The Gong
On Thursday I had to go to the Gong for court. I had left home early, but at the bus stop felt nature calling, and because I didn't want to ultimately risk it on a two hour train ride, I decided to go back upstairs to use the bathroom. By the time I went back down, I decided I'd probably miss my train if I waited for the bus, so I had to catch a taxi.
I made the train with about five minutes to spare, so I definitely wouldn't have made it if I had caught the bus. Good choice. I had told myself to read up on the matter on the train, but I was kinda tired so I just tried to sleep on the train. It had some really nice scenery, which made me want to live there by the waterside. I also turned my phone off because I forgot to charge it the night before, and figured no one would call me at this time.
When I got to the court house, I sat around waiting and turned my phone on. Don't know why, but I had a feeling I'd get a text message or something from Alanna - it seemed like we were used to being in contact with one another and now that I wasn't in the office, at least one of us missed the other. But maybe it's just me.
Sure enough, I got a voice mail message from her, asking me to give her a call. I called her and she said the boss had sent an email around with instructions, and she told me what they were.
The lawyer I was going up against had a real bad reputation for being rude and obnoxious, so I was mentally preparing for that. I didn't see her before court started, but I did meet my informant. He went to get two of his colleagues and I went into the courtroom. The lawyer I was going up against came in later, and I knew it was her the moment she slammed her suitcase onto the table. She even looked like a cow.
Our matters were mentioned and then stood down, so I waited. It was mentioned again, and I didn't get the adjournment so I had to withdraw. The cow asked for costs, and I argued against it, and she didn't get it. I walked out of the courtroom without having said a word to her, which I thought was pretty good.
I spoke to the informant and the two colleagues he had with him. One of them was an ex-cop, who had that "suspicious police" look ingrained into his face by years of working as a police officer. I reckon he could smell that I used to be a defence lawyer.
After that I parted with them and took a walk through the shopping centre. The shopping centre was nice, on the outside it looked bigger than it was on the inside, but I think that's because there was just a whole floor of parking.
I walked around once or twice and then decided to head back. On the way to the train station I stopped at a kebab shop to buy a chicken stick. It was ok, they never taste as good as they did in high school for some reason.
Luckily I didn't have to wait long for the train, I was afraid I'd have to wait an hour or something, but only waited about 20 minutes. I had taken the textbook Alanna had lent me for reading. She lent it to me because there was an article in it by the judge in my 'other' trial, but I took it with me because I started getting curious about what made her tick. It was interesting to read something that I knew she was reading. She seemed pretty into this stuff too.
I read it for about half an hour before putting it away and napping the rest of the trip. I got back to the office before 2pm I think, and was excited to tell Alanna about what had happened, even though I had already texted her the result. She was out at lunch, which disappointed me a bit. But I bumped into the boss and ended up telling her about what had happened. She was carrying her lunch and tea so we walked together, and that was the first time EVER I had been in the boss' room. I rememberthe vibe with the old boss was that he didn't want to be contacted about anything and we were to stay away from him at all times. Here I was, talking to my boss trying to not appreciate the spacious room and the good corner view.
However, it also marked my first LIE to the boss. She asked if I had told defence about something, and I said yes, even though I didn't say a word to the lawyer. I hope Yoshi didn't hear me, because that's what I told her when I first walked into the office.
Anyway, after that I went out to get lunch. I bought a Subway sandwich from the cinemas and walked back to the office. After crossing the lights near my office, Alanna caught up to me. She took me by surprise a bit, so my response was kinda like "ahooooooi...", lol.
We talked about what had happened, and given the lie I had already given to the boss, I had to be careful to tried to give a subdue version of it and move on. We went back to our offices and she said she wanted to talk to me about my files after lunch, so I was like yeah ok. Then I realised I had the office guy coming to move my shelf to Dugon's room.
So after lunch I went to Alanna's room to talk to her about my files, and then had the office guy come to take the shelf. We were moving it past Alanna's room when she said she wanted to speak to me, and I said I'd see her as soon as I finished, and I felt like she didn't like it that she couldn't get my attention or presence right when she wanted it.
