The other day, I had to meet a client at 8pm. As I got my stuff ready, I realized that I should probably wear long pants, because, well, it was starting to get a little cooler in the evenings - and when I stepped outside, I realized that it was almost pitch dark at 7:55pm. That really depresses me. Summer is my second favorite season - not that far from third place actually. Spring is number 1 - by far. The excitement of the end of winter - a little chill in the air in the morning/evening, but the days are just absolutely beautiful - 78 degrees, sunny, warm - just beautiful…and knowing that summer is coming - which is exciting, the thought of it - but the reality of summer humidity quickly dampens the excitement of 85-90 degree weather - pushing summer into second place. Fall would be second, if it weren’t for the fact that come the end of Fall is Winter - and I HATE winter.
So, while Summer has not technically ended, but we are a little past the ceremonial passage of summer - Labor Day - I thought I would take a minute to reflect on my summer…
Summer began with a huge personal disappointment. After spending the first half of the year working to help elect Sen. Clinton the first female nominee for President, I was a very disappointed when it all ended. I am sure my future posts will delve into my thoughts on this year’s election, but I can say that I still think the majority of the Democratic party made a mistake in not nominating Sen. Clinton. I think the overwhelming concern behind her candidacy was that there was a certain percentage of people that just would never vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton to be President. It’s not about the fact that she’s a woman. It’s about the fact that she is Hillary Clinton. And that number is about 45% of those that vote. That’s a horrible number to run in an election. 45% of the voters will not vote for you - and you need 50.00001% to win. Even if you give the other side a similar percentage - you only have 10% to play with - and you have to win the majority of them. If the other candidates negatives are lower than yours, than you have to win over even more voters to win. A very legitimate concern of those anti-Hillary Democrats. But not a wise one.
While Sen. Obama is definitely inspirational and is definitely bringing more, and new voters into the process unlike anyone before him, he’s still running even with Sen. McCain - and that is just absolutely inexplicable to me. You can blame it on the Obama campaigns lackluster campaign since the convention - or you can blame the incredible Republican PR machine doing its thing, yet again. And while I agree that both of those are at play here, I think there is a bigger issue going on.
Just as there are going to be questions about whether we are ready, as a country, to elect a women as President, or a Mormon or a black man - those numbers are difficult to quantify. (I am not claiming original thought here) - The point is, when a pollster calls someone and asks, “do you think the country is ready for a women/Mormon/black President?”, most people want to answer the “right” answer - the politically correct answer. ”Yes, I can support a black man for President.” Call it the “Bradley Effect” as those in the media do. Anyway, the point is, the question of will you support someone, generically, like a “woman”, a “black man”, etc. is very different that the question, “Do you support Sen. Clinton”.
So, I think what we are now seeing, in the tightening of this political race, is that the amount of people that don’t support Sen. Obama - possibly because he is a black man - is looking to equal the number of people who wouldn’t support Sen. Clinton, because she is Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Maybe, I am wrong, and I sure hope that I am - but it is the only rational explanation I can come to about why this race is this close. Therefore, if Sen. Obama has the same kind of negatives than Sen. Clinton, I think the party made a mistake in not giving her the nomination, because if this race is going to get nasty, and I really think it will, I know Sen. Clinton would have gotten right down in the dirt with those bastards. I do not endorse these tactics, except to say this. The Republicans have shown that that’s they way they fight - and they win. I support sticking to your principles and winning with your integrity in tact, but this time, I don’t want to lose. There’s too much at stake, and I think this country needs a President with more progressive ideas.
That’s my recap of the entire primary process. In a nutshell!
My focus, after the campaign ended, was to focus 100% on Reisher Law. I had a few cases that I was pushing forward and needed a little more attention than I was able to provide while working on the campaign. 3 of them were potential litigation, so I had filed claims in 2 of them and the calendar of events was starting to heat up. I also had been working on a divorce and those negotiations had reached a point where more attention was required. As always, there were different issues with my small business clients, and a few people interested in wills and estate planning documents.
My goal was to end the summer having completed those 3 litigation cases and the divorce - as well as manage and maintain my small business and hopefully work on a few wills. In the meantime, I was hoping to attract a few more clients, and hopefully, come the Fall, I could continue to focus solely on Reisher Law.
