Tag Archives: lawyer

Revising the plan…

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More than a decade ago I finally got around to asking a lawyer to officially draw up a will and do some end of life planning. Having something on file in the event of “what if” felt like the prudent thing to do in my 30s.  Honestly, I packaged it off to the county courthouse and then pretty much didn’t think of it at all for almost 11 years. 

I’ve learned a lot about myself in the intervening years. More specifically, bouncing around between hospitals and specialists since last summer has absolutely focused my mind a bit about what I’d want to happen should things go sideways in a hurry. No one seems to think I’m on the threshold of keeling over, but I am on the precipice of falling over into the back half of my 40s. Dusting things off and giving it all an update felt, once again, like the prudent course of action.

I don’t think anyone ever really enjoys peering through the glass at their own mortality. Going through the bits and bobs certainly wasn’t a laugh riot, but I feel better for having started the process. There is, if nothing else, some small comfort in having the ability to have your intentions known even when you can no longer speak for yourself.

I assume it’ll take a little bit of time for the legal eagles to get things caught up, but overall I feel like I’ve done a good thing. If nothing else, may it was a good way to start drawing a line under my year of medical fuckery and getting on with things. 

Legal opinion…

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Usually I dread the moment when I have to schlep upstairs to the vast wing of the building reserved for the legal office. That long walk almost always results in discussions that end up taking something that should be quick and simple and making it into something drawn out and complicated beyond all reason. Every now and then, though, whatever ill-tempered gods lawyers pray to throw me a bone and let me emerge from their lair more or less unscathed. I went there today fully prepared to fight tooth and nail in the hopes that common sense would prevail. I spent far more time preparing than is strictly reasonable. If I knew how to gird my loins I would have done that too.

Because this is a fair blog and I believe in giving credit where it’s due, I have to admit that today they actually made it easy. Common sense prevailed against the gathered forces of arcane policy and regulatory guidance. I get to do exactly what I want in the way I wanted to do it. I can’t actually point to another instance when I’ve had this experience… and of course that also makes me vaguely nervous because I know all gods tend to be fickle and vengeful if given half an opportunity. Knowing that, I beat a hasty retreat back to my hole as quickly as possible in hopes of escaping any further notice.

People complain that I never have anything positive to say… and I hope this post will serve to clarify that I will, indeed, sing praises… on the rare occasion when something praiseworthy actually happens… in a world that is so often stupid and bad and wrong.

Planning for the end of the world…

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OK, well I might not have been planning for the actual end of the world, but I certainly spent a slice of the morning signing a lot of paperwork that will kick at my own personal world’s end. After all, nothing says happy holidays like planning out your own demise. Putting a will in order was something I’ve needed to do for a long time, but that doesn’t make the process any more enjoyable. Suffice to say, this Friday’s theme has largely been, “Wow, being an adult sort of sucks.”

I’ve never believed in being able to plan for every potential contingency, but I really do feel a little better having some basic guidelines in place in the event I wander off the sidewalk and get hit by a bus tomorrow. Frankly, before my time comes I’m planning on technology reaching a level where I can just download myself to the network and live on indefinitely as electrons… because really, what does the world need more than my brain in a computer with nothing but time to spew out new blog posts on into the infinite future?

Friendly advice…

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If you have a cube with a direct line of sight to the Executive Office of the UberBoss, it’s really best not to fall asleep watching the TV mounted to the wall across from you. It makes you look like a dumbass. Far more importantly, it makes me look like a dumbass.

Maybe I should just confiscate their desk chair tomorrow. It’s probably harder to fall asleep if you’re standing up… Though I’m not sure I’d be surprised to see it. I wonder if that’s even legal. I think that’ll be on the list of things to ask the lawyer tomorrow.

Editorial Note: This is part of a continuing series of previously unattributed posts appearing on http://www.jeffreytharp.com for the first time. This post has been time stamped to correspond to its original publication date.