I took a few hours off last week to sit in the courthouse. There's an enormous government center not too far from my place. I had no idea. I was sitting there among 40 others to deal with traffic issues. I had been pulled over a few months back for outdated stickers on my license plate, and since it was a completely BS kind of reason to pull someone over at 1am, I figured I'd go to court and explain myself.

It didn't take much explanation as it turned out. I watched as young men walked up to the bench, plead their cases and in some situations were escorted out of the courtroom in handcuffs. I watched as a lady whined to the judge that if he took her license, she couldn't get to work. The court's attorney snidely asked her how she got to court for this proceeding, and she burst into tears. But when it came to stickers, tags, decals or plates, all the judge wanted to see was the receipt indicating that you've taken care of the problem.

So when I got up there with my long-winded excuse that I had stayed up to date with all my decals and stickers, registrations, inspections, taxes, etc, and then moved to Henrico, they mailed me a new registration with no stickers. I did get more taxes to pay, and more stickers with my inspection, a new driver's license and all that, but somehow overlooked the license plate stickers. So in a world where parents are putting children in microwaves and Bono is a political figure, I figured the judge would have some compassion and let me loose.

it didn't take much convincing.

"Brian Korte?" the judge announced.
I stood and approached the bench. I was wearing my new sport coat with nice brown slacks. It was a brash contrast to the tank-top, ball-cap wearing 40-year-old man who had plead for illegal U-turn forgiveness just before me.
"Do you have a receipt for your new stickers?"
"I do."
"Please hand them to the officer." the judge said.
I handed them over and said hi to the cop (who really wasn't all that bad of a guy...I just disagreed with his real intentions of pulling me over in the first place.
"This is valid" the officer said.
"Case dismissed," the judge said almost in the same breath as before.

My case was done in 45 seconds, and all it took was going to court to be there. I saved $84 and a bit of pride as well. It was worth it.

In running news, well...there really isn't much running news at all. I've been trying to get out in the mornings before work to jog. After all, there's a 26.2 miler in November with my name on it, and - wow - that's not more than 2 months away. I'd like to be at 10+ miles by the end of September, but part of me wonders how realistic that is.

As of today, my TV is finally paid for. I really took advantage of Best Buy's 12-months, same-as-cash financing. Making a purchase that big without steady income is, well, stupid. So at least I didn't have to blow it all at once. With yesterday's paycheck, I'm closing another credit card and paying the TV off. According to my master plan, it's HD time, baby. Time for the upgrade. Dumping HBO (now that my shows are done) will save me $15 a month, which'll probably be what digital cable will add to my bill. It's a good trade. From there, it's a $5 rental for the HD conversion and I'll be good to go. I may move TiVo to my bedroom and beam it in, or work with a splitter.... I'm just not sure what the best way to go might be.

With things ramping up for me in the workforce, I'm back in that lifestyle again. Now, going to get groceries is something I have to schedule. Running errands happens either online, by mail or by phone now, as personal visits have come to an end. Yep, it's all part of the adjustment back into reality. It's not easy though.

One thing I am enjoying is dressing up. My last gig didn't require much, so I never really pushed myself. Here at this gig, it's suggested, but I'm taking it to be the law. Business casual is our style, and I'm actually really enjoying it. This shirt is one of my favorites, since it's pretty bold. I like that no one in this office has seen me in any other way, and now I can convey an aire of professionalism that I didn't quite achieve at TruSecure. :) All things considered, I've been pretty fortunate to have such an opportunity to turn over a new leaf and start a new career like this. I hope I never lose sight of that.

Most of my days are spent working to the point of exhaustion. I've been running three different things at the office, and when I get home, I have Accounting homework to look forward to. I was planning on a nice, three-week break from class before 'Finance' begins but I don't think I'll do that. It's too rough to get back into the swing of things after a break. I'd rather keep in the mentality of work in the day and class in the evenings.

and fatigue at night.

It's actually nice to look forward to weekends again. When you don't work, weekends are really just another day. All they mean to the unemployed is that stores will be busier. Now, I find myself making up projects to do and thinking of when I'll have the time to start tackling them. I knew it wouldn't take long to get back into the frey. I just thought it was worth posting, since it's definitely a unique perspective to start a job after 3+ years in an office followed by a 10-month vacation.

I spent last Sunday at Maymont, which is particularly beautiful with all the plants in bloom. My friend Michelle came down to visit, and it was a nice excuse to tour the mansion on the property. Man, they lived pretty large back in the early days. I hadn't seen opulence in a house like that since Mount Vernon. They did put on quite a show for their guests, however. While most of the ground floors are incredibly intricate, the upper floors are almost an after-thought (since no one but them would ever have a reason to be upstairs.)

I am pretty sure that's why the Graceland tour didn't let us upstairs. --Either that or the Presley family doesn't want anyone to see the plush toilet where Elvis keeled over. ;) --or the TV he shot because he was mad at the news coverage. Funny how the tour never mentioned either of these facts.

I digress. But hey- it's a blog. I can do that.