The effing day from hell

I may already have a “day from hell” post. I was too lazy to go check and to be honest I don’t give a damn. This day from hell deserves … no – REQUIRES its own post.

One of the busiest litigation secretaries was out ill today. Now that the Team backs up every fucking one that meant we were covering her three attorneys. Not such a big deal when they’re out of the office as they have been the last few times we covered for her. Really, really – we’re talking HUGE – deal when they’re all in.

Then there were the other secretaries who were out and their attorneys to cover. Sigh.

On top of this, I now personally support three attorneys of my own while still working with the Team. In addition, the Team was short a member today. Are you getting some idea of the chaos about to ensue? The four of us on the Team cover about 40 people before anyone is out. Today there were three of us.

If only I could respond to unfamiliar territory with a smidgen of control. I might actually be as professional as I should be with 30+ years experience. Most of that experience was not litigation though, and filing stuff with the courts can still give me the heebie jeebies.

Now introduce two of the tasks I needed to handle: a notice of deposition with a subpoena for one case (not actually filed as it’s considered discovery) and 3 applications for “pro hac vice” in another, requiring separate filings each with its own filing fee. Thank goodness for the firm credit card!

These were on top of an overdue invoice, a confirmation of engagement letter for a new client, labeling 10 attachments in Adobe and assembling them to form a single exhibit, entering time, delivering mai…well shit, I knew I forgot something.

And did I mention my computer is freaking the hell out?

It was a good thing I had a stash of cold cereal and milk or I wouldn’t have had lunch.

I wish I could come up with a clever way to end this post, but my brain is too fried to be clever. So dear readers – any punch lines are going to have to come from you. Thanks in advance!

You’re never too old

for the playground.  Yes, I do still visit playgrounds, though usually with one or more grandchildren in tow.  But that’s beside the point.  I’m bringing up playgrounds because The Playground is the newest title by author C.S. Boyack of Entertaining Stories.  I’ve enjoyed other titles by him and I’m looking forward to this one.  Check it out!

The hottest toys of the Christmas Season are the Playground Network dolls. They contain a worldwide social network for children. Except, the network is controlled by a ruthless businessman with dreams of power.

To reach his goals he turns to the occult. Will our children make up his personal army? Could we have an enemy soldier in every home?

Gina Greybill is a cancer survivor who stumbles into her own brush with the paranormal. She wants nothing to do with it, but may be the only one who can bring down the Playground Network. To do it she’ll have to embrace her new situation, and recover the next generation of Playground software.

There is competition for the software in the form of a brutal thug named Clovis. He’s bigger, more ruthless, and more experienced. To top it all off, he has a head start.

The Playground is suitable for more mature readers, due to violence and mature themes.

About the Author:

I was born in a town called Elko, Nevada. I like to tell everyone I was born in a small town in the 1940s. I’m not quite that old, but Elko has always been a little behind the times. This gives me a unique perspective of earlier times, and other ways of getting by. Some of this bleeds through into my fiction.

I moved to Idaho right after the turn of the century, and never looked back. My writing career was born here, with access to other writers and critique groups I jumped in with both feet.

I like to write about things that have something unusual. My works are in the realm of science fiction, paranormal, and fantasy. The goal is to entertain you for a few hours. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Craig

Irony or not?

The guy sitting beside me on the train, hacking up a lung is watching the latest episode of The Walking Dead. Which I haven’t seen yet dammit.

What are the odds he’s Patient Zero and is about to start the Zombie Apocalypse?

Multiples

Some clever fiction here that’s just a tad creepy (shudders)!

Lisa Burton Radio, with Delilah Delibes

Many of my faithful followers also follow Craig so this may not reach a lot of new readers but since I’m pretty anti-social media this was the best way I could think of to spread the word about his new feature.  Enjoy Lisa’s interview with Delilah Delibes.  I only wish they’d explained how to pronounce Delilah’s last name.  🙂

Hi everyone, and welcome to the first ever, premier episode of Lisa Burton Radio. This is the show where we feature the characters that make books come alive. I’m your host, Lisa the robot gi…

Source: Lisa Burton Radio, with Delilah Delibes

When will I learn

to keep my damn mouth shut?

Yesterday I shared some good news and by evening Karma was knocking us back down and gloating about it, the prick.

One of my favorite authors is Spider Robinson and my favorite quote of his is this one:

Shared pain is lessened.  Shared joy is increased. ~ Spider Robinson

I’ve used it in the past as a signature for my personal email so I’d see this reminder regularly.  Who doesn’t want their joy increased?  And then of course we get this in an email from my SIL:

“Over the weekend I was told by the hospital social worker mom was accepted by Kline House, the Jewish skilled nursing home. To find out yesterday when I went to see Mom that, in fact Kline House declined mom.

“Seems that Mom had a tough weekend.. being aggressive. She walked out to the nurses station and started throwing things. Pushed her nurse around. You’re probably thinking what I did..not my mom..?!! When the social worker sent those notes over to Kline House they declined her. All I could do is cry. Now what?”

But wait!  There’s more!

“The other thing is Medicare vs Medicaid. Mom has 100 days. She’s used 70 or 71 at [original nursing home]. Even though she has a month of time left, it seems that this is a major concern for any skilled nursing home – funding. Where is the rest of the funding for the rest of the time Mom is going to need come from? We are taking the steps to qualify Mom for Medicaid. However, that could take more time than she has with Medicare.

“I was told that a skilled nursing home is about $12-15,000 for a month. … if we have to pay, we can’t cover it all.”

I gotta think Karma is off on some cloud somewhere laughing his ass off.  Did I mention he’s a prick?