One Week In The Books

My new job is leaving precious little time for blogging, or anything else for that matter. The last few days' lack of postings should attest to that fact. Despite this I'm feeling pretty good about where things are heading. I really love the idea of being a prosecutor again.

I have done a job similar to this one before, or at least similar in theory. When I was just out of law school I took the only job I was offered, a prosecutor's position in a beautiful, rural corner of Washington state. Although I loved the location, I hated the job. This was mostly because of my boss, a bitter old hypocrite who was elected prosecutor on a "hang 'em high" platform, tried to micromanage everything, forced me to take unwinable cases to trial just so he could claim he was being tough on crime, wasn't above ordering me to do act in ways that I felt were borderline unethical, and basically made the job a living hell. After about eight months I decided I couldn't take it any more and gave him two months (that's two MONTHS) notice that I was leaving. Just out of spite he fired me the day before I was leaving. That's just the kind of a--hole we're talking about.

As I think back now, I feel like that initial experience with the practice of law was so bad that it took me two or three years just to recover from it. Only within the last year or two have I really started to regain my confidence and get back to the level I should be performing at. As for my new job, the feeling I have there is completely different from that of my first miserable experience in prosecution. After a week in my new position I am tired but confident. My co-workers seem to genuinely understand the concept of teamwork and cooperation. More than that, they seem to genuinely WANT to help me succeed, if for no other reason because they understand that my success is the office's success. I really like the atmosphere and have a good feeling about the future for the first time in what seems like an eternity.

A couple more things to update quickly:

I spent the morning out at the farm, which has turned into the kingdom of the butterflies. Earlier this year the small, black and orange butterflies called Painted Ladies that migrate through in the springtime got caught in a cold snap. Rather than continuing their journey to their normal breeding grounds in the north, they simply stopped and laid their eggs here in northern Nevada. Those eggs have now hatched with a vengeance. Every tree and bush at Custom Gardens is now literally blanketed in hundreds upon hundreds of butterflies. It's truly a sight to see. I'm just sorry I didn't have my camera with me today. This year looks like an extraordinary year for strawberries, and the corn, summer squash and melons are all doing well.

Also, Melissa and I went to see Cinderella Man last night. A good movie, if a mite "by the numbers." Russell Crowe plays Jim Braddock, an old-school Irish boxer from New Jersey who unexpectedly rose through the ranks during the Great Depression. Nothing particularly surprising takes place, but it is a pretty good version of what it is--a standard-issue sports movie. And it's interesting to recall a time when an Irish guy had a prayer of becoming Heavyweight Champion :-)

I'd write more now, but I'm really tired and I think I need a nap.