Lately, I've been a bit curious . . . no, actually more like obsessed with this blog. Specifically, I've been wondering how many of you out there read this thing. When I first started, I assumed I'd eventually build a circle of a few loyal readers. And that was fine. I figured the blog was more an outlet for me to go on about stuff than anything else. But I don't know. Now, I love hearing that people read my blog. And I want more!
I think my obsession began a few months ago. Some of you may have noticed the little site monitor icon on the right. I added it a while ago when I actually was just a bit curious about my audience. So that you don't freak out and think I'm tracking your every move or anything, the site monitor gives me just some basic demographic information -- how many people have been on, when, from where, for how long. Sometimes it has an ISP address included or more often, the internet provider. Hmm, I guess it is a lot of info. But its not the easiest format for viewing, so honestly, I don't look too closely at the specifics for each visitor. Rather, I just focus on the overall number and the general locations they're coming from.
But this is what got me going a little crazy. Imagine my shock to realize that I actually get more than a small handful of visitors each day. This week already, for example, I've had 30-something hits! I know its not a ton. It's a fairly inflated number too because I know that some of you check daily or multiple times daily (thanks for that by the way! That's awesome). And last week, I got all excited because it looked like some one from Baltimore, MD kept logging on and I couldn't figure out who would log on SO much until I realized that my work's main offices are in Baltimore. Doh! That was me logging on over and over again before I set the monitor to ignore my visits! So I'm sure there are some other visits that can be explained away by me being a little dense. But still, since there are only about 5-6 regular readers that I know about, I'm trying to figure out where the rest of you are coming from. Glancing through the visits, there are at least another 6 regular visitors that I can't identify. For example, I don't know anyone in Arkansas, do I?
What makes it even more puzzling is that the stupid monitor almost always says people log on for 0 seconds. As in, people click over, realize its stupid, and move on. That actually had me feeling a little down at first. Come on, its that bad? But now I'm starting to wonder if the timer is off cuz its hard for me to believe that people would keep coming back over and over again and then clicking away. Right? And the possibility of my blog being caught in some automated computer searches has occurred to me also, but after so many now, its kind of weird. Especially since I've set my blog to not show up on internet searches.
So now, I'm a little fascinated. Who are you guys out there? If you feel like leaving a comment, I'd love to hear from you. And as long as you're doing that, maybe you can offer any suggestions you might have for making the blog more interesting. Cuz that's part of the fixation too . . . now that I'm realizing that I might have a little bit of a regular, audience, I want more. That was part of what all the recent new layout changes have been about -- I want my blog to seem cool to look at. I'll hopefully be including more pictures too, so that'll hopefully help with the visual stuff. But more interesting content would be nice, too, I'm sure. :)
Believe me, I do know though how nice it is to lurk in secret. There are quite a few blogs that I follow without ever making a peep. So if you don't feel like commenting, I suppose its ok. But it has really been driving me nuts. I have been thinking of other ways to increase participation too. Ways to ferret out the number of actual readers without you having to reveal your identities -- maybe a fun weekly poll question or something like that? Stay tuned, I'll see what I can come up with.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Losing my way
So take a good look at this picture
because if you're looking for a new GPS, I do NOT recommend this one. I mean, yeah, it gets you mostly where you want to go, I suppose. But it sucks.
The first indication I had that it has its crappy moments is a while back when I was going to IKEA in East Palo Alto before the wedding. I actually happen to know exactly where ikea is, but I had just gotten the GPS and was in the entering-in-every-destination mode. If you've ever been to this one, you'll know that its right off the freeway. Like seriously, right off the freeway. Instead of taking me there, the GPS decided to make me exit a couple of exits south of the actual store and then had me on some random side road going even farther south. Like a nitwit, I followed the directions blindly for a good 10 minutes before I realized what was up. And keep in mind that I know this area fairly well, having lived around there for ages -- so hence, NITWIT!
Anyway, there's been a few more issues over the last few months. Stupid things that could usually be explained by the software using old maps or something -- you know a few Taco Bells off the freeway that were no longer there, that kind of thing. A particularly memorable moment was when I went to Oregon a while back when it decided to not take me to the airport parking lot I needed to go to and instead decided I needed to be doing loops around South San Francisco. I've been frustrated but decided to keep forging ahead. Well, actually, we had decided to return it to Cost-Co eventually but there seemed to be no rush.
