To Saturn and Back

Mrs. Fabrizio stood at the front of our eighth grade class and told us she was setting aside our regular lessons. The UAW local asked the English teachers to make a special assignment. “The union wants you to write letters to GM.” A classroom full of the children of unemployed laborers gave her, perhaps for the first time, their undivided attention. The union! Letters to GM! From us! As one of the few kids without an unemployed father at home, without a man with a sweat-stained shirt, stinking of Kools and Iron City, it was another one of those Youngstown moments where I knew that I wasn’t really a part of what was around me. “GM is building a new car. It isn’t supposed to be like the others.” This sounded promising. The last car we bought was a Subaru. This was after the catalytic converter in the family’s ’75 Buick Century had burned a hole through the floorboard. “A new car?” “Yes, GM is starting a new division.” And I heard the name Saturn for the first time. The union wanted us to write letters to GM Chairman Roger Smith, asking that he locate the new Saturn factory in Youngstown. Nothing says pathos like a bag full of letters from kids, begging for jobs for their families. “Tonight, go home, talk to your parents, and write a letter to Mr. Smith, explaining why GM should build the plant here.” That night, I brought it to my mom. As I explained the assignment, I could see her processing once again her decision to take the larger apartment on the south side of the city proper, instead of the smaller apartment in Boardman. You’ll be the poor kids if we’re in Boardman. But living in Youngstown, we were still the outsiders – the only new kids in our classes. I interrupted my mother’s silent brooding. “Mom, what should I write? I don’t want to work in a car factory.” “Don’t you think it would be good for the city if there were new jobs here?” I thought about Joe’s dad, three doors down, and his perpetual stupor since being laid off from the steel mill. “Yeah.” “Write about that.” After dinner, I went to the small school desk in my room, and tried to write a sincere letter to Mr. Smith. I couldn’t rightly beg for a job for my dad, but I could tell him that the people here want to work, that they would be grateful for the opportunity, and that I hoped he would consider Youngstown for Saturn. Saturn! It didn’t even sound like a car. It just sounded like someone’s idea of something futuristic and cool -- someone whose vision of futuristic and cool was dully limited to the immediate solar system. The one with the rings. Saturn. Yeah, reach for the stars! Or maybe just a planet. What kind of a name for a car was that? Oldsmobile – that’s a name. The next day in class, Mrs. Fabrizio asked if anyone would like to read their letters. Matt never spoke in class, and not only had I never seen him raise his hand before, I hadn’t seen anyone raise his hand so fast. He read his letter with determination. He wasn’t a great reader, but it was a righteous effort. Please Mr. Smith. Please bring Saturn to Youngstown. I would like my dad to have a job, and I would like to have a job someday. I didn’t volunteer to read my letter. Not after Matt’s letter. I imagined Matt’s dad sobering up enough to help him write it. Or not. Mrs. Fabrizio collected our letters and told us that she was delivering them to the union hall. They would mail them to Mr. Smith. Her face was brave, as if she didn’t want to betray that she already knew that this really wouldn’t make a difference. It wasn’t mentioned again until after winter break, when someone broke the news in class that the new Saturn plant would be in Tennessee. Someone else added that her dad had said that Tennessee was a right to work state, and that the unions were too strong here. I didn’t know then what that meant. I only wondered how it could be that the unions were really so strong, when there weren’t any jobs here anymore. Twenty-five years later, GM is in bankruptcy. And the Saturn brand – the brand that was supposed to be GM’s new way, the way the Japanese made cars, a “different kind of car company” – stands to be retired or sold. And if that Saturn plant had gone to Youngstown, it would now be the latest chapter in that sad city’s lingering demise. And Matt would be out of a job. Mrs. Fabrizio was right. It really didn't make a difference. Not then. Not now.

The Law Office of Michael Dylan Brennan, LLC

Ohiolegalcounsel.com is the home of The Law Office of Michael Dylan Brennan, LLC. CLICK HERE to visit the law office website.

Let's Get Us Some High Speed Stimulus!

