NOLA Notes

Category: Work and Legalese

Rendered Speechless. Well, Not Completely…

I was asked to serve and was honored for the asking. Then I was asked to lead and was stunned by the confidence had in me. I was asked to write and was honored for the asking. Then I got busy learning so that my writing would be of value. I was asked to speak [...]

All Quiet on a Saturday Night

I recall the weekend evenings prior to meeting CS as oftentimes quiet. Sure, I’d go out with friends and do the normal stuff single folks do. But more often, I’d stay home and watch rented movies or read a book. CS is a pretty quiet kinda fella. So when we married, the quietness of my [...]

It’s in the Numbers

This post has been brewing for a while. I finally pulled my old records to be accurate on my numbers. So let’s get started. Nineteen years ago, I started law school. My parents paid my way through (state) college but I was on my own from there. So I opted for the state law school. [...]

The Wonder of It

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fiztgerald. When I started with my firm 13 years ago, I was aware that my department consisted of five men all over the age of 55. I knew going in I’d face a chasm in [...]

The Unbearable Heaviness of Being

I easily could have spent yesterday under the covers, having had daylight and my thoughts blocked out. But I had plans to visit family. So Sun and I spent the day in the country. Sun dipped her toes, and her hiney, in an icy pool and spent hours literally running around naked, humming, as I [...]

And Again

Another death in my professional life. You’d think by now, six being the number, I’d be used to this routine. And although I deal with death every day of my professional life, it isn’t the same as dealing with A Death. A Death is personal; A Death is impacting; A Death is life-changing. And this [...]

Why.

Today was a day of horse shit.  Aggravating non-lawyer back-of-the-house horse shit. This afternoon, I spent with friends that unfortunately needed my legal services.  We spent hours going through papers, making calls, developing options. When my friends left, the Missus hugged me.  After a moment, I pulled away and she stayed hugging.  I resumed my [...]

Falling Asunder

These have been hard times.  My in-laws continue to have employment issues, and they seem destined NOT to return to NOLA although they (and I) want it so badly.  News of death and serious sickness hitting very close to my own employment has made the office a less than cheery place of late.  On the [...]

Too Obvious?

I had a dream over the weekend, the kind that when you wake up you are pissed at your spouse over.  You know the type, right? I dreamed it was the day of our wedding and we were at his house getting ready.  All sorts of family and friends were roaming around.  The house was [...]

Changing of the Guard

My mentor is retiring at the end of this week.  He’s been with the Firm his entire 40-some-odd year career.  I’ve been with him for 12 years.  Before joining the Firm, I had no mentor; I was rudderless. He has all the qualities that make a sage mentor: steadfast, adroit, generous, exacting.  His work habits [...]