About last night...

Hi everyone,

So at about 1:30am last night I threw in the towel and got a cab back to the Casa. At lunch hour today (if I‘m finished in court by then) I‘ll nip up to Coburg, retrieve my wheels and return to the office via the casa.

It occurred to me when I got back last night that the problem was probably moisture in the electrical workings of the car: because it‘s been so frosty of late, my guess is that ice had built up in the electrical systems, and that a short grocery run had been enough to melt it into water, or convert it to steam which then condensed back to water, without evaporating it entirely. Which would explain why the battery was full of of life, but when I tried to start it the instrument display looked like fireworks and the hazard lights started flashing erratically.

Not sure what I do if she won‘t start at lunch. No plan B, I‘m afraid. I really don‘t want to have to pay for a tow.  In any case, I‘m sure it‘ll be fine.  Heaven forbid that life should be boring!

Marooned!

Hi everyone,

So my car has decided my evening for me.  After I got back near the share house, I decided to drive up to Coburg for some groceries.  After getting same, I got back to my car ... which then refused to start. It did this to me once before, and after several hours waiting I had it towed (some $240 - ouch). The next morning it started no problems.

I‘ve now been sitting here for about 3 hours as the air gets perceptibly colder and I‘m pondering my options which are -

(a)  Wait as long as it takes fir the car to be able to start. This could take all night. I‘d be ok with that if I didn‘t have court tomorrow and wasn‘t aware that if it isn‘t going by 6am, I have a four mile walk back to the Casa to get ready for work.

(b)  Leave the car and get a taxi back to the Casa and come and get the car tomorrow afternoon. This leaves the risk of racking up parking tickets and the local youth smashing a window in to search for something worth stealing.

I think I‘ll let it get to midnight / 1ish and if there‘s no progress, get a cab.

Still, this is better than another evening at the office I guess.

Is this a pin? ‘Cos I‘m pulling it!

Hi everyone,

It‘s been another of those days that leaves you feeling good but knackered.  Hence, it‘s only about 7:45pm and I‘m waiting for the tram. The part of me that wants to go for a run is duking it out with the part that wants to have dinner and unwind; currently running is very much the losing side!

As I said, it‘s been a satisfying day. In the mention this morning the opposing barrister and I pretty well argued to a standstill, at which point the Court pointedly gave us both another week to resolve the matter between ourselves failing which the court would rule on the it.

The rest of the day was me lining things up for the hearing tomorrow and the hearing on Monday. So, it was productive. My boss goes off in maternity leave from today, so I went out and got her a card and also a gift certificate for an evening babysitter at some point. She‘s been pretty good to me, all up, and so it seemed right to do so.

I also e-submitted a couple of poems to a magazine at lunch. Don‘t misunderstand me: I‘m not about to become the poor man‘s Hemingway, but I kind of liked them and thought “what the hell?“. But I‘m not holding my breath!

I had a chat to Dad by phone as I was leaving work. He and Mum just got back from Rutherglen. I was going to go down to their place this weekend, but he called to say they‘ll be away, so I‘ll entertain myself up here I guess. Not with more time at the office though: I need a break!

Ok, I guess that‘s it so far. I‘ll post more later if the evenng is noteworthy.

Speak more shortly.

Smothering a kangaroo

Hi everyone,

Because I know you were hanging out for the next exciting instalment ...

I wound up smothering the kangaroo steaks along with a capsicum and some carrots and onions. The gravy was a blend of peanut oil with soy sauce and red wine vinegar, with garlic powder, chili, salt, sage, cayenne and black pepper. It came out seriously great, with leftovers for tomorrow.

Otherwise, a quiet evening off - a few glasses of wine, some tv and some reading. And now, welcome sleep.

Sigh. Missing my girls tonight. A lot.

See you tomorrow.

So far so awesome ... and kangaroo steaks!

Hi everyone,

It‘s early (for me 7:20pm) and I‘m on the tram back to the Casa. It‘s been a satisfactory day, but bloody tiring, and when a querelous email arrived from an opposing barrister about a mention tomorrow, I decided it was time to call it a day.

The morning was productive - an advice settled and most of the handover completed from the partner I report to now to the one I‘ll report to for the balance of my time at my present job.

The afternoon was two back to back meetings. In one, a very high level employer with a strong interest in a matter I‘m defending them in. The thing is, they don‘t come to meetings bringing the claims officer from the insurer. They come along with the two account managers from the insurer who want to keep a very lucrative contract. No pressure dude!

The other meeting was an intense peer review with our government head contractor, to assess strategy in one of my matters. I answered all the questions well satsfactorily, and obtained the instructions I sought, although they made me work for it!

