Big News 'Round No. 3, The "Mystery Partner" Unmasked!; And other lesser but still stirring stuff

The “Mystery Partner” Identified

Since May, when Partner Amy Swisher won the primary election for Family Court Judge, I have been planning continuing life in No. 3 Equity Court.

There is a frequent undercurrent in the professions, at least in smaller locales, of who might want to combine with whom in business.

I’m really happy to announce that the “mystery partner” who is moving in to No. 3 is my oldest friend, JC Amos. We met 50 years ago, in kindergarten. She has a JD and LLM (the latter is a second law degree, and she specializes in TAX law) from University of Baltimore, and is also a CPA. She currently practices in Baltimore. Her practice is mostly business, tax, estate planning, probate and commercial work. She will be moving into my areas of practice and I into hers, both doing the OJT thing.

Firm name: That’s been a vigorous debate! In the non-person-name realm, we considered lots of neat stuff. However, we settled on - are you ready for this? - Curry Amos & Associates, LC. Yeah, I know, but also her daddy was a prominent Fairmont lawyer for MANY years, and his name is known here, too. (Fascinating guy - Was with the OSS in China in WWII.)

CAA will begin operations around 15 October 2008 here at No. 3 and perhaps elsewhere, too. The 304-368-1000 phone will stay the same.

What online persona JC takes is her decision. We will have a firm website in short order and I assume there will be some biographical stuff there. JC does not currently have a public blog and I don’t know her intentions in that regard.

She’s a good person, and I’m looking forward to a lot more years of productive service to our communities. Looking forward, hell - I’m thrilled!


Flying your honest flag

I published a comment 2 posts ago from “Fairness to West Virginia,” on a political observation. This person/group has a blog which is taking part in the West Virginia Supreme Court race. So far, so good. But there is no indication who is involved in this effort. I will be considerably more impressed by and thoughtful about the opinions of people who will put their names on their opinions. Even if your flag is the Jolly Roger, for God’s sake, have the guts and class to fly it proudly.


The Old Dad Still Has Some Stuff

SonTim came home from his paramedic class tonight in high spirits. They had a test on pulmonology, and he was ecstatic to have scored a 68. I made a comment about the superior training we received in the “old days,” [which is (1) empty posturing and (2) a lie] and he challenged me to take the test myself. For you ladies out there, this is a direct male bonding and male provocation thing, and I had no choice but to boldly step forward. So, I took the test, and scored a 62, which surprised Tim and which surprised the living hell out of me. I have not given any serious thought to pulmonology since 1989, and the whole gas-exchange, surfactant, pH, rales-rhonchi-wheeze, sats, rates and so forth reminded me of how unfortunate a patient would be who was stuck with me these days. They now use drugs and procedures that I was not trained in.

Reminds me, Friend Tom’s son Luke is now a Firefighter/Medic in Montgomery County (MD), and is well on his way to membership in the Order of the Black Cross. Wow, I remember quaffing a couple with Tom at a conference while Luke was in utero.


Church as Personality Cult?

We come to depend on professionals and leaders in our lives, to the point that we identify the message with the messenger. When I think “Boy Scouts,” my first thought is Johnny Pitcher, long since deceased, who was my scoutmaster when I was a kid. I do not have the words to say what a wonderful guy he was, and he represented everything good about Scouting to me. After I left that troop, I learned to appreciate the “brotherhood,” and the entire movement, not just that one individual. But we still depend on these personal relationships. My doctor is a great person, and it makes me feel good to know that she’s there. And so forth.

I’ve found this phenomenon with church, and haven’t learned to move beyond it yet. When I joined Central Christian, Parson Jim Norton was the interim pastor. I’ve known him for years, and he is a great fellow, supportive and understanding. When he hung up his spurs (Robe? Stole? Whatever ministers hang up . . . ), I was disturbed. I was learning through him and through his gentleness. Then, along came Pastor Josh Patty. He’s a younger guy, a genuine scholar who can communicate, which isn’t all that common a combination. I really love the guy, and we have had some of the most delightful talks, often lighthearted intellectual sparring seeking to find ever more obscure references that the other may or may not recognize. It is a fact that in most Protestant churches, the pastors move on after a while. Josh is going to be a high flyer – He has honest scholarship and the loving message of a Joel Osteen without Osteen’s idiotic grin. We are sooooo fortunate that he is with us. In the Fullness of Time, he will move on in all likelihood. I hope that by then I will have learned the church as a community, not just as it’s leader.

In a much, much broader sense, I’m thinking that Christ wasn’t going for the personality cult thing, but for results. But those thoughts are rather elementary and not terribly well supported at this point.


Addendum

Oh, the “Order of the Black Cross” is that faux honor society into which medics (at least in the mid-Atlantic area) are inducted when they just can’t catch a break and patients are dying like flies whenever they touch them. At various times, it's also been called "The Order of the Boatman" or "Friends of Thanatos."


Pippa passes.

R