Unutterably Silly So what are you doing RIGHT NOW?

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

Condolences, Crich. I am back in the Neuro unit wit my mom waiting to see if she has had yet another stroke. Much like you, I am engaging in distraction as well - listening to the Yankees game on the radio.

Hoping for good news for you and your mom!
Waiting in hospital for test results is horrible ... been there, done it

[Rumpelteazer]

For once some funny news on the Family Thing front. In January my uncle decided to appeal the decision of the court. This appeal will take place in a different court district. You would expect that court 1 would send all the paperwork over to court 2, but it doesn't. My uncle and his lawyer are responsible for handing over all the documents.

A little while ago our lawyer let us know that my uncle's lawyer had handed over the paperwork. Since my father doesn't trust my uncle or his lawyer he asked our lawyer to check if they indeed had handed over ALL the files. Our lawyer told him she advised against doing that; it would cost money and it was unlikely my uncle's lawyer would not hand in all the files, that would be damaging to his reputation. My father insisted, he didn't mind paying for it since it would give him at least peace of mind.

Guess what: they didn't hand over all the files. Several documents were missing. Documents that are very much in our favour (e.g. a letter my aunt had written about how my uncle never involved her in decisions when the were both conservators for my grandmother). Our lawyer couldn't believe my uncle's lawyer would have held back documents. Sure it can be a mistake, but there have been so many of those that I don't believe that. And even if it's a mistake, it's a stupid one, that lawyer is responsible to hand over everything and he should have triple checked that he did. According to our lawyer the court will not pleased and there's a big, fat mark against my uncle and his lawyer now.

Today my father and sister are meeting with our lawyer, for the first strategic meeting about the appeal. A second one will be held just before the court date, to go over things a second time.

[badgoodDeb]

Good move of your father's, to check! Nice to have black marks against your uncle early on. It can't hurt! (for your side)

[Hitch]

Congrats on that, Rumple! Well done. Nice catching them with their pants down, so to speak.

Hitch

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Good move of your father's, to check! Nice to have black marks against your uncle early on. It can't hurt! (for your side)

Originally Posted by Hitch

Congrats on that, Rumple! Well done. Nice catching them with their pants down, so to speak.

Hitch

Yes, it's good.

The drawback is that the judge wants everyone to come to court in June. Normally this first session is just the judge deciding how to proceed, no need for even the lawyers to show up, usually.

But the type of session the judge is going to hold indicates he wants to push for mediation, again. Which is problematic, since you don't want to be uncooperative and get the judge against you. But we don't want to go through mediation for the third time, it's no use and my uncle drags is out as long as he can by cancelling appointments at the last minute.

Interestingly, this session will be held exactly 5 years after the fire next door, which was the beginning of this whole Family Thing.

[badgoodDeb]

Can your lawyer politely mention or write to the judge that "mediation [would be] for the third time,... and my uncle drags it out as long as he can by cancelling appointments at the last minute." That sounds like he is gaming the system (which he is) (and which our "so called" president over here likes to do too).

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by badgoodDeb

Can your lawyer politely mention or write to the judge that "mediation [would be] for the third time,... and my uncle drags it out as long as he can by cancelling appointments at the last minute." That sounds like he is gaming the system (which he is) (and which our "so called" president over here likes to do too).

Yes, and during the second mediation attempt he got caught out. His partner had health problems at the time and he used that as excuse to cancel several appointments. Except that twice he posted pictures of his long weekend away (the meetings were on Monday) or his day away on Facebook, which were liked by my cousins, his children, and which we saw. We reported this to the mediator who then admitted it would be no use continuing.

We have to wait and see what the judge wants. He might want both sides to make an offer and try to find a middle ground without mediation. Which is also doomed to fail, we've gone through that numerous times already (including two attempts by the solicitor dealing with my grandmother's inheritance).

It's all just frustrating. In all likelihood this appeal will take at least another year. For the past five years I feel like I haven't been able to move forward and I've never been able to deal with the fire (seeing how I react to fire alarms and when neighbors have smoky barbecues or bonfires).

[crich70]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Yes, and during the second mediation attempt he got caught out. His partner had health problems at the time and he used that as excuse to cancel several appointments. Except that twice he posted pictures of his long weekend away (the meetings were on Monday) or his day away on Facebook, which were liked by my cousins, his children, and which we saw. We reported this to the mediator who then admitted it would be no use continuing.

We have to wait and see what the judge wants. He might want both sides to make an offer and try to find a middle ground without mediation. Which is also doomed to fail, we've gone through that numerous times already (including two attempts by the solicitor dealing with my grandmother's inheritance).

It's all just frustrating. In all likelihood this appeal will take at least another year. For the past five years I feel like I haven't been able to move forward and I've never been able to deal with the fire (seeing how I react to fire alarms and when neighbors have smoky barbecues or bonfires).

Sorry you are having such troubles Rumpelteazer. It sounds like your uncle needs a good contempt of court charge brought against him. Maybe another long weekend (this time courtesy of the court system) to get him to shape up.

[crich70]

I'm getting ready to go out to eat with my fiance and a friend of ours from church. We're going to Pizza Hut. Also playing about with my little Pyle PRJG48 projector. I'm working on putting together a frame and a screen for watching my DVD's as movies were intended to be watched. And tomorrow is my mom's visitation/ memorial service so I have to get last minute things ready for that.

