Epilogue

Total Black: -$219.61
Total Red: $269,947.74

I’ve spent the past few days pondering what to do with the blog.  Do I want to continue blogging?  If so, how?  Under what conditions?  You don’t spend a year of your life engaged in the same daily routine without a bit of difficulty detaching yourself.  But daily blogging has been taxing.  And what about my deadline?  This blog has come to its pre-arranged conclusion.  If we don’t honor the rules we set for ourselves, how can we expect others to?  The solution? 

What a Long, Strange Trip It’s Been

Total Black: -$199.61
Total Red: $269,947.74

This is the end.  My only friends.  The end.  Of my elaborate plans.  The end.  Can’t you picture what could’ve been?  So limitless and free.  Desperately in need . . . of some . . . stranger’s hand.  In my desperate land.  It hurts to set you free.  But you’ll never follow me.  This is, after all, the end.   

And Then There Was One

Total Black: -$199.84
Total Red: $269,947.64

I received a comment today on a post from a few months back, No Holiday For Lawyers.  The commenter acknowledged that she was a late to that table; that post has been up since President’s Day.  But she acknowledged that she was making her way through the prior posts.  Intriguing that it was that post that prompted her to comment as another person, mentioned below, also reached out to me just as she reached that same post.  Curious.  I don’t see a problem with “late” comments.  Though some of the posts form an interlocking story. Sockpuppets and Doppelgängers, for example, can’t be fully understood without reading Breakfast with Narcissus.  Other posts stand on their own.  As such, why shouldn’t someone comment months or even years later.  But it’s fitting that, with only one day left until this blog comes to its pre-arranged termination, new readers are making their way through three-hundred, sixty-two prior posts. 

Sweet Irony

Total Black: -$199.84
Total Red: $269,947.64

Total black has been sliding further and further into the red.  I noted in Oops . . . I Did It Again that two bills were pending: a check to the landlord and a check to a doctor—both remaining debts from living in New York.  Both checks cleared, but because of the kinks in getting my finances online in a new city, they cleared with a negative balance.  I was able to get enough into one of my two checking accounts with Bank of America to cover the gap caused by the rent check.  But not enough for the check to the doctor.  Bank of America, of course, charged me an insufficient funds fee for both.  Then, in the other checking account, as I noted in And Again . . . , I got hit with a third insufficient funds fee when a student loan I had on automatic bill pay posted, drawing me into the red.  That’s three bills that cleared, but brought me under.  Today Bank of America just charged me an extended overdrawn balance charge on one account.  I imagine another is in its way for the second checking account.  I can’t imagine any better example of adding salt to the wound than to hit your customers with two fees for the same transaction.  Obviously, if you didn’t have the funds to begin with, you may not have them five days late.  But that’s how the big banks do business, I guess. 

Grown Ass Man

Total Black: -$164.84
Total Red: $269,947.64

I was chatting with a former law firm colleague today via gchat. At one point in the conversation she wrote that she wondered when her “real” life was going to start. She’s an adult, of course, but still feels like a kid. I’ve wondered about that too: when does adulthood finally arrive. Does it come in the middle of the night when you magically become eighteen? Like the Tooth Fairy? Does some “Adult Fairy” take your youth away while you sleep? Or does it happen when you finally leave home? Maybe when you get married? Or Have a child? What about when you earn your first degree? Or your last?

Just Call Me Jean

Total Black: -$124.84
Total Red: $269,947.64

I noted in Pocket Full of Change that I was a bit short on cash this week due to ironing out the kinks in getting set up on a budget.  What I didn’t note there—or in similar posts—is that in the past I’ve sometimes had to subsist on borrowed bread during these times of lean.  But I’m no Jean Valjean, stealing a loaf of bread.  Or am I? 

