Monday: Spend all day in panic mode, thinking I may have accidentally violated HIPPA.

Tuesday: Panic mode continues until shortly into my workday, when we confirm that no, I did not. Do the work thing, while also trying to be caught up with grading practice essays and my attempt at becoming a better artist. Because I'm naturally a really anxious person, panic mode goes away slowly rather than just being an on-off thing.

Wednesday: Oversleep, so get a late start, which pushes everything back. Get out of work late, get to class late, then leave relatively early because I'm worn out. Meanwhile, working on a nightmarish case that has been bouncing around my agency for the better part of a decade. Class just felt off, and I'm glad I couldn't stay late, as I was just in a bad space and couldn't get into the flow of things.

Thursday: Work on case continues. By lunchtime am fatigued to the point of borderline incoherence. Still have to grade essays and help with youngin's bedtime and dinner, but thankfully get a pretty early bedtime.

Friday (today): Mosey to my local Apple retailer, as I've had my eye on an iPad Pro for awhile. Turns out the recent hardware refresh means they're out of stock. But at least I could order one, hopefully will be in hand next week. I then proceed to get the first speeding ticket of my life (I'm 34) on the way home. I got dinged because I had forgotten that portions of the interstate through the city are 55mph, not 65. I also didn't think I was quite doing 75, but it's entirely possible.

Ugh.

But I'm not without perspective, so there are some positives. I'm excited about the iPad Pro as an art and study aid (if you haven't seen what people can do in Procreate, you should). I'm in a better head space as far as drawing and the like - I found a good figure drawing class (he has some free stuff on YouTube), so I've managed to address my need to keep realistic goals. Notability looks like it'll be super handy to handle notes on Greek and Coptic (and whatever the next language is down the road). I do have a decent Bluetooth keyboard too. Not a true laptop replacement (although frankly iOS is miles ahead of Android when it comes to multi-tasking), but it's real close. (All I need now is OpenTTD and I'd never put the thing down).

It also ended up being cheaper than what I had originally budgeted. The store I went to (which is an independent dealer rather than a True Apple Store) hadn't updated the prices in their invoicing setup, so what they sent me (and so what I was budgeting in my head) was a full $200 more than what I was actually going to have to spend. I also found the case I wanted on Amazon for 50% of the store's price.

As for the ticket, thankfully the cop was super chill just in general (even joked about how clean my concealed carry weapon is...he said he was used to "cop guns") and, more importantly, cut me a break and didn't write me for reckless driving. See, in the Commonwealth, 20mph over is reckless regardless of what the actual speeds involved are (so 45mph in a 25mph zone is also reckless). This is significant because reckless driving in VA is a serious deal: it's actually a misdemeanor (so a full-on criminal charge rather than just a civil thing). As in, it is within a judge's power to send you to jail for reckless driving (obviously they don't often do that, but it's possible). Also dicey as a lawyer, since the state bar frowns on criminal charges. Basically my worst case scenario now is being out some money, and the cop recommended I go to court to see if the judge would be willing to hook me up in light of my driving record. I'm not going to get off completely, but that may reduce the fine (the amount of which I'm not sure about yet).

Work-wise, I'm gratified that they basically told me that I was one of the only people in the office they could trust with a case this messed up. And truth be told it's been kind of fun to do something so different from what I typically spend my day-to-day on. I've also earned a lot of brownie points for dealing with it. I'm trying to position myself as the Go To Guy for this kind of case (even if they're rare), so I've made some progress on that goal as well.

Next week, I plan on being drunk for pretty much all of the 4th. The holiday also means that I get to work an extra day from home, so only have to be in the office for one day rather than the usual two. So hopefully next week will be better.