Monday, October 28, 2013

Legal Practice

I’ve mentioned before that I spent a fair amount of time in the Principal’s Office throughout my school years. Nothing major - usually - just the typical mischievous boy who thrived on getting myself into sticky situations. Most of the time, I didn’t actually  end up in any real trouble, thanks to my willingness to argue my way out of it. Or, reason my way out, as I called it. I’m not sure now if I ever actually won or if my opponent just gave up, but either way, it worked.

It was this eagerness and ability to successfully make my case that led more than one of my teachers to suggest I look for a career as an attorney. I did consider it but never made any effort to follow through since doing so would have required college and law school - I wasn’t that fond of school.

Later in life however, I did get the chance to go to court and argue my case. No, not because I was on trial, this was a civil matter. As the old saying goes, “A man who represents himself has a fool for a client.” I’d like to think I’m not a fool so, I didn’t act as my own attorney, not exactly anyway.

The lawyer I’d hired, after a few days of discussing my case, and hearing all my arguments, decided that I should prepare the case myself. She would argue in court, but until then it was up to me. She showed me how to prepare court documents and a few other legal things and then said I was on my own. She did want to be kept informed of what I was doing and we met weekly for a few months as I worked to build my case.

I was elated! Playing lawyer was more fun than I could have imagined! What’s even better, my attorney paid me for the time I spent working for her! We had agreed on her price beforehand and this was reduced by a few thousand dollars by the time it was over.
Although this was a civil matter, I did stand to lose quite a bit of money, and my job if I lost, so the pressure was on. I stayed up late at night, finding anything I could to bolster my case. I created graphs from information obtained from unknowing sources (people like to provide information even when they don’t know they are), searched old court cases, prepared documents, and laid out a plan of action. I even wrote the questions for my attorney to ask in court.

On the date of our hearing, we showed up in court with a stack of papers nearly a foot tall - all my hard work over the last few months. The opposing side had almost nothing.

For the most part, my attorney followed what I’d prepared. It was kind of awesome listening to my own words, my own arguments being made for me by someone else. Someone who was a professional. And then, a few hours later, the good news - we won!

Afterwards, talking with the attorney, I mentioned how much I appreciated her letting me work on the case since I’d never had any legal education or experience.

She laughed and said, “That may be true, but you do know how to present an argument and back it up. So, somewhere you must have had some sort of experience.”

Uh, yeah. Maybe the Principal’s Office?

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books. Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, and other titles, are available as ebooks on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. His books are also available in paperback at most online retailers or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. The popular Wynn Garrett Series Books are now available on Barnes And Noble® at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?series_id=867526 See Bruce’s Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders?ref=BruceABorders  #BruceABorders

Monday, October 21, 2013

That Depends

Let me say upfront that I’m glad I wasn’t my teacher in school. (Impossible, I know. Still, I’m glad). School for me was rather monotonous so, I always tried to make it more interesting. For some reason, my humor and extra effort weren’t always appreciated.

There are many instances that I could use to illustrate my point; the following is one of my favorites.

Grade school. A Science test. The state of matter. One section of the test listed ten or twelve substances, things like; gasoline, plastic, granite, helium, milk, etc. In the blank beside each one, I was supposed to write either liquid, solid, or gas. That seemed far too mundane to me, so instead I printed in very neat letters, “Depends on the temperature.” Imagine my “surprise” when the test was returned with every one of them marked wrong!

If this had been a few years later, I would have gotten away with it. My high school teacher had a sense of humor - or appreciated mine. Unfortunately, my fourth grade teacher did not. As far as he was concerned, my answers were incorrect.

Of course, I argued. After all, the test hadn’t specified what temperature I was supposed to use. If cold enough everything can be a solid - even if you have to go all the way to absolute zero (the theoretical temperature at which no heat is present in any particle, approximately –460°F in case anyone is wondering). And obviously, thanks to Newton’s Third Law of Thermodynamics, the equal and opposite must be true; if hot enough, everything can be a gas.

After several more minutes of discussion, which involved the whole class, the teacher gave up. Although he would not concede that I was right, he agreed to not mark my answers wrong. Same thing to me. However, he did go on and on about how in the future I should recognize when something is implied and form my answers accordingly.

Yeah, sure. I never did seem to learn that. To this day, when someone asks how long it takes to drive from one town to another - a question I get a lot, being a truck driver - I say, “Depends on how fast you drive.”

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books. Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, Miscarriage Of Justice, and other titles, are available as ebooks on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. His books are also available in paperback at most online retailers or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. The popular Wynn Garrett Series Books are now available on Barnes And Noble® at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?series_id=867526 See Bruce’s Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders?ref=BruceABorders  #BruceABorders

Monday, October 14, 2013

Baby Magic

You’d think the thrill of holding and seeing a newborn baby would wear off. I mean, my wife and I have three children and have already been blessed with three grandchildren. Another baby should be old hat. But, this past week when we welcomed our fourth grandchild into the world it was just as exciting as all the others.

