LICENSE PLATE LIBERTIES
‘IRISH’ Gets a Pass, But Other Sentiments Are Banned
BY DAVID L. HUDSON JR.
Carol Ann Martin is proud of her Irish heritage—so proud that she’s had Irish-related license plates for seven years. But when the dual citizen Irish-American went to get a vanity plate reading simply "IRISH," Vermont’s Department of Motor Vehicles tried to stop her. The DMV prohibited plates referring to ethnic heritage.
Undaunted, Martin took her case to court. She even wore a headband to the state supreme court that had a leprechaun on it with shamrocks.
"I also had a button that read, ‘I’m not stubborn; I’m just Irish,’ " she says. . . .
Monday, February 24, 2003
This is not very charitable either!
> Subject: Ahhh, the French!
>
> Q: How many French troops does it take to defend Paris?
> A: No one knows. It's never been tried.
> Q: What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up?
> A: The Army.
> Q: How many gears does a French tank have?
> A: Five. Four in reverse, and one forward gear (in case the enemy
> attacks from
> behind).
> Q: What will France's greatest war contribution be to Iraq?
> A: Teaching them how to surrender.
> Q: What's the difference between a Frenchman and an onion?
> A: Nobody cries when you cut up a Frenchman.
> Q: Why are the streets of Paris lined with trees?
> A: So the Germans, or any other invaders, can march in the shade.
> FOR SALE: French rifles...never fired, only dropped once.
> Subject: Ahhh, the French!
>
> Q: How many French troops does it take to defend Paris?
> A: No one knows. It's never been tried.
> Q: What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up?
> A: The Army.
> Q: How many gears does a French tank have?
> A: Five. Four in reverse, and one forward gear (in case the enemy
> attacks from
> behind).
> Q: What will France's greatest war contribution be to Iraq?
> A: Teaching them how to surrender.
> Q: What's the difference between a Frenchman and an onion?
> A: Nobody cries when you cut up a Frenchman.
> Q: Why are the streets of Paris lined with trees?
> A: So the Germans, or any other invaders, can march in the shade.
> FOR SALE: French rifles...never fired, only dropped once.
Below is the information on where to locate Tax Liens
You can find records of Federal and state tax liens against individual and corporate taxpapers by searching ...
a. Lexis http://www.lexis.com/ in the LIENS library and/or
b. ChoicePointOnline http://www.choicepointonline.com/ and/or
c. KnowX.com http://www.knowx.com/ and/or
d. Westlaw http://www.westlaw.com/, which has records only for corporations and only in selected states.
Filing Offices: To find out where a Federal tax lien notice would be filed for a particular location, see the chart at Paragraph 38160.205 of the the CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter.
You can find records of Federal and state tax liens against individual and corporate taxpapers by searching ...
a. Lexis http://www.lexis.com/ in the LIENS library and/or
b. ChoicePointOnline http://www.choicepointonline.com/ and/or
c. KnowX.com http://www.knowx.com/ and/or
d. Westlaw http://www.westlaw.com/, which has records only for corporations and only in selected states.
Filing Offices: To find out where a Federal tax lien notice would be filed for a particular location, see the chart at Paragraph 38160.205 of the the CCH Standard Federal Tax Reporter.
Wednesday, February 19, 2003
Senator Clinton and her driver were cruising along a country road one evening when an old cow loomed in front of the car. The driver tried to avoid it, but couldn't and the old cow was killed.
Hillary told her driver to go up to the farmhouse and explain to the owners what happened. She stayed in the car making phone calls to lobbyists.
About an hour later, the driver staggered back to the car with his clothes in disarray. He was holding a bottle of expensive wine in one hand, an expensive Cuban cigar in the other and was smiling happily, smeared with lipstick.
"What happened?" asked Hillary.
Well," the driver replied, "the farmer gave me the wine, his wife gave me the cigar, and their beautiful twin daughters made mad passionate love to me."
"My God, what did you tell them?" asked Hillary.
The driver replied, "I said 'I'm Hillary Clinton's driver, and I just killed the old cow.'"
Hillary told her driver to go up to the farmhouse and explain to the owners what happened. She stayed in the car making phone calls to lobbyists.
About an hour later, the driver staggered back to the car with his clothes in disarray. He was holding a bottle of expensive wine in one hand, an expensive Cuban cigar in the other and was smiling happily, smeared with lipstick.
"What happened?" asked Hillary.
Well," the driver replied, "the farmer gave me the wine, his wife gave me the cigar, and their beautiful twin daughters made mad passionate love to me."
"My God, what did you tell them?" asked Hillary.
The driver replied, "I said 'I'm Hillary Clinton's driver, and I just killed the old cow.'"
Friday, February 14, 2003
FIRST ENDOWMENT FOR SECOND AMENDMENT
NRA Foundation Hoping for ‘Scholarly Research’ on Right to Bear Arms
BY JILL SCHACHNER CHANEN
In what may be the first endowment of its kind, an arm of the National Rifle Association has pledged $1 million to create a professorship of Second Amendment law at George Mason University law school in Arlington, Va.
NRA Foundation Hoping for ‘Scholarly Research’ on Right to Bear Arms
BY JILL SCHACHNER CHANEN
In what may be the first endowment of its kind, an arm of the National Rifle Association has pledged $1 million to create a professorship of Second Amendment law at George Mason University law school in Arlington, Va.
THE MOST THANKLESS TASK
Paper Clips and Complaining Attorneys Make Office Managers Surly
BY THE RODENT
In a column I wrote for this publication a few months ago, I made a couple of possibly unflattering references to estate planning attorneys. I got a lot of mail out of that one. Now, I think it might be time to turn my attention to another member of The Firm’s cast of characters: the office manager.
It’s not that office managers are bad people. My guess is that most are formerly good people who have become unpopular by dint of what they do for a living.
Law office administrators have the most difficult job at The Firm. They have to decide which secretary works with which attorney, plan office functions, hire and fire staff, keep expenditures within The Firm’s budget and assign office furniture. While they may be able to escape being blamed for the commission of legal malpractice or the loss of a client (this is what junior associates are for), virtually any other problem at The Firm is pinned on the office manager.
One law firm chairman compared managing a law firm to "leading the opera with 75 prima donnas trying to sing at once." The office manager’s mission is to keep a large group of temperamental, demanding people with diverse interests happy and the office running smoothly.
Mission: Impossible.
As with any group of people, it would be wrong to say that office managers are all alike. They do, however, fit quite nicely into two categories within which gross generalizations can be accurately made.
