It would be too easy to just say 2009 sucked and be done with it.  It brought a lot of stress and heartache, and gutted my business, but there were some plusses, even if I had to browse the archives here to remember some of them.

January: Our third Penguin Plunge together, a quick trip to Pismo Beach and Morro Bay, and the arrival of the magic Roku box.

February: Cal Rugby.

March: Turned 45.

April: Las Vegas and La Reve.

May: Still married, despite the best efforts of the H8ers.  Baseball.

June: Pismo Beach (again) and the  San Luis Obispo farmers’ market. First anniversary of our marriage.

July: Comic-Con.  New car.

August: Body surfing championships in Oceanside.

September: Triton Invitational water polo.

October: Disneyland, and the decision to become annual passholders.

November: Thanksgiving in Las Vegas with the in-laws and my little brother.

December: Christmas and a new laptop from Santa.

Sure it had some rough spots, but despite whatever else I can say, 2009 certainly wasn’t all bad.

Made it back to the pool this morning for the first post-Christmas-gluttony swim.  Minor panic attack when I pulled into the parking lot, but fortunately all the New Year’s Resolutionists were staying in the dry areas of the  gym.  Either they’re committed non-swimmers or they haven’t resolved enough of their body issues to be seen in swimwear yet.  Either way I won – I had a lane to myself for the entire workout.

We’ll see if the effort pays off on Friday.  Weather permitting, at 11ish we’ll plunge into the ocean like little penguins with 300 or so of our closest friends to celebrate the New Year.  Most of our friends normally wince at the thought of going, with the imagery of icebergs and hypothermia shivering up their private bits just as surely as the cold water itself would.  Still fun though, and free coffee, doughnuts and certificates always make for excellent motivators.  See you there?  This will be the 24th annual plunge, and our fourth together.

I can almost appreciate the rationale behind Randall Stross’ piece in today’s New York Times that more sales tax revenue would help states like California in the current economy.  Everyone could use more money right now.  But the article just seems to assume the money comes from some great pot of money, as though the California state legislature were to stumble across a pot of gold while on a romp through the field.

Even if Amazon (and other online retailers) were to collect a tax that they aren’t obligated to collect, and even if they were to do this collection without significantly adding to their own overhead (reducing profits or increasing prices), why should consumers sit by and let 8.75% be added to each and every purchase for a tax that that retailer has no obligation to collect?  I wouldn’t, and I’d certainly be taking my business elsewhere or reducing my spending.

I also object to the implication in the article that online retailers are abusing states like California by not collecting sales taxes even though they may have employees in those states.  Those employees are paying income taxes, and sales taxes on their purchases.  Many probably pay property taxes on their homes too, and countless other fees and taxes here and there.  The state and localities are getting their pound of flesh.  If a company chooses to structure it’s operations to avoid passing additional taxes (or other costs that add no value) onto their customers, more power too them – they just became more competitive.  That’s supposed to be good in capitalism.

The article reads like the Professor is simply asking for the retailers to do what the legislature has decided not do do; to raise taxes directly on consumers during the middle of a massive economic downturn.  Corporate interests may run amock in Sacramento, but they can’t directly amend laws yet, and I doubt any well run company’s leadership is actually so short-sighted as to follow the professor’s suggestions.

Even if retailers were inclined to add a surcharge on purchases to help fund local services such as police, fire and schools, I would hope that rather disguise it as a non-existent tax they would be honest about their intentions and give the funds directly to worthy groups rather than letting the moral defectives* in Sacramento get their grubby little fingers in the pot.

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Using Paperless Post for the office holiday greetings this year.  I’ve dabbled with it since seeing a review of the site a while back (in the N.Y. Times?) and used it for a couple of small invitations, but this was the first large “mailing.”  So far so good, and certainly more affordable than snail mail.  I know I love getting paper cards, and love the collections on the walls and shelves of other people’s offices, but I think with this site e-cards are finally crossing over into the “classy” range.

Yes, I’m well aware the world is ending. At least that’s the case according to the professional media feed on the TV at the gym. The gym I finally got to after a detour down the coast highway this morning. With the window down. And a stop at the Oceanside Pier to watch this for a while.

Cuz ya know, the world stops and ends when it falls below the horizon visible from a network anchor’s chair.

So with all due respect to our friends on the East Coast, we thought you’d appreciate some photos of Snowpocalypse (Not).

Refugee Centers are standing by.

Had been planning a post on Cal football’s invite to the Poinsettia Bowl here in San Diego.  Before I got the chance to celebrate though, I caught an update on the UC’s ongoing drive to mediocrity, from the Cal Band’s twitter feed:

- We have now been informed that we will not have enough money to send the full band, so we will not be performing a pregame or halftime show.

- We still are sending a 50-piece group to play in the stands, participate in the bowl activities, and support the team. Go bears!

Yeah. Go Bears.

