January 31, 2007
Fake iPod Nano ::
tech — tagged fake, flickr, iPod, photos and tech
12:47 pm
Fake iPod Nano
Originally uploaded by Small Dog Electronics.
Did you know these existed? I didn’t.
Noted by Small Dog Electronics.
January 30, 2007
Executive (dis)order ::
politics — tagged admin law, executive orders, legal and politics
12:15 pm
I haven’t read the Bush Administration’s executive order that the New York Times reported on this morning (note, it seems not to have been posted yet over at the FR website here it is), but I have to say I’m kind of intrigued by the idea, but for different reasons than the liberal political blogs are dwelling on. Sure, there are many who are saying that it’s another step in politicizing what should be an area of pure regulation that functions well only when it’s based on the best evidence and best practices and not on ideology. And I would agree if I thought there was any possibility of the program working. But look—how many federal regulatory agencies are there out there? (I really have no idea, so it’s not just a rhetorical question.) And how many of them are going to report to the White House? And with all the problems the Bush administration is currently facing, is there any way that any group of humans could handle this new bit of chaos? It just seems too overwhelming a project to manage in any coherent way.
So it makes me wonder if maybe it’s something of a back door strategy on the part of the Bush administration. While everyone is screaming that this is just another attempt to coddle regulated industries, in reality what is happening is the Bush administration is taking down regulations by simply performing an impossible task incompetently.
Incidentally, this is a perfect example of micromanagers are really not effective leaders. They just can’t do the amount of work that is required to in order to exercise the amount of control their pathologies demand.
January 29, 2007
Yes, it will probably still hurt ::
personal — tagged broken leg and pain
12:55 pm
Someone found this site by asking Google “I broke my femur [five] weeks ago, should I still be in pain?” Speaking only from my own experience, I definitely continued to experience some pain five weeks after my accident, especially after spending hours in the same place. Generally I found that maintaining a certain level of activity, however minimal, was key to my own pain management. And also remember that pain is tied intimately to your emotions, and therefore what seems like only a mild discomfort to me might be unbearable for you.
January 25, 2007
Robin’s New Orleans trip ::
photos — tagged disaster, family, flickr, katrina, new orleans, photos, robin and travel
9:27 pm
our house
Originally uploaded by rho-bin.
My sister just got back from a week-long trip to New Orleans, where she helped with post-Katrina rebuilding efforts. She’s been posting photographs from that trip to a rapidly growing flickr set, which is worth taking a look at.
How doctors (and attorneys) think ::
personal — tagged legal, medical and new yorker
9:20 pm
At first glance, this week’s New Yorker looked like a dud, but then I read this article about how doctors think. More specifically, it was about the fallibility of how doctors think. The author, who is a physician, notes that the method of training MD’s, in which students are “expected to assimilate large amounts of basic science and apply that knowledge as they are taught practical aspects of patient care,” has not changed much over the years, and has on the whole created some truly great physicians. However, it does not create doctors that are complete rational actors— “when people are confronted with uncertainty—the situation of every doctor attempting to diagnose a patient—they are susceptible to unconscious emotions and personal biases, and are more likely to make cognitive errors.” As much as we’d like to think that medical doctors are calculating machines, in reality they are susceptible to human error as anyone else.
Now, I write all this not to slam the medical profession. On the contrary, I find it interesting because it seems to be a condition that all professionals—especially us attorneys—are vulnerable to. Like for example, I remember when I was a second year law student working in criminal defense, our office was dealing with an extradition case. Not sure of the mechanics of extradition, I found I had a hard time getting past the misconception that, because the case was effectively a fight between two states, the U.S. Supreme court had original jurisdiction over the matter. (I was freshly out of Federal Courts class, mind you—not that that’s any excuse.) Although my mistakes over the past two years have become less wild, I definitely make them from time to time, and it’s something I need to be aware of if I want to stay out of trouble.
January 24, 2007
Law-related photo: visual aid ::
legal photos — tagged flickr, funny, legal, legal photos, legos and photos
2:44 pm
Law Class: Project Visual Aid
Originally uploaded by Hackintosh.
Oh my god, what better way for this blog to come out of semiretirement than to bring you this most excellent photograph of a courtroom scene constructed from Legos. Just totally brilliant. I’m not sure which I like best—the droid as court reporter, the prosecutor as pirate (what?), or the janitor who brought his push broom with him to jury duty (if only they let you get away with such things in a real court room, I might consider going into litigation).
