Working out of the house and with my boss several states away I spend most of my days fucking around. I shoot out a few emails and make a few calls. That pretty much finishes my days for work. All in an hour.

Kind of wish I’d get laid off, that’s for sure. At least I could start collecting and be forced to make a move. I like many others have become too comfortable and need to get my shit together. Thanks.

PL: It took me forever to make a move. The fear of not having that easy check is enormous. But then you do it and you realize you can survive, and suddenly, the whole artifice – everything they’d told you, everything you’d been lead to believe was ironclad truth about how to succeed, how to survive, what you have to do to get ahead, rings like so much bullshit.

Anyway, keep up the good writing!

PL: Sorry about that. I’m a Luddite, and struggling with the new set-up. But we’ll get there.

Might be worth looking into setting up a Feedburner feed though.. if you need help doing this, feel free to drop me an e-mail, I’ve done it a few times.

PL: We’re doing it. But thank you.

PL: This was a piece of new content. As to stories, shortly. Some traditional, some in a different format.

Next Q:
I’m a 3rd year biglaw atty. My firm is good enough that we haven’t done any freezes or anything like that so I’ll make the big jump this year (along with my “market” hahaha bonus). Been a fan of yours since the blogspot days, bought multiple copies of your book to give to friends/colleagues/etc. and generally think you hit the target 90% of the time.

Obviously hate my job but have strangely come to peace with it. Clearly there are other things I’d rather do, but the money is good (ie better than a joker like me deserves). So, two parter here, A) Am I just surrendering? B) How did you deal with the money hit once you quit? Not that I’m too addicted to my lifestyle and save decently, but I’ve only recently slain that bitch Sallie Mae.

Thanks and even if you don’t respond, I really appreciate your writing.

PL: I don’t know what occurred with Rudius. But I’m here now, so it’s irrelevant. I hope the company reappears. It’s a good idea. But either way, I’m glad for the experience.

Thanks for buying multiple copies and circulating them. That’s above and beyond what I could expect from anyone, and truly appreciated.

A. You’re not surrendering. I had this odd little skill, and the fact is, I’m not a person who plays well with other lawyers. I can handle them, but I’m kind of odd. I don’t care for processes and am only interested in getting to the end. In law, that’s kind of a liability. Makes enemies and hurts revenue in a unit-oriented billing system. If that sounds like you, you’ll inevitably leave law. If not, don’t lightly chuck a position in this economy. And don’t ever think you’re surrendering for being rational.

B. I had cash coming in from a business when I shifted out of full time practice in Philly and Lisa works. I had to find a way to make the finances work for us, and it took a lot of risk and cutting back initially.

Do I miss the cash? A little. But I’ll get back to where I was on that, and getting there’ll be an adventure, and a learning experience. And working for yourself is an irreplaceable feeling. I don’t have any little Napoleon giving me guff, and that’s worth a lot of dollars.

PL: I always default to this: “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.” Change will be agonizingly incremental, if it comes at all. Obama is no fool. He doesn’t want anything radical enough to screw up his chances at a second term to occur. And what he’s not cynical about, Rahm Emmanuel is. There’s a mahine behind “Hope,” and it runs an a very different energy, and has very different goals, than its gullible followers would surmise.

This bill will be a huge wet kiss to the insurance companies when the Senate’s done with it. It will screw the upper middle class, but will appear to reform just enough of the system to allow its architects to declare victory and ride that wave in 2012.

Your observations are just as applicable across the pond here in London. We suffer under greater intrusion on our public lives as politicians seek to cure their disconnect with the public by legislating on questionable moral issues. There is a mass retreat from active participation in public life to a simple desire to be left alone, get slaughtered at the weekend and slosh our way through the week pouring what’s left of our enthusiasm into busywork that slowly kills the soul.

At twenty two I’m stuck with no university education and a comfortable job, and a fear that if I have any talents I’m too busy trying to pay rent to find out what they are. Some of my friends are content with that. Others rail against it. When I read the latter sections of your book, and the way you kept banging your head against the same brick wall it was a deeply uncomfortable moment of recognition. The tension and climax were superb.

I look forward to your next book and the questions it raises.

PL: We’re both definitely leading the charge on intrusive regulation, and not of merely large businesses and individual rights. The level of regulation on a small businessman in this country is beyond comprehension. The red tape… filing your goddamn taxes is a monumental exercise. And all of it for what? So more dysfunctional agencies can pay people who didn’t want to compete in the private labor market a fat salary to sit on their asses for 25 years and retire on government pensions?

On the moral side, I won’t touch the issue of our scolds. Thirty percent of this country attends megachurchs, believes the Earth is 5000 years old and thinks its a divine duty to inflict their regressive views on the rest via legislation.

But those weekend warriors? They’ll hit the wall. I’ve seen them do it, and nothing’s more painful than to watch a man give up and say, “This is just how it is.” I understand why and don’t hold the decision against anybody, but even if you have to do it quietly, below the surface, never concede that the merry go round is right, and you’re wrong. Milk it, manipulate it and beat it… abuse it and suck it dry. But never embrace it. It’s not Your Life. It’s just a way to make money to pay for your life.

Well, unless you’re one of the fortunate who gets to do exclusively what he loves for a living. Or inherits a boatload of money and can opt out from the starting gate, sit back and laugh at the carnival from the good seats.

PL: $108,000.00 for a pond full live Hippopotami. Goddamned highway robbery, if you ask me: http://moray.ml.duke.edu/projects/hippos/Newsletter/news138.html Affiliated with Duke. Figures.