Hijack This Thread

[bill_g]

So, my one week vacation has one day left, and then it's back to the salt mines tomorrow. I only had one system down service call to Kalama on Friday, a dozen emails or so through the week, and two support requests over the phone. I am so grateful for the time off. Makes me wonder about how retired I'll be in retirement.

[zekeb]

So, my one week vacation has one day left, and then it's back to the salt mines tomorrow. I only had one system down service call to Kalama on Friday, a dozen emails or so through the week, and two support requests over the phone. I am so grateful for the time off. Makes me wonder about how retired I'll be in retirement.

I'd love to go back to work if it were part time and solely on my own terms. My problem would be test equipment. You and I both know what that stuff costs. $20,000 here. $5,000 there. Pretty soon I'd be spending real money.

[fierceredpanda]

I will hijack to inform the Fogbow that I am winding down my solo practice and joining the public sector. Friday afternoon, I was formally offered a position with the local office of the Wisconsin State Public Defender at a very generous pay grade, which is considerably more than I have been making (net of expenses) out on my own.

I've never had aspirations of being an entrepreneur, and the administrative aspects of running my own business drive me absolutely mad. I will miss being my own boss and choosing my own cases, but I am happy to trade those liberties for getting rid of the stuff that makes me wish I had an MBA instead of a JD, not to mention getting paid more and with perfect regularity. And I've been fantasizing about not filing 1099s for some time now, so I am quite pleased that next year's will be the last I will have to file in the foreseeable future.

[AndyinPA]

Congratulations!

[Estiveo]

[sugar magnolia]

I will hijack to inform the Fogbow that I am winding down my solo practice and joining the public sector. Friday afternoon, I was formally offered a position with the local office of the Wisconsin State Public Defender at a very generous pay grade, which is considerably more than I have been making (net of expenses) out on my own.

I've never had aspirations of being an entrepreneur, and the administrative aspects of running my own business drive me absolutely mad. I will miss being my own boss and choosing my own cases, but I am happy to trade those liberties for getting rid of the stuff that makes me wish I had an MBA instead of a JD, not to mention getting paid more and with perfect regularity. And I've been fantasizing about not filing 1099s for some time now, so I am quite pleased that next year's will be the last I will have to file in the foreseeable future.

Two of my favorite real life friends are/were (one retired, one soon to be) public defenders.

[Patagoniagirl]

Oh so happy for you FRP!

[Volkonski]

Congratulations!

[jcolvin2]

Congratulations, FRP! It seems like it will be a good fit.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Bravo! Felicitaciones!! Way to go, bro!!!!!!! Good on you, FRP!!!!!

[FiveAcres]

Excellent.

[Kendra]

Hope the FB link works. LOL, Jerry Lewis and Cher.

[Maybenaut]

Congratulations, FRP!

[Phoenix520]

The public could certainly use more lawyers like you, FRP. Congrats!

[fierceredpanda]

My sincere gratitude to everyone here for the sentiments. In all honesty, I must credit Mrs. FRP for getting on and staying on my case about this job opening when it came around. I'll admit: I was extremely hesitant to pursue it, fearing that such a move would either be viewed as a step backwards for me career-wise or an admission of "failure" (whatever that means) as a self-employed person, much as I groaned about the hassles that went along with it. Keeping up appearances, right? It's a real thing amongst lawyers, even those of us who aren't in the rarefied air of Biglaw. Mrs. FRP, who is ever wise beyond her years, more or less told me that was all crap, and she was right.

Anyway, thank you all for everything.

[Patagoniagirl]

A Public Defender is a most honorable professional. Mister was an Assistant Public Defender and his work, along with his colleagues carried on the honorable work of defending the poor and most needy. In Manatee County, Florida, he was one in a long line of PD's after Walter Talley was the first after Gideon v. Wainwright. Walter told stories of replacing tires six times a year, staying in defendants homes because he traveled hundreds of miles and spent weeks in preparation for trials and court proceedings in remote places where people were poor but always set a table for him and shared a fishing spot. Granted, things are different now, but the dedication to a defense is the same.

It is the stalwart of democracy. As a sign we saw when on Isla Chiloe in Patagonia, "Sin Defensa, no es Justica".

Carry on.

Edit to add: great article in The Atlantic on Public Defenders.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archi ... RnEu7kOAtE

[Lani]

[Foggy]

Wow, congratulations FRP! That's awesome. And it means you just get to be a lawyer, not a business owner.

OK, next hijack - there are many, many different ways that it totally sucks that my hosting company killed the original Fogbow, and I still feel sick about it whenever I think about it, like today. But there are one or two things that are better about the Fogbow Rebooted, and one of them is, we still have no mention of that convicted felon in Tennessee who spent 10 years yappin' about "the Madisonville Hoax" that me'n my homie Bobby Mueller engineered back in the day.

I took a minnit and looked at his blorg on this glorious June morn, and he was really excited, back in November and December, about Biden, Harris, and Pelosi being arrested and executed for treason, and the former asshole serving another four years. Sadly, that didn't work out for him. Oh well.

But today he's just excited about D-day. I think he done forgotted all about us, too also.

[Maybenaut]

But today he's just excited about D-day. I think he done forgotted all about us, too also.

I couldn’t believe he spelled my name wrong when we were headed to the Myrtle Beach meetup (and I’m the closest thing he has to a friend here on TFB because (a) I think it’s possible that the convening authority of his court-martial didn’t understand that he had unfettered discretion to set the whole thing aside if’n he wanted to, although it’s way too late to do anything about that; and (b) I don’t think there’s anything shameful in retiring as a Lieutenant Commander as a general principle, although in his case...).

[bill_g]

So, my one week vacation has one day left, and then it's back to the salt mines tomorrow. I only had one system down service call to Kalama on Friday, a dozen emails or so through the week, and two support requests over the phone. I am so grateful for the time off. Makes me wonder about how retired I'll be in retirement.

I'd love to go back to work if it were part time and solely on my own terms. My problem would be test equipment. You and I both know what that stuff costs. $20,000 here. $5,000 there. Pretty soon I'd be spending real money.

Karma being what it is heaped it on yesterday after my snark about not getting a real vacation. I got a free all expenses paid round trip to Green Mtn to check out a battery over temp alarm followed by a luxury tour of the Washington Co 911 center for a display error. Thank God I was on vacation, or I wouldn't have been available to take care of these.

[Foggy]

Wow, yeah, you are so lucky, bill_g!

[bill_g]

I will hijack to inform the Fogbow that I am winding down my solo practice and joining the public sector.

Congrats on the move to a steady paycheck with work you enjoy. That truely is the key to a successful career. It's not so much what you do, or how much you make, but whether you had fun doing it. If you go home most days satisfied from the challenge, it was worth the effort.

I learned a long time ago I am a wrench. I don't like running the day to day business. I don't like billing or collections. I don't like filing taxes. I'm no good at managing people. But, land me in a tech problem and I'm a pig in corn. I am more than glad to be the horse that can pull a straight furrow than the farmer on the porch of the big house. Let someone else provide the oversight, and broaden my field of view when I become too focused.

This change will open a whole new life for you, and I hope you like it.

[bill_g]

Wow, yeah, you are so lucky, bill_g!

I know. (blush)

Maybe there will be a forest fire or sumpin like that to welcome me back to work.

[RTH10260]

[Foggy]

chickenquestions.png