There’s something about a newborn; the cry, the coos, the look of wide-open wonder in their eyes, the wispy soft skin, the squirmy little body, and the way they naturally cuddle and snuggle close, is all so fascinating and endearing. There is an instant bond when a parent or grandparent holds a newborn baby. It’s a feeling that is almost indescribable. I call it Baby Magic.

But wait, there’s more to this phenomenon.

Looking at my grandchildren, I see my myself, my wife, our parents, our children, and usually a lot of other family members. I’m sure the same is true for everyone. Babies possess the unique ability to resemble multiple people all at once, while still maintaining their own individuality and looks. That’s Baby Magic.

Babies, especially newborns, command the attention of nearly everyone in their presence and can quickly turn a roomful of otherwise sane adults into strange acting creatures who cannot seem to utter a single coherent word. Again, Baby Magic.

Babies can melt hearts, put smiles on faces, and instantly turn a bad day around - all without saying a word. Baby Magic.

Babies allow us, in some small way, to relive our childhood; with simple ease they take us back to yesteryear and effortlessly bring things to mind that were once forgotten. Good things. Memories. Baby Magic.

Of course, me being somewhat philosophical, the birth of a baby - especially a grandbaby - brings the realization that with each one, I am getting older. It’s quite a sobering thought; their life is just beginning, mine is moving ever closer to being over. Not that I plan on dying any time soon, but it is a cold reality of life - the older generation is eventually replaced by the younger ones. Yet, with the birth of each of my grandchildren, I see a part of me that will live on long after I am gone. In a way, I have become immortal. Another benefit of - yep,  Baby Magic.

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books. Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, and other titles, are available as ebooks on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. His books are also available in paperback at most online retailers or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. The popular Wynn Garrett Series Books are now available on Barnes And Noble® at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?series_id=867526 See Bruce’s Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders?ref=BruceABorders  #BruceABorders

Monday, October 7, 2013

Under The Knife

I used to like playing with knives. Actually, I should rephrase that; I like playing with knives - throwing them, sticking them in things, but my favorite activity is flipping and catching them. Any kind of knife will do, but the bigger the better. It’s more spectacular. I know, it’s dangerous - I’ve been told that since I was a little kid. I’ve even been accused of not being all that sharp!

I used to practice for hours, learning the differences that distance and weight of the knife would make when trying various stunts. And, since I’ve always handled the knives by the blade, learning how to keep my fingers intact - especially while catching them! Despite the concern of nearly everyone who watches, it’s really not that dangerous. It’s even a little exhilarating standing under a spinning knife! Only one time have I ended up bleeding. And I do still have all my fingers.

This is not the story of how I cut myself but one day at school - back before the insanity of zero tolerance that would have gotten me arrested - I was playing around with a butcher knife. I was showing off, seeing how many flips I could get and still catch it. One of my classmates said he’d give me twenty dollars if I could get fourteen flips. So, of course I had to try. I started with one flip, then two, and then three and so on. The step by step approach was for two reasons; first, it helped me to get into a rhythm, but also it allowed anyone observing to count with me because when the knife makes more than about seven or eight flips in the air, it’s easy to lose track.

When I got to twelve, the kid, seeing I was getting close to taking his twenty dollars, started to backtrack. I didn’t pay any attention as I was intent on getting to fourteen just to show him I could do it. It wasn’t really about the money and I would have been content to let him off. But, my teacher had been there the whole time, listening and watching, and he wasn’t so lenient.

When I caught the blade on the final flip, the teacher told the kid to pay me. Of course, this was met with much protest. But, the teacher said he’d made a deal and had to stick to it. He did give the guy a chance to get out of it though. If he could duplicate the stunt, he didn’t have to pay. I guess the kid didn’t like his chances with that because I got my money.

Oh, one last thing, in case anyone is wondering how I received my one and only cut. It wasn’t from trying some crazy number of knife flips or anything. In fact, I wasn’t doing a thing with the knife - except picking it up off the ground - right after telling my son how to always watch what you’re doing when handling knives!

Bruce A. Borders is the author of more than a dozen books. Inside Room 913, Over My Dead Body, The Journey, and Miscarriage Of Justice, and other titles, are available as ebooks on Apple I-Pad®, Amazon Kindle®, Barnes & Noble Nook® and Sony Reader®, Kobo, Diesel Books, and Smashwords. His books are also available in paperback at most online retailers or at www.bruceabordersbooks.weebly.com. The popular Wynn Garrett Series Books are now available on Barnes And Noble® at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?series_id=867526 See Bruce’s Smashwords Profile at www.smashwords.com/profile/view/BruceABorders?ref=BruceABorders  #BruceABorders