Anyway, the guy took the hooks from Wendy's room, put the shelf into Dugon's room, then put up the hooks in my room before I went to see Alanna. I was a bit tired after that, being out at court and all, so didn't do much work apart from clearing some of the files ALanna had returned. Left work earlier than usual and went to the gym.
Yesterday was a pretty slow and restless day. I finished clearing up the files Alanna had returned, so I got 11 on the system, a bit disappointed I didn't get my 12, but like she said, it was a hard month and the boss has more important things to do this month than to worry about our numbers.
I tried to prepare for my hearing on Tuesday but small tasks kept me busy and I was so restless in the afternoon I couldn't wait till the afternoon tea at 4pm. Something kinda weird happened - the para Sarah came to my room to talk to me because she saw what uni I was from and told me she was studying at the same one. All this time I always thought she probably disliked me or disliked small talk because she'd ignore me in the photocopy room, but I noticed as she was talking she was always trying to hold up her face with her hands in a "I don't know what I should do with my hands" sort of way.
I had to see Alanna when she came back from lunch, and she told me she went to yum cha with the other SLOs. We got talking about mango pancakes and I said my sister really liked them, and she was like "oh do you have a sister?" and from thereon I probably appeared a bit defensive as I didn't like talking about my family, and I think she sensed it right away, because she was like "do you get along with her?" and then told me she didn't get along with her brother until she moved out.
I really should keep my mouth shut at the afternoon tea - the para Seana was talking to Ogre about taking her to Livy, and I was like "why do you wanna go there, it's full of..." and then Ogre said that Seana lived out there.
Yikes!
Needless to say, I felt a bit stupid after that, even though Seana had gone home for the day. I found myself with no one to talk to. The SLO's were in their SLO group. Karina wasn't around, Lewis went home after returning from court, and the girls were talking amongst themselves. I was the only guy there.
I ended up talking to Wendy about work, and I could sense all the SLOs looking at me and thinking "what the F is he doing talking to Wendy? Doesn't he know the hierarchy?", but hey, I had no one else to talk to man.
I went home some time after 5pm, was planning to watch Saw 3D but didn't have the car, so I walked to the gym from home, then caught a bus back. Spent the rest of the night watching the NBA I had recorded.
I made the train with about five minutes to spare, so I definitely wouldn't have made it if I had caught the bus. Good choice. I had told myself to read up on the matter on the train, but I was kinda tired so I just tried to sleep on the train. It had some really nice scenery, which made me want to live there by the waterside. I also turned my phone off because I forgot to charge it the night before, and figured no one would call me at this time.
When I got to the court house, I sat around waiting and turned my phone on. Don't know why, but I had a feeling I'd get a text message or something from Alanna - it seemed like we were used to being in contact with one another and now that I wasn't in the office, at least one of us missed the other. But maybe it's just me.
Sure enough, I got a voice mail message from her, asking me to give her a call. I called her and she said the boss had sent an email around with instructions, and she told me what they were.
The lawyer I was going up against had a real bad reputation for being rude and obnoxious, so I was mentally preparing for that. I didn't see her before court started, but I did meet my informant. He went to get two of his colleagues and I went into the courtroom. The lawyer I was going up against came in later, and I knew it was her the moment she slammed her suitcase onto the table. She even looked like a cow.
Our matters were mentioned and then stood down, so I waited. It was mentioned again, and I didn't get the adjournment so I had to withdraw. The cow asked for costs, and I argued against it, and she didn't get it. I walked out of the courtroom without having said a word to her, which I thought was pretty good.
I spoke to the informant and the two colleagues he had with him. One of them was an ex-cop, who had that "suspicious police" look ingrained into his face by years of working as a police officer. I reckon he could smell that I used to be a defence lawyer.
After that I parted with them and took a walk through the shopping centre. The shopping centre was nice, on the outside it looked bigger than it was on the inside, but I think that's because there was just a whole floor of parking.
I walked around once or twice and then decided to head back. On the way to the train station I stopped at a kebab shop to buy a chicken stick. It was ok, they never taste as good as they did in high school for some reason.
