level 41

8:30 a.m.
13 oct. 2005

damn! another life lost! been pounding the keys of my mobile
fone for 15 minutes now...waiting for my lawyer here in the hall of
justice. the funny thing is, i do not even know how my lawyer looks
like. u see, he is just a standin for my real lawyer who is still in
sick bay.

me and my mom filed a civil case against a person whom it seems
thinks that i am working my butts off so she can take off with my
money and spend it as she wants. i guess trying to help off "someone
in need" can sometimes make you rethink the good samaritan parable.

anyways, after a year or so with nary a whimper as to whether she
will be returning the money or not, my mom snapped and here we
are in the hall of justice.

my mom got a call yesterday telling us to be at the hall of justice at
8 a.m. the only problem is, we are supposed to meet up with our lawyer.
after 30 minutes of futile attempts at level 41, mom and i finally
decided to go in and take a look at the court room where all the
action and talk is.

it was pretty interesting since most of the disputes were land
related. the judge was asking the poor old man whether the
defendants have already vacated the land. the poor man
evidently couldn't understand what the lady judge was
asking and was probably wishing that the floor would open
up and swallow him whole at that instant. the lady judge
finally spoke in the vernacular but i guess the man was still
in shock and could only look at the intimidating lady in black.

after a few discourses, the court clerk stood and announced
the next case. and my name was announced! right away, a
man in barong stood and started addressing the judge. so
there is my lawyer!!!

the proceedings went on smoothly. the judge was reading
something about making a summary judgment since there
has been no response from the defendants. and before i knew
it, my 1000-peso worth of representation was over. the court
clerk was calling out for the next case again...and guess what!
yet another land dispute. ;)

making my way out, i almost bumped into 2 men held together
by handcuffs. for some reason, they were smiling.
something you would not think you'd see on the face of someone
looking at possible prison time.

a few hours in court done.
level 41 yet to be conquered...
now, where's that mobile fone of mine....