After a slow business week caused by the distractions of hunger pangs and BorgHealth probing I was all intent on jumping back into work today.  But the weather is beautiful, the stomach is still queasy, there are no deadlines immediately imminent, and damnit, I can procrastinate.  It’s a skill I’m proud of.  Besides, I think my favorite pair of boxers have been lost to the caustic bleaching of barium farts.  A reasonable period of mourning must take place.

There are few advantages to self-employment.  They certainly don’t include regular paychecks or access to pilferable office supplies.  The ability to manipulate time and space by pushing work into that space on the side of the desk and saying ‘I’ll do that next week’ is about all I’ve got.    One must use the powers one has.

Need more business, but want to be hanging out at the pool.

Sitting here typing in my boxers, but want my naked toes to be walking in the sand.

Looking forward to spring, even though I live in San Diego and there really is only one season.

Tough coming back from an amazing weekend, even if I never left town.

Need more coffee now.

While out doing our business this morning, a strapping young lad from down the street nearly stumbled on us. Out and about at 5ish in the morning, and dressed in his finest Christmas boxers, we escaped his notice as all his attentions and remaining powers of focus were directed elsewhere. Our young neighbor was working hard to entice the object of his affections to return to the warmth of his apartment with a medley of Blues on his harmonica. This was clearly requiring more concentration and balance than he had available.

The lass of his interest, dressed in holiday party attire (velvety and with ornaments), was more interested in Pongo than our nieghbor, and seemed to have had enough warmth for one night. She did not appear to be a fan of the Blues, and neither did she appear to be sympathetic toward the possibility of her suitor turning blue. Glad tidings were not on display.

She seemed to prefer walking alongside us, and as she arrived at her car and the Blues were becoming background music, she left us with that timeless phrase of the walk of shame, encapsulating her sense of the spirit of good will prevalent during this special season: “F’ing drunks, man.”

Working at home today since there was nothing going on at the cube farm to justify six dollars worth of gas and an hour of travel time.

Secure in the de facto branch office, local leadership gathered all the personalities and mandated a staff swim. It was a good swim since the staff had the pool to itself, and got in a healthy mix of freestyle, kick and butterfly. Muy importante to staff morale. Third on the morale-boosting priority list after the boxers-only dress code and the coffee pot being only six steps away. The recently neglected little law firm practice of mandatory staff siesta may also be reinstated as well.

I’ve been out the last two mornings to try and get some morning surf and beach pictures, but haven’t come back with anything worth posting. Even at 9 and 10 in the morning, crowds and traffic are allready getting offensive for the holiday weekend. Between snorklers, divers, a triathlon club doing an open water swim and even a few kayakers, the water at the La Jolla Cove was certainly packed this morning. Looked like even a few collisions out there. As for me, I’m feeling much better about my independence hanging out at home in my boxers and not dealing with the crowds.

I’m not being completely unproductive: some writing got accomplished, the dog got his bath, and I did make it out long enough yesterday to enjoy Mr. and Mrs. Smith despite the electronic tether. I was there on a pass, which reduced my usual anxiety about paying for movies when I’m on-call, and it was a fun show, though certainly not worthy of some of the hype I’ve seen.

The great winding up of the law practice is going slower then planned, but it is going. Everything else in the slightly retooled life is going well. I’m not sure yet if I call this the third career or just a minor course adjustment in the second career. For those counting; the first was my time as a security officer in the Diplomatic Security Officer and the second includes at least the three law jobs (public defender on the rez, associate at the law firm from hell, and solo practitioner). I guess I’ll have to wait awhile before I decide where the current gig fits in.

It was a good day working for unnamed corporate america, and a good time at the gym afterward. Work involved a morning in the air conditioned office and an afternoon in the field. The gym was a light workout: swimming and a spell in the sauna. A nice way to slow the brain after a long work day. I’m getting into a rhythm with the field work and the outside work and the personal work. Not a rut but a rhythm. Some (beings/people/clients) who used to get a lot of my time don’t like their current smaller percentages much, but aside from Pongo, their opinions really don’t matter that much. I’m enjoying the current percentages.

But as content as I am sitting here in my boxers and blogging while scarfing Ben and Jerry’s, others are having good lives too. Go read The Mighty Jimbo.

I’ll admit that I consider a certain pair of boxers to be lucky in aspects of my personal life. I’ve also got a certain tie that’s been very, very good to me in law and motion hearings. Why don’t the boxers work on the court? My only theory is that they have to be seen to be effective, and while local rules don’t expressly prohibit such efforts to influence the court, they don’t encourage it either. But maybe I’m putting too much emphasis on the mystical influences of the karmically powerful clothing as opposed to the direct impact of suggestive clothing.

Now that these practices are being talked about in public I expect to start getting spam from CLE providers on ways to maximize this area of my practice. If one of them can couple a law and fashion seminar with an hour of ethics credit (Ethics of leatherwear in family court? Seminar on the ABA model rules concerning subliminal tie messages?) before the end of the month I might actually sign up.