First full day in Merced pt. 1

My first full day in Merced was Monday and it was quite a day. It started out very calm. I unpacked several boxes and began to find places to put my belongings. I also chatted with my roommate for a little bit. Although I don't remember all the details of the conversation, I do know that my roommate mentioned that she had a friend name Tyrese. I said something to the effect of "Tyrese, like the singer?" She said yes. I thought to myself that I didn't expect there to be a "Tyrese" in Merced. I also figured he was black given his name. It would be really funny if a white family named their son Tyrese. The conversation ended and decided to leave the house to run some errands.

I headed off to Costco to do some shopping. It was pretty easy to get around the store because Costco had the exact same layout as the one I used to frequent in Richmond. I'm guessing that every Costco store has the same layout, which struck me a very efficient way to do store layout on the nationwide basis. In any case, I stood in line to get checked out and the register next to my line opened. The cashier called me over to the open line, sparing me what likely would have been a 15 minute wait. I noticed that the cashier was black. As I started to slide my card and look up, I saw that the cashier's nametag said "Tyrese". I figure it has to be the same person who my roommate mentioned earlier. I'm also thinking that it would be really weird if it was that same person. Aside from randomly choosing Costco as a first destination, I only had about a 1/10 chance of picking his line. Actually, a 0/9 chance until his line opened right next to the line I picked. Then It was 1/10 I suppose.

I wanted to say something to him – perhaps ask him if he knew my roommate. But then I remembered the context of which we discussed him and I figured it would be weird. Some quick background: I live in a four bedroom house which has two occupants (including myself). The landlord has been trying to rent out the rooms in the house, but in the last three years – there has been a max of two people in the house at any given time. My roommate informed me that we might have a third person moving in soon. A girl from a small town near Yosemite. Tyrese is her boyfriend – and that's how he came up in conversation. End of background. So consider this line: "I'm dtrizzle, I'm the dude who is going to be living with your girlfriend." Yeah, probably not a good idea. So although I figured he was the right person, I kept my mouth closed.

After paying for my groceries, I headed to the exit. And there she was. My roommate was the one checking receipts at the store exit. I was confused because I had no idea she worked at Costco. Further, when I left the house, she was still there. She had mentioned in the past that she did security. I may have seen some Costco documents around the house, but didn't make much of them at the time. In any case, she made sure I wasn't stealing anything and marked my receipt. I told her that I had been checked out by someone named Tyrese and asked if that was the same person she was talking about. Yes, it was. And at that moment – after running into my roommate an hour after talking to her and running into the boyfriend of a potential future roommate, I realized that Merced is a really really really small town.

I'm moving to Merced

Dear Friends,

Later today, I am putting all of my belongings into the back of a U-Haul truck and heading to Merced, CA. Two weeks ago, I accepted a position as a Deputy District Attorney for Merced County. I'm moving to pursue that opportunity.

Making the choice to move was not easy. After all, I'm from the East Bay. My family and friends live here in the East Bay. Even aside from that, the Bay Area is a special and unique place in terms of diversity and culture. I will miss it.

On the other hand, I am very excited about my new career opportunity. The people at the Merced County District Attorney's Office have been incredibly nice and welcoming. They have made clear to me that lots of opportunity exist in their office for advancement. Given my trial experience, it is likely that I will be able to move up into felony trials soon. Unlike in Contra Costa County, my position is permanent, stable, and fully benefited. There is no three year contract period.

Merced is a small town and it will take some getting used to. However, I will definitely take advantage of the small town benefits. Hopefully, I'll have time to read books, study topics I find interesting, and learn more about the law. I plan to explore Fresno, Modesto, Yosemite, and other places I might not have given much thought. Even with the move, I'm only two hours away from the Easy Bay.

Everyone, keep in touch. And let me know if you know anybody in the Merced / Fresno / Modesto area. I could use a few friends / connections since I don't know anyone in a 90 mile radius. I'm planning to blog about the experience and post pictures when I get the chance.  My internet access will be limited until I get my internet service started at my new place.

Scalia on legal careers

During a recent C-SPAN interview, Justice Scalia said:

Well, you know, two chiefs ago, Chief Justice Burger, used to complain about the low quality of counsel. I used to have just the opposite reaction. I used to be disappointed that so many of the best minds in the country were being devoted to this enterprise. I mean there’d be a, you know, a defense or public defender from Podunk, you know, and this woman is really brilliant, you know. Why isn’t she out inventing the automobile or, you know, doing something productive for this society?

