G. Spinach is a bit snarly today:
A plumber charged me $1,175 to replace a 3-foot section of PVC pipe. When he quoted me the price, he made it sound like a full-day job, so I c-x'd my appointments for the day, and tried setting up shop at home. It took him just 3 hours, including his trip to the hardware store, and he left me with a giant hole in my dining room wall and the name of a sheet-rock guy. I almost kicked him in the ass as he left the house because his billable rate was twice mine.
So I went on into the office...
A client who sent me a 20-lb box of bank statements two weeks ago sent a follow-up email claiming that it's been a month, and asking why I hadn't contacted her. Par for the course because I've given up parts of two consecutive Saturdays to review statements that prove the bank has been doing it right all along and the client's got no case. Thanks to Presidents' Day, my letter saying so hadn't gotten out the door until yesterday.
Some days you win; other days you put up with plumbers and clients.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Monday, February 20, 2006
Get your Presidents' Day On
I'm ruminating a little too deeply about Presidents' Day this year:
1) I've heard Presidents' Day get blasted as symbolic of the decline in the American education system...e.g., who can remember Lincoln's birthday anymore? George Washington's?
GS: Eh, no biggie. It's an excuse to party.
2) The feds can take a day off, and state and county governments do just fine without it....case in point: my probate court "hearing" at 10am this morning in a town some 60 miles from the office. Client and I carpooled and left plenty of extra time:
[9:25 am- the Clerk's desk]
G. Spinach: Hi, we've got a 10:00 appointment with the probate judge
Probate Clerk: Well, it looks like you've got about 35 minutes.
GS: Okay (looking for a bench).
Probate Judge [overhearing conversation]: Well, anybody else comin'?
GS: No, it's just us.
PJ: Well, no sense waitin' then. Let's get you in.
[walk down a narrow hallway, turn left]
[6 minutes go by, in which the judge and I exchange pleasantries, a few facts, a few pro formas, and a few sheets of paper, and then start packing up]
[9:31am] Client (thinking, I'm sure, that we're joking): That's it?
PJ: Have you got any other business?
GS (quickly): That'll do it. Thanks for your time.
PJ: No trouble.
[9:32, on the way out]
Client: Well, now we go home?
GS: Well, we go back to my office where we left your car, but yeah, we're done.
Life's easier on President's Day, don'tcha think?
3) Hmm, traffic's lighter, too, thanks to all those sleeping in. No really, Thanks!
1) I've heard Presidents' Day get blasted as symbolic of the decline in the American education system...e.g., who can remember Lincoln's birthday anymore? George Washington's?
GS: Eh, no biggie. It's an excuse to party.
2) The feds can take a day off, and state and county governments do just fine without it....case in point: my probate court "hearing" at 10am this morning in a town some 60 miles from the office. Client and I carpooled and left plenty of extra time:
[9:25 am- the Clerk's desk]
G. Spinach: Hi, we've got a 10:00 appointment with the probate judge
Probate Clerk: Well, it looks like you've got about 35 minutes.
GS: Okay (looking for a bench).
Probate Judge [overhearing conversation]: Well, anybody else comin'?
GS: No, it's just us.
PJ: Well, no sense waitin' then. Let's get you in.
[walk down a narrow hallway, turn left]
[6 minutes go by, in which the judge and I exchange pleasantries, a few facts, a few pro formas, and a few sheets of paper, and then start packing up]
[9:31am] Client (thinking, I'm sure, that we're joking): That's it?
PJ: Have you got any other business?
GS (quickly): That'll do it. Thanks for your time.
PJ: No trouble.
[9:32, on the way out]
Client: Well, now we go home?
GS: Well, we go back to my office where we left your car, but yeah, we're done.
Life's easier on President's Day, don'tcha think?
3) Hmm, traffic's lighter, too, thanks to all those sleeping in. No really, Thanks!
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Boisterous Ben Bernanke
Our new numbers guru, Ben Bernanke, gave another day's testimony before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee today (he's been Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board for about two weeks now, replacing Alan Greenspan).... and it was nice to see a few different faces on C-SPAN other than the monsters of the Judiciary Committee.
I also wanted to see how the new guy could tread water on monetary policy in the face of the political wankers. And my goodness, the wankers were whining!!!
Senators Bunning (D-KY) and Schumer (D-NY) whined about China's lack of trade...but IMHO, passing isolationist legislation as our "only option" is maybe, just maybe, a short-sighted response.
Senators Sarbanes (D-MD) and Shelby (R-AL) whined about the minimum capital reserve formulas implemented by the Federal Reserve Board being too soft on banks.
My first impressions of Bernanke are positive...perhaps he's a little less cerebral than recent Greenspan, but I'm sure some of Greenspan's vocabulary came from his decades of saying the same thing every six months or so: "fiscal restraint and savings good; trade barriers bad." It takes some creativity to repeat yourself for twenty-odd years without wearing a little thin.
Anyhow, Bernanke did say something that has me thinking: in response to a question from Sen. Carper (D-DE) about the American public's motivation to increase its savings, Ben made two points. The first was the usual late '90s schtick about the rising housing market substituting for personal savings, but then he also advocated advances "on the financial literacy front." In other words, let's teach people how to manage money and get involved in the financial markets; let them be informed consumers of financial products and services, so that they can make good choices.