But Sat was the last straw. I was heading up to Sonoma for my friend's bachelorette party. And it seemed to find the hotel/spa in Sonoma just fine. But about an hour into my drive, I felt like a couple of coffee. What sucks is that before my GPS-days, I would have waited til I saw a Starbucks off the freeway and just pulled over. Now, I thought, haha, I'd find one nearby and it'd be awesome. I could get it sooner!! It directed me off the freeway near a big shopping center in Fremont. OK, actually, it was a center that looked like it would have a Starbucks in there, so looking good so far. We drove past the center, came up around the back. I swear, I even thought at this point, how lucky I have this thing. I would have spent ages driving around this place looking for coffee, but the GPS knew exactly where to go. Looped around a bit more. And some more. And finally arrived at what the GPS thought was a Starbucks. I think it might have been a Ross. Anyway, I still ended up driving through the shopping center and got no coffee. The fun part was that it was Sat morning and there were a lot of people shopping and I managed to hit every single light. Approximately 25 minutes later, I got back onto the freeway empty-handed.
because if you're looking for a new GPS, I do NOT recommend this one. I mean, yeah, it gets you mostly where you want to go, I suppose. But it sucks.
The first indication I had that it has its crappy moments is a while back when I was going to IKEA in East Palo Alto before the wedding. I actually happen to know exactly where ikea is, but I had just gotten the GPS and was in the entering-in-every-destination mode. If you've ever been to this one, you'll know that its right off the freeway. Like seriously, right off the freeway. Instead of taking me there, the GPS decided to make me exit a couple of exits south of the actual store and then had me on some random side road going even farther south. Like a nitwit, I followed the directions blindly for a good 10 minutes before I realized what was up. And keep in mind that I know this area fairly well, having lived around there for ages -- so hence, NITWIT!
Anyway, there's been a few more issues over the last few months. Stupid things that could usually be explained by the software using old maps or something -- you know a few Taco Bells off the freeway that were no longer there, that kind of thing. A particularly memorable moment was when I went to Oregon a while back when it decided to not take me to the airport parking lot I needed to go to and instead decided I needed to be doing loops around South San Francisco. I've been frustrated but decided to keep forging ahead. Well, actually, we had decided to return it to Cost-Co eventually but there seemed to be no rush.
But Sat was the last straw. I was heading up to Sonoma for my friend's bachelorette party. And it seemed to find the hotel/spa in Sonoma just fine. But about an hour into my drive, I felt like a couple of coffee. What sucks is that before my GPS-days, I would have waited til I saw a Starbucks off the freeway and just pulled over. Now, I thought, haha, I'd find one nearby and it'd be awesome. I could get it sooner!! It directed me off the freeway near a big shopping center in Fremont. OK, actually, it was a center that looked like it would have a Starbucks in there, so looking good so far. We drove past the center, came up around the back. I swear, I even thought at this point, how lucky I have this thing. I would have spent ages driving around this place looking for coffee, but the GPS knew exactly where to go. Looped around a bit more. And some more. And finally arrived at what the GPS thought was a Starbucks. I think it might have been a Ross. Anyway, I still ended up driving through the shopping center and got no coffee. The fun part was that it was Sat morning and there were a lot of people shopping and I managed to hit every single light. Approximately 25 minutes later, I got back onto the freeway empty-handed.
A little later, I realized I would probably have to cross a bridge at some point and had no cash for the toll. I needed $$ for the wknd anyway, so it seemed like a good time to pull over and look for an ATM (and maybe there'd be a Starbucks next door!). Again, I looked for the nearest ATM on the gps and found a credit union a couple of exits ahead (awesome, since I have a credit union). Turned out the ATM was actually a couple of miles off the freeway in Richmond somewhere. OK, that's fine, I guess. Maybe it was too much to expect that it would be right off the freeway. Following the directions, I drove to what was supposed to be an ATM and what was actually Contra Costa College. To make matters worse, I think they were having gradutation ceremony so lots of the surrounding roads were blocked off, and I didn't figure out why until I drove around trying to get to the "ATM" and finally got close enough to see it. It was a lot of fun trying to get outta there. And the optimist that I am, I even got out of my car and walked a few blocks to where the ATM was supposed to be, thinking maybe its just in the college somewhere and I couldn't see it while driving.