The first type of office administrator is a former secretary, paralegal or recruiting coordinator who either distinguished himself in his former position or, as is more likely the case, was picked for the job on the spur of the moment when his predecessor either was fired, quit or otherwise was run out by law firm colleagues.
He isn’t trained to run an office, but he is bright enough to learn quickly. Besides, how hard can it be to do an impossible job? The most important thing is that people like him and his winning personality—just what The Firm needs to get over the person who previously held the job.
The second type of office manager holds a graduate degree in human resources, professional administration or some such. She has, very obviously, attended scores of leadership seminars and listened to a few too many motivational tapes.
Office managers, be they personable or Ph.Ds., enjoy a honeymoon of about a day and a half. It all begins to come crashing down after that first executive decision. The following scenario is typical:
The office administrator decides to purchase plastic paper clips instead of the cheaper metal ones the Firm has been using. A penny-pinching partner notices the additional expenditure and raises the issue at the next partnership meeting. Meanwhile, attorneys and staff complain about the new paper clips and begin to badmouth the manager and question his abilities.
After the paper clip debacle, the office manager is second-guessed on everything he does.
Fighting the good fight gets the embattled office administrator nowhere, and he starts to lose his battle for survival. The perennial smile disappears, and he is now disheartened and looks so depressed that people start mistaking him for an attorney.
By the time he actually leaves, he never wants to see another lawyer or law firm again for as long as he lives (except, of course, the lawyer and law firm he hires to sue The Firm upon his departure).
©2003 ABA Journal
Paper Clips and Complaining Attorneys Make Office Managers Surly
BY THE RODENT
In a column I wrote for this publication a few months ago, I made a couple of possibly unflattering references to estate planning attorneys. I got a lot of mail out of that one. Now, I think it might be time to turn my attention to another member of The Firm’s cast of characters: the office manager.
It’s not that office managers are bad people. My guess is that most are formerly good people who have become unpopular by dint of what they do for a living.
Law office administrators have the most difficult job at The Firm. They have to decide which secretary works with which attorney, plan office functions, hire and fire staff, keep expenditures within The Firm’s budget and assign office furniture. While they may be able to escape being blamed for the commission of legal malpractice or the loss of a client (this is what junior associates are for), virtually any other problem at The Firm is pinned on the office manager.
One law firm chairman compared managing a law firm to "leading the opera with 75 prima donnas trying to sing at once." The office manager’s mission is to keep a large group of temperamental, demanding people with diverse interests happy and the office running smoothly.
Mission: Impossible.
As with any group of people, it would be wrong to say that office managers are all alike. They do, however, fit quite nicely into two categories within which gross generalizations can be accurately made.
The first type of office administrator is a former secretary, paralegal or recruiting coordinator who either distinguished himself in his former position or, as is more likely the case, was picked for the job on the spur of the moment when his predecessor either was fired, quit or otherwise was run out by law firm colleagues.
He isn’t trained to run an office, but he is bright enough to learn quickly. Besides, how hard can it be to do an impossible job? The most important thing is that people like him and his winning personality—just what The Firm needs to get over the person who previously held the job.
The second type of office manager holds a graduate degree in human resources, professional administration or some such. She has, very obviously, attended scores of leadership seminars and listened to a few too many motivational tapes.
Office managers, be they personable or Ph.Ds., enjoy a honeymoon of about a day and a half. It all begins to come crashing down after that first executive decision. The following scenario is typical:
The office administrator decides to purchase plastic paper clips instead of the cheaper metal ones the Firm has been using. A penny-pinching partner notices the additional expenditure and raises the issue at the next partnership meeting. Meanwhile, attorneys and staff complain about the new paper clips and begin to badmouth the manager and question his abilities.
After the paper clip debacle, the office manager is second-guessed on everything he does.
Fighting the good fight gets the embattled office administrator nowhere, and he starts to lose his battle for survival. The perennial smile disappears, and he is now disheartened and looks so depressed that people start mistaking him for an attorney.
By the time he actually leaves, he never wants to see another lawyer or law firm again for as long as he lives (except, of course, the lawyer and law firm he hires to sue The Firm upon his departure).
©2003 ABA Journal
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Knowledge Management Research Center
How Siemens Keeps KM Blooming - Knowledge Management Research Center - CIO
While knowledge management (KM) programs may seemingly sprout up out of cracks in the sidewalk, they are in fact tender plants that require cultivation, care and feeding. Siemens, the huge German conglomerate with 426,000 employees in 190 countries, knows this and nurtures its KM with hands-on management and constant tweaking.
How Siemens Keeps KM Blooming - Knowledge Management Research Center - CIO
While knowledge management (KM) programs may seemingly sprout up out of cracks in the sidewalk, they are in fact tender plants that require cultivation, care and feeding. Siemens, the huge German conglomerate with 426,000 employees in 190 countries, knows this and nurtures its KM with hands-on management and constant tweaking.
KeyCite or Shepard's Citators? Which is better? How do they compare? Should I use one, the other or both? Is it still good law? What does the Lawgiver say?
Wednesday, February 12, 2003
Feature Article:
Stop Worrying Yourself Out of Profits, Part Three, By Van K. Tharp
How to deal with worry
How do you manage worry? If you can discover how you worry, then a simple solution to the problem is to do something else. If the new solution doesn't work, then again do something else. Keep changing your approach until you find something that does work. This does not necessarily mean changing your trading system. If you execute a system poorly, you will execute a new system poorly. "Changing your approach" means to change how you think, how you make decisions, how you execute your system.
This solution is simple, but most people find it very difficult to accomplish because they are locked into certain patterns. Changing the way you think and perceive the world is not always easy. To change the way you think, you must first discover how you start the worrying process. Being objective about your own thinking is difficult while you are doing it, but much easier later when you can try two techniques to discover how you start worrying. The first exercise is to review a past, painful market experience. It is the quickest way to discover how you worry. You need only recall what happened just before the painful experience. You have no need to replay the experience itself.
Review the experience as if you are watching a movie of yourself. Sit back in a chair and feel yourself in that chair watching yourself on a movie screen. As you watch your movie, determine what started the worry experience. Was it something you saw or read? Was it something you heard or something someone said? Was it a feeling? What happened next? Did you start talking to yourself? Seeing pictures? Did your self-talk and pictures trigger the bad feelings? How did you do it?
