Author: Jay Shergill

Workers' Compensation Defense Attorney Certified Specialist Workers Compensation Law California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization Managing Partner of Purinton, Jimenez, Labo & Wu, LLP

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McCain & Palin
McCain & Palin
Obama & Biden
Obama & Biden

I love watching political debates with a DVR.  There’s nothing like being able to pause the debate so the candidates can benefit from my sage advice or criticism developed over my many years of political, economic, and foreign policy experience.

That said, I have the following debate advice for the candidates:

  • Barak Obama
    • Stay focused and be concise.
  • John McCain
    • Keep your arguments and comments accurate.
  • Joe Biden
    • Eye contact with the camera.
  • Sarah Palin
    • Never, EVER wink at the camera again if you want to be taken seriously.
    • Not answering the question doesn’t make you a maverick, it makes you look uninformed.

Overall, the presidential debate of 9/26 was a dead heat.  I don’t think either side won ground that day.  It was one of the best presidential debates I have ever seen.  Frankly, both McCain and Obama did a great job.  The last time I enjoyed a debate as much was Clinton v G.H. Bush.

Historically, the vice presidential debate is hardly ever a deal maker or breaker – and its just as well for both parties.  When speaking in interviews off the cuff, Biden can make ridiculous and wildly historically inaccurate claims.  On the other hand, the Palin – Couric interviews made it clear that Palin can’t speak off script.

I can’t wait for the next debate tomorrow night!

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Quick, how are rum distillers, stockcar race track owners, wool researchers, TV and movie producers, and wooden arrows different from middle class home owners? ((Photo courtesy of ryaninc.  I just can’t pass up an opporutnity to quote The Pirates of the Carribean…))

Why's the rum gone?
Why's the rum gone?

Give up?  The home owners aren’t benefiting one dime from the bailout legislation!

Obviously, (almost) no one has the time to read 451 pages of this proposal – and that’s what some people are counting on.  Thankfully, someone read it and found some startling things.

I’ve taken the liberty of putting together a list of the citations to my favorites:

  • Rum distillers (p279:11-19)
  • Stock car race track owners (p290:1-9)
  • Wool research (p295:7-296:13)
  • TV and movie producers (p298:6-300:19)
  • Wooden arrows (p300:20-301:18)

Wool research???  Its warm and itchy.  What’s to research???

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Nerds
From Uncool Nerds...

Yeah, I said it. And, I don’t care that it sounds ridiculously self-serving. Frankly, I think iTunes, MySpace, and instant messaging are to blame. These three things, more than anything else, made computers cool.

You think mechanics and handymen were always considered cool manly-men?  No way.  First cars and home improvement had to be cool. THEN the guys who fix/maintain those things became cool.

There was a day when computers and the internet were only good for word processing and searching libraries.  When these things were not indispensable, there were no real uses for nerds.  You know, besides copying their homework.

I think the first time anyone ever thought I was cool for being a nerd was when I was in law school.  A fellow law student had a floppy disk (yeah, it was that long ago…) that stopped working.  The campus tech guys were unable to do anything about it.  I asked if I could take a look – and was able to recover the data.

To Cool Nerds
...To Cool Nerds

These days a nerd can save your iPod, iPhone, laptop, recover your lost passwords, convert your files, and set up your wireless network.  They keep your computers virus free, network humming along, and your e-mails arriving right on time.

Heck, sometimes they even build online web-based workers’ compensation calculators which crank out permanent disability ratings and let everyone use them for free.

So, why not hug a nerd today?

This Public Service Announcement has been brought to you by Huey Lewis and the News, because it really is “Hip To Be Square.”

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My laptop is back, up and running!  I truly cannot explain just how happy I am that I have it back.

Scotty
Scotty

As I mentioned earlier, my laptop stopped working on the Sunday night before last.  The next day I stopped by a local Fry’s Electronics and picked up a hard drive enclosure for my laptop’s hard drive.  This solved my initial problem, being cut off from my data, by allowing me to schlep my laptop’s hard drive with me.  Even though I had my data with me, I didn’t have my laptop with me.  I constantly felt as if I had lost my wallet or cell phone.  A disconcerting feeling, to say the least.

On Friday afternoon I took my laptop to a local repair shop, Paramount Technology, and, after talking with the proprietor for a few minutes, left my laptop with them at about 12:30pm.  He estimated they might have it ready on Tuesday; Monday at the earliest.

They called my cell less than three hours later to tell me my laptop was fixed.

Everyone knows how Captain Kirk would ask the impossible of Scotty.  Like clockwork, Scotty would bitch and moan about how he could not perform the impossible.  And, yet, when crunch time came, the polarity was reversed, dilithium crystals realigned, and they had warp engines back on line.

They did a great job, warranting their work for 90 days, had my laptop repaired in record time, and didn’t scratch my baby.  (FYI, Dell offers a whopping 30 day warranty on their work.  In the words of Govenor Palin, “Thanks, but no thanks.”)

I don’t care if they were practicing “under promise and over deliver.”  Paramount Technology has earned my business and my recommendation.

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*PDRater up, the Dow down
PDRater up, the Dow down

September 2008 was a pretty good month for PDRater.com.  Yay! ((Original photo courtesy of Daniel Martini.  Mad photoshop skillz, all mine!))

Not so good for the economy. Boo! Perhaps this website needs a new, darker, tagline?  How about: “When you’ve lost everything else, you’ve still got PDRater.com”

Here’s my favorite posts from this past month.

I had the most fun with the “End of the World” posts from mid-September.  If you read nothing else, check out the one labeled, “The End of the World: A To Do List“.  That one is worth a look for my mad photoshop skillz alone.

For the more practical minded, the Road Warrior Checklists might be helpful.  I think I’ve got at least one more “Road Warrior Checklist” in me.  Also, I’ve provided some advice on what to do when your laptop stops working.

Six new calculators this month!

  1. Retroactive Benefits Calculator
  2. Convert WCAB and DWC “legacy” numbers into the new EAMS ADJ numbers
  3. Search with all EAMS registered Offices
  4. EAMS Body Part Codes search engine
  5. EAMS Document Type and Title search engine
  6. EAMS and DWC forms search engine

The World Ended on 9/10/2008

Laptop Repair Saga

Road Warrior Checklists

Virtual Real Estate (since the non-virtual kind is dead)