OK -- more than half hr later, I'm back on the freeway, wondering when the bridge was coming. Turns out I was closer than I thought. It came up on me like a couple of exits later. No warning, and suddenly I'm stuck getting on the bridge with no cash. Well, almost. At the last second, there was an exit, so I took it, came back the other way to look for an ATM again. You get where this is going, right? Anyway, that little detour lasted another half hr and actually took me to the federal building in Richmond. If I were ever planning on transferring locations at my current job, that'd be one of my options, so I'm glad I got a chance to check it out. Since there was no ATM there, I'm of course grasping for ways to find meaning to my experience.
Fortunately, there was a Walgreens across the street which happened to have a B of A inside. I decided to eat the convenience fee and just go there. I'd like to point out too that the B of A hadn't shown up on the GPS. But whatever.
A little closer to my destination, starving, I pulled over to a Jack in the Box off the freeway that I managed to find despite my GPS's attempts to screw me over again. But getting back on the freeway was a different story. I don't know why I even turned the stupid thing on again honestly. I figured it knew where the hotel was and that was my next and final destination, so why not just go with it. But first it tried to make me turn right when I could literally see the freeway on ramp on the left. I turned left. THEN, it re-routed itself and told me to get onto the freeway going S even though I could have sworn we were going north. But this is where my need to follow directions again the better of me. Suddenly I had doubt. Before I pulled out, I had been very close to my turnoff. Maybe while circling around the freeway, I had passed it and that's why I was to go south. Unable to make a quick decision (I never can), I went south. Only to be told to take the next exit and come back north!
Needless to say, I arrived at my final destination almost 2 hrs late and not very happy with life. The girls, already enjoying their relaxing spa afternoon, were - I'm sure - absolutely thrilled to having me come in all ranting and raving. And G, who had to endure phone updates every step of the way, expressed some concern for the safety of the GPS (after all, how can we return it if I've destroyed it?).
Fortunately, on my way home, I had my friend Vid to guide me. Other than a winding, circuitous, oftentimes scary "shortcut" to the freeway in Sausilito, she did quite well.Sunday, June 14, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
The fun stuff
It occurred to me yesterday that I don't do much blogging about the things that a lot of other people blog about -- you know, what I do on weekends or out with friends. I don't know why that is. I guess I always figured if its not quirky or if I'm not ranting about something, it can't be very entertaining. Happy times are fun for me, but don't make for very exciting stories. And I have come across bloggers that I feel are way too "First I did this, then that. Etc." You know, a chronicle of a life as it happens. Frankly I prefer that people pick out the interesting stuff and just give me that. So that's kind of how I've always approached my own blogging. And what attracts me to other blogs. Well, that, good writing, and pretty pictures. Probably in that order.
So . . . last week, we went to Napa and it was awesome. Actually, I seem to be making my way up to that part of the bay a lot lately. I was there end of April too, and I'm going back this weekend for a bachelorette party. The lady at Sequoia Groves actually recognized G and I -- hmm, is it a sign we're going too much if the pourers start recognizing you? It was kind of a last minute trip that I owe to my cousin. She decided on the spur of the moment to come across country to Napa. And my brother and I sighed, changed all our plans (oh, mine were so exciting too -- a lot of hanging around the house) and decided to join her -- terrible life we lead, huh? Doesn't that sound SO difficult? Having to spend a whole weekend wine tasting!?! I know, we're still trying to figure out how to forgive her. :)
G's brother lives up there also, so he and my sister-in-law put us up for the wknd. They love it when we come up with our three dogs because they always feel like they don't have enough animals of their own with their dog and 3 cats. It was like being in a vet's office. By the way, as a side note, one of the nicest things about acquiring new family is the immediate increase in the number of people you can crash with. My sister-in-law picked all our wineries and food for the wknd, which was an added bonus. And if I think one of the pourers recognizing me is huge, I've got nothing on her -- talk about being shown around by a regular.