When people worry they typically get themselves into a negative feedback loop. They talk to themselves, which produces bad feelings which results in more negative talk followed by more bad feelings and on and on. Others see images which produce bad feelings which make the images worse and so on. What kind of loop do you produce? Once you discover how you start to worry and what kind of negative feedback loop you produce, figure out some ways to change it. Disrupt your loop in some way. If you say negative things to yourself, practice following those phrases with a picture of something pleasant. Try changing the quality of the voice you hear. If you say negative things to yourself, say it in the voice of some well-known cartoon character. Be creative. Do anything that is different until you find something that works for you. If you have trouble discovering how you worry from your past memories, then a second exercise is to keep a worry diary. When you feel anxious or worried about an investment, make a note of it in your diary. Do so at the time you are worrying. Don't put it off. Be sure to include the following information: What were you doing when you started to worry?
What triggered the worry?
Was it someone's actions?
A memory?
A visual image?
A feeling?
How did you go about worry?
What kind of a loop do you set up for yourself. Is this a new or an old pattern?
Later, when the experience passes, make a note in your diary about what you actually did. What could you have done instead? Also comment on your original diary entry. After recording your worry diary for several weeks, you can study it objectively. What kind of irrational fears do you have? How does worrying affect you as an investor? Most importantly, you can determine how you trigger an episode of worrying and how you go about worrying.
When you have a good idea how you I start to worry, select some changes you can make, such as those just suggested with the past memory technique. Become aware of when you start to worry and immediately select one of your changes. Once you discover how you go about worrying and have selected some alternative behaviors, practice using I them. If you do so diligently, then the process will soon become automatic. Imagine yourself in some future situation where you would normally worry and practice some of the alternatives you have selected. Once you can feel at ease in an imaginary situation you I should be able to deal with the real situation. Investors who go through this process frequently comment, "It's just not the same anymore. I don't know what happened, but it's not the same anymore."
This article is taken from the book " How to Control Stress To Become A More Successful Investor", the second volume of Dr. Tharp's five volume course on how to develop peak performance in the markets.
Stop Worrying Yourself Out of Profits, Part Three, By Van K. Tharp
How to deal with worry
How do you manage worry? If you can discover how you worry, then a simple solution to the problem is to do something else. If the new solution doesn't work, then again do something else. Keep changing your approach until you find something that does work. This does not necessarily mean changing your trading system. If you execute a system poorly, you will execute a new system poorly. "Changing your approach" means to change how you think, how you make decisions, how you execute your system.
This solution is simple, but most people find it very difficult to accomplish because they are locked into certain patterns. Changing the way you think and perceive the world is not always easy. To change the way you think, you must first discover how you start the worrying process. Being objective about your own thinking is difficult while you are doing it, but much easier later when you can try two techniques to discover how you start worrying. The first exercise is to review a past, painful market experience. It is the quickest way to discover how you worry. You need only recall what happened just before the painful experience. You have no need to replay the experience itself.
Review the experience as if you are watching a movie of yourself. Sit back in a chair and feel yourself in that chair watching yourself on a movie screen. As you watch your movie, determine what started the worry experience. Was it something you saw or read? Was it something you heard or something someone said? Was it a feeling? What happened next? Did you start talking to yourself? Seeing pictures? Did your self-talk and pictures trigger the bad feelings? How did you do it?
When people worry they typically get themselves into a negative feedback loop. They talk to themselves, which produces bad feelings which results in more negative talk followed by more bad feelings and on and on. Others see images which produce bad feelings which make the images worse and so on. What kind of loop do you produce? Once you discover how you start to worry and what kind of negative feedback loop you produce, figure out some ways to change it. Disrupt your loop in some way. If you say negative things to yourself, practice following those phrases with a picture of something pleasant. Try changing the quality of the voice you hear. If you say negative things to yourself, say it in the voice of some well-known cartoon character. Be creative. Do anything that is different until you find something that works for you. If you have trouble discovering how you worry from your past memories, then a second exercise is to keep a worry diary. When you feel anxious or worried about an investment, make a note of it in your diary. Do so at the time you are worrying. Don't put it off. Be sure to include the following information: What were you doing when you started to worry?
What triggered the worry?
Was it someone's actions?
A memory?
A visual image?
A feeling?
How did you go about worry?
What kind of a loop do you set up for yourself. Is this a new or an old pattern?
Later, when the experience passes, make a note in your diary about what you actually did. What could you have done instead? Also comment on your original diary entry. After recording your worry diary for several weeks, you can study it objectively. What kind of irrational fears do you have? How does worrying affect you as an investor? Most importantly, you can determine how you trigger an episode of worrying and how you go about worrying.
When you have a good idea how you I start to worry, select some changes you can make, such as those just suggested with the past memory technique. Become aware of when you start to worry and immediately select one of your changes. Once you discover how you go about worrying and have selected some alternative behaviors, practice using I them. If you do so diligently, then the process will soon become automatic. Imagine yourself in some future situation where you would normally worry and practice some of the alternatives you have selected. Once you can feel at ease in an imaginary situation you I should be able to deal with the real situation. Investors who go through this process frequently comment, "It's just not the same anymore. I don't know what happened, but it's not the same anymore."
This article is taken from the book " How to Control Stress To Become A More Successful Investor", the second volume of Dr. Tharp's five volume course on how to develop peak performance in the markets.
Tuesday, February 11, 2003
Municipal Codes This page provides Links to city and county codes available for unrestricted searching on the World Wide Web.
(For state codes and related legal sources, see FindLaw's State Resources Indexes.)
Code Publishers
(For state codes and related legal sources, see FindLaw's State Resources Indexes.)
Code Publishers
Saturday, February 08, 2003
Kylie news segment on Australia's Current Affair discussing the launch of her lingerie line at Selfridges London, her vacation, and her American break.
Friday, February 07, 2003
Searching Patents on Government Databases on the Web"
By Ron Kaminecki
You have an idea that you wish to patent but are uncertain of how to conduct a proper search of the literature (a.k.a. a search of the prior art) so that you can determine if your idea is novel.
You may have heard that searching patents is difficult, but it is possible to do a reasonable search inexpensively on the Internet if you spend sufficient time at the appropriate websites and you know of some of the nuances of the patent system.
"Patent Searching Without Words - Why Do It, How To Do It?"
By Stephen Adams
In January 2002, Ron Kaminecki of Dialog wrote an article in Free Pint in which he described some of the basic principles and sources for patent searching. I would like to extend his work a little, and describe some alternative approaches.
In the commercial world, there are two important reasons why a company should consult the patent literature. Firstly, to be forewarned about the risk of accidentally infringing someone else's patent. Secondly, if the search draws a blank and it appears that no-one else has patent protection, this fact will help a patent attorney in the process of drafting your own application.
