Category Archives: General

A Perry Mason reference will appear here in the future. I loved watching Perry Mason and learned a trick I used in court successfully many times back in the days before we had to provide documents of everything in the world. It would work today in the right circumstances. It just assists in getting to the truth. Someday, I’ll reveal it.

As nutty as it sounds, I carried the opening theme music to show on a recorder and played it as I walked down the hall to the courtroom for a trial.

My mom got me started on the show when I was a kid. I always loved the opening “smirk” at the beginning of the show he had when, while reviewing the case before trial, the answer came to him.

Practicing law back in the day was more fun when we only sometimes knew the witnesses that would be called or the documents to be used as exhibits. So we had to play it by ear, so to speak, and think on our feet.

This is different. In 2017, I had a non-oral hearing scheduled but needed a continuance so we could have an oral hearing. To do so, I needed approval from the other attorney, who happened to be out of town. It turns out he was kayaking somewhere.

His legal assistant tried to reach him by phone, but he didn’t have it with him. She was able to get his wife. We were running out of time. His wife hopped in a kayak to take a phone to him about 30 minutes before the court was closing to seek his approval. I got it. My legal assistant, Margina, got the paperwork together and went to the court within 20 minutes to get the continuance and oral hearing approved. Thank you, Margie!

A first for me,

• I spent my life being told the dangers of looking at an eclipse unprotected, so I didn’t. Yesterday, my wife was going to watch it with grandkids, so I researched the glasses.
  
  I went to get a pair from a guy selling glasses from his truck, which had a table next to it. He handed me a pair, but I had the numbers written down. He was ready for me and read the numbers. All good, but one problem.Me: These are 2015 glasses. They’re nine years old.Him: I don’t know. 5 dollars.

  Me: They’re nine years old. You get these for free and sell them for 5 bucks. You have quite a racket going here.

  But I bought the glasses, went home, and warned my wife to be careful. I warned her the glasses were old. She reminded me I said only the numbers mattered. I only bought one pair since I wasn’t going.

  But after nine years, a scratch is enough, and after nine years, there had to be a problem.

  I kept talking to her, trying to convince her not to go. I told her she could be blind with a couple seconds of exposure.

  A friend of mine came over. She handed him the glasses to try on. The guy has a head the size of a watermelon. Now, the glasses would fall off her head while watching the eclipse. I showed my wife pictures of people holding the sides of the glasses against their heads with their hands. I told her to make sure to do this to be safe.

  When she left, I again instructed her to keep herself safe. I was going to stay home but decided to run an errand. I grabbed my cane—yes, I use a cane. It’s my Bat Masterson look.

  We were in the path of totality. As I was driving, it was starting to get dark. I put my lights on, stopped the car, and glanced at the Sun. It looked hazy. When I got to the end of the back road, I stopped and looked again. The Sun was almost blocked, so I started driving again. Another mile, and I was where I needed to be. I looked up again. The Sun was blocked, and the corona circled it. My glances were all short.

  When I returned from the store, the Sun was really bright. I looked up, but it was too bright. I got in my car and drove to Watermelon Head’s house—actually, one of the barns. I told him on the way over that I could see wavy lines in front of my eyes. I have a somewhat large floater, which was now still, and my eyes hurt slightly.

  My wife called while I was there. I told her what I was experiencing with my eyes. She expressed disbelief after hearing what I had done after all of my yapping about the importance of the right glasses, but she showed no concern.

  Me: I could go blind,

  Her: We’ll get you a white cane.

  Uproarious laughter from Watermelon Head.

National Vietnam War Veterans DayIt was noted by a proclamation in 2012 and by an Act signed by the president in 2017. March 29 was chosen as National Vietnam War Veterans Day because on March 29, 1973, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam was disbanded, and the last U.S. combat troops left the Republic of Vietnam.

Please don’t tell me we lost the war or it wasn’t worth it. You would be deprecating those who sacrificed, and the sacrifice was great.

More than 58,000 young men and women lost their lives there. This includes three from my little town in Ohio called Mantua, including a friend known to all as Bobby. In addition, the physically wounded totaled more than 300,000 in Vietnam, with another 75,000 left severely disabled from their physical wounds.

There are also the emotional scars of war. We call it PTSD today. The numbers aren’t precisely known, but the range is 15% of those serving to as many as 30% have gone through the tortuous journey of PTSD at some point. When you consider 2.7 million served, well, do the math.

This day was created in 2017 “to give Americans the opportunity to say ‘Welcome Home’ to a group of veterans who never got the reception they deserved when they returned to the United States.”