Luckily I didn't have to wait long for the train, I was afraid I'd have to wait an hour or something, but only waited about 20 minutes. I had taken the textbook Alanna had lent me for reading. She lent it to me because there was an article in it by the judge in my 'other' trial, but I took it with me because I started getting curious about what made her tick. It was interesting to read something that I knew she was reading. She seemed pretty into this stuff too.
I read it for about half an hour before putting it away and napping the rest of the trip. I got back to the office before 2pm I think, and was excited to tell Alanna about what had happened, even though I had already texted her the result. She was out at lunch, which disappointed me a bit. But I bumped into the boss and ended up telling her about what had happened. She was carrying her lunch and tea so we walked together, and that was the first time EVER I had been in the boss' room. I rememberthe vibe with the old boss was that he didn't want to be contacted about anything and we were to stay away from him at all times. Here I was, talking to my boss trying to not appreciate the spacious room and the good corner view.
However, it also marked my first LIE to the boss. She asked if I had told defence about something, and I said yes, even though I didn't say a word to the lawyer. I hope Yoshi didn't hear me, because that's what I told her when I first walked into the office.
Anyway, after that I went out to get lunch. I bought a Subway sandwich from the cinemas and walked back to the office. After crossing the lights near my office, Alanna caught up to me. She took me by surprise a bit, so my response was kinda like "ahooooooi...", lol.
We talked about what had happened, and given the lie I had already given to the boss, I had to be careful to tried to give a subdue version of it and move on. We went back to our offices and she said she wanted to talk to me about my files after lunch, so I was like yeah ok. Then I realised I had the office guy coming to move my shelf to Dugon's room.
So after lunch I went to Alanna's room to talk to her about my files, and then had the office guy come to take the shelf. We were moving it past Alanna's room when she said she wanted to speak to me, and I said I'd see her as soon as I finished, and I felt like she didn't like it that she couldn't get my attention or presence right when she wanted it.
Anyway, the guy took the hooks from Wendy's room, put the shelf into Dugon's room, then put up the hooks in my room before I went to see Alanna. I was a bit tired after that, being out at court and all, so didn't do much work apart from clearing some of the files ALanna had returned. Left work earlier than usual and went to the gym.
Yesterday was a pretty slow and restless day. I finished clearing up the files Alanna had returned, so I got 11 on the system, a bit disappointed I didn't get my 12, but like she said, it was a hard month and the boss has more important things to do this month than to worry about our numbers.
I tried to prepare for my hearing on Tuesday but small tasks kept me busy and I was so restless in the afternoon I couldn't wait till the afternoon tea at 4pm. Something kinda weird happened - the para Sarah came to my room to talk to me because she saw what uni I was from and told me she was studying at the same one. All this time I always thought she probably disliked me or disliked small talk because she'd ignore me in the photocopy room, but I noticed as she was talking she was always trying to hold up her face with her hands in a "I don't know what I should do with my hands" sort of way.
I had to see Alanna when she came back from lunch, and she told me she went to yum cha with the other SLOs. We got talking about mango pancakes and I said my sister really liked them, and she was like "oh do you have a sister?" and from thereon I probably appeared a bit defensive as I didn't like talking about my family, and I think she sensed it right away, because she was like "do you get along with her?" and then told me she didn't get along with her brother until she moved out.
I really should keep my mouth shut at the afternoon tea - the para Seana was talking to Ogre about taking her to Livy, and I was like "why do you wanna go there, it's full of..." and then Ogre said that Seana lived out there.
Yikes!
Needless to say, I felt a bit stupid after that, even though Seana had gone home for the day. I found myself with no one to talk to. The SLO's were in their SLO group. Karina wasn't around, Lewis went home after returning from court, and the girls were talking amongst themselves. I was the only guy there.
I ended up talking to Wendy about work, and I could sense all the SLOs looking at me and thinking "what the F is he doing talking to Wendy? Doesn't he know the hierarchy?", but hey, I had no one else to talk to man.
I went home some time after 5pm, was planning to watch Saw 3D but didn't have the car, so I walked to the gym from home, then caught a bus back. Spent the rest of the night watching the NBA I had recorded.
posted by toey | 11:52
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