Berlin, Germany

It's going on 7pm here in Wisconsin, but my body is trying to tell me it's really more like 1 or 2 in the morning.Ah, the joys of jet lag. But, as the saying goes, "west is best and east is least". So, I'm happy to be once again in the west and having an easier adjustment than when we flew east! 

This is a picture of a very jet lagged me in the Alexanderplatz in Berlin...

Berlin was my least favorite city on the trip, probably in part due to the jet lag, but also because of the architecture. Berlin was, of course, a very divided and torn city for decades. And it shows. 

Most, if not all, of the cities we were in on this trip have beautiful city centers and historical architecture. Berlin does have some historical areas and buildings, the Brandenburg Gate, for example, and Museum Island. 

But the city itself is not attractive. There is tons of graffiti everywhere, the buildings are grungy and plain.

The city has visible scars. And maybe for some, that's the appeal of the city. But in my jet lagged state, I couldn't get into it. Maybe I'll give it a second chance someday. 

Here is a picture of a section of the Berlin Wall. The sections have been recently painted and it's kind of an outdoor art museum now.

By far, this was my favorite part of Berlin. Our hotel was just 3 blocks away from this section of the wall, so we were in a prime location. 

The Spree River runs through the city, and even divided the city into different sections during the Cold War. This is us standing on a bridge spanning the river, just a block from our hotel.

And this is a picture of a famous tower in Berlin, originally used for broadcasting purposes, I think. Now it's a tourist attraction.

Next up, Prague, Czech Republic, which turned out to be our favorite city!

A Day in the Life of a Judicial Law Clerk

Welcome to an average day...

I come in and say hi to the secretary who usually sits here:

Then I go say hi to my boss who sits here:

And I pick up one of the files that is either sitting on his desk (see above) or is stacked on this shelf:

And then I usually go set up shop here:

This is one of the hearing rooms used by either of the two court commissioners. 

The rest of the room looks like this:

Generally, the court commissioner's schedules don't overlap, so I can stay in this room all day. However, on this day, I had to move to a jury room, which looks like this:

And on this day, I had the honor of working on this gigantic file:

Lucky me, right? This is one of the larger files I've worked so far.

A word of advice to any of my attorney friends who may read this- don't let a court file get this big! The judge's crabbiness tends to increase with the size of the file. This particular case is only at the summary judgment phase...imagine what it will look like if it goes to trial!

This brief in support of summary judgment is 42 pages long.

Not sure if the judge read it or not...but I did! 

Sometimes, I get to sit in on court proceedings...but I didn't have a chance on this particular day...too much reading!

No More!

No more mouse hair, that is! 

I showed a co-worker friend of mine the hair that came out of the little set of drawers I'm redoing and she was fairly certain it was mouse hair. I'm so glad I didn't think it was mouse hair when I first found it...I would have been even more grossed out. 

Yep...that's mouse hair I cleaned out of there. 

But before I could take on the eradication project, I wanted to finish sanding everything.

I told my Dad I was having a hard time getting the icky finish off and he suggested trying a different grit of sandpaper. It made ALL the difference. The finish came off so much easier and faster after I took his suggestion.Thanks, Dad!

On the left is a paper similar to what I used the first time I sanded...and on the right is the one I changed to. Big difference! 

I got to the bottom of the piece and had to deal with sanding around these little knobs. I thought that was relatively difficult.

But then I had to do the drawers...

 

...and they were WAY more difficult than those little knobs. 

But they ended up looking like this...

...so I guess it was worth the fight I had with them. I'm sure my neighbors were having a good laugh as I fought to keep the drawer upright while sanding it by holding it with my knees so I could use two hands on the sander. 

The corners were especially tricky, so I finally gave up and sanded them all down.

Maybe it'll help give the piece a little softer look? 

After I got everything sanded down, I sprayed all the pieces down with a hose and then scrubbed them out. I was determined that there be no more mouse hair! 

And I made sure to protect my hands this time around...

Then I let everything sit out in the sun for a while to dry out.

Yep, these are all the pieces soaking wet. 

Next up...staining the inside and painting the outside. Stay tuned!