Pocket Full of Change

Total Black: $16.79
Total Red: $269,947.64

Ever since I was a lad, I kept my loose change in a container or piggy bank of some sort.  Not sure why.  Perhaps because males don’t get purses and wallets don’t typically have space for coins.  It’s come in handy many times.  Once, for example, when I was a boy, I counted and rolled all my spare change and came up with nearly fifty dollars worth.  I turned it all over to my mother and father because they had been going through some tough times.  Maybe one had been in the hospital.  I don’t recall now.  But I do remember how grown-up I felt to be able to give such a large amount to them.  Fifty dollars is no small beer even now and in the 1980s it was certainly worth more.  That habit has helped get me out of quite a few jams. 

Paying Ahead, Falling Behind

Total Black: $472.38
Total Red: $269,947.64

As promised in And Again . . . , I called American Education Services, the student loan lender that I had set-up with automatic bill pay.  And now I remember why I stalled for so long.  Businesses don’t make it easy for you to untangle yourself from the electronic webs they weave. 

And Again . . .

Total Black: $566.79
Total Red: $269,947.64

Well, looks like I did it again—once more.  That same student loan I forgot so many times before, including back in Head Meet Wall, came back today.  Of course.  Because I’ve stubbornly refused to take it off automatic withdrawal.  So my eighty-eight dollar payment will now cost me thirty-five dollars more because of an insufficient funds fee.  Why is this simple lesson so hard for me to learn? 

That Man Behind the Curtain

Total Black: $635.37
Total Red: $270,000.16

Felt a draft today.  Went right up my dress.  In a manner of speaking, of course.  I uncovered a gap in my blogging security that might have revealed my true identity.  And we can have that!  Or can we?

Big Fish, Small Pond

Total Black: $1,375.96
Total Red: $270,000.16

I referenced back in Time to Shine the opportunities that may present themselves here.  I’m starting to see things materialize.  I recently was “drafted” to serve on the executive board of a local organization.  It’s a new organization and may provide a significant amount of exposure. 

Sockpuppets and Doppelgängers

Total Black: $1,545.96
Total Red: $270,000.16

If Above the Law‘s David Lat thought the brouhaha in Breakfast With Narcissus was a bit of a catfight, I wonder what he’d say about the commentary to that same post.  Nothing is what it seems on the Punch & Judy internet show.  

Breakfast With Narcissus

Total Black: $129.96
Total Red: $270,000.16

Yesterday began a little tête-à-tête in the comments to Knut’s post Raise. Your. Voice. on his blog First Tier Toilet.  Knut alleged that he dropped my blog from his blogroll because I’m narcissistic and write about boring things like what I ate for breakfast.  So, let’s have some breakfast with Narcissus, shall we?  What am I serving up today? 

Meet George Jetson

Total Black: $2,364.76
Total Red: $270,000.16

Talking with Officemate yesterday got me thinking about my plans after clerking.  Officemate will be finishing up soon and moving on to something new.  I feel confident that I’d have the opportunity to continue for a second year here.  Whether I want to and whether I should are two separate considerations.  But I got thinking about my career path.  I don’t know that I have one. 

What a Mint!

Total Black: $2,352.41
Total Red: $269,991.43

Last Sunday, while bored at home waiting to leave to meet some guy for one of those quasi-dates—those “let’s grab a drink” things.  Never materialized.  It was raining too much.  The place we were going to meet at was closed on Sundays.  He’s local so I suspect he may have gotten cold feet.  But I digress.  Anyway, while waiting at home to leave, I started browsing the App Store on iTunes on my iPhone.  Time-killer, right?  Well, I came across one app, Seize the Day, that looked interesting.  Downloaded it.  It’s an app to keeps track of tasks and alerts you to outstanding To-Do list items.  Do we need it?  No.  We can just take a pad of paper and create our own To-Do list.  The iPhone has a Notes section too.  But I thought, why not!  Anything to help organization in this cluttered, electronic world.  But it was the app for the personal finance website Mint.com that really intrigued me. 

Oops . . . I Did It Again

Total Black: $2,358.16
Total Red: $269,991.43

Well, it looks like I haven’t ironed out the kinks in my financial systems here.  I’ve sent $1,200.00 to the canceled Visa card.  Balance is down to $2,900.00 from $4,000.00 back in Twelfth Day of Accounting.  I’ve also transferred funds from my Bank of St. Croix account to my Bank of America account.  Already made the IRS payment for this month.  But somewhere in the mix, something went awry. 

