Going back to square 1

So today I saw the doctor. He was not enthused about my knee. Instead of a referral to a physical therapist, he decided that it was problematic enough to go to a orthopedist. And that I probably should not be doing any triathlon training until this gets resolved.

For now, my training is on hold and it looks like I will not be doing Canada this year. This does not make me happy.

Random thought popping in my head

As I was putting up my last post (and kicking myself for my uber-insensitivity) I had a flash. I have decided that George, of Grey's Anatomy, needs a lesson in how to be a man. Who better to give that advice out than Veronica Mars?

Yes, some have criticized my television show choices. I do not care, both of those shows are worth almost anything else on basic cable, with the exception of Battlestar Galactica. And to just round out my top five, there is Boston Legal and House.

Stepping In It

So here's a good safety tip for the next time I do probate work. Never assume that people have been told that the decedent is dead just because you have been informed that the appropriate people have been informed.

It avoids situations where you start off with "Hi, I'm calling on behalf of {x}'s estate."

"What?"

"{X}'s estate, the executor has me rounding up all the accounts."

"Executor?"

"Um... no one has told you that {X} passed away on Valentine's Day?"

"What?!?"

"Oh... yeah... he... passed away on Valentine's Day."

Robbed

That's the only way I can look at it. Last night Stacy Keibler was robbed of winning the Dancing with Stars Competition.

Yes, I know she is hot, but that was not the reason I thought she should win. Drew Lachey was good and fun but I think overall Ms. Keibler was just the better ballroom dancer. Now if her partner had just choreographed something better than that Saturday Night Fever inspired number she would have been tied instead of down 4 points to Mr. Lachey and his partner.

But as my girlfriend reminded me, it was based on votes and lots of WWE fans don't watch ballroom. Apparently there are more 98 degrees fans out there.

Alright, back to work. Rant over.

Sitting here in my office

So this afternoon I rolled into my office in the afternoon after picking up some envelopes. That's right, my day is muy exciting.

In short, my referral client failed. She really had no other options open to her in her situation and I gave her the information that she needed to hear. After taking it all in, plus my recommendation that it would be fiscally better for her to not hire me, she decided not to retain my services. So with my new envelopes I sent her a letter confirming that she had not hired me but reminding her that if she needed help in the future to give me a call.

I tried working on my gender bending pro bono case but since none of the information has come in yet, all I could do was send her a letter asking the client to fill out some forms that would be needed. Not that I believe the client will be accurate, seeing as how in course of the initial interivew I caught them in a lie. Even caught, they maintained despite my subtle hints to the effect that I knew and that lying about it was not only pointless, it would not, could not help them in this situation.

So while trying to read the unisured motorist practice guide that is in the library here in teh suite I sublet my office in, I ended up watching the free episode of Conviction which I downloaded earlier this week. It has some promise, though I wish they had not taken the course they took with murdering an ADA. I know it is a series premier, but a DA getting murdered does not happen all that often (and at least through 2001, when I last checked the stats, had not happened). Though I wonder what bureau they are assigned.

Alright, back to worrying.

Update on the Training

So if anyone was curious, I am still training for my first Ironman distance triathlon. However, the problem has been this nagging pain in my left leg for the past two weeks. All I know for certain is that it is not a recurrence of my ITB issue (I wish it were that simple).

Even with the pain, I managed to complete the Danville Double on Sunday. That was an 80 minute spin on the trainer in the parking lot, followed by a 40 minute run out and back. After the run, we hopped back on our bikes for what was supposed to be a 29 mile ride at an average rate of 15 miles per hour (I was 14.7mph, but that was due to the fact that I got lost on the way back and took a wrong turn and was wandering about for a bit trying to get my bearings.) Then, after the bike was done, it was time for another 40 minute run. By the time I was done with the bike, I was only able to walk because my leg was just not cooperating.

After chatting with the coach and unnofficial team PT, I was put on a restricted sort of schedule while I await the visit to the doctor next week (earliest I could get the appointment) to see what really is the problem with the leg. If it is one thing, then I should be able to go on. On the other hand, the PT thought there was a possiblity it could be the beginning of a more serious problem.

So why am I doing this to myself? Well, if you click the on the link on the side reads "Help Fight Cancer", you will see that this is for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This would be my fourth triathlon with them raising money to help eliminate blood cancers (which would be a very good thing.). So if you have the inclination... please help out and donate.

It was a nice Saturday (Or "Hello Pot," said Kettle, "You're black!")

Then I logged on to the internet and made a sweep through my blogs which I had not been doing for the lat couple of days because of things going on in my life.

And that is when I found this over at the TortsProf Blog. According to Professor Childs' article, the Bush Administration has decided that its approach to "tort reforms" are not goin fast enough. Rather than wait for the legislatures and voters to approve the measures that they believe are in the best interest for the country, they have decided to go ahead and establish regulations essentially eliminating the rights of people to sue because of defects in their products. The first two that I am aware of are the FDA's rule about labelling and the Consumer Product Safety Commission ("CPSC") rule regarding matress fires.

The mattress rule was approved by three commissioners (Chair Hal Stratton, Vice-Chair Nancy A. Nord, and Thomas Hill Moore). Mr. Stratton and Ms. Nord are both Bush appointees. Mr. Moore was initially appointed by President Clinton but was reappointed by President Bush. A portion of the meeting's transcript is posted by the agency here. In it they tout that the new regulations will save 78% of people who would have been killed by mattress fires under the old rule. Interestingly, they do not include in their sound bites anything about the bit of the regulation where the take away the right to sue.

However, Mr. Moore, although voting in favor of the regulation (which looks like it was something long overdue), made it clear that he was not voting for the preamble. In his written concurrence, he went out of his way to state that the Executive Order which required the CPSC to insert the preamble regarding the preemption issue.

Mr. Moore' s statement aside, I find it interesting what the Bush Administration is doing. It is using a non-elective body to create and change the laws. I seem to recall some Federalist society people railing against that when I was in law school... or perhaps it was a member of the sitting administration talking to the faithful.

At least when the left does it, they are honest about what they are doing. I wonder why the Greedy Trial Lawyer will say about it?

Personally, I think its a symptom of the problem that both parties have in this country. However, today I am calling the Republicans on it. Just another example of their cronyism.