I mean lawyers, after all, don’t produce anything. They enable other people to produce and to go on with their lives efficiently and in an atmosphere of freedom. That’s important, but it doesn’t put food on the table and there have to be other people who are doing that. And I worry that we are devoting too many of our very best minds to this enterprise.

And they appear here in the Court, I mean, even the ones who will only argue here once and will never come again. I’m usually impressed with how good they are. Sometimes you get one who’s not so good. But, no, by and large I don’t have any complaint about the quality of counsel, except maybe we’re wasting some of our best minds.

(WSJ Legal Blog)

On first blush, I agree with him.  The biggest changes in my lifetime seem to come primarily from the realm of science and technology. (ie: the internet, iPhones, computers, medicines, Google, etc.)  However, his statement is a gross oversimplification.

Lawyers do produce goods in a way.  Lawyers draft wills, trusts, contracts, legislation, and briefs which affect public policy.  We ensure that our society is governed by law.  Prosecutors help stop crime by putting criminals in jail.  Defense attorneys protect their clients rights.  Judges insure fair trials.  Consider landmark decisions such as Brown v. Board (intergrated schools), Miranda v. Arizona (“You have the right to remain silent…”), Gideon v. Wainwright (right to counsel).  While lawyers don’t produce goods in a traditional sense, they have produced positive social change which has affected peoples’ lives as much or more as new technology and science.

I love being a DA, but sometimes wish I could help friends

I love being a Deputy District Attorney.  The job is fun.  I spend alot of time in court.  I get to litigate everything, including doing jury trials and motions.  I've also been successful as a DA.  But in this job, I have a number of restrictions on what I can do.  For instance, I cannot represent other people while I'm a DA.  At all times, I represent "The People of the State of California" and I do so on behalf of the elected DA.

There are some days where I wish that I was in private practice.  Not because of my job.  I love my job.  It's because so many friends call me with legal problems.  I'm happy they call me.  I became a lawyer so that I could help people with legal problems.  But in most cases, I'm not able to help the people that call me because I'm not allowed to do any outside legal work.

In general, the rule makes sense.  I can understand why it might be a bad idea if a DA was able to take cases freely.  But there are days where I really want to be able to help other people out.

Just in the last week, several people have called me with legal troubles.

1. An old friend called about her younger brother (a juvenile) being arrested and wanted to know what to do.
2. My mother moved into an apartment where the landlord regulary enters the apartment illegally to snoop around.
3. A close friend (actually, someone who helped raise me) was arrested for homicide when he dropped his baby son in the bathtub and his baby later died.
4. The brother of another close friend (another person who helped raise me) was arrested and my friend wanted advice on whether the plea deal was good and if his brother should take it.
5. The brother of the wife of another close friend (another person who raised me) called me because he is being told he has to pay restitution on a case that he dealt with almost 15 years ago.
6. Another friend, someone I grew up with, recently emailed me for advice forming an LLC for his sucessful consulting business.
7. The same friend from above previously contacted me about properly terminating a poorly drafted contract he had entered into with another person.
8. The parents of a good friend asked me for advice regarding a potential property line dispute they are having with their next door neighbor.  
9. A good friend of mine was recently arrested for DUI.

These are just the issues that I can think of off the top of my head.  I'm sure I could find more if I looked through my email and spent more time thinking.  For now, I'm sticking to being the best district attorney I can be (and thus, giving friends vague general guidance or a referral).  But at least I know I would have a couple of clients if I ever were to go private.

Consider me a business user

Over the last several months, I’ve noticed that my computer expectations and demands have changed considerably. I’m not interested in the latest computer technology or the hottest design. I’m not looking for the new shiny product.

I really just want whatever works reliably and whatever works the best. In the past, I’ve had a lot of time to play around with different setups and programs for getting stuff done. For instance, I’ve spent a good amount of time playing around with Google Docs even though I know that it is nowhere near production quality. I’ve tried OpenOffice because it is free. I’ve played with Linux because it’s free and because its supposed to have good performance. I’ve played around with the Windows 7 Beta (not quite there yet) and the Windows 7 RC (quite solid). I bought a stylish gold and black Asus multimedia laptop, which I stopped using because the keyboard and touchpad buttons were not up to snuff. As you all know, I got rid of the MacBook. I just don’t have the time to play around anymore.

