The Legal Thought Pages

PARKING TICKET

admin — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:27:57 +0000

Have you ever checked under the seats of your car and seen what was down there that you had forgotten or never even known about? I went and looked the other day. There was spare change, receipts, a mobile case for my phone, and even a parking ticket that was dated from last year. I suppose I should have paid that at some point, but if it was that important to them then they would have contacted me again and reminded me or threatened me or done whatever the local government does to hound people into paying off tickets. Another time I was driving around and I heard this clanging sound. I finally checked under my seat and there was actually an empty bottle of Arizona iced tea down there. Why? I have no idea. I don’t even drink iced tea. I certainly wouldn’t have bought a bottle of it and then left it under my seat for a long time. I can only conclude that someone must have left it down there, but I always keep my car locked and I’d have noticed if one of my friends had done that. Bottles of iced tea don’t materialize out of nowhere though.

MAKING MONEY

admin — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:15:04 +0000

A lot of people ask me what I do for a living. I say I’m a Chicago SEO writer. They stare blankly at me. I then say that I’m a Chicago search engine optimization writer and they continue to stare blankly at me. I decide to get more specific and say I’m a content writer. I catch myself and say that I’m a web content writer. Before they nod politely, I say that I write the content that you would see on a web page. Finally, I get through to these people and they say they know what I’m talking about. At this point, someone inevitably asks me why I didn’t become an electrician or a carpenter. They’re making a lot of money these days, aren’t they? Well, I’m sure that they are, but I’m not exactly handy and people tend to get afraid if I’m holding a hammer for any reason. I think that I might have hammered a nail once, but I’m not completely sure. Anyway, working a trade is good for some people, but not me. I chose a different path in life and me and my bank account suffer for it every single day. Especially at the end of the month when I have to pay rent.

GETTING MY WORK DONE

admin — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:49:58 +0000

I have to get some order in my home office. Since we decided that we needed to redo our floors, things have been in a bit of a chaotic state. The room I am using for our home office still needs to be painted and the window treatment needs to be updated. The bathroom upstairs also is in need of a good update. I have been trying to get my work done amongst all this upgrading that’s going on around here. I am looking for new data storage solutions too. I have too many boxes of papers and books that need sorting. I have a bad habit of not filing papers when I am done, but waiting until they pile up to the sky it seems. I think I need some help in straightening out my filing system, and I know jut the person who can help — good old Marty! She is always looking for ways t o make some money to add to her college fund. That girl is tenacious when it comes to making extra money. She is always coming up with good ideas. She is bound and determined to help her parents send her to college.

BANKRUPTCY

admin — Thu, 01 May 2008 18:44:00 +0000

I’ll be so relieved when I don’t have to set foot in a lawyer’s office again. Don’t get me wrong. Who I’m working with is wonderful. He’s a Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyer and he definitely has a sense of humor. He’s helped me so much throughout this entire process. I never could’ve made this step without him. It’s the bankruptcy itself that I’m having such a difficult time with. The fantasy is definitely over. I’ve been in denial for so many years. It’s not easy to look back over the last several years and realize all the mistakes I’ve made. Changing my habits isn’t going to be an overnight process. I’ve been consistently improving. I’ve become so used to buying whatever I want, but I can’t do that anymore. I just want to make sure that I don’t wind up making the same mistakes after this is all over. Like I said, my lawyer is really wonderful and he’s walking me through all of it and making sure we have a plan in place afterward. We’ve spent a number of hours talking about budgeting issues and other things. He wants to follow up with my progress after this is all over which I’m happy about. I want to make sure I stay on the right track!

VP OF MARKETING

admin — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:54:13 +0000

One day, the vice president of marketing and sales for my hotel chain came in and fired me. This is what eventually sent me to looking for lawyers under Flint bankruptcy on the internet. I was fired because I had criticized the local advertising campaign for the hotel, which featured Michael Moore. Guests were telling me that they would never come back if we kept using him as a reason to stay in Flint. I really don’t care about Michael Moore one way or another, but what I did care about was my job. I was the General Manager of the hotel, and if my numbers crashed any lower I would be out of a job. We used to count on business travelers, who were in town to visit auto and auto related industries. But the steep drop off in auto sales forced us to try to attract vacation travelers. The advertising agency for the hotel chain got the idea of featuring Michael Moore. They took a cue off his one documentary about the head of GM, and called the campaign, “Roger, Tom, Dick, Harry and Jane and Me in Flint”. They didn’t use all those names, of course. That was just the title. It featured a guest walking out of our hotel with Michael Moore, and Moore saying that he and so and so were going to visit Roger, but were going to see a bit of Flint first, and that our hotel was the perfect place to stay for a few nights.

