Comin' Around Soon

While I haven't heard anything substantive about Judge Kantor's week off, I do know that the Arken/Robinson cases have been in violation of UTCR 2.030 for some time now. According to Oregon Trial Code Rules, matters under advisement for more than 60 days can draw attention, and matters under advisement for more than 90 days can provoke more than just attention. Thus, it isn't surprising to me that Judge Kantor finally took a week off to get Arken/Robinson under control. If he truly made his decisions this past week, then Greg Hartman is being quite generous in his assessment that he expects a decision within the next two months. To be sure, if Kantor has made a decision, it is more likely that we should see a decision in the next few weeks, as all Kantor would be left with doing is dictating the case, having it typed, proofread, and issued. I doubt that will take several months.

I've also heard that Judge Kantor held a telephone conference about the White case - another case that has been "in the works" for about 3 years now last Friday. That might account for Hartman telling OSU employees/retirees that White was "on" in August. It seems to me that if White is finally going to be heard, then the whole question of the "settlement agreement" is now back on the table. I *think* that is good news for both actives and retirees.

On an unrelated front, my Mini Cooper has now made it to US shores and might show up in my driveway before the end of the month. If my luck with ordered cars holds true to form, it will arrive about the same time I leave for Spring Break. Nevertheless, it can't come too soon now. Gas prices have hit $3.85 in my neck of the woods and that SUV of mine is mighty thirsty. It would be cheaper to put Grey Goose Vodka in the tank. Of course, my Mini, like all of its BMW relatives, runs only on premium fuel. You can't have everything.

In true form, my friend Jim sent me the latest IKEA catalog item to save me money before my Mini arrives. With IKEA, the basic idea is that by assembling the furniture with simple tools, you can save yourself some money. In homage to money saving, here is IKEA's way of buying a car:

And here are the tools needed to assemble it: