Penchant for Pondering

What will she think of next?

Archive for the month “March, 2012”

29 Mar 2012
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Law! What is it good for?… Absolutely Nothing!

Well, this maybe a little tweak on some lyrics of the song sung by Edwin Starr (and others) but I’m sure you get the drift…

It’s been a tough few weeks in this small little corner of the legal world that I practice in….

I’ve been working on a case (which is continuing, so am unable to discuss any particulars) where the opposition attempted a “Goliath” type move on me by bringing to Court a much more highly qualified legal professional to try and scare me (and in essence my client) into backing down….

To this my response was ….  Pfft!   I believe in my client’s case and will fight to the death (whilst ever I am instructed to do so).

However, this little incident has got me pondering about the great divide between the law (and its practice) and the expectations of people who come into my office.

You see, many people come in with a problem to which they believe they have a common sense solution and think that the law will back them up.  Many times I have said to a client “these are your rights BUT this is the practical solution for getting what you are after” … (and often the twain do not meet).

I remember when I walked into this little country practice and had a discussion with my new boss about what the job entails – he said to me “now you’re here and practicing, you can forget everything you learnt in law school because it’s pretty much useless”.

Now, that was an over exaggeration but over the years in practice I can see where he was coming from.

People seem to believe that common sense will prevail… Unfortunately, if you are basing this belief on the law then you a not likely to ‘come up trumps’… My best advice to people is, if you run into a conflict where you want to get the law involved then you must think of your best compromise, as that is where you will probably end up.

The problem with the law is – it is an objectively, retrospectively written piece of governance but applied subjectively and in essence prospectively on our society…

So, when asked by the Federal Judge – “And what law are you basing this argument on?”…

I must stand beside Darryl Kerrigan and say  ”The Law of bloody common sense!”

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14 Mar 2012
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Café au lait?

Coffee….  Or as I like to refer to it – the elixir of life!

Just the mention of the word makes me smile inside.  Yes, I am a bit of a coffee addict.

Prior to my move, I confess to being a little worried about the quality of coffee that would be available in this small rural community.

To my delight there is a little coffee house on the corner that serves the best coffee in this sunburnt (and sometimes water logged) country of ours.  Now, maybe some would say that I am over exaggerating but I will stick by my statement and swear in a Court that this is the case.

Yet, this little coffee house on the corner is more than just a place that I can purchase quality coffee.   It soon became and continues to be an extension of my lounge/dining room; a place where I can sit and ponder or chat with the many friends that I meet while enjoying the elixir of life.

It is the place where everybody knows my name.  I now understand how Norm felt whenever he walked into the Cheers Bar and was greeted with a hearty “Norm” – as this is the type of greeting I get whenever I arrive.  It is comforting (although sometimes a little disturbing) that the girls know what my order is even before it is spoken.

So to the owners of the little coffee house on the corner I say – thank you!

Not only for serving the best coffee ever, but also for making me feel so welcome and a part of this community.

And now, when asked

Cafe au lait?

my response is always

Merci beaucoup mon ami! (thank you very much my friend!)

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01 Mar 2012

Wherever the fear may be…. Look it in the Eye!

The Ponderosa is a wonderful place to live BUT… there have been some adjustments that this city slicker has needed to make.

Firstly, the bugs! Now, those who know me well know that I am Mottephobic (to save you looking it up – I have a moth phobia).

You are probably thinking “that is one of the strangest things I have heard in a long time”.  However, in my defense, the common definition for phobias is:

“… an extreme, irrational fear of a specific object or situation” (Ref: Britannica)

I make specific note of the term irrational fear  - but I digress.

By merely moving to the Ponderosa I have incidentally been involved in the psychological treatment known as “flooding”.  I am happy to report that I can now be around moths AND can actually catch and kill them – with my bare hands!!

The second (major) adjustment is the frogs…

The very first time I encountered a frog was when sitting in the bathroom, pondering – when I stood up out jumped a frog that proceeded to hop across the bathroom floor.  You can imagine the sound that emanated from that little room!

Since this first encounter there has been numerous others.  Some frogs have even made their way out into my lounge room.

It is my belief that the frogs are under the impression they are co-tenants. They are sorely mistaken! They don’t help with the rent, food bill, cleaning, washing etc. therefore they are unable to claim co-tenancy! (Claiming of squatters’ rights? – possibly…)

After many unsuccessful attempts at getting rid of the frogs I have resorted to a scheduling system i.e. they can use the bathroom when I am not…. So far there has been some confusion (on their part) about the timing of bathroom use but we are ironing out the kinks in the schedule and I believe it will turn out a very effective system of cohabitation.

Now, the encounter I have been dreading the most has happened this week…. MICE!

The other day I saw my first mouse and I assure you I didn’t sleep well that night.  I had visions of the mouse running across my head whilst sleeping.  The thought of it still makes my skin crawl.

I put the call out to my fb friends for suggestions on how best to trap the little blighters. There were some very helpful suggestions – ranging from “a fast eye with a quick broom handle” to “nutella”… I ended up using peanut butter – as that is all that was on hand at the time.

To be honest, a part of me is hoping I don’t catch anything because then I will have to deal with the disposal!

These creatures are not the only co-habitants of the Ponderosa…

There are also spiders, rabbits, foxes and feral cats – they also like to treat the Ponderosa as their own. However, they stay out of my way and I stay out of theirs.

I am still waiting on the arrival of the locust and snakes. I believe they are hanging around but they have not introduced themselves to date.

As I think about these encounters a saying, which I learnt whilst studying for my law degree, keeps coming to mind – “Wherever the fear may be… Look it in the eye!”.

As a city slicker this interaction with the local “wildlife” is very foreign but it is also a good learning curve.  I am daily confronted by things (and feelings towards things) that I have either avoided or didn’t even know were there.

Lessons in life abound….

The lesson here is that the things you are afraid of, whether seen or unseen, are around you every day in your work, rest and play – to this my catch cry is….

Wherever the fear may be – I will look it in the eye!

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