After the last three days I‘m sure you can guess why I‘m so tired and want an early night tonight.  I finished the padta last night, so I swung past the supermarket and decided to treat myself to some kangaroo steaks and vegetables. Looking firward to it bigtime! Thinking about smothering them rather than pan frying. Hmm.

Will post more later and let you know how it went!

How'd that happen?!?

Hi everyone,

Kind of a quick post tonight.  Sorry.

Today went better than I could have imagined!  The matter that I was convinced would have to run (because we had a strong case) settled.  That is, the plaintiff came in swinging and demanding massive arrears of payments.  We (I) stood our (my) ground and said nothing doing.  A long conversation with his barrister later he agreed to settle the matter for a limited period of medical expenses, which is in all practical terms a win, and a massive backdown for his lawyers.  Pretty pleased about that!  And, I was able to handle that and another matter simultaneously, as well as tackling three interlocutory matters.

Pride cometh before a fall but, yay me!

The rest of the day was quiet and preparing for a couple of fairly intense meetings tomorrow.  I formally resigned from the firm today.  Kind of sad to do it, even if it was a choice between that and be sacked.  But, the partners in the section are being great and saying it's a good move for me and backing up the "have to make hay while the sun shines" explanation I've been using.  It's a really nice firm though, with lovely people, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sorry to be going.

OK, I'd better turn in.

See you tomorrow

A morning update

Hi everyone,

This post is being done from yhis morning‘s tram, essentially just because I feel like talking.

I‘m still feeling pretty optimistic about today - kind of looking forward to seeing how these matters will unfold.

I‘ve got a few things to tee up before I go to Court this morning, but that‘s no big deal. And I‘ve also pre-set a resignation email to go at 10am. Writing it was more difficult than I expected. The people I work with are good and kind sorts, and I guess I‘m sorry to go. But, things unfold how they will unfold, and some instinct tells me this is actually the right direction to go in at this moment (notwithstanding that it‘s not entirely voluntary).

Ok, it‘s getting near my stop.  Hope you all have a good day.

See you soon.

Score!

Hi everyone,

Today was definitely a redemption day for me. Last year there was a matter that I rather buggered up when it came on for hearing. Long story. Suffice it to say Joni and the girls had not long left and I‘d been one or two days without medication, and really wasn‘t in the right headspace to be doing fairly complex negotiations. Anyway, the matter didn‘t settle and wasn‘t reached and was adjourned off to today.  God be praised, but today I was completely on song: at the risk of bragging, but it all just fell into place and we settled well under budget. I‘m pretty happy I have to say.

Tomorrow I have two hearings plus some interlocutory stuff, and I‘m feeling pretty good about it. Law might not be my career for life, but when you‘re kicking goals, it feels awful good.

I worked late tonight kind of by accident (just sort of lost track of time) and had an office dinner.  Ready to sleep when I get back to the Casa tonight.

See you tomorrow.

Too little running, too much pasta!

Hi everyone,

Well, this is the evening update.

It's been a pretty good day, inasmuch as it can be when a hefty whack of it was spent at the office.  That said, even the time there was productive and worthwhile and i got through what I intended to, so I'm putting it in the "plus" column.

I was able to finish about when I planned to, so I was able to go to Mass at the Cathedral as planned.  That is, I hadn't especially planned to go at the Cathedral.  Just getting to Mass at all is an improvement on my recent track record.  It just so happened that the timing of the service at St Patrick's was good.  The service was everything you'd hope it to be - the choir sounded heavenly and I was able to get some audio of them which I'm having trouble uploading, annoyingly.  Nonetheless, I was able to get a few quick photos on the way out - herewith -











As you can see, winding up doing Mass there does count as a hefty bonus on the day!

I got the tram back to the Casa and was toying with the idea of going for a run.  However, when I flipped the TV in my room on it was just starting a new episode of Big Bang Theory which I took to be a good augury which it would have been churlish to refuse, so I watched that instead and also called Mum and Dad to check in on them too.  They're doing well and have some time on the road ahead of them this weekend.

Dinner was indeed last night's pasta, which had improved significantly with a night in the fridge and was now a symphony of flavours ... which is why I put away three plates of it (I hadn't had lunch!) and now feel, shall we say, stuffed like an egg!  I spent the evening ironing my shirts for the week and also dashing off part of an article on the recent US v Dire decision. 

And now, bedtime.  Big day - and a heavily contentious hearing - tomorrow.  Wish me luck

Incidentally, I found out the other day that one of the matters I had at my old gig - where I was acting in a civil matter for a person accused of a sexual assault allegedly committed in the 1960s - had finally ended (it was unfinished when I left that firm).  The applicant withdrew the claim.  I think correctly, although it's a sad matter still.  My own view is that the claimant hadn't ever been assaulted, at least by my client, but was clearly a very damaged and messed up person. 

OK, time to sleep.

See you tomorrow.