In both cases, our fundamental target is the same - to identify one or more patents which are 'about' the same invention. Our search strategy must try to describe the technology using search terms which will capture other documents with the same degree of 'about-ness'. To put it another way, we are looking for concepts rather than a mere match of words.
By Ron Kaminecki
You have an idea that you wish to patent but are uncertain of how to conduct a proper search of the literature (a.k.a. a search of the prior art) so that you can determine if your idea is novel.
You may have heard that searching patents is difficult, but it is possible to do a reasonable search inexpensively on the Internet if you spend sufficient time at the appropriate websites and you know of some of the nuances of the patent system.
"Patent Searching Without Words - Why Do It, How To Do It?"
By Stephen Adams
In January 2002, Ron Kaminecki of Dialog wrote an article in Free Pint in which he described some of the basic principles and sources for patent searching. I would like to extend his work a little, and describe some alternative approaches.
In the commercial world, there are two important reasons why a company should consult the patent literature. Firstly, to be forewarned about the risk of accidentally infringing someone else's patent. Secondly, if the search draws a blank and it appears that no-one else has patent protection, this fact will help a patent attorney in the process of drafting your own application.
In both cases, our fundamental target is the same - to identify one or more patents which are 'about' the same invention. Our search strategy must try to describe the technology using search terms which will capture other documents with the same degree of 'about-ness'. To put it another way, we are looking for concepts rather than a mere match of words.
Thursday, February 06, 2003
Kylie's million knicker
Looking after the bottom line ... Kylie at the launch of her underwear range yesterday
By ERICA DAVIES Fashion Editor
KYLIE MINOGUE showed off her sexy new underwear yesterday and shoppers were desperate to get them.
The Aussie singing sensation hopes to make a million with her undies and from the way they were selling that’s a sure thing.
We revealed the LoveKylie range in The Sun last week and here Page 3 girls Nikkala and Serena show them off at their best.
Kylie launched her lingerie at London store Selfridges where the range will be sold exclusively. . . .
Monday, February 03, 2003
Knowledge Management Study of Legal Profession Commissioned
January 13, 2003
The Legal Technology Institute at the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law is commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Legal Research Center to conduct an international study of Knowledge Management in the legal profession.
January 13, 2003
The Legal Technology Institute at the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law is commissioned by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Legal Research Center to conduct an international study of Knowledge Management in the legal profession.
Sunday, February 02, 2003
Tired of getting junk email?
Here is a handy script that you can add to your webpage to hide your email address from email robots (harvesters). Simply modify the address, domain and extension in the script below. Then paste it into your web pages anywhere you wish to have your email address appear on the page. Email Harvesters are then unable to read your email address - saving you from spam!
Here is a handy script that you can add to your webpage to hide your email address from email robots (harvesters). Simply modify the address, domain and extension in the script below. Then paste it into your web pages anywhere you wish to have your email address appear on the page. Email Harvesters are then unable to read your email address - saving you from spam!
Friday, January 31, 2003
> --- Begin Attached Message---A special for the Corporate World.
An Indian walks into a cafe with a shotgun in one hand and a bucket of buffalo manure in the other. He says to the waiter, "Me want coffee."
The waiter says, "Sure chief, coming right up."
He gets the Indian a tall mug of coffee, and the Indian drinks it down in one gulp, picks up the the bucket of manure, throws, it into the air, blasts it with the shotgun, then just walks out.
The next morning the Indian returns. He has his shotgun in one hand and a bucket of manure in the other. He walks up to the counter and to the waiter. "Me want coffee."
The waiter says, "Whoa, Tonto. We're still cleaning up your mess from the last time you were here. What the heck was all that about, anyway?
The Indian says,"Me in training for Executive Management job.
Drink coffee, shoot the shit, and disappear for rest of the day."
Thursday, January 30, 2003
International Phone Directories
International Phone Directories can be found at the following web sites. Click on a country name at the top to jump to that country in the list below.
Argentina | Australia | Austria | Belgium | Bermuda | Brazil | Bulgaria | Canada | Chile | China | Colombia | Costa Rica | Croatia | Czech Republic | Denmark | Ecuador | El Salvador | Estonia | Europe | Finland | France | Germany | Greece | Guatemala | Honduras | Hong Kong | Iceland | India | Indonesia | Ireland | Israel | Italy | Japan | Korea | Latvia | Lebanon | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malaysia | Mauritius | Mexico | Nepal | Netherlands | New Zealand | Nicaragua | Norway | Pakistan | Panama | Paraguay | Peru | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia | Singapore | Slovenia | South Africa | South America | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Thailand | UAE | UK | USA | Venezuela |
International Phone Directories can be found at the following web sites. Click on a country name at the top to jump to that country in the list below.
Argentina | Australia | Austria | Belgium | Bermuda | Brazil | Bulgaria | Canada | Chile | China | Colombia | Costa Rica | Croatia | Czech Republic | Denmark | Ecuador | El Salvador | Estonia | Europe | Finland | France | Germany | Greece | Guatemala | Honduras | Hong Kong | Iceland | India | Indonesia | Ireland | Israel | Italy | Japan | Korea | Latvia | Lebanon | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Malaysia | Mauritius | Mexico | Nepal | Netherlands | New Zealand | Nicaragua | Norway | Pakistan | Panama | Paraguay | Peru | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia | Singapore | Slovenia | South Africa | South America | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Thailand | UAE | UK | USA | Venezuela |
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
Tech Law Advisor | home
Tech Law Advisor is a legal web log (blawg) edited by Kevin Heller, an attorney admitted in New York and New Jersey.
Tech Law Advisor is a legal web log (blawg) edited by Kevin Heller, an attorney admitted in New York and New Jersey.
Tuesday, January 28, 2003
Monday, January 27, 2003
Underground History - Disused Stations on London's Underground
Introduction
Since moving to live near London a few years ago, one of my interests has been the London Underground, the oldest and one of the busiest underground railway networks in the world. I'm not a train spotter by any means, but I find the history and background of London's subterranean railway fascinating.
One of the things I find most interesting is the changing history of the railway, of which there is still much hidden evidence. For example, look through the window as you travel between Tottenham Court Road and Holborn on the Central Line and you'll see a station - where no passengers have alighted since 1932. This used to be British Museum station. Or perhaps you may notice the the tunnel wall change from cast iron tubing to bricks as you travel on the Piccadilly Line between Green Park and Hyde Park Corner. This also used to be a station. Down Street, closed in the same year as British Museum. These stations are often referred to as ghost stations.
There are about 40 abandoned stations on the Underground network along its entire 255 miles (408Km) of trackway - some subsurface and some above ground. Some have vanished without trace whereas others are almost intact, grimy time capsules of the era when they were closed.
Orientation
One point to note is that in these pages, all lines are referred by their contemporary names. Many if not all of the lines have however had different names during their existence.
Introduction
Since moving to live near London a few years ago, one of my interests has been the London Underground, the oldest and one of the busiest underground railway networks in the world. I'm not a train spotter by any means, but I find the history and background of London's subterranean railway fascinating.
One of the things I find most interesting is the changing history of the railway, of which there is still much hidden evidence. For example, look through the window as you travel between Tottenham Court Road and Holborn on the Central Line and you'll see a station - where no passengers have alighted since 1932. This used to be British Museum station. Or perhaps you may notice the the tunnel wall change from cast iron tubing to bricks as you travel on the Piccadilly Line between Green Park and Hyde Park Corner. This also used to be a station. Down Street, closed in the same year as British Museum. These stations are often referred to as ghost stations.
There are about 40 abandoned stations on the Underground network along its entire 255 miles (408Km) of trackway - some subsurface and some above ground. Some have vanished without trace whereas others are almost intact, grimy time capsules of the era when they were closed.
Orientation
One point to note is that in these pages, all lines are referred by their contemporary names. Many if not all of the lines have however had different names during their existence.
Sunday, January 26, 2003
Posh and Becks have graced the ballet. All we need now is hooliganism
Frank Johnson
Miss Posh Spice and Mr David Beckham dominated a Covent Garden ballet evening which I was at this week. At their presence, even a Covent Garden audience became abuzz. Admittedly, their legendary partnership is not yet quite the equal of Fonteyn and Nureyev. For one thing, Mr Beckham and Miss Spice were not on the stage. . . .
Celebrity must be associated with accomplishment. Mr Beckham is a great footballer. Miss Hurley, so far as we know, is not a great actress. Mr Beckham’s hair and clothes would not have been enough to arouse the interest of that ballet audience. Ballet audiences are used to people who look like him, and not just on the stage. It is that hair, and those clothes, on a great footballer — rather than on a great balletomane — which aroused the interest.
Though having no appreciation of her genre, I am told by those who do that Miss Spice is not as great a singer as her husband is a footballer. Her continued celebrity is thus derived from her being married to him. But that is all right. . . .
Thursday, January 23, 2003
Whacky
The Wacky Patent of the Month is devoted to recognizing selected inventors and their remarkable and unconventional patented inventions.
The Wacky Patent of the Month is devoted to recognizing selected inventors and their remarkable and unconventional patented inventions.
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
The Spectator.co.uk Statistical Assessment Service looks at crime and punishment.
Mr Murray, your article is both unfairly inaccurate and hopelessly sophomoric. Your wobbly-liberal notion of the functioning of the prisons bears no resemblance to reality.... The value of the prisons is that they keep bad people locked away from the good people. Let them out and, surprise, they are still bad people. Those who want to change do so. Most never will. My primary job as a correctional officer was to keep their hands from around your throat and the throats of your and my loved ones. There are plenty of things that need doing. Wasting time bleeding your heart over bad apples doesn’t make the cut.
Mr Murray, your article is both unfairly inaccurate and hopelessly sophomoric. Your wobbly-liberal notion of the functioning of the prisons bears no resemblance to reality.... The value of the prisons is that they keep bad people locked away from the good people. Let them out and, surprise, they are still bad people. Those who want to change do so. Most never will. My primary job as a correctional officer was to keep their hands from around your throat and the throats of your and my loved ones. There are plenty of things that need doing. Wasting time bleeding your heart over bad apples doesn’t make the cut.
opinion.telegraph.co.uk - The Mini's success shows we don't need the euro
The Mini is not just sexy, it is lucky. The car transporter sunk in the Channel, which keeps being banged into - rather amusingly - by Turkish-registered vessels, was on its way to pick up a consignment of Minis destined for Detroit. If they were now at the bottom of the sea, the Mini would probably not have won its prize in absentia.
In Oxford, where the car is built by BMW, the factory has moved to three shifts a day. The production line is closed only once a week for maintenance. Another 700 workers have been hired in addition to the 4,000 existing staff.
Last week, the factory took a record 850 orders in the UK alone and it expects to build 150,000 this year - half as many again as first planned when production started in July 2001.
If Edmund Burke were still alive and a car designer rather than a Tory philosopher, I like to think he would approve of the Mini. Its modern curves and happy bonnet are a natural evolution from the original. It was designed by a cigar-smoking American in Munich called Frank Stephenson, with help from a team from Oxford.
Maybe this is another example of how a foreigner is more appreciative of something classically British than we are at home. Its appeal is a rebuke to all those who believe you should go for a radical, revolutionary revamp in car design, or indeed so many other things in life.
The Mini is not just sexy, it is lucky. The car transporter sunk in the Channel, which keeps being banged into - rather amusingly - by Turkish-registered vessels, was on its way to pick up a consignment of Minis destined for Detroit. If they were now at the bottom of the sea, the Mini would probably not have won its prize in absentia.
In Oxford, where the car is built by BMW, the factory has moved to three shifts a day. The production line is closed only once a week for maintenance. Another 700 workers have been hired in addition to the 4,000 existing staff.
Last week, the factory took a record 850 orders in the UK alone and it expects to build 150,000 this year - half as many again as first planned when production started in July 2001.
If Edmund Burke were still alive and a car designer rather than a Tory philosopher, I like to think he would approve of the Mini. Its modern curves and happy bonnet are a natural evolution from the original. It was designed by a cigar-smoking American in Munich called Frank Stephenson, with help from a team from Oxford.
Maybe this is another example of how a foreigner is more appreciative of something classically British than we are at home. Its appeal is a rebuke to all those who believe you should go for a radical, revolutionary revamp in car design, or indeed so many other things in life.
History News Network Summary of the Emory Report on Michael Bellesiles
By HNN Staff
Michael Bellesiles Chronology: Latest Developments
Bellesiles's Response to the Report
Other Responses to the Report
Remaining Questions
"Dr. Michael Bellesiles has resigned from his position as Professor of History at Emory University, effective December 31, 2002."
Emory University, October 25, 2002
Following is a summary of the findings of the independent committee appointed by Emory University to investigate Michael Bellesiles. Click here to read his response to the report. Click here to read Emory's announcment that Bellesiles was resigning.
In May 2002 Emory University appointed an outside committee to investigate charges that Michael Bellesiles had engaged in unprofessional practices in connection with the writing of his Bancroft Prize winner, Arming of America (Knopf).
Until now the names of the committee were secret:
Stanley N. Katz, Princeton University
Hanna H. Gray, University of Chicago
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Harvard University
Critics had wondered if the committee had been given a mandate to probe all of the main charges lodged against Bellesiles. The report indicates they were not. Emory limited the investigation to five questions about probate records and militias. The committee met six times and on three occasions contacted Bellesiles with a list of questions. He supplied lists of answers.
By HNN Staff
Michael Bellesiles Chronology: Latest Developments
Bellesiles's Response to the Report
Other Responses to the Report
Remaining Questions
"Dr. Michael Bellesiles has resigned from his position as Professor of History at Emory University, effective December 31, 2002."
Emory University, October 25, 2002
Following is a summary of the findings of the independent committee appointed by Emory University to investigate Michael Bellesiles. Click here to read his response to the report. Click here to read Emory's announcment that Bellesiles was resigning.
In May 2002 Emory University appointed an outside committee to investigate charges that Michael Bellesiles had engaged in unprofessional practices in connection with the writing of his Bancroft Prize winner, Arming of America (Knopf).
Until now the names of the committee were secret:
Stanley N. Katz, Princeton University
Hanna H. Gray, University of Chicago
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Harvard University
Critics had wondered if the committee had been given a mandate to probe all of the main charges lodged against Bellesiles. The report indicates they were not. Emory limited the investigation to five questions about probate records and militias. The committee met six times and on three occasions contacted Bellesiles with a list of questions. He supplied lists of answers.
WHEN POWER PAYS A VISIT
Yes, It Could Happen–and When it Does, You Had Better Know the RopesBY THE RODENT
Many associates at The Firm are becoming increasingly active in the traditional partners’ domain of developing business and bringing their own clients to The Firm.
Associates who are successful in this area often find themselves in the enviable position of distributing their clients’ work among needy partners seeking billable hours. As a result, within the law firm structure, roles are reversed, tables turned. Unless he or she is someday appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court, this may be the pinnacle of the associate’s legal career.
A fifth-year associate at a major San Francisco firm recalls being in such a position. "When the litigation department learned that my client had a major suit on its hands, I suddenly became every partner’s favorite associate," she recalls. "One partner, who had never previously acknowledged my existence, even asked me to lunch so he could talk to me about the case and go over his credentials. I felt the power. The power of the partner."
Associates in this situation must be prepared to play the role traditionally reserved for partners. The following guidelines, if carefully followed, can assure that the utmost satisfaction will be derived from the experience:
• Wait until 4:30 on Friday afternoon to assign the project to the partner and demand to have it completed by Monday morning. After the partner works all weekend on the assignment, take two or three weeks before reviewing it. Ignore all substantive aspects of the partner’s work but chastise her or him for any grammatical or typographical errors.
• When assigning the project, give the partner complex and convoluted instructions. If he asks a question or indicates any lack of understanding, roll your eyes, sigh and ask derisively, "Where did you go to law school?"
• While the partner is working on the assignment, have your secretary call every hour to ask if it’s finished yet.
• When the partner comes to your office to talk about the assignment, take (and make) personal phone calls, finish reading documents on your desk and dictate a letter to your travel agent. Every five or 10 minutes, tell the partner, "This will only take a second. Stay where you are."
• If the work product is impressive, have the partner put your name on it and send it to the client. Then order the partner to turn the assignment into a promotional article for publication under your name. If, however, the client complains, the state bar comes knocking or The Firm is hit with a malpractice suit, give the partner full credit for the work.
Although associates should enjoy the role reversal to the fullest, it is crucial to remember that reality can quickly come crashing back.
The San Francisco associate says her fantasy came to a sudden end when "the partner who heads my department called me to his office and berated me for a mistake he himself made in a memorandum sent to a client. Then he gave me a huge assignment he needed completed right away and reminded me my billable hours were low during the previous month.
"I immediately reverted back to my obsequious associate ways," she says. "I apologized profusely for the mistake, promised to get my hours up and obediently accepted the assignment, which I stayed up all night completing."
Ah, the power. The power of the partner.
©2003 ABA Journal
Saturday, January 18, 2003
A Smarter Web The Web is huge but not very smart. Computer scientists are beginning to build a "Semantic Web" that understands the meanings that underlie the tangle of information.
Tim Berners-Lee must feel like he's in a time warp. In the early 1990s, he spent a frustrating year trying to get people to grasp the power and beauty of his idea for a scheme known as an Internet hypertext system, to which he gave the beguiling name the World Wide Web. But since the Web didn't yet exist, most people couldn't imagine the implications of what he was talking about. Berners-Lee persevered, and with the help of the few people who shared his vision, his invention became the fastest-growing media distribution system in history.
Tim Berners-Lee must feel like he's in a time warp. In the early 1990s, he spent a frustrating year trying to get people to grasp the power and beauty of his idea for a scheme known as an Internet hypertext system, to which he gave the beguiling name the World Wide Web. But since the Web didn't yet exist, most people couldn't imagine the implications of what he was talking about. Berners-Lee persevered, and with the help of the few people who shared his vision, his invention became the fastest-growing media distribution system in history.
Tuesday, January 14, 2003
Business History
Airline History: The History of Commercial Aviation
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/websites.jhtml?t=bizhistory
Information on 600 airlines, past and present.
Airline History: The History of Commercial Aviation
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/websites.jhtml?t=bizhistory
Information on 600 airlines, past and present.
Saturday, January 11, 2003
We are getting bombed by Spam mail, so we are trying the technique I have seen other bloggers use, spelling out the email address. Now it shows email to: "oldfox at terryseale dot com" so hopefully only a lucid human being can turn that into an email address. Sorry to lose the hyperlink email functionality developed for the internet but these evil Spambots harvesting addresses have simply defeated it.
From the "When handguns are banned, there will be no more gun violence" department:
Protection the name of the Beckham game
ANDREW UNSWORTH: London
...
Also, crime statistics released this week indicated that gun crime in the UK has increased by 35% in the last year, adding fuel to security fears in what used to be one of the safest countries on earth.
There were 10 000 gun crimes in the UK last year.
...
Found on the sports page in South Africa.
Protection the name of the Beckham game
ANDREW UNSWORTH: London
...
Also, crime statistics released this week indicated that gun crime in the UK has increased by 35% in the last year, adding fuel to security fears in what used to be one of the safest countries on earth.
There were 10 000 gun crimes in the UK last year.
