Pardon any difficulties or disruptions with our blog. We moved to a different hosting provider which often causes hiccups (sometimes spelled by purists as hiccoughs). While this may require patience and understanding on your part, it’s nowhere near the patience and understanding required on our part. Intrepid as we are, we are still only human and, because of it, there’s a big pile of keyboards in the storeroom that we’ve trashed when patience and understanding were exhausted. This was recommended by our mental health professionals. They said they were professionals, anyhow, and we took them at their word because, thanks to all the time we spent dealing with difficulties and disruptions, we didn’t have time to investigate their bona fides. In conclusion, we thank you for your support and for such patience and understanding as you can find in your hearts as we struggle to restore the flow of the crucial and timely information we know you hope to find when you visit.
The retirement was finally done, at least, insofar as closing the office. I emptied six rooms, 900 square feet, of all evidence of my 40 years’ occupation and practice of law. All the old typewriters, printers, computers, desks, chairs, etc. that were so familiar and served me well – gone. It’s odd the sentiment and attachment felt for inanimate things. The books, OMG, the books, the foundation of my knowledge, the tools of my trade, although some were just for show. All gone. The contents of ten legal sized four-drawer metal file cabinets were emptied into large bins which, along with more than 40 legal-sized boxes of files, were unceremoniously hauled out and shredded. It’s impossible to describe the emotions, watching 40 years of life’s work dumped into a truck and shredded. All those hours, days, weeks and years of work, rendered into tiny disparate strips of paper. Maybe they’ll be recycled and reborn as Starbucks cups. Or maybe birthday and get-well cards, printed on the back: “Made from 100% recycled career of John C. Chappell, Attorney at Law.” Having my routine ripped out has been more of a shock than expected. Life used to be: get up, breakfast, drive to post office for mail, drive to office, work, work, work, drive home, supper, more work or, with luck, some family time, bed; repeat, repeat, repeat… The vacuum created by the loss of routine and familiarity has been a shock. Don’t miss the profession, though! Don’t get me started about why I’m so happy to put the legal profession behind me. I’ll just say, it’s not the profession it was when I entered it.