Scuba Sunday

Total Black: $2,958.16
Total Red: $269,991.43

I spent all day today learning how to scuba dive.  S.C.U.B.A., for those who don’t know, is an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.  A local dive shop here in St. Croix, the Cane Bay Dive Shop, has a local rate to get PADI certified for Open Water Diver certification.  I started the day with a Discover Scuba Diving course, a sort of snapshot of scuba diving to expose you to the activity without forking over the entire amount to get full certification.  Well . . . that’s at least how they advertise it.  It was a full-on experience, scuba diving over the beautiful Caribbean coral reefs.  I liked it so much I may seek to get certified as an instructor.  That could be a great part-time job. 

In Memoriam

Total Black: $3,160.16
Total Red: $269,991.43

This time last year I was five days away from the Pennsylvania bar examination when my grandmother passed away.  She had lived a long, happy life, having traveled all over Europe, the United States, and the Caribbean.  When I was twelve years old, she took my sister and me on a cruise to Mexico.  She was the matriarch of our family and showed by example how one family cares for each other.  I am who I am in part because of who she was. 

What’s In a Name?

Total Black: $3,497.43
Total Red: $270,410.31

A rose, by any other name, right?  That’s what Shakespeare claimed.  Not always if its your first name.  I walked into a very interesting conversation this afternoon between Officemate and Other Law Clerk.  Other Law Clerk was talking about the crazy names black mothers give to their children.  She’s taken this on as her cause, compiling a list.  She’s already at 700.  It’s the first time I’ve ever heard a black person expressing frustration with names like Ququisha or J’Wona.  I’ll have to let her know she’s not alone.  Chris, of Stuff Black People Hate, agrees.  One name she noted really floored me: Le-a.  I would not ever have guessed how that name is pronounced. 

Living Wage

Total Black: $3,956.23
Total Red: $270,710.31

President Obama signed an extension of unemployment benefits today.  Somehow I missed the news that Congress revived the issue and then passed it.  Last I had heard, Republicans blocked it.  And the media rang its death knell.  While driving home from work today I heard debate on NPR about extending unemployment benefits.  A year ago I was still collecting unemployment. 

19 Days Left

Total Black: $4,565.28
Total Red: $270,599.27

Today was the first time I noticed that the countdown timer I set-up months back on the website has counted itself down to double digits. That startled me for a second. Not that I’m upset or distraught that debt elimination looks unlikely in the next eighteen days. But more so because I’m unsure what to do when it counts down to zero.

Water Water Everywhere

Total Black: $4,638.28
Total Red: $270,550.77

That’s not my car.  But that’s pretty much what driving around St. Croix has been like for the past two days.  And it’s not going to let up any time soon.  The court let everyone go home thirty minutes early today.  We may not have work tomorrow if the roads are closed.  It’s kinda crazy.  And this is just heavy rain. 

Pouring Down

Total Black: $3,074.67
Total Red: $270,855.95

The past few days have brought nearly nonstop rains to the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Flash-flooding warnings.  The island of St. Croix is very mountainous so in a short stretch of land one can go from up high to down low.  And at the bottom of that high can be a large amount of water that pooled quickly.  I’m happy I have a jeep to plow through road lakes.  It’s got me thinking though about making it through a hurricane season.  Something I’ve never had to think about before. 

Tears for Tiers

Total Black: $3,163.08
Total Red: $270,855.95

Having a job that does not require weekend hours leaves me with much more free time than I’ve had in years.  That free time has freed me to read a few of the other blogs out there that chronicle the current state of the legal profession.  A few have included this blog on their blogroll.  Aside: I never instituted a blogroll.  I noted back in Fiftieth Post that I wasn’t much of a blog-reader.  Tides are turning a bit. 

Ain’t Missin’ You At All

Total Black: $3,253.08
Total Red: $270,855.95

Yesterday Officemate asked whether I missed New York.  I laughed and paused for a moment to scan my feelings and consider the question.  The answer: not really.  Sorry New York, I ain’t missin’ you at all.