...
Found on the sports page in South Africa.
Friday, January 10, 2003
EATING AWAY AT ARBITRATION
Alabama Court Allows Homeowners’ Addendum to Termite Contract
BY TERRY CARTER
A recent Alabama Supreme Court decision in a termite case may have opened a new can of worms in the ongoing battle over binding arbitration in consumer agreements.
The court found that homeowners who stuffed an addendum in an envelope along with their renewal check, saying they no longer agreed to arbitration and were changing the agreement’s terms, had indeed bored through the contract’s foundation. They have the right to sue the termite company in court for failure to repair their home.
When the termite company cashed the check and subsequently performed an inspection, they in effect agreed to the new terms. Cook’s Pest Control v. Rebar, No. 1010897 (Dec. 13).
The decision marks a change of direction in what had been a one-way street.
Two years earlier, the court had ruled that a bank could add arbitration to its agreements with checking-account holders by putting a notice in with their monthly statement. By keeping their accounts open, the court said, the plaintiffs agreed to the new terms. SouthTrust Bank v. Williams, 775 So. 2d 184 (Ala. 2000).
The termite case turns SouthTrust around. It is a victory for the little guy, though it was carried out by an accomplished doctor and a knowledgeable lawyer working pretty much as termites do: unseen until it’s too late to stop the damage.
Homeowners Robert and Margo Rebar bought their stately suburban home in 2000, after he accepted a position at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham. Dr. Rebar is a world-renowned fertility specialist.
Cook’s Pest Control certified that the house once had a termite infestation, but it was termite-free at sale. The couple soon learned the home they purchased from a lawyer had extensive termite damage. Cook’s, which had been under contract for many years to inspect the home, added a binding arbitration clause to the agreement when it transferred to the Rebars.
The Rebars apparently went to a Birmingham lawyer known for tangling with termite companies before sending in their renewal. It was after that consultation that they put the addendum, chock-full of legalese, into the envelope with their check.
The addendum stated in part: "Notwithstanding prior amendments, nothing herein shall limit Customer’s right to seek court enforcement (including injunctive or class relief in appropriate cases) nor shall anything herein abrogate Customer’s right to trial by jury. Arbitration shall not be required for any prior or future dealings between Cook’s and Customer."
"Dr. Rebar had no problem giving them a dose of their own medicine," says Thomas Campbell, the couple’s lawyer. Asked if he wrote the addendum, Campbell laughs and says: "I’m a lawyer, and my client’s a fertility specialist, so you figure it out. I won’t breach client privilege, but it was pretty smart."
It’s a nifty trick that might be short-lived.
"This is a breath of fresh air, one for the consumers, but I don’t think it will last long," says Gene Marsh, a University of Alabama School of Law professor who teaches contracts and consumer law. "Now, companies are going to have someone at the P.O. box bird-dogging the mail and looking for legal consequences. And they’ll be fixing it at the front end with terms that tell you to find another company if you won’t accept mandatory arbitration from this day forward."
Cook’s Pest Control had argued that the office manager who cashed the check did not have authority to approve a change in the agreement. A dissenting justice agreed. Evidence at trial indicated that a competitor, Orkin, had limited such authority to one person in its agreements.
"If you reviewed all of your agreements with credit card companies and others and saw how many don’t put restrictions on how they can be amended, you’d be shocked," Campbell says. "Now, I’m not saying that I’ve floated a bunch of things like this out there that are ticking time-bombs, but my practice is pretty much based on filing the same case over and over again."
Alabama Court Allows Homeowners’ Addendum to Termite Contract
BY TERRY CARTER
A recent Alabama Supreme Court decision in a termite case may have opened a new can of worms in the ongoing battle over binding arbitration in consumer agreements.
The court found that homeowners who stuffed an addendum in an envelope along with their renewal check, saying they no longer agreed to arbitration and were changing the agreement’s terms, had indeed bored through the contract’s foundation. They have the right to sue the termite company in court for failure to repair their home.
When the termite company cashed the check and subsequently performed an inspection, they in effect agreed to the new terms. Cook’s Pest Control v. Rebar, No. 1010897 (Dec. 13).
The decision marks a change of direction in what had been a one-way street.
Two years earlier, the court had ruled that a bank could add arbitration to its agreements with checking-account holders by putting a notice in with their monthly statement. By keeping their accounts open, the court said, the plaintiffs agreed to the new terms. SouthTrust Bank v. Williams, 775 So. 2d 184 (Ala. 2000).
The termite case turns SouthTrust around. It is a victory for the little guy, though it was carried out by an accomplished doctor and a knowledgeable lawyer working pretty much as termites do: unseen until it’s too late to stop the damage.
Homeowners Robert and Margo Rebar bought their stately suburban home in 2000, after he accepted a position at the University of Alabama School of Medicine in Birmingham. Dr. Rebar is a world-renowned fertility specialist.
Cook’s Pest Control certified that the house once had a termite infestation, but it was termite-free at sale. The couple soon learned the home they purchased from a lawyer had extensive termite damage. Cook’s, which had been under contract for many years to inspect the home, added a binding arbitration clause to the agreement when it transferred to the Rebars.
The Rebars apparently went to a Birmingham lawyer known for tangling with termite companies before sending in their renewal. It was after that consultation that they put the addendum, chock-full of legalese, into the envelope with their check.
The addendum stated in part: "Notwithstanding prior amendments, nothing herein shall limit Customer’s right to seek court enforcement (including injunctive or class relief in appropriate cases) nor shall anything herein abrogate Customer’s right to trial by jury. Arbitration shall not be required for any prior or future dealings between Cook’s and Customer."
"Dr. Rebar had no problem giving them a dose of their own medicine," says Thomas Campbell, the couple’s lawyer. Asked if he wrote the addendum, Campbell laughs and says: "I’m a lawyer, and my client’s a fertility specialist, so you figure it out. I won’t breach client privilege, but it was pretty smart."
It’s a nifty trick that might be short-lived.
"This is a breath of fresh air, one for the consumers, but I don’t think it will last long," says Gene Marsh, a University of Alabama School of Law professor who teaches contracts and consumer law. "Now, companies are going to have someone at the P.O. box bird-dogging the mail and looking for legal consequences. And they’ll be fixing it at the front end with terms that tell you to find another company if you won’t accept mandatory arbitration from this day forward."
Cook’s Pest Control had argued that the office manager who cashed the check did not have authority to approve a change in the agreement. A dissenting justice agreed. Evidence at trial indicated that a competitor, Orkin, had limited such authority to one person in its agreements.