-- Bingo! --
I think he's absolutely right on this one. Let's see if he can keep it up.
I also wanted to see how the new guy could tread water on monetary policy in the face of the political wankers. And my goodness, the wankers were whining!!!
Senators Bunning (D-KY) and Schumer (D-NY) whined about China's lack of trade...but IMHO, passing isolationist legislation as our "only option" is maybe, just maybe, a short-sighted response.
Senators Sarbanes (D-MD) and Shelby (R-AL) whined about the minimum capital reserve formulas implemented by the Federal Reserve Board being too soft on banks.
My first impressions of Bernanke are positive...perhaps he's a little less cerebral than recent Greenspan, but I'm sure some of Greenspan's vocabulary came from his decades of saying the same thing every six months or so: "fiscal restraint and savings good; trade barriers bad." It takes some creativity to repeat yourself for twenty-odd years without wearing a little thin.
Anyhow, Bernanke did say something that has me thinking: in response to a question from Sen. Carper (D-DE) about the American public's motivation to increase its savings, Ben made two points. The first was the usual late '90s schtick about the rising housing market substituting for personal savings, but then he also advocated advances "on the financial literacy front." In other words, let's teach people how to manage money and get involved in the financial markets; let them be informed consumers of financial products and services, so that they can make good choices.
-- Bingo! --
I think he's absolutely right on this one. Let's see if he can keep it up.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Instead of going quail hunting...
...I went to the High Museum of Art on Saturday. Learned a few things:
1) Andrew Wyeth made his own tempera paint with fresh egg yolks, distilled water, and pigment...and the pictures he created with it --- incredible.
2) The two new buildings at the High, designed by Renzo Piano, are astounding. The top floors of both are uniquely lit by 1,001 skylights scooped to capture northern, indirect light. Beautiful...though, IMHO, the modern art installed in these rooms doesn't quite merit the loving attention paid to the lighting. Note to museum director Shapiro...put the rotating exhibits up there, and watch what happens.
---
And thank goodness for small favors...I was in NYC the weekend before (not during) this year's big February snowstorm. Phew!
1) Andrew Wyeth made his own tempera paint with fresh egg yolks, distilled water, and pigment...and the pictures he created with it --- incredible.
2) The two new buildings at the High, designed by Renzo Piano, are astounding. The top floors of both are uniquely lit by 1,001 skylights scooped to capture northern, indirect light. Beautiful...though, IMHO, the modern art installed in these rooms doesn't quite merit the loving attention paid to the lighting. Note to museum director Shapiro...put the rotating exhibits up there, and watch what happens.
---
And thank goodness for small favors...I was in NYC the weekend before (not during) this year's big February snowstorm. Phew!
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Tourist; policy wonk; mourner
Over the weekend, I toured the Big Apple and snapped this pic looking south from the observatory deck of the Empire State Building....yes, yes, postcards are better, but wow, that's something to see.
After returning home to watch the Steelers clip the wings of the Seahawks, I settled back into the routine of practicing law by day, and political pundit by night....
Monday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which Attorney General Gonzales testified was a long overdue look at the warrantless wiretapping carried out by the NSA. I've got to give the Attorney General credit for coming to the table with an argument and presenting it clearly, but I'm not buying it.
Even though the Hamdi case (permitting detention of 'enemy combatants') provided backbone for his notion that the Congressional joint resolution authorizing all necessary force after 9/11 gave the President the "statute" he needed to avoid application of FISA, I just don't see why the NSA didn't simply go to the FISA court to obtain the necessary warrants, either before the wiretaps took place, or afterwards, seeking ratification of the same.
I agree with Senator Kennedy's (D-MA) concern that by crossing over the statutory boundaries, the NSA may render inadmissible any evidence gathered under these warrantless taps, and have the even more troubling result of squelching the conviction of the terrorists we are seeking to destroy. It seems to me that there was a safer way for the NSA to play its hand without sacrificing operational integrity...that is, request permission from the FISA court (precisely what the FISA court was established to do).
Tuesday's dose of television included political speeches at the funeral of Coretta Scott King. I had to turn it off during Bill Clinton's turn, not able to stomach the political glee-fest into which the somber occasion had turned. Coretta Scott King was an amazing woman, whose importance will be written into the history texts of this age, and while I'm all in favor of celebrating the lives of the deceased rather than bemoan their loss, these speeches were less about Coretta, and more about self-aggrandizement. Mrs. King, you deserved better, and my prayers are with your family as they come to terms with living without you near them.
Thursday, February 02, 2006
"Not Yet"
Oh country, marvel of the earth!
Oh realm to sudden greatness grown!
The age that gloried in thy birth,
Shall it behold the overthrown?
Shall traitors lay that greatness low?
No, land of Hope and Blessing, No!
---
And they who founded, in our land,
The power that rules from sea to sea,
Bled they in vain, or vainly planned
To leave their country great and free?
Their sleeping ashes, from below,
Send up the thrilling murmur, No!
--William Cullen Bryant, "Not Yet", st. 1,3 (1861)
Thanks to Leigh Powers for posting a Jane Austen quote inspiring this tribute.
I'm heading North for the weekend...more to come when I return.
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