Benjamin Fischberg: A[pprenti]ce Attorney: One Year Later

Because there’s a lot in my professional life that I’m not allowed to write about, anniversaries are something I like to include in these blog posts. In that spirit, I recently went by a big one: it has now been over a year since I moved from Tillamook to Salem! These days, I still have business in Tillamook, but it’s greatly decreased and mostly covered by video court appearances. Instead, I commemorated this anniversary in a more pleasure-oriented way: by going on down to the coast for a day off!

Either this sign is a new addition that went up at some point in the past twelve months, or I just never looked around Tillamook with a visitor's eye.

Tillamook City Hall (with a little bit of the Tillamook County Pioneer Museum). That means that on the other side of the street is...

...the Tillamook County Circuit Court! It's hard to forget a place you spend so much time at.

Twelve months later, not much has changed in the Dairylands. The air still smells faintly of dung (but there’s also an oceanic undercurrent to the smell that I never quite noticed before). A few businesses have closed or relocated, but everything is still where I remember it. From what little I’ve gathered from professional sources, the legal world hasn’t changed much, though it has potential to do so in the near future (among other things, both judges in the county are eyeing possible retirement, and one of my fellow defense attorneys is being considered for the bench). Still, it felt fun to see something once commonplace as somewhat foreign. It also reminded me that there was still much in the area I wanted to see (particularly the beaches nearby); maybe I’ll be able to set up a beach day with some friends in the future!

Before heading back home, I decided to stop by Pelican Brewery and drown my sorrow in some beer…root beer, that is! I had the customary hour-and-half-long trip back to Salem, so I had to be a sober driver. There are at least two breweries in Tillamook County, but I’ve never really gotten to enjoy them due to my need to drive everywhere. When I set up the aforementioned beach day, I’ll need to make sure to include a designated driver! 

As nostalgic as I can get about Tillamook, things are still going smoothly in Salem. Work is going smoothly, though I’m busy as ever and pulling more than a few late-nighters. My social life isn’t the greatest, but I’m throwing myself out there whenever I can. Most notably, I recently took a break from the slog/social anxiety and spent a day with Cthulhu at the Oregon State Fair! While there’s a lot of exciting things to say about that, it doesn’t translate the best into writing. As such, let these photos do the talking for the rest of the entry. See you next time!

As cloudy as it seemed, the temperature was ideal, and it didn't start raining until I was ready to leave.

My favourite ride of the day (seen here before lifting and swinging around):once you realize that the seats won't rotate and make you dizzy, it gets kind of relaxing (like an adult-sized swing set).