🚀 go-pugleaf

Court SUCKED.  He STILL has no job.  Support payment is STILL $50 a month. 
But, I think I FINALLY got through to the judge.

Basically, what happened is this:  he was supposed to get into an
apprenticeship program w/the carpenters' union, get insurance in 6 months, and
get his back fixed, so that he could work.  Hence the original order, a year
ago.  Well, he got into the carpenters union, then started hurting, had to
quit, and the doctor told him that they didn't want to do the surgery, that he
should lay off the heavy lifting & see if the problem resolved itself.

So, he has done so, and in late April applied to the electrician's union.  He
is still waiting to hear back from them.

This is the line of bull puckey he fed to the judge.  The judge sucked it up
righteously.  I mean, come on, poor guy, he was hurt, he's doing the best he
can, right?  Wrong.

I fired MY first shot when he was saying how disabled he is.  I mean, this
asshole actually brought his MRI picture - like a JUDGE will know how to read
it.  He didn't bring a letter from the doctor, or anything.  So, I produced
pictures of the deck he built last fall when he was "disabled".

Point for me.

He tried to cover, saying he built it for his mother (which was true) and that
he had a lot of people helping him (i never saw any) and that his mommy let him
rest whenever he was hurting.

Isn't that just the sweetest damn thing you ever heard?

Anyway..... towards the end, the judge FINALLY caught on to what I was trying
to tell him, I think.  The conversation went something like this:

Judge:  Ma'am, is there anything you'd like to ask him about the testimony he's
given.

Me:  Yes.  You only applied to ONE place?

Ex:  I'm following doctor's orders.

Me: (incredulous, sarcastic)  The doctor told you to make sure you fill out ONE
job application?

Him:  I'm supposed to be convalescing.

Me:  Oh, ok.  Cause you see, I lost my job last August, and what I did was, I
went around to SEVERAL places, and filled out applications, and sent resumes,
because I (emphasis on the I) had a child to support.

Him:  (silence)

Judge:  Sir, did you graduate high school?

Him:  Yes, I did.

Judge:  Did you have any training beyond that?

Him:  (trying to dodge question)  Uh... I don't know what you mean by training.

Judge:  Did you go to college, or any kind of vocational program.

Him (deer in headlights look)  Yes, I went to college.

Judge:  For how long?

Him:  Four years.

Judge:  Did you get your degree?

Him:  No, I dropped out and went straight into construction.

Judge:  How many credits did you need to graduate?

Him:  28

Judge:  How long ago did you drop out?

Him:  1994

Judge:  Well, it's probably too late to go back and get your degree now.  I
think that you can only do so within a certain number of years.  

Him:  I've always worked construction.

Judge:  Well, it is looking like you won't be able to do that anymore.

That was pretty much all there was to it, but I think the judge is FINALLY
figuring out that he just doesn't want to work - on the books that is.  But, we
were over and hour late getting in to the hearing, the judge was way behind &
clearly exhausted, so I didn't push it.

Also, he tried to say that apprentice electricians only make about $7.50 an
hour.  So, I'm going to do some research, and walk into our next hearing with
their wage rates.  I'd say it's closer to $11 an hour.  I'm also going to run
online searches for jobs that he could do, and take lists.  And get a newspaper
from the town where he lives, and highlight places he could go.

The judge is supposed to issue an order for us to come back sometime in July -
I've already started calling his office to see when we'll be scheduled, and
also I've been making a list of questions that I'm going to ask the ex.  I have
figured out several inconsistencies in what he said last time, but just didn't
catch them in time.  This time,  I'm going to be MUCH more prepared :)