Activist. Vegan. Cyclist. Parent. (Almost) Criminal defense attorney.

On the road again

Tomorrow M and I drive down to Austin to hang out for a day before I have to go back to Portland.

I've learned a lot this summer--watching the law work in action for good and bad, living with M again, and addressing other issues that have gotten out of hand before. I feel as though I've spent the summer learning tools that will help in the days, weeks, and months to come. Be it in my personal life, my professional life or just in passing I feel better equipped to recognize the next right thing to do.

Leaving will be difficult. Packing has been such an arduous task. A common theme for this blog has been a sense of home. You know that feeling when you arrive somewhere, and you're comfortable, and almost soothed just by walking in the door? That's what I've missed for a while now, and it had become to feel that way here. Last year, leaving for Oregon was almost a getaway. I was running from so much, and this year is so different. This year, in spite of my desire to stay, I've got a tremendous amount of hope for what is to come. I am grateful for so much, and hopeful for what each day holds. And yet, I am trying to experience each moment as it happens, rather than waste time dwelling on the past or trying to manipulate the future.

Okay, I still haven't finished packing so I am going to do that. Probably won't update until I'm back in Portland.

Can you hear me now?

For the past 6 months or so my End button on my phone hasn't been working. Well, occasionally it will, but most often it really doesn't even want to try. So when M and I decided to get new phones I told myself there was no way I was going to get a yuppie camera phone with bells and whistles and any number of things I don't need. I walked into that store with a fortitude and chip on my shoulder that said, "No RAZR for me, Cingular-salesperson. I want the phone of the people, by the people, and for the people."

So you may be asking yourselves, "Why, pray tell, did you walk out of there with exactly the phone you weren't going to buy?"

I admit it. I buckled like a belt. All he had to tell me was that using the bluetooth technology that allows so many people to walk around looking like killer robots, my beloved Mac can communicate seamlessly with my handy dandy super slick symbol of economic oppression--my RAZR. At that point my eyes literally glazed over and no other phones existed in my realm of understanding.

Which phone did M get you might be asking?

Well, her's has iTunes...her phone and her music are one in the same.

The only consolation in our festival of consumerism yesterday, is that we are now with Cingular. They are the phone service of the workers. They are the only unionized wireless company. You can read more about it here: Don't Cell Out--Support Union Wireless Provider.

Cingular Wireless agreed to remain neutral in its employees’ efforts to form a union. As a result, a year after its merger with AT&T, some 17,000 former AT&T employees have joined CWA. Overall, the union represents some 40,000 Cingular employees who work under union contracts providing regular wage increases, good benefits and a voice on the job.