I have to admit, it did come back to bite me a little. Later that afternoon, when I was buzzed and knocking over champagne glasses, he managed to get some quite damning evidence, which I'm not quite sure I want to share here. Well, you know me -- I'm a glutton for embarrassment but I'm not the only one in the pics, and I do recognize that not everyone likes these things posted for the world to see. Or my three readers to see anyway. :) But just to get G back, I figured I'd share this priceless one of him and my brother.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Chomping at the bit. . .
Sometimes I wonder if I was always litigious and that's why the law was a good place for me or if going to law school brought out the sue-happy tendencies. You know, the usual chicken/egg question. :) I'm not sure what the answer but I have to admit that I'm slightly disturbed by how energetic I feel when I have the possibility of ripping some one a new one via letter. Is this normal?
A few weeks ago, over Memorial Day wknd, we went to Tahoe. Rented a huge cabin with a bunch of friends and spent the weekend cooking, eating, drinking, and hiking around. It was a great weekend except for one terrible thing that happened. There was a big deck on the house that looked down into the yard of the property. Early on in the weekend, people noticed that the railing was a bit rickety and made sure to keep their kids from getting to close to the edge. Some one might have even commented on how large the gap between where the railing started and the deck. But we had no inkling how big of a problem that would turn out to be. So basically, its the horizontal gap between the bottom of the deck and where the railing starts. I'm not sure if you can tell how wide it is from this picture but that's the gap I'm referring to.
So Sun morning, we've just finished breakfast. We're all kind of scattered around getting ready to go out for the day, but taking our time. Our friends Liisa and Dave had brought their 4 month old absolutely adorable super mellow German Shepherd puppy. She apparently was out on the deck napping. I was downstairs, so didn't see it, but I'm imaging she must have been a bit like Mia when she's napping in the sun, all sprawled out, totally unladylike and totally passed out.
The next thing I know, I hear that she's fallen off the deck! I guess some one heard some whimpering and was wondering about it. Then the neighbor came by and told us one of our dogs was down on the ground. That poor thing hadn't even known what happened! She must have rolled and then wham! woke up 15 ft below. I still get a little teary eyed when I think about it. She couldn't even stand up after it happened.
So then our friends had to find an emergency vet that was open during a holiday weekend (in Carson City about an hour away). They ended up having to drop the dog off because the specialist wasn't in. And then even leave the dog there for a couple of nights because they couldn't perform surgery on her right away. So they had to go home at the end of the weekend, then drive back 3 hrs to pick her up after surgery. They could have found a vet closer to home of course, but that would have entailed taking an injured dog home and then waiting until they could find another vet surgeon who could fit her in. A couple of thousand dollars and a few extra trips back to the Tahoe area later, she seems to be doing well. As upset as I get thinking about it, it could have been a LOT worse. She fell onto this area of the yard that was kind of rocky and uneven. But in the end, she ended up breaking just one "arm." They have her in pins now, but once this is all over, she should recover fully. Which, especially since she's such a young puppy, is a huge relief.
So this is where the litigious part comes in. Liisa sent a very nice letter to the property manager for the property that I had primarily been dealing with asking that he submit their medical costs to his insurance policy. She told me that she didn't even care about the $, just wanted to make sure he was aware of the problem and fixed it. There were a lot of kids around over the weekend, and it could have been any one of them falling through that gap. Not to mention that the whole railing felt a little unstable to begin with. If he had sent her back a polite letter (even if he hadn't reimbursed her), she would have dropped it. Already pointing to a huge difference between me and other people. :)
But actually, he was nasty. His letter was completely unapologetic, and said that her mentioning the insurance policy was "beyond the pale" (which by the way means "outrageous" -- people I've told this story to seem to have not heard this expression before) and he wasn't even going to dignify her email with a response. So now, of course, its ON.
Liisa called the city. They went to go check out the property and it turns out that he's completely in violation of city regulations for how big that gap should be (4 inches -- he was close to 2x that probably). Plus, he doesn't have a permit for a hot tub that's on the deck. They're going to be sending him a letter informing him of these violations. Liisa wants to send him another polite email also; maybe after the city's letter, he'll be more responsive. And I suppose know that's probably the best way to go. But I got my lawyer letter already being composed in my head. Got some great tort liability law to throw in. And I'm dying to let him know that I'm an attorney. In his email to Liisa, he signed his name as an "Esquire." I think its just to scare her off. He's definitely not licensed to practice in California (I checked). And I certainly hadn't seen it in his signature during the whole time I was arranging all the rental details. Dude, he thinks he can play attorney and get away with it?
So basically, I'm just waiting to be let out of the gate. :) I wish the whole thing had never happened, but now that it has, I just want this annoying man to suffer. Is that terrible?
Friday, June 5, 2009
your tax dollars at work
So today I got a sampling of some of the fine people leeching off the government in the form of monthly disability checks. My favorite was probably this lovely gentleman: An older guy (maybe in his mid-50s), he came in looking somewhat awkward but not really exhibiting any of the disability symptoms I've seen in other people. Sometimes, people come in limping or struggle to open the door, and of course the cynic in me wonders how much they're exaggerating for the sake of the hearing. Not this dude, he just sat there picking at his finger nails.
A guard came in with him and posted himself in the back corner of the room. Now, I haven't really sat in on that many cases, but this was kind of unusual too. I wondered if it was some sort of new policy. Until about 3 minutes into the hearing, when upon questioning, the claimant revealed that he had recently been in prison for assault with a deadly weapon. Grr-eat. So hence, the guard at the door. In fact , the guy had spent approximately 20 years of his life in prison, over the course of 4 sentences for various offenses related to robbery and assault and battery. I loved that when the judge asked him how many years total, his first response was, "In County Jails too?"
So essentially, the guy's spent over a third of his life in prison. He stopped school in the 7th grade. In the last two decades, he's worked at one job for about a total of a year and another one for 11 days. He had to quit these jobs when had to go to prison. Darn. It appears that he had problems with drugs and alcohol in the past. Asked about his disability he said that he "can't be around other people" and that was why he couldn't work, that he got frustrated and angry and couldn't focus. Really, they're handing out disability for that these days? Where do I sign up?
Asked for his opinion of why that could be, he informed the judge that it was likely due to his numerous prison sentences. "I carry that fear with me out here on the streets." While he's sought help for his condition, "there's a lot inside" that he couldn't tell anyone.
OK, so at this point, I had to laugh. Not out loud or anything, but I couldn't stop smiling and I had to look down at my notebook. There was probably a period of about 5 minutes where I just couldn't look at him for fear that I'd start cracking up. How lucky are we to get that one sensitive assault-with-a-deadly-weapon-criminal! Totally priceless, right? "I always feel inferior and my feelings get hurt." Of course, I'm dying even more, but then he said, "I'll see people on the street and they'll be laughing at something. And I think they're laughing at me and it makes me angry. I can't shake it. And that's when I lose it." Uh oh. You can believe that I STOPPED smiling at that point. It would have been just my luck to be caught laughing at the hardened criminal that apparently assaults people for it!
Anyway, long story short, apparently he'll be getting disability. Which goes to show that if you want money from the government, all you have to do is drop out of school, attack a few people, come down with a drinking problem, and scare off anybody that might be tempted to give you a job. Seems to work every time. Well, I guess in all fairness, I have to admit that once the judge started reviewing the medical evidence, there did seem to be quite a history of bipolar depression disorder and schizophrenia. But none of that other stuff seemed to hurt either.
Plus, the judge pointed out after the hearing, he didn't seem bright enough to have made any of his stuff up. I hear that.
A guard came in with him and posted himself in the back corner of the room. Now, I haven't really sat in on that many cases, but this was kind of unusual too. I wondered if it was some sort of new policy. Until about 3 minutes into the hearing, when upon questioning, the claimant revealed that he had recently been in prison for assault with a deadly weapon. Grr-eat. So hence, the guard at the door. In fact , the guy had spent approximately 20 years of his life in prison, over the course of 4 sentences for various offenses related to robbery and assault and battery. I loved that when the judge asked him how many years total, his first response was, "In County Jails too?"
So essentially, the guy's spent over a third of his life in prison. He stopped school in the 7th grade. In the last two decades, he's worked at one job for about a total of a year and another one for 11 days. He had to quit these jobs when had to go to prison. Darn. It appears that he had problems with drugs and alcohol in the past. Asked about his disability he said that he "can't be around other people" and that was why he couldn't work, that he got frustrated and angry and couldn't focus. Really, they're handing out disability for that these days? Where do I sign up?
Asked for his opinion of why that could be, he informed the judge that it was likely due to his numerous prison sentences. "I carry that fear with me out here on the streets." While he's sought help for his condition, "there's a lot inside" that he couldn't tell anyone.
OK, so at this point, I had to laugh. Not out loud or anything, but I couldn't stop smiling and I had to look down at my notebook. There was probably a period of about 5 minutes where I just couldn't look at him for fear that I'd start cracking up. How lucky are we to get that one sensitive assault-with-a-deadly-weapon-criminal! Totally priceless, right? "I always feel inferior and my feelings get hurt." Of course, I'm dying even more, but then he said, "I'll see people on the street and they'll be laughing at something. And I think they're laughing at me and it makes me angry. I can't shake it. And that's when I lose it." Uh oh. You can believe that I STOPPED smiling at that point. It would have been just my luck to be caught laughing at the hardened criminal that apparently assaults people for it!
Anyway, long story short, apparently he'll be getting disability. Which goes to show that if you want money from the government, all you have to do is drop out of school, attack a few people, come down with a drinking problem, and scare off anybody that might be tempted to give you a job. Seems to work every time. Well, I guess in all fairness, I have to admit that once the judge started reviewing the medical evidence, there did seem to be quite a history of bipolar depression disorder and schizophrenia. But none of that other stuff seemed to hurt either.
Plus, the judge pointed out after the hearing, he didn't seem bright enough to have made any of his stuff up. I hear that.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Crazy . . . or why I'm SO glad I won't be dealing with clients at my new job (Part II)
So the thing is, if its all true, the case is kind of a slam dunk at this point, assuming that the ex had actually moved to Mexico. The mom has all the rights and it should be pretty easy to change her to the primary caretaker. And honestly, if she had kept the kid here, she would have been in her rights to transfer his school and everything. Not the most convenient option with it being so close to the end of the year, but she is in her rights. But honestly, within seconds of talking to her yesterday, I had absolutely no desire to help her.
First, she complained again about me not calling back. I had called her on Mon and again after receiving her message yesterday. Her look was sullen. "Well, I didn't get it." Um, ok. How is that MY fault? I verified her phone number and told her she should take it up with the phone company. I had gone a step further even. She had left her work # too and I called her there liked she asked, only to be asked a lot of questions about who I was and told that she wasn't allowed personal calls at work.
Then, I told her that I was leaving the firm and would be unable to help her personally. She complained that I should have told her. Yeah, I'm planning on calling every random person I've ever done any little thing for and letting them know of my departure just in case they happen to need more legal help. And really, when was I supposed to tell her, during one of those times when she didn't call me back?
Anyway, she didn't let me really finish. How am I supposed to find another attorney on such short notice, she started demanding. I told her (what I would have said immediately if she hadn't cut me off) that one of my associates could pick up where I leave off. She seemed appeased by that for a second. I told her that we would need a retainer before initiating court action. She fired up again. "I already paid you the last time and you didn't do anything." Oh, that's a right, she had a point. I wrote those letters and she paid me for that. Never mind then, lets forget about payment ever again. I also explained to her that the attorney in my office charges $250 an hour ($50 more than me). Another sullen look. "No, you promised me $200." Of course, I forgot -- legal fees stay the same FOREVER. I don't know how I held it together. But I calmly explained to her that these were the terms. If she needed to find another attorney, I would understand. "Well, I only want to pay you if I get what I want." Great. THAT made me really want to represent her.
And it was at that moment that I realized that the attorney in my office would absolutely kill me if I left him this psycho. So I said, actually, you know what, I can do what I can for you before I leave. But then you need to find another attorney.
"But how can I find another attorney?" Call one. "But how?" Well, pick up the phone and dial. "Oh, but I don't know anyone here." F-in A! She went into another little schpiel about how I should have told her sooner so she had more advanced notice. Anyway, on and on. I could hit a record button and just kept playing the same tape over and over again. And the thing is, I don't really get it -- she was basically trying to get me to file a court motion IMMEDIATELY. If I had called her last week as soon as I gave notice at work, would she really have gone out attorney shopping? Especially since the most recent turn of events happened this last wknd?