Tip of the hat to Yglesias... Apparently the stimulus bill includes $2 billion (and perhaps more) for grants to build high speed rail in the Federal Railroad Administrations designated high speed rail corridors: The Stimulus Plan includes provisions modeled after the High-Speed Rail for America Act (the Act), introduced by Senators John Kerry and Arlen Specter on November 19, 2008, to bring American rail infrastructure up-to-date with current world standards. Specifically, the Stimulus Plan provides $2 billion for rail projects related to trains reaching at least 110 miles per hour and exempts interest incurred from private activity bonds for high-speed rail from the Alternative Minimum Tax. By providing this tax incentive, the Stimulus Plan will promote public-private partnerships (P3s) between government agencies and private sector companies by giving them a financing vehicle to access the tax-exempt capital markets. source The FRA's dedicated high speed rail corridors include ... ...wait for it... Cleveland - Columbus - Cincinnati and Cleveland - Toledo - Chicago and Cincinnati - Indianapolis - Chicago Really! Here's the map: Can we muster up the kind of dogged determination (like we did to build the Euclid Corridor Project) to secure these federal funds and build high speed rail through Ohio's three largest cities, and onward to Toledo and Chicago? This could be huge project for Ohio. To design it, build it, maintain it -- and not the least of all, to RIDE it. Will we do it? If not, why not? There are lots of other high speed rail corridors -- we can build this, or sit back and watch others build theirs and then kick ourselves for missing the boat train.

Under Construction

My new law practice's website is under construction, but here is the URL: http://www.ohiolegalcounsel.com/ The placeholder up there now has my street address, phone number, etc. I am open, seeing clients and taking cases.

Reanimation

I'm back. And it is great to be back. I took down The Audient Files last May because I was exploring my career options. I looked at moving to Columbus, I looked at staying in Cleveland. I looked at going to another law firm, I looked at going in-house with a corporate legal department. I took down my old blog and all of its archives because I didn't want to offer up my occasionally crass observations as representative of what I am all about. Even though at times it may well have been reasonably accurate. Over the holidays, I did some serious soul searching. I had applied to various places (both in Cleveland and Columbus), had interviews, had opportunities presented to me, and none of them were suitable. And I realized that it was because none of it was what I wanted. I really didn't want to work in-house for an insurance company, or toil away thanklessly as an associate making some other guy look good. What I wanted, what I have always wanted, was to practice law on my own. Back in 1999, I left a firm where I'd been an associate for over two years because I was restless. I printed up business cards, opened bank accounts, got some file cabinets, and started scaring up some cases. I'd been at it for a couple of weeks when I was approached by a law clerk of a local judge who was looking for her next law clerk. I met with the judge, and she offered me the position. I liked her, and it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Besides, I'd been an attorney for barely three years, and I thought this would be a great way to grow professionally – and it was. When I finished my term at the court, I did what most outgoing law clerks/staff attorneys do: I parlayed my experience at the court into an associate position at a reputable law firm. At the time, it did seem like the right thing to do. And it worked for me for awhile. But ultimately, I knew that my head and heart were elsewhere. Which brings me back to that holiday soul searching. I was only 24 when I sat for the bar, and I've been that young kid attorney now for about a third of my life. And while I've done some wonderful things, things I'm proud of, things that helped some people who really needed help, I realized that I had fallen into a bit of a rut. And that if I wanted to reach the next level, I was going to have to leave the relative safety and shelter of the law firm and once again do what I had originally set out to do almost ten years ago: hang up my own shingle. I thought about the bad economy. Why not wait for a sunnier day? But the truth is, I could always have found reasons to wait. Other times, it was some big case that was going to trial that I wanted to see through, or some such thing. I decided that there was no better time than now – for if not now, when? In another ten years? Or would I wait till I had tuition bills to pay for the kids? Or to have a sick parent in a nursing home? No, there is no better time than the present, the now, to live the life I want. The difference now is that I have so much more experience than when I first tried this. I have the support of my wife and family. I have a small (and hopefully soon to be growing) group of great clients. And most of all, I have never felt better, and cannot ever remember being more invigorated about the practice of law than I am now. For years I wrote this blog as a side project. I kept my name off of it because I thought that I needed to keep a separate identity from my professional life. That ends now. And whether you know me as "Audient" – the one who listens (and sometimes rants) – or if you know me as Michael Dylan Brennan, attorney at law – the one who listens, solves problems, and seeks justice – this is who I am, who I've been, and who I will be.

Suspended Animation

I started The Audient Files three years ago this month. Blogging has brought me much joy and satisfaction. I've met wonderful people, not the least of whom is Gina. I've reconnected with old friends. I've expressed myself in short and at length for not only myself, but also for anyone interested in reading. In light of all that, why would I stop? But . . . There are some other things I want to focus on now. Things that require that my attention be less divided. Once I have addressed those things, perhaps I may be back. It might be a few weeks or a few months, but it might be longer. It is also possible that I might not ever look back. But until that time that I want to pick up blogging again, the archives are archived away, and new posts will not be forthcoming any time soon. The archives are stashed away because I don't really want to leave a large graveyard to attract visitors. Those of you still writing your blogs, I intend to read them, I intend to comment now and then. As you can see, I've changed up my template a bit, but my list of various blogs I enjoy is still off to the right, largely unchanged -- this is somewhat for my own convenience, but also for those of you who visit here to run through those links. 2/3/09 -- Archives are back up!

