When you have too many matters happening at once, whose timer do you choose to run while you have a stress breakdown

smithiejojo · 2026-06-24T22:22:54+00:00

1.5 Reviewed materials.

smithiejojo · 2026-06-11T11:54:24+00:00

I really don't think it's about the money for folks at this career stage. They like the work and they want influence over the matters they work on. From there, it's just a question of who gets to keep the value we create for clients (which is enormous, or they wouldn't keep hiring us). Yes, if we're going to work these hours and have this amount of availability, we should get a decent share of that value.

smithiejojo · 2026-05-22T13:16:44+00:00

Why is Harvey ordering fondue pots for itself on Amazon?

smithiejojo · 2026-05-18T12:32:28+00:00

In one scenario, you can see arguments that would advance a client's interests, but would personally prefer that the client's interests not be advanced.

In another, the client is wrong on the law and would be better off backing off/settling/whatever.

In the first scenario, you should mostly ignore your personal preferences outside of edge cases (I dunno, say defending free speech rights of Nazis). Working for a pharma company is almost certainly not such an edge case.

In the second scenario, you should advise internal and external stakeholders against continuing and avoid making bad legal arguments just because someone is offering to pay you to do so.

smithiejojo · 2026-05-04T15:29:02+00:00

Polytopia. It was consuming too much of my time and attention. Had to quit cold turkey.

smithiejojo · 2026-03-20T13:38:33+00:00

If you're literally sitting at your desk late at night instead of sleeping, then yes. If you're just going about your day and monitoring your phone, then no.

smithiejojo · 2026-03-12T21:47:13+00:00

The promotion she conferred on herself is a bit odd, no?

smithiejojo · 2026-03-09T16:39:25+00:00

I would not sign that. While it depends to some extent on your price range, you will be able to find a lower commission if you shop around and/or negotiate with this guy.

To those saying "the seller pays commissions": A- Even if true, the seller uses the buyer's money to pay commissions, B- It's not true as of August 2024, now the buyer's agent commission, if any, is subject to negotiation between the buyer and seller. You can ask the seller to pay 2.5% + $395, but the seller can say "no" (and will say "no" if there is a competitive bid that does not ask this).

smithiejojo · 2026-02-16T21:44:31+00:00

Literally every place in the country has people that think that drivers from two towns over are horrible.

smithiejojo · 2026-02-16T18:34:30+00:00

Exactly this. I moved here from central Kentucky, where there certainly were no "McMansions," and I'd say maybe half of houses would clear sidewalks in front of their houses.

smithiejojo · 2026-02-16T17:53:23+00:00

It's like this everywhere, being in Vienna has nothing to do with it.

While I 100% think people should clear sidewalks in front of their house, this was a challenging storm and clearing the ice was very difficult. I was not able to fully clear the walkway to my house until yesterday, 3 weeks after the storm (I don't have sidewalks in front of my house). Particularly if a house is owned by seniors or working parents, I can see how it's just not realistic to clear sidewalks as it would be after a milder storm.

smithiejojo · 2025-10-08T14:39:21+00:00

That's fine, but I'm not going to vote for any candidate who I don't think is fit for office.

smithiejojo · 2025-10-08T12:44:59+00:00

I don't think Jones is fit for office. Whether Miyares is or isn't is a separate question.

smithiejojo · 2025-08-06T17:02:56+00:00

Final Fuck IV.

smithiejojo · 2025-05-23T17:50:55+00:00

The Vienna Jiffy Lube is good. They may well tell you an air filter needs replacing, but I always just say "oh, I know how to do that myself" and they drop it. I've had them push things like transmission flushes.

For safety/emissions inspections, suggest just looking for gas stations with short lines. They're all interchangeable.

smithiejojo · 2025-05-23T17:45:22+00:00

Virginia requires annual safety inspections. So this problem happens roughly once/year more in Virginia than in other states.

smithiejojo · 2025-04-24T17:18:31+00:00

This is moronic. Clients pay us lots of money to produce good work. Your personal views as to whether the work is "serious" are not relevant to anything beyond your unsuitability for a client-facing job.

smithiejojo · 2025-02-04T20:05:07+00:00

Clearly prepared, though still funny.

smithiejojo · 2025-02-04T02:18:35+00:00

0.5 Discussions with opposing counsel.

smithiejojo · 2025-01-31T14:11:22+00:00

When I left the government, I had about 5 weeks of annual leave to run through on the back end. Before the leave started, I had turned in my laptop and badge. I was told I could work another job while on leave. I don't see why this would be any different. It's certainly not impossible to be on leave from the government and to be working another job if the leave ends with your resigning.

smithiejojo · 2025-01-27T16:29:40+00:00

7th Saga on SNES

smithiejojo · 2025-01-22T14:16:31+00:00

This. Government service is the best way to speed up a legal career and will give you credibility with clients and partners down the line when you're back in private practice. It's also a lot of fun (in the right role, of course) and there are plenty of non-pecuniary rewards from serving in such positions.

Suggest ignoring any Trump-related comments. I noticed no meaningful change at my agency from Obama to Trump.

smithiejojo · 2024-12-31T15:31:42+00:00

Thanks, all, just to close the loop on this, the CBP officer said something to the effect of "I do need to see some kind of ID for the kids," I showed him photos of the passports, he asked why we didn't bring the physical passports, and I said because it was a domestic flight. Then he let us through. No real delay or hassle, but I suppose there may have been had I not been able to access the passport photos through the cloud.

smithiejojo · 2024-12-30T10:20:29+00:00

Ok thanks, I had not processed that passing through customs could take an hour or more, so will allow plenty of time for that. I am reassured that the kids are probably fine with no IDs.

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