The case of the traveling jewelry

 I've been formally mediating since we moved to middle America. Before then I actually did do mediation although I didn't know that's what I was doing. Kind of the story of my life, I think.

I had done some informal work in employee relations (Not HR, but trying to repair the mistakes that HR is institutionally prone to make) and had been negotiating information technology issues for most of my career. When CC first suggested that I take a course in mediation I didn't think I would like it ... but I rapidly found that I enjoy the process and often walk away from s session smiling and thinking :I'm glad I'm not those people". A couple of decades later I still find something to laugh about, learn from and be grateful that I'm the mediator and not a party to the insanity.

I had a court assignment to make sure that the parents worked together and learned to provide a stable life for the kids. After a couple of years getting them to at least communicate the Dad decided to retire and was making comments that he should have more time with the kids and perhaps deserved sole custody, Mom of course disagreed and her lawyer commented that Dad had even said to him that he would agree to anything, but didn't believe that he had to live up to the court order defining the parents time with the kids. That's an attitude that is sure to "annoy" a judge and the court hearings have been fun to watch. 

People do foolish things and when called to account they often shut down, or become very verbal or  refuse to respond to the court. All of those attitudes are human, but by not thinking the issue through those attitudes can get you in trouble.

An elderly couple, elderly in years, but not in their life view contracted with a tradesman to do some repairs and painting around the house. They trusted him and payed at the end of the job without looking at the work. When they did look at the job they found work not done, work not asked for  and generally work done that did not meet industry standards. The sued for shoddy workmanship and during the course of documenting their complaint they found that a carriage door opener and jewelry were also missing.

When I caught the case thy couple told me that after they called the police the  jewelry appeared in a different part of the house  The jewels were a felony matter and not mentioned in the complaint so I didn't have to wade through that particular swamp. The tradesman, being the kind of guy who thought he could talk his way out of any situation did allude to the jewels, I played ignorant of the situation, but the fellow realized he was talking his way into more trouble than he wanted to be in (if he had told me he had taken property from a client I would have had to report that fact) and agreed to settle the case. The couple realized that they had made a mistake when they found that verbal agreements exceeding a certain value had to be written down and agreed to a settlement for less than they demanded. The parties didn't get what they both wanted, but they did resolve the issue that brought them to court.

Like I told the parties "You might not go away happy with the agreement, but at least you can be content that this issue is behind you". And the judge laughed when I described the course (but not the content) of the discussion.

There is always a new case in the future and I look forward to working with the parties.

Dog Days

 We are hosting a new dog, and have had her for several months. Chica is part Dachshund and part Papillion and is as smart as she is cute. She came to us as an abused dog, but has learned to trust and appreciate people after some initial hesitation.

Our fenced back yard is big enough for three dogs to run and play, but not large enough that a dog wanting more space to run  won't search for ways to circumvent the fence. And Chica is that kind of dog, but since the yard is fenced we thought all was good. Silly Us!

At first we thought she had dug under the fence, but we never found a hole and she was always clean and free of mud when we caught up with her. I made sure there were no holes in the fence and I even strengthened the fencing under the side of the deck that faces the street. But she still got out. And always returned grinning with the knowledge she had pulled one over on the humans

It took a while to find out how Chica was evading our security, but CC finally caught her in the act. She was not digging under the fence, and she wasn't jumping the fence. Instead she had found that a ladder I had hanging (for safety) on the fence made an excellent avenue for climbing up and then jumping over the last foot of fence. No wonder she always appeared at the gate when she wanted to come home. There is no ladder on the outside of the fence to help her sneak back in. 

We will miss the little lady when she goes to her forever home and will always remember her as our object lesson not to underestimate the planning ability of our canine friends.

20 Years

 How many years of life experience were erased that day? How many years of potential were erased? We will never know. We can only mourn the dead. Not bring them back.

I wish I could forgive those who perpetrated these heinous acts twenty years ago. But it isn't in me, God forgive me, but I cannot forgive this, ever.

I remember, I mourn.

Woe to those who would let such a thing occur ever again. That too will not be forgotten, nor forgiven.

Chica

 A while back we added a dog to our inventory of house pets. We took on a foster dog, because ... well because she needed a good home. 

In the first year of her life the dog was mistreated and abused just about all the time. When she came of age she pregnant by a neighbors dog and because her owners didn't want the responsibility the pups were destroyed at birth. The young thing was an emotional mess when it was surrendered to us, but we wanted to give her a home that wasn't dangerous. We wanted to separate her as much as possible from her past so that meant giving her a new name to go with her new life. Since her name started with "ch" we tried to replicate the sound and called her "Chica". And she has rapidly lived up to her new name of "sister".

Chica is a mixed breed, about 10 pounds and is getting a chance to live the puppy life she never had before, when she goes outside she bounces and wants to run with the other dogs until she becomes too tired to run and just wants to rest on the porch. She has escaped the yard a couple of times, but doesn't go far and hangs around waiting for us to ring the dinner bell. For the record the escape routes have all been identified and neutralized.

Chica has only one problem, but it's one of grave concern to our feline family. She thinks that cats are play toys and what can be more fun than chasing them and trying to get them to play with her. Growls, hisses, arched backs and bared claws across the nose are not impediments to her urge to play with the cats. Needless to say the cats are not impressed and we keep reminding ourselves that Chica is a foster dog and that she will soon find her forever home. Hopefully, one without cats.

Life without pets would be empty and dull, and we delight in our pets. They give us respect and attention and make our days "interesting" and without them we would be empty.

Thought for the day

 

After the events the administration put us through in Afghanistan this is what we should be doing.