I gave her the names of a couple of attorneys (who I know are going to hate me). "How do I talk to them." Well, here are their numbers. "But how do I call them?" Um, you pick up the phone and dial? That's how I thought it worked. "Are you going to call them?" No.
She kept insisting that I start the paper work immediately and then she'd get another attorney (btw, she still hadn't agreed to pay anything). I said, fine, if she found some one right away, they should really do the paperwork cuz it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for me to. And I really didn't want to become the attorney of record in a court action and told her so. "Why not?" Well, I'm not going to be stuck with you, b---ch, just cuz you don't find some one else. Once I file anything, I'm the attorney of record until some one else substitutes for me or she decides to represent herself.
But to get rid of her, I said fine, thinking that I could just fill the forms out in her name so its as if she's representing herself.
She came back 20 minutes later, saying she'd found another attorney. I happen to know the other attorney and felt guilty. But I had given the name, so obviously not that guilty. I said great. The other attorney couldn't do anything until next week, so she still wanted me to file the paperwork. Fine.
And then I thought about it. I told my co-worker and he thought I shouldn't bother, that I shouldn't let some freak determine how I practice law. And he pointed that actually a lot would be involved in filing the motion and I probably wouldn't have time before I leave anyway to do more than a half ass job. Plus I talked to the other "new" attorney she'd supposed gotten later in the day, and it turns out that the lunatic hadn't even talked to her about the case. The attorney had told her that she'd be available for an appointment next week and they could discuss it then. Dude, if I start getting involved, I (or my firm) might be stuck with her. So I called her this morning and told her since she'd found an attorney, she should let the other attorney do the paper work and that I had too short of a time to do the job she deserved.
The psycho actually started yelling at me. Told me that if she couldn't find another attorney, its my fault and she's going to do something "bad." Absolutely, nothing to do with HER sparkling personality of course. And I should have told her sooner blah blah blah. She THEN admits that she never even made an appointment (which I had already realized of course - I actually have a strong suspicion that she was hoping she could just rope me or the firm in somehow to save her the trouble of finding some one else. I can just see her - after the motion is filed - coming in and trying to tell my co-workers that I had promised her $200/hr no matter what or something like that. ). I told her that I thought she had, that's what she had said yesterday. She said no, as if it was my fault she hadn't. And demanded that I call the other attorney and make an appointment for her. No. She said that she had worked with other attorneys and they weren't like me. Her last one had done whatever she had asked him to. I told her then that she should ask him to represent her. She repeated again pretty hysterically that she would come after me if she couldn't find some one else. I said I'm sorry she felt that way. She demanded her documents that she left behind yesterday. I almost said, good riddance, but refrained.
And that was that. I'm hoping no one around here has to deal with her ever again. But who knows -- the fact is, I know she won't find another attorney. This other attorney that she went to yesterday charges the same hourly rate as my colleagues and probably has the same retainer (or more, probably, cuz I quoted a lower rate while I was still feeling a bit bad about the whole thing). And the hour and a half or so of petulant whining and demanding that I put up with is something no one will tolerate. So good luck.
First, she complained again about me not calling back. I had called her on Mon and again after receiving her message yesterday. Her look was sullen. "Well, I didn't get it." Um, ok. How is that MY fault? I verified her phone number and told her she should take it up with the phone company. I had gone a step further even. She had left her work # too and I called her there liked she asked, only to be asked a lot of questions about who I was and told that she wasn't allowed personal calls at work.
Then, I told her that I was leaving the firm and would be unable to help her personally. She complained that I should have told her. Yeah, I'm planning on calling every random person I've ever done any little thing for and letting them know of my departure just in case they happen to need more legal help. And really, when was I supposed to tell her, during one of those times when she didn't call me back?
