Programming Note

As I’ve mentioned a number of times recently, I’ve been a stay-at-home dad/blogger since the first of the year. But that’s over now, as today is my first day at my new job. Part of me is sad about this. I’ve enjoyed the time home with the kids. I’ve enjoyed not having to shave if I didn’t feel like it. I’ve certainly enjoyed the ability to blog like a lunatic whenever I wasn’t coloring, making lunch, or driving to and from preschool. In addition to precious family time, the experience has given me a small taste of what my daily rhythms would be like if I were a full time professional writer. Or rather, what they will be when I am a full time professional writer, because I believe that I am good enough and one day will be one.

But that’s not today. Today I put my lawyer pants back on and go once more into the breech, good friends. Above misgivings aside, I am grateful to have a job in this economy, because so many people don’t, including some of you. Many of them (and all of you) are worth a hell of a lot more to this world than some lazy lawyer like me, and as such, it’s not an exaggeration to say that I have something akin to survivor’s guilt about even landing this job. This, of course, is only going to make it more difficult for me when I inevitably start complaining about it to anyone who will listen.

But that’s not today either. Today I am going to begin all manner of orientation activities, and given that this a state government position, that process and the attendant paperwork will likely last for the next 136 weeks. Because of that survivor’s guilt, and because the world of state government is completely foreign to me, I owe it to myself and, um, the taxpayers of the State of Ohio, to kind of pay attention at work for a little while and keep distractions to a minimum. What this means for you, dear readers, is that I don’t expect to be in heavy blogging mode for the rest of this week. True, I’ve always, when working at least, written the vast majority of this blog’s content in the early mornings and in the evenings, even if you don’t notice that I’m doing it — future time stamping is a wonderful thing — but I’m going to ease up on even that for a short period while I adjust to my new life. It takes extra mental energy to keep on top of the news and form opinions about it, even if you’re not writing those opinions down until you get home at night. I need to conserve some of that mental energy until I’m comfortable at the new shop.

This doesn’t mean no blogging — dear God, that would kill me before it even bothered you — but it does mean a light schedule for at least this week. I’m going to do my best to augment with some non-newsy posts I can put together in the evening — in fact, I have a doozie of a post I wrote last night set to go live at 10AM, and that should give you plenty to chew on today. And maybe (maybe) I’ll re-run some Classic Shyster posts from the old site. Yeah, repeats suck, but based purely on numbers, a healthy majority of you haven’t seen that stuff before, so it won’t be too egregious if I decide to do that (which I may not).

Anyway, I ask that you do your best to bear with me as I ease back into multitasking. If this is too much to ask, I’ll gladly give up the state job in exchange for a reasonable grant. And I can assure you, the amount that grant needs to be in order to get my attention is far smaller than it would have been a mere three or four months ago.

Craig


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Rob
15 years ago

Go now… Protect and defend the Constitution of the [Great State of Ohio].

(and congrats on the new job.)

The Common Man
15 years ago

Many congratulations, Craig.  And good luck at the new venue.  We’ll keep teh interwebz warm for you.

http://www.the-common-man.com

Chris H.
15 years ago

Congrats on landing the new gig!  And for what it’s worth, there are a few of us out there that believe you lawyers do provide an important service to society, and no, I’m not just talking about the stalwart chap that managed to keep all three of my son’s moving violations off of his record (and, therefore, kept my insurance from bankrupting me).

(And heck, you took a job with the state government.  How guilty can you really feel?  It’s not like you just became a highly-paid associate of some tony downtown firm.)

bigcatasroma
15 years ago

Go get ‘em Craig.  Way to find a legal job in this market!  But at least the AG office has it’s perks—I bet you were off yesterday, while I wasn’t!!

Wells
15 years ago

Congratulations on the new gig!

GBS
15 years ago

Congrats and good luck, Craig.

Andy L
15 years ago

Hope the prosecution is everything you’ve ever dreamed of, man.  And cutting down on blogging is, of course, understandable, and we’re going to have to get used to it if you’re going to write that book – which you should!

Just sayin’ though…I’d really miss “And then that happened”…if I can be selfish for a second.

MooseinOhio
15 years ago

Cleaning up after Marc Dann will be a demanding job as he made quite a mess of the AG’s office. 

Congrats on the new job and welcome to the gov’t payroll – it certainly has pluses and minuses but serving you fellow Ohioans is a pretty cool gig.

YankeesfanLen
15 years ago

Tis is great news for you Craig!  You’re insiring me to see if I can become the New Jersey czar of retail or something.  If I provide the title, will Corzine supply the job.
Good luck and we look forward to your diminished reports more than ever.
Now, excuse me, I have to get ready for the ARod news conference.

smsetnor
15 years ago

Congrats, man!

I understand what you say about survivor’s guilt, but feel free to complain.  I just left the professional world and now I’m serving.  It sucks, but I feel lucky to have a job.  But still, it sucks.

Good luck at work!

APBA Guy
15 years ago

Congrats on getting a job in this economy, Craig. I did 10 years in public sector before turning to the private sector. Kind of like the difference in driving a Model-T along a dusty old 1920’s road with lots of stops and sitting in the front car of a jet-powered roller coaster. The roller coaster is fun until it stops. But that dusty old road just keeps going on forever.

Mike C
15 years ago

As someone who has spent the last 10 yrs in the public sector, working a lot with state government, here’s what you need to do..
1. Befriend the IT guys to see if they track where you go online because…
2. You’ll have a lot of time on your hands.

Believe me, trust the staff and back them up. Or life will be living hell. They’ll know EVERYTHING.