Part 8 of Mike Stuckey’s series on surviving prostate cancer is particularly good.

Was reviewing server logs this morning and discovered someone hotlinking a photograph I took of a sunrise in Palm Springs back in 2004.  Apparantly they thought enough of my photograph to use it in their eBay campaign to sell timeshares in the desert community. I can take that copyright violations and bandwidth theft are the sincerest forms of flattery in the Internet Age, but since they are making money off my work, they could’ve at least spread the wealth a bit.  I wonder how their bidding will go with the new image I substituted at the old link.  >-)

POTUS was curious about where we are on the invisibility cloak. He pointed out that this was the first project he put into development when he came to the White House and, had it been available earlier, he could have used it to capture SH and OBL personally, saving thousands of lives and the Republican majority. However, he is having second feelings about calling it a cloak, which comes off as evil and French, and has directed that henceforth it be referred to as an invisibility poncho. And he again emphasized that the invisibility poncho be waterproof.

From a recently leaked White House e-mail, as reported in the Los Angeles Times.

Last November I had a hearing out in Farm Country where opposing counsel was apparantly hired at the list minute, and was given a two month continuance so she could make appropriate filings.  Now she’s got her paralegal playing phone tag trying to obtain another continuance as her first continuance runs out Monday.    She’s filed no papers, and served nothing on anyone despite some pretty specific code sections to the contrary.  Normally I try and be accomodating when other attorneys need a continuance.  As a solo I know how tough it can be to juggle multiple cases in multiple courthouses.   Or even juggle a personal life with a litigation practice.  But after two months she just wants another day, as though that will be enough time to allow the case to go forward.  Actually, after everyone else has juggled their calendars to accomodate her failure to plan, all it will do is allow her to get her papers filed so the judge won’t chew her up and spit her out in front of her peers, and then he’ll have to grant a second continuance so the other parties will have time to digest whatever it is she’s slapped together.  She can smile and be charming and the rest of us will have to ask for time to prepare.  Color me not happy.  I don’t want to waste my time and my client’s money driving out to Farm Country for a pointless exercise in futility, and I really just want to get this hearing over with.  This is one of those cases where (almost) everyone just needs some finality so they can move on. 

Sure I’m sick and burned out, but this made my afternoon worth living [via Nala].

Arrived at the Vista Courthouse at 7:45 to fulfill my civic responsibilities, fully prepared to be a juror.  The line for security screening was long, but I flashed my bar card and walked around the screening station.  After all, four hundred dollars per year in dues have to get you some benefits.

Apparantly the 7:45 start time on the summons was just a suggestion though.  People kept strolling in until about 8:30.  The clerk and a judge explained the system and turned on the special video for us to watch, then sent us on break for 45 minutes.  About this time my cold meds started to wear off, possibly exacerbated to the extensive perfume worn by the woman sitting next to me.  Sniffles and a bit of a migraine put Chuck in an even worse mood than he started the day in.  No one turned on the TV.  I was no longer in the mood  for the book I’d brought, and I’d read through the morning news on the Palm.

I wasn’t the only one in trouble.  Between the smoking ban and the cell phone ban, there were a lot of people squirming.  The caffeinated crowd was doing all right (for now, until the do-gooders get bored again).  There were a number of laptops visible, but the clerk had announced that no wireless connections were available, and a number of people were having trouble remembering how to use their dial-up connections (cord available at the counter if you leave your driver’s license).

Finally, at 10:30, the clerk announced that everything on calendar for the day had either settled or been continued.  Everything.  Of the 400 or so people called for today and present in the waiting room, not one was called, even for voir dire.

God Bless America.

There were a few good things during the President’s speach, at least when he wasn’t being drowned out by catcalls and obscured by flying pillows. 

Nice to hear about assistance for those of us who pay for our own health care.  As a non-homeowner I’m always skeptical about more deductions that don’t seem to matter if one doesn’t have mortgage interest, but I’ll watch it with interest. 

As for reduced dependence on fossil fuels, don’t talk to me about better mileage on cars I might want to buy in five to ten years.  Tomorrow my choices for jury duty are driving 15 miles to the nearest courthouse in about twenty minutes, or taking a variety of public transit options the same distance for between 55 and 90 minutes (each way).  No technology problems to overcome, no foreign despots holding our future hostage, just a management of available resources that makes no economic sense for me to use, and thus a waste of my tax dollars. 

One last thing: what if Americans, not just Africans, had their HIV/AIDS medicines paid for by U.S. taxpayers? 

Updating to WordPress 2.1. If anything seems broken, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

UPDATE: This one seems to be working, but I’m having trouble posting at Beachlaw.  Grrr.

Slept well last night, at least compared to the previous night, but I’m convinced that my sinus tumor has become respiratory ebola.  My back says I need a really good swim, and my pathetic reflection in the mirror says I need some time laying out by the pool, and the parasites currently making phlegm in my lungs are just saying we dare you.  Tempted to call the little beasties’ bluff, but I have an obligation tomorrow that I really want to get over with, so I’m doing some indoor work today and saving some research projects for breaks in jury duty tomorrow.  Yep, I’ve been summoned for jury duty.  This is the third time I’ve been tagged since I moved to San Diego in 2001.  Once went to voir dire, the other just involved watching a lot of Fox News in the waiting room.  I guess that’s one of the downsides to staying in one area more than three years.

I haven’t done much with juries professionally in several years, and I’m pretty certain no attorney in their right mind would let me sit on their jury.  Too unpredictable and unpidgeonholeable.

In the back of some attorney’s mind they can run through the questions like: Do my criminal justice beliefs come from my days as a federal agent or as a public defender?  Do my feelings about the insurance industry come from my experiences with BorgHealth, my two years doing insurance investigations and adjustings, or my current work with my clients.

Let’s just leave it by saying the only thing predictable will be my sense of wrath on any party I view as wasting my time.

I tried to caffeinate enough to do some writing despite a bird flu or sinus tumor cold and a lousy night’s sleep.  Instead it appears I’m just wired but still dopey from the cold meds.  Not the best state of mind for legal writing unless I just want to redo it all tomorrow.  Maybe I’ll be able to focus after lunch.  For now Eric Clapton’s Road to Escondido is keeping me relaxed as I look at all the pretty pictures scattered around the internet.  Wish my puppy were still here to keep me company.