As for my case load - I settled 2 of the litigation cases, the third is still going through the motions. The divorce case finalized all negotiations, and now it’s just a matter of filing an uncontested divorce. I have worked with my small business clients, and continue to do so. I picked up a new client over the summer that has been excellent. I have not followed through with the potential wills/estate planning clients, but have participated in other networking events that have not yet produced specific results, but I hope will soon.
I joined Chemistry.com this summer in an attempt to get out and meet some new people. It has definitely served that purpose. I have had fun going out on a few dates. None of them have materialized into much more than a date or two, but I am glad that I am out there and meeting new people.
I also joined the Capital Tennis Association and have been able to get out and play a lot more tennis this summer. I met a really nice guy, Thomas, and he and I started hitting, we both decided to join the CTA and now I have met a lot of new and interesting and fun people. I am trying to play a couple times a week, if possible, and it’s just great. I really enjoy it!
As for vacations, I was able to get to my dad’s for a long weekend back at the very end of the spring. That was great. I was there during the French Open - so we played some tennis and watched some tennis and generally hung out. It was quite nice. Then I got away to the Poconos for a weekend for my friends Jenny and Andy’s wedding.
I spent 2 weeks completely engrossed in the Games of the XXIX Olympiad!!! (see beginning posts).
And then I got to go on my great cross country adventure with Kevin! Again, it was quite amazing! My favorite pic from the trip is atop. Maybe it means something??
The Exploitation of Children…
…and while I am at it, other problems with COMMERCIALS.
I guess I have not been using my DVR to the best of my abilities - or maybe it’s because I have been watching a lot of sports events lately (the Olympics and the US Open), which I prefer to watch live rather than on delay - but anyway - I have been subjected to way too many commercials lately and I have started to develop some opinions about them.
No. 1 - TURN DOWN THE VOLUME
I know there is some law or something that says that commercials are not allowed to be recorded with a higher volume - but it’s not enforced. I swear. Watch them. Nah, listen to them. Heck, ask my neighbors - I am sure they hear them. They are clearly louder than the program I am watching.
No. 2 - STOP EXPLOITING CHILDREN FOR COMMERCIAL GAIN
Okay, I get that solving this problem would dramatically change the world - but I am talking specifically about the use of children - usually aged 4 - but it goes up to about 12 and down to wee toddlers - hawking everything from insurance, to stock market trading to, well, you name it. The first time it was cute. You the ones - where the kid walks into mommy and daddy’s bedroom very early on what seems to be a Saturday morning - just completely beside himself at the thought that his parents have not adequately saved for their retirement, so he therefore runs through all of the options that he thinks his parents have not considered. Adorable, right? Bottom line it - children should be used in advertising for things that are kid appropriate - chocolate chip cookies, laundry detergent and condoms (extra strength). I am surprised they haven’t figured out a way to get one of those 9-month-olds to do a Cialis commercial!
No. 3 - THE CAVEMEN SHOULD GO BACK TO THEIR CAVES!
Geico had a really great concept on the first two runs of the Cavemen commercials, but the last two rounds have been a real disappointment. One might even think I would be partial to latest Geico/Caveman ad with Billie Jean King - but no! It’s just stupid! Time to get a new agency, I think…
No. 4 - STOP LYING!
I think it’s Charles Schwab (can you tell I have been watching a lot of high-brow sports events - bet you don’t get as many financial investment commercials while watching WWE RAW! - but, again, I digress). So, anyway, there’s this commercial for a bank (or banking institution) which opens by saying something to the effect of “wouldn’t it be great to get free ATMs. Anywhere. Finally, an account that doesn’t charge you to get your money out. No $2 fee here, $3 fee there.” Well, that’s great that that account doesn’t charge for using other ATMs - but unless there’s some big news story that I missed about how all banks have fallen in line - the only way for that statement to be true is if every other banking institution stops charging or this bank (Charles Schwab, I think) is going to reimburse the account holder for the fees charged by the other banks. Either way, I don’t get it!
It’s just a lie. It’s false advertising. And, they know it. I think they are just hoping we don’t figure it out - or not until we put our money in their bank.
And all of this just reminds me of the Ally McBeal dancing baby for some reason!