[Rumpelteazer]

Looking for a new tablet. I've always had a 7 inch tablet and was very happy with it. But lately I've been watching a lot of Netflix on my tablet and thought about getting a cheap tablet of around 10 inch.

However, lately my current, smaller tablet was a bit iffy when charging. At first I thought it might have been the cable, but it acts up with another, good, cable too. So the charging port is going.

In light of this I've decided to spend a bit more and get a good 10 inch tablet. I've narrowed it down to two. So I'm now reading reviews, maybe finding another tablet that fits my wishlist.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Yes, and during the second mediation attempt he got caught out. His partner had health problems at the time and he used that as excuse to cancel several appointments. Except that twice he posted pictures of his long weekend away (the meetings were on Monday) or his day away on Facebook, which were liked by my cousins, his children, and which we saw. We reported this to the mediator who then admitted it would be no use continuing.

We have to wait and see what the judge wants. He might want both sides to make an offer and try to find a middle ground without mediation. Which is also doomed to fail, we've gone through that numerous times already (including two attempts by the solicitor dealing with my grandmother's inheritance).

It's all just frustrating. In all likelihood this appeal will take at least another year. For the past five years I feel like I haven't been able to move forward and I've never been able to deal with the fire (seeing how I react to fire alarms and when neighbors have smoky barbecues or bonfires).

You should express this to the court. Sometimes, courts forget how the participants are affected by these absurdly long delays. And you should also express that despite you(r side) being willing to mediate or settle on X occasions, that no effort has been successful.

Seriously, the court should be advised of the dura and the stress. AND that at every corner, every attempt, your uncle has made the wrong, illegal choice. That sometimes gets lost in the shuffle, too.

Hitch

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by Hitch

You should express this to the court. Sometimes, courts forget how the participants are affected by these absurdly long delays. And you should also express that despite you(r side) being willing to mediate or settle on X occasions, that no effort has been successful.

Seriously, the court should be advised of the dura and the stress. AND that at every corner, every attempt, your uncle has made the wrong, illegal choice. That sometimes gets lost in the shuffle, too.

Hitch

Our lawyer will no doubt tell the judge how long this is taking and that in our opinion mediation will not work. And she also tells court about all the illegal things my uncle's done (but if the judge reads all the documents he'll find that out for himself). But my parents would never admit that it all leads to mental health issues. Because we're the perfect family (read that in a sarcastic voice).

Not that I've told my parents about my anxiety attacks or dark periods. They would think I'm weaker than they already think I am. Also they probably wouldn't care, since they've been not updating me about what's happening. Because I'm can't help with this thing, my sister has studied law and can help, and of course the whole situation's all my fault. My only function is to serve as a lightning rod for everybody's moods.

[Rumpelteazer]

On a more positive note. Today I went through my Amazon ebook wishlist, to delete all the ebooks I've lost interest in (something I do two or three times a year).

However, I think I might have bought more books than that I've deleted

But at least my wishlist is down significantly and I don't need to worry about finding books to read for the next couple of months.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Our lawyer will no doubt tell the judge how long this is taking and that in our opinion mediation will not work. And she also tells court about all the illegal things my uncle's done (but if the judge reads all the documents he'll find that out for himself). But my parents would never admit that it all leads to mental health issues. Because we're the perfect family (read that in a sarcastic voice).

Not that I've told my parents about my anxiety attacks or dark periods. They would think I'm weaker than they already think I am. Also they probably wouldn't care, since they've been not updating me about what's happening. Because I'm can't help with this thing, my sister has studied law and can help, and of course the whole situation's all my fault. My only function is to serve as a lightning rod for everybody's moods.

I love the idea (sarcasm mode: on) that it's all somehow YOUR fault. Right. Because you birthed and raised your uncle, and made him the way he is, and you caused your parents NOT TO ensure that everything was in writing. Ayup. ALL. YOUR. FAULT.

/rant

Hitch

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by Hitch

I love the idea (sarcasm mode: on) that it's all somehow YOUR fault. Right. Because you birthed and raised your uncle, and made him the way he is, and you caused your parents NOT TO ensure that everything was in writing. Ayup. ALL. YOUR. FAULT.

/rant

Hitch

It's my fault by extension. The fire next door was my fault, or at least if I had woken up sooner the damage wouldn't have been as bad (I've heard my father tell this to an acquaintance). My uncle had cancelled several home insurances without taking out new ones because he thought that was my father's responsibility. Those were the type of insurances a rented can't take out, only the homeowner (or the person who takes care of their business). Not that my uncle had mentioned that he cancelled them. We had to spend a lot of money getting the house livable again and the store had to be closed for almost two months because we had to clean and redecorate it ourselves.

If there had been less damage my father would have had more money up front to take on my uncle. Plus, my uncle took advantage of us being down, it's likely if the fire didn't happen, or the impact was less, that he would have waited with trying to sell until my grandmother died.

The will is my grandparents fault. They had told my parents they had put it down a certain way and they hadn't. I also blame my uncle for later, after my grandfather's dead and when my grandmother was in the first stages of dementia, influencing my grandmother to change the will to his advantage.

But, yeah, because I didn't wake up sooner everything is my fault.