SELLING TELEVISION

admin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:57:32 +0000

I need to find a place to sell my television now, as soon as possible. I want to sell it so I have room to put a work out bench in my room so that I do not have to go too a gym. I like the idea because my television is too distracting from my work anyway and I need to get into some serious shape if I am ever going to become an actor. Me and my friend Kate both are looking to sell our televisions, her because she needs more money though, could not find a thing in the Bucktown Chicago Neighborhood Guide. She tried doing some research online and just could not find anywhere to pawn it. I figure the next step is a Craig’s List advertisement. I would put it on Ebay but that just takes way too long with the bidding and the waiting, I do not have the patience for that. I would rather just put it out there with my price and have someone come pick it up and pay me in cash, so that same day I could go get my bench. Now it is just a matter of actually doing it, which of course I keep putting off.

FINDING NEW WAYS

admin — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 18:49:58 +0000

I have got to start finding new ways to get to work the gas prices these days are killing me. I am almost paying more than one hundred dollars a month for gas and that is just to mostly commute to and from work. Forget about going home and to visit my girlfriend, most of the time it costs too much. I should not have to drive around all of the Chicago neighborhoods to find a half way decent price for gas or budget to go anywhere outside of work and home. I remember when it used to take only twenty dollars to fill up my tank, now every time I fill up it seems to cost more and more. It is over sixty dollars to fill my tank now and that is when it is not even completely empty. The worst part of this summer is that the prices are supposed to get even higher. I cannot imagine gas being four dollars or over a gallon. I will need to find a way to earn even more money now just to pay for that. I remember when I worked downtown, I did not fill up my tank but maybe once a month because I took the train everywhere except to see my parents and the girlfriend.

TOP NOTCH LAWYER

admin — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:44:04 +0000

I knew, that as a long time resident of Detroit filing bankruptcy and finding a top notch lawyer to help guide me through the process would be relatively quick and easy. The city has a large cross section of people who are in financial trouble, and it also has more than enough lawyers to handle those potential clients. The yellow pages are loaded with experts in the area of bankruptcy law, so my only problem was going to be narrowing the wide field of potentials lawyers down to the few that would do the absolute best job in handling my case and helping me fix this problem. A bankruptcy is something that will affect your financial status for up to a decade down the road, it can affect you when trying to get a job, when trying to buy a car, when trying to get a loan or get approved for a credit card, even when trying to rent an apartment. So I want to get the absolute best representation available, with the hope that there won’t be any unforeseen problems and that my bankruptcy goes as smoothly as a bankruptcy can possibly go. I don’t want any surprises, just a fast and easy solution.

JOB MARKET

admin — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:32:27 +0000

A couple of years ago, I was out of a job and the market wasn’t any better then than it was now. Every day, I scoured the Internet and sent out my resume to dozens of openings. I rang up more than a few temporary staffing firms and went to meet with them and other staffing firms that might offer more permanent work. Still, I got nothing. I’d call back the staffing firms to remind them that their job was to find me a job and that I was available. I did some freelance writing on the side and had some money saved up, but that was going to run out eventually. And I couldn’t keep bothering my parents for money. They have to eventually retire and stop working sometimes. So how do I spend my days? For one thing, it’s definitely nice to sleep in every single day. I have plenty of time to hit the gym and still do all my errands and catch up with friends. I’m more than able to find things to do to fill up my time, but I am somewhat ashamed when people ask me what I do for a living. I just want a job that will pay me enough to get by so that I don’t’ have to worry. I don’t even need to be rich. Is that too much to ask for?

LAW FIRM INTERNSHIP

admin — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:16:30 +0000

One of my friends from school took an internship at a law firm in Cincinnati that specializing people in Cincinnati filing bankruptcy one summer during college. I was staying in Bloomington for the summer, so I promised that I would come down and visit, since it was really only jus over two hours away. Since we were both Cubs fans, I decided to go down to visit to see the Cubs play the Reds. I had been to Great American Ballpark before, and it is one of my places to see a baseball game. I guess I really do not have much to compare it though too. The only other ballparks I have ever been to are Wrigley Field, U.S. Cellular Field (also known as Comiskey) and Miller Park in Milwaukee. There really is not a bad seat in the house at Great American Ballpark, and every time I have gone to a game there, the Cubs have one. The first time I went and saw a game there the Cubs destroyed the Reds, winning 16-9. They also have great food there, because you can get a Skyline Chili Dog and chili fries, and it really is not too expensive either.