Thanks for the Memories

Happy Th…ree Days After Thanksgiving, everyone! I meant to write this entry on Thanksgiving, but the bottle of Guinness I had with dinner had other plans. Having slept a whole lot and properly digested, I’m back into the writing fray. Compared to last year, Thanksgiving was a quiet affair; I barricaded myself into my room with several packs of dinner rolls (my favorite Thanksgiving food) along with some fruit and libations, enjoying a slow, methodical meal. More than ever, I miss my parents, Cthulhu, and Cthulhu’s family. That being said, there are plenty of things to feel grateful for right now. As corny as it is, I’ve decided to follow up on last year’s Thanksgiving special and jot down exactly what I’m thankful for this year.

First of all, I’m very thankful for my health. As I write this, COVID-19 continues to surge around the world. The United States has been hit especially hard, and life continues to be on regular lockdown. Even Tillamook County has been hit, as cases have emerged among jail and courthouse staff. I’ve tried to do my part to fight the epidemic by staying home all the time, minimizing my trips outside, consistently wearing a mask, and meeting with clients only telephonically. Still, I occasionally put myself at risk with my duties, having to visit the county jail and meet with clients in my office. There are many opportunities that I’ve had to catch the virus, and I’m very fortunate to have not caught it. As much as I take precautions, there is no doubt that luck has played a part in my safety. Although there are potential vaccines in sight, I will continue to be careful and hope that Fortune will continue to favor me.

Next, I’m really grateful for the economic security that I have maintained throughout this crisis. As part of the lockdowns brought on by the pandemic, many people have lost their jobs or have seen their pay cut (because of this, more people than usual are considered eligible for court-appointed counsel, something that has been consistent throughout the epidemic). Unlike many, I have continued to be paid regularly throughout the pandemic and have not had any difficulty with paying rent or for groceries. While part of this stability comes from working hard in school and finding the right job, I have no doubt that good fortune (again) played a major role in ensuring financial security. I’ll be sure to make the most of my fortunate position by continuing to help the less fortunate through defending the indigent.

Furthermore, I’m extremely grateful to still have numerous friends and relatives still supporting me. Between being buried in work and bunkered in my rented room, I don’t have a lot of opportunities to socialize or travel these days. Thanks to social media, various video chat programs, and good old-fashioned text messages, I’ve been able to stay in to touch with friends and family. Whether it’s my usual D&D online session, occasionally touching base with my parents, or catching up with an old university chum, I’ve tried to maintain some kind of social life through quarantine and quandaries. I haven’t been the best at staying in touch, but I promise to step up my contact game, friends (it’s a bit early, but I guess this counts as a New Year’s resolution—this post is now a Thanksgiving AND New Year’s special)!

Finally (like last year), I’m thankful all the little and/or stupid things in life that continue make my life a little more pleasant: pasta, TV Tropes, dried fruit, cat/puppy videos, naps, affectionate cats, Star Wars, tuna melts, almonds, Spotify, online shopping, sushi, Ace Attorney, cheese, wholesome Internet memes, cake, Honest Trailers, soft pretzels, classic rock radio stations, sourdough bread, online quizzes, salt, Cinema Snob reviews, Random Encounters videos, ASMR videos, chocolate, late-night talk shows, Pokémon, Death Battle, s****y coffee, fancy mochas from Starbucks, video games, ice cream, tie-dye t-shirts, my growing lapel pin collection, modding computer games, custom ringtones, having the technology to keep in touch with friends throughout a global ordeal, and this blog (which I am still writing for after an entire year).

Happy Belated Thanksgiving/Black Friday, everyone! L’Chayyim!

Anything Less than the Best is a Felony

It’s Month 8, Day I’ve-Lost-Track of quarantine.  The last 4 months or so have really flown by, each of which had their own flavor.  Because of quarantine, I haven’t had much to write about.  Now that several months have passed, I think I’ve amassed enough interesting subjects to write about now.

July was quite a busy month: I was flooded with 4 trials in 4 weeks, which is a lot more than I usually handle.  I was also assigned a flood of new cases, ranging from shoplifting (usually easy to resolve) to domestic violence (which is definitely my least favorite kind of case at this point).  Although social distancing guidelines are still in place, the circuit court started picking up steam, with cases no longer being delayed.  With cases being assigned and hearings coming up, I’ve found myself leaving the house 4 or 5 days a week and constantly going in and out of court.  Sometimes, I even have to burn the midnight oil, watching body cam footage on my laptop to make sure I stay on top of everything.  After several months of court being frozen out, it’s a little reassuring to have work starting to return to normal…or at least it was, until new restrictions by the state in mid-November caused the county to start delaying trials yet again.  As such, it’s back to working from home and staying isolated for the good of the realm.

As opposed to July, August was a fairly barren month in regard to trials.  I only had 1 trial scheduled at the end of the month (that ended up settling at the last second), so my court outings this month were limited to pretrial hearings.  Still, I endured the annoyances and boredoms of August and survived the Summer of Quarantine.

September is when things got kind of intense.  Early in the month, the entire West Coast was engulfed in wildfires.  The exact causes of the fires varied from location to location, but Tillamook County saw some massive conflagrations due to some downed power cables (which also caused a blackout for several terrifying hours; the first of several recent technical problems).  As a result of the rampaging fires, we were treated to an Oregon sky that looked like this.

The view from my room.

Yeah.  It was bad.

Because of the incredibly unhealthy, smog-filled air, everyone was encouraged to stay indoors (already kind of a given during a massive pandemic).  Life dragged on for 6 days under the orange sun, when we were then greeted by an old Oregon friend: rain.  Lots and lots of rain.

Here's the view from my car, taken close to the county jail.

Like all things, good and bad, the dramatic sky eventually came to a close, though it was gradual.  It wasn’t until the end of September that I was able to look out from the courthouse steps and see a view like this.

Moving on to more positive news, I recently passed several milestones.  I have now officially been a lawyer, a resident of Tillamook, the owner of a law office, and the writer of this blog for an entire year!  Furthermore, I am now major felony-certified (hence the title of this post).  What does this mean?  To put it simply, I am now allowed to try any criminal case in Oregon except murder (and possibly treason, but that’s a bit of a grey area).  This means I’m now in the big leagues.  Sure, I’ll be taking on gnarlier cases (like sex crimes and felonies with mandatory minimums), but it’s all part of the escalating journey that is my legal career.

Because of work and quarantine, I was unable to find a costume for Halloween.  Given that I typically dress like a cross between Phoenix Wright and the Winter Soldier on any given workday, I figured I was fine in the costume department anyway.

As the year 2020 keeps chugging towards its conclusion, things can still feel somewhat overwhelming.  The global pandemic is still raging, the United States just finished a toxic election season, and I haven’t seen Cthulhu in person for 8 months.  With the holiday season coming up, there’s a lot of potential for things to get better or worse.  No matter what happens, I’ll try to stay alive, stay positive, and stay strong in the face of craziness.