Monday, March 29, 2010

Jury Duty Continues: They told us to be back at 1:15. It is now 1:50 and no one has told us anything. I understand how these things go, but the non lawyers in the group are getting restless.

Jury Duty Today

I am in Denton today. I got a summons for jury duty that I had to report for. They summoned 290 people, and Judge Collier said that they only needed 131 of us for panels. So I figure my odds are pretty good, huh. Not so...My name was drawn for the very first panel in the 16th District Court with Judge Rivera-Worley. What incredible luck. Judge Collier did inform us that the case was a felony trial. I guess Wise County will have to get by without me today. I don't anticipate lasting long on the panel, but who knows. At any rate, I suspect I will stay away from the casino today with this kind of luck going for me. I did get to see some old friends that I have missed and that was very nice.

BTW, I still want a motorcycle

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

We should all read this...I doubt that the Prez has...

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Also known as H.R. 3590 which was passed and signed by Obama this week.
I hear that it's great and that it's awful. I really don't know.
I have my skepticism about an effort to regulate a private business that takes over 900 pages.
I am determined to read this thing to figure out for myself if this is movement in the right direction or a colossal mistake.
I fear the tax repercussions of this law. In Canada and the UK, the citizens pay high percentages of their incomes to taxes to support a socialized medicine system. Still, many of them flee to the United States for superior medical care that their own country can't seem to provide.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Urban Legend?

Today is the Vernal Equinox. Have you tried to stand an egg on its end yet?

Cindy's Law Office is open now

Cindy is back in the business of practicing law. She has worked hard to get things ready. I have the say this is the nicest office she has ever had. I am the technical support guy. I got her computer and fax machine up and running.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Vernal Equinox....2010

It is snowing here on the first day of spring 2010. Are you kidding me? So later, when someone asks when was the latest snow in North Texas? Why it was in March of 2010. It snowed on the first day of Spring that year (you bunch of old codgers).

I heard another global warming commercial about some thing that a guy was selling that would absorb more of the carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. I only think of this because it is snowing tonight. The empirical evidence of personal experience would suggest that we are not getting warmer.
What's so bad about carbon dioxide? Isn't that the by-product of every breathe we take? Don't all plants need carbon dioxide to live? If there is more carbon dioxide, is that not good for all vegetation on earth? And if there is more vegetation, doesn't the rest of the food chain also thrive?

Moreover, if there is more carbon dioxide, then we can stop talking to our plants to help them grow better. You do realize your plants can't hear you, right? Talking to them merely releases extra carbon dioxide in the direction of the specific plant.

And does anyone see the funny coincidence in the fact that Toyota has been getting all of this bad publicity in the mainstream media after the federal government under B. Hussein Obama took over General Motors and Chrysler? Does no one else see that, really? It's as plain as day to me, but then I simply do not trust the people that have the Whitehouse right now.

I was listening to the radio and the guy asked, "How many of you believe that President Bush was socio-economic liberal?"
I had to raise my hand, but I kept the other one on the wheel. See: "Stimulus Plans"...very liberal indeed.

FM 96.7 has switched formats and become the FM version of WBAP. I listen to WBAP every morning, but I am glad they went FM. There is a stretch of 380 surrounded by power lines that seem to interfere with the AM signal. Now that is a problem no more.

Speaking of FM, how many of you remember that movie from the '70's? Great movie. I went looking for a copy of it on DVD, and it is not to be found. Some guy on Amazon had a used one, but he wanted a pile of money for it, too. Not that motivated. I saw it on TV the other night. Sometimes VH1 shows some good old movies like that.

PMAC has been bringing "West Wing" to work. Remember that show where Martin Sheen played President Bartlett. You have to overlook the liberal politics and shenanigans they pull, but if you can do that, the show is very entertaining, well written and well acted.

I watched "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" last night. I don't always like Steven Segal in every movie, but the first "Under Siege" with Segal and Tommy Lee Jones was definitely his best. I couldn't imaging "2" being any good at all. It wasn't as good as the first one, but it was good. I was very entertained.

One of my loyal commentors on this blog (and the three of you know who you are) asked me about the novel. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. I may be a little frozen on which way to take the concluding chapters, but I can deal with that. The problem is that work has gottes so stressful, and I have so many important things that have to be done around the house, I have not actually had time to work on it, but that is about to change. I have begun dealing with the stress, and I am having some success at putting that behind me. Solutions come around near every turn, now.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

On a nice sunny day...

We had a big DWI trial end today. Greg and Lindy tried the case together. I really don't think the defendant expected to be convicted. Well, he did get convicted and the jury then sentenced him to 8 years in the penitentiary with a $5000 fine. Very good job by Greg and Lindy. This is good because these guys probably present more of an every day danger to all of us than anyone.


It really was a beautiful day today. I am so ready for spring and summer.


I believe I would like to be Board Certified in Criminal Law.


I also want a motorcycle.


Today's editorial was a bit harsh, but just a bit. Some of the mudslinging got out of hand, with the exception of myself, of course. The opinion does fire a shot and those hiding behind the cloak of anonymity while making all kinds of heavy-handed statements. However, I did not write anonymously. My letters to the paper bore my name and I used my name to comment online in the editorial page, too. I may be angry, but you know who I am.


Finally, and sadly for me, I found out today that Cristie Fuqua, the lady who has been the District Clerk for Wise County lost her bid for reelection. They tell me that she has been there for 20 years. That is amazing. I have gotten to know her and her staff over the last 3 years, and it is a wonderful office. Circumstances in her life kept her from campaigning as much as she would have liked. I certainly hope the rest of the staff remains; they are a good crew. I will miss Cristie, she is a wonderful person, on top of everything else.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

100 % reporting

It is done.

It's all over...

At last check at this hour with about 97% of the precincts reporting, it looks like Denton County is stuck with Paul Johnson for a District Attorney for at least 4 more years. He has over 61% of the votes tallied. The officials will be in the morning, but it won't even be close.

Too bad.

Also, it looks like Judge Collier has been unseated by Steve Burgess and there will not be a runoff.

There will be a runoff for the Juvenile Court bench between Kimberly McCary and Chance Oliver.

Also, there will be a runoff for the Probate Court position between Robert Ramirez and Bonnie Roberson.