Jet Jaguar

Mike Carrel's got a new band, Jet Jaguar, and they play their first gig this Saturday at the Full Force Rock Shop in Seven Hills.   The band has worked up about 55 cover songs, some of them are listed here.  Jet Jaguar is a five piece guitar rock band, featuring a selection of modern/extreme rock songs.   The Full Force Rock Shop is located at 7835 Broadview Road between Pleasant Valley and Sprague Roads on the east side of Broadview in Seven Hills.   Show starts at 9pm.  Hope to see you there!

3 Day Fundraiser for a Cure for Breast Cancer

Gina and I will be there this Friday.   Details HERE.

Tuesday Talkback

Do I hear sheep? Or just moans? And I'm talking back. "Those three students who refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance should be sent to China for a year to go to school. I guarantee they'd stand on their heads if they were requested to do so." - Parma Heights Yes, let's intimidate the youth into saluting the flag, because that pledge will be made with such sincerity. While we're at it, let's make the little bastards pray, and if they refuse, we'll send them to Iran. "The people who pay for their groceries with food stamps while they are talking on their very expensive cell phones." - Valley View Hasn't the mobile phone long ceased being a luxury item? There are plenty of mobile phone plans that are cheaper than a land line. "The stupid people who let their small children loose at the buffet table. Please read the signs. They handle the silverware and all the food and leave a mess. It's disgusting." - Cleveland Oh, because the buffet wasn't disgusting till those kids came along, right. "Re: the person complaining about shopping carts in parking lots. The stores give the handicapped a place to park close up, but they don't give us a place to put our carts close up. If I could walk to replace the cart, I wouldn't need a close-up parking place!" - Olmsted Falls I'm at a bit of a loss here. Somehow you manage to get around inside the grocery store, up and down all of those long aisles, but you can't push a cart 30 feet to return it when you are done with it? And I notice that many larger stores have special carts you can ride so you don't have to push them -- and I assume that these aren't the carts being left out in the lot. Is it possible that you used every last bit of energy walking around the store that, by the time you get back to your car, you just didn't have enough energy left to return the cart? Or is it possible that you have developed such a sense of entitlement that you feel that the rules the rest of us live by simply don't apply to you?

See You Later, Loan Shark

Payday Lender to Exit Ohio    Good. Fuck 'em.   Because a new state law capping the payday loans APR to 28% just ain't worth knee-capping the working poor over.   Check Into Cash said the closure of the 93 centers will result in a loss of jobs for some 220 employees and the abandonment of 143,000 square feet of retail and office space. Though it plans to cease payday lending in the state, Check into Cash said it's "exploring other short-term credit products and loan alternatives in hopes of being able to continue offering some type of viable product and service to its customers."   Coming to a back alley near you?

HOT D

The other day at Johnny's on Fulton, I had maybe the best bloody mary I'd ever had.   The bartender revealed that the mix they were using was something made locally.    HOT D -- which is supposed to stand for "Hair Of The Dog." No HFCS as it is sweetened with honey, and it has a little taurine and caffeine in it.    I see one can order it online, but I understand it is sold at West Side Market as well.

Rite of Spring: Yellow Book, Yer All Wet

I rarely, if ever, use the phone book. I look up numbers on the internet. I don't look at the yellow pages or at those display ads in the yellow pages. I am among those whom Bill Gates predicted has stopped using the paper yellow pages, and nearly all people under 50 will join me in the next 5 years, if they haven't already. Every Spring, a new phone book is delivered to the house. Yesterday was no different. It was dropped on my front door step, as always, in a loose plastic bag, open on one end. As always, I didn't spot it till the morning after (meaning, I spotted it this morning). As always, the loose plastic bag did not protect it from the overnight Spring rain. So, I have a brand new Yellow Book ("not the other book!") that I don't even want, and even if I did, it is 100% waterlogged and ruined. And, it seems to me, that once a phone book has been so thoroughly soaked, it isn't even recyclable, should I be so inclined to try. And I'm not. It'll sit in a deceptively heavy white trash bag, just like similarly saturated used kitty litter, only less useful. Thanks for nothing, Yellow Book. Not that I really give a damn that my phone book is ruined, as I wasn't going to use it anyway. But thanks for leaving your trash on my doorstep, just so I can waste a trash bag on it to send it straight to the landfill. And thanks for charging thousands of dollars to all of those fools who buy display ads in your book, just so you can deliver those books all half-assed so they get ruined in the rain. You really should get together with the fine folks at the AARP, and make phone books something that AARP members receive, and leave the rest of us out of it.

Dann Still Hangin' On

Nevermind, he is still here.