"If you reviewed all of your agreements with credit card companies and others and saw how many don’t put restrictions on how they can be amended, you’d be shocked," Campbell says. "Now, I’m not saying that I’ve floated a bunch of things like this out there that are ticking time-bombs, but my practice is pretty much based on filing the same case over and over again."
Monday, January 06, 2003
Five Questions You Need to Ask
Senior managers need to ensure that their organizations' executives are thinking ahead about the implications of the Web services architecture. Here are five questions you can use to spur your people:
Excerpted with permission from "Your Next IT Strategy," Harvard Business Review, Vol. 79, No. 9, October 2001.
Friday, January 03, 2003
Kylie Minogue has the most beautiful celebrity body in the world, according to a new survey.
The tiny pop princess fought off stiff competition from the likes of Halle Berry and Jennifer Lopez to top the recent poll of 10,000 people for Celebrity Bodies magazine.
Pop Queen Madonna just scraped the top ten of the survey, whilst Aussie newcomer Holly Valance found herself at seventh place, just ahead of supermodel Elle 'The Body' Macpherson.
England football ace David Beckham topped the male version of the poll, which saw Brit singing star Robbie Williams at seventh place.
The Female Top 10 in full:
1 Kylie Minogue
2 Halle Berry
3 Jennifer Lopez
4 Liz Hurley
5 Angelina Jolie
6 Cat Deeley
7 Holly Valance
8 Elle Macpherson
9 Madonna
10 Kelly Brook
The tiny pop princess fought off stiff competition from the likes of Halle Berry and Jennifer Lopez to top the recent poll of 10,000 people for Celebrity Bodies magazine.
Pop Queen Madonna just scraped the top ten of the survey, whilst Aussie newcomer Holly Valance found herself at seventh place, just ahead of supermodel Elle 'The Body' Macpherson.
England football ace David Beckham topped the male version of the poll, which saw Brit singing star Robbie Williams at seventh place.
The Female Top 10 in full:
1 Kylie Minogue
2 Halle Berry
3 Jennifer Lopez
4 Liz Hurley
5 Angelina Jolie
6 Cat Deeley
7 Holly Valance
8 Elle Macpherson
9 Madonna
10 Kelly Brook
Ticketstubs Ticket stubs are everywhere, one of the many receipts in our daily lives - but we all save some from time to time. The Ticketstub project is a place where you can upload scanned images of your saved stubs, and tell a story about that night, that concert, that movie, what happened on that date; basically, ask youself why you saved the stub as a reminder.
A good introduction to Dr. Deming's philosophy of management: Four Days with Dr. Deming summarizes the four day seminars Deming used to give to business leaders. Key insight: you can't improve your team's performance just by picking some numeric measurement and then rewarding or punishing people to optimize it. Problem one: the variability in the measurement may be caused by a broken system that only management can change, not by individual performance. Problem two: people may optimize locally to improve that one measurement, even at the cost of hurting the performance of the company as a whole. If you're in a rut constantly trying to figure out how to rejigger your employees' incentive systems, this book will get you out of it.
Do You Have A.A.A.D.D.?
They have finally found a diagnosis for my condition. Hooray! I have recently been diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it goes:
I decide to wash the car; I start toward the garage and notice the mail on the table. OK, I'm going to wash the car. But first I'm going to go through the mail. I lay the car keys down on the desk, discard the junk mail and I notice the trash is full.
OK, I'll just put the bills on my desk and take the trash can out, but since I'm going to be near the mailbox anyway, I'll pay these few bills first.
Now, where is my checkbook? Oops, there's only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk. Oh, there's the Coke I
was drinking. I'm going to look for those checks.
But first I need to put my Coke further away from the computer, or maybe I'll pop it into the fridge to keep it cold for a while.
I head towards the kitchen and my flowers catch my eye, they need some water. I set the Coke on the counter and, uh oh! There are my glasses. I was looking for them all morning! I'd better put them away first.
I fill the container with water and head for the flowerpots. Aaaagh! Someone left the TV remote in the kitchen. We will never think to look in the kitchen tonight when we want to watch television so I'd better put it back in the family room where it belongs. I splash some water into the pots and onto the floor, I throw the remote onto a soft cushion on the sofa and I head back down the hall trying to figure out what it was I was going to do?
End of Day: The car isn't washed, the bills are unpaid, the Coke is sitting on the kitchen counter, the flowers are half watered, the checkbook still only has one check in it and I can't seem to find my car keys!
When I try to figure out how come nothing got done today, I'm baffled because I KNOW I WAS BUSY ALL DAY LONG!! I realize this is a serious condition and Ill get help, BUT FIRST I think I'll check my email.
Please send this to everyone you know because I DON'T REMEMBER WHO I'VE SENT THIS TO!!! But please don't send it back to me or I might send it to you again!
They have finally found a diagnosis for my condition. Hooray! I have recently been diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it goes:
I decide to wash the car; I start toward the garage and notice the mail on the table. OK, I'm going to wash the car. But first I'm going to go through the mail. I lay the car keys down on the desk, discard the junk mail and I notice the trash is full.
OK, I'll just put the bills on my desk and take the trash can out, but since I'm going to be near the mailbox anyway, I'll pay these few bills first.
Now, where is my checkbook? Oops, there's only one check left. My extra checks are in my desk. Oh, there's the Coke I
was drinking. I'm going to look for those checks.
But first I need to put my Coke further away from the computer, or maybe I'll pop it into the fridge to keep it cold for a while.
I head towards the kitchen and my flowers catch my eye, they need some water. I set the Coke on the counter and, uh oh! There are my glasses. I was looking for them all morning! I'd better put them away first.
I fill the container with water and head for the flowerpots. Aaaagh! Someone left the TV remote in the kitchen. We will never think to look in the kitchen tonight when we want to watch television so I'd better put it back in the family room where it belongs. I splash some water into the pots and onto the floor, I throw the remote onto a soft cushion on the sofa and I head back down the hall trying to figure out what it was I was going to do?
End of Day: The car isn't washed, the bills are unpaid, the Coke is sitting on the kitchen counter, the flowers are half watered, the checkbook still only has one check in it and I can't seem to find my car keys!
When I try to figure out how come nothing got done today, I'm baffled because I KNOW I WAS BUSY ALL DAY LONG!! I realize this is a serious condition and Ill get help, BUT FIRST I think I'll check my email.
Please send this to everyone you know because I DON'T REMEMBER WHO I'VE SENT THIS TO!!! But please don't send it back to me or I might send it to you again!
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