Anyway, she didn't let me really finish. How am I supposed to find another attorney on such short notice, she started demanding. I told her (what I would have said immediately if she hadn't cut me off) that one of my associates could pick up where I leave off. She seemed appeased by that for a second. I told her that we would need a retainer before initiating court action. She fired up again. "I already paid you the last time and you didn't do anything." Oh, that's a right, she had a point. I wrote those letters and she paid me for that. Never mind then, lets forget about payment ever again. I also explained to her that the attorney in my office charges $250 an hour ($50 more than me). Another sullen look. "No, you promised me $200." Of course, I forgot -- legal fees stay the same FOREVER. I don't know how I held it together. But I calmly explained to her that these were the terms. If she needed to find another attorney, I would understand. "Well, I only want to pay you if I get what I want." Great. THAT made me really want to represent her.
And it was at that moment that I realized that the attorney in my office would absolutely kill me if I left him this psycho. So I said, actually, you know what, I can do what I can for you before I leave. But then you need to find another attorney.
"But how can I find another attorney?" Call one. "But how?" Well, pick up the phone and dial. "Oh, but I don't know anyone here." F-in A! She went into another little schpiel about how I should have told her sooner so she had more advanced notice. Anyway, on and on. I could hit a record button and just kept playing the same tape over and over again. And the thing is, I don't really get it -- she was basically trying to get me to file a court motion IMMEDIATELY. If I had called her last week as soon as I gave notice at work, would she really have gone out attorney shopping? Especially since the most recent turn of events happened this last wknd?
I gave her the names of a couple of attorneys (who I know are going to hate me). "How do I talk to them." Well, here are their numbers. "But how do I call them?" Um, you pick up the phone and dial? That's how I thought it worked. "Are you going to call them?" No.
She kept insisting that I start the paper work immediately and then she'd get another attorney (btw, she still hadn't agreed to pay anything). I said, fine, if she found some one right away, they should really do the paperwork cuz it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for me to. And I really didn't want to become the attorney of record in a court action and told her so. "Why not?" Well, I'm not going to be stuck with you, b---ch, just cuz you don't find some one else. Once I file anything, I'm the attorney of record until some one else substitutes for me or she decides to represent herself.
But to get rid of her, I said fine, thinking that I could just fill the forms out in her name so its as if she's representing herself.
She came back 20 minutes later, saying she'd found another attorney. I happen to know the other attorney and felt guilty. But I had given the name, so obviously not that guilty. I said great. The other attorney couldn't do anything until next week, so she still wanted me to file the paperwork. Fine.
And then I thought about it. I told my co-worker and he thought I shouldn't bother, that I shouldn't let some freak determine how I practice law. And he pointed that actually a lot would be involved in filing the motion and I probably wouldn't have time before I leave anyway to do more than a half ass job. Plus I talked to the other "new" attorney she'd supposed gotten later in the day, and it turns out that the lunatic hadn't even talked to her about the case. The attorney had told her that she'd be available for an appointment next week and they could discuss it then. Dude, if I start getting involved, I (or my firm) might be stuck with her. So I called her this morning and told her since she'd found an attorney, she should let the other attorney do the paper work and that I had too short of a time to do the job she deserved.
The psycho actually started yelling at me. Told me that if she couldn't find another attorney, its my fault and she's going to do something "bad." Absolutely, nothing to do with HER sparkling personality of course. And I should have told her sooner blah blah blah. She THEN admits that she never even made an appointment (which I had already realized of course - I actually have a strong suspicion that she was hoping she could just rope me or the firm in somehow to save her the trouble of finding some one else. I can just see her - after the motion is filed - coming in and trying to tell my co-workers that I had promised her $200/hr no matter what or something like that. ). I told her that I thought she had, that's what she had said yesterday. She said no, as if it was my fault she hadn't. And demanded that I call the other attorney and make an appointment for her. No. She said that she had worked with other attorneys and they weren't like me. Her last one had done whatever she had asked him to. I told her then that she should ask him to represent her. She repeated again pretty hysterically that she would come after me if she couldn't find some one else. I said I'm sorry she felt that way. She demanded her documents that she left behind yesterday. I almost said, good riddance, but refrained.
And that was that. I'm hoping no one around here has to deal with her ever again. But who knows -- the fact is, I know she won't find another attorney. This other attorney that she went to yesterday charges the same hourly rate as my colleagues and probably has the same retainer (or more, probably, cuz I quoted a lower rate while I was still feeling a bit bad about the whole thing). And the hour and a half or so of petulant whining and demanding that I put up with is something no one will tolerate. So good luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)