Check out the actual flickr photograph for some equally entertaining notes that further explain the scene.
January 10, 2007
Milwaukee sidewalk imprints ::
photos — tagged flickr, milwaukee, photos and sidewalks
12:40 pm
2006
Originally uploaded by M.Theory.
A guy from Milwaukee has a Flickr set of all the different imprints on Milwaukee sidewalks. Whenever the city would install new sidwalks, they would place these imprints intermittenly. I’m not sure what the point of the imprints were, other than to serve a reminder of when the construction happened, something like stuffing current newspapers into the wall during home renovation projects.
In any event, growing up in Milwaukee, I remember seeing those imprints on the sidewalks in my neighborhood, and I remember them changing throughout the years. I especially recall them from the time we got all new sidewalks on our street. It’s nice to see how the designs evolve over the years.
January 8, 2007
How I’m feeling ::
personal — tagged broken leg, cycling, vermont and work
8:56 pm
Recently I’ve had a lot of people asking how I’ve been doing, mostly with regard to the broken leg, but also in a more general sense. I realized this evening that it has also been quite some time since I last updated this site, so I figured that I would write down the answer to both of those questions, mostly for the sake of being able to remember what it was like at this point in the healing process.
As far as the broken hip is concerned, it’s been healing nicely. Every day it seems I regain some bit of strength and/or mobility in my leg, and each new development reminds me what it’s like not to have to lived with constant pain and weakness in my leg. I’m also able to move around without crutches for short distances. Granted, it’s definitely a hobbling motion, and probably looks a bit ridiculous, but realizing that I’m able to move around without the aid of crutches or—my gosh—a walker does wonders for my morale. I also purchased a trainer just before the New Year, and it arrived at the house today. I spent about 30 minutes on it while I did laundry this evening, and was able to push hard enough to raise my respiration and break a sweat. Granted, it wasn’t nearly the workout I became accustomed to before my accident, but it is something. And like my hobbling, it reminds me of what it’s like to not be broken, and makes me look forward to the day when I’ll be able to take on a 25-mile jaunt to East Calais.
More generally, I’ve been so busy with work that the days have just flown by. The Legislature went back into session the week after New Years, and since then we’ve seen an explosion of activity. Every day I go into work and am reminded of how much I love the work that I do. It’s exhausting, sure, and it takes quite some time to get used to working full time after taking that extended leave of absence after taking the bar exam, but I’ll get used to it again. And I know that it will all be over in a flash and then who knows what will happen next. But hopefully it will entail some time off so I can catch up with family and friends and maybe squeeze in some late Spring traveling.
So I’m still feeling frustrated at times, but overall things are looking up. Being able to see good things in life is definitely a sign I’m on the mend.
January 1, 2007
2006, in retrospect ::
personal — tagged 2006, broken leg, new years and retrospective
8:51 pm
So, happy new year to all readers of this site. I hope the beginning of 2007 finds you happy and healthy, and in the company of people you know and love. I felt compelled to write a New Years post this year in part because my recent accident reminded me of my own mortality, but mostly because of how much things have changed since this time last year and it’s worthwhile to make note of it here.
In January, 2006 I was still in a long-term relationship, was about to enter my final semester of law school, and was on my way to Alabama to visit friends and visit Civil Rights-era historical sites. I knew that my life would change substantially in the upcoming year, but at that point I really had not idea whatsoever what would happen to me or, for that matter, what choices I would make that would fundamentally change my life. Completing law school was a big deal, definitely, but the most substantial change has been the breakup, mostly because up until June of last year, I had been planning out a future—at least nominally—with another person, but in the matter of one evening all of those plans just, well, disappeared, and I suddenly was living a life of chaos while I tried to figure out just what was going to happen to me next.
Since then I have taken the Vermont Bar exam, lived on the verge of homelessness for a few weeks, traveled to the Midwest, traveled to California, moved into a new place in Montpelier, made a bunch of new friends, passed the Vermont bar exam, dealt with the newness and excitement—as well as the loneliness and insecurity—of being 30 and single, received my license to practice law, broke my first bone, and gone in for my first full-blown surgical procedure. So, the last emergency notwithstanding, I’ve come along pretty well in my effort to make a new life for myself. But with that, I think one day I will look back on this year with a sense of nostalgia, remembering it as a pivotal time when I started a new phase in my life. But right now all I can think about is how emotionally and intellectually trying it’s been, and I want to just move on to 2007.