No more betas, release candidates, or other shaky software for me. No more shiny computers. No more software that is advertised as just as good, but for some unknown reason, no one actually uses it. I’m sticking to the basics. I’m sticking to what works. I don’t care if it is ugly or unpopular.

It’s Windows Vista Business SP2 (which is stable), Office 2007, and Firefox for me. I’ll stick with my trusty Lenovo ThinkPad T61, even though it is large, ugly, and rather industrial looking. When the difference between getting the job done and not getting the job done means messing up a trial, not filing a case, or simply being unprepared for court, one becomes a little bit more conservative in what they choose to rely on.

So my MacBook is gone

That’s right. I sold my MacBook. It was nice to have for a few weeks. It was a good computer but at the end of the day, it did not meet my needs. I’ve learned a lot in the time that I had the Mac. Here is some of what I’ve learned.

1) MacBooks are excellent computers. My Macbook worked as advertised. It was quick, reliable, and easy to learn how to do the basic stuff. Some features, such as advanced power management (standby mode) worked perfectly. To this day, I have never had APM work well on a PC.

2) There is less software available for the Mac than for the PC. I know this probably seems obvious, but one doesn’t really realize how this is an issue until you need the software. I particularly missed Chrome, Media Monkey, and Windows Live Writer. Also, Office 2008 for Mac is inferior to Office 2007 for Windows. The interface sucks. Further, OpenOffice preserved the look and style of my Office 2007 documents better than Office 2008. That’s just sad.

Also, software for the Mac costs about 30 to 40% more than the equivalent Windows software. I don't know why. That was just my observation. Cool software and tricks from blogs such as Lifehacker frequently focus only on Windows software so I missed out on that also.

3) Apple hardware rocks. I loved the MacBook keyboard and build. It was stylistic. It felt high quality despite being the cheapest model and everything worked well. However, you do get a lot less quantity for your money than you will get with the average PC. The quality will be higher than with the average PC.

4) Overall, I found Apple’s software to be quality, including iTunes, Safari, iWork, iLife, etc. However, I personally found the software to be inflexible. You had to do it the Apple way. If that worked for you, the software was great. If it didn’t, you did not have very many alternatives. The Apple way didn’t work for me.

5) Apple customer service kicks ass. The one time I did have an issue booting my MacBook, I made an appointment at an Apple Store. My name was called on time. The person helping me was knowledgeable, friendly, and fixed my computer. I did not get harassed about a warranty. He simply scanned my computer and fixed it.

6) I’m a PC. What I mean by this is that I know PCs and Windows so well that it was impossible to transition without lots of time and effort. In my current job and lifestyle, I simply don’t have the time to relearn everything. Further, the costs of being slower on a Mac are high to me now. I have used PCs since I was 10 years old. I have almost exclusively used, built, and hacked PCs over the last 16 years. I did use Macs (namely Adobe PageMaker) while on the school newspaper in high school, but I never did anything outside of a web browser or PageMaker.

I’ve also learned that I’m a power user. I know most of the Windows shortcuts, I know how to fix Windows problems. If I can’t fix the problem, I know where to look. With Macs, I knew nothing. I could barely install and uninstall programs. I knew no shortcuts. It took me several minutes to do on a Mac what it would take me a second or two to do on a PC. Sometimes it took a very long time to figure out how to do something new (like burn disk images). Once I learned, it was easy, but it took a while the first time around.

If you have been using PCs for years and years and are considering a Mac because people are telling you it is better, do not switch. It takes time and energy and will be years before a Mac will work as well as a PC for you. Macs probably are better than almost all PCs, but it won’t be better for you. Just wait for Windows 7 and buy a very high quality PC (Thinkpad, Dell XPS, etc).

If you are not computer savvy and are looking for a new computer, I would absolutely recommend a Mac. They are easy, work as they should, and provide excellent customer service. Just don’t ask me how to do anything because I don’t know.

Initial thoughts on my MacBook

I’ve been using my MacBook for several weeks now. Overall, I like it. The packaging was nice. The MacBook itself looks very stylish, even though it is the cheapest model now. The keyboard, perhaps the most important feature to me, is great. The keys are perfectly spaced, elevated, and require minimal pressure. It seems very fast and responsive to everything I’ve tried to do so far.

I really like MacOS - although I find it incredibly unintuitive. So far, I believe that I've been slightly less productive on my Mac than I would on an similar PC because I'm still getting used to the difference. Over the next week or so, I plan to write a bit more about my transition to a Mac. Overall, I like it but there have been some issues with the transition.