Went to the downtown courthouse in San Diego last Tuesday in response to a jury summons.  I never really expected to serve, but was pretty certain that even if my name came up, voir dire would save me.  Who in their right mind would roll the dice on having a practicing attorney, ex-federal agent, ex-public defender, ex-whatever in their jury box?

“Right mind” proved to be the critical part of that question, but we’ll save that for the third act.

I was selected, but not as much by choice as poor planning that left me in the box just as the sides ran low on peremptory challenges.  I never really got much of a sense of what the defense was looking for in a juror, but I don’t feel bad about that.  I’m not certain the defense knew either.  Our pro per defendant made a great first impression on the jury by attempting to dismiss the panel in its entirety for cause (we didn’t care about the facts), and his peremptory challenges were pretty much just random strikes.

Act I – Guilt Phase

Through multiple witnesses (a concept the defendant never seemed to grasp), the prosecutor quickly established a timeline and essential facts.  Defendant, a white male in his mid-30s, had been running around a busy intersection “mad-dogging” or rushing at people trying to provoke a fight.  He may have even gotten into some small scuffles.  At one point he attacked a bus as it drove away with the momentary target of his attention.  Eventually he focused on a young latina woman (mentally retarded and with cerebral palsy), shouted “you’re dead” while brandishing a knife and then jabbed at her at least two times with the knife.  He ran away and the woman called 911.  Three minutes later a police officer met her at the intersection while other units detained him two blocks away.  Defendant resisted and was tasered.  The victim and another witness identified him on the spot within minutes.

There was some cross-examination, but it generally backfired.  Our pro per was very successful in damaging his own case with almost every witness.  He may have had information on the eyewitness’s criminal or drug history, but he never asked the eyewitness any questions that might have competently impeached his testimony.  The jury only heard about a supposed rap sheet when the defendant tried to bring it up on closing arguments.

Defendant’s actual defense was at least only pathetic – aside from missed opportunities it didn’t actively damage his case. That’s only because it was short lived.  The defense was supposed to lead off on Day Three, but defendant only got two questions out (to an investigator retained for his defense at some point in time) before he rambled into a speech.  The judge tried to get him back on focus, but after several warnings the judge had to conclude he had no questions for the witness, and the defense rested was put to rest.

The jury found defendant guilty of menacing, assault with a dangerous weapon, and resisting arrest that afternoon.

Act II – Whoops Phase

This was supposed to be the insanity phase, but instead we did a quick session on whether or not the defendant had a prior felony conviction, presumably for a sentencing enhancement.  The prosecution produced lots of documentation that we otherwise would have never gotten to see about his prior convictions, probations, parole violations.  He’s spent the majority of his adult life in California’s corrections system for an assortment of offenses, mostly centered on drug possession and assault with various weapons.

Per the judge, we had to assume all the records before us belonged to the man in court.  I didn’t compare fingerprints, but the photos matched anyway.  It did help the jury clarify one of the bigger issues of the trial though: the defendant’s name.

He was charged as Mike Mitchell, but occasionally though not consistently, corrected people to call him Micah Michel.  It turns out Micah was only one of about 30 aliases on record.  The jury did not hold his conversion to europeanism against him in the deliberations, but it did find that he did have prior felony convictions.  Strike whatever.

Phase III – Insanity

This was where something I’d suspected since opening statements was confirmed.  Our defendant was a whack job.

Defendant had the burden of proof on this one, and utterly failed.  He introduced the reports of two court-appointed psychiatrists who both acknowledged he was ill (paranoia, delusions, etc.) but not legally insane at the time of the acts.

The prosecution then put one of those same psychiatrists on the stand and confirmed the expert opinion.

In the jury room we got to read the reports though.  Everything but tin foil hats!  Both doctors reported that defendant claimed to have been raised on a CIA facility at Quantico as a prodigy, that he was physically and sexually abused by his mother, and eventually used for experiments by the Army.  Lots of drug use, a claim of porn stardom, and a reference to a quest for a severed penis on Fourth Avenue had us rolling on the floor of the jury room.

Despite the entertainment though, and our sympathy for his illness(es), three more votes led to three new verdicts that he was legally sane when he committed the menacing, the assault with a deadly weapon and resisted arrest.

Big Finale

Despite the inconvenience and loss of time, we had a great judge who kept this thing on track and a great jury that knew how to balance the comic nature of the defense with the seriousness of the allegations and get the job done.

For me it was fascinating to be able to sit back and watch the trial from the different perspective.  As I wrote on my feedback form for the judge, being able to watch the different responses to the various lines of questioning was valuable, and certainly more beneficial for me than any CLE I’ve been through in the last five years.

It’s that time of year when the big man comes. The one who knows if you’ve been good or bad. Never been quite sure how the jolly old elf knew what happens behind closed doors, but I suspect our holiday Sith Lord would have no trouble figuring things out.
Bobbleheads are kind of taking over here this year, so don’t be suprised if a few more to run amock on the site between now and the big day.