Paralegal

     Well I finished the course, I now have a paralegal certificate through Rice university. It wasn't easy and there was a lot of material covered, but I really enjoyed the class.  Now I'm on to the next phase of my life, a career change of sorts.  It's not easy making a career change, especially after being at one company for about 20 years.  It's something that has been building up inside of me as over the past 5 years or so, I have become more and more dissatisfied with my job.  To me, its abundantly clear that they don't value me as an employee.  My bosses get new luxury vehicles nearly every year while telling me they don't have the money to give me a raise.  It's complete bull.  I can't wait till I find another job and I can walk into their office and tell them I'm leaving.

    Of course, being a paralegal isn't a walk in the park.  More than likely I will be busier than my current job and my stress level will increase.  I haven't always been the best over the years at dealing with stress at the job but I do think I have gotten better as I've gone along.  No matter your job (unless you are a brain surgeon or something like that), your job is not a life-or-death situation, no matter how much your superiors may try to say that.  Yes, things are important, but its not like someone dies if I mess up.  My Dad has taught me to work as hard as you can but also realize you can only control so much.  So for an example, if I file a brief with the court but my attorney misses a deadline, and claims I never told him about it even though I did, I just need to take the abuse and move on.  I filed the document and instructed him that I did.  He's just upset probably because he has a ton of cases and just forgot about it and its easier to yell and blame me about it.  I can't take stuff like that personally which in the past at my current job, I have. ( Being blamed for others mistakes).

Anyways, I promise to update this site more often in the coming months.  I'm very excited for new beginnings and I hope that all of you are doing well out there.

- Robbie

2024 and turning 42

    Another year is hear along with another birthday.  Part of me can't believe that I am 42 though I will admit there are some days where I definitely feel all those 42 years.  This year should bring about a big change for me personally as I prepare to change my career.  My paralegal course that I am taking through Rice University is over in less than a month.  I must say that I absolutely love it.  The more I learn about the legal field the more interesting things I discover.  In fact my one major gripe about that class is that it is not long enough.  I know that sounds crazy especially from me, someone who hated school and could not wait to graduate.  I'd like to think that now that I am older I am a better student.  There's also less distractions atleast in my case.  I don't have a wife or kids and I'm really not all that concerned about my dating life right now so it allows me to put all my effort towards this class.  After the class is over, then I can address other areas of my life that need improvement.

One thing that does worry me about this year is that its an election year.  It will be nearly impossible once again to escape hearing about how candidate A or B is an asshole (depending on your side).  In fact I probably will try to take a vacation maybe this year, atleast for a weekend, just to clear my head and escape.  Maybe a fishing trip or something, I'll have to think about it.  I wish people would realize that all of us as Americans have much more in common with each other than differences.  We all want to live in a safe country, have our kids be educated and safe, do well in our careers, etc.  It's only the debates on policy that can get inflammatory and unhinged.  I pray that we can all come together though I fear it will not happen.

I plan on updating some more but it will have to wait till tomorrow.  I'm actually typing this on my break from class.  Back to class now.