guess that's something.

Law Library Shenanigans

Is it possible to be a public servant without actually serving the public?

I was in the law library this week because I enjoy using the free Westlaw research. That way I can run as many searches as I want and not worry about racking up a huge bill for the client.

So I was at one of the computers with my ipod earphones in and was doing research. I hear something and turn around and see that someone else is in the room at a computer across the way. I pull my earphone out and realize he's talking to me.

He asks if I'm an attorney. I wasn't really paying attention because I still had one earphone in and the music was still on. So without thinking, I say yes. BIG MISTAKE!

He proceeds to ask if I know anything about ex post facto laws. I know generally about it from my criminal law class but don't know anything specific. He proceeds to tell me that he is trying to research ex post facto cases because the State is trying to make him register as a sex offender.

I immediately interrupt and tell him I'm not a criminal attorney, that I cannot give him legal advice and then tell him that he can try Washoe Legal Services or the state bar referral service for a pro bono attorney. This does not deter him.

He proceeds to tell me how he was convicted (and served time) for "allegedly" raping a woman. But then says he's innocent and that he did his time and doesn't think he should have to register because it was 16 years ago and the registry law was passed after he got out of prison, blah blah ex post facto. He talks for literally 10-15 minutes even though I keep telling him I don't know anything about it and refer him again to washoe legal. He says that the police snowballed him because it was a judge's daughter and that he was too drunk so he couldn't have even performed and thus could not have raped her.

Then says that he doesn't want to go to prison for violating parol by not registering because sex offenders are at the bottom of the totem pole in prison. He says that the attorney that takes his case would get millions because people will be lining up to challenge the law.

All the while I'm wondering if I should get up and leave, even though I wasn't finished with my research. Finally he stops talking and I immediately stick my earphone back in and go back to work.

I love that the library is open to the public and all, I just wish they didn't let the crazies in. I can't imagine what those poor law librarians go through. I'm sure they get all kinds of crazy people in there wanting legal advice.

Cats in Sinks

I got a new camera recently. I got the old one after law school using my westlaw points. It was an ok camera, but it really sucked anytime I tried to zoom to take any pictures. They always came out really blurry and totally ruined a lot of pictures.

So of course I had to try it out. Recently, Molly, as seen below, has taken to sitting in the bathroom sink. Normally in the morning she will follow me around and want me to pick her up. But I can't do that and get ready, so she'll follow me into the bathroom. She's jumped up onto the sink before, but a few days ago, she curled up in the sink. I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Then the next day, I wasn't even in the bathroom and when I went in, she was already sitting in the sink.

Of course I submitted the pictures to Cats in Sinks. Let's hope they make it on!

I also had to take a picture of Aggie and Dina. They are always cuddling like this and often lick each other's heads. Aggie, the grey cat, is mean to Molly and will hiss at her whenever Molly tries to play. Dina will tolerate her, but still doesn't really play.

I have other stuff to post, but wanted to get this up while I work on the other stuff. Also, I just noticed that i had started a post about my trip to Winnemucca but it never got finished. WTF?