The Scoplaw Has Landed

What follows is an extended post on the Move, the Apt., and the Job. I’ve been offline for a bit, but now I think I’ll have more or less regular access. Apologies to all those I have not called/texted/emailed in the past few days.

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The Move

Well, there was much Uhaul bullshit, as predicted, including their trying to rent me a clearly defective car dolly. (I thought it would be cheaper to tow the car, but it turns out it would have been just as expensive to fly back up and drive down. That’s partially because good-priced flights out of here are pretty easy to find. Had I known. . .)

Anyway, post-Uhaul ickiness, I packed and cleaned and left the DC apt. in pristine shape. Alas, my sub-lessee fell through, but I think it will go fast enough on the open market. It’s really a gem of a place.

Due to the Uhaul delay, I left DC hours later than I hoped, and then ran smack into traffic. A few hours of creeping along later, I realized that there was a very good chance I would not make my move-in window that the militant condo association demanded. I thought I still might have a chance, but the truck proved unstable at the speeds I needed.

I had mixed feelings on driving out of DC. Regardless of however I wasted my time there and/or didn’t do half the things I should have done, I think Georgetown was clearly the right choice for me. Still there’s something that happens when you experience a lot of turbulent emotions in a particular place – you’re at the mercy of whatever random associations and memories that might get evoked through the most innocuous of stimuli. DC was full of lies and drama, and I’m glad I’m leaving it behind me. On the other hand I haven’t had a lot of mental space to process things – so the “gladness” was more like an emotional flash or two as I slowly crawled through my immense list of stuff to do/things to think about.

I had thought about pushing on through to Miami, regardless, and just seeing what I could do about moving in despite the condo association’s rules and regulations. That probably wasn’t a wise thing to consider at that point, given that my sleep deficit was pretty high. I had decent sleep on Sat., pre-bar, but Sun (5), Mon (5), Tues (5), Wed (4), Thurs (3), wasn’t, in retrospect, the best way to kick off an 18+ hour truck trip. I was just too nervous to sleep well during the bar, and too busy immediately afterward. I was getting kind of punchy when I finally did stop, and it wouldn’t have been wise to do the last 600 mile leg of the trip without some kind of break, given the shimmying truck and its swaying car tow-dolly. But, having stopped, I decided to get some decent sleep (6) and some do-nothing time, then take on the last bit of driving and moving with some semblance of coherence.

That stop was at Riposte’s. She fed both El Gato Perfecto and myself and let us crash out. But here’s the thing. The next time I stop in to see her, we’re going to have to wear disguises, sneak off to a shady motel, and check into it under assumed names, because, once again, there was random ex-boyfriend drama. Don’t get me wrong – we could keep the naked sword of virtue between us and simply talk philosophy, politics, and literature (which we did) but the main advantage to these preparations would be that there wouldn’t be some oddly obsessive boy or another showing up. This time it wasn’t so bad (I was only there for about 18 hours), but there was still that awkward social negotiation where I have to do the “not a threat” dance. And this is for exs for cripes’ sake. I mean, no big deal to assure the current boyfriend that there’s no need for them to worry about anything. But exs? Come on. I think I’m so amused/annoyed by this because the last time it happened, Riposte was also moving (as she was this weekend) and the then-ex-boy made assisting the move more difficult via self-centered drama (as did this one.) And it’s not that I dislike this guy either, or don’t want him to have a decent shot with Riposte. Sigh.

The post-Riposte trip was nice. It was pretty cool to drive down into FL, which I never had done before. You get to watch the land and vegetation change; southern FL is incredibly flat and green. Miami itself is a nutty thriving city.

I’ll spare you all the details about moving into the new place. I made a few dozen phone calls, spent some hours waiting, got people to call people, passed out some strategic beers, and presto! Got all my stuff in within 48hours.  I won’t say it wasn’t a pain, or didn’t take me twice as long as it should have, because it was and it did.

The Apt.

I sent out an e-mail with my new contact info. If you didn’t get it, drop me a line. My contacts are not as organized as I’d like them to be, and I got several bounced emails from dead addresses.

The new place is fun - it’s larger and more modern than the DC apt. I have a washer and a dryer and a balcony and space to cook in. I also have two bathrooms. In a one bedroom. . . What is the American fascination with multiple bathrooms?  (The only bummer is that the stove is electric, not gas. And I’d rather wood or tile than the industrial off white carpet.) Additionally, the car’s in a locked garage so I can hopefully avoid this. And the building is hurricane-proof. We think.

The neighborhood isn’t the greatest. You can ride for awhile without seeing much civilization or any humans. However, I can walk to work, which is cool. As Atomic put it, “I too like to choose my abode on the basis of proximity to courts and jails. And crack houses. Makes it all very convenient.”

Yep. But in the other direction, a 25 minute bike ride will put me on the beach. And a 5 minute ride will land me in Little Havnna, where the women are beautiful and the coffee is sublime.

The main odd-catastrophe drawback to living in NYC is the terrorism issue – the main odd-catastrophe drawback to Miami is the fact that we’re 2m above sea-level . That might be a problem soon.

 

The Job

The first week at work went well – I am totally impressed by the level of immediate organization and well thought out long-term strategy.

OBVIOUSLY there are going to be lots of things about the job which I cannot share on the blog. However, as I’ve stated elsewhere, I think part of the PDs duty is to the general community – to educate them as to what really goes on in the criminal justice system. Thus I will be trying to talk about some “safe” things, details muddled, confidences kept, grand strategies in pocket, and all that.

Right now, I’ve been assigned to the felony court for 30 days before I transfer into county court (traffic and misdemeanors). The purpose of the 30 day break-in period is somewhat like a mini-internship. It’s supposed to let the out-of-staters (which I am one of) get an exposure to the local courtroom culture, the office, the procedures, etc.  I’m learning tons which will, I think, help me later on. I’ve gotten to marginally help out with some felony trials, which is nice, and have been absorbing as many names and as much terminology as I can.  I’m not yet fluent in Criminal Law Acronym. Hell, I’m not even yet at the menu-speak level.

I think I can safely say that I’ve been quite impressed at the level of smart, pro-active, engaged lawyering that I’ve seen thusfar. Not everyone agrees on everything, of course, but I’m impressed that the organization gives you the latitude to disagree without feeling like you’re walking on anyone’s toes or playing head-games.

I’m not the kind of guy who impresses easily, but I’m impressed.

Right now I’m still getting my feet wet, so I don’t have much to report, beyond that it’s very different from DC.  And I have an office.  Right now it's holding some extra deodorant, some aspirin, a spare umbrella and some tea.  But still. . .   

For example, we can *depose* witnesses in criminal trials (theoretically even for misdemeanors and traffic offenses if good cause is shown). That includes police officers. Wow!

More updates as we get them.

Comments

[Kat]

Chuckling at the "'not a threat' dance" to appease the friend's ex, and the abundance of bathrooms in your new place. I hope the plumbing in these is better than the kind we have here. Nothing like getting to know your new property manager by inviting them over to fix a toilet!

ps(I hear you about missing your gas stove...much more forgiving if you forget you've got something bubbling away on the stove)